Chapter Text
“WHAT are you doing?!!”
A voice practically yelled from outside the trading hall, startling Spoke from his objective to burn the duped items in front of him and forcing Mapicc to instinctively stand in front of him. Spoke blinked once and before he knew it, the newcomer rushed towards them and had started picking up the enchanted books and emeralds whilst theatrically moaning about the burnt items.
“Uhh..” Spoke wanted to say something but when he looked at Mapicc, the demon hybrid frantically shook his head and made hand motions that the voidling absolutely did not understand. Whatever it was that his friend was trying to get at, Spoke had to ask later since the guy with the orange hoodie had furiously turned to face him.
Before the orange guy could start yelling his head off or whatever, he quickly started running his mouth, “So, I know this is our first time meeting but my name’s Spoke and the items you’re holding are actually duped items and they’re not supposed to be on the server.”
“Oh? These are duped items? Really?” The orange guy asked, words tinged in dramatic irony that made Spoke backtrack from his spot nervously. This guy is really full of comebacks, it feels somewhat familiar. From the corner of his eye, he sees Mapicc shrinkingly fidgeting and trying to get out of view. What’s up with him??
Okay, Spoke has better things to focus on right now, like trying to come up with a convincing response as the orange guy fixes him with an eyebrow raise. This guy is really strangely familiar.
“Well yeah! Those are duped items and you’re not supposed to have them or use them or—” He’s cut off by a finger jabbed to his chest, “DUDE. I swear on my life that these items are not duped! I grinded them! I literally had to skip my finals for this bro.” Oh.
“Wait, Jepexx, does that mean these are also not duped?” Mapicc inquired, pointing at the barrels. Spoke watches as the orange guy turns around to—wait. Jepexx? The voidling blinked owlishly, staring up at Mapicc and the supposed Jepexx at the stairs. They’re both looking through the barrels filled with bajilions of emerald blocks and briefly, Spoke wonders how Mapicc knew the guy–Jepexx’s name.
He moves closer to the two because he’s noisy and because the face Jepexx was making at all of the items inside the barrels was kinda funny. He was about to comment when Jepexx’s shoulders straightened up. Jepexx’s head swivels in Mapicc’s direction to which the latter only blinks in response. Jepexx’s eyes widen in what Spoke guesses is recognition and he promptly tilts his head. So they do know each other.
“Mapicc?,” Jepexx frowned, the demon’s entire body veering to face Mapicc in full, “What are you doing here? And why are you with this weirdo?” He asked, gesturing with his hands to direct at him, which, hey. “We’re here to destroy the duped items duh!” Mapicc stated back rather dumbly and the voidling’s pretty sure Jepexx had shot him a scathing look but he couldn't confirm.
“Well, yeah I know that already but why are you following him?” The orange demon elaborated and Mapicc’s only response to that was: “Oh, you know.”
Jepexx squawked in protest and that was Spoke’s cue to leave the two demons to sort it out by themselves and turned his attention to the goal at hand–destroying the duped items. Taking them out of the barrel and dumping them onto the floor, he flicked his flint and steel whilst somewhat listening to the conversation behind him.
Something about the duped items being in Jepexx’s base or trading hall, something about Jepexx wanting to use the emeralds and Mapicc arguing that he can’t, blah blah blah, the fire burning the gemstones are really pretty. The emerald blocks crack and shatter after a certain amount of time in the fire and then all the shattered pieces disappear to the void, lost to time. It hurts when the shattered pieces slice his skin but that’s what makes it fun!
“DUDE! Stop that!!”
A certain someone however, didn’t quite share the same thoughts. Spoke opted to ignore the looming demon behind him and continued flicking the flint and steel to light the emerald blocks on fire. He gasped when the item was knocked out of his hand and landed in the fire. “Heyy!!” He bemoaned in annoyance, pouting at Jepexx like a petulant child and Jepexx just scoffed at him with his tail raised. What a doggy, ugh.
Mapicc’s voice cuts through them, and Spoke can tell he’s trying very hard to be patient with the both of them, “Come on, you two. Don’t fight and Jepexx bro, you can’t just use these duped items.” He pinches Jepexx’s cheek and Spoke giggles when Jepexx squeaks in alarm. “But Mapicc, I need them to upgrade my gear! I already told you this bro! Please, just let me take a couple stacks.” The fiery demon lamented, earning him more pinching.
Spoke slung an arm over Jepexx’s shoulder, which he got a nasty stink eye for that he deliberately ignored and proposed, “So hear me out on this but…If Mapicc and I give you some OP gear, do you promise that you won’t take any of the duped items?” He offered Jepexx a playful smirk, trying to seem as sincere as possible. Mapicc gave him a curious look as he folded his arms and glanced at Jepexx’s wary expression.
