Chapter Text
That silent “I’m sorry” meant nothing to Mapicc. Spoke knew. He knew it meant nothing. Mapicc had slashed him multiple times with his sword. Under his shirt were rows of bandages, slightly red with blood. Null’s cage for him, a dark, obsidian box filled with wardens and elder guardians in the walls, was impossible to escape. He tried breaking the obsidian with his fist, but halfway his hands would start to hurt from punching it too much. The room only had a bed and chest, nothing else. In that chest were stacks of bread and steak. That was it. That was all Null was willing to give to him.
“Mapicc..” Spoke mumbled to himself. “Mapicc please…” His voice was quiet and shaky. He felt his throat tighten and his vision began to blur. He was truly a lost cause. He could remember Mapicc’s eyes widening when he had popped his totem; when his invisibility was revealed. He remembered Jumper trying to convince him not to use the spies as soldiers against Null, and yet he still persisted, betraying her trust like how Leowook did.
“Still sulking in there? You’re hopeless without your items. Now you can’t hurt anyone. You can’t hurt the server, and you most definitely can’t hurt yourself even more now.” Jamato stepped into the room, followed by three Null guards. One of them was carrying a few stacks of steak and wheat in their hands to replenish Spoke’s food supply. The other two carried swords, enchanted Netherite swords, that could easily kill Spoke in two hits. “Desperate to get your best ‘friend’ back again?”
“What have you done to him..!?” Spoke stood up from the bed, fists clenched and voice shaky with tears. He felt his chest tighten with anger. His legs started to shake.
“He’s fine. Stuck in his own jail cell right next to Jumper’s.” Jamato took a step closer to Spoke, his hand moving to his sword, an enchanted Netherite sword, on his hip. Spoke just stood there, his legs still shaking. “Don’t bother worrying about them. They couldn’t care less about you. They hate you.”
“But—”
“But what? They’re gone.”
“..No..”
“Are you really shocked at that after you betrayed them?”
“Did you kill them..?” A few tears swelled up in Spoke’s eyes. The thought of Mapicc and Jumper’s bodies rotting away somewhere in Null’s cages was too much for him.
“Didn’t I just tell you they were fine?” Jamato raised an eyebrow as he saw the tears dripping from Spoke’s eyes.
“‘He’s fine’ could be a lie. You could just be lying to me about him being alive and that you actually killed them—”
“Spoke. You are the only one who lies here.” Jamato stepped closer towards Spoke; he was now about a shoulder away from Spoke. His hand grabbed Spoke’s chin, his grip harsh, and lifted his chin up, turning it left and right, inspecting Spoke’s face covered in tears. “Eat. You have been sulking for too long. You can barely stand on your own. Don’t tell me you’ve been starving yourself in hopes to die, huh?” Jamato dropped his chin and turned to his guards, signaling that it was time for them to leave now. One of them immediately entered a keycard into a hidden dispenser that Spoke had never noticed until now. The iron door swung open, making a metallic clash when it hit the wall. Jamato and the three guards walked out. Spoke saw Jamato glancing at him one last time before the door slammed shut and locked.
“They’re gone..” Spoke dropped back on his bed, his legs unable to hold him any longer. Jamato was right. Spoke hasn’t eaten anything all day. His stomach was growling constantly and his head felt light. He slowly reached for the chest, which was conveniently right next to the bed, and pushed the top opened. He reached inside, grabbing a few pieces of bread and steak. He then ate until his stomach finally went silent. The rest of his food went back into the chest. “Just go to sleep, Spoke. Just go to sleep.” He took off his shirt, tossing it on top of the chest. His hand roamed around his bandaged chest. The wounds still hurt, he felt a sharp pain throb in his chest when his hand roamed over a certain area. He flopped down on the bed and pulled the covers onto himself. He stared up at the ceiling listening to the heartbeats of the wardens. That heartbeat reminded him of Mapicc, specifically when they were running here and there, destroying farms, laughing like children at the park. Stop it. Stop thinking of Mapicc. Just go to sleep, Spoke.
