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If you asked Wyatt Mason X circa Season 24 "what do you think you'll be doing in 4 years?", xe's not sure xe would've had an answer. It definitely wouldn'tve been "hanging out and being bored because the immaterial plane ceased to exist so everything's normal now." It might've included "Magi wants to meet up with a friend that lives near where the reality-ending black hole spat me out and asked me if I wanted to come with", but considering the hypothetical being circa Season 24 xe might've been more preoccupied with the incoming apocalypse.
That's a lot of information to start this off with. Xe can break it down: xer name is MaX, xe used to be a batter for the Seattle Garages, and one day xe woke up somewhere in Philadelphia, notably not Seattle, with the knowledge that blaseball's over and xe'd been released. It's a clean slate - no gods, no league, no debt, nothing but memories and the friends they made along the way. Welcome to the material plane, kiddo, enjoy your stay.
Some of them took the change better than others, if anything changed at all. Magi's one of them. MaX isn't. Xe had literally been created as a consequence of the havoc the game unleashed, so now that it's gone and xe's been let loose into normal reality xe isn't really sure what to do with xemself. Compounding that is the fact that xe's still a weird anomaly that the universe doesn't know what to do with. Xe's still glitchy, still strange, still not-quite-right, still basically a .mp3 recording in form of a teenage ghost.
Xe's trying, though, and that's why xe's lurking in the background as Magi catches up with somebody she met last time the Garages were on tour on this side of the country. He's nice, xe thinks. Vibes are a little weird, but "weird" is something xe's well-acquainted with.
He'd shown interest in xer role as backup vocalist for the band, which was pretty cool. Apparently his younger brother is a rapper or something? He likes to come out here all the time to practice, so he's probably around here somewhere. There's pride in his voice when he mentions him and when he answers Magi's questions about how things have been going between them.
Xe's getting fidgety, though. They're deep in conversation now and there's not any room for xem to get a word in edgewise if xe wanted to. This would usually be about when xe'd hop on Twitter or say a non sequitur in the psychic link xe has with the other Wyatts (you know, that perfectly normal thing that all remnant clones of a vanished god have), but xe doesn't feel like having to deal with the fallout of tossing a live hand grenade into an unsuspecting mental group chat right now.
So, MaX does the other thing xe's known to do: wander off elsewhere. Xe hums to xemself as xe explores the concert venue. Xe can hear quiet chatter mixed in with the familiar background noise of amateur sound checks; xe may be across the country from xer usual haunts, but that atmosphere alone is enough to make xem feel at home.
The source of the chatter is what xe's interested in. MaX tries to get a good look without drawing too much attention to xemself. A girl about xer age with long brown hair and a cute sleeveless red dress is sitting on top of speakers set up on stage and bopping to a beat like a human metronome. She's got her eyes on a teen maybe a couple inches shorter than xem with electric blue hair, a red and blue snapback, and baggy clothes; he beatboxes into the mic, then looks up at the girl for approval. She cheers, and he smirks with pride before singing a basic pattern.
Xe listens as he lays down a riff and improvises on it with each measure. What starts as something simple escalates into a complex melody that the girl joins in on; Magi's conversation fades into the background as the duo's duet takes up MaX's full attention. What was probably meant as a test is now a full-on song that slots into xer internal library with the rest.
"Lil bro's a natural." BB's voice startles xem so bad xe full-body errors like a bad VCR tape; a sharp, half-second burst of feedback from the speakers stops the rapper in his tracks, but he shrugs and continues like nothing happened. BB winces. "Sorry, dude, didn't mean to scare you."
"Y- Y- You're fi - ine!" Xe waves xer hands with a sheepish grin. It would be more convincing if xer voice wasn't skipping like a scratched record, and also if xe didn't sound like xe was in the process of being compressed like a JPEG. Focus. MaX inhales, exhales, and tethers xemself back to physicality. "He's your brother?" Xe can see the resemblance.
"Haha, yeah, sure is!" The look of pride on BB's face warms xer heart. "He's the best rapper this side of Philadelphia, all to impress that girl of his. Real go-getter."
Huh. MaX rocks back and forth on xer heels as xe considers this new information. Most of what xe can hear is beeps and boops, but xe's the last person to judge based off that. All to impress somebody, huh…
The warm-up comes to an end and the rapper stretches his arms over his head with a yawn. He's really putting himself through his paces, but he can't afford to let himself get rusty.
