"You are the best."
"Thank you."
"Beauty is forever."
"It is."
"Don't worry about what other people think."
"I won't."
Roxanne Wolf sighed as she put down the walkie-talkie and stared at her reflection. Everything looked perfect. Her golden eyes shone, her silver hair was clean, soft and flowing and her casing was spotless. She turned around to watch her thick, full tail swing freely, it too was perfect. The only thing that bothered Roxy about her appearance was that pesky green forelock. It often fell into her face, so she had to push it back, but everyone loved it. The things she tolerated for her fans…
Roxy stood up and threw back her hair before striking a confident pose, pumping the air with her fist. In a few minutes, she would be going on stage for their final performance of the night. It was a particularly busy day today so there would be a huge crowd waiting for her to blow them away. They would leave remembering her face.
"Okay," looked herself in the eye, preparing her mantra "You've got this. You've smashed it every time today, you're a star! Remember; always smile, face the audience, you know the words and you know the songs. You've got it!"
She stared herself in the eye, almost waiting for her reflection to acknowledge what she had just said. But as she gazed into her own eyes, Roxy's grin faded, her ears drooped and her frame shook.
…Why was this not working?
Roxy groaned and sank back into her chair, putting her head in her hands. Why was this so hard? Why was it so hard to believe in anything she was saying? She was the best! She did know everything! Surely, everyone knew that! But if that was true then why had she lost every race? Even ones that should have been a simple win, some kid would always beat her. She was supposed to be the best! An undefeated champion!
Then why did she always lose? Champions did not lose. It did not make sense… If she could never win, then what did she stand for? Most nights she did not know…
Knock-knock!
Roxy jerked out of her thoughts at the knock at her door. With a woosh, it opened to reveal a tall and orange bear with electric blue markings and a top hat perched on his head. He leaned in, a big smile on his face and he clapped his large hands together enthusiastically.
"Roxanne!" Freddy Fazbear called cheerily, "It is time! I have a feeling this could be our best show yet! Are you ready to go?"
"No, I'm clearly not!" Roxy snapped, thumping a fist against her desk in frustration. She pinned her ears and glared at him pointedly, "Get out of my room, Freddy!"
Freddy's smile creased into a worried frown.
"Is everything okay, Roxy?"
"Just get OUT!" Roxy snarled, swiping an arm across her desk and sending the trophies once perched cascading across the floor. Freddy's ears dropped and he glanced away.
"Oh, I am sorry." he backed out of the door, "I will see you under the platform." and with that he left without another word. The door flicked closed, leaving Roxy alone once again.
As soon as he was out of sight, Roxy groaned angrily and bent down to pick up the trophies, her own words replaying in her cranium. She looked at the shiny cup, seeing her distorted reflection in the metal. Seeing the #1 staring her in the face, Roxy growled in her throat and gripped its neck so hard that she felt the metal bend against her fingers. Why did she have these? Why would she have these when she was such a loser?
Putting the trophies back, she turned her attention back to herself, glaring back at her in the mirror.
"You… JERK!" she snapped at her equally angry reflection, punching the desk again "Why did you do that? That bear's been nothing but good to you and that's how you talk to him? What is wrong with you! You're a-!"
Roxy growled anxiously and reached for the walkie-talkie again. Closing her eyes she held it close to her ear and pressed its button.
"You are indestructible." It crackled and at once, Roxy felt herself deflate and everything seemed clear.
"Yeah… yeah… I am. Okay. I'm fine." she sighed, feeling her anger melt away. She had to keep it together just for one more show.
Tomorrow, she and the other Glamrock animatronics were to have their monthly respite. Roxy was never completely sure why, something about their servos becoming worn down or their voice boxes strained if they performed for too long without a rest. So, if this was the last anyone would see of the band until Tuesday, tonight had to go off without a hitch.
Everything had to be perfect.
She had to be perfect.
"Ugh… Okay. Showtime!" she snapped to herself, "Don't get distracted!" She stood up, hands on her desk and leaning forward to almost touch noses with her reflection.
"Alright. Perk up, champ! You are going out there and giving them a show they won't forget!" She got up from her chair and with one last glance at her reflection, she left the room with her nerves fried but head held high.
—
A faz-tech tapped his clipboard impatiently, looking up and down the hall. Eventually he caught sight of Roxy taking her sweet time walking to the platform under the atrium by admiring her reflection in the shiny walls.
"Roxanne!" He yelled, "You're late!"
"Yeah yeah…" Roxy flicked a hand dismissively at the tech who glared at her strutting past.
"Hey!" the tech ran in front of her, forcing Roxy to stop, "Where have you been?"
Roxy scoffed and put a hand on her hip.
"Getting ready. Do you really think all of this just happens?" she asked loftily, flicking her hair over her shoulder, gazing down at the tech like she had just pulled him off the sole of her foot.
