Respawn 404

Zedaph

Xisuma was the first on the scene. Zedaph arrived soon after, the first thing he saw being Grian curled up on a ledge.

"What did he do-" Iskall whispered, having arrived just then, flying down towards the ledge, followed by Zedaph and Xisuma. "Grian?" He didn't respond, the purple glow surrounding him increasing. "Grian, what did you do?" Muffled sobs were heard as Grian twisted his head around, shaking out of a combination of anger and raw grief.

"IT'S ALWAYS WHAT I DID, ISN'T IT?! WHAT HAS POOR OLD GRIAN DONE THIS TIME, TIME TO MAKE SURE HE DOESN'T MESS UP AGAIN!" He shouted, clenching his fists as he pulled what Zedaph now recognised as Mumbo's corpse tighter.

"Is that-" Zedaph whispered, his eyes widening as he turned away, unable to look at it.

"Like you would care," Grian spat, wiping away tears that were falling freely down his face. Iskall followed Zedaph's gaze to a familiar moustached man, his eyes rolled into the back of his face yet his expression peaceful. Anger filled Iskall's body looking at the person directly responsible for his best friend's death crying over his body, manipulating them all into feeling sympathy for a monster.

"I'd consider myself more of his friend than you!" Iskall snapped, being held back from lunging at Grian by Xisuma. "AT LEAST I WASN'T THE ONE TO FUCKING MURDER HIM!" Grian once again clutched tighter onto Mumbo's body, rocking back and forth, muttering to himself as if he was insane.

"You don't get it," he whispered, looking completely crushed by Iskall's words. "He told me that... I promise-"

"I don't know what you did Grian, but you fucked up. Badly."

"I know," Grian whispered, struggling when Xisuma tried to pull him away, ending up simply pushing him near the edge to stop him from taking his body away.

"Grian, come on. Look, we can sort it out, we can deal with this. Just let me clean his body away, come on," Xisuma said calmly, taking a cautious step back towards Grian.

"But he can respawn, right?" Zedaph asked quietly, giving Xisuma a cautious glance. "It's not that big of a deal, right?"

"Let's all live in that delusion for now then, shall we and ignore our supposed friends dying for a moment then," Iskall answered bitterly, glaring at Grian once again.

"What do you mean?" Xisuma asked, seemingly caught off-guard. "I told you, this world is still set to normal."

Iskall glanced guiltilty at Grian, still seeming to be numb in response.

"Respawn 404," Grian responded, his voice deadbeat and sounding automatic. "Renders players unable to respawn due to a file being either corrupted or deleted."

"And I suppose you'd know about that, wouldn't you Grian?"

"YOU THINK I'D KILL ONE OF TWO PEOPLE WHO I'VE EVER TRULY CARED ABOUT UNPROVOKED?!" Grian shouted, his fists automatically clenching and the purple aura surrounding him increasing.

"He could've easily been an accident, you could've been trying to go for someone else?"

"WHO ELSE WAS EXACTLY NEARBY?!" he responded, blinking back tears. "YOU THINK I WANTED THIS? WELL NEWS FLASH - MUMBO WAS THE LAST PERSON I WOULD WANT DEAD, BUT I SUPPOSE I'M THE EASIEST ONE TO BLAME!"

"Hey, maybe we should cool off for a minute," Xisuma said cautiously, stepping between the two. "Grian, maybe we should have a little chat, Iskall and Zed, do you mind following me?" Zedaph didn't respond, instead continuing to stare into empty space like he'd been before. "Zed?"

"Sorry- uh, do you mind repeating that?" He stuttered, hands shaking slightly.

"Are you alright going somewhere else so me and Grian can talk? I also have the feeling Iskall will want to say goodbye..." Zedaph nodded, his mind too focused on replaying the image of Grian sobbing over Mumbo's dead body. It was far too similar to him after Impulse's death. Xisuma led them a few hundred blocks before turning back to talk to Grian.