Chapter 9: Tense Tussles
One week earlier...
"PHILLIP!"
"Hello there superstar! How are you doing today?"
A young brown-haired boy wearing a blue shirt with white stripes across the middle and tan cargo shorts looked up at the large bear in excitement. This boy came to the Pizzaplex a lot and always wanted to see his favorite singing bear! Phillip loved seeing him as well and considered him his favorite, a reason he was given the title Superstar.
"I'm doing great! I'm looking forward to seeing your show!"
"Hehe, I'm looking forward to it too! By the way, isn't your birthday next week?"
"YEAH! I'll be coming here for it like always!"
"That's excellent Gregory! We'll give you your best birthday party yet!" Phillip announced.
After saying that, a group of kids raced by chasing after a STAFF bot throwing balled up pieces of paper at it.
"HEY! KNOCK IT OFF!" Came a loud male voice.
Monty raced by annoyed that the kids had stolen his sunglasses, he stopped to catch his breath.
"Damn kids."
"MONTY! LANGUAGE!" Phillip scowled.
Monty wanted to retort, but when he saw Gregory he went wide-eyed before clearing his throat.
"My bad!"
"No problem Monty!" Gregory waved him off.
"Yo little guy, hope you're looking forward to what we'll be planning for your birthday next week!" Monty said.
"Yeah Monty! I can't wait!"
"Only when I arrive will it be perfect!" Came a certain sassy voice.
"Hey Roxy!" Gregory waved to the wolf.
"Hey kid, nice to see you again. I assume you're waiting for Carla to come back with your pizza."
"Yeah, I hope she's okay. I heard some clattering in there."
"Ugh, it's probably those new STAFF bots they got. They hired the Nanny bot to help in the kitchen as backup, the same day Carla wanted to volunteer to help in the kitchen when we're here." Phillip explained.
"Well you guys can handle that, I need my sunglasses back!"
Monty raced off to find her shades while Phillip, Roxy and Gregory headed to the kitchen to find Carla. The chicken was busy arguing with the Nanny Bot over how to make the perfect pizza. Some other STAFF bots were also nearby watching.
"I know what I'm talking about bolts for brains! I got helped from my cousins who are way better at it then me so they helped me out!" Carla argued.
"And I was programmed to fix a perfect pizza way before you started playing here. So back off!" The Nanny Bot snarled.
The other STAFF bots looked between the two as Carla balled her fists.
"Look! Just step away from the counter before I dismantle you."
"I'd like to see you try egg-hatcher."
Before anything could happen, the other three walked in and Phillip ran to break them up.
"Okay okay let's calm down. Nanny Bot, please let Carla do this. It's her first time."
The Nanny Bot looked between them before looking over at Gregory who pleaded with her to give up. The bot sighed and gave an "I'm watching you" gesture to Carla before rolling out. A Map bot then came over to Gregory.
"Take a map!"
"Um...thanks."
After taking it, the bot rolled off as well.
"Ugh...those things are crazy. It's bad enough they got a mind of their own." Roxy shuttered.
Gregory ran to hug Carla.
"Hey Carla!"
Carla smiled and bent down to hug Gregory."
"Hello Gregory! Sorry about all that, I'm almost done with your pizza."
"Take your time! Just glad to see you."
Phillip checked something on his phone and smiled.
"Phew, that's good then."
"What's up Freddy?" Carla asked.
"I remembered that cruise that Foxy was taking all of us on, it looks like we'll be back in time for Gregory's party afterward. If not, maybe we can get Greogry somehow onto this ship for his birthday!" Phillip decided.
"Um...how?" Roxy asked.
"That Puppet guy can make it happen I'm sure. But for now, everything should go smoothly. I could use the trip anyway." Phillip said.
"Same! I wanna see my cousins again!" Carla said.
"Ugh, as long as it's not-"
"Roxy shut it! Cassy will be there whether you like it or not." Carla scowled.
"Tch, whatever."
"You're going on a cruise? That sounds like fun!" Gregory said.
