"Woah. This whole place is run by rats?" C-Sha scrolled past the photos on the restaurant app and opened the review tab. "Kids love their arcade games, though, and the reviews are pretty good. Except for this one commenter, 'Totally Not a Rat', who kept saying that the animatronics in the shop were possessed by ghosts."
"Sounds like a merry place, doesn't it?" IF grimaced. "I'm a little concerned about Rei's safety now."
Blanc quickened her steps to a brisk walk, without a word. Understandable—they were inside one of the more run-down sectors of Planeptune, and the smell of grease and machine oil in the air was nauseatingly strong. Before long, the giant mouse head on the shop sign appeared in C-Sha's view. There was a...cheesy feel to its purple cap and smile, for a lack of better words.
Just as they were approaching the shop, something flew right out of its open doors.
"Ahhh! Not again, chu!" The flying object let out a scream as it hit the pavement, before picking itself up and scurrying back into the shop.
"...Why am I not surprised?" IF muttered.
All three of them started running. C-Sha was aiming her C-Buster at the door, but no homicidal animatronics were coming out of the shop. There was still a lot of screaming and yelling, however, as they pushed their way past the increasing number of onlookers, and made their way inside.
"If this is how an honest life looks like, I'm calling it quits, chu!" A cyan rat shrieked, pulling on an old lady's trouser legs with all of its meager strength. In turn, she made a sweep at the rat with her cane, causing it to duck under the nearest table.
"You ain't going anywhere until this is over, chu—" A red rat in a yellow cap turned to yell at its companion, before it leaped onto the table that a couple was circling around. Dodging the old lady's cane strikes with ease, they hurled a bundle of plastic forks in her direction, hitting multiple rats as forks rained down on the floor.
"Please calm down, chu! Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure we can solve this like civilized human beings!"
Its plea was unanimously ignored. Two little kids, who had been staring at the chaos with a dumbfounded expression on their faces, finally broke out of their freeze and joined the rat employees in their effort to break up the fight. One of them grabbed onto the old woman's cane, and the other started to tug at the couple's sleeves.
"Mom! Dad! Stop!"
"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" Blanc's yell barely created a few seconds of silence, before it was overwhelmed by a wave of louder shrieks.
"I have no idea, chu! This is the third fight in two days!"
"They called my grandson a—" The old lady swung her cane at the rats again, sending the red rat's cap flying onto the floor.
"You spilled your drink on our baby girl first!"
"It was an accident, that little brat, she bumped me—"
"Seriously?" IF groaned, before she stepped in between the fighting parties with C-Sha. "Your kids are watching. Stop embarrassing yourselves."
The red rat buried its face in its paws. "Why, chu? Why do fights keep breaking out in my shop? Chu. E. Cheese is a family-friendly place!"
Right at that moment, the husband of the couple grabbed a rat by the tail and lifted it up. He threw it at the old woman, who raised her cane and batted the flying rat back towards the couple, with the grace of a pro baseball player.
"CHUUUUU—!" It soared through the air in a magnificent curve, before hitting the little girl squarely in the face.
She fell down with a yelp and started to wail. Her cries only fanned the fury of her parents, and both of them raised their fists, ready to close the distance and pound the old lady into the ground. Seeing this, the boy burst into tears too, right as C-Sha was about to grab the old woman and pull her out of the path of the raging couple—
"ENOUGH!"
A blinding beacon of white light shot up at the center of the room. Finally, there was silence. Even the kids stopped crying.
"All three of you!" White Heart jabbed a finger at the old woman, who looked like she was on the verge of a heart attack, then turned to glare at the couple.
"I don't care who started it first! But y'all should be ashamed of yourselves! ASHAMED! For making your own kids cry, and being a bunch of bullies—" She pointed at the rats, "—towards them, who were only trying to do their jobs! Now pay your bills, apologize to everyone who's dragged into your mess, and get your sorry asses out of here!"
"Wow." IF mumbled, as she watched the three people slink out of the pizza shop, their kids trailing behind them. "It sure feels weird to be standing up for the rats."
"No rats have left a good impression on you before, huh?" C-Sha turned her sight away from Blanc, who was helping the rats cleaning up the mess on the floor, despite multiple objections from 'Biz-chu', the red rat who owned the place.
"You bet. With all the foreshadowing, I honestly thought we'd have to rescue Rei from some evil rats," IF paused, "Rats piloting giant animatronics."
"Wait. Where is Rei? I haven't seen her while the fight was going on."
"Oh no." IF sighed, and started walking towards the front counter. "I almost forgot why we came here. Unbelievable."
C-Sha briefly stopped to look at the arcade machines in the shop. These were some seriously retro stuff, even older than the ones in Mr. Esaka's arcade. Together, they made their way to the back of the shop, where a bunch of animatronics was propped against the wall, staring at them with unblinking dark eyes, their strangely realistic teeth shimmering under the fluorescent lights.
Both of them shuddered a little at the sight.
