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Wemmbu ducked again as LobsterMan swung his sword. He'd been fighting for a few minutes now and was sure he was winning, he just had to make sure not to kill Lobster. Only a few swings of Wemmbu's enchanted sword later was Lobster dead, death message in chat for Jaden to see. Wemmbu stood there in silence, knowing he was screwed because his identity was revealed to Jaden, and he didn't have the best history with Jaden. He decided to fly up to where Jaden was standing in hopes he didn't see it, but when he saw Jaden's face, he knew it was over.
“Dude, did I read that right?” Jaden was hesitant when he asked, but his identity was confirmed when his invisibility wore off seconds later.
“You can have your empire, but don't ever go past the Great Sea. Don't leak my identity, or else you know what'll happen,” Wemmbu moved to leave, but Jaden called out, begging Wemmbu to stay, just for a moment.
“Wemmbu wait,” Jaden paused, seemingly thinking about what he was going to say next. “What if you stayed here with me? You wouldn't have to reveal your identity, you could stay invisible, you could stay here and help me build my empire, no one would question you.”
Wemmbu kept his eyes locked on where Jaden laid on the shoreline as he thought about Jaden's proposal. He thought through how that would work, what he would do, the good things, the bad things. He wanted to save Egg, but he couldn't do that if he was here with Jaden.
“No, Jaden, I have to save Egg,” Wemmbu responded, locking eyes with Jaden.
“Wemmbu, please, I can help you, just stay with me,” the look in his eyes was something that confused Wemmbu.
“Why do you want me here anyways? I lied to you about who I was for a month, do you not care about that?” Wemmbu questioned, a look of confusion crossing his face as he spoke.
“I don't care about that, I care about the fact that you've become someone I don't think I could live without,” Jaden looked away when he said this.
“So… You actually want me to stay? And you're willing to help me get Egg back?” Wemmbu was very hesitant, he hasn't trusted anyone but Egg in a long time.
“Yes, I'll help you get Egg back. I know a way to get him out,” Jaden looked at him with hopeful eyes.
After spending so much time with him, Wemmbu knew he couldn't say no to those blue eyes, so he accepted instead.
“Fine, but only because you agreed to help me get Egg back,” he sighed, rolling his eyes.
Jaden finally let go of him and whooped, jumping around pumping his fists in excitement. Wemmbu couldn't help but smile slightly at Jaden's antics. Quickly though, Wemmbu collected himself, rolled his eyes at Jaden, and splashed another invis potion.
After Jaden gathered his excitement, they both walked around the giant tower, pointing out places where things could go and planning out how they were going to run the civilization.
“Well, first off, we need to hire someone to make the build better, it's just plain ugly. Second off, we need people to inhabit our civilization,” Jaden listed off things that they needed to do.
“Parrot always hired Horace to make builds for him. Maybe you can pay Horace?” Wemmbu suggested, already imagining how much better Horace could make the build.
“With what money bro?” Jaden stares at him like he's crazy, which he is a little crazy to be fair.
“You've seen how much stuff I have. If this is going to be our empire, let me pay for some of the stuff. Consider it repayment,” Wemmbu said, placing down an enderchest.
Jaden watched as Wemmbu pulled out a few shulkers of valuable items that could be used as payment. Consisting mostly of armor sets mixed with some pvp gear that he probably wasn't going to use. He set the shulkers in front of Jaden, letting him sort through the shulkers to inspect the “payment”.
“Ok, this should be enough for Horace to remake the base while we get Egg out of the End,” Jaden commented, picking up and tucking the shulkers into his inventory.
Wemmbu and Jaden then proceeded to get their camp set up. Laying out blankets and pillows and setting up a small fire inside one of the smaller rooms. Jaden contacted Horace about upgrading the current build and said they'd be expecting him within a few days. For now though, Wemmbu opted to lay down and close his eyes, taking a little nap because he was tired. Then he remembered, he couldn't take a nap because his invis would wear off in his sleep.
So Wemmbu began to think about how to get people to move to the civilization. Getting away from the Law was definitely something at least some people wanted to do right? Not everyone out there could stand LettuceK and his ridiculous rules right? Well, Wemmbu could think of a few people. He also needed a new voice changer before Horace got here.
Jaden fell asleep somewhere around midnight after talking with Horace for a few hours about the specifics of what he wanted for the build. Wemmbu decided to stay up, both to make sure they didn't get jumped in the middle of the night and to make sure he stayed invis. If Jaden wanted him to sleep, they'd have to go through what they did last time, which consisted of Jaden splashing invis on Wemmbu when it ran out and Wemmbu having a nightmare. He wasn't too fond of having another nightmare.
When the sun rose though, Jaden woke up just as he normally did, quiet. He rolled over a few times, stretched, and stood up. Jaden was unusually quiet when he woke up, Wemmbu soon learned that's because Jaden is some sort of hybrid and early morning talking can reveal what kind of hybrid. Wemmbu decided to let it be, he trusted Jaden enough to not care about that fact too much.
