Chapter Text
Wemmbu was sick. He was sick of the LAW, sick of how everyone except Egg, Minute, Boosfer and Jaden seemed to hate him, sick of how Parrot and Flame went out of their way just to ruin everything he'd built as the Invisible Knight. He was sick of everything. Wemmbu was done with it all.
Sitting in his jail cell alone, Wemmbu couldn't help but think about all his life choices, he wished for a clean restart where he’ll live out a peaceful life with Egg. But fate had other plans, and he had run out of hope long before. He was ready now that he made peace with the fact that he was going to die the next day. Egg is safe with Minute in the END, Jaden has his own civilization and Boosfer…well, probably gonna be fine.
Perhaps it was out of pity, or to humiliate him, whatever, but the caracal-LettuceK damn you Lettuce decided to give Wemmbu a nice room with pretty clothes that he knew Lettuce had definitely handpicked for him (the clothes smelled just like him, gross). He was still chained by the collar and cuffs, of course, but hey, at least he got to look presentable for his final day on the server.
Picking out a tailored poet shirt and dress pants; paired with his stylish, iconic, freakishly tall high heels that had hidden mechanisms for his wind charges; brushing his hair and styling whatever was left of his beloved hair, braiding the sunflowers from Rejoice and the eyes from Egg on the sides of his horns. His tiara was still missing unfortunately, never has he hated one person as much as now.
He put on a sapphire blue brooch given by Jaden to connect a dramatic cape to his shirt, sewed the button Boosfer had given him back then right under the brooch he simply wanted closure from his closest friends, and pinned some of his loose hair back using a hairpin gifted by Minute.
He basically dressed himself in every single gift everyone had ever given him, including feathers from Parrot, void stars from Spoke, even Flame's bandana was tied into a bow in his hair. If he was going to die, he wanted to at least die beautiful and loved, close to those he loved.
After dressing up, he closed his eyes and rested. He was going to wake up really early the next day for his execution, after all, and he needs to be ready.
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Oddly enough, when Wemmbu opened his eyes just a second later, he felt the wetness of grass on his skin instead of the rough fabric of his cell bed. Just where is he? Wemmbu stood up and took notice of the empty place. He was in some sort of park. The sky was pitch black, lights barely hanging on as they flickered uselessly. There were no sounds of birds or insects, only soft coos from crickets and the cold, chilling wind.
Then, soft, muffled groans could be heard somewhere. He immediately recognized them as signs of zombies. Wemmbu turned to walk toward the noises to investigate as zombies barely and probably had long stopped spawning ages ago and froze at the sight.
Normally, he wouldn't be too phased, those things were weak and didn't exactly give anything good anyway, especially when they just died from the sun. But these were different. The air was thick with rotten flesh and blood, and when he approached the sound, he quickly realized what was wrong, the thing looked human(?), barely. Its posture was hunched, bones twisted unnaturally, skin too pale with molding(??) patches and bald spots, half its guts spilled out, dragged along on the dirty ground.
Now, Wemmbu wasn't the type to be phased by these kinds of gory things, considering the amount of people he had killed. But that? That was genuinely terrifying. Especially when he had attacked the zombie multiple times already, with attacks that normally only needed one strike to kill, now, even with multiple, it refused to die. At least, until he managed to smash its skull open and turned the brains inside into slime. (He could lift two maces at once; what did you think?) Only then did it finally collapse and die.
Wemmbu may not be smart, but he ain't stupid. This was definitely not his server or even Minecraft at all. At first, he thought it was a stupid prank Lettuce had pulled on him before his execution, but now, he wasn't so sure.
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Wemmbu glanced at his clothes and grimaced. They were bloodied thanks to that zombie’s guts flailing around when he attacked it. He sighed, put all the accessories into his inventory, and removed the cape, leaving it behind, the cape was ugly anyway, and unfortunately, it was the only piece with the least of that cat's scent. Wemmbu also didn't like to have his clothes stained, so he decided to walk around looking for a clothes store to loot.
The place was unfamiliar, the road painted with black and white paint, the sides lined with flat rock plates he didn't recognize (looks like cobblestones if he’s honest). The buildings themselves looked strange with inconsistent designs, made of materials he knew by heart but couldn’t recognize at first glance. Somewhere along the way, he encountered a few zombies here and there.
It was weird that they looked different from each other. One looked human, one was growing mushrooms paired with croaking noises, and one was a literal mushroom that kept clicking obnoxiously. He figured since he had no idea how these zombies functioned, it was best to avoid them as much as possible.
Then he stumbled upon a huge building. Curious, Wemmbu decided to go in, not forgetting to pick up a crowbar nearby. His inventory was empty aside from the accessories he had stored, so he needed something to defend himself, of course, it’s only common sense.
