Chapter Text
"Wow! Kristen... you didn't tell me you also resided in such a lively city! This is a gamers true dream..."
Kris snickers, What the fuck is he even saying?? I guess it makes sense... really is the dream. Ralsei raises an eyebrow at that, as they turn to go to the TV world building.
"Uh...any who! This is... where all the games are Berdly and Noelle! Me, Susie, and Kris often go here... I do warn... Kris is a bit of a err... 'tryhard' as Susie calls it."
Noelle laughs knowingly at that, Kris feels their cheeks redden, and the feeling of their SOUL squirm in their chest, Okay damn is my eldritch entity insecure about this?? The SOUL makes them yell,
"I just need to get the damn T-Rank okay?!"
Susie bursts out into laughter, Noelle squeaks slightly at the sudden defensive yell from her childhood best friend, Berdly smirks knowingly,
"Ah, a true gamer! Only wanting to get the best scores on games... I can respect that Kris."
Kris buries their face in their hands, their entire face burning red in embarrassment. They felt some other darkners staring at them, God damn it SOUL. Can you just shut up please?! The SOUL listens, the human can sense that it is also feeling embarrassment. At least it can feel empathy. Any who, the 5 all walk into the TV world building. Music blasted as they entered, pretty retro type music, before though...
"Susie? Was there always a door at the end of that hallway...?"
Susie squints slightly, and notices the door at the end of the hallway and replies,
"Uh... no. What the hell is that doing there? Should we go check that out or something?"
Kris nods and walks over to the door, it was like the doors back in TV World, expect it had the words... 'Mike' on either side of the door. It also held a password just like those doors. Ralsei points out the obvious,
"Well... it seems we have to find a code of sorts? Do any of you know how to open thi-"
Kris knowingly inputs the code. Did the SOUL seriously google the goddamn code to the door?? Why can't they just... tryhard it? I mean it's kinda real for that... but they didn't even bother to find clues! Kris mutters,
"Thank you google.com..."
Susie raises an eyebrow, and the voice of Berdly from behind them says,
"Hm... Kris... did you SERIOUSLY google the answer to the door? Hmph... I feel betrayed! I thought you were a true gamer... who would find all the clues before solving the puzzle! But alas you still rely on those silly websites for your answers..."
Kris shrugs, He's done that too. He's just as much of a fraud as I am.
"Eh, does it really matter though...?"
"YES IT DOES!!"
"...Ehhhh"
Berdly crosses his arms dramatically and was about to protest, but everyone already walked into the room.
...
The bird ran after the 4 just before the door shut behind them. When he entered... he was greeted with cat statues? And Kris was petting a damn mouse?? Like a literal computer mouse?? What... in tarnation is Kris doing. What the heck is a Mike, or rather WHO is he. And wait why did Kris suddenly grow a cursor tail.
Berdly could only watch, dumbfounded, as Kris with their new ability, pets the cat statues, which make them move.
"Hah?! What the hell kinda room is this?"
Susie comments, Noelle answers, thought very unconvinced of herself,
"Um... maybe someone in here really likes cats?"
Berdly sees Kris shake their head as they walk into the dark room up ahead, he quickly runs after the enby. Goodness they never seem to learn do they?
"Kris!! Don't just run into dark unidentifiable rooms by yourself! That's the NUMBER one rule of gaming you NEVER break!"
Kris seems to ignore him, as a voice suddenly appears out of the darkness,
"Hey, the heck are you doing in here?! Didn't you read that DOOR?!"
What the heck is happening?! Who is speaking... if my gamer senses tell me ONE thing this is gonna be a boss fight! Berdly readies his halberd, and Kris pulls out their sword. The 3 who just ran in follow suit with their weapons, besides Noelle of course. Kris answers,
"No, it said 'Mike'"
The mysterious voice seems to get aggroed at that and yells,
"IF YOU DIDN'T READ IT HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT SAID!?"
Susie clears her throat and says,
"Well what if we are Mike? You don't know us!"
Ralsei sighs and goes to say something to apoligize for Susie's lies, but the voice yells,
"What!? What!? You think you're Mike or somethin'!?"
Berdly and Kris both decide to say,
"Yeah we're Mike."
Berdly looks at Kris, the human grins, and so does he, as they high-five each other.
"Wrong! WRONG!! Are you GETTING this!? Ya hearing yourself YAPPING, ya room noise! AIR CHECK!!"
