Chapter Text
Egg sat cross legged on the ground, his book nestled on his lap like usual. His pen scratched away at the paper quietly, the sound nothing more than background noise in Wemmbu’s head. He paced around the small space, his heeled boots clicking against the stone floors. The room—their base, even though it was just a decrepit cave they were holed up in for the time being—was cramped and suffocating. Wemmbu was tired of hiding away in places like these.
The sight of stone was getting on his nerves. His hands ached faintly and he clasped them together in front of himself, absentmindedly rubbing at them to try and soothe the dull pain. It wasn’t from his many fights. While wielding a mace—and, in his case, two maces—is very harsh on the body, Wemmbu had long-since adapted to the strain. Long and intense fights still left him hurting afterwards, but right now, the pain wasn’t from his weapons or any battles.
He wanted to sit next to Egg and rest. He wished Minute had stuck with them after they slipped away from the Lawmen or that Jaden was here rather than hidden away somewhere at the mercy of Lettuce. He needed a moment to breathe. His body constantly felt tense and ready to spring, like there was a battle breathing down his neck every waking second. If he rested, he was sure that was the moment something terrible would happen.
“Brother, you gotta sit down or something. Your pacing is making me nervous. My writing gets worse when I’m nervous.” Egg’s voice snaps Wemmbu out of his thoughts, and he clenches his hands together, dropping them from where he had been trying to massage the pain away.
“What are you even writing about, bro? We, like, have so many other priorities right now and you’re choosing to scribble in a book.” Wemmbu squints at his best friend, his face scrunching up slightly as he surveys Egg’s book, the pages filled with scrawling words and the leather that bound it together straining and worn from the less-than-peaceful lifestyle the duo lives by.
Egg sighs and closes the book, tucking it and the pen away in his inventory. “We are losing the ancient texts because of idiot fighters like you.” He says, voice thick with mock-disappointment. “Scholars like myself are few and far between. I need to document important events, like Lettuce straight up beating you by capturing Jaden.”
Wemmbu’s tail flicks behind him indignantly. “Hey! He didn’t beat me, I just took a tactical retreat to assess the situation.” He huffs in response.
“Assess the fact that you have no idea what to do right now. Bro, we’re so cooked.”
“We, bro. We have no idea what to do.” Wemmbu corrected him with a smirk. Egg shook his head and dropped his face into his hands. “Maybe we are cooked, bro.”
Wemmbu resumed his pacing, his tail whipping behind him, stress and irritation at the situation brewing inside of him. Jaden was in danger. His pack—uh, no, his brain is tired and scrambled right now, he guesses, because he meant his friend—is in danger. If he could even consider Jaden his friend.
The two of them used to hate each other. For good reasons, too. But Wemmbu could admit that he had enjoyed working with Jaden when he was the Invisible Knight. Without having to worry about how the other man would treat him if he knew his identity, they had gotten along very well. Their jokes, their fighting styles, their trust in one another—it had all developed so easily. Wemmbu had almost forgotten why he didn’t want Jaden to know his identity. Why he didn’t want anyone to know his identity. The minute Wemmbu is his true self and lets his guard down, everything goes to shit.
The look—the betrayal—on Jaden’s face when he found out that the Invisible Knight was really Wemmbu all along had stung. It shouldn’t have. Wemmbu should have still hated Jaden. He shouldn’t have cared what the pirate thought of him. But Wemmbu had left with a pounding headache and a pain in his chest that felt like the embodiment of loneliness.
But Jaden had saved Wemmbu and Egg from the Law. They had been… enjoying each other’s company, easily falling back into their old dynamic from when Wemmbu had been hiding his identity. It felt good. Jaden’s gaze was warm and inviting, completely trusting and confident in Wemmbu’s presence. And Wemmbu knew he couldn’t believe in that, right? There was nothing for Jaden to gain from befriending Wemmbu. In fact, anyone who is viewed as a friend of Wemmbu is always put in immense danger. Egg has been kidnapped how many times at this point?
Jaden should know better than anyone how dangerous it is to be Wemmbu’s friend. Rejoice, in the short time Wemmbu had been his ally, had met a quick and painful death because of it.
Despite all of that, Jaden had grinned at Wemmbu back in the Great Sea and clapped a hand on his shoulder like they were friends. Wemmbu didn’t know what Jaden wanted from him, but he wasn’t trying to worry about it right now. He just needs to find Jaden first. It’s his fault the pirate was captured, after all.
