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baconnwaffles0 whispers to you: is planet with you
You whisper to baconnwaffles0: no why
Zam slides his communicator back in his pocket as continues to search the stronghold for the stupid portal room. Why they were so hard to find was beyond him. He’s a little worried about Planet – he doesn’t keep tabs on them, it’s not his business, they just hang out sometimes, but if Bacon was wondering where Planet was something might be up. But, it might also be his paranoia talking. That was definitely an option. He was probably just farming raids (“It’s not a farm, it’s an efficient raid platform!”) and forgot to check his comm. It’s fine. It’s fine.
Oh, look, the portal room. Fucking finally.
He’s just getting the mushroom planted when his communicator dings again.
PlanetLord whispered to you: vc
If they want to talk, surely that’s a good sign, right? Zam joins the call.
“Hey, Zam.”
Fuck.
That’s not Planet’s voice.
“Hey, Ro.” Zam replies weakly.
“Hm. I’ve already asked Planet about this, of course, but I was just thinking to myself… Isn’t it a bit strange that Mapicc finds your base and next time we go there it’s all blown up? Now, you didn’t know, but Planet did, and a little birdie tells us he was the one to blow it up. It wouldn’t be that strange, people blow bases up all the time. But I thought you guys were friends, so I thought I’d ask.”
Zam doesn’t say a word.
“If he was the one to give you an excuse to move away so we couldn’t get the kill, you can see why that would be a problem for us.”
Zam laughs nervously. “What, you think I wanted my base blown up? I had to make a new one –“
“Zam, you’re a terrible liar. Cut the crap. Here’s the deal – get here or Planet gets banned. Alone. If we see any of your friends with you, Planet gets banned. Got it?”
“I’m – thousands of blocks from spawn.”
“You’d better run fast, then.” And then he fucking hangs up. Zam stares at his comm in shock, and coords pop up in a whisper a few moments later.
You whisper to baconnwaffles0: ro has planet
You whisper to baconnwaffles0: they said I have to go alone
baconnwaffles0 whispers to you: well that’s stupid don’t do that
You whisper to baconnwaffles0: yeah
You whisper to baconnwaffles0: get invis ill get subz to help you
You whisper to baconnwaffles0: just don’t get caught
He messages Bacon the coordinates, and frantically asks Subz and Vitalasy for help too. But they’re also so fucking far out from the coords, can any of them even get there before Ro loses his patience, they clearly already have Planet, what if they’ve hurt him already –
Zam stumbles, bracing himself against the wall of the stronghold. His head is pounding. He can’t think, he can’t breathe. It’s his fault Planet is trapped, it’s always his fault, bad things always happen because of him, this is why he isolated himself in the first place. He should just be alone, and then it would only be him getting hurt.
No, no. He’s gotta stop thinking like that. He can find the portal room and get back to the Eclipse base, and then he can ask Subz and Vi for help. He would be screwed on his own. It’s always easier when you have someone backing you up. Where did isolating himself get him? Hunted like an animal?
Zam claws himself upright into a standing position. His head is still spinning, but he’s on a time constraint here. He can’t waste time.
He has more than enough eyes to light the portal. He can come back and break it later, for now, he swiftly makes his way through the End and back to his base. He shoves all his portal breaking items in a chest, just in case he dies soon. Fuck, he’s gonna die soon, isn’t he? He can’t give Ro and Mapicc any info.
Subz and Vitalasy have since messaged that they’re on their way to help, but they can’t be there fast. Zam stocks up as much as he thinks he can get away with, tells them to talk to Bacon, and leaves for the coords he’d been sent. Subz sends him an extra message to not rush into things, but that’s not something Zam’s going to listen to. He can’t wait when Planet’s in danger because of him.
The coords Ro sent him were nether roof coords, a few hundred blocks from spawn, and Zam runs there as fast as he can.
roshambogames whispers to you: clock is ticking
You whisper to roshambogames: im nearly there
There’s no one on the nether side of the portal, at least that he can see. He lets his teammates know he’s there. Both Bacon and Subz tell him to wait, again, and he continues to pointedly ignore them.
The portal leads to a tundra, and the sudden temperature change makes his hands shake even worse than they already were. His eyes slowly adjust to the glaring brightness of the snow, and he sees a gleaming netherite figure on a nearby hill.
Mapicc puts down an ender chest as Zam walks up to him.
