A/N: In this next chapter, we see a little bit more of C.J. at work, as well as Mordecai and Rigby's little quest to get respect. Of course, this episode will end a bit differently. You'll know why soon at the ending. Still, I can't help but feel that somehow, it was rushed. So, if there are some things that you have wanted to happen in this chapter, please speak your mind in your reviews and I'll be more than happy to update this chapter accordingly before I work on the next chapter.
Close Enough: A Regular Show
Chapter 12: High Score
One day, Mordecai and Rigby were raking leaves as C.J. helped them.
"Ohhhh, so THAT's how you rake them.", Mordecai said.
"And in record time, too.", Rigby added.
"There you go. It's not so hard to rake 'em like that, is it, guys?", C.J. asked just as Benson came across them in the golf cart.
"Oh, hey, Benson.", C.J. greeted.
"Hey, C.J.", Benson responded back with a bit of a grin.
"Wow. Benson's actually smiling.", Mordecai said.
"Yeah, he almost never smiles.", Rigby agreed.
"What's up?", C.J. asked.
"It's pay-day, fellas.", Benson responded.
Mordecai and Rigby ran towards Benson as C.J. was already near Benson.
"Yeah-yuh!", Mordecai spoke eagerly.
"My favorite day of the every other week!", Rigby added at the same time.
First, Benson handed C.J. a check.
"This one is for you.", Benson said.
"Aw, sweet.", C.J. grinned.
Next, Benson handed Mordecai and Rigby each a bag of change.
"Here.", Benson spoke as he did so.
"Wait, what?", C.J. puzzled before Mordecai groaned.
"What, you don't like getting paid?", Benson asked.
"No, I'm just getting tired of the old sandwich-baggie full of coins. Why can't we get a check like normal people? Skips gets checks.", Mordecai said.
"Skips has a bank account and a 401k.", Benson responded.
"Well, at least give us the coins in an envelope or something more respectable, 'cause this is degrading."
Benson then calmly drove away, not uttering a single word.
"And there's the bit of crankiness we were missing...", Rigby said.
"Are you guys gonna be okay?", C.J. asked.
"I just need to get out of here.", Mordecai replied.
Later, Mordecai and Rigby were now walking to the coffee shop.
"What's his deal? He doesn't respect us at all!", Mordecai asked.
"Yeah, well that's his problem, right? We're respectable people.", Rigby said.
But suddenly, two skateboarders knocked Mordecai and Rigby over.
"Outta the way!"
"Losers!"
"What the heck, man? Watch it!", Mordecai shouted as he and Rigby shook their fists.
They arrived and entered the coffee shop moments later.
"See, man? It's not just Benson, people just don't respect us.", Mordecai said.
"Well, we could buy people's respect.", Rigby suggested as he and Mordecai sat down.
"Nah, too expensive. People respect people who are good at things.", Mordecai replied.
Just then, they saw a crowd cheering around an arcade game. Puzzled by the excitement, Mordecai and Rigby walked up to Margaret.
"Margaret, what's going on?", Mordecai asked.
"The manager installed this new arcade game to keep the customers around. These kids are amazing at it, you should see 'em.", Margaret said.
But when Mordecai looked, he saw that the kids were the skateboarders from before.
"Dude, it's those kids! Hey! Hey, you!", Mordecai shouted.
"What?", the 2nd kid asked.
"When you knock people over, you have to say you're sorry. You guys need to learn some respect.", Mordecai responded.
"Respect our butts.", the 1st kid retorted.
"No, you respect our butts!", Rigby added in his own retortion.
"What are you guys doing?", Margaret asked.
"Those kids practically killed us with their skateboards outside.", Mordecai explained.
"So? They're kids. What are you gonna do, beat them up or something?", Margaret asked.
"No, but I am gonna kick their butts at this video game.", Mordecai replied.
He then put his coin on the arcade game.
"Bam! I got next."
"Nice baggie, must've been sad when you break open your piggy bank.", the 2nd kid retorted before he and his friend laughed.
"Seven-hundred thousand/700,000!", the kids spoke before the 2nd kid put the name on the high-score list.
"TRD, turd. Nice.", the 2nd kid laughed.
"Yeah-yuh!", the two kids hi-fived.
"Beat that, gramps.", the 2nd kid said.
