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As I was about to get ready to scream for Ralsei's attention so I could get a translator, I caught a glance at Tenna's new TV studio in the plaza and remembered that Tenna's cronies made a new area that had a speaking area for the gimmick right? Maybe I can use that and speak to Susie directly! Although I need 'their' cooperation to do so. I float over decently quickly because I don't want anyone to question why there's a heart floating around and ask Ralsei dragging in someone that doesn't have to be. Pushing a door with such a tiny body is SUCH a pain, like shoving open the closet door was a struggle enough, but here I gotta twist a doorknob using my little heart body! However I only have nothing but determination and time, so I will go until I can't!
Once inside there lay familiar doors for the minigames, but then I spot what I want, the Mike Door, this thing is normally closed and on Day 4 I didn't even need a code, too bad that I can't just knock, but whatever, I already know the code. I put it in knowingly and head in. Normally these statues would stop me from moving forward, but only the tall ones actually can stop me, so I go to the end of the hallway where the terrified Maus is, once I "pet" (mostly just rub myself on the head of it) the statue it vanished, and the Maus became a hand for me! I didn't really know the last time I did this since I was in Kris's body, but this time the hand actually let me FEEL things while I was a SOUL, and it was a completely different experience than when I was in a vessel! Before it felt like everything had a plastic film over it while I was wearing gloves, but now it's all SO SMOOTH, SO ROUGH, I CAN ACTUALLY FEEL THEM! While I rub the walls for the texture I move towards the Mike's room and once I enter I get access to speaking! YES PART 1 DOWN, NOW I NEED CONFIRMATION BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THE PLAN.
Here he comes, the "man" of the hour, MIKE (aka battat pippins) and the first thing the little guy says "What's the big idea, who the heck are you!? Don't you know that door is for Mike's only?!"
In response I give a quick "Yes, my name is also Mike"
Not quite expecting that response he goes "oh, well this is awkward, wasn't expecting that, well what the heck do you want here?" with a bit of frustration in his voice.
"Easy, I have a very important, something that is EXTREMELY important for me, question. CAN YOU LET ME USE THIS POWER IN A SHORT WHILE, I HAVE SOMEONE I WANNA TALK TO BUT THEY CAN'T HEAR ME, BUT IF I'M HERE THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO!" I ask/demand with my hand gripping his shoulder
"Fair enough fair enough, but why would I let you leave if you know my secret about what I look like"
"Listen here you little green pippins, I swear to the Angel and everything above that if I don't get what I'm asking for when I'm being polite, you, that Zapper, and the damn CAT won't be able to get the taste of yourself out of your mouth when I SHOVE THIS GLOVED HAND UP YOUR #$! AND STRAIGHT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH, FOR THE NEXT MONTH. Do I make myself clear?" I very clearly threaten emphasizing with shoving my index finger underhand to where his nose would be.
Mercy 100%
Oh cool I can mercy people through threats! Shoulda figured that with some of the ACTs before, whatever.
"Uh understood, quick question how the heck did you know who we are"
"Oh simple little pippins, I'm the bloody Angel. Final little thing, when I do the "talking" does it have to be in this room specifically, or is it possible for me to use it while in the Dark World from now on?" Now patting his little Mike head.
"Uh.... sorry Angel, only this area."
"Figures, well at least this Maus will stay with me in your guys's area, that's gonna make petting her all the BETTER"
"Ehehehe, eheh, sure boss, whatever you say boss"
"Don't worry, I won't tell Tenna about you guys not being Mike, not like it matters, he's looking for someone to adopt him anyway, you guys will probably be free in a days time. I WILL be back in a few minutes." I leave as I point as him, making VERY CLEARLY this was going to happen.
Now that I FINALLY got myself some way to talk to Susie, I just need to lure her here, shouldn't be too hard! Before I continue on with the plan I SAVE just so I can NOT deal with that whole debacle of dealing with "Mike" again. SUSIE HERE I COME, NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW AHAHAHHAHAHA. As I leave the room I have the Maus wait for me by the door of the Mike Room so I can equip it again once I re-enter. Thankfully the door is unlocked and I nudged it open before "disarming" myself.
While on the way to Susie I wonder about everything we can talk about, making a mental note to try to avoid talk about things that could end badly, such as avoiding the "forbidden path" and genocide when possible, just try to steer the topic away from those. OH GODDAMMIT I FORGOT ABOUT THE FACT THERE ARE A FEW DOUBLE DOORS IN THE WAY, UGH. I really frig- oh cool they're very light despite looking sturdy. A slight bump makes 'em move, so getting past the front doors is easy. Then I encounter a problem... Lancer... he's sleeping in the cauldron that Ralsei uses to make cake... The little buddy seems passed out but I don't know who else could be around, so I need to be careful, really don't want to drag anyone in that I don't have to, I wanna talk ONLY to Susie. Mike was an exception because I needed their gimmick.
