Chapter Text
Motion. Torrent. Until it locked.
A hum, and then: “Yeah, that’s weird.”
Foxy shook his head, lowering his arm again. “Don’t know why it does that,” he mumbled, rubbing at his shoulder joint. “It’s super annoyin’.”
Moon tsked and motioned for Foxy to hop off the kitchen counter. “It’s probably an internal problem with your endoskeleton,” the lunar animatronic surmised. “Might be rust or disconnected wires; it’s not a problem with the model or suit… Monty.”
Foxy glanced over at the gator where she was sitting beside Earth on the couch in the living room. Monty’s attention snapped over to Moon when her name was called, a glare already crossing her face. “What?” she challenged. “Got somethin’ to say?”
Moon shook his head, Earth’s giggles filling the Celestial Family’s household at Monty’s grumbles. The Attendant’s faceplate swiveled, almost as though he were cracking his neck. “But anyways,” he continued, averting his attention back to Foxy, “I won’t know until I look at it through Parts and Service, and I don’t… really have the time for that right now. Sorry.”
Foxy waved him off (as best as he could with half-functioning limbs). “Agh, yar fine, Moon. Been dealin’ with it fer the longest time, so it’s not an immediate issue like… uh, that,” he dismissed, voicebox faltering past the space where His name would be. After all, they had gathered here for a game night, not a wake.
“Father!” a gruff voice burst from the basem*nt stairs, and FC came bounding up to the landing a second later, his tail swishing back and forth enthusiastically. The small fox made a face as he paused, searching the main area of the house for a moment before his gaze fell on Foxy, to which his eye lit up once more, and he nearly toppled Moon over to reach his father’s side. “Father, I have pet a cat without killing it!”
“I would sure hope so,” Foxy wanted to say, but instead he smiled and pat the kid on the head, praising, “There ye go, FC! No maimin’ this time?”
“No maiming!” FC promised, leveling his father with a serious and fierce eye. “I made sure of it. The kitty was safe in my paws, father.”
Foxy nodded. “Yea, see. That’s why we practiced with the stuffed animals first. Cats don’t have stuffing like plushies do, yea?”
“Indeed.”
Foxy glanced up as Sun rose from the basem*nt, a comically relieved expression washing the solar animatronic’s faceplate. “How’d it go?” Foxy asked as Sun collapsed against the back of the couch.
“Better than expected,” Sun chuckled, fiddling with his rays. His milky eyes then scanned the living room, and Sun tilted his head curiously. “Lunar not here?”
Foxy sat back against the kitchen counter as Earth shook her head, answering, “No, he—”
For a split second, Foxy thought the world was ending. A cacophonous sound tore through the air, deafening the conversation in the house as the sky outside collided with the ground.
At least, that’s what Foxy was pretty sure happened.
Then, all at once, it stopped, leaving the entirety of the island in stunned silence. Foxy wasn’t sure how long he was frozen for, but eventually, Moon’s voice tentatively split through the air: “...Was that Lunar?”
Earth fixed him with a startled look as Monty threw an unamused glare in his direction. Finally, Earth responded, “N—No. I was going to say he’s not going to be here for another half hour…”
Great. Just great, Foxy grumbled to himself, laying a hand on his son’s head as he straightened. “FC, stay with Sun,” he ordered, earning him a wide-eyed stare from the fox.
“What? No! What if—” he started, but Foxy interrupted, fixing FC’s jacket.
“I’m not riskin’ whatever it is. Ye stay with Sun while the rest of us go check out whatever the hell that was.”
FC was nonplussed. “But I— I— What if— I don’t want to—”
“FC,” came Earth’s soft, comforting tone, and Foxy almost jumped when he realized she had managed to cross all the way from the living room to them. “How about we stay in the basem*nt for a while and play, alright? It’ll be safer, and if Foxy needs you, he will call for you, alright?”
“But…” FC mumbled, but he relented with a reluctant sigh, taking the large animatronic’s hand and throwing Foxy an uneasy look over his shoulder as they descended into the basem*nt.
“I swear,” Monty growled, standing to their full height and cracking their knuckles, “if this is the appearance of some new, annoyin’, sh*thead-idiot villain, I’m gonna f*ckin’ lose it fer real this time.”
