Chapter Text
Wemmbu had been in the laws prison for way to long. He had guessed he had been here for about a month, which was weird cuz he was supposed to be executed as soon as Lettuce was voted the king of Unstable smp. But he wasn’t dead yet, Lettuce was keeping him alive for something and that thought plagued him.
There was a mutual of reasons Lettuce could keep him alive, most were not in Wemmbu’s best interest. But the thought had him staying up at night.
But there was another piece of this puzzle, the other prisoners in the prison. They were powerful, Fantst, Baablu, Zam, they were all strong people in high places of power in Lettuce’s jail. What could happen to Wemmbu could happen to 3 more people. Sure Wemmbu didn’t like them, they probably also hated his guts, but no one deserves to go through what sick things Lettuce had going though his head.
So that was where Wemmbu was, curled into a ball on the cold prison floor with his spider legs wrapped around him in comfortable way. His hair was loose and falling over his face measly, the orange jumpsuit he was wearing was too tight in some places on too big in other spots.
His thoughts were a mess but he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of his door opening. Which was weird since it shouldn’t be breakfast time just yet they just got back from dinner a bit ago. Wemmbu stood anyways and walked to the door, maybe today was finally the day, maybe today was his execution day.
But when he walked out the door and scanned the area around him he noticed he wasn’t the only 1 let out. Fantst walked out his own cell as his gaze flicked from Wemmbu to Baablu’s cell. The blue axolotl hybrid was wearing a expression that was bored line worried and confused as he stared in at his brother’s cell in anticipation.
The cell door of Baablu’s cell opened automatically and the end spirit stepped out of the cell. His gaze shot to his younger brother and a wave of relief washed over him. A small smile flicked on his face as he speed walked over and positioned himself in front of the blue axolotl in a protective way.
There was a tense moment before another cell door opened and out stepped Zam. Wemmbu didn’t know wherever to call them Prince Zam or Princess Zam due to their new look. They had longer hair almost as long as Wemmbu’s, and their face was softer then the last time he saw them. She looked happier, even though they were in prison she looked more comfortable in her body.
She walked out of the cell cautiously, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Zam’s gaze scanned the room nervously, her gaze eventually found Wemmbu for a second before she diverted her eyes guilty.
The 4 of them stood in silence for a second and just as Wemmbu was about to speak up foot steps echoed though out the prison. LettuceK walked into view looking as presentable and stuck up as always. The red panda hybrid was wearing his usual vine green and gold armor and his forest green cape flowing behind him. But he wasn’t followed by guards like he usually was, he was alone. He still could beat all of them since the 4 had no weapons, but it was the principle that counted.
There was a wave of uneasiness that shot though the prisoner and there was a mutual understanding between all of them. Today was the day. The day that whatever Lettuce was going to do was going to happen right now. And that struck raw fear into all of them with the possibility of what could happen.
Wemmbu staggered back just slightly as his lip began to tumble, his spider legs pushed against his back as if he was trying to make himself small as possible. Baablu’s eyes stayed frim but his tail shock as it wrapped around Fantst’s leg almost as if he was scared of being separated from the other. Fantst axolotl fins pressed against the side of his head, his magenta eye bearing holes into Lettuce with pure hate and fear. Zam’s finger nails dig into her palm as she fixed her gaze to the ground as if she was disgusted to look at Lettuce with the thought of what might happen.
Lettuce’s eyes scanned the 4 of them while his face was void of every emotion, then he smiled. His face was always hard to read but Wemmbu bite the inside of his cheek just to keep his face flat. Lettuce hummed “would you 4 be so kind as to follow me?”
Zam scoffed “do we really have a choice?”
Lettuce spun on his heels and looked back at them “no, but I do believe you will want to see what I have to offer.” Lettuce waved at them to follow, and with nothing else they could do Wemmbu followed first, taking the lead. Baablu walked next with Fantst following close behind and Zam walked in the back.
Lettuce walked like he knew the place like the back of his hand as they walked into an area that they hadn’t been though before. Baablu had tried to map the whole prison but it’s like a maze and almost impossible to navigate id you didn’t have the map nailed in your brain. But he knew the prison well enough to know Lettuce hadn’t taken them here before, not a good thing.
The hallway eventually came to a stray single door. It was secluded deep into the law’s base and prison, the nerves of them were at it’s peak. The world seem to slow down as Lettuce started to fiddle the lock mechanism on the door.
This was it, Wemmbu thought, he’s really gonna die in this hell without ever seeing Egg again. He’s already missed their monthly meetings in the end and Egg’s probably worried sick. He would never get to say sorry to Egg for leaving behind, never get to thank Minute for taking care of Egg, never not be a lost cause in Mane’s eyes. So many things he never said but wanted to. He hated feeling so helpless.