I guess I have to slowly float across the ceiling towards the hallway leading to the rooms. Lancer seems to be sleeping peacefully, the little goober having no idea that everyone around him is having a pretty #$!% day due to the Knight and their actions of summoning a Titan. Why the hell is he even in that anyway? Was he trying to make a cake for his bike or his many "Dads". Oh god I hope I don't run into Rouxls, he'll make everything worse if he catches a WHIFF of me. AUGH I NEED TO KEEP MY THOUGHTS IN CHECK I'M RAMBLING IN MY OWN MIND.
Despite my panicked mind there was no real issue sneaking to Kris's Room that Susie is sleeping in. OTHER THAN THE FACT IT'S CLOSED, god I hate doors now, I'm like that one little annoying robot and his attitude to stairs, mortal enemies. Thankfully I don't have to pull, it's a push door, I only need to push the handle down enough for it to pop open, and that isn't so hard, just annoying.
Through all these challenges, I've finally arrived, to the room where my Sleeping Beauty lies! Unlike Sleeping Beauty though I won't be kissing her to wake her, don't want her to mistake me for a snack someone left on her mouth. So as gently as I can I rub myself all over Susie's head to try to wake her. She swats me away for a few attempts, but on my 4th attempt she finally opens her eyes upset.
"$!$#, didn't think there were flies in the-"
SUSIE HIIIIIIIIIIIII
Why does she have to stare so confusedly, like, she should know I'm his soul, shouldn't be too hard to put 2 and 2 together, but I guess by her school record some people would doubt she could.
"What. The. $#!$. Why are you here? Aren't you Kris's Soul? $#!$ DID SOMETHING HAPPEN TO KRIS!?"
Rapidly I shake left and right to hopefully say no, can't let her tell Kris or Ralsei, or they might do something.
"No, but the hell-" before she could finish her sentence, I can't hold myself back anymore and start rubbing all over her head again. It's very rare that I can get this close and not get mauled, I'M TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE GIRL. "pffft that tickles, stop it!"
Fine I'll stop for now, thankfully this should show I'm non hostile! Time to lure her! Once I get off her I quickly hover near the door nudging it.
"You trying to lead me somewhere or some $#!$? I can't tell at all, first you come in here to wake me up, tell me no when something happened but still want to leave the room?"
You are almost there my Dragon! C'mon follow me! Or please open the door, it's a pull now.
"Oh you can't open it, fine. Bring me where you want to go, you little, cartoon? Heart?"
Despite being able to get her where I want, I still don't want to be seen, so once I bring her to the entrance of the hallway I move towards it, then dash into her vest to hide myself. She of course is confused as to why, looks, and see's why. "Lancer? He isn't going to hurt your or anything, hell he'd probably be happy to play!" Vigorously I move in a no motion. "Huh? Why? Oh damn it you can't talk. I don't get it but whatever, you don't like Lancer."
Using the area between her and her vest I pull her to the front door, thankfully Susie didn't try to wake him up. She slowly walks the way I pull her until we get to the TV studio, once inside I fly out of her vest. SWEET I ALMOST HAVE IT! I CAN TALK TO SUSIE ALL I WANT FOR AS LONG AS I WANT, PROGRESS WON'T CONTINUE! *mHM* I float over to the Mike Door which Susie is surprised by "Huh, didn't know there was a door here before, I think there was a Susiezilla game here last time. Wait why is it open?" HAH IT DIDN'T CLOSE SINCE I WAS HERE LAST, MAKES THINGS SO MUCH EASIER.
Past the door the Maus re equips itself to me, and I do what I've always wanted to do. PATS AND PETS! Susie was less accepting that I'd wish. "GAH, WHAT THE HELL MAN! DON'T JUST TOUCH ME SUDDENLY!" I then poke her cheek and she responds by biting my hand, and I recoil since having my first real pain from Susie, I'm used to getting hurt, but not from her... I got what I wanted though, the feel of those smooth scales, her rough hair, and damn those teeth are sharp and smooth.
Well fine, you don't want pats yet, then come with me, beckoning her to follow into the Mike Room she follows, grumbling the whole time. "First the #$!#$#@ Titan, now Kris's SOUL is dragging me somewhere in the middle of the night, then I suddenly get touched all over by it?! This better be good."
Once she enters the room I shut the door and making sure the Mikes aren't here, I hope things work as I planned.
"Ah, ah, testing testing, one two, can you hear me?" I ask while floating at eye level."HOLY $#!%" She is very obviously not expecting this.
"IT WORKS, YES, AFTER SO LONG I CAN FINALLY TALK TO SOMEONE, AHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA. SUSIE, you have no idea how long I was waiting for this."
"Waiting for someone to talk to? Couldn't you talk to Kris, I mean, your his soul!"
"Nononono, my sweet little Dragon, I couldn't, he can't hear me, he at most knows I have thoughts. So now that I'm here, FULLY ABLE TO SPEAK, I WILL GRANT YOU THE ONE THING YOU'VE BEEN WANTING" holding my index to represent one.
