With the release of this chapter, A New Beginning has reached 500,000 words(!). It has been a long journey to get that far, but even through the delays I put on myself, I managed to type this many words for the story. Thank you to those who have stuck with this story for as long as it has gone. I can't wait to go further and further on with this story, so I hope you'll all stick around.
Without further ado, enjoy the chapter!
"Hey, Mr. Wigglesworth. Do you think Baby's taken down the Christmas decorations yet?"
No way. She's too busy with those screens to do so.
"Hmm. Well, maybe I can remind her again soon. Honestly, if Ballora's not allowed to put up decorations when it's not December, then Baby shouldn't be allowed to, either. I really should've mentioned that yesterday..."
Foxy was reflecting over things in his room today. He had woken up and chatted with Mr. Wigglesworth as usual, and now he was pondering whether or not he had missed anything crucial during yesterday's meeting. And when he thought of it, he knew he did. He had forgotten that Baby had most likely not removed her Christmas decorations yet, even though the rules had just made it so Ballora would not be allowed to put up decorations when it wasn't December. Knowing this, Foxy thought harder. What else had he forgotten?
Nothing else is coming too mind...I guess maybe I covered everything. Foxy thought. That's good. I can focus on the rules we've already set in place now. Even though the others agreed to the rules, I have a feeling that I'll have trouble getting them to follow them. I'd better do my best to try and enforce them, or that entire meeting will have been for nothing. Hopefully Puppet and Baby help out in that regard...
"Hello? Foxy? Are you here? I don't remember there being a spiral staircase back here!"
Foxy was brought back to reality by a familiar voice calling his name.
Speak of the devil. Looks like she must be following the rules and spending an hour not playing her games. He thought, recognizing the sound of Baby's voice and he responded. "Hey, Baby, is that you? Yeah, I'm in here! Just do down the spiral staircase, okay?"
"Uh, okay!"
There were footsteps, and Foxy saw Circus Baby stepping down the spiral staircase and making her way onto the landing of Foxy's room.
"Woah...since when has this been here?" She said curiously, gazing around at the room.
"Good morning, Baby! Welcome to my new back room." Foxy greeted, coming over. "Yeah, Puppet finally finished building this, so now I sleep and do my stuff here instead of in my cove. What do you think? I think the room looks nice, but the pink on the wallpaper is a little questionable to me."
"Um...well, this is definitely a surprise. Looks nice, actually." Baby responded, nodding approvingly. "And I never did take you as a person who liked pink, so you saying that does kind of make sense, but...out of curiosity, why do you dislike pink? I mean, you do wear it as part of your suit's color scheme."
"It's part of my suit, yes, but as I've had to tell the others, it's not one of my favorite colors." Foxy said, shaking his head. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with the color itself. I just wish I could've had a choice on the wallpaper colors."
"Mmm-hmm...red is definitely more your color, though." Baby glanced at the red stripes on the walls.
"Oh, definitely. Red was the color I was back when I wore my old suit. The kids always said it suits me."
"Honestly, I agree with that. Red suits me too, right?"
"Of course. I think the red in your outfit does come together pretty nicely."
"Just what I wanted to hear! Thank you. As for the room, did you say Puppet made it?"
"Yeah, Puppet made the entire room. And, worse yet, he did it without my input."
"Did he now?" Baby gazed around at the room yet again. "He actually did a decent job, all things considered, although I think I could've done something a lot better if I was in charge of making your room."
Foxy nodded. "I don't doubt that. Although..."
Baby raised an eyebrow. "Although what?"
"...you do seem to have a habit of not taking down your Christmas decorations."
"Oh. Well...I kind of got too absorbed into my games to focus on that...does it bother you?"
"Seeing as we imposed a rule yesterday about Ballora not being allowed to put up decorations when it's not December or a special occasion, it kind of does."
Baby paused. "Oh, right, that rule." She looked a little anxious. "You're going to impose that rule on me, too, aren't you? I was kind of afraid you were going to. I was a bit taken aback by how many rules you had in mind during the meeting yesterday..."
"I know it's different, but I honestly think the change will be for the better. I mostly just wanted to make things so that we don't have to pay to get the ovens fixed again. That was a gigantic hassle."
Baby shrugged and nodded. "Fair point, I guess."
"Also, random question, but do you know what the password to my computer might be? As you can see, I have a computer now-" Foxy pointed across the room at his desk, where his computer was "-but I can't get into it because it's password-protected, and Puppet won't tell me what the password is. Do you know what it is? I figure I'd ask, seeing as you're one of the leaders here, like Puppet and I."
"Your password? Um, I don't think I ever heard any kind of password for your computer, but you could always guess. What's your favorite food?"
"Uh, pizza. Should I type that in?"
"It's worth a shot."
Foxy shrugged and walked over to his computer, pressed the power button, and stood there idly waiting for it to turn on. Within a minute, the screen was back to displaying the box where the password needed to be entered. Foxy put his hands on the keyboard, simply typed 'pizza' and hit the enter key.
Password Denied.
"Didn't work." Foxy answered, shaking his head. "And I can't spend all my time guessing. I guess I'll have to go to Puppet later and see if I can ask him for the password again." He stood up and pressed the power button on the computer, letting it shut back off again.
"Sorry I couldn't be more of a help." Baby said, shaking her head.
"It's fine. I'll figure out how to get access to my computer at some point. Until then, we can forget about it." Foxy walked away from his computer. "Hey, why'd you come here in the first place?"
"Because I'm bored." Baby sighed. "Today's the first day of me having to spend an hour off my games, and within two minutes I'm already bored out of my skull. I came here hoping you'd have an idea of what to do."
"Honestly, I don't think I do, but we can come up with something. Not like I had any plans." Foxy admit. "Let's go up to the main room and brainstorm. I'm sure we can come up with another game to play that doesn't involve screens. There's got to be something, right?"
"I hope so."
