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(Rough Timeline: Just before/start of Kingdoms/NULL Arc)
“What the hell?” Flamefrags muttered. One moment he was walking back to his base, the next moment he was in a random room. He blinked once or twice, looking around.
The floor was that of crimson wood planks, the walls were black concrete, and there were lit lanterns hanging still in the corners of the quartz ceiling. There were no windows or doors, or chests, or anything. The most interesting thing were the two large couches and what seemed to be some kind of projector?
What was even weirder was the fact that his inventory was empty. His armor was missing, his weapons were nowhere to be seen, and anything else he may have had stored away was just.. Gone. He narrowed his eyes behind his blindfold. He double checked, walking around a little. And, yeah, there was no way out. And just when he was about to start breaking the walls with his fists, he could feel the effects of Mining Fatigue overcome him.
“Theo, it’ll be-” Parrot stopped whatever he was saying quickly. “Where in the world..?”
“Pft, that’s what I’ve been asking,” Parrot quickly turned around to see Flame.
“Flame?” The avian raised a brow. “Where are we?”
“Bro, I don’t know,” Flame huffed, “one moment I’m walking to my base the next moment I’m here. Inventory all empty, by the way.”
And sure enough, when Parrot checked he had nothing. “How is this even possible?” He queried, eyes darting around the room.
“Not sure,” the demonic lion hummed. “There’s no way out, and if you try to break anything you get Mining Fatigue,”
“That makes no sense,” Parrot murmured, “first we randomly appear in a room, all our items gone, and you can’t get out. How in the world does that work?”
Flame shrugged, guessing that Parrot wasn’t fully asking him.
Soon enough Spoke had appeared next, and they had to explain the same things. By now Flame leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Parrot was pacing, and Spoke eventually just sat on one of the couches. At some point the voidling’s form slightly wavered, a confused grin hiding his increasing unease. “So, what, we’re just like- stuck here?”
“Pretty much,” Flame answered.
“There has to be a way out,” Parrot mumbled. “Or at least someone behind this,”
“Ovbiously,” Flame said with a click of his tongue. “We just don’t know how or who,”
“Do you think anyone else is going to appear?” Spoke queried.
And, as if on cue: “Like why does this path wind?-” Wemmbu froze. “What in Void’s name?”
“Well that answers your question, Spoke,” Flame snorted. “Welcome to whatever the hell this room is, Wemmbu,”
The demonic avian paused, processing. One second he’s walking on a stone path that winded weirdly, the next second he’s in a small square room with Flame, Spoke, and Parrot. “I feel like I should be used to this kind of thing by now,” Wemmbu muttered eventually, looking around.
“That’s the tamest reaction I’ve seen so far,” Flame commented.
“I’m too tired to question anything,” Wemmbu groaned. And that was true. He just wanted to get froglights, build a little more, and then take a nap.
And just before anyone else could say anything, a quiet hum rang out. Everyone snapped to attention, looking around to try and find the source of the noise. The projector-like thing that was on the wall lit up, bathing the dim room in a bright white light. Then simple black text appeared.
HELLO, AND WELCOME TO THE [Video Observatory Room]
“Uuuhh,” Spoke hummed awkwardly, turning to glance at Parrot, Wemmbu, and Flame, “Is this thing alive? Like- what is this?”
“How should we know?” Flame deadpanned.
“I feel like the main question should be ‘why are we here?’” Wemmbu cut in.
YOU WILL OBSERVE SHORT VIDEOS OF [Wemmbu]’S TIME IN THE LAW’S CUSTODY
Everyone, especially Wemmbu, froze. “What?” The demonic avian hissed. “Absoutely not! How is there even footage of that?”
“Yeah, I agree,” Spoke added, “that’s like- an invasion of privacy or something.”
Parrot and Flame nodded their own agreement.
LEAVING IS NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL ALL VIDEOS ARE WATCHED
It was rather quiet at that. The words stayed on the screen, allowing it to sink in. “..It’s your call, Wemmbu,” Parrot said slowly.
Wemmbu thought for a few moments. On the one hand, he really didn’t want to remember what happened when he was in prison, or let Flame, Spoke, and Parrot see it. But on the other hand, there was practically no way out. They had no items and got mining fatigue if they tried to break anything. So really, the options were to watch or be stuck here forever. And he would rather get out.
“Fine, whatever,” Wemmbu grumbled, “we can watch the stupid things.”
“Are you sure?” Parrot queried.
“I’d rather get out then be stuck here forever,” Wemmbu muttered. “Just don’t-.. No one mention this afterward,”
“Alrighty,” Spoke hummed.
Soon enough they all sat down, Wemmbu and Spoke on one couch while Parrot and Flame took the other.
BEFORE BEGINNING YOU MUST KNOW THE RULES
RULES INCLUDE:
[No (mainly physical) fighting]
[Watching is mandatory]
[5 to 30 minute breaks will be issued every couple of clips]
[All clips will be played, regardless of complaint]
[Keep speaking to a minimum while clips are playing]
After that the screen stayed paused on the rules, letting them all look them over. “Seems simple enough,” Flame noted.
“Yeah, yeah, let’s just get this done with,” Wemmbu huffed, leaning further into the couch. With that, the screen’s text changed.
PLAYING FIRST CLIP: [When Wemmbu Was Captured]
“Oh, starting with this. Great,” Wemmbu hummed sarcastically. And then the first clip finally began to play.
Wemmbu was injured, stood in a crater he caused when he and Flame fought the 2v1000. “Hey buddy,” someone spoke. Wemmbu looked up to see LettuceK.