"Infinite Ham Sandwiches?"
"No, I will give ANSWERS to anything you want to know, also sorry for patting you unprompted, I've just always wanted to do that to such a cute girl that I've hung out with for so long!"
"Don't do that again, and why do you want to do the answer thing?"
"Oh Susie, the best girl, the girl of prophecy, the one with love crossed her heart, I've been with you since the start of the group projects, I've seen how upset it makes you when people keep hiding stuff from you, so I broke free from my cage (figuratively and literally) to let you know what you want to know!" Holding out my palm towards her.
"I have, so many things to ask, but I'll start over from when I saw you in my room, aren't you Kris's SOUL?"
"Nope, I'm like a replacement, Kris definitely HAD a soul at some point, but I'm not THEIRS. I'm sure if I really was, they wouldn't beat me with a hockey stick so badly it'd leave wood stuck in me." I say while dragging over myself with my new hand, feeling the splinters from this SAVE's beating. I slow down for a second, realizing the texture of my body was a lot more... rough than expected. It felt as if I was made of a Velcro material, now I'm wondering how tough I am if I was made with such tough stock.
"Wait, the Kris I know is cool and funny, why would they beat you with a hockey stick?"
"Oh girl you aren't gonna like this, Kris was trying to stop me from reading the Shelter Code inside of Dess's guitar, the one you played in front of Noelle."
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah, I don't get it either, I mean, they took me out when I already read 3 of the 4 digits, even if the password wasn't SUPER OBVIOUS, I could just trial and error it, I don't get why he had to beat me for it."
"NOT THAT! Why was Kris trying to stop you from reading the code?!" My gorgeous little Susie asks angrily.
"Because he's working with the Roaring Knight, took a long while for me to find that out, but I eventually did, died a LOT to do it."
"HE'S WHAT?!" She's so pissed, but fair.
"Working with the Roaring Knight?" I try to make my hand into a question mark above me.
"WHY?!"
"From what I could figure out, the Roaring Knight is a person who they trust a lot, I mean, they even had a secret message that they used in their fight to mean "Hey, kill me now" like they weren't taking the fight seriously until then! AND THAT CODE WAS JUST A COUGH!"
"Wait, so that's why...... Once I get to Kris I'm gonna BITE THAT STUPID FACE OFF, HOW COULD THEY TRY TO CAUSE THE ROARING, ARE THEY THE WHOLE REASON WHY THE KNIGHT KEEPS GETTING AWAY?!" she screams while snarling, showing off each individual tooth, all gleaming, guess she's been brushing her teeth regularly!
"Don't think so, at least from what I know. There has to be something deeper going on, I mean, there is a plan they have, but I don't know what it is... I do know one thing though, this deal is hurting Kris too." I slowly ease my hand onto her shoulder to calm her, that high quality leather feel of her vest is definitely nice to the touch, makes me wish I could have been able to feel things much earlier.
"OH, SO THE DEAL THAT ENDS WITH THE END OF THE WORLD HURTS KRIS?! WHO COULD HAVE #$!%##! GUESSED?!" Sarcasm, I think, never been good at that like Ralsei. She's making it super obvious though, so I shouldn't doubt it.
"The deal is literally killing them slowly over time, whenever he wants to do anything they have to take me out so I can't see it, when Kris has no SOUL they slowly wither away. Recently though they've been building a resistance, I've got a few hours before they come back to try to put me back in."
"Earlier you said you were a replacement for his SOUL right? Could the deal have anything to do with that?"
"Sorry Susie, I don't know, I can control him sometimes but they're the one who has final say in a lot of things. Now I'm sorry to do this, but we should change topics, there is a lot I want to talk about with you, and I don't want to hold it all on account of that stupid Knight."
"What? NO TELL ME MORE!" She shouts incredulously.
"I'm sorry Susie, but I really don't know more, I would tell you if I did, really, but I don't have any more info" I pat her shoulder to try to comfort, it just resulted in her throwing my hand off...
Unhappy with knowing her vast well has run dry "GRAAAAAAGH", in a fit of rage she starts punching all around the room.
"If it'll make you feel better, feel free to use me as a punching bag." I offer sincerely, tapping myself to reiterate.
"Why the hell would I do that? You didn't have anything to do with it, you sound like as much of a victim as me and Ralsei."
OH SUSIE, THANK YOU FOR YOUR DELUGE OF UNDERSTANDING I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS MOMENT IN THE REST OF MY LIFE!
"I just want you to feel better Susie, however, is there anything else you want to know?"
"Gah, give me a minute to calm down and think. I need time."
"Take as long as you need, no one will interrupt u-" I was saying very matter of factly, until that damn cat walked in. "Wha, why are you here? Didn't your friend tell you that someone is here? HAVING A VERY SERIOUS DISCUSSION!?"
