About a week and a half earlier...
It was decidedly not a beautiful night. Clouds covered the sky, and they were not holding back as torrential rain pounded down on a small cat, with the occasional flash of lightning and boom of thunder. Ugh, she was cold. And wet. And it had taken her forever to get away from Scar. He simply would not stop fussing over her. Oh, would she stop wondering off? Was she acting normal? Oh, would it kill her to just stay with Scar? It got very annoying very quickly. Jellie must've loved the attention, though. In Citrus's faded memories, she could very distinctly feel the absolute warmth towards the wizard that the cat felt.
It was disgusting.
Almost as disgusting as her fur being absolutely soaked in this rain.
Finally, she made it. Luckily, the bright Nether portal was like a beacon through the hazy rain. Leaping through the purple mist, Citrus landed in the Nether and shook her fur out. The portal always messed up her fur; it was quite annoying, actually. Not only did she have to deal with simply awful vertigo, but she had to worry about cleaning her fur after as well? Absolutely terrible. Plus, the Nether was just, so hot. Well, that made sense, but it didn't mean she had to like it. At least the rainwater nearly immediately evaporated. The one good thing to come of this.
It wasn't like Citrus herself cared about being too perfectly tidy, but surely it might get suspicious if Scar were to notice his generally lazy cat being all scuffed up. Oh, the things she did for this job.
Soon enough, Citrus made it back to her home, wet again. After brushing away bits and bobs with her tail, the button to let her in was soon uncovered. It was so simple, yet so effective. The cat would be surprised about the sheer lack of people discovering it-- zero-- if she hadn't witnessed the Hermits' level of competency several times firstpaw. It was sad. She pressed the button with her paw and leaped back to the floor, where the staircase revealed itself. After a quick glance to ensure no one was following her, and a quick shake to get some of the water out, the cat ducked into the bunker, which soon closed back up behind her.
Why were these stairs so long? Of course, Citrus had no trouble traveling down them-- she could see in the dark just fine, thank you-- but it was just an annoyance, to say the least. After what felt like hours, a bright glow shone from the bottom of the staircase, signifying that the lab was right there. And who should be waiting there but Sage, writing something in a notebook of his on the couch next to Jellie's old cell. Citrus jumped up onto the cell that used to hold that cat-- since then, she had been transferred to Mumbo's, as being solitary was probably boring. They weren't monsters, after all. Or, at least, Sage wasn't, given that it was his idea. Good for him. Citrus probably would've just left Jellie in there.
After quickly grooming down her fur as well as she could, the cat set her sights on Sage. "Hey, Sage," she called over to the definitely-not-a-clone, who seemingly had not noticed her presence in the slightest. "Sage, Sage, what're you doing? Hey, hey, Sage." Her cooing was likely incredibly annoying to everyone but her. Especially to Sage. Either he was ignoring her or he was just oblivious, for he neglected to even acknowledge her. "Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaage." Having decidedly no other options, the cat walked gingerly up to the edge of the cell and leaped onto the arm of the couch. She then proceeded to whack Sage in the face with her-- still slightly wet-- paw.
"Jeez!" Haha, there it is. Sage turned to her, annoyance present on every feature of his face. "If you must know, I'm strategizing. You know, because I have actually important things to do," he explained, wiping the water off of his nose. Then, a small smile crept onto his face. "This should, in theory, be easier than I thought. It turns out, these Hermits are all idiots." Sage sat back, seemingly pleased with himself. If everyone had his self-confidence, the world would probably be burning down constantly. "I just need to take out one, and the rest should follow suit."
Citrus's eyes went wide. "Oooh, murder?" Her voice twinged with obvious excitement. Sage was such a boring person-- he 'refused to hurt anyone more than needed'-- so hearing that was unexpected. Her tail swished. "Can I help?" Not that her job was already super important, but this sounded like it might be more fun than pretending to be a spoiled kitten.
But her hopes were immediately squashed. "Wh- no! I'm not killing anyone," Sage immediately yelped. Digging his fingertips into his forehead, the faux-Hermit muttered, "Jeez, is that all you think about?" ...Did he think that Citrus couldn't hear him? No, he probably knew she could hear full well. "No, it's... no. Just no." And that was apparently that, as he went back to scribbling in his notebook. His handwriting was equivalent to chicken scratch.
"Fine." The cat rolled her eyes, but still did not leave. After all, she wasn't just here to annoy Sage. Though she was quite good at that, and did it whenever she could. Honestly, Sage probably hated her, and he wouldn't be wrong in doing so. "Anyway, guess what I found out."
Reluctantly, Sage dog-eared his page in his notebook and set it aside. "Right, this. What is it?" He was clearly trying to seem uninterested but was failing miserably. "Anything of actual use?"
