Time for a new Breaking Point chapter! I know you guys are all wondering what's gotten in to Mordecai, so enjoy!
"You're quitting?"
"Yeah! I'm sick of risking my life almost every day I'm here. I want to actually be able to live past twenty-three, but I probably won't be able to if I keep working here." said Mordecai.
"Are you sure you don't want to change your mind? I mean, what about the guys? We're almost like a family here, and you want to just throw that away just so you can feel safer at night?" asked Rigby.
That sentence gave Mordecai pause for a moment, as he realized that he never even considered the other guys. Benson and Muscle Man could be jerks sometimes, but even they (along with everyone else) were cool guys to be around outside of work.
"Listen, think about it for a while and let me know what you want to do tomorrow. I'm just looking out for you, bro. I don't want you to make a big mistake." said Rigby.
Mordecai didn't reply, instead heading upstairs to bed lost in thought, weighing the pros and cons of leaving or not.
Meanwhile, Rigby was following close behind him, and as he laid down on his trampoline, he couldn't help but give a worried look at Mordecai.
Ever since the incident, Mordecai and Rigby have been plagued by nightmares of what was inside the chest, which has kept them from being able to get a good night's sleep. The psychiatrist thankfully has been able to curb Rigby's nightmares through their sessions, but Mordecai hasn't completely been able to get rid of those thoughts.
So the next morning was met with a weary and tousle-haired Mordecai, who was up all night trying to decide what to do about his job, while being unable to sleep thanks to the nightmares. Rigby was on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, being well-rested and relatively clean looking.
"Morning, dude. Woah, what happened to you?"
"Couldn't sleep. Nightmares kept me up." said Mordecai.
"Wow, that sucks. We really should get you some more sessions with the psychiatrist dude. I'll go talk to Benson about it."
"There's no point. I'm still quitting."
Rigby's face fell after hearing that.
"Well, if that's what you really want to do, I'm not going to stop you. I'm coming with you, though."
"What? Oh, no dude, you don't have to quit your job for me." said Mordecai.
"Hey, I'm not taking no for an answer. We're bros, remember? Bros stick together, no matter what." said Rigby, as he put his hand on Mordecai's shoulder.
"Are you sure, dude? This is your only chance to back out." said Mordecai.
Rigby just nodded.
"Alright, I'm gonna try and get a bit of sleep. Would you mind telling everyone in a couple of hours to meet me in the living room?" said Mordecai through a stifled yawn.
"Yeah, sure." said Rigby.
As Mordecai laid back down on his bed, Rigby made his way out of the room, but not before looking back at Mordecai's still form on his bed and sighing greatly.
Thankfully, it was a day off, so Rigby had some free time to spend before the big meeting. Unfortunately for him, nothing could really distract him from the fact that these were the last few hours he was ever going to spend inside the house. As much as he tried to engross himself in the movie he was currently watching on the television, the thoughts continued to creep up, so much so that his resolve failed him and the tears began to fall.
Rigby continued to cry as he went through each of his fellow coworkers and realized just how much he was going to miss them. He really didn't want to leave, but he didn't want to be separated from his best friend. Thankfully, no one came into the room, so Rigby was able to let out his emotions in peace.
A couple of hours later, everyone was once again congregated in the living room, wondering what was going on. The only person missing from the group was Mordecai, but it wasn't long before the blue jay made his way down the steps and sat next to Rigby.
"Alright Mordecai, what do you want to tell us now?" asked Benson.
Mordecai took a couple of seconds to collect his thoughts before finally speaking up.
"First, I want to say that it's been great working with you guys the past couple of years. You guys are almost like our second family. But ever since the incident a couple of weeks ago, I've been thinking. We've all been risking our lives almost every day that we've ever worked at this park. I've admittedly never thought about the fact that we might actually get killed being here until the incident. So, I regret to inform you all that as of now, Rigby and I no longer wish to work here."
The consensus around the room was of shock. Absolutely no one expected to hear this coming out of Mordecai or Rigby's mouth.
"But, why would you want to leave?" asked Pops. "I've always had the impression that you loved working here, especially with us."
"Oh, believe me. We do love being here. Mordecai and I want to be able to live past twenty-three years old, and I'm sorry to say that as long as we're still working here, I don't think that will be possible." said Rigby.
"We're going to miss you guys." said Skips.
"Yeah, bros. As much as Fives and I were ripping on you, we still liked you guys as friends." said Muscle Man.
"If you guys ever want to come back, we'll leave the door open for you." said Benson.
"Thanks, guys." said Mordecai.
