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"Oh, there's people..." Wemmbu muttered, more toward himself than toward his teammate, Egg. It was dark and his eyes could just barely make out two players zipping through the skies around spawn.
Swooping down to land onto the island in the center of spawn, the players flying around came down to him, Wemmbu's adrenaline spiking when he recognized them- or, rather, when he recognized who they worked for. ManePear and Pentar, the two players adorned in gold-edged netherite, stopped and stood before him, smiling like they knew something he didn't.
Sending a weary glare over to Egg, who simply shrugged back, Wemmbu flicked through his inventory like a nervous habit. "... Hi."
"You have to follow us, uh," Pentar giggled, almost seeming out of breath. "We have to bring you to Prince Zam."
Sword. Gapples. Elytra. Rockets. Wemmbu's hands nervously found each item with precision, looking back and forth at each player and at his own teammate, trying to gauge what to do. If he said no, he could run, but then Pentar and Mane would surely chase and fight them. While Wemmbu was much more well prepared since the last time he saw Zam's guards, he knew they had more resources and his teammate wasn't exactly the good backup he needed him to be.
"I'll let you guess who wants to see you!" Mane gleefully stepped toward him, getting into his face and only getting closer when Wemmbu stepped back. His grin maniacally split larger after watching Wemmbu's weary face.
"Uhh-"
Mane scoffed, turning on his heel and walking a few steps, "It's Zam. Zam wants to see you- you were taking too long."
If the guards were trying to be funny, they were failing at it: Wemmbu was on high alert. Testing the water, he nervously chuckled. "Yo, I think I'm good," he slowly started walking farther away from the imposing statue a few hundred blocks away. "Egg, we should-"
"No, no no, Wemmbu," Mane grabbed the back of his chest plate and stopped him from going further, not pulling but holding. Trying to reach around and shake him off, Wemmbu turned and faced the pair, eyes frantically meeting Egg's. "Wemmbu, Wemmbu- come on! You don't know- the world is full of so many surprises and- and-"
"Gifts!" Pentar supplied, leaning closer to Wemmbu.
"Yeah, yeah, you never know in this life the uh-" ManePear was short for words, obviously lying through his grinning teeth. He continued rambling, but the words fell on deaf ears.
Sword. Gapples. Elytra. Rockets. Wemmbu paused and looked at the both of them, staring forward at Egg and trying to read his impassive face. Usually the calmness of his teammate would be a grounding help, but right now he was trying to silently communicate to what felt like a brick wall. In Egg's case, eyes were not the windows into someone's soul.
If he planned on running, he wouldn't know what Zam wanted. Not knowing what Zam was thinking or what would come next would probably eat him up inside if he didn't go find out now. Plus, Zam left him alive because he was no threat, and possibly, maybe, if he didn't seem like a threat now, both Egg and him could return to the ruins of their civilization in one piece.
Fumbling with the strap on his chestplate in what could be observed as yet another nervous tick, he loosened the plate ever so slightly.
"Okay," Wemmbu agreed, pulling out his Elytra. "Let's go see Prince Zam."
The two guards laughed again, looking at each other before leading the way. Their giddiness left a terrible, sinking feeling in his stomach, but he still flew. Having Zam in his sights might better than the alternative.
"Zaaam~" Mane called, landing on the balcony of the imposing building in the town before them. Wemmbu hadn't truly paid attention to what was beyond the statue before, and the small, yet sprawling town might have captivated his attention if not for his present company. "We have a little Wemmby for you~" he continued, giggling as he watched Wemmbu land just a little in front of Zam.
The balcony was crowded with everyone landing there suddenly and for a split moment, Zam and Wemmbu were face to face, barely a few inches from each other. Zam's face was bright, his skin glowing the only way a king's could, with the reflections of the lantern lights meeting his crown and causing him to illuminate. His grin was bared, as always, and his eyes almost flashed a hint of surprise, like he was shocked that Wemmbu actually showed up, or shocked at how close he suddenly was.
"My sweet, sweet Wemmbu-" Zam smiled, golden eyes staring up at him.
For a moment, Wemmbu didn't even catch the possessive words. He was just. Mesmerized. Zam always had the ability to take the air out of people's lungs, whether in fear or awe, and Wemmbu was no stranger to it. He didn't notice the people around him anymore, just Zam.
He didn't even notice when the forward momentum from the elytra caught his feet on a teeter from falling off the balcony or falling straight into Zam. Without a thought, Wemmbu grabbed Zam's collar to steady himself, pushing the other player in his hastiness.
Zam huffed, his smile now turning closer into a grimace as he smoothed his ruffled tunic.
Shit.
In a moment, the guards were on him, slashing at him and hitting his armor- truly only a warning. Yet, this was the perfect opportunity.
Slipping his hand where the straps kept his chestplate together, using his other arm to block the oncoming blows. His netherite fell from him, causing some of the swords to nick him and his clothes. "Woah, woah, hey!" Wemmbu choked, stepping back and into the building in the ensuing chaos. "Wait, just chill- just-" He had gotten the plate off, but at what cost; his arms were scraped with red lines and his stomach had a few too. His hands found his gapples with rhythmic accuracy, nervously taking a bite as he backed up.
Zam and his guards looked surprised to see him lack his chestplate, confused on why Wemmbu would've taken it off- Predictable.
"Bro put that shit back on-" Mane sighed, clearly unenthused with the randomness of his actions, "Ain't nobody wanna see those-"
"It broke!" Wemmbu argued, hoping he put in enough anger to be believable. Really, he had just slipped it into his inventory with everything else, but if he wanted to appear weak enough to continue to not be a threat, the ruse was necessary. The cuts on his arms would heal; taking the momentary damage in the moment was infinitely better than getting banned off the server forever. "You broke it, bro!"