Wemmbu wanted to find Egg, but he wouldn't be able to until Horace got here. So instead, he placed an enderchest and started going through everything he had, debating what would make good payment because Jaden was a little broke. He also took note of the fact that he didn't have the stuff to make a voice changer.
“Hey, Jaden,” Wemmbu said, turning to the mentioned pirate. “Do you think either of us could run to the market for a new voice changer? I don't have the stuff to make a new one.”
Jaden shook his head in response. Wemmbu sighed, knowing he'd have to stay quiet when Horace arrived. While Wemmbu was distracted, Jaden left the room to retrieve something for Wemmbu. He returned shortly after with a voice changer, where did he get it? Wemmbu didn't know.
“Where’d you get this?” Wemmbu questioned, inspecting said voice changer.
Jaden shrugged again, not finding it a big deal that he had a voice changer laying around. Wemmbu stared at him for a few moments before just shrugging and accepting the fact that Jaden had voice changers laying around. Wemmbu put the voice changer on, instantly feeling relieved now that something was hiding his true voice.
Wemmbu stood next to Jaden as Horace flew in, landing on the ground safely. Each greeted him warmly, welcoming him to Jaden's pirate civilization. They gave him a tour of the place, letting Horace tamper with whatever he wanted to. Soon enough though, Horace told them to get out so he could start his work.
Jaden and Wemmbu decided to head to the market to get a few things. Those few things consisted of food, fighting supplies, and tracking materials. Wemmbu was determined to find a way to bring Egg back so he could stay with them. Every time Wemmbu asked, Jaden said he knew a way, but it would risk facing Minute in the End. Wemmbu didn't care what or who he had to face to get Egg back, he's pretty sure him and Minute are on good terms anyways. Wemmbu visited Egg a lot, so Minute was used to seeing him wandering around the End with Egg at his side.
He trusted Jaden, he had too. While Horace was building, Jaden decided it was time to get Egg back.
“Wemmbu, Horace won't be done for another few hours. I figured it's about time we get Egg back,” Jaden said, a determination in his voice that Wemmbu hadn’t heard since Jaden got his civilization.
“Wait, seriously?” Wemmbu looked at Jaden, a look of pure hope written across his face.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Jaden started walking away, and Wemmbu was quick to follow.
Jaden was leading him in the direction of Wemmbu's usual End portal. Wemmbu wasn't sure how often Jaden had been to the End, or if he had gained Minute's trust, but he knew that Minute would trust Jaden if Wemmbu trusted him.
He stopped and pulled out another invisibility potion. He made sure Jaden was far enough from him before splashing the potion at his feet. Him and Jaden continued on their journey to said portal, stopping once their feet hit the edge of stone brick.
“So, does Minute trust you?” Jaden questioned, turning to look Wemmbu in his invisible eyes.
“I mean, I would say so. He's let me visit Egg a lot,” Wemmbu shrugged.
“Well then, let's get this started,” Jaden jumped in without waiting for Wemmbu's reply.
Wemmbu followed after him quickly, letting the cool of the portal engulf him as it transports him to a whole different dimension.
Wemmbu's feet hit the obsidian floor with a soft thud, the sound of Jaden and Minute talking making its way to Wemmbu's ears.
“Minute?” Wemmbu waited for his vision to clear, Minute's void-dark skin coming into view.
“Wemmbu,” Minute replied, his tone even.
“Where's Egg?” He set his hands against the glass, staring intently at Minute.
“He's in his office as usual,” Minute flicked the lever to bring down the wall, letting Wemmbu and Jaden walk freely into the End.
Wemmbu made a beeline for Egg's office, wanting to see his friend more than anything, even if he won't admit it. Wemmbu ran down the stairs the best that he could without falling flat on his face and scanned the office for his best friend.
Egg, as normal, was sitting in his chair, writing in a book. Wemmbu sighed in relief, walking over calmly. He set his hand on Egg's shoulder, letting the angel hybrid know he was there.
“Y'know Wemmbu, I heard you running down the stairs. Don't try to act all nonchalant like that,” Egg chuckled a little, turning to face his best friend.
Wemmbu let the invisibility wear off for the first time in weeks, and his purple skin and clothes came into view. Egg grinned, standing up to give his friend a warm hug. Wemmbu instantly hugged back, missing having his friend by his side all the time.
“So, did you find a way to get me out of here?” Egg asked when they separated.
“I didn't, Jaden did,” Wemmbu turned to look at Jaden and Minute standing in the entrance of the room, looking at anything but them.
“Well, what are we waiting for? I'm so ready to see the overworld again. No offence Minute,” Egg added the last part quickly, not wanting to offend the End guardian.
“None taken,” the guardian replied.
“Egg, do you have any pearls?” Jaden asked, finally meeting Egg's eyes.
“Uh, no I don't. I'm still broke,” Egg laughed, taking the pearl Wemmbu held out to him.
“What's the plan here Jaden?” Wemmbu asked, taking out his own pearl.