Berdly snickers and asks, a bit of a snark audible in his voice,
"Air check?? What in the BLAZES is an air check?? Did you perhaps mean to say-"
"... no, MIKE CHECK! There's only ONE real Mike..."
Suddenly, a figure that appears to be a literal rounded microphone drops from the ceiling in front of the FUCK gang (authors note: yes i will be empasizaing the fuck in FUCK gang) Berdly jumps at the sudden slam, and hears Susie's gasp and Noelle's small scream.
"And that's ME!!!"
And the fight commences, everyone's eyes but Berdly's and Noelle's turn to Kris.
"So Kris, what do we gotta do?"
Kris simply points to their SOUL and the box that it's in
"Let it do all the dirty work. I will guarantee that it will get us injured."
Berdly and Noelle could only watch in bewilderment as the heart shaped object seems to fly upwards using the box, increasing the volume of the music around them. Berdly covers his ears, the sound was simply ear piercing. Then all of the sudden it got quiet, the bird peeked open an eye and saw the box now on the floor as objects fly over the box. Then the music soon starts to play again.
"Kris... what is happening might I inquire?"
He asks, tilting his head slightly, Noelle adds in,
"And can you make it turn the music down please...?"
Kris answers,
"Uh, Mike. Also I can't turn down the music right now, we have to wait until after combat."
Aha so this IS like a video game... in that we can't change things until after the battle is over! Noelle has to understand, as she too is a fellow gam- Berdly looks at the doe, and she looks a bit confused but compliant with Kris's words. Kris readies for another attack, so does Susie and Ralsei.
...
The SOUL was horrible at the cat attacks. The SOUL also got very excited whenever the cat, as it's apparently called 'Pluey' appears on the screen. Needless to say, Kris and the others quickly got injured because the SOUL didn't realize it could move the box it's in back and forth. Kris has to resist the urge to roll their eyes at Berdly's remark,
"Wow Kris! I thought you were the expert no-hitter! I didn't expect you to fail so easily at a CAT! Even Susan could do better..."
"Oi birdbrain what the hell do you mean?! I'm good at dodging you little piece of-"
The dragon (lizard?? reptile?? guys serioulsy help me decide) goes to lunge at Berdly, but gets held back by Ralsei and Noelle.
"Okay um.. Susie don't go trying to kill Berdly again please...?"
Kris face flushes and grumbles, the human was oddly getting flustered a lot today. Maybe it was because Berdly was there to witness all their failures and daily doses of the SOUL being an utter idiot sometimes.
"Not my fault the-" Kris pauses, remembering that no one legit knows their possessed, then corrects, their tone a bit bitter, "that I'm utter shit at dodging..."
A couple more rounds later... a new mike came out, this time looking like a recording type of microphone that you see in videos, expect it for some reason wore a cowboy hat. It had the same mechanics as Pluey and the rounded mike. Argueably way easier than Pluey however. The SOUL was doing a pretty good job, but then a microphone, and a few straggler mics came charging.. and it was going to charge towards Berdly. Kris can't help but feel their heart rate pick up, as they fly themselves at the avian to block the attack. For some reason, they really hated the idea of seeing him get injured. They shouted,
"BERDLY MOVE!!"
As they body block the barrage of microphones and feel tons of blunt jabs into their abdomen. They cough at the speed and force of the attack, they fall back against Berdly, making the two fall to the ground.
"K-Kris?! Why on EARTH did you think that would NOT hurt!?"
Didn't realize microphones would hurt so much... that's DEFINITELY gonna bruise. Also... wait am I... Despite the situation, Kris's entire face flushes a light red as they realize that they're leaning against Berdly's chest. They try to stand, but fail to do so and quickly topple back against the bird's chest plate. Noelle, who wasn't participating in the fight but just observing, gasps and quickly pulls the two away from the fighting. Leaving Susie and Ralsei to do the dodging, and hopefully the SOUL could manage to survive for a bit longer.
"Kris! Are you alright? U-um... god..."
Noelle scrambles around, not knowing what to do. Kris felt sleepy, not in the "Oh I'm dying" way, just really tired suddenly. Berdly's presence was so warm... and his feathers holding them were soft... maybe if they just took a little... OW!! FUCK! Kris feels a sharp stab, they look up, Berdly fucking pecked them, and not in the kiss like sense.
"Don't fall asleep! That's what every character does whenever they're gonna die!"
