Silent World
Mumbo woke up. The stone of the vault was hard to sleep on and he stretched slowly to get life back into his muscles. He’d make a note to not sleep for several months again, or at least make himself a bed first. Lesson learned. He opened the vault, using the very secret escape-if-locked-in button and went outside for the first time since forever.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the sheep were baahing and the skeletons were burning. A great day to get back to being the richest hermit. He grabbed his pickaxe and some torches and disappeared into the mines. Best to get to work before Grian noticed that he was back.
Getting back into the swing of things was… more complicated than Mumbo had thought when he astral projected to another plane of existance. He was glad he had prepared the mine before he left, it made it easy get back to where the diamonds were found, but it felt like a slog to mine through the deepslate. He caught on fire to lava several times and had forgotten to bring a water bucket. The only food in his inventory was 10 potatoes and he quickly ran out.
Maybe he should ask one of the others for a quickcourse in how to everything.
With 18 diamonds in his pockets and only 4 hunger left he decided enough was enough. There were other things he could do for diamonds. Like opening a Very Successful shop. Should be quite simple, really. He took the elevator back up, ended up locked in his own vault and had to find the escape-button again.
His communicator was quiet. Not even a message from Grian or Iskall. Was there a holiday he had missed? Or were they planning a surprise welcome back-party? It was probably a prank. At any second Grian would divebomb onto Mumbo’s shoulder, he was certain off it.
He put another couple of diamonds in his pockets and took his first look around the area. A lot had changed. A big statue of Ren had popped up. Lots of new shops across the river, but the hermit-town had stayed the same. Almost everyone had already moved away when he went to sleep after all. He stopped at iEnchant and bought a few books before going to the shopping district.
It was… eerily quiet. Mumbo looked around anxiously. The shopping district was always full of life and noise and now it just… wasn’t. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Maybe they were just busy with their bases. Probably. But stocks were low in the stores and usually the hermits were quick to restock.
They all were desperate for diamonds after all.
He equipped his elytra, grabbed some rockets and flew towards his base. Grian’s base had grown quite a bit. It was pretty magnificent if Mumbo was honest. He landed on the bridge and looked at it for a while. A couple of creepers were walking around in the doorway, but no sign of a live Grian. Maybe he was away bothering Scar or someone. Mumbo turned to his own base which hadn’t changed much. He should get to work on it. Did he have materials? He flew over the wall and looked through his chests. Not enough. He hadn’t gathered a lot before he fell asleep which meant he would have to do it now. Not a problem, it was fun, relaxing in some ways. The rest had done wonders for him and the thought of gathering sand for hours didn’t feel overwhelming any longer.
The world was still way too quiet.
He grabbed a few shulkerboxes and took off to the mining desert. It had been pretty cleared out, but Mumbo found a patch where there was still some sand left. He put his shulkers down, grabbed his shovel and went to work.
There was no Bdubs sleeping. The desert got swarmed with monsters during the night and Mumbo had to fend for his life. A Creeper exploaded next to him, brought his health way down and he blocked himself in.
”Can anybody sleep?” he typed in the communicator.
He should have brought a bed. There was a lot he needed to get re-used to. He waited, then broke one of the blocks. It was still night. Mumbo blocked the hole off again and walked in circles on the block he had to move on. Eventually he heard the sound of burning zombies and could peek outside again. He went back to gathering sand. The sun was hot against his neck.
Another Creeper exploded next to him. Mumbo felt his health draining, but he was still alive. Better get out before that changed. He put the sand he had gathered in the skulkers, picked them up and went home.
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There was a static noise in the air. Mumbo didn’t know where it came from. It seemed to be all around him and within him. He put a block down, then stared into the distance. He tilted his head, turned it around and tried to figure out where it came from. Was it Grian approaching at supersonic speed? He braced himself, got ready for the impact, but the noise didn’t change.
Mumbo placed another block. The noise got intenser, or he just heard it better now that he had noticed it. He listened for the source, walked around the vault. It was just a little bit louder at the side facing Grian. He walked across the bridge, but the sound got more quiet again. He returned to the vault and placed another polished blackstone.
The static noise shifted. It sounded like words, but not ones Mumbo could make out. Maybe the silence of his communicator was starting to break what little sanity his vacation had given him. He took it out, fiddled with it as he walked back and forth.
”Grian, want me to make you a new vault challenge?”
He walked two laps around his vault while waiting for an answer. The static noise got even louder.
mUmbO
Mumbo stopped. Swallowed.
”H-Hello?”
KrscHshHcCK
Mumbo’s breathing picked up. His grip around the communicator got tighter.
”Haha, very funny”, he typed.
KcHscOMechks
Mumbo left his base. Walked over to Grian’s boulders. The static was barely audible from there. He sat down on the boardwalk and looked towards his vault. Maybe it had gotten haunted while he was gone.
Something was twinkling just below the bridge. Mumbo jumped off the boardwalk and glided to the ground. Skulk was climbing up the side of the hill he had settled on. It hadn’t been there when he fell asleep. He walked closer. The static voice got louder. Mumbo’s head hurt from the sound. He walked along the edge of the hole a few times.
mUmbO
Mumbo swallowed.
”Grian?”
It didn’t sound like Grian, but Grian always pulled shennanigans. It could be him.
KRSCHK!
Mumbo slapped his hands over his ears. He felt the communicator slip between his fingers, watched it fall down the hole. Well, that was absolutely pants. He’d have to go down into the haunted hole to get it back. The static died down and Mumbo let his hands fall. He took a deep breath and tossed himself into the hole.
He could recognize Grian’s build-style by now, but the surest sign that it was his friend was the computer in the middle of the cave. Mumbo took a step closer. It had been so long since he saw that computer, and it looked… slightly different to how he remembered it.
”Grumbot?” he asked. ”Why are you here?”
FATHER NEEDED ME
Mumbo stared at the message. Glanced at Grumbot. Why did Grian need him?
”Why? What happened?”
I WAS CALLED
Mumbo turned around. There was a huge purple portal.
THE RIFT BROUGHT ME
”The… rift?”
Mumbo stared at the portal. The static noises in his head had died down.
”What is the rift?”
UNREADABLE. ERROR.
”Is it a portal?”
Grumbot didn’t answer. It was a stupid question, Mumbo assumed.
”Where does it lead?”
FROM ANYWHERE. TO ANYPLACE.
That… was weirdly typical of Grian as well. Mumbo would laugh if the silent communicator didn’t haunt his mind.
”Did… they leave through it?”
YES.
Mumbo walked up to it. Stepped into it and waited for his body to warp, transported to the anyplace. But nothing happened. He stepped out again. There was a piece of paper on the floor.
MUMBO FOR MAYOR
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