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It had been a while since the disaster that was Mumbo trying to take on far more responsibility than he needed to, and finally, things were calming down in camp.
Scar and Cub decided to stay long-term, and Scar even built his house near Mumbo's! Scar installed a lovely little garden beside his house , filled with tons of lovely flowers that Mumbo was too scared to go near, because of how meticulous Scar was when planting them.
Now, though, 'Mumbo's Magnificent Witchy Shop,' as Scar named it, was open, and Mumbo was trying to work out how to make health potions for the new elves and vex.
"Right, since you two are similar enough, I can work with both of you at once," Mumbo explained to the two elves. He had gotten two chairs for his house, specifically for when he was testing potions. They were both sitting up straight, looking up at Mumbo with their full attention.
"I have already studied both of your biologies quite a bit, so I believe that this," Mumbo grabbed a pre-made potion he whipped up earlier, gently swishing its contents, "should be a good starting point. Wels, would you like to go first?"
"You know it!" Wels looked excitedly from Mumbo to the potion bottle, grin wide on his face.
"Great, I'm going to need to scratch your arm a bit, just to see how fast, if at all, this potion heals you-" Mumbo cut himself off as Wels pulls out a dagger from somewhere in his armor, and slices an eight-centimeter gash down his non-dominant arm.
"WHAT- Are you okay?" Mumbo nearly dropped the potion, almost paralyzed in shock.
"I- yeah?" Wels looks at him, slightly confused. "Could I have the potion now? I don't want to bleed on your floor."
"O-oh! Yes, right, here! Take just a small sip, please!" Mumbo all but shoved the potion into Wels' extended good arm, praying to himself that it worked, even slightly.
A glance from the wound to Scar revealed him also looking mildly horrified at the gash, and also at the dagger that was now wet with blood and sitting on Wels' lap. So that's just a Wels thing, not an Elf thing then. Mumbo thought to himself.
Wels took a swig, and Mumbo could tell immediately when the potion started working. Wels' eyes immediately looked down at his slice, to where it was slowly being healed .
"...Whoa, that feels so, so weird ," Wels said, watching as his blood clotted and skin began to slowly weave back together . Mumbo watched both the actual healing process and Wels' face for any signs of something going wrong.
"Yeah, it can sometimes, just takes some getting used to! If you'd like, you can have the rest. Usually testing is done with much smaller wounds..." Mumbo looked back down at the wound to see that it was around a fourth of the way healed.
Wels upended the rest of the potion gladly, and then spoke.
"Wait... how do you test normally? You said to scratch myself?" Wels looked so genuinely confused that it made Mumbo's chest tighten a bit. Man, he was really messed up by working for humans, wasn't he?
"Ehm- Usually just a nick would work, something like this-" Mumbo rolled up all the sleeves of his right arm, and scratched himself with his nails a bit. "-Something to leave a visible mark, but nothing too permanent? I- I mean, it's fine, the uhm- the way you did it too, it- it works!"
"Oh, I see, my bad." Wels' arm was almost fully healed now, just a red mark on his arm remained of the horrific gash. Mumbo shook his head and began making a new batch of the potion.
"Any complaints? Did it sap your energy too much?" Mumbo asked from where he was mixing ingredients.
"Not really, I feel great , actually !" Wels was playing with his freshly healed arm, poking and prodding at it.
"R-Really?" Mumbo stopped mixing, turning back to face Wels. "I've never gotten a mixture right on the first try before! That's really cool!"
Mumbo beamed, turning back to finish up the potion mixture. It was one of the most basic ones yet, because elves all have some amount of healing magic to play off of.
Using the information from the health potion, Mumbo would be able to quite easily make almost every other type of potion that he knows how to, except for a few newer recipes.
"Right, so Scar, can you just- gently , please, scratch up your arm? We should still double-check this works for both of you," Scar nodded, looking excited.
Somehow, he didn't let almost dying last time affect him, and Mumbo was not all that shocked after spending more time with the elf. He was finding more and more that Scar is very accident-prone , and used to dangerous things happening to him .
Once Scar's arm was properly red, Mumbo handed over the potion.
"Remember, small sips!" Mumbo called out just as Scar was about to down the entire bottle in one go. He pouted, but took only a gulp.
Immediately, the redness and irritation went away, healing much faster than Wels' gash.
"Whoa, that does feel really weird!" Scar said, twisting his arm to see the healing process from different angles. Mumbo took the bottle from Scar while he was distracted and set it back on the counter.
"Right?" Wels agreed, watching Scar's arm, but still absently rubbing his fingers on his own arm.
"Alright, so that means that both of you are done for the day! Let me know if you- if you have any adverse reactions, please, but other than that, you're free!" Scar and Wels stood from their chairs, and the three of them walked over to Mumbo's couch, where Cub was reading one of Cleo's books.
