A New Start

Foxy couldn't believe what she was seeing. There were not one, not even two, but all three of the other Toy bots were running down the hall straight towards her. Once again, Foxy took a step back. Was she dreaming?

Foxy caught herself. Of course she wasn't dreaming. Robots couldn't do that, as far as she knew. Fazbear Entertainment attempted that at one point, but it never got off the ground.

Regardless, that only left one other option. Perhaps her optics were glitching! Yes, perhaps they were producing a vision, signifying her yearning for years gone by... Maybe--

“Oof!”, she exclaimed as she was suddenly knocked from her thoughts. She stumbled back a bit, nearly falling to the floor. As Foxy looked down, she saw that one of the 'apparitions', at least she was sure they were apparitions, had wrapped her in a tight, tight hug.

“Oh, Foxy!”, one of the apparitions, Toy Chica, exclaimed, voice filled with glee. “I'm so glad to see you! H-How'd you get here? How'd you-- Oh my gosh, how did'ja get your body back?!”, it asked, releasing the fox from its grip. “...Foxy?”

Foxy simply stared forward. She was flabbergasted. This couldn't actually be happening, could it? Not even an entire half-hour ago, she was searching for her friends with Scott! And now, those very same 'bots were right here?

And hugging her?

It didn't make sense. Not only did all of this seem so very sudden, but she wasn't entirely sure whether she deserved it right now. She didn't feel very happy, or very... huggable right now.

“H-How're... How'd you get here?”, Foxy eventually managed to ask, taking yet another step back from the three as she began to realize that they were, in fact, real. “F-For the past few hours, y-you were gone! A-And Scott and I went looking for you! A-A-And now you're here and Scott is gone and it's all my fault and--”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, slow down,”, Freddy said, putting his hands up. “I know this is all really sudden for you, and I don't blame you for being just a little bit surprised, but... Wha'd'you mean by 'Scott is gone'?”, he asked.

“Yeah! He didn't just leave you here, did he?” asked Bonnie. Foxy shook her head, looking down.

“...Did you leave him?”, Chica asked with increasing concern. Foxy didn't offer a verbal response. Instead, she awkwardly shuffled her feet with her hands behind her back. The others looked amongst themselves, silently agreeing on what that gesture meant.

“B-But... why?”, asked Freddy. “Believe it or not, we were actually looking for him!”, he said.

“Because I was scared!”, Foxy replied, looking at the three once again. “I-I did something terrible and g-got scared! Then, I ran! A-And now I don't know where Scott is! H-He's probably been caught by those policemen that were after us! A-All because of something that I did!”, she shouted, balling her hands into fists.

Freddy frowned. He recalled running into a certain officer before. And all because he was trying to get into what he thought was his home!

“Well, surely you didn't do anything terribly wrong, Foxy!”, Freddy offered, putting his hand on the other's shoulder. “You and Scott were just trying to find us, right?”, he asked. To his worry, Foxy didn't immediately respond.

“...Foxy? Foxy, are you okay?”, he asked. Once again, Foxy didn't say anything. That is, until finally...

“...R-Remember that time I, well... D-Did that 'thing'?”, she asked. Due to the very nature of the event, Freddy slowly nodded. He knew exactly what event Foxy was referring to.

“W-Well, yes, Foxy, but what does that have to do with--”

“I-It... It happened again, Freddy...” she quietly said. Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica all gasped.

“Wh-what?!”, Chica loudly inquired. “F-Foxy, what do you mean?!”

“I-It was a mistake, really!”, Foxy exclaimed. “It all happened so f-fast! I was in o-o-one of the stores, and it felt like I was being pushed a-and I fell on someone and...” She paused, trying her best to collect herself as she put her hands on her snout. “...A-And I felt their head in m-m-m-my m-mouth a-and I s-saw the t-tooth marks and--”

“Foxy! Foxy, stop!”, Freddy exclaimed, putting his hands to his ears. Foxy's ears flopped down as she watched the bear close his eyes and rub the sides of his head in an attempt to gather his wits and process what he had heard. Bonnie and Chica, meanwhile, averted their gazes away from the fox as she looked at them. They put their hands behind their backs and tried to look elsewhere. But, Foxy was sure that she knew how they felt...

They were scared...

“I-I-I'm sorry, guys...”, she quietly said, looking down once again. “R-Really, I am! I just... I-I...” Foxy sighed. She found that she didn't have anything to say anymore. She felt terrible. Worse than that, even! She felt like a monster! A complete monster! And her friends' lack of response only validated that feeling! She almost turned around to return to her corner, but was stopped by the feeling of Freddy's hand once again on her shoulder.

