Chapter 2: Attack on Gumball (Machines)

Around 6:00, all the repairs and paperwork from the day's fiasco were finally completed and most of the park gang, with the exception of Mordecai and Rigby, was clustered on the couch and in easy chairs (that were kept around in case there was ever other company at the house) in the living room where the TV and VCR were set up.

"Hurry up ladies. The movie's about to start," Muscle Man barked eager for the snacks the two were rustling up. Ignoring the comment, Mordecai and Rigby entered the room carrying a giant bowl of popcorn and some other snacks and sodas for everyone.

"Aw yeayuh! Movie night," Rigby chimed as he and Mordecai took their seats next to Pops on the couch and grabbed a handful of popcorn stuffing it into his mouth.

"Don't think you two are still off the hook for what happened today," Benson reminded sharply from his seat.

"Now, now," Pops intervened. "Today is over with now; let's just enjoy the movies we rented."

"What movies did you rent anyway Skips?" Mordecai asked out of curiosity.

"Well, one's a cop-buddy flick, the other is a comedy about these three guys on a road trip and the last one is some kind of monster movie," Skips answered.

"Oh, monster movie first!" Rigby exclaimed excitedly.

"We're not watching the monster movie," Benson cut in sharply.

"Aw what?" Mordecai and Rigby questioned.

"You guys know how Pops is with scary stuff," Benson reminded.

"I'll be quite alright Benson," Pops assured. "It was just that one Halloween."

"Yeah, and if we watch the monster movie before the other movies he'll barely remember the first film later on," Skips added from the seat next to Benson.

"Ugh, Fine," Benson conceded with a sigh. Mordecai and Rigby cheered with their usual "Ooooooohhhh" and twirling in circles from their spots on the couch over to the VCR before putting in the tape and pressing the play button. The monster movie, which was a werewolf flick strangely enough, turned out to actually be fairly more decent than Benson had expected and Pops truly seemed to not have any problems with the film even with some of the jump scares, which he managed to laugh off easily. However, more than halfway into the film, Benson's eyelids began to droop and was close to dozing off a few times. This of course did not go unnoticed by a certain yeti.

"You doing alright Benson?"

"Huh?" Benson asked jerking awake from nearly dozing off again.

"Dude, you look pretty tired Benson," Thomas said.

"I'm fine," Benson assured with a wave of his hand.

"Maybe you should turn in early for the night," Skips suggested.

"Indeed," Pops added. "You shouldn't burn the candle at both ends Benson. It's simply not good for you."

"Yeah, and who falls asleep during a monster movie?" Muscle Man asked rhetorically.

"Well, actually—" Thomas started before being cut off by Muscle Man.

"Nobody asked you Thomas." Benson knew that they had a point and he honestly didn't think he could stay awake for the other two movies much less this one.

"I guess I will call it a night after all," Benson admitted getting up from his seat, grabbing and putting on his jacket and heading to the front door. "I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Benson, why don't you stay here for the night since you're car is at the shop," Pops offered. "You could stay in the guest room."

"Thanks Pops but I think I'll be alright walking home." With that said, Benson left through the front door and headed down the park path towards the gate.

Once on city streets, the streetlights illuminated Benson's path since the final rays of the sun had long since extinguished from behind the tall buildings. Exhausted, Benson let his mind wander as he trudged for home. "I wonder if I had seen what kind of career working at the park was really like, I'd choose differently," Benson internally wondered. Ever since he first struck out on his own when he turned 21, he vowed to live life to the fullest. Of course, back then he was young and impetuous.

"Kind of like a certain blue jay and raccoon," a small voice at the back of his head spoke up. Shaking his head at the thought and went back to his original musings. When he was younger he always wanted to make his living being in a band. At first he could only get a few small time gigs until one day he met who he thought was the girl of his dreams. Veronica, a female gumball machine whom Benson thought was his soul mate. At first they were inseparable but unfortunately it didn't last. Veronica ultimately wasn't satisfied with his current lifestyle and in the end left him for a businessman.

Heartbroken, Benson tried to move on and eventually landed it big when he was recruited as a drummer for the up and coming band Hair to the Throne. For a while his life was looking up and he thought that maybe deep down Veronica would see how much of a success he had become and come back to him. Sadly it never happened as he was eventually kicked out of the band by his jealous and bitter band mates for actually managing to play the drum solo that was deemed "impossible" (though maybe the fact that he was always rather pushy during practice also partly contributed to it).

