Chapter Text
Midmysticx was scared of Zam.
Sure, he tended to have a loud voice, and he grew angry whenever they even discussed any of the Poggies. And ever since Rekrap’s statue hunt, he’d become slightly more snappish and easier to annoy. And he’d been all too eager to let the Poggies starve in Rekrap’s castle, something Mid still didn’t agree with. All of that had led to her being concerned about him, but not scared.
Right now, though, it was hard not to be scared as she watched Zam pace around the bottom floor of M.o.B. tower, back and forth, fast enough that it only took him a few seconds to cross the entire room.
She and Clown Pierce had been on their way to the village to pick up their latest supply of diamond gear (there had been a strange incident the last time where the blacksmith got angry, saying he hadn’t been paid, but Mid had managed to smooth things over) when Leo had messaged them suddenly, saying that Spoke was at the tower. So Pierce had handed Mid a swiftness potion and they’d gone running back, but when they got there all they found was Leo at his forge fixing up a netherite greave and Zam repeatedly kicking a cannon. According to Leo, Spoke had shown up with a cannon, threatened them, then blown Zam up - and then a minute later, dynamite had gone off on their roof, wrecking the web of iron bars that covered the balcony.
Mid had gone out to check on Zam, but he hadn’t said anything. When she pushed, he whirled on her, shouting, pushing her back, until she’d finally turned and ran back inside the tower. Now she crouched at the top of the staircase, watching Zam pace, wishing she could go down but not wanting to get yelled at again.
“Come on,” Leo said softly, and Mid turned to see him standing on the stairs above her. “We’re having a meeting.”
“Shouldn’t we have Zam too?” she asked.
Leo hesitated, then shook his head. Mid sighed and followed Leo up to the third floor, where Pierce was already sitting at the table. His broken mask sat in the corner, its single eye staring up at Mid as she passed it and sat down.
“So,” Pierce said softly; Mid still couldn’t think of him as ‘Clown’, even in her head. “We have a problem.”
“We have many problems,” Leo said. “Named Parrot, Spoke, Vortex, Rekrap, Roshambo, and Zam.”
“But not Jaron or Poafa?” Mid asked. She’d never met either of them, but she knew they were both former members of the Poggies.
“Not really,” Leo said. “I’m sure Zam would love to kill them too, but they don’t seem to care much about our war.”
“We could kill them for hearts,” Pierce mused. “But we don’t really need those. We don’t need more enemies.”
“What about the Applicants?” Leo asked. “Whose side are they on?”
“I don’t know,” Pierce said. “We did enslave them, but we haven’t done anything else to them, while the Poggies got into an entire battle with them.”
“Could we recruit them?” Mid asked. “Get them to help us?”
“Subz is a mercenary,” Leo said. “And we definitely have the resources. But we might need to spend some of our time getting more hearts - as far as I know, Zam’s on seven now.”
Mid pulled up her sleeve to check her own. “I’m at eight.”
“I have twenty-one,” Pierce said placidly. “Zam can have one, though.”
“So, we’re going to go try and recruit the Applicants and get more hearts?” Mid asked.
“And rebuild our roof,” Pierce said.
“Which means I get to make new bars,” Leo said with a groan. “Yay. First Oasis, and now this?”
What - oh, right, the prom. “What were they called?” Mid asked. “The ones who ruined the prom - they had a team name, didn’t they?”
“Team Aegis,” Pierce said. “Zam and I found their base a while back.”
“Well, maybe we could get them on our side as well,” Mid suggested.
“I don’t think they like us very much,” Leo said. “Oasis was angry we refused to give her hearts, I think. And then she attacked us. We’re not exactly on good terms.”
“I bet you could patch things up,” Mid said. “We could go and visit them - sorry, set up a meeting and then go and talk to them.”
“Not just walk into their secret base and force them to negotiate with us?” Pierce asked, sounding slightly disappointed.
“That would probably lead to them killing me and then you killing them,” Mid said. “Which would make it a bit hard to have an alliance.” And also, I don’t want to die. Both of her previous deaths had been quick, but that didn’t make them any less terrifying.
“We’d get more hearts in the end,” Pierce pointed out.
“But we’d lose two potential allies,” Leo countered. “Not that I think they’d ally with us anyway, though.”
“So we can kill them?”
“That would just give us more enemies,” Mid said. “We have enough of those.” And some of them are insane.
At that moment, someone knocked at the door. All three people at the table froze.
“Fuck off!” Zam shouted.
“I don’t want to,” responded a female voice. There’s only one other female person here that I know of… which means Team Aegis is here for some reason.
They all stood at almost exactly the same time, and headed downstairs, Pierce drawing his sword and then having to hold it awkwardly in front of him to fit down the staircase.
The banging started again and Mid saw Zam’s cloak swish as he stomped towards the door and flung it open. “What do you want?!” he yelled.
Oasis regarded him. “For you to be quiet, for one. And also to talk.”
“We’re not looking for a fight,” someone else said from behind Oasis. Mid assumed it was Vitalasy.