Wemmbu turned around to face Egg again, a headache forming behind his eyes, when he spotted the glimmer of potion particles. He tensed, his wings raising slightly behind him as his eyes focused on the area where he had seen them. Maybe it was a trick of his eyes. That happened sometimes, especially when his condition was acting up. He subconsciously shifted closer to where Egg was sitting. Why wasn’t his best friend’s company enough? All he needed was Egg. He was the only one who had never betrayed Wemmbu. The two of them always had each other’s backs and made sure to protect one another. Wemmbu hadn’t expected his condition to worsen in the last few weeks, despite Egg returning from being trapped in the End.
Wemmbu blinked, his white pupils practically two slits in the middle of the inky blackness of his scleras. The particles floated softly through the air again. Wemmbu’s sword solidified into his hand from his inventory and he raised it up, pointing it in the direction of the invis player.
“Who the hell are you and what are you doing in our base?” Wemmbu grit out, his sharp canines clacking against his other teeth, his irritation flaring hot inside of him. All this other stuff going on and now someone is breaking into his base to spy on him and Egg?
Egg’s head snapped up, the six separate sets of wings that connect to his head fluffing up as his feathers poof out in alarm. The larger, matching sets of wings on his back do the same, his blue eyes glancing in the direction that Wemmbu was glaring at. “Yo, bro, we have an intruder? Man, I would genuinely be dead right now if I was alone. I don’t see anything.” Egg grumbled as he stood up, moving closer to Wemmbu, making sure to stay behind the demon.
Egg might have a few inches on Wemmbu, but the angel knew by now to stay behind and let Wemmbu deal with fights, even if it looked funny to see the angel’s head peaking out over Wemmbu’s horned head easily.
When the invisibility slowly melted away, revealing Jumper, Wemmbu only raised a suspicious brow at her, his grip on his sword not faltering for a moment. Jumper sighed and rolled her eyes at the theatrics. “You want to break Jaden out, right? Put the sword down and hear me out, I know where he is.”
Wemmbu grumbled to himself as his wings flared out, catching against the warm, dry air of the mesa. He glided down to the ground slowly, his boots hitting the terracotta with a soft click. Wemmbu’s gaze turned to the Law base, the prison looming ominously. Wemmbu steadied his breathing, pretending he was recovering from flying rather than suppressing unpleasant memories at the sight of the foreboding building.
Glancing around, Wemmbu was quick to notice the lack of a certain angel player around. He sighed, pulling out his communicator, seeing no messages from Egg. After Jumper had told the two of them that Jaden was being held in the same prison that Wemmbu had been trapped in, they had agreed to meet up together at Flame’s base. The blaze hybrid was allegedly exiled from spawn, and seeing as his base was practically at the Law’s doorstep, Wemmbu thought it was the perfect place to meet up.
So where did his best friend wander off to?
Wemmbu pocketed his communicator and stretched lazily, his thoughts drifting back to Jumper. She had said that her and Jaden were friends, but Wemmbu didn’t trust that for a second. For some reason, she wanted Wemmbu to break Jaden out. He didn’t really care about her ulterior motives for now, as long as Jaden was actually here.
Wemmbu turned away from the prison and moved towards Flame’s base. Egg might just be waiting inside, even if Wemmbu was doubtful of that.
Wemmbu pushed the door open and spotted a flash of movement. For a moment, he felt that fond amusement for Egg swell up in his chest, but instead of white and blue, he saw black and red.
“Flame?” Wemmbu voiced bluntly, his hand still gripping the doorknob, debating simply turning around and leaving.
Flame’s head whipped around in Wemmbu’s direction, sparks of fire shooting off from the blaze’s shoulders in surprise. Wemmbu stifled, rather badly, a laugh at the sight. “Wemmbu? What the hell are you doing at my base?” Flame asked with a groan, running an exasperated hand down his face. “The most annoying people in my life just decide to show up at the worst times.” He grumbled, which Wemmbu chose to ignore. If someone else had been bothering Flame today, it really wasn’t Wemmbu’s business. He doesn’t care too much.
“Aw, I can tell how much you missed me.” Wemmbu says with a smirk, stepping into the base and kicking the door shut behind him. “Since when were you back? I thought you were basically banished from society.” Wemmbu came to a halt a few feet away from where Flame had been stocking some shulkers, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest comfortably. It was too fun messing with Flame, seriously.