He had tried other things such as pinball and stick hockey tournaments, which he had always been fond of since a lot of the action was in the wrists and being a drummer he was a natural. He even met his first real friend Dave, another young gumball machine who was impressed by Benson's skills and wanted to learn from him. Whenever they weren't practicing they were hanging out or just having fun. For half a year, they dominated the competition. Until, once again, life decided to screw Benson over and he lost his best friend thanks to Chong in the last stick hockey tournament he ever willingly played (except for the time he saved Mordecai and Rigby's skins from Chong in that savage underground stick hockey tournament).

Down on his luck and desperate for a stable source of income, it was by a major stroke of luck (or perhaps fate) that he bumped into Pops at a bar of all places. Apparently the lolliman was looking to get away from one of Mr. Maellard's fancy get-togethers and unintentionally ended up there. After talking and a couple of drinks Pops, who had at the time just been entrusted by his father with caring for the park, offered Benson a job as manager and the rest was history. It wasn't easy at first, especially when Mr. Maellard found out of Benson's hiring and immediately didn't approve upon finding out how he was hired in the first place. But Benson worked hard every day to meet his boss's expectations even up to the present and only rarely did he ever meet them enough to Maellard's satisfaction. Deep down Benson guessed that was probably why he was so harsh so Mordecai and Rigby to begin with; he didn't want to see them go through the same things he did. Unfortunately, they don't see that and sometimes he can't help but wonder if he was just wasting his time.

Letting out a sigh for the millionth time that day, Benson stopped walking to tilt his head back and just take in the night air to hopefully clear his mind of less dismal thoughts until the sound of something moving quickly in the shadows caught Benson's attention from the alley behind him. Startled, Benson waited for something or someone to exit or move but several moments passed and nothing did, though he could feel the eyes of something watching him closely. Cautiously, he started walking down the sidewalk again. At first there were no signs of anything pursuing him but as Benson continued on the eyes he felt on him continued watching his every move. Unsettled he picked up the pace but the eyes still stayed on him intently until he finally reached his apartment complex. Bursting through the door, Benson caught his breath and looked outside to see if he could find whatever caused the creepy sensation but found nothing. Believing he was just being paranoid from the day's events he decided to put it out of his mind. He turned to head to his floor when he noticed the landlord who was reading the paper giving him strange look.

"Uh, sorry," Benson apologized rubbing the back of his head. The landlord however just rolled his eyes and went back to his paper muttering "weirdo" under his breath. Benson heard the unflattering comment but chose to ignore it as he went up the stairs to his floor.

Once on his floor, Benson felt the exhaustion return ten-fold. Fumbling the keys out of his jacket pocket he was about to unlock his door when the sound of the apartment door behind him opened.

"Benson?" Knowing who was addressing him, Benson turned.

"Hey Audrey," Benson responded with a tired grin. "I didn't wake you did I?"

"It's only 8:30," she replied with a light chuckle.

"Oh," Benson only said slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, I guess my sense of time's a little off."

"Long day huh?" Audrey asked with a gentle smile.

"You have no idea," Benson said returning with a small smile of his own.

"Well listen, I'm glad I caught you. I wanted to ask you something," Audrey said fidgeting with her pink skirt a bit.

"O-Okay," he replied sheepishly. "Shoot."

"Well, it's been a while since we got to spend any time together and I was wondering if you wanted to…I don't know, maybe have dinner together or something."

"Uh, well…" Benson was stunned at the sudden invitation. Happy of course, but stunned. Before Benson could reply, Audrey spoke up first.

"I mean, I know you're a busy guy with your job at the park and all. But I just thought that maybe, you know—" Audrey started in a tone that didn't try to hide her discouragement at the thought of Benson refusing.

"No, no, no. I'd love to!" Benson interrupted hastily.

"Really?" Audrey asked perking up slightly.

"Absolutely," Benson assured. "It's just that…Well, my car's in the shop for some, uh, body work and I wouldn't want to impose by asking for a ride."

"It's not a problem," Audrey replied. "How about I stop by the park tomorrow sometime around 7:00 and we can figure out where to go from there."

"Uh, ok. I'll see you tomorrow." Audrey gave a smile and wished him goodnight as Benson returned it before turning the lock to his apartment door and going inside. Once inside, Benson slowly felt a smile creep onto his face as he let out a content sigh for the first time that day.

