Chapter Text
Two pairs of footsteps broke the silence and tranquility inside the cold, moist cave. Following the cave’s path upwards. cave's path upwards. Everything was eerily still, the air was cold and humid.
Wemmbu had a gut feeling that something was off, and that he should probably act on it–as it was better cautious than dead, it was how he survived this long on Unstable–but he didn’t. Because Wemmbu couldn’t act rashly. Not when Arachnid has Egg—his best friend, his day one, the only person Wemmbu knew wouldn’t betray him—in his hands. Which meant that, any wrong move or bad decision Wemmbu made, could be risking Egg’s life.
If it weren’t for the fact that Arachnid could kill Egg at any time he pleases, Wemmbu would’ve stopped doing his dirty work and kill Arachnid the next time he saw him.
But, of course. He had to prioritize Egg’s safety.
And Wemmbu couldn’t imagine his life without Egg. He doesn’t even remember a time when Egg wasn’t present in his life.
Anyways, enough of that. To the present, Wemmbu was currently trailing behind Arachnid, due to his promise that Wemmbu could see Egg for a lengthier time, and not the short two minutes.
The cave tilted upwards as they continued, the air was stale and cold.
“How high are we?” Wemmbu muttered, his voice making it seem like he was absentminded.
“…we’re almost at the surface.” Arachnid responded, not looking at Wemmbu when he did. Just looking straight ahead.
Eugh, that voice changer sucked. But Wemmbu couldn’t talk shit, his own voice changer—during his Invis. Knight arc—sounded much worse and you could barely understand what he was saying half the time.
Back to the point, Wemmbu could feel the cold biting at his skin. Yeah, END demons like Wemmbu could stand almost any cold temperature, but it didn’t mean they liked it.
Hm. A night vision potion really does do wonders. Considering the fact that the cave wasn’t being illuminated by a single torch or lamp, without night vision, Wemmbu would’ve probably had to turn up his gamma all the way. This was a game, of course.
Okay, he’s getting a little distracted again.
Wemmbu takes a single glance to his inventory, which was all empty, except for the single totem he had, before placing it in his hopbar. Yeah, items weren’t allowed inside Arachnid’s throne room, but it’s better to be safe and break a small rule than dying to something unexpected.
This was the Unstable SMP, afterall. He had to be prepared, it was basic nature to be.
Wemmbu looked back up, Arachnid in front of him. As they reached a dead end in the cave, making Wemmbu more skeptical.
“Uuh, buddy. Are you sure this is where we're supposed to be?” Wemmbu asked, a small frown forming on his face.
“Good luck.”
Were the words that left Arachnid’s lips, as he placed a wood button on a specific area on the cave’s surface. And pushing it, the ground opening up beneath him.
Yeah, Wemmbu was prepared for the unexpected. But he didn’t expect this?!
Wemmbu felt his body drop, as he whipped his head up, eyes filled with disbelief and anger in the split second he looked up at Arachnid. Then down, to the ground below.
Faintly, his vision glitched in his peripheral view, once, and then twice. But, Wemmbu was too focused on surviving the fall, he paid it no mind.
He switched his freehand to the totem in his hotbar, a fall from this height would hurt like hell. But at least the totem will keep him alive.
Wemmbu doesn’t easily get nervous, but if those people on the white path were actually in full netherite, and looking closer, their users seemed to be in full gibberish, and everyone below was basically pitch black—seriously, was this some cult? Anyways—if these people below him were looking for blood, Wemmbu might already be cooked.
“That can not be good, bro.” Wemmbu muttered to himself.
He hear and feel the rapid beating of his heart
The air rushed around him as he fell, Wemmbu’s arm wrapped around himself, his tail wrapped itself around his leg. Bracing his body for the moment it hit the ground.
Ugh, Arachnid’s stupid rule of “no items allowed” inside his throne room was so stupid! If he had his maces and armor, he wouldn’t even need to worry about the players underneath him. But he didn’t have said items, should he beg for his life once he hit the ground, or should he persuade them perhaps, or run the moment his body stitched back together after hitting the ground?— Which would be a bad move for his body.
Probably the latter.
His long, purple hair was whipping behind him as the ground came nearer and nearer, the wind was stronger. In a second or two, he would hit the ground and he would need to act quickly.
Until something in his vision glitched violently, a violent flash of purple, black, red and green. A weird arrangement of colors, which caught him off guard. Whatever, not important right now.
And then pain shot through his entire body.
His body hit the ground hard in the split second he was caught off guard, he must have fallen on something quite sharp, as he felt a piercing pain in his stomach, making him scream, the distinct and disgusting sound of bones crunching from the high fall making Wemmbu wince. As warm blood and guts spilling out onto the stone path. At the same time, his head must’ve hit a rock, as he felt something warm trickling down his head. Excruciating white hot pain shot throughout his body, as he finally heard his totem pop, along with the rushing of multiple footsteps—
Wait.
What?
