Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sorry to disappoint but this won't be a chapter just yet, but if at least, I dunno three people are interested in this shit story and comment if they think its somewhat interesting then I'll make an actual chapter next time if people really want one so bad.

Though I doubt that'll happen.

Also PS: I might not post that much on here since I'm already making other stories on another site that I am mostly focusing in right now.

Chapter Text

As I began waking up I started to feel the sun's glare on my face causing me to put my right arm up to try and block it.

"Ughh, come on man, I could've sworn I closed the blinds this time," I complained as I began reaching over to my desk to grab my phone.

Only to find something soft in its place.

"What?" I questioned opening my eyes to find not only grass and empty space in place of where my room was supposed to be but also a completely different arm that was ten times hairier than the one I was used to.

"W-What The Fuck!?" I yell out in shock as I scramble up off the ground examining the foreign appendages that were attached to my body.

"What the Fuck, happened to me!?" I yelled out in shock before I was momentarily distracted by something that seemed to be poking out in the middle of my face.

Confused I go to grab it only to feel something slightly covering my nose causing me to let go in surprise.

"What is happening?" I asked out loud feeling overwhelmed and slightly scared at my situation while also hoping for some sort of answer that would clear things up.

While I was distracted by what was happening I heard a dog-like whine causing me to turn around trying to figure out where the noise came from as I caught a glimpse of something furry going behind me.

"Hey, what-" I called out trying to catch the furry tail only for it to somehow get out of my line of sight every time I turn.

Seeing as I was getting nowhere I decided to try and catch it by surprise as I waited for a few seconds before pouncing on the furry-like object.

"Ah-Hah! Gotcha!" I yelled out in accomplishment as I followed the tail back to its source to find...

"You're joking," I said deadpanned as It turned out that the tail I was following turned out to somehow belonged to me causing me to let go in embarrassment.

"This is so fucking stupid, but sure! Why shouldn't I have a tail!? Might as well keep adding more stuff to my body right!?" I yelled out wondering what had happened to me before I saw a light greenish house with black tiles making up the roof as it also seemed to have a garage that was located next to the steps in the distance.

"A house, maybe I can get some help with figuring out what's going on with me," I said to myself as I went to take a step before pausing.

"Or, maybe they'll just think you're some weird furry alien-like creature and call the police and that's if they don't have a weapon to shoot at the sight of you," I argued to myself before shaking my head and forcing myself to walk up to the house.

"Please God, don't let me get shot 3 minutes after waking up," I said hoping that I could maybe get the benefit of the doubt from these people.

'Can't do anything but hope for the best Tom, though, I have this weird feeling I've seen that kinda house before, the question is where?' I pondered to myself.

Chapter Text

Walking up the stairs to the house that familiar feeling kept growing stronger to the point it was on the tip of my tongue but I just couldn't for the life of me figure out why so instead I just focused on trying to get help.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"Hello!? Is anyone home!?" I called out.

"Just a minute!" I heard a voice call out from inside feeling me somewhat with relief.

"Ok, I just want to let you know that I'm probably going to look weird to you so I ask that you reserve judgment when you see me!" I called out trying to make sure they didn't run me off the moment they saw me before the door suddenly opened revealing...

"What?" I questioned in confusion as the living, gumball machine, looked me up and down for a few seconds.

"Eh, you're not that weird-looking." He said as I shook my head to see if I could get rid of the hallucinations I was seeing.

Unfortunately, It did nothing except make me look like more of a fool.

"Uhh-"

"So, what is it you need?" He asked as I struggled to wrap my head around what I was seeing.

"You're a gumball machine." I blurted out as I could see his eyebrows? Narrow at my comment.

"Yeah and?" He questioned as I shook my head.

"Oh no sorry sorry, it's just, I was caught off guard that's all," I said as he seemed to calm down letting me sigh in relief.

"Well, I guess that's fair, don't see much gumballs after all, though that still doesn't explain what you came here for." He said reminding me of the reason why I came.

"Oh um right, uhhh-"

'Wait a minute, familiar-looking house, gumball-looking person....where exactly am I?' I pondered before focusing back on the gumball machine.

"Uhh actually, sorry if this seems stupid but, where exactly am I?" I asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"You're at the park, how do you not know this if you came here?" He said sounding confused as I ignored him in favor of trying to make sense of what was happening.

'I, no th-that doesn't make any sense.' I thought as I turned away from him to take an actual look at where I was as I could see the dirt-like path that started from the house and continued onwards until it ended at the familiar-looking entrance.

'But, how? This doesn't make any sense.' I thought to myself.

"Hello? I asked you a question." He said starting to sound annoyed as I turned back around to face him.

Though it must have seemed like my face looked some kind of way since his annoyed-looking face somewhat softened.

"Sir, are you alright? You look like you saw a ghost," He said sounding slightly concerned as I shook my head.

"S-Sorry I just, got reminded of something unpleasant, please ignore that." I lied as he seemed to want to dig deeper for a second before nodding.

"Now, in regards to your question, I um, if you don't mind, could I get a job here?" I asked hesitantly as his eyes widened in surprise.

"You don't even have to pay me if you don't want to." I added on hastily to try and sweeten the deal.

"Though, if you have some sort of position that's open then I would like to work here." I finished as he seemed to raise an eyebrow at me in amusement.

"Well, no offense sir but interns don't usually get paid here." He said with a small smile as I sheepishly looked at the floor.

"Ah, right, of course," I said awkwardly looking up again as he seemed to be in thought for a second before focusing on me again.

"Ok," He simply said causing me to look at him in surprise.

"Really!? Just like that!?" I asked shocked at how easy that was as he shrugged.

"You're not a slacker right?" He questioned with a little venom when he said slacker as I hastily shook my head.

"Then yeah, we could always use some extra help around the park, seeing as how two guys love doing anything else but helping," He said as he looked up at me smiling.

"Besides if you do end up too much then I can always have Skips show you the way out." He said confidently as my brain did a whole reboot.

'Guess that confirms it then since I know no regular human would ever name their kid Skips,' I thought to myself in amusement.

'Though the question remains on how I got here?' I pondered before shaking my head.

'For now I don't know, just gotta take it one step at a time.' I concluded to myself before Benson raised his metallic-looking hand causing me to raise my furry one as we shook.

"Uh, this is probably going to sound really weird but, do you think you have a place for me to stay at?" I asked hesitantly causing him to raise an eyebrow again.

"Unless you don't mind staying with two other people then I'm sorry to tell you that I don't." He said as I shook my head.

"That's fine by me," I said as he looked surprised for a second before he gave me a nod as we stopped our handshake.

"Well then, in that case, I think you're going to be fine here Mr..?" He trailed off making me realize what he was asking.

"Tom sir, Tom Ington," I said as he nodded.

"Well Tom, I think you're going to do just fine, though, let's hope you can get through initiation week." He said grinning looking amused as I mentally lamented.

'Fuck, I forgot about initiation week, oh well, if a week of pranks is what I got to deal with to be able to stay here then that's a price worth paying.' I thought determinedly as I grinned back. 

"Don't worry sir, I think I'll be able to handle it just fine." 

Chapter Text

"Hey Tom!" I heard Benson call out causing me to stop raking the leaves as I turned towards him arriving in the cart.

"Yeah Benson?" I questioned as I gripped the rake's handle a little harder.

'Alright Tom just stay calm, you've met Benson a bunch of times already and he's your boss now, just because you want to fanboy over meeting a character that you used to see on a show before does not mean you should.' I thought to myself once again as I did my best to seem normal.

"Just wanted to say that I'm impressed with how efficient you've been these past few days, even if you're still on initiation week I can tell you've been working hard." He said causing me to smile.