Zam snorted, but before he could say anything else, Pierce joined him in the doorway. “We’d be happy to. Would you be interested in donating some hearts or blackstone to us? We’re very poor.”
Oasis glanced up. “Oh, did someone blow up your roof again?” She snickered. “Nobody likes your roof, I guess.”
“What the hell do you guys want?” Zam growled.
“To talk,” Oasis repeated. “Did whatever explosion ruined your roof make you deaf as well?”
Zam snarled and Mid lunged forward, grabbing his arm. “Zam, stop.”
Zam glared at her, but listened, and even allowed her to move him back a few steps. Leo joined Pierce in the doorway.
“We have some things we want to discuss with you,” Oasis said.
“Good for you,” Leo said. “This isn’t a very good time.”
“It seems like a great time,” Oasis said. “If Zam tries to stab me we can kill them and you can’t even get angry.”
“I think Zam would explode from that,” Leo said. “Please don’t.”
“Please let us in,” Oasis countered.
“What, so you can blow up everything?” Leo scoffed.
“No, because we’ve been walking for an hour and my legs are tired.”
Leo said nothing. Mid could guess what was going through his head: wondering what their motive was, whether they could be trusted, if they’d win in a fight. But in the end, Pierce made the decision for him as he spun around. “Come in.”
Mid pulled Zam to the side to let Oasis and Vitalasy enter. They followed Pierce towards the stairs, and Mid smiled as he started his usual speech. “Welcome to M.o.B. Industries, the number one source of business in this world. Whether you want entertainment, comedy, or hitmen, we’re here to provide. This here is Leowook, our accountant and armorsmith. And over there is Midmysticx, our diplomat and chef, and there is Prince Zam the Eleventh, our resident insane person to combat our enemies’ insane people.”
Vitalasy raised a hand in greeting. Oasis simply wrinkled her nose. “I know who you all are. Where are we going?”
Pierce shrugged. “Stairs typically lead up.”
Mid glanced at Zam, then let go of his arm to follow them. She wasn’t sure it was the best idea, but she wanted to know why the two people were here - and she wanted to see it firsthand, not just hear a recounting after they left. So she and Leo followed them up the stairs, all the way to the fourth floor, and Zam didn’t follow.
Oasis smirked when they reached the top floor, which was covered in debris. “Nobody likes your roof.”
“Nobody likes us,” Leo corrected. “You included. So what are you doing here?”
Oasis raised an eyebrow. “Somebody’s direct.”
“Look, you’re the ones who came here,” Leo said.
“True,” Oasis said with a nod. She toed a chunk of rock on the floor, seemingly uninterested, but Mid could see how she was tensed. Surrounded by enemies, like Leo just pointed out. “We just want to talk.”
“About our… what’s the word?” Vitalasy frowned beneath his hood. “Animosity! Our animosity.”
“Shh,” Oasis said, covering his mouth with one hand.
He nodded and crouched to the ground. Mid stared, trying to figure out what was going on, and saw her confusion mirrored on Leo’s face. Pierce’s was blank as always.
Oasis cleared her throat. “We’re willing to forgive you for what you’ve done, in exchange for some things.”
“I love forgiveness,” Pierce said in the same tone. “And buying my way to it. How about one gold ingot?”
“We want a little more than that,” Oasis said.
“We all want things we can’t have,” Pierce said. “I want your hearts. But I don’t want you to kill my friends while I try.”
“Or you’re scared I’d win,” Oasis taunted.
Pierce shrugged. “You could probably beat Mid or Leo. But neither of them can beat me.”
“Doesn’t say anything about me,” Oasis said. “You don’t know how skilled I am.”
“We’re not here to fight,” Vitalasy interjected, still crouched to the ground. “Just to… make a deal.”
Oasis pet his head. “Good boy.”
What is wrong with them? Mid wondered, worried and weirded out. We need to get them out of here. “And what do you think makes you worthy of that?” she asked. “So far, you tried to blackmail us into being your servants, and when that failed you blew up our roof and killed Terrain. So why should we be the ones paying you for everything you’ve done?”
“You’ve killed us too,” Oasis snapped back. “Right at the start. Without any chance of a fight.” She glared at Pierce.
“You should have gone to a bastion,” Mid countered.
Oasis narrowed her eyes for a second, then smiled. “I like this one.”
“I’d like you to explain why we shouldn’t pitch you off the balcony,” Mid countered. She normally wouldn’t be so snappish, but she was still angry at them for ruining the prom, which she had spent a week and a half planning and setting up.
“I’d like to see you try,” Oasis countered, sizing Mid up.
“I would as well,” Pierce said, reminding them of his presence.
Oasis glanced at him, then backed down. “Fine. If it makes you feel better, we’re sorry for blowing up your roof.”
“We’re going to sue you for emotional damages,” Pierce said.
“Yeah, ‘cause the last trial went so well,” Oasis said sarcastically. “Look, we just want you to bribe us.” Vitalasy nodded several times.
“You should bribe us,” Pierce said. “We like bribes.”