Jepexx averted his eyes from Spoke to look at the rows of barrels. “And what do I get out of this? No offense, but you’re the most suspicious I’ve ever met.” The orange demon disputed and he guesses that’s valid. “You get pretty awesome gear, duh. Don’t worry man, you can trust me, I’m very trustworthy!” He exclaimed proudly. Jepexx still didn’t seem convinced and the voidling senses that he can’t persuade him with words that easily.
From the corner of his eye, Mapicc gestures something in his inventory and it admittedly took Spoke longer than he should to realize Mapicc was gesturing for him to present the gear out. He scrambles for his e-chest in his inventory and places it down. Taking the gear shulker out, he sets it on the floor and beckons a hand at it towards Jepexx, “It’s all yours now.”
Jepexx’s face contorts to one of surprise and his eyes flicked over to Mapicc and then to the shulker and then to Mapicc again before they landed on him. Spoke fidgets in his place under Jepexx’s gaze, he awkwardly rubs his arm whilst desperately trying to signal Mapicc to break the silence. Something about being looked at like a…some sort of saviour even when he only did it to get the demon off their tail felt almost refreshing. For some reason.
Jepexx stares stupidly at him with his mouth almost agape and Spoke can only give an equally stupid smile back.
The orange demon wastes no time making a grab for the shulker and starts rummaging the stuff inside the shulker. The demon really reminds him of a starved dog. It’s kinda sad.
He strides forward to Mapicc as they both watch Jepexx excitedly take out the gear kit, running his hands over the chestplate almost adoringly before hurrying to put it on, His eyes caught Mapicc’s from beside him and Mapicc offered a sort of guilty smile. The red demon mouths that he’ll explain later and Spoke thinks that’s that.
They’ll get Jepexx to leave the trading hall, destroy all the duped emeralds here and then take off to another location with duped items until all that he caused is permanently gone—
“By the way, do you guys need any help burning those emeralds?” Jepex asked, slipping on the netherite helmet before taking out the tools and storing them in his inventory. Oh. Spoke didn’t expect that and neither did Mapicc it seems. The red demon’s quick to object though, “No thanks dude, we’re good doing it by ourselves.”
The voidling raises an eyebrow and blurts out, “What, why not? Our jobs would be easier and we’d get out of here faster.” Mapicc shakes his head repeatedly which leads to Jepexx huffing and pulling a long face. “No, no way. He’s gonna help us and then ask to join in whatever we’re doing and that’s a big no.” Mapicc adamantly persisted and Jepexx argued back, “But Mapeee! You know I have nothing else to do after this!”
“Jex, if you come with us, Spoke and I have to protect you because you can’t protect yourself–” “Yes I can!” Jepexx interjected indignantly and Spoke had to back off from the two. Woah, okay. Guess we’re arguing now. Mapicc fought back with a hand on his chest, “No, you can’t bro. Everytime we play a hardcore world, you always die one way or another. I don’t want to keep protecting you every time, especially when Poafa isn’t here.”
“Since when has Poafa ever played with us? He’s busy with school and even when he’s free, he plays in his own world and makes builds for other players.” Jepexx spat back matter-of-factly, Mapicc glared in response and the orange demon had, honest to Notch, glowered with such ire. Looking between the two, he comes to a realization and accidentally blurts out:
“Are you guys siblings or something?”
He backs away slightly when both Mapicc and Jepexx turn to him simultaneously. “Well, yeah man?” Jepexx confirmed, followed by Mapicc’s, “What gave it away?” Spoke shrugs without much thought. “It’s sort of obvious.” He replies non-commitally whilst playing with his hair. They don’t have a lot of time for arguments, Spoke thinks and promptly decides he’ll be the peacemaker.
“Look,” he says, turning to face Jepexx, “You can help us destroy these items. And…” Spoke walks closer to Jepexx until they’re face to face. Jepexx tilts his head curiously as he clasps their hands together. “You can even join us to destroy the vaults because I promise that whatever happens on our journey, I will protect you.”
Jepexx's face twists into something he can't entirely understand so Spoke decides to add, “Despite what our dear Mapicc here says—OUCH, Mapicc let go!!” He shrieks in pain when Mapicc starts pulling on his hair.
“Who told you that you can just decide it like that, huh?!” Mapicc scolds and Jepexx, the traitor, only laughs at his misfortune. Mapicc tightens his hold on his hair and ow, ow, ow. “This is bullying!” He exclaims and he’s suddenly being thrown into the ground. Mapicc is saying something but he can’t really hear it over Jepexx’s cackling, this guy could seriously be louder than Wemmbu.