"Cub, you're up!" Mumbo offered a hand to help the vex off the couch, and the two elves said their goodbyes as they walked outside.
"Sweet! Don't you need to make more of their potions first, though?" Cub asked, taking the hand as the two walked back to the potion testing area.
"Nah mate, I just remember the ingredients and make it later!"
"Really? That sounds incredibly complicated," Cub said, sitting in one of the chairs. Mumbo grabbed the potion he had pre-made with the basic knowledge of vexes he got from Smallishbeans' book.
"Ehhh, not really? At first, it was a lot, but all it really takes is memorization! It's quite simple , really ! Can you scratch your arm really quickly for me, please?"
"Yeah, yeah, no fair! That's like if I were to say phasing through blocks was 'quite simple, really!'" Cub said, with an attempt at Mumbo's accent so horrible that it made the mustached person cringe.
"...How do you mean?" Mumbo handed the potion over to Cub, mind racing a bit. Phasing through blocks is nothing like potion making? One requires an afternoon to learn what ingredients do what, and the other-wait, does he mean hybrid abilities? Right, because he thinks I'm a witch hybrid! Wait, now will he know I'm not, because I was confused?
Mumbo was broken out of his thoughts by Cub speaking.
"Well, I've never met a witch, but I assume you all have some sort of magic you use to make potions, and probably have a higher iq for potions, kind of like how I can use my magic to go through some materials-" Cub took a swig of the potion, before continuing, "-Y'know, hybrid stuff."
"Right! Yes! Hybrid stuff! You're spot on! I suppose sometimes I forget that not everyone is a witch, sorry about that!" Mumbo looked at Cub's arm, which was already nearly fully healed.
"All good- whoa, this stuff works fast !" Cub handed the bottle back to Mumbo and started moving around the skin as the last of the redness went away. "It does feel weird, but also not?"
"Oh! That's because of how conceptually healing potions simply speed up the body's normal regeneration! It either doses or encourages endorphins and the hybrid's own growth factors to work overtime at the site, which is why sometimes it may be exhausting to take, which is why I have also made it so that low doses of adrenaline are also added, which get rid of the sleepiness temporarily! It- sorry, I'm rambling! How- how do you feel?" Mumbo rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly while taking the leftover potion from Cub. Stupid, Stupid!
"No, that's actually fascinating! I feel great, too! Not too tired either!" Cub said, still prodding at his arm.
"Perfect! Then I will make some more of these, and some more of Scar and Wels', and that'll be that! Thank you, Cub!" Mumbo said, turning back to his workstation as Cub stood up and walked towards the door.
"Thank you , Mumbo! You should teach me the basics sometime!" Cub said, before going outside. Now, Mumbo was left alone, working on his potions.
I can't believe I nearly blew my cover just then! I have got to be more careful! It's bad enough that I have only started to lean into my witch scam recently, but I can't forget about it! If they find out that I'm a human, who knows what would happen! Mumbo thought to himself as he worked.
I mean, Wels' past alone would be more than enough evidence that I don't belong, and that all humans are dangerous! I have to be so much more careful!
Eventually, Mumbo finished making all the new potions, even if they were just a few health batches. He put them in his newly expanded storage cupboards, making sure they were organized in a way he would remember them.
When he looked outside, the sun was already going down, and Mumbo realized how hungry he was. Man, Cub left just after lunch! I suppose making double elf health takes longer than I thought!
Mumbo rushed outside and to the community storage/newly made dining hall/meeting room for something to eat.
When he got inside, Tango, Xisuma, and Jevin were already there, enjoying some dinner. Usually, the hermits would all meet up for dinner once a week, and since today was not that day, everyone just did whatever.
"Hey, Mumbo!" Tango said when he shut the door, making the other two look up at him as well, smiles on their faces.
"Mumbo!"
"Hey, dude!"
"Hello, guys!" Mumbo waved, walking over to one of the food chests for some sustenance. He hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch, and he was really starting to feel the effects of his choices.
"What're you all doing?" Mumbo asked as he finally found what he was looking for: the carrot and potato chest. He always felt bad eating something someone else couldn't eat in front of them, but luckily, all three of the hybrids could eat his favorite dinner of raw potatoes and carrots.
"We were just sketching up some plans for a new redstone contraption!" Xisuma said, motioning to the papers that were laid out between the three of them. "Would you like to take a look?"
Mumbo grabbed one carrot and took a bite out of it as he walked towards the three at the table. He stood between Xisuma and Tango, looking down at the blueprints.
