Freddy Fazbear's Pizza - Wednesday, December 15th, 1993

Foxy sat down beside Gilead that evening, as he had done every night since Fritz and Anthony had brought Gilead out of the Safe Room. Beforehand, he was often alone in Pirate Cove, with only the company of his own voice and the scraping of his metal feet along the worn wooden stage. Having a friend with him was hardly the same as getting to perform once again, but it was at least an improvement.

"You don't always have to sit," Gilead remarked. "You're not offending me by standing."

"I jus'… A capt'n always makes sure 'is crew is happy."

"And I am, don't worry." He smiled. "Having my friend back is more than enough."

Foxy sighed. "If only tha' were the truth, lad." His words sounded strained near the end of the sentence.

"I don't see why you're talking like that… You're not performing right now, so you can talk normally, Reynard."

He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.

"What's wrong?"

"I… I-I can't. M-M-Me voice box is st-u-u-u-u-uck li'e this." Foxy sputtered.

Gilead would have frowned, if he were capable of doing so. "That doesn't make sense…"

As he was about to answer, Foxy let out a static-filled screech and shut off suddenly.

"Reynard!" he exclaimed. He wanted to move to look at him, but couldn't due to his lack of an endoskeleton. Regardless, he was not met with an answer. Gilead thought for a moment about what to do. From Pirate Cove, he assumed he would not be heard if he shouted, but decided to at least attempt to draw someone's attention. If he called loud enough, someone would have to hear him eventually… It'd have been much easier if he could have just gotten up and looked for help, but that was not an option. He'd have to ask someone to get that back for him.

Gilead shouted for help, hoping to draw someone's, anyone's, attention. A few minutes later, he heard the door to the room swing open, and the sound of footsteps approaching the stage.

"W-Who is that? Where's that coming from?" someone he could not see asked.

"Over here." Gilead called out.

He heard a frightened sound come from across the room.

"Please, just... Come. I need your help... Reynard's in trouble."

"He is?" The footsteps came closer, a slim figure in a night guard uniform came into his field of vision, clearly a man. He saw him kneel down beside Foxy.

"Is he alright...?"

"I don't know," Gilead replied. "He just shut off."

The man before him sounded upset. "A-Again?"

"Again? You mean this has happened before?"

"Y-Yeah... Um, I've seen it happen once, actually."

Gilead took a moment to think. "Mind coming over here? Unfortunately, I can't move to look at you. I can tell you're one of the night guards, but I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet."

There was a moment of hesitation before he saw the man slide across the floor from Foxy to him. He twisted his head to the side in an uncomfortable-looking angle as he tried to look into the eyes of the suit. Gilead saw a man with blond hair, bangs swept across his forehead, blue eyes, and a colourful spray of freckles across his fair face. He appeared to be curious but timid.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Mike…"

"Mike..." Gilead was unable to smile, but would have if he could. "Well, Mike, it's wonderful to meet you."

Despite his obvious discomfort, Mike managed to smile at him. "Sorry... Um, I should've stopped by earlier, after I heard you were here, but..."

"You have no need to apologize."

"Okay..." Mike mumbled uncomfortably. "So... Foxy's having trouble?"

Gilead sighed. "I'm afraid so. Could you get Anthony? I'm sure he could help him."

"I can't really do that... Fritz told me he's in the hospital."

This news came as a shock to him, despite knowing that employees have been rushed to the emergency room before. Then again, those were almost always animatronic related… He began to worry as his mind raced with the possibilities of who could have done what.

"Who acted out this time?"

Mike stared at his motionless body in confusion. "What are you talking about...?"

"It's always an animatronic. I just want to know who was responsible for it this time," Gilead stated with little emotion, as if he were hardened to it.

"N-No one! Well, um, not an animatronic, at least..." He frowned and began to fiddle with the keyring dangling from his belt. "They didn't tell me who d-did it, but whoever it was messed up Anthony's leg. I-I heard he could have died... Jeremy and Mr. Fazbear saved his life."

"He's safe now, Mike. I wouldn't worry about him now; he's in good hands."

"Yeah, I hope so..."

Gilead sighed sadly and waited for a moment before reminding him of why he'd been called over.

"Oh, right! Um..." Mike mulled the thought over for a while before suggesting, "Well, uh, maybe Freddy could take a look at him?"

