Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Wemmbu didn’t know how long he’d been here.

In the dark, in the cold, with no one but Lettuce.

‘Come with me or die’, he’d said.

Well, there was really only one choice in that. Flame was gone, (would he even help Wemmbu if he was here?) Egg was trapped in the end, Minute was WHO KNOWS WHERE, Wemmbu had like, no gear whatsoever, Lettuce had Gambit, and in the end? There was pretty much nothing he could do.

So, he went with.

And then after getting- some distance away from the Coliseum, Lettuce made Wemmbu give him all his stuff, and knocked him out.

When he woke up, his comm was gone, everything from his inventory was gone, straight up everything was gone.

Well shit.

This was kinda bad. 

(Understatement of the century)

Wemmbu’s arms were weighed down by chains draping across them, the ends bolted to the floor. His neck had- something on it (he ignored the idea in his head it wasn’t it couldn’t be it-) and it did not seem like a good thing. At all.

But that was fine.

Wemmbu could deal, with isolation and whatever this was. (after all, once Egg was gone… that was his everyday wasn’t it?)

But that wasn’t enough for Lettuce.

He ‘visited’ Wemmbu a lot.

First, it seemed like once a day… and then time began to warp and what was once became twice than never and thrice and once again and-

Wemmbu didn’t remember when he lost track of what day it was.

The visits got worse each time.

Wemmbu was always broken, in pain, even death would be better-

But he survived.

He endured.

(he wasn’t sure why.)

Wemmbu was alone, until he wasn’t.

(He hated the part of himself that welcomed Lettuce’s visits just to not be alone alone alone alone again-)

He’d rather be alone again.

Sometimes, the visits were just that.

Visits.

Giving him food, water, even a rare grapple once or twice.

A momentary relief from the pain.

(It never lasted)

The next day he would be back. always and forevermore and it never ended why why why why was wemmbu really that bad-

It was always a lie. An illusion.

Did Wemmbu deserve this?

He wasn’t sure.

(that was almost worse.)

“I didn’t want to do this, you know. You’ve left me with no choice. You refuse to learn that your actions have consequences, so here we are!” Wemmbu bared his teeth at him.

“Fuck off and die bro. No one’s asking you to do this.” Lettuce just sighed in response.

“Remember Capital City?” Oh. This again. “I had a few friends living there. We would talk, I’d visit, and everything seemed great! We were all free! And then… and then you came.” His voice turned darker. “And in a moment, everything we’d built up?” He took out a needle and some thread. “Gone.”

Oh no.

Oh shit.

He wasn’t- “And I remember hearing you laughing, while everyone else was screaming. The screaming stopped soon enough… but I can still hear you laughing. Laughing like you owned the world, like we were all just puppets to live and die as you pleased.” The chains tightened, making it impossible to move.

Lettuce stepped inside the cell, a cold glint in his eyes. “All I wanted to do was to shut that laughter up, to show you that we’re human too.” He reached out, holding Wemmbu’s chin and forcing eye contact.

“Fuck you.” he managed to choke out breathing was getting harder but he couldn’t show it he was fine he was fine he was fine-

Lettuce laughed.

“Better late than never I suppose!”

Eating was hard.

Even before this, it had been hard to force himself to eat. To sleep. To drink water. To do anything but focus on his goal, whatever it was.

Now?

When everytime Lettuce gave him food it was always a 75/25 percent chance that he would make sure Wemmbu would throw it up right after, beating him until up was down and left was right and he couldn’t tell what was what-

When Lettuce gave him food even when he didn’t beat him he’d always resow his mouth shut pain pain pain he-

Now, every time Wemmbu ate he was filled with the urge to throw it up throw it all up until his guts were on the floor exposing his insides for what they truly were decayed and withered and corrupted and-

Dead.

He felt dead inside.

(just like all those people he’d killed and killed and killed and-)

(did he deserve this?)

“Everywhere you go… You destroy things. That’s just the way the world works for you isn’t it? The world is your dollhouse and we are the dolls, whom you can do whatever you want to and nothing will ever happen. Zam Empire. Capital City. The Law Base. Your own civilizations. Everyone around you died, everything around you decays, but you don’t care do you?” Wemmbu would protest, but everything felt fuzzy and his voice gave out days ago from all the screaming it filled his ears pain pain pain- “And in the end, for what?” Lettuce laughed, not a happy sound. “For some pursuit of power? You ruined all those lives so that you could be strong? Well guess what, you aren’t. You, are here, weak and forgotten. No one cares enough about you to come for you.”

Lettuce stepped into the cell, something shiny catching the light.

… was that a pair of- “So many people, permanently scarred by your actions. Unable to ever escape you and everything you’ve done.” he wasn’t- “So, I figured, might as well return the favour!”

