Chapter 4:

Missing, Miss You

Without their main attraction, the Pizzaplex was no longer what it used to be.

Dancing neon lights, glamourous music, sparkling glitters everywhere.

The show was perfect, the audience was cheering, and the fans might have lost their breath when screaming out their biggest idol's name. Everything went out just as planned, it was nearly impossible to go wrong, they had been rehearsing the play at least a million times before, maybe even more.

It just couldn't, right?

Well, it would have, had it not been for Freddy's unforeseeable malfunction. The bear's sudden glitch forced the band to stop performing, which lead to one of the biggest disappointment of their fans and one of the most embarrassing moment of their life.

As if someone had come up with a law, stating that if something could go wrong, it definitely would. And Monty would love to maul the guy into pieces like tearing papers into halves multiple times. Refrained, he had to keep a friendly and cheerful face in front of the children, especially the adults. Having been holding up the desire to destroy things for at least two hours straight greatly increased the chance of him experiencing a short circuit. Since no one volunteered to be a punching bag for tonight, he might as well as use the furniture as a backup resolve.

Meanwhile, Roxy continue admiring herself in front of the mirror as usual, pretending that nothing had happened, that the show was perfect that night. It was obvious, clearly she wasn't the one blowing the performance up, it was Freddy's responsibility, not hers. Therefore, fans would never dare to blame her, instead, that hate would directly divert towards the bear. Not only her reputation remained intact, the bear's demise would increase the chance of her becoming the main star.

She did not ask for this, but fate gifted it anyways.

Despite everything, surprisingly, Chica didn't seem to care about the performance that much. Instead, she was dead worried about Freddy. When the bear suddenly collapse on the stage, she immediately bolted forward for a quick checkup. Seeing her friend stumbled the verge of life and death, she yelled in desperation at the staff to halt the performance. She cared not about the murmuring, the show might be delayed for another week, but there was no such thing as a second chance in saving the bear.

Their relationship sure was something else, probably best friends, if not more.

Dogged by misfortune, when troubles came, they came not single spies but in battalions. Late that night, after the show, a child remained trapped in the Pizzaplex, causing the whole place to ablaze in chaos, forcing Vanessa to ask them help her find the boy. Considering how small a child was comparing to the enormousness of the Pizzaplex, the band knew that it was going to be a long night.

As switft as an arrow cutting through the air, the boy could materialize and vaporise into thin air as he wished: Roxy saw him running down the hallways at the Daycare, only for him to be spotted by Monty in the Mazercise not long after.

Not until when pigs could fly that both of them could realize what the heck was going on. Chica, on the other hand, noticed how coincidental it was for Freddy to always appear out of nowhere when everyone lost track of the boy. The bear acted as if nothing had happened, said that he had spotted no child running past him.

She believed him, of course, how could she not? Soon, the strings of trust thin down gradually, but never snapped. She begain to doubt, suspicion exceeded limit, as if the evidence was apparent as clear as day. Though, she wouldn't dare to accuse her best friend of such absurdity, risking a relationship with uncountable uncertainty was too treacherous.

Later, she regretted not confronting the bear about that matter. Because now, Freddy had gone missing, along with the boy.

Just... What happened?

Numerous questions danced around her mainframe: Why would Freddy be so overprotective over an ordinary child, even if it were to be outside the facility? Why would he be so willingly to follow the child? How did the boy managed to convince the bear to come with him, knowing that without the charging stations, the bear would become a scrap sooner or later?

Most important of all, what happened after that? She dared not to think of it, for she was... "tired", and would love to have a checkup on her unmaintainable mainframe.

Following the missing Freddy incident, not to mentioned how dirty the animatronics had become after the search, the company decided to close the Pizzaplex for another day while urgently trying to come up with a solution.

It had been a long time since their last day off... despite not having one, ever. Robots do not get tired from overworking, though they would experience overheated circuts if left to operate for a prolonged amount of time, which was approximately never. Perhaps, the people created them had added a lot of cooling devices inside their bodies. Whether it was a blessing to be able to work around the clock, or a curse to never be able to feel the coolness of those air conditioner.

Talking about sensations, she still had no idea why she would fanatically crave for pizzas, contradicting the fact that she did not have a tounge to taste in the first place. But, having eaten just a single slice had already filled her full of the joy of springs, like a dog with two tails. The next slice would send her on cloud nine and the seventh heaven. The whole pizza would have exceeded her satisfactory limit.