“Foxy,”Freddy began flatly. “Let me see the inside of your mouth.”

“I-I don't think you want to...”, she replied.

“Foxy”, Freddy insisted. “Just let me take a look, okay? It'll only take a second.” Foxy mentally gulped.

“W-Well... A-Alright,” she said, before displaying those chompers of hers. Freddy hrmmed, leaning forward slightly as he took a look at them. Foxy spent the next anxiety-filled moments in tense silence, thinking of what Freddy would possibly say about what he saw.

To her surprise, he began chuckling.

“W-What's so f-funny?”, she asked.

“Yeah, what's happening?”, Chica asked as Freddy backed away from the bot's mouth, his chuckling soon evolving into his signature laugh.

“Ho-ho-ho-hooo! Whoo, boy! Guys! Foxy, you-- You didn't bite anyone! Not tonight!”, he exclaimed in joyful relief. Foxy blink-blinked in surprise.

“...I-I didn't?”

“No, no!”, Freddy said. “If you did, your mouth would be... Well, it'd look... Y'know. But, it doesn't seem that way! Everything that's on your teeth has been there for years! Not to dismiss what you did in the past, but whatever you bit tonight wasn't a person!”

Foxy's eyes brightened as she heard what the bear had said. She

“Y-You mean...”, Foxy began. Freddy simply nodded.

She kept silent for a moment. She couldn't believe it. She didn't bite anyone! She really didn't bite anyone!

“Whooo-hoo! Hahaaa! Oh my gosh, that's such a relief!”, Foxy shouted, pulling the bear into a hug. She didn't know what exactly she laid her teeth on earlier, but now, she didn't care! She didn't kill anyone! “Thank you, Freddy!”, she exclaimed.

“Awesome!”, Bonnie exclaimed. “For a minute there, I was pretty scared, heheh,” he remarked, rubbing the back of his head.

“Y-Yeah, me too,” Chica admitted. “Though, it wouldn't've been like you to get involved with something like that again!” Bonnie nodded in agreement.

Freddy, meanwhile, laughed as he was hugged. The sheer feeling of relief in the situation was almost palpable. “Chica's right! You're a good fox, Foxy. I'm sure that whatever reason those policemen may have had for coming after you and Scott, it's not bite-related!”

Foxy giggled as she happily listened to what her friends had to say. In contrast to before, she felt absolutely stellar! It was as if a huge, huge weight was lifted from her! No longer did she feel anxious, or stressed, or anything of the sort! The static in her voice was gone, and so was the stuttering!

She felt great.

“And to think, here I was, sulking around and thinking that you would hate me for what I did!”, she exclaimed, now feeling comfortable in laughing at herself. “Only for me to see that I actually didn't do anything!”, she said.

“Foxy, we'd never hate you!”, Bonnie said. “Isn't that right, Freddy?”

“Absolutely!”, the bear replied. “The four of us'll always stick together, no matter what happens,” he said with much confidence in his voice.

“And how!”, Chica chimed in.

Foxy looked at the other three in a mixture of awe and wonder. She really didn't know what to say.

Well, there was one thing she wanted to ask.

“What made you guys decide to come here?” she asked. From the looks of the house after you left, it seemed like you didn't want anything to do with the place or Scott.” It was Freddy's turn to shuffle his feet a bit, averting his gaze from the fox.

“We'll... We'll tell you later, once this is all over,” he said. “Bonnie, Chica, and I want to wait until we can tell you and Scott at the same time. Isn't that right?”, he asked, looking at the two aforementioned bots.

“Y-Yeah!”, Chica replied. “It's not like it's anything too heavy or anything, but...” she trailed off for a moment. “...Actually, it kind'of is.”

Foxy tilted her head. She found that just the slightest bit... ominous.

“Oh gee, speaking of the fellow!”, Freddy began. “We need to go find him, pronto! Foxy, you said he was caught by those policemen who were after you, right?” The fox nodded.

“Then they're probably at the police station! ...Or, hopefully, just in the parking lot! Let's hope it's the latter, shall we?”

With some jovial words of approval from the other three, Freddy and his gang set off. Not long after they had exited the dark, cold concourse of closed stores, they heard shouting and rapid footsteps behind them.

“Hey, there they are!”

“Halt! Police!”

As they heard the shrill sound of a police whistle, resulting in some of the bots covering their ears, Freddy turned to face of the source of the noise.

If robots could gulp, he would be doing just that.

“...Well, guys,” he began, watching as the two cops, Roy and Horace, began to close the distance. “Do you know what I think we should do, to ensure that we find Scott as quickly as possible without getting caught?”