“Shut up, Jepexx! I’m talking here!” Mapicc chews him out, he hears Jepexx trying to form a response in between giggles but he fails and just stifles his laughter with his sweater sleeve. Ow, ow, Spoke loudly whines when Mapicc yanks his hair back again. “As I was saying, are you really going to keep that promise bro?” He asks, voice low and serious.
“Yes! Yes, Mapicc! Can you let go of me now?!” Spoke begs impatiently, his voice cracking at the end and in embarrassment, he flips himself over to get the red demon off. Said demon dumbly falls with an ‘oof’ and lands with a thud. He sits himself up and watches Jepexx crouching down to poke Mapicc’s cheek as Mapicc wears the most contemplative face he’s ever seen on someone.
Spoke sighs sulkily, wondering if it’s really that hard to protect one person. It can’t be right? Mapicc’s just exaggerating, Jepexx can’t be that much of a trouble magnet. Right?
Shaking his head of his doubts, he stands up and straightens himself. “Alright.” Spoke turns around to see Mapicc sitting up with a defeated expression as Jepexx crouches beside him with a smug expression, “You can come with us Jepexx.” Mapicc finishes with a sigh before letting out a yelp when Jepexx forcefully pulls the red demon up.
“Well, come on then!” Spoke feels a smile form on his face and he almost laughs when Jepexx takes his hand and drags the both of them up the stairs. He’s pretty sure the villagers are looking at them weird but they’re NPCs so it doesn’t really matter to him.
Millions of duped items have scattered across the server and at the start, he wasn’t entirely sure if he could’ve destroyed them all by himself. But then, he met Mapicc and the demon has so far been helpful and now, Jepexx will help them too. Maybe he can do this. Maybe he can stop Roshambo and his civilization from using the duped items.
(Maybe he can still fix the server.)
“Spoke! Why are you still standing over there?”
“Oh. I’m coming, I’m coming! Wait for me guys!”
————
“I’m out of fireworks! I swear I’m out of fireworks!!” Jepexx’s voice was muffled by the roaring wind, because of course it was, they were flying in the air right now. Despite the younger demon’s frantic shouting in the air, Spoke only laughed light-heartedly, not really taking Jepexx’s panic seriously.
“Come down! I’ll give you some, Jepexx!” Mapicc’s voice came next, also muffled by the wind, and Spoke managed to turn just in time to see Jepexx crash landing into an oak tree. Poor guy, but a scene where someone crashes never fails to make Spoke giggle, even if just a little.
Mapicc landed rather gracefully on the tree where his little brother had crashed into, whilst Spoke had landed onto a nearby tree to wait for them. The orange demon was now stuck in the branches of the oak tree, bright spring green leaves scattered in the brunette’s hair. His limbs were tangled between branches and his elytra was crooked in a way that even made Spoke worry if it was broken.
Mapicc seemed to read Spoke’s mind though as he asked, “Hey! Dude, your elytra isn’t broken or anything right?” It came out loud, slightly rushed as the demon hybrid slipped his forearms beneath Jepexx’s arms, lifting the orange demon up from the branches.
A bunch of leaves cleared out of Jepexx’s lips when he sputtered them out, shaking his head with enough violence to make Mapicc grimace. With a cough that was distinct enough for Spoke to catch from three trees away, Jepexx replied, “Nope! Like I said, I’m out of fireworks!”
Spoke sighed in relief subconsciously in sync with Mapicc, who had begun to shuffle through his inventory to throw out a couple stacks of fireworks to Jepexx. To be honest, Spoke didn’t really care if Jepexx’s elytra broke, but it would’ve been a huge hassle if it did because none of them had a spare elytra for Jepexx.
“Dude, you should’ve brought like– at least five stacks of fireworks if you wanted to follow us around the server!” Shouted Mapicc in a very brotherlike voice, which made something uneasy grow in Spoke’s chest, which he ignored. However, the vociferous laugh Jepexx had given in response was, in all honesty, very hard to ignore.
“But I know you would’ve had extra fireworks in your inventory if I tagged along! You always do, in any of the worlds we play!” Even Spoke had to say, that was really sweet for someone as laid-back and sarcastic as Mapicc.
Mapicc only huffed in annoyance, rolling his eyes as he got into a stance that shouted I’ll leave you behind if you’re not quick. Jepexx also quickly stood up, picking up the fireworks with one large scoop into his inventory before the trio launched into the sky once again.
