Work Text:
Buck couldn’t ignore it, it was starting to become really obvious.
His hand kept twitching as he held a pen in his grasp, hunched over his desk as he stared down several papers. He could feel a presence in his mind, feeling both familiar and unfamiliar. He didn’t know how to describe it, whatever was chattering in his head wasn’t speaking any comprehensible words, just incoherent mumbling and occasional crazed laughter and screaming. It sounded like the most rowdy classroom imaginable was perfectly concentrated into his head, it was the worst feeling.
The Duck Shuffler let out a shaky sigh, gripping the pen tightly in frustration. He couldn’t focus on paying bills or doing paperwork when he had whatever this was going on in his head, but he really needed this right now. He’s been cutting it close, too close. He knew, he knew there was something wrong, if not because of his physical and mental changes, he noticed his luck had gotten exponentially worse.
Maybe it was just a coincidence, superstition, whatever, but he couldn’t deny he was getting unlucky. This went against everything he believed, when something unlucky happened something just as good was bound to be on the horizon, that’s how it worked, that’s how lady luck played. You win, you lose, it’s a cycle, it repeats like a circle, that’s how it’s always been. Now it just feels like he’s constantly dealt a bad hand.
He is in desperate need of cash, he keeps losing the pot every single time, he keeps getting just above a blackjack, he keeps rolling snake eyes. He was starting to run out of options, C.O.G.S was just barely keeping him afloat but soon enough he wouldn’t be able to make ends meet, he didn’t want to be kicked out of his home.
Buck let out a strained whine, dropping his head on the table and gripping at his head feathers. He didn’t want to be kicked out, he really didn’t. He was desperate for even a buck or two, he would do anything to be able to eat another day. He had… something in mind, but it was too risky, he could be fired from his job too if he wasn’t careful, but it was tempting… so very tempting.
He couldn’t take it, he needed answers, he needed to know why he felt like this. Why he felt so shaky, why there was chatter in his head, why he kept losing- he thought maybe he was just nervous- maybe he was just having a bad day, maybe the after effects of his repair were worse than usual for whatever reason… but he just knew- he knew something was off. He needed to talk to him about it.
…
The Prethinker paces around the room, desperate to come up with any battle strategies to use against Toons. He had just gotten a hold of this school basement not so long ago, he glanced at the ‘test dummy-like’ robots across the room, which were sitting on the ground inactive. Panels on their back were open, wires tangled together like spaghetti, whichever Toon created these insults to their image gave them the most horrible cable management possible. As if their dumb faces weren’t enough. Brian was surprised that they were even able to function.
Several scribbles were present on the blackboard, multiple brainstorms and mind maps of possible ‘cheats’ the brainiac could use in battle were on the surface of the board. He could use these… What were they again? ‘Desk jockeys’ to his advantage, he had more loyal and expendable soldiers right at his fingertips, he just had to figure out how to make them his , which would prove difficult seeing how sloppily put together these ‘cogs’ were. It was his only option however, regular standard cogs weren’t cutting it, these ‘goofs and gags’ those Toons utilized were being a pain in his side.
“This won’t do, this won’t do! I have to think harder than that! These Toons are smarter than I thought.”
The Prethinker’s pacing grows more frustrated and frantic, he needed to think of something- he needed to-
“BRIAN! WE NEED TO TALK!” A loud slam of a door resounded around the room, making the Prethinker jump in surprise. He turned around at the familiar voice, eyes widened.
“Ah! Buck! What are you doing here so suddenly?” Brian shook his head, staring down at the other, noticing just how disheveled Buck looked, undone tie, wrinkled shirt, messy hair- his visor wasn’t even on.
“I think there’th thomething wrong with the Tune-Up you gave me!” Buck panted out, he sounded so out of breath, did he run all the way here?
Brian scoffed, turning his gaze away from the disheveled duck.
“No, no, it’s working as intended. Do you not remember my warnings of the side effects? You should have been listening!”
The gambler blinked at him, slot eyes spinning to land on question marks. He grits his teeth, stepping closer and closer toward Brian.
“There were NO warningth on the legal paperth!”
The Prethinker stares back at him, eyes full of malice as he grips Buck’s collar, pulling him down to meet his height.
“Yes there were!”