"Gramps? I'm in my 20s.", Mordecai responded.
"Yeah, 1920s.", the 1st kid teased with a laugh.
"Just move.", Mordecai said.
He sat in front of the arcade game, cracked his knuckles, and started playing. However, moments later, he and Rigby were now sitting down at a table.
"How do you get negative points? How is that even possible?", Rigby asked.
"It was the first time I ever played that stupid game. Give me a break.", Mordecai said.
"I'm just saying, you made us look like chumps, man.", Rigby said.
"Look at 'em.", Mordecai groaned as the kids were praised by the manager.
"You guys really handed it to those losers.", the manager said.
Margaret then walked over with a plate of donuts.
"Free donuts for the champs!", Margaret congratulated.
The two kids ate the donuts as the crowd cheered.
"All right, we're outta here.", the 2nd kid said as he and his friend left as the crowd spoke in amazement.
"Weren't they amazing? I can't believe we were so enthralled by a video game, but we were.", Margaret said, walking away.
"I told you people respect you when you're good at something. And we're gonna get the respect we deserve by getting good at that game.", Mordecai said as he and Rigby started playing the game. "Okay, Broken Bonez."
"So are you trying to get broken bones?"
"Dude, c'mon, no, you just gotta go off these jumps and land without breaking your bones.", Mordecai responded.
In the game, as Mordecai played, and explained, the Motorcyclist landed for 10 points.
"All right, I think I got it. Here, gimme a shot.", Rigby said before mindlessly tapping and turning.
As he did so, in the game, the motorcyclist did a trick and landed for 500 points.
"Woah, how'd you do that?", Mordecai asked.
"I dunno, that's what those kids were doing. Here, you do the joystick and I'll do the buttons. Just go crazy when we're in the air.", Rigby suggested.
With that, Mordecai and Rigby tapped and turned wildly before a sound went off.
"Wow, another 500! Aww sweet!", Mordecai grinned.
Just then, someone spoke up behind them.
"Aww, well not bad, not bad. You guys got some skill.", a man named Jack Farley responded.
"Some? What do you mean some?", Mordecai asked.
Then, Jack Farley played the game as did Mordecai and Rigby. Eventually, Jack Farley was spinning his motorcyclist.
"C'mon, Jack Farley!", Jack said before he wound up breaking 5 bones of his motorcyclist, losing the game.
"Dang it!", Jack groaned. "Well, I gotta hand it to you guys. You play better than you look."
"Okay?", Rigby said, puzzled.
"Thanks.", Mordecai added.
"Stop by the office sometime if you wanna hang. No charge.", jack said, handing to Mordecai a card.
Then, his cellphone rang before he answered and walked away.
"Yeah, Jack Farley? No! I said cell two, two!"
"What was that all about?", Rigby asked.
When they checked the card, it said 'Jack Farley thinks you're awesome' on it.
"Respect!", Mordecai gasped.
"Let's get some more.", Rigby suggested.
But someone spoke over the walkie talkie.
"Mordecai, Rigby, come in.", Benson said.
"Aww, man, it's Benson.", Mordecai said before reaching for the walkie talkie.
"Yeah, uh, hey Benson. What's up?", Mordecai asked.
"I need you guys to clean the bathrooms back at the house ASAP.", Benson urged.
"Uh, we're on our lunch break.", Mordecai responded.
"Well, what a coincidence, So is C.J. Look, if you guys aren't back in two minutes, you're fired!", Benson threatened.
"Gimme that!", Rigby said as he snatched the walkie talkie. "We deserve more respect than this, Benson. Maybe when you realize that we'll come back to work."
"Rigby, Mordecai!", Benson shouted as Rigby then threw the walkie talkie into the trash bin.
"Respect!", the duo shouted in unison.
From there, Mordecai and Rigby proceeded to face off against people at Broken Bonez and progressively gain respect. At one point, as Mordecai and Rigby ate some donuts handed down by Margaret and congratulating the players who lost to them, Bridgette and Alex saw the commotion and were quite surprised at how much respect Mordecai and Rigby were already garnering playing the game. Excited, she proceeded to post the pics she took of their accomplishment onto Social Media where, at the park house in her phone, C.J. saw what was going down.
"Whoa. All that during their lunch break?", C.J. asked.
Then, Benson walked up.
