Juno and Jupiter awoke at the butt-crack of dawn to a horrifyingly loud sound that may have been music.

“What the hell’s that racket?” Juno asked, trying to cover his ears with a pillow.

“I’m not sure, but it sounds like fun!” Jupiter said in excitement from right next to him.

“GAH!!” Juno fell out of the bed, surprised that his sister was right next to him. “What are you doing in my bed?” he asked from the floor, rubbing his sore head.

“Well, I’d never slept in this place before and I wanted something familiar, so I snuck in and snuggled up next to you,” she said, touching her fingertips together while making a cute puppydog face.

Juno sighed, looking up to his sister, who was still looking like she expected to be reprimanded for her actions. “That’s fine, Jupiter. Just, next time, ask me before I go to bed, alright?” He stood up, fixing his wrinkled clothing and extending a hand to help her up. “Now, let’s go see what that noise is about.”

“Thanks.” She took the hand, standing with her brother, and they made their way to the door.

The door burst open as the racket ended, revealing Aaron standing there in his normal shadow form, though with lines of glowing white and somehow darker shadow crisscrossed over his torso so as to give him the appearance of wearing a tuxedo.

“Mornin’ you two. And how did you sleep last night?” he asked, holding up two steaming plates of waffles.

Jupiter’s response was “WAFFLES!!” as she dove at the shadow-man, grabbing for the plates in his shadow-hands.

Juno’s was more civil. “Well, it was alright–until you decided to blare four-thirty-three in our ears,” he deadpanned at Aaron.

“Actually I think I did the exact opposite, don'tcha think? Waffles?” Aaron dropped the other plate of waffles in Juno’s hands along with a glass of milk.

Jupiter was already digging in, looking adorable as she shredded the pieces of cooked dough to pieces. Juno use a fork and knife.

“Itadakimasu, Aaron,” Juno said through a mouthful.

“Itadakimasu!!” Jupiter yelled, still devouring the poor waffle.

“Mhmm. Well, eat up you two. Since today’s your first day, it’ll be pretty light. You’ll get in a few hours of shop work, and then we can break for lunch and do some control work. How’s that sound?” Aaron dusted his hands and snapped, returning to human form still dressed in a tuxedo. With another snap, he reverted to a simple, black, collared shirt and a pair of khaki pants. A name tag appeared on his chest as he walked out. “See you downstairs, follow the arrows.”

“I wonder why he was in a tux in the first place,” Juno wondered aloud.

“I LIEK WAFFULS!!” Jupiter yelled, still devouring the small stack she was given.

“I know you do.” Juno chuckled as he watched his sister eat.

Down in the shop a little later, Aaron stood in front of the pair of siblings with a pair of nametags.

“Alright you two,” he started, “These are your name tags. Don’t lose them. Wear them on your shirt, preferably on the left side, over the heart.” Just to make a point, Juno put it on his right. Jupiter put hers on upside down… for some reason.

“......” Aaron facepalmed.

“Meh, I’ve dealt with worse. Okay, that aside, follow the arrows. You’ll have a rotating shift of duties for a while, so read your pamphlets. You’ll definitely need them on some of the shifts.” With that, two arrows sprang into being, directing Juno towards a mop and Jupiter towards a clipboard.

“Juno, you’re on mopping, since it’s hard to set water on fire. Jupiter, you’re on inventory because it’ll probably help with your impulse control. Do either job wrong and you’ll get spanked. And by spanked, I mean you’ll get lightly tasered in the butt.” Aaron held up a sparking hand, just to make a point.

“Yessir!” Jupiter yelled, saluting him rather amateurishly.

They went their separate ways, starting their jobs without much argument. Jupiter went to checking the nearly infinite stock that the store carried while Juno mopped, lighting the water on fire as he went to dry it again.

“Juno, that fire better not reach the carpet. Keep it on low burn to steam out the water if you have to, but keep it on the tiles, kay?” Aaron kept vigil behind his desk, working through a mountain of paperwork, seemingly not even looking at the two with his visor-like shadow-face.

The tip of the page he was currently holding began to light, quickly igniting the rest of the page. Juno was revealed deadpanning at Aaron across the room.

“I have more control over my power than you think.” To make a point, he mopped right next to the carpet and lit a fire right next to it. The carpet came away as it was before.

“Congratulations Juno, you just burnt the report that signed you on as a paid employee. You’re not getting a paycheck this month. And if you keep it up, all of us will be homeless within two. Control is key, dumbass. Rule one: You burn my papers, you screw everyone over.” Just to drive the point home, a bright red X burned its way into Juno’s face, right above his left eyebrow. “Two more of those and you’re getting a real asswhooping. Try not to fuck up again, baka.”

“One, I believe I just showed control--if not with the paper, then with the mop. Two, if you’re so powerful to bring the dead to life why can’t you resurrect a simple paper? Three, didn’t you say that our punishment was a tasering to the ass? Four, doesn’t all this make you the baka here?” His deadpan couldn’t have gotten more deadpan-y.