“He needs to throw it through the portal. It'll put him back at spawn, but he'll be back in the overworld again,” Jaden explained.
They talked for a little while longer, catching Minute up to speed on what was happening as far as they knew. Minute was happy to hear Wemmbu had finally found a place to stay permanently. In Minute's own opinion, he always thought it would benefit Wemmbu to have a base to restock at.
Eventually though, all four of them ended up at the portal, pearls in hand. Jaden and Egg tossed theirs through first, but Minute stopped Wemmbu.
“Wemmbu, I'm glad you've found a place to stay. I'm glad you'll have Egg with you again, but staying invis won't make your problems go away. I hope you know that,” Minute said, giving Wemmbu a concerned look.
Wemmbu just shrugged and splashed an invisibility potion on his feet. He didn't bother responding, just threw his pearl through the portal and disappeared from Minute's sight. His feet landed at spawn, hearing the chaos of the Withers and players dying. One message stuck out to Wemmbu though, a kill message with Egg's name on it.
Wemmbu sprinted until he found Egg and took his arm. He started dragging Egg away from Spawn as fast as he could, Jaden following close behind.
“Egg! What was that bro?” Wemmbu was laughing, Jaden chuckling in the background.
“I was bloodthirsty!” Egg replied, laughing just as much as the other two.
The trio made their way toward the ocean, and Jaden placed two boats in the water.
“You two follow me,” Jaden said, climbing onto one of the boats. “I’ll lead the way. It’ll take a while to get to my pirate civ.”
“Oh, bro, that’s where you’ve been staying, right?” Egg asked, directing the question to Wemmbu.
“Yeah.” He nodded, stepping onto the remaining boat. “That’s right.”
Egg followed behind him. “Alright. That’s cool. I’m, like, low-key kinda excited to see.”
“This way,” Jaden said, rowing away.
Wemmbu quickly followed after him, already familiar with navigating the Great Sea. It took a while, but eventually, they arrived within distance of Jaden’s Pirate Civilization.
“And we’re just about here,” Wemmbu announced, gesturing towards the structure looming on the horizon.
“Where?” Egg asked, squinting at the ocean. “I mean, I trust that it’s there. I just don’t see anything.”
“I—ok. Dude, just give it a minute. I forgot your render distance is, like, four blocks.”
Egg shrugged. “Yeah, bro. I mean, I can see the sun, and the water, and—” he paused as the trio reached the outskirks, blinking up at the tall walls surrounding the civilization. “Woah… Dude, this is like—this is really cool. You helped build this?”
“Right?” Wemmbu said, stopping the boat near a dock. He stepped onto land, waiting for Egg. “Uh, well, I placed a couple of blocks… We hired someone to do most of the building for us.”
“Oh, that makes sense.” Egg nodded, slowly trailing after Wemmbu.
“Welcome to my Pirate Civilization,” Jaden announced, his eyes crinkling with pride. “We'll give you a tour.”
“Yo, alright.” He paused, then asked, “Is there, like, some kind of, uh, initiation I have to do?”
Jaden shook his head. “You don't need to do anything like that.”
“Bro?” Wemmbu turned to stare at Egg, confusion evident in his tone. “Why—no, dude. There isn't anything like that. Jaden already said you're in.”
“Oh, sweet. Ok, ok. Just, uh, had to make sure, you know?” He laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.
“Sure, sure.” Wemmbu shrugged.
Jaden turned around, guiding Egg through the place as he and Wemmbu trailed after him. The two showed him the various areas inside the Pirate Civilization.
They stopped near several stands with vendors selling various goods. Wemmbu had to drag Egg away after he got scammed, even though he believed otherwise. The trio continued to walk through the civilization, making their way into the main building.
“Bro, I scammed him!” Egg exclaimed, holding a water breathing potion towards Wemmbu.
“Dude. You literally got scammed.” Wemmbu sighed, shaking his head. “That was not a fair deal. And when are you ever going to need a water breathing potion?”
Egg shrugged, turning his head away. “I mean, you never know. It's better to be prepared.”
Wemmbu leveled a stare at him. “I—whatever. Sure, dude, sure.”
Jaden abruptly paused in the hallway where the bedrooms were located, turning around to meet the other two's gazes. The corners of his eyes crinkled, indicating that he was likely hiding a smile underneath his mask.
“And this is your room, Egg.” Jaden gestured towards the room closest to them. “Wemmbu set it up himself.”
Egg opened the door, taking a step inside. His gaze scanned across the room, taking everything in. “Woah, it looks sick. Dude, this whole place is, like, really cool.”
“I didn't do much,” Wemmbu muttered, his armor clicking together as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Just… the bare minimum. You're free to decorate it however you want.”
Jaden nodded. “Yeah. Customize it however you want—just don't break the room.”
“Oh, cool. Ok. I’ll, uh, try not to—uh, I won't break the room.”
“Then I’ll leave you to get settled in. I have some things to take care of.”
“Alright. Thanks, Jaden.”
