Chapter Text
Prince Zam woke up in the morning late, as usual. He climbed out of bed and headed up the stairs to the kitchen, where Midmysticx glanced up from the table, where she was holding a mug. “Hey, Zam. There’s bread and jelly on the counter over there.”
Zam nodded. He was still too sleepy to do much more, but he ambled over, cut himself an awkward slice of bread, spread jelly over it, and sat down in one of the chairs at the table. I feel like there’s something… “Spoke!” he said aloud.
Mid started. “What? Is he here?”
“Is he?” Zam asked.
She gave him a weird look. “I don’t… think so.”
Zam sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Sorry, I just… In a few minutes, a few hours, whatever, we’re going to be fighting. And it feels so… peaceful right now.”
Mid nodded. She sounded anxious. “And if we fail, it all gets destroyed.”
“It’s going to get destroyed,” Zam said, leaning forward. “Spoke won’t get as far as unleashing a single Wither.”
“What about Mapicc?” Mid asked.
Zam froze. “Don’t… we don’t need to talk about that, okay? We just - let’s talk about non-battle related things.”
Mid nodded again. “Right. Maybe… maybe after today, we can go back to your cabin for a few days.”
“That would be nice,” Zam agreed. It’s not anything special; it’s just a cabin. But… Mid likes it, and that makes it special. It’s… peaceful. “As long as we don’t bring Leo.” He looked around. “Where is Leo, by the way?”
“Scouting,” Mid said. “He and Clown both. They want to stop Spoke before he even gets close.”
“I should be out-” Mid grabbed Zam’s hand as he started to stand, and he froze again.
“Stay,” she said. “This might be our last chance to have breakfast together here.”
Zam stared at her for a second, then shook his head as he sat back down. “Mid, no. The tower’s - nothing’s getting destroyed today except Spoke, okay?” The tower will NOT get destroyed. It can’t.
“What if the Poggies are with him, though?” Mid asked.
“Then that’s better. We get to kill them all.”
“But they could slow us down so that Spoke could spawn Withers.”
“That’s what ender pearls are for. I thought we weren’t talking about this.”
“We aren’t, it’s just…” Mid sighed. “It’s hard not to think about it, when you look outside and wonder if the sky’s going to be filled with smoke in an hour.”
“It won’t,” Zam promised, filling his voice with confidence he didn’t have. “I won’t let it.”
“Can we stop it?” Her voice was barely above a whisper now. “We don’t have Mapicc or any of his teammates. We don’t know when Spoke’s coming, where he’s coming from, who he’s coming with. He might just show up invisible and spawn a bunch of Withers before we even know what’s going on.”
“He won’t,” Zam said, wishing he could be as sure as he hoped he sounded. “He likes to brag.”
“He could brag after he summoned them.”
“Mid, don’t…” Zam cut himself off with a groan. “I don’t want to think about M.o.B. tower getting destroyed. It’s… do you know how long it took to build, Mid?”
She shook her head.
“Almost three and a half weeks. Almost a month. You think we can rebuild this, Mid? If we lose, then it’s over.”
“We could go to your cabin.”
“I know, but that’s not - it’s not-” Zam didn’t know how to voice his frustration. M.o.B. tower is the thing we all worked so hard on. It’s the original; it’s MY grand creation, free from the Zam Empire. Nothing else will be the same.
Mid nodded. Maybe she understood, or maybe she’d just taken pity on him. Either way, they sat in silence for the next few minutes, Zam finishing his bread and Mid her tea.
“Should we… go down and get suited up?” Zam asked.
“Probably,” Mid said, though she didn’t sound happy about it.
So they headed downstairs. There were four armor stands: two were empty (Clown and Leo), one was full (Mid) and one had a mix of diamond and netherite (Zam).
Neither of them said anything as they put their armor on, the only sounds audible being the ones of clanking metal, and the occasional grunt of frustration. Mid seemed to have some difficulties tying her hair up, since she was still missing two of her fingers, but just before Zam could offer to help, she got it. Still, his eyes lingered on her. That was probably the one thing he hated Spoke for the most, and there were a lot of things he hated Spoke for. Especially since it had driven Mid down to his level, laughing after she killed somebody.
“Alright, now what do we do?” Mid asked.
Zam stared at her. “Um… I kinda thought something would have happened by now.”
“Maybe it’s just a trick,” she speculated. “Spoke trying to mess with us. And really he’s coming in three days or something.”
“That does sound like something he’d do,” Zam admitted. “But if it is today, it’s good to be ready. Clown gave you a heart, right?”
She nodded. “I’m at nine. You?”
“Nine as well.”
With nothing else to say or do, they waited. Zam kept hearing tiny noises outside, and each one made him tense, but nothing louder ever happened; no screams, no roaring, not even the ding of his communicator signalling a message. The tension was palpable. Every second that passed only made it worse.
Ding!
Leow0ok: theyre here.
When they woke up in the morning, Parrot wasted no time in distributing hearts and making sure everyone had everything they needed. “Alright, everyone ready?” he asked, less than five minutes after they’d woken up.
“Yes,” Spoke said vehemently.
“Did either of you even eat anything?” Rekrap asked.
“No,” they said at the same time. “And I don’t want to,” Spoke added.
Rekrap sighed. “Alright, fine. Let’s go.”
And so the Poggies marched to war, albeit invisibly. Poafa separated from them with a pearl, heading for the cannon that M.o.B hadn’t dismantled for some reason, while the other Poggies went for the tower. Two people in netherite armor were patrolling outside, probably waiting for their enemies to arrive. Well, we’re here. Not that you’ll ever see us coming.
Spoke pearled up onto the roof of the tower, landing in a crouch. The sound of his pearl breaking was far too loud to his ears, but none of M.o.B. seemed to notice. He watched from the top as a floating cannonball was dropped into the cannon - but when Poafa moved to wheel it away, a very loud sound rang out, making Spoke flinch.
Someone shouted, cut off halfway by the cannon firing. Spoke wobbled as the tower shook under his feet, laughing. Yes! Come and take me, battle-frenzy-thing! Spoke knelt down and poured out soul sand into a pile, then, almost delicately, set a Wither skull down on top. “And so it begins!” he announced to the world, pulling out his communicator. Everyone should know, even if they’re not here.
SpokeIsHere: let the world wither away
As the Wither rose behind him, Spoke laughed, uncaring of the danger of being so close to such a monster. Two people down on the ground stared up at the tower in shock, one of them Prince Zam. Spoke grinned wider and thrust his sword into the air. “To the apocalypse!” he shouted, rising over the roars of Withers as the Poggies spawned them everywhere.
Mapicc stared out at the End island. They’d managed to kill all of the Withers, with a bit of accidental help from angry endermen and intentional help from Subz’s massive stash of health and regeneration potions. The island was completely wrecked, but at least it was still there. The End portal hovered two feet off the ground, its bedrock frame weathered by the Withers’ goo, but still intact.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
Planet, Pangi, and Woogie all nodded. The determination on their faces was the same.
Mapicc sighed. He wished he could feel the same. But even after a full night’s sleep, he was still tired. And he’d seen what Spoke managed to do with ten Withers. How are we supposed to contend with NINETY, even with help from M.o.B.?
We’re going to lose. But that doesn’t mean we can stop trying to fight.
Several ender pearls arced into the air. Subz’s, Clutch’s, and Vitalasy’s went right through the portal, while Oasis’ broke on the frame, leaving her crouched there. She glanced over at Peace Incorporated, then winked and jumped through the portal.
“Alright,” Mapicc said, hefting his naginata. It had never felt heavier. “Let’s go.”
Zam spun around and saw a Wither rise on the roof of M.o.B. tower. He pearled over, seeing somebody in armor, but it was Clown Pierce. Clown stared up at the tower, at the Wither, right as a second shot from the cannon fired and smashed into the wall, exploding because that wasn’t overkill at all. The tower groaned, two gaping holes in one wall.