"Oh it will be. But don't worry Gregory, we'll be back here in time for your birthday!"
Phillip bent down to pat him on the head.
"You promise?" Gregory asked.
"We promise Superstar!" Phillip nodded.
Gregory smiled at each of them just as Monty arrived looking tired.
"Those da-"
The others looked at him with a warning.
"...DANG kids finally gave up!" Monty said.
"Nice save." Roxy teased.
Monty gave her a little shove, she returned it, followed another shove, then Roxy tackled Monty out of the kitchen and into a group of annoyed STAFF Bots who looked at them.
"WATCH IT!" One said.
"YOU WATCH IT!" Monty snarled back.
One STAFF Bot shoved Monty back and Roxy threw a punch knocking one down. Five more STAFF bots arrived ready to brawl, even with other kids and their parents watching. Monty and Roxy had an idea.
"HEY KIDS! WANNA WATCH US PUMMEL SOME BOTS?"
Cheers erupted from around the main area, much to the surprise from the parents.
Phillip, Carla and Gregory watched as a brawl between Monty, Roxy and the STAFF Bots ensued while the three decided to stay in the kitchen for now.
"Ugh, this always happens..." Phillip groaned.
"You get used to it." Carla said.
"Agreed." Gregory said.
Needless to say Gregory had to eat his pizza in the kitchen with Phillip and Carla. Phillip looked down at the happy boy eating his pizza and talking to Carla about something.
"Yeah...we made a promise..."
The present...
"...And we'll keep it."
Phillip sat in the medical room all patched up by Monty and was looking out a window out at the sea. Nothing but blue, no land in sight. It annoyed him, he needed to get back home, he needed to save his friends. What kind of leader did he think he was? He was no Freddy that's for sure, but he didn't want to be like him, he wanted to be his own person.
"Damn it...we can't go on like this..."
He looked around the room, he was the only one in there. The others had went back to their rooms, Monty had suggested he stay in there for now. They made sure to lock up the room and he needed to stay quiet. He sighed and looked down at his clawed hands.
"I'm a fucking bear, I should stronger and more threatening than this. And yet..."
He clenched his fists out of anger and almost punched the wall before remembering he needed to be quiet. There was no noise outside the room, just the creaking of the ship.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Phillip took out his phone and looked through his gallery, and he saw pics of him and the other Glamrocks, some with Freddy when they were younger, and then one with and his crew and...
"Gregory..."
That had done it, he got up and walked towards the door. He needed to get back to the others now. He opened the door and saw no one else around. He wasn't far from the bedrooms so he headed down the hall ignoring all the body pain he had.
"I won't die...not tonight...not on this ship." He growled.
As he turned a corner, he saw a yellow VR Sister walking his way. When it saw him, it was about to charge until it saw Phillip's enraged face. The memory of them killing Cassy came back to him and he growled.
"Get...the fuck...out of my way..." He growled loudly.
The VR Sister stood her ground until Freddy got close enough...then hesitated.
"I said...MOVE!"
Phillip swung on the girl who ducked before deciding to run off. With no one else around, Phillip made his way to his bedroom stopped in the middle of the hall. He stomped a foot.
"EVERYONE! MEETING! NOW!"
The collective groans or whines were heard as the survivors all came out of the room.
"Phillip, you're supposed to be in the medical room." Monty argued.
"No...I need to talk with everyone!" Phillip demanded.
"It can't wait until tomorrow?" Patch groaned.
"Also...not a good time..." Harper said eyeing the tense staredowns that Roxy and Carla were giving each other.
"Don't...care."Phillip gritted his sharp teeth at them all.
"Fine...the dining room?" Monty asked.
"Yeah. Let's go."
Once there, Phillip forced them all to sit at the same large table while he stood at an end. The air was full of tension and silence. They all remained slient as they looked at each other. Monty sat trying not to fall asleep, Carla tapped a talon on the table while trying to avoid Roxy's glare as the wolf dug her claws into the table while looking worriedly at Harper. The frog looked tired and just done with everything while Patch was worried Horace was gonna break into another tale. Horace had been rather...quiet since Orville's death. No stories, no suggestions, no smiling. Phillip sighed before speaking.