“Fuck—” Wemmbu groaned out, he felt weaker than ever. He hadn’t felt this weak when fighting Flame, nor when he was fighting against the mafia and LAW, he hated it. How powerless he was.
The footsteps drew nearer and nearer, as the totem knitted back his body in real time. The previously spilled guts reentering his body, his wounds closing slowly as he tried to lift his body with his elbows— keyword, tried, his entire body was shaking, the totem may have been healing his wounds, but it doesn't make the pain go away that quick. His arms and legs were covered with tiny cuts, although already healing nicely, there were just so many. Why did he have to fall on the side of the path with more and sharper rocks?
The next thing Wemmbu heard was the sheathing of a sword, and then a tip of the sword piercing through his chest—directly in his heart.
Wemmbu shrieked, his eyes widened whilst his body burned. Literally. The sword had the enchant fire aspect, and he felt his skin light on fire, tears pricking at the sides of his eyes. As he felt multiple more swords stabbing him, who knew sharpness 5 was this painful with no armor and just after a totem pop?
His previous wounds—the same ones which were slowly healing—had reopened. Especially the large, gaping wound in his stomach, which had yet again spilled his blood and guts all over the stone, a disgusting sight which Wemmbu had seen countless of times before, from his enemies, at least.
Every time he tried to get up, his body kept getting stabbed. In the leg, arm, chest, everywhere. It hurt so much.
Will he die here?
With more and more stabs on his body, the more and more blood spilled out, and the weaker Wemmbu felt. His breath started to become shallow, black dots tainting around his vision.
Then with one final stab to his chest and one final cry out, his body finally gave out. Vision blackening, as his mind finally succumbed to the void, and perhaps, his demise.
His final, brief thought before everything was Egg. Will he forgive him for dying on him?
I’m sorry, Egg.
—
- And against all odds, Wemmbu wakes up.
His eyes snapped open, his breath quickening along with his heart, as his body surged forward, it was floating—suspended in the void. His eyes being met by total darkness, it reminds him faintly of the END, only seeing endstone, those ships, and the ever present void. The only light source coming from… above him?
What the actual fuck just happened?
Wemmbu’s head snapped downward, his gaze checking his hands, which were clear from the previous injuries he sustained on them. Then to his body—his shirt should have been covered in soaked in his own blood and holes, was clean as and perfect as he usually kept it.
Then he finally pulled his gaze upwards, to the sole source of light, which was above him. It looked like a weird gray stone square, floating above his head and slowly spinning.
There were weird engravings etched into the stone square, maybe in advanced galactic? Wemmbu could read it, he’s from the END, after all, but he decided not to care for now. Whilst below it were the words “UNSTABLE SMP”.
Weird.
“Where the actual fuck am I this time…?” Wemmbu muttered to himself, trying to be what, a little humorous, maybe?
Perhaps he was trying to distract himself from the fact that he had almost died—or maybe, is already dead. And is currently in the void which is hell, to pay for all the lives he had taken.
That would be a reasonable answer. There was no reason Wemmbu shouldn’t be in hell.
Wemmbu felt weak, as he tried to move backwards. Maybe he really was dead, maybe his killers are rejoicing celebrating the fact that the great Wemmbu, who has killed thousands, who helped in taking down the Mafia and LAW, who had terrorized and scared thousands of players alike, is gone. His mind starts to wander, diving deep into his thoughts.
What would the others feel? Would they care?
Would Egg miss him? Sure. If it weren’t for the fact that he was the reason Egg keeps getting held hostage, his life was always on the verge of death.
Yeah, sure Wemmbu always saved him in the end, but he doubts Egg likes being captured as a hostage so often. And now that he’s probably dead, who would save him now?
Maybe Parrot? No. He doubted it, after he betrayed Parrot, killing almost everyone that was in his kingdom. He doubts Parrot still thinks of him as his “Last Hope.” In fact, Parrot most likely hates him. Who wouldn’t?
Hah. Some last hope he is.
What about Flame? Well, what even is their relationship? Were they still rivals, maybe they were friends? Wemmbu still doesn’t know, maybe they’re on good terms, maybe they aren’t. He never knows with Flame. Their relationship was complex, he supposed.
The last time he saw Flame, he was angry, to say the least. Maybe they were back to rivals—well, if this isn’t hell and they were alive.
Faintly, all around him, the same glitches from earlier started to kick back up. If one had to describe how the glitches react, it would be something akin to a heart pulsing. Beating either softer or faster—if you get what I mean.
It was weird, but Unstable SMP was always weird. Best to get used to it.
The familiar, red, coming in glitching. Violent, so much so that it looked like it was fighting against something, or perhaps, someone, pulsing fastly. It phased into reality at his right side.
The second glitch came in, a light shade of green, much calmer than the previous, like it was pulsing in soft waves. This time, it was in front of him. Wemmbu paid no mind, too lost in his own thoughts.