“It’ll be fine,” Moon assured, squeezing his hands and turning to the foyer. “Uh— Sun, stay here.”
“Are—Are you— you sure?” Sun stammered, standing as his rays frantically clicked in place. “I mea— I mean—”
“Sun, please,” Moon pleaded, which seemed to placate his brother.
“O…Okay… If you…”
Sun shifted suddenly, the rays on his head halting as his fidgeting stilled. Foxy wasn’t sure if animatronics could go pale, but he swore the color drained from Sun’s faceplate. The pirate faltered for a second, stepping forward. “Sun? Are ye—” he started, which seemed to break Sun from his trance as his fans audibly kicked in.
“Tux. Tux, my— my cat. The other one. He’s— He’s still ou— out there. I—”
“Sun, I can check on him, it’s fine. You can—” Moon attempted to assure, but Sun was already bolting for the door. “Sun! Sun, wait!”
Foxy wasn’t entirely sure what to do for a second, but he quickly trailed behind Monty as they darted outside after Moon. He barely had time to contemplate his own mortality before Monty suddenly halted, sending Foxy’s muzzle bouncing off their spines and colliding with the concrete.
It took him a moment to recollect himself, but eventually Foxy leveraged himself against Monty’s tail and pulled himself back to his feet, rubbing the ache from his jaw. Blinking, the pirate remained bemused for a minute longer before he realized neither Moon, Monty, nor Sun were moving. A single glance towards the sky clued him into the fact that it definitely was not the end of the world… but then why was everyone…?
And then he spotted it. Foxy remained stunned for a second as he remained hooked to Monty’s side before he tilted his head, wondering aloud, “What asshat grounded their galleon to the beach?”
Over the crest of the hill, down by the shore, the large, hulking figure of a fifteenth-century galleon sailing ship had made its home in the sand like a beached whale. He could only hazard a guess that the skipper was either drunk or blind or both. Even from this distance, Foxy only had to squint to tell that some serious damage had been done to the hull and keel.
The four of them gathered at the beach, baffled as they circled the bow of the ship submerged in the sand. “How d— How does something like this even happen?” Sun spoke, voicebox pitching in bewilderment.
“What do we even do about this?” Moon wheezed, faceplate swiveling as he glanced between the large vessel and the beach. “I don’t— like, what?”
“No idea,” Monty grunted before snapping his fingers at Foxy. “Hey, Foxy, what do we do about this?”
“Point yar finger at me again, and I’ll bite it,” he warned, baring his teeth. Monty remained unfazed, and Foxy tilted his head at the ship. “And anyways, how should I know? It takes a whole load of things. First ye need to fix the hull since it’s clearly broken and will just sink the ship and make yar job harder. Then ye gotta get, like, other ships and cranes to pull and push it, and it’s a whole thing.”
“‘How should I know?’” Monty mocked, “he says, right before explainin’ what to, in fact, do about this.”
“Shut up.”
Moon ceased his pacing to turn his head up to the ship, stepping back and cupping his hands around his mouth as he yelled, “Hey! Whoever is up there, get off my lawn!”
“It’s a beach,” Sun noted, and Moon glanced at him.
“Shut up. It’s the same thing.”
“It definitely isn’t.”
“Yeah, well, it’s— eh, it’s close enough,” Moon dismissed, earning a snort from Sun and a small motion of his head that suggested he may or may not have been rolling his eyes.
Foxy’s attention drifted up to the bowsprit as a figure came into view. “Oh, hey— guys, look it! There!” Foxy called, pointing with his hook.
An air of intrigue drifted across the beach as eyes shifted upwards. “Ah, okay…” Monty grumbled, crossing his arms. “I know what this is.”
Moon snorted, voicing Foxy’s own curiosity as he inquired, “What does that mean?”
“Eh, it’s— it’s nothin’, man,” Monty shrugged off. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m worrying about it,” Foxy mumbled.
From the bowsprit, a voice called down, “Ahoy there, mateys!”
Before any of them could shout their own greeting or suggestion to please go away and never come back, the figure lept from the forepeak. The four on the beach quickly scrambled back in alarm as the newcomer hit the sand, stumbling only slightly as they landed on their feet.
