1

I wake up from a buzzy sound, which is made by a flickering lightbulb. My limbs are twitching for a moment, before I get control over my system. It was a bad dream. I haven't had those for a while. My eyes land on the cracked tile floor, which is lit by a bright, orange lightbulb. It's almost consumed by wires that hang off the ceiling.

I stretch my legs forward and press my back against a cold wall, trying to have another nap, but my intention is interrupted by a speaker crackle, which is coming from the back side of the room. Freddy. He's watching TV again. I recognize the theme music, it's his favorite animated show.

Understanding that I will have no rest for at least an hour, I get my feet closer to myself. Once I find a good grip on cracked, desaturated walls, I finally get up. My eyes fall on my suit casing on the legs again. It's messed up. Right leg is missing suit casing on the knee and foot. The left leg's casing is heavily damaged, the foot casing is missing as well, but the remaining parts are still somehow holding onto my endoskeleton. Barely.

As I stand up, the wires hang off over my suit casing. With my endoskeleton creaking, I walk to the back side of the room. I pass through a lot of stacked boxes that are filled with a lot of props. Mainly broken equipment, used machinery parts and broken toys. It's called 'parts and service room' for a reason.

The music is getting louder as I get closer to the source of the sound. I reach the back of the room. There's a doorway, which leads into a small, separate room. I almost make it, but something small reflects the lighting right into my bare endoskeleton eyes. I'm stunned for a moment. With my eye sensors back to normal, I look for the object. It takes me a few seconds to locate it. It's an oval shaded pink pocket mirror.

I semi-squat and take the mirror with my right hand. It appears that it has a worn icon of something I can't make out. Despite cracks and dust, it's relatively in good condition. The mirror itself is cracked. I inevitably look at it. A missing front part of my head suit casing, as if it was chopped off by an axe. My endoskeleton head is consumed by wires that somehow manage to reach the jaw and hang off it. And of course, two big red glowing dots that are my eyes.

Yes kids, that's what your old pal Bonnie looks like now.

I stand up and crush the mirror with my endoskeleton hand, watching small pieces fall on the floor, near my bare bare endoskeleton feet. I turn and walk into the doorway, to see Freddy watching the TV, facing back to me. My eyes are flashed by lightning the TV is making. I stop in the doorway and lean with my left shoulder against it.

Freddy is kicked back in a chair, with his feet put up on a table, one leg on another. His hands are on the back of his head. His hat is lying on the table, right next to the TV. The chair he is sitting on is strong enough to support his massive weight, but it's definitely not from this establishment, it's from somewhere else. We found it near stacked-up boxes, before… 'them' let Freddy take one of the TVs. Despite the environment the TV is in, it's looking okay.

I look at the screen for a few seconds, watching a blue birth with an ear-cutting voice trying to find a place to eat. Freddy likes this show. He is watching the TV with what I can tell is the maximum volume its speakers can produce. I know it's not because he wants to annoy any of us, it's because since we found ourselves in this place, he found out his hearing sensors were highly damaged. The newer models use more advanced tech for hearing, so there are no parts to fix his ears.

I silently stand behind him, watching him enjoying the show, as he always does. I don't however. The animated bird's high-pitched voice always makes my ears turn like a spinning naval radar. I believe the bird's voice can be heard from another side of the building, if the room's door would be opened. Why they decided to give this animated character such a voice is beyond me.

"A little loud, don't you think?" I ask.

Freddy turns his head to me, with his cigar stuck between his cracked teeth. It's not real though. It's a very realistic prop with an orange light on the front, which simulates paper being burned. It's powered by batteries. He always walks with it, even back in the day. However, he had never used it in front of the children or stage performances.

"Sorry Bonnie, y'know my hearin' ain't good." Freddy replies, putting his feet down and adjusting TV volume down. He knows I'm not a fan of the show. I tilt my head.

"Where are the others?" I ask. "They are there again?"

Freddy sighs. I can tell he's about to talk-nice them. He sighs and slowly gets up the chair.

"Bonnie, you definitely should stop bein' hostile towards em." he says, walking towards me. He looks off without his hat on. "They ain't as bad as you are picturin' 'em to be."

I make a short ironic laugh, trying not to put much pressure on my music box. I don't have to reply, he knows my attitude towards these plastic bots, who own the building.

"They helped Chica by attachin' a pair of endoskeleton arms to 'er torso." Freddy takes the cigar in his right hand. "And an endoskeleton arm to you as well…"

"Why do you think they would do that? The answer being so that we would less hesitate when they will need to rip wires off our endoskeletons." I say, looking right into Freddy's left, blue-pupiled eye. He used to have both eyes blue-pupiled, but since we've got here, his right eye shell has been missing. Now it's just an endoskeleton eye with a glowing white dot in the center.

Freddy's eyes twitch a bit. I can tell he has the same opinion about it. To some extent at least, while I'm certain of it. He takes a few steps back, scratching his forehead, thinking. Then, Freddy turns to me, looking directly in the eyes, as if he is seeing me for the first time. How it was a couple of years ago. He takes a few steps forward, stopping right in front of me.

"Why are you so certain of it?"