Maybe Spoke will get Egg out, or maybe miss him? Yeah, Wemmbu was raised alongside Spoke by Minute—man, he missed Minute, he wishes he could've hugged him one more time, if he knew this would happen, that is—eventually, the two went their separate ways as they grew up. The next time they met, Wemmbu was quite… unstable, he supposed. And, might have scared Spoke in the process.
As that thought passed, a rainbow colored glitch had appeared to the left. This one seemed much more… what's a good word for it, unhinged in its pulses, maybe? The glitch looked like spiked static.
And now that he thinks about it a little more, he hasn't seen or interacted with Spoke after the whole LAW war. As if he disappeared without a single trace.
He hoped his younger brother was safe, enjoying life somewhere.
And as sudden as it could get, the sound of white noise had exploded in his ears. Like a firework being set off right next to his head, loud and annoying.
Wemmbu winced once he heard it, hands shooting up to cover his ears, which was to no avail, as the white noise was still loud as fuck, reminded him of the LAW goat horn, annoying. And as that happened, Wemmbu was snapped back from his own thoughts.
Looking in front of him, he saw all said glitches, all three starting to become shakier. The void which once was has also, began to become volatile. As, instead of the haunting black of nothingness, buildings and trees and greenery had started to form and was circling all around him.
“What the fuck is happening now?” Wemmbu muttered, his head whipping around, the wind, which was somehow here, began to pick up at high speeds. His purple hair whipping around.
As he looked frantically around him, buildings he didn’t recognize began to form. Moving things in the shape of a half circle was moving, through what, grey streets with white lines in the middle?
And not to mention the tall stick things, which looked like a much fancier version of a lamp post from Capital City and Merchant city.
Yeah, some things were a little familiar, but what the actual fuck?
The once suspended void had become a modern city?
Even scholars would find that hard to believe.
Kidding aside! Wemmbu was gazing at all the new structures he didn’t recognize at all. Still forming before him, before he heard the shooting of a…bow? From behind?
Wemmbu’s body turned around fully, trying to see whatever—or whoever—had just shot him.
But before he knew it, Wemmbu’s eyes widened as he had been shot right in the heart. His body stumbling back from the intensity. And eventually, falling into the void below him.
The last thing he saw was the strange structures, still forming above him. As the three glitches had followed with him downwards, into the abyss he had found himself in.
He felt his heart stop, as his eyes finally shut. Finally succumbing into the darkness once again.
He hoped he would wake up.
—
The next time Wemmbu comes back to his senses, he is met by warmth.
Comfortable warmth, which reminded him of simpler times with Egg and Minute. Where he could relax without worrying of someone attacking him in his sleep.
The next thing Wemmbu feels is the soft weight of something on top of him, and the comfortable feel of whatever he was laying on.
His senses were dulled by the warmth, most END demons seek warmth, after all, and because he had only just woken up. He doesn’t want to get up, not yet, at least.
Just five more minutes, it isn’t everyday he gets this opportunity to rest.
As time progresses on, his body is finally waking up. Wemmbu’s eyes slowly flickered open, being met by the darkness of a room, the only source of light coming from a simple, small lamp (wait, how does he know what a lamp is?—), on the desk next to the bed he was lying on.
Purple sheets were pulled over his body, which had given him the comfortable warmth from earlier.
He blinked lazily, movements still slow. Before his mind traces back to what had happened previously, and recalls everything.
Holy shit, he isn’t dead?
That thought makes Wemmbu’s brain snap back into motion. All the laziness from every gone in a single thought as his body sits upright from the bed.
He looked down to his hands and body, sustaining no injury, just like earlier. And the second thing he notices is that, these weren’t the clothes he was wearing previously.
Was he even still in his world?
He tried to open up his inventory, or maybe just check his health bar or hunger. Expecting the familiar sight of his inventory, but nothing showed up. Making Wemmbu frown slightly, as no matter how hard he tried, still, nothing. He gave up after the short time of a minute.
The soft purple blanket pooled at his waist as he sat up, he was wearing purple, satin pajamas. The texture was smooth and cool against his skin. His purple hair was splayed over his shoulder, as he ran a hand through it, his hair having some knots here and there, but still soft, just how he liked it.
He finally glanced back at the room, his bed was up against the wall. Looking next to him, there was a small desk, with small plants, the lamp, some pictures, and a mirror hanging right above the desk.
Wemmbu’s starting to think this really isn’t his world.
Well, you can’t jump to conclusions too quickly. Maybe this was all a dream, and he didn’t almost die on that path, and he wasn’t suspended in the middle of the void earlier.
He thought, letting out a dry chuckle. As he simultaneously pinched himself, hard, wincing a bit.
“Ow.” Wemmbu muttered, before cringing at the slight hoarseness of his voice. Yeah, he might be in a totally different world right now.
Holy shit is he actually in a totally different world!?
His gaze shifted down to the floor, there was a soft, large light purple carpet. With… three sleeping bags?