The three flew across the vast sea, occasionally coming across plain islands that never really caught Spoke’s attention. No, it never really did– not when there were millions of duped items across the server, not when he knew all of it was the consequences of his stupid, reckless actions.
His mind was still hooked onto the previous series of events when Mapicc had spoken, “Okay, that was actually kinda good.”
Spoke quickly snapped out of his trance and by the time he did, he realised that they had already arrived at Mapicc’s base– which Spoke had to say, didn’t even qualify as a base, because it was essentially only a hole in a small hill with the insides covered in red concrete with a streak of white line. It was terrifically small, with only a couple of chests, furnaces, armour stands and a single bed with a crafting bench next to it, and could barely fit ten people inside.
Nevertheless, the current focus was not Mapicc’s horrific base, but rather the duped items scattered around the server.
“Right? But…” Jepexx was next to speak, voice slightly lowered as the three landed onto the solid ground with a collection of thuds, “..it is actually a little scary knowing there’s still a larger vault out there, with more duped items.” The demon had said as he entered his brother’s base like he was the one who owned it, instantly sitting down onto the single bed with a hidden grin.
“That is true,” Spoke had agreed with a nod, skipping into the base and leaning against the walls of chests with a silent huff as he crossed his arms. He decided to tolerate Mapicc's base, just for now, because they were currently busy.
“Okay, how about we make it official?” Mapicc had said with a clap, also stepping into the base and giving no mind to the way his brother and friend had treated his base like theirs.
“Yeah, let’s make it official, 'cause I swear I have no idea on what we’re supposed to do next.” Jepexx had said in agreement with his brother, nodding quickly. Spoke had rolled his eyes, just barely upon the words, but it wasn’t bitter. It was purely a roll of his eyes that was humoured by Jepexx’s comedic bluntness.
Spoke stood erectly once again, leaning forward from the chests as he said, “I have a suggestion.” It was a loud, obvious sentence, purely intentional so that the pair of siblings could hear him clearly.
“Yeah?” Mapicc hummed, tilting his head towards Spoke as Jepexx also turned towards the voidling.
“How about we use the orbital cannon to strike the stash? The cords of the stashes we know.” Spoke had asked with a clap of his hands, not entirely sure with his own idea but whatever. Better have an idea than have none, right?
“Is– is that a good idea?” Mapicc had somewhat reluctantly asked, slightly frowning, into what Spoke thought was his thinking face. Spoke never really knew though– Mapicc had always been a mysterious guy, and Spoke never really bothered to find out more about the demon.
“Is it?” Jepexx had asked back, tilting his head in a questioning gesture. He was still sitting on the bed– it made him look childish, but Spoke was too engrossed in the topic to point it out. “Because realisti–“
A silent thud.
Loud enough to quiet down the three of them simultaneously. Quiet enough to leave them reluctant.
“Hello?” Spoke had uttered, looking around the place, but there was no sign of movement, no other people than the three of them.
The pair of demon siblings had also started looking around, but oddly, there was nothing.
“Okay… weird,” Jepexx had muttered suspiciously, now standing up from his previous spot on the bed, still looking around his brother’s base. “..anyways, realistically, we did see it in that previous vault, right?” Jepexx had spoken, bringing back the other two into the topic as they turned towards the orange demon.
“Well, yeah.” Mapicc nodded, agreeing with his younger brother in a way Spoke hadn’t entirely understood, “There was nothing near it, there were people guarding it–“
Mapicc hadn’t been able to finish his words when a small, solid substance had fallen onto Spoke’s head, knocking the breath out of him. He instantly looked up, and the other two’s gazes followed his, and all Spoke could see was a hole in the ceiling before a TNT in a minecart had fallen onto him.
“Spoke, Spoke, Spoke– SPOKE!!” Jepexx had shouted somewhere afar, but his voice was drowned and unclear, muffled from the sheer panic Spoke had felt when he bolted away from the TNT.
BOOM!!
The voidling ran into Mapicc as they backed away, and suddenly the small explosion supposedly caused by a single TNT had grown larger, the deafening sound of the explosions so loud it would’ve bled Spoke’s ears– and ouch, maybe it did, but all he could feel was the rush of adrenaline pumping across his body as he covered his head with his forearms.
Somewhere across the chaos, someone had shouted Jesus! loudly, but Spoke couldn’t tell who– or maybe it was him who shouted that, who knows.
By the time the explosions had stopped, don’t ask Spoke how long it lasted he really couldn’t tell, Spoke had found himself sitting on stone jagged from the explosions. Bright green and yellow particles fell around the place, and Spoke distantly registers that earlier, there was a sound that had been uniquely like the sound made when a totem of undying is used.