Aaron stood and strode over to Juno, presence filling and darkening the room as he walked. “One, emotional control. Just because you control where your fire goes doesn’t mean you won’t do something stupid in petty revenge, like burn an important document. Two, Void paper. Important documents are written on tamper-proof substances, idiot. How the hell you managed to burn it is beyond me. Three, you’re doing your job correctly, and for that I must commend you. However, idiocy is rewarded by three strikes. Four, if you call me a baka again, I’ll show you just what goes on in this shadowy brain of mine. Trust me, a single glimpse was enough to drive Zeus to a gibbering wreck.” He lifted Juno by the throat and brought him up to his suddenly incredibly high-up face. The visor narrowed and the two mysterious spots expanded, revealing that what was thought to be a face was actually just a mouth.

Aaron’s face was now the stuff of nightmares, a jagged grin set under a pair of malevolent eyes. “So, that clear?”

Choking from the shadow’s grip, he nodded affirmative. Aaron dropped him to the ground gasping for air. The oppressive aura radiating from the shadow disappeared, leaving him back at his normal height and expression. “See, this is why I decided to take you in for control training. What if you’d done that to someone who wasn’t quite so forgiving? Hmm? You might have lost your head or worse. If I wasn’t so able to repair things, I might have just killed you when you blew up your Equus.”

Juno growled, realizing exactly how much power his employer had for the first time. Without saying a word, he went back to his work, making sure not to singe anything.

“Good boy. Now, mop as much as you can before lunch, then we’ll work on control right after, mmkay? I’m gonna get another document going to replace the one you somehow burned. Remember, three strikes.” Aaron sat back behind his desk, drawing a paper out of nowhere and resuming his work on his mountain.

Jupiter was deep in the stacks of objects, making sure everything was supposedly in their correct place and nobody stole anything… even though they were the only one’s who’ve been in the shop since they got there.

“Rocket shoes. These can fly?” She puts the shoes on and examines them, finding no way of activation. “Well, that’s a lost cause.” As she was taking them off, the rockets deployed and she went flying all around the room, crashing into things and causing a general mess. 10,000 Volts of electricity proceeded to zap her in the right buttcheek, dislodging the shoes and sending her crashing onto a convenient mattress.

“I can fly!” Music starts to play inexplicably, singing “she can fly, she can fly, she can fly!”

“Gurren Lagann… what’s that?” She picked up an action figure that was two-hundredths the size of the actual Gurren Lagann. “Is this it?” Examining the toy for a moment, she sets it back down. “I guess so.” She checks that item off her list.

“Canned beets? I wonder why this is in the…” she looks up to find she’s suddenly in the food isle. “Well, that explains that.” She checks it off the list, satisfied that she’d done her job.

Suddenly, there was a slight thumping.

“Huh? I wonder what that is.” She follows the sound to find a can that was labeled “canned beets” with the second “e” in “beets” written on a separate paper and taped over an “a.”

She stared at the can for a second, then looks to her list and realizes that she read it wrong.

“Canned beats.” Picking up a can, the vibrations thrumming in her hand, she wonders what beats look like when canned. “I’m sure he won’t mind if I open one.” This was all it took for her to convince herself.

Those beats can still be heard roaming the corridors of Aaron’s shop to this day. Not that anyone really minded.

“Oh! Wedding dresses!!” Jupiter squeed as she found a pretty, fluffy white one.

A few minutes later and she was wearing it.

“Do you, Jupiter, take this man to be your husband?” she asked herself in a priest-ish voice.

“I do!” she responded.

“And do you, Mr. Mannequin take Jupiter to be your wife?”

“I do.” Her voice dropped an octave, sounding quite awkward coming from the girl.

“You may now kiss the bride.” Jupiter pulled the mannequin into a passionate kiss.

After a few moments of making out with the inanimate object, she realized she was kissing something used to display clothing. She let it go, watching with a light blush as it fell to the floor, lifeless as ever.

“W-welp! On to the next thing!” she barked nervously.

“M-m-m-maid outfits?!” Jupiter pulled the black and white costume out of a box, finding the fabric and lace to be of only the best quality. “I-I should try it o-on... just to make sure it’s working pr-properly!” Yet again, her weak will to coercion got the better of her and she soon found herself in a skimpy maid outfit.

Just then Aaron walked in.

“Jupiter! I was just going to check up on y-” He spotted the girl, frozen in the isle, blushing a deep crimson.

Aaron slowly backed away, not saying another word.

“That girl, I swear…” he said after he was around the corner.

Aaron disappeared from view, leaving a faint hint of ozone and chocolate ice cream behind.

“Th-that scent…” Jupiter mumbled to herself, glancing over to Mr. Mannequin who was still lying on the ground where she left him.

Her blush grew even more.

“Evil crystals of semi-ultimate power.”

The name was enough.

“Oh, there it is.”

The sound of pencil on paper, supposedly checking something off, could be heard.

“Omnitools. Huh….” After a moment Jupiter found a glowing orange gauntlet with a hovering disk over the back of the palm. “Hmm… this looks like it, I guess.” She picked it up and put it on, out of curiosity more than anything. “I wonder how it-” Pressing a button, the wall she’d been pointing at exploded.

The gauntlet was replaced on the shelf she found it and she walked away.