"What is this?", Benson asked.
"I think you might wanna see this.", C.J. said, holding out her phone, showing what Mordecai and Rigby were already doing, as well as the respect they were getting.
"What the...?", Benson asked in surprise.
Meanwhile, at the Coffee Shop, the kids were watching Mordecai and Rigby play.
"Oh look, if it isn't Mr. and Mrs. negative points. Guess we'll have to beat you two losers again.", the 1st kid mocked.
"Well, why don't you two come over here and try, then?", Mordecai asked.
"You got yourselves a rematch.", the 2nd kid said.
With that, Mordecai and Rigby played against the kids. They won some points, of course, even getting some broken bones, but eventually, Mordecai and Rigby won, still playing the game.
"Aww, man!", the kids groaned.
"All right, you guys are good.", the 2nd kid admitted.
"Thanks.", Mordecai responded.
"Whoa, you guys are really good! You're close to beating the high score!", the 1st kid said.
"Whoa, we are?", Mordecai asked before checking his and Rigby's score.
It numbered 950,000. Next to it was the high score: 1,275,640.
"Wait, who holds the high score?", Jack asked.
"Some dude named GBF, but it's not just a high score, it's the world record.", some dude replied.
"Thanks, now I can follow along and feel invested. Go for it, guys!", Jack shouted in encouragement.
Eventually, as Benson and C.J. arrived amidst the crowd, Mordecai and Rigby topped the high score with a new score of 1,279,000.
"Yeah!", Mordecai shouted before everyone cheered.
"Wow. They really scored that high?!", C.J. said, amazed.
"Heh. If only they could work as well as they play.", Benson commented.
Suddenly, the ground started to shake and a beam from a lightning cloud formed in the air shot into the café. From that bolt, a giant head appeared.
"So you've broken the world record, have you?", the head asked.
"Yeah, who's asking?", Mordecai asked.
The head then revealed itself as the beam disappeared.
"Me.", the head spoke before the crowd gasped.
"What the heck?", Benson asked as C.J. gasped in disgust.
Rigby made a sound of disgust.
"It's a giant bearded face!", Rigby commented before he and Mordecai both gasped.
"GBF!", the two gasped.
"Yeah, I'm GBF all right, but it stands for Garrett Bobby Ferguson, not Giant Bearded Face.", GBF corrected.
"You're not mad at us for breaking your world record, are you?", Rigby asked.
"It's no big deal. Not like it's the universe record or anything important.", GBF responded.
"The Universe record?", Mordecai and Rigby asked in unison.
"It's the highest score in the whole universe, 1,279,001. Now who holds that record again? Oh yeah, me!", GBF said before most of the crowd ran up to GBF and stroked his beard.
"Yes, go ahead, stroke the beard of Garrett Bobby Ferguson.", GBF said.
"That's seriously his name?", C.J. asked.
"Hey, Giant Beard-o Face!", Mordecai called.
"I told you that's not my name!", GBF shouted as he flew over to the duo.
Benson chuckled a bit.
"'Giant Beard-o Face'... It never gets old.", Benson said to himself.
"Look, we're gonna settle this right now. Us versus you in a head to head match.", Mordecai challenged.
"Fine. One game for the universe record. Winner gets all the respect.", GBF stated before he sprouted arms and legs, leaving Mordecai and Rigby disgusted, especially Benson and C.J., the former of which gagged and covered his mouth.
"Aw, sick...!", C.J. groaned.
"Let's play.", GBF said.
With that, the match began. Mordecai and Rigby versus GBF. Mordecai and Rigby played so much, especially the GBF himself to a point that he lost and got broken bones before Mordecai and Rigby went up next. But as they played, GBF suddenly started crying.
"Dude, why're you crying, dude?", Mordecai asked.
"Please, please just let me win.", GBF pleaded.
"Dude, what are you talking about?", Mordecai asked.
"I've devoted my entire life to Broken Bonez. I played so much my wife left me.", GBF responded, making the crowd murmur in sympathy.
"So you're asking us to throw the game?", Mordecai asked.
"Please, the universe record is all I have.", the GBF pleaded.
Mordecai, unsure of what to do, turned to his friend.
"What do you think, man?", Mordecai asked.
"No way! Nobody's gonna respect us if we wuss out now.", Rigby refused.