He pulled out a book. “These, are just some of the names of the lives you’ve ruined or permanently tainted.” Lettuce stepped forwards, pinning Wemmbu to the wall with the chains again (and again and again and-) “It’s only fitting, isn’t it?”

And he read out each name as he carved them into Wemmbu’s skin, the shears cold against his skin breaking red beads of blood pain pain pain it never ended- “Oh Wemmbu… this is so you remember! After all, all these names remember you, might as well return the favour no?” it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt- “Speaking of, can you tell me what’s one name on this list?” pain pain pain-

Lettuce tsked, shaking his head. “Oh… you don’t remember? Seems like I haven’t taught you well enough yet… but we can fix that!”

I can fix you, went unsaid but not unheard.

Once, when Lettuce had to be (not there not there Wemmbu couldn’t handle it if Lettuce could watch him without-) not there, the collar around Wemmbu’s neck tightened until he almost passed out from the suffocation.

He could hear Lettuce’s voice, in his head.

Every breath you take, is because another died so you could. Don’t forget that.

(He wouldn’t ever forget again.)

(Lettuce had already made sure of that.)

Wemmbu had snapped.

He couldn’t be here he couldn’t stay everything was-

Escape was impossible though, especially right now.

Wemmbu knew that he was breaking. Knew that Lettuce was winning.

But everything hurt too much for him to care.

He still shivered, both from the cold and from aftershocks of the electricity that coursed through his veins when he did something Lettuce didn’t-

He couldn’t eat without throwing up.

The bruises and the blood and the cuts and scrapes and slashes and everything were still there still here it hurt it hurt so much Wemmbu-

Couldn’t breathe.

Wemmbu couldn’t breathe everything was too much he couldn’t-

(no one deserved this)

(Wemmbu never did this)

(right?)

He couldn’t breathe.

Wemmbu had to get out.

He was breaking, unraveling into teeny-tiny pieces that would never be pieced back together because who would even-

Wemmbu was breaking, but he had to try.

Lettuce had stopped sewing his mouth shut after eating recently.

Something about him ‘being good’.

And so, using his teeth, he tried breaking the chains. Chewing them with his fangs until they’d hopefully break, letting Wemmbu go free.

He knew he didn’t have much time; Lettuce usually visited soon.

So he wore away at one of the chains, the one holding his right arm, until it was almost gone.

That was when Lettuce came back.

(Wemmbu had known, that it wouldn’t work. He didn’t have another option though and he had to try.)

Lettuce wasn’t happy.

At all.

He didn’t give Wemmbu food, instead storming back out and activating the shock collar (level 10 it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt-) multiple times, making sure Wemmbu had a chance to catch his breath before taking it away again.

He returned after- 

A while.

Wemmbu didn’t know how long.

His body was still shaking.

And he came with a pair of pliers, along with-

Wemmbu’s stomach dropped (farther than it already had).

Was that- a muzzle?

Oh.

Oh no.

His breathing was picking up, he noticed absently.

Oh shit, that was a fucking muzzle.

…

What were the pliers for?

(he knew the answer didn’t he.)

There was something else shiny too…

WHAT.

THE FUCK.

THOSE-

WHAT.

LETTUCE-

LETTUCE FUCKING HAD GOD APPLES.

WHAT.

THE FUCK.

(Wemmbu knew the answer.)

Lettuce stepped inside the cell.

He was silent.

(maybe that scared Wemmbu the most.)

As soon as he came within reach, he grabbed Wemmbu’s jaw, forcing it to stay in place.

Wemmbu twisted it, biting Lettuce’s hand as hard as he could, resulting in a sound between a hiss and a yowl.

In return, Lettuce slammed his head against the wall.

Hard.

Shocked him again.

Ow.

“You thought. You thought you could just- escape? Without paying?” Oh shit. Lettuce was- really mad.

Talking was hard, his voice creaky with disuse, but Wemmbu made do. “I mean bro, I almost did. That’s really kinda your own fault there- really should have figured out that design flaw.” 

Instigating Lettuce was probably not the smart thing to do here.

He regretted these words as soon as Lettuce slammed his head into the wall again, this time pushing more near the jaw area.

Fuck that hurt.

And then, kinda like a broken record

he shocked Wemmbu again.

“Oh I’ve figured it out. I was too lenient with you, wasn't I? I thought you might have been learning and accepting the consequences of your actions but no, here you are.” Lettuce held up the pliers, a dark grin slowly taking over his face. “I’ll fix that though. You’re right, this really was my fault! I’ll rectify my mistake though.” and then he was opening the pliers, forcing Wemmbu’s mouth open and oh shit this was what he thought it was and- Wemmbu fought keeping his mouth stubbornly shut but there was only so long he could hold out and-

Lettuce managed to fix the pliers to his fang.