“Hello..?” Wemmbu said, hiding his hesitance.
“You’ve definitely seen better days,” Lettuce hummed smugly. He was above Wemmbu by quite a bit, looking down on the demonic avian with an amused glint in his dark green, almost black colored eyes.
“What’s that mean?” Wemmbu huffed.
Lettuce carefully dropped down so that he stood a few blocks in front of Wemmbu, “That was quite the show,” he noted. “And you know.. With how you are right now I don’t think I need an army to take you. With that in mind, you’re either going to die or come with me.”
Wemmbu glanced at his weakened weapons and mostly broken armor. “Right,” he rolled his eyes before quickly wind charging up and attempting to hit Lettuce, missing at first. At the second attempt he lands a hit, though it’s weaker than his usual attacks.
“So what are we trying here?” Lettuce snorted, easily tanking the hits and landing his own with his sword. “Are you really in a good state to fight and run right now?”
The two attempt to fight for a few moments, before Wemmbu slightly stumbles and has to take a few hits before trying to land his own. He hits Lettuce once with his mace, maybe twice with his sword.
Wemmbu then quickly looked around before he fell down further into the crater, landing in water with a quiet wince. Lettuce follows and precisely hits Wemmbu a few times. “Okay, okay,” the demonic avian hissed. He blocks two more hits with his shield, making it be disabled. “Okay- fine, you got it, you got it. I’ll-.. Go wherever you want,”
“Great!” Lettuce smirked, “Glad we could finally agree on something.” Wemmbu rolled his eyes before glaring at the caracal hybrid, “All right, drop all your stuff,” Lettuce ordered. Wemmbu did so, though once Lettuce placed down an enderchest the demonic avian hid most of his valuable items (mainly his maces) inside.
Lettuce then leads the way as he and Wemmbu start to swim and climb out of the hole, “Alright, me and you have quite a lot of work to do.”
“‘Work to do’?” Wemmbu echoed, confused.
“There’s many moving pieces in play,” the caracal hybrid said, “and you might be one of them.”
The clip then fizzles out and the screen goes back to white. “That’s seriously how he got you?” Spoke finally said after a few seconds of silence. “I was expecting something more.. Dramatic? More resistance, maybe?”
“Yeah, well- you try fighting a thousand players and then being betrayed by the only other person fighting on your side immediately after,” Wemmbu retorted, shooting a not so subtle glare towards Flame.
“Bro, I literally told you that we were going to have the rematch as soon as we took care of those LAW-men,” the demonic lion said.
“Yeah, and I expected someone with so much ‘honor’ to at least give some kind of warning!” Wemmbu hissed, “What I did not plan for was to be literally hit off the edge almost as soon as that last guy was dead!”
“Hold on- you actually turned your back to Flame-?” Parrot cut in. Wemmbu merely looked away with a lash of his tail, which was answer enough.
Before anyone else could say anything the projector lit up once more.
PLAYING SECOND CLIP
“No title..?” Spoke raised his brow.
“Probably just some random scene of me in prison,” Wemmbu shrugged, his tone still a little sour.
LettuceK, Wemmbu, and Loppezzz were outside a cell, with Lettuce in the middle of speaking. “That’s your home now,” the caracal hybrid said, “I got a bit of an event for you tomorrow, so I need you in tip-top shape for it. In the meantime, you’re going to be living the rest of your days as a prisoner,”
“Bro-” Wemmbu groaned, “So I’m-” the demonic avian cut himself off with a hiss, as Loppezzz jabbed him with her netherite sword. She did so once again, which forced him to step further into the cell. Quickly the iron door was shut, and the sound of it being locked by keys was heard.
“Okay so like.. I'll just stay here for now,” Wemmbu muttered. He looked at his arm where Loppezzz had hit him, and grimaced at the small amount of blood that started to appear.
And once again the screen fizzled back to its bright white color. Though shortly after words appeared on the screen.
A FIVE MINUTE BREAK IS BEING ADMINISTERED
“That clip was much shorter,” Spoke commented.
“Bro what was that even showing?” Flame queried.
“I think it was showing how Loppezzz treated everyone in prison,” Wemmbu hummed. “The whole constantly being hit for showing even the tiniest 'resistance.’”
“Wait so she hit everyone?” Parrot asked, “How often?”
“I think everyone got a new scar within the first ten minutes of getting to prison,” Wemmbu snorted. “But yeah it was everyone, and it was basically a daily thing,”
“That’s..” Parrot murmured.
“Wrong?” Spoke guessed. Parrot merely nodded.
“I mean they also did item checks and stuff,” Wemmbu added. “Oh, and the food sucked. Pretty sure it was to keep our saturation and energy down or something,”
“Lowers the chances of escaping, wouldn’t it?” Flame said.
“Ehh,” Wemmbu murmured, “I still had like a total of five escape attempts, so.”
“Five?” Parrot squawked.
Wemmbu merely hummed a yes. “What do you think it’ll show next?” Flame asked carefully.
“Well it seems to be in chronological order so far,” Parrot murmured.
“It’s going to show solitary, isn’t it?” Wemmbu muttered tensely.
“If that’s the next ‘important’ thing that happened, probably,” Parrot confirmed.
“Great, just great,” Wemmbu groaned.
“I mean, we still have like three minutes before the next clip plays,” Spoke hummed. “So we got a little time to prepare,”
And for the most part all four of them did use that time. It was mostly aimless chatter to give a distraction, but it was nice. Soon enough the screen lit up once more announcing that the break was over, and then it shifted.
