Hermitcraft Short Stories

4th Wall?

Description: Joe finds a break in the 4th wall.

Mumbo and Cleo were being dragged off to some mysterious location by Joe because of some "break in reality". The two of them knew why skill wise he'd them for help(Mumbo had some operator skills, and Cleo had general occult knowledge), but at this point, they thought he had gone insane, but they decided to go along and see Joe's little break in reality just to humor him. However, it slowly became clear that he was not joking as the feeling of existential dread grew stronger the closer they got.

Eventually, after an hour of walking and having a growing crisis, the trio came to the spot Joe was referring to. It looked like a well-camouflaged bedroom was placed in the middle of the forest. No one would have known the room was there, had it not been for the massive circular hole in the wall, exposing the inside of the room. Pieces of the wall laid scattered around the hole, and it looked like most of them were in the forest.

Mumbo, Cleo, and Joe pierced into the dimly lit room to see a humanoid figure on top of a messy bunk bed typing away at a laptop, the device's light being the only thing illuminating the room as the bottom bunk occupant lay sleeping. The figure looked up to see them. "Come in," it said with its hand out, motioning them inside the room.

The trio stepped over the broken bits of wall and entered the room. Once inside, they got a better look at the human figure and saw it had green scaly skin, massive horns and a matted mane hiding under a small winter hat, what the could only guess to be wings hiding under a blanket for some warmth, and poking out from another blanket was a tailbone without any flesh attached to it. They could also see the creature dressed in a comfortable black polo shirt and dark grey jogging pants. Standing to the creature's side and petting a cat with white fur and large brown and black markings was a fairly tall, pale college girl with her blonde hair pulled into a messy bun and glasses perched on her nose. She also seemed to prefer comfort over aesthetics because she chose to wear black jogging pants and a beige top.

The cat lept at the new room occupants, prompting the girl to grab it.

"Grace, no. Bad boy." the reptile scolded.

"Pardon him, I just don't want him getting out through the hole in the wall."

"Is he... friendly?" Mumbo asked hesitantly.

"Oh, he's really friendly." The college girl replied, "It's one of the reasons I'm here. I have to give him affection so Coal can write." Mumbo went up to the cat and started petting it, making the cat purr with appreciation.

The reptile facepalmed. "I forgot the introduction. Well, better now than never. I'm Coal." The reptile pointed to the college girl. "That's Fade, and the evil furball is Grace."

The three Hermits introduced themselves. "So Coal, what are you writing?" Cleo asked.

"I'm writing Hemitcraft fanfiction. I'm actually writing this encounter right now." Coal replied.

The Hermits burst out into laughter. This was the funniest thing all three of them had heard in a while."That was a great joke. You must be a real charmer." Joe said with a small chuckle.

Coal, however, stared back with a stern expression on her face. "I'm not joking. I can prove it to you," she said, furiously typing on her computer.

Suddenly The Macarena started playing, filling the room with music, and Mumbo started spontaneously dancing. He tried to stop, but his limbs would not cooperate and he continued, causing him, Cleo, and Joe to panic and try to pin his rough extremities to stop their unauthorized movement. Coal watched the scene and laughed.

Fade spoke up, "Okay Coal, you can stop now. I think they get the point."

Coal sighed and begrudgingly typed something on her laptop, and Mumbo stopped dancing.

"Okay, you write fanfiction," Cleo stuttered, "but why?"

"Well it's kind of a hobby, and it's a way to contribute to the fandom because I can't draw to save my life. However, I do have my flaws. That's why Fade's here. She does a great job of catching my faults, and she takes the time to do it while trying to do her own fabulous work." Coal's said.

Fade started to blush. "Coal, you don't need to say all that."

"Nonsense, you deserve it. You do such a great job, and I'm grateful for what you do." Coal praised, embarrassing her friend more.

Fade tried to redirect this conversation before Coal embarrassed her more. "Shouldn't we fix the 4th wall?"

"Oh right." Coal handed Joe a roll of duct tape before grabbing a roll for herself. "We need to fix that. You all go on your side of the wall and start trying to tape the wall there. I'll work on my side while Fade edits and watches the cat."

The three of the stepped over the wall. Mumbo and Cleo were picking up and holding the wall pieces steady while Joe and Coal taped them together. The Hermits doubted this would work, but once Joe put the last piece of tape on the wall, it instantly disappeared. He walked forward into where the wall should be, but he did not hit a wall.

"Well, the wall's fixed. I don't know how, but that worked," he said.

Cleo and Mumbo just looked at him.

"Joe, you sure you're okay? We're here, and nothing seems wrong."

Joe looked back at them. "You two don't remember that at all?" he shouted.

"No, all we remember is you dragging us out here raving like a mad man about a hole in a wall that's clearly not here," Cleo said. "Let's go home. You probably need some rest."

They dragged Joe away from the wall as the Lizard and the College Student watched on, glad that the wall is fixed so the could continue their work without more distractions like that.