“I could bribe you,” Oasis said with a sly smile, leaning forward.
Pierce opened his mouth, then paused, the first time Mid could recall him ever doing that. Is he uncomfortable, or did he just not like what he was about to say? “Look, we don’t care if you’re against us or not,” she interjected. “We have enough to deal with without handing out bribes to two irrelevant people who live in a tiny cave.” She knew that deliberately antagonizing them wasn’t a good idea, but she couldn’t help herself. Oasis was annoying and weird, and Mid would take her chance to get rid of her in a heartbeat. Not kill her, though.
Oasis stared at Mid again, her smile frozen. “Fine,” she said finally. “You’ll end up regretting it, though.” Her grin turned vicious, and she tapped Mid on the nose before turning and running down the stairs on her tiptoes. “Come on, Vitalasy!”
Vitalasy finally stood up and followed. “Good boy!” Mid heard Oasis say as their footsteps faded away.
“So… that was weird,” Leo said as the door opened and closed below.
Pierce shrugged. “All high-level fighters are that way.”
“Including you?” Leo asked.
Pierce glanced at him. “You think I’m weird, Leo?” His voice was shaky and he was blinking repeatedly, like he was about to cry.
“I do,” Leo said with a slight smirk.
Pierce sighed. “Fair enough.”
“So, um…” Mid said hesitantly. “Should we be… worried about that?”
“Maybe,” Leo said. “As far as I know, there’s no enmity between Team Aegis and the Poggies, so they could potentially team up against us.”
Pierce chuckled. “They’d still lose.”
“I don’t know,” Leo said. “If they all got decent gear, they could probably beat us. It’d probably be at least a 7v4 - and like you said, Oasis is a better fighter than anyone but you. Roshambo isn’t bad, either.”
Pierce nodded.
“Plus, they’d only have to kill you once,” Mid added. “If they attacked us here, where our beds are… that would be bad. At the very least, I’d end up getting spawn-killed.” She shivered slightly.
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Leo said. “You did well last time we fought the Poggies.”
“I still died, though.”
Their conversation was cut off by loud footsteps, and Mid glanced over to see Zam climbing the stairs. “What’s going on?” he asked, voice normal. He was wearing the mask Mid had made for him, with the pixelated smile on it.
“Team Aegis wanted us to bribe them,” Pierce said. “We said no, so they left. Leo’s worried they might team up with the Poggies. Also, Vitalasy is a dog.”
Zam was silent for a second. “A… what?”
Pierce shrugged. “He had those wolves with him at the prom. Maybe he decided to become one.”
Zam stared at him for a second, then shook his head. “Okay, whatever. We need a plan.”
“Hire Subz as a mercenary and get the other two Applicants by association,” Leo supplied. “Or pay all three, if we had to.”
“Why do we need them?” Zam asked. “We’ve got far superior gear and a lot more hearts than the Poggies; why can’t we just search the Nether for their portal like we did last time?”
“They’re not stupid,” Leo said. “They wouldn’t make that same mistake again. Either their portal’s hidden, doesn’t exist, or it’s really far away.”
“Speaking of hearts,” Pierce added, “this is for you.” He rolled up his sleeve and plucked the twentieth heart off his arm - you could only have up to twenty at once; Clown’s twenty-first was probably in his ender chest - then walked towards Zam.
“Thank you,” Zam said softly, pulling back his own sleeve and accepting the heart. “You’ve done this… how many times now, three?”
“Two or three,” Pierce said. “If I hadn’t, I’d be at twenty-five hearts now, I think.”
“Well, thank you,” Zam said again, before glancing towards Mid. “Are you okay on hearts?”
“I have eight,” Mid said. “But it’s fine, I’m okay. You guys keep yours’.”
“I really don’t need twenty hearts,” Pierce said. “But if that’s your choice, I respect it. And it means I get more hearts.”
“Alright,” Leo said, pulling everyone’s attention towards him. “What are we doing now? Meeting the Applicants, looking for the Poggies, gathering resources to craft more hearts?”
“I’ll do that,” Pierce said. “You can start making more bars to replace our roof.”
“I can go mine blackstone,” Mid volunteered, even though she really didn’t want to.
“I want to go search for the Poggies,” Zam said predictably.
“I can come with you, if you want,” Mid offered.
“Sure,” Zam said. “Thanks.” The mask made it hard to tell what he was thinking, and the smile was kind of creepy if you looked at it for long enough.
“Well, we’ve all got our jobs,” Pierce said. “Have fun, everyone. And try not to get blown up by cannons.”
“Oh, ha ha,” Zam said, already heading down the stairs.
Mid followed him down and out the door. “Where do you want to look?”
“Uh - south, I guess,” Zam said, and so they started off that way. “I don’t think anyone’s really explored much down there. Except for me - I made a little vacation house there, way back at the start of everything.”
“Well, maybe you should go stay there for a few days,” Mid suggested.
Zam scoffed. “What, and leave everything behind when the Poggies are so active?”
“The Poggies aren’t everything,” Mid said. “You can’t spend all your time focused on them.”