Wemmbu raises a brow at that, before turning his body to the left. Feet planting into the softness of the rug. Two of the sleeping bags were empty, one being a dark green color, and the other being black, with some parts being rainbow. Huh, the colors remind him of Parrot and Spoke.
And as for the other sleeping bag, it was preoccupied with a boy, who seemed to be around what—17? His back was facing Wemmbu. But he could recognize that figure anywhere and everywhere.
Flamefrags.
Wemmbu’s eyes widened slightly, first in relief of seeing someone he knew—although his rival—but someone he knew, nonetheless, then in wariness. What the hell was the Flamefrags doing here? The last time they talked, he was on Parrot’s side, so just why was he here?
The blanket was pulled up until the nether demon’s chest, Wemmbu watched the rise and fall of his chest, tiger ears flickering every now and then. It was weird to see Flame this calm. One thing he noticed is that Flame’s name tag was nowhere to be found, strengthening his theory that he's in a dream—which was denial on his end—or, he was basically in an entirely different universe.
Carefully, he stood up. His movements slow, as to not wake up his rival. He moved to the small desk, looking at himself in the mirror. Wemmbu looked younger, like he expected, since Flame looked to be around 17, then he too, was most likely his age as well.
Wemmbu looked… much healthier. This Wemmbu's eye bags weren't as deep. And his body looked healthier too, with a little more weight, and not the paper thin he was. Sure he was still quite thin, but much better.
His hair looked healthy and properly taken care of, sure, it wasn't the length it was in Unstable, but still! Other than that, he could tell that he was still an END demon hybrid—with the same black horns and spade tail, he was glad that that didn't change.
“Damn, I look, like, so much healthier, bro.” Wemmbu whispered to no one in particular.
He can't help but feel that this version of him was, to say the least, much happier.
The next thing Wemmbu noticed was that, like Flame, he also didn't have a name tag. Also to be expected.
Sure, Wemmbu wasn't as smart as Parrot, but he wasn't that dumb. He’d say he was decently smart, actually! He had to be.
Wemmbu turned away from the mirror, looking down to the small desk. Then, to the side was a much bigger desk. With some weird rectangle black rectangle, a stick looking thing and a small circle on the bottom, supporting it, and another black rectangle with button thingy’s. There was some mouse looking thing next to the black rectangle with the button things.
His mind brings up the word desktop.
Wemmbu stared a little, why did he know that?
“Okay, freaky.” He muttered.
Weird, but not that weird. He has seen and experienced much weirder stuff.
Next to it was also some weird thing, it was also some black rectangle box, but smaller, it displayed what Wemmbu guesses is the time. If he is right, then it was currently 2:34AM. The time emitted a soft, white glow, but quite weaker than the lamp’s glow.
It was really late, but he's been awake for longer times. It doesn't bother him.
He took a small step back, about to turn around and check out more of the room. And then wake Flame, maybe? Actually… that might be a bad idea, what if this Flame was some monster?
Unlikely.
Wemmbu lets out a dry chuckle at that. Man, it was so much harder to be funny without Egg.
Just as he was about to turn around, he heard his own name from a voice so so so painfully familiar. The same voice he's heard his name countless times, whether in an angry tone, or maybe a weirdly nice one.
They’ve been rivals for years, of course.
“Wemmbu?”
It made Wemmbu freeze, his body tensing up. He swore he was being careful to not wake Flame, so either this was his universe’s Flame, or this strange Flame is basically just the same as the Flame he knew—alert at all times.
Wemmbu let out a small exhale, before turning around to look at him.
“Hey, Flame.” He responded, looking down at Flame, while a smile played on Wemmbu's lips, seemingly mocking, but it didn't reach his eyes, and Flame——who was slowly getting out of the sleeping bag’s covers. A hand on the mattress, making it clear he turned around to look at Flame in the middle of him getting up.
Flame didn’t have his blindfold on, huh. And it seems that he noticed, his left hand, going up to his eyes, hovering slightly, before dropping his hand.
Flame’s gaze trained on his body, doing a once-over, then twice, and then thrice. His nose was scrunched up with a small frown forming, a judgemental stare at Wemmbu, and he didn’t even try to bother hiding it!
Wemmbu noticed this, raising a brow before glaring at Flame, letting out a scoff. He knows he doesn’t have anything weird on his face—he just looked at himself in the mirror! So what is the idiot in front of him thinking?
“Bro, what are you staring at?” Wemmbu asked, looking back at Flame in some judgemental way. What is up with these two?
“Bro, why do you look so different? Like, you look like a baby! And, like, why can’t I see your nametag, what the hell?” Flame questioned, ignoring Wemmbu’s own question. Before his eyes shifted to the dark room, which only made his expression even more confused. “And where on earth are we?”
“Okay, first of all, look at yourself! You look like some dumb 17 year old!” Wemmbu answered, taking some offense to the first part of the sentence. “And second of all, I don’t know either. For all I know we could basically be in a different world! And I’m really starting to think this isn’t a dream anymore.”
Flame stared at him a bit, a little stunned, maybe? Before he glared at Wemmbu.
