Chapter Text
“I just don’t think it’s worth it,” Egg says, his eye blinking slowly, book clutched close to his chest, “It’s so obviously a trap. The impersonator definitely wants to do something at the courthouse to reveal your identity. You should just go straight to the Great Sea.”
Wemmbu grits his teeth, and he can feel his claws sinking into his palms as he clenches his fists, “I’m not just going to give up.”
Giving up reminds him too much of Lifesteal, the server where everyone just walked all over him, and he had let them.
He remembers the blood that had flooded his mouth when Spoke had found his hiding space in the small crevice of rock that he had made for himself. How he had frantically messaged Flame and Mane to save him, the distinct anger and disappointment when they didn’t reply to his messages.
He remembers how powerful he felt when the railgun had worked, how happy he felt when he had a friend.
He remembers thinking, after the cannon had been built, and the codes were implemented into the server, the power of ‘Admin’ flowing through his body, that nobody would ever walk all over him again.
He remembers feeling a sting of defeat and resignation when Ash stabbed him over and over again in the control room, the orbital strike cannon being destroyed in front of his very eyes.
He remembers the disgusting feeling of betrayal when Squiddo had been the one to give the final blow, his final heart flickering.
Lifesteal is something he never wants to remember.
Egg frowns, and Wemmbu tell he’s worried but Egg doesn’t understand that if Wemmbu gives up that means he’s weak and Wemmbu cannot be weak—
“It’s not giving up,” Egg puts a hand on Wemmbu’s shoulder, shaking him slightly, his wings fluttering, “It’s realizing that if you don’t draw attention to yourself, the impersonater is more likely to just give up. Go to Jaden.”
Wemmbu opens his mouth to argue, raising his hands to wave them wildly, but catches sight of his invisibility countdown turning red. The entire reason he had decided to go full invis was because he just wanted to start over.
Wemmbu is a tired, tired kid man, and he just wants to live a normal player’s life.
Egg’s eye softens, “Do it for me?”
Wemmbu, if anything, has always been weak for Eggchan.
—
The Great Sea is as vast as he remembers it, Jaden’s base still holding high as he looks up at it from the water. He riptides up, the wind whistling through his hair as he lands on the concrete, nodding at the players standing at guard. The pirates nod back, and he is let through the long corridors of the abandoned base they had looted together.
“Wemmbu,” Jaden greets, his eyes crinkling happily over the mask he wears, “How are you? What brings you here? I heard that someone was impersonating you on land, are you alright?”
Wemmbu smiles at him, ignoring the bitterness that twinges in his chest, the voices in his head that seem to get louder, the way Gambit seems to pulsate in his hotbar, begging him to use it. Macing Jaden would do more harm than good, and at the moment, Wemmbu’s not looking for more people to start hunting him.
“We should forgive and forget!” Rejoice exclaims, clapping his hands together.
Wemmbu rolls his eyes, smiling faintly.
“That’s actually what I came here to warn you about,” Wemmbu says, looking around, “Love what you’ve done with the place by the way. Anyone who comes by with the same trims as me with a weird AI-like voicechanger is not me, it’s an impersonator.”
“Say hi to Rejoice for me!” Jaden jeers, and Wemmbu feels rage pulsate through him as he grabs Gambit, the voices getting louder.
The sunflower in his Enderchest stays untouched
Jaden winces, “Why the hell is he pretending to be you?”
“Hell if I know dude, just warning you. I’m going to head back to the mainland and see if I can make a base to avoid him and his partner, but don’t expect me to be by often.”
He can see out of the corner of his eye as he turns around how Jaden seems to bring his hand out as if to say something, before hesitating.
Never in his life has he seen the Pirate King hesitate.
“You can stay here,” Jaden mumbles, a faint flush coming across his cheeks, “I don’t think the guy would have half a mind to come here, and I need help from someone competent anyways.”
Wemmbu pauses, he is tired, he needs to avoid whoever the hell is impersonating him, and he needs Egg back.
“Egg’s allowed here, right?” Wemmbu asks, feigning nonchalance.
‘Nah, ain’t no way bro’s tryna be nonchalant’ The Egg-like voice in his head says in slight disbelief, ‘Wemmbu bro, you are the fakest idgafer i’ve ever met.’
“Of course,” Jaden deadpans, his eyebrows raised, his face reading a plain ‘Do you think i’m stupid?’
Wemmbu smiles, and even though Jaden can’t see it through the veil of invisibility, the tension from the pirate seems to drain, and Wemmbu knows Jaden gets it.
—
The Farlands are not as bad as they were the first time, but Wemmbu thinks it’s because he decided not to mace anyone during this visit.
