Chapter Text
He groaned in pain, clutching his shoulder as he stumbled into a wall. He was bleeding heavily, too much. Almost like he could faint at any moment. His vision was starting to get fuzzy, just like the feeling he had on the back of his head. He couldn’t look, there was no time for that.
He had never felt this weak, not like this. Never. He felt like a feather being crushed under a brick, he was dying. He knew that he could survive, he had to. He was at one heart, way below what he had gotten used to. The saying was right, he thought to himself in irony. The higher you get, the higher you fall.
It was a faint feeling, he suddenly felt dirt on his face, it was cold and sticky like mud. He was face down on the floor, unable to make any sense of anything around him. All he could see was the dark green grass around him, covered in his own blood. He knew that it was over, he embraced himself for death.
His vision went white.
Then dark.
Then…
…
…
He coughed up blood, suddenly being able to feel his wounds. It hurt a lot, but also not too much. At least less than he had expected.
…
…
He felt better.
..?
“Oh.”
He felt the grass around him with his hand, it was soft and grounded.
The grass was green.
Too green.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Wemmbu’s life finally felt calm. For the last month, there wasn’t a single ‘evil’ dude that randomly attacked him nor Egg. No one showed up on his doorstep, no one called him for help. Just… nothing.
His days were chill, he just stayed near Egg. They spent their time together hanging out, exploring, building. It felt like a dream. It felt good.
Too good.
No matter how much he hated it, he just couldn’t ignore the fact that he was starting to become paranoid. He was scared that this ‘dream’ would slip away once again, turning into endless fights and trouble.
But Egg kept reassuring him, telling him that everything was okay now. Wemmbu would laugh, nudging Egg’s shoulder with his fist. He was glad to have him again.
This day was like any other day. Egg woke him up, they (surprisingly) had breakfast, they finished off renovating a new part of their base and that’s it. Nothing crazy happened, just chilling with his homie.
“Hey dude, wanna go fishing to that cool spot we visited last week?” Egg asked, gently smiling as he held out two fishing rods.
Wemmbu’s smile stiffened, he forced out a cough. “I think, I’ll pass this time..”
“Why?” Egg pouted, trying to pull Wemmbu with him. He managed to free himself from Egg, looking at him as he sighed.
“I’m just, kind of tired today… You go without me.” He stared behind Egg for a moment, yawning as if he was about to go to sleep.
“Fine bro.” Egg placed one fishing rod inside the chest near him, sighing as he glanced back at Wemmbu. He mouthed a few words Wemmbu couldn’t make out before he grabbed the doorframe.
“Try not to get captured or something!” Wemmbu yelled from behind, he wasn’t sure if the angel heard him or not. It wasn’t like Egg would get captured, no. That hasn’t happened for a while now, he just hoped that it would stay that way.
Egg closed the door behind him, skipping as he crossed the small bridge they had built at the door of their base. Life as pretty chill nowadays, he was enjoying the peace and quiet a lot more than Wemmbu. Even though he was a bit paranoid, Egg understood his fear. But, he just wanted to view the whole thing positively.
—
Wemmbu stared at the now closed door, his body felt like statue. He stared at the door for a few seconds before finally moving. He opened a chest next to him, looking inside it with interest in his eyes. After a minute, he sighed as he finally shut the chest.
“Okay, who are you.” Wemmbu turned around, talking to the empty room. He could hear a faint snicker, which made him feel more irritated. He took out his shield, holding it close to his body. He could feel the wood press against his clothes.
“Don’t think I didn’t see ya, the particles are as clear as day.” He repeated, eyeing the room to try and find whoever was hiding. He had noticed that someone else was inside a few minutes ago, that was why he had refused Egg’s offer. The small bluish particles danced around the room before stopping in front of him.
“Woah, you should chill there buddy.” A strange, yet familiar voice spoke. Wemmbu squirted his eyes, seeing the invisible guy put on armor. The dude had no trims on his armor, just plain good old diamond. And yet, Wemmbu could feel a dangerous aura coming from them.
Wemmbu groaned. “What do you want..?” Seemed like the vacation was finally over. Nevertheless, it felt good to be right.
“Wrong question!” The invisible guy laughed, resting against the wall behind him. “Wanna try again..?” Wemmbu couldn’t see the guys face, but from his voice he could tell that he was smirking.
“Fine.”
Wemmbu pulled out a fishing rod, glaring at the guys chestplate. “If you don’t tell me who you are, I will literally blow up this whole place right now and I’m not even joking.” He looked up to where he assumed the guys face was. “And I’m pretty sure that this trashy armor of yours won’t survive an orbital strike-“ Before he could finish his intimidating monologue, the guys laughter cut him off.