"Thanks Benson, I appreciate that." I said gratefully as he waved off my gratitude.

"No need to thank me, just a boss being honest, just keep doing what you're doing and you'll be fine." He said before flipping some papers he had on his clipboard.

"Now, seeing as you've done your tasks for the day you're free to spend the rest of the day doing whatever, just make sure to not damage anything in the park or get in trouble ok?" Benson said as I nodded.

"Sure thing Benson, thanks for the heads up." I said as Benson nodded.

"You're welcome, have a nice rest of your day Tom, and make sure to keep a watch out for any other, incidents, this week if you know what I mean." Benson said amused before driving away allowing me to calm down while also finished raking any leftover leaves that I had.

"Even though I've already woken up multiple days it still feels like I'm living a fever dream," I said still wrapping my head around exactly where I was.

After Benson had allowed me to work here I was introduced to the other members of The Park and even now seeing them is like kid me's dreams had come true.

They all greeted me with kindness which made me suspicious at first knowing what this week was supposed to have in store for me but it seemed like introduction day was supposed to be a safe day.

Even so I couldn't help but mentally fanboy over the fact that I was going to be living with the characters I had grown up watching on TV.

"Remember Tom, not a show anymore, this is your life now for, the foreseeable future," I said reminding myself so I wouldn't end up like those people who didn't know how to separate reality from their fantasy.

"Thank God Benson didn't decide to prank me today, that prank Muscle Man did yesterday was disgusting enough, and I'm still waiting for the others to pull theirs." I said to myself as I started to feel somewhat excited despite all of that.

Now you may be asking why exactly I was somehow excited even though I still had a couple more days of pranks to get through.

Well, thanks to my meta-knowledge? Tv knowledge? Whatever, thanks to what I know about the show I know that in the first episode, Rigby manages to get his hands on a device called The Power from a Wizard which he shared with Mordecai.

Unfortunately though by the end of the episode, Skips breaks it since the two had gone on a power trip with it, get it? The power? Powertri- I'll stop.

The point is, I remember thinking back on how upset kid me was when they had destroyed it the first time since you could have done anything you wished with that keyboard and how much it would've helped Rigby and Mordecai in future episodes.

This brings me to the present as I looked around making sure no one was watching before I began digging up the soil behind the house.

With my knowledge, I had walked around the park 24/7 to make sure that when that wizard started to piss I would be there.

It also helped that thanks to this new body that I think was some sort of wolf had increased my smell and strength.

My strength hadn't increased much, but my smell had increased tenfold, so much to the point that it got annoying at times of how effective it was.

But with my increased smell I was able to track the wizard's scent allowing me to luckily snatch the keyboard without notifying him.

This brings me to the present as I pulled the keyboard from the soil before heading off to a random corner of The Park to make sure no one bothered me.

Finally having the keyboard in my hand caused me to giggle like a madman at the ridiculousness of the situation I was in right now. 

Not only had I somehow been transported to one of my favorite shows but I had just acquired one of the most powerful things in said show that was only available for me to use.

"Well since we're already here why not take advantage of it?" I suggested to myself as I tried remembering how Mordecai and Rigby activated it.

"Oh! Right, they named it, didn't they? Well, I'm not Mordecai so I don't want to date a girl named the power... so instead I'll name it...The Answer." I said satisfied with the name.

Not even a second later when I did the empty spot in between some of the buttons started to glow before letters magically appeared until they finally formed.

THE ANSWER

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"Well, that was pretty fucking cool," I admitted as I tried figuring out what to do.

"Well, in the show they just pushed this right?" I questioned out loud as I pressed the button in the middle causing it to play the familiar jingle that played whenever Mordecai and Rigby tried getting something they wanted.

"Oh, ok guess that was it then," I said before I began grinning madly.

"Ok let's see if this actually works," I said before pressing the button again.

"5, 6, 7, 8!" I said repeating what the guys said on the show as I waited for the pause in between the jingle.

'Now what should I try and wish for?' I pondered before getting a random idea as the pause appeared.

"Let me have, the Mad Dog Of Shimano style, Permanently!" I called out trying to have at least a bit of rhythm added on to just to ensure that it worked before the rest of the jingle ended.

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What? I was a big Yakuza fan before I got transported here.

After making my wish or request or whatever you want to call it I waited to see if it would be accepted.

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"Awwww, well I guess it's fair to say that doesn't wo-"

Before I could finish my sentence I suddenly had thousands of images flash in my mind all at once causing me to fall to the grass as I cradled my head in response to the massive headache I just got.

"Well, that shit fucking sucked," I said slowly getting back up as the headache surprisingly faded away after a couple of seconds.

"Well if that was supposed to be my request being accepted then One: that fucking sucked and Two: how exactly am I supposed to be able to use it?" I questioned out loud until an idea popped out of my head.

'No, it can't be that easy, can it?' I wondered before I closed my eyes and pretended that I was reaching for something in my left pocket before I wrapped my hands around something firm causing me to open my eyes in shock as I pulled it out revealing the one and only Demonfire Dagger.

Shocked beyond all belief I continued looking at the knife in shock before I began smiling like a madman as I gave it a few test swings.

"This is by far one of the coolest things I've ever got to do in my life," I said in awe as I was having the time of my life until another thought popped up in my head.

"Wait, if The Answer accepted my request then, does that mean..." I said trailing off as I backed up a bit from the keyboard to try a move I had seen in the game.

"Ok, here goes nothing," I said before somewhat crouching to the ground as I kicked upwards into the air with my right leg spinning back into the position I was originally in before.

I then jumped in the air a bit doing a sort of spin kick with my right leg again before landing on the ground to suddenly lunge with my knife as I rolled on the grass kinda sliding along it a bit all in quick succession.

I took a minute to catch my breath as my mind tried to process what I had just done and how I was able to do it so flawlessly.

"Yep, definitely the work of The Answer, because I know my ass wouldn't be able to do that without failing miserably at least ten times before I could get that first move down without messing up," I confirmed to myself getting up from off the ground as I took a second to look at the knife still in my paw? Hand? In my grasp.

'But, the fact that I was able to do something like this means that anything is in the realm of possibility here, anything I could think of.' I thought looking back over at the keyboard as I began grinning again.

'Ok well first things first no extra strength or intelligence since that's just asking for me to go on a power trip like Mordecai and Rigby did, well, maybe a little bit extra intelligence, can't hurt to be a bit smarter.' I thought to myself.

'But no extra strength, if I wanted I'll just exercise for that if I ever get to it.' I thought to myself as I began making my way back over to the keyboard.

"Now, let's see what else I can think of." 

Chapter Text

It's been a few hours since I've had time to use The Answer and so far I have been having the time of my life with it.

So far I've:

- Took my favorite fighting styles that I could think of from the Yakuza series and made it so I could replicate them perfectly to have a little fun in showing off while also giving myself a way to be able to put up a fight.

- Made it so I could change my voice just like the banana twins from that one Adventure Time episode about Jake's old crew just for fun and because it also seemed cool.

- Fixed Rigby's butt for him since I felt bad for him constantly having to deal with what seemed to be some sort of birth defect and the fact that he was always made fun of because of it.

- Made a strap for The Answer so I wouldn't have to focus on holding it all the time,

- And last but not least made it so no one but me could even get near to accessing The Answer without my say-so,

Knowing how strong some people are in this world it was important to make sure that there would be little to no chance anyone would be able to break it whether it be on accident or purpose.

"God this is so cool, if I'm somehow still dreaming don't ever wake me up," I said excitedly as I continued practicing the moves I remembered from the game in Mad Dog style.

"Ok, well as fun as this is I'm gonna need to hide this away aga-." I suddenly cut myself off as I realized how stupid I was about to be.