“Wha—who said you could come in here, huh?” Flame exclaimed, more flickers of fire dancing across his shoulders. “Whatever, bro, you’re such a weirdo. I’m back to break Lomedy out and kill Lettuce.” He said, his expression hardening with dark intensity. Or, at least, the part of his face that Wemmbu could see. Wemmbu had gotten pretty good at reading his rival’s mood, even with the blindfold covering his eyes.
Wemmbu perked up with interest at Flame’s words, his grin widening. “Wait, really? Me too! I’m here to break out Ja—er, a friend—too!” Probably best not to mention Jaden. Last Wemmbu had heard, him and Flame weren’t on the best terms.
“And I care why?” Flame drawled like the asshole he is. He totally wants to team up again too.
“Bro.” Wemmbu deadpanned, an unimpressed look on his face. He gestured between the two of them dramatically. “Uh, hello? The two of us could break everyone out easily.”
Flame cringed in response, but didn’t disagree. “Ugh, yeah, I guess we could, bro.”
Wemmbu’s answering smile was all gleaming fangs as he stood up straighter, practically vibrating in place. Any fight with both himself and Flame was always fun and efficient. They were a good team. A pang shot through Wemmbu’s chest at the thought of his last alliance with Flame, which had ended with a knife in his back. Literally. Well, a sword, but basically the same thing. He had almost thought that maybe they could be friends—no, they couldn’t ever be friends, no one other than Egg would ever like Wemmbu for his true self, but maybe allies—until Flame had pushed him off the edge of the building. Right back to fighting. Typical Flame. This would no doubt be the same thing, but at least Wemmbu knows not to get lost in stupid fantasies now.
“Yo, does that mean I can use some of your gear? I’m a little broke right now.” Wemmbu said, immediately looting through Flame’s shulkers without waiting for a response, even as the blaze hybrid let out an indignant huff.
The two of them dissolved into their usual banter and arguing, practically wrestling over some of the gear. It didn’t take long for both of them to be content with their inventories and restocks. Wemmbu sat down on the ground, spreading his legs out in front of him and leaning back on his hands while Flame sat down next to Ashen, ruffling the wolf’s fur affectionately.
“So, like, why aren’t we going right now?” Wemmbu asked, maybe a tad whiningly, but who can blame him? He hadn’t been planning on waiting around multiple hours to do this. “You literally never hold off on rushing into a fight. We’re fully geared and ready to go.”
Flame made a motion similar to rolling his eyes at Wemmbu’s slightly childish patience, turning an unimpressed look his way. The blindfold couldn’t hide the expression from Wemmbu. “Void, you can’t sit still for two seconds, bro.”
“Huh?! We’ve been here for hours, and you know I’m right! You’re always the first to go running towards a fight.” Wemmbu retorted loudly, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Whatever, bro.” Flame said with a scoff. “And I thought you would want to wait for Egg to get here. Isn’t he always with you?”
At the mention of his best friend, Wemmbu’s teasing mood dimmed slightly. That familiar headache throbbed distantly and he felt the heavy, aching sensation settle over his limbs. Man, he really did feel like crap, and the reminder that Egg wasn’t here was like a bucket of ice water being poured over his head. Honestly, Flame’s presence had been soothing the usual symptoms similarly to how Egg’s presence does, but that can’t be right. Flame and Wemmbu hate each other. Maybe it was just because Wemmbu had been distracted and hadn’t noticed the pain.
“I don’t know, man, he said he’d meet me here. He probably got lost or something.” Wemmbu sighed, shaking his head. “It’s probably for the best. With his luck, a Lawman would capture him and lock him up as a hostage in the prison.”
A grin tugged at Flame’s lips and he laughed, his head tipping back as the sound escaped him. “Bro, he is genuinely the Immortal Hostage.” He added between his laughs, sending Wemmbu into his own fit of laughter.
“Don’t remind me. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve had to save him.” Wemmbu stood up, the remnants of laughter making him feel lighter. He glanced towards the door, nodding his head towards it. “Well, if we aren’t waiting for Egg, can we go? I’m tired of waiting around.”
Flame fell uncharacteristically quiet and Wemmbu turned back to look at him, his eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. “Bro, you cannot want Eggchan to come with us that badly, can you?” He asked incredulously, settling his hands on his hips as he stared at the blaze hybrid.
The other man sputtered for a moment, shaking his head. “No, bro, I don’t care where Egg is! It’s… ugh, we’re waiting for someone else.”
