"Oh, this is going to be fun!" MatchlessMinion said laughingly.

Tundo gave the chinchillamin a doubtful look, while Danika asked a little defensively, "What's wrong with Underneath?"

"I thought you weren't a fan?" Tundo questioned a little sourly.

"Well, no, not really," Danika agreed. "But I like most of what I've heard of their music?"

"Ha, I bet you've only heard the most popular stuff," Tundo replied with heat. "Even among those, they are horribly repetitive and have such nonsensical lyrics! Like that zipping across the sky one they put out recently, ugh! And some of their more obscure stuff is a thousand times worse!"

"Wow, you really know a lot about them," MatchlessMinion commented with amusement.

Tundo explained a little ruefully, "My sister is a fan. Their music is always on repeat at our house. It drives me up the wall!"

"Ah, sisters, " MatchlessMinion said sympathetically. "I have one too, and she can be just that annoying."

"I can understand why the repetition would bother you, but maybe the lyrics are just referencing things you're not suspecting?" Danika suggested.

Tundo rolled his eyes and told her, "Listen to 'Chalkboard' before you try to make excuses for them."

"Well, alright," Danika agreed hesitantly. She logged out a moment later.

---

"Did she seriously just go to listen to it?" Tundo asked with amazement.

MatchlessMinion tucked his hands behind his head and said, "Well, yeah? Never ask her for something you don't actually want. And also, never piss her completely off."

"Oh yeah?" Tundo asked sceptically.

"In this game we used to play, there was a PKer that just would not leave anyone trying to cross the border of the newbie area alone. She created four new accounts and killed him until he quit the game before any of us found out about it," MatchlessMinion boasted.

"So what?" Tundo demanded. "I'd do the same thing if I met that kind of scum."

"But could you defeat a max level account with a level 20 account, like a hundred times in a row?" MatchlessMinion asked with sparkling eyes. "She's seriously the best guild leader I've ever seen!"

"You're totally just pulling my leg now," Tundo replied with a shake off his head. "She's one of the most inefficient players I've ever seen!"

"That's just because she's only playing around," the chinchillamin said wisely. "When it matters, she's really good at noticing things that everyone else misses, and coming up with tactics that you'll never expect."

"Sure…" Tundo agreed doubtfully. "But anyway, why did you say my dislike of Underneath is going to be so much fun?"

--

Danika had more trouble than she expected in finding a copy of Underneath's song, 'Chalkboard'. Given how popular they were, you could find legitimate and pirated copies of practically everything they'd ever made. She decided that Tundo's sister must be an extreme fan, since she apparently even had copies of songs that Shinichi and Naoki had made before Underneath was formed.

When she finally listened to it, it made her want to cry. It was a painful, frustrated, and angry sort of song. She'd never heard Shinichi sing anything so dark before, but even with all of that, there were glimpses of the light beyond the bars across the windows mentioned. And it wasn't 'I'm alone against the world', it was, 'We're back to back against the world'.

She could see how Tundo would hate hearing it over and over though. When she logged back in, he turned and gazed up at ZipZing warily.

"Um, I can see why you don't like it," she said uncomfortably, "but it isn't actually by Underneath, it's just two of their members? And it's pretty powerful in its own way isn't it? And I mean, I thought all of its lyrics made sense?"

"I guess," Tundo agreed grudgingly. He rubbed his nose and added, "But it's obviously by their main songwriter! And it's seriously as awful to hear over and over as nails on a chalkboard!"

MatchlessMinion snickered and suggested with amusement, "I think you should write your complaint on the guild board and see how many of us agree with you!"

"You are such a little kid," Tundo said with scorn. "I could join an anti-fan group if all I wanted was people who also hold a low opinion of Underneath's songs. This guild has a lot of members who are real musicians! It's awesome!"

"Um, not all of us are musicians," Danika said hesitantly. She glanced at MatchlessMinion, but the chinchillamin apparently hadn't let on that the band made up almost half of the guild.

"Well, obviously," Tundo agreed. "But have you seen Ryullusion play? That guy is seriously something! And I bet you didn't know that that bouncy little girl, Nao1 is almost as good!" he enthused. "She probably just likes Underneath because it's a girl thing," he added kindly.

Danika had no idea how to respond to that, but MatchlessMinion asked sagely, "Isn't your friend Melodious a better bard?"

Tundo shrugged. "He's higher level sure, but he's mostly just using the game skills. Ryullusion actually plays almost everything that his character plays!" He glanced at their expressions and said, "Well, I guess it's harder to tell if you're not familiar with the instruments already. But I play an instrument that's really similar to his violin in real life, so I can see and hear the differences."

"Oh," Danika replied after she realized that some acknowledgement was expected. "He really is a great musician who plays a lot of instruments in real life, but I can't tell the difference in the game I guess?"

Tundo nodded his head and explained, "You can use the way he reads the music off his menu screens as a clue. I mean, all the bards have their menus open to their skills a lot, but they look around more while the game plays for them."

"Okay," Danika replied with a smile.

"This stage we are building will promote real musicians," Tundo enthused suddenly. "The anti-magic audience area will prevent bardic effects. People will still be able to play the songs with their game skills of course, but they won't get any of the audible boosts! You may start to realize how flat the game's songs are then, because every bard will play them exactly the same unless they use their real skills, it'll be awesome!"

"Haha," MatchlessMinion laughed. "I can't wait to see Underneath play here then."

Tundo's expression soured. "You think that's really what Nao1 meant?"

"Well, I don't know any details yet, but from what I know of Nao1, I think it's really likely!" MatchlessMinion agreed cheerfully.

"You won't be obligated to attend or anything, even if they really do," Danika added quickly. She felt a little guilty about not just explaining that Shinichi and everyone were actually Underneath, but she also didn't feel comfortable exposing them if Tundo and his friends still hadn't realized.

Tundo glanced at MatchlessMinion, and then looked up at ZipZing, who hovered with a worried expression. "Well," he said lightly, "I do agree that she's probably one of the best guild leaders ever, even if I still don't quite believe you."

"What?" Danika asked blankly. MatchlessMinion snickered, and she turned toward him and raised an eyebrow. "What have you been telling him?" she asked suspiciously.