"Wait a minute, no I don't, no one can touch this except me now," I said to myself realizing that unless I somehow messed up I was the sole owner of The Answer and no one could take that away from me.

As I came to this realization I began gigging like a madman at how much power rested in my hands and my hands alone.

"Well, since I no longer have anything to worry about I guess I could see what the others are doing," I said throwing The Answer around my back.

"If I remember correctly Rigby and Mordecai should have made a hole in the wall already so I guess I'll go see how they're fairing," I said to myself as I began walking back to the house.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Uhh, who is it?" Rigby asked sounding nervous.

"It's me guys," I said as not even a second later the door had suddenly opened and I was pulled inside by the both of them.

"Jeez, at least warn a guy before going and doing something like that," I said a little annoyed.

"Sorry Tom, but we need to make sure Benson doesn't find out about what happened," Mordecai explained as I focused on the hole that was made in the wall.

"Wow," I simply said before looking back at the other two, "So how did you manage to do this?" I asked.

"Well-"

"Hold up! Forget about that real quick, what is that!?" Rigby interrupted pointing at The Answer as I removed it from my back.

"Oh, this? It's a pretty cool thing I found, actually, I might be able to help you with guys with the wall." I said grinning as the two of them looked confused.

"Woah, really? Do you know a guy who can fix this or something?" Mordecai asked as I shook my head.

"Na nothing like that, just, watch and see," I said sitting down on Mordecai's bed as the two of them looked on confused at what I was doing before I started pressing some of the keys in the same order the guys did in the show finale.

"Come on fix the wall, Come on fix the wall, Woah-oh! Won't you come, on fix the, wall!" I yelled out as I looked up again to see them looking at me annoyed and disappointed.

"Aw what? Come on dude what wa-"

"DUDE LOOK!" Mordecai interrupted causing Rigby and me to look back at the wall now fully fixed up instead of being broken as he went up to feel it.

"Woaaaaaah~," Rigby said in awe before looking over to me, "How did you do that!?" Rigby asked bewildered as I gestured to what I was holding.

"The Answer, that's how," I said in satisfaction.

"All I need to do is kinda make a rhythm and bam! Anything I want I can have," I explained.

"Woah!" They both exclaimed in awe at the same time.

"Dude, can we use it?" Rigby said starting to reach for it until his hand suddenly stopped, almost as if something was in front of him causing him to look down at his hand in confusion.

"What the?" He said before trying to push his hand further grunting in the process before he gave up and threw up his hands groaning.

"Come on man what gives?" Rigby questioned seemingly annoyed now.

"Well, to make sure no one else would be able to steal The Answer from me, I made it so that no one but myself would be able to use it unless I say so," I explained as Rigby and Mordecai looked at each other for a second before looking at me.

"Soooo, can we use it for a bit?" Mordecai asked as I gave him a deadpanned stare.

"No," I simply said causing Mordecai and Rigby to groan simultaneously.

'Kinda surreal to see them do that in real-time.' I thought with a bit of nostalgia at how many times I saw them do that in the show.

"Come on why not?" Rigby questioned as I raised an eyebrow.

"Cause as much as I like you guys, how am I supposed to know that you wouldn't go crazy with power over it?" I questioned.

"Because we promise?" Rigby suggested as I raised an eyebrow in response causing them to groan in response.

"Fine, we won't ask for it unless we really need something," Mordecai said grumpily as I nodded.

"Good, now even though I won't let you guys have total control over it, that doesn't mean I'm a total party pooper," I said as they gave me somewhat hopeful looks.

"So why not, just because I'm grateful for your guy's kindness when I first arrived here I'll let you guys make one request since I'm nice," I said focusing on them.

"So? What would you guys like?" 

Chapter Text

It's been a couple of days since my second meeting with Rigby and Mordecai and I can't exactly say I was disappointed with how It went.

Since I had The Answer now instead of Rigby The Power episode would never happen and all of the shenanigans that Rigby accidently caused would also never happen either so that was a plus.

Funny enough Rigby and Mordecai didn't ask for much considering the limitless potential I had in my hand which is exactly why I offered to get them anything they wanted since I knew in the show they didn't think of anything reality-altering except for messing with Bensons and Pops mind.

Mordecai only asked to have a better mattress than he already had while Rigby only asked to be as strong as Mordecai was when they played Punchies so that way he would stop losing all the time.

But other than that I've been getting pretty comfortable here at the park, plus, tomorrow is my last day here as an intern so that's also pretty neat as well.

"How Mordecai and Rigby didn't make full use of this I will never understand," I said geeking out over how cool the Demonfire Dagger looked and the fact that I was the sole owner of it now.

"Could've had anything in the world, and instead, they went on a power trip where they didn't even do much with said power except get a raise that they had to give back and accidentally send Skips to the moon." I reminded myself amused at how short-sighted their decision seemed now that the possibility of it wasn't confined to the show.

"But that's what makes them likable I guess, dumbasses, but it's not like they don't try when it matters unless it's park work that is, then they'll try everything not to do it," I said to no one shaking my head at them once again before the smile on my face dropped as I put away the dagger again placing my face in the palm of my hands again.

A thought kept coming up ever since I had a few days with The Answer, one that I tried ignoring in hopes I would forget it again or tried convincing myself that It'd be a waste of time if I even entertained the thought.

Yet, no matter what I tried to do the thought kept coming back and making it the sole thing my mind decided to focus on.

'What if I went back?' It would ask me, and, sometimes I can't help but wonder if I did.

I wouldn't stay, hell no, I'm already enjoying life more here than I ever did living in that world.

But, there's still that lingering question in my mind of how I got here, cause, if were following anime rules, then I either died or got transported here, and seeing as how I'm some sort of wolf-like furry creature now, obviously my ass wasn't lucky enough to be alive and brought here.

This means the only logical conclusion is that I died, and yet I still don't know how.

Did I die peacefully? Did someone kill me in my sleep quick enough that I didn't feel it? Or was my mind somehow repressing the memory of me seeing how I died?

'Questions I have no answer to,' I thought to myself before grabbing The Answer off my back and looking down at it, 'but maybe.....' I thought to myself trailing off before I sighed and got The Answer into position.

"Might as well rip the bandage off before it stays too long and starts making things worse instead of better," I said to myself as I pressed the button that started the jingle.

"5, 6, 7, 8!" I said at first waiting for the eventual pause that would come.

"Take me where I came from!" I said closing my eyes and raising my voice a little while the jingle began to end as I suddenly felt everything around somehow disappear getting replaced with something else.

Opening my eyes I'm met with a somewhat familiar location that is my apartment.

Taking in my surroundings I seem to have landed in the living room with my kitchen/dining room/living room on my right and my room plus bathroom on my left.

As weird as it is, I kinda did miss my place, it wasn't anything special and I would still prefer sleeping in Mordecai's and Rigby's room, but, it's still somewhat special to me since it's something that I, myself own, well somewhat own, but that doesn't matter anymore.

Getting up I noticed that I was still in the body I woke up as meaning.......well, nothing really, nothing to me at least for now.

As I walked around I noticed how heavier my footsteps sounded now that I wasn't walking on bare ground st the park anymore as every step seemed to cause the wood underneath me to creak signaling to me the difference in weight now.

As I made my way over to the kitchen section I opened my fridge revealing an almost empty fridge only containing an opened Sprite can and some pop tarts still in their wrapper before I closed it.

"Well, it's now or never," I said to myself as I walked up to the door of my room before pausing.

What will I gain by opening this door? 

Nothing except for closure I guess, a morbid question about how I died being answered if anything.