Wemmbu’s eyes narrowed in suspicion and he made sure Gambit was ready to be pulled from his inventory if necessary. “What? Who? Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
Flame stood up as well, crossing his arms over his chest and looking just as unhappy as Wemmbu. “I literally told you the most annoying people show up at the worst times earlier.”
“And I’m supposed to understand that means someone else is coming to attack the prison with us?”
“Well, I thought you would have realized we were waiting for someone else when we didn’t immediately leave to go fight!” Flame answered with a shrug. “Obviously I underestimated how much of an idiot you are.”
“Says you, bro.” Wemmbu mutters under his breath, his tail flicking irritably behind him. “So who is it?”
Flame opens his mouth to reply, but there’s the sound of movement from the door, and suddenly it bursts open, a tall, overly-confident figure striding inside. Wemmbu freezes, pupils turning to slits as he stares at the all-too-familiar orange blindfold. Mane, to be fair, doesn’t look much better as he freezes halfway through the doorway.
“Yeah, this moron decided to harass me until I agreed to let him come with me.” Wemmbu faintly heard Flame grumble behind him, but his hearing was fading, ringing replacing all other sounds.
Wemmbu’s chest felt tight and his limbs felt far away, like they weren’t his own. Untethered from his body, heavy like anchors grounding him to the earth. His breathing stuttered, his heart beating in an awkward rhythm that matched the unease pooling in his stomach. Sharp, burning pain started at the tips of his fingers and burst up his arms, forcibly dragging him back to reality. His lungs burned and he sucked in a full, normal breath, his hearing crashing back to him with a tidal wave of sound. The pain intensified. His head was pounding, black dots spotting his vision. His legs were weak and unsteady, but he made sure his posture didn’t waver, even if he felt moments away from being sick all over Flame’s base. He wasn’t about to show weakness in front of Flame or Mane.
“Wemmbu,” Mane said quietly, the name sounding rough on the lion hybrid’s tongue. The greeting was curt and strained, but he recovered quicker than Wemmbu. The large man stepped fully into Flame’s base and shut the door behind him, approaching the younger two men slowly. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”
Wemmbu scoffed, a disbelieving laugh escaping him. “Yeah, trust me, I wouldn’t be here if I’d known you’d be joining us.” He replied cooly, his eyes drifting somewhere behind his old mentor rather than staring at his blindfold. The pain in his body reacted sharply, like lightning cracking through his veins—hot and swift and violent—as he tried to shove all his feelings and memories to the back of his mind. He had once imagined—hoped, more accurately—that Mane would come back one day, but that childish optimism had died a long time ago. He wanted nothing less than to see Mane again.
Flame shuffled awkwardly, breaking the tense atmosphere, his head darting back and forth between the lion and demon quickly. “What’s wrong with you two?” Wemmbu had made sure to keep any mention of his time training with Mane quiet, not wanting to dodge questions about how it went or why it ended or where Mane was or, honestly, anything about it. It seemed Mane hadn’t bothered to mention it to anyone else either, not even his own little brother.
“Mane trained me back during Zam’s Empire.” Wemmbu answered with a shrug, stuffing his emotions deep down inside of him where they could rot away. “We haven’t seen each other since then.”
“Holy backstory, bro.” Flame drawled sarcastically, easily distracted from the suffocating history that the other two hybrids were remembering.
Wemmbu shook his head, his long hair swaying in its place in a neat ponytail. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. So we’re all attacking the prison?” He asked, wanting to move on from thinking about his mentor.
“Yeah, bro, obviously.” Flame responded, finally moving towards the front door. Wemmbu followed after him, brushing past Mane without looking at the lion hybrid.
“Wemmbu—” Mane reached out, like he was going to grab Wemmbu, and the demon pulled away quickly.
“No, nope, not happening. We’re doing this, breaking the prisoners out, and then going our separate ways.” Wemmbu said quietly so Flame wouldn’t overhear, though the blaze hybrid was already outside and doing one final check of his inventory. “Don’t make this a problem. I’m not compromising this fight because of some shitty issues from months ago, got it?”
Mane looked like he was going to argue, but his arm dropped from where he had been reaching out and his mouth flattened into a thin line. “You’re right. None of it matters anyway, right?” He said, words hot and sharp. Great, both of them were pissed and tense. Perfect.