“It's not a problem.” Jaden shrugged and turned, then walked down the hallway.
Egg moved around the room, stopping to stare out the window. Wemmbu's invisibility flickered out, and although he held a splash potion in his hands, he didn't bother using it yet.
"Hey, Wemmbu?" Egg began, turning to meet Wemmbu's gaze.
"Yeah?" he replied, moving to stand beside Egg.
"Are you happy?" Egg asked.
Wemmbu paused for a moment, not out of hesitation, but rather to truly ponder the question. Jaden's Pirate Civ offered him a moment of respite. He was honestly tired of running and being chased down. It was different here. He didn't have to pretend to be someone else—Jaden already knew his identity, and yet, he still treated him the same.
"Yeah, I am," Wemmbu answered honestly. It was true. He was the happiest he's ever been in a while, especially now that Egg was here.
Egg smiled warmly. "I'm glad. I'm, like, really, really happy for you."
Wemmbu's expression softened, and he returned the smile. "Thank you. I hope you can be happy too."
"I already am." Egg beamed. "I'm lowkey excited to be here. We're pirates now, living in the Great Sea."
Jaden walked into the meeting room, where one of his informants was already there.
“So, what exactly has been going on in Capital City?” Jaden asked, taking a seat in front of him.
“Well, there's been reports of an invisible player—claiming to be the Invisible Pirate, which is what people are calling Wemmbu—going around and stealing, attacking players, and that kind of stuff,” he began. “Which, of course, doesn't make sense, since the real invis pirate has been here, in your pirate civ.”
“Right. So, any idea who could be behind this?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. We're still investigating.”
“Alright. Inform me as soon as you find anything else out,” Jaden said. “You may be dismissed.”
“Of course.” The player nodded, standing up from his seat and exiting the room.
Jaden lingered in the room for a while longer, lost in thought about the information he received.
“Hm…”
Whatever was going on, he didn't have a good feeling about it. Despite that, he informed Wemmbu, and the two came up with a plan to further investigate. Wemmbu was to go to Capital City and see if he could find the invisible player. While Jaden stayed back to take care of things in his Pirate Civilization, he certainly wasn't expecting for an Invisible Pirate impersonator to show up on his doorstep.
“Hey, Jaden,” a distorted voice drifted in as the doors opened to the throne room. An invisible player donned in armour identical to Wemmbu’s walked inside.
Immediately, Jaden knew something was off. He raised a hand. “Invis pirate.”
“Help me with a favor, yeah?” he asked.
This definitely wasn’t Wemmbu. Still, Jaden wanted to know why he was pretending to be him.
“And what exactly is it?” he asked. “You know you already owe me.”
“Yeah, uh, that’s right,” he stumbled over his words for a moment, taking a step backwards. “But still—they, uh, want me to go to court. The Law is hunting me down, so…”
Jaden raised an eyebrow. “So, you want me to fight back against the Law?”
The knight physically recoiled. He fidgeted, turning his head away as his armor clinked together. “Not the Law, per se—”
Jaden cut him off, glaring at the imposter. “And why should I do that?”
He didn't seem too sure of himself. After a brief pause, he spoke up again, thinly veiled panic and uncertainty in his tone. “Well—well because I’m a pirate. I’m one of your people. So, naturally, wouldn’t you want to help me out? I don’t need much. I mean, I’m not asking for much, man.”
“I don’t stand to gain anything by helping you,” Jaden states flatly, already bored of the other’s attempt of impersonation.
“But—”
Without another word, Jaden pulled out his trident and leapt off his throne, striking down the player with only a few swings. The imposter was bold enough to attempt to impersonate Wemmbu, yet went down with so little fighting and effort.
“How disappointing,” Jaden mumbled, taking his place on his throne again.
That wasn’t the only impersonator, however, as throughout the day, several other players claiming to be the Invis Pirate tried to convince Jaden. He cut them all down almost immediately, as he could easily tell they were fakes.
Previously out running an errand, Wemmbu was gone for most of the day. He finally returned after having been chased by the Law. Feeling exhausted, he sighed as he opened the doors, not even bothering with asking for permission before he walked into the room.
“Yo, Jaden—” he cut himself off, pausing as he glanced around. “Uh…”
“Yo.” Jaden merely lifted a hand in a wave.
“Woah. That's a lot of items. What happened here?” He gestured toward the pairs of armour and various inventory items littered on the ground.
“Oh. Some guys were trying to impersonate you.” He shrugged. “I dealt with them.”
“Huh. Well, I see that. Actually, that reminds me. Bro, I almost got arrested by the Law earlier. They were trying to take me to a trial or something?” His armour clinked as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Apparently some guy has actually been going around pretending to be me. But it looks like there’s more of them? Uh, since you killed the fakes so easily… there’s probably someone else pulling the strings. Did they say anything?”
“Hm, that would make sense.” Jaden paused, thinking for a moment. “They didn’t say anything too specific, though they kept mentioning the Law and a trial. Not too sure. Any idea who could be behind this?”