Kris scoffs weakly, their eyes getting heavier with drowsiness
"Dumbass I'm not dying. I just got hit with blunt objects, it's not like I'm gonna pass out any second!-"
Kris then immediately falls asleep, which freaks out Noelle and Berdly.
...
Berdly was internally panicking. Was Kris dead?? They got hit by like... 15 microphones, which somehow damaged them badly! They're only at 9 HP according to the device that hovers around the heart shaped object. The heart seemed to be sweating?? It turns to look at Kris for a split second, before getting back to maneuvering through attacks. Berdly snapped out of his confused state, and carefully picks up Kris. Following Noelle to try to leave this room, but there was no door to leave. Meaning Kris would just have to stay here for a bit longer. And there was no way Kris could get healed in this battle since the option wasn't showing up. Kris seemed to be comfy against him though... as much as he was embarrassed that he had his rival resting against him. His reputation was gonna be destroyed after this.
Noelle kneeled down next to the two, her expression was full of amusement and a hint of excitement, she whispers,
"Berdly, I notice you haven't pushed Kris off of you yet ~"
Berdly's face flushes blue at that, he unconsciously tightens his hold on the human as he squawks as quietly at he can back,
"SHUT UP! I cannot just leave my rival with a sore neck from laying on the floor now can I?"
The doe laughs at his denial,
"Oh but it is necessary to have them practically ON your lap?? Fahaha!"
Berdly groans at that, and whispers aggressively, trying to save the last bits of his dignity,
"NO BUT IT'S THE SCIENTIFICALLY THE MOST COMFY SPOT!"
Noelle laughs harder at that, lightly slapping Berdly's shoulder, she was nearly in tears,
"Oh Berdly-! Fahaha! You should see your face! Aah... I've never seen you get so concerned over Kris before though! Fahaha... you're in so much denial!"
Berdly was done. Noelle could just see through him! How is she so good at this?! It's not like I was OBVIOUS about liking Kris! Thankfully, the sounds of battle stopping made Noelle stop prying into Berdly's totally secret crush. Berdly couldn't even comprehend what happened, all he knew was that the 5 of them were kicked out of the Mike Room after a bunch of yelling. He snaps out of his daze as he remembers that he's still holding- wait where's Kris?? He looks around, panicking again, then notices the goat person who looks suspiciously like Asriel healing Kris. Who soon is back to standing on their feet.
"Thanks Ralsei"
Kris barely utters out as Berdly violently shakes their shoulders,
"Are you alright my dear Kristen?!"
Kris blinks, then slowly nods,
"Uh... yeah? Ralsei's a good healer."
Berdly lets out a heavy sigh of relief, that seems to confuse Ralsei and Kris for some reason.
...
Berdly was acting weird, he was weirdly really worried about them. Not that they didn't mind, they sure liked it. The SOUL was quite energetic, it seemed really happy because of whatever happened between Kris and Berdly. Oh god please don't mention how I was resting against him PLEASE ON GOD. The SOUL speaks to Kris into their head,
"You were RESTING against Berdly, like not against his shoulder, full on laying on his LAP. AAA he lovesss youuu Kris!"
Kris hides their face in their cape as to hide the bright blush that spreads over their entire face, they whisper a little "Shut up." to the SOUL, who does exactly that. Kris can sense that it isn't done fangirling (fantheying?? fan-itting??) over this new development. So Kris just rounds everyone up again, as they finally, FINALLY decide to go play the funny rhythm game.
Kris was in the genderneutral bathroom, changing into their rockstar outfit. They didn't mind playing the rhythm game, it just gave them bitter memories, especially since they're the one who plays the guitar. Which was Dess's signature instrument, Kris had to admit, they didn't really like Tenna. Yeah he was a guy with abandonment issues and most likely has undiagnosed BPD, but he completely ignored Kris's own feelings, casually mentioning Dess and the divorce. Seriously, he was really selfish at that instance, he didn't even bother asking the human if he could say those things. Kris felt their eyes getting a bit wet at thinking about Dess, and gets back to fixing their hair for the game.
They adjusted their binder and patched up their makeup, before stepping outside to go onto the stage to wait for the others. But they were all there on the stage, Ralsei looks up, and smiles brightly at Kris finally walks out, they exclaim to the others,
"Alright! Let's get ready!"
