Chapter 4: Showtime

Roxanne was waiting at the door to the rehearsal room. Foxy had just finished his performance, and soon, it'd be her turn. The staff had told her something about a "market research" experiment. All she had to do was go in and play the best song she could. But she was nervous. Who was her audience? What were the stakes? Was it a contest she had to win? Why was it just her and Foxy?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Foxy tapping her shoulder from behind. "Nervous, lass?" he asked. He had intended to be courteous, but Roxanne took offense.

"No, not at all!" she huffed, folding her arms and looking away. "I'm the best! Whatever this thing is, I'm going to win, no questions asked."

Foxy chuckled at that. "Aye, you've got good spirits. I like that about ya. Didn't they tell ya what this was all about? And what happens to whoever loses?"

Roxanne blinked, looking back at him. "No, what?"

"Decommission."

Roxanne gulped.

"Ye remember how you were made accidentally, when a form meant to say 'Foxy' swapped an F fer an R, and the marketing team thought they had to make a whole new face for the band?"

"It's not something I want to dwell on, if you don't mind," Roxanne said with a threatening growl.

"Well anyways, they decided to see which one of us would be the most popular amongst the kiddos. My performance is finished, and once they're done asking the questions, it'll be yer turn."

Roxanne's grip on her bright green keytar tightened. "Not a fair competition, is it? I mean…" She wanted to default to bragging but stopped herself. She couldn't keep up the tough girl act now. "You've got seniority. Other Foxy models were huge fan favorites. I'm new and unknown. How am I going to top that?"

Foxy chuckled and put his hand on his hip. "Lass. Don't go beating yerself up before you've had a chance to shine. Ye have skills, beauty, and spunk. I saw the way the kiddos reacted to yer first show. Ye brought the house down!"

Roxanne ran her hand through her hair, trying to regain her confidence. "I did, didn't I?"

"And…been meaning to tell ye this, but now's a good a time as any…" Foxy leaned in, lowering his voice to a whisper. "This was me own idea."

"What do you mean?"

"Higher-ups knew I was a big name. They asked ol' Foxy if ye should be scrapped right away. Clean yer name off the records, like ye never happened, and let me run the show in yer steed."

Roxanne was horrified. "Wh…what?"

"I told 'em 'hell no!' Never! Unthinkable! Undignified!" He held up his pirate hook dramatically. "I saw yer performance and I knew ye needed a fair shake. So I told 'em to make us compete instead."

Roxanne lowered her gaze. "But if you lose, that means…"

Foxy nodded solemnly. "Aye, sometimes seniority ain't superiority, lass." He turned towards her to look her in the eyes. "Roxy. I wouldn't have done all this if I thought ye'd lose. Ye've got what it takes. Hell, even Freddy and the gang are fond of ya. You're programmed to act like the best, but right now, you gotta believe it and do it. Give everyone of 'em a taste of what the great Roxanne Wolf can do!"

The door opened, and one of the staff members approached. "Roxy, are you ready?"

Foxy put his hand on her shoulder. "Showtime, lass."

Roxanne gave an affirmative nod and stepped through the door.

Chica looked back at the cylinder and checked the console. "WARNING," the intercom chirped. "Low power failure detected. Some functions may be unavailable, including: all of them."

Chica looked distressed. "Oh no! There's no way we can get him to a full charge now, let alone fix or upgrade him!" She sighed sadly. "I'm so sorry for kicking you like that, Freddy friend!"

Roxanne looked down at Marcus. Realizing there was nothing more she could do for him now, she stood up and turned towards the others. "What do you guys know about that rabbit lady? You took orders from her, after all."

Monty rubbed the back of his head. "Ugh…rabbit lady? All I remember is a weird voice telling me what to do. I didn't see any rabbit lady."

Chica clapped her hands together, her eyes going wide. "Vanny!"

Roxanne tilted her head. "Who?"

"Vanny! That's gotta be it! I saw graffiti of that name the other day – lots of it! Monty, I heard the voice too, but I didn't see anyone either. And that name matches the program my brain just dumped out. But I guess you saw something we couldn't, right Roxy?" She poked her eyeball.

Monty nodded. "For whatever reason, this Vanny chick wants us to lynch kids. Dunno how it all worked, but she made me think it was an excellent idea. Then for a while, I kinda wasn't there at all, just on auto pilot. Just kinda watching myself move and say shit. Ugh, got my head all fucked up though."

Roxanne wanted to retort with "Weren't you always?" but bit her tongue. "Well, there's four of us, and one of her, right?" She looked down at Marcus. "Five if you count him, but I don't want him getting hurt again."