He honestly thought that Boosfer would have been dropped within the first ten minutes, but it’s surprisingly been going good.
“Wemmbu bro!” Boosfer cheers, “Look at your coordinates bro, we’re sixty-seven million blocks out!”
Well, as good as Boosfer gets.
It’s surprisingly easy to sneak into the castle and break the bed, and they sneak away to nether portals so that Boosfer can re-pot and Wemmbu can message Egg.
[You whisper to Eggchan: bro]
[Eggchan whispers to you: bro?]
[You whisper to Eggchan: i broke the bed. wait a bit tho, idk if parrots waiting]
[Eggchan whispers to you: kk]
[Eggchan whispers to you: ty bro]
[You whisper to Eggchan: ofc]
“We heading back?” Boosfer questions and Wemmbu’s about to nod before getting an idea. An idea that’s stupid, and is completely against the entire purpose of the invisible knight—
Later, while looking over the ravine with six new shulkers in his inventory, Boosfer will lean over with a sparkle in his eyes, and ask:
“Could I have a nuke?”
Wemmbu takes Gambit out and discards a wind charge, leaving Boosfer screaming and scampering around the cliffside.
[You whisper to Eggchan: don’t be mad]
[Eggchan whispers to you: bro?]
[Eggchan whispers to you: bro?????]
[Eggchan whispers to you: my guy you cannot just SAY THINGS LIKE THIS]
—
Living with Jaden and Egg is surprisingly chill.
He helps Jaden with training his pirates, giving them pointers and tips on how to properly fight powerful pvp-ers and mace attacks, along with tips on how to avoid nukes, which Jaden wasn’t very happy about when he visited the ‘training grounds.’
“Bro,” Jaden deadpans, glaring at him, but Wemmbu can see the amusement flashing in his eyes, clear as day. “Why the hell is there a crater in the middle of my base?”
The pirates around him shuffle awkwardly, clearly embarrassed that their leader is frustrated, but Wemmbu just grins, twirling the mace in his hand for good measure.
“I was teaching them how to fight against a guy with a cannon! Never know when you might need it!”
“Wemmbu bro, you are the only one with a cannon—”
He and Jaden spar a lot as well, and Jaden’s good, not as good as Flame or him, but good enough to hold up his own.
It also does help that Jaden shares the same values as him, the same ‘it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you win’ mentality, and it feels good to see after Flame ‘fight with honor or else’ Frags, or Parrot ‘if you kill your no better that the goddamn mafia’ X2.
Egg also helps Jaden out, both with offering him information on new recruits, and with info from the mainland.
It helps to see his friend in good spirits again, the END had not been healthy for a seraphim like Egg, albeit clingy, but Wemmbu doesn’t mind.
The voices shut up when Egg’s around, and Wemmbu can feel the restlessness in his bones settle down when the seraphim’s around, and for the first time in a while, Wemmbu can live.
Boosfer comes by often, and it took some warming up to, because Jaden has the patience of a TNT stack being lit on fire and Boosfer can just not shut up, but the two eventually get along. Wemmbu also visits Boosfer when he can, and the two of them just sit and watch the sunset on the mainland, talking about things.
Boosfer is surprisingly a good listener when he wants to be.
The four of them fall into a rhythm, Wemmbu, Egg, Jaden, Boosfer, and Wemmbu can admit that it feels good to properly have a team again. Ever since Zam, he has only had Egg in his corner, and as much as Wemmbu would do anything for Egg, it feels nice to have others with him.
Egg mentions offhandedly that Wemmbu seems more well rested these days and Wemmbu agrees, because he’s right.
The last time he had just settled down like this was after the mafia, with a mushroom house in a creaker forest.
Egg says he prefers this place over the mushroom house, and Wemmbu has to nod, remembering how much Egg had freaked out over the creakers.
He snickers at the memory, and like Egg knows what he’s thinking, he throws a book at Wemmbu’s head.
—
Wemmbu learns about The Law when Boosfer flops over his back, opens his mouth, and complains.
“Flame got exiled from his own base dude! How unfair is that?” Boosfer complains, running his fingers through Wemmbu’s hair, “Seriously, The Law’s getting so annoying lately!”
Egg groans, throwing his arms up, “Actually, every time I open a book it’s like I see their insignia every page I flip!”
“LettuceK’s police force right?” Jaden hums, looking over from the map he was staring at, “I hear that their influence is growing every day. Parrot and his friends have been trying to stop it, but I don't think they’ve been faring well against his forces.”
Wemmbu blinks. “Wait Lettuce? The same chungie from The Snow Kingdom? The hell’s The Law?”
