Freddy Fazbear's Pizza - Friday, December 17th, 1993

Fritz showed up at work late that evening, having slept in by accident, most likely from his intense training regime from the day before. When he arrived, he heard Mike call out "Friiiitz~!" before hugging him tightly.

He chuckled and returned the embrace. "Good mornin', Mike. Ya missed me that much?"

"Yeah! I was worried you weren't coming!" he exclaimed with and edge of concern. "It's not like you to be late!"

Fritz smiled softly at him. "Nah, I just slept for too long. But, I'm here now."

"I'm glad! It wouldn't be the same without you." Mike let go of him and took a step back to get out of his personal space.

A moment after, Fritz noticed him shiver a little and frowned. "Are ya cold?"

"Oh, n-not too cold!" he replied, his body visibly disagreeing with the statement. "I just forgot my coat at home, t-that's all."

He grinned and slipped off his company issued 'Security' jacket, draping it over Mike's shoulders. He met his eyes with a warm gaze. "Does that help?"

"Oh, um, i-it does… Thank you." He put his arms through the sleeves and pulled the bulky body of the garment around himself, clearly much comfier. He nestled into the fabric and was delighted with the cozy material snuggled against his body. Between his pure glee and the way the oversized jacket sat on him, there was no way he could be described as anything but adorable. The way the sleeves hung too long off of his slight arms, the way he had the collar pulled up around his neck… It was too cute. Of course, Fritz wouldn't have admitted to thinking this.

"You're very welcome." He dragged his attention away from him, realizing he was staring. "So, what've ya been up to?"

Right as Mike was about to answer, Bonnie approached the two of them. "Hey, uh, guys? Could ya come to Pirate Cove? Foxy wants to talk to you."

Fritz frowned, facing Bonnie. "Oh… Well, alright. How's he doin'?"

"He's fine. He just wants to talk to you. He wouldn't say what about, though."

He waved his hand a little dismissively. "Nah, don't worry about it. I'm comin'." His smile returned as he faced Mike. "Wanna join me?"

"Uh…" He thought about going near the animatronics, eventually concluding that he would be fine if he stayed near Fritz. "Sure!"

The three of them made their way to Pirate Cove. Along the way, Bonnie glanced at Mike, seeing that the jacket he was wearing was clearly too big for him, and noticing Fritz's name badge attached to the front of it.

"What's with the coat?" he teased. "You know the snow's outside, right?"

"Oh, Fritz lent it to me!" Mike enthused. "I was cold, so he let me wear it!" He kept the collar of the jacket pulled up close to his face and smiled to himself in joy.

Bonnie looked at Fritz, who looked away quickly, appearing to be a little embarrassed.

"Fritz, are you okay?" Mike asked.

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine." He gave him a lopsided grin.

They continued on in silence, making their way to the stage where the other animatronics were waiting. James sat facing them, dangling his feet off the edge and swinging them back and forth. Freddy and Chica stayed closer to Foxy and Gilead, chatting with them. Unlike the last time they had seen him, Foxy appeared to be more like himself, moving and speaking normally.

Fritz hopped up and waltzed over to the main group, while Mike kept his distance a little, especially after seeing how unpredictable Foxy had been as of late. Of course, he didn't believe he was in any real danger, but he was still wary.

James looked over to him and smiled. "Great to see you again, Mike. Care to join me?"

"Uh, sure." He made his way over and sat with him, a little uneasy. He had to remind himself that James was nice, despite his creepy appearance. If he was honest with himself, he thought James was the scariest-looking animatronic of all of them.

Foxy was pretty freaky as well, with exposed endoskeleton on his legs and torso, and those wickedly sharp teeth that appeared to be more than capable of causing some serious damage. Gilead wasn't far behind them with the lack of an endoskeleton... and soulless pits for eyes. Gilead's suit reminded Mike of the phone call he heard on his first night; the one Anthony claimed he'd be stuffed in if he wasn't careful. Luckily, he didn't need to actually worry about that. Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie didn't look too scary, compared to the other three, at least.

James lightly brushed his hand against the 'Out Of Order' sign on the stage, as if thoughtfully pondering the significance of the message it bared to the public. "How have you been?"

"Oh, uh, I've been fine," he replied. "How about you?"

He shrugged. "You'd think a lot would have changed since the big reveal, but not really. As usual, not much changes here at Freddy's."

"Aw, but I think it has!" Mike whined. "It changed everything! Like, it means I shouldn't be as scared of you guys!"

A slightly troubled look passed across James' face. "But you're still afraid of me, aren't you?"

"Well, I..." he laughed nervously. "I-It's not that I'm afraid per se..."

He sighed in disappointment. "Well, you're not shrieking in terror anymore, I suppose..."

Mike's pleasant demeanor had faded. He knew full well that James was upset. But, he was telling the truth. It wasn't James' fault that he was so... scary. He was really kind, however, so it only made Mike feel worse about not being comfortable around him.

