#PewSepticPlier

[angstphilosophy]

In the Sight of the Public, Always

In the meantime while @neko-puff is occupied, I’m going to share a little scene based on her CyberTube AU. I hope I did well!

Also spoilers warning: This story may hint or reveal some undisclosed information about CyberTube. Read at your own discretion! 

“Ready...”

The three teammates stood back-to-back while grinning, and a spark of excitement simultaneously flashed across their eyes as they continued the count down.

“Set...”

The neon green-haired Irishman clicked his visor into life, and a glow as brilliant as a star seeped from his palms. Besides him, the muddy-blonde Swede pounded his gauntlets together, and a low hum as well as a blue glow indicated that his weapons were on and going. The last man next to them gave a snap of his fingers before a swirl of crackling flames engulfed his right-hand where his gauntlet controlled the flames. The fires matched the same ones in his cocoa eyes, and all three of them waited with bated breaths for the female voice over the intercom to commence the session.

“GO!”

Droids suddenly appeared in the training room after the words barely left the systems, and immediately, the three teammates sprang away from each other in opposite directions as they tackled their own prey. 

The training room transformed into a flashy battlefield as Jack, Mark, and Felix relentlessly swept over the huge training room, combating the endless waves of droids as they kept coming in.

Each player had their own style of fighting, and the few spectators that happened to be caught by the show of display either from windows separating the rooms or from a hologram elsewhere stood amazed at the spectacular sight before them.

Jacksepticeye, as everyone knows him by, constantly dashed, jumped, and rolled in and between the droids as dazzling beams continuously erupted from the palm of his hands, frying and leaving steaming marks on their bodies. The areas where Jack shot at weren’t sporadic and unconscious, either. If the spectators paid close attention, Jack would always leave a mark on the forehead of the game-generated droids, never elsewhere. To most, he’s a truly masterful sharpshooter that never misses his mark, always nailing the most vulnerable spots of his targets. Of course, Jack was more than just a dead shot: he zipped in-between his targets with agility, and he’s quick and evasive enough to where the army of droids never actually left serious damage on him. He’s an assassin, if anything.

If the spectators took their eyes off of Jack to find his blue-uniformed teammate, then they wouldn’t be getting less of a sight; in fact, he was his own sight to behold. Fame and notoriety traveled wide and far for PewDiePie, and it was common knowledge that he is one of THE oldest players around. Part of his reputation came from his pre-existing prominence from YouTube, but his image on the player base also stems mostly from his signature attack: The Brofist. In fact, spectators were treated to a front-row rendition of the unique skill as best as they could afford lest they risk being at the chaotic site in-person. Their eyes glued to the sight, the spectators took in PewDiePie as he jumped up higher than real-life physics would permit, and his blue gauntlets flared out as he came crashing down on the ground, an enormous shock wave erupting in all directions that took down instantly any droids that had the unfortunate fate of being within radius. The battered ground and flying debris were just for show, of course, and by now, the game was accustomed to player-inflicted “environmental changes”, programmed to restoring the damaged parts to normal after a few minutes of admiration. Those that had seen - and felt - PewDiePie’s Brofist before were accustomed to the lasting impact of the attack, but those that had not had their breath taken away. It was a huge-scale Area-of-Effect attack that carried with it a massive amount of burst damage, but it also depletes a considerable amount of energy. Aside from his unique skill set, the audience also sees that PewDiePie is an effective melee fighter. Delivering punch blows and kicks at the droids with efficiency, his kit may not include speed like his green companion, but it does bring out the raw strength and power that he carries with him. The spectators were no less amazed.

Finally, the spectators tore their eyes away from the King of Youtube, and they focused on the fiery fighter away from the other two. If he didn’t catch the attention of some of the other spectators first time around, then now, he caught them in his fantastic, excitable display of passionate fires. Unlike Jacksepticeye and PewDiePie, Markiplier’s fighting style was a balance of range and close-combat. He hurled and spewed fires with his right hand with great power, speed, and precision, but his show of projectiles weren’t as effective as Jack, and his blows don’t quite pack the same force as Felix’s. The most impressive part of watching Mark fight, however, was his way of expression- his movements and motions. The only way to effectively describe the way that he fought was... dancing. He thrust and spun, he twirled and flourished, and he whirled and frolicked around; he led an aggressive campaign on the droids while also possessing a quality of grace and elegance with his movements. And the flames- oh goodness the flames. The flames were more than just the background- they were in a samba of their own! Squinting deep into the raging vortex of flames, the spectators saw that Mark directed- conducted the mass inferno to follow his every movements. They leaped, jumped, soared with Mark with his every move: he and the flames became one through their continued incineration of the droids. The flames blazed as an accompaniment to Mark’s waltz with the droids: it’s like a surreal fantasy. As for his stats, he possesses them in a balanced status quo: nothing geared towards extremities, which explains Mark’s unique fighting style.