“My tower,” Clown said numbly, picking up a fragment of blackstone.
Zam couldn’t even say anything. All he could do was watch as a second Wither was spawned by someone invisible, as another cannon shot hit the tower. We spent so long building this. So much time, and now it’s gone, so fast. My creation, my home, my legacy, is gone.
“To the apocalypse!” Spoke’s voice shouted, somewhere out of sight. Zam couldn’t bring himself to be angry right now.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, but it didn’t register until Clown spoke. “Zam,” he said softly, and Zam turned to look him in the eyes. He wasn’t wearing his mask - neither was Zam - but the murder in his eyes was scarier than any mask. “Let’s kill them.”
Zam nodded, too stunned and angry to do much else. He clenched his hand around the shaft of his axe. “Let’s go.”
A Wither roared behind them, spawned by someone Zam thought was Roshambo, based off the cloak. He and Clown both pearled over, Zam going for the Wither and Clown for Ro. Zam’s enchanted axe cut deep into the Wither’s bone, but it was still very much alive. He jumped out of the way of a blast of goo, then charged back in, getting two more blows before a bit of goo caught his shoulder. He pearled a short distance away and consumed a golden apple and strength potion both before running back, swinging with momentum on his side and taking off one of the Wither’s heads. The remaining two shrieked and it flew higher up, out of his range. He watched it for a second, then whipped around, searching for another target.
His eyes landed on his statues, perched on their pillars. The black one was completely gone, and the yellow one was facedown in the grass, part of its head melted away. Zam tore his gaze away and spotted someone in diamond armor with wings. He pearled over and they spun around, but his axe caught Parrot’s wing. Parrot’s own sword, carved to look like a feather, met Zam’s axe. Zam snarled as he pushed Parrot back, and saw his own hatred reflected in the leader of the Poggies’ eyes.
Parrot flapped his wings, beating at Zam with them, and Zam kicked at his legs. He succeeded first, and Parrot fell. Zam staggered forward, but recovered quickly, swinging down with his axe, which sliced through Parrot’s wing and pinned it to the ground. Parrot screeched and kicked out at Zam, who sidestepped, yanking his axe free and swinging for Parrot’s throat. Parrot rolled out of the way, on top of his injured wing.
Before Zam could attack again, someone crashed into him from behind. He spun around, striking out at Roshambo, but Ro’s sword darted under his and pierced Zam’s stomach. Before Ro could do more, Clown pearled in, and Ro vanished in a cloud of purple particles. Clown chased after him without a glance at Zam; not that he needed help, as he’d just eaten another golden apple. His wound closed, and he looked around, then pearled towards Parrot, who was near the wooden walkway.
Parrot saw him coming and fled down the path, boots thumping against the wood. Zam was careful to go around the void trap, rather than falling in like the last time he’d chased Parrot like this, but Parrot spread his healed wings and glided down the hill into spawn.
Something hit Zam in the back and he spun around to see an arrow lying on the ground. He charged off through the trees, in the direction the arrow had come from, but found only Vortex at the edge of the swamp, spawning another Wither. Upon seeing Zam, Vortex set the skull down and pearled away. Zam watched the pearl’s arc for a second, then threw his own, landing only about ten feet away from where Vortex did.
Vortex fumbled for his sword, barely managing to block Zam’s attack. Zam pushed him back, pressing his advantage, but once Vortex got into the flow of things, Zam found himself struggling. He was saved when a Wither blasted goo at them, and Vortex took his chance to pearl away.
Zam took a step after him, then stopped as more goo splattered the ground in front of him. He looked around. The air was full of at least a dozen Withers, surrounding the swamp, the tower, everything.
The flutter of a cloak alerted him to someone’s presence and he spun, barely blocking Roshambo’s attack. Zam laughed at the frown on Ro’s face, pulling his axe back and swinging twice at Ro before going for an overhead attack, which Ro barely dodged. Zam’s axe lodged into the dirt - what little of it remained - and he was forced to let go to avoid Ro cutting his arms off. He backed away; Ro had the advantage now.
Ro swung and Zam dodged, hoping to throw Ro off balance. It worked, but his foot slipped over the edge of a crater and he fell, banging his head against the rock. Through blurry vision he saw Ro step forward, sword raised - and then his feet were swept out from under him and a sword was plunged into his chest, right through his diamond chestplate.
“Are you okay?” came Clown’s voice, quiet as always despite the situation they were in.
“I’m fine,” Zam muttered as he stood up, rubbing his head and fumbling for a healing potion of some kind. “Are Mid and Leo okay?”
“I haven’t seen them die,” Clown said. “But Ro’s the only one of the Poggies dead.”
Black goo sprayed across both of their backs, eating through their netherite gear. Clown spun around and charged the Wither that had fired, leaping impossibly high before swinging, his sword embedding itself deep into the Wither’s bone. To Zam’s shock, Clown brought the Wither down with him, slamming it into the ground. He glanced over at Zam, who grabbed his axe out of the ground, ran up, and swung, taking off two of the Wither’s heads. The next swing killed it.
“One down, thirty to go,” Clown said, tossing a greenish potion to Zam. “Here. Jump boost. Lets you reach them.”
Zam drank the entire thing and looked around for another Wither or person to target. But before he could, another cannon shot went off, and that was all M.o.B. tower could take. A few bricks tumbled off the top, which was already halfway destroyed, but that was only the beginning of the end. The entire tower listed sideways, groaning, before it collapsed, bricks smashing into the ground and debris and dust flying everywhere.
Clown said nothing this time. He just stared at the wreckage for a few seconds, then turned and pearled off towards someone in diamond armor, a.k.a. one of the Poggies. Zam couldn’t take his eyes off the ruins, though. Our tower… is gone. Our home is destroyed.
Spoke. All of this is Spoke. So wherever he is, he needs to die.
Zam heard someone shout and looked around wildly. On the opposite side of M.o.B. pile-of-debris was someone in netherite, being chased by two of the Poggies. Zam pearled over, swinging at the one in the rear, who stopped and turned to deal with him. It was Parrot again, but this time there was no stalemate. Their blades flashed in the light, each blow fueled with strength from anger and desperation.
Pain flared in Zam’s stomach and he stopped with a forced gasp, nearly dropping his axe. Parrot’s sword smashed into his chestplate, leaving a long scrape and knocking him to the ground. Whoever had hit Zam from behind raised their sword, over Zam’s face.
Mapicc raised a hand to cover his eyes as he landed in the valley of spawn. The quiet, dark solitude of the End was torn away, replaced by bright sunlight and the clashing of blades, Withers roaring everywhere.
Pangi crashed into Mapicc as goo fired from one splattered the ground in front of them. Mapicc steadied him and charged the Wither, which was relatively low to the ground. His naginata whipped up and broke off the the bottom of the Wither’s spine, making it screech, but the impact of the blow made Mapicc stumble, nearly dropping his naginata. The Wither rose higher into the air and shot go, but Mapicc saw it coming and leapt out of the way.
Another Wither approached from behind, and Mapicc grabbed an ender pearl, flinging it at one Wither. He spread his arms wide, and soon as he teleported he wrapped them around the Wither. It flailed and shook, trying to knock him loose, but his weight was pulling them both down. He released it with one arm and smashed the blade of his naginata into its skull. It shook harder, knocking him loose, and he thudded to the ground, the air knocked out of him.
An outstretched hand appeared, and Mapicc flopped his head to the side to see Planet, looking worried and covered in dust. Mapicc took his hand and let Planet haul him to his feet, pushing away the hair that flopped down over his headband. “Are you okay?”
Planet nodded, but Mapicc had spent enough time with him to see the way his jaw was clenched, the fear in his eyes that didn’t show on his face. And this is why I have to keep fighting. To keep Planet alive, if nothing else.
