Chapter Text
<Mumbo> was killed by magic
<Grian> oh!
<cubfan135> already working on a witch farm?
<impulseSV> ambitious! I like it!
<Grian> I got your stuff
<Grian> free of charge
<Renthedog> ;)
<Xisuma> :-O oh deer
That was the last they heard of Mumbo before he disappeared. It’s been... Grian sighs. It’s been tough without him, he has to admit. They’d planned all sorts of things to do together in this new world, and within the first week of arrival Mumbo just... left. The code says he’s still there, Xisuma had said, but he’s untraceable. Nobody knows what happened to him, nobody knows where he went, and nobody knows if he’s still alive, at all.
The so-called ‘Jungle Gang’ didn’t feel complete without Mumbo. The whole jungle felt... empty. Wrong. Grian had looked forward to spending more time with his neighbors in this new season, but ever since Mumbo’s disappearance, nothing felt right.
Grian hacks at the plants as he walks back to his mansion. It looks grand, but it’s missing something, he knows. It doesn’t feel like home. It’s right on the edge of the jungle, bright, luscious green grass in front of it, and a backdrop of mountains behind it.
Grian doesn’t want to look at it anymore. He takes a sharp left turn and makes his way to his starter base. One inspired by Mumbo’s, even. But where the jungle slowly got populated with Scar’s, Iskall’s, Stress’, and his own builds, the area that Mumbo had reserved for his mega base never got filled. An abandoned empty clearing, next to his own little hobbit-hole. No one dared to touch it, not even the jungle itself. As if it’s waiting for Mumbo to return. Waiting for him to get back and act as if nothing had happened.
It’s been... what, two? three months now? After the initial search once they all realized what was wrong, who was missing, the hermits slowly started to give up hope.
Xisuma told him that sometimes these things just happen. There’s nothing even he can do about permadeath, and Grian knows that. He knows that, and yet...
Grian is startled from his thoughts by his communicator. A private message? Grian quickly pulls the thing from his pocket and unlocks the screen.
<iskall85> grian!!!!
<iskall85> i think we found him
Grian’s breath hitches in his throat.
----
Iskall follows Stress through the overgrown area in between their bases. How she trudges it so easily will forever remain a mystery to him, but he pushes through to try and keep up with her anyway. He ignores the thorns and sticks poking and cutting into his legs, and rolls his eyes when Stress calls back at him to keep up the pace.
She halts in her steps, and Iskall almost bumps into her.
“Stress?” He asks, but she shushes him.
“Did you see that?” she asks, and when Iskall shakes his head she points. Iskall looks, and squints his eyes before he sees... something, move.
“What is that?” “What is that?” they ask each other at the same time, sharing a look before carefully taking a few steps closer.
Iskall tries to focus his eye onto the thing, zooming in to see it move, holding something in its... hand?
“Is that an animal?” he asks, looking back at Stress. She motions for him to stop in his movements.
Stress squints her eyes, before gasping audibly.
“That’s Mumbo,” she says. “That’s Mumbo!”
Iskall’s mouth drops open, and he looks again-
The creature peeks from the tree it was hidden behind, and Iskall sees the torn, black suit, the red tie, and the unkempt, jet-black hair and mustache. It- he... There’s no doubt about it. It’s him. It’s really him.
Iskall turns to run at him but Stress keeps him back, putting a finger on her lips before he even gets the chance to yell Mumbo’s name. Iskall gives her a questioning look.
“...What?” he whispers.
Iskall’s heart is pounding in his chest, the sight of his friend after so, so very long tugs at his heart, but Stress’ grip on his shoulder is stronger.
“Don’t startle him,” she says. “He doesn’t look... right.”
Iskall looks again, this time painfully aware of what Stress mentioned, trying to see if he can see it too. Mumbo is standing still, hunched over, looking right back at them. He looks... aware. His eyes almost have a wild quality to them. Like both predator and prey at the same time.
He looks like Mumbo, but... off. Like he doesn’t recognize them. Iskall can’t begin to describe how relieved he is to see Mumbo again after so long, to finally have found him. But he can’t help but think that if he makes even one wrong move, that Mumbo will run off and disappear into the jungle again.
Iskall moves slowly, reaching for his communicator. He types a message to the first person in his contacts, while Stress keeps eye contact with Mumbo.
They found Mumbo.
But just who (or what) is wearing his skin?