“Their goal is likely to take me down or to unmask me, maybe? You might’ve been targeted since I’m associated with you as the Invis Pirate. But why would they mess with you? It doesn't make much sense.” Wemmbu said, then after a moment, shrugged. “Someone has been committing a lot of major crimes pretending to be me. Um, but I think I may have an idea. I’m not too sure yet. I’ll deal with it though, don’t worry.”
“Do you need any help?” Jaden asked, slightly tilting his head. “If they’re trying to drag me into this, I might have to get involved.”
“Nah,” Wemmbu waved him off, shaking his head. “I got it. I’m gonna head off to Capital City to do some investigating. Lettuce mentioned that’s where they got the evidence at.”
“Alright.” He glanced outside, noticing Eggchan talking with a few of his citizens. “Egg’s outside organizing some pirates, by the way.”
“‘Organizing some pirates’?” Wemmbu repeated. “Uh, okay. Thanks, dude. I’ll be back later. It might take me a while to deal with this.”
Jaden nodded. “Good luck. Comm me if you need anything.”
“Thanks.” He waved as he walked out of the room. Headed outside, he paused near Egg. “Yo, dude, let’s talk for a sec.”
“Oh, uh.” Egg turned around, meeting Wemmbu’s gaze. “Yeah, sure.”
Wemmbu glanced at the pirates, then returned his gaze to his friend. “Follow me.”
“Alright.” Egg nodded, trailing after Wemmbu as he led them to a more secluded area.
“Ok, dude. So, someone has been impersonating me lately,” Wemmbu began. “Actually, there’s been multiple. There’s been people going around invisible in the same trims, using a similar voice changer. So don’t say my name or reveal my identity. Jaden has been taking care of the ones arriving in the Great Sea, but still.”
“Oh, ok. That’s uh—yeah, I got it. Should we, like, make a code word or something though?” he asked.
“A code word?” Wemmbu rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah, sure. What would be a good code word?”
“Oh, uh… It should be something like an inside joke, like something only we know…” Egg trailed off. He paused, trying to come up with one. “Wait, how about hostage? ‘Cause, like, I’m always getting held hostage.”
“Hostage?” Wemmbu thought about the word for a moment, then nodded, agreeing to it. “Yeah, ok. Then we just slip the word into a conversation or something.”
Egg beamed. “Yeah, exactly.”
“Alright, well, I’m going now. Uh, it might take a while. Gotta find out the deal behind my impersonator—impersonators,” Wemmbu said, taking a step backwards. He was about to turn away, but then paused, suddenly remembering something. “Oh, I should probably also talk to Boosfer, and make sure he doesn’t, you know, give out my identity. Do you—do you know where he is again?”
Egg looked away, thinking for a moment. “Bro, my sources say that he’s back at the mushroom island you were at before.”
“Alright. Is that, like, his base?” he asked.
“Uh, kind of?” Egg shrugged. “He doesn’t exactly, like, have a base.”
“Ok. Well, uh, thanks. I’m actually going now.”
He nodded. “Yeah, for sure. No problem, dude.”
Wemmbu turned around and headed toward the Pirate Civilization’s outer walls. There, he used wind charges to make it atop, then jumped into the ocean below. He then used his riptide trident to quickly travel across the Great Sea.
Eventually, he reached an icy biome, and he paused as he saw a large structure. Wemmbu cautiously snuck around the outskirts of Capital City. There was only one guard. Climbing up ice spikes, he threw a pearl into the city, careful not to let the guard spot him.
Once inside, he wandered around for a bit, trying to figure out his next step. After a few moments, he paused.
“Oh. Wait a minute,” he mumbled to himself. “I’m—I can just take off my armour.”
He swiftly removed his armour, becoming fully invisible. “Ok. I think I would have the best chance at catching my impersonator at the entrance.”
Wemmbu made his way over to the walls of Capital City, carefully digging into it and creating a subtle hidey-hole. He camped inside for several minutes, waiting, bored out of his mind, waiting for something to happen. Various people passed through the gates, but none of them were who Wemmbu was looking for, until an invisible player wearing diamond armour and netherite trims ran past.
“Wait. That was just me—”
Realizing that his impersonator entered Capital City, he threw an ender pearl out of his hole in the wall, reappearing near the entrance. He slowly approached them, then as soon as the invisible player began threatening two other players, Wemmbu quickly equipped his armour and strode over.
“Hey, question, buddy,” he began, then asked, “What are you doing going around as me?”
“Yo…” The imposter hesitated for several long moments. “What do you mean? What are you doing going around as me?”
“Alright. You have the same trims as me, you have a knock-off voice changer,” Wemmbu listed off. “And you’re like—you’re stealing from people or something disguised as me.”
“Wait what? You have the same trims as me,” the impersonator said.
Confused, Wemmbu asked, “What?”
The invisible player continued to act dumb. “Wait, what are you talking about? You’re the one going around acting as me.”
“What? There’s no way, bro.” Wemmbu shook his head. “Buddy, who the heck are you? Why are you copying me?”
