Sorry this one took so long. I'll just say it started with 'Hey, watch this' and left me not being able to type well, but now I should be able to get this finished.

This and the next are gonna be the chapters that changes everything for the remainder of the story, thus I wanted the opening song for this one to be really good and spent nearly two hours sorting through my iTunes. I already have the one for the next chapter ready.

Also, if you want to synch up some great music to listen to while reading the video game part, play the Kingdom Hearts remake by 331erock. It's worth doing. I think you all know where to search for it.

Chapter 5: Pardon Me?

"A decade ago, I never thought I would be at twenty three
On the verge of spontaneous combustion, woe is me
But I guess that it comes with the territory
An ominous landscape of never ending calamity
I need you to hear, I need you to see
That I have had all I can take
And exploding seems like a definite possibility

to me

So pardon me while I burst into flames
I've had enough of the world and it's people's mindless games
So pardon me while I burn and rise above the flame
Pardon me, pardon me,

Ill never be the same"

- Incubus

[][][]

"So?" Mordecai asked after the fifth minute of silence passed.

CJ looked up, having forgot that there was someone across from her, "What?"

"Well, you said there was something important you had to tell me."

She blinked for a moment, "Oh, that's right."

Her gaze dropped back to her glass, a sign of more silence about to come.

'Well, I have to go through with it. I mean, we're here already. If I keep talking to myself he's gonna think something's wrong.'

Mordecai sighed and finished his coffee.

'And Eileen at the counter, giving me the death stare. Why would she keep this from him? You'd think she would-'

She had been so focused on her thoughts she missed the question she was asked, "Sorry, what'd you say?"

"I asked if you'd mind going somewhere with me. I have to run an errand before I go back to work and I could use your help."

"Oh, uh, sure, that'd be great."

Mordecai nodded and left money on the table, "And we could talk about whatever you wanted to along the way."

"Right," she said, her voice sounding as if it came from someone else.

She avoided Eileen's glare as they left, slowly losing her nerve while questioning her reason for doing so. Concern, or jealousy?

[][][]

Rigby raked the last bit of leaves into his pile and nodded, "There, that's the last of them."

As if punishing his prior laziness, the wind increased, scattering the leaves from both his pile and Mordecai's.

He stared at mess as if his death glare would somehow convince them to return.

With more work in front of him, he mumbled as he began raking for the second time.

Working at his own pace, it wasn't long before he had gathered up his half. Whether it was guilt or the fact that Mordecai continued to stick up for him while he dealt with the aftermath of his late nights, he continued to rake his half of the leaves.

He soon realized both answers were one in the same. He couldn't admit to Mordecai the reason he was absent so much, and it made it that much harder to be around.

But whatever. That is the power of love.

As he finished the pile his phone began ringing.

'He doesn't even know I bought a cell phone,' he thought as he checked the number.

It was the only one he'd programmed in.

Contemplating letting it go, he hesitated before answering.

"Hey."

"Hey, what's up?"

He picked up Mordecai's rake and drug it beside the lawn mower, "Work. Nothing exciting."

The voice laughed, "Yeah, I know that feeling. Lucked out and got the day off. What do you have planned for tonight?"

He sat in the seat of the mower, his mind arguing with itself, attempting to decide the correct answer, "I thought I'd see what Mordecai had planned. It's been awhile since we just hung around, and everything."

"Oh."

He sat in the silence for a moment, "Is that alright? I mean, did you already plan something?"

"No, it's fine. That zombie movie came to theaters today, but we can go see it some other time. It's not a big deal."

"Okay then, we'll go see it this weekend." he said, glancing behind him to where he heard the sound of the cart.

"Benson's coming, I gotta go."

"Oh, okay. Talk to you later."

He quickly snapped the phone closed and dropped it in his pocket right as Benson pulled to a stop beside him.

"Go over the leaves with the mower, it looks like it's getting ready to storm."

Rigby nodded, "Was just getting ready to do it."