Parts and Service stated that they did not programmed her to eat. "Robots don't eat.", they said, "Whoever has enough spare time and can afford to create a digestive system will have wasted their life trying to make a robot feel a sensation like a living being."

How did an animatronic feel only with a one and zero in their binary code? If they knew boiling water was hot, did they really know what hot felt like? They would be told that it was as hot as fire, like pouring molten lava onto your skin, or a sharp and unbearable pain like a paper cut, but on a much worse scale. Still, in the end, they would never be able to feel, for they remained a machine, programmed to play and perform. Just that.

After the overall maintenance, Chica – with a fully polished shell, return to her room, separating herself and the world behind the pink curtains.

Her room, as always, littered with pizzas and boxes that used to contain them, some of which she didn't even bother to finish, as if they acted as chewing toys for dogs. Sometimes, she would chew on them for leisure and entertainment, it was a perfect method to kill time. If children came to see her, she would clean the place up and stuff the trash behind the backroom. It would have been her doomsday were her fans to know that how gluttonous and disgusting their idol was. She wouldn't mind and couldn't careless, for she did not strive after fame. Though, she suspected that the company wouldn't be pleased with that kind of attitude, then proceed to mercilessly scrap and replace her with another animatronic.

Lounging on the couch, eyes locked at the ceiling above, she sluggishly reached for a slice of an unfinished pizza on the coffee table situated next to her. Happy faces, happy munching, having snacks as pizzas was always a good time. Well, not this time, not today. After that exhausting night, she didn't have the mood to even contemplate the slowly rotting food, let alone munching it.

The chicken sighed. Could a robot even sigh without breathing? Or was it just her voice box mimicking a sigh of a person? Nonetheless, she rolled her back, facing the pillow couch while tightly hugging a Chica plush. She felt exhausted, in a robotic way, despite having full battery. Maybe, a short nap would help, they probably wouldn't mind.

Just when she was about to enter rest mode, a knocking on the door impeded her peaceful space.

"Hey, Chica,", said a robotic feminine voice, "are you there? Vanessa wants to see us at the moment."

"Coming..."

Chica rolled her eyes, huffed in frustration. She expected another lecture from the security guard. Vanessa acted as if she was their mother, occasionally emitting a motherly vibe. Although, there were times when she acted a lot different than usual, especially in the night. At that time, she became more stern and aggressive towards her and the other animatronics, as if having a grudge against them. Chica understood it well, being responsible of taking care of the four robots, whose size easily towered her and had the strength of leaving a crack on the concrete wall, had already been more than enough, even worse if one decided to be rebellious.

But that kind of attitude was a bit off, even for a thoughtful person like Vanessa.

Chica took effort in standing up and strode towards the door, where the robot was waiting for her. It was a friend of hers, Roxanne Wolf, or Roxy for short. Asides from Freddy being her besties, Roxy might be a bit narcissistic, that she knew clearly, while the others didn't seem the notice, but overall, the wolf was a caring friend who paid deep attention in sharing ideas and gossiping about anything they could come up.

They rarely got into a fight. The last time Chica got involved in a quarrel was when she accidentally dyed one of Roxy's hair strand in green with permanent paint while playing a daring game with the alligator, it nearly caused the wolf to have a mental breakdown considering how much effort she had put in caring of her hair. Later, though, she thanked her for it as how the children loved her new look. Luckily, the staff didn't seem to notice the change, some even thought that the green-coloured hair strand was a part of her since the beginning, so Roxy had been keeping it until now.

"Woah, why's the long face?", remarked the wolf, whose eyes widened. "Is something wrong?"

Chica usually was the most enthusiastic and optimistic member of the band. Even if things went out not according to plan, she remained jovial and cheerfully went along with the unintended scheme. Not today, though, having chased the boy around the Pizzaplex all night long had drained up her remaining spirit.

"It's fine.", she replied. "I'm just a bit tired."

"Well, you're not the only one", said Roxy. "That little brat can move through wall or something, and now Freddy is nowhere to be seen. Things are a bit spiced up lately. Come on, let's go see Vanessa, I don't think it would go well."

Later, they arrived at the security office, where they found Monty and Vanessa impatiently waiting for them. The woman was using her phone, shoes rapidly tapped on the black and white tiled floor, while the alligator lounged on the nearby counch, stretching his arms along it with his shades off. They both got snapped back to reality when the doors were opened, creating a big screech, revealing the other two animatronics.