Mane moved away first, his shoulder bumping into Wemmbu’s as he moved towards the door. Wemmbu’s headache intensified painfully and his steps were slightly wobbly as he followed hesitantly after the larger man. His hands were shaky and throbbing, but he couldn’t try and soothe the pain now. It was time to focus on the fight. All these complicated problems with Jaden and Flame and Mane were so annoying.
Blood spatters soaked Wemmbu’s hands and arms as he cleared the Lawmen quickly, efficiently, terribly violently. He caught sight of Mane and Flame occasionally, sometimes sending out quick bursts of words, where more Lawmen were or how their gear was holding up or why the hell Zam was here or—well, yeah, mostly all of that. And Wemmbu and Flame were trying to steal each other’s kills, but what else is new?
Another death message from Zam popped up on Wemmbu’s communicator and it was distracting enough that he missed his mace attack, letting Flame steal the kill. Zam was here, which was confusing. He had escaped from the prison with Wemmbu, so why was he back here? And, seriously, Wemmbu can’t deal with another complicated person today. Memories of Zam always left Wemmbu reeling, feeling off-balance and queasy. The former-ruler’s cruel words had never truly left Wemmbu’s mind. His betrayal was the first true, unexpected, completely devastating act of deception that Wemmbu had ever experienced. Wemmbu doesn’t know if he’ll ever heal from that. The wounds in his chest, deep and jagged as they were, had barely stitched themselves back together. Mane’s abandonment so soon afterwards had practically torn away the bandages clumsily holding his heart in one piece.
But Wemmbu’s time in prison with Zam had felt… different. It wasn’t good. Nothing in that prison was good. With the lack of freedom, bouts of isolation in solitary, borderline starving, and the abuse from the guards, Wemmbu still feels his heart race at the memory of being locked up in the Law’s prison. Zam’s company, along with the others, had made things… manageable. Wemmbu had been planning on simply using all of them as a means of escape, but he had started to enjoy their company. Their jokes, how they each coped with confinement, the small community they had formed inside those reinforced walls… it had kept Wemmbu from losing himself in there.
And despite Wemmbu repeatedly reminding himself not to gamble his heart and trust again, especially not with Zam, the very one who had so horrifically damaged them, he had found himself easing into a shaky sense of security with Zam and the others. Wemmbu hasn’t had time to dwell on the conflicting emotions, considering he had been on the run since he had split up from the other escapees as soon as they had been set free by Spoke. And now wasn’t the time to think about it either, but Wemmbu’s eyes kept trailing down to his communicator to spot Zam’s name.
“Wemmbu, pay attention!” Mane’s voice was loud and irritated. And much, much closer than Wemmbu was comfortable with.
Wemmbu turned and flinched as Mane’s spear pierced cleanly through the body of a Lawman who had been about to stab Wemmbu with their sword. Wemmbu had hesitated just a moment too long, stayed grounded rather than taking off back to the skies after his sloppy mace attack. Shit, he needs to get his head in the game.
“What was it you said, again?” Mane hissed, his face tight with stress as he got up in Wemmbu’s space. “You aren’t going to compromise the fight? Yeah, you sure seem to be doing a good job of that. Focus, before you get yourself hurt.”
Wemmbu felt a growl trying to crawl up his throat and his eyes narrowed dangerously, gripping the handle of Gambit tighter. “Like you care if I get hurt. I was distracted for less than five seconds, chill out.”
Mane’s mouth twitched and his ears flatted against his head momentarily before he recovered. Wemmbu didn’t know how to interpret that, Mane never did that when he was mad. “Being distracted at all is bad in a fight and you know that. I taught you better than this.”
Wemmbu flinched and Mane faltered, but there was no time to continue their argument as Flame was suddenly shoved into Wemmbu, his sword clashing with the sword of a Lawman.
“What’s wrong? Are you guys okay?” Flame called out, stabbing the Lawman through the chest and turning to give a quick look at the other two hybrids, clearly looking for wounds or an obvious sign as to why the two of them were just standing around.
“Nothing, everything’s fine.” Wemmbu snapped, his wings flaring out as he took off, wanting to put as much distance as possible between himself and the blindfold brothers.
The amount of Lawmen had decreased significantly, which wasn’t very surprising at all. With Wemmbu, Flame, and Mane, it was easy work for them. The fight continued on as the trio fought their way to the entrance to the prison.