Zam looked back at the hallway behind her, she might be able to make a break for it. But where would she go, she didn’t know the lay out of the prison to the level she would need to get out of here. Even if she got out she wouldn’t have anywhere to go. Pangi would be glad to have her weight off his back, her loyal guard stayed with her though thick and thin but she was a burden to him. She would rather face whatever fate was on the other side of the door was better then burdening her sweet guard anymore.
Fantst did have anything beyond these prison walls. No home to turn to, no empire to rule or server, no friends to lean on for comfort, nothing. He only had his brother and he was in the same situation Fantst was in, so they would go down together. Fantst wasn’t totally against that idea, if anything at least he wouldn’t go through it alone. 1 of his biggest fears was dying alone and call him selfish but he wasn’t opposed to dying with his brother, at least it wasn’t alone he could only try to see the good in the situation.
Baablu was a man of another dimension, he was often called the king it god of the end when people found out about him. But his family took him away from that life and gave him one that he loved, Keir, Dev, Qndres, Boosfer, Fantst, they were all his friends that he loved. Then Qndres disappeared, and Boosfer left and took Keir and Dev, leaving Baablu and Fantst alone. They had never cared for him or Fantst, Boosfer left when they were the most vulnerable and broken to grow his image as big as he could. He wouldn’t come for them, so it was Baablu’s job to protect Fantst and he was about to fail at that. Maybe in whatever after life is on the other side he and Fantst would finally have a friends that didn’t treat them like shit.
And as the door started to slowly open the 4 of them grew tense and in their own minds they had already made peace with whatever fate was on the other side of the door. But none of their expectations were met.
When the door opened fully their was a living room in front of them, directly in front of the door was a table with 5 bar stools around it, 2 couches in a L shape behind the table opening to the door and 2 bean bag chair filling on the other side. There was book shelves lining the back wall filled with different types of books and the room had a homey feeling, a sheer difference from what they were thinking was going to be in the room. There was also 4 doors, 2 on each wall, with name labels on the top of the doors with each of their names on it.
Lettuce walked into the room with a smile and waved to the room around him “this is where you’ll be staying for your rest of your sentences.”
Wemmbu cautiously took a step into the room taken in the whole room with suspicion. He quietly muttered “what the fuck” under his breath before turning to face Lettuce to ask the question everyone was wondering. “What the fuck is this Lettuce” he said as venom leaked though his voice.
The red panda hybrid simply pasted on a smiled “as I said this will be where you will be staying for the rest of your sentences. You’ll get the regular 3 meals a day, lights will go out at 10, and I personally will visit you everyday for about 30 minutes.”
As the group stared at Lettuce he pushed pass them and walked to the other side of the door. “I’ll leave you to get settled, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow” and with that Lettuce closed and locked the door but didn’t leave just yet.
Lettuce stared at the before he sighed and placed his hand against the door. This plan of his would take a good amount of time but if his plan worked it would be worth it. His eyes slotted up to gaze at the label on the door.
“Project: Lieutenants of the Law”
Lettuce turned and started to walk down the hallway in front of him with a grin on his face. Everything would go as plan, he just had to buy his time.
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The 4 of them just stood there for a minute, confused, shocked, and maybe a little relieved.
Fantst was the first one to go up the room with his name on it, he placed his hand across the sliver and Black name plate. His other hand hesitantly grabbed the golden door handle, he took a shaky breath before he opened the door.
Inside was a small bed with grayish blue sheets, sky blue walls, there was a dresser with clothes that perfectly were his size and style, fairy lights that were a light pink color, in the left corner was a pile of blankets and pillows, and there was a small nightstand with a lamp and a picture frame. Fantst took the picture frame into his hand and froze, it was a picture of him during his time in Wemmbu’s civilization. Wemmbu was in the middle of the photo, Eggchan on the left and Fantst himself on his right. They all looked so happy, so unaware of the horror they would go through.
Fantst flipped the picture frame over and walked out his room with a conflicted look on his face. He turned to find Baablu staring at his own room before looking at Fantst. “Anything of interest in that room” Baablu asked.
Fantst picked at his nails “there was a picture of my time in Wemmbu’s civilization” he whispered as his eyes trailed over to Wemmbu himself who was standing in front of his own door. Fantst placed a hand on Baablu’s shoulder as a small form of comfort “be careful” Fantst said with a hint of concern leaking into his voice. “If Lettuce has a picture of me from back then, I think I have an idea of what would be in you room.”