Even if they had already seen the trio fight before, the onlookers were still enchanted by what they have seen, and they didn’t back down from their support of the trio. It was good to observe and learn from the best.

The unholy trinity trio were vaguely aware that they were being watched, but that was a common thing now. Before CyberTube, they lived for the cameras, they lived to be seen in the public eye, and the public eye watches them constantly. 

It was no different now; they’re pumping out entertainment for anyone that’s willing to see, and they’re getting one heck of it, even if the variety factor is lacking a bit. 

For Jack, he felt no different than when he was cranking out two YouTube videos a day, always being able to act with great energy and optimism even if circumstances were... sticky. Fans that were in the same boat as him in CyberTube would always come up to him and gave him their appreciation, and he was more than happy to meet with them. It was cool to be able to meet his fans in person without the need to travel so far away from his home temporarily, even if it’s not exactly real, and he felt bad for those that couldn’t have the same opportunity as those that were in the same mess (but then again, as much as some people would like to KILL to meet Jack in person, he himself would insist that being stuck in the same circumstance as him wouldn’t be worth trying to meet a loose-celebrity). Nonetheless, by focusing on this silver lining in addition to the fact that it’s actually fun beating things up in virtual reality without the fear of really dying in person, Jack could make this experience work.

For Mark, it was slightly different. He won’t lie- this experience was one hell of a ride, and while he still questions how he came to be in this mess, he had enough experience with the supernatural and how life threw curve-balls at him that it wouldn’t keep him down for long. The fans factor, however, was different. There were many that squealed and went up to give their salutations to Mark, and he was more than happy to greet them in person. In fact, it was also a bright side that he could smile at and focus on to ignore the implications of the situation he’s in. However, at the same time, he felt overwhelmed by the... genuineness of meeting his fans. It’s not that he couldn’t meet that genuineness with his own, but... he wasn’t willing to let spill the unseen side to him when the hawk eyes were watching him, reading and judging him for everything. He repeatedly made it clear that he doesn’t let the irrational hate get to him, and it’s true. He acknowledges them, but it’s not those that he’s intimidated by; the little things never fazed him. No, it was the bigger things that gets to him: the kind of things that he saw in... never mind that. He’s not unfamiliar with meeting fans, but admittedly, even after doing this for four plus years, Mark couldn’t greet the goosebumps with familiarity that came with meeting his fans in person (or as close to as being in-person as possible). He’s still blown away by the warmth of greeting his fans (even if they are overzealous sometimes), and he hoped that he could make it as memorable as possible for them in a virtual reality.

As for Felix, he seemed to do a better job of masking some private emotions. Currently, he’s pounding and smashing up the droids that were gaining a bit of knowledge from this fight (this was only on intermediate difficulty, and his goal for the three of them for this training session was for quick trash-cleaning and individual improvements) in a spectacular display. However, he never openly admitted it, but having training sessions with Mark and Jack... threw him back into memory lane where he worked countless hours together with Minx, Ken, and Cry so long ago (which wasn’t that long ago, that’s a given). Unsurprisingly, Felix had his own fan base trapped in the same situation with him, and he’s glad that he could meet with them, don’t get him wrong! He’s always more than happy to meet up with his Bro-army, but unlike Mark and Jack, that wasn’t the first factor that tied Felix to his enjoyment of CyberTube. No, it was the memories... ...memories that threatened to overtake Felix right now as he continued his training session. He wasn’t quite aware that his movements became somewhat more sluggish as his train of thought derailed out of control. Only spectators that were closely analyzing his movements would notice it-they couldn’t see his face shift from a thrilled yet focused expression to an impassive visage. As the three are critical gamers, it pained Felix that he had to ironically be engaged on a cliché mission to save his former teammates, the team that he had personally built himself and had grown close to. Being the OG of CyberTube came with it a myriad of emotions and unofficial titles, but honestly, Felix couldn’t bring himself to care about the latter. The training halls themselves painfully reminded Felix way too much of his [admittedly not long ago] past with this game, and it’s only with a considerable amount of effort that he could hide his inner strife from Mark and Jack every time they went to the training halls for their daily sessions. Thankfully, he could normally ease himself into the heat of the moment and eject his whole being into the fight. Today, however...