"Yeesh. Won't they scare the kids away, putting on a show with...these?" C-Sha let out an uneasy laugh. Really, the design alone could probably give any sane children nightmares for weeks, even without them dancing and singing in public.
IF squinted a little at the mascot suits draped on top of the animatronics. "Huh. That suit looks a little familiar."
Before she could pick it up and take a closer look, a loud groan reached their ears. "Chu...How many times do I have to tell you? Our mascot suits and animatronics are. Not. Haunted!"
Biz-chu was standing right in front of a cowering purple rat, whose fur was standing on ends. "And yes, Chuck-chu, I know you're the one writing those reviews. You ain't fooling anyone, chu."
"But, but boss, I saw one moving out of the backdoor this morning, chu—"
"Mr. Biz-chu?" IF stepped towards the rat. "Do you have a sec?"
"Sure—" He nodded, before pointing at the small rat. "Now go do your job. If I see your ghost babbles popping up on the app again, I'm confiscating your phone, chu."
"We are here for one of your employees, Rei Ryghts. Has she come to work today?"
"Oh, our delivery girl? Yeah, she's out there, working." Biz-chu gave them a concerned look. "She hasn't gotten into any troubles, has she, chu?"
C-Sha hesitated a little. Despite Rei's likely involvement in the archive incident, making the woman lose her job didn't seem like a suitable penalty.
"Nah, not really. We just wanna ask her about a few things."
"Thank goodness. Thought I'd have to go through the trouble of finding another human who's willing to work here. People just don't like seeing a rat deliver their food, chu..." Biz-chu sighed. "Truth to be told, she ain't the brightest tool in the shed. But at least no one would start screaming at the sight of her, chu. Or try to kick her."
Meanwhile, IF walked away from them with a thoughtful look on her face. She made her way to Chuck-chu, who sneaked a single glance at her, before quickly leaping up a tall stool beside the kitchen sink.
"What's with all these talks about ghosts? Tell me."
"I-I've been seeing it for weeks!" The rat's voice faded to a bare whisper, as he turned on the tap water and started scrubbing the dishes. "It's giggling in this girly voice, chu, which might have been kinda sexy, if it wasn't a ghost! A-And now it's out on the streets!"
"What do you mean?"
"It possessed our mascot suit this morning, and was messing with the pizza boxes and one of the cash registers in some creepy rituals! That must be how it managed to break out of the shop, chu—"
"Gosh darn it, Chuck-chu!" Biz-chu turned back at the smaller rat's high-pitched shriek. "Stop wasting Miss IF's time with your ghost stories already, chu!"
After one last sigh, he turned back to C-Sha. "Now, she should be back ten minutes ago. You want me to check on her, chu?"
Upon receiving a nod from C-Sha, Biz-chu grabbed his phone from inside a cabinet, and his eyes immediately widened when he saw the notifications on the screen.
"Eight missed calls from her, chu?! Goodness gracious! How did I not hear anything?" Biz-chu slapped his forehead. "Chu, that fight was louder than I thought..."
The rat quickly started typing on the phone keyboard. C-Sha leaned forward, and soon, Blanc also made her way to the back, having finally finished tidying up the place.
"Sorry, chu, there's a fight in the shop again—" Biz-chu frowned, "Okay, Rei, I can't hear you over all the shouting. Take a deep breath and slow down, chu? What is it about wrong orders again? You don't have any money on you? What does that have to do—"
"Rei? Can you hear me, chu?" Biz-chu frowned, as a loud thud came through the speaker, and the call abruptly cut off. He started dialing the numbers again, but this time, there were only static beeping noises.
"What happened? Did she run away?"
Biz-chu adjusted his cap. "I'm not sure, Lady Blanc, but it...sounds like she got into trouble with a customer, chu?"
"I think I may know the cause of that." IF's confident voice chimed in, followed by a triumphant squeak.
"Finally! Someone believes me, chu!"
"It's not ghosts, though." IF said. "Lady Blanc, C-Sha, remember that little run-in with Fakegear?"
She whipped out her own phone and signaled for both rats to come closer. "Mr. Biz-chu, does this coyote suit look like something from your shop?"
"It's...a little hard to tell, chu." Biz-chu winced when he saw the mutilated head of the mascot suit. "But first, it's a mouse, not a coyote, and second, the color matches up pretty well."
"Huh? That's a mouse?" C-Sha squinted at the screen.
IF responded with a shrug. "I don't think the people making these suits have ever seen a real mouse before."
"Yes! This is the suit that escaped from the shop, chu!" Chuck-chu nodded frantically, before glancing up at IF with a hopeful look in its eyes. "D-Did you kill the ghost, Miss IF?"
"No. I'm afraid you've all been swindled by a criminal, who used the suit to mess with Chuck-chu and cover up her petty crimes." IF sighed. "If what your employee said is true, Mr. Biz-chu, she must have switched the labels on the pizza boxes before Rei came in to get them, and stolen money from the cash register while he was trembling underneath a table."