The two of them trudged up the spiral staircase and went through the corridor, then up the trapdoor. But the moment they exited Foxy's cove and came walking through the doorway into the main room, they were almost immediately interrupted.
Puppet was running towards them, looking harried as he usually did when he was running at them. "Foxy! Foxy! I need your help! Oh, Baby, you're here too! Good! Something's going on! Well, a couple of things!"
"What's up?" Foxy asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Two things happened today! First, when I came walking into the main room this morning, I found...well...actually, let me just show you. Come over here." Puppet turned and walked forwards into the center of the main room. Foxy and Baby followed him, and watched as Puppet pointed at something sitting in the center of the main room.
A large wooden crate.
"What's with the giant crate?" Baby questioned. "I didn't notice this when I was walking through the main room earlier! Then again, I kind of had my head down while I was walking..."
"Yeah, what is with this crate, Puppet? Did you order a new tv or something?" Foxy asked.
Puppet shook his head. "No, I didn't order anything as of recently. I just came into the room and saw this crate here! And look! It's open!"
The wooden crate was indeed open. The top of it had been taken off and was leaning against the side of the wooden crate. Fearing the worst, hoping for the best, and anticipating the weirdest, Foxy walked over to the crate and stared down inside to find...
...that it was completely empty.
"It's empty." Foxy stated simply.
"I know! When I came in, it was just open like that." Puppet said.
"So all that came here was an empty crate?" Baby stammered.
"That was what I thought at first, but then I noticed something else." Puppet crouched down by the side of the crate. "Take a look at the lid."
Confused, Foxy came over and kneeled down as well, examining the lid closer. The lid was not completely intact, like the rest of the crate. There were giant dents on the side of the lid, eight in total, and each were bigger than any of the animatronics' own hands.
"There's dent marks in the wood. That means that something had to have messed with it." Foxy inferred. "So does that mean something opened this?"
"I think so. But then I thought deeper about it." Puppet replied. "I think something was actually inside this crate, and now it's not in there anymore. So either somebody took it out, or whatever it was came out on its own."
"You...think so?" Baby said tentatively. "But then...where is it?"
"No idea. All I've found is this crate."
"Hmm..." Foxy mumbled out loud, trying to think about this. Puppet said he hadn't ordered anything, so who had? Ballora had been locked in her room for most of the time and hadn't come out to get anything, so Foxy didn't think it could be here. Freddy didn't have a way of ordering anything, and neither did Bon-Bon, Dinah, or Garbage. But there was one person that made him suspicious. "...hey, Puppet. What if Bonnet ordered this?"
"Bonnet...?" Puppet stuttered. "You think she did this?"
"You use your computer to order stuff, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"And she has access to your computer, doesn't she?"
There was a long pause from Puppet.
"We have to check on her. Right now." Puppet said simply, and he straightened up quickly and dashed down the small hallway.
"Woah! Hey, wait for us!" Foxy called, and he and Baby quickly followed after Puppet, feeling as curious over Bonnet as Puppet no doubt was at the moment.
"I have no idea what you're doing here, and I don't even know who you are! Can you please just explain yourself?"
When Foxy heard these shouts emanating from down inside the box as he climbed down, he felt a little uneasy. Who was Bonnet talking to?
He, Puppet, and Baby reached the bottom of the ladder as quickly as they could and approached the center room of Puppet's box as the talking got louder.
"You must not have expected me. My apologies. I am simply here to ask a question. Can you tell me where the animatronic known as 'Funtime Foxy' is?"
"I don't know, okay? Probably in his room!"
The three animatronics came into the center room and finally saw what was happening. Bonnet was standing back, looking wary and confused, while a blue figure stood in front of her and talked to her.
"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing in my box?" Puppet demanded, stepping forward.
The figure stopped suddenly, then turned around and faced the three animatronics. It was then that Foxy came to witness something he was confused to be witnessing.
Standing before him was an endoskeleton; but not the type of endoskeleton Foxy was familiar with. It was fully colored in blue, with a large green electronic button on its chest. It had metallic feet ending in two large square toes, but the highlight of it was its arms. Its arms were huge, even more so than anybody else's arms. The hands were also huge, looking about twice as big as a normal animatronic hand, and with four fingers each. The fingers were so big that Foxy thought it might be able to grasp anything with ease. Then there was the endoskeleton's head and face. It had a line of small, but straight white teeth curved into a small smile. Its eyes, rather than being white, were completely black, and its irises were plain yellow. It had a single antenna sticking out of the top of its head, which ended in a yellowish-orange ball. Overall, it looked familiar and yet peculiar at the same time.
"Ah. Just who I was attempting to look for." The endoskeleton said. It stepped forwards. "Are you the animatronics known as 'Funtime Foxy', 'Puppet', and 'Circus Baby'?"
The three animatronics glanced at each other, then nodded unsurely.
The endoskeleton brightened up when they nodded. "Splendid! I am glad to finally be meeting you. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mendo-Endo. I have been assigned to this pizzeria to be its core helper and mechanic. I was informed that you were a leader of sorts, and I was trying to find you in hopes that you could tell me how to get started."
"Mendo-Endo...?" Baby mumbled confusedly.
"You're...a new animatronic." Foxy said. "We've never seen you before."
"I would think not. I have only just arrived yesterday afternoon." Mendo-Endo informed passively.
"Oh! So there were shipments of animatronics that just hadn't arrived yet?"
Mendo-Endo tilted his head. "Whether there were other animatronics meant to be delivered alongside me is not in my databanks. As far as I am aware, only I was delivered as of late. But I would like to start today, if you please."
"Okay, okay, slow down here." Foxy said quickly. "So, you're a new animatronic."
"Yes."
"You're a helper? And a mechanic?"
Mendo-Endo nodded. "Quite right. My primary task at this building is to assist the animatronics living here in their daily tasks, including all sorts of things, big and small. I am equipped and trained to handle a variety of jobs, including construction, machine repair, janitorial work, painting, decoration, carpentry-"
"I think we get the gist!" Foxy interrupted hurriedly before Mendo could continue.
