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It should have been a breeze. Get in the End, declare to Minute that the dimension was no longer his, and then take Null and conquer everything. Easy.
So it took Spoke by surprise when he locked eyes with Minute after passing through the portal and found a wave of unexpected emotions passing over him. Emotions that tasted a bit too close to hesitation.
“Spoke?” Minute’s voice rang out, bringing Spoke back down to earth. He was placing obsidian around the doorway, and Spoke could feel the lingering effects of the harming potions bite at his skin. It was enough to push him forward. Remind him of why he was here and what he needed to be doing.
Fixing his posture and remembering who he was, (he was the leader of Null after all! Very powerful) Spoke casually walked over, keeping his face as clear as he could.
Minute, meanwhile, had worry crossed all over his expression as he quickly motioned for Spoke to get on the other side of the obsidian. “Come through, come through. I have reason to believe there’s about to be an attack here.”
Spoke’s fingers twitched at his side, but he smiled casually and feigned ignorance, leaning against the opening in the obsidian to block Minute from fully closing it off. “What are you talking about? It’s just me bro.”
“No, just a bit before you came in there were a bunch of harming potions being sent through,” Minute shook his head as he placed a hand on Spoke’s shoulder. And Spoke let him, because he figured that would stop the man from placing any more obsidian. What he wasn’t expecting, however, was for Minute to use that hand to quickly, yet gently, push Spoke out of the way and completely fill the remaining hole. “Alright, whoever comes should be stuck in there now due to the mining fatigue until I can figure out what they want.”
Spoke stood there for a moment, a little baffled that he hadn’t thought ahead and doomed his whole plan in just three seconds. And it wasn’t like he could fix it either, he had mining fatigue too. So now he was just… stuck here with Minute. He could probably go back to the Overworld and get Null, but now that Minute was expecting an attack, there wasn’t much they could do against the mining fatigue. It probably wouldn’t be worth it to-
“Spoke?” Minute’s voice broke Spoke out of his thoughts with a jump and he was quick to re-form his face into a smile to keep up appearances. “Are you feeling alright?” Minute asked once Spoke’s attention was on him. That same worry from before was focused on him again and it was starting to hurt Spoke’s stomach. Only slightly though. “I asked you a question just now, and you didn’t reply. You seemed kinda zoned out.”
Of course Minute had to notice the two seconds Spoke tried to take to think through his plan. Though he supposed a real leader wouldn’t need any extra time to think. But hey, Spoke was getting there! He’d only had Null for a week or so now; he would definitely get to being the perfect leader soon.
“My bad, my bad. You know I can get spacey at times,” Spoke brushed off, walking farther on to the main platform to try to push Minute’s attention away from where null would be showing up any moment now. “What was your question?”
Minute didn’t seem all that convinced (though Spoke couldn’t exactly blame him since he’d completely lied just now) but after a few seconds he followed Spoke anyway. “I asked what brought you to the End. It’s been a while since I last saw you, so I don’t know what you’ve been up to lately.”
At the reminder of what had been happening after taking down Law, Spoke expected himself to get annoyed, angry even, just like he had for everyone else that hadn’t been of any help to him while Null and Jamato were destroying his life. But for some reason, he couldn’t look at Minute and find any of that. Instead, all Spoke had the urge to do was sit down and tell Minute everything that happened to him, everything he’d been through. Everything about Null, about Jamato, about Purgatory. About Mapicc…
Which was… strange. After Parrot, Spoke hadn’t really had any desire — or any time either — to try to get someone to understand his situation. Especially not to the degree that he wanted to explain things to Minute right now. For some reason, seeing him just made Spoke want to peel away from everything. To take a break for himself and forget about everything he had to do.
Maybe it was the way Minute kept looking at him. Like he might actually understand, and listen. Or maybe Spoke just wanted someone to feel bad for him. To tell him that everything was… No, he didn’t need to be told anything. He was the powerful leader of Null after all. He was…
A hand on his shoulder broke Spoke out of his thoughts, though he hadn’t even realized he’d been standing there for so long, and when he blinked back to reality, he found Minute leading him into a section of his castle.
And like, Spoke had no idea what was going on but he could only assume Minute had explained it while he wasn’t paying attention just a second ago, so it would be kinda awkward if Spoke stopped to ask what they were doing. He had to keep up some air of being completely put together after all. So he just went along with it.
He was able to steal a glance back in the direction of the starting platform while they were walking, though due to the invis plan they had, Spoke couldn’t tell if Null had arrived yet. He could only hope they enjoyed mining.
At least with that logic Spoke could say he was distracting Minute right now and it was all according to plan. Even if he didn’t know what exactly they were doing.
