Ah, the joys of Christmas approaching. I've been swamped as of late, especially with school work (such as an essay about the Enlightenment concerning the French Revolution) and other events that have come up to prevent me from staying on track. I'm so sorry this is late! I know some of my more recent chapters have been late as well, but I'm doing my best to stay on top of my updates. I'm going on Christmas break soon, so I hope that will give me some more time to work on the fic. I've got some great stuff coming up that I really hope you guys will enjoy, including this chapter. Anyway, I'll shut up now. Happy reading!
Freddy Fazbear's Pizza - Wednesday, January 5th, 1994
Fritz held the front door open for Anthony to make it easier for him to get inside the building on his crutches. He was still using them, but was deemed well enough to report to work once more. Convincing him to stay home and rest was surprisingly difficult. Mike trailed in behind him, heaving a weighty tool box inside.
Today was the day: Reynard and Gilead would finally get the repairs they deserved. It had taken them a good deal of time, but they eventually managed to locate enough pieces to create an endoskeleton for Gilead out of the spare parts lingering around in the back room. As for Reynard, they found a few more parts to fix his internal hardware. Unfortunately, considering they had originally replaced his broken legs with a back-up pair of Freddy Fazbear legs, the repairs to his costume would have to wait.
The three staff members went to the back room first to grab the supplies they had gathered beforehand. Fritz was left to drag the endoskeleton pieces out by himself, which proved to be challenging, even in his spectacular physical condition.
In a few trips, Mike and Fritz brought all of the required parts to Pirate Cove, along with a stool for Anthony to sit on while he worked.
"Good evenin'," Fritz greeted the two animatronics, holding up the naked endoskeleton head for Gilead to see. "It's about time we made good on that promise," he said with a grin.
Gilead gasped. "You're actually going to fix us?"
"Of course we are," Anthony explained. "How could we leave you both here in such poor condition?"
"It's jus' been a long t-t-t-time on these 'ere wa-a-a-aters, and no o-o-one's c-c-c-c-c-c-c-come," Reynard pointed out. Much to everyone's disappointment, his pirate character had taken charge, sounding very damaged.
He gave him a sympathetic smile and got himself settled on the stool. "I know, and I plan to make up for that. Have a seat in front of me so I can work on you."
He nodded and slinked over, settling cross-legged in front of Anthony with his back turned to him.
"I'm sorry to do this, but I need you to-"
"A-A-Aye, I know." Reynard slipped off his mask and set it down beside him. He closed his golden-yellow eyes and said, "Re-e-e-eady, Cap'n."
Anthony smiled softly and pried open the maintenance panel on the back of the endoskeleton head. He picked up his screwdriver and began to loosen a few screws. "Uh, I'm sorry you've been left like this for so long. If I'd known, I'd have had Thomas, uh… Do something."
"Nae, it be fi-i-i-ine. Besides, Fre-e-e-e-eddy needs 'im more tha-a-a-an me."
He didn't continue the conversation, choosing to change the subject instead. "I need you to hold on in there; I'm about to remove Foxy's software drive."
Reynard went quiet and closed his eyes, focusing on keeping his soul tied to the suit. He felt Anthony disconnect the cables for the drive and pull it out of his head. His suit shut off on him, leaving him feeling alone and afraid. Reynard felt his connection to the suit weakening as his spirit threatened to slip away.
"Is it done…?" Reynard asked, sounding as if he were speaking from inside a tin can.
"Yeah… Are you alright in there?"
The suit didn't move. A figure of a young man, around 16 years old, stepped out from the robotic body. He had light golden brown eyes that almost glowed, messy and bright red hair, and sun-kissed skin. His translucent body was trim and fit. The teen met Anthony's eyes for a moment, smiling sadly. "Hey…"
Anthony's eyes widened in surprise. "R-Reynard…?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Uh, my ties to the suit grew kind of weak so… here I am." Reynard grinned. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Anthony." He stepped a few paces away from his suit over to stand beside him. He hugged Anthony as best as he could, despite the lack of substance to his body. After a moment, Anthony returned the gesture. When he let go, he noticed Reynard appeared to be even fainter.
"You're fading!" he shrieked.
