Reviews :
faolan1230 : LMAO I'm glad you're so excited!
Snake557 : Aww, thanks friend! I appreciate it! People have told me to upload this beast to Ao3 but honestly, it's nearly 1k chapters long, and I like having it in one spot. But I appreciate that you keep coming here for it! Thank you!
Awesome Stories May Occur : Hey! I got your PM - I don't have internet atm so I can't fully reply right now, but I will once I'm settled :) Thank you for your insight!
Song Listened To :
Into the Unknown by Panic! At The Disco
*Chapter 184*
As Berri's thick heels gently clacked in the heavy thud of her ironically dainty stepping, her eyes peered down the stretch of the narrowed downstage, the roar of the crowd all around her buzzed in her ears, the sheer amount of people, gamers, fans, every single different individual in between eagerly and loudly chanted her name with a far huger push now that she was present on their stage. Hovered a few feet from the gleaming mic and mic stand that beckoned her, one that typically belonged to Gunner, she inhaled a shaky breath as her guitar strap rose and fell on her breasts. With a tender amount of fumbling, she finally gripped the mic stand, lowered her mic so that it was right at her level, and with a few moments of smiling, adoring hesitancy out to her screaming, excited arena, she heaved a shaky chuckle into the mic.
"Arcadia," Berri's voice sharply lilted with joyous fervor, and with just one word, the crowd up-roared into an even louder level of sheer, unadulterated excitement. Berri sagged her shoulders and took a gentle step back from the mic, and as her glorious blue eyes really assessed the sheer depth, the sheer volume of just the planet-sized arena all around her, she heaved another gentle giggle and pressed into the mic with a wide smile of cute disbelief, "We're gunna give you guys an awesome show, today, but... I need to address the elephant in the arena."
Berri inhaled a trembling breath and took note that, although the crowd continued to drum with excitement, the crowd fell into a gentle lull of cued, polite listening, as if they knew, full well, this is not how a single one of their concerts went, and with the now very prominent lack of Gunner's figure on stage, Berri could sense the vibe of the audience shift into soft, prickled confusion. Berri felt her hands begin to shake, she gripped the neck of her guitar with her left hand, and the base of it with her right, and though her nervous eyes glossed the immediate crowd maybe two dozen feet away from her positioning, she felt her skin raise in goosebumps. Never before had she ever been this tight up on her crowd, never before had she actually spoke to her gathering with such intimacy, she faltered in the rush of brand new feelings climbing all over her, and although she knew to diligently press on, no matter how terrified she now was, someone deep in the crowd urgently spiked out their voice above the dull murmurs of warm confusion.
"WE LOVE YOU BERRI!" The small voice, from the great beyond, urgently chimed, and with such, a tier of other screams and excited calls pressed on with cute, adoring fervor.
"I love you guys, too," Berri huffed in a cute chuckle of disbelieving appreciation, she shook her head, swallowed in rising terror and looked about the glorious, sunkissed world before her. She heaved a shaky breath and continued to grip her guitar, as if it were the only thing holding her to the planet, "I'm really sorry to announce that... Gunner won't be joining us for this show. Y'just get lil' ol' me, with Wren and Theo."
Although delivering bad news, and a wave of concerned confusion hit the crowd, it wasn't until Berri lulled her eyes closed and pressed her mouth to the mic, to continue urgently and apologetically carrying on, did the crowd begin to further uproar in another wave of cheering excitement, as if to assure Berri that this switch up was something they could cope with. Although Berri could tell there was a hover of hot disappointment in the air, as Gunner being the face of their band, Berri inhaled another shaky breath and knew that from here, she was due to working a bit harder to fill the void.
Turbo's glowing eyes hooked tight to Berri's gorgeous figure in whole entire pride, splashed in Arcadia's glorious sunshine, Turbo stood leaned against the wall, hidden in the shadows, he was successfully out of sight of the incredible, sprawling audience. He watched as Berri sweetly wormed her way into the heart of her audience, her cadence pressed on in tender confidence, though in a jolt of surprise, Throttle came up to Turbo's side and looked about in riled urgency. Turbo furrowed his eyebrows, stiffened and volleyed his gaze to just what was in Throttle's hands; a wireless head mic.
"Tee, what's wrong," Turbo pressed quietly as Throttle's white, glowing eyes scanned about, though he finally stabbed his eyes to Turbo's and urgently gestured out to Berri.
"Bo, she needs THIS mic, she can't just stand in the dead center of the stage for the entire show," Throttle rushed in a mess, though Turbo inhaled a shaky breath and peered back to Berri in hot terror, "She's holding and playing her guitar, her hands aren't free to hold a mic, she needs freedom to roam about like Gunner usually does."
