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"What even is the plan here, Parrot?" Wemmbu whined, incredibly bored.
The newly formed group of the three brothers, Parrot and Spoke had been wandering around an oak forest for about two hours, following the avians lead. Honestly, it was a miracle that Wemmbu had lasted so long before complaining.
Parrot groaned, "Why did you even come along? We only need Mane and Flame!"
Wemmbu hissed, "I can fight too, asshole!"
Mane sighed and placed a hand soothingly on his youngest brothers head, "Calm down. Wemmbu can defend himself and if things get out of hand, me and Flame will be there anyway."
Wemmbu huffed but refrained from complaining again, "You still haven't told us what your plan is! If we're doing this, we need to know what's coming!"
Parrot sighed, "I'm honestly hoping it'll be as easy as just killing Ashswag."
"So your entire plan it to just throw us at this guy and hope we kill him?!" Flame hissed, stopping in place.
Parrot groaned, "I don't know! This is all sudden, I haven't had any time to think this over!"
"If we can get a lucky shot on Ash," Spoke called out from where he stopped ahead, "this couls all be over quickly."
Wemmbu froze as his tail twitched. A low hiss started in his throat as his narrowed eyes darted around the trees. Flame and Mane snapped their own gazes over to their brother at the sound.
"We're surrounded!" Wemmbu growled, pulling Gambit out of his inventory.
A slow clapping sound was heard from behind the group, causing Mane and Flame to pull out their own weapons, "Well, well, well! I should have expected that we'd be caught by you of all people!"
A man with dark hair stepped out of the trees. Half his face was covered by some sort of glitched distortion while his uncovered eye squinted in joy at the group. The suited man seemed to be entertained.
"Ash-!" Spoke started, only to be cut off by a confused Wemmbu.
"Aren't you a librarian?"
Ash's face twitched, "How the hell do you still remember that?!"
"Oh my god," Flame wheezed, "the big bad mafia leader is a librarian!"
Spoke and Parrot stared at the duo in horror as Mane sighed.
The glitch covering Ash's face started to violently stutter and spread, "That's enough!"
All around them invisible players in netherite armor appeared, keeping the group trapped together. Ash smirked as the duo stopped laughing.
"I'm going to be honest," Ash stalked slowly towards the group, "I had sent out multiple men to find you."
Wemmbu hissed at the stare he was receiving as Mane and Flame crowded their brother closer to Parrot and Spoke.
"What do you want with our brother?!" Mane growled lowly, a sound he never really made anymore.
Ash laughed, "If you join me, Wemmbu, I'll have complete control over the End. Meaning I'd also have control over the elytras."
Wemmbu wheezed as the rest looked confused. Why would Wemmbu give him access to the End? Why would Wemmbu even hold access to the End?
"Okay, buddy," Wemmbu wiped a fake tear from his eye, "why would I joined your little group? When there's nothing in it for me?"
"It's not like I want to hurt you!" Ash bargained, his smile never leaving his face, "I'd even be happy for your brothers to join as well! Bring the whole family in!"
"I'm still not seeing how this is worth giving you access to my domain." Wemmbu wasn't smiling now.
Mane was shocked at his youngest brothers tone. The cold voice was something he had never heard from Wemmbu before and the lion had no idea why he was calling the End his domain.
"You don't even have to join!" Ash added, "Just grant my people access and tell that guardian of yours to stop killing my men, and then I'll leave you and your entire family alone!"
Wemmbu's laugh held no amusement as he pushed his brothers aside to stand at the front, ignoring their twins hissing, "Listen, I don't know who you got your information from, but you're not getting access to the End. I suggest you give up on those useless ideas and walk away."
Ash grinned, "I had a feeling you'd say that, dragon."
The surrounding players moved at once, some aiming to distract the group and others aiming to detain Wemmbu himself. Weapons flew as both sides attacked, the sounds of metal on metal ringing and blood splashing against the forest floor. Mane and Flame stuck themselves close to their brother, not caring about the other two players that were on their side. Their priority was - as it always had been - Wemmbu's safety.
Wemmbu was getting agitated at the surrounding players. There were too many trees to use Gambit efficiently and Crucible was having a hard time avoiding clashing with his overprotective brothers. There were just too many people around him to think clearly.