"That could work. Fritz might be able to lend a hand as well. If you could bring them here for me, I would be very thankful."

"Oh, of course!" Mike exclaimed, taking a step back and standing. "I won't be long."

He sounded content as he replied, "I'm sure you won't."

Mike returned with Fritz, Freddy, and Bonnie by his side. Without hesitation, Freddy and Bonnie made their way up onto the stage. Mike lingered behind, turning to leave after completing his task of bringing help. As he was about to leave, he felt a hand clasp his shoulder firmly, but not with malicious intent.

"Where do ya think you're goin', kid?" Fritz teased. "We're not done with ya just yet."

Mike turned around to face him. "I was, uh…"

He chuckled. "What? Are ya scared?"

"I-I, uh, n-no! I'm not!" he protested, his attempt at confidence failing miserably.

Fritz couldn't help but grin, only to swear under his breath and cringe afterwards as the gesture pulled at the stitches in his cheek.

Mike frowned slightly and came a little closer, lightly touching the yellowing bruise and staring at the healing skin, fascinated and horrified at the same time.

"Mikey," he began, gently moving his hand away. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me, alright?" A soft smile danced across his lips as he met his eyes. "I'm glad ya care about me, but ya don't need to be so worried. I'll heal. I always do."

He laughed nervously, and darted his gaze away, uncomfortable with the attention. He wasn't sure why he had touched the wound. In all honesty, he thought it looked disgusting; it made Fritz look even scarier than when he'd first met him. Yet, he managed to overcome his fear based on who he knew Fritz to be; nothing close to being a scary guy who'd beat him up.

Would he have even had the courage to talk to him if he'd met him looking the way he did right now? Mike couldn't have been sure. Although he had come leaps and bounds in his bravery since he'd started working at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, he still had a long way to go.

"Come, let's go see how Foxy's doin'," Fritz suggested as he went towards Pirate Cove. Not wanting to be left alone, he followed behind.

When they made their way up onto the stage, Freddy and Bonnie were already looking at Foxy's suit, doing their best to help him. Freddy had already taken off the mask of Foxy's costume to examine his internal hardware for errors.

Seeing the head of the endoskeleton terrified Mike. He hid behind Fritz, who gave him a reassuring nod before going to join the animatronics. Mike kept his distance and watched.

"So, what seems to be the problem?" Fritz questioned.

Freddy looked up from Foxy, whose head hung limply, exposing a circuit panel opened in the back. "Oh, hey..."

"How's he?" He knelt between the two of them. It crossed his mind that Jeremy would have never gotten this close to a broken animatronic, especially not a fox one. Not after '87, anyway. However, Fritz knew that he would be safe. At least, that's what he told himself. He had Freddy and Bonnie right beside him if things went sideways.

"Not great," Bonnie stated bluntly. "We still don't know what's up with him."

"Patience, Bailey, we j-"

"Call me Bonnie," he insisted. "I know that was my name, but I've been Bonnie for as long as I can remember. Just call me that, alright?"

Freddy rolled his eyes. "Bonnie, this isn't the time," he warned. There was strong emphasis on his name.

He shrugged. "Just saying."

"Anyway..."

"Have ya found anythin'?" Fritz inquired.

"Not yet," Freddy answered. "I'm still looking."

"If only Anthony was here! He's good at this stuff!" Bonnie piped up.

"Yeah, but he needs his rest." Gilead interjected.

Fritz patted the end of Gilead's foot, since it was the only thing he could reach. "We'll get ya fixed up, kid."

Freddy continued to poke around at the circuitry in the back of Foxy's head, a look of determination on his face. He wouldn't give up until he at least figured out what was plaguing his friend. In an ideal world, Foxy would be fixed by the end of the night, but he knew that would not be likely.

"Have you tried the ID10T switch?" Bonnie asked.

"I'm looking," Freddy replied.

He snickered and watched as Freddy poked around for the switch in question. Bonnie continued to laugh as he did so.

"What's so funny?"

"Have you considered the switch's name?"

"Why would I-" Freddy stopped mid sentence as it dawned upon him: ID10T was code for 'idiot'. He sighed angrily. "Bonnie, one of these days, I swear I'm going to slap you."