"Don't push it too hard, babe," his girlfriend calls down from her preferred spot. "This is just for fun, remember?"
Yeah, yeah, he knows. Still, you never know what's gonna happen! Sure, this is just gonna be a jam sesh with his big bro once he's done yapping, but there could always be a new challenger around the corner—
"Hey!" He snaps to attention. Climbing up on stage is an awkward-looking guy(?) with a brown undercut and glowing pink eyes wearing an equally pink flannel. They freeze mid-motion at having his eyes on them, then put on a nervous smile and haul themself up the rest of the way to stand across from him. "Sorry, am I- am I interrupting?"
Not really. BB's busy, so they're just killing time. He shrugs. "Beep. Bap dee skdoo bee."
The stranger tilts their head. He waits for the usual what? or can you do that again but in English?, and instead gets a "Beep." in a perfect copy-paste of his own voice. He steps back in shock. "Wah?!"
"Sorry!" They cover their mouth. "Um- I'm MaX, xe/xem, baaaackground vocalist for the Garages. I like your voice!"
Huh. Okay! He sticks out a hand as he introduces himself: he's Boyfriend.XML, and this is his girlfriend, Girlfriend. MaX reaches out with caution like xe's scared his hand is gonna bite xem or something. —Or maybe like xe's scared xe's gonna bite him, what with the spark of static electricity that sends him hopping backwards.
MaX looks mortified. "Sorry!" xe says with the same inflection as before. Xer vocal cadence in general is… strange; he can't pin down why or how, but but there's something just a little bit off about how xe sounds. It's a little bit sentence-mixed. "Are you okay?"
Boyfriend shakes his hand until the pins-and-needles go away. "Yeah!" No big deal. He beeps a question - so, what, xe's just here to listen?
"Is that okay?" Xe's a little caught off guard by his phrasing. Boyfriend nods.
Girlfriend fills xem in. "Usually when somebody shows up, it's 'cause they wanna battle him," she explains. "But you can chill if you want!"
"Battle…?" MaX continues being confused. "I'm not here for a fight!" Xe's not much of a brawler. The context clicks. "Oh. Rap battle. I'm… not really a rapper…"
Something's tossed xer way. Xer two and a half defense stars kick in and xe only fumbles a little when catching it. A microphone? MaX looks up and Boyfriend does a peace sign in xer direction. The meaning is clear: he's ready to show xem how it's done. The offer makes xem perplexed more than anything else. "Are you sure? The- The most I do is copy people…"
"Beep!" Somehow xer response makes Boyfriend even more certain that this is a good idea. He copies people all the time! It's just a call-and-response, nothing too hard. C'mon, give it a try! He'll walk xem through it.
Xe considers this. Well, xe's never gonna turn down a new experience, especially if it's music-related. MaX nods. "Okay! I'll follow your lead." Xe grins as something occurs to xem. It's Boyfriend's turn to catch the mic as xe lobs it at him. "Hold on, I've got my own."
MaX does something that means nothing to xer opponent, but that Magi would immediately clock as hilariously stupid if she was paying attention. Xer eyes glow a bit brighter and xe holds out xer hand; a burst of magenta light flares with a matching burst of feedback, and xe grabs the hot pink microphone xe summoned with a confident smirk.
…That smirk immediately vanishes as xe juggles the super important artifact like it's on fire, because oh god what was xe thinking. Hold on, hold on, xe can salvage this! Xe can't hold it without potential dangerous consequences, but xe can do a cool trick and take advantage of xer weird spatial positioning powers to suspend it floating in the air near xem. Xe squishes down xer panic and returns to the smirk like xe totally had this planned and wasn't having to scramble to patch a MaX-typical moment of impulsive dumbassery.
The specifics sail over Boyfriend and Girlfriend's heads, which is for the best. Girlfriend applauds xer magic trick and MaX blushes fluorescent pink. "So, uh. How do we want to do this?"
Girlfriend pulls out her phone and queues up a track. It's unfamiliar to MaX, but very familiar to Boyfriend: if MaX is just starting out, then it's only fair that he walks xem through one of his first songs. Just repeat after him and it'll go fine!