“Dawg, I’m literally right here talking to you right now! Of course you aren’t dreaming.” Flame huffed out.
“Okay, well you can be like, some weird-ass figment of my imagination.” Wemmbu reasoned, the sides of his mouth twitching, as he watched Flame trying to get up—but failing, to which Wemmbu let out a snort. His limbs were probably sore. “And, how can I even trust you?”
Once Flame was finally up, he stretched his entire body. Back doing a satisfying crack! Tiger tail swishing around—it was weird seeing Flame’s tail again. The last time he saw it was in Zam Empire, he wondered what happened—and stood up straight. Chin tilting up slightly, as if to intimidate Wemmbu, letting out a scoff.
“Bro, trust me? Hah! If anything, I should be the one who’s wary of you.” Flame spoke up. “I mean, between the two of us, who basically went crazy and betrayed everyone last time?”
“Whatever Flame, I don’t owe you an explanation. Plus, even if I did tell you the reason, you probably won’t understand anyways. So forget it, bro.” Wemmbu responded, letting out a huff. “Let’s try to be civil, until we figure out what the hell this is. Because I don’t like wherever we currently are.”
Man, Wemmbu really was a yapper, huh?
Flame let out a small “whatever”, pushing down the annoyance from their small squabble. Flame finally looked down at himself. First, at his hands, which were missing the healed scars from years of fighting, and were instead replaced by three twin tiger stripes on each arm. Then at his clothes, a simple red shirt, some small electric guitar print on the left side, and black pants, definitely not the last thing he remembered wearing.
His line of sight shifted up, back to where Wemmbu was originally at—aka in front of him, only to find that the purple-haired man had wandered off somewhere in the room. The shifting behind him, which strengthened the idea, Wemmbu had a short attention span, after all.
The silence stretched on, awkward from the small quarrel. Until the END demon cleared his voice.
“So, Flame. How do you feel about possibly being in an entirely different universe right now?” Wemmbu said, trying to lighten up the mood.
Huh.
“Definitely… not happy about it.” Flame responded, as his eyes dropped to the mirror behind Wemmbu earlier—it felt weird, he didn’t have a blindfold on right now. He was glad Wemmbu didn’t comment on it.
Flame’s answer was short, mostly because he didn’t know how to respond to that one hell of a question.
“Maybe this is some weird multiplayer dream…” Wemmbu muttered.
Flame moved towards the mirror, seeing himself in the view. He was notably… shorter? Like, not that short, sure, but shorter from his original height in unstable. He also looked much better, the evident scars on his body—from all the years of fighting—gone, like they never existed. All the muscle he built up from all the battles were gone, well, he isn’t lanky, just less muscle? Maybe? To sum it all up, he looked younger.
Flame was still a tiger hybrid, it seems, the ears and fluffy stripped tail making that clear—Flame was proud to be a tiger, as they were known for their fierce independence and immense strength, and, also because it offhandedly reminded him of his older brother, Mane. He was glad Flame took the initiative and looked for him during his training arc, because of that, they cleared up misunderstandings, and finally parted on good terms—other than that? Flame sure as hell knows that he 100% didn't have horns, much less demon horns like Wemmbu! So what the fuck?
“Yeah, that's really fucking weird.” Flame muttered, right hand raising to one of the horns, touching it gently, feeling the scales on it. The sensation of touching one of his horns felt a little weird, but it was clear the horns had their own bundle of nerves inside and were clearly sensitive to touch.
Yeah, Flame knows he’s acting way to calm in this weird ass situation. But, I mean, how would you act? Most people would probably start screaming and panicking, but you should know by now that Flame isn’t like most players.
Wemmbu probably noticed the horns already, or maybe not.
Actually, Flame just doesn’t really know how to feel or act. But one thing’s for sure, he doesn’t really like it.
His eyes didn’t change much, he supposed, one was a beautiful crimson red, with black on the inward edges, and orange on the other eye, a fiery and bright orange. Flame knew his eyes were one of a kind, it wouldn’t be a problem. But—in Netherian culture, heterochromia was a curse.
Stupid.
His hand went up to his cheek, tracing a small tiger stripe, in Unstable, it was the claw marks from Mane. From their fight back when the Princezam Empire still existed.
The next thing he tried to check was his inventory and healthbar, keyword tried. So just like Wemmbu had tried earlier, nothing popped up, making him frown.
Did Wemmbu know that their hopbars didn't work? Yeah, probably.
He moved from the mirror, to the desk next to it. There were weird black things on the desk—as he let his hands graze over it. Feeling the smooth surface of whatever it was.
It was strange.
He didn't say anything earlier, better to figure out the situation before acting. Like he does in combat, having to figure out his opponent's fighting style as to deal proper damage to the other. Except this wasn't combat.