Wemmbu could only struggle to push Lettuce off maybe just maybe he could-

And then Lettuce started pulling and it hurt it hurt so much holy shit it hurt it hurt it hurt it-

He must have been screaming, he knew, because when he fully focused again his throat hurt and his mouth hurt and everything was bloody and Lettuce was holding his tooth in front of him like a trophy or something and he could feel the gap in his teeth and-

Lettuce brought out a god apple, forcing Wemmbu to take a bit and swallow and he resisted the urge to throw it up and up and up until everything was gone and- painpainpainpainpainpainpainianppain-

(What people failed to realize, was that growing and regenerating something out of nothing was painful.)

(The process of regrowing a tooth, a limb, anything that a god apple could regrow was just as painful as losing it, if not more.)

(And Lettuce obviously knew that.)

And as Wemmbu lay limp, panting… “you aren’t tired yet are you? Cause we still have some ways to go!”

And then he forced Wemmbu’s mouth open again and he was too weak and not there enough to stop him and he was fixing the plier to the other fang and pulling pullingpullingpullingpullingpullingpulling holy shit it hurt it hurt it hurt so sososososo much he just wanted it to-

and then another god apple blood was everywhere this wasn’t supposed to happen this wasn’t painpainapinapianpainpainapinapianpainpainpainpainpainpainpainppainpainpain–

It hurt.

It hurt so so much.

“Remember, this is all to teach you your lesson! Never forget… you deserve all of this.”

After a while, it all started blurring together.

He was broken, he knew.

Lettuce stopped visiting as frequently. Wemmbu wasn’t sure how he knew that- but he did.

(he’d lost the ability to scream, to feel anything but primal fear everytime he saw Lettuce long long ago… but when he wasn’t there it was worse why wasn’t he there wemmbu was alone alone alone so so alone alone-)

(he couldn’t find the energy to hate the part of him that wanted someone anyone there even if it was Lettuce just to fill that empty empty void inside he-)

Wemmbu knew this was going to be his death.

No one would come for him.

(he wasn’t worth saving, everyone knew that-)

To the contrary, mostly everyone would love to see Wemmbu like this right now.

(If only Flame saw him now, his ‘rival’ reduced to nothing but-)

And then Lettuce came, giving him… a golden apple?

(Wemmbu knew; his time had run out.)

Wemmbu could barely lift his head, let alone talk, or move in any way, so he was silent. He couldn’t eat that.

(throwing up pain pain pain “this is what you deserve”’ did he really deserve this was he that bad couldn’t even eat without-)

Lettuce stepped inside.

Wemmbu flinched before he could stop it, waiting for the inevitable punishment that would come with.

…

Nothing- happened?

Lettuce placed the apple within reach (if Wemmbu could really even move he-), splashed a few potions on him (it hurt they stole his energy little by little until it wasn’t so little anymore if he wasn’t going to die he would have had to deal with-) and left.

He’d been holding out hope, that maybe just maybe he was wrong.

But he wasn’t.

He was going to die soon.

He’d never talk to Egg again or fight with Flame (maybe have a fight just for fun not to prove anything) or steal Minute’s stuff or punch Boosfer in his face or-

People would forget Rejoice.

Loppezz.

Wemmbu himself would be forgotten.

And he couldn't do anything to stop it. 

… Maybe that was what he was afraid of. God (if they existed, which he highly doubted) knew he’d faced death before but…

It had never been this certain, this absolute. 

… 

though…

Wemmbu was basically dead anyways wasn’t he.

What was the point?

Technically all his wounds were healed

But the pain was still there

…

Wemmbu was tired-

Of everything.

He thought his past might have been behind him.

He’d finally realized he didn’t have to be the strongest.

That maybe, just maybe… It was ok to be himself, not the strongest player, just Wemmbu.

His self worth wasn’t entirely tied to his power levels.

And now?

He didn't have self worth.

He was a monster.

And he deserved this(?)

No one was coming for him

(He wondered if any of them would even mourn him. Would anyone even remember? Egg would, wouldn’t he…?)

(Did he deserve to be remembered?)

(Would anyone remember the sides that no one but Egg and Minute and Zam (and Flame-) ever saw? Or would they only remember the monster. His small moments of humanity forgotten, until all he was was a spooky story. Not another human.

Just a monster.

A myth.

A legend?

…)

Wemmbu lifted his head as far up as he could.

And through a weak, gravelly voice, whispered as loud as he could (not very loud), pushing through the pain.

“I’m sorry.”

(whoever said the dead couldn’t speak was wrong.)

•---~∞~---•

Lettuce stared at his hands, willing them to stop shaking.

Why wouldn’t they stop shaking-

He walked around his base, checking in with the few men he had left (he was the reason they were all dead-)

But all he could think about was Wemmbu.