Planet pointed, up towards M.o.B. tower, and Mapicc looked. His eyes widened when he saw that the massive black tower, which had stood so tall for so long, was gone, a pile of blackstone and quartz strewn about. Withers swarmed over it, and people in gleaming armor fought.
Mapicc drank an entire strength potion, then threw an ender pearl up the hill and looked around. There were several small fights, but a flash of yellow caught his eye. Zam, falling to the ground with two people standing over him. Mapicc threw another pearl and crashed into one of them, swinging his naginata. Whoever it was pearled away, and Mapicc spun around, his naginata moving with him, barely missing Parrot’s stomach. Parrot backed up, then pearled, and Mapicc crouched down by Zam.
Zam blinked up at him. “Mapicc…” His voice was raspy, and Mapicc could see the blood bleeding through his fancy clothing.
Mapicc pulled out a health potion and poured it into Zam’s mouth. Zam coughed, but swallowed, and Mapicc poured in more. The blood didn’t vanish, but after the third round Zam held up his hand. “I’m okay.”
Mapicc grabbed him by the hand and pulled him up. Zam stumbled, and Mapicc steadied him. “You’re here,” Zam said, sounding disbelieving. “You’re here,” Zam said, disbelieving. “Where were you?”
“Trapped in the End,” Mapicc said, his eyes tracking Planet, who was evading a Wither some twenty feet away. “Spoke spawned a bunch of Withers there, but we managed to take them out. We just had to sleep for the night, since we weer too tired.” I was too tired. We should have gone anyway. Then we could maybe have saved M.o.B. tower. “Unfortunately, we brought the Applicants with us, and they’re not on our side. They’re not on the Poggies’ either, but don’t rely on them. They’ll kill you just as readily as Spoke.”
Zam nodded, still looking a bit lost. “You’re here. That’s what matters. We can still win.”
Mapicc nodded, even though he was pretty sure they both knew that was false. So why do we keep fighting?
Someone pearled in front of Planet, blocking him from sight, but Mapicc still saw blood spray. “Planet!” He pearled over, leaving Zam to fend for himself.
Planet’s attacker turned around, revealing himself to be Spoke, mouth wide open and laughing uncontrollably. Mapicc swung his naginata, and Spoke barely blocked, stumbling back a step. Mapicc kicked him in the stomach, then punched him in the face, and was whirling his naginata around for another blow when Spoke pearled away.
Mapicc’s fury melted away as he saw Planet on the ground, breathing shallowly. He fumbled for his health potion, spilling some of it as he tried to get it into Planet’s mouth. Planet coughed weakly, head turning. His breath was raspy.
“No, no, no,” Mapicc whispered. In the back of his mind, he knew Planet would respawn, but he couldn’t stop the terror. Wait, he doesn’t have a bed, does he? Subz didn’t have enough beds for us all. And Planet’s would have gotten destroyed. Which means he’ll respawn… here.
Planet drew one last breath. Mapicc sloshed health potion onto his lips, hoping maybe a bit would get through, desperately fumbling for something, anything that might help. His frantic movements slowed when he saw Planet’s chest was still.
No.
Mapicc stared, his ears ringing.
No.
Blood stained Planet’s white skin.
He’s at spawn. I have to go save him. Mapicc leapt to his feet and started running, fumbling for an ender pearl as he did so. He tripped over a bit of blackstone but got right back up, despite his muscles burning and exhaustion threatening to overtake him. I can’t let Planet die. Not when I brought him here.
He threw his ender pearl down towards the valley, looking around desperately. Where is he? Where did he spawn? He spotted the body on the ground twenty feet away, white skin standing out. “No!” he shouted, and his dry throat made him cough. “No! Planet!” The sound was meaningless amongst all the others in this apocalyptic battle.
Planet reappeared, and Mapicc went running for him, but a Wither took him down before he could get there. Mapicc grabbed an ender pearl, and as soon as Planet appeared, he took him by the arm and threw.
He landed ten feet away, hands empty, and whirled around in time to see someone in armor strike down Planet, his body flopping over the old one.
How many hearts is he on? Mapicc didn’t know. He flung himself at the person in armor, naginata clanging against their sword. Planet respawned and died again, and Mapicc could do nothing about it, for if he disengaged to help, whoever it was that was fighting him would kill him.
The next time he respawned, Planet managed to run for a bit before tripping over something and being blasted by a Wither. The next time, he spun around and lunged for Mapicc’s opponent, knocking them both to the ground. Mapicc was forced to watch, unable to do anything for fear of striking Planet - not that it mattered. A sword appeared through his back, and the person climbed off the ground, finally giving Mapicc a good look at their face. Oasis.
Mapicc swung with his naginata, trying to take advantage of Oasis’ distraction, but Oasis managed to duck, knocking Mapicc off-balance. They kept fighting, Mapicc’s desperation struggling against his exhaustion.
Finally, though, Oasis slipped up. Maybe her foot hit a rock, maybe she just messed up. But whatever the reason, she stumbled, off-balance, and Mapicc’s naginata cut a deep gash through her arm. She flung an ender pearl before Mapicc could finish her off, and his naginata thunked into the ground.
He left it there, spinning around, but Planet was nowhere in sight, though several of his bodies lay in a pile. Mapicc’s eyes darted around, scanning the battlefield, and he finally spotted Planet halfway across the valley, fleeing from a Wither that was pursuing him.
Mapicc grabbed an ender pearl, threw it. Right before the pearl broke, though, the Wither fired its goo and Planet toppled. Mapicc’s scream was cut off as he teleported, and Planet’s body hit the ground at the same time as Mapicc did. The sky turned dark for half a second, clouds gathering from nowhere, and a bolt of lightning struck the ground where Planet had fallen. When the afterimage faded, his body was gone.
Mapicc could do nothing but stare. The Wither had already moved on. No one was paying attention to Mapicc anymore. “Planet,” he said numbly, like that would summon him back. It didn’t. The lightning had claimed Planet’s final heart for itself.
Mapicc turned and walked away, face blank. He picked up his halberd from where it lay embedded in the ground and turned to look out at the battlefield.
Spoke pearled away from Mapicc, annoyed by his interference. As he was looking around for another enemy to fight, though, he felt the surge of energy that meant he’d gained a heart. It made him laugh. And now Planet gets to lose every last heart!
A flash of silver caught his eye, and Spoke turned. Zam crashed down on him from above, slamming his axe into Spoke’s head. Spoke’s netherite helmet fell to the ground in pieces, but he barely noticed, already swinging his sword for Zam. Zam parried and thrust, face a mask of concentration. It made Spoke laugh, to see him taking things so seriously. Then again, he’s always been easy to anger!
Someone shouted off to the side, and Zam and Spoke both glanced over, their dance of blades slowing for a few seconds. The sound came from Clutch, who was charging towards them with his sword in hand. Spoke frowned, then deflected Zam’s axe into the ground and lunged for Clutch, who failed to block in time. His chestplate protected him, though.
Something smashed into Spoke’s back, making him stumble. Clutch’s sword whooshed over his head. Spoke jumped back, putting both his enemies in front of him. Zam and Clutch glanced at each other, and then Clutch lunged for Spoke. Spoke saw a grin to match his own form on Zam’s face before he joined in. Spoke was forced back, unable to keep up. Zam’s axe gashed his shoulder, Clutch’s sword his leg. His chestplate was weakening.
Someone else pearled in, knocking Zam back. Spoke spotted a glimpse of sunglasses, and telepathically thanked Vortex as he focused on Clutch, who suddenly found himself losing. Spoke’s grin returned, and then his laughter. Their one-sided rivalry ended with Clutch on the ground, already forgotten by Spoke as he ran off, left to respawn and die until he was out of hearts.