Biz-chu rushed to the front counter and pulled open the cash registers one by one. His face scrunched up as he opened the last one. Half of the bills inside were gone, and on the remaining pile of coins lay a piece of stale cheese pizza.
"...Cocky little shit." Blanc scowled. "Shall we go catch her now?"
"Wait! From the sounds of it, Rei must be in trouble for delivering the wrong stuff. Let's bail her out first, Blanny?"
"Yeah. You two can leave Fakegear to me." IF's eyes narrowed. "I'd like to see if her talent at running away could truly match a certain Underling."
Her hair kept getting caught behind her glasses, as she stopped to catch a breath from the phone conversation. If Biz-chu's confused squeaks were any indication, he hadn't heard a single word she said.
"What? Your boss giving me a refund or not?" The short, stout man stomped his feet on the lawn of the front yard. "Hurry up!"
Rei jerked at the loud yell, and her phone slipped out of her clammy palms. She didn't catch it in time. The phone bounced off the pavement, fell through the gap between the bars of a sewer lid, and vanished into the darkness below.
"Ah! No, no..."
Literally nothing had gone right for her after she left the pizza shop. And now her boss was going to think that she just hung up on him for no reason. He would probably fire her on the spot, if he knew how badly she messed up this time—
"No? After ruining my kids' birthday party, you wouldn't even pay for the damage?"
"Sorry, my phone, it just fell in there—" Rei gestured at the sewer lid. "I double-checked the tag on the box, I-I didn't know how this could happen, please forgive me..."
"And I had told those rats 'No Seafood' more than once, hadn't I?"
The kids inside the house started bawling again. Thank goodness they hadn't ended up in the emergency room from a serious allergic reaction. If so, she wouldn't be the only person losing her job today.
"I don't know, I'm just the delivery person, b-but I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you and your family—"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry. You have anything better than that? How about you pay for the refund yourself?"
"I'm sorry for apologizing again, but I really don't h-have any money on me..." This conversation must have been looping for a while now. "I-I can go back and get the refund for you, o-or your original order."
"Well, too late! How do I know you'd keep your promise, and weren't in leagues with your scummy rat friends?"
They aren't bad guys, Rei wanted to retort. But her throat felt like it was full of molten lead. Her eyes were tearing up, and it was not because of the blinding sunlight.
He was right. Why would anyone trust her? Just when she thought she was getting better at the job, she screwed up again. She was making the rats look bad, too, and their life was already difficult enough as it was.
"You aren't going anywhere until I get my money back. I'm suing your entire shop if you don't give me a good answer."
Rei was suddenly very glad for the oversized cap that came with her uniform. It made the tears less visible, once she lowered her head and let the hat slip down her forehead. But the sobs and heavy breathing were much harder to conceal.
For a moment, she was hoping that a police car would whizz down the street, stop in front of her, and arrest her for what she did in Lowee. If she started crying her eyes out in there, at least no one would be surprised.
"Hey." A concerned voice came from behind her. "You okay there?"
"Mmmhm..."
The woman must've heard her voice cracking, because the next second, she felt a hand over her shoulder. The man raised an eyebrow at the newcomer.
"Are you her friend or what? Good, because she—"
"Lemme guess. She delivers the wrong order, and now you're all fired up." A pause. "It's not her fault, though. Some thief sneaked into the kitchen and messed with the boxes on the way out for funsies. So cut her some slack, will ya'?"
"I don't care. My kids' birthday party is still ruined, and now my ex-wife is gonna start bitching at me again." The man snorted. "I want a refund. Now."
"But I don't have..."
"It's alright." The woman gave her an assuring pat on the back and walked towards the man. "I'll pay the money for her. How much is it?"
"A hundred and seventy-seven. Oh, and add another hundred to that, as extra compensation."
With a sigh, she fished a few bills out of the pocket of her blue vest and handed it over to him. After checking the bills several times, the man gave her a curt nod and walked back into the house, still grumbling under his breath.
"Phew. That's one nasty customer you ran into."
"Yeah. T-Thanks." Rei averted her gaze, as she hastily rubbed her eyes. "Sorry for making you pay for m-my mistakes, Miss..."
"Oh, it's not your fault at all! Name's C-Sha, by the way." The woman smiled.
Right at that moment, a petite silhouette appeared at the other end of the street. Rei flinched when she saw that familiar face. Lowee's Goddess didn't look angry, thank goodness, but maybe she was just holding back her rage in public...
"Now, I'm sure you know what we're here for, " C-Sha said, "but this isn't the best place to talk. How about we get you back to the shop first?"
Rei nodded in silence and followed behind C-Sha. At this point, there were really no other options.
A/N: The moment I saw Rei working for a burger joint in the Megami Tsuunshin manga, I knew I had to put a Chuck E. Cheese reference in this story. I had to.
(Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, created the Chuck E. Cheese pizza restaurant chain after he was fired from Atari, which integrated food, animatronic shows, and arcade games inside a single shop.)