Psychoburners

Part 14: Comic-Con

July 10th, 2015, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego

    Psychoburners had finally made it. They were atan actual convention, where they could experience everything they wanted. Theyhad started living an experience they would never forget, and it was theirfirst step on attending more conventions; and maybe, who knows, actuallymeeting their subscribers.
    Michael was specifically happier in the secondday of Comic-Con, since it was his 28th birthday. He was feeling bad being awayfrom his family (including his girlfriend), but on the other hand, being at aconvention with his best friend was something both of them had been dreamingsince they first started doing YouTube, so it was impossible not to be happyabout it, especially at his own birthday.

    Following a call from Evelyn to Michael, inwhich he received happy birthday wishes from her, and John calling everyoneelse for the same reason, Psychoburners headed once again to the ConventionCenter. They were happy, yet nervous, because they would finally see someonethey admired in person: none other than Markiplier himself.
    When they found the booth where Mark and hisbrother Tom were signing, they stood behind the human line in front of it.John, who was at the front, felt Michael poking him. He turned around.
- What's wrong?
- I'm nervous...
- So am I.
- Johnny, I changed my mind, let's not go talk to him. We will look like idiots!
- I know, but we have to go anyway! We are neither the first, nor the last who have been at this exact place! And if we just ditch, we will regret it forever!
- I can't! Please, John?
    John sighed and thought of it for a second. Anidea took shape inside his head.
- I have a plan. We will NOT talk to him now; wewill meet him again at Pax Prime next month anyway, and I hope we both have thecourage to do it till then. BUT we WILL stay in the line just to see him from adistance, and we will talk to his brother instead.
- What? But we know nothing about him and his comic! He will immediately understand that we are not here for him!
- This is the part where you are wrong, Michael.
    With those words, John opened his bag andrevealed a comic. Not just any comic, though: Tom Fischbach's comic. Michaelwidened his eyes.
- It's his? The comic you've been reading lately?
- Yep! And I have to say it's actually very good! I really want to meet Tom and ask him to sign it.
    Michael took the comic off John's hands andbrowsed through it for a few seconds. Then, he gave it back, commenting:
- You're right, it IS indeed good! But... Uhm... I still don't know much about it. What will I say?
- You don't have to say much. Let me do the most talk, since I know it better. And you, when you get a chance, look at Mark; don't forget to be distinctive, though. We don't want him to catch us staring at him persistently, do we?
- Wait, how will YOU look at Mark?
- Don't worry, I will grab a chance too. I can definitely do it when Tom will be signing the comic.
- Okay, sounds like a plan.
- And Michael?
- Yeah?
- If Mark turns towards us, try not to lose your shit and blow our cover.
- I will try as long as you try as well.
- No worries, I will.
- So, now we wait?
- Now we wait.

    When Psychoburners finally arrived close to thebooth, they waited until the people in front of them headed towards Mark,ignoring his brother; they instead went straight at him. Tom lifted his eyesand looked from head to toe the two men standing in front of him. John clearedhis throat and spoke first:
- Hey there!
- Hello to you too!
Tom greeted John back and shook his hand. John gladly shook Tom's hand back and after Michael did the same and they both introduced themselves, they began talking about how amazing the comic was. Or actually, John was the one talking the most.
    Meanwhile, Michael, pretending that somethingelse caught his attention, turned towards where Mark was standing. He saw theYouTuber talking with his fans, hugging them and letting them take photos withhim. Seeing people reacting to finally meeting the one who gave a smile ontheir faces every single day was warming Michael's heart; he had actuallyregretted about their plan to keep a distance. Well, now we got ourdecision. We will not talk to him today; even though it would be awesome if wedid, especially for me, since it's my birthday. But who knows? Maybe at PaxPrime...
    Michael returned to reality when he noticed thatMark was looking towards the direction he and John were standing; in fact, it seemedlike he was looking straight at him. Michael widened his eyes, looked away fromMark and started to scratch the back of his neck, pretending he was itchythere. While doing that, he slowly turned back at John and Tom. He saw the YouTuber'sbrother signing his comic, whereas his best friend was scratching the back of hisneck exactly like he himself was. Michael looked at him with confusion, andJohn just pointed at Mark with his glance for very few fractions of the second.Michael bit his lip, realizing that John was looking along with him until themoment Mark turned his gaze towards them. Before they were able to do anythingelse, Tom grabbed their attention by closing the comic and saying:
- Here you go!
    John blinked a couple times, turning his attention back to Tom. He got the comic, saying with a smile:
- Thank you! It was a pleasure to meet you!
- Same with you! I hope I see you guys around!
- You will! Bye now!
- Bye!
    John grabbed Michael's hand, who was stillfrozen, and dragged him away from the booth, smiling one last time at Tom.Michael did the same without resisting at John dragging him, until they wereaway enough from the booth. That was when they both sighed with relief. Michaelspoke first, wiping the sweat off his forehead:
- That was so fucking close!
- I know, right?
- You were looking too, weren't you?
- Yeah, why do you think I was nervous?
- How do you think I was? I probably looked like a God damn stalker staring at him this way!
- What did I say about being distinctive?
- I tried, okay? But he looked so good, man! Even better than inside a screen!
- I know, Michael... Just a couple of seconds were enough to see it...
- Let's at least hope his brother didn't notice our strange behavior.
- I don't think he did, but we may have caused suspicions on him, especially at the end.
- Damn it.
- It's over now. We don't have to do it again. Next time we see Mark, we go talk straight to him.
- Let's hope we don't lose our shit when that time arrives. We already did here when he just stared towards us.
- Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be good until then.
- I hope you're right.
- We still got plenty of time until convention closes for today, wanna go wander some more?
- Sure.

