[ WP ] You stand in shackles before the king . `` You have angered the gods for the last time ! '' his high priest declares . Stubborn as you ever are , you look to the sky and defiantly reply , `` Prove it . ''

`` Are the shackles really necessary? ``, I asked as I watched Mr. Waterson angrily tap his pen to the tune of `` Shake it Off'', way off-beat, of course. 
 
 In response, Mr. Waterson raised his left eyebrow to incredible heights and bellowed, `` Thomas, you do realize that you've dealt a severe blow to the company with your inane actions, or am I mistaken?'' 
 
 `` Prove it'', I challenged, as a gigantic bead of sweat crawled its way down from my forehead to my upper cheek. There was no way Mr. Waterson knew about *that*... right? 
 
 Sighing enormously, Mr. Waterson stood up from his desk and walked over to the nearest file cabinet, from which he drew a massive folder filled to the brim with loose papers and other pieces of what I assumed to be incriminating evidence. After taking a moment to appreciate the heft of the collection of paper that he held in his hands, Mr. Waterson threw it down onto his desk with alarming force, knocking over a mug emblazoned with the words `` # 1 High Priest'' and spilling the amalgamation of writing utensils onto his otherwise tidy station. 
 
 Once properly seated in his throne, Mr. Waterson opened up the folder, picked out a rather conspicuous piece of paper, and tossed it in front of me. 
 
 `` Take a look at that, and tell me what you see'', he told me, and in the fraction of a second when our eyes met, I could swear that I saw a hint of the nastiest of smirks sparkle within the depths of his electric blue irises. Before I could take a closer look, however, the gleam had already reverted back to the dull sheen of Mr. Waterson's usual gaze, and I decided to let the matter go and turn my attention to the article lying on the table in front of me. 
 
 What I saw nearly blasted my soul straight through my nostrils, but with whatever willpower I had left, I managed to keep myself in check and collect my motor functions enough to swallow the fear that had suddenly overwhelmed the inside of my mouth. There, sitting right there before my eyes, was a photograph of me stealing broccoli straight from the mouth of one of our company's prized llamas. Overwhelmed by the situation, I found myself barely able to utter my next words: 
 
 `` I-I Mr.Waterson, I c-can explain!'' I yelled as I scrambled through the inside of my brain trying to conjure up some sort of reasonable explanation to the situation. 
 
 `` There's nothing to tell here, Thomas. We have photographic evidence that you stole the broccoli from our poor, unsuspecting Ferdinand there. *King* Ferdinand, no less. I think it's safe to say that your time in this company is just about over'', Mr. Waterson declared as he neatly arranged the fallen pens back into his pretentiously decorated mug. 
 
 I had no response. I just could n't figure out a way out of this mess. How was I supposed to tell Mr. Waterson that I only took the broccoli to feed my starving children back home? How was I to eloquate to him that our yearly compensation of $ 6 was just nowhere near enough to sustain a healthy livelihood, let alone survive in a humane fashion? How could I possibly explain to him that I had n't meant King Ferdinand the Llama King any ill will? And who the fuck names a llama Ferdinand anyway??? 
 
 After gauging my expression for a moment, Mr. Waterson pointed to the door and said, `` Thomas,'' Mr. Waterson rose from his chair to impress upon me his superiority, `` You've angered the higher-ups time and time again with your antics. I think it's time you packed your things and went home''. Bastard. I could see his body trembling from excitement. He had been waiting for this day to come ever since I got assigned to this branch! He probably had records of every misdemeanor that I had conducted in my entire time in the company! 
 
 And even if I wanted to get up and leave, I could n't because of these stupid shackles holding me down. `` Mr. Waterson... Uhm. Could you maybe, you know? Get these...'' I made an obvious gesture towards the metal that latched painfully onto my wrists and ankles, hoping that Mr. Waterson would release me from my literal shackles with some sort of key. Or so I thought. 
 
 For a second, Mr. Waterson did n't really react. But as I attempted to try again, his face scrunched up into the most hideous of smiles, and with a shrug he told me, `` Whoops. I forgot that I lost the key to those shackles last week!'' 
 
 Pure horror flooded over over me as I realized that I would be stuck inside his office until I became the spitting image of those medieval skeletons that you see in depictions of dungeons and the like. In vain, I struggled against my cold, iron restraints, while Mr. Waterson's small chuckle rapidly evolved into a ear-shattering cackle. 
 
 *I'm gon na be stuck here forever* I thought as all my remaining sanity took off from my mind in droves. *There's nothing I can do. * 
 
 I was on the verge of quitting; I was ready to surrender to my wretched fate, to my untimely and rather pathetic demise. But then, as I sunk deeper into an irreparable state of despair, I was saved. 
 
 **'' STOP, FIEND! `` ** roared out a voice from the deepest corners of space and time itself. 
 
 Something was clearly amiss. That is, apart from the fact that some grand-ass voice just shot out from literally nowhere. Rather, as my eyes darted around the room hunting for the source of the anomaly, I locked my gaze upon Mr. Waterson, who was no longer the Mr. Waterson that I knew and hated. Instead, in front of me stood a towering beast, standing multiple heads above me and several armspans... across... me...? Or something like that. Anyway, the monster that was once Mr. Waterson now resembled a cross between the Beast from *Beauty and the Beast* and the alien from... well... *Aliens*. 
 
 **'' SO YOU'VE COME AT LAST, LLAMAMAN! `` ** screeched Mr. Waterson-ofa-fucking-shit-what-is-that-thing, **'' I KNEW THAT IF I TORTURED LITTLE THOMAS HERE LONG ENOUGH, YOU WOULD SOON FOLL-'' ** 
 
 But Mr. Watersonofalimpbiscuitijustpissedmypants' words were cut short, as what I figured to be Llamaman shot through an alternate dimension and carried the abomination straight through a wormhole that had conveniently opened up where the window to the office would have normally been. 
 
 As the dust settled, and all of Mr. Watersonofaigiveupthisisdumbnow's belongings fell to the floor in disarray, I picked myself up from the ground ( the shackles had been torn asunder by Llamaman's entry. My limbs, however, were left miraculously intact ), calmly left the room, and closed the door behind me. 
 
 Chad, from accounting, ran up to me with a smug grin on his face. `` Hey, so did Mr. Waterson tell you off good?'' he inquired with genuine curiosity. Seeing my facial expression, however, his face shifted to a more troubled tone, and he asked, `` No way... Do n't tell me he fired you??'' 
 
 I shook my head and put my hands on Chad's shoulders. 
 
 `` I think today's a good day to quit. The gods above must be showing me a sign or something.'' 
 
 And so, I packed up my belongings and rode Ferdinand all the way back home. 
 
 The End 
 
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 Wheeee! Thanks for reading! Had a lot of fun with this prompt ( although I did make it into something a little bit completely different ) Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! Let me know if this is to your fancy, and I'll try to conjure up some more of this brilliant shit. Otherwise, hope y'all have a chill and fantabulous day. 
 
 Jayjubes out.