He wasn’t sure why.

He was in the right after all, (wasn’t he?)

Wemmbu deserved this.

Wemmbu deserved everything.

For what he’d done.

To the server, to the players… and to Lettuce himself.

he still heard the laughing it never stopped constantly-

Wemmbu.

Deserved.

This.

(maybe if he said it enough times he’d believe it.) 

He ignored the messages on Wemmbu’s comm.

the ones that were never sent; obviously meant to never be seen by anyone but Wemmbu. Whoever Rejoice was, whoever Loppezz was, Wato1876, Manepear, names that Lettuce had never heard yet obviously meant something to Wemmbu-

He ignored the voice telling him that Wemmbu was human too. 

They didn’t mean anything (right?)

(he spent too long staring at them, wondering who they were and what happened. He spent too long staring at his own messages, sent under the guise of Wemmbu. It had to be done no one could realize what Lettuce had done-.)

Wemmbu was a monster.

He killed and killed and killed and didn’t care.

Unstable to Wemmbu was his own personal dollhouse, the innocent (and not-so-innocent-) players his puppets to play around with then break, with no costs whatsoever.

He needed to learn that actions had consequences, and so Lettuce took it upon himself to teach him.

if he was right then-

why did he see blood whenever he looked at his hands?

Lettuce was right.

He was right.

He had to be right.

But what if he wasn’t? 

Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a pair of pliers.

Why wouldn’t his hands stop shaking-

blood.

everywhere.

No- there wasn’t any blood.

Lettuce was just seeing things.

his hands were covered in it.

As if on autopilot, he backtracked, making his way to the pliers and picking them up.

shock-horror-pain-pity

They were covered in- nothing they were just pliers they were just pliers-

the ones that had done the deed were buried burned gone away Lettuce couldn’t look at it reminding him of- 

Who was Lettuce kidding.

He saw the blood.

It was everywhere.

On his hands, on his armour, on his weapons and his tools everything and anything that he touched-

He rubbed his skin raw trying to wash it off, his previously lustrous fur dull and faded from the guilt.

but it never left.

He saw it on the pliers he used to pull Wemmbu’s fangs out over and over and over and over and over-

He saw it on the shears he used to carve names into Wemmbu’s skin.

He saw it in the potions he had to force Wemmbu to take just to make sure he didn’t die from starvation.

He saw it in the water he used to make sure Wemmbu knew what it felt like to be constantly drowning.

He saw it in the knives and the fire he’d used to both burn and cut at the same time.

He saw it on everything and anything and Wemmbu probably would too-

Nothing was the same anymore.

Everything was tainted with the blood that filled every waking moment.

Lettuce thought-

Lettuce thought he could handle this.

Wemmbu deserved this after all.

(If Wemmbu deserved this… why did it make Lettuce feel so sick?)

This was for the good of the server.

(Right?)

(then why did Wemmbu’s tiny flinches every time he saw Lettuce make him want to run?)

Lettuce broke the unbreakable.

(why did it feel so wrong? what has he done?)

Wasn’t this what he wanted? (was it really?)

…

Wemmbu deserved it.

He’d made Lettuce feel powerless so many times, taking everything from him.

Lettuce had been defeated so many times, taunted, had to hear that awful laugh over and over and over again, everything destroyed and gone on loop never ending-

And now he could get revenge.

Control the uncontrollable.

Make Wemmbu feel what he’d felt oh so long ago (barely any time had passed-) and all he had to do?

Was make a few sacrifices.

One couldn’t survive in this world without becoming something more.

Wemmbu proved it, the strong survived and the weak died, dead and lonely in a ditch.

(Lettuce had died long ago, if that was the way the world worked.)

But he was in the right.

He was in the right(?)

… he had to be.

Or else all of this was for nothing.

Or else he’d become what he’d sworn to destroy.

He should have been surprised to learn that FlameFrags was looking for Wemmbu.

After all, those two were like fire and ice; constantly clashing every time they met. Even when they were working together against the Law, they were killing each other right after.

But he wasn’t.

maybe it was the way Flame looked at Wemmbu, the humanity in both of them that Lettuce had to deny or else-

Flame cornered Lettuce in an alley, pinning him against a wall when he was visiting Capital City.

“Where. Is Wemmbu.” He snarled, steam rising off of him.

Lettuce couldn’t look him in the eyes.

He clamped his mouth shut, saying nothing he should have said something told him spilled all of his sins-

“Answer me. Bro, where, the fuck, did you put Wemmbu. What did you do with him.” Flame seemed… really mad.

Lettuce said nothing he couldn’t say anything or else he might-

Flame shook his head, releasing him and stepping back with a snarl.

“I swear bro- this is useless. I’ll find out one way or another.” Lettuce ran, ignoring the distant cursing getting quieter behind him and shifting into his full red panda form, making it easier to run along the roofs.