"…and it's awkward because I know he's trying to help, but…" BB trails off as he hears the intro to Bopeebo playing from behind him. He turns around to see a surprising sight: Boyfriend on the left, Girlfriend in the middle as always, and MaX on the right looking unsure of xemself. "Huh. Guess they're making friends already."
Magi squints. "…is that the Microphone?"
As promised, Boyfriend takes the lead. It's slow-paced and easy-going, and he punctuates each verse with a dramatic point at MaX to cue xem in. MaX wasn't kidding about being a copycat, either; to Boyfriend's surprise, for all intents and purposes he's singing with himself as MaX matches him note-for-note and beep-for-beep. How does xe do that?
The answer is that MaX is… well, not cheating, but taking advantage of another quirk of xer existence as an echo. It's all in the name; any sound xe hears, xe can play it back. There's a mischievous grin on xer face as xe mimics Boyfriend from vocals to body language. It's not always voluntary, but xe does find it funny when people react to first seeing this ability of xers.
"Sorry," xe says with a small laugh when the song comes to an end. "I do that a lot. I told you, the most I do is copy people." Xer smile falls and leaves xem looking self-conscious. "And… I didn't wanna mess up, so it's easier to just… echo."
"Mess up?" Girlfriend sounds confused. "—Oh! Like you're scared of hitting the wrong notes or something?"
MaX scrunches up into xer flannel. "Something like that. It's like… I'm not really good at doing things on my own, so I do what other people do."
"That's not gonna get you anywhere here." Once again, BB startles MaX into forgetting to be person-shaped. Boyfriend beeps happily at his brother, who flicks a lazy salute at him before refocusing on the enby of the hour. "Loosen up! You're not playing Parappa, dude. It's like…" He takes a moment to think. "It's like a conversation. You don't say exactly what they're saying, but you're responding to them, you know?"
Boyfriend chimes in with his own encouragement. Xe can mirror-match him if xe likes, but xe needs to put xer own spin on it! Remix, harmonize, whatever, just as long as xe puts a little bit of xemself into it. (The voice copying thing is cool, though.)
Magi steps up to stand at BB's side. "Just be yourself, MaX." She smiles at xem and xe finds xemself smiling back. Okay. Xe can do that.
Girlfriend scrolls through her music library. "Hey BF, what if we try that new song you were working on?" she suggests. "You know, the one you haven't done, like, fifty million times?" Her partner rolls his eyes, but gives a thumbs up. She shifts her attention to MaX. "That way you're both doing stuff you're not totally comfy with! Don't worry, this should still be pretty easy~"
She presses play. It starts out with a simple pattern that Boyfriend bobs his head to until he's got a feel for it, then he takes the lead. He doesn't need to cue MaX in this time - xe picks up right where he left off, still in his voice. A mischievous smile crosses xer face, though, and on the last couple notes xe drops the pitch from sounding like BF to sounding like BB. That's enough to throw Boyfriend off his game, but he recovers fast with a competitive smirk. Oh, they're in it now.
Boyfriend guides MaX through, and MaX shifts between voices with ease. Magi stifles a laugh. Well, she did tell xem to be xemself. This is MaX being MaX. Again, xe's got the power to play back any audio xe hears, so of course xe's gonna use it for shenanigans. (Still a little weird hearing her own voice in there, though.)
Xer opponent shakes things up a bit and it's MaX's turn to stumble, but xe catches the rhythm after Boyfriend re-demonstrates. Sure, MaX may be playing tricky, but he's having fun experiencing what it's like to sing with himself. Not in the literal sense, even if MaX is still borrowing his voice now and then as part of the game xe's playing with him, but the back-and-forth friendly mimicry of him learning his opponent's style and adapting to it is fun to be on the other end of for once.
Boyfriend gets MaX's attention, counts down, and sings a repeating, easy-to-follow loop. MaX listens, then joins in with a harmony. He expects to hear an echo of his own voice overlapping, but at this point he should really expect the unexpected: What he gets is MaX's natural voice singing actual lyrics. Xe's got xer eyes closed, sounding a little uncertain and not too confident, but the smile on xer face and in xer voice is all Boyfriend needs.
They both fall back into the call-and-response from earlier, but MaX keeps singing as xemself. Xer lyrics are amateur, but that's the whole point of this. It's not about being good, it's about having fun, and Boyfriend's been making his own share of mistakes.
