Chapter Text
Lawyers, though they often excelled at logical thought and problem solving, were (probably) still human. And like all humans, they needed to eat to survive. Most food had to be purchased with money. Money was obtained through working. Working was... a whole different story. One could have a job but do almost no work, and therefore obtain no money. There could be many reasons for this; lack of hours, lack of motivation, or lack of work to do.
The third was the reason Apollo Justice stood outside the building he was at in the dead of night. There hadn't been a case in two weeks, and one case's pay could only be stretched so far. To make up for the lack of cases, he had been forced to take an outside job.
However, the only one he could find on such short notice wasn't the greatest of jobs. A graveyard shift guarding a pizzeria? And for only $120 a week?! That had to be illegal... But money was money, and the growling of Apollo's stomach wasn't going to be sated by sitting there and complaining.
He still wondered why the heck Athena had insisted on coming with him, though.
“Eurgh...” Athena remarked. “This place gives me the creeps.”
“Then why are you here?” Apollo shot back, side-eyeing Athena. “You didn't have to come...”
Athena grinned. “I've never been to one of these places before! I always wanted to go as a kid, but... it probably would have been too noisy...”
“So your solution is to come with me, after hours, after everyone's gone home?”
“Yep!”
Apollo sighed. Truth be told, he was grateful she was there. This place was creepy. How this was a venue for children... he'd never know. He glanced at his phone, which said 11:30, and took a deep breath.
There was a key taped to the back door with a note reading 'For the new guard – report to your office at 12 AM sharp! Don't be late!!!'
“Were the three exclamation points actually necessary?” Apollo asked, more talking to himself than to Athena.
He took the key and unlocked the door, which opened with a loud creak.
The first thing that greeted Apollo was cobwebs. Tons and tons of cobwebs. “Gross...” he remarked with a scowl. “You'd think they'd take better care of this place...”
“Well, isn't it set to close down later this year?” Athena questioned.
“Yeah. But... I don't know. Let's take a look around.”
The place was small, but Apollo somehow felt like anything could be hiding in the dark. The lights were dim to the point of almost being out, and everything cast gloomy shadows. The place definitely did give off the vibe of a pizzeria on the brink of shutting down, that was for sure...
“Look, Apollo!” Athena exclaimed as they entered the dining room. “Birthday hats!”
The place looked like any other cheesy pizzeria dining room. Posters were plastered on the walls, featuring lively characters. The tables were decorated with colorful birthday hats and the smell of stale, oily pizza lingered in the air.
“Looks normal enough...” Apollo remarked. His gaze looked around the room before finally settling on the stage. “Augh! What are those?!”
Athena approached the stage cautiously. “I think they're supposed to be the characters on the posters... But they're super run down and old... Not to mention creepy. Suddenly I'm not so sad I missed out on going to one of these places as a kid...”
“Yeah, really...” Apollo agreed, coming up next to Athena and turning his attention to the stage. There were three animatronic figures on the stage: a bear, a rabbit, and a chicken (or was it a duck? Apollo couldn't quite tell in the dim light). “How the heck do kids not find these things terrifying?”
“You'd be surprised what kids can block out...” Athena mused, frowning.
Apollo patted Athena gently on the upper arm. “C'mon,” he said softly, bringing her out of her thoughts. “Let's get to the office. I feel like these things are watching me.”
Athena nodded numbly, snapping out of her thoughts. “Yeah. No kidding...”
The two lawyers started down the hall to the security office. As Apollo turned back, he swore he saw one of the animatronics turn its head to face him.