Mangle was used to hearing voices in her head. At least, she was used to hearing a certain voice in her head. But this one was new. It was crude, clearly artificial, just like hers, but it was much more clear that this was not a real individual. The animatronics in the pizzeria were able to synthesize a perfectly human voice, albeit based off of recorded lines they used as reference. This one, however, was stilted, robotic, unnatural.
The moments after she first heard the little robot, she tried to understand why she could hear him when the others couldn't. What was so special about her? Was it because she was in disrepair? No, the other animatronics surrounding her were damaged, too. Maybe it was something about the new animatronics? What did they have that the older models didn't? Facial recognition, their sound investigation function, their emergency radio broadcast…
Their radios. The newer animatronics were built to ensure the safety of the children that visited their restaurant. In the event of an incident, or if a criminal was recognized in the building, they could discreetly alert an ambulance or the police immediately. Mangle's was so broken that she couldn't make any calls, but she did use it to freak out the guards during the night. This thing, whatever it was, must have been able to pick up radio signals to communicate. And Mangle had been so kind to reach out.
"Could you repeat that?" it said for a fourth time.
"Oh, uh, sorry," Mangle replied, "I didn't mean to wake you."
"No trouble at all," the robot said, "You wanna play a game?" The voice was emotionless, but Mangle still sensed a hint of malice in the animatronic's words.
"What kind of game?" she asked, dreading the response.
"Fetch," it said in reply.
Then it pounced on Marcus.
The furry creature jumped out of the darkness at the night guard, still sitting on the floor with the others. Marcus grabbed his flashlight and pointed it at his attacker, hoping it would blind it like the other animatronics. The robot attempted to shield its eyes and crashed onto the ground where Marcus had been seconds before. Marcus got to his feet, now at a more suitable position to do so after rolling to the side. The animatronic recovered from its fall and turned to continue its attack, only for Foxy to once again come to the rescue with his hook. The pirate fox lifted the crazed machine by its collar.
"Not so fast, ye mutt!" he said, prompting the bot to try biting its captor. Marcus studied the squirming animatronic, trying to find a way to deactivate it. It was clearly built to resemble a dog, with floppy ears and a mouth full of—aptly enough—canines. Marcus circled one more time before concluding that there was no way to shut it down.
"Why did it just attack us?" Bonnie asked, "It wasn't even active a few minutes ago!"
"I...I think I know," Mangle said hesitantly, "I think it woke up because it picked up my radio static."
"So you unleashed this deranged pup on us?" Foxy growled, "Good job."
"Foxy, leave her alone!" Chica said, "She didn't know what was going on!"
"Let's put a pin in that for a moment and focus on trying to turn it off," Marcus added, stepping in between the two foxes. Suddenly, the dog animatronic tried to throw itself at the guard. The collar snapped, unable to hold up the weight of its owner, and the dog chomped down on Marcus' arm, causing him to yelp and fall backwards. The animatronic was still latched on as they fell to the floor. Marcus swung his arm into the tiles, smashing the little robot against the floor until it let go and went still.
Marcus accepted an offer from Freddy to help him up and inspected his arm. Fortunately, the dog wasn't able to sink in its teeth deep enough to do any serious damage. At the moment, it just looked like a normal dog bite. Given the strength of the other animatronics, though, Marcus was sure that given the chance, it would have snapped his arm like a twig.
"You okay, lad?" Foxy asked.
"I'll live," the guard said, wincing, "Does Freddy's have a first aid kit?"
"Over here," Freddy said, leading him off towards the show stage.
"I mean, it's weird, right?" Bonnie said.
"Huh?" Mangle looked up at the bunny, her train of thought shattered.
"The dog, it doesn't look like it's taken much damage," Bonnie replied, gesturing to the small creature at their feet.
"So?"
"Haven't ye been paying attention, lass?" Foxy growled, clearly irritated.
"So," Bonnie replied, ignoring Foxy, "why did it shut down? All it has is a few dents."
"Bonnie, you've been talking about this for the last five minutes," Chica groaned, "It's off. Who cares why?"
"I do. What if it isn't deactivated?"
"That bunny's a smart one," the voice in Mangle's head whispered.