Egg, Jaden, and Boosfer seem to still in their movements, looking at each other with dawning horror in their eyes.
“Nah, bro doesn't know about The Law,” Boosfer says, disbelief clear in his voice. Jaden runs a hand over his face, a sharp curse drawing out from underneath his breath. Egg slowly shakes his head, his eye widened.
“I lowkey forgot you're a hermit now,” Egg teases, poking him on the side of his stomach, “The Law is a force run by LettuceK in hopes to add order to Unstable.”
“That's the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Unstable is an anarchy server, it's literally in the name.”
Egg shrugs, “Some people are slow I guess, he thinks you're dead though, so that works out in your favor.”
Jaden grimaces, turning back to the map, “He’s declared me a war criminal because I won’t let him take over The Great Sea. I don’t think he really cares about Boosfer that much.”
Wemmbu frowns, sitting up, ignoring Boosfer’s yelp as he tumbles to the ground. “War criminal? Does that mean he’ll come here to try and fight you for The Great Sea?”
“He wouldn’t be that stupid,” Boosfer mutters, “Jaden’s pirates would beat his ass to the ground, he would stand no chance. Plus, he has Flame on his ass right now, the guy better be in hiding.”
“Actually,” Jaden says, his voice hesitant. Wemmbu stiffens at the tone, Egg closing his book slowly, Boosfer looking up, “Me and my pirates might be skilled, but The Law has numbers. Even if we ban an entire army, more will just roll up, and I don’t think I have enough resources or numbers to take that fight.”
“I can help,” Wemmbu suggests, placing his enderchest down and looking through it. He has enough shulkers of cannons to destroy any army that comes by, and he has enough invis and strength to last the fight. He could probably take down enough of The Law to get them to back off and sure he would be sacrificing his identity, but as long as Jaden is okay—
His thoughts cut off with a hand on his shoulder. He glances up at Jaden, seeing the pirate's eyes crinkling in worry.
“No,” Jaden drawls, shaking him slightly, “You are in retirement for a reason. I will deal with The Law if they come, okay? Try to avoid fights right now, okay?”
“But what if he captures you or something?” He asks faintly, and he’s struck with the realization he cares about Jaden, shit he really is a fake idgafer— “Or worse, what if he bans you?”
Jaden shakes him again, “Promise me Wemmbu.”
He falters—
“It was fun while it lasted Wemmbu.”
—then nods hesitantly, watching as Jaden relaxes.
“I appreciated playing with you guys.”
He sits quietly in his bedroom that night, watching the waves crash against the concrete of the base.
—
[Eggchan whispers to you: yo dont freak out]
[Eggchan whispers to you: but theres an invis player following us]
[You whisper to Eggchan: shit]
[You whisper to Eggchan: could be law?]
[Eggchan whispers to you: why would they be following us]
[Eggchan whispers to you: we havent done jack]
[You whisper to Eggchan: i mean]
[You whisper to Eggchan: we’ve banned a bunch of people before and eggchan usually means wemmbu]
[You whisper to Eggchan: they might need someone to be a scapegoat]
[Eggchan whispers to you: WHOS WE!!????]
Wemmbu pauses, putting a hand in front of Egg to stop him from walking, and he hears a lag in footsteps. Dragging Egg behind him, he grabs his mace from his hot bar, equipping his elytra, and pointing it in the direction of the floating particles.
“Show yourself,” Wemmbu rasps out, the voicechanger making his voice dark and gravely, “I might not kill you.”
It’s quiet for a moment, before the sounds of sipping fill the silence. Wemmbu’s hand tightens on Egg’s suit cuffs, shifting his stance to get ready to flee.
JumperWho stares back at him, a sheepish expression on her face.
“Invisible Knight,” She says, and Wemmbu wonders if Parrot had told her about him; last he checked, the bird had been working for B.A.T. “I believe our interests align at the moment. If you could put down the mace that would be great.”
Wemmbu’s eyes narrow behind the veil, “Now why the hell would our ‘interests align?’”
“You’ve heard of The Law, no?”
“In passing, yes, but I have no business with them.”
Jumper pauses, tilting her head in the air and sighing, and she looks tired. “They’ve captured a shared friend of ours, Jaden.”
“I’m dead, my leggings brok—”
He puts the mace back in his inventory, a strange numbness falling over him. The voices chant in tandem, and not even Egg’s presence can shut them up. “Where’s the prison?”
Jumper raises an eyebrow, “Won’t you need back up? I have a team over in a secure location—”
“Don’t need one,” He feels a strange sense of deja-vu from the old mafia days, when he thought he could take on Clown and Ferre without any help. He had been foolish back then, but now, he knows that he could technically take them all alone.
