Chapter Text
(Rough Timeline: During Wemmbu’s time in prison, after his second escape attempt)
Solitary confinement was.. Decent. At least for now. It was worse than Wemmbu’s cell, technically, seeing how it didn’t have a bed. But Wemmbu could survive sleeping on an iron floor. He had slept on stone and grass plenty of times, this was nothing. Wasn’t comfortable, obviously, but wasn’t the worst option it could be. He had been there for a full day so far, starting his second, and it wasn’t too bad.
“Here for five more days, huh,” Wemmbu hummed to himself. His voice lightly echoed around the room, seeing how silent it was. He could survive a week here. Probably. Again, he had gone through worse, so he’d be fine. He simply sighed and started thinking. In all honesty, his mind was almost never quiet. Always buzzing with questions or thinking about what has happened or what might happen.
So now, stuck alone in a silent prison, he let his mind wander and wonder. He thought of every single event that led him to this moment. Allying with Flame, fighting that 2v1000, being betrayed (Wemmbu’s expression soured remembering that part), and then LettuceK finding him. Taking him and forcing him into prison. And then there was meeting PrinceZam, Baablu, and Fantst. And then the two failed escape attempts, most recent one that led to the new protocol and Wemmbu being in solitary confinement.
Wemmbu breathed out another sigh, and slumped against the wall, slowly sitting down. He rested the back of his head against the iron block wall, his tail occasionally flicking and hitting the iron block floor.
A few hours later Wemmbu heard footsteps. He drowsily lifted his head, and saw a certain caracal cat hybrid walking to the bars. “How are you doing so far, Wemmbu?” He asked smugly.
“If your plan was to kill me with boredom then it might be working,” Wemmbu responded simply. “Otherwise this really isn’t a punishment, bro,”
Lettuce merely hummed, "Interesting.”
“Genuinely bro, this is like.. Basically just me being in my cell like normal. I just don’t have to do those stupid chores,” Wemmbu snickered. “So really an improvement if you think about it,”
“Well that’s a unique way of looking at it,” Lettuce simply said. His hands were behind his back in that odd professional-looking way, his eyes giving away how he was growing impatient. “Now, I do have a reason for why I’m here.”
“Uh-huh,” Wemmbu murmured, raising a brow.
“I have an.. Offer, for you. One that may secure your freedom from this prison,” Lettuce grinned.
Wemmbu narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, suspicion brewing. “Go ahead,” he said slowly.
“I would like to hire you for the LAW,” Lettuce said, getting right to the point.
“Absoutely not.” Wemmbu hissed, “I’m not working for you.”
“Let me finish,” Lettuce insisted coolly, “you would no longer be a prisoner, you would get armor and weapons. You would be given almost any material you would ever need. And in exchange you simply obey any and all orders I give you.”
Wemmbu considered it for about two seconds before laughing. “I think I’ll take my chances with escaping very much. No way on Void’s name would I ever be carrying out your orders, or anyone’s in the LAW,” Wemmbu smirked.
“Very well,” Lettuce sighed. “I suppose a few more.. Drastic measures must be taken instead.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Wemmbu narrowed his eyes. Lettuce simply dismissed the two guards who had come with him. Once they were gone he walked and pulled the lever to unlock Wemmbu’s cell. Afterward he walked inside, making sure the exit was blocked.
“Stand up,” He ordered.
“No,” Wemmbu stuck out his tongue.
Quickly however, a sword was drawn and pointed just at Wemmbu’s throat, forcing him to lift his chin. At the quick movement the demonic avian ever so slightly tensed. “Stand. Up,” Lettuce repeated.
“Sheesh,” Wemmbu muttered, though he stood up this time, careful to not accidentally cut himself on the sword. “If your ‘drastic measures’ were to simply intimidate me, it’s not working,” he deadpanned.
The next thing that happened was Wemmbu being harshly slapped. Wemmbu’s eyes merely widened, his pupils slitting ever so slightly more. It was such a simple yet unexpected action. “What the fuck-?” He hissed, turning his head to look back at Lettuce. The stupid caracal hybrid had a blank expression on, yet his eyes glinted with amusement.
“Are you going to join or not?” Lettuce asked.
“You think a sword to my throat and then a slap is going to make me join you?” Wemmbu scoffed, “Seriously, how weak do you think I am?”
“I was hoping you’d be weaker,” Lettuce hummed. “I wonder how quickly I can tear down your determination,”
“Good luck,” Wemmbu laughed sarcastically. He was known for being one if not the most determined person ever. Egg, MinuteTech, Jaden_MAN, and Flamefrags, along with plenty of others who’d spent at least a day around him could attest to that.
“I won’t be needing it,” Lettuce grinned arrogantly, “but thank you.”
And with that the caracal hybrid left, locking the door behind him. Wemmbu merely stared. Because honestly- what the hell had just happened? He was just wallowing in his thoughts when Lettuce stops by, tries to hire him, and then hits him for refusing?
Wemmbu huffed, somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. With that he went back to his thoughts and tried to fall asleep.
~~~
The next day went similarly to what happened the day before. Wemmbu was sitting down, thinking about the past and how he could escape. Zoning out and staring numbly at the iron blocks that made up the ceiling, walls, and floor. He was simply minding his own business, because what else could he do in solitary confinement?
And then Lettuce came by. “I’m here to give you my offer once more,” he said simply.
“What, you're going to beat me when I refuse again?” Wemmbu snickered, “Cause it’s still a no.”
The caracal hybrid simply sighed, “Normally I would, but I was thinking of something different.”
“Mhm,” Wemmbu faked a yawn of boredom.
“When was the last time you saw your friend Eggchan?” Lettuce queried.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Wemmbu hummed. In truth he hadn’t seen Egg in a long time. He hadn’t been able to visit him before the whole identity revealing or the big fight against LAW. The best Wemmbu could manage was a short message that would probably take a day to actually get to Egg since he was stuck in the End. He wondered how Egg and Minute were doing.
“Wouldn’t you like to know where he is?” Lettuce said.
“I know where he is,” Wemmbu scoffed. At least he thought he did. Either Egg was in the End, or all the way in the Farlands. There was nowhere else he could be, literally.
“And what if I said I had him?” Lettuce grinned, “Or at least, I would be able to track him down and take him.”
“You can’t.” Wemmbu said, stating the fact, “And if you tried I would not hesitate to kill you.”
“Just like how you killed Rejoice?”