"Maybe today wasn't so bad after all," Benson inwardly mused as he slipped his jacket off and tossed it onto the back of his recliner. As he made his way to his bedroom for some rest it wasn't until he passed by the kitchen that his eye caught the calendar's marked date.

"Oh right, garbage pickup is tomorrow," Benson muttered. Deciding to take care of it quickly, Benson collected the trash from all the other rooms in his apartment, stuffing it into the trash bag in the kitchen and hauling it outside, down the stairs and out the rear door leading to the alley behind the apartment complex. After heaving the bag into the dumpster he gave a satisfied nod and turned to head back inside. But suddenly, just before he reached the door's steps, the sound of a trashcan lid overturning and clanging to the ground startled Benson into turning around. Remembering the creepiness that happened on his way home Benson was immediately on alert.

"Who's there?" No reply came from the dimly lit alleyway. "I'm warning you, I've got the cops on speed dial. So quit loitering and get out of here," Benson warned but still no answer was given. Instead a low growl emanated from the darkness as a pair of glowing red eyes stared Benson down. Losing his bravado, Benson took a retreating step back but before he could bolt inside, the strange figure lunged out of the shadows and tackled the gumball machine to the ground. Letting out a cry, Benson went down as he tried to get out from under the creature's grasp. In the dim light, all Benson could make out was the strange creature's furry body, long, narrow snout, sharp claws and menacing fangs as well as lightning bolt-shaped scar that went across its right eye. In a panic, Benson let loose a random punch at the beast's face but did little damage. In fact, Benson could have sworn he saw a smirk on the creature's face right before it bit down on his right arm that was still somewhat extended out from the thrown punch. Letting out a yell of pain, Benson tried to get out of the creature's grasp once more before noticing a discarded metal pipe not far from his reach. Grabbing the pipe, he swung with his left arm and struck the creature as hard as he could, which was just enough to get him other arm free. Using both hands this time, Benson swung again and this time was successful at getting the beast off of him. With a yelp as it retreated out of the alley and into the darkness of the night.

"AND DON'T COME BACK!" Benson hollered hurling the pipe after the retreating creature. He stood panting from the rush of adrenaline until the throbbing in his bitten arm caught his attention. Grunting in discomfort, Benson clutched his arm and went back inside and up to his apartment to treat the injury. Reaching the medicine cabinet he pulled out bandages and disinfectant before rinsing and cleaning the wound in the sink. Thankfully, the bite mark wasn't too deep.

"It's times like this I'm glad I'm made of a pretty tough metal," Benson thought as he applied the disinfectant with a wince. "Still stings like hell though." After some difficulty tying the bandage on his arm, he was all patched up and flexed his arm a few times to make sure the bandage didn't come undone. Satisfied with his work, he turned to the window to see if he could catch any sign of the thing that bit him in case it was still lingering around the building but from what he could tell it was long gone. He considered calling Animal Control to report it but honestly didn't feel like wanting to waste any more time with this mess. More than anything he just wanted to sleep. Letting out a tired sigh, he pushed all thoughts of everything other than sleep from his mind and crawled into bed. Once the light was off and his alarm was set for the morning it didn't take long for Benson to drift off to sleep.

Unfortunately his slumber was not a sound one. All throughout the night he tossed and turned, grunting and sweating as something within him began to slowly change. The bite mark that was illuminated by the faint moonlight that shone through his window began to pulse and glow in a soft light of its own. Even if Benson didn't know it yet, things were far from over.

Author's Notes: Another chapter down and a whole day early. I have to say I rather enjoyed writing this one especially the passage of Benson's past (at least of how I interpreted it). But a lot of it I can't really take full credit for. The Veronica thing was actually meant to be part of the storyboard as a flashback for the episode "Mordecai and the Rigbys" before it was edited out. Check out "Benson: The Last to Know" on DeviantART for better understanding. It's a little fan-made comic where the last eight or so scenes are the actual storyboard pictures. As for the bar scene with Pops, that was inspired by a comic also on DeviantART called "A Regular Beginning" by dragon-master09 (though there's only 4 pages so I kind of had to fudge the rest). Check out her work to see what I mean. Anyways, the next chapter will be out hopefully by this time next week but I make no promises since I'm still job hunting. In the meantime please read, review, and enjoy!