A New Start

Scott, meanwhile, was worried. Really, really worried. As he walked, he swung his flashlight left, then right, growing more and more anxious as it illuminated nothing but the bushes that lined the side of the sidewalk to the left, and the road to the right.

“Freeeddyyyyy! Boooonniiiee! Chicaaaa!”, he called. He listened and waited for a moment, before sighing as he received no answer. And, really, why would he? Surely, the three would hate him too much to answer after what he'd done to them...

“M-May-Maybe the-e-e-ey're s-s-somewhere in t-town!”, exclaimed a rather worn electronic voice near him. Scott looked back, seeing Foxy walk only a few feet behind him. He was glad that he at least had the fox with him. Moreso, he was glad that he managed to give the old bot the ability to use her own two legs again! Though it was a worrying sight, seeing her occasionally stumble like that...

Just another thing he'd have to fix once this was all over...

“Maybe...”, Scott replied quietly. He had already figured that. Though, that did give rise to a worrying thought. What could the bots be up to out there? What sort of trouble have they gotten themselves into? What kind of fate could've befallen them?

Foxy, on the other hand, didn't think much about that. She was still processing what was even occurring at present as she walked behind the man. She sifted through a mental checklist, trying to outline what she could infer had happened up to this point in the simplest possible way.

That... 'event' happened.

She was shut down.

Much time passed.

She was rebooted, came to realize that she had a real body instead of the mangled mess she used to beandthenthemansaidsomethingabouttenyearsandffxxxshzzzXYYTTTTT--

Foxy stumbled again. To say that her mind felt like an absolute mess would be an understatement. It felt like it was everywhere at once. She felt like she couldn't linger too much on anything too logically demanding for too long, or else she'd begin to automatically shut down from the stress on her CPU. It also didn't help that she was struck by a feeling of absolute bewilderment from the situation she found herself in as she mindlessly followed the man in front of her. She felt as if she was suddenly taken out of her old world, and thrust into a brand new one – though, that was partially true. She also wondered where the others were...

Click.

The animatron blinked as she remembered why she was out here. How could she forget? She began to look around in a rather ponderous and futile attempt at locating her friends. There was mostly nothing of interest – just houses and trees and the like. Basically, normal things you'd find in a small town. However, as her gaze ventured back toward the sidewalk, something further down the way did catch her eye.

“Th-Th-There's someone c-c-c-coming!” the fox suddenly exclaimed.

“I-Is it one of the others?” Scott asked, looking at Foxy. The bot shook her head and pointed.

Brow arched, Scott looked in the direction she was pointing. He squinted at the faraway figure, before realizing that the figure was that of a person. A person that was coming toward him and Foxy, a person that was running.

Scott stopped, and gestured for Foxy to do the same, as he watched the figure get closer and closer. Scott considered stopping the person, and asking him about the lost bots, but three things stopped him from doing that.

Firstly, asking 'Hey, sir, have you seen three animatronic animals running around here by any chance?' sounds silly. Secondly, if the three hadn't been found out yet, he didn't want to give them away.

...And lastly, the person had already passed the two and was already running into the distance. As Scott mentally facepalmed, he could've sworn he heard the poor soul muttering something about...

...Chickens with panties?

“...Something tells me they're that way,” Scott flatly said, looking in the direction from which the Runner came. He and Foxy exchanged a glance, before walking in that very direction. Scott had a feeling that this was going to be a really long night...

The next few minutes were rather uneventful, with Scott periodically calling for Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica and searching the bushes with his flashlight. Foxy soon joined in as well, calling out for the lost trio in that ragged voice of hers as she walked alongside Scott. This continued on for another few minutes, until Scott decided to break this monotony by asking a question.

“...Say, Foxy,” Scott began, looking at the bot in question. “I've been meaning to ask, what's that on your teeth?” he inquired. From the beginning, he had noticed that the fox's teeth had an... odd coloration to say the least. Sure, the other animatrons had rather yellowed or otherwise darkened teeth from years of weathering, which Scott made sure to clean off, but Foxy's was dotted with some odd dark brown specks and blotches... He would have cleaned them off after he finished fixing the bot up, but the rush of finding his house partially trashed and three of the animatronics missing resulted in him forgetting until now.

In response to the question, Foxy's head practically snapped toward Scott, the animatron's face now full of worry.

“Wha-Wha'd'you mean?” Foxy asked, beginning to grow uneasy.

“I-I mean that they've got some weird stuff on 'em. Like, they look a lot dirtier than the others' teeth were before I cleaned 'em. I figured it might've just been some especially drastic weathering, but... I'm not really sure. What's the story with 'em?” Scott asked, before wryly grinning. “I mean, call me crazy, but it almost looks like--”

“I-I-It's nothing!”Foxy suddenly exclaimed, covering her mouth. “N-Nothing!” Scott stepped away from the animatron, caught off guard by her sudden reaction.

“O-Okay, okay! C-Calm down,” Scott said, putting up his hands in surrender. “I didn't mean to o-offend you or anything,” he said, watching as Foxy slowed her pace a little, keeping her mouth covered. Once they approached another streetlight, the animatron grabbed the pole and leaned against it.

“F-Foxy, really! I'm sorry!” Scott exclaimed, growing more worried by Foxy's increasingly distressed nature. He wondered what could've possibly been on her teeth that could've resulted in it being such a sensitive topic to her. Scott cautiously approached the fox, stopping in surprise as she moved round to the other side of the pole. Scott sighed, turning off his flashlight.

“Foxy, c-c'mon. A-At least get outta the street. You might get hit.”

Foxy, however, wouldn't budge. She continued to stand behind the pole, staring fearfully at Scott. When he would take a step toward the harried animatron, she could make a motion threatening to take another step back.