"Oh, yes," she assured the other. "Scar and the one that kills all the birds-"
"-Grian," Sage intervened, rolling his eyes. "His name is Grian."
Citrus chuckled. "Of course. Scar and Grian are coming over here in a few days to snoop around." Sage's eyes widened slightly, and the cat smirked. Who's job was important now? "Remember our plans to go visit Grumbot? It would be quite coincidental if we just happened to be there to notice the two idiots flying towards the base, wouldn't it?" Her tail swished mischievously, and she peered into Sage's amber eyes expectantly, looking for an answer.
And Sage did not disappoint. A smile ghosted his face. "Well, I just went over to Him last night, and He was rather adamant in His refusal... although..."
"I can be rather convincing," the cat finished. She purred, jumping back onto the cell. "So? How does that sound?"
After a moment, Sage grinned widely. Was this the first time he actually seemed to enjoy her company? Perhaps. "It sounds like you might not be so bad after all."
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Present day
Sage's POV-
There was a whoosh of an arrow, cutting off a panicked yelp. And then she was gone. Quite literally. A flurry of orange particles was all that was left of her, and those too quickly dissipated.
What.
What just happened.
It didn't quite register. In fact, nothing registered. The world faded away, and Sage's vision dimmed. He was hardly aware that he was now on the ground. Not a single word entered his mind. No, there was just a void there now. Was it raining? There was some liquid falling onto the ground from his face. He heard a whimper, and it seemed to grow louder. Who was that?
It was him. He was crying.
But he didn't feel sad. He didn't feel anything at all. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Sage was still. His body was still as a statue, kneeling on the ground, staring into nothingness. His mind was empty as well, devoid of any emotion, thought, or action. It was as if the entire world ceased to exist.
It lasted for thirty seconds, a minute, ten minutes, an hour, or years. Who could tell? When nothing was no longer anything, time was a measurement that wasn't real.
Slowly, slowly, things began to return. First, it was the sensation of the dirt and grass below him. Then, it was the cool breeze from the ocean, paired with the already chilly air, sending a chill down Sage's spine. Finally, it was a small trickle of emotion worming its way into his mind.
Rage.
Pure, overwhelming, insatiable rage.
Ha. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
The next moments were a blur. Sage raced through the sky, flying into trees, clouds, everything, but he didn't care. It didn't matter.
Sage, Iskall kno-
Citrus's last words echoed in Sage's ears. Iskall knows. He knows? So what? That didn't matter. Not anymore. Maybe it did. Maybe it should. But it didn't. The only thing that mattered was getting home and ending this once and for all. He cut through the air like a sword, firework after firework exploding behind him in colorful blasts. And yet, they hardly made it past the screaming silence clouding his ears.
Sage didn't bother covering the button back up. He briskly swept away everything covering it, then flew down the stairs, his feet barely catching him as he went. Get the sword. That was the only thing driving him. That's what he needed to do. That was the only thing driving him. He needed to get the sword.
The firth thing he was when he got down was Void's surprised face. "Sage-? You alright? Uh-" But Sage ignored his confused stammering, and instead turned towards the door. The puzzle burned its way into Sage's brain. The passcode. He couldn't remember. He fished around in his inventorial pouch for the paper. Where was it?
Where was it?
A thought stuck Sage like a bolt of lightning. He never got it back from Void. The entity whipped around, eyes wide. "Void, give me my passcode sheet back."
"Huh-? Oh, right." The admin stuck his hand into his pouch to pull it out, but froze. "Wait, Sage," he began slowly. "Why do you want it?" Even more slowly, the color draining from his face slightly, he added,
"Sage, where's Citrus?"
"Void. Give me. The sheet. Now," he growled, stepping forward. How dare Void question him? His vision swam. He didn't see Void anymore. No, he saw a weakling. A coward. Two small, scared, puppy eyes staring at him.
The coward backed away slightly, shaking his head. "No... Sage, something's wrong with you. Sit down," he was clearly trying to be forceful, but his voice shook, just ending up making him seem pathetic. Sage was hardly able to refrain himself from just taking the sheet back himself.
Was the room smaller than normal? It seemed that way. There was so little space now. So little space between Sage and Void, between Sage and the only thing keeping him away from the sword, between Sage and the outside world. And it was suffocating.
Silence was all that filled the room other than Sage's heavy breathing and his heart pounding in his chest. "...Fine," he hissed, to Void's obvious relief. But then, he turned around to face the door. "I'll just get it myself."
Sage didn't know how he broke through the iron door. It should've been impossible. There was no way that a singular ramming should've been able to bust it down. But wasn't today just full of surprises? The room was dark again, save for a singular item resting silently on a small table. It glowed purple, beckoning for someone to just pick it up and slash it against someone's flesh. It rested perfectly in Sage's grasp. It was made for him.