“Wait so it IS real!? Holy shit, this is perfect!” The guy sounded… happy..?
“Oh my god, can you shut up?” Wemmbu was starting to get really annoyed. He just wanted his peace back.
“If you don’t turn around and get out this moment, I won’t hesitate to ban you.” He snarled, gripping the edge of the fishing rod tightly.
“Oh come on ‘Wemmbu’, won’t you have a civilized chat with me?” His voice changed on the ‘Wemmbu’ part, it seemed like this was someone he knew.
“…” Wemmbu out the fishing rod back inside his inventory.
“Who are you..?” He asked, his hand reaching for his sword.
“I am me.” The guy replied smugly, he was really getting on Wemmbu’s nerves.
He gritted his teeth. “Funny, I’m asking this for the last time.”
“Who are you?” He asked again, looking more serious.
“Wemmbu…” The voice softened as the invisible dude took out a bucket of milk.
“I am you.”
There, stood a tall demon in front of Wemmbu. He had purple hair, just like him. He had horns, just like him. His eyes, his nose, his whole face resembled him. Other than a few minor differences, it felt like looking into a mirror.
“Wow! Now what are you, a shapeshifter? Let me tell you, your purple is a bit off but nice try.” It seemed like this guy was just a new shapeshifter trying to show off. Wemmbu had gotten a few of them to show up on his doorstep over the years, just trying to flex or to challenge him. But none were this convincing, he couldn’t lie about that.
“Shapeshifter? You really have those here?” The guy laughed, staring at Wemmbu as he acted like he was wiping away his tears. “I’m really offended!”
Wemmbu just stared at the guy, not knowing what to say.
“You know, your hair looks a lot better from a closer look.” Without a warning, the demon stepped closer as he grabbed Wemmbu’s arm by force. He winced, trying to pull back, but he quickly realized that the guy was just looking at his hair.
“Okay, weirdo.” Wemmbu pushed the guy off of him, dusting his clothes as he sighed. “It was way better when no one else was here.” He mumbled under his breath.
“Oh, no need to thank me.” The demon smiled, sitting on the chest near Wemmbu as his eyes darted around the room.
“What?”
“No need to thank me for that!” He repeated, chugging on Gaps that he took from the chest.
“What do you mean? Like… what?”
“Well, let’s just say that I’ve been around for a while, making sure the other me was comfortable.” The demon smiled, his lips curving upwards in a way that made Wemmbu feel extremely uncomfortable. “Just wanted to see how you lived without all the… outside trouble.” He waved his hands on the air, exaggerating his movement.
“What..?” Wemmbu asked. There was no way that this guy had been around for that long without him noticing. “You’re the reason why no one has bothered us, why..?” The answer being yes felt very unlikely.
The demon ignored his question, going on about how he had done it. “It was easy, not gonna lie. I just killed whoever got within a set radius of your base. And let me tell you, it was really funny watching you get all paranoid and stuff.” The demon snickered.
Wemmbu stared at the demon, his eyes widening with shock and confusion. His jaw shook as he stood there in silence. Then, his eyes sparked with familiarity. The guy looked JUST like him, too much. If this was a prank or a joke, it would be the most elaborate thing Wemmbu has ever seen.
After a few seconds, he finally mumbled out a few words.
“Are you, really me..?” The question felt stupid. No matter how much the guy looked like him, he couldn’t possibly be Wemmbu, could he?
“Yep,” He laughed, getting up from the chest.
“How is this even possible, wh- where did you come from? Are you a clone, or maybe-“
“Hey hey, calm down with the questions I barely tolerate that stuff.” The demon cut Wemmbu off, leaning against the wall. “Let’s just say that I’m from a different dimension, of sorts..” He paused before saying the last part. “I think.”
“… That explains like, nothing bro.” It was clear that the guy wasn’t lying, but it was still too much for Wemmbu to comprehend.
“The place I’m from doesn’t matter, but your place… That intrigues me.” The demon took a step towards Wemmbu, holding his hands on his back as he leaned in. “I just wanted to see how the me here was like, and maybe figure out a way back as well.” His face changed, but Wemmbu did not notice.
“I don’t think I can help that much with the ‘way back’ stuff bro,” To be honest, what was he supposed to do. Open up a portal to an alternate dimension? That would be funny. “why’d you come to me anyways?”
“Because the only person you can ever trust is yourself.” His voice became raspy and edgy.
“Wow, some philosophical stuff.” Wemmbu chuckled awkwardly, averting his eyes away from this creep of a man.
“Yeah I know. Jokes aside, I just wanted you to show me around, that’s pretty much it.” The demons body relaxed, taking a step away from Wemmbu.