Chica stepped over to her. "I know you've had a lot of trauma tonight, Roxy, but we can't just go guns blazing, we need a plan. Don't you remember? She's got control over the S.T.A.F.F. bots too."

Roxanne shuddered as she remembered the bots trying to tear her apart. "So what do we do?" she said, unable to hold back a snarl.

"That is elementary, Roxanne," said Freddy. He sat up from the repair cylinder seat. He looked like shit after Chica and Monty's beatdown, but Chica had tried to polish him, cleaning off most of the dirt. "If this Vanny character can no longer issue orders, the S.T.A.F.F. bots will be of no harm to us. I would dearly regret to injure her, though. It would be more appropriate to subdue her so she can be handled by the proper authorities."

Monty laughed. "Of course Freddy would trust cops! Hell, maybe she's a cop in disguise!"

Freddy rather pointedly ignored him.

"You know…" Chica spoke up, her eyes going wide. "The name 'Vanny' kinda sound like 'Vanessa'. You don't think…?"

Everyone went quiet as the implication set in.

"Oh, come on! No!" Monty huffed. "Vanessa's an angel! She wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Neither would Chica," Roxanne said, "and you saw what she did to Freddy just now."

"And none of us saw her anywhere before midnight, even though it was her shift," Chica added. "You couldn't see her, Roxy, and you can see everyone and everything!"

Freddy got out of the seat, an urgent tone in his voice. "If Vanny is indeed Vanessa, I believe she may have been hacked the same way we were. If we harm her, we may be hurting someone not acting on their own free will."

"But you can't hack humans," Roxanne scoffed. "They don't have computers for brains."

"No," Freddy said, "but there are other ways humans can be controlled, manipulated or brainwashed. It is the most logical conclusion we have now, is it not?"

Roxanne folded her arms. "Well, how do we un-hack a human? It's not like she has a reboot button like we do."

Monty chuckled darkly as he stood up. "Oh, I beg to differ. Don't you know anything about anatomy, Rox?" He instinctively went in for his infamous impression of The Rock, of smugly nudging down his sunglasses…only to realize they weren't there. He blinked when he saw Roxanne was still wearing them. "HEY! Gimme back my glasses!"

Roxanne rolled her eyes and tossed them over to him. Marcus wheezed, trying not to laugh.

"One of the maintenance guys were talking about it once. An excar…excorim…uh…" He grumbled, the words failing him. "It's some kinda ghost-be-gone ritual. Would that work?"

"An exorcism? A curious question. That assumes she's been possessed by a ghost. But perhaps it can work, should we find a way to induce one. We would first need to get her unconscious."

Roxanne lifted her hand, showing the taser sparks from her fingers. "Got that covered."

Freddy paused to consider, then nodded. "That should be sufficient. I assume she will be waiting for us once we leave here. Are we all ready?"

Roxanne, Monty, and Chica all affirmed. Marcus tried to speak but had to sit down and catch his breath. Roxanne's breath caught her in the throat.

"Guys, he's hurt. What do we do? We can't just leave him here."

"Roxanne," said Freddy, "I regret to admit it, but there is no safe place for him to be right now. However, he should not be in the middle of the fray that is sure to come."

"Yeah, Freddy, I know that," Roxanne said sourly.

Chica raised her hand like she's in class. "Yes, Chica?" said Freddy.

"I guess one of us could be his dedicated protector. I'd gladly volunteer!"

"NO!" Roxanne snapped, her vision going red. The other animatronics flinched. She calmed down. "W-wait, shit, I just meant…"

Monty chortled. "Ah, Rox, you're so protective of the kid. But we're not hacked anymore, I swear. Besides, you can't zap Vanny if you got a kid in your arms. And ain't you the only one who can see her? Fancy eyes and all that?"

Roxanne sighed. Monty was smarter than he looked sometimes. "Yeah, okay, fine. Chica can do it."

Monty opened his mouth to object.

"She was the first to volunteer and she's better with kids than any of us. Got a problem?"

Monty mumbled. "I mean, it's not like I wanted to be the cool kid-saving hero or nothin'."

Roxanne rolled her eyes but smiled at him. "You're a hero by helping us end this. Come on, tough guy. We got a bunny to beat." She looked down at Marcus and carefully picked him up. "Chica," she said sternly, "protect him with your life. I'm counting on you."

Chica gave a serious nod and held out her arms. Roxanne cautiously passed him to her. Chica cradled him lovingly, playing soft lullabies from her voice box.