Void tried to stop him. Something about the sword not being ready yet, and Sage, what are you doing, and all that stuff. But Sage couldn't hear him. No... he wouldn't hear him. He immediately turned to the staircase to go back upstairs.
And then he caught Mumbo's eye.
"Sage! Sage, don't! Mumbo- His communicator! Sage, you'll kill hi-" These panicked screams didn't reach the entity until it was far too late, when the sword was covered in a clear, sticky substance unlike any he had seen before. And Mumbo was unmoving on the ground.
Just for a moment, a wave of horror flashed over his face. A small, tiny fragment of his mind screamed. He just killed a person. He just killed a person for good. That wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen. Everything was supposed to work out fine.
And then he laughed.
And then he laughed again.
And again.
And again.
Again. Again. Again.
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Xisuma's POV-
His calls were futile. Sage was broken. This was everything that the admin had feared all along, all coming to pass. Sage was now the most powerful being in HermitCraft, and he was insane.
It was painfully obvious that not a single word Xisuma said was reaching him. Xisuma tried to keep him away from the cell, but his feet were rooted to the ground. Everything happened so fast, but X was viewing it in slow motion. No. No, no, no. X was a statue. He couldn't do anything to stop Sage. He couldn't stop him from breaking their promise.
Helplessly, he stood from the sideline as Sage moved in a vicious fury. Helpless. Like he had been all along. A coward. His breath stilled as an all-too-familiar voice came from Sage's mouth as he glared into Mumbo's defiant eyes. The voice of EX. The white nose filling his ears was too overbearing for X to make most of it out, but one phrase was perfectly clear. "...starting with you."
X did nothing. He could've stopped it. But he didn't. Sage backed up, and the admin fell to his knees, suddenly regaining the ability to move.
Sage began to laugh. It was terrible. Everything fell apart. They had been so careful-- he had been so careful-- and yet they had still failed. Citrus was dead-- or at least that's what X gathered-- Sage was broken, Bee was having quite a bit of trouble with Scar, and Grumbot was probably not too pleased.
Yay.
He couldn't do anything... could he? Come on, X. He could use magic. He could save his friend. Except, he knew he couldn't. Not now. There were extents to his magic. That's when he noticed a slip of paper clutched in Mumbo's hand. X grabbed it and read it over.
...Maybe there was one thing he could do. He muttered a quick apology to his friend, and typed something up on the communicator. Mumbo glitched and then he was gone.
Suddenly, something hard hit Xisuma in the back of the head. "Wh-" He turned around and looked down. It was the sword. But, something was off. The purple hue now adorned an orange coloring.
"You'll need one," Sage explained, also holding a sword-- this one with the normal purple shine. "Don't worry; they'll work the same." What...? Did Sage duplicate it? Since when was Sage able to work the machine successfully? And why was he suddenly so calm? Xisuma's eyes searched his for any sign of stability, but they were completely empty. He gulped. There was no way things could get any better from here.
"Sage, please," Xisuma said one last time.
"No." He glared down at Xisuma, freezing cold. "You wanted me to be a villain? Then I'll be one."
Xisuma regretted everything.
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Ren's POV
Okay, this was getting ridiculous. It was probably mid-day, and he and Doc were still not finished. Bdubs and Impulse would likely show up any minute now. Even worse, Ren was running low on supplies. He quickly finished up a pufferfish trap and climbed out, shaking off the water. As he covered up the trap, he called over to Doc, "Hey Doc, I'm almost out of stuff, got any extra?"
A moment later, Doc's semi-robotic head popped up from a nearby hole. "Nah, I'm running low as well." Well, then. "Hit up Grian's barge?" He suggested, and Ren nodded in agreement. Luckily, he always carried around a few spare diamonds in case of emergencies. This was decidedly an emergency.
At the barge, the two split up to gather materials. The Barge really did have everything, didn't it? "Soooo," Ren began, filling the empty space with conversation. "What are the odds of us actually winning this, would you say?"
Ren couldn't see through the back of his head, but it was insanely obvious that Doc just rolled his eyes. "Considering that we just spent all morning setting up practically every trap imaginable--" excluding TNT, which Ren was still mildly disappointed about-- "I'd say pretty good," Doc finished. "Need any pistons?"
"Yeah," Ren answered, after a moment of faltering. He managed to forget that they were actually there to buy things in the three seconds that he distracted himself by talking. Impressive. Despite this, he continued talking as he grabbed a handful of arrows. "And what are the odds, would you say, of Bdubs and Impulse finding our traps while we're over here?"
Silence for a moment. "...also pretty good," Doc admitted with a chuckle. "Let's hurry up," he advised. That was probably a good idea. Ren spent the next few minutes gathering various materials, nearly using up all of his diamonds in the process. No wonder Grian was one of the richest Hermits-- Ren imagined that he and Doc routinely provided much of the profit with their various schemes.