“You’re the one trying to impersonate me.”
“Ok, buddy. So, you’re purposefully impersonating me and giving me a bad reputation.”
“Well, I don’t know. Is that what you’re hearing? Where did you hear that from?” he asked.
“Buddy, can you just come off of invis and take off the voice changer?”
“I mean, I’ll do the same if you do the same.”
“Alright, you go first,” Wemmbu said.
“No, you go first.”
“I was the first person invis.”
“No, I was.”
“Oh my—bro. Can I know the reason why you’re impersonating me?”
“You can't. That's a story for another time,” the imposter said, walking away. “I’m going to—”
“Yeah, no.” Wemmbu shrugged, chasing after the player. “Change your identity, bro.”
Eventually, the impersonator ran towards a house, with a hole containing numerous silverfish in the front. He splashed two potions, and a moment later, both he and Wemmbu were launched into the air. Wemmbu searched around, but ultimately, couldn’t find where the guy went.
Considering that a handful of people knew about his real identity, Wemmbu decided to pay one of them a visit, if only to ensure that they wouldn’t leak who he was. He was confident that Egg and Jaden wouldn't say anything, so that only left one person, who he was a bit uncertain of.
Taking advantage of the rain, he used his riptide trident to launch himself into the air, quickly leaving Capital City and headed towards the place Egg told him about earlier. After several minutes, Wemmbu made it to the island, and quickly found Boosfer’s base.
“Yo, Boosfer, Boosfer,” he called out, stopping near the entrance.
“Huh?” Boosfer popped out from inside. “Oh, dude! What brings you here?”
Wemmbu walked towards him, speaking in a semi-rushed tone. “Listen—so there’s this dude going around impersonating me.”
“No way, really?” Boosfer’s expressions shifted to an overly exaggerated one. He dramatically gasped, placing a hand over his mouth in mock shock. “Wow, that's crazy… Who would wanna impersonate you? I mean, no offense, buuuuut—”
Wemmbu cut him off, rolling his eyes. “Bro. Come on. Be serious for a minute.”
“I am serious!” he protested, crossing his arms over his chest.
Wemmbu sighed. “Ok, but, like, if he comes around, don’t leak my identity or else.”
“I won’t, I won’t. Chilllll. As long as you still continue to pay me.” Boosfer grinned. “Besides, I’m pretty sure I could tell you apart from a fake—”
“Boosfer?” a new voice appeared. Turning around, the two saw an invisible player, wearing armor and using a voice changer identical to Wemmbu’s. “Yo, what… Bro, that’s not me.”
Boosfer shifted his gaze from Wemmbu to the newcomer. “Oh, so there are two of you.”
“Bro, I literally just told you.” Wemmbu sighed, then turned towards the other invisible player. “Dude, why are you impersonating me?”
“What are you talking about, bro? You’re the one impersonating me. You got here before I did to sway Boosfer.”
“Dude—not even. You’re literally the one pretending to be me. Like, since when did I ever off-hand a totem?”
“I mean, I don’t remember you off-handing a trident, either…” Boosfer mumbled, averting his eyes.
Wemmbu snapped his gaze towards Boosfer. “What—bro, I literally had a trident last time?”
“No, I definitely don’t use a trident,” the impersonator chimed in.
“Yeah, ok, of course you would say that.” Wemmbu shook his head. “I’m the Invis Pirate for a reason. It makes sense for me to use a trident—not a totem.”
“Ok, ok, guys! We can settle this!” Boosfer interjected. “Uhh, we can see who the real one is with a test!”
“Bro, seriously?” Wemmbu asked. “You should know I’m the real one. What is a test going to prove?”
“Sounds like you’re scared because you’re the impersonator,” the other invisible player said, shrugging.
“You—whatever. Let’s just do this.”
“Ok, great! So, uhh,” Boosfer paused for a moment, looking around. Eventually, his gaze landed on Wemmbu’s trident. “How about… you two settle this with a fight?”
“Well—”
“Say no more,” Wemmbu replied instantly, quickly rearranging his inventory. I’ll pop this guy’s totem. Boosfer, stay in the corner.”
Immediately, Wemmbu splashed a potion of strength at his feet, and drawing his sword, launched toward the other invisible player. He slashed at him, getting in three hits even as the impersonator sprinted away.
“Agent 22, Agent 22.” Suddenly, another invisible player—this time one holding a shield—popped out and switched in, attacking Wemmbu as the other player threw an ender pearl and teleported away.
“Oh, wait—who is Agent 22? What—why is there another one!? How many agents do you have!?”
Before Wemmbu could get a decent number of hits on the new player, the other impersonator switched his chestplate for an elytra and launched into the air, using rockets to get away.
“What is happening?” Wemmbu asked aloud, not exactly expecting a response. He threw two more potions near his feet, then set his sights on the invisible player closest to him, and began attacking him.
“Woah, this is getting pretty crazy,” Boosfer said. He stood off to the side, near his base and away from the battle. Although, he slowly inched closer towards the group.
