Chapter Text
“Okay, Gavin, I’ll admit it, this place is really fuckin’ cool.” Michael said cheerfully, hopping out of the Nether portal and into “Dark Achievement City”, diamond sword at the ready. Gavin chuckled as he clambered out after him and quickly scanned the air for any approaching mobs.
“Thanks for finally reacting to our hours of work one whole week after the reveal, Michael.” Gavin quipped, kicking at a crumbled bit of netherrack at his feet. Michael rounded on him with a fierce glare.
“Hey, take the fucking compliment, asshole.” He growled, smacking Gavin in the shoulder. The Brit yelped, laughing as he jumped back out of range of Michael’s next attack.
“When you two are done flirting…” Ray’s voice interrupted as he, too, appeared in the portal, dusting some purple residue from his clothes. “I can hear you both from the other side of this thing. Your old-married-couple bickering transcends dimensions. Congratulations.” He grinned. Michael rolled his eyes and held up his middle finger in Ray’s general direction before turning back to Gavin.
“So, Gavin, remind me why we’re here again? Cool as this place is, it’s crawling with Ghasts, Blazes, Pigmen, fire, and lots of other painful things I’d rather not deal with right now.”
“W-Well… there wasn’t a specific goal, really? Just thought we could, you know, have a look around or something…?” Gavin said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Michael groaned in response and Ray grimaced.
“Again with the pointless exploring, Gavin? Do you remember what happened last time, when your little attempt at adventuring ended up with Ryan stranded on top of a very tall tree with nothing but a cake and an iron block, and Edgar’s snout stuck in Geoff’s…”
“I remember, I remember! We do not need to bring that up again, Ray!” Gavin quickly cut Ray short mid-recall, shuddering. Michael laughed and nudged Gavin with his elbow.
“Fine, as long as no cow snouts end up anywhere near me, I’m okay with a little exploring. Team Nice Dynamite, right?” he said with a grin, holding up a fist. Gavin enthusiastically bumped his fist to Michael’s, smiling just as wide.
“Team Nice Dynamite!”
“Ugh, I think I just threw up a little you guys.” Ray said, rolling his eyes and leaning against the obsidian of the portal, and was met with a pout and a glare from Gavin and Michael respectively. “Fine, I’m in too, don’t look at me like that! We’re Team Lads or whatever.” Ray held up his hands defensively. “One question though: didn’t you and Geoff build this place? What’s left to explore? I mean, you’ve probably seen enough of this fucking area to last you a lifetime…”
Gavin shuffled uneasily at the question.
“Th-There’s no harm in doing another comb-over, right? Things we might have… missed?”
“… Gavin, you are a shit liar, and Ray just hit the nail on the head.” Michael said flatly, crossing his arms. “Spill, dude.” Gavin sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his recently-cut hair.
“Okay, fine. Don’t tell Geoff I told you this, but… we didn’t actually build this place.”
“… What?”
“I’m serious! We just… we just found it here. A whole replica of Achievement City, but just a bit off, you know? Well, a lot off, actually, as you can see.” Gavin waved a hand around, indicating the dilapidated, dark, foreboding state of the buildings that surrounded them. “Geoff wouldn’t let me poke around in here, said it would be better not to mess with it too much. I think he was scared or something.”
“So you brought us here because you want to do some digging and figure out what the hell this place is?” Michael said, sounding more than a bit interested. Gavin looked up with a smirk on his face and a gleam in his eye.
“Exactly.”
“Well then. Color me intrigued, let’s take a look around.” Ray called, clapping his hands together in anticipation.
An hour or so later, however, Team Lads’ enthusiasm was significantly lowered.
“This whole place is empty, Gavin. Unless you count the fucking mobs.” Michael sulked, finishing off a Ghast, who’d moved too close to the city for his taste, with an arrow.
“I don’t understand how this could happen!” Gavin groaned, sitting cross-legged on the ground and wearing a deeply worried expression. “How could a whole bloody replica of Achievement City just be here and be completely hollow?!”
“Well, not completely, guys.” Ray smiled, pointing at the signposts. “There’s some seriously screwed up messages on the signs lying around in here.”
“Yeah, but something’s still a bit off to me! I can’t explain it, but I think… Hold a tic, is that Ghost Ray over there?!” Gavin exclaimed, pointing across the square at a figure emerging from Jack’s house. At the noise, they turned slightly and dropped what they were carrying, hurriedly floating close enough to the trio for them to discern that they were, in fact, dealing with their blank-eyed doppelganger friend, who was looking quite solid for some reason as opposed to his usual translucence.
“Aw, hey buddy! It’s been a while! What’re you doing in the Nether?” Ray said cheerfully, raising a hand in greeting. Ghost Ray looked at his hand, then at him, and a look of sheer panic stole over his face. “Uh, buddy? What’s wrong?”