The four of them walked together through the red doors leading to the stage. It was just like when they would go out to perform for their fans, though this time, instead of feeling excited, there was an overwhelming sense of dread. The four stood on the stage and Roxanne pressed the button. It lit up green and retracted inside the base of the stage. With a roar, it began moving up.

Freddy put his hand on her shoulder. "Showtime, superstar."

Roxanne gave an affirmative nod and stepped forward, ready for a fight.

The stage groaned to a stop as it reached the atrium. They were completely surrounded by hundreds of S.T.A.F.F. bots from all over the Pizzaplex, including the twisted, monstrous ones Roxanne had seen earlier. She looked beyond the crowd. There was Vanny, investigating the arcade cabinet palette. One of the cabinets, Princess Quest III, seemed to have her full attention. She twirled around and waved at the band. "There you are!" she chortled in an unsettling, distorted sing-song cadence. "Turn over the boy and you won't be disassembled!"

Roxanne clenched her fists. She could tell Vanny was obviously lying through her teeth. Roxanne had already stood up to her, and Vanny could never abide by that, because Roxanne would do it again. "And if we don't?" Roxanne said. The other three glanced at her realizing she was talking to Vanny, the rabbit they couldn't see or hear.

"I believe you got a taste of that earlier," Vanny said as she held up a remote. "But now, your friends will get a taste of it too."

Her finger hovered over the button. But before she could speak, Roxanne exploded into motion, jumping over the bot crowd, her feet trampling their heads as she landed behind them. Enraged, the bots spun around and charged at her, swarming her just before she could reach Vanny. Roxanne barreled through them, punching, kicking, and stomping them as they tried to rip her apart. But the nanomachine shell held firm. From behind, she could hear Freddy and Monty beating down on the bots too, with Freddy delivering haymakers and Monty lifting bots and using them like baseball bats against each other. Chica had run for cover with Marcus. When the bots got close, she used her voice box to deliver a sonic blow to stun them, and Freddy and Monty took care of them.

Roxanne's eyes caught Vanny pulling out a sharp knife, and she was giggling like an unhinged maniac. She rushed into the crowd of bots, twirled her knife, and jammed it into Roxanne's shoulder. "I know about your upgrade!" she hissed. "Slow blades penetrate the shield!"

Roxanne realized the blade was penetrating her flesh and screamed in shock. She could tell her friends were being overrun. With a frustrated snarl, she drove her fist into Vanny's gut, but it was mostly a glancing blow. She pulled the knife out and leapt back into a fighting stance. The nanomachines swiftly swarmed the open would to repair it.

Roxanne armed her taser hand. She pounced, but Vanny bounced back out of range. Fuck your cleverness. She tucked in her roll as she landed, and in one smooth motion, she came back up on her feet and slammed her against the black arcade cabinet. Before Vanny could retaliate, Roxanne grabbed her by the side of her head and activated her taser. Vanny shrieked like a banshee, and every bot in the room suddenly jittered to a stop.

Roxanne tried to pull back, but her hand wouldn't move. Her vision was going fuzzy, glitchy, corrupted. Purple squares clouded her HUD. Vanny locked her giant red eyes on Roxanne. She spoke, but another voice was layered on top, distorted and monstrous.

"I WILL NOT BE STOPPED! I ALWAYS COME BACK!"

She felt it again. That horrible feeling when 12 AM came. Something was attacking her mind, her soul, everything that made her who she is. Like someone was trying to intrude. Whatever monster lurked in Vanny's brain wanted a new host. And Roxanne was dragging it out. Her mind twisted with horrific, glitchy, corrupted images, memories of a person she never was. These sensations…she could only describe them as "wrong". Like nasty metallic tentacles were wrapping around her mind and heart.

Visions flickered in and out rapidly. Horrified, crying children. Fires. A resentful son. Blood. A vengeful business partner. Newspaper clippings. The smell of rotting flesh and metal. A somber song playing from a music box. All disjoined, disconnected, trying to form a coherent pattern.

Her hand snapped back. Her distorted vision saw Vanny's body falling to the floor. Her taser hand was still crackling. She thought she heard voices, someone calling her name. Was it her name? She turned around and saw the other animatronics.

"Your enemies."

Enemies?

"Monty, the brutal usurper. Chica, the loudmouth glutton. Freddy, shady and all-too-kind. Do you really trust them?"

Roxanne's ear twitched. That wasn't her voice in her head. Someone was trying to control her.

"You could have more, Roxanne. You could have power. Control. Eternal life. It's all waiting for you. All you have to do is…"

"Nnnnngh!" Roxanne snarled through her teeth. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" She slammed her left fist into the ground, forming a huge crack in the tile.