After silently walking up a flight of stairs and down a hallway, the two of them came across a cozy-looking room full of bookshelves and couch cushions. Minute closed the door behind them. Spoke’s hand twitched.
“Uh, Minute?” Spoke coughed, figuring now might be a good time to try getting answers. “This place is nice, but I don’t really have time for a house tour.”
Minute hummed and led Spoke over to a cushion, gesturing for him to take a seat. And Spoke did for whatever reason. Maybe because Minute took a seat as well on the opposite cushion.
“I think you should take some time to sit,” Minute spoke, in a tone much softer than he had before.
Spoke blinked. “What are you talking about? I don’t need to- I didn’t even tell you what I was here for.” He found his eyes scanning over the room carefully, but there wasn’t much to it. Just a desk he didn’t notice immediately. It didn’t seem trapped.
Minute frowned. “I’m aware. Instead of answering, you went silent, and you looked rather disturbed-”
“Disturbed?”
“-So I can only assume that whatever brought you here must be pretty bad.” Spoke watched carefully as Minute adjusted his position on his cushion before continuing. “I could kinda tell something was up after I first saw you come through the portal though. Spoke, if I’m being honest here…” Minute hesitated and Spoke held his breath. He was prepared to hear that Minute somehow knew about Null already and was luring Spoke into this room to trap him or something. But when Minute opened his mouth again, something else came out. “You don’t look well at all. Forgive me for being blunt but you look incredibly pale, you have bags under your eyes, your hair is a mess, and it seems like you’ve lost quite a lot of weight.”
“What are you talking about? I…” Spoke quickly tried defending himself before he realized he didn’t actually know if Minute was right or not. When was the last time he’d slept through the night or eaten a good meal? He… couldn’t even remember.
Minute seemed to take Spoke’s silence as enough of a reply to keep talking. “Listen, I don’t know what you’ve been up to since the Law, but you’re here now. If something is after you, or someone is chasing you, or whatever it is that caused you to be in this condition, you can tell me. I can help you deal with it.”
Spoke took a shallow breath as he processed what was going on. Minute thought he needed help? Now? For the past few months all Spoke has needed was help, but now that he finally doesn’t, of course that’s when it’s finally offered to him. Of course. A wide grin tore itself onto Spoke’s face as he let out a short laugh. “Minute bro, just what kind of person do you think I-”
“Spoke,” Minute interrupted firmly. He was looking as Spoke as if he could directly see through his eyes. “If it’s difficult to speak about, that’s fine, but you cannot sit here and tell me nothing’s wrong. I’m not an idiot.”
Spoke’s smile vanished at Minute’s words, and in its place an indifferent frown was left. Because wasn’t Minute incorrect? Yeah, something had been wrong for the past few months, but he’d fixed it! Spoke had taken down Jamato and was now the leader of Null. He had pretty much everything he’d ever need now. He was moving up! Everything was alright!
…Yet for some reason, in the back of his mind, Spoke couldn’t shake the feeling that Minute was right. There was a sense, buried deep in the back of his skull, that he wasn’t completely okay. That he still wasn’t safe. That he still didn’t have what he wanted.
And when he looked at Minute, at the worry and care drawn all over his face, that feeling ever so slightly lessened.
But that didn’t even make sense. Spoke had what he wanted, and he was safe. He literally had the strongest army on the entire server completely loyal to him. What more could he need?
While Spoke was deep in his thoughts, Minute briefly stood up and walked out of sight before coming back and setting something down on the floor between the two of them. The sound was enough to make Spoke pay attention again, and when he looked down he found…
“What- What is this bro?” Spoke asked, though mostly rhetorically. In front of them were two steaming cups of a light brown liquid, likely tea if he had to guess.
Minute picked up his cup and brought it close to his face. “Tea,” he answered simply. “It helps me get my thoughts together sometimes. It could help you too.”
Spoke immediately wanted to insist that he didn’t need any help, but before he could, he realized something. “Wait, isn’t this like, a library? Why do you have tea on standby in a library?”
Minute seemed a bit caught off guard by Spoke’s question but he shook his head regardless. “This isn’t a library, it’s a study. And the person who usually comes here likes to drink tea while he writes,” he explained before quietly mumbling, “though it’s been a while since he last came, I hope he’s alright.”
“Right, a library, a study, same thing still weird,” Spoke shrugged, picking up the tea. He didn’t really want to drink it as he wasn’t sure his stomach could handle much after Purgatory, but he could at least pretend. To be polite and all that.