A few minutes passed. Spoke had drifted asleep. His body almost sprawled out on the bed with the blanket almost thrown off of his body. It would just be another normal night in Null; another night being a prisoner of his archenemy.
…
Someone was inside Null’s base, yet no one had sounded the alarms. The grayish invisibility particles lingered within the dark corridors near the cell sections. In section C of the cell sections, Mapicc sat down on his bed with an upset expression on his face, staring at the wall across from him. Next to his cell, Jumperwho sat on her bed, staring at the floor of the cell. Her rabbit ears suddenly twitched; there was a footstep, then another. Maybe it was Mapicc just walking around his cell? “Mapicc, can you sit down bro?”
“Huh? I’m literally sitting down, bro.” Mapicc snapped out of his thoughts, raising a brow at Jumper’s question. He pushed himself off his bed, walking towards the bars of his cell and glancing, with the corners of his eyes, towards Jumper’s cell next to his.
“I must be hearing things then.” Jumper got up from her bed and also went to the bars of her cell to peer out into the section. She glanced around the section, peering into the other cells. All the other captives were snoozing in their beds; some were sprawled out all over the bed, maybe even the floor, while others were buried under their red blankets. So far, she saw no signs of movement and the only sounds that filled the room were snores and the rustling of sheets. “There’s nothing, so far.”
“Jumper, you might just be dizzy from the mining fatigue.” Mapicc sighed before walking back to his bed and flopping on it. He yawns as he pulls the blanket over himself. Jumper glanced around the room again. There were invisibility particles coming from a corridor. Someone was wandering the halls after the evening procedures. Jumper looked again, her eyes squinting at the particles. It clearly wasn’t a guard because Null guards would have pitch black skins with those unreadable usernames. They wouldn’t need to go invisible, even on night patrol.
“Mapicc?” Jumper said. “Mapicc, are you awake?” His response was a snore. Jumper just sighed and intensely watched the particles move to another part of the corridor. Who could that be and why were they here? “Mapicc.” She called him again. “Mapicc!”
“What!? What!? Ughhh..” Mapicc groaned as he haphazardly pushed the blanket off of him. “What the fuck could you possibly want right now, Jumper?” He pushed himself upright, slouching his back against the walls. “It’s literally like midnight right now, bro. Can’t I just sleep?”
“Get up bro. There’s someone in the corridors.”
“What? Like a guard or something?”
“There’s an invis player.”
“Huh..? Wait, what..!?” Mapicc jumped out of his bed at Jumper’s words. “Wait, maybe someone’s here to get us out!” On the day Mapicc and Jumper were captured, it was May 8th, now it was May 21st, about two weeks ago they were captured.
“Dude, who do we even have left to save us?” Jumper gripped the bars of her cell. The particles were moving slowly past the corridor. Either the person was trying to not alert the alarm systems or noticed Jumper and Mapicc watching them.
“Should we call them over?” Mapicc leaned onto the bars of his cell, trying to not stumble and fall asleep.
“Dude, are you crazy?” Jumper turned her head towards Mapicc’s cell. “We don’t even know who that is.”
“Worth a shot.” Mapicc shrugged his shoulders, yawning again. “You know, it’s better to take the opportunity when you have it.”
“This person might kill us!—”
“Jumper?”
Jumper and Mapicc froze. That voice. It was familiar. They definitely heard it before.
“It’s me, Parrot.”
Jumper snapped her head to the bars of her cell, where she saw Parrot, wearing some battered enchanted diamond armor, standing there in front of her and Mapicc’s cells. “Parrot..!? When did you get here?”
“Long story. It took a while having to track down some Null guards in order to find this place.” Parrot rubbed his left eye gently. There were dark circles under his eyes; he probably didn’t sleep for days wandering the farlands to find this place. “Why are you two here?”
“Isn’t it obvious? We got captured by Null!” Mapicc said. “The more important question is why are you here, Parrot.”
“Yeah, what’s going on on the surface that you gotta come here?” Jumper nodded and added onto Mapicc’s question. “Did you finally acknowledge our concerns about Null?”
“Uh.. Actually, I’m here for a different reason,” Parrot muttered, “I’m here out of desperation.”
