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BdoubleO stood with most of the hermtis at the resupply egg. The blocks around them floated to the air in a rapid escape of this wretched place. Plenty of the hermits, watching the blocks leave, mentioned how in a few minutes they’d be following suit. The hermits that seemed most convinced of this were the more worn out ones.
While yes, everyone was tired, Boatem looked ready to conk out besides Pearl, who actually looked put together in her pajamas. They were one of the first few to announce their departure. Then there was Cleo, who was very visibly stressed and looked near the point of taking someone’s head. She planned to bug out as soon as the meeting was over, and there was no way anyone could sway her of this decision.
A few other hermits, less tired but still stiff and worn or anxious and squirmy, also had their plans all out in front of them.
It was sad to think that they were all ready to go. That this world they’d lived in for half a year would be so quickly abandoned. But Bdubs knew he couldn’t convince them to stick around. They’d made their decision and on top of that, Xisuma had heavily recommended they leave the place as soon as possible.
Bdubs went home, not entirely avoiding Xisuma’s warning… but he still didn’t like to think about it. So instead, he busied himself taking care of his llamas and his sheep and his cows and Lulu and Squakers. For just a few minutes he could imagine things weren’t falling apart.
Until they were.
The world was ending, he knew. The world was ending and he wasn’t in the safest spot, but Tango was in a worse pickle as he walked on the moon. Keralis was safer than he, supposedly bunkering with xB. Bdubs hadn’t seen the two of them in a while… sad to think that if something bad did happen, he’d never have a chance to say goodbye. Then there was Etho, unaccounted for and possibly in the most dangerous spot for if a moon crashed, though for all Bdubs knew, he could be off server.
Bdubs did wonder about plenty of other hermits, like old TFC who couldn’t keep chugging forever, like Stress and Iskall who hadn’t even been around to see the big moon, and like Zedaph, who had been avoiding the moon.
At least those four hermits hadn’t invested a lot. Sure, this was as much of their home as anyone else’s, but they hadn’t put their heart and soul into builds and other projects and pranks as Bdubs had. They hadn’t had to watch in anxiety as the moon continued to get bigger and all their friends fell into insanity with crazy ideas of moon cults. Either it was luck or smart. Bdubs wasn’t sure which.
Yet what if—
What if Bdubs didn’t have to say goodbye?
What if he didn’t have to say all that time he spent was in vain? Because there still was a chance the moon wouldn’t crash. There had been tons of plans done by the hermits. Maybe one of them would work, but it just took a little while to see it. Maybe Joe, Cleo, and Cub’s explosions to push the earth away from the moon would work. Maybe Mumbo’s missiles that totally missed the moon actually would crush it into a million pieces. Maybe whatever Tango was doing would prove itself effective in just a couple hours. Even the sacrifices Bdubs and Scar made a few weeks ago could work!
Bdubs just had to stay around for it.
He had to stay around to see it get better. And when it did, he’d have all this place to himself! It was a bit of a strange thought—to think after all this got better he’d get to rule it all. He’d get to reside in its beauty.
Joe and Cleo’s castle was fit for a king, which Bdubs would be in a matter of time. He’d be the CEO of Boatem, Swaggon Co. and the Octagon all in one fell swoop! And he might be able to make the Evil Emporium friendlier to attract the locals! No more Evil Xisuma, no more evil competition!
In just a few hours the world would be great. It would be his. The life wouldn’t die. His smile wouldn’t fade.
It’d be perfection.
He flew up to the top of his crescent moon.
“If—if what I did to steal this place really made you angry… I’m…I’m sorry. I can tear it down if it’d mean you’d leave us alone,” Bdubs tried to persuade the moon, knowing how silly it sounded. “What can I do… to… to change your mind?”
But it didn’t answer.
It wasn’t near night, yet he could see it clear as day.
The moon was there, but it was silent.
Bdubs wished he could sleep the moon away.
“This is fine.” Bdubs paced around his house. He was surprised the floorboards were keeping up even with his quick movement. “It is. It’ll all be over in an hour or so. Then I’ll have this place to myself. And once I own everything and get it fixed back up, I can invite everyone back!”
The plan was foolproof. Obviously. Everything Bdubs came up with was flawless, just like him.
The plan was flawed, obviously, because everything he came up with was stupid, just like him.
The world around him would survive.
The world around him would crash and burn to the moon, shattering his reality for the sake of seeing him break.
The sun would rise again, bigger and better than the moon.
Even the sun had lost its light… its hope.
