Chapter Text
Grian and Mumbo made their way to Cub’s base. They had waited a few more days before visiting him. Mumbo was enjoying pranking people and wanted to torment Doc just a little while longer, and Grian just didn’t want to give up his wings yet.
They were silent, both having mixed feelings about getting rid of their new bodies. Mumbo was going to miss being able to fall asleep so easily and was wondering if Cub could find a way to have him keep that specific trait. Grian was much more torn. He loved his wings. Being able to fly so freely without having to worry about putting on an elytra or managing upkeep. Plus, they were beautiful, and something about the wind blowing through them felt magical.
Cub was working in his fireworks factory. He was at a workbench with different color gun powders and equipment around him putting together some custom fireworks. He looked up as the pair approached. “Hey guys! What’s up?” He could tell they were upset. “Can I help you two with something? You seem pretty bummed out. Are you okay?”
Grian sighed. “We want to go back to our old bodies. Can you help us with that? Like… is there a potion or something that will reverse the effects of the ones we drank?”
Cub placed his hand on his chin, thinking. “Hmm. Well, I would need the original potions first, just to see what was in them. Then I guess I could work backwards and go from there. It should be pretty simple unless the ingredients just don’t exist anymore.”
Mumbo walked forward. “We don’t have the potions really, but we do have these.” He handed Cub the empty potion bottles. “They were in a jungle temple. You should have seen it, Cub. The room they were in was brilliant, and so beautiful.”
Cub's head shot up. “You said a jungle temple?” They both nodded. “Was it like, oh… a few thousand chunks west of here?” They nodded again, and Cub let out a whoop and started clapping his hands and laughing. “OH MAN! This is great! Hold on!” He took off towards his base without another word.
Mumbo and Grian looked at each other and shrugged. Mumbo sat down and started bathing himself. It had become almost a coping skill of sorts to help calm him down. Grian sat next to him and brought a wing forward, absentmindedly running his fingers through his feathers, picking off loose dirt.
Cub appeared a few minutes later, landing in front of them. “SO! When we were scouting this server, Xisuma and I explored around and stumbled upon this jungle temple. I thought it would be hilarious to set up a prank of sorts. Xisuma wasn’t the biggest fan of the idea, but I convinced him that no one would be stupid enough to drink some random potions.”
Everything went silent, the sound of Cub’s machines softly working in the background.
“Anyway…” He tossed each of them a potion bottle. “Here ya go! Drink these and everything will go back to normal. Man… I can’t believe I forgot I did that!” He started walking back towards his workbench.
Grian cleared his throat. “Uh… Cub?” He was switching his potion bottle between his hands. “Is there any way that… um. I don’t want to get rid of my wings.” He looked back at the potion bottle, watching the golden liquid swirl around.
Cub tilted his hand. “Hmm. Tell you what. You drink that, and I’ll work on something for ya. How’s that sound.”
Grian nodded slowly, then looked over at Mumbo.
“Oh! Right. So, Cub.” He honestly didn’t know how to ask for what he wanted. It wasn’t like he wanted to keep a cool new body part like Grian. He just wanted to be able to sleep.
Cub, having known Mumbo for many years at this point, just smiled. “Mumbo. Give me a few days, and I can fix up something for ya, okay? I know what It’s like to not be able to sleep properly. I gotchu bud.”
Mumbo smiled back. “Thanks, mate.”
Grian and Mumbo opened their bottles and clinked them together. They downed their potions and waited. Transforming back was a bit different than last time. They both exploded, their items going everywhere. When they respawned, they were back in their old bodies. When they made their way back to Cub’s factory, he was gone. Their stuff was separated into chests, and on top of each was a letter.
Grian snorted to himself as he read it. “Mumbo. I do believe we will be paying Cub back for the rest of our time on this server.”
Mumbo was reading his. “This says one hundred diamond BLOCKS! BLOCKS GRIAN! I don’t even have ONE diamond block!”
They collected their items and made their way back to their bases.
_____
Mumbo was restocking his item frame shop when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned around and froze. “Heh. Hey Doc.”
“Hello, Mumbo.” His face was expressionless, and he was crossing his arms, unmoving.
Mumbo waited for him to say anything else, and when he didn’t, went back to stocking his store. He made sure to keep Doc in his field of vision the entire time. When he was finished, Doc silently stepped out of his way to let him pass.
“Bye, Mumbo.”
Mumbo swallowed. “B- By Doc. See ya.” He set off a rocket and flew away as fast as he could. He was suddenly regretting everything he had done the past week. When he landed at his base, he was afraid to touch anything, jumping at the slightest noise.
Doc was standing on the next mountain over, watching him. He had a small smirk on his face. He hadn’t touched Mumbo’s base and didn’t plan to. Just seeing the other hermit scared out of his mind was enough payback. He chuckled to himself and silently flew off towards his perimeter.
___
Grian was rummaging through his chests, barely paying attention to the blocks. It had been less than a day, and he was missing his wings more than he thought he would. His elytra pulled on his neck and was itchy. He sighed and sat down, resting his head back on one of his chests.