Wemmbu’s blood went cold at the mention of his dead friend. His tail stilled, his eyes widened, his mocking smile fell, and his wings puffed out instinctively. “I didn’t- how do you-?”
“You think Loppezzz and I don’t talk?” Lettuce grinned. “I know all about how you failed to save him and left him to die. Too worried and focused on your own selfish goal to hunt down, who was it again, Jaden?”
“I didn’t-” Wemmbu stuttered, his careful and confident mask cracking, “I couldn’t- I didn’t mean to..”
“Must hurt, huh?” Lettuce said, mocking sympathy. “If you joined me that wouldn’t happen again,” he promised. “You could call hundreds of players to help you save a friend. You wouldn’t need to be alone and be blamed for something you couldn’t help.”
“Shut up!” Wemmbu hissed, curling in on himself. Flashes of Rejoice appeared in his mind, making him tremble.
But Lettuce just kept talking, as if trying to soothe a feral and pitiful creature he didn’t actually care about, “With me you would have a team. You could keep Egg safe, you wouldn’t need a repeat of what happened with Rejoice.”
“Don’t dirty his name with your filthy mouth!” Wemmbu growled, “You don’t know shit. And I’m not falling for whatever the hell you’re doing! I’m not joining you, you idiotic cat, get it into your head!”
“Touched a nerve, huh,” Lettuce muttered quietly, mostly to himself.
“Leave me alone.” Wemmbu glared at the caracal hybrid, who was just on the other side of the bars.
“You still aren’t going to give in?” Lettuce said, “Even when it could save your friends?”
“I’m not joining you,” Wemmbu said firmly, “not over my dead body.”
“Disappointing.” Lettuce sighed, “Good luck for the next time your friends are in danger, and you can’t do anything but watch.” And with that Lettuce turned back and walked away. Leaving Wemmbu alone to his thoughts.
But now Wemmbu’s mind wasn’t on escaping, or the past. It was on Rejoice. And how he failed to save him. Which basically meant he had killed him, really. What hurt even more was how whenever Wemmbu tried to picture the man, his face was blurry. As if the demonic avian was forgetting what Rejoice had looked like. And that just made him feel even more guilty. “Some friend I am,” Wemmbu whispered numbly.
Before Wemmbu knew it, it was nighttime. Well, he assumed based on how the lights went out. But the demonic avian couldn’t sleep. His mind wouldn’t let him. He was being plagued by memories. Memories of a friend, of a death he could have prevented if he hadn’t been so tunnel-visioned. If he had just tried harder, or paid more attention, or switched his focus. He kept his eyes wide open, glued to the floor. He didn’t pay attention to how he was slightly shaking, how his tail wrapped around his leg, how his wings tried to close around him. His mind was stuck on a loop, repeating the days, hours, minutes, seconds before Rejoice had died. About what Wemmbu could have done differently, about how he could have saved Rejoice. Had Wemmbu aimed his mace better, had he not panicked so much, had he not wasted his breath yelling at Rejoice to do something when it was Wemmbu who wasn’t doing enough, had he just-
“Yo,” someone said, cutting Wemmbu’s spiraling thoughts off.
The demonic avian’s head snapped to look up, seeing someone invisible and in netherite armor. He stared for a moment, eyes adjusting. “I know that chestplate,” he murmured after a moment. “Spoke?”
“That’s me!” And Wemmbu could hear the grin in the voidling’s voice. And then he saw it once Spoke had drunk a milk bucket, the invisibility melting off of his body.
“How did you..?” Wemmbu muttered.
“Ah, that’s not important right now,” Spoke smiled mischievously. “First of all, I have a deal for you.”
“Oh hell no,” Wemmbu hissed defensively, “I am not going to consider another stupid offer from someone.”
“Damn, someone beat me to it?” Spoke giggled, “It’s so easy, too! I get you out of here, and then you swear your loyalty to me. Simple, right?”
Wemmbu narrowed his eyes, glaring at the voidling. Spoke was basically making the same offer that Lettuce had given him. Except it was Spoke, who was an unpredictable wildcard and could ask Wemmbu for literally anything.
“Okay, okay, what about this. Do you still have your orbitals? Like, if I got you an enderchest could you get them?” Spoke asked.
The demonic avian shrugged. He was fairly certain he had used most if not all of the rest of his orbitals fighting the 2v1000, and then when he was trying to get away from Lettuce. “Is that a yes or a no?” Spoke chuckled, something close to worry hiding behind it.
“I don’t know,” Wemmbu muttered, dragging his eyes back to the floor. Rejoice was still in the back of his mind, along with the offer Lettuce had already given him.
Spoke went quiet. Which was weird, because Spoke was practically never quiet from what Wemmbu could tell. And that was mostly right. Spoke himself had too much energy to keep his mouth shut. If he did his form normally started to flicker from excitement or high emotions; the void constantly pulling at him. But also, Spoke was taking a second to really examine Wemmbu. Which was rather easy for him, as voidlings could see in the dark better (partly because their shiny white eyes slightly lit the area up just a smidge).
Wemmbu looked awful. His hair was messy, his wings weren’t properly preened and looked like they hadn’t been for at least two weeks. And his eyes.. They looked almost lifeless. Like they lost that chaotic or excited spark. And if it was somehow possible, the dark amethyst shade almost looked duller. Overall, with Wemmbu in an orange prison jumpsuit and stuck in what Spoke assumed was Curse of Binding copper armor, he just looked tired. And clearly he had been beaten up a little, though Spoke wasn’t sure if that was from the guards or not.
“Do you want out of here or not?” Spoke finally asked.
“I do, but not because of someone trying to strike a deal with me,” Wemmbu snorted, “I already have Lettuce trying to threaten me into joining the LAW.”
“Pft, he’s trying to get you to join the LAW?” Spoke laughed, “Good luck to him! You’re stubborn as hell, and that’s low-key not your style at all.”
“Haha,” Wemmbu said sarcastically. “I’m still not taking your offer,”
“Shame,” Spoke hummed. “Just think about it, yeah? And hey, if you get yourself back in here then I’ll stop by again. See if you’ve changed your mind,”
“Uh-huh,” Wemmbu snickered.
With that Spoke left. Wemmbu wasn’t sure how, but the voidling did. What Wemmbu also didn’t know was how worried Spoke was. Lettuce trying to get Wemmbu to join the LAW was a bad idea. Spoke couldn’t ever see a world where Wemmbu joined, and if he somehow did then there’s no way it would have been willing. Overall, just now learning that Lettuce was trying to get to the demonic avian concerned Spoke. He doubted that the caracal hybrid would succeed, but still.