Everything would be fine, because Bdubs said so.
It wouldn’t be--
And when everything was okay, he could handle it.
And when all the blocks flew away, he’d be left broken on the ground.
He’d have friends!
He’d be alone and hurt.
He was smiling.
Because his insides were bursting with pain, pain so unbearable dying was relief. He was crumbling and soon he’d be completely crushed and unrepairable, because Bdubs wasn’t perfect.
Gem might’ve been great, Tango adequate, and many others notable, but Bdubs was far from perfect… he was an idiot at best.
He thought this was a good idea, but he wouldn’t make it. He’d ruined all chances of survival, and even before, he couldn’t mentally handle it.
And now he was alone, with no friends… no family… no nothing. And everything was a waste.
And Bdubs wasn’t fine.
“I’m fine. I am.”
You’re not.
“Stop thinking like that, silly! You can survive!” he exclaimed, voice cracking. “It’s fine! It’s—it’s… it’s…” He collapsed on his bed, a fuzzy glare plush in his arms, and head buried in a blanket and pillows to hide him from the world. “I’m happy here. I’ve got this all to myself! And—and I can perfect my awesomeness at the horse coarse! And—and Tango and Etho and all the other redstoners will be proud of me after I have all that free time to practice my prettystone powers!”
His comm dinged at the deaths of his friends and buzzed at the indication of those who left the server for good. All of Boatem left at once. Keralis—gone. No signs of Etho. He was probably off-world though. Safe in a single-player place, working on some cool project that he could show the other hermits later. Yeah, that sounded nice, sounded like something Etho would do. And Doc would be gone with Ren on their cool spaceship with Renbob, watching Star Wars or watching some new Marvel show. And Xisuma left, going to play his modded world he’d been excitedly telling some of the hermits about.
They were happy.
And if they were happy… well, Bdubs could be happy here too.
“Yes yes, I’m fine. Really, I am!”
The moon was getting closer. Concernedly closer. Bdubs could almost feel it, and that wasn’t just because his house was starting to rip apart.
All that time. That effort.
All those memories.
Everything Bdubs lived for. His home. His friends—no, family. Gone. In one fell swoop. Due to some stupid moon that decided it could dictate the lives of everyone.
Bdubs slept. It was all he could do. It was all he was good at. That was all life was meant for.
Sleep.
Such a nice thing, sleep.
Sleep your worries away! That would’ve helped the Mooners so much! Sleep!
And right now, it’d help Bdubs forget how everyone left. They fled. How they abandoned him because they didn’t believe they could make it through this as a team.
And hey, if the moon crashed while he was asleep…
Well, it wasn’t an “if”, as he was awoken by a BOOM.
It was a big boom alright. Bigger than the ones the Boomers made. Big ole’ boom. Big ole’ boom that killed Bdubs and left him a seven year-old… seven… by himself… in his house that was made up of missing blocks and rubble.
He had no home.
BdoubleO had no home.
No building and no people. Alone. On the island. On the burning island. Waiting for the burns on his arms, his legs, his face, and everywhere else, to stop hurting.
“I’m… I’m a big boy…” he said to himself, voice sounding not big in the slightest. “And I—I don’t cry. Not at all. Even when I’m alone and even when it’s scary. I don’t—I won’t—”
He went outside, looking for his pets. At least he had—
The remains of Squakers and Lulu. Mobs don’t come back. No matter how hard he wished it, they didn’t.
Scar was going to take the pets away where it was safe. If Bdubs hadn’t been so silly, he would’ve payed for his pets to have freedom. Instead… instead he was alone… and everything was gone… and even his bed and blankets and stuffed animals were burnt and dirty and faded away.
He wanted to cry.
But he couldn’t! Not now! Not when he had no one else to take care of him! He had to—he had to have a plan! He could do that… of course… of course…
Because he plans were perfect, like him.
Because even if he was small, he could do great things! Even the little guys could be cool! (Of course, Bdubs wasn’t little, either.)
But he felt little, as he couldn’t stop the hiccup and his eyes beginning to water quickly. He felt so tiny in such a dangerous world as he heard monster noises from afar, as he saw perpetual darkness around him.
Instead of monster noises making him jump, it was the sound of the narrator on his communicator. It read a message from an unknown sender.
<BeatleJhost>: Beeeeeeeeduuuuuuuuubs. I’ve come to rescue you!
Though, unknown or best friend didn’t matter if this person—or jhost rather, could save him.