Vortex pearled away, and Zam looked around, then went running over to the nearest fight happening; as he got closer, he saw that it was Subz against Rekrap, and Subz was clearly winning. Zam didn’t really care which one of them he got, so he charged towards them - and then a blast of Wither goo hit his side, making him pitch forwards and hit the ground, screaming into the dirt.
He fumbled in his backpack, but it was hard to concentrate on anything except the searing pain and the smell of burnt flesh. Luckily, his regeneration potion was slowing things down, so it was nowhere near as bad as it otherwise would be. He grabbed a golden apple and bit into it, only managing one bite before it shriveled, but that seemed to be enough. Unfortunately, he only had three left, plus a health potion. I have to stop getting hurt.
By the time he stood back up, Subz and Rekrap had moved on. Zam looked around and spotted someone still standing by the cannon, so he pearled over to them. He landed on top of their head, and they both fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs and armor.
Zam recovered first. The cannoneer pearled a short distance away, and Zam realized it was Poafa, now aiming an arrow at him. Zam froze in place, unable to grab an ender pearl without getting shot. Then again, there’s no reason for Poafa to NOT shoot me, so…
He dropped to the ground, and the motion made Poafa shoot, the arrow whistling over his head. He leapt to his feet again and charged Poafa, wrestling the bow away from him and flinging it into the trees. Poafa made a sound of protest, and before Zam realized what was happening, whipped out a dagger and stabbed Zam in the stomach. He ripped out just as fast, and pearled away, leaving Zam to stagger against the cannon. The golden apple healed most of the wound, but it was still there, and it still hurt.
To his delight, Spoke appeared in front of him in a swirl of purple particles. Zam parried, but it left him doubled over from the pain of the motion. Spoke grinned, taking his time before swinging again, laughing as Zam barely blocked it. Zam growled and tried to swing for Spoke’s legs, but Spoke easily sidestepped.
A pearl broke against Spoke’s side, and he jumped out of the way as Mapicc appeared, the spear he carried giving him the reach to jab Spoke’s arm. Spoke hesitated, glancing at Zam, then pearled away. Rather than follow, Mapicc turned towards Zam.
“Go get him,” Zam groaned.
In response, Mapicc handed Zam a golden apple in response. “Are you okay?”
Zam nodded as he ate the apple. Something had changed in Mapicc’s eyes.
“Do you need anything else?” Mapicc asked, voice still monotone.
“I only have a few of those left,” Zam said, indicating the rapidly shriveling apple on the ground.
Mapicc gave Zam two more.
“Thanks,” Zam said, a bit surprised. He didn’t have time to ask about Mapicc’s source, though, as two people were running towards them. Oasis and Roshambo, it looked like. Didn’t we kill Ro? That must mean his bed is somewhere near here. At least he’s got no armor. Zam readied his axe, but Oasis pearled behind him, and he swung into empty air, barely turning in time to block Oasis’ attack. I thought we had peace with them! Why are they attacking us now?
Someone else pearled in as well, and now Zam was facing two people. Mapicc was occupied by Ro, so all Zam could do was let Oasis and Vitalasy push him back, unable to even grab an ender pearl to escape.
As Zam brought his sword up to block Vitalasy’s thrust, Oasis’ blade darted beneath, and Zam was unable to sidestep in time; the sword sliced into his leg. He stumbled, and Vitalasy slashed his arm, and Oasis finished things off by stabbing him in the throat.
Before Zam’s body could hit the ground, he was enveloped in a golden glow. Mid-fall, he was pulled to his feet as if by puppet strings, eyes glowing green. At the bottom of his backpack, his first of two totems of undying cracked in two, its own glow fading.
Zam grinned at his two opponents, who wasted no time in going on the offensive again. However, when one was revived by a totem of undying, it gave them a temporary burst of energy, equivalent to taking a sip of a potion. Zam parried Vitalasy’s attack, ignoring the slash to the side Oasis gave him, and stabbed Vitalasy in the hip. He stumbled, and Oasis jumped in front of him, nearly hitting Zam in the face with her sword. Zam could feel his magical energy starting to fade, but he was still feeling better; his death and revival had taken away his tiredness as well.
Ten feet away, Ro finally got under Mapicc’s guard and stabbed him; leaving Mapicc on the ground, he turned and pearled over to join Oasis in fighting Zam. “Oh, fuck you guys!” Zam cried. “Go get Clown or something!”
Neither of them listened, and Zam found himself in exactly the same situation he’d been in a minute ago.
Someone appeared in a cloud of purple particles a few feet away, immediately charging in and hitting Ro’s leg, forcing him to turn and confront the newcomer. To Zam’s surprise, it was Leowook. The half-second of staring he did nearly got him stabbed again by Oasis, forcing him to set aside his shock that Leo would come to rescue him and focus on not dying again.
An explosion threw them all off course. Zam and Oasis both looked over at the cannon, where Poafa was loading another cannonball. A pearl landed near him and Mapicc appeared. Poafa aimed an arrow at him, and that was all Zam saw before Oasis blocked his view. He was honestly surprised he’d lasted so long against someone who was supposedly the best fighter besides Clown, but then again, it was hard to fight too well when you had to avoid hitting the person right next to you.
“I got Ro!” Leo shouted from nearby. A few seconds later, Oasis pearled away, revealing Leo behind her with his sword raised.
“Thanks,” Zam said wearily, too tired to be passive-aggressive.
Leo was breathing hard as well, but he nodded. “Can’t have you dying yet.” He pointed with his sword. “There’s Parrot. Wanna get him?”
“Of course.” And they pearled off.
Mapicc’s pearl broke and he found himself facing Poafa, who had an arrow nocked and aimed at him. He lowered his bow when he saw who it was, though. “Mapicc. You - what are you doing here? I thought Spoke had trapped you.”
Spoke. Right. Poafa’s with the Poggies. Planet’s face in his mind, Mapicc spun his naginata and swung at Poafa, who barely jumped out of the way in time. “Mapicc! I don’t want to fight you!”
The dam broke. “Well, you shouldn’t have allied with them!” Mapicc shouted, swinging again, forcing Poafa to leap behind the cannon. “With those fucking cowards who have to do this just to feel like they have some power!” Who killed Planet for that. His next swing slashed Poafa’s bow in half.
Poafa stared at the two halves on the ground, then raised his eyes to meet Mapicc’s, anger replacing confusion. “It’s not like your group’s any better! Killing us for no reason other than we exist!”
“Maybe if you hadn’t taken every chance you had to ruin the peace we could have had!” Mapicc screamed back, swinging his naginata again.
Poafa caught it by the handle. “It’s pretty hard to have peace when one side’s got double the hearts from killing you over and over!”
Mapicc growled as he tried to yank his naginata away, but Poafa’s grip was too strong. “Maybe if you hadn’t attacked and lost so many times - you know what, I don’t care, Poafa! I don’t fucking care!” Unable to free his naginata, he clenched one fist and punched Poafa in the face.
Poafa staggered back, and the naginata fell to the ground. “You left me for them!” he shouted, clutching his face. “Off with the people who killed my friends!”
“You left us!” Mapicc cried. “When we were together, you left to go off and join the Poggies - and now look where it’s gotten you!” He flung his arms out, gesturing at all the chaos around them.
“You could have come!”
“I could have given up my morals like you to side with people like them?”
Poafa held out his hand to Mapicc, revealing the blood streaming down his face, coating his fingers. He didn’t say anything.
The sky darkened again. Another bolt of lightning blasted out of the sky, striking somewhere out of sight. Mapicc looked up at the sky, watching the clouds recede, then glared at Poafa. “Look! Two people are dead, permanently, because of you and your team!”
“They would have killed us permanently!” Poafa didn’t sound as convinced as before, though. He looked shaken.
“How many times did they kill you?” Mapicc shouted. “Right! Zero! Nothing ever happened to you!”
“My friends died!” Poafa cried. “Just because I want to help them, that makes me the bad guy? Isn’t that what your peace team was all about?”