“Tsk, Felix’s breaking the game again!”

Felix swerved his head towards the direction of his teammate’s voice, where he’s greeted to a sight of Mark ramming his elbows into a droid’s face with an elbow while his right hand roasted the droid’s...

“Says the guy that’s burning the training center down to the ground like a pyromaniac!” Jack’s voice called out from behind Felix, and he tried more to focus on smashing in the droid’s face.

“Excuse me?” Mark yelled over the clamor of the battle. “I’m a fucking artist with the fire, and besides, I can always call it off with a snap of my finge-” His voice was cut off in a squeak after the inferno suddenly disappeared, and he groaned. “Goddamn it...” 

“Nice!” Jack let loose a howl of laughter when Mark’s face paled, and the droids, now that they’re not engulfed in the tidal wave of fires, started to approach Mark.

Felix tried not to delve back into the rabbit hole as he took a gander at the sight of Mark frantically, desperately trying re-igniting his flames as a horde of droids started to choke in on him, forcing a smile to play on his lips. Somewhere near him, Jack continued teasing Mark. “Hmm yeah, definitely well-controlled! As much as thunder fists over here!” 

Felix kept himself well-together, but at this point, he just collapsed on his knees, and he could only faintly recounting that the training droids were starting to crowd around him. Memories and guilty feelings started overwhelmed his every being, and he started to feel himself go numb, not even conscious that the droids grabbed him by the neck and-

“FELIX!” Jack’s scream rose harshly above everything else, and Mark quickly turned around to see Felix lifelessly being overpowered by the droids. Directing his voice to the systems of the training center, he hastily called out “Stop! Conclude Training Session!” 

And as quickly as they appeared, the droids all vanished at once so that the training center became eerily quiet save for the pounding of feet that indicated Mark and Jack were rushing over to Felix’s side.

Felix could vaguely remember being shook back to by a pair of pale hands, and when he focused in on his surroundings, two pairs of ocean blue and cocoa brown eyes were staring at him with all of the concern in the world. 

“Wha...?”

“What happened to you?” Jack cried out in concern, with Mark nodding solemnly next to him.

Felix brushed away Jack’s hands, but he stared at the ground for a few moments before he gingerly asked, “Would you believe me if I said that it was nothing?”

His two teammates replied right on cue. “Nope.”

Felix sighed and he ran his fingers through his hair, a habit that all three of them shared together when in times of stress.

Unnoticed by both Jack and Felix, Mark silently brought up a holographic screen that disabled the cameras in this specific room of the training hall, cutting off the spectator’s views. 

Without still looking at his teammates in the eye, Felix mumbled a reply “I got distracted by some thoughts...”

Felix may not have his eyes on them, but Mark and Jack never took theirs off. He could practically feel their eyes drill into him to read his whole being. At times like these, he kind of wished that Mark and Jack weren’t the kind of people that they were. They’re too concerned for their own good...

“Deep thoughts?”

“Mhm...”

Mark and Jack shared eye contact for a moment before Jack continued.

“It’s not really the first time that you’re lost in thought, is it?”

“...nnngh”

“Felix, don’t think we don’t notice it when you stand at the training hall’s entrance, staring up at the building for countless of hours.”

Felix shook his head and gave a wistful smile. “I’m that transparent, am I?”

Jack returned the smile with a small smirk. “Just to us and Marzia, you are.”

He sighed and finally heaved up his own crystal blue eyes to be at Jack’s level before also sparing a look at Mark.

“I feel guilty... and responsible, Jack.” Felix took a deep breath before continuing. “Something bad happened to them, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it from happening. I...”

Felix trailed off before continuing again. 