Usually, this is supposed to be scarier for people right? Having to confront the fact that they died, yet, I don't feel that scared, more anxious maybe? Can't really remember the word that describes what I'm feeling right now.

Maybe the reason it isn't that scary to me is because It already happened and I didn't have to worry about being aware of confronting the thing that would've caused my death.

Instead not only was I given a free skip past me having to experience it I was somehow also given a second chance at life in a universe where the fictional show I watched was somehow a reality.

I will never understand how or why I of all people was given this, paradise of a second chance in my opinion, but I'll be damned if I won't make the most of this second chance, especially knowing what I know.

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Man, here I am thinking all of this when I haven't even stepped inside yet.

How some protagonists in some shows don't fall to the allure of stalling to not have to deal with something will never make sense to me.

Shaking my head I take in a deep breath before exhaling and pushing open the door as my breath catches in my throat at the sight of the body in the bed before I cover my sensitive nose at the putrid smell coming from it.

Specifically, my body. 

Slowly, almost as if my mind was subconsciously trying its best to not disturb the morbid peace contained in this room, I made my way over until I could get a good full view of my, dead body.

Still rocking that little bit of stubble not having enough facial hair to count as a beard yet.

Seems as if my mouth and nose had begun leaking blood while my body eyes were still closed adding a more grotesque and disturbing feeling to the scene I was already witnessing.

Somehow even knowing what I've been through so far this was somehow the most bizarre thing I think I would ever do in my new life.

Having the ability to somehow return to the place where my first life ended as I witnessed its decay during my second one because of an item that I recognized and knew about that existed in a world where the show I watched when I was younger existed.

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Yeah, probably the craziest and most messed up thing I'll ever do.

Yet, for some reason I couldn't help but be thankful?

Was it messed up for me to thank the fact that I died so I could live in a world where I would enjoy my life?

Maybe, but did I really care if that was wrong to think about?

Not really, I mean, as much as I want to, I can't help but be thankful that I no longer have to just exist here and instead live somewhere where I can do anything I want when I'm not working that is.

Even now looking at my body, I feel like I should be more, sad? Upset maybe at the fact that I died?

Instead, I'm just curious about how it happened, how did my first life come to an end?

The door didn't seem to be forced open and nothing seemed to be stolen or broken so I wasn't killed.

Plus, I know that even though my life wasn't the most favorable I didn't feel so depressed to the point where I wanted to kill myself so I could rule that out as well.

The more and more I think about the possibilities of what could've happened I can only come to one conclusion.

I must've died in my sleep somehow, one of the rarest states to have died in, and it happened to me.

Does that count as me being lucky or unlucky?

I mean-

*RRRRRING*

I'm suddenly brought out of my thoughts as I focus on the ringing phone next to my, previous corpse's nightstand.

Retrieving it I turn the phone over to see who could be calling me now out of all times.

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It's Mom.

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Huh, out of all of the things I expected today this was not one of them.

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"What do I even say?" I question out loud hoping for an answer that I know will never come freely.

"Do I even answer it? I could just leave, ignore the call and pretend there was nothing to be done about it." I suggest to myself as the phone continues to ring, slowly letting me know I'm running out of time to decide.

For a second I consider just, placing the phone back down and going back to The Park pretending nothing here happened.

And I almost do.

Yet, almost as If my body knew what I wanted, as I was busy contemplating whether or not I should pick up, my finger subconsciously went to the green phone button and swiped it right answering the call and catching myself off guard.

"W-"

"Hello? Tom, are you there?" I heard Mom ask as I slowly put the phone up to my ear desperately trying to find the right words to say but ultimately failing to even respond.

"Alright stupid question, you're obviously there since this is probably the first time you've ever picked up the phone in the past couple of days, if where you work at is telling the truth." I heard her say making me feel slightly guilty at not being able to tell them what happened to me.

"But, even if you are doing some sort of strike or whatever can you at least talk to me?" She asked.

"At least let me know that, whatever it is you're doing you're at least safe and doing ok? Please?" I could hear her somewhat desperately ask, a simple request really, one that shouldn't be that hard to fulfill, and yet, I find my mouth suddenly dry still trying to come up with something, anything to say back.

'I could just not say something, it's not too late to take back the mistake I made by answering the phone, I mean it won't solve much, but at least it won't pull back the illusion of the situation even more.' I suggested to myself, hoping that I would at least be somewhat reasonable and say nothing.

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"I-I'm here," I hesitantly say back hearing my mother's sigh of relief as if she just heard that everything was fine now.

I couldn't not answer, if it was anyone else then I wouldn't have cared in a heartbeat.

But not to her, never to her.

Even if I was never going to come back here I could at least assure her that I was doing fine, it would just take, a little more finessing.

"Thank you, for answering, I'm glad to hear your voice, it at least lets me know you're doing fine, but I'm still confused about why you haven't shown up for work in the past few days, you're not, hurt or anything like that are you?" She asked as I took a second to glance over at my dead body.

"Uh, n-no i- I'm doing fine for right now," I answered not technically lying to her since right now I was doing fine, just not, in the body she thought I was in.

"Well, if that's the case then you should at least let your workplace know that beforehand if you were trying to take some days off then, so that way they don't start calling me and getting me worried about what happened to you, even more so when you don't pick up the phone for a good couple of days." She ranted for a bit causing my cheeks to redden in embarrassment despite the situation.

"Right, you're right, I'll remember to do that next time," I said trying to end the conversation as fast as possible while the phone line went quiet for a few seconds.

"I love you," I said as sincerely as I could to her.

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"I love you too Tom, be safe ok?" She said as I nodded before remembering she couldn't see me, not to mention even if she did she would probably throw something at me first.

"I will, bye, and say hello to Dad for me too, Lord knows he needs it with how grumpy he acts when I forget to say hi to him," I joked as I could hear her chuckle on the other side.

"I will, remember we both love you, Tom, just remember to check the things you do first before doing them so stuff like this doesn't happen ok? I'll call you sometime soon, unless you call me first which would be nice, bye." Was the last thing she said before I could hear the phone click signaling the end of the call.

"Bye," I said responding to nothing but empty air now as I brought the phone from my ear and slowly placed it back on the nightstand.

Taking one last look at my corpse I sighed before picking the phone back up as I dialed 911.

A Few Hours Later

"Finally back here," I said to myself as I put the Answer back around me before it landed on my back taking in the more, if darker since it was night now, vibrant colors of the outside of the Park again.

Taking in a deep breath I slightly shiver at the blowing wind before I begin walking back to The Park's house.

"Well, no denying or making any more excuses for myself,, I died and somehow woke up here," I reminded myself as I got closer to The Park house.

"I don't know how my, soul? I guess, got transported here in another body or why they decided to make me so...." I said trailing off as I began observing my paw again.

Looking down at my paw as I open and close it I think I finally came up with a reason why me showing up at my old apartment as how I am now was supposed to make me feel.

"Different," I said to myself finally finding the word to describe how I felt when I first showed up at my apartment.

'Cause I am now, and even coming back to where I lived doesn't change the fact that I'm not exactly that person anymore.' I confirmed pointing that fact out to myself.

I mean of course I'm still me, just, well, reborn as a different me I guess.

And if there's one thing I'll do that I wasn't fully able to in my first life, is to actually enjoy living it how I want to this time.

That, I promise to my present and past self. 

"I guess I'll do what we couldn't before and live out our dreams while having as much fun as I can doing them," I said out loud to no one except the winds as I heard them blow by, almost as if they were acting as a confirmation to my statement.

With that last bit said I began making my way back inside the house as I went to go to sleep.