“This isn’t peace!” Mapicc’s statement was punctuated by the roar of a Wither in the background. “This is - this is an apocalypse. This is just destruction.”
Poafa said nothing. A drop of blood fell from his chin. I did that.
Mapicc sighed, shoulders slumping. Aren’t I supposed to be keeping the peace? Doesn’t that mean I shouldn’t be starting fights - especially not with Poafa?
“I don’t want to fight you,” he said.
“I don’t either,” Poafa admitted.
Mapicc huffed out a shaky laugh that quickly turned to something else. He raised his arm to block his eyes.
“Mapicc?” Poafa sounded concerned now. “Why are you crying?”
This. Planet. You. Mapicc didn’t trust himself to say anything.
“Watch out!” Poafa cried suddenly. Mapicc’s instincts kicked in, but his naginata was still on the ground from their fight. His vision filled with grey and then faded, letting him see the Wither drifting off, uninterested.
Then his eyes dropped, and he saw Poafa lying at his feet, covered in black goo. This time, Mapicc didn’t waste any time. Poafa would die with or without his intervention, but he could be there to save him from the Withers when he respawned.
And so Mapicc grabbed his naginata and flung an ender pearl over M.o.B. pile-of-rubble, then another into the valley of spawn. He didn’t see Poafa, however, and a terrible fear seized him. What if he was still alive? What if I just left him to die?
His communicator dinged, and it took a few seconds for the sound to register through all the chaos. Once it did, though, he yanked it out to check the message.
Poafa: castle
Mapicc raised his eyes to Rekrap’s castle, still standing mostly intact on its hill. Nothing tried to attack him as he went stumbling up the hill, for which he would have been thankful if he had the energy.
The door opened as he neared it, revealing Poafa. Mapicc let out a disbelieving chuckle, and felt more tears streak through the grime on his cheeks.
“Stop crying,” Poafa mumbled. “I don’t know what to do.”
Mapicc responded by lurching forward and wrapping Poafa up in a hug. Poafa let out a sound of protest, but didn’t pull away - not that he would have been able to, with how tightly Mapicc was gripping him. “I thought you were dead,” he whispered.
“I was,” Poafa said. “But not permanently.”
Mapicc laughed harder, no longer trying to keep back his tears.
Leo and Zam pearled over to where Parrot was spawning yet another Wither. I thought we were done with those! Parrot spun around when he heard them land, barely blocking Leo’s attack, but Zam’s axe cut into his wing again. He thrust it out, smacking Zam in the face, but Zam grabbed out blindly and latched onto a handful of feathers, making Parrot yelp.
“Vortex!” Leo said warningly, and Zam jumped to the side before turning to face Vortex, who had just pearled in. Their swords met for the third time in fifteen minutes, with similar outcomes to the first two times; neither of their skill levels had changed since their last brief duel.
Until, of course, Zam tripped and fell into a crater. This one was larger; there must have been a cave under the ground, and the Wither had just unearthed it. Either way, Zam was now backing into a dark cave, pursued by Vortex.
Knowing he was about to end up trapped, Zam dropped to the ground and grabbed Vortex’s ankle, pulling him down as well. Vortex’s sword collided with Zam’s helmet, making his ears ring and disorienting him, but he was still conscious enough to shove Vortex off him and run.
Unfortunately, Zam had run out of pearls in his pockets, forcing him to delve into his backpack, glancing back every second to watch as Vortex slowly climbed to his feet. Zam’s fingers closed around a pearl as Vortex charged, and he threw it, but it didn’t teleport him fast enough, forcing him to block two of Vortex’s attacks before he finally vanished.
And reappeared right next to another fight that was going on: Midmysticx versus Parrot. Leowook was nearby, struggling to survive against Oasis. Zam didn’t spare a second thought for them, instead swinging his axe at a startled Parrot. It collided with his leg and made him stumble, but the wound healed instantly.
As Midmysticx tried to dodge around to the side, Parrot swung with his sword and caught her side. She cried out and stumbled, and Parrot drew his sword back for the final blow, before Zam’s axe buried itself in Parrot’s back, tearing through his chestplate.
Parrot fell instantly, and Zam smiled for a second, but then Parrot’s eyes glowed green and he rose again. Zam swung, but his sword bounced off Parrot’s glowing skin like it was netherite. Parrot swung for Zam, and Zam found himself getting pushed back.
Until Parrot gasped again, a sword jutting out from his stomach. Midmysticx withdrew her sword and Parrot sagged sideways, but he managed one last attack, burying his sword two inches deep in Zam’s stomach before finally collapsing to the ground, wings splaying out at his sides.
Zam stared down at the sword in his stomach. I… I should… It was a struggle to think. This… is taking too long. He knew he had another totem; all he was doing right now was suffering unnecessarily. So despite Midmysticx’s protests, he raised his axe and swung it at his own head.
A few seconds later, the hilt of Parrot’s sword clattered to the ground, the blade bitten off. Zam pulled his shirt back and saw tendrils of netherite mixed with his skin; totems of undying always had strange effects.
“Zam?”
Right, Mid. Zam looked up at her. Her wound had stopped bleeding; a shriveled golden apple lay at her feet. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, but she still seemed rather anxious. I mean, there’s Withers everywhere, so that seems reasonable. Zam used the brief lull in fighting to transfer all of his remaining ender pearls from his backpack to his pocket, and drink the rest of a strength potion. Then a Wither blasted goo at his feet, and he was forced back to running as it roared and pursued him.
Spoke was chasing after the polar bear hybrid when something else caught his eye. His laughter petered out as he stopped, giving the role of polar-bear-chaser over to a random Wither, and stared at the strangest fight of the whole apocalypse. Oasis fought without a helmet, her bright blue hair plain for all the world to see, and Spoke was pretty sure her opponent was Subz, based off the fact that his face was reflective.
Spoke tilted his head. Why are they fighting? Aren’t they on the same team? Ooh, b̵̠̪̫̲̑e̸̬̲̪̘̿t̵͕̱͋͒r̶͔͕̟͉͔̗̓͆̈́͒̊ả̴̢̢̛̱͗y̴̢̘̹͎͇̒͆̔͜a̴̩͔̣̘̦̓͌̂̿͋̂͘͜l̷͎̩͔̺͈̙̅̈́͝?̵̦͍̂̓̔̊̄̋̇͛
As he watched, Oasis’ sword hit Subz’s leg and he stumbled. She tripped him and raised her sword - and then someone else pearled in, making her leap back. Spoke grinned when he saw it was Vitalasy. D̷̨͈̤̝̲̪͍̥͈̰͍̄̓̿͛̋̈̽̄͛͂̾͊͝r̸̳͖͈̤̦͓͈̃̃͐̄̕̚͠ą̶̢͓̰̙̼̣̯̘͕̅̊̏̋̔̄̏͊̽̆͊͝ͅḿ̴̲͚̒͌ả̷̼̣̳̍͊̄̃̔͗͆͑͆͛͘!̸̘̖͎̣͕̠̮̩̫͕̠͇͗ͅ
“Oasis!” Vitalasy cried. “What are you doing?”
Oasis said nothing, so Subz answered for her as he rose back onto his feet. “Attacking me.”
Like that wasn’t obvious, Spoke thought scornfully.
“Why?” Vitalasy stared at Oasis.
She sighed, idly swinging her sword. “Because he needs to die.”
“Why?” Vitalasy repeated. “He’s a part of our team!”
“No, he’s not!” Oasis snapped. “You want him to be. But all he’s done is cause problems between us.”
“What kind of ‘problems’?” Vitalasy asked, finally starting to sound angry himself. “He gave us a place to live after our base got destroyed, he’s been helping me the whole time…”
“I don’t-” Subz started to say, but Vitalasy cut him off. “No. You’re fine, Subz. Oasis is…” He chuckled suddenly, shaking his head. “Are you just jealous, Oasis?”