Wemmbu doesn’t want to though, he’s sick of working alone.
Jumper has a weird expression on her face when he looks back, and she sighs, placing a sign down and writing the coordinates. Wemmbu looks over at Egg, Egg nodding as he takes out his book, writing them down.
“Thank you for telling me,” Wemmbu offers. He’s not a complete dickhead.
“Of course,” Jumper says, and Wemmbu thinks there's a sad expression on her face when she says it, but it’s none of his business.
[You whisper to Boosfer: do u still have friends in high places]
[Boosfer whispers to you: BAHAH ofc!!
[Boosfer whispers to you: why?????]
[You whisper to Boosfer: ur relatively good at pvp right]
[Boosfer whispers to you: awww wemm do you need me to fight?]
[You whisper to Boosfer: yup]
[You whisper to Boosfer: grab the pirates, were breaking jaden out of prison]
—
Sneaking into the law prison isn’t as difficult when there’s an entire fucking army attacking the guards at front. He thinks he saw Zam back there, but Wemmbu doesn’t really want to know about the details of her still being alive.
Boosfer had snuck the pirates into the chaos out front, so if they're lucky, he can just grab Jaden and get out. So far, it seems to be going well—
“You don’t understand,” A voice says, borderline hysterical. Wemmbu peaks over and sees a black haired man pointing a finger in Flame’s face.
Wait, Flame?
He ducks back around the corner, pressing his back against the obsidian wall, craning his ear to see if he can hear more.
“Then explain it to me,” Flame grouses, but Wemmbu thinks he can hear a tinge of worry in his tone, “C’mon Lomedy, enough of this bullshit, Lets go.”
The black-haired man—Lomedy swiveles around, jabbing his finger in Flame’s chest. “I’m here to serve out my sentence Flame, leave.”
“Bro, there is no reason for you to be here! They arrested you because of your affiliation with me!”
“Exactly! I never should have been affiliated with you in the first place!”
The silence that follows afterwards is electric, and Wemmbu almost feels bad for Flame. It is, however, not any of his business. Not his circus, not his monkeys. He readies himself to sneak past them, over to the other cells when—
Fuck, it’s his circus and his fucking monkeys, because JadenMAN is at Flame’s feet.
Wemmbu sighs, and he can tell all three of them heard him, Lomedy’s face going from angry to terrified, Flame stiffening up and grabbing his sword, and Jaden, looking up dazedly from Flame’s feet, eyebrows furrowed. Wemmbu can tell he’s been doused with weakness, which makes him wince because, ouch.
“Who the hell’s there?” Flame calls out, and the sword gets swapped out for a spear and he readies himself in a lunge.
“Chill,” Wemmbu deadpans, equipping his armor. Jaden’s head snaps up, and he can see the worry in his eyes clear as day which is stupid because Wemmbu’s not the one at Flame’s feet splashed with weakness at the moment, “Good to see you again Frags, nice to see your not running around with Boosfer anymore.”
Flame blinks. “Invisible Knight?”
“Hallo,” Wemmbu says, waving, “Can I have my pirate back please?”
Flame looks down at his feet, and he looks as if he just noticed Jaden sitting there. His face quickly morphs into a scowl, “Hell no bro, he has a mace to return.”
“I don’t want the fucking mace Flame!” Lomedy growls, exasperated, “I want you to leave me the hell alone!”
“You heard the man,” Jaden slurs out, his speech coming together, “He doesn’t want the mace.”
“And he wants to be left alone,” Wemmbu points out, Lomedy looks over and flashes him a grateful look. “Whereas I want Jaden. I think the course of action is pretty obvious here.”
“Bro–” Flame splutters, and Wemmbu already knows what he’s about to say. ‘It’s not okay bro, he can’t just steal from people and mace them mimimi.’
“We wa we wa,” Wemmbu mocks, and Flame’s face does a couple of complicated emotions before settling on anger, “I don’t care dude, just give me Jaden.”
“Where the hell did you learn that?” Flame snaps, and there's something akin to desperation on his face, “The we wa we wa thing. Where did you learn that phrase?”
Shit.
Jaden’s eyes are blown wide, and Wemmbu’s sure that if he could move his hands, they would be waving frantically towards his neck, an ‘abort abort!’ gesture.
“For fucks sake Flame, he’s dead!” Lomedy exclaims, and Wemmbu steps back shocked, because Lomedy doesn’t look angry anymore, he looks worried. “Wemmbu’s dead, Flame. The sooner you let go of the stupid theory Parrot has, the sooner you can be at peace!”