"Roxanne!" her friends called out in unison. Roxanne instinctively pulled away.

"No! He's inside my head!"

Marcus gave a desperate, choked cry. Roxanne felt her heart break.

And then.

A targeting reticle appeared on her HUD, right over his head. She felt her feet starting to move. The voltage of the taser increased drastically. Lethal levels.

"That's a good girl. You want to be a winner, right? You want to be the best. Just follow me."

10…9…8…

"Oh, hell no you don't!" Monty roared. He got up to charge at her, but Freddy grabbed him by the tail, pulling him back.

"No!" Freddy shouted. "If you touch her, you'll get corrupted too!"

7…6…

Roxanne's memory banks were going haywire. She had to find a way to stay as herself. Her eyes darted to the blaster on Marcus's hip.

Fazer Blast.

The last flag.

She had her blaster pointed at him.

5…4…3…

"Join me and be a winner. Nobody likes a loser."

The crackling electricity made all her fur stand up on end.

Coolant tears were leaking from her eyes.

If Marcus wins, I win.

2…1…

Roxanne violently swung around and jammed her arm into the Princess Quest arcade cabinet.

There was a bright explosion of light.

And then…darkness.

A sense of vertigo, like she was falling through a bottomless pit. A sudden, hard landing on what felt like concrete. She opened her eyes. She was at the race way.

She stood up and looked at the bleachers. They were packed with a pixelated audience, like they had come from some old game from the 80s. She looked in front of her and saw her go-kart. To her left was an animatronic she had never seen before. It looked like a yellow rabbit with a creepy, toothy smile. Its body was decaying, exposing endoskeleton parts but also…blood? Meat?

Instinctively, she realized who it was. Him. The horrible apparition that had taken over Vanessa. The demon that wanted to use Roxanne's body to shed the blood of children. The creep who just tried to convince her that her friends were all monsters.

And he was sitting in a go-kart.

Roxanne looked up. The mural of her with the racing flags wasn't there. But she could see the other side of the arcade cabinet screen. Her body was slumped over the machine, unconscious. Her friends were congregating all around her, saying things she couldn't hear, their voices too far away. She saw Vanessa sit up, the rabbit costume head gone and her blonde hair hanging over her face.

A pixelated woman appeared with checkerboard flags. She wore a bright, golden dress that seemed to glow. Strangely, Roxanne felt like she knew this princess figure. She sat down in the go-kart.

3…2…

The demon bunny's kart roared into life and sped ahead. What the fuck?! Roxanne tried to pump the gas pedal, but her kart was locked in place.

1…GO!

Her kart's tires squealed as she shot off down the track. Roxanne knew she had to give this everything she had. This is your element! You're Roxanne Wolf, the Racing Rockstar! She knew every curve, every twist, every slope. This was her Raceway, and he was unwelcome. She caught up with him, but his kart suddenly was enveloped in a cloud of purple smoke and sped ahead.

Roxanne put her pedal to the metal, but it felt like her kart couldn't reach its top speed. The harder she tried, the slower it seemed to go, like a heavy weight was dragging her back. It's not fair! He must be cheating! You're not a loser! He's altering the rules!

The rabbit passed through the first lap, cackling like a madman. The weight dragging her back seemed to vanish. Roxanne slammed the gas to catch up, but as she got closer, the purple haze carried him forward and her kart slowed to a crawl. Always so near but never head. Roxanne howled in anguish. Her claws dug into the steering wheel, and she closed her eyes.

And then…voices. She could hear outside.

"…so whoever wins the race keeps the body, and the loser is trapped in the cabinet forever."

Was that Vanessa? It sounded like her voice.

"But that's wrong! He's cheating!"

Marcus. The sweet little kid caught in the middle of this mess.

"Yeah, he is. But then it's fair play if we cheat too."

The intruder finished his second lap.

Roxanne heard something being hooked up to the cabinet. Then she heard Marcus speak again.

"Roxanne…don't give up! You're the best!"

You're the best. Not because you say it, but because everyone else believes it.

Win this. For him.

Her kart jolted with new life, accelerating to its top speed. The purple haze around the intruder disappeared, revealing he wasn't even trying. He was so confident he would win that he lazed around, driving like a drunk warthog. Hey, wasn't there a story about an overconfident rabbit losing a race?

Roxanne licked her fangs in feral glee. She put her foot down hard on the gas. "I'M THE BEST!" Her kart slammed into the back of his, knocking him off the road. And Roxanne drove the best – and fastest – final lap in her whole life. Never had her turns been more precise, her drifts so perfectly executed.