“No,” Oasis growled. Spoke honestly couldn’t tell if she was being truthful or not - not that he cared, given how entertaining the whole drama was.
“Why else would you want to kill him?” Vitalasy asked. “A free heart? Maybe. But no - I think you’re telling the truth, that he’s affecting the team, but that’s only because you’re jealous.”
A Wither floated up behind Oasis. Spoke’s grin widened, wondering if she’d see it.
“Jealous of what?” Oasis sneered. “Being left out of half the talks you guys have? Face it, Vitalasy, Team Aegis is you and Subz now. He’s my replacement! He’s a good fighter, he can do a relationship bit with you-” The Wither blasted goo over her, and she went down screaming. Vitalasy flinched, taking a step back, and Spoke laughed. Subz glanced over at him, but didn’t move, instead taking Vitalasy’s arm and saying something to him.
Still laughing, Spoke shook his head and turned away. That wa̴̩͓͋s̴̗̽͊ ̸͎̈f̴̲̿͐͑̆̔̒̑ǘ̷̝̤̆͛͂͌̍̾n̴͔͈̣͈̣̏́̒̽̅͋.̵̙͓̽̓̑̚͝͝
Zam was dueling Rekrap when someone else pearled in: Subz. Zam turned and fled, and received a small gash to the hip for it, but he was tired of two-v-one battles. Maybe they’ll fight each other now.
No; Subz appeared in front of him in a swirl of purple particles, and he would have speared Zam in the throat if Zam hadn’t ducked just in time, barreling into Subz’s legs and knocking them both to the ground.
Zam flailed his way off Subz, kicking as much as he could and only receiving one blow to the face. Subz snatched his ankle as he tried to run, though, and tried to climb up on him to pin him down, but Zam kicked him in the groin and he flopped off.
Zam pulled out an ender pearl, but Subz somehow managed to hit him from the ground; the pearl shattered and Zam teleported three inches to the left. He turned to face Subz, only to find Vitalasy standing in front of him, sword raised.
So Zam went back to fleeing, chased by Vitalasy and soon Subz as well. “Help!” he shouted; it was a little embarrassing, but he wasn’t particularly concerned about that at the moment. Still, nobody showed up, and someone’s sword cut across Zam’s back, making him stumble. I have - to keep - going. He’d used both his totems already, and he had no time to stop and heal. I just have to hope somebody helps me in time.
But no one came, and soon Zam tripped over the edge of a crater and smashed into the ground. He flipped onto his back, raising his axe, but Subz’s sword went past it and into Zam’s leg. Zam screamed as Vitalasy raised his own.
And then Subz staggered, one hand jerking up to the sword point jutting from his throat. It did no good, and he was already dead by the time he started to fall. Clown Pierce turned to face Vitalasy, swinging his longsword in an arc. It slammed against Vitalasy’s, knocking him back, and the second blow cracked his netherite chestplate. Vitalasy backed away, fumbling for an ender pearl, but Clown’s sword smashed through his chest before he could. Clown shook his sword until Vitalasy fell off the end, then stabbed it upright in the ground and knelt beside Zam, pulling out a health potion.
None of Zam’s wounds were life-threatening, but they were severely incapacitating, so he opened his mouth and let Clown pour the potion in. Clown tossed aside the empty bottle and held out one gloved hand, which Zam accepted, and Clown pulled him to his feet. “How are you doing?”
“You got Ro, but he came back,” Zam said, looking around the battlefield. “I got Parrot. And you just got Subz and Vitalasy.”
Clown nodded. “I’ve gotten probably forty Withers, as well.”
“You what?”
“Turns out, if you get a bunch of them angry at you and then set off an End crystal, it does quite a lot of damage.”
Zam chuckled, but it turned into a cough halfway through. “Well, there’s still a few dozen left. And the Poggies.”
“About that… I think they left.”
Zam looked around. “No, they can’t have.” There was no one else in sight except for Pangi off in the distance. “They wouldn’t have just left…” He laughed. “No, they would! That’s exactly the kind of thing they’d do. Just show up, wreck everything we’ve built, and then leave!” A Wither blasted goo at him, and he glared at it. “Oh, you do not want to test me right now.” Not that he could do anything, with how high it was flying.
The Wither exploded. Zam flinched and looked over at the cannon, which was being operated by Terrain now. Unfortunately, he only took down two more Withers before seemingly running out of ammunition.
“Where are Mid and Leo?” Zam asked, looking around.
“I don’t know,” Clown said, a note of worry in his voice.
Zam ran past M.o.B. pile-of-debris, to the edge of the hill overlooking spawn. There were still a bunch of Withers down there, filling the place with craters. Most of the buildings were destroyed, half-melted planks of wood strewn everywhere. But at least he didn’t see anyone running around armorless. So where are they?
“I found Leo,” Clown called, and Zam turned to see them standing side-by-side.
“I’m here,” came Mid’s voice, and an ender pearl shot up from one of the craters before breaking and teleporting her to the surface. She walked over to Zam with a slight limp.
“Are you okay?” Zam asked, more worried with every step she took.
She nodded. “I’m fine.” She looked like she’d been crying.
“Good.”
Mid’s eyes strayed towards M.o.B. pile-of-debris, and Zam, almost against his will turned to look as well. He hadn’t gotten a proper view before, even watching it fall, but now, with nothing in their way except a few Withers (lots of them had already flown further away), he was able to take it all in. Blackstone bricks were everywhere, most of them with the corners missing, and lots completely blown to pieces. A table leg, or maybe part of an armor stand, stuck up from between two bricks. A ball of wool was balanced delicately on another; if a slight breeze blew it would fall.
Zam realized his own eyes were watering, too, and pressed a hand to his face, trying to stop himself. It didn’t work. All of our stuff is gone. Everything we’ve worked for since day one is gone. He couldn’t even muster up the energy to hate the Poggies. This was literally everything we had. What am I even supposed to do any more?
Mid put her arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder. “We can still rebuild somewhere else.”
“No we can’t,” he said with as much bitterness as he could manage. “Spoke’ll just come and destroy it again.”
“He can’t find us if we’re ten thousand meters away.”
“I know,” Zam said. “I just… I don’t care. Do you know how much time it took to make all of this? An entire month. And that was with ordering blackstone from the Poggies and getting the Applicants to help and working for hours every day.”
“We don’t have to make a giant tower,” Mid said stubbornly. “We can just… make a big house. Or a bunch of little houses and we can have our own little neighborhood.”
Zam liked the thought. But it’s only a thought. The Poggies would never let us finish. They’ve finally won, and they’ll be braver now. We’re on the defensive. Spoke wants to keep playing with us, I’m sure.
Maybe… I can take away his satisfaction.
No. I shouldn’t do that… but why not? All of our stuff is gone, and the Poggies won. Even spawn is ruined by now. So what’s the point in continuing to fight? To build up a nice little neighborhood for Spoke to destroy?
Really, the only thing stopping him was standing at his side. Midmysticx. He wiped his tears off his face and looked over at her. “Mid?”
“Yeah?” she said, her voice quiet.
“Do you trust me?”
She tilted her head slightly. Zam’s eyes were drawn to his necklace, the one he’d given her what felt like an eternity ago. “Of course I do.”
‘Of course I do’. How many people would say that to me? Not anyone in the Zam Empire, that’s for sure. And half the people here hate me as well. Maybe… my father was right, and I’m the problem, not everyone else.
But Mid trusts me, and I trust her judgment. If only it could last.
Zam withdrew eight hearts and pressed them into Mid’s hands. She made a sound of protest, but he stepped away from her.
“Zam, what are you doing?” she asked, staring at the hearts. “These are yours! H-here, take them back.” She reached out, but he took another step away.
“What are you guys doing?” There was Leowook, with Clown behind him. They both stared at the pile of hearts Mid was holding, then at Zam, confusion and suspicion on their faces.
