The first thought that passed through Mumbo's mind as he woke up on the ground was that something had gone very, very wrong. He wasn't yet certain what had gone wrong, mind you, but generally speaking, waking up on the ground tends to indicate that something has gone horribly awry. He figured he should get up and figure out what had happened, but also everything hurt and he wanted to stay down a little longer, thank you very much.
From where he was lying, he tilted his head to look around, trying to ignore how his vision swam every time he moved. There was a block of obsidian and the shattered remains of an end crystal next to his head. Ah. Mumbo realised what had probably happened here. It was a little weird – being blown up by an end crystal tended to lead straight to a respawn, as opposed to waking up on the ground with everything hurting and no memory of the incident, but Mumbo supposed there had to be exceptions to every rule.
Reluctantly, Mumbo moved to sit up, groaning as a wave of nausea and pain hit him. This objectively sucked. Mumbo hoped it would pass sooner rather than later. Carefully, he braced himself on the obsidian, trying to stand, but he failed, collapsing back onto the ground with a sudden coughing fit. Specks of what he hoped was just blood (it was too bright pink to be blood) dotted the grass in front of him, and he fell back onto the ground with a groan.
"Oh, he's awake now," Grian's voice broke through Mumbo's haze. Mumbo turned to look, and Grian and Pearl were approaching, Pearl wielding the collective emergency medical kit that Boatem had put together after the last incident like this.
"Badly," Mumbo croaked.
"Do you remember what happened?" Grian asked.
"No."
"Actually, could you run that by me again too?" Pearl asked.
"You just want me to admit I messed up again."
"Yes! Very much so!"
"Fine. It started with us trying to blow each other up, as always..."
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Grian let out a scream as Mumbo's end crystal dropped him down to half a heart.
"MUMBO! WAIT! STOP! I'VE GOT HUNDREDS OF LEVELS!" Grian shrieked, trying to stop Mumbo from placing and detonating the next crystal. Mumbo stepped back, eyes wide, staring at the live bomb that now stood between the two Hermits.
"Well," Mumbo observed, "What do we do with it now?"
They both stared at the end crystal in contemplative silence.
"It looks edible," Grian commented, on a half-baked impulsive thought. "I kinda wanna just... take a bite."
"What do you think it would taste like?"
"Strawberry jam."
"Huh," Mumbo pondered the thought for a moment. "Now I wanna take a bite too, Grian, you've infected me!"
"How would that affect you, with that whole you-are-what-you-eat thing you've got going on?"
"I have no idea." Mumbo chuckled. "Now I really wanna take a bite."
"Now I really want you to take a bite."
"I'm gonna take a bite."
"You should take a bite."
Against every reasonable thought, Mumbo took a bite out of the end crystal. As end crystals are prone to do, it exploded, throwing Grian back and knocking Mumbo flat on the floor. Grian picked himself up, feeling generally woozy. Mumbo was still down, and he wasn't moving. Instantly, Grian was at his side. He still had a pulse, but he was unconscious. Surely that amount of damage should have sent him to a respawn?
Grian dashed off. He was gonna need the medkit and the help of another Hermit to get Mumbo back on his feet.
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"And so now we're here."
"Well," Mumbo observed, "That explains why everything hurts."
"What's this stuff?" Pearl asked, indicating the pink stuff Mumbo had coughed up. It really did look like the exact same colour as the core of an end crystal. Mumbo informed Pearl of all of this.
"I don't think you should be coughing up pink ever."
"What if you did manage to eat some of the crystal before it exploded?" Pearl asked, suddenly.
"That would mean... I'm part end crystal now?"
"That would explain how you survived a point-blank explosion, and why you're coughing up end crystal pink," Pearl explained.
"Well, I guess that answers our question," Grian smiled, "It does make you like an end crystal!" Grian poked Mumbo in the shoulder playfully.
Suddenly, Mumbo was aware of a feeling of shattering, echoing through his entire body.
Grian blew up
MumboJumbo blew up
PearlescentMoon blew up
Mumbo could hear Grian's agonised screams about his levels from the bed where he respawned. He smiled, mischievous plans already forming. If he could explode like and end crystal, then suddenly his possibilities became a lot more endless...
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My main goal is to blow up, and then act like I don't know nobody! Arharharharhar
That was the only thought in my head as i wrote this.
I've been Entropy, peace out from the present!
