Chapter Text
Thunder flashed against the midnight blue sky as the sirens crashed onto the ground. Crimson splattered onto the grass, the sirens wailing in response as he lifted his sword for the last strike. The starry night had no idea what was going on under it, a symphony of voices merged together.
These voices would soon turn out to be screams, ones that would not be heard and not prove them innocent.
Sharp stones scraped their scales, revealing blotchy flesh underneath. They scrambled at this sensation, pain coursing through their body.
But it was worth it in the end, wasn’t it? All that work amounted to nothing but death and suffering.
They were dead either way.
Tails and wings flapped and slid around constantly until they didn’t.
The man smudged blood off his cheek as he huffed loudly, heads rolling onto his shoes.
He kicks it and prepares to leave, unaware that they will be back to torture the world again, only this time, in a different form.
The crowds of war filled his ears as he could hear the death, all of the death. Parrot ran across the patch of grass, scrapes all across his body as he held out his totem, swinging his sword as he ran.
The stars of the night shone through, the same way the shine of his diamond sword reflected on the grass as he rushed.
“Yo, Wemmbu, Wemmbu, focus Parrot now”.
He ran faster at those words. He wasn’t going to die here–no–he still had a purpose; he wasn’t going to die and risk the lives of so many players.
Parrot turned around, checking if Theo and Reina were there, thankfully they were. Sweat rolled down his face, wings fluttering as adrenaline pumped through his veins.
Why was Wemmbu here? And why is he fighting them?
Theo had mentioned Arachn1d earlier, which was not completely random, considering the guy wanted to be king too–But what the hell is happening here??
“Uh, you’re not Parrot,” Wemmbu said near him, fear coursing through him. A few hits with his mace and it’s over.
The sound of fireworks filled his ears as he looked up at the sky, stars shining bright as he lifted up his shield for a few moments before deciding to flee again as groups of players walked past him.
Theo walked across. “Guys, we need-we need cover!”
Parrot watched as the mace hit Theo right in front of him, smashing the dirt into a crater as green particles sparkled. Theo had popped, but was still alive, thank god.
Shoot. They need to make their way into the water, or else they're done for.
He scrambled onto the grass hill leading to the ocean. There was no way they could win this fight.
His foot had tripped a bit, but that was ok. As long as they could make it safely into the water, they would be fine.
He was surely going to survive. There was so much that he still needed to do. He was going to survive. He’s been through so much.
He was going to survive. ParrotX2 was going to survive.
Parrot’s eyes widened as he looked above him; a shining mace was about to crush him. He had no totems left. He was going to die.
He had no idea why Wemmbu was doing this. He didn’t want to know either; after all, he was going to die.
He is going to die.
The mace neared Parrot as he tried to run, but there was no more time. All he could do was try to protect himself. Parrot shielded himself with his wings, bracing himself.
The mace impacted him as it crushed his skull, the crunch terrifying.
Was all this gore really from him? The wails of his friends were heard, close, but distant.
Snow particles floated in his vision as his life flashed before his eyes. He’d gone a long way, and it still had to be cut short.
“Parrot, I am the Director,” Wifies said, the bucket dropping onto the ground as Parrot stared in disbelief. After all this time, the Director was Wifies. The same one that tortured him, that killed his friends. It was all just Wifies. His best friend. Someone whom he used to call his best friend. The same Wifies that had sacrificed themselves for Parrot.
“It’s all yours.” The spyglass dropped onto the pressure plate, emitting a click as Parrot walked towards the stairs.
“Spoke, look at you, bro,” Parrot uttered. Spoke had done all this, for what? Power? Fun? Had he destroyed their friendship over fun? The others froze behind them as Spoke looked at Parrot, white glowing eyes staring at him, full of guilt. Parrot scowled. He deserved every last drop of it.
“Well, cuz you’re my last hope, bro.” Snow crinkled at his boots as he smiled. Wemmbu’s purple hair flowed as he turned to look back at Parrot, ice under his feet.
“D’alright…”
Parrot had failed. He had failed as the king. He had failed as someone who wanted to protect his nation. He had not only failed at that. He had failed as a friend.
He clenched the already crumbled paper around his hands as he balled it into a fist, the crinkle of it making sweat droplets roll down his face.