But, when Spoke brought the cup up to his lips, the scent of familiar golden flower tea reached him, and a sudden wave of nostalgia attacked his senses. It took him a second to realize why before he recalled that Minute had made him the same tea when they’d first met. After rescuing them from the mafia, Minute had offered tea to Spoke and…
Oh. Right. There was still one thing that Spoke didn’t have. Despite taking down Jamato and acquiring Null, there was still one thing missing. One person.
Spoke had been trying not to think about it since it happened, but even having thousands of Null soldiers at his side at any moment couldn’t fill the void left behind by Mapicc’s absence. Nothing could.
Looking back at Minute, who was just sipping his tea patiently, Spoke was overwhelmed with the urge to explain everything again. He didn’t know why, but he just didn’t want to have to sit with the knowledge he had. To keep it within himself. If anything, he just wanted to say Mapicc’s name out loud one more time.
Just as he opened his mouth to speak though…
“Minute, we’re under attack!” Someone, likely one of Minute’s guards judging by the armor, burst in the room. She looked rather stressed. “There’s hundreds, maybe thousands of them!”
Right, Spoke had nearly forgotten that he’d sent his entire army here. Well, maybe it was a good thing they came when they did. Who knows what would have happened if Spoke started speaking. He might not have been able to stop. What kind of leader would he be then?
Minute’s face twisted and he stood up quickly, heading for the door. “Stay here,” he urged as he saw Spoke standing up as well. “I can deal with this, and you’re in no condition to be fighting.”
Spoke fought back an eye roll as he followed anyway. He was in perfectly fine condition to fight, but it wasn’t like he was going to anyway.
Despite his previous concerns, when Minute saw Spoke following he didn’t do anything aside from letting out a small sigh. It seemed like he knew which fights not to pick.
“Look, Spoke, if the people here are after you,” Minute started as they were making their way down the stairs. He spoke in a way that implied he already assumed Null being an enemy of Spoke to be true. “I can deal with it, okay? They’re not gonna get in, and they’re not gonna get you.”
The sentiment expressed should have made Spoke feel all safe and cared for, but it really didn’t. It just made the pit in his stomach deepen.
They made it to the obsidian barrier blocking the starting platform and Minute took a step back once he saw the sheer number of nametags. The invis must have worn off by now.
“My god, there’s so many of them,” Minute whispered before pausing and turning a sorrowful expression to Spoke. “Just what have you been dealing with?”
Spoke pressed his lips together tightly and forced himself to look away. He didn’t like how Minute was able to make his chest hurt so easily.
“If you fight them, you’re gonna die. You should just let them through,” Spoke mumbled, aware of what would happen once Null inevitably mined through the barrier. He knew how strong his army was, and he knew that Minute barely stood a chance. The only other option was for Spoke to command them to stand down but that would just reveal to Minute that Null was his. Which… the thought of that made Spoke sick for some reason. He knew it had to happen, he just… he just didn’t know.
Minute tilted his head and glanced down at Spoke curiously but Spoke didn’t meet his eyes. “What are you talking about? I don’t care how many of them there are, I’m not gonna give up my dimension so easily.”
“You really think you can fight that many people at once?” Spoke asked incredulously. Wasn’t Minute supposed to be smart? “You don’t know how strong they are. It would be best to just give them what they want.”
“I can’t do that,” Minute shook his head. “I said I would guard this dimension and that's exactly what I plan to do.” A pause. “But seriously, you should get somewhere safe while you can.”
Spoke just ignored him, instead staring into the sea of incomprehensible names. He could see _________’s nametag through the obsidian. And somehow, he got the feeling his trusted commander was staring right back at him.
There was… one thing Spoke could do to get out of this situation, he realized. One way to get Null out of that box and prevent Minute from finding out Spoke had anything to do with this.
The totem…
But, Spoke fought hard to get into the position he was in now. To give up all that power… only an idiot would do something like that. He needed this. He needed Null.
The sounds of breaking obsidian got dangerously close and Spoke felt Minute pull him closer so they could pot up together. “If you wanna stay to fight I can’t stop you,” Minute said carefully, making sure Spoke was actually looking at him. “But please be careful. There are many escape routes you can take if you get into trouble.”
Spoke clenched his fists so tight he was sure his nails were breaking the skin of his palms but he kept his face blank. There were so many things he wanted to say to Minute right now, most of which he was sure he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to even admit. But he knew what was about to happen. Knew that in just a few seconds Minute would be…
A singular hole was broken in the obsidian and a pearl was thrown through. Minute braced himself and held an arm out to protect Spoke. Spoke’s chest hurt again.
When the pearl landed, it was just _________ standing in front of them. He was staring at Spoke expectantly. It seemed like he’d come through to ask Spoke what their next move should be. Spoke didn’t even know what to say.
“Hello…” Minute started cautiously, looking _________ up and down. His eyes lingered on the unusual nametag for just a second longer than the rest of him. “I take that you’re the leader here.”