Wemmbu landed beside Flame, their backs meeting as they each fought off Lawmen. “Flame, you get in the prison and release the prisoners! Mane and I will hold off the rest of the Lawmen, got it?” Wemmbu shouted over the sounds of swords clashing and armor clanking. Flame’s back, even through his armor and clothes, felt warm, his flames licking out with his emotions and exhaustion from the fight. Wemmbu himself was starting to feel the strain of the long fight settling over his body, which meant they needed to wrap this up as quickly as possible.
“Got it! Don’t die while I’m gone!” Flame answered with a nod, slashing the Lawman in front of him and then racing into the building where the entrance to the prison was. Wemmbu watched to make sure the blaze hybrid made it inside before he turned his attention back to the fight, flying up and then coming down to mace a crowded group of Lawmen.
As more Lawmen slowly cleared out, Wemmbu caught sight of a familiar caracal flying over the fight with an elytra. Wemmbu quickly killed the Lawman he had been fighting and then took off after Lettuce, dropping down a few feet away from the leader of the Law on the roof of a building.
“Wemmbu,” Lettuce greeted him quietly, the name sounding more like a curse from the other man’s mouth. “I thought we had an understanding between us.” He said as he slowly turned to lock eyes with Wemmbu. He stood tall and tense, his expression promising punishment.
“What do you mean? I could have just been watching the fight.” Wemmbu argued halfheartedly, his mace disappearing into his inventory.
Lettuce’s face was unimpressed as he listened to Wemmbu, his eyes slowly lowering to stare pointedly at the blood coating Wemmbu’s arms. Wemmbu grinned sheepishly and shrugged. “Alright, I mean, it does look like I’ve been fighting, but this is just the casualty of being a witness.”
A sharp sigh escaped Lettuce’s mouth and he shook his head in disbelief. “Are you seriously joking right now? Stop playing these games with me. I’ve seen your name popping up since this fight started. You’ve gone and killed countless more Lawmen like it’s nothing. You will never learn or grow to be a better person.”
Wemmbu glanced down at his communicator to confirm that Mane was still handling the last of the Lawmen, satisfied to see the lion hybrid’s name appearing with each new kill he made. His eyes raised to meet Lettuce’s once more, his irritation barely contained. “I’ve learned plenty, Lettuce. And I’m not claiming to be a good person, but I’m not some evil monster either. You don’t get to decide who is right and who is wrong. You’ve been sending all these poorly trained players to try and kill people like Flame and I, knowing they wouldn’t survive. You’ve basically been sending them to their death, yet you act like you’re so far above me.”
Lettuce’s lip curled back as he bared his teeth angrily at Wemmbu, his eyes narrowing to furious slits. “Don’t compare me to you. You kill for fun. I do whatever is necessary for the betterment of the server.”
A disbelieving laugh escaped Wemmbu’s mouth as he shook his head. “Do you even hear yourself? It’s not up to you to decide that! And, in case you hadn’t realized, I tried to step back and choose a more peaceful life. I was hunted down by Parrot and Flame, and then you sent your Lawmen after me.”
“An example needed to be made of you, to show the server that we can’t simply sit by and allow dangerous players to do whatever they want without repercussions!” Lettuce’s voice rose, his anger spilling out into every word he spoke and the tense movements he made as he stepped closer to Wemmbu. “You’re right, it’s not a decision I can make, but that’s why the election needs to happen. And once I’m king, I’ll make sure you are executed properly, Wemmbu.”
“I just want to enjoy the server! Sure, I enjoy a good fight, but I don’t want to be killing all these innocent players, Lettuce. You’re the one continuing to escalate things. Bounties on my head, exiling Flame, locking people up in that horrible prison—you’re the monster you think I am.” Wemmbu’s voice was cold and firm as he spoke, shaking his head in disgust. “At least I don’t lie about what I am.”
Lettuce’s sword materialized into his hand and he lunged forward at Wemmbu, who deflected the attack easily with his own sword. He flew up into the air and then dropped down to mace Lettuce, popping the caracal’s totem. Lettuce cursed loudly, equipping his elytra and flying away from Wemmbu. A smile tugged at the demon’s lips as he flew after Lettuce. Of course he runs when he knows he doesn’t have hundreds of players to throw at Wemmbu.
The two of them landed just outside of Law territory, and Wemmbu froze as Lettuce pulled out a fishing rod. No doubt the one that would kill Jaden. Wemmbu had no idea if Flame had freed the prisoners yet.
“What were you expecting to do here, Wemmbu?” Lettuce asked with a laugh. “I warned you. I warned you what would happen if you continued to defy me. Are you stupid or do you simply not care about Jaden?”