"Yeah, thanks." said Rigby.
Everyone in the room then joined together to trade hugs with Mordecai and Rigby, except for Thomas, who opened the front door and went outside to think.
As Mordecai and Rigby were heading out the front door for the final time, they looked back and lifted one of each of their hands up in the universal sign of farewell.
"Goodbye, you guys." said Mordecai and Rigby.
None of them replied back. They instead waved back at them, unable to say anything without becoming choked up.
As the two walked out the door, Thomas spoke up from off to the side.
"Hey, you guys?"
"Yeah, dude?" said Mordecai.
Thomas walked up in front of them and paused for a second, before grabbing both of them in his own hug.
"I'm going to miss you guys."
"Yeah, me too." said Rigby.
As Mordecai and Rigby walked off towards the park's exit, Thomas couldn't help but sniff as he tried to hold back the tears. One managed to escape, though, as it fell down his face. Thomas sighed, before heading back inside to face the rest of the group.
As Mordecai and Rigby were walking down the path towards the town, neither of them really knew what to say. Both of them were feeling incredibly depressed after leaving their "family" behind, but they knew something had to be done if they were going to live long lives. Finally, Rigby decided to speak up.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Let's go to the coffee shop. I could go for something to eat." said Mordecai.
"Alright." said Rigby, unable to muster any good feelings to tease him about his real reason for going to the coffee shop.
It was a slow day at the coffee shop. There was only one other set of customers besides them, which Eileen happened to be taking care of at the moment, so Margaret was free to spend more time than usual with them.
"Hey, guys!" she said, as cheerful as ever.
"Oh, hey Margaret." said Mordecai.
"What's wrong, you guys?" asked Margaret, noticing Mordecai's glum demeanor.
"We quit our jobs." said Rigby.
"What? Why?" asked Margaret, surprised to hear him say that.
"It's for safety reasons. I'd rather not go into any detail, because I don't think you'll really believe me." said Mordecai.
Margaret nodded, choosing not to press Mordecai any further.
"So, what are you guys going to do about getting new jobs?"
"I dunno yet. We just left the park, so we haven't really thought about where we want to go."
"Well, you could work here. I can talk to my boss and see if he can get you two work." said Margaret.
"I'd like to, but I really don't want to impose on you and Eileen. No offense."
"It's no problem." said Margaret. "So, anything I can get you guys?"
"Rigby and I will just have two coffees and a basket of fries. We need to save our money until we can get new jobs."
"Coming right up." said Margaret, as she turned away to fill their order, but not before Mordecai interrupted once again.
"Hey Margaret, do you guys have any newspapers around?"
"Sure. There's a stack over by the front door." said Margaret, before leaving to get their orders.
Mordecai walked over to the front door and found a stack of fresh newspapers, exactly where Margaret said they would be. He grabbed a paper from the top of the pile and returned to his seat, before flipping it open to the Help Wanted section and placing it on the table.
"Dude, I just thought of something. We're not going to be able to afford to rent an apartment or anything. Where are we going to find a job that gives away free room and board?" asked Rigby.
"I dunno, dude. I guess we'll have to keep an eye out for that in here."
Mordecai and Rigby took the next few minutes looking through the paper, hoping to find a job with the benefits that they need, without any success so far.
Their orders eventually came in, this time delivered by Eileen, who agreed to deliver the order so she could get some details from Mordecai and Rigby.
"Here you go, you guys."
"Thanks, Eileen." said Mordecai.
"Margaret tells me that you guys are looking for a new job. Mind if I can help you guys out?"
"Thanks, but we have it under control." said Rigby.
"Oh, okay. Are you guys doing alright, though?" asked Eileen.
"We'll live." said Mordecai, and Eileen left. She couldn't help but feel a little bit worried, though, as there was something nagging in the back of her mind that something was really up with those two.
As Mordecai and Rigby were chowing down on their fries and drinking their coffees, they continued to skim down the paper, until Rigby's eyes landed on just the ad he was looking for.
"Ah ha! I've found one!"
"Where?" asked Mordecai.
"Over here." said Rigby, who had his finger on said ad.
Mordecai looked over to where Rigby was pointing at, and his eyes widened in surprise.
"East Pines?!"
And that's the end of Chapter 4! Will Mordecai and Rigby end up working at East Pines, despite their history while still at the old park? Find out next time!
Anyway, I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this, even though it's depressing as shit. But still, that's the way it's going, so yeah. So, I would like to wish you guys a Happy New Year, and I will see you all in 2013 with a new chapter of Breaking Point! See ya.
RK