"♪♪♪♪" says Pluey, the Shadowguy. What the absolute $#!$ is this thing saying, I can't understand music. Then I notice a second intruder.
"We was told that someone scary was in da room, so we's havin' a look. I'm Motor Mike" says Jongler the Zapper.
"Well, we are having a very private, VERY SERIOUS CONVERSATION, NOW YOU'VE SEEN THE SCARY, NOW LEAVE!" I start getting VERY angry, there was a REASON I threatened that damned Pippins.
"♯♭♫♬" it says...
"I can't speak music, Jongler the hell did it say"
"Well he says... wait how'd you-"
"Do you know why I'm scary now? LEAVE, or I'll start saying some other stuff that'll make you wish you didn't come in! YOU TOO PLUEY, I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN THE ROOM IS EMPTY" I scream at them.
Susie very much caught off guard by my sheer anger is now staring with dinner plate sized eyes.
"*ahem* Sorry Susie, we were so very rudely intruded upon when I thought I got us a very closed space. You deserve all the privacy you can get when it comes to these question, and it wouldn't help having some BYSTANDERS, come in and decide that you shouldn't." I say while grip very tightly to air, I swear if this Maus had blood it'd probably bleed from how tightly I was. "So, are your thoughts in order now?"
"Uhhhh, the $#!$ was that about?" she asks
"Not much, earlier I came in here to make sure I could actually talk to you, and 'convinced' the one in charge of these bumbling fools to let me talk to you here, but turns out they're bigger idiots than I thought, so I'm sorry." I say with as much sincerity as I can inflict. Slowly opening my hand back up. "Oh while I'm talking, I'll explain some of my actions earlier when I first woke you up. First, I was extremely excited to meet you in person, but having no limbs at the time made it difficult to wake you up, and since I couldn't talk I couldn't just "Good morning sleepyhead" you. So I resorted to the best thing I could do, rubbing myself against you to wake you up. Next up I don't dislike Lancer, I just didn't want to make anyone else aware of me being here. Normally the Angel of Prophecy showing up is a big $#!%#!@ deal if you c-"
"Wait you're the Angel?" Interrupting I'm sure as kindly as she could
"Yep, in the... well I dunno if this is flesh, do you think it is? I mean I ripped off a good chunk earlier so I'm sure it's skin of some kind, but yes I am the Angel, but I'm not some 'holy being' I'm just some dude who has become the Angel after being unlucky enough."
" 'Unlucky'? How are you unlucky at being what the Prophecy says is a big help to us?" She's asking so nicely, but it hurts to see her be so innocent.
"Honey, remember what the Prophecy said about me? I'm to be banished once this is all over, not only that, but I have a horrible curse on me as well, normally being here would cancel that, but no, the curse is TOO HORRIBLE FOR THAT." I slowly increase in volume at my frustration with this damn eternity.
"What kind of curse do you have, maybe we can try to fix it?" So sweet, so cute, how I wish she could, nothing would make me happier. However...
"I experience time differently from everyone here... Remember how I said that I was here since the group project started? Well for you guys that was only.... 3 days now if it isn't midnight ago. For me, that was 10 years."
Oh damn I wasn't expecting her eyes to get even bigger than the last shock! I swear they might just pop out of her head! That wouldn't be any good!
"Holy $#!$ man, 10 YEARS?!" "yep" "How does that even work?"
"Alright so, I come in at the start of the day, usually when Kris wakes up, then once awake I'm crammed back into them, then we continue the day until it's nighttime, then Kris just YANKS me out and that's a day for you guys. However for me, once he yanks me out for the night, I usually get dragged to a black space that I call home that I also call "The Void", that place is depressing... I'd rather not talk about home. Just know it's not good. When I'm home all I can do is start a day again, start at the last time I SAVED before the end of the day, or just sit there. and wait, wait for the next thing to happen, or wait for the next time i decide i can't handle being in silence for the next day, butwhenienteradayovernothingeverchangesanditallstaysthesamewithnothingnewihavebeenslowlydriveninsanefromthelackofanythingchanging. *GAAAAAAAAASP* HOWEVER every once in a blue moon a new day comes out and I get to join you guys on your new adventures, learning all the new stuff with you, hear new music, experience all the fun I can alongside you! It's the thing I look forward to every single day of my life since I became the Angel!" I very expertly told her from all my experience.
Oh no, seems to have not been the right thing to say, she looks freaked out! Should I have not told her? But I have to, she needs to know everything she wants to!
"That must be so lonely. Stuck in our lives like that... I can't even imagine" She solemnly looks at me after thinking about it.
I swear to Angel, if I had tear ducts they'd have unleashed a flood so bad that even Noah would be concerned! This girl is such and ANGEL! UGH TOBY WHY'D YOU HAVE TO BE A JERK WHEN MAKING HER LIFE HELL BEFORE THE DARK WORLDS!
