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Wemmbu could handle a lot of things. The constant back and forth of fighting and returning just to be sent back out to fight again was tiring, but it was whatever. The boredom waiting to be sent to go fight, on a rare chance he wasn’t immediately sent back out to fight again on his return, was torturous, but he could get over it.
The quick dismissals from his best friend though? That’s what fucked with his head the most. Watching Egg fester with assumed power behind that desk was starting to remind him a lot of someone he’d rather just forget, and that was really saying something cause he also put up a lot from said person.
Is this just what he was supposed to do for the rest of his time on this server? Get bossed around by people he thought were friends?
No, Wemmbu fought back as Gambit slammed into the helmet of a bandit and ultimately banned said player. Egg’s still my friend.
I think.
But it’s getting bleaker and bleaker every time he returns and gets either ridiculed for his failings or very little praise for his winnings.
It’s about three weeks after beating Loppezz and the bandits when he’s finally had enough of it and enters Egg’s tower with no armor. He had actually tossed the podium with the sign in book aside when asked to sign in and leveled Arcn with a glare when the guard tried to pick up the podium. Arcn let him go up in the elevator with no further question.
And the first thing Egg greets him with—no good mornings, no how are yous, no it’s been a whiles—is “where’s your armor, solider?”
And that. Well. What comes next Egg’s deserved since he built this stupid tower.
Wemmbu marches back behind the desk and grabs Egg by the back of his tuxedo’s collar and drags him out of his seat, ignoring the frantic flap of wings and hands trying to beat against him, and definitely ignoring the sharp words being thrown at him. He drags Egg to the bed Egg set up so he really doesn’t have to leave the tower and tosses him onto the blue sheets, ordering “get comfortable.”
Eggchan levels him with his own glare before he fixes his wings comfortably against the bed, laying down on his side so the huge white wings are against the wall. Wemmbu waits until he doesn’t move to climb in the bed after him, also laying on his side but facing towards Egg.
Egg lets the quilt fall over them before he snaps out a “you suck” full of venom.
“Yeah?” Wemmbu laughs, humorless and flat, just an exhalation and a jump of the shoulders. “Well I’m not really too happy with you, either.”
“So that gives you the right to drag me from my work?”
“Yeah, actually it does.”
Egg huffs out a grumble and starts to sit up from the bed, but a hand to his throat stops him immediately. His dark blue eyes slide back to Wemmbu, who doesn’t buckle under the gaze and keeps his claws around Egg’s pearly white throat as he says, “Egg, if you don’t lay back down, I will not hesitate in killing you.”
Egg, wisely, settles back into the bed without a single word, and that’s only when Wemmbu removes his hand, leaving barely a trace. But that doesn’t mean the fight has been won. Almost immediately Egg snaps out, “You’re wasting my time, our time—the people’s time.”
“Shut the fuck up and talk to me.”
“We are talking.”
“An actual—“ Wemmbu has to take a deep breath to calm down, least he snaps again and puts his hand back on Egg’s throat. Before he draws blood. “An actual conversation between the two of us that doesn’t involve the people down there.”
“Everything we do involves the people down there! We are in charge of a civilization, Wemmbu, we have responsibilities—“
“What about your responsibility being my best friend?” He asked softly, Egg scoffing.
“Okay, now you’re just being selfish.”
“Selfish? Selfish because I miss my best friend? I never you see anymore—“
“You see me everyday, almost everyday—“
“So you can give me orders to go kill more people, Egg! That’s not exactly seeing your best friend. I mean like talking with you like we used to.”
Egg huffs again, still dismissive. “Okay, that’s because I’m busy, and when I’m not, you’re out—“
“Killing players that you sent me to kill.”
“Okay.” And it’s startling how quiet Egg gets so quickly. Wemmbu doesn’t like the quiet, he’s no longer used to the absence of talking. It’s either the bandits mocking at him before their death cries, or the citizens complaining about whatever-the-fuck that he couldn’t be fucked about. And the tower itself is quiet and he hates it, hates how he can only hear his heart beat and the sound of Egg barely breathing.