Chapter Text

It's now the next day since I, returned home and figured out what happened to me and, I feel like I should be more upset over what happened, but, other than worrying about how Mom and Dad would be taking the news I couldn't help but feel more, lighter?

Like now I truly had nothing much more to worry over, plus today I am no longer an intern so that's pretty cool.

You know speaking of interns I wonder where Thomas is right now?

Probably preparing to infiltrate The Park if anything.

Anyway, that's future Tom's problem to worry about since right now everyone was sitting on the front steps of the house waiting for Benson as he finally finished up with the attendance sheet.

"Alright, before I get to what we need to do today I would like everyone to give a round of applause to our newest employee, Tom, for sticking with us through his initiation week,"  Benson said in a somewhat monotone voice that still held some pride in it as everyone else clapped their hands focusing on me.

"Thanks, guys," I said blushing somewhat in embarrassment at the influx of attention I was receiving right now.

"Glad you decided to stay with us, Tom." Skips said with a small smile in that familiar gruffish voice.

"I'm glad you all decided to put up with me," I said honestly before Benson cleared his voice causing us to focus our attention back on him.

"As happy as I am that Tom is now one of us we can all celebrate that fact later since we've got this birthday party today so that means lots to do, lots to do," Benson explained scribbling something down.

"Muscle Man High Five Ghost, you're in charge of picking up the special entertainment." Benson directed pointing his eraser at the two of them as they celebrated before high-fiving each other and getting up and walking away.

'Huh, kinda weird to hear High Five Ghost sound like he does in the later seasons instead of how he's supposed to sound at the beginning of the show,' I thought to myself as I watched them walk off.

"Skips, you set up the bouncy castle," Benson continued as Skips simply gave him a nod before skipping away into a bush on our left.

"Let's see I'm picking up the kids so..." Benson said trailing off rubbing the eraser on the side of his dome-like head.

"Mordecai, Tom, and Rigby, you set up the chairs," Benson finished causing Mordecai and Rigby to groan in response before Mordecai took it a step further by sliding down the steps.

"Really guys?" I said slightly amused at their reactions to the mundane task.

"Yes," Rigby simply responded sounding annoyed.

"Oooh! What about me?" I heard Pops ask from above us.

"Surely I'm invited to my own birthday party!" He said joyfully.

"Um, your birthday party was last week remember?" Benson questioned back hesitantly.

"It's a kid's party today!" He clarified further.

"I still have balloons!" Pops said still sounding joyful.

"We've got it covered Pops!" Benson replied sternly as Pops seemed to say something quietly before I saw him somehow fly away with said balloons.

"Uhh, is he gonna be alright?" I asked concerned even if I knew he should be ok by the end of the day.

"He'll be fine Tom don't worry about it," Benson said reassuring me as Mordecai and Rigby walked up to him.

"Dude, how come we always get stuck with the lame jobs?" Mordecai asked slightly upset.

"Setting up the chairs?" Mordecai questioned.

"LAAAMMMMME!" Rigby said obnoxiously loud.

"I can't trust you guys with actually something important, you're always slacking off," Benson explained sounding annoyed.

"Tom's has been an intern for the past few days and even he's proved himself more responsible for now than you guys have been ever since you've been hired here," Benson explained further sounding annoyed.

"You calling us slackers?" Mordecai questioned sounding offended as I rolled my eyes fondly at the nostalgic scene.

"Did he- Did you-"

"He's calling us slackers," Mordecai said to Rigby before focusing back on Benson.

"Look dude, we can totally set up all those chairs without slacking off," Mordecai said pointing his, feather? Finger? At Benson.

"Good, do it then," Benson simply said in response.

"We will," Mordecai simply said back almost as if he was accepting a challenge.

"Yeah, and then next time you'll get someone else, to set up the chairs?" Rigby questioned looking at Benson for confirmation of his unsaid demand as Mordecai did the same.

"Fine," Benson said looking deadpanned.

"OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH, NOT SETTING UP THE CHAIRS NEXT TIME~, NOT SETTING UP THE CHAIRS NEXT TIME~, UHH!" They both celebrated before posing in front of Benson.

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"Just set up the chairs," Benson said sounding exasperated beginning to walk away before pausing.

"And Tom?" Benson called out causing me to jump up in surprise.

"Y-Yeah?" I questioned slightly startled by the abrupt call out as Benson's annoyed face adopted a warm smile.

"Welcome to the team," He said sincerely before walking off again as I smiled back feeling overjoyed at really being here and being an actual member of the park.

"Benson's gonna drop his balls when he sees how good we set up these chairs!" Rigby said as I walked past him to said chairs.

"Well, how about we set up actual said chairs before we start shit-talking?" I suggested as Rigby rolled his eyes before he and Mordecai came over.

"Since there's three of us we can get this done much faster," I pointed out handing Rigby and Mordecai a chair each.

"Ye-Yeah," Rigby exclaimed before extending the chair out, "Pssha! One!" He called out throwing the chair as it flopped onto the grass while he and Mordecai stood there looking dumb at it.

"Yeah dude, this sucks," He complained as I moved on to my sixth chair.

"Well I don't know about you but maybe if you set it down instead of just throwing it then it would go smoother?" I suggested as Rigby groaned before looking up at Mordecai.

"Why don't we just bail and do something else?" He asked him.

"Really? And leave me behind?" I questioned slightly upset at how easy it was for him to just drop it.

'Though I guess I should've expected this,' I admitted to myself.

"As much as I want to dude, that would be pretty messed up if us to just leave Tom here to do all of our work for us," Mordecai said as I smiled at him.

"Thank you, Mordecai," I said as Rigby groaned again.

"And besides dude, we gotta prove to Benson that we can set up these chairs." He said looking slightly determined causing Rigby to sigh.

"Alright I guess your right," Rigby admitted before sighing harshly again.

"Must be nice to be the boss, Benson never has to do chores," He complained as I rolled my eyes.

"That's cause he has more important things to take care of them setting up the chairs," I pointed out causing Rigby to scoff.

"Oh yeah, like what?" He questioned as I set another chair down.

"I don't know, like having to drive all the way to pick up said kids for the birthday party that he had to spend time setting up?" I sarcastically suggested.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with," Rigby said as Mordecai passed him a chair and we got to work.

Chapter Text

"Pew pew, pew!" Rigby exclaimed a couple of minutes later while wearing a bunch of chairs on his body as I went and grabbed the top of the chair that was located around his body to prevent him from messing up our work.

"What the- dude let me go!" Rigby said trying to get out of my grasp.

"Rigby I don't care if you want to slack around and do whatever," I said before leaning down to his level, "but I swear to God if you go and mess up the work that we are almost done doing I will hurt you, ok?" I said slightly annoyed as he just groaned in response.

"When you say that it just bums me out," He said throwing down the chairs that were on his arms and and body.

"Dude-"

"Ughhhhhh, this is borin-"

"Dude! Listen," Mordecai interrupted as I saw him staring to get tired of Rigby's whining, "If we pound through this we'll never have to do this lame chair stuff again." Mordecai explained causing Rigby to gasp and run up to him.

"Next time it could be us getting the-"

"Special entertainment~," They both said in unison as I just quietly watched another nostalgic scene from my childhood.

"Can't really do that if you guys can't even finish this job first!" I called out causing the both of them to do their trademark quick hums in response at each other before they quickly went back to work.

A Couple Of Minutes Later...

"37!" I called out as I felt a chair land in my hands before I laid it out and placed it down in the same formation as all the others were.

38....38!" Mordecai called out as I looked over at Rigby lounging out on top of the now empty metal black cart.

"That's all the chairs dude," Rigby said nonchalantly.

"There's supposed to be fifty!" Mordecai said sounding slightly confused while Rigby simply turned his head towards the clouds.