Kris looks at Noelle and Berdly, Noelle was a singer, a back up one at that. That kinda upsetted them, Noelle was a good singer, arguably even better than Ralsei. She deserved to be main singer, no offense to Ralsei. She was wearing a pretty cool outfit, and... Oh. Of course it had to be related to Dess in some way. Noelle's outfit was that you'd see typically out of an emo band, like MCR. (authors note: goodness i for some reason do not want to describe it, i really want to but i dont. moving onto berdly though.) Kris found her outfit incredibly cool though, and they swear they saw Susie eye Noelle before going back to tapping the cymbal on the drumset. Kris looked at Berdly, he was wearing a really similar outfit to theirs expect his had a more blue color palette to it with bright yellow accents to it. Was it intentional to make our outfits similar...? Well he looks cool too. Berdly was playing the keyboard, which was quite funny since his feathered fingers were far too large to play the delicate keys. The bird didn't seem to mind though.
Kris lightly strums the metal strings on the guitar to get the attention of everyone, and they mutter,
"Ready?"
Everyone nods, and the game/concert starts.
Unsurprisingly, Kris- no the SOUL manages to mess up a note because their controls are weird. That mildly upsets them and Kris, but Kris also notes that Berdly is also struggling with perfection as he messed up on ONE note as well and looks like he is about to scream. Again, unsurprisingly, Noelle and Ralsei are hitting all the notes, and Susie... she's just having fun. Not even trying, hitting most of the notes, but still missing some of them. Goodness, how much Kris wishes to be like Susie... The SOUL proceeds to mess up again, it makes Kris drop their guitar and call for a reset.
"I messed up too many times we gotta run it again"
Kris heard Berdly let out a sigh of relief at that, and Susie audibly groan. Ralsei stammers out,
"O-oh! Um... okay on three?" Kris nods, as Ralsei counts down,
"1 2 3!"
And they start it again.
...
Boy the bird was sure glad Kris called a retry for it. He is a GAMER and needs to get the perfect score on this song! Hmm... Me and Kris are wearing suspiciously similar outfits for this... weird. Focus Berdly! You must get an ALL PERFECT on this song or else your mom will EXPLODE and Kris will die a horrible horrifying death that the Greeks went through!
He was doing great, he was getting all gold notes! But then...
"Timeout I missed a note"
"KRIS GOD FUCKING DAMNIT ITS FINE! IT'S FINE IF YOU MISS A DAMN NOTE!"
Susie yelled in frustation, Ralsei and Noelle both just glance at each other and laugh nervously. ...Damn it Kris! I had a perfect run too...
"Kris! I didn't know you could be THIS TRASH at rhythm games! I thought you could full combo all of the songs but alas... you aren't as skilled as you make yourself to be!"
Kris's face contorts in embarrassed frustation, they mutter something that he can't make out, before yelling,
"This is different! It's not like Project Sekai! I have to actually use my fingers and hands to strum! And my fingers are FUCKING sore!! I saw you messing up on the first take by the way!"
Berdly smirks, and pries just a tiny bit further...
"Then simply get used to it! That was my first time playing... second take I was getting all gold unlike you, you SIMPLETON-"
Berdly then gets wacked in the face with one of Susie's drumsticks that Kris so happened to throw in anger. Kris was quite easy to ragebait whenever it came to the topic of rhythm games, the blue bird has learned this the hard way several times. He's gotten a phone chucked at his head. Susie lets out a loud laugh,
"Hah! Got whatcha deserved Nerdly! Now are we gonna try it again or what?!"
Ralsei nods and starts it off,
"Uh huh... 1 2 3!"
They start again, Susie somehow summoning a brand new drumstick into her hand.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Kris kept on resetting, until eventually...
The last guitar chord rang through the stage, and the whistle blew. The song was done. Kris drops the guitar and falls to the floor on their knees and lets out a scream that they appeared to be holding in the entire time.
"FUCK YEAH!!! FUCK THIS STUPID SONG!"
My god... Was Kris holding that in the ENTIRE TIME?! That was like a demon coming out of their body holy... They look really happy to be done with it though! Noelle screeched at the suddenness of said scream, Ralsei flinches at Noelle's noise and Kris's, Susie also lets out a yell.
"HELL YEAH!!"
Berdly just darted his eyes between each person, looking mildly confused.
"Uh... should we just...?"
Ralsei nods urgently, and after a quick costume change, everyone flees the room.