Prison of the dead (Labyrinth of Monsters' sequel) A hermitcraft/3rd life fanfic

Chapter 27 - Zedaph

I'm genuinely feeling sorry for Tango at this point.

He's been through a lot.

Give him a hug in the comments ————————>

Of course it's Tango that finds Jimmy and Martyn's bodies. 

Of course it's him.

And of course it's my fault. 

'You led me here on purpose!' He accuses, furious, crying. I note, absently, it's the first think he's said to me since EX. 

'No! Of course not! I thought it would be quiet, and we could talk.'

'I'm not stupid, Zedaph. You sent me here no purpose, because you knew they'd killed themselves.'

'I'm your friend, Tango.'

'Were.' He replies. 'You were my friend.'

It's a punch in the gut. Tango runs off in furious tears. I'm left staring at the bodies. Every chance I had of making it up with my now ex-friend is gone. But I can still stop him from being killed. 

I pull out a sword and run after him, into what's become the second maze, praying that none of Impulse's death-group are here. 

Notch-knows I'm wrong. 

'Hello, Tango!' Scar greets cheerfully. 'What leads you over to this part of the world? I don't recall you being with the others for long.'

'Get away from him.' I snarl, appearing.

'But I've just got here! We were just catching up, weren't we Tango?'

'F*** off.'

'That's not very nice... isn't it Cub?'

'Very, very rude there, Scar.'

'Exactly.'

They're both here.

Because why not?

'Ok, we're leaving.' I grab Tango's hand, and pull him away from where Cub's just appeared. With a nod at each other, they pull out their damned vex masks, pulling them on. 

'USE YOUR LEGS!' I screech. 'YOU HAVE THEM FOR A REASON!'

'Tango! Zedaph! Come back!' I hear Scar's sing-song voice and run even faster, with Tango stumbling just behind. I don't want to leave him behind. But I'm not getting stuck here even if that means getting out alone. 

'COME ON OR I'LL LET THEM KILL YOU!' 

Tango finally remembers how to use his lower limbs and begins to run. The Convex are moments behind us, and every turn gives them a shortcut through the walls. I'm swearing constantly under my breath until we break into the open. 

I let go of Tango and turn to face them. An arrow flies over my head, hitting Scar, and he falls backwards. Cub attacks, and xB lets loose a few more. Beef and False join in the attack, and it doesn't take long for the Convex to surrender, leaving peace again. 

'Phew! That was...' Tango's gone, and I see him talking to Grian and Skizz, who had been arguing about something. He's joined Skizz's side of the argument, which makes sense, because he already disliked Grian.  I don't know what else to do, so I go over to where Beef and Bdubs are. 

'How's he doing?' I ask as I approach. Beef sighs.

'I don't know... but he's getting worse. He was badly hurt in the fight.'

'Who did it?'

'Scar. He didn't want to fight back. Because... because they were friends. And he wanted... he wanted me to tell Grian, if he didn't survive, that he was a good friend, and an amazing builder. And that he's forgiven himself for leaving Doc and Etho. He wanted Skizz to know that as well. And I'm telling you now because... because...'

'You think he's dying?'

'I don't know!' Beef sobs back. 'He was hurt really, really badly.'

'I'll tell Stress.'

'Stress already tried to help.'

'Then I'll tell Grian, Skizz and Tango. They were quite close to him.'

I run off, if just to avoid staring at another almost-dead body, and find the arguing trio.

'You shouldn't have killed Scott point-blank, Grian. He wasn't doing anything wrong, and you upset Jimmy even more.'

'Jimmy will get over it.'

'No, Jimmy killed himself.' Tango replied. 'And Martyn for that matter.'

'What?'

'So don't say that Jimmy will get over it, because he can't.'

'Excuse me, but Beef since that Bdubs is dying, and I wanted you to say goodbye.' 

I interrupt their argument abruptly. Everyone looks at me, and Grian dashes over to where Beef is, with Tango and Skizz behind. 

'Bdubs?' 

It seems that the sleep-lover has woken up, and is smiling. 

'Hey... guys...' he grins.

'You're alive?!'

'For... now...' 

Grian tries valiantly not to cry, as he realises that Bdubs is actually going to die here. I can barely hold it in myself. Tango's got tears openly streaming down his cheeks, and Skizz seems equally emotional. 

'Hey... I- uhh... wanted to say some stuff before I died. If you see Scar again, tell him that HE'S the little guy, but don't kill him. Keep him alive, because he was my- our - friend. And... Grian, you're really good at building. Tango, you're amazing at Redstone. Decked Out and Among us were brilliant. Make another Decked Out in my honour if you make it back to Hermitcraft, ok? And... what else? Oh, give Scar a clock as well.' Bdubs shakily pulls a clock from his pocket. Grian takes it. 

'An official Bdubs clock.'

'An official Bdubs clock. The... official Bdubs clock. The one he gave me to start with. Give it back... if you can. If not, see if you can give it to Impulse...' I give Tango a worried glance at the name, but he's too busy crying. 'I killed him over. It was very mean. And... you know what?' 

'What?' I'm the only one physically able to reply. 

'I forgive myself. I forgive myself for leaving the NHO. It was the right thing to do. And if I see Doc in the afterlife, I won't be scared to tell him that.' 

On that final note, he smiles even wider.

'Night, Night everyone...' He closes his eyes, and falls asleep forever. 

I wake up the next day to see Tango watching me, looking like he wants to speak to me. 

'Hello?' I ask tentatively. 

'Hey... I wanted to say... that I forgive you.' 

'You... what?'

'I forgive you. For killing EX and everything. I've held this grudge for far too long.'

'I... ok... thanks!'

'Yeah... I thought about it a lot last night.'

'Should we go and eat something?'

'Pancakes?'

'Pancakes.' 

We head out of the room, and set off to eat food. But we don't get very far, and as we're walking along the corridor between sleeping and eating, the Convex appear again. 

'Oh, not you...' I groan. 'Can't you attack Grian instead?'

'You're small! Bdubs says your small!' Tango remembers suddenly. 'He says that you're the little guy!'

Bdubs's form of avenging his own death is the last thing I hear as Cub stabs me in the back and I die. 

More death! 

And one death decreed by Riptide