Flame actually began to stir the moment he heard the shift of blankets, from the years of combat, he became a light sleeper. When his senses returned, he had a gut feeling that this wasn't his world. When he was attacked, his totems almost immediately popped, movements slightly sloppy from fighting the entire day. Whoever these players were, they were skilled—with black avatars and a random string of names. Seriously, was this some big emerging faction or just some new group of bandits? With one move from his opponents—he was caught off-guard. And afterwards the popping of his totems, his body suffered wounds that were fatal, and should have killed him on the spot.
And he fell into unconsciousness, and despite everything, his eyes opened. Greeted by the surrounding void, his movements felt slow, and his mind felt hazy.
You would know the rest.
When he woke up again, he appeared here. He could feel the strange shift of the environment. He knew this wasn't Unstable. Wherever he felt warm, cozy, slow. Like there was no need to worry about players wanting to kill him, dangers that might end his life if he wasn't careful and holding a totem, need to worry about the current war, no need to worry about the friendships he knew that were slowly falling apart.
All because of one stupid war.
When he saw Wemmbu, he looked healthier, maybe even happier? Not the Wemmbu whose movements were tired, not the Wemmbu who wore Arachnid's shield, not the Wemmbu had a spider designed veil covering his eyes.
It was weird that Flame trusted this Wemmbu so fast, not thinking that this could be some other Wemmbu. One that he didn't know. But then again, Flame knew he was stupid for blindly trusting people. Parrot made him realize that, when they worked together to find out the Invisible Knight’s identity—because they both were 99% sure it was Wemmbu—after Wemmbu had suddenly disappeared off the face of the server.
He knew what he did was kinda desperate, wanting to find him for the sole purpose of getting his title back, and, maybe because Wemmbu reminded him of his brother.
If he and Parrot left Wemmbu alone, would any of this happen?
He was getting a little too lost in his thoughts again.
That reminded him.
Is this even Wemmbu? I mean sure they had some small argument earlier like usual, but what if this was some doppelgänger out to kill him? Flame needed to live up to his name after all, being the one and only Immortal Demon.
Okay, yeah it’s kind of dumb. But maybe Flame should try to at least confirm it, better be cautious than catch strays.
“Hey, are you even the real Wemmbu? The one who fought against the LAW with all the others?” Flame said, head whipping around to the END demon, interrogating him, whilst said END demon was snooping around the room like a cat with no care in the world.
Wemmbu slowly looked up from the bookshelves he was looking at, with a gaze that basically said “are you serious?”
“Bro, we literally had a full on bicker on trusting each other and some “maybe we’re in another world” bullshit. You can’t be this dumb.” Wemmbu deadpanned.
“Okay—well, you can be some weird ass doppelganger pretending to be Wemmbu and also pretending to not know anything about how we are here or about this world!” Flame huffed, tail swishing left and right in sudden wariness.
“Oh my— dude if I was some doppelganger I would've killed you or whatever doppelgangers do right now since you're basically defenseless! Plus, I think if I were a doppelganger or something, you would've figured it out by now.” Wemmbu shot back, looking at Flame and the bullshit he just said.
“Oh my gooood, still bro!” Flame argued back, a scowl forming. “I mean, what am I supposed to expect? I'm in some different world and literally anything could be bloodthirsty and wants me dead.”
“Bro, if anything, you would be the one to want people dead! Like, who here has over a thousand and more kill count?”
“Okay, and who also killed thousands of players too?” Wemmbu scowled, such a hypocrite!
“Okay fine! We’re even. Sure, I trust you, I guess.” The tiger huffed, ending their newest little squabble. Seriously, these two can’t go ten minutes in the same room without arguing about something dumb.
““I guess”? Okay bro, if we get into some life or death situation I am leaving your ass to die.” Wemmbu huffed, emphasizing the word “leaving”, as he turned back around to the bookshelves.
“Nyenyenye, I ain't dying bro. I'm called the Immortal Demon for a reason. Or did you forget?” Flame said, letting out a weak snort—as Flame also turned back around, hand cautiously pressing down on some weird, small black buttons with letters and numbers on them—although not in alphabetical order—like it would explode any second, it was like he was trying to get used to the strange, but faintly familiar environment. Well, the tension is almost certainly gone.
His gaze drifted to a round, purple plushie next to it. With a smile, horns and a crown. Huh, kinda looks like Wemmbu.
Meanwhile, with the latter, was currently snooping through the bookshelves. Before his eyes landed on some picture strips, reaching for it and bringing it closer.
Although it was quite dim, in each frame, he could see him. It was him, except at the same time, it wasn't. A him that looked much happier, much more alive. Like he did years ago in Unstable. Except, at the same time, this Wemmbu in the pictures wasn't him.
Looking closer, he could see… three other faces?
It was Flame, Spoke, and Parrot.
And, again, the others looked much younger, especially Spoke. They looked… so so so happy—much different from Unstable, where they all had gone through so much, from betrayals, fights, grief, wars, and much more.
Sure, there had been a time Wemmbu was happy with the other three. But that time had long passed, and Wemmbu didn't think he would be able to experience that happiness, with the other three, at least. Unless…?