And if there's one thing Scott didn't want, it was having the fox step all the way into the road and getting decimated by a car.

...Or a car getting decimated by her...

“F-Foxy. Foxy, look... I-I'm sorry for asking you about your teeth, okay? I'm sure that it's a real sensitive topic for you, and I guess I should've known that. ...Or somethin',” he said in a fraught attempt to calm the fox down. “...N-Now, can you please get out from behind that pole?” he asked, holding out his hand toward the animatron.

To his surprise, and profound relief, Foxy shakily grabbed his hand. Gently, he pulled the bot out of the street.

And in the nick of time too! A short distance away, sirens could be heard by the two, accompanied by the squealing of tires. A black and white car would speed past the pair, its engine roaring and sirens wailing. It'd speed into the distance, the illumination of its lightbar being seen long after it ventured over the horizon.

“...Huh,” Scott idly commented, unsure of what to make of that sight. This neighborhood wasn't usually known for crime...

Just another thing to worry about...

He looked down at Foxy, who had taken the time to hug the man, seeming especially downtrodden by the whole thing.

“H-Hey, it's okay,” Scott said, rubbing the animatron's head. He wasn't sure if it did anything to help her, considering he's pretty sure robots can't feel, but he figured it was a good gesture anyway. Besides, he was still taken aback by how... drastically Foxy reacted to his question. He decided that, for now, he'd have to hold that thought off until later.

After all, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

“S-Say, are you alright now, Foxy?”, Scott asked. The bot in question looked up at the man, and slowly nodded. Scott smiled.

“Alright then,” he said. “Let's get goin', shall we?”

And so, they got goin'!

The next half hour was much more calm than before as the two continued to walk along the road. As Scott looked around, he almost felt lucky that it was as late as it was. There was hardly anyone out here! And aside from the guy they saw running, it seemed as though nobody had really noticed anything relating to the bots. And even then, that Runner didn't notice Foxy despite even getting within poking distance of her! All Scott had to do was find those animatrons, and get them home safely...

Meanwhile...

“...Steven, you sure you weren't just seeing things? Like, I'm not doubting you or anything, but...”, Russell began as he leaned against his patrol car. “...Leary'd be real angry if he found out you called us out here just 'cause of something that turned out to be some hallucination or whatever you had.” Horace was a rather stocky policeman, and one of Steven's colleagues back at the station. He and his other colleague, Roy, had been called out to the corner of Temple & 9th, the location of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, by Steve. From what they could make out from the cop's screaming over the radio, he'd been robbed by a 'bunch of hooligans in plastic costumes'.

Sounds weird, yeah?

“Horace's got a point. I mean, what you're tellin' us here is sounding real stupid, t'be blunt,” Roy commented. “You say you found one of 'em just sitting around out here. Who the hell would be sittin' around in the cold, outside some old pizza joint? Aside from us, I mean,” he said.

“Listen, you,” Steven said toward Roy in a hardened tone. “I know what happened, considerin' my damned nightstick is missing at the moment.” Steven paused, raising his arms a little so's to show his waist, and the space his baton usually is, before continuing. “So don't try and get smart with me. These people in these costumes - they've been screwin' around inside and outside this pizzeria for lord knows how long, vandalizin' the place and doing lord knows what else. And I am gonna stop 'em, with your help. Y'understand?”, Steven asked, glaring at his two partners. Roy rolled his eyes, and Horace pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a feeling that these late hours were really getting to the poor man...

“Okay, sure, fine,” Horace finally replied. “But how're we even gonna begin this little case of yours? We don't know the first thing about how these people operate, or where they're based. Hell, we didn't even know it was that big of a problem until you called us. I mean, jeez, Steven, don't you ever think about these things?”, Horace asked, his brow furrowed slightly. Roy, meanwhile, stared wide-eyed at a pair of people who he found were standing only a few feet away.

“...Uh, guys?...”

Scott and Foxy found themselves in a staring contest with one, then two, then three policemen. When Scott had gotten the idea of heading to the pizzeria, he had expected to find three robots. Not this, oh goodness not this!

“...Uhh, this is a... bad time, isn't it?” Scott wryly asked, taking a step back. “...Yeah, this is definitely a bad timemyfriendandIshouldgo. C-C'mon,” he said, grabbing Foxy's arm and making an attempt to walk away from the three policemen.

Foxy, however, was having none of that. As she stared at the trio and their uniforms, she realized that they were, well, policemen! And if there's one thing she knows for sure, it's that policemen are great at finding things! Including lost robots! As a result, and with that choppy voice of hers, she managed to crank out a question.

“Ha-Ha-Have you see-see-seen a rabbit, chicken, or bear a-around here?! The-The-They're my friends and-- H-Hmm?”

“...H-Hah, excuse my friend here!” Scott exclaimed as he grabbed Foxy's snout and held it shut. “She's a real silly sort, don't pay her any attention!”

Unfortunately, the cops paid her all the attention. They looked at each other for a moment, baffled, before Steven spoke up. “...Actually, I've been meanin' to ask both of you the same thing. And judgin' by your friend there, I'd say she might at least give us a few clues as to where those delinquents are...” he said with the slightest hint of a grin on his face as he took a step toward Scott and Foxy.

“I-I-I doubt that...” Scott said, taking a step back. Steven took another step toward the two, with the pair responding by taking another step back. Scott didn't like this, not one bit. He couldn't get tangled up with the police now. He had bots to find! And judging by what the policeman said, he might not be the only one with that aim in mind. So, he made the only choice available to him at that moment.

He ran.

And for the second time that night, Steven Pulaski exclaimed,

“Stop! Poliiiice!”