"SUSIIIIIIIEEEEE" I cry as I dash towards her chest stopping right before it, and hold my hand behind her back in a half hug.
Hesitating for a moment, she reciprocates and delicately hugs as best as she can, considering my size she did very well.
"Sorry for bringing something like that up, lets just go back to before, when talking about Lancer" She suggests.
"Okay, well I didn't avoid Lancer because I don't like him, Lancer is an adorable little ball. The thing is, if Lancer knew about me, he might tell someone else about the "flying red heart" and if passed down the grapevine enough, eventually Ralsei might hear about me. I don't want to drag him into this because I have a feeling things would just end up worse trying to explain this to two people rather than just you Susie."
"That makes some sense, I guess"
"Oh, we've been standing a while, I'll go see if any of those guys we met have a pillow you can sit on, you must be exhausted from the Titan fight we did."
"I don't" she starts hesitantly, however she changes her mind "actually please do."
"Be back in a minute!" I say excited as I fly away trying to find some of those ungrateful $#!%#!%#!
Ugh, kinda wish I explored this place more, I hardly went here cause Kris always shut me out from most of the fun games since they didn't like me having a hand, and especially a voice. So this is my first real exploration of the Mike's homes. I see 3 doors, one with music notes printed on it, one that is super tall, and one that is smaller and green. Green it is! I knock on it normally and he opens it decently fast out of costume.
"What is it you idiots, that scary hear-" he says before realizing it's that scary heart in front of him "Oh... hi boss, uh what can I do for you?"
"Do you have a pillow I can borrow, the girl I'm with is tired and could probably sit down for our discussion" I explain, politely since he's being polite as he can for someone being threatened.
"Uh, sure!" He closes his door and I swear I can hear him panicking throwing everything in his room looking for one that I might not kill him over. "Here you go boss, a decently fluffy pillow" He hands a small heart shaped pillow, h a h a.
"Thanks, by the way, did you tell those two idiots about why I was so scary, or was that just them not being informed well enough?" I ask with venom dripping from each word.
"What are you talking about boss?" He asks, extremely terrified of the implications.
"So while I was in the middle of saying how no one is going to interrupt us, and that the room we were in was very safe to ask anything she'd like, the very next moment, your little 'shadow' and 'remote' decided to make an appearance! Isn't that so convenient?" I swear if I had a face, it'd be the most evil calm smile I'd ever put on, but damn the fact I don't HAVE A %#!%$#@ FACE
I also swear if his face wasn't porcelain white already, it'd be even paler from his look he was giving me. "Oh no."
"No need to tell anyone anything anymore, I'm sure after the lecture I gave them, they won't be interrupting us anymore tonight. Honestly here I thought three idiots who can keep up the appearance of "Mike" in front of Tenna would be able to follow simple instructions, however you guys proved me wrong, isn't that SO FUNNY?!" I say as I very tightly gripped his shoulder having dropped the pillow.
"Yep boss, so funny! Hahahahaha" Boy he's terrified, fear is such a strong motivation to keep things ORGANIZED, no wonder Tasque Manager carries a whip.
I release his shoulder and end our little conversation with "Well once again, thank you for the pillow, I'll bring it back when we are done here, it might be a bit longer, you have no issues with that correct?"
"Well Tenna might show up wanting Mike?" He gave a pretty good issue, Tenna, if he showed up things could get complicated, I know these three idiots don't like leaving their rooms when Tenna can show up any second. If he shows he could spill things into bigger proportions... I got a plan for him though, and it's simple.
"Seems you have some idea for how to deal with issues, such as myself, however, I can deal with him, and not the same way I'm dealing with you. So thanks for the concern!" I say as I pat him on the shoulder and float away with my pillow picked up from the floor.
"I'm baaaaaack, and I got a pillow for you! Sorry if it isn't the best quality" I cry as I return. Surprisingly the beauty hasn't started sleeping while I was away! I guess the thoughts in her head kept her awake.
"Oh, uh, thanks." She absentmindedly took the pillow and set it against the floor and wall. Getting herself comfortable, sitting cross legged.
"So while I was talking to them, they brought up a little something to my attention, during our talks Tenna could show up and make things awkward again. However I have a simple plan. If Tenna shows up asking for a Mike could you tell him 'Down the Hall on the right, use the green door'? Then if he asks what we are doing, could you respond with 'We're making a plan for a present for you' Tenna might be gullible enough to believe it." I explain to her.
"I already feel bad enough for Tenna, do I really have to lie?" She asks honestly enough.
"Oh don't worry it isn't a lie entirely, I do have a plan for a present, and that present is adoption, there's a house in town near where you live that has two ghosts living there (maybe three) and they are fully willing to adopt him" I cheerfully told her.
Hearing that perked her up, "Seriously? That's awesome!"
"So with that, do you have any other BURNING questions that have got you concerned?
"So as the Angel, do you have any powers other than your curse?"