“Armor away.” He instructs. Zam doesn’t move. “Look, me offering an ender chest is being nice. Ro wanted to take your stuff.”
So he’s going to die here.
Zam swallows. His throat is so dry and his palms are clammy. Mapicc, to his credit, doesn’t try and steal from him as he silently puts his gear away. The other is oddly quiet.
At least his spawn is set far away.
He keeps a totem, an invis pot, one of his bad diamond picks, obby and flint and steel in his inventory. Not the end of the world if he loses, but he doesn’t want to go in empty handed. Not if there’s a chance of getting away with Planet.
Mapicc leads him down a staircase under the ground. They come out into a small opening, and Mapicc blocks up the way they came with obsidian. The walls are lined with even more obby and lit up with torches. It doesn’t lend itself to a particularly welcoming aesthetic. It’s not fancy, but they never were. Zam takes note of the exit behind him. Ro is looking at him impassively and Planet is doing an impressive job looking nonchalant despite being trapped in a two by one obby box. Zam can see a bed through the obsidian.
“Do you know what the problem with you is, Zam?”
“No.” Zam says quietly. He feels oddly scolded.
“You’re stubborn. It doesn’t matter how much you get beaten down, you’ll keep coming back. It’s irritating. But luckily for us, if there’s one thing you value more than your stubbornness, it’s the people you care about.”
“Ooh, is that me?” Planet asks, distinctly more chipper than they have any right being.
“If we kill you, Zam, you’ll just keep coming back. Even if all you’ve got is a stone sword, you’ll still try to be a nuisance to us. You’re not getting the message, Zam, so we’re trying another tactic. Planet’s going to die, permanently, and you’re going to watch while we do it.”
“No, no, he doesn’t have anything to do with this! I’m the one –“
“That’s the point, Zam. He doesn’t have anything to do with this. You’re the one that’s a problem, and now your friend is getting hurt because of it.”
“Ro, please, you can ban me, please.” Zam steps forward, begging. He draws up short as Ro draws his sword and points it at Planet’s neck.
“It’s fine, Zam. Bacon and Jaron can just revive me. It’ll be – it’ll be fine.” Planet does sound a little bit nervous now.
“They’re gonna have a hard time doing that if we keep chasing them.” Mapicc adds, voice cool.
“How many hearts are you on, Planet?” Ro asks. It’s clear the question is only for Zam’s benefit.
“Twenty.” Planet says, and Ro presses the blade hard enough into his skin to draw blood. “Okay, okay, you got me, I’m on two.”
“This isn’t fair.” Zam knows how pathetic he’s sounding.
“Of course it’s not fair.” Ro replies, scathing. One swing is enough.
Planet respawns by the trapped bed, gasping for air. For all his – bravery, or stupidity, he’s clearly scared now.
“Ro, don’t fucking – ban him, that’s too far.” Zam steps forward again, towards Ro, and a hand on his arm yanks him back. Zam looks back at Mapicc. There’s a flash of something Zam can’t quite read in his eyes, but his grip is firm. “Come on, you know this is too far. This isn’t – even for you, this is too far.” For too long, Zam had thought Ro was the reasonable one out of him and Mapicc. He doesn’t think that anymore.
“You’re asking me to turn against Ro?” Whatever Zam had thought he had seen in Mapicc’s gaze is gone now. “I’m not a traitor like you.”
“Final heart.” Ro twirls their sword around, completely at ease. Planet barely even manages to raise his arm in defence before it’s brought down again.
He doesn’t respawn.
Zam doesn’t make a conscious choice to jump at Ro, then. He just moves, ripping his arm free with more strength than he thought he still possessed. There’s not actually shit he can do, unarmed against someone in full netherite, but he commits the look of shock on Ro’s face as Zam scratches at his face hard enough to draw blood to memory.
That’s all he can manage before there’s a burst of pain and he respawns back in the Eclipse base with a gasp of air. Hot tears slide down his cheeks and he can hear his comm dinging with messages but he knows if he looks at them he’ll just be sick.
All he can do right now is curl up on his sheets and try to control his panicked breathing so he can actually sit up without feeling nauseous. Planet’s fucking dead because of him. He should’ve – thrown him pearls, or blocked him in with obsidian to buy time, or any number of things and all he did was stand there and watch like the coward he is.
Fuck.
He can’t keep doing this.