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Wemmbu was in awe. The place inside was massive. It looked broken and abandoned, sure, but he was confident that before whatever had happened, this place had definitely been grand. He walked along, reading the crooked signs of each section, the names were definitely odd. He then stumbled upon a clothing section. Most of the clothes were stained or torn, but Wemmbu managed to gather a few working ones. There were none of his usual style, but these would suffice.
He wore a black fitted top with neck coverage but no sleeves, and loose, baggy pants that he found a belt to tighten. He also decided to tie the feather, void star, and bandana to it to add some style. He needed to look fashionable, you know? He was the END prince, after all. Wemmbu found the place littered with zombies as he continued to wander. Huh. He might be lost, the place was huge!
He strolled around, trying to look for an exit, occasionally taking down a zombie or two when they spotted him. He looted some more jewelry and weapons along the way, and grew curious about something that looked like a hose connected to a block of metal. He was sure it had to be useful somehow as there were fire stickers plastered on it, so it could probably shoot fire.
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Suddenly, he heard voices. One of them he recognized.
Boosfer?
Right there, chatting with Boomiee and probably his bandits team. As if noticing the stare, Boosfer turned to him and froze on the spot. Is seeing him that shocking? Wait why is he crying- “Wemmbu…? I..is that you?” Boosfer trembled as he stare at him. Wemmbu didn’t understand anything all, but he felt another stare on him, coming from a young girl with fluffy white hair that was dyed (or stained, he didn’t really know) a reddish pink, she didn’t have a hostile stare, it was more like a stare of disbelief.
Distracted, Wemmbu didn’t notice Boosfer charging at him, pulling him into a tight hug. “Bu! Where have you been??? I was worried sick! We thought you were dead!” Wemmbu flinched, huh, was he with Boosfer in this universe or…? Seeing how confused Wemmbu was, Boosfer worriedly ask. “You ok Wemmbu?” “Dude uhh…do we…? Are we allies?” Wemmbu questioned, testing the waters.
Boosfer froze, did he ask the wrong thing or- “You don’t remember me? Wemm it’s me Boosfer, your brother.” Ok now that was unexpected. Suddenly the white haired girl approached them, placing a hand on Boosfer’s shoulder. “Boosfer dude, don’t make him panic, at least let me run a check on him for any injuries, could be amnesia” she said flatly, seriously who is this girl? Not like Wemmbu ever noticed unimportant chungies anyways, so she was probably one of the chungies he banned back then.
Upon hearing that, Boosfer reluctantly let go him, but refused to move away, staying close to him as the group moved to the exit, it seems like if Wemmbu was even later 5 more minutes, he would’ve been stuck in this place called “mall” forever. On the way, Boosfer explained to him about the zombies, how each stages look and act, he didn’t really get it at first, until Boomiee handed him a small notebook of the infection.
Note:
Infection name: cordyceps fungus (parasitic)
Cause: blood or wounds come in contact with the fungus or in contact with the hosts’ blood. Breathing in spores, bit by the host or scratched by the host.
Stage 1-Lucid: hair loss, half conscious half delirious. Irritable, can probably still be saved through amputation and quarantine for the first 4 hours, must be muzzled until cure is found. From 5 hours and up, death is the best solution, they stay in groups. Body will die and collapse like normal if heart stops, breathing blocked and brain destroyed. (Well duh) Danger level: 20-35%
Stage 2-Dread: bald, no longer conscious or barely(depending on the host’s original mental strength). Timid but aggressive, do not approach, must stay alert to surrounding to avoid getting caught. Fungus and mold started to spread on them, if only mold exist, then they’re probably transitioning into stage 2, very clumsy in that state. The heart and lungs had stopped working, so the only way to kill is through the brain. Is associated with croaking sounds, they can climb.Danger level: 50%
Stage 3-Crawler: blind, the fungus have grown over their eyes, harder to kill and is very fast. sharp hearings, whoever that is is no longer in there. They have lost their autonomy. Clothes are torn, replaced by chunks of cordyceps fungus causing them to be dragged down onto the floor due to the heaviness of the fungus. They release spores, lots of them. Try to kill them if possible, careful of where you walk, they’re usually on the ground on all of their limbs(or whatever body parts they had left). They can’t climb or jump obviously, is associated with their obnoxious loud clicking. Danger level: 55%
|+> Stage 3(alternate)-Scrambler: deaf, the fungus have grown over their ears instead, sharp eyesight and even faster than Crawler. Their body has adapted to the heavy fungus and grew stronger, a must avoid, or if possible, shoot them. They release less spores, but a relentless hunter and can see in the dark very well. Best option is using smoke bombs or flash bombs. Is also associated with clicking noises but they screeches more than clicking. Danger level: 70%
