Chapter Text
In another world, Joey and a demon stand face to face.
"I have one caveat," Joey says. "The studio employees and toy factory workers are not to be used. At all."
Maruc nods, deciding not to mention that Joey hadn't said anything about the amusement park staff. “It’s a deal, then.”
Joey nods in agreement, watching the demon fade away. Too late, he remembers the amusement park employees. “Oh well...let’s just hope they consider them studio employees….”
****
Meanwhile, at the soon-to-be-an-amusement park, a small group of workers are taking a lunch break. Meanwhile, Bertie Bertrum is ranting about Joey.
Again.
It’s the third time today. All the workers are fed up. The guy who works the jackhammer is very, very glad for the earplugs.
None of them notice the demon hovering behind them until it picks up said jackhammer worker (whose name is Jake, though it doesn’t really matter - it’s simply for reference). They then abruptly notice the demon and start running away while screeching. Bertrum seems to not notice this fact, too focused on ranting about Joey to notice that his audience has become much, much smaller.
Well, he doesn’t notice for a short period of time. This one-minute interval is enough time for the demon to slit Jake’s throat (nearly slicing his head clean off) and grab Bertrum. This is also when Bertrum notices that, hey, everyone ran away, what’s up with that?
The two stare at each other for a good long second. Bertrum clears his throat. “Er...so, what are you doing here?”
“Killing people.” Maruc doesn’t wait for this to set in. Instead, they slam Bertrum into a wall with a sickening crunch. Then they do it again, and again, until they’re certain Bertrum is never getting up again. They discard him absentmindedly, commenting to themself, “He’ll make a good Charley, I suppose….wonder what I’ll do with the other one.”
****
In one of the janitor’s closets, Lacie and a worker named Robert (we’ll call him Bob) hide behind some of the cleaning tools. It’s not the BEST hiding spot, but it’s better than running far, far away, because then they couldn’t get their paychecks.
Also, it would take too long.
Lacie stiffens as she hears footsteps. The door creaks open, a shadow looming over them, stretching over the closet…
Wally blinks. “What the?- What are ya doin’ in here? You’re not makin’ out, are ya? I’ve had enough of that in here. It’s my closet!”
“No, we’re not making out.” Lacie says, rolling her eyes. “I feel no physical attraction to the idiot beside me. He can’t even use a hammer right.” Bob punches her. Lacie shows no sign of even feeling it. “As it so happens, we’re hiding from a demon that wants our heads. He took Jake.”
Wally sighs, rubbing his forehead. “It’s probably Joey. Again. Last time this happened, we lost an intern to a demon. The next day we found a dead spider-thing in a pool of ink.” He leans on the wall as he says this. “Never did find out where the intern went.”
“That wasn’t helpful, Wally.” Bob speaks up this time. “I think it made things worse.”
Wally climbs into the closet, carefully stepping over a fallen bucket. “Well, it isn’t my fault she can’t handle demons. They come with th’job.” He closes the door behind him. “Last demon got blackmailed by Norman for about three days. Turned out Joey forgot ta specify that interns are workers too. He probably made another mistake like that, maybe forgot to add amusement park workers ta the deal.”
“Well, that’s kind of important!” Lacie is yelling now. “I need my life! I want a new job! Maybe one that isn’t me working with a team of imbeciles and stuck-up narcissists!” Bob gives her a weird look and asks, “Narcissists?”
“Bertrum.” Wally answers for her. “I know cause he keeps bargin’ into rooms. Acts like he’s better than everyone else.” He pauses for a second before saying, “Heard him cussin’ out Norman the other day. Somethin’ bout the projector not workin’ right? I dunno what he was talkin’ about, Norman keeps those things in perfect condition...”
“It’s just Bertie being Bertie,” Lacie says, pushing over a bottle of soap to make room for herself. “Like I said, he’s a stuck-up narcissist. And he can’t hold a screwdriver to save his life.”
The door slams open, shocking the three. In the doorway, the actual demon stands. Wally grabs a broom and stands up. “Hey! We were havin’ a conversation here!”
“I’ve come for the amusement park workers,” Maruc states, their voice almost (but not quite) monotone. “Which one is it?”
Both Wally and Lacie point to Bob, who holds his hands up. “Meep.”
Confused, Maruc points at Lacie. “Who’re you, then?” Wally quickly pulls her over and says, “She’s, uh, a maintenance worker. Like Thomas. Keeps th’pipes runnin’.” Lacie nods silently, trying her best to not screech and flee again.
The demon considers this. “Well, that would make sense, considering she’s the only one who knows how to properly use any of the tools….but what was she doing down in the amusement park then?”
“One of the pipes broke. Thomas was busy with one upstairs, so I went down there to fix it. Then I got hungry, so I endured Bertie’s rant so that I could eat my sandwich.” Lacie answers. “Speaking of which….did you ruin it?”
“Maybe,” Maruc says. “It might have gotten some blood on it. I don’t know. Anyway…” Reaching out, they grab Bob. “I have to go sacrifice this fucker now. Seeya!”
And with that, they’re gone.
Wally and Lacie let out simultaneous sighs of relief before Lacie turns to Wally. “Say, do you think Joey would let me actually be a maintenance worker?”
“Probably. Thomas can’t do all the work himself, so…”
****
A good while later, there’s a lot of blood on the floor of Level 14. Maruc had found the last of the amusement park workers there; they’d hoped Norman would protect them.
Norman did not protect them. There was no way he was going to stand up to a demon. That was a surefire way to die.
Brushing off their hands, Maruc stands up. “Well, that should be all the soul power I need. I will take my leave now.” Norman watches as the demon fades away, vaguely concerned about what, exactly, needs soul power. He’s not that curious, though. No need to get killed.
****
Another six to seven business days later, Joey receives a box of failed attempts plus two successes. While the box holds many corpses, it also holds a real, living Charley and a real, living Edgar.
Joey carefully picks Edgar up, avoiding touching Charley at all costs. “Well, I suppose that was worth it.”
He pauses. “I wonder why all the amusement park staff disappeared.”