"Wow...he knows how to do all that stuff? Impressive..." Puppet admit. "Hey, wait a second. Mendo, did you come out of a crate in the main room?"
"That is correct. According to my databanks, the room I first found myself in is referred to as the pizzeria's 'main room', as it is the place for the most festivities, including a large stage, plenty of seating, stands with toys and other concessions, a very fun bounce house, and close access to the kitchen, where the pizza can be made."
Not currently, it can't. Foxy thought when Mendo mentioned the pizza. "Uh, good to know. We were kind of confused when we came in and saw that empty crate sitting in the middle of the room."
"My apologies. I do believe I forgot to remove the crate to a storage room after exiting it." Mendo-Endo said. "Would you like me to go back and move it out of the way? It would only take me a minute."
"You'd do that for us?" Baby questioned.
"As I said, am I the pizzeria's helper. I will assist in any task."
From behind Mendo, Bonnet suddenly looked interested. "Any task, huh?" She asked, smirking.
Mendo turned around to address her. "That is correct."
"Would you like to hand me my food while I sit on a couch and watch television?" Bonnet asked, looking excited.
"If that is what you need help with, certainly. What food would you like me to go and find? And while I am at it, I would like to know what you wish to watch and what television you shall use to watch it. I can set it up for you so you will not have to lift a finger."
Bonnet giggled excitedly. "Wow! I could get used to this!"
"Oh, no you don't. From what I can see, we've got a new helper, and I don't think we need him spending his time babying you." Puppet said strictly, coming over. "Mendo, can you please not do any of what Bonnet just said?"
"If that is what you wish." Mendo-Endo agreed.
"Hey! Don't listen to Puppet!" Bonnet whined.
"Unfortunately, Bonnet, my databanks tell me that Puppet has the status of 'leader' in this building, alongside Funtime Foxy and Circus Baby. As such, the orders he gives me take priority over the orders you give me."
"That's right." Puppet agreed, looking appreciative.
"Hmph!" Bonnet grumbled. She stomped away from Mendo. "Stupid Puppet, already going around convincing the new guy not to help me..."
"Hey, Mendo is a guy, right?" Baby asked curiously.
"As a robot, I do not have a defined gender." Mendo-Endo said at first, turning to face Baby. "However, if you would like to use pronouns for me, I would like to let you know that I prefer he/him/they/them pronouns. Is this acceptable?"
"Oh! Well, uh, of course!" Baby agreed, nodding understandingly.
"Anyway, it's nice to meet you. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to run into a whole new animatronic when I came down here." Foxy said. "Hey, Bonnet, did you order this guy? He's good."
"No way! I didn't even know something like this could be ordered." Bonnet denied, frowning.
"I was not ordered by someone by the name of 'Bonnet'." Mendo-Endo informed them, raising a finger. "According to the statistics of the order placed to deliver me here, it was made by Fazbear Entertainment."
"So the company sent you? Well, then, I guess they decided you're a part of our crew. So, welcome!" Foxy greeted, nodding. He put out his hand, and Mendo wasted no time shaking it. "It's a bit of a surprise to see a new face here, especially one like yours, but if you're going to help us out, then we welcome you with open arms. Hey, do you have any skills in cooking?"
"I indeed do. Are you asking because you want me to help out Dinah?" Mendo questioned.
Foxy made a face. "How'd you know who Dinah is?"
"According to the logs of the pizzeria, Dinah is registered as an employee and a chef under his file. I have already scanned the logs and know of all employees currently working at the pizzeria, as well as all animatronics stationed here. If you are curious, I also know of Ballora, Bon-Bon, and Funtime Freddy."
Foxy felt impressed by Mendo's knowledge. "Wow, so you already know everyone. Awesome. Guess I won't need to have introductions, then, huh?"
"Indeed." Mendo agreed, nodding.
Foxy stepped back and eyed Bonnet. "Although...there is one introduction I do have to make. Hey, Bonnet, have you fully met Baby yet?"
"Hmm? Well, yeah. I met her yesterday, didn't I?" Bonnet responded.
Foxy paused. "Er...well, technically, you did, but..."
"Yeah, in the craziness of the situation yesterday, I don't think we really got to meet each other properly..." Baby commented. She was eyeing Bonnet with both curiosity and apprehension.
Mendo turned to Puppet questioningly. "I am not aware of any situation taking place yesterday. What is Circus Baby referring to?"
Puppet shook his head. "It's kind of a long story. I'll, uh...tell you later, I guess."
"I guess that's fair! In that case, allow me to say hi for real! Hi! I'm Bonnet, the most awesome bunny hand-puppet in history, not to mention the best girl in this pizzeria!"
"Uh...yeah, sure. What you said." Baby agreed slowly, giving Bonnet a look. Foxy could tell Baby was paying less attention to what Bonnet was saying than what Bonnet looked like. She looked to Foxy. "Foxy, can you tell me why there's a pink Bon-Bon here in the first place?"
"Oh, right, you don't know. You see, what happened was that-" Foxy went into detail about how he and Puppet had first encountered Bonnet. Baby's eyes widened.
"She came out of the toilet?" Baby stammered, cringing. "And she's Bon-Bon's ex-friend? Why didn't Bon-Bon ever mention her before?"
"Bit of a sore subject for him." Foxy informed her. "He's...not on the best terms with her, even despite how much the look alike."
"She definitely does look a lot like Bon-Bon does now, but...I dunno, the pink isn't nearly as cute as the blue."
"Ex-cuse me, what was that I just heard?" Bonnet asked loudly, her tone becoming a bit icy.
"There, there, Bonnet. What Baby is trying to say is that Bon-Bon is more popular than you are, as fan surveys show that more people think Bon-Bon is 'adorable' than you are. She is simply stating the facts." Mendo-Endo informed Bonnet, but in a matter-of-fact tone, not rudely.