"Y'gunna take it out to her?" Turbo pressed in rushed curiosity as he gestured out to the stage, though Throttle wildly furrowed his eyebrows and gave Turbo a hushed notion of terror.
"Yeah, in front of fifteen thousand pairs of eyes, how about a hard PASS," Throttle urged nervously, though he looked about in further nervousness and staggered his worries, "I thought there was a crew head here that could rush it out, I can't find any of the stage runners."
In a knee-jerk reaction, Turbo held his breath, peered his piercing, golden gaze down to the mic and sound pack in Throttle's white hands, and with a swathe of out-of-body urgency, Turbo sharply inhaled and grappled the items in Throttle's hands. Throttle choked Turbo an urgent noise, and as Turbo's footwork confidently brought him up the stairs, onto the edge of the stage and forward like a rocket shooting to the moon, Throttle gaped in a huff of cheeky terror and clutched his chest in unadulterated shock that Turbo, of all people, gathered up the rest of his bottom-barrel courage and was due to smearing it all across Arcade's largest stage. In fight or flight, Turbo could see diligent eyes, from the crowd, immediately hook to him in soft shock, and though he wasn't yet in Berri's peripheral, he was well aware Wren and Theo could now certainly see him. Berri's cute voice pressed on.
"I was going to start this concert like planned, but... Now that I'm here, I actually... Have a song that I'd like to play for you guys, before we get started, if you don't mind," Berri softly pressed, and though she jostled her guitar a little bit and the crowd continue to call out and murmur soft notions of appreciation for Berri's presence, she bashfully pressed on and knew this little shred of bought stage time was her moment to shine, "It's a collaboration with someone I... Love with all of my heart, who goes by the name of... Turbo Black."
Although the crowd halted in a curious drone of noise, they began to clap and point, an uproar of comedic cheering and motioning began to happen, though just as Berri was due to confusedly peered back to Wren and Theo, she jolted in tender shock as to just who came steadily marching her way, tight in her left peripheral. Berri huffed a shaky breath, froze, peered tight into Turbo's approaching demeanor and was now entirely certain she was dreaming. Stiff in his hustle, he peered to Berri and only Berri, as if somehow keeping his eyes tight to her would erase the crowd from his mind, Berri huffed a cute chuckle, shook her head and felt the coding in her blood swirl around in unadulterated surprise.
"Speak of the devil," Berri chimed cutely into the microphone, though as Turbo finally and quickly approached her, Berri flinched in tender surprise the second Turbo took her mic and stand, eased it a few feet back and behind himself and, quick as lightning, he began to outfit Berri with her hands free mic. Berri long-blinked in unadulterated surprise as Turbo hovered over her, she dutifully stood still as he slipped her mic and in-ear into the nooks of her right ear, the pack securely hooked to the back of her pants, knowing her mic wasn't yet powered on, she softly rushed Turbo a shocked notion of floored delight that only he could hear, "Turbo, you're..."
"On stage with you, in front of thousands, yeah, I'm about to pass out," Turbo's cute, trembling voice pressed her as he made sure she was all saddled up, and though his face was blushed with cute, terrified delight alongside a knowing smile, he switched her mic on, raised his eyebrows in impending, knowing anticipation and took a small step out of her gravity. He grappled the mic stand she was previously using, with ease, and as he softly began to sag out of her presence, he ushered her a sweet, quiet notion for her ears only, "Kill it, babe."
Berri sagged her shoulders and tried not to allow her shaky panting be now heard to the crowd she could effortlessly speak to. As the crowd began to urgently clap and cheer Turbo's cute little task, Berri cocked an eyebrow and shot her gaze to Wren and Theo, who were widely gaping in whole entire shock as to just what was taking place. Half way across the stage and due to disappearing any second now, Berri felt her heart crawl clear out of her chest, she shook her head and firmly gestured her hand in Turbo's vanishing direction, mic and stand tight in his possession.
"Ladies and gentleman, Turbo Black!" Berri called with cuteness as she fixated her eyes to Turbo's figure, which now froze in a scuff of hard dread.
With shoulders scrunched, he had nearly made it past Wren, beyond Theo and out of sight, although still in a healthy splay of sunlight, he knew he was still in the line of sight of everyone in the arena. Turbo grit his teeth in a spike of terror and felt the golden glow immediately vanish his gaze, though as his eyes urgently stabbed to Wren's figure, stationed as his huge, gorgeous mix area, and then to Theo with his incredible drums, Turbo exhaled a hard, shaky, stunned breath of unadulterated terror as he finally turned around to peer to Berri, who had her arm outstretched to him from the nearly thirty foot gap between them. Turbo flinched in sharp surprise the second the crowd began to urgently cheer in another, healthy, unending uproar of excitement, and with such a joyous return from hearing his name, the very name that was typically a taboo topic, Turbo gently turned to face the swathe of the crowd before him with a gentle switch of warm, surprised disbelief.