The noise of pens clicking was prominent in the room, and everyone was tense. He looked downwards towards the paper. Random jumbled stuff he couldn’t have understood even if he tried studying for the exam.
His pale purple hand slowly unraveled to reveal the small paper as his breathing intensified. Nice job in making yourself look more suspicious.
He slowly looked at it, analyzing everything that he could have put in that paper the night before.
Wemmbu dragged his pen as he started to write down the details the note had said. It was hard to read, sure, but it was effective, and that alone was enough.
He squinted his eyes, struggling to read the paper as he sensed a student next to him staring at him. Wemmbu returned it, looking at her back with a look that screamed out, “What are you looking at?”
It was Squiddo, his lab partner and friend, who would definitely not snitch if she didn’t want to be violently killed by the next period. She slightly jumped when he looked and went back to focusing on her exam.
Good. Snitches get stitches, y’know?
Wemmbu continued to write down the answers from the cheat note. His blue eyes darted around, cautious of anything that could get him in trouble.
The clock continued to tick as he heard more students get frustrated. They could never be him, after all, they weren’t smart enough to actually think about cheating and executing it perfectly like he is at the moment.
Ten minutes left, and his paper is almost filled to the brim with the right answers; he’s going to ace this thing!
He opens up his hand again, preparing to read it. But it turns out, writing a cheat sheet with a pencil isn’t exactly effective.
Well, he didn’t really have anything else to write on that night; most of his pens disappeared with the wind, nobody knows what happened to them (other than Wemmbu, of course).
His sense of dread goes up to a height of doom as he looks at it closer. Sweat drops onto the table as he nearly shreds the paper into a million different pieces from frustration.
Wemmbu catches the information, although a bit incomprehensible, he’s able to read it. He starts to write again, looking back at the paper.
For a split second, he feels as if something had brushed his hand. It was probably nothing.
Until he realized the paper was gone from his hand. What. the. Hell.
He scrambles to find it, searching for it until realizing it’s on the fucking wall.
A pen is holding it onto the wall, slowly moving until it finally stops. Wemmbu gulped instinctively as he looked back at his hand. The pen must have gone through the open space between his fingers.
Wemmbu looks at his purple hands as if they had betrayed him, before he turns his head to look at the teacher.
Students look at the crumbled paper in fear as they all turn to stare at Wemmbu, so synchronized it’s funny.
But Wemmbu must not laugh, after all, the teacher is slowly walking towards the paper. Menacingly.
The painstakingly slow footsteps echo through the room as Wemmbu stiffens. “Uh-that’s..”
The teacher grabs the paper before Wemmbu can continue. He sees the teacher read it as his gaze darkens.
He’s so cooked.
Before Wemmbu can even start to explain, the teacher turns his head to face him so quickly that he gets startled.
“Wemmbu,” the teacher said in a calm, yet unsettling voice.
Wemmbu slowly nods; he knows what’s coming to him.
“Meet me after class”.
Fuck his stupid chungus life.
He can feel other students staring at him before going back to doing their exam as he groans in annoyance. Why does this always happen to him?
Wemmbu slams his face against the table.
“Detention.”
Wemmbu feels like dying.
“One week, which I think fits perfectly next to your 3-week detention.” Professor Clownpierce says while opening a drawer to grab a pink slip.
Why does this always happen to him? Why can’t he just be a natural cheater like that Spoke kid? Why does he always get found out?
Curse his horrible luck.
Wemmbu glares at Clownpierce with rage as he grits his teeth.
“You can’t do this! My schedule is packed this week!
Clownpierce sighs calmly, which Wemmbu finds very disturbing.
“Who’s the teacher here again?”
This bastard. Hitting Wemmbu with the ‘who’s the boss here’ line. That is foul, absolutely foul of him to say. Clown already knows that Wemmbu has gotten hit with a 3-week detention; how could he add to it just because of a minor cheat paper?
Wemmbu snatches the slip in anger as he grabs his backpack, muttering insults on his way out.
He ends up running out the door into the bustling crowd of students; he could just hear the constant squeals about the upcoming music competition.
Apparently, the school is hosting some kind of audition, and many students are being annoying about it. But Wemmbu can get the excitement, music is pretty popular in the school.
He’s definitely not joining, though; not only does he not have a group of people, but he can barely play any instruments without sounding horrible.