"You two have ten seconds to say something better than that." Bonnet hissed dangerously.
Baby looked panicked, and even Mendo seemed a bit perturbed.
"Um, I mean, well..." Baby began. "...you see, you're not as cute as Bon-Bon because he's the cutest and he's handsome, right? And you're beautiful."
"Why, yes, that is true. And of course, you're no less cute than he is. Factually, you two are both what could be considered 'cute' and 'adorable'." Mendo-Endo added quickly. Foxy was honestly surprised to see such a robotic person like Mendo act in such a way.
"Oh! Actually, you're both totally right. He is pretty adorable..." Bonnet mumbled, and she giggled a bit. "I guess he might be cuter than I am. But only by a little bit, because I'm super cute, too! Thank you for telling me so! I mean, I already know I'm cute and beautiful, but just hearing it be said out loud, why, it's so nice!"
"Nice save, you two." Foxy whispered. Baby and Mendo were near enough to him to where they could hear.
"Whew. That could've been bad." Baby sighed, rubbing the back of her head.
"I appreciate the thanks. I simply sensed danger from Bonnet's tone and decided to do what you all might refer to as 'backpedaling'." Mendo-Endo informed.
"Hey, hey, guys! That reminds me! Have you seen Bon-Bon anywhere?" Bonnet asked.
"Bonnet, I thought we talked about this." Puppet groaned.
"What? I just wanna know." Bonnet whined, glaring at Puppet.
"If you're so curious, then I can tell you that Bon-Bon went to the kitchen earlier. He woke up and said he was hungry, then left." Foxy told her.
"Really?! He's in the kitchen? Oh, knowing he's off eating...and I could be there eating with him!" Bonnet giggled. "Oh, please just let me go and join him!"
"Bonnet, we already told you no." Foxy sighed. "Besides, he might be back in my room sleeping by now, and I don't think you should wake him up while he sleeps. He tends to be cranky if you do."
"Hmm. Good point, I guess. I suppose I'll stay down here and keep waiting for you all to let me see him..." Bonnet sat down on the ground and shook her head disappointedly.
"If I may ask, why is it that you are disallowing Bonnet from seeing Bon-Bon?" Mendo-Endo questioned again, turning to face Foxy.
"Another thing that we'll have to tell you later." Foxy responded, shrugging. "You're new here, so if you're going to be on the same pace with the rest of us, there's...a lot we'll have to get you caught up on. For now, just go with it, okay?"
"Understood. I will wait until you feel it is appropriate to tell me." Mendo agreed.
Meanwhile, Bonnet had turned to talk to Puppet.
"Oh, Puppet, that reminds me! Just wanted to tell you that I rented this awesome new movie while you were gone." She told Puppet cheerily. "It costed seventy-five dollars to buy. Is that okay that I did that?"
"W-What?!" Puppet stammered. "Did you use my account to rent movies again?! Bonnet, I told you not to do that! The money on that account isn't yours to spend freely!"
"Aw, sure it is. The movie was definitely worth buying, I promise."
Puppet groaned and slumped his shoulders. "You say that, and yet you also said that it costed freaking seventy-five dollars. Bonnet, what movie did you rent that was so expensive that it costed that much money?"
"Oh, oh, let me tell you, you'll love to hear it." Bonnet crawled over to Puppet and beckoned to him. Puppet leaned down and let Bonnet whisper in his ear. When she finished, Puppet stumbled backwards.
"No!" Puppet exclaimed. "You rented that movie? But it got terrible reviews online! How could you think to do that without telling me?"
"Which movie did she rent, Puppet?" Baby asked interestedly.
Puppet sighed, walked over, and whispered in Baby's ear. Baby brightened up when she heard it. "Oh, that one? I watched that movie recently. It's totally worth it."
"Which movie is totally worth it?" Foxy cut in. Baby leaned over to whisper it in his ear. "That movie? Huh, I haven't seen that one yet."
"You should." Baby recommended, nodding.
"I have not seen it either. In fact, I do not believe I have any seen any movies at all since I was created." Mendo-Endo mentioned. "What is it like?"
Baby chuckled. "You should watch it for yourself. It's a pretty bad movie, but in the best kind of way."
"Bad...in the best kind of way? That is a rather confusing way of putting it." Mendo-Endo said confusedly. "Hmm. It does sound interesting, however. Perhaps I will watch it, if I can find time to do so."
Puppet just shrugged in exasperation. "Oh, nevermind. Bonnet, you and I are going to be having a talk about this later. I don't want you spending my money on random movies without my permission. But for now, enough about that! Foxy, Baby, I wish you had let me get to the other thing I tried to say earlier."
"Other thing? Hey, that's right. You did say there were two things wrong earlier, but you only mentioned the first one." Foxy remembered. "What's the second problem?"
"Yeah, what's going on?" Baby asked.
"Something's wrong with Freddy." Puppet said, frowning as he spoke. "I went to check on him earlier, to see if he wanted to hang out or do something fun, but he's just...not acting normal! I don't know how to explain it, but something's wrong with the way he was acting. Can you guys please come with me and help me figure out what the problem is?"
"Something's wrong with...Freddy?" Foxy stuttered. "Alright, alright, that does sound serious. Where is he?"
"In his room still. I don't think he's moved from there since I left to go get help." Puppet answered. "Can you two please just come along and see him? I don't know what to do, so hopefully you two will recognize the symptoms and have a solution."
"In that case, yeah, we'll help." Baby accepted, and Foxy nodded his agreement.
"Thanks. Follow me! I'll lead you to him." Puppet turned and ran to the ladder so he could begin climbing up it.
Baby ran after Puppet, and Foxy made to follow.
"Wait a moment, Foxy."
Foxy stopped and turned around. Mendo was approaching him.