“Desperation..?” Jumper raised an eyebrow. “Parrot, what’s going on?”
“You see, there’s been a civil war happening on the surface.” Parrot sighed, shaking his head at the thought. “My army’s losing and the odds have turned against me.”
“Wait, can’t you just get like Flamefrags or Wemmbu or even MinuteTech or—or Clownpierce to like—help you win the war?” Mapicc took his hand off the bars and crossed his head, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow.
“That’s the thing, both Wemmbu and Flamefrags are against me.”
“..What..!?” Mapicc and Jumper’s eyes shot wide. “Both of them are against you!?—”
“Quiet down! You’ll get me caught!” Parrot shushed them. “Look, I needed someone I could easily convince to help me in the war, but wouldn’t be completely useless.. So as a last, bad, resort.. I decided to go find Spoke.”
“..Spoke..?” Mapicc’s eyes rolled at the mention of Spoke’s name while Jumper just nervously looked at the ground. “Why are you after him of all people? Just go for Clownpierce bro.”
“Clownpierce is way too hard to convince, Mapicc, that’s the struggle. I need to get help fast.” Parrot explained. “And, I’m very low on resources right now, so if he demands something, I can’t get it.”
“Dude, Spoke is a liar, he’s a manipulator!” Mapicc lashed out at Parrot. “Helping him will only get you hurt!”
“Mapicc, I’m going to get hurt anyway.” Parrot’s eyes locked onto Mapicc’s angry ones. “Why should I not rescue him?”
“Well because—!”
“Mapicc.” Jumper cuts him off with a stern command. “Let him rescue Spoke. If we keep questioning him, we might get him caught.”
“Tch.. Fine..” Mapicc gritted his teeth. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Parrot.”
“Well then. I’ll see you two later.” Parrot’s hand moved to the potion of invisibility on his hips, unattaching it from his belt, before chugging it and putting the empty bottle back on his belt.
…
Spoke was still hopeless sprawled out on his bed; blankets thrown off of the bed, shirt still tossed over the top of his food chest. The room was filled with the occasional sounds of soft snores, rustling of the sheets, the heartbeat of the wardens, and whatever else was put into the walls of Spoke’s cell.
He was dreaming of a blue sky, green grass, and Mapicc and Jumper. He dreamed of them running around the server, causing chaos like blowing up dupe farms, building secret bases in other people’s bases, or even fighting Jamato. It was all so perfect. His mouth formed a small, unconscious smile. He could see himself laughing with Mapicc and Jumper. Please, let him be in another life where it never ended the way this life did. Please, if there was someone above who could save him.. “Spoke, wake up.”
“Hu-huh..!?” Spoke jolted awake, his eyes snapped open and his chest tightened, causing a sharp pain to throb in his chest. He winced before sitting up slowly, one hand on his chest. “Who’s there..?”
“Spoke, get up.” It was Parrot, standing in the dark room with his sword in his hand. “We need to go, Spoke.”
“Parrot..?” Spoke’s eyes widened. Out of everyone, he didn’t expect Parrot to enter his cell. “I thought you were Jamato, what are you doing here?”
“Look, Jumper and Mapicc took much of my time, so I can’t give you a full explanation now.” Parrot glanced back at the door. It was still shut and he heard no footsteps outside. “I need you to help me win a war.”
“Win a war..?” Spoke’s eyes went even wider. His eyebrows raised high. “Parrot, why is there a war and why the hell am I your choice to help you win this war? Can’t you just like.. get Clownpierce, or-or Wemmbu, Flamefrags, hell even MinuteTech! Why me!? And wait, did you also just say Mapicc and Jumper!?—”
“Spoke, both Flamefrags and Wemmbu are against me, and I am unable to convince Clownpierce or find MinuteTech!” Parrot lashed out at Spoke, causing him to recoil back at Parrot’s tone. “Spoke, I am not just in a war, I am in a civil war and I am losing! You were the first person that came up in my mind after I knocked Clownpierce and MinuteTech off the list.”