Reynard glanced down at his hands and frowned. "I need to get back in there, I guess…" He gave Anthony a slight smile and a wave as he stepped back into the suit. After about a minute of nerve-wracking stillness, Reynard's eyes fluttered open, glowing their usual yellow colour. He closed the maintenance panel and shook his head a little to regain his bearings. He slid the mask back on over his endoskeleton head and turned to face Anthony, still smiling.
A look of relief settled over his features as he saw Reynard functioning properly. "That's much better. Uh, now you won't fade away, right?"
"I don't think so," Reynard explained. "I feel a lot more secure now. Wow, there's so much room in here! I feel so free!" His smile grew. "I feel like myself again!"
"I'm glad you do." Anthony stretched and stood with his crutches to support himself. "Now, how are Fritz and Mike doing?"
Reynard carefully eased himself to his feet, wobbling a little as he tried to settle himself in his mechanical body. "Why don't we go and find out?"
He grinned and walked across the stage with him to where the other two men were working to assemble the new endoskeleton. Mike was struggling to make one of the hands stay on while Fritz was focused on attaching the head to the torso.
"Need some help there?" Anthony chuckled.
"I've almost-" Fritz grunted and put a lot of strength into tightening the final piece, "got it!" He sighed in relief and set his tool down, pausing to wipe the sweat from his brow. "Well, that won't be comin' off any time soon."
Anthony grinned, easing himself down to the floor and taking extra care to not injure his leg, beside the endoskeleton to test the joint securing the head to the body. As Fritz had said, it was attached properly. "Well done," he congratulated. "I'm surprised. I mean these machines are, uh, quite advanced. No beginner's project for sure."
Then there was Mike. He fumbled with the hand he was still attempting to connect to the body. His tool slipped out of his hand and clattered to the stage floor. The endoskeleton hand tumbled down after it, evoking a whine from Mike.
"I can finish this up," offered Anthony.
Mike sighed in defeat and stood, reluctantly backing away from his failure. Anthony gave him a soft smile to assure him that his effort was appreciated, then got to work.
About an hour later, Anthony and Fritz had finished assembling the endoskeleton.
Fritz said, "Hey, Gilead?" to get his attention.
"Hm?"
He smirked and waved the endoskeleton's hand at him.
"You finished that really quickly!" Gilead remarked.
"We wanted to make sure we had it done for you tonight," Anthony explained.
Mike laughed and light-heartedly added, "I don't know, maybe we should put his suit on it tomorrow night."
"Don't do that, please!" pleaded Gilead.
Anthony chuckled and removed the head from Gilead's costume and replied, "We won't." With help from Fritz, he sat the endoskeleton upright and slipped the head of the mask onto it. The three staff members worked together to take the pieces of the costume and attach them to their rightful places on the endoskeleton. When Anthony gave Gilead the go-ahead to move, he started by opening his blue eyes and beaming.
"Well, what do ya think?" Fritz inquired.
Almost too quickly, Gilead stood up. "I can move again!" he cheered with glee. He attempted to run about the stage, but only managed to take a few steps forward before tumbling over. He laughed as he sat up and worked to reorient himself. Once he had managed to bring himself back to his feet without assistance, he pulled the three men into a bear hug. "I love it! Thank you so much!"
Mike squeaked when he had the air knocked out of his lungs as he was crushed right in the middle of the hug. Fritz, meanwhile, put some resistance against Gilead's arm to avoid being crushed by the oblivious animatronic. His efforts had little impact, however, other than ensuring that Mike took less of the force.
Anthony choked a little from the tight hold around him. "Gilead, careful!" he commanded.
As requested, he released them. "Sorry, I was just so excited! I haven't been able to hug anyone for years. I haven't been able to move at all! But now I can, thanks to you!"
Anthony grinned at him. "It's the least I could do for you after I took out that spring-lock one a few years ago."
"At least we managed to get that much fixed up for ya. I'm afraid we didn't find anythin' to replace that missing ear, though," Fritz said.
Gilead waved it off. "It's just a piece of metal and fabric. It doesn't really serve a purpose, anyway."
Fritz quietly nodded to this. Mike then broke the tension. "But if we got it fixed, you could start performing!"