He ran all the way back to base, not stopping along the way.

all the eyes haunted him; Flame’s, angry but desperate; Wemmbu’s, broken and distant; all the dead lifeless eyes… and most of all his own.

A monster.

Making his way into his office, greeting his people that he encountered (they were all dead because of him it was Lettuce’s fault why did he sacrifice them was he truly better than-) while masking how he was falling apart inside.

He paused for a moment; something seemed off.

… it was all in his head everything was-

He grabbed his book, skipping past- everything.

he couldn’t bear to look at it-

Skipped to the last page.

Lettuce couldn’t do this anymore.

Enough was enough.

But he couldn’t let Wemmbu out.

He wouldn’t let the world pay for his own crimes.

He wouldn’t let the world know about his crimes. 

Both of us die tomorrow.

Me and Wemmbu.

This is the final word of LettuceK, (soon-to-be former) leader of the Law.

Flame was left behind in the alley, considering what he’d learned. He wasn’t sure why Lettuce was acting so weird, (wouldn’t he taunt Flame if he had Wemmbu?) but he definitely had done something with Wemmbu. That was the only option.

… Lettuce had seemed scared.

And not fully of Flame…

… almost like he was scared of- himself.

Finding Wemmbu needed to happen fast… because if it made Lettuce regret something…

Flame couldn’t think of that right now.

(he wasn’t sure why he cared so much about Wemmbu… he was his rival wasn’t he?)

(Flame didn’t know. But he did. And he would get Wemmbu out of whatever situation he’d gotten into.)

(because he cared) 

And as Flame distracted Lettuce, Egg, who Flame had freed from the End by travelling to the farlands and breaking his spawn point, snuck into the Law base, looking for something anything to tell him where Wemmbu was.

He stared at what he’d found.

He found Lettuce's journal…

Egg flipped to the first page, forcing himself to start reading.

He almost wished he hadn't found it.

It… it detailed what he’d done to Wemmbu and how and-

(Egg felt sick.)

At least… it had Wemmbu's location? Presumably for if Lettuce ever forgot where he put Wemmbu.

And then he heard Lettuce coming back, so he quickly put the book back into its place.

Lettuce paused for a second, seeming to realize that something was off (and making Egg's heart race he couldn't be caught that would be really really bad-), before shaking his head, muttering something about ‘it getting to him’, writing something in the journal,                              and leaving.

Egg slowly crept out of his hiding place, his heart still racing, grabbing the book again and flipping to the last page that Lettuce just wrote in.

He could read the rest later.

A gasp tore its way out of his throat… and then he ran as fast as he could, pulling out his comm while making sure that no one saw him.

You whisper to FlameFrags: bro this is really bad

FlameFrags whispers to you: what bro

You whisper to FlameFrags: lettuce is going to kill wemmbu

You whisper to FlameFrags: tomorrow

You whisper to FlameFrags: i found the place tho

FlameFrags whispers to you: where

You whisper to MinuteTech: bro pls help we might need you

MinuteTech whispers to you: what?

You whisper to MinuteTech: help us get wemm out pls

MinuteTech whispers to you: what do you need me to do

Wemmbu was sleeping (somewhat) when Lettuce came back.

He knew that his time was over.

He could tell from Lettuce’s face.

And for a while, he just stood in front of Wemmbu’s cell.

(he didn’t dare to move in case it made Lettuce mad and-)

It was hard to think.

(everything hurt. he pushed past it. he was used to doing that.)

They just… were there.

Prisoner and guard.

Dead and dying(?)

Wemmbu and Lettuce.

…

After a while, Lettuce spoke.

“You know… when I brought you here, I was angry.” Lettuce barked out a laugh, bitter and sharp.  wemmbu flinched that laugh only meant pain painpaianipanpianpianpain- “I wanted to make you feel what we’d felt, when you rained nukes on us and killed us and destroyed everything.” A breath. “I wanted to break you.” Wemmbu couldn’t find the energy to care about what Lettuce was saying. (Lettuce seemed to flinch at the lack of reaction.) “And I guess… I did it! I succeeded! I broke the unbreakable!” Lettuce started giggling; hysterical and broken.

almost like Wemmbu would have laughed before.

Abruptly, the giggles faded into silence. “Then… why does it feel so empty? Why do I feel so broken? I should be happy seeing you like this! You barely even react to me anymore! You’re like a doll, a puppet. If I wanted you to, I bet you would follow my every command.” something was happening. “I could make you my- law dog or something, if I wanted to! And it would work! Who would stop me? Almost everyone that was close to you is dead. Flame Frags, your dear old rival, wouldn’t do anything against this.”

lettuce wasn’t convinced about that last part. why? flame wouldn’t care about wemmbu.