“Okay, okay. I get it. I’m your last hope, aren’t I?” Spoke took a deep, slow breath; his brain working overtime to process all the information that Parrot just dumped onto him. “What made you.. consider me as your last hope? I mean.. I never really helped you with many things, and I even manipulated you into chunkbanning your own friend and..and going on a gruesome journey just for me to reveal that it was a prank.”
“Look. I know what you’ve done in the past. I know what your prank did to Wifies and I.. I can forgive you for that right now.” Parrot looked down at the ground to the right of him, his eyes refusing to meet Spoke’s own after hearing that. He crossed his arms, sighing deeply. “Spoke. I want you to know that I desperately need help. I picked you, even if you weren’t the best choice, because I knew you were good at traps and.. Manipulation. If I could get someone who could.. I don’t know, trick Cindercrest members into deadly traps, then maybe I could have a chance at winning this war.”
“..Cindercrest..?” Spoke dropped his hand down from his chest. He looked at Parrot’s eyes. There were slight tears in them that wanted to drip onto his cheek. He must’ve brought back very bad memories when he mentioned Wifies unknowingly.
“It’s.. the name of the army against me, and they’re winning by a large number.” Parrot tilted his chin upwards, letting his tears fall back into his eyes. “Please, Spoke, I need you to help me. Not only is my throne and kingdom on the line, but so is my life. Please, Spoke, I need your help desperately.”
“What about Mapicc and Jumper? What about—”
“Look, it may hurt today, but tomorrow you must head your way and move on. You can’t just linger in the past without doing anything for the future, Spoke.” Parrot grabbed his shoulder, his grip tense but not too harsh. “You have to accept it, Spoke. You must move on.”
“..Fine.. I’ll help you.” Spoke reached for his shirt that was tossed on the top of his food chest before sliding it on. “There’s some stacks of bread and steak in that chest. You got armor, Parrot?” He pushed himself off the bed, slipping on his shoes which he almost forgot about and stretched his arms a bit. Parrot placed an ender chest down, letting Spoke open it up and grab some gear. Parrot then proceeded to lift the chest next to Spoke’s bed, grabbing the remaining stacks of steak and bread. He needed all the supplies he could get.
“Are you geared up?” Parrot broke the ender chest and put it back into his inventory. Spoke nodded; he was now armored up in full diamond armor with a diamond sword attached to his belt. “Come on, let’s go.” Parrot turned around to leave, before Spoke suddenly grabbed his arm.
“Wait, Parrot.” Spoke gently pulled him back.
“Yeah, Spoke?” Parrot stopped and turned his head to face him.
“Thanks.” Spoke quietly muttered. “You know, you’re the one who doesn’t see me as a bad person. I know that I fucked up and.. I honestly appreciate you giving me a chance to redeem myself.. You’re kinda like my hero right now.”
Parrot smiled at Spoke’s gratitude. “You’re not all that bad. Come on, let’s get going.” Spoke smiled back. Parrot splashed a potion of invisibility onto both of them before they snuck out of the cell through the iron door. Maybe there was a fragment of hope left for him. Maybe he wasn’t truly the lost cause he’d thought he'd be.
…
“Alright. Guards, did you get the food restock?” Jamato asked the three guards that usually accompanied him to check up on Spoke daily. The guards nodded, one of them was openly carrying the stacks of steak and bread.
The moment Jamato entered the cell, he immediately noticed the lack of Spoke’s sulking presence. The bed was messy, sheets rustled and blankets tossed onto the floor, and empty. Spoke wasn’t in the room. There was no sign of him being anyway in it. Jamato raised an eyebrow. “Guards, check the chest.” One guard nodded and immediately lifted the top open. The chest was completely empty.
“Chest’s empty, sir.” The guard yelled out. Jamato’s eyes narrowed as he inspected the sheets. Either Spoke had gotten out on his own somehow, or someone had gone out of their way to release a monster back into the server.
“Guards. Go get Mapicc and Jumper. I need a few words with them.” The guards nodded and left the cell immediately, leaving Jamato alone in the cell. “Spoke, no matter if you escaped or someone came and bailed you out.. I will find you.. And I will prevent you from hurting the server any longer.”