The door rattles as Pizzahead steps into the decrepit, old building. It’s not the worst establishment he’s been in, mind you- being in the business for as long as he had been you got used to seeing your fair share of absolutely horrid work environments- the ironic thing being that most establishments with horrible conditions seemed to have the best food, maybe they put all the effort into cooking instead of basic housekeeping, at least in terms of small businesses, corporations seemed to be horrible at both- his own included. The interior has quaint tiling, purple and blue laid out across rotting floorboards. The walls aren’t fairing much better, either- the wallpaper tearing with hints of rot near their corners. The few tables scattered around the place are covered in leftover pizza boxes, and there are tipped trash cans and trash bags scattered throughout the floor. “The owner of this place better be glad I’m not a health inspector,” Pizzahead thinks to himself. No, no, what he wants to know is why the establishment of his archenemy has found itself inside his tower. 


        The humanoid walks up to the counter, ringing a dingy bell resting on its surface a myriad of times before growing bored when no reaction results from the commotion. He hunches over, beginning to head back toward the door in defeat with a sour expression before hearing strange, wet sounds behind him. They sound uncanny, like if blended meat had gained consciousness and was able to move, loose, moist pieces of meat rubbing and pressing together into an approximation of a person. Pizzahead shudders in response, such sounds greatly disturbing his hearing before he turns around- yelping as his eyes make contact with something resembling his nemesis- Peppino, though something is clearly wrong. 


        “W-Wuh what are you!?” Pizzahead shouts in response, quickly grabbing a nearby broom and pointing the tip towards the perceived threat. The creature does little in response except pluck the broom out of his hands, tossing it to the side as it inches closer to Pizzahead, one eye drooping far away from its socket. Despite the creature being nearly five feet shorter than Pizzahead, he is still frightened, backing away slowly with his arms up as the strange mimic corners him wordlessly. 


        His breath is hitched as the mimic leans closer, anticipating the worst, but is surprised when it just stands there, watching as if anticipating something. Their doughy body presses against his smaller build, making him squirm slightly in response. 


“Piiiiizzzzaaaa?”


        The creature’s voice is low and gurgly, sounding close to what Pizzahead images someone would sound like if they were drowning. He furrows his brow in confusion at the question: what exactly are they asking? Is he a pizza? Does he want pizza? There are a lot of ways to interpret just a single word without any other context…although Pizzahead can’t imagine that this creature would actually know how to cook, let alone run a business, so he assumes the former. 


“U-um… yes?”


        He winces as he assumes the worst, despite the noodly arms the creature possesses, they are quite strong, easily holding Pizzahead in place with their body weight alone. He can’t help but anticipate them leaning forward to devour him whole, all while he struggles and pleads for help before being reduced to nothing but nutritious sludge, much like the pizza he serves to his customers daily, though this time objectively more horrifying. 


“Please don’t hurt me-” he whimpers uncharacteristically, ready to cry his eyes out if it means he’ll get out of this place. “I-I won’t ever come back I promise just please let me go! I won’t tell anyone about this place!” The mimic leans closer as Pizzahead continues to beg and plead, before…giving him a hug and running off? The hug didn’t feel bad- mind you, quite the opposite really, it was warm and gooey- and the mimic’s grip felt tight but safe and assuring. Pizzahead is still terrified though, and bolts towards the door as soon as the crude mockery of Peppino lets him out of their sight. Yet almost as soon as he begins to step he is quickly dragged to a table by the arm as the creature grabs him, using its free hand to knock the garbage that was on top onto the floor. How classy. 


A simple cheese pizza is placed in front of Pizzahead, piping hot with visible steam rising from the metal plate it rests on. It seems he had misinterpreted their earlier question, and seriously underestimated them to boot. He shakes his head and pushes the plate away, “Hey now, this is all a big misunderstanding I don’t want-” Before Pizzahead can finish speaking a slice of cheese pizza is stuffed firmly between his lips by the creature, followed by a drink straw as soon as he finished swallowing. It seems the strange creature really wants him to eat their food. 


“E-eaaatttt….” The creature manages to groan out, startling Pizzahead once more as the straw is removed from his mouth with a wet pop, the creature managing to get him to down the whole cup in one go. He doesn’t want to anger them, so he supposes it would be best to do what they say, and the food is surprisingly good…as much as he hates to admit it. Still, he doesn’t want to stay here any longer than he needs to, so he tries once more to speak. 


“Hey buddy, I don’t know what you’re trying to pull here but I didn’t come here to eat, understand? I would like to have a word or two with you concerning business.” The creature doesn’t seem to want to hurt him at least, so he reasons that maybe he can manage to intimidate them into leaving after all. 