"Can I come with as well? I have expertise in mechanical fields. If there is something wrong with Funtime Freddy, I may be able to help him."
"Huh. That is true. We could really use a professional mechanic in times like these." Foxy admit. "We've...never really had someone here who knows what they're doing when they're tinkering around with an animatronic, so it would help if we did. Sure, go ahead and come with." Foxy turned to face Bonnet. "Are you going to come too, Bonnet?"
"No thanks! I got a movie to catch up on. But good luck dealing with Freddy, I guess." Bonnet said, shrugging.
Foxy rolled his eyes. "Alright, if that's what you want, then go ahead and stay. But I'd better catch up with the others before they leave me in the dust. Mendo, I'm going to be running there. Can you go fast?"
"I believe so. You do not need to slow down at all while you get there. Just go." Mendo-Endo said, and the endoskeleton pushed Foxy lightly with one of his large hands. "I will be right behind you."
Foxy nodded. "Cool. Then come on."
"Oh, and by the way, the sequel costs two hundred bucks! I think I'll buy that one as well!" Called Bonnet.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Puppet yelled from the tunnel above.
Baby giggled as she ascended the ladder. "You know, I'm starting to like her."
Foxy grinned, but said nothing else on the topic as he and Mendo raced after Baby and Puppet. Foxy's mind went back into thinking, trying to make a guess as to what could of possibly happened to Freddy this time around...
At first, Foxy's primary goal when he, Puppet, Baby, and Mendo arrived in the main room was to go right to the closet. But a strange feeling appeared in his robotic gut, and he suddenly stopped right as he approached the stand which had the closet door behind it.
"Hey, wait, guys. Call me crazy, but I think it's worth checking the kitchen, in case Freddy went there." Foxy voiced. "Just a quick look would be good. If he isn't in there, we can just leave instantly and go up the ladder anyways. Is that alright?"
Puppet made a face but shrugged. "Alright, I guess it's worth a quick look. But let's not take too long. Freddy didn't seem like he had only a little bit of time left, but I'd rather not take too long checking the kitchen for him."
Baby and Mendo nodded their agreement, and Foxy and the crew went off to the right of the stand instead. Foxy opened the gate and led the group to the kitchen door, which was already open. Foxy led the way inside.
The kitchen seemed to be empty of beings. Foxy heard the rumble of the tv in the break room, and he knew right away that Dinah must be on break. But the more important fact was that Freddy wasn't in here.
"Hmm. Guess that feeling of mine was actually crazy." Foxy said. "Yeah, Freddy isn't in here. Let's go to the closet and-"
But Foxy's decision was interrupted by a snore, rippling through the room noticeably. This snore stopped the group in their tracks.
"Who just snored super loudly?" Baby questioned, looking among the group for answers.
"I heard the sound coming from behind the counter. Perhaps the room is not as empty as we thought." Mendo voiced.
"Oh. Maybe Freddy is in here, and he's just laying behind the counter in a food coma or something." Puppet suggested, and he went over and looked behind the counter. His face fell seconds later. "Oop. Well, I was right about the food coma, but that's not Freddy."
Feeling perplexed by this response, Foxy went and peeked around the counter. On the floor right next to the ovens, unconscious and with a half-eaten sandwich laying on his chest, was Bon-Bon. He appeared to be asleep, and this was confirmed when he let out another loud snore.
"Bon-Bon? What are you doing, asleep in here? I thought you said you were hungry!" Foxy said. Bon-Bon just mumbled a little and stayed asleep. "Hmm. Guess all that eating made him want to take a nap."
"Bon-Bon...? Oh, that's right. He looks like that now." Baby stuttered, gazing down at the snoozing hand-puppet. "Actually, you guys never did tell me why he looks completely different now. Why...is that...exactly?" She paused, then suddenly became miffed. "Did either of you paint him when he wasn't awake?! You know that's not okay!"
"No, no, we didn't! As it turns out, this was something Bon-Bon himself caused." Foxy explained. "You see..." And then he explained Bon-Bon's entire story of how he had the blue suit and what the purple suit was meant to be.
"Huh? So the purple suit...was a disguise? And he was trying to surprise us when we were all together?" Baby stammered. She looked back down at Bon-Bon. "Oh...that actually makes me feel kind of bad for not trying to get with you guys more often. By not coming to hang out, did I...ruin his perfect chance to show off his real suit?"
"He must have been quite dedicated to making it a surprise if he waited for months to find the perfect chance to do so." Mendo analyzed. "I feel as if I can admire his dedication. It is a shame, however, that his efforts ultimately failed."
"I think he's moved on from the surprise business by now, so it's not a huge deal. And you don't need to blame yourself, Baby. Not a single one of us could've known, seeing as he kept it a secret for all this time." Puppet mentioned fairly. "It doesn't matter anyways. He's showing off his real suit now, and that's that."
"He didn't plan on showing it off at the point he did, actually." Foxy brought up. "I think he might've kept on hiding it if things hadn't gone the way they did, but when Bonnet came and finally found Bon-Bon again, she told us of how he was blue and not purple. We didn't believe her at first, but after we saw how Bon-Bon couldn't move his eyes, and how he had another set of teeth connected to a blue jaw, it was only then that we realized that the purple suit was a disguise."
"Uh-huh...well, I do have to admit that his actual suit is...a lot nicer." Baby said. "Nothing against the purple suit, of course, but I always did feel like it was a little...outdated."
"So did me and Puppet. That's why I'm glad he's finally showing off what he really looks like. The new look is pretty good." Foxy complimented. "Anyway...we're getting off track here. We have to go and help Freddy, like we said we would!"
"What shall we do with Bon-Bon?" Mendo asked.
"We can let him stay here and keep sleeping. He's more well-behaved when he's asleep then when he's awake." Foxy decided. "Although hopefully, he didn't eat through all of the food we had stocked in here. If he did, we might have to impose a rule where nobody can go through tons of our food supply in one day unless they have permission or something."
