Chapter 7
Roxy faded back into consciousness; the dark void that consumed her for what felt like just a few seconds. She opened her eyes fully expecting Cassie and Sanjay to still be there. What she did not expect was to see a dark maroon ceiling above inset with a giant glowing green star. She gasped and sat bolt upright and realized she had been laying on a lavender couch under a neon sign with her name emblazoned on it next to a portrait of her. She was back in her old Green Room! She looked around the room fearfully; the once familiar place now looked odd and alien to her. Everything was as it once was: an arcade cabinet to her right near a dark red chair flanked by curtains, followed by a neon purple glowing star shaped mirror over a vanity table. On the opposite wall was a collection of wrenches and wheels near a full-sized portrait of her posing with her keytar. A coffee table sat in front of her, behind which she could see a go-kart and red motorcycle parked in the middle of the room.
"Cassie! Sanjay!"
She stood and walked apprehensively to the vanity mirror. Despite desperately and endlessly longing for this moment Roxanne was still not prepared for what she saw: the reflection was a gray animatronic wolf with a long flowing mane of silver hair and tail except for one curved forelock that was fluorescent green. Her eyes were glowing golden and black stripes decorated her cheeks. She wore a red top with matching shorts emblazoned with black stars. Roxy's forearms and lower legs were covered with purple tiger striped material and both wrists and her neck were decorated with black spiked bands while studs and hoops decorated her lupine ears. She was fully restored; she began to scream with her hands to head.
"What is wrong Roxanne?" came Freddy's reassuring voice through the wall of the room next door.
"Freddy, what's going on?" she yelled, "Why are we back in the old Mega Pizzplex?"
She turned to the voice and a ghostly green apparition of Freddy appeared through the wall holding his hand up to touch the wall on his side. It was then she realized she could see him through the walls.
"Freddy, my eyes are back!" she screamed, "Help!"
"It's okay Roxanne," he said soothingly, "My eyes are back the way they were before as well; Sanjay must have switched them while we were asleep."
"That doesn't explain this place!" she barked bolting through the door into Rockstar Row. It was a semicircular room with golden statues of the Glamrocks posed outside their Green Rooms. It was then she realized that Montgomery Gator's statue was missing. In its place was Bonnie holding a bowling ball. Bonnie was standing next to his statue looking lost; like her he was fully restored, with a bright yellow star in the middle of his chest on his red jumpsuit. He had the purple gloves, cape, and shin coverings and a mop of unruly hair over a headband and between his long ears, the right with a hoop earring. He had spiked wristbands similar to Roxy's.
"Roxy, did they fix up the Mega Pizzaplex?" he wondered.
"I don't know," she replied trying to stave off a panic attack.
"Wow, this is so cool!" exclaimed a white chicken in a pink and magenta leotard and mismatched leg warmers: one green leopard printed and one dark pink tiger striped. Chica's head feathers were gathered into a ponytail by a magenta bow and she had green triangular earrings, along with pink stripes near her beak.
Roxy looked around terrified, her tail lashing vigorously.
"I don't like this!" she said holding her hands to her head, "It's wrong!" She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Freddy standing with his neat black bow tie over a cyan lightning bolt decorating his chest. His body was burnt orange except for his chest that was cream and red epaulets and shin guards; his eyes were glowing blue again.
"Maybe Vanessa wanted to surprise us," he said reasonably, "We wouldn't notice the ten months passing by while deactivated."
"Maybe you're right Freddy," she said sighing. The living nightmare had consumed her so thoroughly that she now found hope itself frightening.
Together they walked out into the rest of Mega Pizzaplex. It was an exact copy of the ruined one they had left behind. Roxy immediately ran out ahead of the others into the Atrium, passing STAFF Bots and cleaning crew. She stopped a custodian, a grandfatherly looking man with gray hair and a moustache.
"Excuse me, Roxy Raceway is this way, right?" she asked pointing.
"Yes, right where you left it," he replied equally baffled by her confusion and manners.
"Thank you, Amos!" she said with a wave, glad he was wearing a name tag.
"You're welcome, Roxy," he said giving a small wave.
She found the Raceway as she remembered it, a rambling course meandering through rocky Western canyons under a ceiling of purple archways emerging from red walls with a giant portrait of her holding aloft crossed checkered flags. Roxy clutched the railing as she surveyed her domain and a hint of a toothy smile crept upon her face. She couldn't wait to beat the kids at go-karting. She then glanced down at her hands and her smile slowly faded: her claws were painted green; Cassie had painted them purple when she had stayed over at her house. Trembling, she held up her hands and used her special eyes to peer past her casings into her endoskeleton: not a trace was visible of any of the designs that Cassie had painted onto her.
This was not her body.
"Vanessa!" she roared and leapt into a full-tilt run toward the Security Office. As she ran up an escalator, she heard Vanessa's calm voice over the loudspeakers.
"All Glamrocks please report to the Security Office. I repeat: all Glamrocks report to the Security Office immediately."
Roxy shoved a STAFF Bot into a wall as she ran down a long neon lit hallway. She could see Vanessa standing in the doorway at the far end staring impassively back at her.