“Bro, Boosfer, I told you to stay back!” Wemmbu shook his head, keeping his focus on his impersonators.
“Alright, alright! Chill!”
“I’m swapping out, I’m swapping out.” The player with the totem ran, not even fighting Wemmbu.
“Bro. No, you are not swapping out.” Wemmbu continued to chase and attack; however, the other impersonator intercepted and hit him with a knockback sword.
Fed up, Wemmbu threw a wind charge down at his feet, launching himself into the air and quickly switching to his mace to pop the other player’s totem.
“He almost popped my totem.”
“He—he has a mace. He has a mace,” the player with a shield repeated, his words rushed. He began placing rails and TNT minecarts, continuing to attack Wemmbu.
“Are you carting?” Wemmbu asked, throwing another wind charge at his feet and aiming toward the nearest player, who quickly threw an ender pearl to dodge.
“What do we do? Agent 22 do you have another totem?”
“Yeah—” He quickly threw an ender pearl away again as he ate an enchanted golden apple. “I know where to go.”
“Dude, stop running.” Wemmbu launched himself into the air, quickly equipping his elytra to chase after the player with a totem.
The remaining imposter also equips an elytra, shooting fireworks to catch up to Wemmbu. He tried to attack him mid-air, but missed, so he quickly turned and flew off in a different direction.
“Where are they going?”
In the distance, Wemmbu noticed one of the invisible players atop a happy ghast, slowly flying away from the island, with the other player flying toward them. Spotting a tall structure nearby, Wemmbu quickly scaled it using wind charges. Once he reached the top, he launched into the air, gliding over to the duo.
From above, he held his mace in his hands and slammed his weapon down on the ghast. The two invisible players fell into the ocean below. Wemmbu continued to attack them, even as they boarded a boat and rowed away. He attempted to chase after them further into the ocean, but they somehow disappeared.
“How did they disappear?” Wemmbu mumbled to himself. “How did they get away?”
With a sigh, he decided to head back to Capital City, hoping to find more information about his imposters. Once he arrived, he saw several players with his appearance wandering around. Following some of the players, he entered a court room, although it was still fairly empty.
Almost an hour passed before the room became filled with invisible pirate look-a-likes, two in particular stood in front of the others. Wemmbu was bored out of his mind, and he was mentally checked out, idly playing a game on his comm as he waited.
“Alright. Who’s excited to finally see the identity of the Invisible Knight?” one of the leading invisible players finally asked.
Wemmbu quickly put his comm away, focusing his attention on the players in front of him. The crowd of players began jumping around in their chairs, some even throwing some of their items on the ground.
“Alright, sit back down. Sit back down,” the player from before repeated, taking a step closer toward them. “So, as you guys all know, you are all part of the Invisible Knights Coalition. This means that you are all interested in uncovering the true identity of the Invisible Knight, which we have been looking for weeks on end now. And the way we’re going to do that is actually quite simple.”
“...What?” Wemmbu quietly asked himself.
“In five seconds, the Invisible Knight will step forward.” He then began counting down, once he reached one, all the other players in the audience disappeared, and only Wemmbu remained. “Hello, my friend. How is it going?”
“Hey. You know, it’s going good. You came here to me with a totem on, and I prefer brute force much more than the game we were playing.”
Wemmbu leapt off the chair and threw a wind charge at his feet, launching himself in the air. He charged towards the duo, sword in hand.
“Watch out, he has a mace!” one of the impersonators shouted.
Outside, rain began to patter against the ground, the sound faintly muffled while inside the building. Too focused on the fight, no one noticed as rain began to pour inside.
“Huh? Rain?” one of the impersonators asked, glancing up at the roof, which was open and missing several blocks. “Wait—what happened to the roof!?”
Taking advantage of the loss in focus, Wemmbu leapt into the air, slamming his mace down on the player and popping his totem.
“Bro, what are you doing!?” the remaining invisible player asked.
“…Theo?” Wemmbu mumbled, glancing at the now visible player.
Theo swiftly off-handed another totem, placing rail tracks on the floor as the remaining impostor attacked Wemmbu. Just as the invisible player was about to hit a TNT minecart behind Wemmbu, a sword suddenly came flying down, abruptly cutting him off and popping his totem.
“Parrot?” Wemmbu said, then shook his head. “I should've figured. Wait—” He glanced at the newcomer, surprised by the person who jumped into the fight. “Jaden!?”
“Hey.” Jaden spared a glance over his shoulder, nodding at Wemmbu. He then turned his focus back to the now-visible duo. “I thought you might need some help. A 2 v 1 isn't very fair. How about we make it a 2 v 2?”
“Sounds good either way.” Wemmbu shrugged, a grin evident in his voice. “You fight one, I’ll take the other.”
Jaden nodded, using his trident to launch himself up into the air, then slamming his sword down on Theo.
“This isn't good… I thought you said Jaden would've been too busy to interfere!” Parrot shouted, his words directed towards Theo as he frantically tried to defend himself from Wemmbu’s attacks. “I can't believe Flame bailed on us too…!”
