The Hazing (Employees only)

Charlotte hadn't been this nervous since [REDACTED].  Was her hair okay?  Dress clean?  Face looked good?  Wait of course, her face always looked good.  It was still early when she stepped out of her apartment and locked the door behind her, but she didn't want to risk being late to her first day on the job!  

...

Despite the fact that she could chain-teleport most of the distance, Charlotte proffered not to rely on that type of traveling.  Magic portals popping all over the place would be great way to attract attention she didn't want, and SOME people needed to learn to appreciate keeping a low profile.

...

And that's why you were told to stay home this time.  But Charlotte couldn't let herself get distracted by the voices in her head and practically dashed down the stairs to head out to her first job.  Twenty minutes later she walked through the front door of The Sconehenge in what she determined to be the cutest outfit she had in her wardrobe.  

Spoiler:

 
She adjusted her rose from underneath her coat as she entered, head soon lifting to look around for Cain as she looked for a place to hang the warm overcoat.  She was early, though still feeling a little flustered at the feelings of anticipation.

There would be a short, darked hair girl with purple tips, totally passed out and slightly drooling- muttering something under her breath. But let's not pay that too much attention, she needs her 24/7 beauty sleep.

MEANWHILE, Diana was... not much better- she was actually nursing a cup of coffee which was both waking her up but also making her slightly intoxicated. Why was she up at this ungodly hour? Something something, Cain wanted her to be here to meet the new girl? Diana didn't care, she couldn't care less aside from the fact that was another person that may or may not take hours away from her, which meant less money... in theory. Cain didn't seem too hard pressed about money, either because she didn't value it as much as she did, or because... she just didn't need to worry about it. They really should consider charging that laybout fast asleep rent. Oh well, she was getting paid to be here...

Diana was also trying to ignore and drown out the most likely super energetic behavior of one of her other coworkers, which wasn't helping her headache any as she saw some gothic lolita walk in. Was that her? Diana barely looked up from her coffee, and just silently watched to see if this was the case.

The awkward silence would be interrupted by booming drums on the sound system. Did Isabel know Diana would hate this? Definitely. She hated everything though, so Isabel wasn't hurt by the thought. "Well, well, well, well..." The voice echoed through the room, it was impossible to tell where from. Fog poured into the room as the lights dimmed low. "Is it the new blood?"

The lights would cut completely, then turn red! Isabel would be standing at the top of the head table, her eyes glowing as she reached towards Charlotte.

"FETCH ME HER SOUL!"

The sound of skittering on the floor would be heard, but then silence. An awkward silence. Isabel would from, then the lights would come on fully. At the foot of the table was a tired looking turtle, taking slow steps towards Charlotte.

"Sometime today, Donatello."

A scent of mint and that of cinnamon would permeate the air as neon green energy sparked into existence. Slowly, it formed into the shape of Cain, and then the particles of energy would break down. An illustrious entrance in an equally illustrious outfit.


"Good morning, everyone~! How are all of you?" She eyed the clock. It should be at least 3 hours before the Steel City location opened. So it would be half the work for that amount of time. A good time for the employees to chill out and wake up. Of course, she was just overseeing the operations, it mostly ran itself. Some fragrant coffee appeared in her hand and she sipped it as she watched Donatello crawl menacingly toward the new employee. She smiled at Charlotte. "I see you've met Isabel and Donatello. The one over here wishing desperately the sun would die is Diana. And the one sleeping over there is Chessa. You'll see her asleep one moment and awake the next. She's a little special~."

She made a mental note to keep her on the sidelines when the business opened in a few minutes. She flourished one of her fingers, and Donatello was given a purple headband that didn't block his eyes, with a stick tied to his back that shouldn't impede his movements too much. She couldn't resist.

What Charlotte suspected if being a polite but nervous meeting turned into a real life horror story as she realized there was more to be afraid of then embarrassing herself. Someone had been waiting for her. Someone with evil intentions. Charlotte clutched her purse as her eyes scanned the scene, looking for whoever was speaking. Then the lights went out, only to reappear in a malevolent display as a terrible, cruel, evil villain appeared and summoned forth a terrible monster to reap her soul!

...


Yes...terrible monster....any time now...

Huh, it seemed even doom was slow to wake up today. Donatello certainly seemed in no hurry to get anywhere fast. With her doom taking it's time, Charlotte's look of trembling fear soon melted away into a blank stare at the little green attacker. He um....he sure was taking his time, huh? Death would have to wait it seemed.

