Chapter Text
It was a below average day for Battat. Everything felt louder , he couldn’t tell if it was his lack of sleep, the extra coffee, or if he was just strangely sensitive this morning. On top of this he felt physically exhausted, the Mike suit was heavy enough without him running around doing whatever tasks Tenna gave him- or gave Mike? The line of Battat and ‘Mike’ was starting to blur in his head. That probably wasn’t good either. It just felt like… so much even with the help of Jongler and Pluey (although they are nowhere near as good at being Mike as Battat), he still found himself sleeping less and less, staying up later and later… The Mike mystery or ‘Mikstery’ (name still being workshopped) was eating at him and he knew it. But he couldn’t care any less. The truth mattered more than himself in the end, right? Just one more puzzle piece in place, then he could rest…
Battat walked through the Green Room, haphazardly, not being able to easily see where he was going in the Mike suit. His steps were uneven and wobbly, more than usual, but he made an effort not to trip. Which he thankfully didn’t.
What he did instead was hear a small crackling under his foot. Strangely enough when he looked down, Battat didn’t see anything, but after a moment of strained staring, he did notice a strange pair of shadows on the floor. When he reached out to grab them, he heard a familiar voice behind him.
“What's that noise? Didja break a glass or somethin’?” It was Ramb, still behind the bar, still mixing drinks for no one.
“I-I think so? Something was left here I think…” Battat responded, confused, picking up the two shards of shadow, before turning back to Ramb. “Did ya break something and not clean it up properly?” He questioned, laying the two shadows on the bar's counter.
“Nah, never dropped nothin’. At least, not today.” Ramb said with a laugh, but stopped when he saw what was just laid in front of him. His ears and tail both perked up, which confused Battat even further.
“...huh.” He said after a suspiciously long moment of staring. He grabbed one of the shards and held it up to his eye, staring at Mike through it. When he looked through the object… he saw a dice with green pips under what seems to be a chair. He moved it away from his eye, it was just Mike again. Ramb glanced around the room again, checking no one was there.
“Oi, Mike, I think I found somethin’ weird about these…” He admitted. It wasn’t a lie but that certainly wasn’t his intention. Battat leaned in closer.
“Yeah I could guess that from how you were staring at me funny! Now what is-” He got cut off by Ramb ripping off the Mike head. Exposing Battat’s face.
“...THE HELL WAS THAT FOR-?!” Battat shouted the second he realised what had happened. Ramb just laughed.
“Oh nothin’, nothin’ at ALL luv.” He reassured him, still laughing slightly. “So, you're Mike?” Battat paused, looking a bit sheepish.
“Well… not exactly- Don’t look at me like that! It’s complicated! ” He protested. “How did you even-” He asked before putting his shard of the glass to his eye, staring back at him was an old, slightly melted, power strip. When he moved it, it was just Ramb again.
“…What are these things?!” Battat asked, looking at Ramb in a confused half glare. Ramb just shook his head.
“Not a clue.” He lied. “But they are certainly strange…” He added in truth, spinning it around between his fingers, inside showed an empty living room. Not much ‘living’ going on inside it currently. “Say, could I have the other half of it?”
“...why?” Battat asked both curious and suspicious.
“I dunno.” Ramb said with a shrug, admittedly he didn’t think this far ahead. “Just… seems like a connection outside ‘ere. Out to Kris.”
“Oh you’re not the only one with a ‘connection to the outside’ Ramb. I have my reason to want to keep this-” Battat explained, looking around the room through the glass, it dazzled in his hand a beautiful mix of green and red, like December lights. It was oddly nostalgic, yet lonely.
“-but, you do know I’m Mike. So you keep half and don’t run your mouth off to… whoever would listen to you at this point.” He offered, Ramb could tell when someone wouldn’t be persuaded, for better or worse..
“Oh alright… deal.” Ramb said, sticking out his paw to shake. Battat hesitated, but did shake his hand.
“Yeah… so, I’m gonna go now- this never happened, Ramb.” Battat said, glaring while putting back on his Mike head, trying to seem intimidating and failing terribly.
“Whatever you say, luv. See ya later.” Ramb waved goodbye and watched him leave, waiting for the moment he was actually gone. No one could know, at least, not him and not yet.