Zam focused on Leo. “Leo, I know we fought a lot, and argued, and you’re still probably my least favorite member of M.o.B…. but you’re really not that bad of a person.”
“Thanks?” Leo said. “I don’t hate you either, Zam.”
Zam’s mouth twitched towards a smile. “That’s good.” His eyes flicked to Clown. “Clown… I’m gonna be honest, I don’t know what to say to you. But despite how fucking weird you are sometimes, you’re a good person.” I still remember that night we officially formed M.o.B.
“Zam, what are you doing?” Mid asked, worried again. “Why do you sound like…?”
“Midmysticx,” Zam interrupted. “You might have been late to join, but you’re still just as valuable as everyone else. Maybe more than Leo. You’re funny, you’re smart, you’re a good baker…” He sighed, opening his mouth to say three very important words, but he couldn’t make them come out. “You’re a good person.” That was my last chance to say it, and I didn’t. I’m sorry.
“Zam, I - thank you, but so are you. You know that, right? You’re a good person as well. You said it yourself, we’re all together, we’re all a team. S-so we can go and rebuild, right? Or we can go to your cabin, l-like you said we’d do, after the battle.” She sounded frantic.
Zam smiled at her attempts. It’s good to know someone cares. “I’m sorry, Mid. I can’t… I can’t do this.” I can’t spend my time building another haven to get ruined by everyone who hates us. And I can’t let Spoke have the satisfaction of that.
He turned and walked away. He heard her following. Why? Why can’t she leave me alone? She doesn’t want to be here for this.
He didn’t stop walking. The void hole came into sight.
Mid grabbed his sleeve and he turned around, catching her arm. “Mid,” he said quietly. “If things ever get better, revive me. I don’t… want to die, I just don’t want to have to live here anymore.”
She didn’t let go. Zam was trying to figure out how to get her off when, to his surprise, Clown did it for him. “It’s his choice,” Clown said, before raising his eyes to meet Zam’s. “I will make things get better,” he said. His voice wasn’t any different from normal, but Zam had spent enough time with Clown to hear the quiet conviction in his voice.
“Thank you,” he said in a whisper. Clown nodded.
“Zam!” Mid cried, still held back by Clown.
Zam did his best to ignore her, but it was impossible. I’m sorry! What do you want from me?! To live and get killed anyway? To see all our progress get wiped away again, to watch our resources dwindle to an enemy that never fucking dies himself?!
This way, Spoke doesn’t get the satisfaction of killing me.
Zam looked down into the void. It was so far down. Fragments of a net still hung at the sides, from where Spoke had captured Clown and Parrot the day it was supposed to end.
It was a long way down.
Do I want to jump?
The answer was no, but he did it anyway, because there was no other option. Dirt faded to stone, to deepslate, to bedrock, and then there was nothing. Nothing but an endless expanse of black, stretching out in every direction. Zam’s crown, which had stayed on his head for the whole battle, lifted off his hair now, falling slower than he was. Gone, like everything else. He closed his eyes.
Spoke’s communicator dinged once, twice, thrice. All three messages were the same.
ParrotX2: poggies retreat. spawn the last withers and come to our old mountain.
Spoke tucked it away, giggling, the words barely registering beyond the fact that Parrot wanted him to leave. But what if I̵̩͔̜̞̗̖̝̮͆̐̅̕͝ ̴̝͇͓̟̗̎́̿̕ḑ̷̦̰̮͉͊̇̿͒̎̕͠ò̵̤̠̃̌̍͝n̴̛͉̫̊̒̈́̋̽̈́̓'̴̮͑̾͛̌̈́̌̚t̵̨̮̤̦̙̗̪̽ ̵̗̯̐͂̍̒ẅ̸̹̤̖͎̯́͗͌ă̶̡̩n̵̢̛͚̥̟͑̉̇͝ť̷͎͚̰͓̥̔͂͜ ̶̨̛̲̔̔̃́t̷̪͆̌͆̃̓͝o̷̠̟̺̦͓̖̐̀̉̒͂̓͝ͅ?̵̭̞̀̋ͅͅ
He sighed. I… should, anyway. We’ve already won, even if M.o.B. hasn’t d̵̳̚i̷̝̓ë̶̜d̵͎͑ as much as I̸̜̋'̵̬̃͐d̴̰͕͂͆ ̷̗̎͝l̷͎̻̈́͠ì̶͓̝̲k̵̖̹̉e̸̟̓͂̿ yet. Still, their home is gone. Even if that’s somehow all we get, even if they all miraculously survive, at least they get to feel a bit of the p̶̗̍a̶̧͒i̷̫̚n̷̗͝ we have.
Spoke poured the last of his soul sand, shaping it into a small pile. He set the Wither skull on top, then climbed to his feet, watching as it rose into the air. He turned in a slow circle, looking at all the destruction they’d wrought in such a short amount of time. And yet… why don’t I feel good?
The Wither roared behind him. Spoke didn’t even try to move until goo splattered across his back, and then he collapsed to the ground, refusing to scream.
He gasped, sitting up in his bed in the repaired tent outside Mapicc’s house. Phantom pain remained, but his body was in perfect condition once more. The only difference was that his armor and sword was gone, and though his backpack remained, everything inside was gone, left in an identical copy back at spawn.
Spoke slowly climbed out of bed. Things were so peaceful here. No Withers in sight, no screaming, no fighting. As much as Spoke liked chaos, he found himself smiling at how peaceful everything seemed - a genuine smile for once.
“Spoke?” Spoke turned to see Parrot hurrying across the grass towards him. “You died? What happened?”
“My last Wither,” Spoke said with a shrug, finding he didn’t care as much as he once had. “It got me.”
Parrot nodded, though he still looked worried. “It’ll take us a while to get to the mountain. You want to get going now?”
“Sure,” Spoke said with a shrug. “Why are we going there, though?”
Parrot sighed as he started walking. “You’ll… see. I’d rather wait until we’re there.”
Spoke joined Parrot in walking. They weren’t moving particularly fast, savoring the breeze that was blowing across the meadow. Parrot has his wings spread, one fanned out behind Spoke, who had his head tipped back. He reached up and untied his bandanna, letting the wind blow freely against his forehead and push his hair around, while he stared down at the rainbow fabric in his hand, watching the ends ripple.
“What is there to do after this?” he asked, realizing he’d spoken aloud only after Parrot glanced over at him.
“I don’t know,” Parrot said simply.
Spoke wasn’t sure how long they walked for, across fields and through trees and around a large pond, but finally the mountain rose in the distance, looming above them as they drew even closer.
“Looks like the others are here already,” Parrot said. Spoke squinted, and saw a few small figures standing at the top of the mountain, silhouetted by the shining sun.
“Look…” Parrot’s voice was slightly shaky now. Spoke looked, and saw Parrot’s eyes focused on the melon patch that Rekrap and Jaron had grown. Now the melons were shriveled, their plants dead.
Spoke looked away, starting up the ladder instead. It was in surprisingly good condition. The one that led to the top was partially destroyed, though, thanks to the dynamite Spoke had set off in a fit of anger after learning of Parrot’s plan to disband the Poggies. It seemed like such a small thing now, in comparison to all that had happened.
Ro knelt on the edge and helped them up. Spoke first, then Parrot. And there they all stood. Parrot, Spoke, Vortex, Rekrap, and Roshambo. Spoke stepped up to the edge, looking out at everything spread before them. It all seems so small. He doubted M.o.B. tower had even been a third of the height of the mountain.
“Poggies,” Parrot said, his voice strong and clear, but it sounded weak to Spoke. Maybe that was just the look of tiredness on his face. And I don’t think it’s from the walk. “It is done. M.o.B. is destroyed.”
Nobody said anything, not even Spoke. Is that a good thing? It has to be, so why does it feel wrong?