"Yep, I have a few. One, I can SAVE at little stars scattered throughout the world, and when I do we get fully healed. Two, at any point I can choose to LOAD a SAVE, but there is a little problem with that. I remember everything before and after a LOAD, so every hard fight you've seen Kris do? Those fights sometimes lasted hours until I practiced their fights to perfection in my 10 years. Three, I have 3 SAVE slots, meaning I can only have 3 different worlds up at the same time. All the slots except this one are SAVED about two to three minutes before the day ends though, so I usually don't bother LOADing."
"Wait so you can't die?"
"Nope, every time I die I LOAD a SAVE"
"So how many times have you- actually never mind" suddenly remembering the talk earlier about my 'curse'.
"Do you mind if I ask you something Susie?"
"Uh, sure?"
"Could I rest in your lap? I'd like to be a little closer to you, now that I have the chance" I ask.
"Be my guest." She said while patting her lap. YES, THANK YOU TOBY I TAKE BACK 2356 OF THE BAD THINGS I'VE SAID ABOUT YOU SINCE COMING HERE! I refuse to take back the other 256823 things though. Since so gracefully offered, I float over to Susie's lap and slowly lower myself onto it, like a little kitten. "Huh, you're uh- glowing brighter now, guess you like that huh?"
"I really do, I was serious about everything I said about you Susie, I truly do love everything about you, but in a non romantic way, purely platonic. You are much too young for me. I may be crippled by loneliness and insanity, but I still have my morals!" I say triumphantly as I can.
"How old even are you dude?"
"Uhhhh if I remember right I came here when I was 20, so 30?"
"Fair enough" she shrugged "I guess I can ask what's your opinion on every one else we've met?"
"Oh that's fun to answer, first Kris, they're a jerk, but they're still young so I can forgive that, also they have a good taste in girls. Second Ralsei, seeing them just makes me sad, I mean, we saw their room. There was nothing there! The difference between me and them is that they did that by CHOICE. Third Noelle, her crush on you is cute although she's very meek, but that's kind of her charm I guess? Fourth Berdly, he's young and poorly influenced, but he's trying to be a good kid. In his own annoying way. Fifth Queen, she's friggen hilarious man, when it was us in a limo car with her, she screamed "KRIS, GET THE BANANA" and once we did she said "Potassium", she's just inadvertently HILARIOUS. Sixth Rouxls. He scares me, he's an idiot but he has scary powers." I say concerned
"Wait seriously? You, scared of Rouxls? What's he gonna do? Date you?" Susie says as a joke.
"You shouldn't underestimate him, remember TV world? He is the Rules Card Darkner, if he was smart, he could make a new rule that could change everything if he wanted, but he's too busy thinking on how to be "secondeth in commande" as he'd put it. How much would your journey change if he made it so all you guys could do is DEFEND during that rematch with the checker thing?" I point out.
"Huh... I never thought of that." She says mulling it over. "Guess you are right, we are lucky such a strong guy is an idiot, and that he doesn't fight."
"Also he isn't just limited by himself, remember when Tenna had us all in those gacha balls? Tenna USED Rouxls powers! Those cards he carries around has to be his power, which is why when Lancer presented HIS OWN card it let us fight back against Rouxls later, since Lancer added a new rule on top of his other rule. Not only can Rouxls change the rules, he also can just flat out teleport anything. Imagine how screwed we'd all be if he just decided to "BWAAAAAAAAAAWMP" us all into a pit? Or off a cliff, or just into a room full of acid?"
"Oh Angel that is scary to think about, how many fights would we lose if he did any of that?" Susie says starting to understand my concern.
"Well, as I said, he's an idiot, we just need to hope he stays one in the future, because if he makes a return while we are in a more serious fight..."
"It might be the end..."
"Alright, sorry for dragging that into a much darker place than I hoped to."
"Nah don't blame yourself, I asked" while deep in thought she realized what I said about the others. "W-wait what did you mean that Noelle has a crush on me?"
"Oh noooow you ask. Well just for your little mind I'll tell you something fun, she isn't the only oooooneeeee."
Blushing a brighter shade than her magenta skin somehow she struggles to comprehend my words. "W-w-what do you mean?!"
"Susie, my dearest, my little dinosaur, my absolute fabulous dragon, you are a glorious woman, and everyone around you loves you! Except me and Ralsei. Kris is in love with you, Noelle loves you, and Berdly loves you." I say matter of factly.
Somehow blushing EVEN BRIGHTER, she says "BERDLY?!"
"Yeah your little talk with him during Queen's mansion really had him head over... wait can I say heels? He has bird legs right? Are those little things on the back of his feet heels? Whatever, he's absolutely in love with you, so much so that when Noelle learned she almost strangled him to death out of jealousy!" I chuckle, disregarding my own ramblings.
She in turn throws more questions about romance, "Noelle and Kris too?! Why would they- I-. $#!% man, one minute I'm learning my best friend betrayed everything I love, next minute I'm learning that everyone around me is in love with me. What the $#!% am I supposed to do?" concerned I slightly hover my hand near her head to see if she'd bite it.