With a sigh Spoke left. And with a sigh of his own, Wemmbu tried to fall asleep.
~~~
By now it was Wemmbu’s last day in solitary. And every single day, Lettuce would come and give his offer. Wemmbu would refuse. And then Lettuce would either physically or mentally hurt him. And every time it just got worse. By the end it felt like Wemmbu’s brain was broken, desperately trying to put itself back together. He had bruises and cuts littering his body. It wasn’t enough to scar, and it wasn’t the worst Wemmbu had gone through; but that along with the guilt-tripping, the back-handed reassurance, the gaslighting, and whatever the hell else Lettuce was doing, was taking its toll.
Lettuce was one thing. But then there was also Loppezzz. She had also come down to ‘visit,’ though most of the time that was just her beating him. Though instead of her trying Lettuce’s mental tricks, she simply hit him with a wooden knockback sword, or slashed him with her netherite one.
Once more, around the same time as always (because Wemmbu had started counting in some kind of attempt to prepare himself for it), he heard footsteps. And soon enough he saw Lettuce walking up to the bars. “Are you going to take the offer yet?” He queried.
“No.” Wemmbu muttered, his voice a little hoarse. The demonic avian had a feeling that Lettuce had been subtly reducing the amount of food and water he got each day.
After that Lettuce simply sighed, and then went silent. He looked around the cell, ignoring the person stuck inside. He glanced down the hallways, still silent. It was.. Weird. And uncomfortable. Lettuce was always chatting, trying to convince Wemmbu to join.
“What is this, your attempt at the ‘silent treatment’?” Wemmbu scoffed.
Lettuce merely glanced at Wemmbu blankly, though it was.. Disappoint that glinted in his eyes? Seriously, what was Lettuce trying right now? He still stayed silent. He said absolutely nothing. It almost made the quiet unbearable. “Okay genuinely what is going on right now-?” Wemmbu muttered.
“I’m surprised you even thought to ask,” Lettuce said. Still a thin frown on his face, almost as if he looked bored.
“So we’re doing backhanded compliments now? Wow,” Wemmbu rolled his eyes. “So very lawful of you,”
“You’re a criminal. As long as you’re locked up, it doesn’t matter what I do with you,” Lettuce stated simply. Though his stance and voice was filled with displeasure.
By now Wemmbu was just unsettled. Lettuce was being weirder than normal. Was this just some new kind of thing to force Wemmbu to give in, or something? “You’re weird,” Wemmbu deadpanned.
“You don’t mean that,” Lettuce hummed.
“I very much do,”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“You are so defensive,” Lettuce sighed.
“No shit Sherlock,” Wemmbu laughed numbly, “Whose fault do you think that is?”
“Yours,” Lettuce said simply. “I thought that was obvious.”
Wemmbu merely snorted. Was Lettuce gaslighting him right now? Because it wasn’t working very well. “You kind of suck at this whole manipulation thing,”
“Well I would when I’m not trying to,” Lettuce pointed out. “I wouldn’t expect a terrorist to understand, though,”
“You also suck at insults,” Wemmbu hummed.
“Would you rather we get physical again?”
“You hitting me is useless. You think I haven’t gotten worse?”
“I could do much worse than a mere punch or cut,”
“Sure ya could,” Wemmbu rolled his eyes.
“Wemmbu, just listen for a second.” Lettuce smiled tightly, “Have you forgotten what the offer was?”
“What, the whole I get proper treatment and tools in exchange for working for you? Yeah, I totally forgot about it after you’ve been saying it every single day.” Wemmbu deadpanned, “You haven’t messed up my memory enough to forget that.”
“Well no, the offer was just that you obey what I tell you, and in exchange you’re out of prison.”
“But then I also get whatever I need,” Wemmbu added, “that’s what you said.”
“Was it?”
“Would you rather I quote it?”
“I’d be surprised if you could.”
And because Wemmbu almost always accepted a challenge, he recalled the exact memory of it. And, perfectly copying Lettuce’s voice, he said, “You would no longer be a prisoner, you would get armor and weapons. You would be given almost any material you would ever need. And in exchange you simply obey any and all orders I give you.”
That made Lettuce pause. Because Wemmbu had never revealed that he could mimic voices. Because the only person who knew he could do that was Egg. Mostly since it was Wemmbu’s best trick, so he wasn’t going to give that out. How often could you find someone with the ability to mimic? Not often. And now Wemmbu had just shown that card to his current biggest enemy. So maybe not the best idea, but he couldn’t take it back now.
Yet, instead of Lettuce addressing this, he simply sighed. “I do suppose that is what I said, hm?”
“Unless you're deaf, then yeah,” Wemmbu said with a roll of his eyes.
“Lucky for me that I can hear perfectly well.”
Wemmbu hummed in response. “Are you going to leave yet, or no?”
“I won’t,” Lettuce answered easily. “And I’m not leaving until you finally accept my offer,”
“Then you’re going to be here for quite some time,” Wemmbu snorted.
“Oh, I don’t think it’ll take too long. I’ve never had someone not give in before,”
“So you’ve done this with other people, is what you’re saying?”
“Not exactly.” Lettuce smirked, “Right now you’re my, what would the word be?”
“Test subject,” Wemmbu sassed.
“I wouldn’t go that far,”
“So you draw the line at the obvious but don’t at torture? Makes so much sense, Lettuce.”
“You’re twisting my words, Wemmbu,” Lettuce sighed softly. “I thought you were smarter than this,”
“What a weak insult,” Wemmbu murmured, a small grin on his face.
“Like you?” Lettuce said, “You’re the one behind bars right now. I thought you were ‘The Strongest,’ Wemmbu. Oh no, sorry you lost that title to Flame, didn’t you?”
“Shut up,” Wemmbu narrowed his eyes.
“Did I strike a nerve?” Lettuce smiled, “Apologies.”
“You are not sorry,” Wemmbu hissed.
“I am,” Lettuce said. Though he did not sound sorry whatsoever, obviously.
Wemmbu simply sighed in annoyance. His mind was still trying to catch up to whatever the hell was going on right now. First Lettuce had given him the silent treatment, then backhanded compliments, then whatever the hell he had tried after that. There were threats at some point, and by now Wemmbu was just confused. He fought with his mace, orbitals, sword, and if it came down to it his fists. He did not fight people mentally. That was a game too confusing for him to properly understand, and also, he could probably just beat someone up to get what he wanted. So now he barely understood Lettuce’s goal here.