“How did you get here? You can’t be here!” Ghost Ray shouted. All three boys gaped at him in unison.
“Ghost Ray, you can fucking talk?! Why the fuck haven’t you said anything for all this…” Michael questioned, but he was cut off by a continuing stream of words from Ghost Ray.
“I don’t have time to explain! However you got here, you need to go back, now, or they’ll find you! I can’t protect you if that happens!” Ghost Ray pulled another amazing stunt when he pushed Gavin into Michael, who bumped into Ray, and in a domino effect all three of them were headed toward the Nether portal.
“You can touch us too?!” Gavin squawked in disbelief.
“What? Man, wait, you aren’t making any sense. Who are you trying to protect us from? There’s nothing in here but the usual mobs…” Ray pointed out, stopping himself from entering the portal and halting the team from tumbling face-first into it.
“There’s no time, you don’t understand, you need to leave now before…!”
“Before what, Ray-Ray?” a familiar voice called out from somewhere nearby. The lads looked around for the source of the voice, and Ghost Ray seemed to grow paler at the sound, stepping in front of the lads and faking a smile.
“I… I was just seeing these guys out of Achievement City! We don’t want any trespassers on the grounds, do we?” he laughed uneasily.
“Hmmm… no we don’t, Ray-Ray. But these aren’t ordinary trespassers, now are they?” the voice snickered. There was still no visible source
“Uh… th-that’s…” Ghost Ray stuttered.
“Y’know, I think Geoff would be miiiighty angry if he found out you were trying to protect these particular trespassers. But… you aren’t stupid enough to do that, are you Ray?”
“I… I uh… no, I was just…” Ghost Ray seemed to be struggling for an excuse, and in the meantime his eyes kept shifting over to Ray, silently pleading with him to make his way back to the portal. Ray took a couple shuffling steps backward as the voice continued, tugging on Gavin’s sleeve to get him to do the same.
“Of course not. So why don’t you be a good boy and step away from the portal with your little trespassing friends, hmm?”
Michael finally decided he’d had enough of being confused and stepped forward, though Gavin tried to grab his arm and pull him back, quietly hissing “Michael, don’t” as he did so.
“Hey, asshole, if you’re going to be accusing us of shit why don’t you show us your fucking face?” he snapped. There was a chuckle and an icy draft, when suddenly Michael was face to face with…
His own face.
Like Ghost Ray, his eyes were blank, his skin paler, his features and clothing darker, but there was no mistake.
Michael was looking at himself.
“You use some really bad words, ‘Michael’. It’s not very attractive.” Other Michael tutted, a pout decorating his face. “And it’s also rude. You come into our city and you start insulting us immediately? If I did something like that on your side, Geoff would punish me.”
“… What the fuck are you talking about? Who the hell are you?!” Michael managed, blanching as he stared. Other Michael smiled wide, but it failed to comfort anyone present.
“I’m you, silly.” He chirped, clamping a hand down on Michael’s shoulder. It felt cold, way too cold, like a clammy, dead thing, and it made Michael shiver. “Or, you know, a better you.”
“Better? What part of your whole sickly sweet axe murderer act is better than me, asshole?” Michael snapped, against his better judgment. The grip on his shoulder tightened astronomically, and he yelped more in surprise than pain.
“You. Are. So. Very. Rude. Michael.” Other Michael said through grit teeth. “You’re going to make me angry. Ray-Ray here can tell you how bad it is when I get angry.” Ghost Ray was trembling, looking between the two with a look of dread on his face.
“Please don’t hurt him!” Ghost Ray pleaded, but he was ignored as Other Michael drew closer to his captive other self.
“Listen here, ‘Michael’. I’m better than you because I’m stronger than you. I’m faster than you. I’m smarter than you. I have certain… powers… that you don’t have.” Other Michael snarled, friendly pretense gone. “And I don’t have your dirty mouth or your bad attitude. I think it’s safe to say I’m the better model.”
“F-Fuck you!” Michael yelled, swatting away Other Michael’s hand and brandishing his diamond sword in his face. Other Michael giggled darkly and tilted his head to the side, running a fingertip down the sharp edge of the sword.
“Oh I’m sooo scared. Little Michael Jones is going to totally mess me up. Except he won’t. Because he’s a coward, and we both know it.”
“You don’t know shit about me, you stupid fuck!” Michael growled, bringing the sword tip closer to Other Michael’s face.
“Michael, that’s enough! He’s trying to provoke you, you idiot!” Gavin shouted from behind him, causing Michael’s head to clear of the haze his rage had built up. He looked back at Gavin, who was glaring at him indignantly, and smiled weakly.