"Vanessa!"
Just as she reached the Security Office the door suddenly came crashing down between them with a loud clang. Roxy pounded on the door raking it with her claws. With her vision she could see a glowing green Vanessa standing unflinching behind the door while Luis was behind to her left cringing every time the door shuddered.
"What's going on Roxanne?" said Freddy just arriving. Chica and Bonnie appeared from behind Roxy. She dropped her claws to her sides and began to sob.
"Tell them Vanny," she said. Hearing that name finally made Vanessa flinch.
"What happened Vanessa?" asked Freddy looking up at the security camera, "Why are we at the new Mega Pizzaplex? Did you really deactivate us for ten months?"
"No, only two weeks," said Vanessa her voice shaking, "And we're not at the new Mega Pizzplex, we're at the sister location."
"What?" said Bonnie, "What about the animatronics here?"
"We are the animatronics here," said Roxy not looking up, "We're in their bodies." The door swung open and Vanessa stepped out, looking defiant but her lower lip was trembling.
"I had Sanjay swap out your personality and memory chips with the sister location animatronics," she said then she gestured behind her, "Luis, read the memo."
Luis hesitantly stepped out into the hallway and pulled out his phone.
"'To all administrative staff: due to severe third quarter losses resulting from the precipitously decreased income from the flagship Mega Pizzleplex, construction on the new Mega Pizzplex will be delayed for 60 months.'"
"Sixty months?" echoed Chica.
"Five years," said Roxy numbly.
"How long have you known?" asked Freddy.
"Three weeks," said Luis, "I'm sorry about this."
"But why lie to us about it?" asked Bonnie.
"Because you'd never agree to it," said Vanessa in despair, "You're all so noble now, you'd rather rot in the ruins than take a second chance at the expense of another animatronic. This wasn't what I wanted either; at first, I thought we could do it the way we planned but then Fazbear Entertainment had to ruin everything, as usual! It's only when I heard Luis and Sanjay talking about personality upgrades that I saw a way out for all of us."
"But how did you expect us to feel about stealing the bodies of fellow Glamrocks?" demanded Freddy angrily.
"You deserve it more than they do!" snapped Vanessa, "They were like what you all used to be: pampered rock stars consumed by their own vices!"
"They deserve a second chance, just like us!" growled Roxy looking like she was ready to bite Vanessa's head off.
"They'll get one too," said Vanessa putting a hand on Roxanne Wolf's chest, "Once Fazbear Entertainment builds the third Mega Pizzaplex, we'll install their chips in the animatronics there; they'll never know the difference."
"But we'll know the difference," said Bonnie coldly.
"I refuse to go along with this," said Freddy indignantly, "Ask Sanjay to come here and swap us back."
"We've already announced the Personality 2.0 upgrade as the cover story," said Luis, "Everyone's expecting the animatronics to be acting friendlier when the Mega Pizzaplex opens in five hours."
"And if this gets out," warned Vanessa, "You know what will happen."
That stopped Roxy cold. She hated to admit that Vanessa was right; the humans would be arrested and she and the other Glamrocks would be scrapped for malfunctioning. And then what would become of Gregory and Cassie? She swatted her hand away.
"You win Vanny," she said icily as she turned and left. Vanessa slumped to the ground and began to cry as Luis knelt next to her comfortingly.
Back in her Green Room Roxy sat at her vanity trying to apply eyeshadow but her hand wouldn't stop shaking. She heard a gentle knock on the door.
"Who is it?" she snarled.
"Sanjay," came the reply.
"Come in," she said her anger dissipating. Sanjay came in carrying a bag and what looked like a dark metallic toolbox. He slumped in the chair next to her looking ashen.
"Roxanne, I am so sorry," he began, "Vanessa didn't tell me the truth until you were all deactivated. I didn't want to do it, but…."
"But she told you that Cassie needed me," she guessed, "Well, I need her too." He wordlessly nodded sniffling. She held up a brush.
"Can you do my eyeshadow please?" she asked gently. Sanjay took the brush from her.
"What color?" he asked wiping his tears away as he picked up the tray of makeup.
"You choose," she said, "I trust your judgement."
"I've always liked purple for you," he said trying to smile as he applied the makeup, "It makes your eyes pop."
"Did you bring everything I asked?" she asked.
"Yes, of course" he replied pulling out a pair of cheap hair elastics in the shape of black stars, the very kind sold in the Rockstar Beauty Salon. He pulled forward some of her hair and braided it with the elastics holding it in place. Then he took out some paint markers. She tapped her right cheek.
"A red star here please," she said. He carefully drew it on.
"That's done," he said sighing in relief, "You look great Roxanne."
"I know," she said sadly, "Did you bring me the mask?" He reached in the bag and pulled out her shattered mask, with the left eye socket completely gone. She didn't need to ask who painted the pink heart on the forehead.
