A Lot More Hermitcraft Stuff

Joe and the Shadows (one-shot)

"So who can we meet first?" Joe asked as Joke flew them through the night sky.

"Well how's about Warp and Rift?" Joke suggested. "That's Wels and Ren's shadows by the way! Warp's a bit salty 'round people, but Rift's pretty nice!"

"Sure then. I just don't want to meet someone as hostile as Game." Joke giggled, swerving closer to Impulse's base. "Well then you're in for a treat with Warp!"

Joe curiously sat back and watched as Joke dipped closer to Impulse's ship. He could make out two shadows in the dark; one with a visible knight's visor and other with wolf ears and a swaying tail.

"Whoop-de-doo hello!" Joke exclaimed, perching at the edge of the platform they were sitting on. Wels' shadow flinched at the noise and hissed at Joke, eyes narrowed. Ren's shadow jumped at the sound and his eyes flicked nervously between Joke and Warp.

"Y-you have a body..." Ren's shadow whispered, glancing worriedly at Wels' shadow.

Joke giggled, grin widening. "I have to thank my lovely player for giving me use over his body!" he crowed, giggling when Wels' shadow winced from the noise. "Joe, meet Warp and Rift, Wels and Ren's shadows respectively!"

Rift nervously waved and Warp nodded his head in greeting, hands clasped over his ears. "Hello Warp, Rift," Joe said quietly, smiling slightly. "You're a lot uh, quieter than my shadow."

Rift gestured vaguely to Warp and pressed a finger to his lips. "Ah, so just Warp?" Rift nodded. The shadow then pointed to himself, pressed a finger to his lips, then pointed to Warp. "And you're quiet for his sake?"

Rift nodded, more excitedly this time, and made a faint purring noise. Warp nodded and Rift wrapped his arms around the waist of the other shadow, smiling contently.

Joke rolled his eyes, preparing a rocket in his hand. "Ugh, you two are no fun!" he whined. "We'll leaving now! See ya!" Joke dove off the edge of the platform and swooped up into the night, giggling hysterically as the fireworks sparked behind him.

"What was that for?!" Joe protested, letting visible annoyance seep into his voice. "Well sorry for not wanting to be around those two boring wisps!" Joke shot back. "There're more fun shadows! Let's go visit Corrupt and Spite!"

Joke flew them down to Scar's base and immediately dove into one of the volcanos. "Wait Joke! I can't go through lava!" The shadow readjusted them to glide slowly down. "Well diddley-darn-dang it!" the shadow spat. He quickly shot them back up out of the volcano and sat delicately at the edge.

"Do they live in the volcano?!" Joe panted, still trying to come down from his panic.

"They like the warmth of it," Joke explained, aimlessly kicking rocks into the scorching lava below. "Differentiates from the usual coldness because of the Vex magic. They also like bright stuff and having lava all around them is the closest they're getting to diamonds."

"Oh how lovely," a voice spat. They turned to see a monochrome Scar standing pointedly at the edge, glaring daggers through them. "Wasn't expecting any guests. Having fun in your new body Joke?"

"Course I am!" Joke crowed, jumping to his feet. "Happy to see you as well my dear Spite! What've you been doing? Prancing around with your puppet master Corrupt?"

Spite rolled his eyes, twisting his mouth in a scowl. "Fuck off, why don't ya?" he hissed, red eyes narrowed. "Whatever your little plan is, it's going to backfire. Your plans always backfire."

A sudden presence passed through Joe and he shuddered. "Well what do we have here?" a new voice purred. A monochrome Cub stood next to them, mouth curled into a twisted smile and red eyes taunting him.

"Pleasure to make acquaintance little Corrupt!" Joke chirped, giving a bow in mock respect. "How've you and your little puppet been doing?"

Corrupt sneered wickedly and twisted himself around Joke, body bent in an unnatural way. "What've we talked about little shadow?" he cooed in a sickeningly sweet tone. "Spite is my partner, not my puppet."

"Ah but of course," Joke purred back, giggling manically. "I just keep forgetting since he always acts like your puppet! A little puppy, following you wherever you go!"