PLAYING THIRD CLIP: [Entering Solitary Confinement]
“Knew it,” Wemmbu hissed lightly. His tail wrapped around his leg as he glared at the screen. Like it had the previous times, it loaded and began playing.
“Pft- get out of here?” Lettuce stifled a laugh, “Wemmbu. The next time you see the sun, will be the day when you’re getting executed. There’s no ‘getting out’. And, just for having to make me enact this protocol, you have a week in solitary confinement.”
“Well that’s one way to start,” Spoke whistled.
“Shut up,” Wemmbu huffed a little playfully.
“Now, if everyone will excuse me,” Lettuce said, shoving Fantst and PrinceZam out of the way, “I have work to do.”
The clip then cut to Lettuce and Wemmbu walking down a long hallway, likely toward solitary confinement.
“You know I am going to escape,” Wemmbu said, “and then I’ll destroy the LAW myself.”
“Really?” Lettuce deadpanned, not looking in the demonic avian’s direction. “Why do you think I’m putting you down here?”
“Your biggest mistake is going to be keeping me alive,” Wemmbu said, ignoring the caracal’s words.
The two were quiet the rest of the way. Soon enough they reached the cell, and Lettuce flicked the lever to open it. “Alright,” Lettuce hummed as Wemmbu walked in, “now’s your chance to think for a while.”
Wemmbu turned around to face Lettuce, seeing him on the other side of the bars. “Now if you’ll excuse me,” the caracal hybrid said, beginning to leave, “I have a world to win over.”
After the clip fizzled back to the white screen it was quiet. “Well that was.. Tamer than I was expecting?" Parrot said hesitantly after a few moments.
“I don’t think it’ll be that ‘tame’ for the next clip,” Flame said, narrowing his eyes.
“I have a feeling it won’t mention the deal,” Spoke hummed.
“‘Deal’?” Parrot echoed.
“Oh yeah,” Wemmbu murmured. “Once it was lights out Spoke came and like offered me a way out,”
“And you, being stubborn, didn’t take it,” Spoke stuck his tongue out at the demonic avian.
“Bro. I was not giving you orbitals or my loyalty just to get out of the LAW’s prison,” Wemmbu snorted playfully.
“Yeah, well I got you out later anyways,” the voidling rolled his eyes.
“Yeah- like two months later.”
“I said to get back into solitary if you wanted to reconsider the deal!”
“Bro, do you think I wanted to go back to solitary?”
“I mean, no- but like-... whatever,” Spoke sighed, still in that non-serious manner. Whatever banter might have happened next was quickly cut off by the projector flashing once more.
PLAYING FOURTH CLIP: [Solitary Confinement]
WARNING:
[Clip contains blood, violence, and possible loud noises]
“Well that’s not good,” Spoke grimaced. He glanced at Wemmbu, who seemed to tense. His tail was wrapped around his leg, and his wings seemed to twitch uncomfortably. And as the clip began to start, Spoke subtly shuffled to be closer to Wemmbu.
Wemmbu was sitting on the ground, leaning his back against the wall. He looked very bored, his tail swishing lazily. Suddenly footsteps quietly echoed, slowly getting louder. Wemmbu looked over, eventually seeing Loppezzz stop at his cell.
“Well this seems pretty deserved,” Loppezzz snorted.
“Yeah, yeah, you don’t like me or whatever,” he rolled his eyes. “What do you want?”
The cat hybrid merely hummed as she flicked the lever to Wemmbu’s cell door. He stayed where he was, watching with a confused look as Loppezzz stepped inside. “You know,” Loppezzz started slowly. Her pupils seemed slit in agitation, and there was something that seemed to irk Wemmbu the wrong way. “The first time we met was in the Skyblock Civilization, wasn’t it?”
“..Yes?” Wemmbu murmured slowly. He didn’t seem entirely sure of his answer, as if he couldn’t quite remember well.
“And then you up and left when the Invis Mafia attacked us.” Loppezzz hissed, “And again in my Snow Civilization, you betrayed us- betrayed me. Then when I was with Jaden and his stupid pirates, you somehow managed to get me kicked out.” Wemmbu seemed to shrink slightly as Loppezzz continued to speak, “And in the Abandoned Civilization I gave you another chance! And it was fine, until you were too selfish to just try and get out instead of hunting down Jaden! And what did that lead to!?”
“Don’t-” Wemmbu tried to cut her off, but Loppezzz spoke over him.
“It led to Rejoice dying! He died, Wemmbu! Because of those stupid wardens- and your stupid plan! He hadn’t seen the outside or the Void-damned sun for months, and then you ruined that for him! You got him killed, Wemmbu!” By that point Loppezzz was standing over the demonic avian, towering over him as he kept his head down.
Loppezzz harshly grabbed Wemmbu by the collar of his jumpsuit shortly after, forcing him to stand up. A loud bang was heard as Wemmbu’s head hit the wall once Loppezzz pinned him to it, her sword drawn. The demonic avian had a dazed and pained expression on his face.
“Woah!” Spoke squeaked, his form slightly flickering.
“..Wasn’t even the worst of it,” Wemmbu murmured almost inaudibly. Spoke merely looked at the demonic avian with concern.
“Are you not going to say anything!?” Loppezzz hissed after a few moments of silence. Her sword was inches away from Wemmbu’s neck.
“What do you want me to say?” Wemmbu scoffed. “It’s not like a ‘sorry’ is going to fix anything,”
Loppezzz narrowed her eyes, pressing her sword close enough to draw a small amount of blood. “I expected you to show a little more remorse,” she muttered. The cat hybrid pulled away, still glaring at Wemmbu. The demonic avian stayed against the wall, a hand now carefully covering the small cut on his neck. Pretty soon Loppezzz’s grip around her sword shifted, and Wemmbu was quick to duck out of the way of her trying to hit him.