“Oh my god!” A voice– perhaps belonging to Jepexx had gasped, somewhat like he had just registered what had happened. Spoke couldn’t even blame him in all honesty: he was also trying to figure out what had happened.
“DUDE!” A thunderous voice came next, and Spoke turned to his right to see Mapicc– stepping over the jagged stones and debris of the explosion, the previous red and white concrete of Mapicc’s base completely wiped out in a whim.
“My boots broke from that!” Continued Mapicc later on, and now Spoke had paid more attention, Mapicc was indeed truthful. His shining netherite boots, which he loved to wear on the server were gone, and additionally, the totem of undying in his left hand was also gone.
Spoke couldn’t hold back the laugh he had as he barked it out, humoured and amused despite how serious the situation was. Mapicc’s face, which previously looked so somber and solemn, completely broke down as his lips twitched slightly, giving away the smile playing at his lips.
Jepexx had also joined in on the laugh, looking perfectly fine as he stood up from the rumble of debris he had fallen into, brushing off the small batch of gunpowder– an extra leftover from the explosion and TNTs– off of his clothes.
Spoke hadn’t stopped his laughter when he stood up, feeling the stinging pain at his palms, but ignored it. He started looking around, taking in the scene before him– the previously horrific base of Mapicc’s had decreased into an insignificance, and Spoke wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be happy or not.
After a while, the laughter subsided, and that’s when the three had started to really take in their environment– and of what had happened.
As said, Mapicc’s base had decreased into nothingness in a matter of seconds using explosives, which is classic. But an explosive couldn’t explode without the trigger– so what had triggered the explosives (and who had placed the explosive, in the first place)?
Jepexx had been helpful, when he asked, “Mapicc, did you see who had dropped the TNT?” He had brought out his e-chest after a short shuffle through his inventory, lending his brother a brand new pair of netherite boots. Mapicc had taken it with the grace of someone who’d done the action a million of times, only grunting as a response to Jepexx.
And here Spoke was, thinking Jepexx was the oblivious, idiotic younger brother whom Mapicc had to take care of 24/7.
Or maybe it’s just Spoke, who lacked the emotional knowledge to know what sibling bond was.
“No,” Mapicc had answered between Spoke’s thoughts, shaking his head as he started wearing the new pair of boots. “..I only knew that someone broke a block above Spoke’s head, and the next thing,” “Boom!”
Spoke closed his eyes. Or maybe his previous thought was correct, from the way Jepexx had started grinning, gesturing a wild explosion with his hands, which was exaggerating, but Spoke won’t say that.
Spoke decided to say after Jepexx’s boom, “So if someone was here, doesn’t that mean they heard us talking?” The question was entirely logical, and it managed to catch both siblings' attention as they turned towards the voidling.
“That is true..” Jepexx bobbed his head lightly, subconsciously lending his brother a totem of undying, which said-brother took without further thought also. “Even so, even if they had heard us, what do you want us to do?” Mapicc had asked next, raising a brow in confusion, and maybe a little bit of curiosity too.
The answer came straight and without hesitation: “We go explode the vaults now, then.” It wasn’t a thoughtless suggestion, although it sounded like one, but Spoke swore it wasn’t.
Sadly for him, Jepexx had turned to him with the most judging look on Minecraftia, which Spoke didn’t even know was a look that could’ve showed up on the orange demon’s face! It was absurd, really, because blowing up the stash of the cords as quickly as possible before Roshambo could protect it…
“It’s not a stupid suggestion, really,” The younger demon had said after a short while, stepping over towards Spoke who had climbed out of the massive hole built in the side of the hill. Mapicc followed him close by, eating a golden apple with a loud crunch.
“..so I guess we can try.” Jepexx had continued, shrugging his shoulders half-heartedly, like he had been uneasy by the idea suggested by Spoke. Spoke didn’t know why.
Because logically, if their conversation had been overheard by a person who had blown them up, it must’ve meant that person is a part of Roshambo’s civilization. And if a person who overheard their conversation was a part of Roshambo’s civilization, then surely they would tell Roshambo, their leader, to protect the final vault as quickly as possible. So the only way to prevent that is to attack it as quickly as possible.
But well, Spoke couldn’t argue with Jepexx, because albeit half-heartedly, he had still agreed with Spoke’s suggestion.
“If Jepexx says so,” Mapicc shrugged his shoulders when the voidling’s gaze fell upon him, munching the last of the golden apple with an annoyingly loud crunch. Spoke had a feeling Mapicc was doing that on purpose.
“..and oh, what do we do about this?”