Wait, if Spoke and Parrot were in these pictures, and along with the other two sleeping bags on the floor, would that mean the other two were here as well?
“Flame, check it out.” Wemmbu started, looking behind him, to see a Flame holding up some purple round plushie.
Flame looked up from the plush he was holding, head turning and eyes shifting to the END demon, before his gaze zeroed on the picture strips. “Yo, what’s that?”
“Bro, that plushie you’re holding looks like me, highkey.” Wemmbu said, ignoring his question. “Oh, anyways, check it out.”
Wemmbu made his way to Flame, stepping in between two sleeping bags, before basically shoving it all up in Flame’s face, making him back up a little, before grabbing the photo strips. “Look, it’s Parrot and Spoke.”
“Okay unironically they kinda look like chuds.” Flame blurted out, looking at the photo strips, slightly tilting it the the left for the soft light to shine on it.
“Bro you're literally in there, you're also a chud.” Wemmbu huffed, rolling his eyes. “Anyways, look, Parrot and Spoke are here. We’ll have a higher chance of figuring out where we even are and getting out sooner if we find Parrot and Spo— wait, since when did you have horns?”
Flame interrupted Wemmbu, almost immediately. “No, you’re not thinking about it deeper. What if we don’t know this Parrot and Spoke? Like, yeah bro, sure, we look waaaaaay different from what we remember. But still! What if they’re some different person who just looks like our Parrot and Spoke.”
Wemmbu stared at Flame, dumbfounded for a second as the sides of his mouth twitched upwards. “Bro, since when were you this smart, yo? Also you didn't answer my question.”
“Bro, I’m actually kinda smart, excuse you, not just Parrot level smart.” Flame grumbled, before answering his question. “About the horns, I also don't know bro. It's been here since I woke up! And I sure as hell don't know what to feel about the new anatomy on my head.”
“Yeaah, I hope your horns are the type to get irritated by everything for the first few months and you’ll spend half the time scratching them.”
“Yeah, okay, I sincerely hope you die first.” Flame said, all the seriousness in his voice. The sides of his mouth twitching, and if it weren’t for Flame’s tail swishing around behind him pleasantly, Wemmbu would’ve thought he was about to be murdered by Flame.
“Okay, back to the topic,” Wemmbu started. “Sure, you’re right. But what if some weird ass shit happened to both of them and then they got here—wait, how did you even get here?” Wemmbu suddenly questioned, head tilting to the right as his pale arms crossed.
“Dude—like, I had some deep conversation with Lomedy and then he left to make some new base far away, and then some random ass chungies with black avatars and random users literally jumped me. And I was undergeared and both mentally and physically exhausted.” Flame said, starting to yap. “My totems popped, I became unconscious or something, woke up, saw strange shit, fell back asleep, then got here. Yeah, really fuckung crazy. Anyways, you?”
Wemmbu stared at him, their stories were a little… similar? “Okay, well kinda the same, I was following Arachnid then he pulled a button and I fell through, hit the floor from a massive height, popped my totem, blah blah blah the same shit happened. Okay! We’re getting kinda sidetracked.”
“Yeah yeah okay, like bro we can’t be comfortable in an unknown environment, I guess we can make some sort of plan to tell whether or not it’s the Parrot and Spoke we know…?” Flame muttered, head turning slightly to the side in thought, and then looking straight to Wemmbu. “Actually, you know what, let’s figure something out later.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. C’mon I wanna explore.” Wemmbu agreed, before turning around to the white door—seemingly eager to explore more than the medium sized room—twisting the grey knob and opening the door wide, Wemmbu hadn't noticed, but there was a 2d enchanted mace attached. The door opening made an obnoxious but small creaking sound, making Wemmbu cringe slightly as the sound cut through the silence. The door led to a dark hallway.
“Okay well, at least try to be quiet! If I’m gonna make a hunch, I’m pretty sure you also don't have access to your inventory, we don't have shit to defend ourselves. So be discreet—at least until we know it's safe.” Flame said, slightly pulling Wemmbu back by the back of his shirt to get his point through, before getting a look from Wemmbu.
“Ugh, Flame trusssst me! We’ll be fineee.” Wemmbu said, before going out the door into the hallway, eyes scanning the new surroundings around him.
The hallway was dimly lit by a simple lamp on top of a console table to the right, next to it was a large, white vase with some type of plant Wemmbu didn't care about, planted in it. Along with the lamp was a couple of white picture frames, Wemmbu couldn’t tell who was in it—since the console table was a little far down the hallways. Further down to the right, he could see two white doors, one being on the left.
Wemmbu moved his attention to what was in front of him, seeing wooden handrails and stairs that led downwards. The lights downstairs were on, for some reason. There were also a bunch of picture frames, two big ones, and about two shelves from what he could see. With more plants, one of them being some vine plang thing.