"B-But I do like you, James!" Mike insisted with sincerity. "I-I'm trying, really..." He held the coat tightly around his thin body, glancing down at the badge pinned to it, letting his mind wander as he considered why it was wrapped around him in the first place. Clearly, Fritz had only offered it to him to be polite, and nothing more. He couldn't fathom what exactly he saw in someone as weak as himself. Compared to him, Mike felt useless. He couldn't even talk to James without messing that up. Fritz was so much better at his job than he was; fearless, strong, athletic, and good with the animatronics. Mike was none of these things, and was more than aware of that fact. If anything, he was just another thing Fritz had to babysit each night. He felt unworthy of wearing a nightguard uniform; he was an imposter at best. He felt worse as he considered that Fritz would have been able to talk to James with ease, a basic thing he was incapable of doing.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he added "I'm sorry… I'm pathetic."

"Don't say that about yourself," James argued. "You're a wonderful person. Sure, you get spooked easily, but that doesn't make you pathetic."

"I guess," he mumbled back. He wanted to believe him, but he couldn't imagine how he could possibly be right. Mike believed that his cowardliness only served to make him a mere joke of a nightguard.

Meanwhile Fritz went over to Foxy, as he had come to do. "Hey, Foxy, how are ya?"

Foxy smiled a little at him. "Hi. I'm doing okay."

"That's good… Hey, you're not talkin' with the pirate accent," Fritz observed.

"Yeah, I'm not..."

"How come?" he probed.

"I... It's complicated," Foxy began, looking down at the floor uncomfortably. He almost hoped his brush-off would deter Fritz from pushing for details.

"Well, I've got time," Fritz replied conservationally, taking a spot leaning against the wall and propping himself up with his forearm. "So, start talkin', kid."

Foxy's tail swished back and forth and his ears flattened.

"Foxy?"

"Give me a moment..." he muttered.

A long, awkward silence filled the air, only interrupted by Mike coughing from across the stage. The tension was thick in the air as Fritz and the other animatronics waited with bated breath for Foxy to explain himself.

Foxy's voice sounded strained, but he managed to speak with some clarity, unlike other times. "I-I've been having a bit of a p-p-problem..."

"What kind of problem?" Chica asked sweetly. Bonnie lightly wrapped his arm around her waist. She rested her head against him but still made sure to listen to Foxy attentively.

"It's alright, Foxy," Bonnie added. "We'll listen."

His voice continued to sound more strained, and static had made its way into the mix. "My progra-a-aming is b-broken."

Fritz raised his eyebrow in confusion. "What do ya mean by that?"

Freddy frowned, nodding for him to continue.

"F-F-Foxy and I, we d-d-don't mix!"

"Wait..." Freddy mumbled, thinking for a bit. His eyes widened in surprise as he pieced together what Foxy was trying to communicate to them. "Oh my gosh, your soul didn't override the programming...?"

Foxy sputtered and nodded, looking between all of his friends with a troubled expression. The lights in his eyes flickered a little, as if threatening to shut off on him.

His face softened as he took in the information. "Reynard... Why didn't you say anything to us?"

"I c-c-c-couldn't..." he skipped.

"So... Foxy the Pirate and Reynard aren't the same?" Bonnie interjected.

Again, he nodded.

"Aw, kid, I'm so sorry... If I'd known, I wouldn't've called ya Foxy all this time," Fritz added.

"None of us would have," Gilead said from his place on the floor.

By this point, he kept quiet, clearly struggling to speak.

"And you've been fighting the A.I. all this time, haven't you?" Freddy questioned. He did not get an answer, but he didn't actually need one. It was evident by his friend's behaviour that the pirate accent was caused by the A.I., not him. It all made sense now. Poor Reynard had been having all those issues because of a glitch between the software and his human personality. That explained the hard shutdowns he frequently underwent. He was toggling between the two, fighting for control.

"Is there any way we can help you?" Chica inquired.

"N-N-N-No there isn-n-n-n't, Chi-i-i-ica."

"When Anthony comes back to work, we'll have him look at ya, alright?" Fritz piped up. "We can't let ya stay like that."

Freddy smiled slightly. "We'll get both you and Gilead back to performing, Reynard. I promise. We'll get rid of that old sign on the stage."

Reynard nodded a little and attempted to smile at them. He didn't believe they could fix him, considering he was the problem, not Foxy. If his soul hadn't been in the suit, the animatronic would have run with ease, and Foxy probably would have still been performing. Yet, this was not the case. He let himself hope that they could at least ease the pains that the errors caused him. It made him happy to see that his friends all loved and cared about him, and genuinely wanted to help him.

If Gilead got the chance to perform again, that would be enough for him. Maybe they'd be able to renovate Pirate Cove; turn it into a new attraction featuring Gilead. That way, he'd be in the spotlight, as he deserved to be. Yet, if Pirate Cove was closed for good, what would that mean for him? If they couldn't fix him, both Reynard and Foxy were as good as useless. And everyone knew what happened to useless things at the restaurant: they were scrapped. Or abandoned in the backroom for whatever reason, which was hardly a nicer alternative.

Thomas couldn't afford to mend his costume, let alone repair him properly to reopen the attraction to customers. So far, he was just lucky they hadn't tried to throw him out yet. At least now, the security staff wouldn't let that happen. Then again, they wouldn't be able to keep Pirate Cove closed forever. Sure, opening it up again would draw larger crowds and increase sales as a result, but he was too broken to run the show. And so the vicious cycle continued. No funds, no attraction. There had to be a solution somewhere; something that would save him and Gilead, and avoid bankrupting the business. Reynard just hoped their efforts to save them wouldn't be in vain.