Flame seems shocked at the outburst, but his eyes are still trained on Wemmbu. He risks a glance over at Jaden, and Wemmbu feels a sense of relief when he sees Jaden fumbling around with an ender pearl. A sharp zwop rings through the air, Wemmbu catching Jaden as he falls into him, slinging one of the pirates' arms over his shoulders.
Wemmbu can see Flame reaching for both of them, before a blast to the side of the prison rips open the wall, debris falling everywhere.
—
“—why the hell didn’t it work?” Lettuce’s voice is as jarring as Wemmbu remembers it. Lettuce barely used to talk during Skyblock Civ, and when he did, he always sounded like his teeth were too big for his mouth, “I pulled the rod, Jaden should be dead.”
Jaden coughs through his mask, and Wemmbu watches with thinly veiled amusement as Lettuce slowly turns around, taking in the fact that his main blackmail victim wasn’t in prison anymore. Jumper flashes a smile when she sees him, Jaden weakly waving to her.
“I know you,” Lettuce mutters, his ears pricking towards Wemmbu, slowly taking a step forward, “You're the knight who saved Capital City from those bandits.”
“Hey!” Boosfer squawks, “He barely did anything! I’m still alive, you peasant!”
Lettuce ignores Boosfer, continuing his advance towards him and Jaden. “Why the hell are you helping criminals?”
Wemmbu snorts, the sound crackling through the suddenly quiet arena. He can see Parrot freeze when he sees him, the avian slamming his elbow into Theo’s ribs, frantically pointing at him. Spoke narrows his eyes at him, his cocky smile faltering a bit.
Wemmbu can’t help but notice that Spoke’s little shadow isn’t following him around. Mapicc isn’t anywhere that Wemmbu can see.
“Unfortunately,” he says dryly, watching as Minute turns to Egg with a disgruntled expression on his face, jabbing a thumb in Wemmbu’s direction. “You decided to capture Jaden, and I kind of care about him,” he pointedly ignores the incredulous look Jaden’s shooting him, and the fact that the only reason Egg, Boosfer, and the rest of the pirates are even here is because Wemmbu told them too. “Also, a police force on an anarchy server is kinda stupid dude.”
Lettuce glares at him, “If you truly believe that, you would have never saved Capital City from those bandits.”
“AGAIN!” Boosfer screeches, Zam wincing where she stands next to him, rubbing her ear with her hands, “He didn’t do JACK. I am still ALIVE you FUCKING PEASANT!”
“Maybe,” Wemmbu concedes, but the real reason he had even bothered to stick around was because of Salvationism. He had been a kind man, who truly had just wanted to do his job, “But I draw the line at arresting people who didn’t do anything.”
“You think these people are innocent?” Lettuce sneers, and Wemmbu wonders how a man who used to throw snowballs at people to get them to fuck off became this, “These people kill for fun. They separate families and make others suffer. FLAMEFRAGS KILLED FIVE HUNDRED OF MY MEN!!”
“That was your fault bro!” Flame shouts, Lomedy turning almost five shades paler, “You're literally the one who sent them to their death! You're trying to get the Invisible Knight on your side right now because you know we’ll beat you!”
“Don’t listen to the propaganda Invis Knight!” Spoke chimes up, “He’ll just get you killed!”
Lettuce opens his mouth, possibly to say something else, but Wemmbu’s quick.
“Killing people senselessly won't win anything,” Wemmbu says, and he can see Minute’s head snap towards him, his eyes wide in disbelief. Lettuce gives a satisfied smile as Lomedy throws up his arms, as if saying ‘that’s literally what i’ve been saying this entire time.’ Parrot and Theo’s eyes seem to bug out of their heads, Parrot looking away with a conflicted expression on his face. Flame’s face is unreadable, but there's a scowl on his face, and his eyebrows are furrowed, as if he can't believe what he’s hearing. Egg gently smiles at him from the perch he’s sat on, flashing him a thumbs up.
Wemmbu remembers before; the consistent fighting for power, the wanting to not feel weak, the desire to see everyone below him, thinking that would give him power.
The ringing of ‘lost cause’ repeating in his head, again and again and again and agai
He thinks of the after; the calmness of the sea crashing against the concrete of the base, the beauty of the mainland as he watches the sun set with Boosfer, the smell of old books as he and Egg skim through them, the clack of wooden swords swinging against each other as he and Jaden spar.
The after taught him that life was a beautiful thing, something sacred to cherish.
“However,” Wemmbu continues, “Lomedy’s innocent. All he’s done is farm and make friends. Jaden’s innocent, he provides a safe haven for people who don’t have anything. All I've been hearing, Lettuce, in your pursuit to capture Flame, you’ve hurt others and sacrificed even more. How does that make you better than the ones you're preaching against?”