"What took you so long?", asked Monty.

"Chill out.", said Roxy. "Parts and Services sucked at taking care of my hair, so I stayed behind to comb it again."

"Seriously?", scowled the gator, eyes rolled. "Why even bother? It's going to get stained sooner or later."

The wolf shot a threatening glare at him, as if she was ready for a deathmatch. Chica, who was standing next her, laughed it off in order to distract the two.

"Calm down, you guys.", she giggled. "You might don't want to make Vanessa mad."

Roxy huffed in frustration, she then sat on one of the seats, opposite to the gator. Chica joined her.

Vanessa sighed, last night was already more than enough for her. Now, troubles kept appearing nonstop out of nowhere, from the annoying brat, to Freddy unprecedented disappearance. A therapy would do the job, after this. She tucked away the phone into her pocket, before eyeing each animatronic presented in the office.

"Now that everyone is here...", she said, "I would like to inform you something. First of all, due to technical difficulties, the company has decided to give all of you a day off. I guess you have already heard about it when being in maintenance."

Upon hearing that, Chica couldn't help but pondered. The company was generous enough to give them a single off-duty day, giving them time to have overall checkups and reparations. Having run around the vast and enourmous Pizzaplex greatly rusted her bolts, so much that she began to hear the screeches along past every movement. Parts and Servies must have been severely terrible at keeping her together. Though she suspected that one of the main factor causing the rustiness was her uncontrollable gluttony when spotting food, especially pizzas.

"Second, which you may have noticed by now...", contiuned the woman. "Glamrock Freddy has gone missing."

Expected but impossible to cope with, Chica's expression grew gloomier. Undesirable thoughts kept inundating her processor unit excessively, unawarely simulating disturbing scenes of a scrapped Freddy wretched beyond recognition. She tried to distract herself, but they were persistent and relentless.

Roxy couldn't careless, the bear was none of her business. Her dream was to become the best of the best, the most popular and beloved member of the band. She did not have any grudge against the bear himself, though his mere existence had already been a hard obstacle for her to get through. The longer she mused, the more aware she became of the current situation.

Without Freddy, the band felt... empty. How would they manage themselves from now on? Would there be a replacement to the bear's spot? Who would be the leader? She and Chica could sing, but not as great as the bear. And Monty would have deafened the audience with his intense and horrendous voice. To sum up, without Freddy, soon, chaos would ensue.

Monty, on the other hand, did not seem to care at all. If looked closely, you could see a smirk discreetly grew on his pointy jaws. How interesting, what caused the two to have such antipathy against eachother? From the look of it, a person with Freddy's characteristics wouldn't have thought of such thing as animosity and aversion. While Monty was the complete opposite of the bear, paralleled to the so called angel that appeared on your right shoulder, representing the righteousness. Hatred with a strong passion, blinded by fame, driven by one of the seven deadly sins – envy, the gator was Freddy's destined nemesis, waiting for the perfect to strike, claiming all what he thought was his.

Now, with the bear gone, the irritating and bothersome barrier had gone. Just one more step from becoming the leader of the band, from becoming the most famous and popular mascot of the franchise, becoming well-known by children and adults alike worldwide.

"We have looked everywhere throughout the building: the main lobby, Monty Golf, Roxy Raceway, Fazer Blast, Mazercise, Bonnie Bowl, even the sewers...", Vanessa continue, " We tried connecting him through the main network, and found nothing, along with the boy. We assumed that either Freddy was still somewhere in this facility, or he had followed the boy outside the Pizzaplex."

"W-Will he be okay outside the building?", stuttered the worried Chica.

"Well,", she replied, "unless the kid somehow found a way to recharge him, he is going to shut down in less than an hour. And I doubt that the company would spend a huge amount of money in order to retrieve him, let alone having to find a scrapped animatronic in this country."

Everyone stayed silent, resigning the spot for the humming of the fluorescent lamps from above. White noises - it was Freddy's favourite sound, Chica remembered it clearly. The bear loved being alone in a quiet and peaceful room, so that he could lie down and enjoy the monotonous harmony among the continuous and repetitive buzzing melodies of the light. She was very perplexed when first knowing of her friend's eccentric habit, for their designs were that of the 80s glamrock style, a style of rock music in which performed by musicians who wore bizarre and outrageous costumes.