But GBF cried harder, making the crowd murmur in sympathy more.
"It's not wussing out, man. It's called doing the right thing.", Mordecai said.
"Fine.", Rigby groaned.
"Okay, dude. We'll let you have it.", Mordecai said before he and Rigby let go, letting the motorcyclist break his bones with the score reading 1,250,000.
"Thank you so much!:, GBF said in relief.
But soon, his laughter of relief quickly became a laughter of evil.
"Thank you for being so dumb."
"What?!", Mordecai and Rigby exclaimed.
"I didn't devote my life to this cruddy game, it's just a hobby.", GBF responded.
"But what about your wife?", Mordecai asked.
"Never had one. You can't tie GBF down.", GBF scoffed.
"You can't do that, that's cheating!", Rigby scolded.
"Universe rules, baby. There are no rules.", GBF retorted before the whole crowd booed. "Oh, boo yourselves! I'm Garrett Bobby Ferguson."
"What?", Benson asked in shock.
"Well, that's just low.", C.J. said to herself.
"Aww, this blows! We gotta do something before he beats our score.", Mordecai said in worry.
"No rules, right?", Rigby asked.
Getting an idea, Rigby and Mordecai went up to GBF's ears and spoke into them.
"Mess up, c'mon, mess up!", Rigby urged.
"You know you want some broken bones.", Mordecai added.
"Broken bones!", Rigby said.
"Broken bones!", the two said.
Soon, the whole crowd started chanting 'broken bones'.
"Broken bones!", C.J. chanted.
Finally, GBF broke and got some broken bones. But nevertheless, he still beat their score.
"It doesn't matter, I've already beat your score and taken the title and I'm never coming back.", GBF laughed.
Everyone was looking down... That is..., until a sound came from the game.
"Wait, the game's still going!", Jack said.
"Huh?", Mordecai puzzled, he and Rigby turning to see that the game has started up.
"Hey, you're right. Go beat him, Mordecai, Rigby!", Bridgette encouraged.
"Go, you two; go!", Alex cheered.
Hurriedly, Mordecai and Rigby started playing again.
"No, it can't be!", GBF shouted.
"C'mon, c'mon!", Mordecai urged.
Suddenly, GBF started throwing Mordecai and Rigby away from the game, even trying to pull on Mordecai.
"Get off!", Mordecai shouted before Rigby bit him in the shin and Mordecai kicked him in the groin.
"Ow! My chin!", GBF groaned.
"Oooooh! Do it!", C.J. urged.
Meanwhile, Mordecai and Rigby furiously played until finally, they achieved a high score of 1,300,000.
"Yeah!", the duo shouted.
"NOOOOOOOOO-", GBF shouted.
But before he could finish, he exploded and covered almost everyone in a white brain goo while C.J. and Benson leapt out of the goo's path. Regardless, the crowd cheered and surrounded Mordecai and Rigby.
"Great job, you did it!", Jack congratulated.
Then, the crowd left, revealing to them C.J. and Benson.
"Oh, hey guys. What're you doing here?", Mordecai asked.
"Well, Benson has something to say to you two.", C.J. said.
"I thought about what you guys said earlier and so I've come down to give you those checks you wanted.", Benson said.
"Oh, wow, thanks.", Mordecai and Rigby thanked, reaching for the checks.
But before they could claim said checks, Benson pulled them away.
"But now that I was almost covered in brain goo, I've realized my mistake.", Benson said before sighing. "But I'll be sure to learn from this one real soon. You two wanna waste your lives playing video games, then fine. I respect your decision. Just don't ever do it on my time ever again. Now, let's get outta here and wash up.", Benson said as he handed the two the checks before he and C.J. started to leave.
"That was really awesome, Mordecai.", C.J. said.
"Thanks, C.J.", Mordecai said before she nodded.
"I call dibs on the shower!", C.J. shouted as she ran off after him.
"I can respect that.", Mordecai said.
"Yeah, that's cool.", Rigby added.
A/N: And that concludes the chapter. First off, personally, I am a bit miffed at how Benson reacted just because he got covered in brain goo. People would get mad, yes, but did that warrant him tearing up the checks? Did it warrant that action, really? No sane boss should ever do that, no matter how ticked they are. And second, I think you know what's coming next. :)