Okay, change of plans. Since no one's put any reviews on the last chapter of RDS I put up, that story's going on hiatus, and I'll start work again on This Empty Feeling. I think I might probably do some Fanfiction Rotation stories as well, if I feel like doing one. Anyway, that's for later. Now, it's time for a new chapter of Breaking Point. Enjoy!
"What's wrong with East Pines?"
Mordecai gave Rigby a look that said what needed to be said.
"Okay, so there's Gene, but it's not like it's going to be any worse than just having to deal with him. Besides, this was the only other job in the area that has room and board. We'd have to move out of town to find any other places like this! What would you say to Margaret if you and I had to move out?"
Mordecai sighed, defeated.
"Alright, I guess we'd better make our way over there."
Mordecai and Rigby paid for their meals and headed out the door after they told Margaret and Eileen they would see them later.
East Pines is normally not all that far from the old park, at least if you have some form of transportation to use. Unfortunately for Mordecai and Rigby, they don't have any, thanks to their lack of funds. So, what normally was only a fifteen-minute trip ended up taking forty-five minutes, since they had to walk their way over.
Eventually, they did reach the quite imposing gates of the East Pines Park, and collapsed off to the side, completely out of breath.
"Dude, we finally made it." said Rigby through gasps of air.
"I know, let's just rest for a couple of minutes before we head in."
The two did just that, leaning up against the wall and panting, trying to catch their breath.
After the few minutes passed, Mordecai and Rigby stood up again and nervously straightened themselves out, trying to look presentable in front of Gene (or whoever conducted the interview).
Finally satisfied, the two ex-groundskeepers made their way inside the park. The ad wasn't very helpful when it came to instructions on where to go, but they assumed that they were probably meant to head towards the station that towered over the entirety of the park.
Before they could reach it, Rigby suddenly tripped, falling flat on his face.
"You okay, dude?"
"Owww…" said Rigby, rubbing his nose as he got back up. "What the hell did I trip over?"
Mordecai searched around the area where Rigby was standing and found a trip wire strung across the entrance to the clearing they were standing in.
"Uh oh."
"What? What happened?"
Rigby got his answer a few seconds later, as a ring of guards suddenly appeared around the perimeter of the clearing, brandishing their weapons. In the middle of the group was Gene, who was making his way towards them while chuckling.
"So. It seems that our friends here from the other park are engaging in a little game of sabotage, even after we called off the prank war. So tell me why I shouldn't have you put down right now."
Mordecai panicked and blurted out the first thing that came to his mouth.
"We need jobs!"
Gene's eyes widened in mild surprise, before he motioned for the guards to lower their weapons and walked over to Mordecai and Rigby, who were busy cowering where they stood. Kneeling down, he spoke to the two boys.
"What's this I hear? You need jobs? Something happen over there at that other park?"
Rigby shook his head and tried to speak.
"No, nothing. We just quit for safety reasons."
"And what would those 'safety reasons' consist of?" asked Gene.
"Uh, the giant monster kind?" said Mordecai.
Gene looked at Mordecai for a few seconds, slightly confused, before he stood up and addressed the two.
"Well, since I know for a fact that you two have experience in groundskeeping, I don't feel the need to go through the interview process."
Gene held out a hand.
"Congratulations. Welcome to East Pines."
Mordecai and Rigby looked at each other before finally realizing what happened, and they both took turns shaking Gene's hand.
After they were officially hired, Mordecai and Rigby went through a pretty extensive orientation process and were eventually fitted with their own uniforms. According to one of the videos they watched, new recruits were given a simple t-shirt with the logo on it and pants, and they had to work their way up to earn the uniforms that they guards they've seen wear all the time.
The first few weeks of their new job were as bad as it could get for them, as East Pines just happens to follow the "Starter Pack" rules, so the days were marked with multiple instances of hazing, practical jokes, and other things. Mordecai and Rigby soldiered through it, while also gaining a little newfound respect for what Thomas went through during his initiation.
The two groundskeepers were given a pin after completion of their initiations. These were meant to mark levels towards their next set of clothes. Every five pins gets them a new level and better clothes.
The first pin was about all they could get to, though, as their slacker tendencies came back in force. There was only one television in the park, which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that TV watching limits were strictly enforced under penalty of immediate termination of their jobs, which even Mordecai and Rigby were smart enough to realize.
They were pretty smart, though, and they found ways to skip working. It almost felt to them like they were back at the old park, minus the daily monster attacks, which they were only too happy not to have to worry about.