I look down for a moment, then back at Freddy. I can't answer that question, yet. It's these kinds of thoughts, when you're so sure of it, but when asked to explain… you struggle. Freddy gives me a slight smirk.

"Look, Bonnie…" Freddy begins, putting his right arm on my shoulder and directing us towards the side of the room I came from, where I usually rest. We walk past the pile of broken and no use stuff, as he pats my shoulder. "You're gonna start to be less… hostile towards 'em. Maybe you could tryna..."

"Befriend? Like? Admire?" I ask almost angrily. Freddy rolls his eyes.

"Be more open towards 'em." Freddy replies, letting out a deep sigh. "You can't be a curmudgeon all the time."

"You think?"

We stop next to my resting place, in front of the thick, heavy door that leads to the main hallway of the establishment. I release myself from Freddy's arm and walk to the right, about to drop myself on the floor and get back to sleeping, while Freddy stands behind me.

"Could ya try one more time?" Freddy asks.

"I think the last two times have given everyone a perfect idea of what opinion I am sticking to." I reply, walking forward while facing Freddy with my back.

"Even if I ask ya to do it one last time?"

Oh no. I hate it when he does that. He knows I can't deny his request, and that pisses me off. I walk to the table next to my resting place and lean against it, facing Freddy with my eyes now. Our friendship has its ups and downs, but somehow Freddy manages to be sane with me, when I'm acting out. I have no idea how he does that.

One time, back in the old days, my guitar went missing. We searched an entire building, looking for my red as a cherry colored guitar. It took us nearly an hour to find it. It was hidden behind a workbench, in the backstage room. Fredbear and Springbonnie usually resided there. Fredbear had no interest in such an instrument, so Springbonnie was questioned. He admitted taking my guitar. For practice.

Back in the day, anything could get on my nerves, from something loudly falling on the floor, to someone talking to me. But when my guitar was stolen, yes, stolen. Because I left it near the stage, and when I got back, it was gone. Fredbear and Springbonnie had their own stage, in a different room. I always had suspicions towards the yellow duo, because it was four to two ratio. Fredbear seemed to be a chill guy, Springbonnie however… was usually glancing at us, thinking we were going to take his brother from him, along with 'their' fame.

When I took my guitar back, I couldn't sleep. I was thinking about Springbonnie stealing my guitar. What would happen, if it wasn't found? Our crew wouldn't perform? Wait until a new one arrives, while those two get all the spotlight? If he had something personal against me, that's one thing. But he endangered our crew. My crew. It was a loud morning, when everyone woke up from Springbonnie's voice box screeches. Someone, shattered Springbonnie's purple banjo into pieces.

Of course it was me. Fredbear was doing his best trying to keep Springbonnie away from our room or coming close to any four of us. After that, Freddy came to me, giving me a serious look. He stared at me for a minute, then he smiled, placed his hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle pat. That was it, no words. It genuinely surprised me. I could say, our true friendship began from there.

Now, this brown, dirty and endoskeleton revealing bear is staring at me, giving me that one smirk, like the one he did, after I smashed the banjo. He's waiting for my reply. I sigh and look to the side.

"Why you like making things complicated?"

Freddy presses his shoulder against a wall and tilts his head.

"Is 't me who's makin' 'em complicated?"

I turn my head to him. It is true. I can stir up trouble out of thin air. Before I can reply, Freddy speaks again.

"Just this once, buddy. Won't bring it up again."

I stretch my body upwards, giving it a loud creak. I look at Freddy and roll my eyes, reluctantly agreeing. If Freddy could shine from a smile on his face, this room would be illuminated with thousands of lightbulbs. He walks to me and gives me a hug.

"Thank ya, buddy…" he says, almost whispering. I try to free myself, but no luck.

"Freddy, come on now."

He's holding a hug for a few more seconds, before releasing me. He takes a few steps back, and turns around, going back to the TV room. He shouts from the back of the room.

"Good luck!"

I sigh and roll my eyes again. The first time I tried to be 'friends' with the plastic bots, I twisted the elbow of a fat bear. The second time was accompanied by a party room destruction, according to their claims. I guess my crew did understand that I don't want to interact with the new faces in any medium. So, they just abandoned their tries. Everyone except Freddy.

I sigh and push myself away from the table. I glance at the heavy, worn metal door, which leads to the main hallway. To get to the main stage room, where the plastic bots reside most of the time, the main hallway is the only way. I sigh and push the door with my body. With a loud metal creak, it opens. I look at the black and white tiled floor, which has embraced deep, heavy scratches carved by the door's opening radius. I make myself out of the room, as the door closes with a loud, heavy bang.

With it shut, I press myself against the door, supporting my weight. My head bumps slightly against the rough material it's made of. I glance at the air. Animatronics don't smell, but even the air in this part of the building seems different. In the parts and service room, there's a lot of dust, coming from all possible places. Plaster crumbling from the ceiling, the cracked floor and walls, piles of broken parts. The yellow-orange lighting in the room makes the air look heavy, and heated. In this part of the building however, the lighting from lamps is white, while the air gives blue shades, depending on how dark it is. The air in this part of the building seems light, but cold at the same time. It's like a whole other world.

