MCYT One-Shots

Betrayal | Angst

Time and Setting - AU, set in a small town. Around the late 90s, I guess?

Focus Character(s) - Joe, Cleo, Mumbo, Xisuma, Zedaph, a whole bunch of others are mentioned

Ship(s) - Could be intepreted as one sided Jleo, implied Grumbo, implied Poly ZIT

Trigger/Content Warnings - The mafia, kidnapping, breaking and entering, mentions of murder plans,

Background - Real Life AU, where they live in a small town. Cleo is part of the mafia, and her housemate, Joe, knows. She doesn't know that he knows, and he doesn't want her to know.

Also, when I say real life, that doesn't mean they aren't still hybrids smh

Biffa's still a robot, Doc's still half creeper half cyborg, Iskall still has a robotic eye, etc. Aka, I forgot that Real Life AUs mean they aren't hybrids anymore, so I write them as hybrids and can't be bothered to change that.

Not a request

A/N: I saw a prompt, and put my own twist on it.

And then ended up with this.

So have my new AU :)

I'll write about this more, probably. Seperate one-shots, although they will all link together or at least reference each other.

---

"Should I send some kind of forewarning? That I'm gonna kill him?"

Joe's heart was pounding, his back pressed against the wall. Cleo's voice echoed in his mind, and he disliked that greatly.

His best friend wasn't supposed to be working with organised crime, but here we are.

"Cleo, that's called a threat. And no. Python could tell someone, and that'd get us caught." Mumbo's voice replied, slightly muffled, and Joe felt a shier run down his spine. An unrecognisable voice snickered, and Cleo laughed.

"Sounds festive." Cleo replied, as Mumbo sighed.

Joe had always known that somethig was up with the shy, quiet Mumbo, and honestly? Joe had expected Mumbo to be in on some kind of crime since the beginning. He played dumb, but Joe had noticed certain quirks and behaviours that couldn't be written off by saying Mumbo was being a spoon.

So Mumbo's involvement in the town's mafia wasn't surprising.

What had been surprising to Joe, however, was that Cleo was in on it. The zombie had always been Joe's best friend, and he had trusted her with his everything. He believed that she'd keep him safe from the rampant crime, and he'd do the same for her.

There was a point where Joe was willing to lay down his life for her, if it came down to it.

Now he wasn't so sure.

---

Joe had just been going about his day, last Tuesday, when he'd saw Cleo on the phone. He'd thought nothing of it, until she vanished without a trace that night. The next morning, he'd spotted her in the back garden, in fresh clothes, burning something at the fire pit.

Then he'd found a note on the kitchen table. Upon reading through that note, he'd learned that Cleo was writing a letter to someone refered to as 'the godfather', a term Joe understood meant the leader of the mafia. It said something about how the job had been done, and the person had been taken care of.

The next thing Joe knew, he'd gone out a bought a newspaper. The headlines explained that that the old mayor, Generikb, had been killed. His throat had been slit while he'd slept.

A new election was currently going on, pulled to now instead of another year and a half. Joe knew that Mumbo was in the running, and that Stress had been challenged by him. Scar also seemed to be in the running.

Joe half wanted to participate, but he had a bad feeling about the current candidates, and that they might all be in the mafia. He didn't want to get in the way and get himself killed for ruining their chances, so he'd signed up to run for treasurer.

Now he was here. He'd followed Cleo from their home, into the forest, where he'd found a cabin. A rather large, housed sized cabin, but still a cabin nonetheless.

Joe had slipped in, and had been wandering the halls. The house felt much bigger on the inside, and Joe had almost gotten lost.

Until he'd heard voices. Joe was waiting outside the door, listening in, and he felt overwhelmed with terror. This was a very bad idea, and he was certain he'd pay the price for it eventualy.

"Any other things we need to report?" Another familiar voice spoke, and Joe's heart started pounding faster, if possible.

That was Xisuma.

"Only that Grian stays safe from harm again. I don't want to see him hurt." Mumbo sounded more hesitant this time, and Cleo snickered.

"You hae a soft spot for that man, Mumbo." She laughed. Joe could hear Mumbo, Xisuma, and a few others laugh too.

"What, like you are with Joe?" Mumb shot back. Joe almost jumped, hearing his name, although he was sure to stay still.

"Joe's just a friend, unlike you and Grian." Cleo shot back. Xisuma laughed, and Joe felt a prick of nervousness run through him. They sounded like they were ending their meeting, and Joe really needed to go now, before he -

Joe spoke to soon.

The door swung open, and Joe was staring into Zedaph's purple, shining eyes.

Then everything went dark.

---

Joe awoke to find himself tied to a chair. His head was pounding, his wrists and ankles burned from the tight ropes, and he was absolutely terrified. The last thing he remembered was staring Zedaph in the eyes, after being caught spying, and now he was here.

It was more than a little obvious that he was here because of that, and Joe couldn't help but laugh bitterly. His hubris and curiosity would be his downfall. He was going to die here.

How would the town react to the local poet going missing? Would they be sad? Happy? Would Cleo pretend to grieve, and keep up her act? Would Xisuma give a eulogy? Would he talk about how sad it was that Joe was gone now, knowing fully well that he was behind it? Would Mumbo comfort Grian as he grieved, and keep the truth a secret?

The sound of a door opening made Joe jump, the door closing behind Xisuma as the latter entered. A light switch was flicked on, and Joe could now make out the small room he was in. Warm coloured planks lined the walls, and the floor was covered in a soft looking rug. It was a very homely room, to be honest. It was nice, but Joe would still rather not die here.

Xisuma untied Joe rather gently then, to Joe's surprise, and led him by the hand out into the rest of the building. He led Joe into a different room, where there were more familiar faces than Joe would like to admit.

Cleo and Mumbo, he knew were here. Same with Zedaph. Seeing False and Tango, however, talking quietly between them was a surprise. Cub looked over from where he and Mumbo and Cleo were talking, and Joe felt a pit sink into his stomach.

"If you're going to kill me, please just get it over with." Joe spoke. He met no one's eyes, and looked at no one, instead focusing on his own two hands. If they were going to kill him, he just wanted it to end quickly and mercifully.

Cleo just laughed, walking over. She ruffled Joe's hair, tipping his chin up so he could look her in the eyes.

"We aren't going to kill you, Joe. You're going to join us instead."