_________ looked down as if he were embarrassed. “I wouldn’t exactly say that, but I am in charge when our leader isn’t present.” He glanced at Spoke again as if he were waiting for something. Spoke stayed silent for as long as he could.
“I see,” Minute nodded. “What are your plans here then? What do you want with Spoke?” He said the last few words with a bit more force than the rest.
“Well…” _________ trailed off, waiting to see if Spoke would say anything. After a few seconds of silence, he continued, “That’s what I came here to find out.” He turned his full attention to Spoke now. “Spoke, we’re awaiting your next command.”
Spoke stared straight at _________, not daring to look away even when he saw Minute turn to him in confusion. “Command? What are you talking about, aren’t you guys after Spoke?” Minute asked, sounding purely lost. Spoke wanted nothing more than to plug his ears and never hear Minute’s voice again.
The totem of Null was sitting heavily in Spoke’s inventory, and he figured now might be a good time to pull it out. To keep it in eyesight to remind himself of who he was right now and what he had control over.
“Minute,” Spoke breathed, looking down at the totem in his hands instead of the man he was addressing. “You should let them pass. You’re not gonna win, I know that.” The purple enchantment effect on the totem gave Spoke a weird sense of comfort. The shade was familiar.
“Spoke, what’s going on here? Are you…” Spoke could feel Minute’s eyes staring intently at the side of his head but he didn’t dare look up. He wasn’t sure what would happen to his resolve if he did.
So instead, he turned his attention back to _________. “Commander, you can tell the rest of Null to come in. Our plans haven't changed.”
_________ nodded and pearled back through the hole, his now-faint voice instructing the rest of Null. It would take another five minutes for them to break the last piece of obsidian so everyone could come through. Which left Spoke alone with Minute…
“Spoke, I…” Minute took a breath, glancing between Spoke and the huge Null army on the other side of the obsidian. “I thought these people were hunting you or something, and that’s why you… Are you really in charge of them? Are you really trying to invade the End?”
Spoke took a step away from the obsidian. He figured it would be helpful if Null couldn’t hear this conversation. “Listen Minute, this isn’t personal. I just,” a breath, “I need to do this.”
Minute took a step away as well. “That just doesn’t make sense. If you’re with them, then what’s making you…” he went silent for a moment, and Spoke hoped it was because he’d given up and would just accept what was going to happen. “Where’s Mapicc?” He was wrong.
For the first time since Spoke had acquired Null, his expression slipped. It was only brief, and he tried to fix it immediately, but Minute certainly saw. “That’s none of your business,” he bit out, harsher than he’d meant to. He couldn’t believe that just a few minutes ago he was genuinely considering telling Minute everything. He was stupid for thinking that would ever be a good idea.
Instead of matching Spoke’s lashing out with anger of his own, a strange thing that seemed like understanding appeared on Minute’s face. It made Spoke wanna curl in on himself, but he just clutched his totem tighter instead.
Minute put his sword away. “Look… I don’t know what’s going through your head or what happened to Mapicc,” Spoke unintentionally tensed at the sound of his best friend’s name, “but you don’t have to do this, Spoke. I can help you. We can fight Null together.”
For the first time since _________ had pearled through the obsidian, Spoke looked up at Minute properly. He could almost see his future should he listen to Minute and accept his help. It seemed fine, maybe even nice. He could see himself enjoying that life with his friends all around him. But…
The piercing green eyes of the totem in his hands drew his attention back down and reminded Spoke of the life he’d already started to choose. One full of power and complete control. Full of destruction and thousands of loyal soldiers. One without any of his friends.
The options in front of him were each tempting, and technically Spoke could go either way. But hadn’t his fate already been sealed from the moment this totem felt the skin of his fingers? This power… he would be a fool to let it slip through his hands so easily. He knew better than that. A true leader saw their plans through, and Spoke knew that was exactly what he had to do.
“I’m sorry, Minute,” Spoke whispered, a trace of genuine emotion unexpectedly showing through. And for the briefest moment, a flash of relief crossed Minute’s face. As if he believed with those words that he had finally gotten through to Spoke. And Spoke swore to himself that this was the last time he would let his chest ache over Minute.
All of Minute’s relief vanished once Spoke pulled out his mace though. “You may not understand, and that’s okay.” For the last time, Spoke met Minute’s eyes again. Eyes full of despair at the sight of what Spoke had become. “But I need to do this.”
At the same time that Spoke threw a wind charge at his feet, Null broke through the obsidian barrier and swarmed Minute, beginning their fight for the End.
And from that point forward, Spoke didn’t live in a world where Minute could ever look at him the same again.