It’s quiet as Lettuce splutters out a response, before cursing underneath his breath, equipping his elytra and flying away, Theo hot on his heels.
[MinuteTech whispers to you: you've come far kid]
[MinuteTech whispers to you: i’m proud of you]
—
[You whisper to Jaden_MAN: can we js dip]
[Jaden_MAN whispers to you: did egg say no or smth?]
[Jaden_MAN whispers to you: also no]
[You whisper to Jaden_MAN: pls]
[Jaden_MAN whispers to you: nah i give a shit about some ppl here]
[You whisper to Jaden_MAN: we wa we wa]
Wemmbu lets out a sigh, glaring at Jaden underneath his veil. The squabbling around him continues, Parrot’s voice getting louder and more frantic the longer Theo is gone, Flame shouting at everyone, throwing his hands in the air, Spoke getting more and more agitated by every passing minute, (Seriously, where was Mapicc?) At some point, Jumper had sat next to Jaden, their knees pressing together. He can tell that Jumper had asked about him, judging on the way that she’s glancing at him. Someone sits next to him, and Wemmbu doesn’t think much of it, thinking it's Boosfer, or Egg, or even Minute—
“Hey,” Shit he should have been paying attention because now Zam’s talking to him, “Invisible Knight, right?”
“My sweet, sweet Wemmbu—”
He sucks in a sharp breath, watching as Zam winces at the feedback that the voicechanger makes, her eyes widening slightly. Her crown is chipped, the gold dimmer than what Wemmbu remembers, and she looks disheveled, her hair chopped messily near her neck. Wemmbu remembers back at the Empire, whenever Zam’s hair would get bad, she would ask him to help, saying ‘seriously Wemmbu, it’s like your the only person here who cares about his hair–’
“—you’ve always been so weak.”
“So that's what they’ve been calling me,” Wemmbu mutters, bristling a bit when Zam chuckles, “What stupid name.”
Zam shrugs, “It’s what Parrot started calling you, I guess it caught on. He was a bit frustrated when you didn’t show up to that courthouse thing.”
Pause.
“Courthouse?” Wemmbu asks carefully, his eyes narrowed, tilting his head a bit to watch Parrot on the top of the small hill in front of them, his spyglass looking out into the difference. “Parrot was the guy impersonating me?”
Zam blinks, “Parrot was impersonating you?”
“Apparently.”
They stare at each other for a bit, before Wemmbu looks away, glancing over the fields. If Parrot had been the main impersonator, that means Theo had been agent 22.
Shit that means Egg was right, Wemmbu hates when Egg’s right.
Him and Zam sit in silence, watching the sky as the sun sinks down, an orange-yellow hue falling over the blown up law base, shining over the blood staining the ground. It’s almost calm, until he hears a discharge of a windburst and Jaden mutters a quick ‘shit’ before ducking out of the way. He hears the clunk against a mace against a shield before he’s standing up, grabbing his sword and clanging it against Flame’s mace.
“Hey so, why don’t we not do that,” Wemmbu shouts over the spamming wind charges, deflecting the mace hits.
“Hell no, he still needs to give back the mace,” Flame hisses, slamming his mace against Wemmbu’s shield, “Now get the hell out of the way before I kill you next.”
There are people surrounding them now, Jaden’s shouting something back at Flame, Parrot’s trying to get the two to stop fighting, Lomedy’s trying to get Flame to calm down, but all Wemmbu can focus on is ‘get the hell out of the way before I kill you.’
Yes he had enjoyed being quiet, enjoying the views without any people trying to collect a bounty or pick pointless fights, but at some point he had realized that he missed fighting Flame, and who is he to kick a gift right back into the horse’s mouth?
He can tell Egg figured out what he was thinking, judging on the sigh that comes out of his mouth and the shulkers he’s messing around with in his inventory, ready in case he calls out ‘strength’ or ‘speed.’ He reaches up to the pendant around his throat, snapping it off his neck and throwing it on the ground, the voicechanger crackling against his heel as he steps on it, smashing it thoroughly.
“Actually,” Wemmbu’s voice rings out into the air, everything around them stilling, “You aren’t killing me anytime soon.”
It’s quiet before complete pandemonium breaks out, everyone shouting at each other. Zam looks confused, her eyes wide in wonder and hurt, Flame’s turning a shade of red that Wemmbu’s never seen before, and is kind of amused to see. Jaden takes the chaos in stride, slipping behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder, Minute looks at him with a disappointed look on his face, but Wemmbu can tell it’s superficial. Everyone’s voices are loud and chaotic, layering on each other, but one is louder than all of the others.