"You can't keep showing up so late! They'll have your ass if the performance delayed again because-!"
"Listen," Roxy cut him off, pinning her ears and raising a hand, "I'm not the one beating my gums and keeping a star -aka ME- from getting out there. So, whose butt is really gonna be kicked here? Cause it ain't mine…"
The tech gulped, looking up at Roxy's bored yet irritated face. He fought for a comeback for a moment before sighing in defeat.
"Uh… never mind, just go!" he pointed down the hall.
"That's what I thought." Roxy scoffed before walking away, swatting him with her tail as she went past. She heard him hit the wall with a thump and let out a small chuckle. She always hated those techs, especially with how they talked to her and the others. This place liked to make it look like the animatronics and human-staff were on the same level. As if! So little victories like this made it more tolerable.
The tunnel was dark, and Roxy's ears flicked as she glanced upward, hearing the rumbling of feet above her head and the voices of hundreds of people as a crowd was gathering. It sounded like a full house. Looking up, Roxy could see the outline of a huge mass that made up the hundreds of people waiting for the show to start. The wolf huffed anxiously but masked it as a haughty cough as she flicked her mane over her shoulder.
Standing a little further ahead were Chica, a white chicken animatronic one a pink leotard who Roxy had heard before she even saw her with how loud and quickly she was speaking, and Montgomery, a huge, green gator with star shaped sunglasses. They were talking between themselves; Chica being animated and full of smiles while Monty stood with his arms folded looking like he would rather be anywhere else than under the stage. Chica looked over and her purple eyes shone as she spotted Roxy.
"Oooh!" She chirped happily, bouncing on the balls of her feet "Roxy wolfie honey, you're here!"
"Yeah, what took ya so long, mutt?" Monty grunted, peering over his sunglasses with his deep and red eyes.
"A little place called None of Your Beeswax, ya big newt." Roxy flashed a grin at him before turning to Chica, winking "beauty takes time, you know that. Anyway, where is Freddy? Thought we were 'running late' according to the losers over there."
"He'll be back in a few minutes," Chica answered uncertainly, "Freddy said he felt got an error alert, so a couple of Faz-techs are looking him over."
"Uff!" Roxy huffed as she checked her nails, "And people say I am the diva. I just got my head torn off for being late."
"I'm not sure what is wrong," Chica glanced upward to think, "he seemed upset when he came back from getting you so he's getting a check-up."
A surge of guilt rushed up Roxy's circuits, but she hid it with a half-lidded grin.
"I wouldn't worry. Fred's a big boy I'm sure he's fine. Anyway," she put her hand on her hip and grinned at the pair, "Let's give these folks a show they won't forget huh?"
"Yeah, too bad I gotta cover up for your sour notes," Monty grinned with a chuckle, to which Roxy flashed him a rude hand-gesture that made Chica bawk in surprise.
"Roxy!"
"What? I saw one of those techs do that to Monty yesterday!"
It was only after ten more minutes that Freddy finally made his appearance. He was apologetic to no end, but clearly had not lost his enthusiasm for the performance.
"Alright, superstars!" he clapped his large hands together, "Let us give them a show to remember!"
Roxy could not help but smile, despite rolling her eyes at his words. He always started a show like this, but his enthusiasm was infectious. Chica bounced on her heels, excited to get going and even Monty managed a smirk despite his folded arms.
"Yay, let's go!" Chica chirped.
"Let's rock!" Monty made a fist.
"Yeah…" Roxy struggled to come up with anything else. Freddy seemed to notice this and raised an eyebrow, "Uh- Just don't block their view of me, I'm too beautiful for that." she tossed her hair back.
"What are we waiting for? Come on!" Fredy waved an arm, and the quartet began their strut down the walkway towards the main stage. Neon lights shone from all corners, bathing them all in a bright and blue light. Roxy stayed towards the back, mindful of how she walked and tried to keep her head up. She wanted to catch up and join the others, be involved in it all, but what if she said something or did something stupid, like trip over her tail or something?
"Ladies and gentlemen!"
The percussion, bass and synth of the opening song roared to life, practically shaking the ceiling as the intercom's voice called over the eruption of cheers from the crowd.
"Boys and girls, Fazbear Entertainment would like you to put your hands together for the one and only Freddy Fazbear!"
If Roxy was able to gulp, she would have. She hated this part, this was always the worst moment, right before they got onto stage. Once she was up there, she always felt much better but the anticipation of the performance, with all the ways it could go wrong made her feel the same way as that one child who described a plane taking off. Roxy had only ever seen planes flying in the air through the Plex's huge open windows. She always wondered what it was like…
Okay, keep it together… she heard her own voice say within her hardware, it'll just be like every other time, you'll be the star. Just stay focused.
