Chapter Text
It was so loud, with everyone cheering from every corner of the stands. Mugm seemed content with standing at the farthest area away from everyone else, with the only time he made contact with another person being when Squid shifted his way. The voidling still had yet to recognize the way his bestfriend throughout the entire event tried to cling to him, as if hoping they could stay together even when the event ended. The timer was ticking down, yet no one else seemed to be worried. Maybe they had made peace with not being able to see some of these people again. Maybe Squid was weird.
That's what the people back at Infuse seemed to always think, anyway. Was he selfish for wanting a real connection; one that's not just made by people wanting to use him? Blackwater duo was the friendship he'd been searching for for years. All the other previous connections he had were faulty, ending when he ran out of use. But Mugm never seemed to hate him, even when he messed up. He never judged him for any of the things he did, only accepted it as a part of a much bigger picture. Even when Squid failed, Mugm didn't abandon him, only helped him back up. But even then, somewhere in Squid's mind, a voice tries to convince him that he's not worthy of this friendship. I mean, after all, Squid had no worth in the eyes of the people. Not even to himself. When people saw him wandering alone, they wouldn't be afraid of him, they would be afraid of who he was teamed with. When Mugm's around, even the strongest run away. But with Squid? They just killed him over and over. Even the weak doubt his abilities. Back in Infuse, everyone was only afraid of the superficial attributes of Squid, not him. Team Frost, the OSC, the Ender Effect, the netherite gear, the glitches, and the mace. They never feared Squid for Squid, but for the things he had at hand. Anyone would be afraid of those things, but no one feared Squid. He truly was, and forever will be, weak. But with Mugm, he felt stronger. Mugm had faith in his skills, even going as far as to help train him. Maybe with Mugm, things could be different. After all, he's the only one that's stayed around after Squid thinks that he has no reason to. Squid wouldn't mind it one bit if he was to be teamed with the man again. But that's not possible. After all, someone like Squid doesn't deserve the pleasure of having someone that genuinely cares about him. He'd just ruin it all over again, just like he did all of the other times. Maybe everyone was right, maybe he should just die stay away from everybody.
The timer is about to run down, only 30 seconds remaining. Had he been so caught up in thought that all the remaining time he had left with his new found best friend ran out? Everyone began mumbling their farewells to their teammates and enemies alike, Blackwater duo being no different. They turned to each other in the exact same beat, a small smile plastered on the Dark Particles face. All the murmurs became nothing but white noise when Mugm opened his mouth, saying words Squid hated to hear, but knew had to come eventually.
"C'ya man, it was nice knowing you," Mugm's eyes crinkled slightly, not out of happiness like some would assume, but in an attempt to stop the tears from welling up in his eyes. To these words, Squid felt a pang of sadness. With his face not visible, only his words could express his emotions.
"I'm sorry."
The timer beeped and everyone was tossed into their own respective portals, to travel back to where they came from and to never come back.
Squid hopes that Mugm will never see him again.
"I'm sorry."
Squid's words confused Mugm. 'Sorry'? For what? There isn't anything that Squid should be sorry for. If anything, Mugm should be sorry. He left him alone most of the time, offering little to no help when Squid was making all of their farms. If it wasn't for that, Mugm doubts he'd have done so well in this event. After all, Squid was one of, if not the most, tolerable players on the server. Mugm hopes that one day, they can team again. Or just talk. He'd settle for even just seeing him while passing by somewhere. Anything to get one last glimpse of who he'd call, his best friend. If they ever did cross paths in the future, he could ask what he meant. because for all Mugm knew, Squid was the closest thing to perfect there was.
After travelling through the portal, light once again hit is eyes. The warm rays of the sun vastly different from the sorrowful darkness of the passageway. He opened his eyes, expecting to see the familiar terrain that Bliss housed. Instead, he was met with builds he's never seen. There's a fountain in the center, with a few ice blocks placed around it. Looking into the sky, a giant meteor is dangling high above. There's a watchtower looming over the rest of what is presumably spawn, as well as a giant sign that is just out of view from the voidling. All of this is unfamiliar to Mugm, all but one thing. As he turns around, he sees the familiar dark green he's grown so used to seeing over the past few days.
