CW: yelling, attempts of framing someone and blackmail

(3rd Person PoV)

Cleo was staring at the envelope in her hands. The bright red words of Final Notice seemingly glared at her as she held it.

She let out a sad sigh as her arms fell to her sides. It doesn't feel real. Why did this have to happen?

She remembers begging for extra time every time the rent collector would come and only the first three times did that happened.

The other times she had to work extra hard and sell a couple of things in order to meet the deadline. This time though...

They brushed their hair back with their free hand, raising it from her sides and with the other hand, gripped onto the envelope tightly.

What am I going to say to Scar and Bdubs? They thought.

They then looked at the calendar where they had scratched out certain days like on the days that they're working.

Maybe if I can get a shift today, I'll be able to get some extra income. Payday isn't until next week so maybe if I gather all the tips I get, I'm able to make it in time, Cleo thought.

As she was thinking this, Scar had just turned the corner from the living room and into the kitchen where Cleo was in.

He grabbed an apple and tossed it into the air. Once he caught it, he was about to take a bite into it when he spotted his mom talking on the phone.

"Is it alright if I take the night shift today? Yeah I'm not terribly busy today. Yeah I can close. Thank you," Cleo said and as soon as she hung up, Scar ducked away to the corner where he was.

Is the rent due? He thought as he remembered his mom doing something similar every time the rent was due.

Scar clutched onto the apple he was holding with his left hand, almost squeezing it. His right was laying on his side, not even moving.

"..." Scar went upstairs with his mind clouded with worrying thoughts. He passed Bdubs' room, which he could tell he was watching Bob Ross, and went straight to his room.

He sat on his bed and pulled out his phone.

<>

Grain

Me:

Hey my mom is going to be taking the night shift can u come over so I'm not lonely with Bdubs

Grain:

Sure lemme ask my parents

Me:

Tell them that my mom says it's ok

Grain:

K

Yeah I can come over @ what time?

Me:

Like 6 or 6:30

Pick your choice

Grain:

👍

<>

Scar then decided to watch YouTube to keep his mind off of what he saw and suspected.

Opening music:

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<>

"CLEO!! THESE PEOPLE NEED THEIR ORDER!"

Again, their boss was yelling at them so nothing new. Not like it was Cleo's fault, they had to take this order to the people in the booth while their boss was yelling at them to get the order from the back table.

She scribbled down the remaining order, did the usual "is that everything," and the people nodded quickly and looked in fear at the boss, and Cleo flipped the page in the notepad over and raced towards the back table.

In the corner of her eye, Cleo could see the boss fuming with anger, his nearly bald face starting to turn red. At this point, Cleo isn't sure why the diner is still in business.

"What can I get for you?" They turned their attention to the people with a fake smile on her face.

"I'll have the chocolate chip pancakes and a Shirley Temple and a cherry pie," the red haired young man said.

"For moi, I would like the chicken strips with the French Fries and an Oreo milkshake," the silver haired young man said.

"Is that everything?" Cleo asked and they both nodded and Cleo scribbled the last of it down. As they were walking away, Cleo swore that they saw the red haired young man glare at the boss.

She handed both orders to the cooks and went to the back to take out the trash again. She could see it overflowing.

As soon as she touched it however, a co-worker shouted at her, "that's my job!"

"Chill out, Ava. No need to be so hostile," another coworker told her.

"Umm no, we have specific jobs that we're supposed to do or else it's chaos," Ava told him.

"That literally doesn't matter," the other coworker rolled his eyes and Cleo added, "yeah, Kayden is right. If I don't take the trash out now, it'll fall over and stink this place up."

"Yeah well, who's going to take the orders?" Ava asked.

"Amara can do that just fine for the five seconds that I'm gone," Cleo said and took the trash quickly. Ava huffed at this and looked around, most likely for the boss. Cleo didn't stay long enough if she found him though as she sped walked out.