It was designed for a redstone-powered door. Mumbo took another bite of his carrot, trying not to get too excited. Before getting thrown out of his village for 'fraternizing with hybrids' and potion making, he would help out with small redstone contraptions.
After he got forced out, he continued making redstone contraptions; sometimes he could even get people to buy them or commission him for some small-scale stuff! Mumbo had even made a fair amount of these doors!
Which is how he knew just by looking at the design that it wouldn't work. Mumbo took the last bite of his carrot, nodding. I can't know too much about redstone, I'm a witch hybrid, not a redstone one!
"Well, what do you think?" Jevin asked, slime swishing as he talked.
"Oh- ehm- well, it's a great concept! Redstone doors can be quite a pain to assemble, so maybe get someone like Doc or Etho to look over it and make sure it is good before you start building?" Mumbo shifted his weight from foot to foot .
"Will do, thank you, Mumbo!" Xisuma said, before turning to the other two and continuing their brainstorming.
"No problem!" Mumbo said, before going over to the potato and carrot chest, grabbing two potatoes, and walking out the front door. It was sprinkling outside, and a few dark clouds were in the distance.
Goodness me, at least they were on the right track! I hope they don't ask me for advice again! I don't think knowing a lot about redstone is good for my cover one bit! I hope no one thinks that when I helped build Doc's arm, I did most of it ...
Mumbo walked back into his house, the sun fully set now, and opened his book on hybrid traits, turning back to the page he could recite by heart . The witch page.
He was running out of space in the margins of the page, but in between two older notes, he jotted down ' aren't redstone geniuses '.
With that, he closed his book and turned off the redstone lights in his house, getting ready for bed. Today had been a good day, very productive. Outside, the light rain turned into a downpour.
He stowed his book under his bed and grabbed another book, one with all his redstone ideas inside it. It was something he had recently started doing, writing down various designs.
Sometimes, when the group would go to villages for supplies that the camp couldn't make in the base, he would sneak away to sell some of his designs for money or supplies.
It helped wonders to have blueprints already laid out on the pages, and Mumbo only needed to copy them over when trading, or if the contraption was simple enough, follow the pictures and instructions he had written and assemble it quickly.
Of course, if anyone in the camp found out about this book, or the other one for that matter, Mumbo would be sunk. Both of these had more than enough evidence to get him thrown out, or worse.
So, when he was done scribbling in his redstone book, he slid it under his bed and got ready to go to sleep.
His house wasn't fully waterproof, but it was mostly, so he didn't notice when rain dripped in from the small cracks in the ceiling. Mumbo didn't pay attention even when the window started leaking, still lying in bed, trying to sleep.
Mumbo did, however, notice when a huge crack of lightning lit up his room, and he bolted up to look out of his window. Lightning had struck the only tree between his house and the dense forest line, but luckily, there wasn't any fire. Mumbo was just about to go back to his bed when he heard the unmistakable noise of wood splitting.
He looked out the window just in time to see a huge branch falling straight towards his house, towards him . Mumbo turned to run, but it was too late, and he heard his roof break under the force, taking him down as well.
The last thing Mumbo remembered was the sound of his own head hitting the floor, before passing out.
"...bo! MUMBO! WAKE UP!" Someone, no, Cleo yelled as Mumbo regained consciousness.
He was under what felt like a ton of debris, and his head pounded with his every heartbeat. Mumbo opened his eyes and looked around to see Cleo standing a meter away, trying to pull the branch up.
"Mumbo! You awake?" Cleo yelled to him over the sound of the storm.
"Yeah, how long-" Mumbo tried to help move the debris, and got cut off when his leg screamed in protest. "-Ow!"
"DON'T MOVE! Scar's getting help, I can't lift this, which means you absolutely can't!" Cleo says, panic slightly audible in their voice.
"Right, sorry!" Mumbo called from under the rubble. The rain had started to let up, but he was still being soaked from under the rubble.
It took what felt like ages for Scar to come, bringing Doc and Xisumavoid.
"Scar, can you grab a healing potion for us?" Xisumavoid asked, as he, Cleo, and Doc all got to work on lifting the branch off.
Scar saluted him and ran off into the other room, just as Mumbo felt a huge weight lifted off of himself. He immediately screamed in agony, but Mumbo tried to ignore it, helping his three rescuers get rid of his ceiling and wall debris.
"Oh gods, that doesn't look good," Xisuma said, looking at Mumbo's leg. It was swollen, red, and bent out of shape, and Mumbo thought he could see a bit of white poking out of one side.
Doc let out a curse under his breath, and Cleo ran into the other room to help Scar look for the potion. Mumbo distantly realized he probably had a concussion, as Doc and Xisuma were dragging him out of the rubble, and his eyes refused to focus.
"Where does it hurt?" Doc asked, crouching to his side.