“Well, they sure seem to do it for us,” Zam said, voice growing louder. “And given that they’ve been coming out with literal net guns and cannons recently, I have to be just as focused!”
“That’s not healthy,” Mid said, her worry that arose whenever Zam started talking about the Poggies rearing up. “You can’t just-” She sighed. “Come on, Zam. Just one day. We’ll head there, search around a bit, and then take one day off. I’m sure Pierce and Leo will understand - and Terrain! Wait, has anyone even told Terrain what’s happened?”
Zam shrugged. “He’s only a half-member, anyway. He’s not a fighter, he just gives us food. But I’m pretty sure the Poggies haven’t killed him; I saw him earlier today. Besides, he’s at ten hearts as far as I know.” He was silent for a few seconds, then sighed. “Fine, I’ll take one day off. Are… you staying, too?”
“If you want,” Mid said.
Zam nodded, letting out a breath. “Thanks.”
“Of course,” Mid said. “Lead the way.” As they walked, she pulled out her communicator and sent a quick message to Pierce, letting him know her and Zam’s plans. He responded in typical fashion, and Mid relayed his response to Zam, whose smile was barely visible under his mask. For some reason, both he and Leo both seemed to look up to Clown Pierce in a way that didn’t fully make sense to Mid. I mean, he’s an amazing fighter and a good person, but…
They walked for about forty-five minutes. It was a nice day - sunny and warm but not overly hot, with a light breeze blowing every few minutes. Zam needs a haircut, Mid thought as she watched the prince’s long blond hair blow slightly in the wind. We match. I think mine’s even longer, though. A strand blew up in her face and she pushed it down, irritated.
“We’re almost there,” Zam said, glancing over. Mid quickly looked away, although she wasn’t sure why. “Mid?”
“That’s good,” Mid said quickly - and a little awkwardly. “So… what is your vacation house?” she asked.
“It’s… you know, before you showed up, we were having our first war with the Poggies. And… after I died, I decided to leave for a while, to… get my thoughts straight, I guess. I don’t really remember. So I found this place and built a little shack there.”
“Well, it’s very pretty,” Mid said, looking around at the pine trees surrounding them.
Zam nodded.
“Is that your house up there?” Mid pointed at something brown through the trees.
“I think so. It’s right by a stream. I - shit, I just forgot, we don’t have any food.”
“Are there any apple trees or berry bushes nearby?” Mid asked.
“I… maybe? Obviously I found some way to eat when I was here, but I might have just gone hunting.”
Mid nodded. As they got closer, she got her first good view of the cabin. It was small and seemed rather clumsily made - but it’s also been standing for at least three or four months. That’s impressive.
“It’s really not that much,” Zam said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Maybe we should just go back…”
“It’s nice,” Mid said. “I like it.”
Zam looked over at her, and again there was that slight movement under his mask, a slight smile forming. “Really?”
She nodded again. “What does the inside look like?”
“There’s… not much stuff there. I was only here for a few days.”
“Well, maybe we can spruce it up,” Mid said.
There was no door on the house, so Mid simply stepped inside. There was no floor, either - just dirt and pine needles. A bed lay in the corner, with a desk and chest nearby. A staircase consisting of three planks of wood supported by six more led onto a balcony, which seemed like the thing Zam had put the most work into. “Oh, you even have a chair!”
“Yeah, it was just an…” Zam trailed off and didn’t finish. Why’s he being so weird?
“So,” Mid said after a few seconds of silence. “Should we… go out and try to find some food?”
Zam startled. “Oh - sure. I think berry bushes are supposed to grow in this kind of environment, right?”
Mid nodded. “They only grow in pine taigas.”
“Is this a taiga?” Zam asked, peering out the small window.
“It has pine trees,” Mid said. “If I remember correctly, those only spawn in taigas or windswept hills - but the ground here’s too flat to be the second.”
Zam nodded, still looking out the window. “How do you even know that?”
Mid shrugged. “I… had classes. I remember most of them.”
Zam finally turned around. “What’d you have classes for?”
“Lots of things. Um… geography, politics, baking… I don’t remember all of them, though. Didn’t you have classes too, if you were a prince?”
“Some,” Zam said. “Remember, I was never expected to become the new emperor. Just… a politician of some kind. Someone unremarkable.”
“I don’t think you could ever manage to be unremarkable at something you cared about,” Mid said.
Zam’s mouth twitched towards a smile again. “I doubt I would have cared much for it.”
Mid fell silent. She wasn’t sure what to say next.
Luckily, Zam spoke up. “Hey, do you ever… wonder how you got here?”
“What do you mean?” Mid asked, even though she was pretty sure she knew.
“Well, we were both living like royalty - although I know you weren’t actual royalty - in castles, and then we just… spawned here. And I don’t remember what happened that led to me standing in an unfamiliar valley with fifteen other people.”
“I… don’t either,” Mid said. “The last thing I remember was… having dinner.”