Spoke and Mapicc turned towards Jepexx, who was now pointing at what used to be Mapicc’s small, horrific base. Unfortunately, the explosives had, as said, destroyed it to ashes, which considering the way Mapicc’s pupils dilated at the scene, he had just realised what it meant.
“MY BASE!!” He shouted after a short while, falling to his knees dramatically as he took a better look at his base. At this point, there was no use in rebuilding the demon’s base, so Spoke didn’t even bother to assure him that they could rebuild it.
“And my villagers!” Mapicc said with more grief, but it was hilarious, really. Mapicc was exaggerating over the loss of something he could easily remake at a different and better place, so Spoke didn’t understand why the demon was so agonised by what had happened.
“Don’t worry, Mapicc… you can stay at my base for now,” Jepexx had said as he patted his brother on the back, which only made the scene ten times more hilarious.
“Anyways,” Spoke had quickly interrupted whatever they were doing, shifting their attention to the voidling. “..if we want to be quick for the explosion, we should go now.” Spoke said, pointing his index finger at the direction behind him– presumably the direction that led toward the place that would allow them to activate the orbital cannons.
“Yeah, but… but my base..” “Mapicc, we should go now.” The demon had winced slightly at Spoke’s ruthless interruption, but he had quickly gotten up with the help of Jepexx, who looked entirely disturbed by something unknown.
“Alright… let’s go, then!” The look on Jepexx’s face had been wiped in an instant after he took a deep breath though, grinning widely in a way that matched his comedic, oblivious personality. Spoke had nodded, along with Mapicc, and together they launched up into the sky.
“…Mapicc, if you want to rebuild your base, we should stop Roshambo as quickly as possible… and then I’ll help you.” Jepexx had said after a long while, his voice drifting slightly against the harsh wind, but entirely undeniable. Spoke didn’t see what Mapicc’s reaction was, but he supposed that the demon had nodded at his brother.
“Well then, entering: God-Speed Mode!” Spoke had cheered against the harsh wind, and instantly started to spam rockets to speed up. Nearby behind him, he could hear rockets being launched too, which he presumed were Mapicc and Jepexx.
“Spoke! Spoke.. my base is gone and you’re spamming rockets…”
“Oh.. sorry.”
–
“This is… the right choice, right?” Mapicc had asked once they arrived at the nether, where the activation system for an orbital cannon is placed at. He had actually been walking in circles for the last three minutes, fingers on chin like he wasn’t sure of a decision they had already made.
“Of course it is, Mapicc!” Spoke had said as he connected the last few redstones to make sure the orbital cannon actually works. “If we use the orbital cannon, then all of the duped items Roshambo has been keeping will explode! Then we can rebuild your base!” The voidling cheered as he turned toward Mapicc, who had also turned to look at him.
“Yeah.. by the way, what’s the cords?” Jepexx had asked after a short while. The orange demon had been leaning against the nether-blocked wall ever since they arrived, simply watching the orbital cannon’s mechanics with dazed eyes. It was weird– and utterly disturbing. Spoke wished he could just stop zoning off.
“The cords? Oh, it’s in a book. Spoke has it,” Mapicc had answered, completely stopping in his tracks as he turned toward Jepexx. He seemed less anxious when talking to Jepexx… and for some reason, something weird whirled in Spoke’s stomach, and it made him so annoyed he accidentally punched himself in the stomach.
The punch had caused Jepexx to turn towards Spoke, face frowning in obvious concern, but still, he stepped over to the voidling and raised his hand, “Can I have the cords?” Even though Spoke was still suffering from the consequences of his own actions, he still buried through his inventory to bring out a book, lending it to Jepexx whilst holding back a choke.
“Thanks,” Jepexx muttered as he took the book. He flipped the book open, looking at the page where the cords were. The page was short of writing and pretty straightforward, as it had only stated the cords of the vault with nothing else in addition.
But as Jepexx read the page, he found something incredibly confusing.
(-1837, 72, 2941)
“Hey.. why does this book have the cords of my base?”
The demon’s words did not strike any panic, because the tone of his voice was entirely confused and lacking any type of rush. It was purely the type of question that made everyone look at the talker, with a face that showed confusion clearer than any words could ever express.
“…what?” Mapicc asked, as if he wanted to make sure he had heard what Jepexx had asked. Spoke didn’t ask, but he wanted to, because what Jepexx had asked was not only confusing but also… frustratingly out of place.
“It’s my coordinate! Well, the cords of my base, more precisely.” Jepexx said as he looked up at Spoke and Mapicc, pupils dilating just slightly, like he was starting to realise what was going to happen if he didn’t stop it from happening. His hands were starting to shake from sheer panic, and Mapicc had to step over to physically take the book and hold his forearm to stop Jepexx from trembling further.