"Y'got that shiny mic in your hand, my guy," Berri challenged with cocky sweetness, and though Turbo wanted to desperately shake his head and plead her not to do this, he sharply flinched the second she grit her teeth and firmly strung at her gorgeous, loud, powerful guitar. The first, long-held, reverberating note of their treasured song, the crowd immediately began to scream and cheer at Berri's grinning fervor, her voice reverberated to Turbo for all of the public to hear, "Wanna help me out?"
Turbo heavily panted, his chest rose and fell as he nervously did everything he could to get air in and out of his nose. He raised his eyebrows in prickled, doughy surprise and finally glossed his eyes about the crowd, as if for approval. Berri confidently began to strum a few loud, core-shaking chords, and with such a cue, Theo began to methodically press his foot into the kick drum to keep rhythm to Berri's strumming, a gentle metronome of keeping time. Turbo felt his blood run cold as the bass of Theo's drum now matched the speed of Turbo's pounding heart, he cocked an eyebrow and softly lofted his gaze to Wren in soft terror, though Berri blurt a giggle and continued to tenderly press on with a few of their song's beginning few chords.
"Don't look to Wren for help, he's got his hands full," Berri cutely chimed with a small laugh as Wren shot Turbo a wide, knowing grin, and though Turbo finally caved and eased a smile of terror, he nervously peered to Berri's eyes as she gently continued to repeat the first few chords that lead into the first part of her song. Although thankful the first verse was her singing part, Turbo still held his uncertain eyes tight to Berri's, the raw fact that she was calling him out, another challenge to rise to, he heavily panted and only dared to take a very wary, apprehensive step a little bit deeper onto the stage, to join Berri. Although building up and preparing to start the song properly, once and for all, Berri firmly strummed a bit harder as Theo's drumming gained a bit more momentum and fervor, Wren eagerly pressed into his keys and mixing board, Berri inhaled a readied breath and took a few tender steps closer to Turbo as her confident strumming, her amazing skill on her guitar, loudly pressed out into the world about them. Like she was born for this role, she inhaled a deep breath as her cute, beautiful voice pressed from her diaphragm, "Stalling, stalling, forward, clutch, oh, don't make me hold my breath."
Turbo inhaled a trembling breath and felt the goosebumps on his skin raise with purpose, the crowd suddenly screamed and cheered with unadulterated excitement as the arena soaked with the gnarly press of Berri's beautiful, powerful guitar, the sweet, ironic lace of her gorgeous pitch, Turbo's shaky hand ripped the mic off of it's stand, set it down and began to hesitantly crawl a little deeper into the stage, single mic in hand. He knew he was due to now making an entire fool of himself, though with the sheer fact that Berri had a whole splay of entire confidence in his ability to join her here, in front of the sheer size of this heart-stopping crowd, he wondered if he was due for a shred of potential. He softly eyed her in continued, soft suspicion and was genuinely floored that this was something she was very bravely and spontaneously bringing about in such an important show. She bit her bottom lip, urgently strummed and continued on as she took a few confident, positive steps a little closer to Turbo, though she bent her knees a little and now began to back step in the gesture of her guitar, to cutely encourage him deeper onto the stage with her.
"Suffocating, pleading eyes, ohh, babe, your secret's long kept," Berri's beautiful, coy tones lilted on pitch, she delivered Turbo's lovely lyrics and their collaborative mind-melt with such ease, such tenderness, yet with such a kiss of power, Turbo nervously rested his hand to his chest, inhaled a trembling breath and, in the continuous out of body experience he was now becoming numb to, he eased the mic to his mouth and allowed bravery to continue to coat his fresh, new soul with color.
"You come and go, goodbye, hello, tomorrow's surely the time," Turbo's deep voice nervously pressed into the mic, and although a soft and hesitant start, Berri beamed him a wide, twinkling grin and firmly continued to strum alongside Turbo's lovely fervor, the drums that methodically pressed into their souls in rhythmic time had him feeling as if he was now molting his old skin, the vibration of everything hitting him dead on was enough to light the California sun on fire, and then some. He eased her a shy, wide grin into the mic and pressed on with a little bit more confidence, his deep, masculine voice coat the arena in such a way he wasn't sure was even real, "Then and there seems better paired for insecurity's glow."