The rest of the clip just continued to go like that. Loppezzz would swing her sword, and either Wemmbu was able to dodge out of the way or he ended up getting hit. The cat hybrid also threw out insults as she hit more often. By the end of it Loppezzz just looked slightly satisfied while also still looking annoyed.
Wemmbu on the other hand- by the end of the clip he had cuts from the sword littering his arms, one or two on his leg, and a small one on his torso. He was bleeding onto the floor, quietly hissing as he tried to put pressure on his wounds.
Everyone watched in tense silence. Even if none of them really considered Wemmbu a friend (well, besides Spoke), no one wanted to watch the demonic avian be beaten up. All you could hear the whole time was the quiet wind from the sword being swung, Loppezzz’s occasional insults, the drip of blood falling to the floor, and Wemmbu hissing in pain. It.. wasn't pleasant.
A FIVE MINUTE BREAK IS BEING ADMINISTERED
[Five additional minutes is allowed to be added if requested]
It was still quiet once the words disappeared.
Parrot sat with his hands clasped together in his lap, glancing around aimlessly. He mostly looked between Wemmbu and the walls. Flame had his arms crossed and his shoulders tensed. He kept his head mostly down besides occasionally looking at Wemmbu behind his blindfold.
Spoke was slightly leaning his back against the couch he was on, his hands also clasped together yet tapping his thumbers sometimes. He kept his eyes on Wemmbu practically the whole time, worry etched in his face as his form lightly flickered every now and then. And Wemmbu.. He was leaning into the corner of the couch, hugging his knees close to his chest. His eyes were glued to the floor as his mind continued to buzz with memories of prison.
How was Wemmbu meant to be feeling right now? His time in the LAW’s custody- his time being tortured, basically- was on full display for two people he would classify as close(?) acquaintances, and his rival. Actually, could he even say Flame was still his rival? They didn’t really fight each other anymore.
Not to mention that he was also forced to watch what happened to him. It had taken him forever to not think about the LAW anymore. And technically, it still crossed his mind every couple of days. For the most part, he had been trying to block out the memories of what happened. He still had minor nerve damage from what had happened that Egg was trying to restore, and the scars would never go away.
What else would they be watching? He knew it would only get worse from there. Would they see his other days in solitary? His escape? His horn breaking, maybe? He actually didn’t really remember his horn breaking. He just knew that it hurt worse than hell, and that Spoke had tried to help him after it happened.
Like usual, Wemmbu’s mind was buzzing with questions. It’s not like he could ask what else they would watch, he doubted the projector would answer. How would Flame and Parrot react to his horn breaking? How would they and Spoke react to what happened when he was in solitary? So far it was just silence. He could feel their gazes burning into him, likely with pity or something of the sort.
Before anyone knew it the five minutes were up. They hadn’t talked at all, everyone was too lost in thought or unsure what to say. But they all agreed that they didn’t need the extra five minutes. They all just wanted to get out of here as soon as they could.
PLAYING FIFTH CLIP: [Solitary Confinement - Torture]
WARNING:
[Clips contains blood, violence, death, and possible loud noises]
“Woah, wait, wait!” Spoke said, “What do you mean ‘death’?”
“Something with totems, maybe?” Parrot shrugged uncomfortably. He already didn’t like how the section included torture. The avian could tell that something bad had happened to Wemmbu when he was in prison, mostly based on his behavior and that first clip. But actual torture? Had the LAW really tortured him?
“Totems?” Wemmbu murmured, “Oh, Void, I think I know what it’ll show,” he grumbled. “Do we really have to watch that?”
“Watch.. What?” Flame queried hesitantly. The demonic avian simply stayed quiet, glaring at the screen as it didn’t change.
“Just watch the stupid thing.” He eventually muttered, “It’ll probably show more than what I’m thinking, anyways.” His tone was annoyed, obviously, but there was also a hint of fear in it that Flame could hear.
With that, everyone turned their eyes uneasily to the screen.
[Note: This will be a collection of different clips from multiple days, spanning from Wemmbu’s second to last day in Solitary]
Wemmbu was sat on the floor once more, his back leaning against the wall. Blood still stained the floor and stuck to his wounds that hadn’t been bandaged or properly taken care of.
“They didn’t even clean the wounds?” Parrot asked with a frown.
“Not till the last day,” Wemmbu replied dully.
The sound of footsteps echoed once more, and just like before Wemmbu looked up. Though this time when he saw Loppezzz he visibly tensed, folding his wings in more and wrapping his tail around his leg. “What the hell do you want this time?” He hissed defensively.
Loppezzz said nothing as she entered his cell once more. The cat hybrid merely pulled out her sword once more, already preparing to swing. Before long the same thing that happened the first day happened once more. Though this time there was a lot more yelling from Wemmbu.
“Seriously, what do you gain from this?” The demonic avian hissed, backing away from another swing, this time from Loppezzz’s wooden knockback sword rather than her netherite blade.
“Payback,” Loppezzz merely growled.
By the time the cat hybrid had left Wemmbu had new cuts and fresh bruises that were slowly turning bits of his skin a darker and duller shade of purple.
[Third day - Closer to the end]
“What’s so important about the end part?” Parrot asked.
“The start was basically the same as the first and second day,” Wemmbu murmured. “The end was.. Well, you’ll see, I guess,”
Loppezzz was in the middle of hitting Wemmbu once more with her wooden sword. All of a sudden she grabbed at one of his wings, forcing it to open limply. Immediately at the touch Wemmbu yelped and tried to pull away, though stopped with a sharp hiss.
