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"Okay, chill, chill."
Loonac finally turned around to face their assailants, tossing their sword aside. Doopter was still kicking at those restraining him, to no avail. The rest of the bountyhunters pointed their weapons towards Loonac, and they raised their hands to prove they had no weapons.
"Where's the book?" One of the henchmen asked, as expected. Loonac felt their blood pressure rise. If this was how they were going to die, then they wouldn't want to be revived again.
"For the billionth time, I don't fucking have it," Loonac barked back, "we can't do anything. We'll give it to you, I swear— just don't kill us."
Doopter immediately scowled at Loonac. "We can't do that!"
"We don't have a choice." Their voice was nothing but defeated.
Loonac's armor was all broken, fragments lying on the bedrock, only their chestplate remained— but even that was at it's last breath. It was hopeless. Either they get to a compromise, or this is it for them. And Loonac wasn't willing to have their own past mistake take another 3 lives.
The Book of Knowledge was just another stain Loonac left on this server. Loonac wasn't going to let it be the thing that also kills them.
Doopter was promptly pulled into the same cluster of webs that Loonac was tethered to, joining them in their humilation.
The two of them could only hope that Nufuli was going to come back soon.
The scene was as horrifying as it was mortifying. They had to watch as the guards painstakingly dragged unconscious Nufuli over to their premade prison; all the while enduring more humiliating comments thrown at them by the guards. Despite how much was going on, there was only one thing on Loonac's mind.
This was still their fault.
Loonac could've prevented all of this, could've prevented so many of these powerful items from even existing if they had just been more wise, if they had just accepted that they weren't anything special instead of making up a poor theory out of nothing.
They could never escape, could never move on. That wasn't a feasible option.
Loonac scoffed, taking a glance at Doopter for some form of connection. He smiled back, and Loonac couldn't help but smile back. Shamelessly.
They looked away again.
Something in them almost envied how Doopter could move on from their past, how they managed to thrive after being one of Wyll's lackeys for so long. Although Loonac never inquired, they could imagine that Doopter had blood on their hands as well, from their time guarding the command block.
Yet, Doopter had their redemption, could wash the blood on their hands away.
The only thing Loonac had done was let the blood spread further than they could've ever imagined, letting it seep into the server.
It was only reasonable that it had made it's way over to them. What goes around comes around, they morbidly thought to themself.
And at any point, the guards could've cut their humiliation march short and taken them down with a few swipes of their blades.
Lord, they needed something new to think about.
They finally arrived, to the decrepit blackstone base.
"Get in." One of the guards commanded, alluding to the chamber Nufuli was thrown into.
"I'm not getting in there." Doopter was quick to deny, taking a step back and shaking their head. Loonac desperately wanted to send them some kind of warning glare.
"Do you want to fucking die?" Another guard unsheathed their sword, which gleamed in the lighting of the base.
Doopter somehow managed to chuckle through the threat, "At this point, well—"
Okay, this time Loonac did send a questioning look towards him, reflexively.
The guards attempted to tug the two of them towards the chamber, but Doopter continued resisting, attempting to break free from the grip through any means, lashing at them. "Quit it," he muttered, "dude, I'm not staying in here—"
The last word was punched out of Doopter's lungs as they were roughly shoved from behind into the pit where the chamber lied; Loonac joining them a moment afterwards with a heavy thud, the last of their armor scraping heavily against the flooring.
Their head was pounding, vision swimming. A faint buzz rang throughout their head as they felt another rough kick against their legs.
"Are you going to listen now?" One of the guards said.
That was when it really hit Loonac that they were truly captured, and their fate was entirely reliant on Nufuli coming back at a normal time.
It really was a ticking time bomb.
Loonac found themself absently nodding to prevent more damage, and soon they finally found the strength to sit back up. Doopter had rolled onto his back, from the looks of it. At least he wasn't knocked out from the impact. They could hear Doopter faintly hissing from pain, though.
Nufuli better come back soon. At least he was unscathed.
"Look at you guys right now," another guard ridiculed, pridefully grinning towards them from above, "you're nothing without that book."
"We would've done better if we had a third teammate, I think," Loonac mused, maybe a bit too bitterly for the situation— but they mostly meant to direct that towards their still very unconscious teammate.
Their words seemed to spur on one of the other bountyhunters, "As I said, you are nothing without the book."
"Nufuli's more than just that book, but you wouldn't know jackshit about that," Loonac spat, before they could consider the possible consequences. They were definitely on thin ice at this point; but it was their own remaining pride and shame that couldn't let it go.
That book was only an extension of Loonac's mistake, not something that Nufuli should be minimized to.