"That's Benson's problem," Rigby said dismissively causing Mordecai to frown in response.

"No dude, that's our problem," Mordecai corrected causing Rigby to grunt and sit up.

"Well, if we need more chairs I think I might know where to get some more," I said as both of Mordecai turned towards me confused.

"Wouldn't they just be in that shed over there?" Mordecai asked pointing to the shed full of arcades in confusion as I simply waved him off.

"Nah, Benson had me come here once to pick up some gardening supplies, I actually know where the rest of the chairs are." I lied talking out of my ass as I tried directing his attention back to our job.

"You do?" He asked as I nodded.

"Yeah, I think it's somewhere over in the small forest area in a shed," I explained as Mordecai furrowed his brows looking even more confused.

"But ho-" 

"Alright well now that we know where it is let's go get them so we can do something else alreadyyyyyy!" Rigby said complaining causing Mordecai to roll his eyes and start walking away while Rigby and I followed.

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"This is borinnnnnnnnng, why couldn't we go get the cart?" Rigby complained as I rolled my eyes.

"Because Muscle Man and High-Five took it remember?" I questioned as he just groaned in response.

"Actually, speaking of work, why did you decide to work at The Park Tom?" Mordecai asked as I jolted in place not expecting him to ask me that.

"Huh, you know what that's a good question, why would you work and live here when you have that sweet keyboard that lets you do whatever you want? I mean, you could probably use it to do whatever instead of having to work at this crummy place." Rigby said complaining at the end as I took the keyboard off my back and held it in front of me.

".....I guess, I just don't want to, " I answered honestly causing the both of them to look at me confused for a second.

"I mean, yeah Rigby you're right, If I wanted to then I could do whatever I want with it, but I don't want to," I simply said.

"But why not? Come on Tom, are you really gonna sit there and tell me there's not a single thing you want in the world?" Rigby questioned.

"I'm kinda on Rigby with this one, that kinda seems far-fetched Tom." Mordecai agreed as I scoffed in response.

"Well duh, of course there's stuff I want," I said pulling out the Demonfire Dagger momentarily stopping us as the both of them were awed at it.

"Duuuuuuude, that's, so, COOL!" Rigby yelled out in awe as I waved it around creating little purple knife afterimages before putting it away again.

"Hell yeah it is, but like I said of course there's stuff I want but it...." I trailed off as I was trying to find the right words that best described how I felt about it.

"It's like playing a video game, at first when you play a game you haven't experienced before it's cool and awesome to the point where everything you do is interesting in some way, but after a while when you keep playing the same game again over and over, eventually you start getting tired of what that game allows you to do before you start trying to look for another one to give you the same feeling you felt the first time," I explained before focusing back on them to see, surprisingly the both of them wearing thoughtful expressions at what I said before I continued.

"That's why I don't want to just use The Answer every time to get something I want unless I really need or want it," I said as I wiped some small fur off of it.

"I don't want it to get to the point where I start getting bored of everything I do simply because if I use The Answer it will always be better than doing stuff normally." I finished as we all stood in silence before I started walking off to the shed again.

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"I get it," Rigby said surprisingly first as I looked down at him in surprise while he looked up at me slightly unsure if he wanted to say something or not. 

"Me too," Mordecai added on.

"I mean, If I'm being honest if I had access to that thing then I would totally try to get everything I want, but I get what you meant is what I was trying to say," Rigby said as I gave him a small smile.

"I agree with Rigby, but we get it, you don't want that much power messing with you even if if you could do what you want with it," Mordecai added on as I nodded in agreement before we finally came up on the shed that contained the extra chairs in the show.

"Ugh, finally, now we can get these chairs and then go get wings or something," Rigby said as he walked up to the door turning the knob before pushing it open to reveal some empty shelves and the rest of the chairs sitting in a perfectly neat pile on top of another black metal cart.

"Yea-Yah! NOT SETTING UP THE CHAIRS NEXT TIME~, NOT SETTING UP THE CHAIRS NEXT TIME~," Rigby and Mordecai celebrated as I simply grabbed the extra chairs and began making my way back to where we came from with them alongside me as they did that stupid laugh they did when they were excited about something stupid.

A Couple of Minutes Later...

"49, and 50! That is all the chairs!" I called out grunting in pain as they did their trademark hums to each other.

"Wait till Benson finds out that we set up the chairs," Rigby said sounding and looking smug while also crossing his arms.

However, whatever Mordecai said afterward in response I couldn't be bothered to focus on as for some reason ever since we had collected those extra chairs my whole body had slowly started to flare up in pain for some reason.

At first, I just decided to ignore it since I thought maybe it was just a one-time fleeting moment, but instead of it going away it instead decided to just increase in pain while I was working.

Even now, as I was trying to set The Answer down on the ground to make it simpler for me to reach the button for some reason it felt like doing anything, no matter how simple, caused me so much pain to the point where I started keeling over in an attempt to try and stop it from increasing.

Thankfully, as my ears started ringing for some reason I was finally able to hit the button as I heard the familiar jingle play allowing me to lie down on the ground while I waited for the jingle to stop.

"E-Erase this p-p-pain," I said gritting my teeth as I waited for The Answer to take my request until I shakingly sighed in relief at the mysterious pain finally being gone from my body.

"Tom! Tom are you ok!? What's wrong!?" I heard Mordecai cry out in a panic as the ringing from my ears finally stopped.

I took in a few more breaths before I slowly turned over to face him as I saw Rigby slowly walking over to us now also looking worried over me which made me feel better that even though these guys were probably going to be annoying for a while they at least still cared about me.

"I'm fine now, j-just help me up," I said while he offered a hand for me which I graciously took allowing me to stand up slightly swaying before I righted myself again.

"Dude, are you sure you're ok? What even happened to you?" Rigby asked sounding slightly concerned.

"I don't know, I was feeling fine and then all of a sudden after we had gotten those extra chairs I had been in pain that only seemed to get worse when we kept working," I explained as I was just as confused as they were.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't work for a while if that's the case," Mordecai suggested as my eyes widened in disbelief.

"What? Why!?" I asked as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"What do you mean why? If you're gonna be keeling over in pain every time we're working then that should be enough evidence as to why you shouldn't be out here," Rigby pointed out.

"Look, it's only happened once alright? This hasn't happened before and I can guarantee that it won't happen again." I said fully confident as Rigby raised an eyebrow clearly skeptical of my words.

"Reallly? And what exactly would that be?" Rigby asked.

"I'll just make it as to where something like that will never happen again with The Answer," I said gesturing towards the keyboard.

"Well, I guess that's fine, if he can do anything with it then getting rid of some pain shouldn't be that hard," Mordecai pointed out as Rigby began walking away.

"Fine, let's just hope that doesn't happen again while we're working," He said as he and Mordecai walked away leaving me to my thoughts.

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'What the fuck just happened?' I pondered as I looked down at my paws reflecting on what just happened earlier.

'I've been fine the entire week I've been here and all of a sudden my body just starts hurting for no reason? That makes no sense,' I thought to myself annoyed as I tried thinking of what could've been the cause of that happening.

'Ok let's see, ever since coming into this world and this past week I haven't had any mysterious pains happen to me, yet only after I got the extra chairs was when it happened,' I reminded myself as I went over the events that I've gone through so far.

Yet, even after going over everything I couldn't think of anything that would lead to me suddenly keeling over in pain.

"Whatever, just gotta make it where that doesn't happen again, whatever that was," I told myself shaking my head as I went to do just that.

Chapter Text

"Just wanted to say thanks again for inviting me to hang out with you guys," I said honestly secretly fanboying at the situation.