The Duck Shuffler shoves him away, the brainiac stumbling before finding his footing. He grumbles, his brain starting to pulse red.
“No there weren’t!”
Brian walks back to him, shoving Buck back.
“Yes there were!”
Again, Buck shoves Brian, with more force this time.
“No there weren’t!”
“Yes there were!”
“No there weren’t!”
“Yes there were!”
“No there-”
“Oh, my COG just SHUT UP! ”
The Prethinker lets out a frustrated growl, shoving Buck so hard that he collides with the wall, the back of his head slamming very painfully against it.
The Duck Shuffler’s eyes start spinning, a pain whimper slipping out of his beak. He grips his head, he can hear the voices in his head grow louder, more crazed, more panicked. They kept yelling and screaming at him, wanting him to do something. Just one little thing…
Let go.
…
Buck jerked backward, standing still against the wall, facing Brian but not exactly ‘looking at him.’ He seemed lost in his own head, expression completely neutral as he just stared at nothing.
The brainiac’s expression softened a little- just a little, as he immediately took notice of Buck’s change in demeanor.
“Buck?” He whispered under his breath, suddenly being taken over by the feeling that something was most definitely wrong.
The gambler took a step forward, slowly ambling toward Brian, gaze directly toward him. The Prethinker instinctively took a step back for every step Buck took.
“W-what’s the matter with you? Whatever you’re doing isn’t going to fix- whatever this is!”
The Duck Shuffler clenches his teeth, a shiver going down his spine as he continues to step closer.
His eyes finally stop spinning, landing on three X’s as he suddenly pounces toward the Prethinker, clinging onto him as he snaps his bill at his face.
“AUGH! BUCK! W-What are you DOING-?”
Brian attempts to pull him off of him, stumbling around the room as he pushes his hands against his chest, desperately trying to push him off. All the while Buck continuously tries to bite at the brainiac’s face, narrowly avoiding him by just an inch.
The Prethinker accidentally backs into the wall, quickly swiping his hand at Buck’s face to avoid getting bitten. As Buck’s beak is swatted away, Brian swiftly spins himself around to slam Buck into the wall, causing the duck to lose his grip on the brainiac and fall onto the floor.
Brian scrambles backwards, eyes locked onto the cashbot in front of him as he watches the other get on all fours.
“B-Buck you’re acting like an ANIMAL!”
The Prethinker swipes a chair by his desk, throwing it toward Buck. The chair collides with his head, bouncing off beside him as Buck simply just shakes it off. Brian’s face drops seeing how Buck was entirely unfazed by the direct hit to the noggin.
The gambler starts running toward the other on all fours before jumping up and catching Brian’s arm between his teeth before he could react.
“OW! OW! B-Buck! AUGH!”
Brian wails in pain as Buck bites down harder on the brainiac’s arm. Tears start to gather up in the Prethinker’s eyes as his legs grow shaky, completely giving up on him as he collapses on the floor.
Buck’s arms come up to claw up at Brian’s chest, the other letting out yelps of pain. The brainiac desperately hits Buck upon the head in an attempt to get him release his arm but to no avail.
He felt completely powerless, he could only sit there and take it. Before he felt like he finally had a step up over Buck, like he had the upper hand, like he was better than him- like luck didn’t matter for once! But now, he couldn’t do anything. He could barely move, he could barely think, he could barely even gather the energy to cry. The only thought in his head being how hard he messed up. How hard he messed up Buck. How hard he messed up everything.
He breathes out, barely even able to process the pain he’s feeling as Buck claws and bites at him. He stared at Buck clinging to his arm, his teeth sinking into the metal, leaving incredibly prominent marks behind.
The Prethinker’s senses start to fade and malfunction, his sight growing more blurry as dead pixels make themselves apparent, spreading across his line of vision. As his eyes start to close, feeling himself forcefully power down, he can hear muffled noises as if someone were speaking distantly.
“...ck…? Where are… oh dear… oh dear, oh dear…!”
“...ou find him…? …Oh…my…”
“...lle! Ring the… s…!”
“...What about… ck, dear…?”
“...I can handle it… go…!”
Distant steps could be heard as Brian felt some kind of weight taken off him. He tried to move his body but he didn’t move an inch, his body opting to just feeling more numb and the brainiac succumbs to the loss of power… It felt as if his grip on reality had slowly been burning away until it was nothing but ash.
