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Mapicc stood firmly beside Jamato onto the unlit Nether portal, the obsidian burnt under his feet—but he didn't care. He eyed Spoke, he stood on a ledge with various Null soldiers behind him; he seemed too pitiful, and Mapicc couldn't figure out why. His jaw clenched as a muscle practically popped behind his cheek.
"Mapicc," Spoke finally spoke, his tone sorrowful for what he was about to do—he truly felt bad, but Mapicc was simply another obstacle to climb over without a hitch, even if it meant betrayal. His glowing white eyes met red ones, and for a split moment—he almost forgot his own motives.
"Yeah?" Mapicc answered hesitantly, snapping Spoke out of his trance.
"I will get you out of this. Maybe, I'll see you again." Spoke pulled out a wind charge, aiming it directly towards Mapicc; his next course of action was clear as day. Mapicc visibly flinched, his eyes wide with sudden betrayal.
"For now, it's good bye."
Mapicc didn't know why Spoke did it, but it was inevitable.
The wind charge pushed through Nether air, swiftly flying through the large gap between the floating, unlit Nether portal and the netherrack ledge Spoke stood on. The wind charge hit his stomach, sending him flying off the edge—his arms flailed as he fell into the void. The last thing he saw, was Jamato quickly looking down with imminent worry—reaching out an arm that Mapicc couldn't reach even if he wanted to.
The Nether portal and Jamato's face disappeared quickly, as Mapicc started to fall to his death—the blackness of the void surrounded him, and it suddenly took him more effort to take breaths.
Tears pricked at his eyes, as memories flashed before him—first meeting Spoke, trying to help other civilizations to escape the mafia, fighting Leowook alongside Zam and Spoke, and more. His breathing slowed, as Mapicc accepted his inevitable death.
It was only when he hit solid ground he snapped out of it, he checked his health—and he was at full hearts, no damage taken. "Weird," Mapicc mumbled under his breath. He propped himself upward and stood, looking around to see a dead world—clear ravines with no ores, lifeless trees, and the endless darkness looming ahead. His breath hitched.
Mapicc had been through worse, being hunted by the mafia, being jumped by Leowook, but this seemed... too empty. He looked heavenward, where his render distance couldn't reach—and he knew, just knew, the unlit, floating Nether portal still stood there. He sighed.
As he started walking, he reflected on his previous moments with Spoke, his eyes faced downward onto the cold ground with his hands shoved into his pockets.
"Did he really care?" Mapicc asked himself, his left foot stepping after his right foot—his sneakers made no sound against the ground. His face seemed empty, like someone ripped his insides out of his body.
He looked up to see constant darkness, but he knew the Nether floor was up there—at least, somewhere. His mind crawled back to old memories, Spoke trying to convince him to team up, Mapicc's initial hesitation... It gnawed at Mapicc like a tiger.
"He did try to help all those people with the mace," Mapicc could recall—Spoke clumsily yet brutally murdering various Null guards to spare the poor 'criminals' trapped in Purgatory. Though he couldn't really remember much before Spoke betrayed him. It was like his memory was erased, deliberately and totally.
His fingers unclenched and clenched, like a way of grounding him into this new reality he couldn't get used to.
Suddenly, he remembered a gift from Spoke—one he gave him when Jamato supposedly had 'died.' He pulled up his sleeve, and on his wrist—revealed a bright, rainbow bracelet with Spoke's initials: SIH. His eyes scanned over the practically glowing rainbow beads, clumsily yet heartily made with infinite care.
He pulled it out of his wrist, gently, like he was holding something precious and sacred. It hung over thin air, held up by Mapicc's finger as he spun it around slightly—a quiet, nervous habit he refused to show in front of others.
"You were always too unstable for your own good," Mapicc whispered under his breath, a quiet confession for those who would never hear. His eyes slowly turned half-lidded, sadness crept onto his empty expression.
"I can only hope Jumper can bring you back from this... insanity." Mapicc sighed, his hand dropped to his side.
Mapicc sighed, as his fingers unclenched; the bracelet fell to the floor, and it instantly shattered—rainbow beads scattered everywhere. Mapicc's breath hitched, and he swiftly walked away. He couldn't handle the fact he was leaving such an important piece of him behind, but Spoke betrayed him—and that hurt more than any slash of a sword ever could.
His heart pounded in his ears, every instinct in his mind told him to go back, go back—but he forced himself to keep going. His eyes faced his shoes, and his hands were shoved back into his pockets.
Spoke, I'm sorry.