When their head lifted, Foxy had the strangest wave of confusion break against his chassis, alarm flooding his systems as he realized this stranger had his face.
Despite this unnerving realization that the two of them no doubt shared, the other Foxy, donned in a navy, woolen frock coat and Jolly Roger tricorne, flashed Foxy with the biggest grin as if seeing an old friend. “Foxy!” he said, voice only a shade lighter than Foxy’s.
Foxy remained anchored on the spot, balling his hand into a fist and trying to ignore the piloerection pulling at his fur. It was only until the other Foxy approached that Foxy (the cooler one) flattened his ears and backed away, hissing, “Who are ye and why do ye look like me?”
“Don’t tell me this is another dumb dimension thing,” Sun muttered, pulling at his rays, and Moon groaned in response.
“No,” Monty drawled, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. “No, it’s definitely not.”
Foxy squinted as the other Foxy’s face fell, giving no indication that he had heard the others as he blinked at Foxy, a strange emotion crossing his face. “Ye… What do ye mean, Foxy?” the Foxy said, swaying as he tilted his head. “Do ye not…”
Moon’s voicebox clicked in amusem*nt as he remarked, “Hey, Foxy, you never mentioned you were a twin!”
The lunar animatronic laughed, but Foxy felt something fall in place in his mind. “What?” he breathed. “But that— that doesn’t make any sense. I mean— Yeah, I knew I had a brother somewhere, but I didn’t— I didn’t know we were—”
“—identical twins,” Foxy’s brother finished, voice as tense as he looked.
Monty huffed, amused. “The resemblance is uncanny,” they chuckled.
Foxy averted his gaze to the sand, recalling the merchandise and attractions he had seen around the Pizzaplex depicting himself in a full pirate getup and matching, mischievous grin. The cardboard cutouts had clearly been him, but now, looking at the Foxy standing across from him, he realized that it wasn’t true at all. That entire time, he thought he’d been looking at himself, but it was his brother.
And he had no idea.
(Foxy wasn’t sure if animatronics could get physically ill, but he was certainly feeling seasick.)
How hadn’t he known? Well, the answer was obvious now that Foxy considered it: no memories meant no memories. It didn’t matter how many times his nephew Funtime Foxy brought up his absent father — Foxy still would not have been able to point out his own brother in a crowd.
“Ye…” Foxy finally found his voice. “I thought that was me, but it was ye in those— that stuff around the Pizzaplex. Kids Cove was yar attraction, not mine — wasn’t it?”
His brother stared at him, footing uneven as his eye seemed to focus and refocus. “I— Hey, look,” his brother chuckled, voicebox fraying. “I kn— Foxy, I know we didn’t— I know we didn’t leave off on the best of terms, but come on. Don’t be— Come on, ye know me.”
“Sorry,” Monty interjected, stepping beside Foxy and heaving an almost-sympathetic sigh, “but he doesn’t. Foxy here hit his head a little too hard ‘bout a year ago and lost all his memories.”
Foxy glanced up at them, his nose twitching. Monty didn’t look at him.
“No clue how it happened. Must’ve been some freak accident.”
“Monty,” Foxy muttered, but they ignored him.
“I don’t understand,” Foxy’s brother said, ears twitching as his eye darted between everyone. “I don’t— This— This isn’t funny.”
“Yeah, it…” Sun spoke up, voice warbling awkwardly before he cleared it. “It— It isn’t a joke.”
Foxy watched with a pit in his stomach cavity as his brother (Was he his younger brother or older brother? Which one of them argued about who was made first? Was it a matter of years or seconds? Whose model was grafted from whose?) stepped away, wringing his hook. “Ye don’t…” Foxy’s twin realized, voice barely audible — almost haunted. “Ye don’t remember me?”
And there it was. Foxy recoiled as if he’d been struck, squeezing his eye shut involuntarily at the betrayal and grief dripping from his brother’s words. After a long second, he risked a glance at his brother’s expression, almost drowning in the swarm of emotions washing his faceplate. He was unable to discern any of the thoughts brewing behind his brother’s gaze, but past the apparent horror and distress, Foxy could’ve sworn he glimpsed rage boiling beneath the surface.