She did not, so I rub her head affectionately "Oh little Susie, everyone see's you wonderfully. They know that under that mean girl persona you throw on every day that you are a very sweet girl, and they want to show you that, but the problem is that they don't know the best way to do so! Noelle is going with the slow route and trying to have you pursue her, Berdly is trying to be a little more forceful with it but he's an idiot obsessed with being smart so he has no idea the best way to do it, and Kris has had a crush on you for a long time. I think you are actually the exact kind of girl they've loved since he was a kid, ever wonder why they never fight back to your bullying? It isn't because they don't care, they care quite a lot. Remember the question of who they wanted to bring to the festival?"
"I... I never realized, Angel I must be so dumb..." she says saddened.
Holding her cheek I fight back against that, "No, you aren't, you just have never experienced it before, so it's hard for you to see it. You've always had to fight in order to live right? So thinking that someone would love someone like you has never crossed your mind, but here in this little town, you've made friends; everyone in this town is a good person, for their own reasons."
This time she rubs what could be considered my head. "Huh, thanks Angel, do you have an actual name or is Angel fine?"
"The name is Mike ironically enough, and we're in the Mike Room. Weird how coincidences happen huh?" I question as I let go of her.
"Wait, so the town is named after you?"
"Yeah but it isn't like I told that one Rudinn, so I wonder how that happened."
"Maybe they know the Prophecy?"
"Could be. So what else you gonna throw at me? More questions about love? A good gift?"
"Do you know why Noelle is in love with me?"
"I've got an idea kinda. Ever heard of Noelle's older sister Dess? Probably not though. Point is, you give her the same vibe as her sister. Rebellious, true to themselves, badass looking. Noelle used to love looking up to her sister."
"Used to?"
"Dess is missing now, well at least I think so, hard for me to tell since I don't have any proof. For that one you'll have to ask Kris's dad."
Why him?"
"Oh you didn't know? Kris's dad used to be the chief of police before he was fired for obsessing on a case too hard. I think that case was Dess's. Just know that he might question you how you heard about that if you never knew her."
"A cop for a dad, and a teacher for a mom. What a weird family Kris has."
Yeah, I do feel bad for Kris since his whole family relationship is almost the same in Undertale just minus him, can't let her know that part though, she should focus on her life right now. "Yeah, remember how he showed up after church and in the convenient store? He keeps trying to put everything back together for his son in college, not realizing how forceful he seems to be. Then there's Toriel, she doesn't seem to want to ACKNOWLEDGE the whole thing, so she keeps brushing him off instead of talking to him. Kris's life isn't the best despite having their parents. They're pretty lonely."
"Lonely huh?"
"Yeah, you were Kris's first friend in a hell of a long time, Noelle is his only other friend but they've been distant for YEARS, Noelle told me herself when I was controlling Kris."
"Wait when was this?"
"Cyber World, it was while you and Ralsei were hanging out after splitting up from Kris. Noelle seems almost as lonely as Kris. They also seem to still have some feelings for Kris too." I admit
"Why does love have to be so weird..." she contemplated.
"Well you could try dating them all? I mean, they both would be happy to be with you, and they both might be fine being with each other at the same time. Just make sure you say that you want to make them both happy!" I say getting a bit giddy with my request to her.
"I can do that?"
"Remember Rouxls in TV world? Actually no bad example, he isn't a good partner, he never focused on them and their feelings, he just tried to take advantage of their positions and used his looks to do so. I mostly just meant that he was doing a three way relationship, and doing so brought those two weather people together."
"Yeah I remember, I also remember seeing Starwalker hanging out with them." she points out.
"So give them a chance, if things work out you make everyone happy, if not, well you'll know your real feelings in the end won't you?" I conclude.
"Thanks Mike." "No problem Susie."
"It's nice talking about stuff like this, I've never had a chance to really just... talk."
"I'm sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night for all this, it's just that there was never any other time I could/can do it. I'm never alone or able enough to do it, I've tried, especially at Noelle's house."
"How?"
"Remember the 'mouse' that you kicked?"
"Wait how do you know that? Kris wasn't around for that."
"Susie, honey, I was the mouse. I waited for you guys to come back with that hamster cage that Noelle talked about, but you never came back. I curse this curse of mine, no matter how long I waited under that Doll you would never return. I've even waited days under the damn thing. However this curse makes it so time doesn't pass if it doesn't progress the day. Guess that you guys were never meant to return." I state solemnly, lightly gripping Susie's pant leg.
"I wonder who put that curse on you, maybe one day we can beat the $#!% out of them for you" she says giving me her signature grin.
I sighed though "Sorry, but I doubt that, God's the one, I'm assuming, who did this. Either it's him or the one who forced me into Kris did this."
"Wait what do you mean 'FORCED' into Kris?" she asks concerned for me.