Wemmbu stepped forward threateningly, venomous words sitting at the tip of his tongue, but Lettuce waved the rod around in warning. The demon halted, shoulders tense and muscles coiled, ready to spring at the shorter man.
“I already told you I wasn’t fighting.” Wemmbu argued weakly, mostly just to buy himself a few more moments before Lettuce pulled the rod.
“Stop lying! It’s nothing but killing and lying from you, isn’t it? I gave you the chance to step down, but you refuse to listen. This is the consequence of your actions.” Wemmbu reached forward even though he knew it was useless, his muscles tightening in preparation for that dreaded message to pop up on his communicator, but nothing happened when Lettuce pulled the fishing rod.
Wemmbu stared at Lettuce while Lettuce stared down at the fishing rod, and then Wemmbu’s eyes strayed behind Lettuce, where multiple figures appeared. Spoke, Zam, Jumper, and… Jaden. Thank the Void.
Wemmbu grinned, the expression probably more animal than human, and he tilted his head to the side mockingly as he stared at Lettuce. “Aw, Letty, are things not going how you planned?” He asked teasingly, watching with nothing short of sadistic amusement as the caracal turned to face the group behind him.
Wemmbu tuned out the conversation as Lettuce cursed out BAT, relieved as Jaden came to stand beside him, bumping shoulders gently with him. The two of them shared a quick smile before Lettuce took off with his elytra.
Wemmbu cursed, realizing he’s the only one who can fly, and took off after Lettuce. It wasn’t long before he lost sight of the leader of the Law over the sea. Wemmbu landed at the edge of grass, where water gently lapped against his boots. He sent out a nuke in the direction that Lettuce had flown, but there was no answering death message. He let out a groan and turned towards the direction of the Law base, spreading his wings to fly back to the others.
Wemmbu landed next to one of the many craters, listening to the rest of the group talk about the fight and the mess. The others didn’t seem too surprised that Wemmbu was back so quickly. They all know how slippery Lettuce can be to catch.
“So, what now?” Flame asked, his tone leaking with frustration. Wemmbu noticed that Lomedy was nowhere to be seen and chose not to comment on it. Flame wouldn’t want to talk about it in front of everyone else.
“Why don’t we just go after Lettuce and kill him?” Wemmbu suggested, earning a grin from the blaze hybrid.
“No, we need to get Parrot.” Spoke interrupted the two strongest players on the server, placing his hands on his hips as he turned to face Zam and Jumper. “He was supposed to be here.”
“Why do we care about Parrot?” Flame asked with a groan, angry sparks fizzing around his shoulders. “We should just go after Lettuce now and kill him while we can.” Wemmbu nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
“Both of you shut up and listen for five minutes. This is why you still haven’t managed to take down Lettuce or the Law.” Mane scolded the two of them, which only further irritated Wemmbu. He was in bad enough of a mood after losing Lettuce and now Mane was trying to tell him what to do?
“Who’s asking for your input? You haven’t even been here for any of the shit Lettuce has put us through.” Wemmbu said, crossing his arms over his chest as he sent a glare at Mane’s blindfolded face.
Mane shook his head in frustration, pointing a clawed finger at Wemmbu. “You’re acting like a little kid. You’re just pissed off and tired. Don’t throw a tantrum over it.”
“Oh, I’ll show you a tantrum—” Wemmbu growled, pulling out his mace and stepping towards Mane. Jaden grabbed Wemmbu, forcibly pulling him back and away from Mane, who was being similarly manhandled by Flame.
“Holy shit, there’s no way you two are looking for a fight after the one we just finished.” Spoke groaned, exasperation and disbelief mingling together on his face. “Can we focus on what’s important? Which, just so you know, is finding Parrot.”
Flame released his hold on Mane and turned to stare at Spoke. “Yeah, I still don’t understand why we care about Parrot right now. I don’t have anything against him, but why do we need him to take down Lettuce?”
Spoke sighed dramatically, rubbing his hands down his face exaggeratedly. His body flickered slightly, his voidling characteristics becoming more noticeable as his patience wore thin. “For the election! We need him to be king once we take care of Lettuce.”
“I really don’t care who is king or whatever. I just want to stop Lettuce and all this bullshit.” Wemmbu said bluntly, glancing over at Flame. “Yo, you just wanna go slime out Lettuce ourselves?”
“Sounds good to me.” The blaze responded. It was his turn to be grabbed by Mane, hauling the younger man back. “Oh my Void, why do you all care so much about Parrot becoming king?”