And looking to the left, there was some mirror attached to the wall and another console table, but this one didn't have a lamp. Just two picture frames, some weird, small brown box with two sticks in it, and a white vase with what Wemmbu thinks are gardenias—which he only knew because Egg had yapped about those flowers during his time being stuck in the END dimension.
Man, he missed Egg, if he wasn't here, would he be talking with Egg right now?
At the end of the other side of the hallway was another white door, in the middle, there was something attached. It kinda looked like a… oak sign? There was something written on it as well, but it was too dark for Wemmbu to see.
Flame opened the door a little wider, so he could peek outside. His tiger ears twitched, catching wind of two voices downstairs—due to him being a tiger hybrid, made him sensitive to noises, so Wemmbu constantly whining and screaming in his ear didn't help. But over time, his ears had adjusted to loud sounds, with the hell of Mane—if you can even call it help? Since Flame only got used to it because Mane screams 24/7.
But, even then, just because he’s used to it, doesn’t mean Flame doesn’t wince every time his opponent lets out a gut-wrenching scream when they fall, or the sound of Wemmbu’s nukes exploding—which, is much louder than a measly scream.
“Bro, do you hear that?” Flame muttered, voice low and quiet as he finally stepped out—well, not before looking around a little, making sure there was no one. Flame felt the cold wooden floor beneath his feet, as he moved towards the handrails, his footsteps quiet—as years of fights and being constantly hunted down does that to a person. He peeked down below, but only seeing stairs that led downwards.
“Dude, hear what?” Wemmbu responded, voice equally as quiet as Wemmbu moved to stand beside him, as he also peeked down below.
Hearing Wemmbu this quiet was a sharp contrast from his usual loudness, and was kinda weird. Since Flame had grown used to the witty comments and loud remarks from the guy. Flame huffed as he responded. “Dawg, you don’t hear two people speaking downstairs?”
“No dawg I don’t hear two people speaking downstairs.” Wemmbu shot back. “Wait, brilliant idea here. Since you hear stuff so clearly… what if you eavesdrop on whoever’s speaking down there?”
Hm, that was… kind of a good idea? I mean, maybe he would be able to get valuable information from whoever was talking? But at the same time, they might be spotted.
“…sure.” Flame agreed, albeit a little hesitant. “Stay quiet, your loud ass footsteps would get us caught immediately.”
“I’m just catching strays left and right bro.” Wemmbu muttered, as he watched Flame turn and walk around the handrails.
Flame’s ears twitched slightly, tail swaying left and right. Slightly bending over as he walked down the stairs, but stopping after five steps—which was just enough to peek a little into new space.
Due to the second floor obstructing his sight into the first floor, Flame couldn’t really see everything, but what he could see was something akin to a large couch—well technically, in Minecraft a large couch was made out of wooden stairs—whilst this one was grey with a couple of pillows, and looked… soft?
But that certainly isn’t what interested Flame, because what did pull him in is the sight of two figures—most definitely male—standing near the weird-looking couch. Definitely also the two people Flame heard talking.
Flame took a glance towards Wemmbu, who was at the top of the staircase, making a gesture to stay put. In case the dumbass goes barreling downstairs.
Flame’s ears twitched, as he started listening in.
“No—bro, you’re not listening.” One of the men said.
“Hey, I am listening!” The other countered, with a seemingly cheerful tone.
“Okay, well what’s the last thing I said then?”
“That I wasn’t listening.”
“I—okay bro.” The man huffed, exasperated at the other’s idiocy.
Huh, one of the guys sounded weirdly similar to Parrot. Wait—
Parrot? What was he doing here also? Flame though, eyes slightly widening.
“I am listening, Parrot! Okay, seriously, you were yapping about some weird looking Wemmbu and Flame upstairs.” The other responded, Flame slightly perked up at his and Wemmbu’s names. “Well, if you ask me, you also look equally weird. Like, for one, your wings aren’t clipped, and you look like a 16 year old, which is quite different from being in your mid 20’s.”
“Well, I guess you’re right on that. But mind you, we woke up in a totally different world. ” Parrot said, his wings twitched slightly—for Parrot, it felt a little weird, to say the least, after having spent months with his wings clipped. “Plus, Spoke, keep your voice down a little. Our best option is to not wake up the Wemmbu and Flame upstairs. We need to be cautious about our environment right now, and for the record, I can confidently say PVP isn’t really our strong suit.”
Wait, Spoke? The Spoke from Unstable and not some random chungie in this world that looks like or acts like Spoke? And, same with Parrot!
“Sure, well, what if it’s the Wemmbu and Flame we know? What then?” Spoke questioned, crossing his arms.
“We’ll figure it out then, somehow, if it comes to it at least.” Parrot sighed, seemingly also quite unsure.
Okay, well, at least, from Parrot and Spoke’s conversation, Flame knows that it’s the Parrot and Spoke from Unstable…?
But, then comes the real question.
How are the two also here?
Flame took a glance at Wemmbu, who was still in the same position as he last glanced at him, whilst Wemmbu simply tilted his head and raised a brow.
This was gonna be a long night.