Cain arrived and GOOD LORD that was a pretty dress! Charlotte's wide peepers locked to their new object of obsession as she briefly envied the ability to produce something so pretty from thin air. Starting to think it was safe to move in now, Charlotte stepped forwards as everyone was mentioned, to which she gave each of them a polite nod and a small smile. Her eyes gleamed over with a strange calmness as he looked to each of them, though that may serve to relax the sleepyheads even further. It then occurred to Charlotte that so many people were here despite the shop not having opened quite yet. Were they early? Was she late? Were these people part of the night crew?

Charlotte pulled her phone out as she approached the one person she knew from the bunch, meanwhile texting away at her phone and turning the volume all the way up before she hit play, letting the text-to-speech app do it's work.

"Nice to meet you all."

Chessa only stirred slightly, muttering something about someone's name "ringing a bell" followed by a sleepy giggle as she quickly dozed right back into deep sleep. Again, let's not worry about her.


Diana suffered silently, her headache not feeling any better from Isabel's flashy, pointless, waste of budget display. She only enjoyed the "awkward" silence as Donatello slowly approached the new girl, with Cain giving him a little bandana and a stick to complete the reference. If she wasn't so tired and hating every moment of this, she'd probably think the entire thing was more endearing. Diana's eternal monotone remained when the girl... smiled and waved at them in turn- and then pulled out a phone with text to speech. Was she... a mute? Thank Nintendo for small miracles- if she had been another Isabel...

"Are we done?" Diana yawned, finishing her coffee. Wasn't enough to get her tipsy all the way, and was still not really helping to wake her up. No one had introduced the new girl, but hopefully that wouldn't be necessary- assuming she didn't get put in the arcade with her.

Isabel patiently waited for Donatello, even as Cain made her entrance and put him in some fitting attire. Yes, any moment now- oh wait, Cain had asked a question! Important! "I'm lovely, Cain. I've made the necessary preparations to properly test the newbie. It took me the better part of a night to come up with the true trials of the Sconehendge. Seriously, can't you give me a heads up next time?"

Isabel merely rose a brow as Charlotte produced a phone and used it to speak to them. Suspicious, yes, but Isabel wasn't going to fall for the obvious trap of asking about it. "It's lovely to meet you too, but before we introduce ourselves properly you must pass the first TRIAL! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Isabel threw her head back, arms clutching the air dramatically as she laughed manically. Then she composed herself, untying her cloak and letting it fall to the table to reveal her stunning outfit.



"I'm sure you've noticed that my most trusted companion is fiercely after you. There is only way to stop Donatello's vicious ONSLAUGHT! Kehehe~ oh yes, it will be challenging."

The turtle took one more step forward, with determination. Slow determination.

"You must show your best cartwheel to us! If it is passable, your soul may be spared. Flexibility is of the upmost importance for this job."

Charlotte still seemed nervous, but she managed to introduce herself after Isabel's dramatic entrance, which was a huge relief. Isabel was an eccentric one for sure, but so adorable at the same time! She decided to answer Diana's usual lethargic attitude in the morning. "We are done with introductions, Diana, yes. There is still a shift to go through, but as always, if you feel like you need to go home, then you are welcome to."

She turned her attention to Isabel as she began speaking. She had come up with an initiation, so to speak, for Charlotte. It seemed she wanted to have a bit of hazing for their new recruit. She couldn't find a problem with it; not when the hazing was so lighthearted as this. But she would be sure to keep Charlotte in high spirits. "You're always lovely, Isabel~. My apologies, it must have slipped my mind. But in my defense, I think you were busy with Donatello yesterday evening." She wouldn't address the request for a cartwheel or the statement that flexibility was important for their job with anything more than a smile, but she watched Charlotte to see how she would react to Isabel's demands.

Cain was seeming more and more to Charlotte like a fairy godmother or Mary Poppins type figure, what with the magic and the parental attitude and wanting people to get along. It seemed like at least one person was only here because they were required to meet the new girl. Oh...Charlotte was the new girl. Suddenly a wave of guilt hit her as she realized Diana might be annoyed at her right now. Oops.