“It’s the best thing for the server. And he can clear all of our names once he’s king.” Wemmbu knew Spoke only added the second part so that him and Flame would actually consider helping, but he didn’t care. No longer being a wanted criminal sounded really nice, and it seemed like the idea was rather appealing to Flame as well.
“Okay, where the hell is he if he wasn’t here?” Wemmbu asked with a sigh, slowly relaxing his posture enough that Jaden trusted him not to lunge at Mane, the pirate’s grip releasing him finally.
“We’re waiting on word from my spies.” Jumper interjects with a casual shrug. Wemmbu doesn’t like the fact that Jumper has a bunch of spies around the server very much, but whatever.
“We shouldn’t even be talking about this here. There could be Lawmen anywhere.” Zam finally speaks up, glancing around the area to emphasize his point. The group pauses to look around the Law territory, where holes from Wemmbu’s nukes litter the ground and gear from the many dead players lays scattered around.
“Good point.” Spoke says with a nod. “We can go to my secret base.”
“You have a secret base?” Wemmbu asks suspiciously. Spoke doesn’t exactly seem like the type of player to have some discreet, hidden base. That seems more like Parrot’s kind of thing.
“Uh, yes, of course I do.” Spoke replies just a tad too proudly. Yeah, Wemmbu cannot believe he’s agreeing to work with this guy.
Flame makes a frustrated sound, drawing the attention of the entire group. “Nah, I don’t know why we’re going through all this trouble. We should just go after Lettuce now.” Wemmbu honestly kind of agrees with him, but at this point he mostly wants to rest after the fight and at least see what Spoke has planned.
“Flame, stop being an idiot and use your brain instead of your sword for once.” Jaden says with a scoff.
Flame tenses, fire sparking along his shoulders, his frame rigid with anger as he turns to stare at Jaden. Wemmbu can easily sense the fury radiating off his rival, but for once, even with his blindfold securely in place, his emotions are so intense and clear that it seems like the entire group can sense the blaze’s rising irritation. “Actually, why am I not just killing you right now?” Flame asks before dashing forward to strike Jaden with his sword. Jaden pulls out his own sword, matching Flame blow for blow.
“Hey! Flame, stop it!” Wemmbu exclaims, rushing forward to try and talk some sense into his rival. Flame only strikes at Jaden again, so Wemmbu pulls out his mace and windcharges into the air to try and mace Flame.
“Oh my Void, they’re all fighting now.” Wemmbu hears Zam say, but he ignores the others. While Wemmbu doesn’t want to fight Flame, he’s not just going to let the other attack Jaden, even if Wemmbu knows Jaden can hold his own in a fight.
Wemmbu windcharges back into the air, about to once again try to mace Flame, but Mane grabs his younger brother and practically drags him away from Jaden. Wemmbu drops gracefully to the ground, using his wings to glide down, and watches as Flame struggles against his brother’s hold.
Jaden moves to continue trying to attack Flame, and it’s Wemmbu’s turn to grab the pirate, holding him back. “Jaden, stop, now isn’t the time to be fighting amongst ourselves.” He says, if only to calm down his friend—ally, his temporary ally, he needs to remind himself.
Jaden’s shoulders rise and fall heavily as he pants from the small tussle, but he makes no move to fight against Wemmbu’s hold, much to the demon’s relief.
“Real ironic to hear you saying that.” Zam mutters, sounding more amused and fond than anything else. Wemmbu must just be hearing things because there’s no world where Zam would sound like that while talking about him, right? “You literally just tried fighting Mane earlier, but whatever.”
“Well, now that you’ve all stopped trying to kill each other, can we go to my secret base?” Spoke asked, his expression far too excited and mischievous for Wemmbu’s comfort. But, for now, it was the only option he had.
Wemmbu tried to ignore the pain pulsing through his body that had nothing to do with the fight against the Lawmen, surrounded by so many people that he was desperately trying not to give a fuck about. This was going to be a painful experience if Wemmbu didn’t find a way to soothe his symptoms. He was used to dealing with one or two people that made him feel like this at a time, not a whole group of them, but it was fine. He was fine.
Wemmbu’s wings flared out and he flew overhead of the group as Spoke led them to whatever secret base he was talking about, keeping a watchful eye for any stray Lawmen still lingering in the area. Seriously, all of this was going on and he still didn’t know where Egg had wandered off to.