"Every day's a steeper climb, every day I thought was mine, dually lost and found," Turbo pressed a bit firmly, and though he still felt shaky and nervous, he was glad this was the wave where Berri's powerful voice joined his. The two gently fell into rhythm alongside Wren's and Theo's press of talent, and as Turbo finally eased within a few feet of Berri, he smiled down into her eyes and felt floored that any of this was real. They both took deep inhales and continued to pursue their colorful, powerful song with Berri's climbing chords of her loud guitar, her gorgeous harmony that perfectly melted into Turbo's raspy, irresistible, solid voice, "Crop circles plowed in vain, you knew, all along,"
"The true pleasure, the true pain of," Turbo's urgent, deep tone pressed in firm solitude as Berri's strumming vigorously sagged down the bridge of her guitar, and though her blue eyes honed tight to Turbo's in whole fervor, she knew, with the huge, confident breath of a tight inhale that he was now lost in the song, aimlessly, blissfully unaware of the screaming crowd about him, he scrunched his face into a grimace of powerful singing as he belted into their higher, powerful chorus, "Here and NOW!"
Berri did everything not to huff a quiet breath of unadulterated shock as Turbo arched and sang his whole heart out to the crowd in a tight, held note of solid vibrato. Although Berri noticed the light, sound and stage crew carrying on with diligent, aimless following of the two, Berri shook her head and soaked in the sound of Turbo's deep, powerful voice rumbling the whole station, the crowd waved with a surge of cheering, screaming energy as this new shred of a band carried on with a diligent new explosion of a sound. Turbo inhaled a deep breath, after long held notes and continued to press on and him and Berri jostled on their feet in climbing, energetic, electric fervor, "Here and nowww."
"All this time lost, all this purpose found," Both Berri and Turbo sweetly sang out to the crowd, though Berri grit her teeth as they concluded said powerful chorus with a pop of energy, "Here! And! NOW!"
Born for the role, Berri inhaled a tight breath, grit her teeth and urgently began to strum the crowd her vicious, loud guitar solo. Although standard, and used to these frenzies of solos, she bent her knees in climbing energy she had no idea what to do with other than full on express herself unlike ever before. Taking a gamble, she furrowed her eyebrows in grit fervor and cued her silver coding amidst her glorious strings, and with the pound of the drums and everything else behind her, the stage eagerly crawled with her heightened, electric silver coding in a wave of surged, searing heat. With licks of visible strings of electricity that rippled to the nearby speakers and cued to the heavy vibrations of Theo's quick, skilled, urgent drumming, Berri nearly fell to her knees and rattled the clear, sunny dome nearly a mile above everyone in a shivering mess of her guitar's squealing, beautiful sound. Fingers that crawled up and down the neck of her gorgeous, shiny grey guitar, she outwardly bit her tongue and let loose every single last note she had itching underneath her finger tips in lightning-speed concession. She beamed a gaping smile out to the sky and finally eased back to her feet as Turbo's voice rushed to aid her in rhythm, both now easily lost in the mess of the roaring crowd.
"Lonesome grey in outer space, that gravity of blue, oh, don't make me wait," Turbo's sweet press of his deep vibrato, his lovely voice lilted in such seductive fervor, in the string of smiling eye contact him and Berri kept, he grappled the chest of his tank and beamed the widest, easiest smile he had ever smiled as him and Berri firmly carried on together, "It's ALL so better suited for tomorrow, or the next, or the NEXT."
"But, while I got you in my arms, let's stay forever," Berri's beautiful voice loudly pressed as she did everything she could to strum the last few chords of their song in due diligence, both her and Turbo inhaled deep breaths and adamantly concluded their powerful ballad of a mind melt to their adoring crowd, "Here and NOW!"
With the bite of her lower lip in firm concentration, Berri urgently began to strum the last few now improvised few chords to end their song, she beamed an excited smile as the crowd screamed and went nuts for her's and Theo's powerful, haphazard, colorful show of coding and well-timed fervor, and with the final swing of her arm and a cued cut of her screaming guitar, Berri heavily panted and urgently peered her boggled eyes out to the crowd her and Turbo were now soaked into, all the way downstage and in isolated cuteness. With now nothing but the roar of the thousands of people far out before the two, both Turbo and Berri stood side by side in a raw, otherworldly situation they both would've never dreamed to be true, and though they both heavily panted in riled, bewildered, shellshocked disbelief, they cutely peered into each other's eyes. With the hang of electricity that now draped over them was almost just too much to bear, Turbo long-blinked in unmitigated, wowed disbelief and knew, without a single doubt, that there weren't enough hours in the day to recount, with Berri, everything that had taken place, here.
