Chapter Text
Flame, Wemmbu and Parrot stood in the dome, the tension thick. Wemmbu’s identity had just been exposed and Parrot was trying to justify why he’d done it to Wemmbu.
Then a horn blared.
They froze and looked up. Dozens of nametags hovered above the lava, easily fifty of them.
„Yo, what the hell is…” Wemmbu started, but before he could finish, all three were splashed with some kind of potion. It fizzed, but did nothing. They exchanged confused looks. Maybe water? A distraction? They didn’t have the time to find an answer.
Flame squinted at one of the approaching figures, catching sight of the insignia on their shields. „These are Lawmen, dawg.”
Parrot’s eyes widened. „Why are they here?” He looked over at Flame and slapped himself mentally. Of course they are here.
He triggered his teleport contraption and vanished in a burst of particles.
Before Flame and Wemmbu could even process where Parrot went, the attack hit. LAW-men poured in, shields up, weapons already raised. LettuceK at the front, leading them.
Wemmbu suggested they should just run, not really caring about the fight. Flame hesitated for half a second too long, pride screaming at him to fight. But he knew Wemmbu was right about it just being a resources waste.
They both dipped into different directions.
Wemmbu went under the platform. The Enderdragon-hybrid spread his wings to fly to the next platform. Under him the void.
Flame jumped into the lava, swimming up, trying to get rid of his pursuers. He was now in between the lava and the dome’s obsidian ceiling.
Then the roles flipped.
Wemmbu burst out above, wings snapping open as he climbed hard, LAW-men scrambling after him. He didn’t slow down. He punched through a hole in the ceiling and vanished into the open air.
Below, Flame doubled back.
He slammed down onto the platform again, skidding across scorched stone and ducked through a hidden, narrow slit. A secret entrance. Barely big enough, but he dug through. Seconds later, he emerged outside.
Flame spotted Wemmbu immediately, a dark shape cutting through the sky away from the dome. The Blazelion-Hybrid followed with his trident.
Wemmbu landed in a small patch of spruce trees near the ocean, just a few hundred blocks from the fight that just happened. The forest was thin, quiet, and exposed. He folded his wings as he looked at what resources he had left. Which was barely anything.
Flame touched down a moment later, heat rolling off him as he scanned the treeline. He was about to open his mouth, ready to demand the rematch he’d been waiting for, when something felt off.
A strange pulse rippled through his body. His vision warped. Wemmbu staggered too, looking disoriented.
Then came the pain, bones shifting, joints snapping, yet not breaking. Smoke poured from Flame’s body as limbs disconnected, hovering in midair like shattered pieces held together by invisible strings. The ground itself seemed to shrink beneath him.
And then… silence.
Flame blinked. He was standing or hovering on all fours. His limbs floated a few centimeters from his body, wreathed in smoke but still responsive. Where his feet should’ve been, only dark vapor trailed. His limbs glowed faintly, the same fiery yellow and orange as blaze rods. A tail made of linked cubes swung behind him, ending in a small flickering flame, the only part of him that felt familiar.
He stepped toward a nearby pond and stared at his reflection. A lion-like creature stared back. His form was lean, covered in short brown fur that shimmered faintly with heat. A thick, smoky mane framed his head and his snout was dark red fading to yellow. Two small, sharp ears twitched as he took a shaky breath. His blindfold was wrapped around his neck like a scarf.
(I tried my best to draw a Blazelion)
„What the hell happened…“ he muttered. Nothing about his body made sense anymore. Nothing about the last few minutes did either. Flame didn’t know what to feel and somehow felt everything at once. Confusion tangled with uncertainty, a sharp edge of fear threading through it all.
A low, confused roar rumbled nearby. Flame flinched, heart jumping before he could stop it, and turned toward the sound. Sitting in the grass was a small Enderdragon, about a block and a half tall, wings half spread, eyes unfocused as if the world refused to line up properly.
„What just happened?“ it asked, voice shaky.
Flame’s breath hitched.
The sound of that voice cut straight through the panic buzzing in his head. Familiar. Impossible. His chest tightened, dread and a small bit of relief crashing into each other at once.
„…Wemmbu?!“
The dragon’s head snapped around. Its eyes widened, pupils sharpening as recognition hit.
„Flame?!“ Wemmbu’s voice cracked, disbelief bleeding through the word.
They stood still for a beat too long, searching for something familiar in each other. Neither looked fully real to the other yet. Or themselves.
The Enderdragon stumbled forward on unsteady legs, claws scraping against the grass. He looked down at himself again, flexing one wing, then the other. The membrane caught the light wrong, shimmering faintly with particles that hadn’t been there before.
„This gotta be a joke,” he said, voice tight.
Flame stepped closer, heat licking into the dirt beneath his paws. „Bro… I don’t think it is.“ His voice came out rougher than it should have, lower, edged with something feral. He cleared his throat.
They stood there for a moment, neither of them speaking. The forest felt too open, too loud. Flame’s ears twitched at every rustle, every distant sound. Somewhere far off, something cracked. His muscles tensed before he could stop himself.
Wemmbu noticed. „You good?” he asked.
Flame opened his mouth to say yes and instead felt his lips pull back in a half-snarl. He shut his mouth hard and shook his head once, trying to clear his mind.
Wemmbu frowned. He took a careful step to the side. „That’s new,” Wemmbu muttered. Flame just glared at him. They stared at each other not sure about the next step they should take.
In the distance, a sound carried on the wind. A horn, faint this time, but unmistakable. Flame’s head snapped up before the sound had fully registered. Heat flared under his skin. „They’re still close,” he growled.
Wemmbu looked at him sharply: „How good is your hearing, bro. You reacted before I even heard the horn.” Flame didn’t answer. Not sure himself.
Wemmbu exhaled slowly, forcing his wings to fold tight against his sides. „Okay, we need to find Parrot,” Wemmbu concluded. „Why?” Flame asked suspiciously.
„Because…, Wemmbu took a deep breath, „bro, first of all, he was probably turned too. Second, he has a potion shop, he is our best bet to an antidote,” Wemmbu explained annoyed.
Without wasting another second, Wemmbu spread his wings and launched upward. He scooped Flame up in the same motion.
„Hey!” Flame barked, paws flailing uselessly in the air, „bro, put me down!”
„Nah,” Wemmbu shot back, already gaining altitude, „we need to find Parrot.”
Flame gulped, tail flicking in irritation as the ground dropped away beneath them. „Bro,” he muttered, „this better be worth it.”