"Okay...I know we've been having some...issue lately, besides the deaths. God rest their souls." He said taking a pause.
Carla scoffed silent and rolled his eyes. Phillip noticed that and frowned.
"I...we...all have suffered a lot lately, our goal to survive as a full group has tragically failed. This has become much harder than we thought, especially with the possibility of a traitor. I'm not here to call them out, but if there is one here, you know who you are. You also know you will face punishment once this is all ver and we're back on land. So...hopefully you'll come to your senses and stop assisting Vanny."
Phillip paused again and eyed all of them. Harper eyed exactly who the traitor was and slowly shook her head.
"Unbelievable." Harper said to herself.
"While we're here, I've also been needing to stay that no matter what personal beef we have with each other, we need to put those aside for our survival. Come on guys, we need to get off this ship. We can't lose more people over petty shit. WE...I...I..."
Phillip began to tear up and the others noticed.
"I can't...lose anyone else. I don't want to lose...us..."
He eyed Carla, Monty and Roxy who looked upset. Monty looked down in shame, Carla turned away crossing her arms, and Roxy bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes shaking her head. Deep down, the four wanted to become a successful group again, but it all depended on solving past issues.
"I...oh...nevermind..."
Everyone noticed Horace has spoken up...but the hippo looked down shaking his head.
"Horace?" Harper said.
"It's nothing...not like anyone would want to listen to me anyway."
"That's not true!" Harper said.
"Horace you can talk to us." Carla said.
"But...you all didn't care for my stories. I don't even matter here."
"Don't say that dude, of course you matter!" Monty said.
"Go on Horace, tell us a story." Phillip said.
Roxy wanted to object, but she knew it would be out of place as Horace had just lost his best friend, so she only sighed.
"Yeah, spill it out!" She added.
"Go on dude." Patch said.
Horace looked between all of them before smiling and looked down.
"Well...there was a time that, heh, me and Orville were watching a baseball game, or was it Soccer? No it was definitely baseball! Our team was losing badly since they were fighting each other, but we continued to cheer them on! During half time, Orville walked over to them and said 'Hey! You guys got to stop fighting and work together, you're a team after all'. I tell ya, Orville knew how to tuck at the heartstrings. He gave an amazing speech to them and even made a tear come out of all of their eyes, including mine. His skills worked and they won the game. I tell ya, seeing their hearts beat with pride and their smiles all wide really brightened up our day. We had a rough day before honestly, it had rained, Orville slipped in mud, I almost lost my hat. Hoo boy let me tell ya, it was horrible day! But we kept going, never went back home. Hell we even got ice cream on the way back that night, we talked with the team some more and ate with them. I tell ya, we had a grand time! All in all, they're just like us, we need to stick together. We'll get that bright future, in this case, get off this ship and back home safe and sound. We can't let the weather, or Vanny in this case, keep us down!"
Horace finished having looked down most of the time, he looked up to see everyone staring at him in shock. First there was silence, then...a clap...and another.
The clap came from Phillip, the Monty joined in, then Carla, then Harper, then Patch...and finally Roxy. Horace blushed as they all clapped and cheered him.
"Horace I think you actually did cheer us up some." Carla said.
"I...I did?"
"Yeah, thanks for this Horace!" Harper said.
"My man!" Monty held a thumbs up!
Unknown to them, Vanny had been listening to them from her hidden room.
"Tch, looks like I need to kick things up a notch...and get these guys separated again." She sneered.
Later on, Carla was heading back to her room when she spotted Roxy standing by her own bedroom door.
"Hey Carla..."
"Oh...hey..."
"Can we talk?"
"About what?"
"Please...I'm trying to make an effort here."
Carla's fists clenched as Roxy looked at her with pleading eyes.
"...Fine..."
Carla walked into Roxy's room before standing nearby crossing her arms and tapping her foot.
"Make it quick wolf."
Roxy sighed.