“Okay..?”
“And water, oh get me some water.”
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
“So uh, this is the ‘kitchen’. Or at least that’s what Egg calls it, grab anything you’d like.” To be clear, Wemmbu didn’t really eat anything other than Gaps, he thought that Golden Apples were the epitome of food. But Egg would nag him for hours on end just for him to taste his cooking. This is why they had a kitchen inside their base, it was kind of a waste but it made Egg happy.
“Oh, don’t mind if I do!” The ‘other’ Wemmbu —he needed to find him another name, it was weird calling him ‘Wemmbu’ or ‘The Demon’ since he was both of those too— immediately started looking through the barrels, grabbing food out of them.
“By the way,” He kept on chewing on food as he spoke. “do you have any spare armor I could take? You’re wearing Netherite so I guess it’s allowed here.” He grabbed another beef.
“Allowed?” Wemmbu scoffed, grinning as he looked away. “You know how rare Netherite is here? Go get your own!” He took out his shield to put it away inside a chest, it was too much of a hassle to carry that thing around.
“Oh come on, you and i— we’re practically the same. Think of it as.. gifting it to yourself?” He stared at Wemmbu expectedly.
Wemmbu sighed, “Fine, I’ll check if I have some to spare.” He opened his inventory, taking out a light purple shulker and placing it to the side.
“There’s a Netherite boot here, I think I have some around the base as well.” Wemmbu took out the boots, tossing them over to the demon. He happily accepted his gift, immediately putting it on.
“So this is how Netherite fees like huh? It’s actually pretty cool.” He smiled, staring at the boots.
“You.. don’t have Netherite there..? I mean, it IS a scarce source but still, there’s gotta be some.”
“Well, my universe is a bit dumber than yours. It has all these stupid rules you have to follow if you want to stay alive and stuff, it basically sucks.” The demon groaned, touching the tip of the boots with a smile on his face.
“How’s your ‘universe’ like anyways? I’ve heard a few theories about parallel universes from Egg but none ever made sense to me.” Wemmbu had never really thought about stuff like this, to be honest why would he even bother?
“It’s like, meh. You’re not like perma dead there if you die, there’s like hearts and stuff. It took me a while to adjust to… “ he rolled his hands on the air. “whatever this world does.” He stared at the wall, a smile crept on his face. “I got it immediately tho, when I killed someone and I didn’t get a heart.”
Wemmbu stared at the demon. He scratched his nose, grabbing a golden apple from his inventory. “Is it like, really different or just a little different?”
“What?”
“Nothing, nothing.” Wemmbu stopped himself from asking any further questions. The vibes were getting too weird.
“Okay..?” The demon walked away towards the door, entering the next room.
“WAIT, wait for me!” Wemmbu scrambled as he ran behind the demon. Not that he was scared that he’d get lost, quite the opposite actually. He just couldn’t help but feel like something was about to go wrong.
“Ooo, head stuff.” As Wemmbu entered the room, he saw the demon putting on a Netherite helmet, trying to fit it on his head without it bothering his horns.
“Where did you even find that.?” It was enchanted too, Wemmbu didn’t remember leaving a Netherite helmet out in the open.
“Oh, that chest over there. Some fish, some books.. Why do you keep such trash anyways, just messes up your storage not gonna lie..” The tips of his fingers were touching the top of the helmet, brushing against it. “Cold..” He mumbled.
“Oh, that must be Eggs chest. Just leave it there.” Wemmbu closed the door behind him, staring as the demon groaned.
“Egg this, Egg that. Is that the dude that’s with you all the time?” I can’t believe I’ve got such ‘close’ allies here.” Wemmbu’s skin trembled as the demon called him “I”. But, he couldn’t say that he was wrong.
“Ally?” He laughed, gently punching the wall. “No no, he’s my friend.”
“Friend..? What.”
“Yes, friend. In fact- it’s actually ‘BEST’ friend.”
“There’s no way..” The demon stared at Wemmbu, he looked shocked for some reason. And then, he started laughing. “He must be INSANELY powerful if they’ve somehow befriended ‘us’.” He held his belly, barely containing his emotions.
“Well, I wouldn’t say ‘powerful’. But I guess he’s got his own little other stuff.” Wemmbu didn’t get it, why was he acting so weird about Egg?
“…” The demon did not respond, he had stopped laughing.
“..” Wemmbu stopped for a moment before he asked. “Is Egg not at the ‘other universe’ you’re from?” He stared at the demon.
“I literally did not know who that was until now.”
“Oh..” Wemmbu mumbled, looking away.
The room became silent.