Spite's face twisted into pure fury and he lunged at Joke, fingers forming to claws and arm raised to strike. Joke cackled hysterically as Spite's hand slipping straight through his form. Joe meanwhile as practically shaking from fear.

"J̶͓̹̄̽͝ŏ̸͔̩͕͠k̶̟̩̎e̵͔̹͉̒̆̕,̷̠͙͋̑" a new voice growled. A much taller shadow rose from the volcano, red eyes staring straight through Joe. "Ḧ̸̤͉̑a̸̖͚͑̄v̵̗̺̏͒͘e̷̻͌ ̸̢̮͓̉̄̀y̸͚̾́͠o̴͙̽u̶̻̙̬͑̽̀ ̶͎̈d̷̰̠̮̔͂o̶̧̡͇̍̊̿ǹ̴̪̚͝ẹ̶͒́ ̶̮͉̦̇̄̽y̵̛̮̮̚o̵̹̕ͅu̸̜̙̚ȑ̴̻ ̵̢͍̆j̶͚̫͖͗ơ̵͓͍̰b̵̫͇̥̂̎̽?̷̞͙̑̊͠" it hissed.

"Course I have!" Joke replied, pouting. "Don't you trust me Parody? Why would I ever betray you?"

"Ÿ̴͉̪̪́o̵͚̳̹̅̍͝u̸̬͋͗͝ ̶̻̣͎̓̀̾b̶͈̫̅e̶̜̽̆̑t̵͕͖̕̚t̶̥͖̂͜e̷̲̙̓r̸̯̜͔͐̉̅ ̵̿̇͜͝n̶̜̱͋͠o̵̰̅͒̿͜t̷̲̯̂.̸̨̙̦̅̆̚" Joe shuddered at its voice. No... Joke shuddered. Parody must be really powerful if even Joke's be scared of it, Joe thought.

"S̸̘͎͈̾ű̶̱͜n̶̩͗̅͠'̴̱͕̕s̷̳̎͌ ̵̙͙̓̀ŗ̵̛̘̌i̷̘̻̊̂̍s̴̖̈̈͋i̵̱͚̝̓n̵̫̈͒g̵̞̺̯̓,̸̥͙̐͗" Parody rasped, layers of static and distortion spreading through its voice. "G̷̙̝̅̓ę̷̱͛͆̔t̵̤̹̂ ̷̝͐J̸̟͉̀͐͒o̶̖͎̿͆e̵͇̝̅͆̉ ̸̗̗̳͌b̴̯̈́͘̕ȁ̷͖̥͖ć̶̬̯k̷̛̦̃̎ͅ ̵̻̈́̽͜t̶̢̽̂͜o̸̼̫̍̕ ̸̲̓͜s̵͖̒l̸͓̍͝ḛ̴̞͉͒͝ē̵͓̥̙͝p̵͉̪̭͗̓.̸͇̞̬͒ ̷̻̘̹̄͐̊Y̶̧̾̒̕ö̷̢̗̈́̚u̵̘̲͗́̒r̸͖͙̉̃ ̶͚͇̉t̸̡̽̎͂ȋ̴̖̜͎͌m̶͉͔̽́̓ė̴͎͌'̵͇́̐͝s̵̩̯̭̈́̈́ ̷̗̈͜u̷̟͐ṗ̵̨͉̳͐̄.̵̮̟̃"

Joke groaned but reluctantly nodded. "Fine, whatever. C'mon Joe." They loaded up another firework and shot into the night sky, not bothering to say bye to any of the other shadows.

"Why'd you back down so easily?" Joe finally asked as they landed back in his base. "You didn't even back down from Game, so why Parody?"

"Parody's the one who gave me control over you in the first place," Joke explained, voice quiet. "If he can give me a body because I'm in his favor... can you imagine what he could do if I wasn't in his favor?"

Joe hardly had time to think as Joke shoved him into bed. "Goodnight Joe."

   ~*~

ooohhh what spoopy ending owo

also Joke is becoming one of my favorite shadows :')