“Don’t you fucking dare-” he started. The demonic avian was quickly cut off with a pained squawk as Loppezzz swiftly pulled a feather off.
“Oh hell no,” Parrot murmured, eyes wide. As the only other avian there, he was the only one who could relate to the pain or properly picture what would happen if someone plucked feathers. “What kind of feather was that-?”
“A mature one, I think.” Wemmbu shrugged numbly, “I got lucky and she rarely pulled blood feathers.”
“There are different kinds of feathers-?” Flame queried.
“Tell ya later,” Spoke hummed before nodding his head toward the screen. That got everyone back on track.
There were four violet-colored feathers and two grayer-ones on the ground, with Wemmbu backed into a corner with wide eyes and slit pupils. There was a small amount of blood starting to drip down from his wing, and he hissed once he noticed it.
Loppezzz was already making her leave as Wemmbu tried to preen the areas where the feathers used to be.
[Forth day - Closer to the end]
Wemmbu was backed against the wall, trying to use his arms to cover his face. Loppezzz was in the middle of her usual insults and sword swings, her ears low in agitation.
A few feathers and dark red drops of blood littered the ground. Wemmbu was bleeding from his arms, as well as a cut on his leg that stained his prison jumpsuit a little. The demonic avian’s eyes were watery, and his tail was tightly wrapped around his leg.
“Will you just stop?!” Wemmbu hissed, his voice cracking slightly like he was trying to not cry. He quickly shuffled out the way of another slash. The next jab, however, was aimed closer to his face, and seemingly out of reaction Wemmbu raised his hand to block it.
The sword cleanly went through his hand, and Loppezzz roughly pulled it out.
The cat hybrid’s eyes were wide as if in surprise at what she had done, and her tail fluffed to twice its size as her ears perked down. Wemmbu stayed silent for a few moments, wearing his own shocked expression.
As the clip continued to play, Wemmbu felt like he was back there. He could feel how he had frozen, shock delaying the pain. He could feel the sudden burning pain that came from his hand. He could feel that same sickly feeling from seeing his hand bleeding heavily. He could remember feeling his breath come short, he could remember feeling tears falling despite his best efforts to not let them, he could remember feeling everything.
Soon enough Wemmbu was curling in on himself on the couch, refusing to look at the screen. Of course that didn’t stop him from hearing his own cries and pain-filled hisses put on display, but at least he didn’t have to look at it. He could barely picture the mess that he must have looked like in that instance.
Flame and Parrot, however, were frozen staring at the screen. They both held their breath and watched as Loppezzz quickly left and just abandoned Wemmbu, who seemed to cry more openly once the cat hybrid was gone. It felt.. Wrong. Both what was happening in the clip and the fact that they had to watch it.
Spoke on the other hand had already moved the short distance to be next to the demonic avian, since the two were sitting on the same couch. Pretty soon the voidling had Wemmbu wrapped in a hug, trying to help him ignore whatever was playing on the screen.
And in Spoke’s opinion, Wemmbu shouldn’t even have to be here. He had been there, he had quite literally experienced everything already. So why in Void’s name did he have to watch it? It just felt cruel and unnecessary. But, Spoke couldn’t do anything about it, so he would just have to offer comfort instead.
“Can we get a break?” Parrot asked quietly before the clip of the next could start.
BREAK REQUEST DENIED
“Seriously?” Flame huffed.
“Just don’t watch if it gets too much, Wemmbu,” Spoke said softly. The demonic avian meekly nodded, but still drew his eyes to the screen.
[Fifth day]
Wemmbu was sitting in a corner once more, leaning his side against the wall. Scars from Loppezzz littered his arms, and his hair appeared messy. His wings were similar; untidy and in need of preening. His hand, the one that had been impaled, was tightly wrapped with orange cloth that seemed to have come from the demonic avian’s sleeve. And he had a dull look in his eyes as he stared blankly at the floor.
He barely seemed to notice when Loppezzz entered the cell again. Though he did stir as Loppezzz threw a few totems at him. He looked at them with a confused expression.
As soon as Wemmbu had noticed the totems he looked down. No one questioned it (though Spoke wrapped his thin tail around Wemmbu, keeping the demonic avian close).
Then his eyes widened as if in realization, “You’re not killing me,” he muttered uneasily.
“Want to test that?” Loppezzz said with a smug tone. She drew her sword and began what she had been doing; hitting him repeatedly. Except she didn’t stop this time. The cat hybrid continued even as Wemmbu held one of the totems in his hand, and continued even after it had popped.
(Wemmbu felt himself dying, feeling the heavy fatigue and burning hot pain. And then he felt the harsh tug of the totem saving his life as it popped out of existence, bathing him in gold and green sparks.)
(And then he felt it again.)
(And again.)
(And again.)
(And again.)
(And again.)
(Over and over again.)
(He lost count after twelve.)
(All he knew was the feeling of pain, the feeling of dying and then being revived. What was worse was probably how he didn’t feel numb to it after a few, but it also technically didn’t feel worse every time. He felt the exact same thing every single time.)
(And that somehow made it worse.)
(He didn’t know when he started crying. He didn’t know when he started to try and back away, to get away from Loppezzz as she continued to kill him over and over again. The only time she stopped was to wait for him to hold another totem.)
(Even when he tried to not hold one, in hopes that it would stop, all his instincts yelled to hold one when the cat hybrid’s sword came crashing down. So then he held one and felt it pop.)