"Me? Perform? I don't know about that…"
"Why not? It'd be fun!" Mike exclaimed.
"I don't think Dad would allow it…"
"Then tell him you're here, kid," Fritz instructed. "I doubt he'd say no to ya of all people, if ya asked him."
"But what if we end up in the back room again?" Gilead lamented, actually able to frown now and hang his head.
"We won't let that happen, Gilead. I, uh, saw Reynard. I mean saw him. He stepped out of the suit," Anthony told him.
Gilead looked up quickly, meeting Reynard's eyes with shock. "You did…? But how?"
"My ties to the suit were weakened by the major repairs," Reynard explained calmly. "But as you know, souls aren't really supposed to leave the body, so I started to fade. I wouldn't try it if I were you; it isn't worth it."
"That's interesting, but it doesn't mean my dad will believe it."
"We believed you, didn't we?" Mike piped up.
"If we didn't, you'd still be in the back," Fritz added. "Give us a little credit, eh? We'll help ya get on stage."
"If that's what you want, of course," Anthony finished for him.
Gilead smiled. "I… guess it'd be nice."
"Awesome!" Mike enthused. "So, when are you telling him? Do you want our help?" he questioned eagerly, bouncing on his heels.
Fritz chuckled. "Ya should probably give him an answer before he gains too much lift-off," he teased.
"I guess we'll tell him when he comes in tomorrow morning," he offered. "We may as well get it over with quickly. All of us are telling him, right?"
"Of course!" Anthony exclaimed. "We wouldn't want anyone to be forgotten."
Fritz patted Gilead on the shoulder. "You'll be fine. We're all here to help ya."
He thanked him with a smile. "I've missed him so much, it'd be wonderful to see him again."
Reynard awkwardly kicked at the stage with the metal edge of his foot. As much as he wanted to bring up a question of his own, he felt much too awkward to do so. Instead, much like the idea of performing again, he doubted the likelihood of ever appearing in front of an audience again. Instead, he concluded that he'd be happy if Gilead was. Despite the repairs, he was cosmetically too damaged to perform. He stood nearby and continued to listen to the conversation.
"... anyway, I'm off to see Freddy!" Gilead cheered as he leaped off the stage, running to the door, making sure to not fall this time.
Fritz grinned and stepped off the stage with Mike, following behind Gilead with an arm around Mike's shoulders.
Gilead charged onto the stage and nearly tackled his brother with a tight hug. Freddy screamed in surprise as he struggled to keep himself upright.
He stared at his brother in shock, not fully sure of how to respond other than to make several unintelligible sounds.
Gilead laughed and happily shouted, "Surprise!"
"You're moving again!" he replied joyfully.
Gilead ignored his obvious statement and continued. "I am! Isn't it great?"
Freddy nodded and grinned at him, still trying to convince himself of the reality of what he was seeing before him.
"Do you know what this means now?" he asked, taking a step back.
"No, what?"
"I can start performing now!" Gilead enthused.
Freddy's surprise shifted into worry. "That would be nice, but I don't think that's possible. I don't see how we could without Dad getting suspicious."
"I know, that's why we're going to tell him!"
His jaw dropped at the mere suggestion. "Gilead, is that new endoskeleton causing you to glitch? You know we can't do that!"
"Why not? You told the night staff and the assistant manager that we're here, and that got me out of the back room. Even then, they've said they'd make sure nothing bad happens," Gilead argued calmly while adjusting his bow tie.
"I- We-." Freddy struggled to piece together his thoughts as he got progressively upset. "I won't hurt Dad like that!" he finally screamed. "He's already lost so much! I don't want to see him heartbroken like that!"
He frowned as he considered Freddy's point. As much as he had weighed the risks of talking to his dad, he hadn't given any thought to just how much distress the information could cause him.
"I'd think the fact you're still here but not talkin' to him is worse," Fritz interjected.
"You have a good point," Gilead mumbled.
Freddy became sadder as he realized that his efforts to help his father were also hurting him. "But he just seems so sad already…"
"If ya tell him, he won't be struggling as much in the long run."
"Come on, Freddy, please?" Gilead begged. "Don't you want to talk to Dad too?" He took off his top hat and shuffled it in his hands as he waited for an answer.