A thought came to the dog man's mind. "And what happens if we lose?" Not that he especially wanted to lose, but the thought was worth entertaining nonetheless. The two parties never ended up agreeing about what would happen if Doc and Ren lost, only if they won. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, of course.
Doc was silent, and Ren laughed. "Not to jinx our chances, but-" He turned around and stopped mid-sentence. There was a reason he wasn't getting a response. Doc was against the chests making up the wall of the barge... with an enchanted diamond sword being pointed straight at his throat.
That escalated quickly.
But what was more confusing than an ambush-- this sort of thing happened all the time-- was that Ren didn't know who it was that was standing in front of his friend. They were faced away from him, and were dressed in all white, in contrast to a mop of messy black hair.
"Hey-! Dude!" Ren sounded more annoyed than anything. He and Doc were busy; they didn't have time for this. The person in front of Doc turned around, lowing the sword slightly. Mumbo? He was completely unrecognizable; the only real way Ren could tell it was him was by his unmistakable moustache, but everything else was foreign. Especially the look on his face. "We're busy," he explained, briskly walking up to the brit.
Mumbo, seemingly after brief consideration, put down his sword, and Ren sighed in relief. The Hermit grabbed some rockets out of his pouch and turned to the exit. That was weird... eh, he'd look into it later. Right now, he had a fight to win and... oh no, were those two figures quickly approaching who Ren thought they were? Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to ponder that, as he heard a voice from behind him. "I'm busy too." Ren turned back around, confused, just in time to get a foot directly into his chest.
"Oomph-!" Ren hit the ground with a thud. What? "H-hey-!" Mumbo stood over him, grinning maniacally. "Mumbo, what gives?" What happened to his eyes? Why was his bowtie glowing? What?
"Oh, I'm not Mumbo," he said casually, before raising his sword. "Nice to meet you, though!" Ren squinted his eyes shut, bracing for the attack... but it never came. Instead he heard the sound of diamond clashing against diamond. It was Doc who parried the attack, he found out as he opened his eyes. This seemed to greatly annoy this... person, as he immediately dropped the action of trying to slice Ren, and turned on Doc instead.
It was like a dance, almost. Neither seemed to have the upper hand as they stepped perfectly, precisely, matching each swing with a block and attack of their own. The two diamond swords glowed purple, the sound of the collisions and shuffling feet were the only sounds that broke the tense silence. Ren sat there, dumbfounded as to what just happened.
Oh, right, Bdubs and Impulse were coming. Ren nearly forgot. The two flew into the barge in the midst of the fight, and Bdubs immediately ran over to help Ren up. "What-?" was the first thing that came out of his mouth, as Impulse became transfixed by the scene before them. Bdubs and Ren soon joined him. None of the three mentioned what they originally planned to do that day. None of them talked at all. They just watched.
Neither Doc nor this other person landed a single hit. The person in white was getting increasingly annoyed, while Doc's face remained stony throughout the fight. Until...
"Augh-!" The person's sword sliced into Doc's lizard shoulder. Doc dropped his sword and clutched his arm, stumbling backward.
The person smiled and backed up, but the three Hermits who had been watching didn't pay him much mind, instead running up to Doc. "What- you good?" Ren asked. Sure, getting stabbed hurt, but it didn't hurt that much. And wounds normally didn't... involve anything coming out. This time, there was weird, sticky liquid. It looked like glass, but melted.
"What happened?" Bdubs added, and Impulse nodded furiously, looking over the wound. Something was off about it. Ren couldn't place a finger on what was wrong, but it just didn't seem right. It seemed like it was fake, almost. It seemed to look like what it would look like if you were to tear into a plastic figure, except, of course, Doc was very much alive and not plastic.
Doc opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a garbled mess. Garbage noise. Unnatural. The sound of a computer glitching. And then... he disappeared. A chorus of dings came from various communicators.
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"...What does that mean?" Impulse said slowly. "Game? Left?" Ren was wordless, staring directly at the communicator's screen. Normally, he'd sprout some flippant remark about how needlessly detailed these death messages were, but, this time, it was different. This wasn't a death message. This... Ren didn't know what this was.
And then he remembered about the person standing on the other side of the barge. Well, he didn't remember, per se. The person started laughing, and said something about 'It working'. It? Ren locked eyes with this crazed lunatic. The white-clothed person raised his sword and ran.
Renthedog left the game
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-(Author's Rambling)-
Well, so, things have begun to pick up. I hope it's not too much for you lovelies to handle! Heheheh!
These last few chapters have been so fun to write, and I hope they've been just as thrilling and fun to read as well! You may notice they are a bit shorter than they have been... oh well!
Thanks for still coming anyway, and I'll see you in the next one, my little Readers!
Promise out!