“Just,” Wemmbu grumbled, “what do you want?”
“As I’ve said before, I want you to join the LAW.” Lettuce replied, “Has that not been obvious?"
“Must have forgotten after all your yapping,” Wemmbu sassed, “I’m still not joining.”
“What would I have to do for you to join?” Lettuce queried.
“Nothing, because I’m not.” Wemmbu glared, “Are you going to keep asking me this when I’m out of solitary, too?”
“By the time you’re out of solitary confinement, you’ll be a LAW officer.” Lettuce said, almost like it was a fact. Inevitable.
“Guess I’ll be here for a while,” Wemmbu hummed. And then he heard the sound of a lever being pulled, and his door opening. He didn’t even bother to look over, just prepared himself for a hit or a sword slashing at him. Though he wasn’t expecting Lettuce to roughly grab the collar of his jumpsuit and force him to stand up. Next thing Wemmbu knew he was being slammed against the wall, and Lettuce was in the perfect position to hit him. “Ow! Geez, what the hell?” the demonic avian hissed.
“As I’ve said before,” Lettuce glared, “I’m not leaving until you give in.”
“So you’re just going to hit me whenever I say no?” Wemmbu scoffed, “Being beaten to death was not how I wanted to go.”
“Oh I won’t kill you,” Lettuce said, “but if you don’t join then you might get close to death.”
“I’m not joining,” Wemmbu said firmly. That earned him a punch across the face. Which for some reason hurt more than it should have. So then Wemmbu carefully looked at Lettuce, and noticed the subtle particles of a strength potion appearing off of him. Suddenly Wemmbu got flashbacks to the PrinceZam Empire, when Zam had popped a totem simply from punching him while he had a strength potion’s effects. “I’m still not joining, Lettuce.” And then another punch.
It went on like that for at least five minutes, before Lettuce gave up on punching and simply threw Wemmbu to the ground. The demonic avian landed roughly, glaring at Lettuce with agitation. Because honestly this was just getting bothersome. “I’ll say it again,” Wemmbu hissed, “I’m not joining the LAW.”
“I know where your friend is,” Lettuce suddenly said. “Egg is in the End, is he not?”
Wemmbu’s response was a shrug and a bored expression. He didn’t want to confirm nor deny what Lettuce had suggested, because it could just put Egg in more danger. “You can’t deny it, Wemmbu,” Lettuce narrowed his eyes, “a few of my scouts saw him. He’s hiding with MinuteTech, somewhere.”
“I’m not worried,” Wemmbu said coolly.
“I could find and kill him with a snap of my fingers, Wemmbu. You do understand that, don’t you? The power is in my hands, and not at all in yours.”
“You won’t.”
“I very much could,”
“But if you try then you’re going to have to deal with me.”
“And with the position you’re in?” Lettuce laughed, “Quite easy to deal with.”
“I won’t let you hurt him,” Wemmbu hissed defensively.
“And the only way you can stop me from doing that,” Lettuce hissed back, “is by finally joining the LAW. If you’re in the LAW, then Egg will be officially under our protection.”
“I don’t trust you on that,” Wemmbu narrowed his eyes. He fully didn’t. Even if he did join the LAW, they would probably hold Egg captive to force Wemmbu to continue working for them.
“You don’t need to trust me,” Lettuce said, “you just need to join me, then I’ll write it down officially. I’ll give out the order to not even touch Eggchan, not to go near him. And if it makes you feel better I’ll even have it so he’s directly under your watch.”
Wemmbu paused for a second. Egg could be completely safe, directly protected by Wemmbu and the LAW. But also, the demonic avian knew that the LAW was going to fall eventually. Egg would be safer if Wemmbu just kept him out of it entirely.
“You wouldn’t want us to have to go and hunt down that angel, would you?” Lettuce said in mock gentleness, “We don’t need a repeat of Rejoice.”
That once again made Wemmbu freeze. He had tried so hard, so hard, to not react whenever Lettuce spoke of Rejoice. Because it made Wemmbu spiral and think far too much for his own liking. Made him begin to drown in regret and guilt and overthinking and ‘what ifs.’
“I will ask one more time.” Lettuce said quietly, in a way that still sounded like a threat, “If you join the LAW, you will no longer be a prisoner, you will no longer be wanted as a criminal. You will be given armor and weapons, you will be given food and water, and any of your friends will be under your and the LAW’s protection. And in exchange you will work for me, and follow any order I give you. Do we have a deal?”
“I..” Wemmbu murmured. It felt like his head was spinning. He was still on the floor, his body still ached from days of being beaten, his mind was buffering, and he just wanted to get the hell out of here.
“Do we have a deal?” Lettuce asked once more. And suddenly a sword was lightly grazing Wemmbu’s throat. The demonic avian, still partly out of it, flinched away from the weapon.
Wemmbu thought very deeply for a few short moments. If he could get armor and weapons then he could simply break out. What was the worst that could happen? “Fine,” Wemmbu muttered.
“What was that?” Lettuce said, failing to hide a grin.
“I’ll join the stupid LAW,” Wemmbu hissed. “But I’m holding you to the entire agreement,”
“Good choice,” Lettuce smiled. The sword disappeared, going back to being clipped to Lettuce’s belt. “Now stand up,”
“Starting this quickly? Geez,” Wemmbu snorted. But he still stood up. He had to just play his part until he could get what he needed to break out of here, and preferably kill Lettuce on the way.
“Follow me,” Lettuce waved a hand, going to exit the cell. And for once he allowed Wemmbu to exit as well. It felt weird to finally be out of solitary confinement. The only interactions Wemmbu had was with Lettuce and Loppezzz, and none of those went very well. Void, he missed Egg and Minute.
Afterward they walked for what felt like a long time. They had to walk upstairs to get out of the solitary confinement area, then through way too many hallways, which eventually led them to Lettuce’s office. The desk was back, seeing how it previously had been moved so they could follow through with the Curse of Binding Copper Armor Protocol (speaking of said armor, Wemmbu’s was practically broken now because of Lettuce and Loppezzz, so he could slip it off at any point). But off to the side there was an armor stand.