"Alright!" Freddy's voice broke Roxy out of her trance, "Let's go!" he grabbed his mic stand and pumped a fist up in the air. This sent a surge of energy throughout the other Glamrocks as they grabbed their instruments. Roxy picked up her trusty green keytar and, with a swish of the cord plugged it in. It would only be a few seconds before they would take over from the canned recording, she had to be perfect.
As the music reached its crucial point, Roxy felt the the platform shake under her feet as it rose at a great speed upward. This was it! Roxy gripped onto her keytar, placing her fingers on the right keys and prepared for the thrill of reaching the stage.
The roar of the crowd and the blinding lights of the stage sent Roxy's sensors into overdrive, but her eyes adjusted quickly to the change, and she leapt from the platform, the stage shaking as all four Glamrocks hit the ground to uproarious applause. She threw back her head and struck the keys hard just in time to take over, now playing the notes live.
To her left, Monty struck pose after pose with his bass, laughing like a lunatic but soaking up the attention like a great green sponge, Roxy could see lots of kids wearing green hats that mimicked the alligator's signature mohawk.
Chica was behind her, but Roxy could tell she was greatly enjoying herself. She hit every note like a pro but that was to be expected, not that Roxy would ever admit it, but she envied the chicken's dexterity. She had wanted to try the guitar but had been forced into playing the keytar instead.
Come on! The voice was back, Focus!
Roxy closed her eyes, shutting off their sensors. Being able to see through walls, it was hard for her to pay attention when there was so much visual information assaulting her at once. It let her focus completely on hitting her notes, her frame swaying back and forth to the beat as the song's intro finished, and the first verse would begin.
But… the music continued. Why was there no singing?
Roxy opened an eye and flicked her ears back; did Freddy just miss his cue?
"Freddy!"
Roxy's sensitive ears picked up Chica's worried voice. The wolf turned from the crowd and her jaw dropped at what she saw.
Freddy Fazbear stood stiffly, his eyes wide and twitched violently as his head and upper body jerked stiffly. He glanced at the others, his mouth open as if he wanted to say something but nothing came from his voice box.
"Freddy?" Roxy asked, but before anyone could do anything, the large bear stumbled and collapsed to the ground, shaking the stage and went limp. There was a tsunami of gasps from the crowd and the music faltered to a halt as the animatronics stopped playing. Freddy's microphone screeched feedback as it rolled from the stage into the crowd.
At once, Chica threw off her guitar and ran to Freddy's side. Monty stood behind her, dumbstruck and slack jawed. Roxy could only stare, frozen to the spot as techs charged onto the stage. Freddy lied there completely stiff, as if he had shut down entirely.
"What a rip off!"
Roxanne turned towards the shout. Amongst the sea of people, she saw disgruntled faces and heard their angry shouts. Many started booing. Kids were crying, asking their parents what was wrong with Freddy. People were upset, and if people were upset…
Roxy looked around frantically, the crowd was getting louder as Freddy was finally taken from the stage on a long flatbed, pushed by several technicians. She was closest to the stage's edge; everyone was looking up.
Oh no, they're all looking at you- say something, loser!
"Uh…HEY!" when Roxy spoke up, several people turned their heads. Darn, she did not think that was going to work!
Good job, idiot!
"Um-"
Come on, you idiot, do something do you want them to like you or not!?
More technicians were coming onto the stage, one trying to grab Chica's guitar from her, but the chicken pulled away, looking just as afraid and confused as Roxy felt. She and Monty moved towards the back of the stage, but Roxy felt as though her feet were nailed to the floor. Why could she not leave?
"Roxanne!" A tech shouted harshly, "Off the stage!"
Roxy clung to her keytar, looking back and forth between the technician and the crowd.
"Wolf!" He yelled again, "I said move!"
No! She could not just leave the show like this, nobody would ever come back! Nobody would…
Nobody will love you...
"Roxanne, I won't tell you again! COME HERE!" Roxy turned.
"Rah-?!" she yowled as she saw the techs were marching towards her now- and one had a wrench!
You're all going to feel this if you don't fix this, so do something, you loser- DO SOMETHING!
"ROXY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Before she could stop herself, the wolf lurched forward and, with as much power as her hydraulics would allow, launched herself from the stage. The crowd let out a unified gasp, they were enthralled! Until…
DANGER: IMPACT IMMINANT-
CRASH!
Roxy growled as she slammed onto the ground with an awful metallic thud. People yelled and scrambled out of the way, giving her a wide space.
"Wow… nobody caught me." She managed to groan, "That was lame…"
Within her closed eyes, windows popped in and out of sight, all scanning for damage. There did not seem to be any and the lack of any message signifying harm to a guest told her that she at the very least did not hit anyone, which Roxy was relieved about. Afraid of what she would see if she opened her eyes, Roxy lied still.
Well… now what, loser?