grian bread fanfic

ch 4

"SO YOU STILL CHOOSE THAT ONE!" Mumbo screeched as Grian laughed and fell into a water stream and was pushed into a miniscule death chamber.

In front of him was a small window of glass, similar to that before, and to his sides were pistons, repeatedly pushing inwards and outwards. Even though he eventually figured out that he would die either way, the way that his soul would be extracted was something that he had not anticipated, especially as Mumbo was all about the peace, love and plants.

It was excruciatingly painful and slow, with each push crushing his body and bruising it ever more. He could hear the sickening crunch of bone, in his legs, his arms, his ribs. He was pierced by bone and splinter, crushed by wood and steel that was softened only by his own blood and flesh. His muscles squelched in a moist sounding staccato. His heart pulsed in a similarly jagged rhythm, each beat unable to finish, yet ringing out strong into the tiny, cramped chamber, the echoes sounding infinitely more purposeful than the truly weak and helpless pulses they came from. He could feel his body aching as it screamed for the pain to stop, and, somehow, he could feel his soul tingling to leave the prison that was called the body.

He laughed through his tears as Mumbo gazed at him being squashed to death in order to gain his soul- and for his amusement, which was very clear, due to maniacal laughter and grin that was plastered across his piggy face.

Finally Grian was crushed and dead, his corpse dissipating into his items and experience orbs, which circled around themselves in the chamber, unsure of what to do with themselves. But there, the most prized of them all, was his soul. Mumbo looked at it agape.

He trudged towards it, his hands in front of himself, in order to touch it. He lowered his hands as though to allow the soul to be in the position to be cradled, and the soul floated outside of the glass, towards his outstretched hands. It landed gently in his palms, and Mumbo came to his senses and remembered what he had to do: eat his soul.

He moved it towards his open mouth and swallowed Grian's soul. He wasn't sure what to do, but, he could feel... something. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was very brief, and had not quite happened when he... well, ate the souls of other sentient beings. Perhaps he just hadn't noticed it before.

Regardless, he pulled out a mirror and held it out. He gasped in joy. There, in the reflection, was a human! A human with flesh and skin and shimmering jade eyes and black hair and a lovely, charming, shiny moustache, that was not obscured by any snouts, or with an unnatural colour or shade. It was him! It was himself! He celebrated joyously.

Eventually, Grian returned and, rather reluctantly, forgave him, though he did question him on the logistics, ethics and mysteries of soul-harvesting.

"Just to check, am I fully human?" Mumbo asked Grian, dubiously. Grian looked at him in admiration and awe. "You look amazing. Stunning. Absolutely stunning. Give me a spin." Grian smiled. Mumbo gave him a twirl, but Grian hesitated.

"You look- hang on... give me another spin." Mumbo rotated slowly, as though he were a hot pocket in a brocken microwave that was wanting to eat itslef and make sure it was fuly cooked.

When Mumbo had turned around fully and had his backside facing Grian, that was when he fully noticed it. In the process of Mumbo harvesting his soul, he had managed to become part waffle. Grian grinned. Maybe with another waffle around, he wouldn't be so misunderstood or underappreciated. "You look great," he said. "In fact, you look 10% better."