"Look...I...I'm sorry about your cousin."
"Are you?"
"Yeah...I may not have liked her, but I would never wish death on someone. Especially over a stupid race."
Carla said nothing and looked away.
"Carla...I want to squash all this beef between us."
"Kinda hard to do."
"I...I know...it is. We won't always see eye-to-eye...I'm sure there will be more arguments and fights in the future. But hey...that's normal at this point, I'm sure the Fazbear Gang do the same shit."
Carla looked at her, she did have a point.
"Yeah...seems so."
Roxy walked closer to her, but Carla was still tense.
"So...one last fight?" Roxy asked.
"Huh?"
"We both clearly have more anger we need out, and there's no enemies around right now to dish it on, besides, I'm sure it'll make you feel better."
"You love solving things with violence don't you?" Carla had to smirk.
"Runs in the family...and the friend groups!" Roxy shrugged.
Carla shook her head and sighed.
"Fine...I suppose I can knock you around some more."
Roxy smiled.
"Good...we go until one of us hits the floor."
"Deal. Don't hold back."
"Same to you."
The two lunged at each other and started to brawl in a flurry of fists. Monty and Phillip were just heading to their rooms when they heard the scuffle.
"Should we..." Monty trailed off.
"Nah...they'll be fine." Freddy smirked.
They could hear laughter and light-hearted insults between the girls and the boys nodded to each other.
"Yeah...they'll be fine." Monty agreed.
The boys headed to bed hoping to drown out the noise. About 10 minutes later the girls were laid out on the ground in a heap. The two hadn't fought as viciously as some had thought. They laid there a little bruised up and had messy hair. They panted as the dustcloud they were in vanished.
"Heheh...phew...I think...I think I'm all out." Roxy said.
"Yeah...hehe...ugh...me too." Carla panted.
The two looked at each other and laughed, their friendship rekindled. They sat up and hugged.
"I'm sorry about everything." Roxy said.
"I'm sorry too." Carla said.
"Friends?"
"Friends."
The two got up and suddenly heard a voice over the comms.
"Awww...what a lovely reunion..."
"Damn it...not now." Carla sneered.
"NOT A GOOD TIME BUNNY GIRL!" Roxy yelled.
"It's always a good time for me! Now then...it's nice that you too made up. Unfortunately, I'm gonna break you two up again!"
"Oh and how?" Roxy asked.
"I'm glad you asked. I'm sure these guys look familiar to you."
Suddenly, two bots came rolling into the room and grabbing Carla by her arms.
"AAH! WAIT...THE STAFF BOTS?"
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING HERE?" Roxy growled.
Carla struggled against the bots but they held her still.
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"
"CARLA!" Roxy yelled.
And then it happened so quickly. Right as Roxy ran to help Carla, a piece of the wall behind her opened up revealing it to be a secret door. And out came a large clamp that aimed for Roxy's neck.
"ROXY!" Carla yelled.
But before Roxy could react, the long metal arm clamped around Roxy's neck! Roxy reached out for Carla, her sharp green claws almost touching the chicken before the wolf is yanked back so hard and fast that Carla could only blink and see her disappear. Roxy had been yanked through the secret door and far down an unknown hallway before the door shut back disguised as a wall again.
"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ROXY!" Carla screamed.
Phillip and Monty busted into the room with Monty tackling one of the bots and Phillip sucker-punching the other one.
"STAFF BOTS? HERE?" Monty yelled biting off the head the bot he tackled.
"ARE YOU OKAY?" Phillip asked.
"Yeah...but VANNY TOOK ROXY!"
"WHAT?" The boys yelled.
Carla pointed to the wall that had opened up and Monty proceeded to beat on him trying to open the door.
"IT WON'T BUDGE! IT WON'T FUCKING BUDGE!"
"Sorry gator-boy, only I can open it!" Vanny spoke.
"YOU BITCH! GIVE BACK ROXY!" Monty yelled.
"Eh, not happening. Besides...maybe...just maybe...I just killed her..."
REMAINING CREW: REDACTED...
To be continued...