<BeatleJhost>: All you have to do… is say my name three times! Oooooooooo *Spooky voices intensifies! Ooooooooo*
“And why--why do I have to do all that?” Bdubs asked, voice betraying his feelings.
<BeatleJhost>: Beeeeecause! The voice chat and visibility of me isn’t working! And I thought it’d be fuuuuuuuun if you said my name three times! I’ll go through the Nether while you do it! Ooooooooo *More spoopy noises!*
And so, Bdubs followed orders, only to see the one and only Joe Hills appear in front of him. “You—you came back.” He crushed the older in a hug, though it wasn’t that tight given his tiny arms and little to no strength. “I thought—thought everyone was gone.”
Joe struggled to pry Bdubs off his waist to properly pick him up, yet after a moment he did it, and let Bdubs rest his head on his neck. “You did it, Bdubs. You saved me from being an invisible Jhost all day.” Joe put on a deeper voice. Joe gave a relieved laugh, breaking him back into his regular southern voice. “Thank you, buddy!” And even though Bdubs knew he didn’t do anything, it made him happy. Maybe it was less of the praise and more Joe being here, happy, even in the midst of all this.
Yet it still hurt. It still hurt and he couldn’t forget his dead pets. Though he couldn’t make a sound, he shook and jumped a bit with hiccups, which he knew wasn’t helping Joe carry him.
“Now I know even as an adult you’re short, but I don’t think I can carry you when we get to the hub. If it still works right, you should be aged up when we go to the portal, but we may want some potions from Ze-daph’s lab just in case. Sound good?”
He tried speaking a bit, he did, but it came out as a cry.
“You know, I’ve got a server with lots of lovely people in it. You’ll have to meet a lot of faces, but it’d be safe there.”
Bdubs shook his head. “I—I don’t want to leave.” Even with the smell of smoke, even with the monsters around him, even with all the hurt… it couldn’t be wasted, it couldn’t.
Joe bounced Bdubs in his arms. “I know, buddy, but we’ve gotta get out of here. It’s a ruin, alright. We’ve got to meet up with someone else.”
“But you’re good enough to take care of me,” Bdubs reasoned.
Joe sat down at the grass, and as they did so, the world shook, less violently than it had been in a long time. “We may be done with the weird gravity, I don’t know yet, but this place isn’t safe. I know we’ve always tried to make Hermitcraft a safe space, but this isn’t that. We have to move on.”
Bdubs clung on to Joe’s shirt as if life depended on it. “I want to be with all my friends again,” he mumbled out.
“Like Tango and Keralis? And Doc? And Etho and Beef maybe?” Bdubs nodded as Joe listed off some hermits. “And probably Scar too, right? And maybe you and I can meet with Cleo too. She probably wouldn’t mind. And we’d need to check in with Xisuma soon.”
The more Joe spoke about the other hermits, the more Bdubs did want out of here. The more he wanted somewhere safe like Joe was talking about. He wanted somewhere safe that he could sleep at.
“I’m… I’m ready to go,” he said quietly.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I—I don’t want to be alone.”
“Me neither.”
Joe plopped Bdubs to the ground as they walked through the portal to the hub that held all the servers. As they stepped out, Bdubs went through the change of rapid growth (though he noted it didn’t seem to bring him all the way to an age of an adult, strangely enough), resulting in him collapsing against Joe out of weakness and wear.
“You okay there?” Joe asked, though he obviously didn’t need the shake of the head Bdubs gave him. “I’m sorry. We’ll find a nice place to rest in just a minute.”
Joe picked up a map at the center of the place and the two chose a bench to sit on, as Joe reserved a spot in a small, fairly cheap motel. “Yes. Sorry it’s so sudden. Our server’s had some complications. Mhm. Yes. Just two people. No… it’ll be better if we can go with one of your cheaper rooms… Okay. A couple hours? Thank you.” Joe hung up, letting out a very relieved sigh.
“We got a place?”
“Yep. It’ll be a bit though. You can rest here, if you’d like. We’ll start walking over in a little over an hour. The place is some ways away from here.”
Though the hub was noisy, the voices of the folks were like white-noise. As Bdubs leaned against Joe’s shoulder, he found himself struggling to stay up even with the brightness of the place. “I’ll wake you when we need to get going.”
Bdubs nodded gratefully. “Thanks… I couldn’t’ve…”
“You’re quite welcome. We’ll meet up with some of them tomorrow,” Joe promised. “Don’t worry.”
It was hard to worry when you couldn’t smell the smoke of the burning moon remains, so Bdubs decided he wouldn’t.