Parrot hesitated. “Where’s Poafa?”
“He died,” Roshambo said. “And then didn’t rejoin the battle. But there was no lightning.”
Parrot nodded slowly, and then sighed, curving his wings slightly like he wanted to hide behind them. “I just… I wanted to keep everyone safe. From whoever wanted to hurt us. And… sometimes I might have strayed from the path, sometimes I got too caught up in wanting revenge… but in the end, I just wanted to protect you all. And… I failed. Jaron killed himself.” That prompted a few gasps, and Rekrap covered his mouth.
“I don’t know when,” Parrot continued, “but he did. Out of… loneliness, his note said. We fought with his hearts today. And even though we finally won, and all it cost was my life and Spoke’s - so small compared to all we’ve lost to M.o.B. over the months - I don’t know. It just… doesn’t feel like a victory.”
Rekrap nodded slowly. His face was covered, but Spoke thought he might be crying based off the sound of his voice. “It wasn’t going to go any differently. You think you were going to destroy the entirety of spawn, destroy someone else’s home like has happened to ours so many times, and feel good?” Despite his words, he didn’t sound angry.
And Parrot merely nodded, head bowed. “I know. And as the leader of the Poggies, even if we never officially reformed… it should have been my responsibility to realize that, rather than drag us into war like I have so many times. I… am part of the reason we’ve lost so much.”
“You did the best you could, with M.o.B. constantly hunting us,” Spoke said, not really sure what motivated him to speak, other than his hatred for the look of defeat and regret on Parrot’s face. “What else were we supposed to do, let them kill us? We were only fighting back.”
“We took things too far,” Parrot argued, if it could even really be called arguing. “We set a hundred Withers on them, hoping it would wipe them all out permanently. Whatever they did to us… isn’t that a little extreme?”
Spoke nodded, even as a voice in the back of his head whispered that it wasn’t, that M.o.B. got everything they deserved. Be quiet. I don’t want you right now.
“I think,” Parrot said, voice softer, “I think… the Poggies might be better off without me.”
Rekrap’s head snapped up. “What? Parrot, no. You don’t-”
Parrot held up a hand, cutting Rekrap off. “I’m sorry, Rek, but I’ve already made up my mind.”
The mountaintop was silence. Nobody seemed to know what to say; Spoke certainly didn’t. ‘Stop’? ‘Don’t do it’? None of it felt impactful enough. He’s not wrong, though. Nothing he said is wrong. All we’ve done is cause destruction, even if some of it has been justified.
And… I’m the worst offender. The voice in the back of his head continued whispering to him. Y̴̫͈̕o̵̙̓͠u̸̯͌̚ ̷̗͔͋s̴̺̥̅h̵̳̱͌ö̷̹̪́̚u̸̟̔l̴͎̣̃d̴̡̂͒ p̷̢͔̩͍͖̯̩̟̓͐͐͒͌͗͐̓͆̏u̵̧̡̘̝͙͎̦̠̥͚̣͉͈͛̅͛̒͌̿͐̍͆͐̉́͠͝͝ͅs̷̨̢̯̗͂̃̀̎̅͂́͛̇̐͛͛ḩ̶̹̟̩̯͕̥̠̟̠̆̅̃̇͠ͅ ̴̝̓̚R̸̟̊̽o̷̘̕͜ ̴̯̚o̴͖͗f̷̛͕̈́f̵̥̼̀ ̸̮̠̐͋t̵̬͆͋ȟ̴͔̝e̵̗̓͝ ̸̢͆̑è̷̹̘d̵̖̊g̵͕̐e̵̲͇͘.̶̗͊̾ No, I shouldn’t. I’m done hurting my friends. You don’t control me.
He took a step forwards, away from the loose circle they had formed. “Me too, Parrot.”
Parrot looked at him, opened his mouth, then sighed. “Please don’t.”
Spoke shook his head. “I’m just as bad as you are, Parrot. The Poggies… if they’re better off without you, the same goes for me. I’ve done worse than you. If you just wanted to keep everyone safe, all I’ve wanted is to cause chaos for the fun of it. All I’ve done… is make everything worse.”
Parrot stared at him for a long time, and Spoke held his gaze. Finally, Parrot looked away. “Alright, then.”
Spoke looked over the edge. The distance seemed different now, as he looked at it from a different lense. The Parrot stepped up beside him. The Poggies remained behind them, silent. Nobody protested. Which means… I’m right. Right?
Parrot looked at Spoke again, and Spoke looked back. Parrot… looked scared. Spoke couldn’t blame him.
“Our hearts,” Parrot said softly.
Spoke blinked. Oh. Right. He rolled up his sleeve. Ten bright red hearts were lined up. Back to ten, after so long. But only for a few hours.
Things felt much more real, once there was only one heart left. Spoke and Parrot left theirs in a pile on the rock. Eighteen in total. The other Poggies could take them, though none seemed inclined to right now. Maybe they can revive Jaron with those.
Something touched Spoke’s hand, and he looked down to see Parrot holding it, clawed fingers intertwined with Spoke’s. Spoke didn’t pull away. It would be nice to have some small piece of comfort. It was scary, what they were about to do, even if Spoke knew it was the right thing.
It was a long way down.
Do I want to jump?
They did.
The air whistled in Spoke’s ears, rock whipping past him, too fast for him to see anything but a blur. At least he couldn’t see the ground. A second later, panic seized him. Do I really want to do this? Is this the right move? We could have gone away with the Poggies, lived together, not done this stupid thing out of temporary guilt-
The ground rushed up, and then everything went black.
Spoke opened his eyes slowly.
There was nothing but blackness around him. “Parrot?” he asked softly, wondering if this was the afterlife.
A soft chuckle came from somewhere around him, though there was no one there. “No more Parrot, Spoke. Come on, snap out of it.”
Spoke shook his head. Right… He looked up. Despite the blackness, he knew exactly where the voice was coming from. “The season’s over, I take it?”
“Yes. A little over five months.”
“Not bad,” Spoke said with a chuckle, taking a few steps forward. His feet moved, but everything looked exactly the same. “Tell me what happened, right at the end. Did M.o.B. die?”
“Zam killed himself in the void,” the deep voice said. “The rest of M.o.B. was sorting through the debris. Midmysticx died to a Wither and got stuck at spawn. She was on two hearts when I ended things.”
“Well, at least our plan worked,” Spoke said, smirking.
“Yes, it did. That was an interesting finale, certainly. How is it that you’re always the one ending seasons, Spoke?”
“The seal on my memories wasn’t strong enough,” Spoke said, recalling all the so-called ‘visions’ he’d had, and how confused he’d been. Now, he remembered everything. God, I was so dramatic this season. Killing myself over guilt? Ridiculous. “You’ll have to do better for next season.”
The voice made a humming sound. "Perhaps. You were certainly more active than usual this time around."
"I was, wasn't I?" Usually, Spoke programmed himself to be more reserved, to stay back from the conflict and only step in once he'd found some new glitch to break the world. Seasons like this, where he was so active, were rare. “How’d things go for everyone else?” he asked curiously. "At the end, I mean."
“Oasis tried to kill Subz,” the voice said. “She died to a Wither. Vitalasy and Subz got to be together at the end. Mapicc and Poafa spent their time in Rekrap’s castle.” The voice turned briefly mocking. “I guess Mapicc finally gave up on peace. Clutch and Planet got banned by Withers. Spepticle stayed at Station Zero and never knew what happened. Disappointing; I was hoping he’d have been a better villain. Oh, well.”
“Yeah, I think Clown was the big villain this season,” Spoke said. “You might want to tone down his skill for the next one.”
“I will,” the voice promised. “I considered having Savrise return with a more… villainous personality - but Clown did quite nicely, I think. Now come. We have planning to do. Who to add, who to remove… what new world to make…”
Spoke laughed, and walked off into the darkness, following the voice.