Work Text:
Skizz heard the bang. He saw the flash. He remembered screaming Mumbo’s name, watching Grian standing alone on the tower. Grief felt like it was splitting his heart in two.
Everyone around him was talking, but he couldn’t hear them. His ears were ringing and his vision was blurred with tears. His breath came shallowly and his hands were shaking.
It was Lizzie that snapped him out of his stupor by yelling in his ear that his snail was coming - the new snail that jerkface Tango had spawned by hiding his trivia bot. Lizzie gently guided him to the entrance and bid him farewell. They all watched him leave; Pearl, Martyn, Scott, Cleo and Ren, none of them speaking. Mumbo’s final death had shocked them all.
He ran towards the base, the bridges blurry in front of him, when a cheerful voice stopped him.
“Oh hi buddy!”
Skizz turned round to see a very smug looking Tango sitting on the remains of Bdubs’ tower.
Tango was the last person he wanted to see after the robot incident. He went to keep going but Tango walked round to stand right in front of him, grinning that dumb grin. Skizz pushed him out of the way, not wanting to mess around.
“What’s the matter?” Tango giggled mockingly. Skizz kept walking, turning his face to hide the tears that were trickling down it.
Tango noticed and his smile faded. He was only trying to tease. He didn’t want to upset Skizz. He fell in step with his friend and gently slipped his hand into Skizz’s. Skizz gripped it like a lifeline.
“Did I go too far?” Tango asked tentatively. Skizz shook his head.
“Then what’s wrong?” Tango coaxed, trying to get Skizz to speak.
Skizz sighed, then whispered, “Mumbo.” It was the only word he could get out before he burst into tears.
“Oh Skizz,” Tango wrapped his friend up in a caring hug. Skizz’s shoulders heaved with sobs as Tango ran his hand comfortingly through his hair.
Eventually, Skizz calmed down enough for Tango to let go and take him to Grian. When Skizz saw Grian’s face, his heart broke all over again. His fellow Spanner’s eyes were bloodshot, his face was tear-tracked and he was hiccuping from crying so hard.
“What happened?” Tango asked, “Did the minecart get struck by lightning?”
Skizz shook his head mournfully. “No, lightning strikes when you go out of the season.” he replied.
“Oh, oh right,” Tango said quietly. Saying that Mumbo was out felt so sad, even for Tango, the group's arch nemesis.
Grian still hadn’t spoken, just staring at the floor, silent tears dripping into a small puddle in the dirt.
“Grian,” Skizz knelt in front of him and took his hands. They were shaking.
“Talk to me buddy,” he pleaded.
Grian was quiet for a moment, then he choked out, “The last thing I heard him say was ‘Gem is moving,’ and then he blew up because he came into contact with the minecart by accident.”
Suddenly a message popped up in chat.
Mumbo: “Thank you all.”
Everyone put their condolences in chat, all bar Jimmy, who was still chuffed about not being out first. Then the most heartbreaking message of all.
He was gone. He was really gone.
Grian raised his head and screamed to the heavens, tears streaming down his face like rain. Skizz hugged him tight, as the cruel world looked down on the grief-stricken pair.
“WHY?!” Grian yelled into the sky, “WHY DID YOU TAKE HIM AWAY?! HE WAS OUR BROTHER!”
Grian couldn’t stop crying. It felt like someone was driving a knife through his heart. Grief preyed on him like an animal, ripping his insides to shreds. Why Mumbo? Why had they taken Mumbo? Why not someone else? Did they just like tormenting him?
Searching around in the rubble, all either of the spanners could find of Mumbo was his tie. But they still dug a grave and buried the tie in it.
“Could you say a few words, Skizz?” Grian asked.
Skizz nodded, “I’ll have to do it whilst running from my snail but sure.”
Grian's face lightened a little, “You’ve got a snail?”
“Yeah, because stupid Tango hid my robot!” Skizz shouted, comically. Grian only managed a quiet chuckle, but it was better than nothing.
Skizz looked round to the towers in the distance. Tango was sitting on one, chatting with Bdubs. Skizz glared and turned back.
Seemed like Mumbo’s tie wasn’t the only tie being buried.
“Well,” Skizz began, “You and I will carry on Grian, but there will be a gaping hole in both our hearts because Mumbo was, let's say it how it is, Mumbo was the charm of our group and he will be sorely, sorely missed.”
“He was the glue,” Grian nodded sadly, “I’m amazed we’re still together.”
There were footsteps behind them, and a sad voice said, “So this is Mumbo’s grave.”
Grian turned around to see Scar, dressed in his red bamboozler outfit and holding his hat solemnly in his hands.
“I’m so sorry,” Scar said, eyes glistening with tears. Grian just gave a watery smile.
Lizzie and Jimmy had come with him. Lizzie seemed upset too, but Jimmy was grinning. Grian forced down the anger rising in his chest. He was probably just pleased about not going out first.
But then Jimmy walked to the grave and laughed at it. A scornful, mocking laugh that echoed harshly round the bridges. Grian’s shaking hands found his bow and fired a pair of arrows at the bamboozler. Jimmy’s laughter turned to shouts of pain as they dug into him.
“YOU DON’T DISRESPECT MUMBO!” Grian screamed, tears streaming down his face. Jimmy just glared at him and hot footed it back up Mount Bam. Scar caught Grian as he collapsed to the floor, bawling his eyes out. Jimmy had snapped the last straw, and all the grief and anger came flooding out. Scar held him tight as he wept into the Bamboozler’s arms.
A little later, a few other people came to pay their respects, Etho and Bdubs and a few more. But nothing could fix the tear in Grian’s heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the end of session 6. Grian stood alone on Mumbo tower. The tears falling down his face felt all too familiar. He gazed down at the two gravestones below him. One was Mumbo’s and the other was new. The sky was black and windy, and the sound of thunder rumbled across the server. A storm was brewing on the horizon.
A few cold drops of rain trickled down onto his face, disguising his tears. If Skizz had been here, he would have gently wiped Grian’s tears away and wrapped him in a hug, then taken him inside their old sculk cave and cooked some food in the furnace. Then they would have huddled up in front of a campfire and laughed over some silly story that Skizz had come up with in the hysterical laugh that only Skizz could coax out of Grian.
But Skizz wasn’t here.
He never would be.
For the second time, Skizz had been killed by his best friend Tango. Tango had been green, and he’d been unprovoked. He was breaking so many rules.
And now he was breaking Grian’s heart.
Fortunately, Gem and Joel had been kind enough to accept him into the family, but that wouldn’t fill the hole in his heart.
The only thing that would fill it was revenge.
Tango was so dead.