Note: Sorry about the update consistency!

What if...Ruby was Being Rhetorical

Part 12

Foxy

Unfortunately, Foxy was getting used to waking up with a migraine. And he just about given up hope that Joseph would fix it. The man's apologies didn't mean much while he was tearing them apart.

Foxy almost didn't want to open his eyes, both because light hurt and because he didn't want to see what the damage was this time. Joseph was upset that Wiggy had wandered in and seen them a few weeks ago and they were worried the mechanic would take it out on them.

They had been unconscious. How were they supposed to know?

The petty part of him wondered what kind of explanation Joseph would scramble to come up with when they were inevitably gone. Hedwig was too smart to fall for the usual lies.

It was wrong, but half of Foxy wanted Hedy to never forgive her father, but the less selfish half hoped she wouldn't carry that resentment with her.

Foxy groaned softly, his conflicting feelings making the migraine worse. Foxy didn't want to think about Wiggy's reaction. They all hated to see her cry.

"Foxy? Hey buddy, uh, I know you've probably got a headache, but I need you awake."

That was... Scott? And he sounded fairly frantic and anxious.

"Freddy's not waking up as fast as you," Scott added after a moment. "And Puppet is having an existential crisis so I really need some help."

"Mm–'m not a mechanic, mate," Foxy mumbled, trying to squint at the man. He immediately noticed his depth perception was gone. He expected that...

Mangle needed a new eye and his was the closest in colour. That was probably one of the few things he knew happened to his parts. He had no idea where the other parts were going. Not to the Toys it seemed. They were practically brand new and didn't need replacements of everything. So where the hell was the management making Joseph send them? It hurt to think. He noticed Scott's tone of voice so did his best to focus on that. Something was wrong. More wrong than usual, that is.

Scott looked jittery, something that gave away just how stressed he was. There was also a pinched look around his eyes that reminded Foxy how much the man hated what Joseph was doing.

He couldn't do much to help though. Puppet was helpless in the same way.

"Okay okay okay," Scott muttered, shaking his hands out as he tried to psych himself up for this. "Ah fuck, I don't even know what to do, Foxy," he whispered. "This is so out of my... my everything."

He dropped down to sit in front of the confused and worried fox, rubbing his face.

"Michael went over the deep end," he breathed, covering his mouth as if to catch the nasty words. "He tried to kill kids."

Foxy didn't process it for a minute. "Eh. He wot?" He didn't even sound alarmed. His mind felt slow and he hated it. "Mick tried what?" He shifted with a wince, trying to get his leg into a more comfortable position. He was more concerned with getting comfortable than really processing what Scott had said.

Scott covered his face, really letting the truth hit him now that he wasn't keeping Puppet and the others as calm as possible.

No, Timmy was doing that. A ghost from the future. While the teenager from the future had yanked Jeremy into the restaurant and dropped him in her parents' lap before just disappearing somewhere again. Timmy said not to worry but he couldn't help it.

"He tried to kill kids," he whispered. "Tried to kill Wiggy. And he was using Spring to do it." The words still didn't feel real.

"Oi...this ain't funny," Foxy said with a frown. "Ye squiffy and be runnin a rig, mate?"

"I wouldn't make a joke like this," Scott replied, a little sharper in his offence.

Foxy laughed in the man's face. "Y'be the one who invented the tall tale we stuff people inside us to spook new scallywags," Foxy chuckled, but it was strained as the honesty in Scott's tone caught up to him.

Foxy's words made Scott pale even more than before and he swayed slightly as the realisation hit.

Oh fuck.

Did he plant that idea in Michael's head? Was it his fault?

The kids… their little bodies…the bots…He was going to be sick again.

"Scott?" Foxy asked worriedly as he reached out his non hooked hand to try steadying the man. The poor kid looked alarmed. He knew what the warning signs of throwing up looked like on a human. "Y-ye ain't pulling me leg? He actually..."

Scott wasn't looking at the animatronic for a good few seconds but he heard the creak as Foxy tensed when he was finished sorting his thoughts and decided to believe Scott.