It had enchanted netherite armor, with white trims on the edges and the LAW’s yellow sun on the chestplate. It was decently similar to Lettuce’s armor. The main difference was that this armor would practically completely cover any features the wearer had. Conveniently, right next to the armor stand was a set of weapons, also enchanted. Though on the hilt of every single one was the LAW’s sun symbol.
“Now, before you put on the armor or anything, there is one last thing. Well, two.” Lettuce said, noticing how Wemmbu was eyeing the armor stand. “Firstly, to make sure that your identity is properly hidden, you need to wear this under the armor.” Lettuce pulled out a set of clothes from a drawer.
It was rather simple, but very much not Wemmbu. It was a black long sleeved turtleneck with no details at all, straight black pants, and knee-length black socks. The best thing about it was probably the belt, which was also completely black. “Well that’s boring,” Wemmbu voiced his opinion clearly.
“Would you rather stay in the prison uniform,” Lettuce raised a brow.
“Nope,” Wemmbu said, making a popping sound at the ‘p.’
Quickly Wemmbu left and entered the bathroom that was connected to Lettuce’s office, changing and then going back. “So what was that last thing?” Wemmbu queried. He was still trying to get used to not being in a prison jumpsuit or the copper armor.
“Ah, yes,” Lettuce hummed with a grin. He opened a different drawer this time, pulling something else out. It was round, could fit around someone’s neck, and almost looked like a collar. Which irked Wemmbu the wrong way immediately. “You’ll have to wear this.”
“What is it?” Wemmbu asked, hiding how uneasy it made him feel. If Lettuce could just look away for one second, then Wemmbu could grab the sword that was so close by.
“Something that will.. Shock you into obedience, if you refuse to do something.” Lettuce said simply, that grin still plastered on his face.
A shock collar. Really? Wemmbu paused and stared at it for a long time. His instincts said to get that thing far away from him, but he knew that he still had to follow along if he wanted to try and escape. Besides, how bad could it possibly be? He’s probably faced worst, anyways. So the demonic avian merely complied, albeit tensely, as Lettuce put the collar on him.
It felt.. Wrong. And obviously it was. Wemmbu wasn’t some dog that Lettuce could tame, regardless how hard he tried. But also just the feeling of it. Wemmbu couldn’t feel it on his skin, as the collar went over the turtleneck, but he could slightly feel how cold it was through the fabric (which was someone tolerable in texture). The slight weight of the collar against his neck was also weird, along with the constant red light it had. But, the demonic avian lightly shrugged, trying to get used to it. Besides, there was still one more thing he had to do.
“You do realize what you’ve just done, right?” Wemmbu smirked.
“I’ve just hired you,” Lettuce pointed out.
“And given me access to weapons,” Wemmbu said, and without skipping a beat he quickly grabbed the netherite sword from where it was near the armor stand. Quickly he held it pointed at Lettuce’s throat, just barely grazing the caracal cat hybrid’s skin. Lettuce subconsciously tensed, eyes widening just the slightest bit. He still had his arms behind his back in a professional way, however. “So now that I’m in control of this situation, here’s what’s going to happen,”
Lettuce said nothing. Instead he merely narrowed his eyes, his pupils slightly more slit. “Go ahead,” he said. Arrogance still leaked in his voice, hiding the small hint of fear.
“First of all, I get to keep this gear. Secondly, I get to be free and off your radar, along with Egg.” Wemmbu listed easily, then he added, “Thirdly, you release Zam, Baablu, and Fantst.” He originally didn’t care about those three, but he supposed that it would ruin Lettuce’s plan even more if they were out.
“That’s it?” Lettuce raised a brow.
“Yep,” Wemmbu hummed. “Either that or I just kill you right now and do all of that myself,”
It was quiet after that. The air was thick with tension, so much so it could be cut with a knife. Wemmbu held the sword in its place, not hesitating or shaking at all despite the ache in his body. Lettuce glared, his gaze going from the sword to Wemmbu. Now, Wemmbu wasn’t intimidated at all. But what irked him the wrong way was that Lettuce wasn’t looking at his eyes, not even at his face. But at the shock collar that was still stuck around the demonic avian’s neck.
“I fear you miscalculated one thing, Wemmbu,” Lettuce eventually said. “I’m still in charge here. And this fun little device,” Lettuce showed the device, a button, in one of his hands, “can easily save me from this whole ordeal.”
Wemmbu tensed at the sight of it instinctively, despite not really knowing what it was. And clearly Lettuce sensed the demonic avian’s intentions, as just before Wemmbu could dig the sword into the caracal cat hybrid’s throat, he clicked the button.
What happened next was a blur. The shock was delayed only by half a second, as the collar beeped before the red light, which used to be solid and constant, started flashing. Wemmbu tensed further, as he didn’t know what to prepare for. Soon enough a shock was launched into the demonic avian’s neck, and it ran through his whole body. Wemmbu gasped in pain and surprise at it, immediately collapsing to the ground. He grit his teeth and his tail shakily wrapped around one of his legs. Almost in a desperate motion he clawed at the collar, trying to get it off or to at least cease its activity.
“You never did think things through, Wemmbu,” Lettuce said. And the demonic avian could hear the wicked smile in Lettuce’s voice. For a moment Lettuce let go of the button, and the shock stopped. Wemmbu gasped for breath, his body slightly trembling even after it was over. It wasn’t even like it was the worst pain he had felt before, he had definitely gone through worse. But he had never experienced being shocked before- never experienced electric harm. So this was new, and he had no resistance to it. “Are you going to behave now?”
“Fuck you,” Wemmbu choked out, staring at the floor.
Lettuce merely hummed, confidence dripping like venom. And then Wemmbu heard that same click again, and he tensed just before the shock came back. It was blinding and harsh and took what felt like far too long to go away. He could feel tears prick up in his eyes, and he hissed weakly, biting back a small sob. Then the shock was gone again. And Wemmbu crumbled in on himself even more.
“I’ll ask again. Are you going to behave now?”
This time Wemmbu said nothing. Still too consumed by the dizzying pain and the black spots starting to bubble up in his vision. Apparently Lettuce took that as further defiance, and Wemmbu could hear an irritated sigh. “Do I really have to do this a third time?”
That was when Wemmbu’s head jolted up, and he shakily locked eyes with Lettuce. “No, no-” the demonic avian started, “not again, no.”
At that the caracal hybrid smirked. “So you’re finally going to cooperate, then?”