…
…
Incident Report Concerning Mr. Ruffler and Mr. Brian
On March 14th of the current year, an incident occurred between managers Buck Ruffler and Brian of the Cashbot and Sellbot departments respectively.
A week prior to the incident, Mr. Brian had stepped in to perform Mr. Ruffler’s regularly scheduled Tune-Up. However, during this operation, Mr. Ruffler’s internal system had sustained notable damage, causing Ruffler to exhibit strange and manic behaviours which had gone unnoticed in the first few hours after the two Suit’s interaction. Shortly after, Mr. Ruffler had been made aware of the ‘side effects’ of Mr. Brian’s repair, taking it upon himself to confront Brian personally at the Central Oil District between 12am to 1am. The two Suits proceeded to have a heated argument over how ethical Mr. Ruffler’s Tune-Up repair was, the tension between the two rising as the conflict quickly became physical. Ruffler claimed to have hit his head against the wall before failing to recall what had happened after, according to Mr. Brian, Ruffler had undergone a change in demeanor after the impact before violently attacking him, causing moderate damage to his outer shell.
The two Suit’s conflict was soon split up after Mrs. Dama and Mr. Brubot had encountered them after claiming to have been on a search to find Mr. Ruffler. In an interview with Mrs. Belle Dama she claims:
“I had been heading home after my nightly patrol in the Brass & Shipping District and witnessed Brubot running out of his building in a panic!
I do not know what he was doing out and about at such a late time, from what I had heard he had just finished up a show, so he should have been getting some well earned rest!
My grandkids already have horrific sleeping patterns, I don’t want poor ol’ Brubot to go through that too. He may not be a youngin in need of sleep but he still needs to watch himself with how much energy he spends in a day!
I had approached him to ask what the hullabaloo was about and he had told me Buck hadn’t been answering his calls, and upon visiting his apartment he could not find him either.
Despite the time of day, the situation seemed dire to Brubot, so I decided to tag along to help find that little whippersnapper. I have to take care everyone after all.” - Belle Dama.
When approached, Mr. Brubot denied any and all requests for an interview without explanation, refusing to answer any questions asked about the situation. It is to be noted since the incident, Brubot’s work output has been noticably dropping. Further difficulties contacting and communicating with Brubot may lead to disciplinary action and possibly termination if certain conditions are met.
Despite the difficulties contacting Brubot, it had been confirmed that he had been the one to successfully neutralize Mr. Ruffler in his crazed state. Both Mr. Ruffler and Mr. Brian had become unconscious before ambulance chasers had been called to take them to receive urgent repairs. Ruffler had been diagnosed with a damaged voicebox and overwritten code because of Brian’s Tune-Up. Due to budget cuts, the company was unable to pay for Ruffler or Brian’s repairs.
After recovery, Mr. Ruffler no longer exhibited violent tendancies, however, his speech was incredibly hindered as he was only capable of saying the same word repeatedly. Mr. Brian remained the same after recovery, shortly going back to his usual work routine, in fact, productivity from Brian had increased as he had been isolating himself in the Central Oil District more frequently since the incident. Management had been informed of this behavior and now encourages Mr. Brian to work alone. For the time being, Mr. Ruffler will be off the job and in Brubot’s care until further notice. Ruffler will also be seeing a speech therapist to help him with issues concerning communication.
(UPDATE 2 WEEKS AGO.)
Mr. Ruffler’s speech therapist: Tal Kingstick, had agreed to conducting an interview with Mr. Ruffler to provide further insight into Mr. Ruffler’s condition. Due to complications the interview was ended earlier than intended, however, neither Suit was harmed before, during or after the interview.
The recording of the interview can be found here.
The current status of Mr. Ruffler’s position at C.O.G.S inc is complicated, as recent events have caused immense issues for the company. Ever since the incident, Mr. Ruffler has been making more reckless, impulsive and risky decisions, mismanaging and gambling company funds for his own gain. However, Mr. Ruffler is incredibly competent at his job, the company cannot afford to lose an asset like him. It is crucial the Central Oil District is kept in check, especially when Mr. Brian is unable to fulfill that role.
In the meantime, Mr. Brian under no circumstances should be let anywhere near Mr. Ruffler, as per Ruffler’s request.