The other three bots shook their heads.

“We run!”

Scott, meanwhile, was in no position to run. In fact, he was in the middle of being led out of the mall, into the parking lot. He looked around, feeling quite sorry for himself. On one hand, he felt as if he deserved this. He lied to his newfound friends, drove them away as a result, and as a further result ended up here.

But at the same time, he found all of this to be quite ludicrous! Only a day ago, he thought he was doing some good – both for himself and the bots he had acquired. But now, he was being put under arrest. And for what? He really didn't know!

“Uh, sir...”, Scott began, looking back at the policeman, Stephen, who was directing him toward the patrol car in the middle of the parking lot. “Why am I being put under arrest?”

Stephen hmphed. “Because,” he began. “You are believed to be associated with a group of people with the aim to illegally enter various places of business. For what reason, I don't know. Confirming this are the facts that you and your friend made a great effort in evading me and my colleagues when we simply wanted to question you.”

“Not to mention, one of them stole my baton...”, Stephen muttered.

Scott frowned. Perhaps running wasn't the best idea after all.

“But I was in a hurry!”, Scott reasoned. “I had to find my other friends! A-And, despite what you might believe, they're not actually people!”

Stephen raised a brow.

“They're robots!”, Scott continued. “Y'know, like, animatronics!”

“Animatronics,” Stephen repeated incredulously. “Listen, I don't have time to listen to any of your nonsense,” he said as the two finally approached the patrol car. “Just get in. Once Roy and Horace come back, we're taking you downtown,” he said, opening one of the rear doors.

“He is right, you know.”

Both Scott and Stephen quickly turned around as they heard someone's voice. Scott grinned while Stephen frowned as, to their surprise, Freddy and the rest of the Toys were standing behind the two men.

“Hi, fellahs!”, Bonnie exclaimed, waving at the two.

“Wh-What the?... How did all of you get here? Where are Roy and Horace?”, Stephen asked, wide-eyed.

“Right... R-Right here!”, someone could be heard shouting from far away. Some of the animatrons turned around, seeing two figures exiting the Mall. Of course, they were Roy and Horace.

“Y-You're... under... arrest...”, Roy said, weakly grabbing Chica's arm. He and Horace were absolutely exhausted. Running throughout a building as big as a mall, chasing mechanical animals that never get tired, all in the wee hours of the morning, really takes a lot out of you!

“Hey, let go o' me!”, the chickenbot exclaimed, quickly snatching her arm out of the officer's grasp. Roy didn't react much to this, considering he was far too tired to care. He joined Horace, who shared a similar view, as he slowly made his way to the patrol car. They both got into the vehicle for some much needed rest. Stephen, having watched all of this, simply pinched the bridge of his nose. This was getting ridiculous.

“Dispatch,” he began, speaking into his radio. “This is Stephen Pulaski, badge one-two-four-eight. Could you please bring a van around to the mall on 5th Street? I have a bunch'a suspects who need tra--”

“Wait, wait, wait!”, exclaimed Freddy, holding out his hands toward the officer.

“What?”, he asked.

“Please, sir, allow us to explain our actions. I'm sure that, if you would let us do that, you will understand that all of this is a big, big misunderstanding,” the bear reasoned. Stephen's brow furrowed.

“Hey, Pulaski,” said a voice coming from the man's radio. “Pulaski, you still need that van?” After a moment of thought, Stephen spoke into the radio once more.

“No, that's okay,” he finally said. “Just hold onto that request for a minute for me. I need to sort something out.” With a quick buzz of static, Stephen turned off his radio. Then, crossing his arms, he looked at the bots once more.

“Alright,” he said. “Explain.”

Scott watched as Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica explained most of what happened – from when they were first activated to the situation they were currently in. Of course, they didn't go into much detail, considering there was so much that happened. They even allowed the officer to inspect their joints and the seams in their suits, where their mechanical parts could be seen. Foxy, however, didn't have much to contribute, considering most of what the others were explaining had personally gone by like a blur to her. So, she decided to make her way over to Scott, who had decided to lean against the car.

“Err, hi, Scott,” Foxy said, giving him a small wave as she approached him.

“Oh, hi, Foxy,” Scott replied. “I'd wave back, but, y'know... handcuffs, heh,” he said, glancing at the things that were keeping his wrists behind his back.

“Yes, yes, I know,” she replied with a small chuckle. “...Though, hopefully, you'll be released soon. I hate seeing you all tied up like that,” she said, frowning a little.