"Woah, struck a nerve, huh," a mocking lilt was in their voice, "but you know damn well I'm right."
"You don't know anything," Loonac repeated, their voice getting louder in the space. Doopter was now staring at them instead. "Now stop acting like you're all high and mighty for just capturing two ran—"
The guard jumped down to the pit, the sound of netherite boots heavy against the floor, echoing as they stepped over to stand in front of Loonac. "Mind repeating that?"
Fuck. They were screwed. Can't back down anymore, though; they took a deep breath. "What? I said what I said," Loonac glowered up at them.
"I can take you out this very second and you're still fucking around?" They questioned, lowly, and Loonac was very much starting to regret not swallowing their pride, "I thought these great players who have access to one of the most powerful weapons in the entire server would be smarter than this. And you still think you deserve it?"
Loonac didn't answer their words. 'Deserve' is not a word Loonac would use to describe their feelings towards this nightmare of an item. They'd burn it all if they could.
Loonac looked to the side, avoiding eye contact.
"Answer me, damn it." They grabbed Loonac by their hair, which was effective in making them look back at them with wide eyes.
"I don't care," was all Loonac could think to say.
With that, the guard raised their blade, and Loonac felt their blood run cold.
They've done it now.
It's either fight or flight.
In a frantic, last ditch attempt to avoid a potential fatal slash, they began thrashing for their life, pushing at the guard's legs in an attempt to knock them off their feet; but the netherite leggings resisted any knockback their squirming could've produced.
"Stay still, damn—"
Suddenly, through the commotion, the grip the guard had on Loonac's hair seemingly disappeared, and their head knocked against the rough netherite plating of their legs from the lack of support.
"There."
They winced from the sharp pain. When they raised their head, their head felt oddly light. Dread quickly settled in, and they paused, taking a moment to touch their scalp and run a hand through their hair, "You…"
"Petty words get you petty punishments." The guard snickered, as if this wasn't a massive fucking deal to them.
Horrified, Loonac looked down, just to confirm their suspicions.
Their hair was butchered. A messy slash took out at least half of it, leaving them with around the amount they used to let grow out. They felt bile rise to their throat.
"You guys are like school bullies, I swear," Doopter snapped, "I can't wait for Nufuli to—"
"You want to lose a tooth or what?" Another guard threatened. With that, Doopter promptly quieted down, "I'll knock both of you down a peg whenever I want to. We're in charge here."
Loonac carefully gathered the remains of their hair in their hands. This actually felt worse than what they imagined they would do. They were stunned.
But it was more temporary than death, at least.
Loonac raised their scarf to cover their lower face again.
"What happened to your hair?" Nufuli was quick to question after they had recovered from the fight and arrived at the base.
Loonac really didn't want to think about it, or how visible it was to others; they were avoiding their reflection like the plague. "Those motherfuckers cut it off just because I defended you," they sighed, frowning deeply, "just so— stupid."
Nufuli patted their shoulder sympathetically. It felt nice, the person who knew the reason why it was such a big matter to them comforting them, even if it was simple. Loonac assumed he'd say more about the matter if Doopter wasn't present.
"Those good-for-nothing guys just straight up beat us up as if we could do anything about you being unconscious with the Book of Knowledge in your inventory," Doopter was still riled up, with the furious look of someone who desperately needed something to tear down or beat up. "Lord. They pissed me off, I actually need to go blow off some more steam. Don't ask me where I'm going. I'll come back later."
And with a whistle of a rocket, they were gone. Didn't even spare any time to say a single good bye.
"Now I actually wanna know where he's going," Loonac wondered out loud.
Nufuli nodded. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking— actually, where the hell even is his base? He just kinda appears out of no where, doesn't he?"
They shrugged. That is a good question.
"Anyways," Nufuli swiftly reset the course of the conversation, "are you like, okay? I know your hair is important to you and all that."
Loonac wasn't sure how to word their thoughts. It didn't feel great not being able to stand their reflection again and having their pride and joy so maliciously cut off, but it wasn't exactly something they hadn't lived without already. "I'll just get used to it again, I guess. Not sure if it just hasn't hit me yet, but I don't really care, honestly," They muttered.
The only thing that lingered was a numb feeling.
"Good to hear, but just know, uh," Nufuli hesitated, shifting restlessly, "it doesn't change the way I see you; well, by that I mean it doesn't change you."
Loonac smiled at him, they really couldn't be more grateful to have someone to talk to about this matter, "Thanks. Sucks that I have to live with this botched haircut for a while, though."
Nufuli grinned back, pulling them into a hug. "You'll make it work. Trust me, bro."