"I made the modifications you requested," he said eagerly. She turned the mask over and saw two thin hollow metal tubes welded to the back. He then opened the dark toolbox and pulled out two computer chips in plastic tubes labeled RWPC and RWMC. She placed the tubes in the holders and stood up and kissed the mask before hanging it on the wall next to the vanity mirror.
"I want to keep my sister close until I can find a way to free her," she said, "Will you help me then?"
"Of course, I will Roxanne," he said standing up. Wordlessly they embraced.
"Will Cassie be at the Mega Pizzaplex today?" she asked eagerly with her hands on his shoulders.
"Yes, she and Gregory have all day passes," he replied patting her hand fondly, "But you'll be pretty busy today too."
"It's hard to be popular," she said giving him a wry smile, "Just bring them to Roxy Raceway after closing."
At nine AM the Mega Pizzaplex opened for business and hundreds of parents and children streamed in through the main entrance. Among them was Cassie and Gregory wearing t-shirts with their favorite respective animatronics decorating them.
"What do you want to do first?" wondered Gregory as they got their wristbands attached by a STAFF Bot.
"Go-karts!" she replied cheerfully. She was a little sad not to have Roxy all to herself anymore but she knew that making other children like herself happy was more important. They lined up at Roxy Raceway and entered through the tunnel to the grandstands where they saw an animatronic wolf racing a red motorcycle in tight loops around the track. The crowd gasped and murmured; this had never happened before. She skidded out in front of the waiting crowd and flipped open the visor on her helmet.
"Welcome to Roxy Raceway!" she enthused, "Where everyone's a winner!" That got the crowd cheering. "Who's here is brave enough to challenge this big bad wolf?"
"I am!" yelled Cassie raising her hand. Roxy grinned at her and pulled off the helmet and swaggered over to her.
"We'll see if you can race as well as you can talk little girl," she said posing with her hand on her hip.
"Bring it on," she replied sassily.
"I'll take you on too!" said Gregory.
"Me too!" said another boy. Soon all the kids were out for blood.
The first batch of racers put on their helmets decorated with wolf ears and climbed into the three rows of go-karts lined up at the start line. Well in the back behind them Roxy was sitting in her slightly larger go-kart. Cassie got in and strapped on the seat belt then turned around and gave Roxy a wave, who returned it. They fired up the motors while the STAFF Bot with a checkered flag waved the signal for them to start the race. Cassie and Gregory raced through the turns trying to overtake each other but were both surprised to see Roxy pass them on a tight turn. They both floored their accelerators and Gregory was just barely able to pass her as they crossed the finish line.
"I'll get you next time, little boy!" yelled Roxanne waving her fist. They could tell she was just putting on a good show though. Roxanne was then busy doing photo ops with the spectators so they left her to work without distracting her. Here they split up: Cassie went to the Glamrock Beauty Salon while Gregory went to Fazer Blast, hoping to run into Freddy. They met up an hour later at the foot court in the Atrium. He could see she had her hair and nails done, especially the green steak in her hair.
"You look nice," he managed to say.
"Thanks," she giggled.
From there went past the Daycare and saw Eclipse busy directing some children in drawing and painting, while others were crawling through play tubes or in the ball pit. Their jester costume fully intact and their face was brightly smiling as they spotted them and waved. They waved back and headed up to Mazercize and saw Chica leading an aerobics class.
"One two three four!" she called out, "Feel the burn!"
After running the maze they went to Bonnie Bowl and bowled a frame which Cassie won, then got ice cream at the counter. Bonnie walked by as they were eating their scoops.
"What flavor did you get kids?" he asked them.
"Chocolate," replied Gregory.
"Rocky road," said Cassie.
"Great choices!" he said cheerfully, "Have a Faz-erific day!"
Cassie wanted to avoid Monty Golf but they spotted Montgomery Gator anyway wandering the Atrium and greeting guests. He had a shaggy mullet and brown pants and seemed very laid back. They went to the theater to watch a cartoon followed by a few hours in the arcade in El Chip's.
By then it was getting late so they went to Lost and Found and watched the guests slowly trickle out. Vanessa appeared with Sanjay in tow.
"These two children are with me," she said to the security guard on duty. The quartet made their way to Roxy Raceway. The go-karts had been stowed away for the night, but Vanessa led them to a row of garage themed party rooms. Inside one they found Luis sitting with Freddy, Chica, Bonnie and Eclipse.
"Is everyone here?" asked Vanessa.
"Here for what?" wondered Cassie.
All the Glamrocks began to sing together.
Happy Fazbear Birthday
Pizza, games and cakes
Open all your presents,
Until your tummy aches!
You are one year older
On your special day!
And when this song is over
You'll be on your way!
Cassie turned around to see Roxanne Wolf carrying a carrot cake with a row of lit candles.
"Happy birthday Cassie," she said warmly.
"But Roxy, it's not my birthday," protested the girl.
"I know, but we couldn't really celebrate on your special day," she said putting down the cake on the table, "Now make a wish."
Cassie wiped her gathering tears away so her makeup wouldn't run. She blew out the candles and smiled up at the wolf.
"I already got my wish," she said fiercely hugging Roxy.
"Same here," she said holding Cassie close.
The End