It’s then that Wemmbu asks the gnawing question: “Are you trying to kill me?”
Egg’s response is shock, so either he hasn’t been trying to get Wemmbu killed this whole time, or he has and just didn’t think Wemmbu would ever ask him. He hates either-or’s. “Am I trying to—what, why would you think that?”
“Because-because you’re always sending me to the bandit’s exact cords, and you send me out with barely any rest or supplies as is, and I just—“ I’m worried about what Pangi said. I’m worried that you’re going to turn out like Zam like Pangi warned about, and I can’t do that again. Wemmbu took a deep breath before continuing. “Egg, I won’t hesitate to kill you. You need to take a huge step back from this before you let the power get too deep into your head.”
Egg frowns deeply at this, and Wemmbu can see he doesn’t take the threat seriously. Wemmbu isn’t even sure if he meant it seriously. But Egg, diplomatic as ever, starts with: “How about this? I can… lessen the time you spend out in the field. Cut parts of my work schedule so that I have more time for you. Is that what you want?”
“It’s a definite start.” They lay in silence for a while, staring each other down, before Wemmbu poses another question: “What would you do if I left?”
“If you left?” Egg tilts his head. “Why would you leave? We built this civilization for us, so that we could have a true home base. So we could get rich and live in comfort for the rest of our lives.”
“It doesn’t feel like it’s built for me anymore. I’m not enjoying it, I’m not enjoying—I’m not enjoying my time here. I’m just used like a, like a weapon, an enforcer, running around and beating down on the bandits and taking from them. I’m no better than they are. I just—Egg, I miss my best friend.”
A rustle and Egg’s hand is cupping his cheek, a frown clear on his face, but not a frown like it was before. A frown that was worry and almost fearful. “Don’t leave. The civ—I need you here with me. Please bro, I’ll make the changes and if you need to, we can take a break from this whole thing.”
Wemmbu smiles, and brings his own hand up to cover Egg’s hand, leaning into the touch. He missed this. He missed his best friend. He missed Eggchan. And Egg gives him a smile, a smile he used to give him back before this whole civilization was created. “I’m glad we had this talk.”
“I am too.”
“So, when are you getting back out there?”
-
The communicators have been blowing up with death messages all day, ever since Wemmbu flew off with his next marching orders. Dione’s still working making the fireworks, Arcn’s still guarding the civilization and their commander’s tower, and Wato’s still complaining about all of the stuff he lost at the very beginning.
And Wemmbu’s doing what he does best. Being Eggchan’s weapon.
-
And he was fine with it, for a while, because he was still helping his friend build their civilization. And Egg was getting better, piece by piece. It started with the little breaks that Egg would take just so they could hang out, then Egg actually coming down from the tower to interact with his citizens like a real leader should. And it was great, it was wonderful. Wemmbu had his best friend back, and there was nothing to worry about.
Until Egg sends him on another mission as soon as he gets back without even looking up from a book. Dismisses him like he used to.
Wemmbu doesn’t even mention it, he just leaves and takes off. Takes off and kills the bandits and raids them and a couple of other people on the way to calm down.
There’s nothing calm about him as he signs his name in the book in the lobby of the tower, nothing calm as he unsheathes his netherite sword in the elevator ride up, almost calm as he stalks to Egg’s desk.
Egg doesn’t even stand a chance, and it’s sad. “How was—“ he starts to ask before the sword is stuck through his chest, pinning him to his seat. And, well. He just looks from blade to Wemmbu as the blood begins to seep through his tuxedo and bubbles from his lips. He can’t even say anything before he grows still and a buzz comes from Wemmbu’s communicator. He already knows what the message says.
Eggchan was slain by Wemmbu using Karma.
And Wemmbu thought he would feel happier, putting a friend out of his misery and freeing himself before he got thrown away again.
He doesn’t.