"That's definitely a topic worth looking into it at a later point." Puppet acknowledged. "But not now, Foxy! Freddy still needs our help! Come on, guys!" And then the animatronics got back on track, leaving the kitchen behind in order to refocus on their more pressing task.
"Goodness, my only hope is that all these delays hasn't put Freddy in more trouble." Puppet groaned as he ascended the ladder first. Foxy came up right after him and entered Freddy's upstairs room.
"We'll see, Puppet." Was Foxy's reply as Mendo came up and stepped aside so Baby could get up as well.
"Let us hope the situation is not dire." Mendo commented. "Anyway, where is Freddy located? I have never been in this room before, so I do not know."
"Me neither, but...woah. Freddy really upgraded his old room..." Baby said, gazing around in awe. "Anyways, where is Freddy at?"
"He's in his bedroom." Puppet said.
Foxy nodded and walked through the room right to Freddy's bedroom door. He opened it, went inside...and found Freddy there. Freddy was sitting down idly on his carpet, his head turned towards the left wall.
"Well, here he is. What's the problem with him? He just seems like he's sitting around." Foxy said, unsure of how to assess the situation.
"It's not just that! Look at what he's doing." Puppet urged.
Foxy paused and looked back. Freddy was not moving from his spot, and he hadn't reacted to the entrance of the other animatronics in any kind of way. He continued to gaze intently at the wall, not breaking eye contact. Meanwhile, Foxy could now detect that Freddy was laughing softly.
"He's...laughing. He usually does laugh. Hey, he isn't laughing because he's playing a trick on us, is he?" Foxy asked.
"No, no, it's not that. Keep watching him." Puppet said.
Foxy went silent again. Freddy's laughter continued, and after listening to it for a good minute, Foxy realized that Freddy's laughter was the same every time. It was the same kind of laugh every second, playing over and over in repeat, and not alternating or stopping for anything. All the while, Freddy did not move from his position. Even his eyes didn't move. The laughter just continued.
"Freddy has not stopped laughing for one entire minute. This is deeply confusing." Mendo informed, gazing at Freddy with befuddlement.
"Yeah. You'd think he would've done something else by now..." Foxy agreed, also confused by Freddy's behavior.
"See? I told you something was off about him!" Puppet exclaimed. "When I came in, he was doing the exact same thing the whole entire time, and without stopping once! I know Freddy isn't someone who behaves with anything resembling normalcy, but come on, even something like this is beyond his usual behavior!"
"Freddy...? Hello?" Baby asked unsurely. She walked over, stuck her hand out, and waved it in front of Freddy's face. Freddy gave off not even the slightest reaction to Baby's hand, and just kept laughing softly. "He won't respond...maybe I need to be more direct." Baby said. "Freddy, wake up!" With the same hand, Baby tapped the top of Freddy's head with a slight amount of force. Freddy didn't even flinch. "Not even that works..."
"There's clearly some kind of problem here! What do you guys think is the problem here?" Puppet questioned with concern.
"Hmm. Perhaps there is an issue happening inside him. If you all wish, I could take a look." Mendo offered.
"Yeah, that'd be for the best. Go ahead." Foxy agreed.
"Understood." Mendo paused. "Oh my, I think I forgot to grab tools. Can anyone point me to the nearest toolbox?"
"Oh, right, mechanics need tools. Don't worry, I know where you can find the tools." Puppet began. "Go to the kitchen. If you face the closet door outside and look to the right, the kitchen door is right over there. Go in there, open the farthest left cabinet at the other side of the room, and inside should be a red toolbox marked with a Fazbear insignia. Pick it up and bring it back here."
"Alright. I am on my way. I will be back in a bit." Mendo replied. The endoskeleton turned and departed from the room.
"Well, that handles that. Until he returns, let's see what we can do about Freddy." Foxy voiced. He didn't know when Mendo was going to return with the tools, but hopefully he wouldn't take any longer than a few minutes. Foxy then turned back to Freddy.
"Freddy? Freddy?" Baby kept saying, and she sat in front of him and kept staring at him, trying to get him to react.
"Come on, Freddy, wake up!" Foxy urged, but nothing happened. "Hmm...okay, let me try something ridiculous." He reached up to the top of Freddy's head...and plucked Freddy's top hat off of his head, leaving the metal bar where the hat was showing. "There! I took his hat. If he's pretending, he should be upset that I did so." Foxy explained, but when he and the others waited for said reaction, they still got nothing.
"Nothing's changed. I don't think taking his hat is the right way." Puppet said.
Foxy sighed. "Yeah, you're right." Foxy placed the top hat back onto Freddy's head, reconnecting it to the metal bar the hat was attached to. "What else could we do? Maybe if we gave him chicken?"
"Chicken..." Came the slightest whisper. Everyone froze as they realized that Freddy had muttered the word 'chicken' under his breath, his jaw moving the slightest amount as he did so. He still wasn't moving his eyes, arms, or legs, but they all noticed the mouth movement.
"Did you see that?" Baby said, wide-eyed.
"I did!" Puppet replied, nodding quickly.
"Then maybe Freddy will stop this if we give him chicken? It's worth a try, at least!" Foxy guessed.
"Perfect! Look, he still has that framed chicken on the wall!" Baby pointed out, pointing at the framed chicken attached to the walls. She went over and tugged one of the chickens out of its respective frame. She raced back over to Freddy and got in front of him again. "Freddy, look what I've got! It's a whole chicken! Your favorite...!" She held the chicken out so that it was right near Freddy's face. Freddy didn't even say the word again. "Freddy? Freddy, why won't you eat it?! You usually jump at the chance to eat chicken!" Baby stammered, frustrated over the lack of progress the chicken was making.
"Hmm...yeah, that would normally work. Is there something wrong with the chicken...?" Foxy wondered.