“He should've been! I don't know how he found out—” Theo replied.
“You underestimated my sources,” Jaden said simply. “Besides, those distractions you sent weren't even worth the effort.”
“This isn't going according to plan…” Parrot mumbled. “We can't continue fighting like this.”
“Yeah,” Theo agreed. Immediately, he took several steps backwards and threw an ender pearl outside, with Parrot quickly following after him.
Wemmbu stared at the ceiling, debating about pursuing them, but ultimately deciding not to. He figured this wouldn't be the last he saw of them.
“Hey, I appreciate the help,” Wemmbu began, turning towards Jaden. “Thanks, dude. But how did you know that I was here?”
“No problem.” Jaden shrugged, waving him off. “You mentioned before that you were going to Capitol City. Besides, I also figured that the meetup was a trap. My sources are well informed.”
“Right. Well, now what? Should we just head back?” Wemmbu asked, glancing at the destroyed building the two were in. “Uh, we're not responsible for this, right…?”
“Yeah, let's head back,” Jaden agreed. “And they wouldn't bother trying to mess with us further.”
He said it with such confidence and conviction that Wemmbu fully believed him.
“Alright.”
“There's a quicker way we can get back to our Pirate Civ,” Jaden said, turning around and walking towards the exit.
Wemmbu trailed after him. “Wait. For real?”
“Yeah.” He glanced over his shoulder at Wemmbu. “The builders finished it recently. Follow me.”
Jaden led him to the entrance of a tunnel, built under the ocean, and contained a long stretch of water for people to swim through.
“You're telling me this existed this whole time!?” Wemmbu exclaimed. “I spent forever traveling back and forth across the Great Sea, when I could’ve used this!?”
Jaden chuckled, shrugging as he held his trident. “Yeah, well, now you can use it.”
Stepping into the water, he used his trident to swiftly launch through the water. Following his lead, Wemmbu did the same. The two continued down the tunnel for several minutes, until they finally reached the end.
“I could've saved so much time using that.” Wemmbu sighed.
The two exit the tunnel and surface. In the sky, the sun drifted closer to the ground.
“Where’s Egg at?” Wemmbu asked.
“Uh, he was on top of the walls before I left,” Jaden replied.
“…What?”
Jaden shrugged. “I don't know. He might've been fishing or something. I’m not sure why he would’ve done so from there instead of anywhere else.”
Wemmbu withheld a sigh. “Alright, thanks. I should go check up on him.”
“Yeah, no problem. I’ll go with you.”
“Ok, sure.”
The two made their way atop the tall walls surrounding the Pirate Civilization. Looking around, they quickly spotted Egg staring at the sky.
“Yo, Egg,” Wemmbu greeted.
Egg turned around, nodding at the two. “Yo, Jaden, and, uh—wait. Did you, uh, get into any, like, crazy situations lately?”
“What?” Wemmbu asked. “I just—I just dealt with the person going around trying to be me.”
“Bro, I don't—how do I know you're not pretending to be the, uh, Invisible Pirate?”
“Egg, what? It's literally me, what are you—” he cut himself off, suddenly realizing what Egg was referring to. “Oh. Uh. Give me a minute, I’ll, uh, say the code word.”
“Dude, did you seriously forget?” Egg asked.
Jaden raised an eyebrow at them.
“Uh, I just needed a reminder…” Wemmbu trailed off. “My invis is literally about to wear out. That should be proof enough.”
“Bro, I don't know… you could just be pretending.”
“Dude. Fine, ok. Uh…” Wemmbu was silent for several long moments, trying to remember their made up code word. “Wait! Hostage. I remember, it's hostage, bro.”
“Yo, Wemmbu, it's you.” Egg beams. “And Jaden, too. How did the, uh, whole thing with your impersonators go?”
Wemmbu sighed, shaking his head. His invisibility flickered out, and he didn't bother splashing another potion on himself. “Bro, Parrot was behind the whole thing. He was, like, trying to reveal my identity. He obviously failed, but he mentioned something about Flame saying he was going to show up.”
“Dude, that's like, crazy.”
“Right?”
The trio fell into silence, their attention caught on the scenery around them. As the sun set, it casted a dark orange hue across the Pirate Civilization. Jaden, Wemmbu, and Egg stood atop the walls together.
“Is this aura farming?” Egg asked, suddenly breaking the silence. “‘Cause I think I have the most aura here.”
Wemmbu glanced at Egg, shaking his head. “Sure, bro, sure.”
“Nah, but seriously.”
“Whatever you say, Egg.”
The three of them laughed as the civilization began to settle in for bed, lights quietly flickering off and players bidding their goodbyes to their friends. Wemmbu and Jaden were proud of what they had built and Egg was happy to be a part of it.
Wemmbu was the happiest he's ever been in a long time. Despite knowing that this wouldn't last forever, he was content to enjoy it as long as he could. For now, maybe it would be alright.