To my right is another hallway, which connects the party rooms and a security office to the main hallway. There's no one around in the office, because it's Sunday. The restaurant is closed on Sundays, even for staff, it's the only day of the week we can do whatever we want, without human eyes watching over us. But of course, everyone spends their time differently.

My right ear twitches as metal sounds approach from the hallway to my right. My ears are damaged, but I can still hear the metal struggling to gain traction on the glossy, tiled floor. It doesn't take me long to recognize, to whom the sound belongs. As I turn my head to the direction of the sound source, a tall silhouette appears in the right doorway, before being stunned by a bright, white ceiling lamp in front of them. It's Foxy.

He covers his face with his hook and hand, rubbing his eyes. When his eyes adjust to the light, he turns his head to me. As his eyes land on me, he twitches a bit, slightly frightened. I let out a short laugh. He definitely didn't expect me to be outside of the room. While he calms himself down, I take a closer look at him.

His casing is beyond repairing. It's bended, ripped in arms and torn on the remaining parts that are still holding to his endoskeleton. Wires are sticking and hanging off every hole there is. Especially in the legs. His head has a ripped piece of the casing on the left side of his head, revealing his yellow-pupiled eye and bare endoskeleton ear. The other eye has an eye patch covering it. The body casing doesn't reach his waist on the bottom, it looks as if it was torn off by a huge claw hand. He used to have pants, but now the knee and feet parts of the casing are missing. I suspect they were so damaged he just threw the parts away. Now the pants became shorts, which are now revealing his bare endoskeleton knees and feet.

Foxy finally turns his body toward me, lifting the eye patch with his hook to reveal his right eye. I tilt my head.

"Did I frighten you?"

"Arrr, if I were one o' them scurvy humans, me heart'd be spillin' on the deck already…" he whimpers. "What's got ye crawlin' outta yer den, matey?"

He is now looking directly at me. I see a small realization in his eyes. Foxy folds his arms and tilts his head with a slight grin. He knows why now.

"Freddy make ye give it another go?"

I nod my head and look to the side. Even though Foxy sometimes speaks in a way it's hard for me to make out at first, he has always been someone, who could see through me, especially when I'm not in the best mood. Even with our friendship's beginning not being very bright. I slowly turn my head back to him, hooking at his glowing pupils.

"You know how he does it… It's never direct, but it's there."

Foxy is now smiling and gives out a short laugh. He takes a few steps closer to me. The white light reveals more of his scratched and rusty endoskeleton on his knees and feet. His endoskeleton is built slightly differently than Freddy's, Chica's and mine. While the endoskeleton design remains mostly the same, he has stronger hip, knee, and foot joints, which make up for his larger feet.

Foxy was added to us later, a month after our crew's first stage performance. He got loved among children pretty quick, as anything new does. Even the yellow bear and rabbit got jealous. The success however made him behave cocky. But apparently, Foxy was so successful, that there was a separate attraction planned for him. But fortunately or not, it never came to be. I cannot recall why exactly. When he learned that his big attraction got cancelled, he was really let down.

The next day, we found him sitting on the cracked floor, close to the attic entrance. The black and tiled cracked floor looked as though it had been struck hard by falling weight. He didn't even acknowledge our presence at first, he was just holding his left knee in his hand. When he understood that we were in front of him, he didn't say anything, just looked at us quietly.

It was the first time I saw fear in his eyes. Presumably, he wanted to be left alone for a while. However, the fall, or whatever happened, did damage his legs badly. He couldn't move his legs a millimeter, as if they were turned off by a switch. It took nearly a week for replacements to come. We were taking turns to keep him company in the backstage room, even when he was assuring us he didn't need any.

When the replacements came, those were the modified versions he has to this day. Yes they are scratched and rusty, but i'm certain, if one of us four, is going to have broken or disabled legs, Foxy will be the last one to deal with such a problem.

Now that Pirate Fox is standing in front of me, head tilted, thinking. I know he is assuming how bad my third try is going to go. Probably a disaster, like always. He's not as hopeful as Freddy, but I know he thinks that it would be better not just for me, but for our crew. Foxy sighs and looks to the direction the main stage room is, which is behind his back. I guess he was heading to see her again. He turns his head back to me and finally speaks.

"Ye plannin' to be anchor'd here all night, eh?"

"Probably. Yea. You're good to go, I'm not 'anchoring' you here." I say, shrugging. Foxy unfolds his arms.

"Right then, I'll weigh the anchor meself." he replies, as he gently grips my shoulder with his hand. He's giving it a slight tug, trying to pull me away from the door I'm leaning against. I'm resisting. He stops for a moment.

"Either ye be goin' there with me... or ye be sailin' solo, matey!"

It's the truth I don't want to hear, but can't deny. Foxy tugs at my shoulder again and I groan, as my body is pulled forward, forced to straighten. I take a few steps ahead while Foxy moves to my right, resting his right arm across my neck and shoulders. I catch sight of his hook hanging by my side in the corner of my eyes. I glance at his satisfied eyes, followed by a wide smile.

"Let's pay 'em a wee visit, eh? Heh heh..."