Freddy remained silent for several long moments before uttering a few words of agreement. He hated the fact that he had no way to avoid causing pain for his father. He comforted himself by reminding himself that putting the mysteries to rest was the kindest thing he could do.
Once the others had left, Anthony and Reynard were alone in Pirate Cove. As Reynard was about to wander off to brood, Anthony called his name. He stopped and turned around to look at him, his tail swishing slowly behind him in a wary manner.
Anthony smiled at him fondly and casually said, "You know, you've always been my favourite. Uh… Not to say that the other animatronics aren't great or anything, but, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for you. I can't say I'm too fond of that puppet, though. He's just so creepy, you know?"
Reynard's eyes lit up in delight as he heard the compliment. "Really? But I'm just a machine; there's nothing that makes me any different from the others. Besides, James isn't a bad guy. You should try talking to him at some point. He's always alone in that box of his, so I'm sure he'd appreciate it if you visited him."
"I, uh, guess I could try… But hey, you're more than a machine! Now that it's just you in there now, I'd love to get to know you. The real you."
"But I'm not Foxy. I'm not a pirate," he pointed out, dropping his gaze to the stage.
Anthony shrugged. "Yeah, I know that. But it's you I want to get to know, Reynard. Anyone could make a pirate fox robot, but they can't create you. You're what matters most."
His ears perked up. "That's very kind of you."
Anthony gave him a charming smile. "As the assistant manager of this fine establishment, it's my job to ensure that everyone is happy and performing to the best of their abilities. That includes you."
Reynard took a deep breath as he worked up the courage to pop the question he had been avoiding. "Does that mean you can bring my mom here, then?"
His eyes widened. Although they had discussed the idea of talking to Thomas about his sons, it had never occurred to Anthony to ask about the parents of the other children who had met the same fate. "Oh, of course! Uh, we'll do our best!" he assured him enthusiastically.
"Thanks," he said with a smile. "It'll be so nice to see her again. I've missed her, and I'm sure she's missed me as well."
"You're not worried about her being upset?"
Reynard's optimism faded a little as he thought of how unpleasant the revelation would inevitably be. "I guess… But, she's probably been even more forlorn as she still expects me to walk through the front door of the house one day. She still has that thread of hope to cling onto, keeping her from truly moving on. As long as she still believes I may be alive, she can't heal."
Anthony took a moment to absorb the information. "Wow, that's… mature of you. Uh, try not to worry about it, alright? We'll be here to help both of you."
Reynard's smile returned as he thanked him again, then excused himself.
After Reynard had left, Anthony braved going to pay the unsettling puppet a visit. Even after all of his years working for Fazbear Entertainment, Anthony couldn't fathom what had possessed Everett to make such a bizarre animatronic. Although the other ones could be ghoulish at times, the puppet seemed as if it always was. Always watching, always thinking. He as a grown adult thought it was the kind of things nightmares were made of, leading him to question how a child could ever like it. He then remembered that the Prize Counter was now run by human staff members since Thomas took over the business, specifically to replace the role of the white masked creep. Clearly, he understood the concept of nightmare-fuel more than his brother had. Child friendly or not, the animatronic was still haunted by the soul of a child, just like the others. Yet, if somehow possible, that boy in particular was unluckier than the others.
"Uh, hello...?" He was met with silence. "Hello, hello?" Anthony headed over to the large gift box in the corner, tucked behind the counter and cautiously pried the lid off, bracing himself despite not needing to.
As expected, the animatronic was curled up inside, with a walkman at his side and his eyes closed peacefully. Anthony lightly tapped on the side of the box to get his attention. He looked up at him and took off his headphones.
"Oh, hey," he said. "Anthony, right?"
"Uh, yeah…" he mumbled uncomfortably, still feeling uneasy.
"We haven't met properly, have we?"
Anthony shook his head. He stood up from his box and offered his hand. "It's nice to meet you properly. I'm James. James Wyrick." He smiled. "I haven't been able to say that for years. I've missed that."
His eyes widened in surprise. "Wyrick?" It all came together quickly. "You're that little boy who went missing at Fredbear's, aren't you?"
James nodded. "Was, more like, but yeah. I've been here since then… Well, what's happened has happened."