    After many hours of wandering, exploring andenjoying, Psychoburners took a supper break. They sat at a spot close to thecenter of the building and started eating, watching the people walking andpassing by them, while their heads were full of thoughts about the experiencesthey faced today. That process lasted for one whole hour, where nothingexciting happened; except that one moment, when John thought he saw someone wholooked familiar, but he just shook it off, thinking it wasn't anythingimportant.
    When they finished eating, they both got up andstretched. Michael commented while fully stretching his left arm by pushing itwith the right one:
- Oh man, I am SO full right now! All I want is to take a nap!
- So do I, but we still got time to wander around a little more!
- To see what? We have pretty much seen everything!
- I know, but I have the feeling we have missed some things.
- Like what exactly?
Michael asked, talking a little louder than usual. John was trying to think of an answer, when a voice, which wasn't his, replied right behind him:
- Well, there is that booth at the booth area, where that crazy wonky YouTuber is, that you haven't been in yet!
    Psychoburners widened their eyes, immediatelyrecognizing that voice. They both slowly turned around and saw its owner.Markiplier himself was standing there, staring at them with a smirk (andapparently enjoying their shocked faces).

    Michael had started sweating again (and alsofelt his feet shaking a little), whereas John whispered a "hi" thatwas barely heard and stayed frozen, trying to keep his own feet steady. Marksmiled, probably feeling flattered with their reactions, and attempted to calmthem:
- Relax, don't shake like I'm gonna kill you or something! Do I look like I'm gonna kill you?
    Both men shook their heads, trying to makethemselves stop shaking; when they succeeded it, they found the courage to lookat Mark steadily, like nothing was wrong. The YouTuber took that as a chance tocontinue:
- There you go, now that's better! So, I saw youguys talking to Tom AND looking at my side every now and then. It wasn't toohard to understand that you have come for me, but didn't have the guts to cometalk to me.
    Psychoburners stared at each other and nodded,sighing. The worst scenario had happened: they had been discovered. Marknoticed their disappointment and added quickly, winning their attention back:
- Hey, hey, hey, I didn't mean to say that this was wrong! In fact, I don't blame you at all! I bet you're neither the first, nor the last ones who do that.
- Then why?
John suddenly asked, this time talking loudenough to be heard. Mark turned towards him with a confused look.
- Why what?
    John took a deep breath, feeling all his courage slowly, but steadily, coming back.
- Why, from all the people who don't have the guts to do it, YOU came to US? What do WE have that made you notice us and approach us?
    John immediately regretted asking that question.He bit his lip, looking away, expecting Mark to be upset; however, he wasn't.Instead, he replied calmly, after a couple seconds of silence:
- Because I know you two. I have seen you before.
    John widened his eyes and looked back at Mark with shock. As well about Michael, who had the same reaction, asked, after taking a deep breath to collect himself:
- Where have you seen us?
    Mark smiled at both and explained elaborately:
- You're Psychoburners. You are the ones who made that video where you were congratulating me for 8 million subscribers by reacting to me. You're Michael (he pointed at Michael) and you're John (he pointed at John) if I'm not mistaken.
    And that was when Michael and John completely lost their shit.

A few minutes later, and exchanged a temporary goodbye. That happened after Mark wished Michael happy birthday, told the two friends that he had watched some of their videos, actually liked them (and the creators themselves, of course), couldn't wait to see more of their content, and the most important: he couldn't wait to meet them again at Pax Prime.