Wemmbu needed to thin the herd a little bit.
The sound of something breaking was quiet, almost completely drowned out by the fighting happening around them. What wasn't quiet was the TNT exploding right in front of Wemmbu, shooting a hole in the earth right down to bedrock, multiple players losing their lives in the explosion and fall afterwards.
Mane felt his life flash before his eyes. Not because he was in danger, but because he had flashbacks to when Wemmbu first disappeared over a year ago. In a TNT explosion.
Had he lost his brother again?
But a familiar cackle rang out and Mane felt the tightness in his chest ease. There stood his brother, purple hair swaying in the wind as he stood gleefully in the aftermath of the chaos. His arms spread out as his wings flapped in joy, basking in the fading warmth of destruction.
"Want another one, Ashswag?!" Wemmbu screamed, pure chaotic glee on his face.
Ash glared at the dragon, finally realizing this was a battle he wasn't prepared for, before ordering his men to retreat. Before fully backing away into the shadows, Ash turned back to Wemmbu once more.
"I'll get access to the End one way or another," he warned, "whether you come with me willingly or not."
Wemmbu hissed but his grin stayed on his face, "I'd like to see you try, librarian."
Wemmbu waited until he couldn't sense anymore players around them before relaxing, letting out a sigh of relief. Only to be pulled into a tight and protective hold, one he was awfully familiar with and knew he was in trouble.
Knowing what was coming (being made to explain everything that he had been keeping hidden for years) and wanting to test his luck, he turned his face to stare up at the lion holding him with the most innocent look he could conjure up, "Wow, big brother, that was a crazy fight. I wonder why he wanted us to join so bad?"
Obviously, his sweet look was not going to work this time, as Mane just growled and hauled him up before turning back towards the group and placing him in the center with no escape. Flame crossed his arms after removing his blindfold, glaring daggers at his little brother still being held by their older brother.
"No more avoiding the conversation." Flame stated sternly, "You need to tell us everything."
Wemmbu frowned and looked off to the side in thought. He didn't want to tell them everything. There were so many things that he kept secret when they were all living at home and he really didn't want to have another argument. But Flame was right, Wemmbu couldn't keep hiding secrets from his brothers, especially with the mafia now openly targeting him for access to the End.
Spoke and Parrot felt very awkward right now.
Wemmbu glared at the duo, causing them to jump, "Go away. We'll contact you later."
Parrot wanted to stay and argue but Spoke was not about to risk getting orbital striked right now and pulled his friend away in a hurry.
Wemmbu sighed as they were now alone and turned to his brothers, "Okay, I'll tell you everything."
In the warmth of the dark castle, a clown laughed as one of his men relayed the events of the forest. The white hair man standing next to his throne frowned slightly, his scaled wings twitching in irritation, not at all liking his partners schemes.
The clown coughed to hide his chuckles, sensing his partners uncharacteristic glare from his side.
Clown waved his spy away, "Go. Keep an eye on the situation."
Branzy growled at the clown, his tail swaying in irritation, "What do you think you are doing, Clownpierce?"
Oh no, the full government name.
"What do you mean, Branzycraft?" he pulled his mask off to reveal his demonic face.
Branzy had long since grown used to the mans horrifying features and continued to glare at him, unbothered by the gaze, "Why did you tell Ashswag about Wemmbu?"
Clown frowned, "For fun."
"You put the Ender Dragon in danger because you wanted some fun?!"
Clown never liked it when Branzy was mad at him so he tried to smooth things over, "It's just a little fun, Branzy. It's not like Ash can actually do anything to the dragon."
"Wemmbu," Branzy hissed, his horns shining in the Nether light, "is still a child. It doesn't matter if it's the same soul of an older dragon. If anything happens to that kid, I expect you to help him."
Clown watched his partner stalk off with a sigh. He couldn't understand Branzy's protectiveness over the young dragon. It was weak and would be easy to defeat and take over the End. Any Ender Dragon could hold authority over the End, so long as there was no competition.
But even over a year ago, when Clown had sent those pillagers to the small village north of a certain treehouse to get rid of the competition, Branzy still refused to take over the End. Clown just couldn't understand it.
After all, Branzy was an Ender Dragon too.