Then, in a singular instant, it was gone. Foxy’s brother straightened, a sudden, wide smile stretching his face. “Well, that won’t do!” he proclaimed, marching over to Foxy. “We’ll just have to jumpstart yar memories, aye?”
Foxy yelped as his brother was suddenly pulling him into an endo-crushing side-hug. He cringed at the strong smell of mead. “I’ll reintroduce meself! The name’s Foxy. Captain Foxy,” his brother said, pausing as he lifted his eyepatch and stared at Foxy. “No, that’s literally my name. First name Captain, first name… also Foxy.”
Monty snorted. “Yer both named Foxy?” they mused.
“It’s a family name,” Captain Foxy shrugged. “Almost everyone is named Foxy.”
“Wait, why were ye named Captain Foxy and I was just named Foxy?” Foxy inquired.
“Simple! I’m the oldest.”
Foxy squinted. “Why do I feel like yar lyin’ to me?”
“No clue,” Captain Foxy hummed. “But! Ye can all call me Captain to make it easier.”
“But I’m also a captain. I wanna be Captain.”
“Well, ye can’t.”
“Why not?”
“‘Cus I’m Captain Foxy.”
“So am I.”
“No, yar not Captain Foxy. Yar just Foxy.” Captain leaned closer, his tricorn bumping against Foxy’s temple. “Look at me. Foxy, look at me.”
“No.”
He felt a muzzle press against his temple. “I’m the Captain here.”
Foxy made a face, but he didn’t say more.
“Anyone else think this is really uncanny?” Moon blurted, faceplate swiveling as he regarded both Foxy and Captain.
“Why?” Foxy found himself speaking at the same time as Captain.
Monty shuddered. “Oh god,” he grumbled, “it begins.”
“Where was I?” Captain hummed, pulling away only to sling his arm around Foxy’s shoulder. “Oh! Right! Well, since we last spoke, I’ve been sailin’ the open seas with me crew, pillagin’ and plunderin’, some swashbucklin’ and treasure huntin’ — ye know the deal. Ye probably heard o’ me by now. Towns empty at the name Captain Foxy. Oh!” Captain then swung around to Foxy’s other side, stumbling slightly in the sand. “But it is nothing compared to the Great Dread Pirate Foxy! Ye need to tell me what you’ve been up to since we last spoke!”
“Captain, why are you here?” Sun suddenly spoke, and Foxy’s brother tilted his head at him, raising an eyebrow. “Like, how— how would you even know Foxy was here?”
Captain stared at him for a moment, squinting, before he seemed to finally process the daycare attendant’s words and sprung up. “Oh! Because I didn’t!” Foxy caught his brother as Captain staggered to stand up. “Thank ye fer remindin’ me, lad. I was actually here fer me son’s weddin’!”
Sun and Moon exchanged glances. “Uh— there’s no—” Moon started, but Captain continued:
“See— See, I was… I did some thinkin’ and I… I realized that— that I would— I want to be there fer me son. I wanna start makin’ a difference. And I started— I wanted to start by showin’ up to one o’ the most important milestones in me son’s life.”
Foxy shrugged Captain off of him, ignoring the scene that would play out if Captain had actually shown up to his son’s wedding by crashing his ship into the venue to instead say, “Uh… Yea, uh— sorry, man, but yar about… four months late on that one... Sorry.”
Captain blinked at him. A seagull squawked somewhere overhead. “What’d’ye mean?” he slurred.
Foxy exhaled, tapping his toes. “Uh— I mean, I’m pretty sure the wedding happened. The rehearsal got a little chaotic, and I don’t really remember all what happened ‘cus the author of this fic doesn’t have the kind of time to comb through that many lore videos to figure it out, but I’m pretty sure it worked out in the end.”
Captain co*cked his head to the side, staring blankly before snorting. “Yea, okay. And how would ye know that?”
Foxy hesitated. “Well, I mean… Funtime Foxy wanted his dad to be there, but I guess ye never showed up. He asked me to be there instead since, y’know, I guess an uncle is as close to a dad as ye can get.”
