Request made by Ash_InTheFlames, fulfilled on 7/9/2020
Third person
Ex silently gazed upon the distant structures of the shopping district. The towering buildings are incredibly hard to miss, and were a landmark for lost traders, players, and villagers alike.
As the twin watched the sun set behind one of the towers, he mournfully took his helmet off.
He knew for a fact that Xisuma thought he was dead, and had kept his helmet to remember him. X would notice the fact that the helmet had vanished.
Eyesight blurring, Ex quietly cried as he threw it to the ground. That helmet had caused so much suffering.
It marked a bad time in his life.
And he slammed his foot onto it, crushing the visor. He repeatably stomped on it, until it was a mangled remain of what it had been formerly. Just the skeleton of the helmet. Anything that wasn't the metal that made up the helmet was destroyed. Even the metal was slightly dented.
Ex looked around, shivering as the silence of the world washed over him. Without the incredibly complicated systems in his helmet, he was deaf.
Just like how X had some cable thing going on with a camera plugged into his brain to make him able to see. (Look it up, bionic eyes actually exist-Its really interesting.)
The other kids in their neighborhood called them the disabled duo. Cruel, but fitting.
He raised his fingers to his mouth and whistled. He hoped it was a taxi cab whistle, and he confirmed it was when he saw his dog running towards him. The dog rocketed towards him, and Ex dropped to his knees and let the white golden retriever jump all over him.
"Guido!"
Or at least he was pretty sure that's what came out of his mouth. Anyways, he smothered his hearing dog in love.
He ran his hands through the dogs fur, finding a reassurance in the fluffiness of it.
Finally, with a hand signal from Ex, Guido calmed down and simply sat down as Ex double checked for the bright orange collar that he had given Guido when he was tamed. It was there, a bit scruffy, but still there. The tag still hung there as well.
Ex clicked his tongue for the dog to follow him as he pulled his hood up and walked into the shopping district.
One building in particular caught his attention. It was a admin building, with its towering white peaks and blue highlights. He could register a new name if he went into that building. Start anew. Maybe make his own server.
But for a moment, he hesitated. The repercussions of this would tower over many things he had done, but...
Guido nudged Ex's leg, and he pivoted, making eye contact with X. He was holding the old helmet, looking at Ex with a gaze of... Worry?
X pressed something on his helmet, and the mouth bit retracted into a hidden compartment as he repeated whatever he had said.
'Ex? Your... You're alive?'
Ex took a step back, looking down for a brief moment before looking back up and signing 'I just respawned.' X worriedly ran a hand over the metal straps bracing his weak arm-A habit not unlike running a hand through your hair-then signed 'Why did you destroy the helmet?'
'It marks a chapter in my life that I regret.'
X looked at his brother for a long moment before signing 'Your trying to turn a new leaf?'
'Yes'
There was a silence. Well, nobody was signing.
'I have a friend you could stay with.'
Ex shook his head slowly, eye on the admin station. 'I want a fresh start. No binding to hold me back.'
X watched his brother carefully, eyes searching him. 'He would never hold a grudge, he would understand.'
Hands shaking slightly, Ex gave, nodding. A relieved smile fell across X's face, and that made agreeing entirely worth it. Ex met Hels, a interesting soul to be sure.
Snappish, sharp tempered but oddly caring, the man was really the perfect person to teach Ex how to be a normal human being. Ex slowly sunk back into the rhythm of being a player again. Goofing around, helping Etho and Tango build the nether themed gaming district.
And it was... fun. He enjoyed it, having friends and building these wonderful things. And redstone, he touched the stuff once and it completely blew up on him. And he couldn't use elytra, because he couldn't hear the ticks that it made before giving out. So he made the best out of the nether, running back and forth.
And, finally, he changed his gamertag. He became EthanX once again. A new man.
---
*shrugs*
I didn't care much for the way this one turned out, but meh, what can an author do?
798=Drabble