"Ugh- my leg is pretty bad, and- uhm- my head is pounding , I think mild concussion, and my wrist doesn't feel great , but it's not bad-" Mumbo listed, only now realizing how swollen his left wrist felt. He was cut off, though, with Cleo and Scar running back into the room.
"Which one is yours? You didn't label anything in there!" Cleo demanded, loud voice making Mumbo's headache worse.
"It's- goodness me, it's pink, and smells like sweet berries?" Mumbo tried to describe. Between the pain from his head, wrist, and leg, and his concussion, though, it was increasingly difficult.
"We know that! Where in the cupboards are they?" Scar ran back out, likely to continue searching for labels.
"I-" Mumbo scrunched his eyebrows, really trying to focus, "-In the top corner, I think?"
Cleo ran back out as Doc inspected Mumbo's leg further.
"Can your potions handle this much damage?" Xisumavoid asked, worried.
"Hm? Oh- uhm- yes, they should be able to, maybe just not fully, but it'll fix my leg up at least!" Mumbo tried to reassure. I could take two or three , that'll definitely fix everything , I'll just be tired, probabl y?
Just then, Cleo and Scar came rushing back into the room, holding all of the health potions that were in the top corners. Looking at them, Mumbo could identify two of his own, and a few made for Tango, and three for False.
"Thank goodness!" Xisuma said, helping the two set them on the floor next to Mumbo. Mumbo nodded in appreciation, ignoring how that made his headache worsen and vision swim, reaching for one of his healing ones.
He downed it in one go, immediately feeling his bones correcting themselves, and reached for another. He downed that one in one go too, feeling his headache get a bit better before trying to sit up.
"Woah, not so fast!" Doc said, gently pushing him back down to the ground. Mumbo distantly noticed the rain had fully stopped, and Cleo and Scar were now making piles of ceiling and wall pieces.
"It's fine, the potions are already in full effect!" Mumbo pushed back against Doc's hands, but the double health had already taken a lot of his energy out of him.
"In that case, we'll carry you to the infirmary for some sleep!" Xisuma chimed in from the other side of Mumbo. His vision was still slightly out of focus, so he'd have to get another health potion before they left.
"...Right, I can walk, though?" He protested weakly, experimentally bending his still very sore leg.
"Yeah, right! There's no way we're letting you do that, mister!" Scar said, walking back over to where Mumbo lay, Cleo right behind him.
"I- fine ," Mumbo stopped his protests when Doc scooped him up like he weighed nothing, pouting behind his mustache. When they got out of his bedroom into the common room, though, "Wait! I need one more potion!"
"...But we got you a ton, and you didn't use most of them?" Scar said, confused as Mumbo desperately wiggled to get out of Doc's bridal carry.
"Oh- yes, you got me two for me, though a few were for some of the other 'Hermits'?" Mumbo fidgets with his hands, immediately stopping his one-sided fight against Doc.
"...Right then, how could you tell the difference? We couldn't, and you were concussed!" Cleo asked as the group made their way to Mumbo's cabinets.
"It's quite simple , really !" Mumbo said when he and Doc finally reached the cabinets, looking at the wide variety of different shades of health potions. He finally wriggled out of Doc's grasp and started pointing to different ones.
"This," he pointed to a bright red, "Is Tango's, because it plays off his natural heat and is vibrant, while this," he points to a much more muted red, closer to brown or grey, "Is yours, Cleo, because of how your natural regeneration works!" He grabs one off the top shelf, downing half the bottle before continuing, "And this is mine, because it is pretty much in the middle of all the different hues. Elf Avian are similar, but just different enough for you to be able to tell which is which!"
Mumbo drinks the rest of the potion, vision finally coming back fully, before looking around at the rest of the group. They all looked extremely confused and worried.
"...They're all the same color, though? Cleo's is slightly darker, yes, but the rest look the same?" Doc finally spoke, mechanical eye looking over each one. Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"O-oh! Yes, ehm- I have- I can see- differently?" Mumbo tried to excuse himself, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, before realizing how bad an idea that was and almost fallin g.
Doc caught him and hoisted him back up into a bridal carry. "That's cool, man! We should install that in my eye!" He says, before leading everyone out to the infirmary.
The triple potion was not a good choice, though, because before they even got to the infirmary, which was an embarrassingly short amount of time, Mumbo was nearly asleep.
"Hey- what's going on, Mumbo?" Doc asked, concern heavy in his voice.
"Potions are making me tired, 'm alright, though!" Mumbo said, literally seconds from passing out.
"Okay, if you say so..." Doc said, and the last thing Mumbo heard before drifting to sleep was the hushed conversations of Scar, Cleo, and Xisuma as he was taken into the infirmary.