Professor Membrane x Reader

Family Bonding Drabble

"Okay, we all know who wears the gaming crown in this house," Gaz smirked. (Y/N) hopped over the couch and sat on Gaz's right. Membrane could only smile as his spouse entertained his children. But he knew something they didn't...

"Okay, just like last time, whoever completes the level faster gets to play with me in the final boss level first," Gaz said. She actually had one eye open and was sporting a soft smile. She was glad that (Y/N) had convinced the rest of her family to play this game with her. Even if her dad just watched.

"You can try first, Dib. I'll show you how it's done after!" (Y/N) said with a smirk. Dib simply scoffed and gripped the controller. Gaz was keeping time as the referee between the two. "On your mark..." (Y/N) and Dib locked eyes. "Get set..." Dib flicked his gaze to the television in front of them.

"GO!" Gaz screamed.

Dib furiously mashed on the controller. Moving joysticks, hitting buttons, and pressing the directional pad, all of this his life depended on. They were competing on the mini-boss's level, so there was a decent amount of challenge. The stopwatch kept timing how long the fight took, and all (Y/N) could do was wait and watch as the enemy's health bar went lower and lower. Soon enough, the mini-boss was defeated.

"What was my time?" Dib asked.

"Two minutes and forty seconds." Gaz looked expectantly at (Y/N). "You have a good shot at this, man. Don't fuck it up..."

(Y/N) took the controller and hovered over the button to retry the level. They looked at Gaz for confirmation. "On your mark..." (Y/N) bit their cheek. "Get set..."

"GO!"

And once more the battle started. The mini-boss was an easy fight if you had played the game enough times — or watched it be played multiple times, in (Y/N)'s case —   all you had to do was whale on the tendrils that came up from the floor every now and then and aim for the torso while the tendrils weren't visible. (Y/N) quickly finished the mini-boss and looked at Gaz for their time.

"Two minutes and twenty-three seconds. (Y/N) has first go on the boss with me."

Dib seemed disappointed, but was a good sport. He got up off the couch and sat on the floor, watching the opening cutscene play out.

Our noble heroes, Demarkus and Sam, had just slain the nefarious Emperor Gunnam's most beloved henchman on the way to rescuing their cat. Emperor Gunnam was filled with the fury of a thousand hurricanes, and saw no way to avenge his henchman other than to kill the two of them.

And with that, the fight began. Emperor Gunnam's attacks had many different themes, but he was weak against summons. It was a good thing, though, that Gaz was playing as Sam, the necromancer who specialized in summons. It was almost as if she knew...

But soon enough, (Y/N)'s character ran out of health, leaving Gaz to fight Gunnam alone. Obviously, this was a losing battle, but she still tried. But a mage can't win a fight on their own. Sam's health was depleted, and the game over cutscene for the level played out.

"Alright, fair's fair. Dib, you wanna play as Demarkus or Sam?" (Y/N) asked. Dib said Demarkus, so they handed him the same controller. (Y/N) watched the same events play out once more, and sighed.

The three of them alternated turns and characters, but to no avail. They were about to dejectedly give up for today, when Membrane cleared his throat from behind the couch.

"I have been analyzing the attack patterns and damage done over the course of your attempts, and I may have an idea. Daughter, would you be willing to attempt this plan with me?"

Gaz opened her eyes in astonishment. Her dad? Video games? I mean, it was a well known fact that he was in favor of them — he did enable her GameSlave obsession, after all. But did he actually play them? She closed them, and in trying to mask her surprise, she gave a simple thumbs up.

Dib got onto the floor in front of (Y/N), making room for Membrane to sit. (Y/N) leaned an arm around the back of the couch and watched as Membrane and Gaz started up the level.

Spells were cast. Zombies and skeletons were summoned. Swords were swung. Blood was shed. But unlike previous attempts, Membrane was being much more daring with his strikes.

He attacked relentlessly, as did Gaz, but eventually their hp was low. And with one stray hit that Gaz didn't see coming, Sam the necromancer was down. The three watched in anticipation as Membrane fought against Gunnam. And with one more button combo, the boss was defeated.

The three stared at him in awe of this feat. Meanwhile, Membrane stood up and cracked his knuckles.

"Jaja, aún lo tengo," he laughed, walking away.