Benson nodded and started driving off, "Don't forget to turn on the mulcher. Otherwise, we'll have leave bits all over the soccer field."

"What does he think I am, an idiot?"

He turned the key for the mower and started driving toward the leaf piles, obviously forgetting to activate the mulcher.

[][][]

"Thanks for helping, I probably would have picked the first thing I saw," Mordecai said as they walked through the Twin Peaks mall, "I'm not that great at shopping for women."

"No problem," CJ said as she looked at the stores they passed, "What does she like?"

He had think for a moment, "I really don't know. It's been so long since I seen her, there's no telling what she's into now."

"Really? How long has it been?"

"It'd have to be since I left home, so maybe three years," he answered, stopping to look through the window of a store that caught his attention.

"That long? You haven't been back since?"

He shook his head, "Let's go in here. Me and my dad had some… heated words the day before I left. Didn't think I'd be welcome back, but I got the call this morning so I'm just hoping everything goes well."

Signs were hung around the store promising Circuit Shack was the only place they needed to shop. Despite the small interior of the store, they seemed to have quite a selection.

"So, what was the old town like?" she asked, keeping conversation away from what she wanted to talk about.

He sighed, "Man, it was great! It was by the sea, and there were cliffs that you could sit at and watch the boats roll into the harbor. There was 'The Nail', a gap in the rocks that people used to jump over. I remember Richard dared Rigby to jump it once. He tripped and landed face first in the water."

"So, Rigby lived in the same town?"

Mordecai picked up one of the MP3 players and started scrolling through the menu, "Yeah, we hung out since we were kids. In the summer we'd sneak into the theater on the main drag and watch movies all day. Then there was the arcade, the beach, and there was a park right in the middle of the town, kinda like where I live now. Only difference was that one had more of a forest."

"Sounds perfect."

Mordecai continued, caught up in his past, "It was. Then the night I left he came with. His parents never really cared what he did so I doubt they noticed he left. Maybe I should just get her a gift card."

Cj laughed and gave him a shove, "What're you, her uncle?"

He laughed back, "You're right. Besides, I don't think they have any of these stores out there."

"So, what do you remember?"

"Well," he began, walking to a shelf of video cameras, "When we were kids she used to always make movies."

She nodded, "Alright, that's a start. What kind of camera did she have?"

"One of those big ones that took VHS."

"And if there isn't any stores like this around there, she probably still has it."

The section was literally filled with cameras, every one of them different than the last.

"What kind should I get? I mean, I don't even know the difference between them," he said, at a loss.

"That's a shock. You seem like you'd known all about electronics."

He picked up one of the demo models and turned it over, "If it doesn't have a controller plugged into it, I'm clueless."

She nodded, "That I believe."

"By the way," he said as he picked up another, "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Nothing important."

[][][]

"Dude, pick up the axe!" Mordecai yelled while mashing the buttons on the arcade machine.

Rigby's character ran to the axe while avoiding the flames that fell from the ceiling of the room they were in, "Now what?!"

Mordecai's character finished putting out the flames on his side and ran to pick up another fire extinguisher.

"Okay, start knocking down the door to the next level."

The health bar over the door only moved a sliver each time he hit it, "It's not working!"

"No, you have to use the combo!"

Rigby looked down at the controls, "What was the combo?"

Mordecai kept putting out the fires, "Down, down, left, down, right, up, down, while holding the punch button."

He tried again, "It's not working!"

With all the fires put out, Mordecai ran and grabbed a second axe, "You're holding kick. I'll get it."

Mordecai's character began glowing as he swung the axe behind him. The instant he hit the door, the health bar drained and the door disappeared.

"I almost had it," Rigby mumbled as they entered the next level.

Mordecai shook his head, "Not even close."

"Well, it's a new game! How am I supposed to know?"

"It uses the same combos as the first Xtreme Xcape, and you used to have those memorized."

"Whatever."

They moved through the level, defeating the low level fire demons as they picked up supplies for the boss battle.

Finally making it to the end, the screen went black as the cut-scene before the battle started.