(Wemmbu wasn’t sure how many totems had popped- how many times he had died. He didn’t know how long it had lasted. Time seemed to come too quick or not quick enough, and he could never tell which one it was.) But at some point, Wemmbu had no more totems. So the Loppezzz left.
The demonic avian just stayed on the ground, sitting on his knees. He still had his head hung low, and his arms crossed in a way that almost made it look like he was hugging himself.
And he was still shaking. And he was still crying. And his breathing kept going from rapid to deep breaths to pausing entirely for a few short moments.
“Yeah, no, give us a break,” Flame demanded with a hiss as soon as the clip faded out.
BREAK REQUEST ACCEPTED
A TEN MINUTE BREAK IS BEING ADMINISTERED
[Five additional minutes is allowed to be added if requested]
By then Spoke had already wrapped Wemmbu in a hug, looking almost like a younger sibling protecting their older one, despite Spoke technically being older. The voidling couldn’t believe that his past childhood friend had gone through any of this.
Parrot was silent, still staring at the screen in horror. Because what the hell? He knew that it was bad; the clips of Loppezzz just beating Wemmbu up and stabbing his hand was proof; but this? This was just a whole other level of messed up. It also made him even more glad and sure in the decision to fix the LAW and imprison LettuceK. (Though Parrot didn’t know where Loppezzz was, if she was still alive.)
As for Flame. He was steaming. Literally. He was absolutely pissed at whatever the hell he just watched. No wonder after Wemmbu had escaped prison he looked at totems with a different gaze- it was barely noticeable, but Flame had noticed how the demonic avian didn’t like looking at totems if he could help it.
Wemmbu himself wasn’t feeling great either. He gladly let Spoke hug him, wanting for any kind of comfort. He still found it odd how he always felt like Spoke was familiar in a way- but Wemmbu didn’t want to dwell on that right now. He was still lightly shaking and he had to focus on breathing properly.
The four of them ended up having the additional five minutes, giving them a bit longer to breath. They were glad that they were getting to the end, though, considering there were only two days left. Though Parrot, Flame, and Spoke were worried for whatever was next.
[Note: The sixth day is being skipped, as Loppezzz was ordered to not do anything.]
“So you got a break for once, then?” Flame murmured.
“Mhm,” Wemmbu hummed weakly.
[Seventh Day]
Wemmbu was sat against a corner again, though this time it was the one closest to the door. His purple colored hair seemed to have more white streaks running through it, most likely from the amount of totems.
For a while his gaze stayed glued to the floor. A few times he glanced up to the middle of the room, before quickly looking away again. It continued like that for a few minutes; it looked as if Wemmbu was seeing something.
“I think I’m finally going crazy,” the demonic avian muttered.
“Uhh… Is anyone else confused?” Flame hummed.
“Just keep watching,” Wemmbu sighed.
“You always say that,” Flame muttered. But nonetheless, he kept quiet and watched.
Wemmbu continued to flick his gaze from the floor to the middle of the cell, over and over again. Eventually he curled in on himself and buried his face into his arms, which were resting on his knees. “He’s not there,” the demonic avian murmured. “He’s not here, he isn’t here-”
Suddenly Wemmbu flinched, whipping his head to his left side and staring blankly. “It’s nothing-” he whispered, as if trying to convince himself, “no one’s here.”
“Oh my Void,” Parrot said quietly, realizing. “Are you hallucinating?” Wemmbu merely grumbled, dragging his eyes down to the floor once more. Spoke wrapped his tail around the demonic avian a little tighter, offering a little more comfort and grounding.
“Shut up, shut up- he’s not here, you’re not here-” Wemmbu murmured, “You’re dead. You’re dead and you aren’t here- and- … and you aren’t coming back.”
In the room it was silent.
“Stop- talking..” Wemmbu whispered, voice cracking. “You aren’t real, you aren’t here. You’re dead and can’t be here. You aren’t real. I’m just going insane.” It didn’t take long for Wemmbu to start shaking, quiet sobs barely audible. “You aren’t here, you aren’t here- you’re dead, and you’ve been dead, and it was my fault- Oh my Void can I snap out of it already!?”
“Wemmbu,” Spoke murmured quietly, voice thick with concern.
“‘M fine,” he whispered. Though he leaned into the hug Spoke offered.
“Just leave already, Rejoice,” Wemmbu cried quietly, “you aren’t here. You’re dead and it was my fault and I’m sorry I got you killed- you aren’t here.”
And then the screen turned off.
PLAYING SIXTH CLIP: [Getting out of Solitary]
Wemmbu was sat against the wall, the one farthest from the door. He stared numbly at the ceiling, like he was in a daze. Quiet footsteps seemed to break him out of it, as he flicked his gaze to the bars that acted as windows.
“Your time is up, Wemmbu,” LettuceK smirked. His smile fractured for half a second as he looked the demonic avian over, “Seems Loppezzz did.. More than I suggested.”
The caracal cat hybrid murmured a quiet order to one of the guards that had been following him. Then the guard entered the cell, a few bandages and a single healing potion in hand.
(Usually Wemmbu’s instincts would make him back up. Though this time he just stayed still, barely caring anymore. His mind felt like it had been turned off.)
The guard splashed the healing potion onto Wemmbu, waiting a few moments as any and all bleeding ceased and the dull look in the demonic avian’s eyes brightened ever so slightly. Then the LAW-man carefully approached, wrapping Wemmbu’s open wounds with gauze.
(It wasn’t much, but it was better than tearing apart his own prison uniform to act as bandages. So Wemmbu just let himself be ‘taken care of,’ as the LAW-man finished.)