Isabel, however, seemed very interested in the new arrival and with no problems being here this early. But it seemed her intentions were dastardly. Yes, it seemed that Isabel was to put Charlotte through some kind of trial by combat! Or instead, trial by cartwheel? Charlotte blinked and stared at the Isabel, then down at Donnie. Um. Yeah. Okay. Cartwheel... Never done that before. How bad could she mess up a cartwheel?

...

YOU are NOT HELPING! Charlotte took the opportunity to hang up her coat and purse on the back of a chair as she considered what to do about the tiny attacker. Dang, where was some cabbage or a carrot when you needed one? She was sure that little Donnie could be easily persuaded to put his assault on hold if only he had something to nibble. Oh well, time for plan B then. How bad could this go?

The answer was yes.

With no idea how to do this and with absolutely no beforehand practice, Charlotte looked down at her frilly dress and spread the fabric down as she whispered a few words of blessing to herself. She'd need the luck more than the agility. Stepping aside to have plenty of clear floor to work with, Charlotte eyed a length of empty floor and raised up her hands. A little steady breathing, a glance at her target area, Charlotte visualized in her head how she was going to do this and then just dove for it. The first half of her acrobatics test went perfectly. She dove forward, leg kicking up behind her as she got her hand placement right, and pushed off with the other to end up standing on her hands- WAIT NO SHE WAS IN A DRESS!

The rest after that was less graceful. Even with the unavoidable flashing of her cotton unmentionables, the act took a turn for the worse as Charlotte was unprepared for how to land this maneuver. Her body came down on the other side with her legs failing to reach the ground first, and instead dropping with the full length of her body landing at once. SLAM! Down she went on the ground with a thud that looked more painful than it actually was, but the hardwood floor certainly didn't feel very forgiving.

Now Charlotte didn't have enough pride to be afraid of the embarrassment of failing, that was all fine to her. But in her wincing at the feeling of landing on her hip, she took a second to notice that her hips were still exposed. If the gravity hadn't rushed enough blood to her cheeks, that was enough to fill them out as she panicked to throw her dress back down over herself. Way to make a good first impression, Charlotte.

...

NOT HELPING!!

Diana finished her coffee, feeling buzzed finally which did wonders for your mood. But she was more annoyed at being up and awake during the day- which was indeed a direct result of her having to meet the new girl. But she was less annoyed by her personally... for now. She did arch an eyebrow at... what the devil was that voice just now? She was the second person for her to have the misfortune of running into that seemed to have some otherworldly voice speaking to her from the ether. That meant that now Diana would have to be on her guard... as she didn't know who or what was speaking and didn't understand what it was saying; plus the last disembodied voice wanted to kill her when it thought she was an unnatural.

She waited just to see how this played out first before actually getting to work, and could tell not only by her looking around for something to distract Donatello, but her thoughts linked to that that she was not looking forward to this. If Diana wasn't lowkey enjoying this part, she may have spoken up about it. But play out it did, and the new girl seemed to have the right idea... at first up until the "being in a dress" part caugt up to her and made her fall over with a flash of her panties- which were still exposed long enough for a certain lazy bum to catch a glimpse at before dozing off again. "I'll be getting to work now," Diana said flatly, silently amused by the result as she got up- considered setting her empty cup on Chessa's head, but kept walking toward the arcade the cafe had.

Isabel crossed her arms as Charlotte prepared for her display. This was the moment. She had to own it. Mom's spaghetti. Cain didn't interfere, as Isabel had expected, and Diana looked like she barely even wanted to watch. As expected. Isabel's one exposed eye was narrowed though, watching closely. That's when the chaos erupted.

The dress was a foreseeable problem, and Charlotte showing the entire staff her panties was enough to earn a giggle from the eccentric zombie. The crash to the ground after, and tangled mess of exposed bits and pain made Isabel burst into laughter. She laughed at the blushing girl for at least a few moments, holding her gut.

"Magnificent! A performance worthy of the stage, assuredly! An interesting take on a cartwheel, but still, hilarious!" Isabel jumped from the table, doing a flip that was almost unbelievable and landing a foot in front of the downed soldier. She offered a hand to Charlotte, smiling friendly.

"You've completed your first trial. Donatello, at ease." The turtle hadn't even taken another step yet. "You're allowed to do your first shift. Then you will face the second trial. The trial... by FIRE!"

Isabel threw her head back, as if expecting something. Nothing happened. She glared around her. "I SAID BY FIRE!"

A few sparklers lit in the corner. It was underwhelming.

