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There was a soft whispering. Foxy could hear it very clearly now. He yawned and strode quietly off his stage. “Yargh, Freddy, keep it down, would ye?” The fox muttered. Moxie shook her head. “It’s not him,” she said quietly. Foxy narrowed his eyes and looked at the main stage. He jumped forward, his hook snagging on the curtain and yanking it back. “Aha!” The bear was standing there, not moving at all apart from the occasional twitch. Bonnie, Chica, and the others were all doing the exact same thing, he noticed. “Lad, what’s wrong with ye? Wake up-” The fox stopped moving. What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I-His hand moved forward jerkily, the hook slashing through the air, before everything went black.
Michael found the fox slumped over on the floor, his amber eyes closed. Well, tripped over him on his way down the hall, more like it. The boy hollered and stumbled to the side. “What the hell?” Foxy groaned as well and sat up slowly, rubbing his head. Then he jumped to his feet. “NO! No, no, have to stop it….help me, lad!” Michael looked at the animatronic, dumbfounded. Did he just…talk? They can’t talk! All they can do is move around awkwardly….But the fox clearly wasn’t acting like he thought. He looked agitated as he hopped around Michael. His eye patch flapped up and down. Suddenly, he stopped and looked back. “Come on!” Foxy shouted. He took off down the hall, moving as fast as his metal legs could carry him.
The fox reached the main dining area and stopped, his head drooping. Michael caught up with him. “......Foxy? What’s wrong?” Why are you acting like this? “I-I can’t remember. Something happened…..in my head. I can’t remember. I can’t remember!” He cried, burying his face in his hands before sitting down. “Just leave me alone, lad. It would be best for ye.” Michael didn’t know what to do. “Foxy-” The animatronic stood up and grabbed the boy's shoulder, shaking him before shoving him away roughly. “I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!” The fox shouted before turning around and sprinting away. He leaped onto the Pirate’s Cove and disappeared into his room.
Michael stared after him, confused. He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped, startled. It was Chica. “Just leave him alone. He’s a grumpy old fox; what more do you expect? He’s only nice to the children because they’re kids,” she added. Michael frowned and shook his head. “Whatever you say….” He said doubtfully. A few hours later, the place opened again. Foxy made his way out of his room to greet the children, but even they noticed that the fox was acting different. So they instead paid attention to Freddy. Chica had left to work in the kitchen, and Sterling decided to take a break from playing the piano and talked with the kids. Freddy remained onstage, talking and singing. “How is everybody today?” The bear asked. “GOOD!” The children shouted.
Foxy was standing on his stage, talking a little, but Dakota…..she remained hiding in her room. Michael noticed the stage with the closed curtains and walked over, pulling open the curtain and peering inside. Who’s supposed to be here? “Hello?” He spotted the animatronic sitting in the corner, fiddling with a drumstick. She noticed him and stood up. “What are you doing here? Nobody gave you permission to come in!” “Why aren’t you out there?” He countered. “Shouldn’t you be performing?” The animatronic was silent. “What’s your name?” The boy frowned. “It’s Michael. What about you?” The animatronic looked pleased. “That’s the first time anybody’s asked. I’m Dakota.” She shook hands with the boy.
Michael looked around the small room; there was a singular snare drum and several tufts of fake grass and dirt. “Why aren’t you out there, performing with your friends?” He repeated. The dhole didn’t answer for a minute. “The other children don’t pay attention to me,” she said with a sad expression on her face. “Nobody wants to listen to a dhole playing the drums. Heck, I don’t think anybody here knows what a dhole is. Lucky me. Why bother trying to play my drums if nobody wants to listen? The only attention I’ve gotten from those children is when they tell me that my drums are too loud. It’s like I don’t even exist!” Dakota was clearly frustrated. Michael hesitated, trying to think of a way to cheer her up. “Maybe you should try talking to the kids,” he suggested.
The dhole sighed and shook her head. “There’s no point. They won’t listen to me. I overheard a conversation between Mr. Afton and some other people. He thinks that I should be scrapped and thrown away. I’m just a waste of money. The only reason he hasn’t gotten rid of me is because Mr. Emily thinks I deserve another chance. You can see how well that’s going.” Michael frowned. “How about…..how about you try singing?” He asked. Dakota backed up with an alarmed expression on her face. “Sing? No, no, no. I could never sing in front of everybody! They’d all just judge me. And it’s not like Mr. Afton would agree to that. How would I just….start singing?” The boy shrugged. “You can always try asking your friends. They’ll probably let you sing.”
Dakota sighed and peeked out from behind the curtain. “Not with Moxie the Magnificent out there. Everybody adores her. And nobody cares about me. But….come to think of it, I do have a question….” The dhole left and returned with a piece of paper and a pencil. She began to write awkwardly, tilting her head up every now and then to think about something. “Done. Could you give this to Mr. Emily the next time you see him?” Michael nodded slowly. “Sure.” He took the piece of paper and shoved it in his pocket. “So, Dakota….what do you like to do?” The animatronic smiled. “Well….” They spent a while talking. As Michael left her room, he noticed his father staring at him.
“I heard you in there. Who were you talking to?” Michael shuffled his feet. “I thought you didn’t like our animatronics.” “I don’t!” The boy insisted. William shook his head. Michae began to walk away when he spotted Henry. Without a word, he walked by, pulled out the paper, and slipped it to him. Henry looked at the boy, then the paper. He blinked and retreated to his office, closing the door quietly and reading the note. It only had one word at the top and was written in scratchy handwriting that was incredibly hard to read.
Please.
Joinhted finegers.
Uplgraded voipcebox.
Stmronger eyes.
Tail conetrol.
The words are misspelled on purpose.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Pings: @ToUzTzUyI @GamerWithDepression