“What? Then… Is your base their vault? Or the vault is hidden inside your base?” Spoke asked, tilting his head to the side. He stepped towards Mapicc and snatched the book out of the demon’s hand, flipping the page.
True to Jepexx’s words, the coordinates were (-1837, 72, 2941), which the demon had claimed to be his base’s cords.
“Spoke…” Mapicc called out, slow and careful. “I think… Roshambo lied to us about the cords…” He said, patting Jepexx’s back, who was still shaking from fear of losing his base. Once again, Spoke didn’t know why.
“What? Lied? We didn’t get this from Roshambo, we stole it!” Spoke argued, shaking his head aggressively as he closed the book. The title of the book was empty, nameless intentionally by whoever had written down the cords.
“Yeah, but haven’t you considered that it might’ve been Roshambo’s plan all along?” Mapicc argued back, still holding Jepexx like he was something fragile. Spoke felt the weird thing acting up in his stomach again– and it made his frown deepen.
He considered the thought.
And– alright, yeah, he didn’t consider the thought, even though it had a high chance of being the reality.
His frown softened, just slightly. Guilt appeared after he realised that he was wrong, and he had been utterly rude to his friends. Even though he still didn’t know why they were so attached to their base, he had actually considered blowing up Jepexx’s base just because Roshambo had tricked them using a simple lie.
Spoke sighed deeply. He shook his head and shoved the book back into his inventory, making a note to burn it later on.
“Uhm…” Jepexx murmured, getting Spoke’s attention, “..so what are we going to do now?” Spoke stared at Jepexx, whose expression was literally pleading to not blow up his base. Spoke wondered why Jepexx even asked in the first place– to be sarcastic, perhaps.
“We ignore the cords, and find a new one.” The voidling answered calmly, taking a single look at the orbital cannon before turning back toward his two friends.
No words could express the looks on their faces.
–
The three were now flying. Over a vast sea, where there were only small, empty islands with no sign of humanity. Jepexx had returned to his normal self– loud, cheerful and annoying, but Spoke couldn’t lie that he was relieved by that. Jepexx had looked a little too serious a couple of hours ago.
Whereas Spoke was flying in total silence, Mapicc and Jepexx were talking whilst following him. It had become a silent habit to do so– Spoke leading the flight as the other two played around because they’re siblings. At this point, ‘siblings’ was starting to sound like something repetitive and annoying, and it made Spoke roll his eyes whenever he saw Mapicc and Jepexx acting like siblings.
Enough about those two… after flying for who knew how long, Spoke was starting to see something large and unnatural in the distance. Something that represented humanity, very obviously and clearly.
It was a maddeningly large mansion, made mostly of white concrete and… was that redstone blocks??
“Oh my god!” Jepexx shouted, snapping Spoke out of his daze upon seeing such a big mansion. He heard the loud wowww from Mapicc somewhere behind him too, though it was drowned out by the boisterous gasp of his brother’s.
“Is that a valentine themed mansion?!”
Spoke’s eyes twitched. He really was keeping a thread-thin patience against Jepexx, but he was handling it. And after all, what Jepexx had stated wasn’t wrong: the mansion had a large redstone icon at the start of the pathway, and from afar, it looked like a heart shaped icon, which explained Jepexx’s confusion.
“It’s a redstone themed mansion, you idiot.” Mapicc had said once they landed on the redstone icon, lightly smacking the back of Jepexx’s head, but if anything, there was no trace of bite in his voice. Only pure exhaustion from a brother.
“Oh! Hehe…” Jepexx laughed awkwardly, but soon started running towards the entrance of the mansion, leaving behind Spoke and Mapicc. They gave a glance at each other before running toward Jepexx, filled with unadulterated joy.
Once the trio reached the entrance, Spoke was about to say something about how he liked the design of the mansion– although quickly halted when he walked straight into Jepexx who suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“Ouch!” Spoke stumbled back a couple of steps, Mapicc who was behind him catching him by the shoulders to stabilise him again. Spoke looked up at Jepexx with annoyance, frowning deeply as he said, “What’s up, Jepexx?”
Jepexx stood frozen for a couple of seconds before turning around to face Spoke and Mapicc, his face blank but clearly disturbed. “The walls… the pillars, I mean,” He started, raising an arm to point his index finger toward one of the pillars near the entrance door.
It was red, and covered at the front by a dark wooden sign. It didn’t look particularly eye-catching, but Spoke had realised within the time he spent with Jepexx that if Jepexx was disturbed, he had to be equally disturbed, because Jepexx had this sixth sense to know when danger is coming.