Baablu looked down to the floor then back to his door, it felt haunting like it was a ghost of a past he didn’t want to uncover. The end hybrid opened the door and felt a wave of nostalgia as soon as he did so.
The room was lilt by a warm orange glow, to his right was a desk with a empty journal and multiple supplies for painting and drawing. To his left was a wardrobe with clothes that was his very style, and in the corner of the room a bed with black sheets a few pillows piled near the headboard and a simple white and pink veil covered the headboard.
When Baablu walked over to the desk, just as he feared, there was a picture frame just like Fantst said was in his room. He picked up the picture and bit his lip enough to draw blood. In the middle was Boosfer and Baablu, Boosfer had an arm hooked around Baablu’s shoulder and they both were smiling wildly. Keir and Dev were on the left of the 2 and Fantst and Qndres were on their right. He ran his fingers over Boosfer’s face, he had 1 eye open but his full attention was on Baablu and full of something Baablu couldn’t place.
But his longing feeling quickly turned to anger as he slug the frame against the wall making the glass shatter. The picture fell to the floor and Baablu looked down at it and felt hate, Boosfer’s eyes seemed to almost taunt him as he raised his black combat boots and crushed the photo.
Fantst propped the door open, look into the room, and eventually made eye contact with his brother. He looked on with a concerned gaze as he asked softly “are you ok?”
Baablu sighed and left the photo on the ground to walk over to Fantst and smiled “I’m fine just getting rid of some trash.” Fantst clearly didn’t believe Baablu’s statement but shifted his hold on a pillow and cover he was holding. Baablu raised an eyebrow “you look like you wanna say something so just say it.”
Fantst rolled his eyes as Baablu laughed before he said “I realized that my room doesn’t have a lock on it as well as yours. And I kinda don’t want to sleep in a unlocked room with those 2 maniac right next door” Fantst pointed his thumb accusingly at the doors behind himself to the other side of the main room.
“So-” Fantst started “um could I stay in your room for tonight?”
Baablu laughed at the embarrassment radiating off his brother and he said “dude of course. You can take the bed just help me clean up the glass so I can sleep on the floor.”
Fantst nodded gratefully and slipped in the room, being mindful to grab the chair at Baablu’s the desk and place it to the door handle. They cleaned up the glass and threw the photo away, and as the lights turned off Fantst was already fast asleep curled up on Baablu’s bed.
Baablu had made himself a place to sleep on the floor, it wasn't the best but he wasn’t about to make Fantst sleep there when he already was on edge. So after checking on Fantst for the hundredth time to make sure he was fine, he press a kiss to his brother's forehead before he laid on the makeshift bed he made and closed his with mind racing a hundred miles a hour on the possibilities of what would happen tomorrow.
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Wemmbu cautiously walked over to the room with his name plate on it. His name was silver and neatly written with a black backing that looked to be obsidian. He looked around for a second, Zam was nervously standing in front of her door, Fantst had already entered his room, and Baablu was zoning out in front of his door.
Wemmbu swallowed the lump in his throat and opened the door. He walked through the door and let it close behind him, he realized that the door didn't have a lock on it but he didn’t pay too much mind to that at the time. Instead he turned to face the room.
The room had grey walls with purple fairy lights were illuminating the room. To his left is a black bean bag chair and to his right was a black wardrobe, in the far right corner of the room was a dark oak desk with a chair in front of it.
Wemmbu walked over to the desk and planned to look though the shelves as well as the drawers for anything useful but a picture frame catches his eye. It’s a photo of him, Eggchan and MinuteTech, they were in the end and it was taken before Wemmbu left to become the invisible knight. Egg was in the middle of the 2 with his arms around both of their shoulders, Minute looked annoyed but a smile betrayed his face, and Wemmbu was grinning excited for the adventure he was about to go on.
Wemmbu quickly pushed the picture back and walked away from the photo with a hand over his mouth. How the fuck did Lettuce get that photo, he thought as he pasted around the room.
Wemmbu quickly tried to distract himself by changing in more comfortable clothes to sleep in and checking the walls of the room to look for any weaknesses. Of course there was none so his mind drifted back to the photo until he eventually gave in, grab the picture and sat on the bed.
He held the frame with both of his hands, tears caught in his eyes as he looked at something he took for granted. He wanted to see Egg and Minute again, but he knew he couldn’t, it was better that he was locked in here anyways. Egg was safer without him, Minute could protect Egg better then he could ever do. They both would be more safe with out him messing everything up.
But it didn’t mean he didn’t miss Egg and Minute. He laid back and curled into a ball with the photo in the center of his arm, his spider likes wrapped around him like arms hugging him as tears quietly fell.
And all he could think about how he would most likely never see his friends brothers ever again.