She tossed the trash and as soon as she walked towards the door, she spotted another worker, Margaret, scoffing at her and slammed the door.

"Hey, what the heck?" Cleo asked and banged her fist on the door.

It didn't budge no matter how much they would bang their fist on the door. Did no one hear them?

(Meanwhile)

The boss was listening intently to what Ava and Margaret were saying.

"And Cleo stole from the tip jar. I saw her with my very own eyes and Margaret can testify," Ava said.

"Also, I asked them to give me a hand with getting a bottle of hot sauce down and they just rolled their eyes and said to get it myself," Margaret added.

"I knew Cleo was up to no good. That story about her kids was just a sob story so that she can trick us," the boss grumbled.

"So you're really going to fire them?" Ava asked.

The boss stroked his beard as he thought about it. Cleo was dead weight in this diner and he frankly didn't like her from the moment he interviewed her.

After all, the only reason I even hired her was because the last worker had quit, he thought but now that there's a spot open for hire, he can afford to fire her.

"Get Cleo here immediately," the boss said.

Margaret nodded and she was about to head out when two people stopped her.

"Excuse us but we couldn't help but notice how you're spreading lies to fire an innocent worker," Skizz spoke up.

"L-lies? You're mistaken, what we said is 100 percent true," Margaret told him.

"Yes, so very true!" Ava nodded rapidly.

I wouldn't give a crap if they're lying or not, I just need an excuse to fire Cleo, the boss thought.

"Really? Then I guess you wouldn't mind me pulling the security cameras up and seeing if Cleo really has done those things? And while we're at it, let's see if any of you have done less than appealing things like stealing or doing some under the table business," Toshino grinned and held up a disc with two fingers.

"H-huh?! Where did you get that?" The boss asked.

Skizz gave Toshino the side eye as Toshino just slowly laughed. "You step down as the boss of this diner and give it to someone who's more capable and I won't leak this. If I leak this then your diner is finished which would be a shame considering that the food is great here, not at all what I was expecting from the dinky side of the city," he explained.

"You dare to blackmail me?!" The boss shouted with both Ava and Margaret giving each other worried looks.

"Oh please, I've blackmailed more powerful people than you, more corrupt than you. Just give in and nothing of value will be lost, you can even retire and play golf or whatever, I don't care," Toshino shrugged.

I don't agree with Toshino's methods but his hacking skills are no joke and he knows how to push people's buttons well. But I still wonder whether or not this will be the right way, Skizz thought.

"And if I refuse?" The boss asked, fuming with anger.

"Hehe," Toshino pushed up his glasses, looking down at the floor before lifting his head while brushing his hair back, "you lose all of your money."

"A-all of it?" The boss asked, his eyes widening.

"Did I f*cking stutter? With bad publicity, willing to turn a blind eye to stealing in your own diner, and some under the table dealings with some shady people, who knows if this diner will get shut down. Besides, you're easy pickings so you can't bribe your way through, not with all the debt you're in," Toshino explained.

"Debt?" Ava and Margaret asked, confused.

"How do you know about that?" The boss asked.

"I have my ways. Now will you comply with not firing an innocent worker?" Toshino asked.

"...," the boss thought about it. Here, this salad haired man was threatening him with blackmail on information that he has made sure to keep hidden. Especially those under the table dealings. How was he able to get it?

On the other hand, if it was true, there's no way he's risking that information being leaked. Maybe if he hired some people to do something about it.

"Wait, you're thinking of firing me?"

Hold on! How was she here? The boss turned to look at Margaret who was just as confused as he was and then he looked back at Cleo who was glaring at him.

"We found her banging on the back door and no one seemed to be helping her. Some are busy but I feel like everyone else should have been paying attention," the red haired young man explained.

"Thank you. You have done your job, you may leave now," Skizz gave a bow to the two men and they left.

"Wh-what job?" The boss stuttered.