“I can do anything!” … he sounded like he was trying to convince himself. “AND YET! I’m too weak! I can’t handle this! I thought I’d be strong enough! I thought I thought I thought- and yet here we are! I can’t let you go. No one can know what I’ve done. But I can’t live!” Lettuce sounded like he was going insane.

Wemmbu should probably be scared.

Lettuce burst out laughing again. Not a happy sound. almost like zam- “This smp needs a king, but what sort of king would I be? I can’t even handle THIS, I can’t handle anything else!” the laughter stopped, his pitch dropped. “But that’s not even the worst part now. Because now, everytime I see you, I think of what you did to us. Your eyes, lifeless, just like everyone I saw die in front of me, except you’re still alive. I did this. It keeps running through my head, I’m no better than you! I’m no better than you, or Flame, or even Ashswag! I’m worse! You guys killed and killed and killed, sought to control to be better, what makes me different? Except I took it farther! I sacrificed hundreds thousands of people just to get you here, it might as well have been my hand holding the sword or the mace or whatever weapon was used! I’m the reason they’re all dead! I’m a monster! A hypocrite!”

was he going to- “And in the end, what was it for? You’re half-dead, broken at my hands. Does that matter? I don’t feel better. Every time I see you I want to leave, to run and never come back. I want to bury all of my sins, I want to make sure they never come out. I want the reaper to come for me, casting their judgement upon my soul and making sure I never hurt anyone else ever again.” so he was insane.

(would he bring wemmbu down with him when he fell?)

Lettuce walked to one of the walls, and slid down it, curled up on the ground with his legs tucked into his chest, clutching his head and laughing hysterically. His tail hadn’t stopped lashing the entire time. “And here I am, venting to you. It’s driving me insane, and I can’t stop it! Everything feels wrong and off, covered in blood, and it’s my fault! It’s your fault! I don’t know anymore! I can’t live like this anymore! I can’t do this!” And an unnatural calm overtook Lettuce.

Wemmbu felt a pang of fear strike his heart.

Everything felt grey, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to die yet.

he wanted to see Egg and Flame and Minute again, even Boosfer. 

“I don’t want to live anymore. I don’t want to do this anymore. But I can’t let you out! I can’t let you, a mass-murdererer out! I can’t let them know! You’d be killed soon anyways, you're basically a dog at this point, what would you defend yourself with! WHAT WOULD YOU DO? WHAT WOULD THEY THINK?” Wemmbu thought he’d accepted his death, but he still didn’t want to die.

 “I can’t live, you can’t leave… it would honestly be a mercy wouldn’t it? To kill you right here and now?” but Lettuce shook his head. a strand of hope rose up in wemmbu, maybe- “but I can’t.” only to be squashed 

“I’ve worked too much on you, to just kill you. To give you a mundane death. I’ve done too much, seen too much, might as well just- do it properly no? I’m already a monster, might as well just solidify it!” Wemmbu couldn’t see Lettuce’s face. Lettuce had a knife. He was walking up to Wemmbu. Wemmbu didn’t want to die.

He braced himself.

…

His head felt lighter-?

…

Lettuce cut his hair.

(he didn’t know why this felt so much worse- it was only hair wasn’t it…?)

(Wemmbu knew it was more than that. So much more. His hair had memories- and Lettuce knew that. It held weight.)

(He’d spent so long growing it out, combing it, putting it up into elaborate hairstyles, even though long hair was a liability in battle it was Wemmbu. His hair was his own, his hair was something to be proud of. Even though he’d lost so much, it was one thing that stayed. Rejoice died, Mane left, Loppezz… Egg was trapped, Flame and him fought, but his hair was always there. Something to focus on, something to tend to. God knows a pet wouldn’t survive with Wemmbu, he didn’t know how Flame kept dogs constantly watching each one die over and over and over- there was a reason Flame was stronger than him. but his hair…

And now it was gone.

Gone.

Like everything else in Wemmbu’s life.)

“Wow. I was not expecting it to affect you that much.” Lettuce was- still here.

Right.

“Not that it’ll matter I guess.” A laugh, dark and bitter.

Wemmbu could finally see Lettuce’s face; the fur dull and tarnished, unkempt. He had deep eyebags, and a grin on his face; not a happy one, a tired one. One that was hurt and hurting and was lashing out at the world, and yet wanted nothing more but to fade into oblivion. “We’re going to die either way! We’re both fucked!” … could he just get it over with? Wemmbu was tired.

(so so tired.)

He couldn’t even say anything cause the stupid muzzle was still on his fucking face, and even if it wasnt Lettuce had never unsown his lips.

After all, he was living off of potions at this point.

So Wemmbu lifted his head.

Just stared at Lettuce.

(and that seemed to scare Lettuce more than anything else he’d done so far.)