…
“So, uh. How’s ’Egg’ like?” The demon suddenly spoke, his voice a lot gentler than before. Wemmbu could tell that he actually wanted to know the answer, his other questions had sounded more… dull.
“Well, I guess he’s a bit bad at PvP.” He started walking as he talked, going into the next room. The demon followed from behind. “Well, not exactly a ‘bit’. He needs me to save him all the time.” He continued, holding the door for him.
“How do you even tolerate that.”
“Got used to it.” Wemmbu cackled. This guy could NOT imagine all the shit he had to go through for Egg.
“Anything else?” The demon asked, he seemed really interested in the topic.
“And, uh. He likes fishing. He takes me to his favorite spots to fish together, and he’s really good at it too.”
“Yeah I know that one, I’ve watched y’all fish a couple of times.”
“WHAT!?”
“Yeah, no biggie.”
“That’s weird, you know..” Exactly how long has he been here, Wemmbu thought.
“Sorry,” The demon rolled his eyes. “Not sorry.” He mumbled, making sure Wemmbu could hear him.
“Okay..?” He blinked, he did not want to stay on this topic any further. “Egg likes to write, a lot. He has like a lot of finished books, I can’t bother counting them all.”
“Oh, sick.” The demon declared in the most monotone voice he had ever heard from him.
“That’s pretty much it. Egg is just.. a pacifist, he doesn’t have that much stuff going on.”
“Then, why are you friends?” He snarked, looking through the chests in this room as well as he asked his question.
“I guess he’s a chill guy.” Wemmbu ignored the dude rummaging through the chests. He could kinda relate to him, he was once in the trenches, stealing stuff to survive too.
…
Okay, maybe more than once. But still, this could be a universal Wemmbu experience.
“Chill doesn’t cut it tho.” Wemmbu heard a chest open and close, the demon didn’t even stop scavenging as he talked. “How did y’all even meet?”
“…”
Wemmbu stopped moving, he could hear chests opening and closing, but he was deep in thought. He really couldn’t remember the day him and Egg met, it was like they’d known each other since birth. Like brothers in a way, but he knew they weren’t blood related. (Though it would be cool to have wings, elytra’s were NOT the same.)
“Childhood friends.” He decided to keep his answer simple. It wasn’t exactly a lie, wasn’t exactly the truth either.
“Is that really the only reason you’re ‘friends’? Just because you knew each other?”
“No, actually. It’s like- I don’t know how to explain it. He’s a great friend, he always backs me up but isn’t afraid to point out when I’m wrong.” His hands went reached for the back of his neck. “It’s hard to explain, really hard..” Wemmbu waited for the demon to say something, but all he got back was silence.
…
“AH! YES.” He heard the demon screech. He turned his head, seeing him holding Netherite leggings.
“Okay, you’re literally robbing us at this point.” It was ridiculous, how was this guy finding loot even Wemmbu couldn’t see.
“Come on, you’re me I’m you. Not a big deal, is it?” He put the armor on, looking a lot more confident. “Now all I need is a chestplate.”
“Couldn’t you have taken the diamond ones..?”
“Would YOU have taken the diamond ones?”
“Good point.” Wemmbu couldn’t argue against that logic. He knew himself very well, it was a truth.
“So, do you have a chestplate to spare?”
———
Wemmbu took out his sword and placed it on the table, taking out a Gapple out of his inventory in the process.
“Check the wall near the door, I think I put the armor I looted last month there.” If he remembered correctly, there should be one or two Netherite chestplates in there. Although they were either nearly broken or just not enchanted.
“Sweet.” He immediately opened one chest after another, sounding very excited.
“Damn, how did you hold up out there anyways. You look really desperate for the armor, I won’t lie.”
The slight sound of chuckling could be heard from a few meters away, the demon closed yet another chest as he smiled. “When I got here, I didn’t even have any armor on.” His hands went for the next chest, he looked inside. “I had to kill someone whilst being near naked and vulnerable just to get their armor, lol.”
This meant that he wouldn’t even have a weapon. How the hell did he even get out of spawn like that? Wemmbu knew that most players died there because of all the withers and stuff.
“Well, that’s-“ Before he could even talk, the sounds of joy coming from his mirror like self interrupted him.
“YES, yes oh my god yes!” He held up a purplish, yet black, chestplate onto the air, showing it off to Wemmbu. “Finally!” He banged on it, producing a hollow sound.
Without a moments rest, he immediately got to wearing it. It opened like a corset, making it easier for him to wrap it around his body. Wemmbu could notice that the demon hadn’t expected the chestplate to be that heavy, but he tried not to budge.