"Right, uh… I'm sorry I haven't been over since finding out about… that."
He waved it off. "Don't worry about it. I know I'm not exactly nice to look at." He chuckled heartily. "When I came here as a kid, I ran from the building in tears because of this," he said, pointing to his mask.
"Well, you were quite young," Anthony reasoned, not finding any humour in the tragedy as James had.
"That's true." James' contentment vanished when he noticed Anthony's crutches. "What happened to you?"
As if he had almost forgotten, Anthony replied, "Oh, these? Right, I, uh, had a bit of a run-in with Porfirio recently."
His face took on a sympathetic and a gloomy appearance. "I'm sorry he got to you, too. So many of us have fallen victim to his sick, twisted ways."
"Wait… He killed you, too?" Anthony questioned uncomfortably. "I thought he only, uh, murdered the other five."
James shook his head slowly. "I was his first. At least I think I was. I felt sick when I saw him come back, day after day. I thought we were free of him until he returned last month." He sighed and pulled his arms around himself. "I just… didn't say anything, because I knew there was nothing I could do to stop him." He met Anthony's eyes, a grave expression on his face. "Anthony, you need to be careful. He's capable of dreadful things. I don't want you to end up stuck here with us."
"I-I know," Anthony stuttered. "H-He uh, threatened to 'finish what he started' if I… said anything about… You know..."
"I wouldn't risk it. He's already killed six people; I'm sure he'd go for seven if given the chance. Don't give him that opportunity."
"I won't…" He took a deep breath. "I just can't believe he did all of that… He and I used to be friends, you know? But, he just snapped all of the sudden. I'll be honest with you, I'm scared. What if he tries again? W-What if I don't survive?" Anthony was pale and shaky as he contemplated his mortality. He truly feared Porfirio as of now, despite how close they had been in the past. More than anything, he wished that the Porfirio he used to knew would come back; the one that used to be his friend, instead of the cruel monster that had replaced him.
James gave him a sympathetic expression. "You won't die," he assured him. He laughed a little and added, "You've survived at Freddy's for this many years, and you'll be around for many more to come."
Anthony smiled uncomfortably. "I guess I've been lucky."
"Lucky or not, you're alive, and that's what matters. Just be careful, and you'll be fine."
Anthony nodded and thoughtfully considered his odds of survival. He eventually reasoned that James was correct; if he could be mindful around Porfirio, in theory, he could avoid another confrontation. At this point in time, he no longer desired to regain his friendship with him. He found it difficult to trust someone who had made an attempt on his life.
Reynard wandered off to set up his new SNES in the security office. Considering the fact that no guards were truly using it to monitor anything, he assumed nobody would mind if he converted it into a gaming area. He started hooking the system up as he eagerly waited for Gilead to join him. Now that he was able to move once more, Reynard looked forward to playing video games with him, as they used to years ago.
Gilead stepped into the room a few minutes after he had set up the console, quickly brightening as he saw the remote in his friend's hand. "Ready to play?" he asked.
Reynard grinned. "Are you kidding? Of course I am!" he exclaimed giddily, booting up the system. "It's been far too long since I've played a proper video game!"
He stood beside the desk chair Reynard had curled up in and added, "Let's just hope this one's better than E.T. was."
Reynard shuddered at the mention of the name. "Even if I could eat, I still don't think I'd ever want Reese's Pieces ever again." He passed Gilead the controller for the console, giving him the honours of playing the single-player game first. "I'm sure Mike has a better taste in video games than your dad did."
Gilead shrugged. "It's not like he knew or anything."
"I guess. Anyway, let's play!"
Gilead completed the first level, holding the controller triumphantly in the air. The two animatronics met each other's eyes and said at the same time, "That. Was. AWESOME!" They sounded like young boys once again, only much happier than the last time they had played together.
"Did you see those barrel rolls?" Reynard chuckled. "Aw man, that was wicked cool!"
"The graphics are great, it plays smoothly, and it's challenging. It's perfect!" he enthused. "I'd keep playing, but I think you should have a turn." Gilead reluctantly transferred the controller to Reynard and watched as he played the next level. For once in a long time, the two of them felt normal; playing video games and laughing together like friends usually did. Not even death could take that joy away from them.