"Hey, wait a second. Baby, let me see that chicken." Puppet cut in. Baby gave Puppet a look but handed over the chicken. Puppet held it up to his eye, taking close inspection of it. It took him five seconds before he spoke again. "I see now...I should've known. This isn't real chicken, everyone. It's made of rubber."
"Of rubber?" Baby stuttered. "But aren't rubber chickens normally all yellow and funny-looking?"
"Normally. But this rubber chicken is a replica of a normal brown piece of chicken." Puppet answered.
"That explains that. Freddy wouldn't eat chicken made of rubber." Foxy said disappointedly. "The framed chicken must all be rubber chickens, too. I'm guessing the framed chicken were always meant to be decorations, not actual chicken."
"Aw, man! Curse Freddy and his useless rubber chicken." Baby grumbled, and she put the chicken back on its proper frame, knowing it wouldn't help them anymore.
"Now what? What are we supposed to do?" Puppet sighed hopelessly.
"I have a suggestion. Hand his body over to me. I could fix the problem effortlessly."
Foxy almost wanted to say to the voice that he would never let it do that, as he knew the voice would just possess Freddy if he did. However, he had grown tired of trying to tell it off unsuccessfully, so he instead engaged in a new strategy: ignoring it. He said nothing whatsoever in response to the voice. Puppet and Baby both had knowing looks on their faces, but they caught onto Foxy's lead and ignored the voice too.
"I'll check under Freddy's bed. He might store things under there that could help us." Puppet suggested, acting as if the voice hadn't even spoke.
"Are you sure?" Baby said incredulously.
"No, but I might as well do...something else to try and help."
Neither Foxy nor Baby could argue with that logic, as they all wanted to help, so they let Puppet do what he wanted. Puppet crouched down near Freddy's fancy canopy bed and reached a hand underneath it, scrounging around for whatever he could find.
"Foxy. Puppet. Baby. I know you can hear me. You're not actually trying to ignore me now...are you? How amusing. To think I've been able to get to you that m-"
The last word of the voice's sentence was abruptly caught off as Foxy silently pushed it back again. He didn't care about the voice right now, not when there was Freddy to deal with.
Meanwhile, Puppet stood up and shook his head, showing his empty hands. He had found nothing.
The animatronics exchanged looks, seemingly unable to come up with anything else. They looked almost as if they had no other option but to wait for Mendo to come back and try to fix things himself.
"Oh, oh, wait! I've got it!" Baby exclaimed suddenly. "You guys know the fairytales, where the prince kisses the princess to wake her up? We should try that! You can both try kissing him!" She smiled as if it was a great plan, but Foxy could hear her snickering softly.
Foxy and Puppet looked at each other, then back at Baby, then at each other again.
"Yeah, no." Puppet said shortly.
"Obvious trick is obvious." Foxy added, shaking his head.
"Aw, what? How'd you know I was trying to trick you?" Baby said, her smile falling. "It wasn't that obvious, was it?"
"Baby, fairytales aren't real. Us kissing Freddy would be embarrassing, humiliating, and not much else."
Baby sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. It would've given me a good laugh, at least."
"Now is not the time for laughs, not when Freddy could end up like this forever!" Puppet said irritably.
"Hey, I was just trying to lighten the mood! Freddy wouldn't want us to be miserable!" Baby argued back. "I'm sorry, okay? I'll try to rouse him again if that makes you feel any better!" Baby waved her hand in front of Freddy's face. "Fred-dy? He-llo? Are-you-o-kay? Can-you-hear-me?" She said, emphasizing every syllable.
Of course, like all their other attempts, nothing came of it. Freddy's strange repeating laugh continued all the while.
Then, the laugh was suddenly interrupted when Freddy whispered again.
"Hello. Welcome to Circus Baby's Pizza World. I'm Funtime Freddy." Came Freddy's soft voice, although this time it was a touch more robotic than his previous line of 'chicken'. The animatronics exchanged weirded-out looks at these lines.
"Are those...his stage lines?" Baby stammered.
"Seems like it. But why would he repeat his stage lines?" Foxy asked to no one in particular.
"Allow me to check."
Three heads snapped over to the doorway and were happy to see Mendo finally re-entering the room. His left hand was lugging a large red toolbox.
"Mendo! There you are." Puppet sighed in relief. "Looks like you found the toolbox alright. Can you fix Freddy now?"
"Perhaps I may be able to. But first, I will need to identify the problem." Mendo informed them. "If you could all stand back, I must scan Freddy for internal issues and give my diagnosis."
The animatronics heeded Mendo's words without hesitation, and the three of them backed off from Freddy. Mendo-Endo approached Freddy with the toolbox in hand, and the endoskeleton set the toolbox down by his feet, rubbed his hands together, and then placed his hands on Freddy's left shoulder. There was a pause where nobody said anything, although Foxy swore that he could see Mendo's eyes glowing just a little bit brighter.
It took two minutes of uninterrupted silence before Mendo finally took his hands off of Freddy, closed his eyes, and said: "Ah. I see now."
"What do you mean...?" Baby asked tentatively.
Mendo turned to face them. "Well, I have just finished going through a full scan on Funtime Freddy to check things, and I now know the situation. Freddy is perfectly fine. His energy levels are excellent, he has no viruses, his systems, wires, gears, and mechanisms are running without a hitch, and there are no issues that I can detect. I didn't even need to bring the toolbox, because he is fine."
"What...? Wait, but if there's no issues, then...then why is Freddy acting so strange?" Puppet asked.
"The answer is quite simple. Freddy is-"
But a gasp from Baby completely cut through Mendo's answer. "Guys, look!" She said, and everyone looked around at Freddy.
Freddy was no longer sitting at the spot where he had been previously. Instead, there was a noticeable lump in the red and black carpet, and from underneath the carpet, Freddy's head was sticking out, still staring off into space. The soft laughter finally vanished, and now there was nothing but snoring coming from Freddy's mouth.
"He...crawled underneath the carpet?" Foxy stammered.