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Zam was the last to enter her room, she didn't have anything against going inside, it was just- it felt so foreign. But eventually she pushed past the thoughts and open the door to the room.
The first thing that stood out to her was in the right left corner of the room there seem to be a closet of some sorts. When she pushed through the door it seemed to be a walk-in closet filled with comfy clothes and mostly feminine outfits. Whoever had picked out the clothes definitely knew her style which was a little creepy but thoughtful at least. To the left of the main door was a vanity made out of cherry wood lit up with little lights and when she opened the drawer there were some simple makeup products. The bed in the far left corner of the room was neatly made and covered with a ton of blankets and pillows just how she liked it. (Weird but she'd rather be comfortable than uncomfortable any day.)
After she changed into some comfortable clothes then Zam started to check the vanity to see if there was anything of use in there. She found a hair tie which she subsequently put her hair up into a loose ponytail just to get it out of her face. But on one of the drawers of the vanity otherwise a picture frame that she took into her hands gently.
It was with her and Pangi, she remembered her guard taking the picture while they were in a secluded area of the woods where they hid out at when Zam ran away from everything. Behind them in the photo was the small cabin that they stayed in, nothing like the castles but it was home. Pangi had set the camera on a timer and when the photo was taken pulled Zam into his hands and twirled her around like she weighed as much as a feather. Zam’s light dress flew in the wind as she wore a smile so bright but it would light up the void itself. Pangi looked up at Zam like she was something worth everything in the world, a lovestruck grin plastered on his face.
But Zam knew better, she knew that she didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve her knight, he deserves to be with someone who actually deserves to be living. She was just a shell of a woman that could never live up to expectations.
She placed the picture back on the vanity and turned to her bed to lay on her back. She deserved to feel worthless, after everything that had happened feeling insignificant was only a part of the punishment he deserved.
As the he laid on the bed he could only hope that his knight had forgotten about him and had moved on to someone more worthy of his might.
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The next day Fantst was the first to wake up and he decided after he went to his own room to change to check the main room for any weaknesses. If course there was nothing but he still felt the need to make sure.
Baablu woke up next, quickly he changed into different clothes that was more his style and walked out the room to met with Fantst. They started to check the main room together but when it came up blank they both fell onto the couch in exhaustion. Fantst laid on his back with his legs throw the armrest of the couch and Baablu threw his head back onto the couch cushion.
Fantst tipped his head back to look up at Baablu “you remember what Lettuce yesterday right? Do you actually think he’s going to visit” he asked as he started to fidget with his fingers.
Baablu huffed “if he does he ain’t going to do anything pretty with us.” He spared a glance to Fantst who seemed slightly uncomfortable at the thought of what could happen. Baablu ran his hand though the axolotl hybrid’s hair while being careful around his gills. “Quit worrying so much, that saver complex isn’t going to lay a finger on you.”
Fantst rolled his eyes “its not me I’m worried for, I’m worried for you” he admitted. “Don’t go self-sabotage yourself, ok? You have to stay” he stated firmly like it wasn’t a question and it was more like a demand.
Baablu blinked and stayed silent for a second before he smiled warmly “ok, I’ll stay” he whispered softly. He ruffled Fantst’s hair a finally time and laughed when the axolotl hybrid scoffed. They sat together in comfortable silence.
After a minute 1 of the doors opened and out walked Zam. She was wearing a simple light yellow and white flowy sun dress and was wearing a uncomfortable look on her face.
She shuffled out the door and slid into the bar chair at the table with her legs crossed. She didn’t spare a glance at the brothers, just keeping her gaze locked to the table while she fidgeted with her own fingers in her lap. The air in the room was tense but Fantst and Baablu fell into a simple conversation that lifted the tension slightly.
Wemmbu came out his room in silence, going unnoticed by Fantst and barley noticed by Baablu. Wemmbu was uncharacteristically quiet when he came to sit beside Zam, worry flashed across Zam’s face. Sure they had a bad history, but Zam had came to care for Wemmbu even if she would never admit it out loud.
She nudged her shoulder against his and whispered “you good?” Wemmbu stayed quiet with his eyes hazed and out of focus. He was dissociating.
As soon as Zam realized what was happening she slowly extended her hand and took Wemmbu’s into her own. She squeezed his hand gently and started to whisper soft words of comfort to the spider hybrid. “Hey Wemmbu, could you take a deep breath for me? Here” she spun on the bat stools to face Wemmbu and took both of their hands to her sternum.
Zam started to take deep slow breaths of her own and Wemmbu slowly started to follow. Zam moved her hand down to Wemmbu’s wrist and dragged her thumb up and down the back of his hand. The haziness in his eyes slowly started to fade slowly but surely.