Captain righted his head as he continued to stare at Foxy, expression unreadable. The ocean air constricted with humidity, and Foxy snapped his fingers. “Oh! That is why this place was so familiar!” he realized, turning to Sun. “Yea, this is where the weddin’ rehearsal thing happened. Actually, we’re just a few feet away from where sh*t got real. Kinda wild when ye think about it.”
Sun only raised an eyebrow at him, exhaling softly from his vents. When Foxy turned back to Captain, however, he was almost startled by the daggers his brother was boring into him. In the next second, though, his steely expression was traded with a smile. “Well,” Captain started, “I’m glad me son got someone to repla— argh, I mean— substitute fer me. In me place. Ye stood where I should’ve been. That’s so nice and considerate of ye to do that for me son. Me son Funtime Foxy. Who is me son. Yar nephew, but me son. So great ye did that. That’s so thoughtful and kind.”
Foxy tapped his toes, uncertain. “Uh…”
Moon snorted, somehow breaking the tension with, “What is that supposed to mean?”
Captain brightened, waving it off and throwing himself back onto Foxy’s shoulders. “Nothing! Don’t worry about it.” The animatronic then pressed his face against Foxy’s, grinning. “So! Foxy, ye gonna introduce yar brother to yar friends? I recognize the gator, methinks.”
“Oh,” Foxy said. “Right, yea. Well, that’s Monty, me best friend.”
Monty chuffed. “That’s what you think.”
“:(“
“S-Sorry, bud. I didn’t mean it.”
Foxy lifted his hook past Captain’s head. “That there over there is Moon, and that’s Sun. They’re twins, too.”
Captain grinned, tipping his tricorne. “Pleasure to meet ye, mateys,” he said, and only Sun mumbled a generic and awkward greeting in response as he wrung his hands.
“Aye, ye know what? Let me show ye ‘round me ship. Me plans have suddenly cleared, so I have the time,” Captain invited, pushing off of Foxy and stumbling through the sand towards the grounded vessel.
“Uh, yeah, speakin’ of which,” Monty started, and Captain paused to turn to him, “how did ya manage such a sh*t parkin’ job like that, man?”
Captain shrugged, heading to the water. “Ah, ye know how it is,” he hummed. “Moorin’ gets a bit difficult when yar drunk. I’ll fix it later, don’t ye worry, mateys. Climb aboard! Ladder’s right here if ye not scared o’ gettin’ a wee bit wet.”
The other four exchanged glances before Foxy made a move to follow after his brother. Just as Sun and Moon passed him, however, Monty caught his sleeve. Foxy glared up at him only to see him watching Captain warily as the fox allowed the other two twins up the ladder to the deck. “Are ya sure ‘bout this?” Monty eventually muttered, low enough so only Foxy could hear.
Foxy tugged his arm from Monty’s grasp. “Yea? It’s me brother. I didn’t even recognize him. Let alone remember him at all,” he responded. “I owe it to him to try and reconnect.”
Monty growled lowly in uncertainty, finally looking down at Foxy. “Ya know he’s a lot like you, right? The old you, I mean.” She then bit down on her tongue, exhaling. “Well, not exactly, but it’s similar enough for me to… I don’t know.”
“Why are ye sayin’ this to me, Monty?” Foxy sighed, cutting to the chase.
Monty shook her head. “Just… be cautious, I guess.”
“You? Wantin’ to be cautious?” Foxy chuckled. “Who are ye and what’ve ye done with Monty?”
“Shut up ‘fore I pop ya, dumbass,” she said, bumping Foxy’s shoulder with her fist. “I just mean to be careful, ‘cus like — I mean, in the past, ya were a little prone to flyin’ off the handle. And by a little, I mean a lot.”
“Yar one to talk.”
“And I mean… ya still do it now, just not as much; yer a lot more level-headed. I just mean that, if yer brother is anythin’ like you were, I’ll bet he’s the same.”
Foxy shrugged. “Look, if it comes to anythin’, it’ll be fine. We’re brothers. Sun and Moon fight all the time, so we have experts in case of emergency.”
“Whatever ya say, man,” Monty sighed, stifling a snort.
Without further delay, Foxy led Monty to where Captain was waiting by the ladder, and they boarded the ship.