"Oh they were sent to keep an eye on her, for safety concerns," Skizz explained.

"Huh? Why?" Cleo asked but Skizz shook his head at her.

'Not here. Later,' he mouthed and they crossed their arms.

"W-well...YOU'RE FIRED!" The boss shouted and Cleo shouted back, "I WAS GOING TO QUIT ANYWAYS!"

The boss stumbled back at this outburst and Cleo stormed out.

Skizz followed her and Toshino looked at the boss. "Welp, your loss," he said, nonchalantly.

"W-wait...I'll step down! I swear! Just don't release that footage!" The boss begged.

"Sir, what did you do?" Ava asked but he didn't answer.

Toshino then left. He no longer had business here.

He joined the other two outside, took his glasses off and wiped them on the side of his jacket.

"Hate guys like him. Remind me of my father," he gagged at the wording. He placed his glasses back on and asked, "so Mrs. Clocker, what are you going to do now?"

"I...," Cleo held onto her hands tightly and stared at the cracked ground, "I wasn't thinking at that moment. I need the money, rent is almost due and I don't have enough to cover it."

They then turned to Skizz and asked, "also what was that all about?"

"Tango's orders. Admittedly there's one thing that we haven't mentioned to you when you took the Driver. It has something to do with Life Industries," Skizz explained, nervously.

"Go on," Cleo raised an eyebrow.

"Those two men were there to check out your job to see if it's really a good fit there for you. Clearly not especially with a boss like that. Food is good though," Skizz explained.

"You're tiptoeing around the answer, Skizzleman," Toshino stated.

"Well ok! I don't want to upset her!" Skizz shouted.

"Skizz, just cut to the chase," Cleo said.

"Right! I got this! I can do this! So...taking that Driver also comes with the unofficial...oh god, Tango, why me? Ahem, sorry for not telling you sooner but it's an unofficial application to work at Life Industries," Skizz explained.

Cleo's jaw dropped at this revelation. She looked at Toshino before looking back at Skizz.

"...are you kidding me?!"

"I know I know. Sounds bad to you but trust me, I really wanted to tell you when we gave you that Driver but Tango told me to wait. Listen, the Driver does belong to Life Industries and Tango says that it's best to have you around so whenever there's trouble with the suit or you need a new power up, it'll be easy for you to access it. Toshino here, sorry for not introducing you to him earlier, he was Etho's apprentice when he was calibrating the Driver and he knows how to make Keys, well now that it's activated. Perks of being head scientist," Skizz explained.

"Damn it, Tango. I knew he was up to more than at face value," Cleo hissed.

"Now I know you're m-mad but don't worry, you can have an easy job there like custodian or tour guide or something, I don't know!" Skizz said.

You're not selling the idea to her, Toshino thought as Cleo looked like she was ready to strangle Skizz right there and then. What was one thing that she said? Rent is almost due for her? Hmmmm...

"Pays good," Toshino said and she perked up.

"$20 dollars an hour for simple jobs like custodian," he continued and Cleo was shaking with excitement as she thought about it.

"The more you move up the ranks, the more money you'll make," Toshino finished and Cleo declared, "I'll do it!"

"Wow, you did a much better job than I did," Skizz noted.

"You get to the root of the problem, money," Toshino said and then he felt his phone buzz. He took it out, read the message and said, "sh*t."

"What's wrong?" Skizz asked.

"Emergency back at the lab. Another robot has gone berserk," Toshino explained and pocketed his phone.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Skizz shouted but then Cleo grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't make me regret my decision," they said and Skizz nodded.

"Not to worry," Skizz assured them but the glare that Cleo was giving him was making him nervous.

A/N: I miss writing Toshino, he was always a highlight in Into Code (we don't talk about everything else). Writing a*sholes who are also nice (sometimes) are fun, I don't know why or maybe writing menaces are fun.

Anyway yeah we're doing a two parter for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Cya in the next one -Flare

Ending music:

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