There was a low growl that audibly rattled some metal somewhere in Foxy's chest. "They be okay, right? Is the lass okay?!" The fox's panic was sharp as the accent thickened, his pirate speech programming cut through any attempt to be more intelligible. "I'll keelhaul that good for nothin' bilge-sucking–?!" Foxy shifted as if to get up, a screech of joints protesting.

Scott shook himself and focused on trying to keep the fox sitting.

"They're- They're okay. Hurt, but he was stopped." Scott ran his hands through his hair as he tried to make sense of everything. He settled on one piece that was still bothering him. It hadn't stopped turning around in his head since he first heard it. "Did you know the building- was alive?!"

Foxy froze, distracted from his worry of the kids with Scott's question. "Um..." he seemed sheepish. "Aye... but Puppet said t'wasn't normal for the ship.. For places.. so we shant mention it. Things stayed shipshape so we just kinda...forget it be there mosta the time. And Puppet said maybe we should keep it a secret until we figured out what it was." He glanced away. "We didn't want you or Ma and Pop to hang the jib—er, to worry..." He glanced back, alarmed and interested. "Did it do something? Did it…stop Michael?"

Scott shifted his weight and twisted his hands together anxiously.

"Ah, well, you see... it did something. Um, indirectly? Um, it appears to have pulled someone from the future who went and stopped it. Time travel. Yeah, this is my life. Right. So... she's a teenager. She's kinda terrifying in a strange way and having a crisis herself." He paused, " Um... did you ever meet that really cute toddler named Ruby?"

Foxy had to think for a moment, fighting down his panic and confusion at the outright bonkers story Scott was telling him. "No, but weeks ago, before Joseph..." he snarled a bit. "...did more. First Mate Wiggy came in and told us about her day. She told us about her new friend, a spirited little lass." He cracked a smirk. "Wiggy said she liked foxes. So I assume the wee lassie has good tastes." He frowned as he realised what Scott was telling him. "Wait. That lass?"

Scott nodded. "She's... a lot. Been through a lot too. From the sounds of it she gets orphaned at about ten years old." He winced, unsure if it was great idea to mention that right off the bat. "She's... strange. She's an angry little ball of hate in some moments but then she's comforting Spring in the next. She's testing Puppet's patience with her teasing while casually dropping a lot of worldview shattering bombs." He shuddered a little. "She's... yeah she's a lot. But you can tell she cares. She walked right into that room and stopped Michael and helped stabilise the kids. Spring took him out in the end by, uh, snapping the spring locks in his arm."

He felt sick at the memory of what that looked like. "I feel like he got off easy somehow. That girl is sixteen but damn is she scary."

He happened to look at Foxy again as the fox tilted his head. "That!" He exclaimed. "I wondered why that head tilt of hers was so familiar! She tilts her head the same way you do!"

That had been bothering him so much.

Foxy blinked at that. He snickered. "Ah didn't even notice... ye think she gets it from me?" He sounded almost hopeful. After getting past the time travel thing, that almost implied he was working again, right?

He shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking of that stuff right now.

"This is a lot, Scott..." Foxy grumbled. "M'head was already feeling like a cannon went off in me ears..."

Scott gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry kid. I just... didn't want you guys to be left out of the loop."

They were interrupted by the sound of tiny running feet.

"No Ruby, this is staff only!" They heard Teddy call in a panic.

"Wanna see!" The childish voice held far too much glee.

The little black haired menace pushed the partially open door and spotted Scott first.

"Unca Steve!" She greeted in delight.

…

Huh. She really never stopped calling him that, huh?

Then her eyes fell on Foxy.

"Fox!"

Well, Scott had mentioned that she loved foxes. The toddler nearly scrambled over to the bot.

Foxy was a professional and greeted the child happily. "Well 'ahoy there wee swashbuckler! Who might ye be? Did ye come to hear the tales of Cap'n Foxy, the Greatest Pirate of the Seven Seas? I be looking for new deck hands, lassie."