Bonnie couldn't help but smirk. He knew it was probably bad that he enjoyed pushing people's buttons the way he did, but he found it too funny to stop. Their reactions were priceless.

The three of them all remained gathered around Foxy for most of the night, before he suddenly powered on. They retreated back as he sat up straight, with his maintenance panel still open.

"A-A-Ahoy mateys! What b-be bringing ye h-e-e-e-ere?"

Bonnie frowned at the pirate voice he heard. "Okay, who touched the A.I. controls?"

Both of them gave a pointed look to Fritz.

"What?" He sighed in frustration. "I didn't do anythin' to him. Why would I?"

"Well, Freddy and I didn't do it."

"I didn't either." Fritz retorted.

Freddy interrupted them to prevent the argument from escalating. "Maybe none of us caused this? It could be unrelated."

"G-G-Good job, kiddo! Ye b-be a smart lad!" Foxy sputtered.

"Wait a minute…" Fritz considered. "I think you're onto somethin'."

"What do you mean?" Freddy pressed.

He turned his attention directly to Foxy and asked, "Foxy, can ya tell me who that is beside ya?"

Foxy turned his head to Gilead and grinned, chuckling warmly. However, his voice was plagued with glitching and static. "H-He be me best m-m-m-m-matey, Gilead Fazb-b-bear! We be adventurin' since I was a we-e-e-ee lad!"

Bonnie gave Foxy a quizzical look, then glanced between Fritz and Freddy. "Why is he talking like that?" He turned his attention back to Foxy. "Hey, you know you can talk like a person, too, right Foxy?" he jeered.

He opened his mouth to speak, emitting static instead of words. A look in his eyes suggested that he wanted to speak, but somehow couldn't.

"Foxy…" Freddy began. "Are you alright?"

"A pirate is a-a-always fine on 'is ship! The s-s-s-sea air is invigoratin', lad!"

Fritz smiled slightly. "Don't ya see? He heard ya. He's just stuck talkin' like a pirate or somethin'."

Freddy appeared to be deep in thought, studying Foxy carefully. "That's very strange…"

"Even I don't have A.I. glitches. I didn't even remember my own name, but I've never toggled into that mode before."

"There's gotta be a broken switch somewhere." Fritz suggested. "There has to be a practical explanation."

"I don't know what to tell you," Freddy replied.

Foxy stared at his friends helplessly, the ears of his endoskeleton pulled back in nervousness. He grabbed his mask sitting on the floor beside him and slid it back on over his head. His tail wrapped tightly around his legs as he curled in on himself.

Freddy hugged him. "It's going to be fine, Foxy."

"We'll fix this," Fritz added. "Just... Take it easy, alright?"

Foxy nodded and hugged Freddy back. By accident, his hook dug into his friend's shoulder, tearing the fabric and some of the foam beneath it. Hearing the ripping sound, he shrank back again.

Freddy watched him with a soft expression. "It's just some fabric. No harm done."

Foxy ignored him, putting his head on his knees.

"It's okay, so cheer up a little," Bonnie encouraged. "We've all got things that need fixing, so don't feel so bad. It could always be worse, right?"

"I heard that," Gilead groaned.

Bonnie's ears stood on end in surprise. He smiled sheepishly and took a step away from Gilead. "Oops…"

Freddy looked between his brother and his friend. "We have each other, and that's all we need. No matter what happens to these suits, we'll always be together."

Fritz smiled at them warmly. "That's sweet of ya, Freddy. We're all here for ya, too." Freddy grinned and hugged him tightly and abruptly. The man was clearly taken off-guard, but returned the kind embrace. He chuckled and added, "Careful now, those metal parts are stronger than ya'd think."

He eased up a little on the hug, but did not let go. "Oh, uh, sorry about that."

"No worries, kid."

For a brief moment, things appeared to be looking up for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Despite having a staff member in the hospital and some issues with the animatronics, everyone was reasonably happy at the restaurant that night.

As upset as Foxy was about his current state, he was happy his friends cared about him as much as they did. Even Fritz came to help, which he never would have expected. If only he could just tell them what was wrong. It would have been so much easier if he'd been able to ditch the pirate accent and mannerisms, yet no matter how hard he would fight it, he would always be 'Out of Order'.