“Maybe it was drugged,” Zam suggested. “But I have no idea why so many different people would send so many unrelated people to this random place.” He sighed. “You said you had geography lessons, right? Did you ever learn about a place that looked like any of this?”
“I don’t think so,” Mid said. “But it would probably look really different on an overhead map than it does to us.”
Zam shook his head. “So how did we all get here?”
“I don’t know,” Mid said. “I don’t think we have a way to learn, either.”
Zam sighed again. “You’re probably right. So… should we go try and find food now?”
Mid nodded, and they headed out the door together.
Twenty minutes later, Zam was out of sight. They’d found a few berry bushes and ate some from each, but then Zam had spotted a fox carrying something shiny and gone chasing after it, leaving Mid to continue searching on her own.
As she peered around the trunk of a tree, something caught her eye and she turned just in time to see someone else step out from behind the tree behind her. She stumbled back and tripped over a root, falling to the ground.
Spoke stared down at her, head tilted slightly, face impassive. Then, surprisingly, he bent down and held out a hand.
Mid slowly took it. What is going on? What’s he even doing here? Part of her wondered if it was some kind of hallucination, but Spoke’s hand certainly felt real. Maybe the berries were hallucinogenic?
“What are you doing out here?” Spoke asked.
“I’m… on vacation with Zam,” Mid said, her shock over the situation leading to the words falling from her mouth before she could properly think them through. No! Now he knows Zam is here!
Sure enough, Spoke’s mouth split into a wide grin that didn’t reach his eyes, although it did make them narrow. “Oh, he is? That’s amazing! Do you know where he is right now?”
“No,” Mid said, and she grabbed Spoke’s sleeve as he turned away, just above his diamond vambrace. “And you’re not going after him.”
Spoke slowly turned around. His smile made Mid shiver; it was far too wide and seemed almost pasted onto his face, not shrinking even as he spoke. “Are you going to stop me?”
Mid wanted to say no. And she also thought Zam could take Spoke in a fight. But if he got the jump on the prince like he had on Mid… “Yes.”
Surprisingly, Spoke didn’t try to attack. I have more hearts than him, I’m pretty sure. But she was still scared. I could scream. But would Zam get here in time - and even if he did, wouldn’t that just cause more problems? Knowing Spoke, he’d still try to attack. Or at least kill me to get my heart.
“I want you to do something for me,” Spoke said.
Mid blinked, surprised. Spoke’s smile had faded somewhat. “What… do you want?”
“I want you to blow up the Poggies’ base.”
Mid blinked again. …Not what I was expecting. “Aren’t you guys allies?”
“Allies?” Spoke shook his head vehemently, grin widening. “What would make you think that? Roshambo killed me at your prom, Parrot betrayed us when he disbanded the Poggies, and Rekrap-” Spoke abruptly cut off, looking momentarily confused, then continued. “-betrayed me when he sided with Jumper!”
“Who’s Jumper?” Mid asked. Did someone new spawn in? And why would Spoke have saved the rest of the Poggies just earlier today if they all betrayed him? She was starting to think there was something wrong with Spoke.
Apparently he hadn’t liked her question, for he suddenly spun around and slammed her against a tree trunk, pinning her in place. “You’re an enemy too! I want to kill you! But… I can use you. You want to be useful, right? You want me to not kill you?”
Mid nodded, eyes wide. There was no knowing what Spoke might do.
Spoke nodded too, very quickly. “Then I want you to go to their base and destroy it!”
“Where’s their base?” Mid asked, deciding it was better to play along for now.
Spoke rattled off the coordinates. Mid’s eyes widened - we would never have found them that far north. “It’s in a little cave,” Spoke said. “Just sneak in and set off some dynamite in the entrance or something.”
“Why can’t you just do it yourself?” Mid asked, instantly regretting herself as she realized that might anger Spoke, and she didn’t want to anger someone who was clearly already volatile.
Spoke just frowned, a tiny crease appearing between his eyebrows. “I don’t…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter! Just do it or else I’m going to blow up your tower - and all of spawn!”
“Hey!” somebody shouted - Zam. Spoke spun around, stepping away from Mid, letting her see Zam charging towards them. But he was still at least forty feet away.
Spoke whipped his head around, grin still locked in place. “Sorry, Mid!” He drew his sword and slashed twice at her before flinging an ender pearl.
Zam had a pearl of his own in hand before he noticed Mid staggering, both hands pressed against her side. “Shit, Mid, are you okay?”
He caught her right before she could fall. Dimly, she wondered why he was staying with her instead of going after Spoke, but it seemed like a lot of work to think about such things right now. Why bother, when I can just… rest…
Some kind of liquid touched her lips and she parted them slightly, if only to ask what was going on, and the liquid trickled down her throat. Some of the shock and pain faded, and she groaned softly, straightening up.
Zam handed her the potion - red, so health - and pulled out a regeneration one. “Are you okay?” he repeated, voiced weighed down with worry. “What was Spoke doing here?”
“He wanted something,” Mid said, her words slurred slightly. “To… blow up the Poggies’ base?”
“What?”