But Scott could see his eye flick around in panic, scared of frightening the little girl with his state and the state of the others in the dim room.

Foxy glanced at Scott, silently pleading for Scott to handle it but Scott wasn't moving.

Ruby didn't seem upset. And frankly? The older bots probably needed this right now. They hadn't interacted with kids in a while and it was taking its toll.

The current situation wouldn't help with that stress.

Ruby ran full speed into Foxy, toppling over into his lap before righting herself and standing up, reaching for his face.

"'M Ruby!" She said happily. "Fox."

Scott turned just in time to stop Toy Freddy from rushing into the room in his search for the little girl. In his anxious state, the younger bot would just pick a fight with the fox who didn't need that right now.

"She's fine," he whispered to the bot. "Calm down and don't start a fight," he pleaded.

Teddy scowled. "But...but it's against the rules," he argued, crossing his arms and looking at the toddler in worry. "Children aren't allowed back here with…them." He squinted at Foxy distrustfully.

"Please don't start a fight," Scott pleaded, glancing over at the toddler who was positively delighted to have found the bot. She was patting at Foxy's snout happily as she talked about pretty much anything that came to mind. Despite Foxy's anxiety over it, it was very clear that he was already smitten with the little girl.

Toy Bonnie (Or Toby as Ruby had called him. Much easier than what they currently called the Toys in all honesty.) The rabbit came running up behind the bear.

Scott bit back a groan. Toby was the worst when it came to the Originals.

"Guys, please, the last thing we need is a fight right now." He was pleading.

The pleas fell on deaf ears as Toy Bonnie came over.

"You're gonna scare her," Toy Bonnie said snippily to Foxy. His tone wasn't rude, but that was literally only because all the bots usually knew what tone to use around children to not automatically set off alarm bells. Granted, the Toys hadn't all perfected that skill yet, so they occasionally upset kids if they had to mention the other group. "Ruby, let's go play in the main room,yeah?" He glanced over at Bonnie, still shut down, and noticeably grimaced.

Foxy glared at the rabbit, probably internally cussing the younger animatronic out. "How's about we let the wee lass decide, hmm y'landlubber?

Ruby had waved at Toby and the bear cheerfully but she seemed completely enamoured by Foxy despite his rough appearance. She giggled at the funny words. She was reaching as high as she could in her attempt to hug the fox.

"Do I wanna know?"

Scott peered out the door and the Toys were briefly distracted by the new voice.

Ruby was standing there and looking as tired and done with everything as Scott was.

Surprisingly, she had Mangle with her who was staring at the Toys with exasperation. The teen had helped her all the way here? The fox could still move, but she generally had trouble if she didn't have help.

Ruby rubbed at her temples as she listened to her younger self for a moment.

"So fucking weird," she whispered.

"Language," Toy Freddy scolded the teen immediately.

"No," Ruby snapped back immediately. "I have earned the right to as much swearing as I like after today Teddy. Besides, trust me, she's heard worse."

She stared at the door for a long moment, a flicker of longing crossing her face before she hid it again.

"Are you really going to start a fight with your older siblings right now?" She asked, swinging her focus back to the Toys. "Nevermind, I already know the answer to that." She pinched the bridge of her nose as Mangle flicked a glance at her. "Okay, I have next to no patience left after everything so I'm going to say this once, with all the love in my heart. You are not fucking better than them."

They jerked back at the venom in the strange teen's voice.

Scott opened his mouth but shut it after a moment. He had an idea of what was coming. Well, if they wouldn't listen to his lectures…

Ruby crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "None of you are better than each other although I do have a strong bias towards the foxes. You are all different but not replacements for each other! And I swear if you start a fight right now, you're getting introduced to Betty many years ahead of schedule."

Foxy's ears were flicked forward as he listened, guessing that this was the teenager Scott was talking about. The teenage version of the little girl who was also apparently listening with just as much intrigued focus as him.

Toy Freddy and Mangle looked surprised and too caught off guard to retort, but Toy Bonnie was always a little bit of a hot-head. He had that in common with Bonnie at least.