“Y-Yeah… yeah, you’re right, Gavin, I should…”
“Oooh, hi ‘Gavin’.” Other Michael interrupted, waggling his fingers at the British boy before turning back to Michael and whispering. “Cute little lovestruck look you’re giving your boy there, Michael. Have you screwed him yet? If not, I might just take advantage of having your face…”
“Shut the fuck up!” Michael snarled, all his anger coming back in a sharp burst as he swiped his sword across Other Michael’s neck. The copy didn’t even flinch, and rather than blood, a thick, billowing black smoke began leaking from the open wound.
“Oh, fuck.” Ghost Ray shouted, grabbing Michael’s arm and pulling him away as the smoke continued pouring out from Other Michael’s neck. The doppelganger, for his part, was wearing the creepiest fucking grin Michael had ever seen in his life. “Don’t touch the smoke, get in the portal, go!” Ghost Ray pushed a dumbfounded Michael toward the Nether portal, where Gavin and Ray were already about to jump in.
“What the fuck is that?!” Michael finally managed, and Ghost Ray gave him an exasperated look.
“Does it really look like I have the time to explain right now Michael? Just go!” Ghost Ray gave him a final push towards the portal, and Michael was immediately pulled in by Gavin and Ray.
“God, why does this thing have to be so fucking slow?!” Ray snapped, kicking the obsidian block immediately to his right as though it would speed up the process of trans-dimensional travel.
“Why the hell would you do that, you sausage!? That was the dumbest stunt I have ever seen you pull!” Gavin yelled at Michael, bow at the ready as the air around them started to ripple.
“Not important, okay Gav? Let’s just get the fuck out…” Michael felt a sudden chill to his right and snapped his head around to see a tendril of black smoke had entered the portal space, and was aiming right for him.
And it would have hit him too, if Gavin hadn’t thrown himself in front of it in that split second.
Michael watched in shock as the thing wrapped itself around Gavin’s neck and dragged him, kicking and screaming, out of the portal’s range.
“MICHAEL!” Gavin choked out, struggling against the binding at his neck and reaching out toward him.
“Shit, GAVIN!” Michael reached for Gavin’s outstretched hand but just barely missed as he was dragged further away by the black smoke that was materializing into an ashen hand. Michael tried to step out of the portal and go after him, but the pull was already too strong and he couldn’t move.
So he could only watch as his own face once again appeared in front of him, Other Michael’s hand grasping Gavin’s throat and the other, still materializing, holding his arms together behind his back.
“You’ll be back, Michael. I’ve got your boy.” Other Michael cackled, grinning maniacally. “See you soon!”
And the next thing Michael knew, he was tumbling headfirst onto the green lawn of Achievement City. He lay there for a moment in shock, before getting back up and turning to throw himself back into the Nether Portal. Arms came up from behind and restrained him, holding him back from his purpose.
“Ray what the FUCK, let me go! I need to get back over there!” Michael began to struggle against Ray’s hold, but Ray was having none of it.
“Michael, you can’t go back in there! We don’t know what the fuck that thing is, we don’t know what it could do to us…!” Ray grunted, keeping his hold firm. Michael began thrashing, trying his damnedest to get away from him.
“I don’t fucking CARE, Ray, Gavin is… Gavin is… he…” the reality of what just happened hit Michael in a tidal wave, and his knees gave out, causing him to go limp in Ray’s hold and sink to the ground. “F-Fuck…”
“… Michael…” Ray said softly, letting go and kneeling down beside him.
“FUCK!” Michael screamed, covering his eyes for a moment and shaking his head violently. “Wh-Why hasn’t he come through yet? He fought that bastard off, right? Why isn’t he on our side yet?! He should be here by now!”
“Michael, I don’t think Gavin is gonna be coming back on his own …” Ray suggested quietly.
Michael felt numb. He stared at the portal in disbelief, digging his nails into the ground at his knees.
“Bullshit… that can’t happen, Gavin’s gotta…”
“Michael, Gav’s been captured, okay? There was nothing we could do, and it happened. I need you to get that in your head, okay? It happened. Past tense. It’s done.” Ray said in a clipped voice, leveling Michael with a sobering glare. Michael looked up at him with a blank stare, as though he were half asleep.
“…Okay. Okay yeah, Gavin… Gavin was captured. I understand.” Michael took a deep breath, exhaling shakily and trying to calm himself down.
“… Good.” Ray sighed and grabbed Michael’s arm, pulling him to his feet and dragging him away from the portal. “C’mon, man, pull yourself together. We can’t come up with a plan to save Gavin if you go all catatonic on me.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going to tell Geoff, Jack, and Ryan what we know, and decide what the fuck to do. We’re getting Gavin back. No matter what.”