“Yeah...”, Scott replied. He then blinked, realizing something... “Say, Foxy, I just realized. You seem a bit more... responsive now, for lack of a better word. A-And your voice is much more clear,” he said. “Did something happen?” Foxy simply giggled.

“Oh, well, let's just say I've finally come to terms with something that's been bothering me for a while,” she said. “A long while...”

“Ohh, yeah, that makes sense,” Scott replied. He had the slightest feeling that he knew what that 'something' was... “Say, do you know why Freddy and the others decided to come back?”, he asked. Foxy shook her head.

“No, actually,” she said. “He said that he'd explain everything once this is all over 'n done.”

“Hrmm. Well, I guess we just have to wait,” Scott replied. Foxy nodded.

“Sorry for running away, by the way...”, she said, looking down slightly. “...And, ruining your shirt.” Scott smiled.

“Don't worry, Foxy,” he said. “It's fine.”

“...So, you're tellin' me that you're all robots. This guy over here bought you all,” he said, taking a moment to glance at Scott. “But you guys eventually ran away because you found out what year it was. You thought the place down the street was your home, and that's where I came in,” he said, waiting for the Toys' responses. When they nodded, he continued.

“And so then, you found your real home, realized you actually missed Mr. Canton over here, and set out to find him. And, basically, that's how you ended up here,” he then said, his voice sounding more and more disinterested as he finished his summary of the story.

“Yes, that's about it,” Freddy said.

“Pretty much!”, Bonnie agreed.

“Can you let Scott go now?”, Chica asked.

“I...”, Stephen began, now growing indecisive. He looked back at Scott, with Foxy next to the handcuffed man, then he looked at the other three Toys. Then, he looked at Roy and Horace, fast asleep in the front seats of their police car.

Stephen sighed. This was all so silly.

He was talking to robots. Real, live robots. Like the ones you see in movies. This wasn't Short Circuit! This was supposed to be real life! And robots aren't supposed to be able to talk, or otherwise behave like this in real life! Yet, at the same time, he was face-to-face with robots that exhibited those very qualities.

This was more than silly. This was ridiculous.

“...Yeah... Yeah, sure, whatever,” he finally said in defeat. “I'll let all of you go free, if only because it's way too late for me to process any o' this right now. You still owe me for that baton you stole, though,” he said.

“B-Baton?”, Bonnie asked as if something had just dawned upon him. “Oh, you mean this thing?”, he asked, holding up the very object Stephen needed.

“...Yep, that'll be it,” he said. He held out his hand toward the rabbit, grabbing the baton as Bonnie dropped it into the officer's hand. Stephen then turned around, pulling a key from his pocket as he approached Scott.

“Turn around, son,” Stephen said. Scott obliged as Foxy stepped aside. Stephen quickly unlocked the cuffs and pulled them off of Scott.

“Whew, thanks!”, Scott exclaimed happily, rubbing his wrists.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever...”, Stephen replied. He then opened the driver's side door and grabbed Roy's collar, shaking him awake.

“C'mon, wake up,” Stephen said. “We're heading back to the station.”

“Finally,” Roy replied, adjusting his posture and putting his hands on the steering wheel. Stephen then got into the back seat, an action followed by the car's engine roaring to life. Scott and the animatrons watched as the patrol car then rolled out of the parking lot, and out of sight.

Scott flinched slightly as he felt someone resting their hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked up to see Freddy and the others looking down at him. He smiled warmly for a moment, before it was replaced by a frown.

“S-Sorry for lying to you guys...”, Scott said quietly, looking down and away. “I-I didn't know how to tell you guys the truth, and...” Scott's voice trailed off as he mumbled the rest of his apology. He stopped as he felt the bear tighten his grasp on his shoulder.

“Scott, listen...”, Freddy began softly. “You don't have to apologize. We know what you were trying to do, and we shouldn't have reacted the way we did,” he said simply, before looking away slightly. It's just that, well... I didn't want to believe what I saw on that blimp. ...Or, what we saw on that calendar,” he said.

“I know...”, Scott said. “Ten years is a long time, after all.” The bots nodded in agreement.

“Wh-What made you decide to come back for me, anyway?” he asked, looking at Freddy once more. “From the way my house looked after you left, you seemed like you weren't gonna come back,” he said. Freddy put his hands behind his back, taking a deep metaphorical breath.

“Well...”

One hour ago...

Freddy slowly roamed the halls of the pizzeria, growing more worried by the moment.

“Chica? Bonnie?”, he called out for what was probably the hundredth time that night. He hadn't seen Bonnie since he entered the building, and he hadn't seen Chica since he sent her to look for the rabbit.