"No problem Tom, we figured that since it's our day off we could introduce you to our usual spot," Mordecai said as we continued down the sidewalk.

"Ye-yah! Your basically like one of us now Tom!" Rigby said enthusiastically.

"Also, it's pretty nice having to worry about paying since you have The Answer with you," Rigby admitted causing me to roll my eyes at his confession.

"Well either way, I'm glad you invited me to hang out with you guys, It's pretty cool hanging out with friends," I said sincerely as we made our way down the steps and entered inside.

'Wow,' Was all I thought at being able to experience being able to see and enter the all too familiar Coffee Shop for the first time.

Looking inside it was basically a replica of how it looked in the show as we stepped down another flight of stairs.

The familiar wooden tables and stools on our left and right and the absolute buffet of available pastry choices in front of us filled me with another sense of nostalgia that I mentally reveled in.

Unsurprisingly, like the show it wasn't very busy giving off a sort of comfortable and relaxed vibe thanks to not having to worry about making small mistakes that would turn into a bigger problem.

'Perfect for people like me,' I thought to myself already feeling relaxed as we continued down the stairs.

"Well no duh, of course it is, that's why me and Mordecai have been best bros our entire life and nothing ain't gonna change that!" He exclaimed as we got to the bottom causing me to mentally cringe at knowing just how far Rigby was willing to go to stay with his friends.

'Should I confront him about that or do I leave it alone for now?' I pondered wondering about what the right time to bring up that conversation would be knowing what would happen in the future as I unconsciously followed them to the middle table and sat down on the side farthest from the entrance.

'I mean, I know they resolve it on their own, but, at the same time, it still doesn't feel right letting that dirty fact fester until he's forced to explain the situation to him, what if-'

"Hey guys," I heard a familiar feminine voice greet us causing me to focus my attention on the familiar-looking red anthropomorphic bird who looked the same as she did in the show coming over to greet us.

"O-Oh hey Margaret, how's it going?" Mordecai asked slightly stuttering as Rigby rolled his eyes at the display. 

"It's going pretty ok, thanks for asking," Margaret said before focusing her attention on me, "Who's your new friend?" She asked curiously.

"Tom, nice to meet you," I greeted doing a little wave.

"Nice to meet you too," She said with a causal smile before pulling out a pencil and notepad from her pockets, "now, may I get your guy's orders?" She asked slipping into a more professional-sounding voice.

"Just a coffee like always for me and Rigby," Mordecai said as Margaret presumably wrote down their orders before looking at me.

"And what would you like Tom?" She asked as I thought about the pastries behind the glass covering at the entrance earlier slightly making my mouth water at the possibilities.

"Do, you have any donuts?" I asked feeling slightly unsure as she gave a professional smile in response.

"Of course, which flavor would you like?" She asked in response as I tried deciding on a flavor I wanted to taste first.

"Hmm, let's go forrrrr, chocolate glazed," I answered as she nodded writing down my order.

"Would you like anything to drink?" She asked as well.

"No thank you," I responded causing her to put her pencil and notepad away.

"I'll have your orders out in a couple of seconds guys," Was all she said before she proceeded to walk out of view.

"Finally! Now that whatever that was is out of the way we can actually talk about something important," Rigby said as I took a minute to look around this side of the Coffee Shop while the two of them talked about whatever it was they were focused on.

Looking around I could feel my nostalgia grow with every second I looked behind me taking in the additional tables and booths that some other people seemed to have taken up that also appeared in some scenes of the show as well.

"Here are your guy's orders," An unfamiliar feminine said causing me to turn around back around to face them and.....

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What?

"Thanks, Fenik," Mordecai said thanking her as I was busy observing the unfamiliar small fox with somewhat large ears and brown and white fur mixed who also appeared to be wearing the same apron that Margaret was wearing earlier.

"No problem, see ya guys later," She said casually already turning away as she gave us a casual parting wave.

Meanwhile, I was busy somewhat freaking the fuck out since, for the first time since appearing in this world I've come across an individual I didn't know well like everyone else I've met so far.

"Uh, hey guys?" I said trying my best to seem relaxed as the two of them looked over in my direction.

"Yeah?" Mordecai responded as I pointed my finger in the direction the mysterious fox went.

"Who was that?" I asked doing my best to mask my panic at not recognizing whoever that was.

"Oh her? That was Fenik she works here alongside Margaret and another girl whose name I forget sometimes." Rigby said nonchalantly as I was busy freaking out over what the implications of her being here meant.

'She works here!? That was never in the show, not once did they ever mention another person working here!' I thought feeling bewildered as I did my best to try and wrap my head around this unfamiliar individual until my mind brought up another question I now had to consider. 

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'Do-Does that mean that my knowledge of this world is useless then?' I pondered looking in the same direction that she disappeared in.

'Cause, if her working alongside Margaret and Eileen is anything to go by then that means things aren't going to be like what I know from the show, but if that's the case then what else is going to change in the future?' I pondered now feeling unprepared for this revelation that essentially might throw everything I know out the window.

'Calm down Tom, you're freaking out over a bunch of small stuff, so what another person work here, this is real life, and in real life of course a cafe like this would meed more than two people working here,' I thought doing my best to reassure myself as I picked up my donut.

As I took a bite of it I tried doing my best to follow along with whatever it was the two of them were talking about while also thinking about what the potential future had in store for me.

'So much for just enjoying my donut and a nice day out, though, let's just hope that this change is the only that gets made,' I thought somewhat anxious as not even the delicious taste of my donut was able to distract me from this situation I had now found myself in.

Chapter Text

Sorry to get the two people who reads this hopes up but as the title states this is not a new chapter, but a heads up notifying that on the 6th I will be going on vacation(not that I wanna go), and I'm not sure I will be allowed to use my phone over there which means until sometime next week or something like that I won't be able to upload anything.

Again sorry to get the two people who reads this hopes up but I just thought it right to let you guys know so you aren't waiting forever in quiet.

Other than that though I hope you guys have a nice rest of your day, and when I get back I'll make sure to try and upload, so hopefully you guys won't have to wait too long.

Chapter Text

Yep, you saw correctly this isn't a new chapter yet and more if a question.

And the question is, are people even still waiting for this story to update?

I mean if not then I get it took a long ass time to give anything related to updates on this story but now that I'm making a new chapter for it I'm not sure if people still really care about this.

So that's basically what I'm checking to see, if people are for some reason still waiting for another chapter for this story or not.

If not, then I can focus on updating one of my other stories then.

If so, then comment to let me know if you are, or don't if you aren't.

Again, sorry for the false chapter(though something tells me there will be no one to disappoint) but this is really just checking to see if people are waiting for an update on this story.

Chapter Text

A Couple Of Days Later

"Tom, we need to talk," Benson said walking up to me with the other members of the park, causing me to put a pause on raking duty.

"Oh hey guys, what's going on?" I asked confused if I had forgotten if one of the plots from any of the episodes was happening today or not.

"Tom, you need to go to the hospital," Benson said confusing me.

"Wha-What do you mean?" I asked drawing concerned looks from everyone, even including Muscle Man surprisingly enough.

"We've all witnessed how you've been these past couple of weeks, and frankly we're starting to get worried Tom," Skips said as the others murmured in agreement.

"Worried? What for?" I asked feigning ignorance.

"Don't act like you don't know! Besides, what happened to guaranteeing this wouldn't happen again?" Rigby said completely outing me as Benson focused his attention on him.

"You knew about this and didn't think to tell me or Skips?" He questioned as Rigby stared at him wide-eyed.

"Uhh-"

"Wait, hold on Benson, the only reason we didn't tell you is because Tom said he'd be able to keep it from happening again, so we figured it wouldn't have been that big of a problem," Mordecai explained causing Benson to sigh. 