Despite the peculiarity, she couldn't help but find it cute and adorable. Sometimes, she would join him, they would stare at the ceiling and listen to the humming music together. There were times when the bear asked her about the world outside of the Pizzaplex, about the daily life of a human person, about the beauty of nature and wildlife, about the sky, the sea and oceans, about the so called outer space... all of which they had read about on the magazines brought by Vanessa. She couldn't answer any of them, obviously. Never had any of them had a chance to see what lied beyond those thick walls. They could only get a glimpse of it through the windows at the entrance, where humans and vehicle of all sorts sped past them endlessly, all day and night.

If only they could walk past the gates...

Had it not been for their programming...

Just then, Vanessa decided the break the uneasy silence.

"We''ll wait for the company to come up with a plan, whether to retrieve Freddy or find a replacement or not." she said, "In the meantime, Monty will run the show."

"What!?", out of the blue, Roxy bolted from her seat, loudly exclaimed like there was no tomorrow.

"Are you deaf?", said Monty, somewhat amused. "You heard it, wolf, straight and clear. Maybe you want to hear it again?"

"Shut your mouth, gator!", she yelled back, then turned at the woman. "Vanessa, this has to be a joke. You see how Monty can't even control his anger, he's going to terrify those kids and give the place a bad reputation!"

"Oh really now?", he snorted. "At least I don't have a big ego and have insecure issues with my hair! Wait until the kids find out their so called beloved idol is no more than a coward who can't even take a single criticism!"

"You...!", sizzling circuits, burning passion of rage and fury, she was moments before tearing the sickening gator's jaw off.

Chica had been watching the scene in horror and disbelief, this wasn't the first time she saw her friends had a quarrel, though. Back then, most of them fought over things for comical and hilarious reasons, but now, seeing how they lost themselves over a leader spot... without even care to inquire the current situation of Freddy...

Why? Why, though? Why would they be like that? She couldn't comprehend all of it, time flowed too fast for her mainframe to process anything. Or maybe, she just didn't want to comprehend it.

Perhaps, when the times come, a person would finally reveal their true identity. From a kind and caring figure, to a selfish and greedy monster. It all made sense now...

"Enough!", shouted Vanessa, shutting down the wrangle. "Stop fighting or I'll scrap the hell out of you two for salvages!"

Upon hearing that, the two stopping yelling, instead, they gave eachother a death glare, before returning to their seats.

Vanessa really needed a therapy after this.

"Look," said the woman, sounded exhausted. "I know we're not in favor of any of this mess. I get it. But with Freddy gone missing at the moment, we have no other choice but to follow the current regulations made by the company."

She went on talking about how the show will be set up with Monty being the lead singer, with Roxy and Chica remained their position as instrument players, and how the music would be prerecorded since how bad the gator was at singing. Until the company decided to add another party member or do something else, the show would go on normally, but not the same as it used to be before.

Monty was contented, Chica did not comment, but Roxy though...

"That's it for now," she concluded, "you're dismissed. Go back to your room, or take a tour around the Pizzaplex if you want. If you excuse me, I'm going to see a therapist."

Vanessa grabbed her belongings, before being the first to leave the office, slamming the door shut behind her, leaving the animatronics to fend for themselves.

"Finally! Peace at last.", announced the gator, relaxing his arms and legs. He grabbed his shades, then stood up, and headed to the door, only to be blocked by Roxy.

"We're not done yet.", she growled.

"Oh, please,", he said, eyes rolled. "you don't even stand a chance against me."

"We'll see about that..."

The two animatronics snarled as they slowly marched towards closer and closer, until their muzzles barely touched eachother. Fortunately, Chica rushed between them, impeding a potential wrestling that could cost a fair amount of money of the company and her friends life.

"Out of my way, Chica.", said the wolf, gnashing her teeth.

"You two need to stop.", she replied, somewhat nervous. "This is getting out of hand. Especially you, Roxy, you need to calm down."

"Heh,", chuckled the gator, "you heard the chick. Go back to your room and cry... little cub."

"Why you...!", the was the final straw, Roxy couldn't take it anymore, she wanted to let go all of it on the gator, who clearly wished for a slow and painful death. Never had she been so ready to break the gator apart, as if she had been waiting for this moment for so long.

"Roxy!", Chica shouted in desperation, she tugged the Roxy's arm, hugging the angered wolf back. "Please!"

Monty did not speak a word, he gave the wolf a final intimidating glare and a taunting smirk, before causally leaving the room.