The only real problem for them, besides the constant yelling they had to endure from Gene, was that employees of East Pines were prohibited from leaving the premises outside of special circumstances. Mordecai and Rigby were clearly unhappy to hear that that rule was in effect, considering they would be unable to visit the coffee shop or the old park.
They tried to do the right thing and convince Gene to bend the rules a bit so they could at least visit the coffee shop, but Gene (being the jerk that he was) refused to make any changes, so the two were forced to take drastic measures.
They spent the next few days spying on Gene and the guards, trying to get an idea of what their schedules were like. Thankfully, they all stuck pretty rigidly to them, so they managed to figure out a good time to sneak off each day to take care of their visits to the coffee shop.
The schedules for Gene and the guards allowed them to have two hours of time where they felt safe enough to sneak off, so unfortunately their time was relatively restricted if they didn't wish to get caught. So, most of their "free time" was spent catching up with Margaret, mostly involving how much they didn't like Gene.
Speaking of Margaret, she wasn't aware at first of the fact that they began working at East Pines, so the first time they showed up wearing the basic uniforms, she admittedly was surprised to see them like that, especially wearing clothes in the first place. But as the visits accumulated, she got used to the fact that they were dressed like that and spent their time catching up.
"So, I've been kind of wondering. Why is it that you guys can only stay for a half-hour each time you're here?" asked Margaret during their most recent visit.
Mordecai actually had yet to tell Margaret about the reason for their restricted visits due to the fact that he wasn't sure what she would think about it. She at first wasn't too worried about it. She was just happy to see them here. But nowadays, she was beginning to get a little suspicious of the fact that they always had to leave so abruptly.
Mordecai paused for a second, nervously scratching at the back of his neck while he tried to figure out the best course of action to get out of this mess. Finally, he decided it was probably best to tell the truth.
"Well, uh…we're not exactly allowed to leave the park except under extreme circumstances. We tried convincing our boss to let us go, but he refused. So we had to sneak off so we can see you guys."
Margaret also paused as she took in Mordecai's confession, unsure of what to think.
"Wow, you guys must have it pretty rough over there."
"You don't know the half of it." said Rigby.
Mordecai checked his watch and his jaw dropped as he realized what time it was.
"Dude, we're late!"
"Oh crap!" said Rigby.
"Sorry Margaret, we have to go. We'll see you later."
Mordecai and Rigby rushed out the door as quick as they could and ran all the way back to the park.
They finally reached the park a little while later, and they began making their way back to where they were working before, hoping that they still had some time left before their free period was over.
In their panicked state, however, they were unable to concentrate to avoid the security measures and Rigby once again tripped over one of the trip wires, setting off the silent alarm inside the command center, where Gene just happened to be located at the moment. The vending machine made his way over to the security feed and saw the two slackers hurriedly run off after Mordecai picked Rigby up off of the ground.
Gene had just about had enough with those two. He thought for a moment about firing those two, but decided against it, as another idea popped inside his head. It admittedly was something that he only used as a last resort, but he knew that if he was going to finally get those two to work, he had to do it.
Gene made his way down from the command center and got in one of the carts, driving to where Mordecai and Rigby were working. As he pulled up to his destination, he saw them hurriedly raking the leaves, ripping apart many of them in the process. After pinching his nose and sighing in disgust, Gene spoke up.
"Alright, you two. Stop what you're doing right now!"
Mordecai and Rigby jumped, not noticing Gene show up, and dropped their rakes on the ground, standing in front of the vending machine.
"Would you mind explaining to me why I saw you on the cameras not working?"
Mordecai and Rigby both opened their mouths, but they were unable to say anything.
"Well?" asked Gene.
Still no reply came from them.
"Well, I really wish it didn't have to come to this. Follow me."
Mordecai and Rigby nervously looked at each other.
"Are you going to fire us?" asked Mordecai.
"No, I'm not. I've got something better for you, though." said Gene.
Mordecai and Rigby both gulped, before they followed Gene into the cart.
Eventually, the trio pulled up to a mysterious building on the outskirts of the park. The lack of use of this building led to it falling into disrepair, but the important things were still functioning.
Mordecai and Rigby stood in front of the building for a few seconds, just wondering what was inside, before Gene shooed them in and shut the door. Nothing happened for a few minutes, before suddenly a bright flash emitted from the windows and the only sound was a loud scream coming from inside.
Wow, what the hell happened to Mordecai and Rigby? Well, you're going to have to wait until next time to find out! And no, they're not dead, by the way. Just wanted to put that out there.
Anyway, I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you guys next time where we check out how the guys at the old park are doing. See ya!
RK