Wemmbu weakly nodded, his eyes still slightly wide and his pupils slit and small in fear. Clearly Lettuce bathed in the achievement of making Wemmbu scared. “That’s what I thought,” he grinned. Him alone still wasn’t intimidating to Wemmbu. But seeing the device in his hand, that stupid device that activated the shock collar, it made Wemmbu feel a chill down his spine.
~~~
By now Wemmbu was fully in uniform, armor and all. And the only time he didn’t have his helmet on was when he was alone with Lettuce. Otherwise, his identity was hidden by the armors, clothes, and invisibility potions he was forced to take (because he couldn’t exactly hide his tail or wings). No one knew that Wemmbu was the LAW’s newest officer, and no one knew that Wemmbu was Lettuce’s personal ‘tool.’
What was worse was Lettuce’s form of training. At first when Wemmbu heard about it he had to stifle a laugh, because he assumed that it was training in fighting. But it was much different.
Lettuce’s form of training was basically just conditioning Wemmbu to follow certain orders or rules without having to say anything. If Lettuce snapped his fingers once then Wemmbu should draw his sword. If Lettuce snapped twice then Wemmbu should attack however he sees fit. And if Lettuce snapped at all and Wemmbu did nothing, then the shock collar would beep a warning. And if Wemmbu still didn’t follow the order, then the collar would go off.
After about a week it was almost drilled into Wemmbu brain what certain actions meant. Such as the snapping. But then if there were different rhythms of claps, or code words, and other hand motions (such as waving [follow] or holding up a hand [stop]). And every time, if the demonic avian refused, the collar would beep in warning. If he didn’t obey that warning, he would be shocked. What didn’t help was that after Wemmbu had gotten used to the first type of shock, Lettuce simply upped the voltage. Not too much, but enough.
And then came Wemmbu’s first mission.
Lettuce was sitting at his desk, a small map laid out in front of him. Wemmbu stood on the other side, slightly leaning to look at it. “It’s rather easy,” Lettuce hummed, “you just need to go and grab a few materials. Nothing major yet.”
“What am I, your errand boy?” Wemmbu snorted.
“For now, yes,” Lettuce replied simply. “Back to the assignment. You just need to chop down a few trees, that’s it,”
“I wasn't forced into joining the LAW to just collect some wood,” Wemmbu grumbled.
The collar beeped, followed by Lettuce asking, “Did you want to repeat that?”
The demonic avian bit back a hiss. “Whatever,” he muttered. “Where am I going?”
Lettuce pointed to a thick forest on the map, “Just cut down a few on the forest's edge. We only need about a stack or so.”
That was simple enough. Wemmbu began to leave when Lettuce called him back, “Wemmbu.”
The demonic avian paused, slightly turning his head to glance at the caracal hybrid. “What?” He asked, trying to keep the growl of irritation out of his throat.
“Before you leave you need to make a stasis.” Lettuce explained, “Just right in that corner will work.” Said corner already had a stasis set up, though it was missing any enderpearls. Wemmbu rolled his eyes, but he walked over, grabbed the pearl Lettuce offered him, and threw it into the water. “And you need to apply invis,” Lettuce raised a brow as if he expected Wemmbu to know this already. As soon as the pearl was set up, Wemmbu left, chucking an invis potion at the ground, causing the effects to splash and hit him.
And seriously, if the caracal hybrid didn’t think Wemmbu would try and escape anyway, he was dead wrong. Wemmbu got to the forest, cut one, maybe two trees, and then he booked it. He ran deep into the woods, hoping to make good distance. How in the world would Lettuce know, anyways?
Yet, a few minutes later the collar beeped a warning. Wemmbu paused for maybe ten seconds before deciding to continue running. If he could just get far enough, or if he could get lucky and find someone he knew-
Suddenly Wemmbu’s body jolted and he appeared in a small pool, purple particles slowly dissipating around him. The stupid caracal hybrid had pulled his stasis! But how in the world did Lettuce even know?
“A shame, Wemmbu,” Lettuce said with a quiet click of his tongue, “I was hoping you would have at least taken a little longer before trying anything.”
“Yeah, well,” the demonic avian huffed, dragging himself out of the small pool, “don’t know what you expected.”
“I expected you to be more obedient,” Lettuce hissed. “But it seems you need more discipline.”
With that the collar beeped again, though this time Wemmbu didn’t get a chance to react before the red light began flashing and the shock pulsed through him. At once he tensed, his legs buckling underneath him and forcing him to fall to the floor. He expected for the shock to last only a few seconds, but it just went on. And after a few moments the voltage got ever so slightly higher, which just made it even more unbearable. “Stop,” Wemmbu managed to choke out. His head hurt, his whole body stung as it was continuously zapped, and all he could do was grit his teeth and try not to cry.
“Have you learned your lesson yet?” Lettuce said. Wemmbu wasn’t sure what expression he wore, but the demonic avian could have sworn he heard amusement in Lettuce’s voice.
Wemmbu couldn’t respond. He was too enveloped in the pain, and his vision was starting to form black spots. And then the shock stopped. Wemmbu collapsed further in exhaustion, his limbs feeling numb yet the pain still very much there.
“You’re not to try anything like that again, got it?” Lettuce asked, though it sounded more like a demand. All Wemmbu could do was weakly nod in compliance. But he and Lettuce both knew that something like this would happen again, whether soon or much later. For now, though, Wemmbu couldn’t focus on anything except trying not to pass out.
And it happened again. Though weeks before Wemmbu tried, the training and conditioning continued, and were harsher. It was almost like a routine. Wemmbu would be trained in obedience, would try to escape, be caught and punished, and the punishment and training would be worse, more intense. And after every single time, Wemmbu tried less and less to escape. Instead, he simply followed orders, carried out missions, and barely seemed to think or move for himself anymore.
~~~
In all honesty, Flame was bored. He was also pissed. But mostly bored. For days there had been small groups of LAW-men appearing at his door, and everyday none of them left, because a dead man can’t leave. It wasn’t even a challenge, so it was just irritating with how often it happened. Like seriously- did Lettuce just hire anyone and give them some of the worst gear ever?
Flame huffed in annoyance, and apparently he was really irritated because a small puff of smoke appeared. So damn, guess they really got on his nerves. What didn’t make it better was that in the distance, he could hear that uncoordinated marching slowly becoming louder. So another group of LAW-men, wonderful. Didn’t sound like too many, and when Flame peered out of his window there were only four. Likely a scouting group, or something.