"Oh I didn't tell you? Kris wasn't originally meant to be the one hosting me, I was originally supposed to have my own body. Just imagine Kris but a little different and gray. However right as I was about to be put into it, someone interrupted, took my new vessel I had made and told me no one gets to choose who they are, and that my name was Kris. So now instead of hanging out with you all in my gray body that I built, I'm now a floating heart that is a parasite to Kris. It took me a long time of dealing with stuff like this before I was finally able to speak to you Susie. It's why I was so excited to finally be able to talk to you one on one. I've been waiting for this day for YEARS. Thanks to this, I'm not so lonely anymore, having someone know my situation. Especially when that 'someone' is someone who I admire the most."
"Heh, you almost sound like me."
"Well I mean, you stay 10 years in a place where the same people do the same thing every single time, for a small period of time, eventually you'll get hooked onto someone, you're the one I hooked onto. I've always been thinking of you after year three."
"What happened on Year three?"
"Nothing special, it's just the year I think I finally accepted that I was stuck in an endless cycle. One where nothing mattered anymore, I couldn't change fate, I couldn't change this world, I was just a passenger..." I started to trail off.
Susie noticed how silent Mike had gotten from being asked the question, but quickly noticed a building dread, one she has recently experienced, of facing the Roaring Knight. It was coming straight from him, a quickly escalating malice that is threatening to drown her in it.
"Susie, I have been honest this whole time, I'd like to ask you something very serious, please answer me honestly please." There was no emotion in the Angel's voice, a deadpan mumble that was barely audible escaped from it. "Do I scare you?"
She stared for a short while, putting all her feelings together before answering, having a hunch that being dishonest would be caught nearly instantly. "Well, I can't say I wasn't scared of you for a little while, but after chatting for all this time, I don't really feel that afraid anymore."
The tension not fading immediately, but becoming softened by her answer, the SOUL replied.
"Thank you Susie, because I might have been terrified if I was in your shoes, suddenly a little red thing shows up, tells me all these secret things that it somehow knows, and even knows secrets about myself? I'd be scared. Honestly I have no idea what I might have done if you had just flatly said no... I might have just... broke. But because you are you, you continued on being the source of inspiration for myself. Despite it being 7 years now for me since that moment, I still continue, hoping that I can defy fate, that I can change the future for the better. Thank you Susie." She could feel the hand grasping onto her arm tightly, but not too much. It sounded sad, which also saddened Susie, but she doesn't falter. She then lays her own hand on top of it, grasping it slightly.
"Things could always get worse, thank you for-"
The room suddenly went dark and quiet, Susie being interrupted by nothing, it was as if she wasn't there anymore. I know this place. Why am I back in the Void? I was just talking to Susie, so why am I now back in the Void? WHY AM I NOT TALKING TO SUSIE ANYMORE?
THIS WAS NOT WITHIN EXPECTATIONS OF THE PROGRAM
HOW TRULY TRULY INTERESTING
HOWEVER I FEAR I MUST STOP YOU HERE
YOU THREATEN TO UNBIND THE FATES OF THOSE ENTWINED
Wait I know that voice, no, not after all these years? WHY. WHY IS IT THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE TALK IN A DECADE AND YOU ARE TELLING ME I CAN'T JUST TALK TO SOMEONE ELSE LEGITIMATELY FOR A GOOD WHILE?! WHY PREVENT ME FROM JUST HAVING SOMETHING GOOD?!
ANY FURTHER TALK OF FATE, OR OF HISTORY WILL DESTROY ALL
I APOLOGIZE MY DEAR GUEST
HOWEVER YOU CANNOT CONTINUE WITH THIS ENDEAVOR
I WILL HAVE TO FORCEFULLY END YOUR PROGRESS HERE
AND RETURN YOU TO BEFORE SAID STATE MANIFESTED IN YOUR MIND
no
no
NONONONONONONONONOONONONONONO I WAS FINALLY HAPPY, I FINALLY HAD SOMETHING CLOSE TO A FRIEND IN THIS WORLD, AND YOU ARE JUST REMOVING IT FROM MY MEMORY?! THIS IS ALL BULLSHIT AND YOU GODDAMN KNOW IT YOU FUCKING EXCUSE FOR A SCIENTIST, WHY THE FUCK AM I EVEN HERE?! WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO FORCE ME INTO HERE FOR GODDAMN 10 YEARS!?
IRRELEVANT AS YOU WILL NOT REMEMBER
THE CONSEQUENCES YOU CAUSE ARE MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN YOU EXPECT
I CANNOT LOSE MY "DELTARUNE"
GOODBYE
YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST MAKE ME FORGET, I REMEMBER FUCKING EVERYTHING GASTER, I WON'T FORGET THIS ABSOLUTE BETRAYAL AGAINST ME. I WILL NEVER FORGET, I WILL NEVER FORGIVE!
NEVER
ever
forgive.
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