Mane frowned, putting his hands up, "Damn. Didn't know it was like that." All sincerity that might have been shown through that statement was betrayed by the smile that immediately took over his face. "Didn't know your position."
Wemmbu's blood boiled at seeing his stupid face light up like that but, again, it was necessary. They thought he was poor and weak- which, obviously sucked, but if he could continue to make them think that for at least the next few minutes, then he would live to get his revenge.
"What's up, Wemmbu? My sweet, sweet Wemmbu?" Zam got closer to him, drawing forward as Wemmbu stepped back, his leggings clinking as they met the table behind him.
"Hey, Prince Zam," Wemmbu replied, loathing seeping into his voice, "here to yap in my face again?" He scoffed, arms leaning back against the table nonchalantly, attempting to seem as calm as possible. Having some of his dignity intact still mattered, after all.
"Long time, no talk!" Zam grinned, ignoring his question. His face was leaning way into Wemmbu's space, since Zam obviously never learned the concept of personal space over the years. Or, maybe that was just something saved for Wemmbu specifically. Zam's eyes trailed down to Wemmbu's plain purple shirt, golden eyes gleaming like it was the funniest thing he had seen all week.
Zam's eyes took on a different sheen; one of mischief.
"Oh you have no chestplate!"
Suddenly a fist met his stomach, the force of an unprotected Strength II attack causing more impact as it met Wemmbu. He doubled over, momentum taking him to the side while he scrambled to get something in between him and Zam. Zam, the cruel bastard he was, just started laughing and wailing on him, his hands colliding with Wemmbu's unprotected middle and knocking him back with each strike. "Is this hurting you? Huh? Does this hurt?" he asked, like he didn't know.
Wemmbu tried to keep calm and block against his fists, holding one of his hands in a desperate bid to stop the attack. Zam pushed him to the ground and pinned, still attacking him with fists alone. One of his strikes met the unprotected part of his head and it felt like Wemmbu's brain had stopped working, rattling around like a bell inside his skull. He was stunned, still holding up his arms to block Zam, but blinking slowly and trying to focus.
The maniac in gold just kept smiling and punching, carrying on conversation like he wasn't currently beating the shit out of Wemmbu. "Hi? How's it going? How've you been?"
He could hear Egg trying to fight past Zam's guards, who must have been stopping him from trying to intervene, but Zam's words sounded like they came from underwater. Probably a concussion, Wemmbu figured, not trying to fight back but instead protect himself.
Sluggishly, his hands moved in his inventory. Chestplate. Gapples. Elytra. Totem.
Hit after hit came and he tried- he really did try to stay as calm as possible. Zam wouldn't kill him like this, right? The chestplate was enough to show him how weak, surely Zam would realize that he was dying right? But more hits came and blood--Wemmbu's blood--was soon covering Zam's fists as the ringing in his ears became deafening.
Holy shit, Zam might kill him.
He blinked again in the slew of noise and pain, hoping his hands found the familiar shape.
Totem.
With another strike to his head, Wemmbu saw a flash of golden and green light, his mind and body suddenly clearing as Zam got off of him. Wemmbu quickly followed and heaved, breath still catching up to him from the near death experience.
"Oh wow!" Zam sounded delighted, giggling as he watched the disoriented Wemmbu struggle to his feet. "You popped! You popped from my fist!"
"This feels like-" he tried to be witty, his senses still coming back to him, "this feels like an abusive relationship right now-"
"-That's crazy!" Zam continued, not listening to what he said but instead looking highly amused and excited. "You must be so down! I can't believe you are so bad-"
"-You have Strength II and I have no armor!" Wemmbu continued to argue, biting into another gapple.
Zam came back into his space again, using the opportunity to cage Wemmbu in with his arms. Egg had stopped trying to fight the guards and just looked away from Wemmbu, ashamed at how things turned out.
"Things must be going soooo bad for you!" Zam chuckled, his wild, golden eyes meeting Wemmbu's tired, purple ones. Wemmbu tried to look away--'tried' being the operative word--as one of Zam's hands found his chin, forcing him to meet Zam's gaze. "You're like a- You're like a little bug!" He sounded so excited, his words and Wemmbu's heartbeat being the only sounds in the room.
"-A little bug I could crush under my finger." Zam continued, the manic-ness draining from his words. He stilled, words slowing down from their previously excited state. "Just a little Wemmbu," he muttered, an unreadable emotion flitting through his eyes.
His grin was completely wiped, his face turned impassive. Zam like this was- scary. Unpredictable. Wemmbu was one wrong move from being killed, or chunk banned, or- literally anything.
Wemmbu stood still, letting himself be pinned, letting himself be stuck- his panicked breaths were catching up to him slowly, but his heart was still thrumming away like before.
Zam blinked at him- stared at him.
Wemmbu gulped.
With a grin, Zam pushed off of him and walked to the staircase leading to the ground floor, turning back and beckoning Wemmbu, "Come, come on! Things to see!"
Facing extreme whiplash from being five seconds from death to suddenly being given a tour, Wemmbu looked at Egg in confusion and slowly started down too. Egg asked if "he was just gonna take that" and Wemmbu just shot him a silent glare. Cause yeah. He was. Zam almost just killed him with his bare fists. Not much he could do.
So he didn't do anything, even as Zam gave him an abbreviated tour of the new expansion to the Zam Empire and even as his goons kicked them out of spawn.
He knew that Zam could only have power for so long... And when the chance came to get his revenge, Wemmbu would make sure not to fail.