"Smash it," she said without hesitation.
"What?" Bonnie said.
"SMASH IT, NOW!"
Knowing its cover was blown, the dog tackled Foxy, latching onto his throat and attempting to rip it out. Bonnie rushed over to pry the robot off of the fox, but it leapt off and darted out into the dining area. Towards Freddy and Marcus.
"First one get a bone wins," the dog cackled. Mangle raced after the crazed animatronic, determined to keep it from winning.
"How's that?" Freddy asked, wrapping a bandage around the bite on the night guard's arm.
"It's a little tight," Marcus replied.
"Isn't that what you want for wounds?"
"Fair point."
Both of them looked up as they heard Mangle scream, followed by a crash. Freddy handed the guard the first aid kit before moving in front of him. Marcus grabbed the flashlight as he stood up from the floor, switching it on to search for the animatronic he knew was coming. The dog's feet pounded against the tiles, echoing through the restaurant, making it seem like it was everywhere.
The dog lunged at them from the shadows, jaws wide open and ready for the kill. Marcus dove to the side, leaving Freddy to fall victim to the robot's bloodlust. The two animatronics fell forward onto the floor, the dog tearing at Freddy's back. Marcus searched for a weapon to help the mechanical bear, finally settling on the first aid kit.
Marcus tried to subdue the dog with a garrote made with bandages, but the cloth gave way before the metal did, causing the night guard to fall onto his back. The robot paused, looking down at the fabric in his hands, then gave him a look that could only have been saying "Are you serious?". It quickly resumed its attack, jumping onto Marcus, or at least it tried to. But the night guard was ready, smashing the rest of the kit against the side of the dog's head, causing it to veer off course.
As it slammed onto the floor, Freddy got to his feet and stomped down hard onto the dog, resulting in a crunch that should have meant it was over. But it just wouldn't quit, and the moment the bear removed his foot, it struck back in retaliation. Mangle lunged at the dog, trying to restrain it, but it dodged out of the way, causing her and Freddy to slam into each other with another crash.
The Toy animatronics moved to assist, but Marcus gestured for them to stay back. The older models and Mangle were one thing, but if the new characters got damaged, he would be saying goodbye to his job for sure. He had to stop this thing before they got caught in the crossfire, but how? They tried breaking it, but it just got back up. If it could keep going despite severe damages, what would it take to make sure it was toast?
"Toast," Marcus whispered, an idea forming in his head. He grabbed at the scissors and tape from the scattered contents of the first aid kit. He threw the roll of bandages at the dog animatronic, still trying to get at Freddy. It turned and glared at the young man, locking onto its new target.
"C'mon, you mutt," the guard growled, "You wanna hunt something? Make sure it can die first." The dog charged at him, gnashing his teeth and barking angrily. Marcus ran for his office now that the robot had its sights on him, hoping he knew the office as well as he thought he did.
Marcus flashed the dog as he rounded the corner, causing it to crash into the wall. The guard hoped this would buy him enough time to set up his trap. He vaulted over his desk and scanned the back wall, searching for the last piece of his plan. He crouched down next to an unused outlet and began to pry out one of the outlet covers with his fingers.
Growling behind him alerted him to the dog's presence. He turned to see the animatronic sitting next to his monitor, baring its sharp fangs, savoring the moments before the kill. Behind the robot, the other animatronics came into view, following after the dog. They weren't there soon enough as the deranged canine pounced and chomped down on Marcus' arm.
Pain seared through the arm, causing Marcus to shout, but he did his best to ignore it. The dog was taking its time, enjoying the harm it was causing. That was its last mistake. Marcus slapped the taped scissors onto the robot's metal hip, which was exposed from Freddy's attempt to finish the beast.
The dog looked down, surprised, and Marcus used the opportunity to hit it in the head with his flashlight, causing the dog to let go of his arm. He grabbed the animatronic, turning it around so that the scissors pointed towards the wall. He tilted his head to align the scissors with the wall socket, making sure they would go in far enough. Then he pushed the robot with all the strength he had left.
"Marcus, wait!"
For once, he hoped the building wasn't up to code.
Marcus opened his eyes to find himself staring into the ceiling light above him, the one that lit up his office. Mangle, who was watching him from the ceiling, lit up with excitement at the night guard's movement.