“I was supposed to be their teammate, and yet, things happened, and look at the situation we’re in!” Felix mentally berated himself for how pathetic he sounded, and yet, he couldn’t deny the feelings behind his worlds. He was there both times when Minx and Cry were infected, and yet, he couldn’t do anything to stop them from meeting their fates. Right now, they’re probably still out there roaming the endless expanse of a virtual ocean, plotting lord knows-knows-what against them. That was another thing- Felix didn’t know how he was going to subdue and free them from infection without infecting himself or hurting them too badly. Actually, damage done in CyberTube shouldn’t leave permanent imprints in real life, but the thought of fighting his old friends and former teammates still left a bad one in his stomach. 

“Felix... I...” Jack bit his lip, but he kept on going anyways. “There was nothing you could’ve done about any of this. This was a new and granted, buggy game. You can’t keep harboring your own guilt irrationally and continue beating yourself up for something that’s not entirely your own fault.”

“I...” He paused for a moment before chuckling. “I don’t want to toss around blame, but you know, the developers kind of fucked up big-time when their own players became infected and started acting strange, you know? It SHOULDN’T happen, but somehow it did, and it’s their game.” 

Jack gave Felix a little shake before continuing again. “Don’t beat yourself up over it, dude. We’re working to solve this whole mess anyways, and we have a lot of time to do it. We’ll get out of this mess someway somehow. I know we will.”

Felix looked past Jack’s shoulder and made eye contact with Mark, who nodded with a grin and gave him a thumbs-up. 

Felix grabbed Jack in with an embrace, and although Jack was caught by surprise, he returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm. They stayed like that for a few moments while Mark sort of stood around looking awkward.

“Ahem...”

“No, you can’t join you asshole”

Felix snorted and separated from the hug while Mark crossed his arms and pouted.

“I wasn’t going to ask about that anyways.”

The green-haired sharpshooter rolled his eyes and smirked. “Sure, and we hate each other anyways, remember?.”

“Oh yeah... damn.”

Felix chuckled and strode over to place a hand on Mark’s shoulder. “Publicity’s tough, isn’t it?”

“You know very well it is.”

Felix sighed. “Yeah... now I have to deal with everyone gossiping about me having a mental breakdown.”

“Not necessarily.”

Felix looked up to see Mark grinning a shit-eating grin. “I turned off the cameras.” 

“Bro, I could kiss you right now.”

Mark’s grin grew bigger. “An Eskimo kiss?” 

He met the grin with his own. “Yeah... sure. What the hell.”

The two pressed their faces against each other as they rubbed their noses together, earning a snort from Jack in the process.

“You two are fucking gay.”

Mark pulled away to smirk. “And what does that say about you?”

The green Irishman stuttered.

“W... well, if only you told me that the cameras were off earlier...”

“They are now. So, what about it?”

He awkwardly walked over and gave the half-German a quick hug while muttering, “You big doofus”, and the recipient returned the gesture while also patting his back.

Felix cleared his throat. “So, enough with the saps.” He waited for Mark and Jack to pull apart before continuing. “I’m sorry guys for the interruption to our training session-”

Jack waved his hand “It’s fine, and we were almost done anyways.”

Felix nodded. “So, who won?”

The three friends turned towards the big scoreboard high up on the walls.

Booperdooper: 472

Bumbum: 429

PooPiePie: 421

“Fuck yeah, boys! That’s how it’s done!” Celebratory beams shot out of Jack’s palms as he fist-pumped and did a little victory jig.

“WHAT?!” Shock wrote itself all over Felix’ face as his jaws hung from his mouth. “How did I get a lower score than Mark did!?” 

Chuckling at his reaction, Mark managed out, “Well, you did almost passed out on us, so I was able to swoop in an get some few extra kills.” At this, Felix grumbled a bit.

“Alright! So that means you-” Jack pointed his finger at Felix. “Have to pay for the inn for us tonight!”

If Felix had been brooding just moments before, then he didn’t show any signs of it right now. He gave a sly smile as he held up a hand. “Hold it right there, Twinkle Fists (At the usage of his nickname, a streak of irritation flashed across Jack’s face). I didn’t say that we would decide who gets to pay based on our training session.” 

Both Mark and Jack gave their de facto leader a questioning look. “If it’s not the session, then what?”

Felix’ smile grew wider. “We’ll settle this, by seeing who could solo Hollow Forest the quickest.” 

Felix expected that he’ll receive mixed reactions from his announcement. Someone might’ve as well bleached Jack figuratively and literally, because the color drained from his already pale face the moment the words left Felix’ lips. Mark, on the other hand, only grinned. “Is that all?”