“Well, follow along,” Lettuce hummed. Though once Wemmbu was out of the cell the caracal hybrid quickly took the demonic avian’s wrists and placed handcuffs over them. “Extra precautions for those getting out of solitary,” he explained easily.
Wemmbu merely nodded, and followed as Lettuce began walking.
And the screen skipped again.
Wemmbu was walking into the cafeteria; following Fantst, Baablu, and PrinceZam. They all got their food, which was either one or two beetroot or a piece of bread, and sat at a table in the corner of the room.
Fantst and Baablu tried to chat with one another, though they quickly ran out of topics. Zam on the other hand was eyeing Wemmbu, concern filling his gaze. The other two quickly also realized, and quietly looked Wemmbu over.
(And of course they saw all the bandages. You would have to be blind to not see them. But Wemmbu barely even noticed his ‘friends’ looking at him. His mind was still back in that Void-damned cell in solitary confinement. He was still waiting to see if Loppezzz would come out of nowhere and repeat the whole process. Or if she would continue at nighttime in his regular cell, too.)
“Good to see you out of solitary,” Fantst said, albeit a little awkwardly. That seemed to snap Wemmbu out of whatever stupor he was in. The demonic avian merely hummed in acknowledgement.
“Did they really put you in handcuffs-?” Baablu asked rhetorically.
“It’s like an ‘extra precaution’ or something.” Zam shrugged, “Did it to me too when I got out.”
“Oh yeah- I forgot you were in solitary at one point,” Baablu said. “Actually- what is solitary even like?”
“Boring and hallucination inducing,” Zam hummed.
“Hell?” Wemmbu murmured at the same time with a light shrug. By now he was slightly leaning against his chair, his eyes drawn to the ceiling.
“..Damn,” Baablu said after a few moments. Once again worried eyes were dragged to stare at Wemmbu.
“So like- why do I feel like you two got entirely different treatments when in solitary-?” Fantst queried, one of his fins flicking.
“I mean, I was kinda just.. Left alone the entire time.” Zam shrugged, “Except for the occasional food, but otherwise it was literally just ‘solitary’.”
“What about you, Wemmbu?” Baablu hummed.
“Uh-” Wemmbu started.
He was quickly cut off by Loppezzz, however, “Breakfast is over! Line up!” With that, the four swiftly shut their mouths and got up from. They lined up as if they had done this a million times, and waited quietly.
(Though it didn’t go unnoticed by Zam, Fantst, and Baablu how harshly Wemmbu had flinched at Loppezzz’s voice. Or how his eyes tracked her and how his body stiffened when she got closer to him.)
And then the clip faded out.
A FIVE MINUTE BREAK IS BEING ADMINISTERED
[Five additional minutes is allowed to be added if requested]
“Bro, how long have we even been here,” Flame groaned, his hands over his face in annoyance.
“Too long,” Spoke whistled.
“It’s been like almost an hour, bro,” Parrot muttered.
“Really?” The voidling queried, “Feels longer.”
“And we aren’t even done yet,” Flame hissed in complaint.
Thus began the random chatter, or lack thereof. Flame and Parrot shared a few words, but otherwise it was mostly quiet. Which was interesting. Normally Spoke was the one who ranted about random things, yet he was quiet. Though once Parrot and Flame looked over they realized why.
Spoke was busy trying to give Wemmbu comfort. The demonic avian wasn’t doing very well by this point, especially after watching the whole torture bit. And the two of them both knew what was coming next: When his horn broke. But they also couldn’t do anything about it, really. So, quietly, Spoke just made Wemmbu a small promise.
“If it gets too uncomfortable to let me know or something, alright?” Spoke said softly, “Words or touch work; just do something and I’ll try to help.”
“..Okay,” Wemmbu murmured quietly with a little nod.
It was that moment that Spoke realized just how young and hurt his friend looked. Sure, Wemmbu was only about a year or two younger than Spoke, but right at that moment he looked so small. It was so different from all those years ago when the voidling and demonic avian were little- times that Wemmbu didn’t even have memories of.
“Do we want the extra five minutes?” Parrot asked. Looking, Spoke and Wemmbu noticed how the screen had that same warning and question of the break being over.
“I’m fine with anything,” Flame said. Parrot and Spoke nodded in agreement.
“Skip the five,” Wemmbu sighed, “let’s just get this over with.”
With that settled they all turned their attention to the screen for what was hopefully the last time. Flame had his arms crossed as he leaned against the couch, Parrot sat properly with his hands wrapped around one another, Spoke had his tail gently wrapped around Wemmbu in a comforting manner, and the demonic avian mentioned just glared at the projector with murder in his eyes.
PLAYING SEVENTH CLIP: [Re-Entering Solitary Confinement]
“You went back!?” Parrot squawked.
“It was after my.. Fourth? Escape attempt,” Wemmbu answered hesitantly.
Wemmbu was roughly shoved into a cell in solitary confinement, though a different one from the first one he had stayed in. PrinceZam was put into the one across from him, (Baablu and Fantst were forced into the two that were closer to the door and before Wemmbu’s and Zam’s).
“You two, go help guard Baablu and Fantst,” Loppezzz ordered the two LAW-men that had come with her.
“Uh- aren’t we meant to be guarding Zam and Wemmbu..?” One of them hesitantly asked.
“Do I need to repeat myself?” Loppezzz hissed, whipping her head around to face the LAW-man who had spoken.
“Nope! No, ma’am-” the other LAW-man cut in, dragging LAW-man one with them to do as Loppezzz had told them.