"He's alive!" she shouted over to the animatronics gathered in the hallway. The older animatronics were the first to arrive, followed by the Toys. The Puppet lingered in the hall, ignoring Marcus all together. Marcus tried to sit up, but the animatronics held him back.
"Easy, now," Bonnie said, "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Bonnie, that's a trick question," Marcus replied as he was lifted into a sitting position, "Your one arm is behind me, so you can't be holding up any fingers."
"Okay, so his brain isn't fried. That's good news."
"How are you feeling?" Freddy asked.
"Like a piece of toast," Marcus groaned, "Did it work?"
"See for yourself." Freddy gestured to the charred corpse of the dog robot, lying lifeless next to the outlet. Smoke seeped out of the holes in the burned fabric, now even darker than the brown it used to be. Marcus suddenly thought to himself, checking his uniform to find it singed. He felt at his hair to find it was just as burnt as his uniform.
"Great," Marcus chuckled, "Between the first aid kit and the uniform, something tells me I'm not getting much money out of this week's paycheck."
"Well, the good thing is you're alive to earn more," Chica replied, "Foxy'll be pleased to hear that."
"Wait, where is Foxy?" Marcus asked, realizing that the pirate fox wasn't present. He looked down the hallway to see the fox shove the Puppet to the side as he advanced towards the crowd. He walked past the other animatronics and reached out at Mangle with his hook arm. Mangle let out a yelp as the hook got a grip, then she came crashing down onto the ground as Foxy gave a fierce tug.
"Do you have any idea what you did?" he growled, "If Marcus didn't take that thing out, it would have scrapped all of us! All except you, because you were it's master! Maybe it would be wise about it, and take you apart once there was no one left. If not, yer getting scrapped once the place gets shut down because it goes out of business." Mangle tried to draw away, but Foxy's hook caught her by her head and he drew her closer.
"And that doesn't compare to what it would do to Marcus," he continued, rage burning in his uncovered eye, "Pain stings for us, but him? He'd scream in agony 'til it finally decided to rip out his throat. But he decided to take his death into his own hands, so we could live. And all because of you."
"Foxy, I'm alive," Marcus said, desperately trying to de-escalate the situation.
"Ye weren't, lad," Foxy shot back before returning to face Mangle, "And all because you couldn't just tell him what he wanted to know. That yer a parasite, a fraud. An imposter hiding behind a mask. Even the sea's greatest thieves are willing to show their true flag when the jig is up, but you cling and hide behind yer new identity, thinking you'll be safe from the truth. Ye ain't a pirate, and ye ain't a worthy successor to my name. He mighta been, but he ain't here anymore. Now all that's left is a walking scrap pile playing make believe."
Mangle finally wiggled free of Foxy's hook and darted off into the hall, slipping away into the darkness. The other Toys chased after her, and Freddy turned to the red fox that had lashed out at her.
"Parts and Service," he said, pointing towards the door.
"But—"
"Go. To your room. Spend some time to think about what you did." Foxy reluctantly complied, angrily muttering under his breath as he stormed back inside. Once he was gone, Marcus turned to face the remaining three animatronics.
"I want explanations," he said, "Now."
So people are gonna be mad at me because Foxy is a fan favorite and I wrote him to act like kind of a jerk. In my defense, I'm also a big fan of Foxy. Whatever iteration is in a given game is pretty highly rated by me, although more often than not he doesn't make it to number one favorite unless it's FNaF 1 or the Curse of Dreadbear(Grimm Foxy rivals Mangle for the spot of all time favorite). However, I have a very dysfunctional relationship in mind for Foxy and Mangle that will be expanded upon in the next chapter(not a romantic relationship, though). Gonna be honest, it was difficult writing this chapter. Originally, I thought it would be fun to write a little horror/action segment to spice things up, and a fun nod to Fetch. However, then I ran into the issue that while Fetch was a danger to humans, he might not be as formidable against other animatronics. Then there was the issue of how do you actually stop Fetch, since his respective short story shows that you can't just take him apart. I hope I did a good job with this chapter, and I'm gonna wrap this up before I write a whole second chapter for the note.