Mid nodded slowly, taking a drink of the health potion. “Yeah. He gave me coordinates… I think I remember them. He said they’re in a cave.”
“Why would he want us to blow up his team’s base?” Zam wondered. “Unless it’s a trap - oh my god!” He grabbed her other hand as she brought it up to grasp the health potion.
Mid looked down and her eyes widened as she realized that one of Spoke’s swings had taken off most of her pinky and index finger and the tip of her middle finger on her left hand.
Zam held her hand, surprisingly gentle, then stood up, hand moving to the hilt of his own sword. “Which way did he go?”
“I didn’t see,” Mid lied. She had, in fact, but she didn’t want Zam running off on another pointless chase. This was supposed to be our nice vacation. To take a break from all the chaos for a bit. “Stay,” she added. She felt a little bad about lying to stop him from leaving, and she’d added the last part mostly for the same reason - but part of her wanted him to stay as well. The fear she’d felt seeing him just a few hours ago had faded, replaced only with fear of what might happen to him if he went off on hunting Spoke for revenge.
Zam sighed, peering around to check her side, the site of her other wound. Blood still stained the black part of her sweatshirt, but when Zam gently touched the spot and she didn’t feel any pain, she knew the health potion had done its job.
Zam held out his hand and Mid accepted it, letting him lift her to her feet. Together they walked back towards the cabin, following the sound of running water from the creek nearby.
Zam never dropped Mid’s hand. And she didn’t pull away. And halfway along the way, he finally pulled off his mask.
It was just starting to get dark when they made it back home. Unfortunately, neither of them had gotten that much food, and nothing besides berries. Zam pulled out the chair at the desk for Mid, who shook her head at first but accepted when he resolutely sat down on the ground.
She reached for the berries with her left hand and was slightly surprised when she fumbled. Ah. This… is going to take some getting used to. She knew that if she died, any injuries she had would be healed, and that extended to missing limbs. But she didn’t exactly feel like killing herself to solve a minor inconvenience (besides, she didn’t know if she’d keep her heart if she killed herself) and she didn’t want to force Zam to do it either.
“Are we heading back home tomorrow?” she asked, mostly to distract herself. “Or do you want to stay here for a few more days?”
Zam shrugged, rolling a berry between his fingers. “I guess.”
“We don’t have to,” Mid said. “It might be nice to stay here for a while.” She glanced out the window; although it was dirty, she could still see the treetops outside. “You picked a nice place to build a cabin.”
Zam’s lips twitched into a small, brief smile, as they seemed to do so often now. “It is pretty, isn’t it?”
Mid nodded, and they lapsed back into silence.
“Should we do something about Spoke?” Zam asked after a minute or so.
Mid startled; even though she was using her right hand now, a berry still slipped from her fingers. “I guess so. I just… what do we do? Listen to him? I mean, he said he was going to blow up our tower if I didn’t…”
“He can’t blow it up if there’s always someone there,” Zam pointed out, voice growing louder.
“But we’re not always there,” Mid said. “And even if we were, he’d probably figure out how to make a dynamite launcher - like one of those weird cupcake guns they had before.”
“Well, maybe they’ve forgotten since they’re out of the redstone,” Zam suggested. He’d taken great pleasure in crushing the seven strange guns they’d found among the Poggies’ belongings after their battle.
“Yeah, but Parrot never lost his,” Mid said. “At least, I don’t think so - I don’t see why he’d jump in the void if he still had them in his backpack.”
“I still don’t even know how they made them,” Zam said, frustration clear in his voice.
Mid sighed. “We shouldn’t be talking about this stuff. This is our vacation, remember? We can worry about Spoke and the Poggies and Team Aegis and whatever once we go back home.”
Zam crushed a berry in between his fingers, then delicately dropped the mangled thing into his mouth. “Sure,” he said, unconvincingly.
They spent another two days at the vacation house. While they had to spend more time than Mid would have liked gathering food, she also managed to convince Zam to help decorate the house. He actually seemed to be enjoying himself by the end, leaning several twisted sticks together into a strange, sort of chandelier-looking thing on the desk. They also added floorboards, Zam lifting up the bed, desk, and chest so that Mid could slide thin boards of wood under them, and by the end the cabin was beautiful. Carefully transplanted flowers growing outside, a clean floor with more flowers inside, and a second bed for Mid to sleep in.
The second night, however, they decided they would leave in the morning. Mid didn’t particularly want to, and Zam didn’t either, which was almost enough to make Mid want to leave Leo and Pierce to their own devices and stay there forever, away from all the conflict - but she knew that wasn’t a viable option. If we don’t do what Spoke wants, he’ll come looking for us at some point. And if he didn’t find us anywhere, he’d eventually come back to the spot he last saw us, and find this place.
At least this way, we can come back at some point. Mid sighed as they walked away from the cabin, the sun shining annoyingly bright off to their right.
“You okay?” Zam asked from her side.
She nodded. “I just… honestly, I don’t want to go back.”
“We don’t have to,” Zam said. “We could stay.” He groaned. “No, we can’t. Fucking Spoke would come and ruin it.”