"Well, obviously it seems that it is, considering we're all here talking to him about it," Benson pointed out before sighing.

"Look, Tom, the point is we're worried about you." Benson started with causing me to keep quiet and listen.

"At first, I thought maybe you just needed a few days off when I first heard about it, but after hearing about it from multiple people, it seems you're just collapsing at random to the point where it's concerning, " Benson said causing the others to murmur their agreements as I waved them off.

"Come on Benson, you're exaggerating, it's not like-"

"That time you got those fist pump tickets for me and Mordecai?" Rigby said as I sputtered.

"Well that's just-"

"That time you got us free cake?" Mordecai said as I tried to find some sort of excuse.

"Well now hang on-"

"That time I found you hanging out with Mordecai and Rigby while they played punchies?" Muscle Man surprisingly pointed out.

"Ok look, I get what you're trying to say, but I assure you that I'm fine, I don't need to go to the hospital, promise," I said doing my best to reassure them as they all looked at me unsure.

"Are you some sort of criminal or something?" Rigby asked as I looked at him dumbfounded.

"Wha- no! Why would you even think that?" I asked completely shocked at his assumption as he threw his arms up.

"Well excuse me for thinking you are since a normal person would usually see a doctor if they started collapsing every day," He said sounding fed up with me.

"Tom, I don't want to have to force you to see help but it's starting to get to that point," Benson said as I looked away, not knowing what to say to assure them.

"If anyone finds you collapsing during this week, I will personally have Skips escort you to the hospital to get you checked out, do you understand?" Benson questioned as I sighed not having any other option.

"Yes, Benson," I said reluctantly as he nodded.

"Good, I don't need any of my employees hurting themselves because they refuse to seek help, so please, take care of yourself," Benson said as he and everyone else walked away before he suddenly stopped and turned his head.

"Oh, and Tom, take a break, you're done for today and tomorrow," He said in a tone of finality as he turned back and walked away.

.

.

.

"Great, now what the hell am I supposed to do now?" 

The Next Day

.

.

.

*sniff* *sniff* 

"Is someone cooking something?" I asked myself as I woke up, not being able to help myself from taking in the delicious scent due to my improved sense of smell.

Taking a minute to properly wake myself up, I proceeded to stretch my body out as I yawned, taking the time to summon up some clean clothes while also using The Answer to make my mouth clean as if I just brushed it.

With some fresh clothes and The Answer back around my shoulder, I proceeded to make my way downstairs and into the kitchen as I spotted Benson, Skips, and Pops downstairs all doing various things.

"Hey guys, whatcha doing?" I asked curiously as their attention focused on me.

"Oh, good morning Tom! I've been baking pies all morning for the annual barbecue!" Pops said excitedly as I remembered what this episode was.

"Oh ok, you guys want me to help with anything?" I asked.

"No need Tom, we're pretty much good on everything here, so you don't need to concern yourself with it, just focus on enjoying the barbecue for today alright?" Benson suggested as I nodded.

"Alright, fine," I said not wanting to argue as I pretended to look around for the others.

"Say, where is everyone else?" I asked.

"Muscle Man and High-Five Ghost probably went to Wing Kingdom since this is a day off for everyone at the park," Skips explained answering one of the questions I had for that episode.

"Oh ok, and Mordecai and Rigby?" I asked knowing full well where they were.

"Just outside holding the hotdogs for us while we finish up in here," Benson said as I nodded.

"Ok, I think I'm going to go see what they're doing," I said as I began making my way to the door.

"Tom," Skips simply said causing me to freeze as I turned back to him.

"Yeah?" I asked slightly hesitantly when it came to him before his usual serious face took a lighter look when he smiled.

"Enjoy the Barbecue," He said causing me to feel nice as I smiled and stepped outside, closing the door behind me as I made my way down the steps.

"God, still can't believe I'm really here living and working alongside them, still feels like a dream," I said still riding off that nice welcome feeling Skip's comment gave me.

"Except it's not, this is my life now, and Goddamn if I'm not enjoying every second of it," I thought excitedly as my mind defined to what Benson said yesterday.

"Though I still gotta figure out what's going on, it's almost like every time I try to stop the events of an episode from happening, something tries to, I don't know, kill me afterward?" I deduced based on all of the near-death experiences I've had so far meant anything.

"But why? Why go so far just to hurt me?" I asked out loud before I shook my head.

"Whatever, as long as I can keep doing what I want then I don't care, I'm here to enjoy my new life, not spend it questioning things," I said as I pulled The Answer back out and placed it in the ground.

"Now, let's make sure I don't collapse again before I stop Rigby's failed grilling attempt," I said as I pressed the button in the middle again, causing it to play that familiar jingle.

"5, 6, 7, 8...make it so no, more mysterious, pain can hurt me~!" I shouted trying to add in some rhythm to it as I felt something soft wash over me, almost as if it was gently notifying me that it worked.

"Alright then, should've done this a while ago to be honest, now, let's go see what those two knuckleheads are doing," I said as I began walking onto the grass before noticing a frustrated Mordecai, dragging a grill that looked to be dripping while an apologetic-looking Rigby followed.

"Ah shit, guess it already happened then," I said as I picked up my pace and began overhearing they're argument.

"-ick of you always getting me into trouble!" Mordecai said sounding annoyed as I approached.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" I asked as they focused on me.

"Rigby burned the hot dogs that he lied to me about being able to grill!" Mordecai pointedly explained as Rigby slightly raised his arms in defense.

"I already said I was sorry," Rigby said while I pulled out my keyboard.

"I mean, I can just get us some more hot dogs, that way the barbecue isn't ruined," I said as I placed it on the wooden table that had been set up.

"What were the hot dogs called?" I asked as I pressed the button again.

"They're the Super Extreme Premium Hotdogs, you know the ones that usually cost a lot online," Mordecai explained as I proceeded to do my little song and dance, summoning said hotdogs.

"And there you go, some extreme hot dogs," I said as I handed them the package.

"Ah yea-yah! Thanks again Tom!" Rigby said as I waved him off.

"No problem, just make sure not to burn them next time," I jokingly said as Rigby turned towards the grill.

"Alright! Now let's grill these bad boys!" Rigby said excitedly as he tried tearing open the bag until Mordecai snatched it off of him. 

"Dude! What are you doing!?" Mordecai questioned, looking flabbergasted at Rigby.

"What? I'm just trying to grill the hotdogs properly this time," He said trying to reach for the hotdogs as Mordecai held them in the air.

"No dude, you already messed up the first batch when we weren't even supposed to grill them in the first place, I'm not letting you mess this other one Tom got for us up!" Mordecai said as Rigby gave up and groaned.

"Well what are we supposed to do then? I wanted to chill and grill, but if we can't do that then I don't want to wait forever for them to get out here," Rigby said as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, if you want, I can go and see if they're ready yet?" I suggested as Rigby stared up at me for a second before sighing.

"Fine, but if they're not ready yet, then I want to go on your keyboard!" Rigby quickly said afterwards causing me to laugh.

"I guess that's fair I'll-jus..." I trailed off as the familiar pain began setting in again.

'But why? I specifically made sure this wouldn't happen again,' I thought confused as I shook my head before pushing through the pain to get my keyboard.

'Whatever, I'll just-'

Yet before I could even think of getting rid of it like last time, my entire body suddenly felt like it was on fire causing me to collapse to the ground as I was overwhelmed by the sudden spike of pain pulsing through my body. 

Whining like a hurt dog as my eyes teared up, I tried once again to reach for the keyboard again, only for the pain to suddenly increase even more to the point where I couldn't handle it, causing me to pass out as I heard someone shout my name.