“That’s what I thought,” she muttered, ears slightly down in irritation. Then she turned toward Wemmbu’s cell, opened it and went inside. She drew out her netherite sword and began walking toward the demonic avian.
PLAYING EIGHTH CLIP: [Horn Breaking]
“What-” Parrot started, though he quickly shut up as the clip played over him.
“What, are you going to try your minor torture again?” Wemmbu muttered, his voice a mix of pride and worry.
“Minor?” Loppezzz laughed bitterly, “No, this is your fourth escape attempt, Wemmbu. I’m not going easy this time.”
“What does that mean-?” Wemmbu narrowed his eyes, his tail wrapping around his leg.
Soon enough Loppezzz slashed with her sword, hitting Wemmbu’s arm just before he could fully move out of the way. It looked deeper than what she used to do. It repeated like that for a while, until Wemmbu eventually backed into a corner.
“Loppezzz, wait a second-” Zam shouted.
“This is none of your business, Zam!” Loppezzz hissed, cutting the former ruler off.
“You’re a cell away from me!” Zam shouted back.
Suddenly the lights turned off, to which everyone merely acknowledged with a quick look up. “So do I get a break from being beaten up to sleep, or no?” Wemmbu sassed.
“Shut up, Wemmbu!” Loppezzz growled, her ears pinned in agitation. Pretty soon it was back to the cat hybrid swinging her sword at Wemmbu.
“Okay, okay, I get it!” Wemmbu hissed in pain. By now he was already littered in cuts, long and short, shallow and deep.
Wemmbu’s own breath hitched quietly. He knew what was next. And he really, really, didn’t want to watch it. Almost out of pure instinct he tightly grabbed Spoke’s hand and kept his gaze to the floor, body stiff.
Spoke noticed it immediately. And after a quick look at the screen he quickly hugged Wemmbu and cupped his hands over the demonic avian’s ears. Just on time, too.
Loppezzz’s sword connected with Wemmbu’s left horn, roughly taking the top half of it off. As soon as the sword and horn made contact, Wemmbu had already shrieked. Tears quickly looked to be pooling in his eyes, and everyone covered their ears.
“Holy shit!” Flame hissed, his own lion-like ears pinning against his head as he heard the scream through the screen and Parrot himself also covered his ears. Though Spoke had just tuned it out (seeing how he had already heard it, besides, he was covering Wemmbu’s ears and making sure the demonic avian was okay).
The clip had already ended by that point. Yet before anyone could say anything the screen lit up again.
PLAYING NINTH [Final] CLIP: [Escaping Prison]
Wemmbu was on the ground, choking on his own sobs. Loppezzz quickly left and ran down the hallways. “Wemmbu! Wemmbu are you okay!?” Zam called, fear and worry thick in his voice.
The demonic avian didn’t respond, instead crumbling into himself further. His horn was lightly bleeding pitch black blood, the same liquid slowly pooling around the part of his horn that lay on the floor. The sound of an enderpearl was quietly heard, though there was no enderpearl in sight.
SpokeIsHere appeared, a few small purple particles floating away from him. His eyes widened whence he got a proper look at Wemmbu.
“Spoke?” Parrot raised a brow.
“I said I got him out earlier.” Spoke snickered, “Guess they’re showing it.”
Quickly the voidling approached and kneeled next to Wemmbu, looking him over. “Void-” Spoke whispered worriedly, “you’ll be fine, I’m getting you out of here.”
After a few moments of reassurance, Wemmbu finally calmed down a little. He still had a dazed look in his eyes, and his body moved slowly from the pain. But eventually Spoke managed to get Wemmbu, Zam, Fantst, and Baablu out of their cells.
With that they went down halls, fighting with LAW-men that got in the way. Wemmbu, despite still appearing to be in that stupor, was able to take out basically anyone that got in his way.
Once they were outside the prison, they all rushed into the city. They ended up split up, though the screen and clip followed Wemmbu, as the demonic avian made his way to the edges of the LAW’s city. He used wind charges to launch himself up and over the stone walls.
As soon as he landed, saving himself with a water bucket, he began running.
And that’s when the final clip ended.
It was tensely quiet for a long time.
Wemmbu was still leaning into Spoke’s embrace, as the voidling was still hugging him. In all honesty, Wemmbu was tired. But he was glad that it was finally over, at least. Spoke was just hoping they could leave soon, that way he could maybe send a message to Egg or Minute so they could make sure Wemmbu would be okay whence they all left.
Parrot was just replaying everything that happened in his mind, going over and picking out what was most important. Flame’s mind was practically blank by now, except for the occasional thought and want of murdering Loppezzz and LettuceK. His tail twitched and his ears flicked sometimes, mostly out of a need to move rather than stay completely still.
YOU ARE NOW DISMISSED
TRANSPORTING EVERYONE BACK TO THEIR PREVIOUS LOCATIONS
And without any other words, everyone disappeared from the room and reappeared to where they were before being brought to that stupid room.
Flame was back on the path that he was taking to get back to his base.
Parrot was back in his room, where he and Theo had been previously talking.
Spoke was back to.. Whatever he had been doing before- he couldn’t really remember after everything that had happened.
Wemmbu was back standing on the path that winded weirdly, though his mind wasn’t really on buying froglights anymore.
And with that, everything appeared to go back to normal. Yet it wasn’t. Three people now had more insight into a fourth person, insight that they hadn’t expected or planned to get, and for the most part didn’t really want to know. Flame, Parrot, and Spoke would have to watch out for Wemmbu more now, to make sure nothing else bad happened to him.