"—If I follow this roadmap!" xe sings to cap off the song. Girlfriend cheers and Boyfriend joins in; MaX scrunches up into xer flannel, but the smile's still there.
BB laughs. "You're replacing me already, lil bro? Damn, and here I was thinking I'd be the one you're up against tonight. I should've known better." Boyfriend throws his microphone at him. BB leans out of the way so it sails right past him; Boyfriend grumbles and reels it back in by the wire. "I'm glad you're making friends, dude! We can do a set after."
The attempted violence goes unremarked upon. Typical sibling behavior. Boyfriend turns his attention back to MaX and beeps a request for another song like nothing happened. MaX lights up. "Yeah, of course! This is- This is really fun." Xe bounces in place with clear excitement.
Boyfriend punches the air. Alright! Time for the last part of the crash course! This one's gonna be harder, but as long as xe keeps up with him then xe'll do fine.
The warning of it being harder makes xem a little nervous, but xe thinks xe can rise to the challenge now. …Hopefully. "You've got it!"
Girlfriend holds her phone out to Boyfriend so he can pick something. He hmms to himself in thought, then taps his selection. The backing track that starts playing is pretty different from the previous two, but the style is a tiny bit familiar. MaX can't place it, but xe gets the feeling Lori is involved somehow.
It starts with a pretty basic pattern that MaX follows with ease. No words this time; xe's back to mimicking Boyfriend, but this time with a unique sound instead of copying his beeps outright. It's a little crunchy, a little digital, but very MaX.
Boyfriend ramps it up. It sounds like a warning - something's on the horizon, but as long as MaX keeps xer cool xe can weather it. Xe looks nervous for a brief moment, then picks up the pace as Boyfriend starts putting on the pressure. Girlfriend's voice joins in in the background - the way you start again as the dawn starts to break! - as blue and pink harmonize.
A sudden change-up has MaX scramble to react as Boyfriend switches from the simpler main melody to a faster, more intense background one. Xe does xer best to recover and improvise; their paths diverge as xe shifts from echoing Boyfriend's half to responding to it. BB did describe this as being like a conversation. Xe thinks xe gets it now.
They slow down as Boyfriend brings them back to the start. MaX doesn't think xe's capable of being out of breath, but if xe was then xe would definitely be feeling it. Yeah, it was a good choice to go for beeps rather than freestyle lyrics to this. Xe would like to keep xer sanity, please.
MaX doesn't want this to be over already. Unfortunately, as fun as this is, the end of the song comes whether xe wants it to or not. BB jumps up on stage and picks up a guitar that had been left abandoned. "Alright, alright, my turn! Hey, MaX, wanna see how a pro does it?"
Xe snickers and dismisses the Microphone back to whence it came, then holds out a fist; Boyfriend grins and fistbumps xem. Xe grins back. "His turn! I think three songs is my limit, anyway…"
Boyfriend shrugs. Yeah, that's the case for most people. Xe did pretty good! They'll have to do this again sometime. It's a shame xe only did lyrics for half a song, maybe that can be their next lesson? …Y'know, with something slower and less chaotic than Start Again. "Badee pah!"
"You got it, XML." Boyfriend beams at the nickname and MaX mirrors it. Xe steps out of BB's way, thinks, then leans on the speakers with xer hands in xer pockets and a small smile. BB plugs his guitar into the amp and sets the mood with a dramatic chord that xe feels in xer core.
Normalcy was something xe never thought would be within reach for xem. Here xe is now, though: alive, happy, and watching xer new friends go all-in on an intense music duel. MaX glances at Magi. She gives xem a smile that suggests everything is going according to keikaku (translator's note: keikaku means plan), and xe rolls xer eyes with a fond smile. Okay, okay, xe gets the point.
And it seems that nothing now will ever change… The fragment of music pops up as an automatic response that xe has to stop xemself from repeating out loud. That feeling had been a constant plague up until the unceremonious ending. They'd all been stuck in an endless cycle, a terrible mistake we will make again and again, but it's over now.
"You okay?" MaX looks up and sees Girlfriend looking down at xem. "You look like you're thinking pretty hard."
MaX takes a hand out of xer pockets to rub xer shoulder, where a specific patch is sown onto xer flannel. "Yeah," xe says, smile widening. "I'm good."