The creature doesn't seem interested in all this talk though, merely tilting its head to the side like a confused puppy before awkwardly pressing another slice of pizza up to Pizzahead’s lips. He sputters a bit and flails as he tries to talk more, only to be shut up as the tip of the slice presses against the back of his throat the second he opens his mouth. After gulping the second slice down, his stomach growls slightly, appetite stimulated from the feeding, much to Pizzahead’s own dismay. “Now great look what you’ve done,” he says indignantly, grabbing the third slice on his own both to sate his hunger and to keep the mimic from feeding him themself. 


The cheese on the pizza is flavorful but awfully greasy, grease dribbling down Pizzahead’s chin as he eats, and staining his gloves off-white. “Mmmmh….” the cheesy humanoid moans, licking his fingers clean as he finishes a third and fourth slice, all the while keeping a close eye on the mimic- who appears to just be watching him eat silently.


Four slices was usually where he would stop on his own time, though Pizzahead had the growing suspicion that the mimic wasn’t going to let him leave unless he finished the whole thing. Still, he tested the waters, not particularly wanting to eat until he felt sick. “A-as I was saying…you gotta go, I can’t have a Peppino Pizza inside my tower, you understand? Look, I know you aren’t Peppino, you can’t fool me, but whatever this sick joke is- I’ve had more than enough!” The mimic lets out a sad gurgle at this, seemingly understanding, nodding their head. 


Before shoving another slice of pizza into Pizzahead’s unexpecting mug. 


“Pizza here no good…Feppino help!” The mimic explains happily, gurgly chirps permeating throughout their throat like a birdsong. “You far too skinny to be cook,” the mimic states bluntly, poking a finger against Pizzahead’s flat middle before poking the same finger into theirs, as if to accentuate the difference in their builds. 

        “Excuse me!?” Pizzahead hisses, staring at the fake Peppino with disbelief. How dare they insult him like that, and right in his own tower too. This whole scenario is absolutely humiliating to the poor guy, and try as he may he really doesn’t seem to have power over the mimic. Sheepishly, he hides his face, unsure of what to do in the situation at this point, and not wanting to admit that despite everything going on…he kind of liked it? It felt nice to let someone else be in charge for once, even if that wasn’t exactly what he had planned. A nervous chuckle escapes his lips as he comes to terms with such feelings, maybe he should go ahead and chase the high…it's not like anyone else in the tower knows about this place.


“So that’s what all this is about…you want to make me a better cook?” Pizzahead asks, “Why don’t you just teach me? I fail to see how eating more would help…” This statement seems to cause Feppino to shake their head, making a “tsk, tsk, tsk,” sound as they point towards a sign in the establishment, depicting a cartoony Peppino remarking “Nothing compares!” Pizzahead tilts his head in confusion, not understanding what the mimic means. The mimic then takes the remaining slices of pizza and stacks them on top of each other, pinching at Pizzahead’s pudgy cheeks to get him to open his mouth once more, stuffing the rest of the pizza inside. 


“Is about image….pizza fine, but pizza head no look like cook, cook supposed to be plump! Pizza head so small…” 

“I don’t feel small…” Pizzahead hiccups, leaning back in his seat. There was some truth to what the fake Peppino was saying, he didn’t like to eat much, he felt the opposite- that it made him less appealing to customers. His cheeks flush as he nervously places a hand against his stomach, a slight bulge being visible underneath his overalls, his shirt feeling somewhat tight against his full gut. A small belch escapes his lips as he rubs over the surface, fidgeting as he tries not to look the mimic in the eyes, unable to believe that he actually let it feed him like that. 


So you can imagine his surprise when the mimic runs a finger down the curve of his middle. Pizzahead’s eyes lid slightly as they do this, sighing in overfull bliss before coming back to his senses. “W-wait-”


“You like?” The mimic asks curiously, “Feppino take care of you!” they giggle happily. Pizzahead’s cheeks light up more as he looks at the gooey humanoid, feeling…a vague sense of affection? 


“So can keep restaurant?” Feppino asks. 


Pizzahead nods, “Well…I suppose it wouldn’t hurt…I-I mean I guess I could use an extra cook?” At this, the fake Peppino picks Pizzahead up, making cheerful chirps as they spin him around, much to his dismay. As Pizzahead is placed back down, he dry heaves a bit, feeling dizzy and a little sick. “W-well…this was all very nice but I really should get going…” Pizzahead says, face still a bit green as he sits up, round belly becoming much more apparent as he stands, jutting out a few inches from his lanky body awkwardly. 


“Wait…” the mimic says, gently grabbing Pizzahead’s hand in its own before letting go as he continues to make his way towards the door. “Come back tomorrow?” 


“Sure,” Pizzahead says, smiling softly as he leaves, “I’ll come back tomorrow.”