“It’s TNT, I’m pretty sure.”
Spoke and Mapicc stopped in their tracks. They looked closely at the pillars– and when they did, that’s when they realised the dark red lines in the blocks that imitates a TNT perfectly. Jepexx was right. It is TNT.
“Yeesh..” Mapicc murmured, frowning deeply as Spoke pursed his lips. Spoke ignored them as he stepped towards the door, opening it with a light twist of the knob and a push. Nothing hissed when he did so, which meant the door wasn’t a trap.
“Let’s just get inside before the TNT actually explodes and search the mansion.” Spoke says as he steps inside, looking around the huge mansion. The pair of siblings followed close by, frowning slightly upon Spoke’s words.
“That’s a weird way of thinking,” Murmured Jepexx, who held his chin in confusion. Mapicc only shrugged his shoulders in response, too used to Spoke's attitude to even get surprised. Spoke knew they were bad-mouthing him, but he was never really one to give a fuck about anything happening around him.
But as Spoke had thought earlier, the mansion was beautiful– high ceilings, harmonised colours, a large bright lantern and enough room to make the space feel big even though there were no windows. It was perfect– and even if it wasn’t, all Spoke could say was that it was a much better place than a certain someone’s base.
They climbed the stairs of the mansion, which was created from dark wood with a saturated tone that somehow made the room feel brighter. It didn’t creak when the three stepped on it– it only thudded, loud and echoing but somehow calming.
It eased Spoke's stress, just by a little.
“Despite the TNTs though…” Spoke started, turning around to face his friends with a big grin that he was usually seen with, “..the mansion is really nice! It’s got a taste to it!” The sudden change of mood caught the siblings off guard, but they quickly perked up, nodding their heads.
“That is true. It’s got a very harmonised colour palette.” Mapicc added with a smile, glancing toward Jepexx, who was grinning wider than before. It was a knowing glance– it was a glance that Spoke ignored in his sudden ease.
The walk around the mansion was abnormally short. They had planned to search the whole mansion for any sign of clues that led to the final vault, but after climbing up a couple of stairs, the trio find themself on a balcony with a chest in the middle.
“Oh! What’s this?” Jepexx had asked with joy, skipping towards it to open the chest but Mapicc worked quicker to hold him back, catching him by the collar of his orange hoodie. This made the younger demon choke slightly, but Spoke only laughed light-heartedly as he walked past them to open the chest, much to Jepexx’s displease.
But they quickly stop in their tracks when they see the book inside the chest.
The chest was a small chest. It could fit a lot of things though inside it, but the only thing sitting inside the chest was a single book, placed at the very middle, like it was for show.
It was haunting. It was entirely creepy, but Spoke reached out to grab the book, distantly processing the gulps of Jepexx’s and Mapicc’s.
He stared at the book in hand. It was thin, and the title was The final vault. It was written by Roshambo, but Spoke didn’t say anything as he took a deep breath, thinking of a decision.
He looked at Mapicc and Jepexx, who looked disturbed, but not scared. The members of Unstable SMP weren’t given the luxury to experience fear or anything of the like.
“Should I even open it at this point?” Spoke asked, his voice slightly strained. The book was thin, so whatever was written in it probably wasn’t much at all. But still, the pure aura of the book still managed to make the three shrink.
“You should,” Jepexx blurted before Mapicc could respond, speaking confidently even though he was the one hiding behind Mapicc like a scaredy cat. “Who knows if there’s something important in there? If it’s written by Roshambo, then that must mean they already know that we’ve been finding their vaults using the stash cords.”
Spoke considered Jepexx’s words. He didn’t even question how Jepexx knew it was written by Roshambo at this point– as said before, Jepexx had always had this sixth sense that made Spoke question his entire existence.
“Yeah…” Mapicc nodded, agreeing with Jepexx. Spoke nodded along, and decided to open the book.
1372 70 604.
“…Coordinates.” Spoke muttered in horror after a while, swallowing air as Mapicc and Jepexx crowded into his space. They took a look at the page– and winced.
“That’s like… isn’t that like only a thousand of blocks away from spawn?” Mapicc asked with a deep frown, covering his mouth with his hand in confusion. “Yeah… that’s the point. There’s no way this is the final vault– we would’ve known!” Spoke said in disbelief, shaking his head vigorously.
“Then it must be a trap,” Jepexx responded, tilting his head to the side like it was obvious. Mapicc and Spoke turned to him, frowning. “A trap…” Spoke muttered under his breath, repeating the words like it was a curse. It probably was, at this point.
He turned toward Mapicc and Jepexx.
“I have a plan.”