"How great is this game?"

Rigby nodded, "I know! The characters actually talk now!"

"What in all of hair-city is that?!"

Afrowski shook his head, "That is what we like to call a class five on my pissed off meter."

The camera panned up to show a three story tall fire troll. He sat in the middle of the room, the flames from his body slowly catching everything around him on fire.

"So," Hairowitz began, "TSC?"

Afrowski grinned, "TSC."

A jagged line separated the screen diagonally as the video zoomed in on their faces, "Two Step Carnage!"

"You remember what to do?" Mordecai asked as the screen went blank.

Rigby began nodding, "Hmm, Hmm, you know it!"

"Hmm, Hmm, Let's do this!"

Instrumental music featuring an guitar and drums began to play. The guitar's speed was incredible, so fast that you had trouble believing it wasn't computer generated.

An animated fight sequence began as buttons began to pop up on each side of the screen.

Their movements were coordinated perfectly, completing each button sequence flawlessly.

The characters began dodging the burnt out spaces in the floor as they made their way toward the boss. Leaping and rolling, it wasn't long before they passed the first part.

"We got about a minute or so before the floor gives out!" Hairowitz yelled as the words, 'Approach, complete!' appeared.

"That's a minute more than we'll need."

The troll began to roar as he began to spit fire toward them.

As before, their button mashing caused the characters to dodge the flames and climb the walls. As they climbed, they began to gather the fire extinguishers that they passed.

The button mashing gave way to the prompt, 'You need four more extinguishers!'

Mordecai picked up another from his side, dropping the count to three.

"Come on, dude. Only three more."

Rigby blinked, "There's only one over here!"

Mordecai looked to his side of the screen, "Didn't you pick any up as we went through the other levels?"

"Was that what those were for?"

Mordecai sighed as the counter finished, "Dude! How're we gonna beat the boss now?!"

"It's fine," Rigby said, "How hard can it be?"

Another prompt appeared, 'Not enough extinguishers. Difficulty elevated to impossible.'

"That hard," Mordecai said with a sigh, "So instead of losing the game we have to continue even though it's impossible."

"It's just a game. There's always a way to win these."

A second prompt appeared, 'There is no way to win now.'

"Stop talking!"

"Let's just get this over with," Mordecai said as the fight began.

The characters, now holding fire extinguishers, were back to being under their full control. In between their health bars a timer started counting down from a minute.

Rigby started spraying the troll, but it's health bar only dropped a little bit.

Mordecai started helping, but it stayed about the same.

"This is hopeless."

Rigby pointed at the screen, "Hey, the flame on his head is blue! That must be what we need to hit!"

Mordecai looked at the timer, "Let's give it a shot."

They climbed up another floor until they were head level. They began spraying the blue flame, their attacks becoming more effective, but not enough. The troll began throwing flames, causing them to waste time by chasing them down.

"Above his head, is that a sprinkler?"

Rigby nodded, "That must be the secret! How do we turn it on?!"

"I think I know. How many extinguishers do you have left?"

Rigby checked his count, "Only one."

Mordecai switched to his axe, "I'm all out. When I tell you to, throw the extinguisher toward it."

Mordecai began spinning his joystick, causing Hairowitz to begin rotating with his axe in front of him. Having only one shot at winning, Rigby began climbing up the monster's head, causing Afrowski to begin losing health.

"Now!"

Rigby threw the extinguisher seconds before his character turned to ashes. When it neared the sprinkler, Mordecai slammed on the punch button, using the widely known glitch from the first game to throw the axe.

As Hairowitz began punching air, the axe flew and collided with the extinguisher, the resulting explosion causing the sprinkler to activate.

Afrowski respawned next to Hairowitz as the troll began shrinking until the screen went black.

Now in the final cutscene, the troll was shrunk until it was just a cinder. Hairowitz and Afrowski walked to where it sat and crouched.

"Looks like your reign of fire is over, hot stuff."

The troll growled in protest.

"Would you like to do the honors?" asked Afrowski.