Berri eased a shaky, panting giggle out into the air, which ultimately radiated into her mic. She lovingly peered to Turbo, swathed in a halo of sunlight, his lovely eyes, easily kissed with shining renewal, peered down to her with grinning, adorable, trembling fervor. Turbo shook his head to her slowly, as if to quietly state to her that this was entirely unbelievable, the world about them shook with the ever lasting roars of cheering and screaming, he rested his hand to his broad chest and looked about the girth of Arcade before him. How easily they accepted him back into the fold, how easy it was to let bygones be bygones, he glossed his eyes to each person that he could physically see before he brought his gaze right back to Berri's. He knew he had a whole entire lifetime of gratitude to gift to her, though somehow, he hoped the end of this night would supply her with absolutely everything she needed. As Berri warmly reached for Turbo's left hand, with her right, they grappled hands in a cute swing before Berri firmly lifted Turbo's hand up and inhaled a deep, readied breath.
"Give it up for Turbo!" Berri pressed loudly, the arena waved into another climb of cheering fervor as Turbo's humbled, golden eyes glossed the sea of a crowd with tender, almost-grimacing delight.
Turbo smiled into her eyes, once more, and felt honored to even be in the same bubble as her, in this raw instance. Her beautiful blue eyes peered to his in twinkling excitement, her chest heaved in a further amount of desperately trying to come to grips with what just happened, and though Turbo's eyes trailed down her beautiful body, he curiously landed his eyes to her guitar. In a stab back to her eyes, he was well aware she had enough coded energy for a whole entire light show, a whole push of further coded, glitching skill she could so easily utilize across the whole stage she was offered, and in this understanding, Turbo tenderly handed Berri his mic and began to unhook Berri from her hands-free mic, so he could use it. Berri froze as the crowd still pressed on with cheering, though as it sagged and the people in the front row began to urgently chant both of their names, Berri finally curiously peered up to Turbo the second he was outfitted with her hands-free mic. With purpose, though tenderness, he began to lift her guitar off of her body and securely snugged it over his broad chest and front. Left alone with nothing but the mic Turbo was previously using, he raised his eyebrows in sweet, diligent certainty and began to back step a little, so that she was, singularly, the only entity downstage, her rightful place as a proper lead singer.
"I think we all know who should be at the helm of this wreck," Turbo's voice confidently pressed into his mic as he peered down to Berri's gorgeous guitar, though as he marched closer to Wren and Theo's figures, he firmly tilted his head, got their attention and began to suddenly strum the beginning of one of Archived Chaos's current songs; simply something he could only do by ear, he was entirely thrilled Theo and Wren urgently caught on and followed his diligent lead. Correctly splaying out the loud, longer intro of the first song on their ballot, Turbo knew it was his duty to place Berri exactly where she originally wanted to be, all along, a gift he was adamant to keep giving her. He eased Berri a kind, cheeky smile as she stood still in frozen shock downstage, hundreds of hands stretched up and out towards her as she held the single mic Turbo previously had. Turbo grinned her a cute smile and confidently strummed as he sweetly concluded his notions to the crowd, the beginning of the song raised everyone's spirits with feverous familiarity, "C'mon, guys let's give the girl a little encouragement. Y'got this, Bear."
Berri raised her eyebrows in prickled surprise and peered down to the mic in her hand, and nothing but. Turned back to the crowd, she inhaled a readied breath and felt more alive than what she previously had, which was something she was certain wouldn't ever even be topped in a million lifetimes. With the rush of everything familiar that came back to her, the dozens of shows she stood off to the side and eagerly mouthed all the words of their songs, her chest heaved in rising, spiking anticipation. She knew with the eager, squealing noise of her own precious guitar behind her, the pound of Theo's drums, the quick note work of Wren's sound board, the arena glistened and twinkled with every single last ounce of Arcade's power. Eager to deliver, on fire to perform and give this show her entire all, she shook her head and beamed a wide smile into the mic as she readied for her upcoming lines, every single last inch of which were now all hers to boast, all hers to claim. Berri gripped the base of the mic and tucked it tight to her mouth, and with one single, readied inhale, she silently promised the sea of fans before her that they came for a show, though they'd surely leave with an otherworldly, soul-shaking experience.
A/N: Hey guys, I drew this scene :) I drew it from 2 years ago, before this story was even a thing, titled The Middle, and a FAR more recent painting titled Bigger than Arcadia - both on my deviantART username Vyntresser