Wemmbu wasn’t making it out of this.

He knew that.

He knew that.

But he just wanted to stop fearing it.

he almost longed for the release- to be able to stop caring and hanging on and pretending he was ok. monsters like him didn’t deserve to cry, but death saw everyone equally. even gods died eventually, Zam had proven that already. Rejoice had too 

He just wanted it to happen already.

Lettuce took a breath.

“I guess it’s time, huh. I should stop stalling, not like it’ll do anything will it.” A sigh. And without warning he sent a shock through Wemmbu, who arched his back as much as he could in a soundless scream (his lips bleeding through the stitching he wasn’t supposed to scream but it hurt it hurt ithurt-) until it stopped blessedly over-

Ow.

His body shivered.

And he realized, that Lettuce had done something, something that slid open an entire section of wall and revealed…

Dispensers?

Dispensers.

And with a glance, he could tell what was inside some of them.

Only one thing glowed with that intensity, and only one thing sounded like it was liquid fire.

Lava.

One of the most painful ways to die, burning alive (unless you were a blaze or were fire-resistant, then you’d just suffocate!) feeling everything on fire unable to move or stop it ordo anything-

Wemmbu scrambled back as far as the chains would allow him, breathing picking up. He barely even cared about the blood dripping from his lips because what did that matter when-

Lettuce spread his arms. “A fitting death no? Nothing left of either of us, not body, items, anything. Everything will burn.” He had a remote in his hands. He paused for a second, then spoke in a somewhat smaller voice. “For what it’s worth…” he swallowed, like this was hard to say.

“I’m sorry.”

(Whoever said the dead couldn’t speak was very very wrong.)

Wemmbu took a breath.

And- a strange sense of calm overtook him.

Lethargy.

There was truly nothing he could do.

They were going to die here.

…

And then the alarms started blaring, and Lettuce’s head snapped up.

“W-what?” He sounded genuinely shocked.

So this wasn’t according to plan?

A step back.

Another.

And then he heard it.

Minute’s voice.

he came for Wemmbu? 

“Where. Is Wemmbu.” he sounded mad. The sounds of fighting, netherite on diamond. T

Lettuce cursed quietly.

Took a look at the mechanisms.

Lava was slow-moving, it wouldn’t reach Wemmbu in time.

Lettuce activated it anyways, then ran to-

Where Minute’s voice came from?

Oh.

Oh.

He was going to distract Minute, to make sure he couldn’t get to Wemmbu in time.

…

Wemmbu didn’t believe in god.

But he prayed. To himself, to the universe, to whatever higher power might be there.

That this wouldn’t be the end.

That he wouldn’t have been given hope only for it to be torn away at the last second.

He took a breath.

… was the wall moving closer?

Oh the wall was moving closer-

Oh shit.

Oh shit.

(Wemmbu… didn’t want to die.) 

And then he heard footsteps.

Light- like…

Egg’s?

That- that didn’t make sense.

Egg was trapped in the End.

He couldn’t possibly be here-

And then Egg’s face peeked into view around the corner and Wemmbu-

Wemmbu just blinked.

Because Egg was here.

(how?)

“Wemmbu? Bro?” Egg sounded panicked- oh the lava was probably why.

Wemmbu wished that he could fucking talk he just wanted to say something anything-

He couldn’t do that, so instead he just moved his hand in as close to a wave that he could get. (He barely had energy, and the chains existed.)

Egg ran a bit closer. He was acting calm, but his wing feathers exposed how panicked he really was, being ruffled and raised like a blow dryer had run through them (though they calmed down a bit once Egg seemingly saw that Wemmbu was- alive.)

Egg was… worried for him?

…

Wemmbu didn’t know how to handle that.

So he didn’t.

Egg pulled out his comm, typing something. Then he pulled out- a netherite sword? Wemmbu didn’t even know that Egg owned one, let alone carried it in his inventory.

Clumsily wielding the sword, (it was obvious he had basically no idea how to), Egg managed to cut through the bars, rushing to Wemmbu’s side.

“Bro I’m so sorry we took this long- we should have realized something was long sooner I-” he took a breath “Ok. We have to get out right now. Flame is defending us, Minute is holding off Lettuce, we just need to get you out.” Flame- was here? Flame was helping? 

Oh.

Egg waited a moment then shook his head. “Right- you kinda can’t talk right now.”

He cut through the chains, pulling Wemmbu out of them.

(Wemmbu felt- light. Lighter than he had been in a while, ever since he was trapped here.)

… He saw the moment Egg noticed the collar, immediately tensing. “Bro is that- oh. I should get that off too-” the moment he said that the collar activated again owowowowowowowowpainithurtithurtsosososomuch-

It cut off as abruptly as it had started, leaving Wemmbu shaking on his knees.