“Pretty much. We already did Hollow Forest a few times already back then, and Faceless wasn’t a challenge for us.”

“Yeah, when we’re doing it as a team! But we’re going in alone this time!” Fear took over Jack’s voice and made it crack a bit, but the others ignored this.

Felix kept his hands up. “Hey hey, this dungeon’s actually below our level range, so that’s why I picked it for us to have a go at soloing. Besides, we need the experience of going alone when the situation calls for it; we gotta be ready for anything.” What was unsaid, however, was that he also knows a trick to get through the Forest easier. Besides, he played a lot of horror games back in the days.

Jack still looks unconvinced, however. “How come we’re going to settle this by dungeon solos now? We always had a face-off in the training hall up until now.”

“Because,” Felix began while remember his breakdown earlier, “It’s stupid to base it solely on our ability to trash-clear. Besides, It won’t just be dungeon solos from now on.” 

Jack continued grumbling, but Mark was still smiling. In fact, he had his arms crossed, and that usually meant something was going to happen. 

“Felix, you look like you’re very sure about choosing this specific place to go solo dungeoning. What made you choose this location, I wonder?”

Well, of course Mark would see right through him. Mark practically specializes in horror games, admittedly more than he does, and Hollow Forest is only mild compared to the best that’s out there. In addition, given the nature of his kit, he’s likely to be the one that comes out on top of this challenge.

“Noooo, what makes you say that?” Felix feigned innocence, but he’s aware that his attempts were pitiful as his chance of winning this challenge fairly. He’s not going to spill the beans, though.

Mark raised his eyebrow, but didn’t question him further. The Swedish man released an internal breath, and he continued again.

“Take a screenshot of the time that you finished with, and meet back at the Inn later. It’s almost getting dark, too, so let’s start right away!”

Felix turned around to head towards the exit, but then he remembered.

“There’s probably a crowd of people curious waiting outside, right?”

Mark and Jack both shared a look before they both went up to Felix’s side.

“Hey don’t sweat it, man. We’ll both be here in case anything happens.”

“Yeah! It’s only just some fans or concerned people in general. Besides, you were always good at hiding things from the public, probably even better than Mark.”

Mark rolled his eyes but said nothing. Felix relaxed his shoulder and glanced towards the exit. “Thanks, guys. I’ll be sure to repay you guys back well after I come out ahead!”

Jack only gave a peeved look while Mark snorted and shook his head. “Sure, bud. Sure.”

And with that, the three friends and teammates stepped out into the open field, where a crowd of people were waiting.

Concepts discussed here (spoilers still):

Felix is... probably one of the best players in this game. He’s one of the oldest, too. He, Cry, Minx, and Ken started around the same time, but only he and Ken are still sane available. Mark and Jack came shortly after them; Felix pretty much took them under his wing or something.

Felix also has a unique weapon. The developers made it so just for him. Jack’s laser abilities and Mark’s fire skills are not, but for Jack, he has three laser intensity options while most people only get two.

Yeah, Cry and Minx were infected.

Hollow Forest and Faceless are pretty much Slenderman. @neko-puff came up with the idea~

Everything else was of my own liberty. I don’t know if Mark actually dances while he fights, but given that his abilities are not unique and vague (fire manipulation), I had to do him some justice for his creativity. Also, Jack might as well be an assassin; a common trope for him in Neko’s stories is that he’s the quick-draw that always land the first hit. As Felix levels up, his normal martial art abilities also improve.

Yes, Mark and Jack can see through Felix’s BS. They’ve shown to be able to emphasize with others. Also, Jack and Mark probably fell in love with the idea that it’s possible to virtually meet with fans in person.

I hope my gaming knowledge made sense in this story :P

@neko-puff NOW YOU’RE OBLIGED TO DRAW THE FIGHTING SCENE HOHOHOHO

(Now: tagging people that might be interested: @super-septic-pewdie-plier @markired (hey @captainmcocklin, I wrote a thing!)

[lowsodiumlevels]

GOOOOOODDDDD MORNING TO YA LADI MY NAME IS PEWSEPTICPLIER A.K.A YA BOI JAGAN PAUL A.K.A CROBATBOY123

XD

[crystals-and-iced-coffee]

Top of the mornin to ya bros my name pewsepticplier and welcome to another legit food review on my horrible channel. Great moves, keep it up, proud of you, stay toasty my friends.