“Thank void you got rid of that voicechanger bro,” Boosfer laments, and almost comically, everyone’s heads snap towards him, “Wemmbu bro, that voicechanger is atrocious.”
“I know Boosfer,” Wemmbu deadpans, “You wouldn’t shut up about it.”
“Y’know I actually agree with him,” Jaden muses, scratching his mask, “That was a pretty shitty voicechanger.”
“Wait, wait wait wait,” Flame screeches from where he’s standing, steam literally coming out of his ears, “Boosfer bro, you knew?”
Boosfer shrugs, “Yeah man, I was just playing you.”
“I-I-what???” Flame splutters, pointing his mace at the three of them, “Wait no fuck this. Wemmbu bro, rematch, now.”
“What?” Wemmbu says incredulously. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Parrot facepalming, “Fuck no bro, not in the middle of a fight.”
“Fuck this goddamn fight with Lettuce fucking K dude, their all chungies. I’m fighting you bro, whether you like it or not.”
“Awwww, you don’t think I’m a chungie!”
“Wemmbu bro, I will eviscerate you.”
“Do you even know what that word means?”
“I’m not fucking illiterate dipshit.”
“Could’ve fooled me, Mr. follow-boosfer-around-because-he-definitely-knows-and-will-tell-me.”
“Oh my void, you do ONE STUPID THING!”
“One? Flame bro, I was next to you the entire time Boosfer was ordering you around. He literally told you to kill me to figure out where I was!”
“HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT WAS YOU???”
“I DON’T FUCKING KNOW? COMMON GODDAMN SENSE!???”
“Wait,” Egg interjects, turning to Parrot, one of his wings tipped towards the avian, “Why were you even impersonating Wemmbu in the first place?”
Wemmbu snaps his head over to Parrot, his eyes narrowed, “Yeah, why the hell did you do that?”
Parrot looks a bit sheepish when he looked at him, his wings ruffling slightly, “Uh, Flame paid me to find out your identity. I’ll admit I was a bit curious as well.”
“Ok seriously, what is your problem?” Jaden mutters, staring at Flame with a bit of worry in his eyes, “Why are you so obsessed with Wemmbu, bro? He ain’t even allat.”
“I think Wemmbu’s allat,” Zam grumbles underneath her breath, and Wemmbu chooses to ignore her because, wow when did Zam become his number one supporter?
“He didn’t even let up after Parrot gave up,” Lomedy chimes in, ignoring Flame’s glare, “He started mapping out exactly what he’d do when he’d see you again.”
“Ok yeah this is a problem,” Minute says, flying up to where Flame’s standing, and patting him on his forehead, “This is where it starts Flame, you need to end it.”
Flame swats Minute’s hand away, “The fuck are you talking about dude?”
“Damn netherborns,” Minute grumbles, trying to feel Flame’s forehead again, “Obsessive ass motherfuckers.”
“PMC,” Egg whispers, scribbling something down in a book. Wemmbu looks at him, rolling his eyes and turning away. Egg says the most outlandish shit on a regular day.
People around them are either watching in amusement or staring at him like he’s a ghost, which, rude, because Wemmbu doesn’t even remember meeting half of these people. Flame and Minute are still squabbling behind them when he hears a voice as jarring and annoying as it was half an hour ago.
“—okay, okay, void, I’m moving, I turned myself in, remember?” Lettuce stumbles into the destroyed LAW base, Theo pushing him to his knees. Lettuce’s head is still held up high, and Wemmbu remembers when the Skyblock civ was taken, how he had kept his head up even when forced to wear The Mafia team kit. “I will not stay on a server that does not want me.”
Everybody pauses, before Parrot launches at Theo, grabbing him in a tight hug. Wemmbu ignores all three of them. “Hi Theo!”
Theo blinks, sending a look to Parrot. Parrot shrugs, glaring at Lettuce. “Hi Wemmbu.”
He waves, fully aware about the fact that they can’t even see his hand, completely ignoring the ruckus of cheers behind him.
Minute’s voice booms out, louder than everyone cheering, “Wait, what are we even going to do with him?”
It’s quiet before everyone starts shouting at each other, and Wemmbu sighs, knowing damn well that neither Egg or Jaden are going to let him leave now.
—
In the end, they settle on standing on different sides of the cage. The right side of Lettuce is for him getting executed, and the left is for leaving him alive but imprisoned. Unsurprisingly, Flame is on the side for killing him, whereas Parrot is on the side for keeping him alive. Different people move to different sides of the cage before it’s just him and Egg standing alone, staring at Lettuce.