Cain watched Charlotte as she attempted the cartwheel. She was trying to support her with her thoughts. Part of her even wanted to give her a boost with a gust of wind to help her out. But that might have been more impolite than otherwise. She ended up failing, flashing her undergarments for all to see unintentionally, and then fell over. Diana seemed a little amused, but Isabel was laughing uncontrollably. Cain surrendered a few giggles, but all in good fun. Isabel even offered to help her up, saying another trial would come later. Things seemed to be off to a good start!

Diana said that she would start her shift and started for the arcade. Cain gave her a totally professional love tap as she walked by. If/When Diana turned to give her a death glare, she would simply smirk and stick out her tongue at her before returning her attention to Charlotte and Isabel. "It's good to see you two will be getting along...! Isabel, Charlotte will be working in the arcade with Diana, but you're of course free to check on her as you see fit."

Charlotte shut her eyes and groaned as she took the moment just to lay on the ground a little longer, letting people get their laughs out.  She refused to look at them and instead focused on accepting that oops, that just happened.  Oh well, it was fine.  Just move on.  This meant she completely missed the flip that Isabel did, as her eyes didn't open until she had already extended her hand down to Charlotte and told her that the first test was passed.  Fair enough, but Charlotte reconsidered humoring the girl if they were all going to end this badly.  

...

No, don't make things even worse.  This isn't your place to get involved, no matter how funny you may find it.  

Charlotte took the hand she was offered and got up from the ground to brush herself off from her impact with the floor.  She really hoped Isabel didn't expect more performances quite like that one in the future.  It sounded like she would only get so many chances to as Charlotte was paired up with Diana for now.  After rubbing her hip and hoisting her purse back onto her shoulder, Charlotte made her way over to meet up with the pretty woman with the sour face.  Seems she wasn't a morning person.  Taking the assumption that Diana was to train her, she made a mental note to try to stay on this one's good side.  If she had one.

Diana should've expected not to slip by Cain unscathed, it had become a daily occurence practically as she stopped with a jerk from Cain's "Love Tap." She had already considered how successful she'd be if she tried to sue for harrassment- less for it actually bothering her, but more just because it'd make her money. Unfortunately, she was very sure businesses that existed in two different places and were connected by something beyond her attention span to fathom, probably fell out of jurisdiction. So she sighed with slight irritation and continued on. She paid the fizzle and the weird voice she couldn't understand no mind, overhearing that apparently she got the new girl... great... now where would she go to to avoid people? And Isabel was encouraged to check up on her?

Well, atleast it wasn't as bright in the arcade. For now she went on as if nothing was different, until she remembered Charlotte was going to be with her- well she was quiet so it shouldn't be that big of a drag... Isabel however...

Diana went behind the prize counter first, unlocked a cabinet or two before ducking down behind the counter for a moment or two. When she came back up, she was no longer wearing her hoodie, tying her hair in a pony tail that she slipped through the back of a snazzy looking Castlevania Baseball cap, with a shirt that may have also been from Castlevania. You could even see part of her face, which made a huge difference in how she looked- maybe more so to Charlotte in particular. "Hey- assuming you don't know electronics," Diana said flatly rather than asked, moving to the door just behind her and unlocking it.

"First thing, go around and look for anything that needs touched up- wrappers, empty cups- toss those away," she continued, moving out from behind the counter and making her way over to a cleaning supplies closest that had the typical odds and ends. "Wipe the outsides of the machines down- DON'T spray the machines themselves, and we'll go from there," Diana went on, bending down for a moment to pull out the little floor vacuum in the closet. She set that aside, grabbed a couple spray bottles and a couple rags which she offered to Charlotte.

Things settled disappointingly quick for Isabel, but she'd done enough theatrics for now. It was about time the lot of them actually did some work. Usually the restaurant was slow around this time of day, which left little for Isabel in terms of work... and she didn't really go to the prize counter unless she was giving out toys for free. Which she frequently did, but taught her nothing of the proper way to run it. So instead of joining Diana and Charlotte, she stood next to Cain, crossing her arms.

"She looks swell enough so far. Can definitely put on a show. She's a tad quiet though."

Aside from grunts, she'd only heard the girl talk through her phone. It was an interesting character trait, one Isabel could certainly appreciate. Almost like Darth Vader or something neat like that.

"We'll have to see how she does her first day. We should probably be getting some customers soon, though."