“Full Netherite, holy shit this feels great!” He raised his hand, taking off his tiara. It was one of the few small things that differed between the two, his tiara was sharper on the edges. More wavy and sharp, it was hard to explain.
Wemmbu had tried making fun of it, only ending up getting criticized in return. ‘It’s a stylistic choice!’ The Demon had yelled in a playful manner.
“Alright, I’m hoping you got everything you needed.” He stared at the face in front of him. In that moment, Wemmbu couldn’t help but realize that he was looking a lot like him than before. Maybe because of the armor, or maybe because of something else… It felt like an optical illusion, looking into a mirror and watching it move on its own..
“Yep, this will work.” The ‘mirror’ took out a diamond sword, unlike the other stuff he had, this one was enchanted.
Wemmbu couldn’t help but point out. “There’s not even like, mending on those. I wonder what you’ll do.” Most of the stuff he had got from the chests were junk even Wemmbu had refused to touch, he had his own gear, after all.
“…” The Demon did not answer.
‘I wonder what you’ll do.’
‘What’
Oh, he was beeing impolite. He had promised to help this version of himself return back ‘home’. (Or that’s what he called it.)
He could maybe reach out to Spoke or someone like that, they had some experience with ‘chunkbanning’ and stuff, which seemed close enough to what the Demon had referred to in their earlier conversations.
“Oh yeah, yeah. Sorry about that, umm… About your way back, I can maybe help you talk to a few people I know-“ Wemmbu was cut off.
“I’m not going back.” The demon stated.
“What?”
“Let me tell it to you this way.” He cleared his voice, taking a step towards the figure in front of him.
“Wemmbu,” He averted his eyes away from Wemmbu for a moment before staring right at his face. “Do you like your life?”
Wemmbu was quiet for a moment, he couldn’t understand what the dude was trying to do. He got his armor, he was even offering help to him.
“…yeah? I don’t get what you’re trying to tell me-“
“I do too.” The demon stated, like it was a fact.
“Okay? Then go back.” Wemmbu just couldn’t understand what this dude what trying to imply. Hadn’t he offered help? Or was it just not enough.
He stared at Wemmbu like he was an idiot. “No, I mean I like your life too.” He leaned forwards. “It’s basic, it’s calm. Oh I’d kill to be in your place!”
“Wait, CALM?” Okay, this guy did NOT know anything about Wemmbu’s life here. If he had to say it, his life was anything but. It was just that this ‘version’ of himself had just arrived at the best time of his life.
“Yes, calm. Do you know how frustrating it is to always have to watch your back? Always having to worry about your base being blown up or raided, being the main target of everyone just because you’re SO powerful?” He took a deep breath, gripping his hand into a fist before continuing. “Hell, I can’t even trust that my own ‘allies’ won’t just betray me for hearts! At least you have one that can’t betray you.” The demon looked agitated, he took another step forwards.
Wemmbu couldn’t help but cackle at the demons words. It seemed like he was right, they were both really similar. Having bases blown, constant fighting, being main targets.. This guy would not have survived what Wemmbu went through.
But the bit about the allies kinda pissed him off.
“First of all, my life is DEFINITELY-“
“Worse?” He completed his sentence for him, Wemmbu couldn’t figure out his face. It was too stoic, unlike his voice.
“Well, yeah!” He shot back, taking a step forwards himself.
“Then…” With the blink of an eye, the demons hands reached for the table, where Wemmbu’s weapon had been resting. He grabbed the sword, lunging at him.
Wemmbu hadn’t expected him to suddenly attack, he stumbled as he tried to take out his shield, only to realize that he had left it in the kitchen earlier. He didn’t have any totems on him either, he was actually done for. This wasn’t his fault, he hasn’t expected a fight!
“How about you go back for me?” The demon stabbed Wemmbu right in his chest with the sword, his vision started turning black. It was weird, really. He hadn’t felt a thing, it was just fuzzy. Not like the scars he has gotten from his other fights, nor the near death experiences.
He just couldn’t understand it, why had he attacked himself -as he had called it-? Why had he helped the guy anyways, he was obviously going to do something like that.
‘Well, the only person you can ever trust is yourself.’
Bullshit.
…
For some reason, he felt his body glitching. He stared at his own face before he passed out, he looked used to it.
…
His vision went black.
…
It felt..
.
.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
“Wow, that was weirdly easy.” He mumbled.
”Sorry, not sorry.”
Wemmbu groaned, staring at the puddle underneath him. The body was gone, just like the others he had killed. This probably had to do with the fact that him even being here was a ‘glitch in reality’ or whatever, he couldn’t bother trying to find an answer. But, he was going to need to clean this.
Eggchan was coming back.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-