The cat looks small in the space they put him in, his ears pinned down to his head as he stares at them both, attempting to look taller than he is. He hisses a bit when Egg tilts his head to look at him, narrowing his eyes and backing away.
Egg puts a hand on his shoulder, patting his hand a little before heading to the left side of the cage. “Forgive and forget man,” He says, standing next to Theo. Jaden flinches where he stands next to Flame, closing his eyes and tilting his head to the sky. Flame looks at him strangely, before glaring at Parrot.
“He’s been way too annoying for way too long,” Flame grumbles, waving his clawed hand at Lettuce’s cage, “He exiled me from my own home and captured Lomedy to get an upperhand. I need him dead bro.”
“That doesn’t warrant death bro,” Parrot argues back, his wings flaring a bit in agitation, “Just because he was a bit annoying and kidnapped a couple of people that doesn’t mean he needs to be executed. Let’s not forget that he wasn’t entirely in the wrong for trying to capture you, Flame, you killed over five hundred innocent players trying to get to him.”
The heat in the room suddenly spikes before Parrot and Flame fully go at it, their shouts filling the small cave. Lettuce smirks as they argue, his ears slowly easing back up onto his head before they’re fully pinned down when Wemmbu interrupts both of them.
“Do you hate me Lettuce?” He asks, genuinely intrigued. He remembers how Lettuce was quiet in the Skyblock civ, how he had just looked disappointed when Wemmbu disappeared through the nether portal instead of properly helping them defend themselves against The Mafia. He remembers when he found The Snow Kingdom, how that was the first time he properly saw the anger in Lettuce’s eyes directed at him, the way he had chucked snowballs at Wemmbu, demanding for him to get out, before he would do it himself. How he had looked at Wemmbu with disdain and discontent as he flew away, the Diamond Trim heading down the mountain to claim the Kingdom in the name of The Mafia. He remembers the pure hatred in Lettuce’s eyes when he had bombed one of his LAW bases in pursuit of Flame, how he had clutched onto his sword, his knuckles turning white with his grip as his face stayed stubbornly stoic.
He doesn’t know how Lettuce affected everyone else, but what he does know for a fact, throughout all of his run-ins with the leader, Wemmbu had always been the villain for Lettuce.
Lettuce approaches the front of his cage, his teeth bared out as he wraps his claws around the bars.
“I hate you Wemmbu,” Lettuce hisses, his eyes narrowing to slits as his cage rattles, Theo stiffening where he stands next to the cage. “I threw a party when I learned you were dead. I even thought about finding out whoever killed you just to give them immunity from any charges against them that may rise up in the future, even going so far as offering them aid in future conflicts. I should have known you would be the reason the LAW would fall, because almost everything you touch relating to me ends. You ruin everything Wemmbu, each and every time.”
It’s quiet as everyone reels in shock, taking in Lettuce’s outburst. Lettuce himself is huffing, his glare holding sharp as his claws dig into metal, as if his sheer hatred will get the cage to break open so he can launch himself at Wemmbu. Wemmbu just nods, forgive and forget curling around him as he slips between Egg and Minute.
“I hope one day,” Wemmbu says quietly, watching as Lettuce’s eyes widen in surprise, his jaw dropping open before he forcefully closes it, his teeth clacking together. “You can find it in your heart to forgive me Lettuce, and maybe one day, when you're freed, you can forget and live peacefully in this server. I’m sorry.”
He can hear Lettuce audibly swallow, before turning away, scoffing. There's a pause as Parrot puts himself together, sharply ordering for Horace and Theo to carry the cage outside and into the basement underneath the castle. Wemmbu grabs Egg’s wrist and leads him to the staircase, hurrying out before anyone properly notices them.
“Wait, we're dipping?” Egg whisper-shouts to him, stumbling behind him, “What about Jaden and Boosfer?”
“We’re heading back to the civ dipshit,” Wemmbu whispers back, “I don’t want Flame on my ass for a rematch and for Parrot to question me. That’s like, double the trouble bro.”
They spring out of the cave, heading to a small hole where they can repot. Before Wemmbu can launch himself out, Egg jabs him in the side of his hip, nudging him slightly.
“I’m proud of you bro,” He says, grinning at him. Wemmbu cocks his head in a ‘for what?’ gesture, Egg rolling his one eye. “For actually apologizing to Lettuce, dumbass.”
“Most of the shit that happened to him was my fault,” Wemmbu grumbles, a light blush decorating his cheeks, “I can’t lie to myself about that.”
They stand in silence, watching the sun rise back up, decorating the ruins with yellow and reddish hues. “Rejoice would be proud.”
Wemmbu punches Egg into the wall of the hole they're in, ignoring his sharp laughter, “Shaddup.”