Mid nodded. “We have to do something about them first.” Going on the offensive? We tried being peaceful after they disbanded and it led to a massive battle and Spoke trapping his own ally just to kill Clown Pierce.
Zam let out a slight chuckle. “Then again, Spoke’s literally handed us the chance to blow up their base - assuming it’s not a trap of some kind.”
“It has to be,” Mid said. “Why else would he just give us their base coordinates?”
“Maybe…” Zam sighed. “I don’t know. It’s probably a trap of some kind. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t at least go check things out, on the off chance it isn’t.”
“Spoke seemed pretty… weird,” Mid said. ‘Weird’ didn’t do it justice, but she couldn’t think how else to explain it. “He was… he kept switching between doing this big fake grin and excited voice to being quiet and more serious.”
“Maybe he’s just going insane,” Zam suggested, seeming delighted by the thought. Mid personally didn’t understand the appeal. If he’s going insane, that just makes him that much more dangerous. “Anyway, do you remember the coordinates Spoke gave you?”
Mid nodded. “Not exactly, but around x five hundred, z negative four thousand.”
Zam’s eyes widened. “Wow, they went way up north. We’d never have found that on our own.”
And Spoke has to have known that. So why did he give us the coordinates…?
Finally, M.o.B. tower came into sight, and as the two drew closer, a shape rose on the roof to wave at them.
Zam rolled his eyes. “Hey, Leo.”
“So great to see you again,” Leo called down. “Mid, I mean.”
Mid rolled her eyes as well. Zam and Leo had been bickering for as long as she had known them, but she thought it might have progressed to more good-natured mockery rather than genuine annoyance at the other’s existence. Besides, if Zam’s still doing that, he’s okay. “Is Pierce here?” she asked.
Leo took a second before responding. “No, he’s not. Sorry - I still haven’t gotten used to you calling him that.”
“It’s a habit,” Mid said. “Besides, ‘Clown’ is just a weird name.”
“And ‘Midmysticx’ isn’t?” Leo asked.
“It’s not my real name,” Mid said.
“Then what is?”
“It’s-” Mid hesitated. She wasn’t sure why - but now she found that she couldn’t remember what her name was. Didn’t it start with an S…? “It doesn’t matter.”
“We met Spoke,” Zam interjected.
Leo was silent again, and then he pearled down to the ground. “Tell me about it.”
Zam started off, talking about the cabin, then let Mid take over to describe her encounter with Spoke, and then he finished it off by sharing their theories and suspicions.
“I’m surprised he didn’t just kill you,” Leo said to Mid once they were finished. “Sounds like he had the advantage - you didn’t even know he was there.”
“He only attacked me when Zam showed up,” Mid said. “I guess he was trying to buy time to escape.” She shrugged slightly. “It worked.”
Leo nodded slowly. “Why’d he give up the coords to his own base, though…? It has to be a trap - otherwise it makes no sense. Or else he’s just trying to waste our time. But if it is a trap, then if we go we could maybe turn it around and attack them - unless it’s just something using an observer or something - but even that would probably have no effect if we all just drank regen potions or ate golden apples.” He nodded again. “We probably should go. Clown’s in the Nether getting blackstone - and whining about it - but he should be back soon and then we can go.”
“Actually,” Mid said. “I want to do something else to get ready.”
“Oh, yeah? What?”
“Remember those creeper farms you mentioned seeing by the Poggies’ mountain base, Zam?” Mid asked.
Zam’s eyes widened. “No - but now I do! I should have destroyed them - that means the Poggies have had access to them for months now…”
“Well, it’s a good thing you didn’t,” Mid said. “I want to use them.”
Zam stared at her for a second, then grinned. “You’re getting devious! Yeah - let’s fucking blow them all up!”
“I don’t think any of them are just gonna stand there and let you throw dynamite at them,” Leo interjected.
Zam dismissed that with a wave of his hand. “Yeah, but we could use it to flush them out if they were hiding behind anything - or just fling it into their cave instead of going in ourselves.”
“We’d risk destroying valuables,” Leo warned. “If there even are any - if this is a trap, they wouldn’t actually store things there, just in case we escaped. They might put a chest or two there, just to make things look real, though. I like this plan.”
“Well, we have to do it now that we have Leowook’s stamp of approval,” Zam said.
“We’ll probably want to get Clown, in case it turns into a fight,” Leo said thoughtfully.
“We can all fight,” Mid said. “I know Pierce is the best, and we should still probably have him… but we can all fight.”
Zam nodded, an eager grin on his face. “I could take Spoke in a one-on-one duel.”
“We don’t want to have one-on-one duels,” Leo said. “The best strategy would be to gang up on a single one of them at a time and pick them off like that.”
“So, should we wait for Clown and go after that?” Zam asked. “Mid, I actually think we have some gunpowder in one of the chests in the tower, if you want to go check - or I can, if you want.”
“I’ll do it,” Mid said, grateful for the distraction; her left hand was hurting, as it had been for brief periods of time over the last two days.