"The heck are you talking about?" he asked, forgetting that she might have been a customer. He wasn't sure. But he was prickly.

"I'd listen to her, kid," Scott warned.

"You don't get it," Toy Bonnie scoffed at the man. "Why the heck would Will send us if we weren't supposed to take over the place?!"

"You were supposed to get your own location," Scott stressed.

"Nuh uh! That's not what he said!"

"Will would never say you were supposed to replace anyone," Scott said sternly. "Either you're lying or you misheard."

"I'm not lying!"

"Don't yell," Teddy said. "It's against the rules around kids, Toy Bonnie."

Ruby hadn't been kidding about having no patience left. Scott wasn't sure where the bat came from in all honesty cause the last time he'd seen it was the staff room.

But the bat was here now and impacting against Toby's head with an impressive amount of force.

Twice.

"Ow!" Toby yelped, covering his head while Teddy panicked and Mangle started laughing in a crackling voice.

"No!" The teen snapped. She pointed the bat at his nose. "Don't be a dumbass. That would imply that Freddy and Bonnie were meant to replace Goldy and Spring. Did that happen, you stuck up barbie? No! The company screwed everyone over, that's what happened. And stop being rude to Steve!"

"Who's Steve?!"

That earned him another smack and baby Ruby inside was giggling at the display.

"Bad bunny?" she asked.

Ruby paused and looked inside, focusing on just Foxy and none of the others for the moment. She was barely handling seeing Foxy at the moment.

"He's being a dumb bunny," she said sweetly. "So he gets a smack with Betty."

"Mean ta unca Steve," little Ruby pouted.

"He was being very mean to Steve," she agreed. "I'm just going to remind him of his manners. Hi Foxy!"

She waved before smacking at Toby when he tried to sneakily take the bat.

"AH!"

Mangle was cackling louder, her laughs sounding like coughs as it strained her already damaged voice box.

"Ow!" Toy Bonnie. "Stop it!"

Toy Freddy looked like he wasn't sure if he was supposed to help or not. He looked at Scott. "You're not going to stop her?!"

Scott shrugged. "Hey, I warned you, kids."

He watched Ruby for a moment before looking back at the toddler version clapping her hands in delight.

"That girl's gonna do whatever she wants to," he chuckled softly.

She certainly grew into a little spitfire. It was kinda scary.

Ruby was yanking on Toby's ear now as he tried to argue about the Originals being worse than them again.

"OWow ow ow Ow!" Toby yelped as she held his sensitive ears. He couldn't even pull away.

"The Originals are like teddy bears. I can hug them while you're all plastic-y and pointy. You're a barbie and Foxy is a plushy."

"Plushy!" Toddler Ruby yelled in agreement, twisting to hug Foxy who was just watching in bewildered amusement as he patted the little girl's back.

While Puppet did scold the Toys for their immature behaviour, there was just something about a teenager swinging a bat that was more threatening.

"Not to mention that they've got more experience. That toddler's been running circles around you without Puppet around. And you still panic when kids throw temper tantrums. I can tell you right now that Foxy takes none of that shit."

"Why do you like him so much?" Teddy asked mulishly. Teenagers didn't like them anymore. So why would she be so vocal about this?

He stiffened as Ruby's gaze turned on him.

Mangled snickered.

The answer was Betty to the head.

"Pirate fox!" Ruby yelled, like that was a well-thought out argument on its own.

"How old are you?!" Toby demanded, scrambling to hide behind Mangle who was still snickering madly.

"Don't hide behind your sister!" Ruby snapped. "I'm sixteen, what of it?"

"Why do you even care?!"

Ruby actually paused now and studied him.

"I could give the easy answer of childhood heroes but I'll give you the truth. Steve, can you just deafen the mini menace for a moment?"

Confused, Scott moved over to cover the toddler's ears. The little girl didn't like that at all and scowled up at him.

"They gave me the family I needed and are a large reason I haven't tried to kill myself again."

Mangle's giggles died abruptly while the other two Toys looked horrified. It wasn't really a concept they knew about yet.