A light shock ran through her again.

“Excalibur. Why does that sound familiar?” she asked herself as she walked to the next shelf. “Oh yeah! Wasn’t it that sword that made Arthur a king?” She looked at the shelf, finding at least three dozen exact copies of a holy-looking sword.

“So much for the one king.”

“Baymax? What’s that?” A small trinket fell from the top shelf and bopped Jupiter on the head. “Ow!” she whined, rubbing the sore spot.

Three beeps could be heard, followed by the sound of an inflating balloon. Jupiter turned to see a giant marshmallow-esque thing take a quick look around and spot her. It then made its way towards her with a repetitive, robotic walk.

When it finally did reach her, standing a comfortable foot and a half away from her, it raised a hand and waved a circular motion in the air. “Hello, I am Baymax; your personal healthcare companion.” The thing’s voice was not monotonous, but it was obviously computerized.

“Uh…” Jupiter said, not completely sure how to respond to what she was seeing.

“I heard a sound of distress. What seems to be the trouble?” Baymax asked with a caring tilt of the head.

“O-oh, I just, uh….” Jupiter picked the trinket up, which happened to be a glass tiger. “This fell on my head, that’s all. I’m fine,” she assured Baymax.

“On a scale of one to ten-” a visual aid appeared on Baymax’s chest, showing a basic scale of smiley faces in progressing shades of yellow to red and happiness to pain, “-how would you rate your pain?”

“Um… a one?” She seemed more like she was asking than telling, but Baymax seemed to take it as an answer. “I’m fine, really.”

“Does it hurt when I touch it?” He reached over to Jupiter and placed his puffy hand on her head and began rubbing.

“Uh....” She was surprised by the sudden contact, but found herself melting into the soft, pillowy hand of Baymax. “I-it feels g-g-good…” she moaned out.

“I see. I will continue to administer rubbing to sooth your pain.”

Several minutes of rubbing followed this encounter.

“Captain America’s shield. Isn’t that made of vibranium?” She looked around, finding the iconic defense item leaned up against a shelf. A little jingle could be heard from a speaker placed behind it.

“When Captain America throws his mighty shield~ All those who oppose his shield must yield~”

“Weird,” she said, picking it up. “I wonder….” She put it on her arm, then performed the throwing motion he always did, launching the shield like a discus. It bounced off several walls and shelves before coming right back to her. Sadly, she knew not how to catch it and ended up ducking under it. It rebounded for several more minutes before coming to a rest right back where she found it.

“That’s enough of that,” she said, a little shaken up. She hurriedly checked the box and moved on.

“Ectoplasm. Like the ghost goo?”

“Starship Enterprise. Wasn’t that a spaceship?” Jupiter asked, rounding a corner to find a nearly infinitely large hangar, housing everything from tie fighters to the Death Star. “Woah! Oh, there it is.” Off to the left was Enterprise, polished to a shine and ready for exploration.

“Tamp-” She stopped herself short, taking a quick look around with a light blush adorning her face. Finding it, she crossed it off her list and moves on.

“Makeup. Oh! I love makeup!”

“I’m a pretty princess!” Jupiter had makeup all over her face, the lipstick smeared across her cheeks like the joker and more eyeshadow than a goth teen.

“Lingerie.” Jupiter, in her innocent mind, took a look around for this item. When she did stumble upon it, she didn’t quite understand the implications and the uses of such an item.

“This wouldn’t cover a girl at all! Isn’t the point of underwear to cover the private parts?” she complained.

She marked it off, still not completely understanding.

“Chibi Aaron.” Jupiter froze for a good three seconds. Rereading what she just read, then re-reread it. Then re-re-reread it, just to make sure she wasn’t mistaken.

Her eyes shot up after the third reread, finding the plush figurine in seconds. She broke physics with how fast she glomped the doll.

Snuggling ensued over the next three days; but, due to Aaron’s store’s void physics, this was all condensed into five minutes of EXTREME CUDDLES!!!

“Necro-... Necrono-... Neco-...” Jupiter tried to pronounce, but couldn’t quite get it out. “That one book!” she decided to call it, “Where is it....” The book was buried under a pile of papers, all labeled “do not open!”

“Here it is!” She reached down, taking the book in her arm and opened it to a random page.

“Moving on!”

“Chalk. Simple enough, I guess. Strangely normal, actually.” Confused, Jupiter walked around a little, finding the chalk on a large concrete slab… drawing… with themselves… and no help from anyone.

“I see....” She walked away, marking the chalk as present.

“Well then, you two. Excellent work today. Barring a few hitchups, I’d say you two are on your ways to becoming some pretty damn fine employees.” Aaron praised the two of them, leading them through a door and into a dining room already filled with a buffet of food. “Now dig in, we got a pretty long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“Hai!” Jupiter shouted with glee, purring as she walked over to the food and dug in daintily.

Juno, on the other hand, was a little more angry with Aaron; taking his seat and eating the food simply because he needed sustenance lest he die.

Aaron sat and began eating as well, reverting back to human form just because he felt like it.

And so the family ate.

Fin

Author's Notes:

Heh... I don't know what I'm doing anymore