Mid almost reminded him about her dynamite plans… but then she decided against it. If it’s a trap, if it’s not an actual fight, we wouldn’t want to give away our secret - otherwise the Poggies would probably destroy the creeper farms themselves so we can’t use them anymore. So instead, she nodded, and that was that.
Clown Pierce came out of the Nether an hour later bearing blackstone. He found the rest of his team waiting for him, and after a quick explanation he set the blackstone aside and they started their journey.
It only took a few hours to see hills rising out of the ground, some tall enough to be considered miniature mountains. They were still about two hundred meters south, but Mid guessed that the cave Spoke had mentioned was in one of the taller hills.
Leo took a drink of an invisibility potion, then passed it to Zam, then Pierce, and finally Mid. It would at least conceal their identities, although their armor was a giveaway that at least someone was present, and Mid was pretty sure the Poggies would know it was M.o.B. anyway, but Leo had been insistent.
“What’s wrong with your hand?” Pierce asked as Mid took the vial.
Mid startled. She was used to grabbing things with her left hand - two days hadn’t been enough to stop that habit - and she had just done so. There wasn’t really a reason not to tell them, other than it would cause unnecessary delay and she didn’t want to see everyone’s concern/anger.
She’d hesitated too long; Pierce reached out and took her hand in his own. He said nothing, merely stared at it for several seconds before looking up at her, face unreadable as always. “I’m sorry,” he said simply.
Leo, meanwhile, had let out a small gasp when he saw the missing fingers, but now he just looked angry. “That was Spoke, I guess?”
Mid nodded, pulling her hand away from Pierce. “Yeah. But it’s fine. It doesn’t actually hurt. And I still have another hand.” And I don’t want you to worry. It was still weird to look down and find half her fingers missing, or reach for something and nearly drop it when she should have been able to easily hold it, or be standing around doing nothing and feel painful tingles.
Zam, who had been staring at her hand with almost uncomfortable intensity, finally blinked. “Well,” he said, lifting his sword, “I think it’s time to go either kill some people or at least foil their trap.” And he flung an ender pearl towards the hills, followed by Leo. Pierce waited for Mid to drink the invisibility potion, and the two of them joined Leo and Zam.
“I don’t see anyone around,” Leo whispered, crouched behind a rock, peering towards the cave in the opposite hill.
“Then it’s probably a normal trap,” Mid responded. “Want me to get the dynamite?” She’d managed to make two sticks of it while they were waiting for Pierce to get back, using gunpowder from a chest and sand from the nearby river.
“Give one to me,” Leo said. “In case someone’s hiding with a bow, if one of us dies the other can still set off one stick.”
“Can you stop talking about us dying?” Zam asked annoyedly.
“It’s a real possibility,” Leo said.
“I’m well aware; I’m on eight hearts. But that doesn’t mean we need to be reminded of it constantly!”
Mid cut their argument off by slapping one stick of dynamite into where she thought Leo’s hand was and pearling down to the cave. It was reckless, but she was tired of listening to them, and waiting an extra thirty seconds probably wouldn’t change the outcome, whatever it might be.
Fortunately, she did not die, and someone else joined her a few seconds later. They both peered into the cave; some sunlight filtered in, but the strange shape made it hard to see too far back.
“Wanna just set it off right at the front?” whispered the invisible figure: Leo.
Mid nodded. She could see a few chests, but she guessed they were decoys, or potentially even traps themselves. And on the very slim chance they do contain valuables, at least they’ll be buried or destroyed so the Poggies can’t use them.
The two lit their sticks of dynamite, then tossed them to the floor and pearled away. Mid landed and turned just in time to see the explosions. Rocks cracked and dropped to the ground, dust mixing with smoke and collapsing most of the entrance to the cave.
“Oh, that feels good!” Zam’s voice was filled with glee; Mid guessed he was grinning, even if she couldn’t see his face. “I wish we could have killed someone, though.”
“Yeah, it’s weird,” Leo said, not sounding anywhere near as happy. “It doesn’t seem like there’s any kind of trap. I guess… it could be that Spoke found somebody else’s base and decided to send us to blow it up… but he could accomplish that himself. And there’s nobody here, so it’s not like it would even work to frame us. If anything, people will suspect Spoke anyway, just because of how unhinged he’s been.”
“You could have stopped at ‘it’s weird’,” Zam said.
“Now, now, don’t argue,” Pierce said. “Arguing is bad. If you have a disagreement, simply kill each other.”
“You don’t need to encourage that!” Mid cried; knowing Zam and Leo, there was a fair chance they’d go for it.
“Fine, I won’t kill Leo,” Zam said sulkily.
“Thank you,” Mid said.
“Unless he wants me to,” Zam finished.
“Go right ahead,” Leo said. “Once we get home, anyway. It’s been a long time since we’ve sparred anyway.”
“Just make sure to give the heart back once one of you kills the other,” Pierce said.
Mid sighed. Well, I guess Zam’s doing better, at least. Threatening to kill his teammate instead of constantly raging against the Poggies was an improvement for Zam.