“Chicaaaa? Bonnieeee?”, he called out again. He began to wonder if they had disappeared as well. Perhaps there was something in this building, causing his friends to disappear right from under him! Maybe that's why Foxy, Balloon Boy, and the Puppet weren't here! Maybe--

“...Oh.”

Freddy froze in his tracks, seeing his two friends seated in one of the party rooms. He wondered how he hadn't noticed the pair before. Maybe he was in so much of a panic that he simply overlooked them.

...Though, it didn't explain why they didn't answer his calls.

“Guys? Are you alright?”, he asked as he slowly entered the room. To his dismay, they once again didn't respond.

“Chica? Bonnie? I-It would be great if you were to answer me,” he said. “...J-Just so I know you two aren't deactivated or anything.”

The bear stopped once he reached the table at which to the two were seated, waiting for a response. It had been ten, long seconds before, finally, one of them made a sound.

A sort of a groaning sound.

“Wh-What's wrong, guys?”, he asked. If there was one thing he didn't like, it was seeing his friends in such a sorry state. He had observed that Chica's beak wasn't even attached to her face!

...Then again, that was a pretty common occurrence.

“N-Nothing, Freddy...”, Chica quietly replied.

“Y-Yeah, it's... n-nothin',” Bonnie agreed.

Freddy frowned. He also didn't like it when his friends lied to him.

“Are you sure?”, he asked. “Neither of you seem like your usual, happy selves. Why, not too long ago, you both seemed quite glad to be here! If something's the matter, you know that you're supposed to tell me,” he said matter-of-factly, putting his hands on his hips. After a moment, Bonnie reached under the table and retrieved a framed newspaper clipping. He weakly held it over the table, before dropping it and letting his arm fall to the side. Curious, Freddy picked up the clipping so he could read through it. However, he didn't get through the first sentence before completely regretting his curiosity.

“Robots... scrapped...”, he parroted with a whispery voice.

“...And, well,” Freddy continued. “It made us realize something. For one thing, it seemed as though the company had completely stopped caring for us. They figured that, because of one incident, they saw it fit to throw us away. Like old toys,” He paused for a moment, wryly chuckling at his own joke. “Ironic, isn't it?” he asked. “Regardless, it also made us realize what you were trying to do, when you had us in your house. You were trying to save us, weren't you? It wasn't as if you stole us from our home. You were trying to return to us something the Company took all those years ago. You were giving us a new beginning,” he said. “A new start.”

Scott almost yelped in surprise as the bear suddenly grabbed the man's arm, quickly pulling him into a hug. He was soon joined by the other three bots.

“Yeeeah, group-hug!”, Bonnie exclaimed happily.

“Freddy's right!”, Foxy said. “If it wasn't for you, who knows where we'd be now?” Chica chuckled.

“Prooobably still at the junkyard,” she said.

“Oh, hush, you,” Foxy retorted teasingly.

Scott grinned as he watched the four happily and playfully talk amongst themselves. From the beginning, this was what he wanted. He enjoyed seeing the four like this. Even though he really wished he had found the Balloon Boy and the Puppet, he found himself satisfied with this. At least, for now.

Besides, he could find those two another day. Or, another night.

“Well then!”, he began happily. “Why don't we get home then, huh? It's getting pretty late!”, he said. “...Or, pretty early,” he added.

“Right!”, Freddy said, nodding. “Say, mind if we sing a song on the way?”, he asked. “I don't think I've exercised this voicebox of mine in quite a while!”

“O-Okay! Sure!”, Scott replied. It was safe to say he was a little surprised by this prospect. But, he was intrigued!

“Faz-tastic!”, Freddy exclaimed, lifting his hat. He turned the hat over, reaching into it and retrieving a microphone. He deftly twirled it between his fingers, before firmly holding it.

“Bonnie!”, he exclaimed. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, sir!”, the rabbit shouted, guitar at the ready.

“Chica?”

“Absolutely!”

“Foxy?”

“Oh, for sure!”

“Well then!...”, Freddy began. “Scott, why don't you lead the way? I'm afraid we aren't quite sure where our new home is,” he said, motioning for Scott to lead.

Scott nodded quickly before proudly walking ahead of the four. The animatrons followed suit, almost immediately breaking out into an almost marching band-like song.

“Freddy Fazbear's Pizza's the greatest place to be!”

“You'll meet some friendly folks!”

“Like me!”

“And me!”

“And me!”

“Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a place free of strife!”

“A wonderful-funderful place where fantasy--”

“--and fun--”

“Come! To!”

“Liiiiiife!”