"Ah, it looks as if he left the sleepwalk function on." Mendo-Endo informed them, unfazed. "As I was saying, Freddy is in standby mode."
The animatronics gasped and understood Mendo immediately. Foxy kicked himself inside his head. Standby mode! How had he forgotten about standby mode?
"Oh! That's why." Foxy said, finally realizing the source of Freddy's behavior.
"It looks as if you understand now. Yes, Freddy is on standby mode." Mendo continued. "This mode is a mode that can be considered a halfway point between being activated and being deactivated. Think of it as an animatronic version of someone being half-asleep. When standby mode is activated, the animatronic's mind goes into sleep mode. However, not all of its systems are shut down, and the animatronic can still speak, although they often do so without knowing they are speaking. They may also activate the experimental sleepwalk mode, which causes the animatronic to move around based on what commands their mind is sending their systems. In this case, it appears Freddy unknowingly told him systems to move him underneath the carpet."
"So Freddy's just...sleeping?" Puppet said confusedly.
"Sort of, yes." Mendo replied. "He is not fully asleep, nor is he fully awake. I will tell you what I believe, and in this case, I would say that he most likely decided to go to sleep in standby mode rather than in full deactivation mode, and the behavior he has been displaying is a result of him unconsciously moving and speaking while he remains asleep. To put it simply, he is taking a very odd form of rest, and we are interrupting it."
"Uh...wow. That's...weird, but also, it's a relief that it's nothing serious." Baby admit, shrugging unsurely.
"Looks like Freddy's unconsciously took the carpet as his blanket rather than his actual blanket, though." Foxy pointed out, eyeing Freddy's head sticking out from under the carpet. "And if he's sleeping, then we should probably leave him alone."
"Agreed. If he's just taking the weirdest nap I've ever seen, then I can leave him in peace." Puppet agreed.
"That would be for the best. Let us depart from the room and not bother him any longer." Mendo-Endo concluded, and he picked up the toolbox and left the room. Baby and Puppet followed, and Foxy was the last one out the door. He closed the bedroom door behind him, blocking out the sounds of Freddy's snores in the process.
"So...since that's all settled, I'm going to go find something else to do until my break hour finally passes." Baby decided. "What about you guys?"
"It's back to my room for me." Foxy added. "What about you, Puppet?"
"I'll head back to my room as well. I'm going to have to tell Bonnet off for purchasing movies without permission, and I'm also going to have to refund them as soon as I possibly can." Puppet explained, sighing as he spoke.
"Those all sound like good ideas. However, I must ask what I am meant to do now." Mendo-Endo inquired, stepping forwards. "With the situation handled, I don't know what to do now. You three are the leaders here. Can you provide me with guidance?"
"Oh! Well, I think I can. Since you're the new helper around here...hmm...hey, why don't you go back to the kitchen and get the place cleaned up? You can help Dinah with his cooking, too, if you want." Foxy suggested. "I'm not sure where you can sleep, but do you think you'll be able to find somewhere in the kitchen to deactivate?"
"Actually, I believe so. I am an animatronic, so I can turn myself off whenever and wherever I need to." Mendo replied. "I do not mind going to the kitchen. I spotted a few stains on the counter while I was in there, and I believe they need to be cleaned up. I would be happy to assist in cooking as well. Oh, and I do need to put this toolbox back." Mendo raised the toolbox slightly to show it off, then put his arm back down. "Thank you for the help. If there is anything else you three need help with, please do not hesitate to come and ask me. I will be in the kitchen at all times in case I am needed. Goodbye." Mendo-Endo trooped back to the ladder and began to climb back down it, gripping the toolbox in one hand and going down the rungs of the ladder with the other.
The animatronics stood there as they watched Mendo leave. Baby smiled. "You know, I think I'm going to like him as well. Having a helper around here would be really good." She said, nodding.
"He seems very willing to do whatever we ask. I admire that." Puppet added. "The more hands we have working around here, the better. Although I do have to remind you two that just because we have a helper now, doesn't mean that the others have an excuse to slack off. They're responsible for their messes still."
"Yeah, I agree. But having someone experienced with cleaning and repair jobs will make running the pizzeria easier." Foxy admit. "Mendo seems to be friendly as well. The list we found never did mention him, but I'm glad he's here anyways. But...we're going to have to catch him up on all the important information when we can."
"I'll see if I can do that after I deal with Bonnet." Puppet said, nodding. "Bonnet comes first, though. I'm not going to be able to rest easy until I can get those movies refunded." Puppet muttered this as he went to the ladder and exited as well.
"I'll be on my way as well. See you later, Foxy." Baby said, and she smiled at Foxy before going down the ladder after Puppet.
"Later." Foxy said, waving at her. He looked back at the bedroom door briefly, but this time, he felt sure that Freddy was fine, even though he was using the carpet as a blanket. But there was nothing too weird about that. Freddy was Freddy, and Foxy liked him that way.
And so Foxy left Freddy's upstairs room as well, hoping that he could get back to the normal parts of his day, like trying to password guess his computer, talking constantly with Mr. Wigglesworth, and trying to catch sleep all the while...
That's right, everyone! Let me introduce you to my first fully revealed original character: Mendo-Endo!
As a helper bot trained in a variety of tasks, Mendo has the capacity to be an invaluable employee of the pizzeria. His mechanic skills, eagerness to please, and intelligence will allow him to assist Foxy, Puppet, and Baby in a variety of ways. He is also willing to assist the others, although orders from the three leaders take priority over orders from anyone else. That's just how he works. I hope to integrate him seamlessly alongside everyone else in future chapters!
With that said and done, will there be more original characters in the future? Most likely, but I won't disclose any of them yet. However, for those of you who are attentive, you will notice that I've already been hinting at the presence of yet another original character of mine, one that has yet to be fully introduced. This teased character will also be fully introduced within time, although it won't be all that soon.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be out when it's done and finished.