And besides, there’s barely enough time to practice anything with his three-week detention. Sitting there and doing nothing isn’t really going to help his musical talents.
Music isn’t really his thing anyway. Wemmbu walks towards the lockers, his shoulders bumping into another person, somewhat taller than him. He suddenly has the urge to harl at them, but suppresses it. He must not add to his punishment. He must not.
Blue lockers lined up; some of them looked damaged. Thankfully, those lockers aren’t Wemmbu’s. The locker next to his banged with rage, ear-piercing screams coming out of it.
“HELP ME-SOMEONE PLEASE, GET ME OUT OF HERE!”
The wails continued as Wemmbu made his way to his locker, sighing in frustration from the recent events. Detention is so useless.
He opens his locker, a jumbled up mess of books and random shit he put inside of it comes into view. Suddenly, a familiar voice pops up.
“Hey, bro,” Eggchan, his best friend, says as he leans on the locker next to him.
Wemmbu gives him a distasteful look. “Bro, can you believe what just happened?”
He sees Egg tilt his head curiously, and Wemmbu shoves the pink slip towards Eggchan.
He scrambles to find his books as Egg scans the slip, his eyes scrunching.
“Bro.”
“You have detention–AGAIN.”
Wemmbu rolls his eyes. “Yep, Professor Smartass strikes again with his stupid pink slips”.
Eggchan stares at him. “Bro, you're gonna fail the grade.”
Wemmbu sorts out his locker; he really needs to start cleaning it. Finding one book could take him mere seconds if it were lined up perfectly.
“Listen, Egg-”
“Wemmbu, is that you? PLEASE HELP ME, PLEASE, I’LL DO ANYTHING!” Dents started forming on the locker as the noises got louder.
“-A few weeks in detention isn’t much, I’ll just wait it out like I always do.”
He finally spots his textbook, grabbing it swiftly into his hands. Purple curls shining as they near his face, he simply puts them under his ear.
Many people have called him ‘beautiful’ or ‘pretty,’ though he would prefer the word ‘handsome. But all are compliments nonetheless, and Wemmbu couldn't care less about his appearance anyway.
“Bro, how about your-”
“OH MY GOD, STOP IGNORING ME–LET ME OUT OF THIS FUCKING LOCKER!”
“-grades?”
Wemmbu stepped back from his locker. Eggchan was a smart student, a normal student. Er… kind of. It’s like comparing a fast snail to a school of snails.
“You failed 10 exams in 3 months!”
Wemmbu looks in a different direction, waving his hand. “I’ll just catch up by the end of the semester. Not a big problem.”
More agitated bangs come out of the locker before a slight stop, probably to catch her breath. That poor locker.
“Bro,” Eggchan mutters before looking Wemmbu straight in the eyes, the background still full of horrible huffing noises and sobs.
“You told me the same thing–LAST semester.”
Did he?
“No?” Wemmbu remarks, slamming the locker while carrying his books with one hand.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, man,” he says while walking past the demonic locker that no one dares to touch as it violently snarls.
Eggchan cautiously passes it. “Is bro dumb or what?”
He takes his phone from his pocket, not very aggressively tapping at it as screens change. Wemmbu watches curiously, his head tilting.
Suddenly, Eggchan shoves the phone at Wemmbu’s face.
His own voice flows into his ears, “I’ll just catch up by the end of the semester-”
Wemmbu grabs the phone quickly, pausing the recording and hitting the delete button. How did Egg make him agree to this last semester?
“Doesn’t change anything,” he says, passing the phone back to Eggchan, who looks like he sort of expected this to happen. Before any of them could make a sound, a large noise came from behind them.
A certain red pangolin stood there beside the locker, which was wide open. How could this guy be so unnerved by the dangerous feral creature he had let out?
Under him is a person who fell on her face, strands of hair everywhere. Her red coat was full of scratches, though her crown was still intact because of the noticeable bobby pins sticking out. Her legs twitched as she pulled down her plaid skirt. The first thing that popped into everyone’s mind was: what have you done Pangi.
Zam lifted her face; her eyes were full of rage as mascara ran down, looking like she was about to murder someone. Mapicc better lock his doors and board up his windows at night.
Wemmbu and Eggchan looked at each other, as if their brains were synced.
They'd better get out of there.
His long ponytail swung as he scrambled to class, Eggchan following behind.