Stage 4(final)-Trailer: their body has twisted into a mass of fungus, layers after layers creating an impenetrable armor. Very slow, similar to snails or even slower, evolved from Crawlers, they’re usually passive due to how heavy they are, but the amount of spores they release is enough to block sights and may even leak into gas masks the closer you get to them, they move very slowly to new locations with a purpose to spread more spores. They don’t need to be killed, but they’re a hassle to deal with due to the thick spores that may block the place you’re trying to get to. Lots of other infected tends to trail around Trailers because of the spores they produce, making approaching one even more dangerous. Luckily they’ll die out on their own. Danger level: 0.1%
|+> Stage 4(alternate)-Nightmare: as the name suggests, they’re a literal nightmare to deal with. Evolving from Scramblers, they have less mass of fungus, but it’s enough to keep them impenetrable, making killing them a huge challenge. With strength like no others and speed enough to rival Manepear, it takes a group of more than 10 people to actually kill it, even then they still struggle. They don’t emit spores, but they do produce acidic substance they can throw at you. If you find a Nightmare, goodbye. Danger level: 99.9%
Documented by:
—— Haru Charlotte——
&
——Lunary Charlotte——
Wemmbu read them carefully, each pages explained in detail with a rough sketch of each zombie’s body analysis. Boomiee started “It’s written by Lunary-our doctor, and Haru-our old hunter, they’re fiancées by the way. This guide is even more detailed than what the LAW had given everyone. Lunary is that white and reddish haired girl over there, you guys used to be close.” Wemmbu looked at where Boomiee pointed, which is at the girl which gave him a stare down earlier, if they were close, she should at least act relieved when he’s here or something, not looking at him with resentment.
Wemmbu decided to ask an important question to avoid the awkwardness Boomiee seemed to be showing, why is he and Boosfer are actually brothers? He doesn’t think Boosfer would ever say that to him when he’s not ragebaiting “Uhh, alright…are we actually brothers? Boosfer and me I mean. Cuz I don’t think we look alike or smth.” Wemmbu muttered, Boomiee patiently explained “Well, you guys ARE related, if you don’t believe it, Lunary can probably do a Dna test…you do know what that is right?”
Wemmbu stared at the printed paper like it had told him the Earth is flat. Siblings relation 99%. He couldn’t believe it, they had taken the test once they reached a secluded spot safe enough to rest for a while. It turned out the bandits didn’t exactly had a place to stay, and were always on the move, the only base they had found was already occupied by Parrot and his group. Huh, so everyone he knows definitely exist here…he wonders if Rejoice is alive…
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”Wemmbu? Can we talk? Like…privately?” Wemmbu turned at the mention of his name, it was Lunary. She looked uncomfortable with him, curious he decided to follow her, assuring Boosfer it would be fine, that he can protect himself. Once alone, she immediately cut to the chase “I know you’re not Wemmbu…at least not ours.” Wemmbu widened in shock, and he was ready to attack, was she the one who pulled him here somehow?
“No worries tho, I won’t tell. It’s their fault for being blind. Your wings and horns are way larger than our Wemmbu’s, and even with a growth spurt, they shouldn’t grow big that fast in just 3 months. And you have no scars, and your body is way firmer and more defined with muscles than our Wemmy.” Lunary quickly said, Wemmbu squinted at her, obviously not trusting her “Look dude I know you don’t trust me, but the original Wemmbu is dead, I saw it, he slipped off a roof and fell right on top of a zombie hoard, even if he did survive, he’s already infected.” “Then why did they say I went missing…?” Wemmbu retorted.
She just sighed and explained “I didn’t want them to be worried or blame me for it…especially when before everyone were separated, I had a horrible fight with him…I just lost my fiancée that day and…it was kinda his fault, he argued with her and slashed her eyes with the knife he used to kill infecteds…we had to kill her after that. And I’m not very strong, I needed to stay in groups so…” Wemmbu listened closely, ok so…his counterpart is dead, and now he’s taking his role? Well since she explained it like that, makes sense why Boomiee said they’re used to be close or whatever.
”And I need you to keep playing as an amnesiac…for the safety of everyone else including yourself-” “Oh? And why should I?” Wemmbu cut her off the moment she offered him the quest “…Or, I’ll tell everyone the truth, I may get kicked out or even killed, but you’re likely also going to get flamed too, after all, you’re wearing a dead man’s face…and even if you were kept, you’ll forever be resented or chained down forever! I also know how to pick locks, I can uncuff you.” She quickly offered, Wemmbu thought about it for a moment…no harms in pretending to be himself he supposed, well, his counterpart but still. “Convenient threat you got there, fine, whatever…”