Once he finally came back to his senses he yanked his hand away from Zam with red dusting around is ears. Zam giggled softly at the embarrassment of the spider hybrid but after a second Wemmbu sighed then muttered “thank you.”
Zam smiled sweetly “its no problem dear” the warmth in her voice was almost motherly when she talked. The warmth was contagious and Wemmbu gave a small smile back to Zam. She looked like she was about to speak up and say something when a shifting sound came from behind Wemmbu. Both of them turned and immediately froze.
Just like he had said, Lettuce stood at the door, green and gold armor on, no weapons surprisingly, and a stupid smirk rested on his face. He sat in the chair right in front of Wemmbu simply but he smiled faltered when both Zam and Wemmbu shot up and backed away.
Zam hid behind Wemmbu, her hand came to Wemmbu’s shoulder and her whole body was shaking in terror. Wemmbu flared out his spider legs to hide Zam behind him as a instinct as a snarl grew on his face. Baablu stood for the couch and started to instinctively move to the front before Fantst grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. His gaze was frim and a silence plea to stay and Baablu held a hint of recognition. Baablu stayed as asked, shielding Fantst behind him from Lettuce’s knowing gaze.
Lettuce himself scanned the room silently before he raised both of his hands in a way of surrender. “Look I’m unarmed and just as I promised I’m here and will be here for 30 minutes then the guards will bring you breakfast. None of you have to talk to me but I will be here if you need anything.”
Wemmbu froze, Lettuce looked at the 4 like they were worth something like they could be something. He wanted to believe that Lettuce was faking it, but there was a sincerity in the red panda’s voice that couldn’t be faked. But he refused to believe.
Wemmbu scoffed “why are you doing all this? What do you gain from doing this?”
Lettuce’s gaze turned uncharacteristically soft as he turned his gaze to the floor. He looked regretful. “I have done a bit more digging into each of you and I found some things that have made me- rethink my ideas. You could probably already tell by the photos in your rooms” Zam turned to face Baablu and Fantst and they both looked uncomfortable by Lettuce’s statement. So she wasn’t the only 1 with a picture in her room.
Lettuce rested 1 of his hands on the table in front of him and sighed “though I can’t let you out due to your crimes I understand why you did it. This server is a ruthless place, it’s either kill or be killed, but I can make your stay here a little better.”
Lettuce looked up at the clock hanging above the main door, his 30 minutes were up. He smiled and walked back towards the door, he opened it but didn’t go through it just yet. He turned to face the 4 who were still in shock “I don’t expect you to trust me but I hope you can give me a chance. Thank you and I’ll see you tomorrow” and with that Lettuce walked out the door leaving the 4 alone and conflicted.
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LettuceK sat down at his desk with a heavy sigh. Loppezz stood in front of his desk, arms folded behind her with the uniform of the law on.
She scoffed “your making a mistake using Law resources to keep them alive. Their going to revolt and inspired to take you down.”
Lettuce glared up at her “while yes this plan is tedious it will be worth it. I can already see walls breaking down” the red panda hybrid took a screen in his hand to see the main room of the project. He almost marveled at the sight at the broken look of them.
Loppezz grabbed the screen in her hands and slammed it against the desk in fury. “Your project is going to get the server KILLED” she shouted with venom seeping though ever word she said. She grabbed Lettuce by the collar and dragged him to her face “if you really wanted to help the server you would have killed those filth when you first got your hands on them.”
Lettuce stayed silent his face dead of emotions before he spoke in a dead voice “Loppezz” a chill ran though her spine. “Don’t forget who pardon you for you're crimes and gave you a job here.” He tapped his finger against Loppezz’s head while saying “you work for me” punctuating every word with a tap.
Loppezz tried to shuffle back but Lettuce grabbed her just like she did to him with his fingers digging into her uniform. “You aren’t here to critique my work you are here to server the law and it’s goals.” Loppezz’s ears shook as she stared at Lettuce with wide eyes.
Lettuce shoved Loppezz back with 1 hand before he when back to sit in his chair. Loppezz determine as ever dug her nails into her plan to keep herself silent and nodded sharply. Lettuce rolled his eyes and waved his hand “your dismissed Loppezz, leave.” A snarl grew on her face but she snapped away from him and walked out the room.
Lettuce sighed and took the screen back into his hand. Everything would work out as planned, he thought as he watch the main room like a hawk. His eyes glanced up at the 4 weapons holders on his walk behind him, one for a mace, one for a trident, one for a sword, and one for a axe. 4 weapons that would soon be used for the law’s gain he just had to buy his time.