Wemmbu’s gold tiara shone as the bell rang, grabbing his backpack as he waited to get out of the classroom.
The moment Wemmbu left the class, he let out a breathy sigh. Why does life always make him stay in a cramped room with people he hates and do pointless things?
He spots Egg, and they decide to walk for a bit before detention.
Wemmbu yawned. There were about 5 minutes left, and there wasn’t exactly anything to do. Maybe he could try escaping, but that would only add to his punishment.
Suddenly, he spots it. The jackpot. The golden prize. The best thing he could’ve seen in the world.
Eggchan continued to ramble on about his experience with fishing in the summer while Wemmbu rushed over towards the vending machine, excited as hell.
“So then, me and Codmaster decided it would've been better to–Bro, where are you going?” Eggchan heads towards Wemmbu’s direction and spots it too.
A bag of chips was stuck in the vending machine.
“Bro, we just hit the jackpot,” Egg says as they start thinking about ways to get it.
Wemmbu dips his hand into the slot, his hands straining as he struggles to get it. “No luck here,” he says as he gives up.
Eggchan stands there thinking about how they could get it, as Wemmbu decides to try another method.
He grabs the vending machine roughly, clawing at it as he lifts it. This has to work. He shakes the entire thing as other students watch curiously at them.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. He was genuinely about to crash out on this vending machine.
Wemmbu scowls at it. “Can I just slime it out?”
Eggchan shakes his head in disapproval. “Bro, do you remember what happened last time?”
Oh, he was going to talk about that, was he?
A few months ago, Wemmbu and Egg had spotted a vending machine with a drink stuck, and Wemmbu had tried taking it out.
This had been a huge mistake, as it ended with broken glass, blood, a fight, and detention.
“Whatever,” Wemmbu smirked.
A white void flashed as purple streaks sparked.
There was noise, as if he was going through a nether portal.
Is this where players went after they got banned?
Parrot closed his eyes.
Suddenly, he got shoved. Hard
He fell onto the ground, wings raised high. Parrot had fallen onto a hard surface, scraping his face.
The impact was nothing like he had felt before or expected after he died. Is this the afterlife? He blinked a bit before looking around, hands scrambling.
Trees rustled as birds chirped, the morning sky blinding his eyes as he looked at it. Humid air hit his face as he looked at the warm hues. His legs cramped, and he felt uneasy.
Where was he? Did he survive the attack? No, that’s impossible. So how is he here?
More questions started forming in his mind as he started to stand up, ankles creaking as he did. He had fallen on sharp rocks; behind it was smooth stone. That is incredibly unlucky.
There was a peaceful vibe about this place. He liked it. He looked around, his wings retracting as he did.
He had fallen out of the end of a statue, a big one, with figures that he didn’t recognize. The sunlight hit it, making it shine.
This was definitely abnormal. Parrot looked down at his body. He wasn’t wearing his usual brown jacket and red scarf; instead, he was wearing casual clothes with baggy pants.
But that raised more questions: why is he here, and who gave him these clothes? His small twin braids swung as he looked towards what was behind him.
A big curved purple building stood right in front of him, with yellow paint streaking it as graffiti did too. Two people stood there, looking annoyed as they cleaned the graffiti. They looked familiar.
Parrot stood tall as he thought about this. He had died, died to Wemmbu–So why was he here?
Was there something that had transported him here, or was this all a trick? He was confused, very confused.
His wings were still intact, although his goggles were missing. Was this somewhere else? Was he still in Unstable, or was he somewhere else?
Those two people could be dangerous, and it was pretty obvious Parrot was alone, no Theo nor Reina, so killing him would be very easy, considering he had nothing.
He had to be cautious, or else it would result in his death.
Wait, he’s already dead, isn’t he?
Parrot looked around again, this time noticing the big city across the road. Cars honked and the road bustled with people. He didn’t recognize any of them; they were wearing very different clothing from what people in Unstable would wear.
Then is he in a different world full of different people? That would be very unfortunate. He still had somewhere to go and a purpose to serve after all.
And if he had fallen through the statue, then he could surely go back from it, right? Parrot walked towards the big block under the statue as he edged his finger towards it.
If this worked, he could probably go back. No, that wouldn’t work either; he had been banned after all. He couldn’t go back.
But it was worth a try, he slowly put his finger on the block, touching it. It collided with it normally.