“HI GRIAN!” Gem landed in front of him.
“GAH!!!” He fell over onto his back, throwing his arms over his face.
Gem broke down laughing. “Oh, come on! Ya big chicken. Get up.” She held her hand out. Grian glared at her as he accepted the help. She tilted her head to the side. “Hey! Your body is back!” When he didn’t respond she squinted. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothin’”
“Well, that’s a lie. Come on Grian. What happened.”
He crossed his arms, looked to the side, and mumbled under his breath. “I miss my wings.”
“Oh.” She chewed her lip and looked around. “Wanna prank Joel? Etho built those statues of him, and we can build more and stick them around his base.”
Grian shrugged. “I guess so.”
She squinted at him. “Or we can… build a giant Etho statue in his base instead.” She gave him a toothy smile.
“Can we give it love eyes and a sign above it that says “Eefo is the best”?
“Yessssss.”
_____
A few days later, Grian and Mumbo received their potions in the mail. Each with another invoice, and a kind note telling them to enjoy. They met up later that day on top of Magical Mountain.
“Welp. You ready?” Grian held his potion bottle out.
“Cheers mate.” Mumbo reached out a clinked his bottle against Grian’s.
They finished their potions and immediately felt the effects. Grian’s back became super itchy, and he danced around trying to scratch it. Mumbo swayed on his feet before having to sit. He lay down and fell asleep as soon as his eyes closed.
Grian ripped his shirt off and reached behind his shoulders to scratch and felt something growing out of his back. He screamed, shaking his hand, his whole body shuddering. Then he stopped and took a few deep breaths. He reached back again, and it was bigger, and there was a spiky texture. He left his hand there, feeling it grow and soon the spikes were tiny feathers.
He let out a shaky laugh, his eyes watering a bit. Mumbo was still passed out on the ground, and he let a few tears fall before wiping his face with his sleeve. After about ten minutes they had finished growing. He stretched them out, and they felt different, more real. He built a small shelter around Mumbo and flew towards the river.
He was very wobbly at first, not able to really control where he was going. He half landed; half collapsed by the water. He looked down and spread his wings again. They were much bigger than before, and brighter. The golden feathers shone in the sunlight. He laughed and fell to his knees, reaching forward and tracing the wings’ reflection in the water.
He sat back and brought one forward, running his fingers through the feathers. They were so soft, and he could feel his fingers along every fiber. They were truly a part of him. He stood up and took off again. He was still uneasy at first, but soon he got the hang of it.
He did a barrel roll in the air, “WOOOOOOO!” His yell echoed across the server.
Off in the distance he heard the distinct sound of Bdubs screaming in terror and he started laughing to himself, flapping his wings harder and trying to fly as fast as he could. Once he made a few laps around the server, he flew back to the mountain to check on Mumbo. He landed, more gracefully than last time, and looked into the small shelter. Mumbo had gotten more comfortable and had a peaceful smile on his face.
He now had a choice. Let his friend get some much-needed sleep, OR, make do on his promise about dumping more water on him if he tried to sleep the day away. He chewed his lip, fighting the urge to prank his friend. However, Grian was Grian and was soon rigging a bucket above the small doorway of the shelter. Then he took a horn out of his pocket, weighing in his hands with a smirk on his face.
He took a deep breath. “SURPRISE!”
Mumbo jolted awake, sitting up with his arms out to his sides. He blinked a few times, then rubbed his eyes. He stood up, stretched, and walked out of the shelter. He triggered the tripwire, and a bucket of water fell on his head.
“OH, GOOD GRIEF! GRIAN!”
Grian cackled and walked out from behind a tree. “I told you Mumbo. You can’t just sleep the whole day away.”
Mumbo’s glare quickly turned to awe when he noticed Grian’s wings. “Grian! Those are brilliant!”
Grian danced in place. “I know! Mumbo LOOK AT THEM!” He spread them out.
Mumbo slowly clapped and whistled. “Nice.”
“Do you want help drying off?”
“I guess?”
Grian got a huge smile on his face and lifted off the ground, grabbing Mumbo’s shoulders. He took off, the taller hermit yelling out in surprise. Grian kept a hold of him, flying around the server as fast as Mumbo was comfortable.
Once again off in the distance, Bdubs could be heard. “IT’S GOT MUMBO! WE’RE DOOMED! EVERY HERMIT FOR THEMSELVES!”
Grian flew over him, Mumbo waved, and they both yelled. “Hey, Bdubs!”
Bdubs puffed out his chest. “YOU TWO?! I HOPE A DRAGON EATS YA. YOU FREAKS!”
They flew back to the Magical Mountain, landing in front of Mumbo’s base.
“We are SO going to figure out how to grab him without him knowing it’s us.”
Mumbo laughed. “I already have a plan figured out. How well do you think you could fly with a dragon head?”
They spent the rest of the evening brainstorming on how to prank everyone on the server before they all found out about his wings.