Ruby ruffled her hair thoughtfully.

"I also had such an obsession with pirates," she mused. "My teachers hated it." She shrugged after a moment. "You guys would be surprised by how much you mean to kids and later on teenagers and adults. You were friends and a safe space for many who needed it. And you don't get to tell someone's safe space that they're outdated and need to be replaced."

She leaned over Mangle and flicked Toby in the nose, even if he frantically tried to lean out of reach. "Just like no one else can tell you that you're not good enough to be a different kid's safe space, you stubborn idiot."

Toy Bonnie and Toy Freddy looked uncomfortable, unsure what the appropriate reaction was supposed to be. Toby was making an odd face like he wanted to scowl and argue but felt guilty about it.

Mangle looked sad and curious. "E-even me?" she crackled, confused. Kids didn't like her, except to pull her apart. Only Wiggy seemed to really love her.

Ruby cupped Mangle's head, expression softening abruptly from her irritated scowl.

"Yes Mangle. Even you."

"I-I thought-t in th-th-the b-beg-gin-ning... but-t th-they d-don't-t f-fall ap-part s-so eas-sily." Mangle felt irritated at her stuttered voicebox. She was straining it too much.

Ruby's expression twisted sadly.

"You guys need to stop comparing yourselves to the Originals," she said gently. "You aren't the same. You're all completely different people regardless of shared code. You have different likes and strengths and none of you are better than the other." She smiled at the pink fox.

"You're fantastic with the younger kids, Mangle. You connect well with them and you're naturally more gentle. Foxy is the most active out of all the bots and usually attracts more troublemakers. And he can handle them well. All of you are unique and you should embrace that instead of calling yourself someone's replacement. It doesn't matter that you're built different, guys. Puppet's pretty fragile too. Stickman is a fucking matchstick." She pushed on even as Teddy grimaced at her language and opened his mouth to complain. "And Goldy and Spring are completely different. It's not your fault that you look like this Mangle. It's the company's fault, it's the manager's fault and it's the fault of the parents who aren't teaching their kids to be better. But it's not your fault. You Toys are young and so stubborn and naive. But you care about the kids. And that's what's important in the end. Don't lose sight of that."

She broke eye contact to bop Toby lightly on the head with Betty.

He flinched, then looked shocked at the gentleness.

"You're only limiting yourselves and being jerks when you call yourselves replacements. Stop being mean to the Originals and find your own niche in the pizzeria. You'll be surprised by what you find." Then she narrowed her eyes again. "And be mean to any of the Originals on my hearing again and I'll be giving you a few dents. I am overprotective and fully ready to use Betty to discourage that behaviour. Got it?"

Toby's ears were pulled back and Teddy was looking down. To Scott's shock, they actually seemed to be listening.

"Who even told you about being replacements? From William's actions, I wouldn't expect him to be the one who did."

Before anyone could answer, a new voice piped up.

"Scott!" Chi called, sounded mildly panicked and whiney. "Scott, my beak fell off again. Is Joseph around?"

"Ah fuck," Ruby muttered as the chicken came into view.

She was already on edge and had caught a glimpse of the Originals already, despite her best efforts. She really couldn't be blamed for her reaction.

"UNHOLY DEMON CHICKEN!"

"Why is she up at the top of the tool shelf?" Puppet demanded, glaring at the Toys.

Foxy was doing his best to keep toddler Ruby from going climbing as well while her teenage version was wedged up at the top like an angry cat.

Chi was whining about a headache and Toby and Teddy looked like they'd just had the lecture of a lifetime.

"Is she…okay?" Spring asked slowly in concern. "Okay" probably had a very different definition for the teenager.

"I don't think so," Goldy admitted. "And what's wrong with the lights in here? They're flickering like crazy."

Ruby's voice was strained and it wasn't all from being squished against the ceiling. "Encounter with a demonic entity that tried to kill me with twisted versions of you guys in a coma for a week. Give me a break, you don't like seeing the squishy insides of people do you?! I don't like seeing your freaky demon teeth!"