No problem, as usual. Flame simply put on his armor, made sure he had his sword, shield, axe, and potions, and then walked out of his door. And he might have felt a little bit of amusement when the LAW-men’s faces twisted to be terrified at the sight of him. Though the entertainment didn’t last long, seeing how 1) he had seen it on LAW-men hundreds of times by now, and 2) soon enough they were trying to attack him. In a rather unorganized way, too.
But soon enough, after slashing a few potions (weaker ones with shorter duration, because he didn’t want to waste his good potions on these idiots), Flame jumped at them. He swung his sword, easily maiming two of them, quickly held up his shield when one LAW-men tried to get a lucky hit on him, swapped to his axe to disable their own shields and then back to sword and cut through them again. It didn’t even take ten minutes before they were all dead; four separate pings sounded from the communicator that was clipped to his belt.
And right after Flame stole the potions they hadn’t used, because it meant he didn’t have to try and trade or make more, he went back into his base. Although, shortly afterward he heard more marching. This time a little more put together and practiced. And it was slightly louder, which let Flame know there were at least much more than four. He guessed about eight, maybe ten, give or take.
So once more, Flame peaked his head out of the window. What he had not expected to see was Lettuce in the front, leading what looked to be ten to twenty other LAW-men. All in the same poorly enchanted diamond armor, all with that weird determined masking terrified look on their face, all- wait.
A few steps behind Lettuce, there was a soldier that stood out. They were in netherite armor, instead of diamond. And Flame couldn’t make out their face- actually, he couldn’t even see their face. Yet they were still too far away for Flame to make out what he was looking at.
With a slight sigh, Flame left his base again. This time he brought a few stronger potions, just in case. If he could kill Lettuce right now, then so many of his problems could be fixed. But he had to be a little more careful this time.
Soon enough, Flame and Lettuce were just about ten blocks apart. Flame glared at the caracal hybrid behind his blindfold, and felt the temperature around himself heat up just a smidge. Lettuce stood with his arms behind his back in that professional manner, a cool grin plastered on his face.
“Flame,” Lettuce started, “I’ll give you one chance to turn yourself in before I order the attack.”
“Not happening, bro,” Flame snickered.
“You sure?” Lettuce raised a brow, that snarky grin still on.
“Quite sure,” Flame said, bringing a hand to the handle of his sword, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice.
“Do you really want to waste resources when you’ll be taken in soon enough?”
“I’d rather waste resources then go to your stupid prison,”
“Then you leave me no choice.”
Flame was just about to dash and get a head-start on the fight when that same soldier caught his eye again. “Who the hell is that?” Flame raised a brow, slightly tilting his head in the direction of the soldier. At closer inspection, their armor stood out even more compared to the regular LAW-men’s. It was still netherite, but it had white trims with the LAW’s sun symbol on the chestplate. Quite similar to Lettuce’s armor. The main difference, however, was how their helmet covered their entire face. And not a single inch of their real self was visible. Almost like they were stripped of their identity, and the only thing that mattered about them was how they were a part of LAW. Going along with that, invis particles floated off of them, hiding them further.
“Oh, him?” Lettuce hummed, sparing a glance at the soldier. “My newest officer, you shouldn’t need to worry about him,”
“Perfect,” Flame deadpanned. And then he quickly splashed potions of strength and speed on himself, and swung his sword at Lettuce. The caracal hybrid’s eyes barely even widen, though his pupils slit slightly. Yet, before Flame knew it, his swing wasn’t connecting with Lettuce’s armor or face like he was aiming for. Instead, it was blocked by the ‘newest officer’’s sword.
Quickly Lettuce made a circling motion with his hand, and the other troops behind him turned around and started to leave. Then the caracal hybrid stepped back, and assessed the situation for probably only two seconds. “Take care of him,” he ordered, "preferably leave him alive. But dead isn’t too much of an issue,”
“You think your newest officer can beat me?” Flame laughed. Quickly he put more force into his sword, making it slide down to be free to move again.
“You’d be impressed with how much skill he has,” Lettuce grinned. And with that the caracal hybrid snapped his fingers twice, and then left. Flame merely snorted. But he was quick to switch his focus to attack the netherite LAW officer. After that it almost felt like a normal battle. Almost.
The difference was that this officer was actually good, and could keep up with Flame. Which made him a little excited, because it posed a challenge, which he had been longing for in days. And that was a challenge he intended to win. But what was weird was how the LAW officer seemed to already know and be used to fighting Flame. He could predict how Flame was going to move or attack, and could easily parry or dodge or land his own hit before Flame could move. This soldier was fast in a way that screamed familiarity.
“Why don’t you take off that helmet, show me who you are?” Flame taunted. The officer said nothing. “What, trying to hide your voice too? Soooo mysterious, bro,”
By then the conversation was one-sided, and the fighting continued. The only sound was the clinging of swords against each other, an axe disabling a shield, breathing that slowly grew more tired, and Flame’s small attempts at talking. All of which lasted for what must have been at least a solid thirty minutes. And then there was the turning point. The LAW officer pulled out a mace (and for some reason it looked achingly familiar), wind charged up into the air, and crashed down on Flame, who quickly drew his shield.
“You LAW-men and cheating with the stupid maces,” Flame hissed. But there was still something about that mace that irked the demonic lion the wrong way. It looked vaguely familiar, and it looked used. And then Flame finally got a good look at it after the officer had landed.
That mace was [Gambit]. Wemmbu’s mace. So, without skipping a beat, Flame glared at the soldier and growled out his question, “Why the hell do you have Wemmbu’s mace?”
And that made the LAW officer freeze; swiftly he put the mace into his inventory, switching to his sword. “No, you can’t hide that from me,” Flame hissed, “Why do you have Wemmbu’s mace? What did the LAW do to him?” Quickly Flame launched himself at the officer, new energy fueled by anger bubbling in him. The officer raised his sword just in time to block Flame’s strike. If Flame had to guess the soldier was starting to panic, given how he tensed up and moved faster, sharper.
But that was something Wemmbu did. Whenever Wemmbu was being overpowered by his opponent, he tensed and made his movements quick and sharp. And that was exactly what the soldier was starting to do.
This time Flame wasted no time in his new objective. He had to get that helmet off and force them to get rid of their invisibility so he could see who this was. Because the soldier had Wemmbu’s mace, had his reactions, and had his skill. Almost within the blink of an eye, Flame was swinging his sword with much more force, and aiming at the helmet and trying to get it off. Soon enough the soldier was being overwhelmed, and Flame was winning.