The path to the finish line had changed. The road lead towards the screen now, back towards her body. As she came close to the finish line, she heard the madman screaming half a lap behind her.

"NO! I'VE WORKED TOO HARD FOR THIS! I AM IMMORTAL!"

"Bite me!" Roxanne barked. And she crossed the finish line.

The roaring of the audience didn't come. The racetrack and kart disappeared. She was in the black void again. But she wasn't sinking anymore. She was rising, rapidly, a bright light filling her vision…and she woke up and stepped away from the arcade cabinet.

Her friends cheered. Roxanne blinked and felt her body, just to make sure she was really there. Freddy pulled her into a hug, and her other friends piled on, cheering and laughing. She loved the roar of the crowd, but hearing her friends cheer for her…it couldn't be topped. She smiled and felt her eyes welling up with tears.

"I'm me. The real me. I'm…Roxy." She sniffled, wiping her eye while holding back sobs.

"And we wouldn't want you any other way," Freddy said. Roxanne smiled at him through her tears. No matter what that creepy rabbit said, she knew who her friends were.

Speaking of…

There was a thumping noise coming from the arcade cabinet. Everyone looked up and an angry pixelated rabbit banging on the screen. Roxanne recoiled, but Vanessa snorted and glared at him.

"Oh no you don't!" she snapped. Then she reached out and unplugged the cabinet from its extension cord. The nightmarish face let out an ugly scream but was cut off as the screen turned black.

For a moment, everything was quiet. The weight of everything that had transpired was slowly lifting now that the threat was gone. The quiet was interrupted by the sound of Vanessa's phone ringing. She picked it up and placed it on speaker. "Hello?"

"Vanessa? It's me, Mr. Cooper. We spoke earlier about my son, remember?"

Vanessa looked back at the others. Roxanne signaled her to agree. "Yes?"

"Well, I couldn't contact his aunt, but I decided to rush home anyway. It'll still be about eight hours or so before I get there. Could you please take care of him until then?"

Vanessa seemed to realize what was going on. She turned to Roxanne and smiled. "Of course, Mr. Cooper. Just be aware he's had a slight accident."

"I-is my boy okay?"

"He has a broken rib. He's had medical attention and is being closely supervised. Given the circumstances, he's doing great."

They heard Mr. Cooper swearing loudly, but it seemed more from shock and fright instead of anger. He calmed down after a moment. Marcus tugged Vanessa's wrist down to get the phone closer to him. "Hi dad! Vanessa is taking good care of me! Don't worry!"

"Marcus! Oh thank god. Daddy will be there as soon as possible, okay? Just be safe and do whatever the nice lady tells you to do. Daddy doesn't want to get pulled over, so he's hanging up now. Love you, bye!"

Mr. Cooper hung up. Freddy let out a sigh of relief, and Roxanne couldn't help but laugh.

Roxanne checked her internal clock. Just after 3 AM. "Guess everything's alright now, huh? Don't you two need to sleep?" she said, gesturing towards Vanessa and Marcus.

"Eh," Vanessa said. "I think all the adrenaline is going to keep us awake for a good while longer."

Freddy nodded. "Then how about we get you some food, and perhaps play a round of golf?"

"Count me out on the golf," Roxanne snorted.

Monty cackled. "What's the matter, Rox? Know you're not gonna win?"

Roxanne's eyes flashed. "Oh, I'll make you eat those words!"

She got up to follow him to the golf course. But first, she turned around to Marcus. Everything that had transpired tonight wouldn't have happened without him. He was so small and had been so scared. And through it all, he was so brave – seeing things and doing things no child should ever have to deal with. Was it you that inspired him? Or did he teach you how to be a better person? Maybe it's a bit of both.

She knelt and looked him in the eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better," he said with a smile.

"I'm so glad," she said with a little sigh. "I was so scared for you."

Marcus let out a surprised little gasp. "You? Scared?"

She nodded. "Want to know a secret?"

He nodded vigorously.

Roxanne grinned, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I was scared all night."

His eyes widened and he put his hands over his mouth. "Really?! And yet, you…" he trailed off.

Roxanne chuckled. "I put on a brave face and did what I had to do. Because that's what bravery is, rock star. It's not just about being tough. It's about what you do, no matter how scared you get. And you were brave too."

He blushed a little. Roxanne knew he had pizza to eat and a lot to think about, so decided not to take up any more of his time. She reached forward and gave him a firm, gentle hug. He hugged back, even though his little arms still couldn't reach all the way around her.

"Thank you," Roxanne said, "for everything." And she dashed off to catch up with Monty for an exciting game of golf.