"Squid? Do you know where we are?" The Dark Particle tries to communicate, but to no avail. He squints to get a better sight of his friend.
From behind his amber visor, he can see his eyes darting around frantically behind him. The emotion behind them is one he knows all to well, having seen it on his countless victims. But why was Squid of all people experiencing it now? Not even Mugm was feeling it. He'd heard stories of people being transported to different servers before, everyone had. None of them were even bad, so why was Squid afraid?
When Mugm turned around, he got the answer to his question. He figured out why someone as brave as Squid felt unrelenting fear.
It was himself.
The other Squid was perched upon a stage, with an axolotl hybrid standing above him. A crowd surrounded them, slight cheering being audible as the doppelganger? moved his head towards a grind stone. What the hell was happening? Were they holding a mock execution for him? If so, why did everyone look so mad? So mad at Squid? Their glares seemed like enough to kill a person, and Squid was the victim to all of them. Were they actually about to kill his best friend?
"Squid, I don't know if your little friends here are just really good actors, but please tell me this isn't real. I swear to god, Squid, if it is I'll kill them all. Because why the he-"
"Mugm...I'll explain it to you later, but please, can we go somewhere else for right now?" The once brave man sounded so sorrowful in this moment, with that feeling only being amplified as one of his hands and tentacle latch onto Mugm's own hand. Unfortunately, they both know how stubborn he is. Mugm wouldn't budge. Not until he had a reason to not want to kill everyone attending the execution.
"No! I'm not going anywhere until I have a reason to not chop off all of their head! What the hell is happening dude??" He presses on, glaring into the visor.
The tentacle releases it's grasp, only the gloved hand being left behind. The grip not very firm, but still clinging to the other's hand as if seeking refuge. Mugm's heart ached for him, but he still refused to move an inch from where he was, and that resolve only strengthened when the axolotl hybrid began to speak.
(I don't remember what Sharooh says, so I'ma just improvise and change the main point of it for the sake of the story. Sorry -Riff)
"Squid, you have been the bane of this server. Since day one, you have caused nothing but harm. Pretty much all of the deaths on my team were caused by your team, namely you. We've done everything in our power to stop you in your tracks, but every time you manage to slither away. I really don't understand you, I never will. Despite having the 'immortality' status, you came to us and proposed an execution for yourself. You had said that you had grown tired of running away to try and keep that name for yourself. But for a player as 'mighty' as you, this seems even more cowardly than just running. You've had countless fights, you could've just given up there. Or is it that you just want to die and you couldn't find an excuse before you became unkillable? You are pathetic, has anyone ever told you that? You couldn't have thought of another way to go down except for this? Really? You truly are pitiful, my dear Squiddy. Have any last words?"
Silence ensued, the only noise being the squelching coming from the axe being brought down upon 'Squid's' nape twice. Bile began to rise in Mugm's throat, only being overwhelmed by all-consuming rage, because what was he saying? He clenched his loose hand tight as to not accidentally hurt Squid.
Oh yeah, his Squid is also there. He had thought the trembling was coming from his hand out of anger, but it wasn't. It was from the guy standing only a few inches away from him. All of the anger Mugm felt only a few seconds prior was soon extinguished as he realized something was off. Did Squid actually believe the words of that absolute moron? He was only able to kill him because Squid willingly put himself into that position. He has no right to be acting all high and mighty, he-
Wait. What?
Squid put himself into that position. Was what the axolotl saying actually true?
Void eyes met amber tinted ones. Tears pricked up behind the mask. Squid avoided his gaze as much as possible, as if keeping away from it would stop the other man from finding out. But nothing ever goes his way, does it? Because they both knew -despite not wanting it to be true- the deep buried truth.
Squid wants to die, and no one cares.