At some point the soldier lost his footing, slightly tripping. And Flame took that opportunity like a moth to light. Swiftly Flame knocked the soldier’s feet from under him, forcing him to fall back. And the demonic lion held his sword pointed at the LAW officer’s neck. “Guess I get to see who you are, then,” Flame breathed out, a small smirk on his face.
And without wasting a single second Flame used his sword to rip the helmet off, tossing it off to the side. As soon as the helmet was off, Flame’s eyes widened. Because the person who had it on was Wemmbu. The invisibility had already begun to flicker, and then fade away completely. There was no mistaking it.
It was Wemmbu’s light purple skin, black scleras and dark amethyst colored eyes with slit pupils, and his bright purple hair. Except his hair seemed less neat and clean, and his gaze was both panicked and tired. He had deep eyebags, clear as day, along with a few new scars on his face. “Why the hell are you working for the LAW?” Flame hissed, his tone more surprised than anything.
But Wemmbu said nothing. His eyes darted to the helmet, and Flame could tell that the demonic avian was going to try and grab it. So quickly, Flame used his sword to pick it up and keep it away. “Answer my question, Wemmbu,” Flame glared.
“Give me the helmet,” Wemmbu demanded, and his voice sounded wrong. Almost animated.
“No, answer my question first.”
“Flame I’m being serious, give me the damn helmet.”
“I’m also being serious! Why on Void’s name are you working for the LAW? They were hunting us down!”
“Do you think I had a choice?” Wemmbu retorted, that animated tone breaking into something more real, more genuine.
“There’s always a choice!” Flame argued, “I know your determination and hate for them, you idiot, there’s no way you would join them!” By now Flame had removed his sword, having clipped it back to his belt. He was simply standing over Wemmbu, who was still laying on the ground, his head tilted and his arms keeping him slightly propped up so he could look at Flame. “Why are you with them?” Flame repeated.
Before Wemmbu could even get a word out there was a quiet sound, almost like a beep. Flame looked confused, and started looking the demonic avian up and down. And then his eyes landed on Wemmbu’s neck, where there was something with a red light on. “Give me the helmet,” Wemmbu repeated, his tone more scared then annoyed. He slowly started to sit up more, using his arms as support.
“No-”
“Flame.” Wemmbu hissed desperately. And then there was the beep again, and the red light started flashing. “No- no, no, no,” Flame saw Wemmbu tense as his eyes widened with fear; and he quickly shifted his position to be sitting on his knees as he tried to reach for the thing around his neck.
The next thing that happened was Wemmbu’s body jolting in pain, and him crumbling in on himself. Flame watched, wide eyed, face slightly falling at whatever he was witnessing. A pained hiss retched itself from Wemmbu’s throat; and the thing (which Flame finally realized was a shock collar) continued flashing.
The electric shock only lasted about fifteen seconds, but by the end of it Wemmbu was trembling and breathing heavily. All Flame could do was stand frozen, staring in concern. The words from earlier echoed in Flame’s mind: “Do you think I had a choice?”
“Stupid fucking cat,” Wemmbu hissed quietly, the insult targetted at Lettuce.
“Oh my Void-” Flame finally managed to choke out, “did he seriously put a shock collar on you?”
“To make sure I don’t ‘disobey orders’ or be too 'defiant,'" Wemmbu muttered, voice shaky. His body was still trembling, not as much anymore, but it was present. And he was also staring at the ground, his tail wrapped around one of his legs.
“How do you get it off?” Flame asked slowly.
“Hell if I know!” Wemmbu growled weakly in irritation, “I’ve had the damn thing on for weeks and I still don’t even know what it’s made of, let alone how to get rid of it!”
“Okay, calm down for a second,” Flame said.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Wemmbu hissed.
“Bro, I’m trying to-” Flame was cut off with a beep from the collar. His and Wemmbu’s eyes both widened, though Wemmbu’s expression was much more afraid.
They both stayed silent for a few moments. Nothing happened. There were no more beeps from the collar, it still had that constant red light. Thankfully it wasn’t flickering. “I thought it would have shocked you by now,” Flame said honestly.
“Yeah well,” Wemmbu muttered, the fear still evident in his voice, “one beep is a warning.”
“So if you like.. Didn’t stop whatever you were doing it would shock you?” Flame asked carefully. Wemmbu numbly nodded. Then Flame’s ears pricked up, and he swore he heard something. Immediately he started to look around, trying to find the source of the sound. And soon enough he saw Lettuce walking toward them, with an unimpressed look on his face.
“Honestly I’m disappointed. I expected better,” the caracal hybrid hummed. Wemmbu froze at the sound of his voice and hesitantly looked up. “Can you really not follow such simple orders, Wemmbu?”
“You stay away from him.” Flame hissed, drawing his sword and putting himself between Lettuce and the demonic avian.
By now Wemmbu had shakily gotten back up, and his eyes kept flicking between Lettuce and Flame. But, at the caracal hybrid’s small head tilt, Wemmbu grabbed the helmet that Flame hadn’t even realized he dropped. And then Lettuce made a small waving gesture and looked at Wemmbu expectedly. The demonic avian took one step forward as if on instinct, and seemed to be about to take more before Flame stopped him by tightly grabbing his wrist (and the demonic lion tried to not pay attention to how Wemmbu harshly flinched at the contact).
“Wemmbu.” Lettuce narrowed his eyes, and the tone when he said the demonic avian’s name almost made it sound like an order. And supposedly it was, as Wemmbu tugged himself free and walked, only to then stand a few steps behind Lettuce. All Flame could do was stare in utter disbelief at the display. Wemmbu’s expression was blank and neutral, yet his eyes screamed at how he hated that he had to do this. But what Flame couldn’t understand was that Wemmbu didn’t have to! Seriously, how did he even end up in the LAW’s hands in the first place? Why did he start working for them, and how did they even manage to get the shock collar on him in the first place? The Wemmbu that Flame knew would have fought violently, tooth and nail, to prevent that ever happening!
Then Lettuce began to turn around and walk away, doing that same hand-waving gesture that Flame was starting to think was a silent order to follow. And follow Wemmbu did, though he hesitated for just a moment. Unfortunately that moment was enough for the collar to beep a warning, which made Wemmbu obey immediately. And then the two just walked off, back in the direction of LAW’s base.
“What the fuck,” Flame breathed out.