There really was no way to get out of here.
Parrot sighed as he decided it was best to ask the two people who were cleaning up the graffiti if he wanted any answers.
He walked towards them, boots clamping onto the stone floor as he continued to look at the building. It had a gorgeous modern design, decorated with gemstones.
Parrot turned his head to face the people, observing them.
They both had black hair; one of them had a lighter shade, though. One of them was wearing a red hoodie, while the other was wearing a black tracksuit that had rainbow highlights.
No, he definitely knew them; there was no doubt. He had seen them multiple times and even considered them his friends. Kind of.
But why are they here? Was this some kind of parallel universe or just a dream? Parrot really didn’t know, but maybe they did.
He slowly went into the radius where he could hear them, and for some reason, fear crept up his shoulders as he got closer.
Parrot heard a voice.
“This is such a letdown! Cleaning this up is going to take foreveeeer,” The one with the tracksuit dramatically said as they continued to scrub very roughly at the graffiti.
This voice was the one that he had heard so many times, one that he had trusted.
He had noticed their bandanas; the one with the tracksuit was very eye-catching with its rainbow patterns, while the other ones had a solid color of red.
The one with the red bandana was much better at cleaning the graffiti, doing it more efficiently than his friend.
“This is on you, dude. If you hadn’t dragged me out to draw random shit at 7 am, we wouldn’t be here.”
“Then where would we be?”
“Detention.”
He had said that in a rather monotone voice, which was pretty strange.
“Now, why would that be?”
The red bandana kid looked at him harshly, “Because you kept slapping everything you saw with sticky hands you found in the trash!”
Oh, this is quite problematic. Should he interrupt them? That would be rude, right? Well, it’s better late than never.
“Hello?” Parrot said, his green eyes staring at them as he stiffly stood there. Oh, this is going to be awkward.
They both turned to look at him, hands still in place. Then they turned to look at each other, probably piecing together that Parrot had been eavesdropping on their conversation.
The guy with the red bandana, or Mapicc, he supposed, looked confused, “Aren’t you one of the new kids?”
What? New kid? Is this some kind of school? Is he in a school?
“Uhm, yeah?”
They both looked at each other again, this time with unreadable expressions.
“Then why are you here, my friend? School ended an hour ago.”
Parrot was incredibly confused. He attends a school and knows these people? That is something that he can comprehend, but can’t at the same time.
Why did this happen? There has to be some kind of backstory on why he’s here; he couldn’t just be here because he’s dead, right?
He looks towards both of them; they’re waiting for an answer. Shoot! He needs to make an alibi. And quick.
“I was, er, looking around, to, y’know, get used to it?”
They looked at each other again, which was getting very repetitive now.
Suddenly, the one with the rainbow bandana leaned into his friend’s ear, whispering something.
They both suddenly turned towards Parrot, cleaning supplies still in hand.
“We should introduce ourselves. I’m Spoke, and uhm, this is my friend Mapicc.”
Spoke stopped and turned to Mapicc, staring. Oh boy, that was getting annoying.
“We are very honoured to meet you,” Mapicc uttered with a righteous expression, continuing Spoke’s sentence. Were they mocking him?
Parrot stood there, suspicious. Just what exactly is Spoke and Mapicc doing?
“I’m Parrot,” he slightly trailed off, wondering if he should say his full name.
“…. X2”
Spoke’s white glowing eyes met his as Parrot’s wings slightly fluttered at the suspense.
“Well, ParrotX2, we just really wanted to compliment the very nice wings you have!” Spoke said, pointing at them.
Parrot knew Spoke was a good liar; he’s been friends with him for years and can’t exactly get through his tricks easily.
“And since you want to know about the school, we could, of course, tell you about it.”
He thought about this; they obviously wanted something out of him, but Parrot could gain something too, unless they were lying. And Parrot really needed answers; questions were piling up with no sight of any answers.
They obviously wanted something from Parrot, and it couldn’t be that bad anyway. Parrot decided to take the opportunity.
He looked towards both of them, “If I ask you any questions, what’s in it for you guys?”
There was a slight pause before Mapicc smiled, “Well, you could always help us with the graffiti here.”
Parrot sighed, braids drooping as he spent the next 2 hours cleaning up the long line of graffiti, thinking about the other ways he could’ve gotten information.