Hairowitz stood up, "Why not?"

The camera switched views, now looking up at the heroes. Hairowitz raised his foot and stomped toward the screen, causing it to go black.

"Dude, we did it!"

They began shouting, jumping off their chairs and running in circles through the empty arcade.

The screen changed to the leader board, 'Mor' and 'Rig' flashing at the top of the team list. The clock on the machine read 12:33 A.M.

"That was amazing!" Mordecai yelled when they made it back to the machine, "Let's go again!"

From the front desk near the doors came the sound of a shotgun chambering a round, the owner being a little more than angry about waiting for two hours while they finished their game.

"Na, I think we better go."

[][][]

Martin shook his head and set his empty can on the bar at Anarchy, "No, man, C is this."

Mordecai moved his fingers on the neck of the guitar to match them with the placement of Martin's.

"Like this?"

He nodded, "Okay, do you remember the timing?"

Mordecai played the song over in his head until he was sure he remembered the tempo. He hummed the lyrics while he strummed the chord, down, up, down, down.

He stopped, attempting to remember the next chord on his own.

After a moment, Martin showed him on his guitar, "G."

Mordecai adjusted and continued, same rhythm with that chord. He stopped, not knowing the rest of the song.

Martin nodded, "Good so far, just have to work on memory and rhythm. The rest are just power chords."

He adjusted his guitar and turned down the volume, his guitar already connected to the sound system for the building, and strummed while he sang the lyrics, "I'm just a loser, learning to care for, this soul inside of me. I don't give my heart to no one, cause I, don't want to waste my time. I tried to love this loneliness to, slip out from where it hides."

Mordecai nodded, "Sounds simple enough, but are you sure about the song?"

"Definitely, if you want to impress a woman, this is the one to use." Martin added while he changed the tuning.

"Hey, come on, man, we gotta get ready for the show!" came the voice of an annoyed sounding person he didn't know.

Martin waved toward the stage, "Alright, alright, keep your shirt on!"

The drummer started out a beat and the bassist followed, singing about how Martin was always late.

He quickly wrote down the chords and their progression on a napkin and handed I to Mordecai.

"Hang on to the acoustic, practice the chords and get the rhythm down. I've got me a bassist to kill."

The static from his walkie cut out for a moment, "Yeah, sounds like I got work to do."

[][][]

Mordecai parked the truck at the curb and took a few moments to gather his nerve. A minute of looking in the mirror was enough.

'Okay, got the flowers, got the song I recorded, and I'm lookin' good,' he thought as he rode the elevator to Margaret's floor.

The tension was tightening his chest to the point where he could barely walk. The doors opened and the hall seemed to stretch on forever, far beyond the constructional limits of the building. Each step he took felt as if the floor would rupture, sending him into an abyss of nervousness and emptiness that he couldn't even begin to comprehend.

Despite the appearance of the hallway, it wasn't long until he reached her door.

He brought his hand up but lacked the resolve to finish the movement.

Another moment of heavy breathing and he was ready. The moment of truth.

He knocked on the door and waited, the seconds ticking by in his imagination, each tick pounding in his chest.

The door opened and Eileen blinked, clearly not expecting him.

"Oh, uh, hey Eileen. Could I talk to Margaret real quick?"

"Well," she began, obviously trying to make up her mind, "She's watching a movie with her boyfriend."

"That's fine, it'll only be for a second."

Eileen spent the next thirty seconds looking between him and the floor, working up the courage to do what CJ couldn't.

"Look, there's something you need to see." she said, opening the door enough for him to see into the apartment.

On the couch in front of the TV, Margaret and her boyfriend were watching a movie.

All emotion left his body as they turned toward him.

"Ri-Rigby? What're you doing here?"

Sigh, again, sorry it took too long to get to this part.

I was trying to decide if I should hold off on it and add some filler material before it, or get it out of the way and make the story revolve around their resolution.

I chose the latter, but that's something we won't discuss right now.

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you aren't too disappointed with the cliffhanger I left.