"Why did you stop me?", asked Roxy. "It was none of your business."

"Of course it was!", retorted Chica. "I can't just let you guys hurt yourselves!"

"Parts and Services can fix it.", said the wolf.

"And what if they decided to scrap both of you instead?"

"They wouldn't. Who in their mind would do that to their main attraction?"

Chica stayed silent, Roxy was somewhat right. But... there was something else she needed to discuss about, something that nearly caused her mainframe to sparkle in fire and start a rampage throughout the building. She had been holding the thought since the other two started their childish wrangle. It made her want to scream in max volume using her new voice box, which might have stunned everyone in this room.

"You... really want to be the leader that badly?", she tremblingly murmured, eyes locked on the floor beneath, waiting for her friend's response.

"Of course!", exclaimed the wolf pridefully, as if she was glad when her friend finally understood how important it was to be the main star. "Being the leader of the band is a very crucial part in order to become more popular. Everyone wants to be popular, don't you want to be well-known as well?"

So... that was her friend's answer? Oh, the irony. She expected it, it was apparent and obvious. She should have guessed it since the beginning. She wouldn't have asked the question had she had already known the answer. Why did she do it anyways? The truth was painful, yet she voluntarily sought for it. Now, she just had to live with it, forever be a part of it.

Her grips tightened, her arms shook, and her legs trembled.

"A-and w-what about F-Freddy?", she truggled to speak, but she had to say it. "What about him? He was your friend, our friend. Aren't you worry about him?"

"I..." , Roxy was at a loss for words, just then, realizations hit.

"You didn't even give a damn about him, Roxy! You didn't even care to ask about his safety, his whereabouts, his current state. Not even a single thing!", she continued. "Instead, you started a fight with Monty, scrambling over what - a fucking leader spot?!"

"C-Chica... I"

"I saw your reaction, it was blank and nothing else. What the hell is wrong with you? You showed no conern, not even a bit of empathy. Why, Roxy? Just... Why? I thought..."

Her grips loosened, her arms relaxed, her legs stopped trembling.

She got a bit carried away. What was she thinking, say those profanities in front of her friend? She was supposed to be cheerful and optimistic, it was her programming, after all. But, if it was programmed, did her action really mean anything at all? Was it hers, or the mainframe's doing? Did she have any free will, not being bound to the code that create her distinctive personality?

Things could not stop puzzling her. Vanessa was right, it had been a long and rough night, she needed a rest after this.

"R-Roxy... I'm sorry... I just... need to be alone at the moment.", she said, quietly sobbed as she walked towards the doors.

And just that, the wolf became the only one to be in the room. The last thing she heard before the humming of the fluorescent lamps took over, was the dying thumping sound of her friend's steps, slowly fading away in the distance.

She carefully heeded every single word the chicken had shouted at her, including curse ones. They all delivered a mxiture of sadness, anger, pain and disappointment – so intertwined that perhaps their names aught to be tweaked to reflect the true origins of those emotions. Sadness when a friend was missing, anger when the people did not care about your friend, pain when you finally learnt the truth, disappointment when you acknowledged the fact that the people who you called "friends" weren't actually your friends at all...

She was still her friend, right?

Chica was the only friend she had, for she rarely hung out and interact with the bear. If the chicken was no longer her friend, who else would? Friends were not meant to be replaced, they can only be forgotten. She was driven by desires, blinded by fame, they disconnected and separated her from the people she needed the most. But, it was too late to take it back now, she had already become a loner.

Not a single word was spoken after that, only the buzzing of the lamps. Roxy stood firm, until she too, decided to leave the room.

The door slid open, revealing the room smothered by darkness. Children were scared of the dark, even the adults. Now, the darkness was her friend, they welcomed her to join the eternal void festival, a celebration for a new member. They cheered in silence, praised in awe, for their new fellow used to be a blissful and passionate one. In order to become one of the dark, you must give up all of your happiness, so that you could embrace the remaining bad memories wholeheartedly.

Chica stepped into the dark, the ceremony had completed. She made her way towards the couch, tiredly lounged on it, along with her plushies.

She sobbed in whispers, the dark seemed contented.

Freddy, wherever you are, if, by chance, you're still functional, please... be careful. I miss you...

"Remember, friends are forever!"

A/N:

Honestly, Chica deserved better, that's why I decided to make her the main character whenever the story centered around the Pizzaplex.