Egg… seemed mad. “Yeah ok bro, we’re getting that off immediately. I will literally kill Lettuce with my bare hands- not right now. Ok. You might get kinda cut by this but- we don’t really have any other options.” Crouching down in front of Wemmbu, Egg brought the blade up to his neck, positioning it so that it would be in-between the collar and his skin.

(he ignored his breathing rising and focused on Egg this was Egg he was safe he wouldn’t hurt Wemmbu-)

A thin line of blood trickled down Wemmbu’s neck, mixing with the blood from his face.

In one smooth motion, Egg cut through the collar, leaving it sparking on the ground. He helped Wemmbu get up, letting him lean on Egg, and they made it out of the cell.

(the lava had been getting close… and the dispensers without lava smelled like potions. And not the good kind.)

“Bro… I’d get the muzzle off too if I could, but like I don’t think we have the time for that right now. I’m sorry bro, we’ll get it off later.” Wemmbu just nodded slightly, leaning more on Egg.

(he needed the angel close to him, he couldn’t-)

Walking was hard, even leaning on Egg… but Wemmbu made due.

… maybe he’d see the sun again?

Maybe he’d feel the wind on his face, running through his hair as he-

…

maybe.

He didn’t see Flame, but he could tell the netherian was nearby cause of the smell of ash and fire. 

(Somehow, it felt nice knowing that Flame was there. They were enemies. They were supposed to be enemies. Flame had almost killed Wemmbu so many times, and vice versa.)

(And yet…)

(The familiar smell was comforting) 

Wemmbu let himself hope.

Until- he heard Lettuce.

“OVER THERE- CORNER THEM.” he’d seen them.

Wemmbu didn’t-

That was when Flame appeared. (almost like a guardian angel-) 

He spared one glance at Wemmbu (he could swear he saw something like worry flash across his face when he saw Wemmbu-), giving a nod to Egg and a motion to get out before turning back to Lettuce and his men, who had just appeared.

“He- he’ll be fine.” “EGG.” Minute?

“Yeah bro?” Right Minute had been there too.

“We should go- do you need help with Wemmbu?” he was avoiding looking at Wemmbu, staring at Egg. His hands were trembling slightly, but the rest of his body was still, calm.

If Wemmbu didn’t know Minute he would have assumed the shaking hands were because of the cold.

“I- yeah. Bro is lighter than he used to be but I’m not that strong.”

“D’allright-” The next few minutes were a blur.

Wemmbu was fading in and out of consciousness, somehow finding a way to put one step in front of the other. Somewhere Egg also started supporting Wemmbu again, positioning him between Minute and Egg himself. Flame was still nowhere to be seen. Lettuce was nowhere to be seen.

…

The sun hit Wemmbu’s face, for the first time in-

He didn’t know how long.

He couldn’t see, his eyes used to the darkness of the cell, but he still felt the sun on his body and-

Darkness was crowding his vision.

He felt like he was about to pass out.

“Almost there- please don’t pass out yet bro-”

“Dude- we have to hurry-”

“Wemm-”

“Flame he’s about to-”

“Bro- fucking-”

“Lettuce- care of-”

“-carry-?-”

“fine-”

And Wemmbu finally let the darkness consume him whole.

He… was safe?

He was… safe-.

He was safe…

Wemmbu was safe.

Flame paced around the End, waiting for any sign of Lettuce coming to chase them. Wemmbu- hadn’t looked good and he’d be damned if he let Lettuce get near him again. Next time he saw Lettuce he was killing him. he hoped Wemmbu was ok. He hoped- he didn't know what he hoped.

Egg tended to Wemmbu, hoping that they would all pull through this. They’d gotten the muzzle off, only to find that Lettuce had apparently sown Wemmbu’s mouth shut? He was also overdosed on potions, scarred, and-

Egg- just ignored the guilt and the anger and everything.

They would all deal with this when Wemmbu was awake.

… After giving him a huge hug. For all of their sakes.

Minute was supposed to be there.

What kind-of guardian was he if he couldn’t even protect those he grudgingly called his friends?

He didn’t deserve it.

But here he was. He couldn’t entrust the job to anyone else.

And at least- Wemmbu was ok.

Not very ok, but still… fine.

If only he would wake up.

He took a breath.

Another day.

And as he scoured the Overworld, looking for Lettuce, he smiled.

He would kill Lettuce, and let Flame and Egg help too if they wanted too.

They were all safe. 

Wemmbu woke up.

Healing was slow.

But... with the rain comes the sunlight.

And of course, Lettuce died, and Unstable learned about his crimes.

Lettuce had a point, but he took it too far.

It was too late to make amends.

And so, he died.

But in the end, the one who thought he wouldn't live another day, and the ones who made sure that he would, lived.