Chapter Text
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It probably wasn't the best of ideas, to use the de-saturator like that before it had even been tested.
"Oh, I'm not going in unless you go in with me!" He said.
"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine!" He said!
Yes, yes, everything was perfectly fine, especially when they both blacked out as the machine compressed them, especially when they felt so completely and utterly sick right now- especially when... When...
Hold on... Who... Who is this?
Iskall- No, Mumbo- (no, not Mumbo, either) flexed their fingers, their skin mismatched in two different pale hues.
Their nails were painted black, then green, then black, then green... Their sleeves were a strange material, feeling both stiff and flexible at the same time, the cuffs black and the sleeves a soft lime green.
Looking down at themselves, they wore a black vest and purple tie, and their pants were striped vertically, with that same lime green and black color palette (pallet? palette.) The end of the pantlegs stopped a few inches below the knee, showing mismatched green and black socks.
Raising their hands to their face, they instinctively reached for their left eye- no, their mechanical eye, sighing in relief seconds after flinching in shock; the mechanical eye was still there. Reaching for the power button they knew was there, yet still reached for hesitantly, the eye flickered on, half of their vision finally returning to them.
Feeling around the rest of their face, they made contact with an excellently cared-for mustache, and a shaved beard that rested on the lower part of their face (that was weird, having a beard felt weird- no it didn't, what?).
Now to figure out what exactly happened.
Staggering to their feet, their stomach lurched, and they quickly leaned against the side of the machine, heaving. Taking a deep breath, they slowly pushed away from the wall, legs fumbling in confusion, almost like one wanted to go an entirely different direction than the other.
Just walk to the door you stupid legs- no, we- I need to sit down again- no, I want outside!
Their head hurt- their mind felt cramped, and it felt like they were talking over themselves, felt like they couldn't even think one coherent thought before jumping to another. Where was Mumbo- no, Iskall- I'm right here- No, I'm Mumbo, where's- I'm Iskall! Where's Mumbo?
It wasn't until they had stumbled outside after minutes of struggling, that they saw the reflection of their face on the glass path in front of them. They looked... Well, to put it lightly, they looked jumbled. And they both assumed the de-saturator was to blame.
I'm... We're- Are we both- Wait- Just, stop thinking for a second- I have to get out I have redstone projects to do I have to- Calm down- This was a bad idea, bad bad bad idea- SHUSH!
Grabbing the sides of their face- his face?- their face (they were separate people, not one person), they felt a creeping sensation of dread building up. How were they going to separate? How would everyone else react? How...
Grian- Grian! Grian would- He'll know what to- know how to help!
Fishing one of the two communicators out of their inventory, they quickly turned it on- the communicator ended up being Iskall's, as shown by the name in the top right corner. Opening up his messages with Grian, they began to type out their message.
Iskall85: grian i n
Iskall85: no
Iskall85: need hel
Iskall85: p
Iskall85: de-saturator?
GrianMC: uhhhh ok
GrianMC: you alright iskall?
Iskall85: not iskal
Iskall85: yes? no actually
Iskall85: hurry
Iskall85: please
GrianMC: ok, ok, i'm on my way
Setting the communicator down as carefully as they could, they slowly sunk to the floor. Whatever this was, they could fix it in no time, they were sure (or at least one of them was).
Their head still hurt- a lot- and they couldn't even type a message out completely without one of their fingers subconsciously pressing the enter button, even if they were still busy typing something out!
Sorry, I thought you- I was- done with the- just let me do the typing- sorry!
The sun was now beginning to set, and they- both of them- were starting to feel impatient, one hand's fingers tapping against the ground while the other hand sifted a small piece of redstone dust between its fingers.
Finally, after fifteen minutes had passed, the familiar sound of rockets filled the air, and they looked up instantly, smiling in relief when Grian came into view. He obviously staggered in the air the moment their eyes connected, but quickly landed in front of them.
"Isk...umbo? Mumball?" Grian croaked, eyes squinted in confusion. "Okay. Speak up, what did you two do this time."
"Funny, that's the thing we normally have to ask- We did a stupid thing- I'm- I mean, Mumbo's- the one who had the idea in the-" They quickly shut their mouth, sighing in frustration. Grian's stern stare quickly fell into one of concern. Thinking out what they were going to say for a good ten seconds, they spoke again. "De-saturator, got. Us, jumbled? Went in... together. Same time- at the same time."
"Oh, you spoons," Grian sighed, hand on his hip. "I'll call Ex-Eye-Eh-Soo-Mah over, so maybe he can help!" He grinned, plopping down next to them.
He quickly pulled out his own communicator, letting out small boops as he typed out his message. Clicking his tongue, Grian placed his communicator in his inventory once more, and turned to grin at the now much, much taller person, head craning up a good inch or two.
"So, do you two have like... a crazy mismatch name or are you just 'Mumbo and Iskall but Jumbled'?" Grian teased, chuckling to himself.
"Uh- Erm- Mumbskall? No, um- maybe-" The jumbled pair shut their mouth rather quickly, shoulders slumping in defeat. Then, they perked up, a small smile on their face. "What about- Oh, how about, uh- Jumbskall? Or Jumbokall- Jumbo, Jumball... Jumbolio!" They laughed, covering their mouth.
"Ooh, I liked the Jumball idea! It's catchy," Grian laughed back, smiling. "Though, hopefully, you won't have to stay all jumbled together for much longer." He hummed, before gasping, pointing to the sky. "Oh! There's Ex-EE-Soup-Uh-Void!" He chuckled, somewhat proud of himself for the new pronunciation of Xisuma's name.
The person in question glided down in front of them, surprise in his eyes clear, even through the visor of his helmet.
After a second or two, he sighed, slapping his palm against where his forehead would be, knocking against the metal of his helmet as he let out an exhausted laugh.
"Oh boy," He sighed, a smile evident in his voice. "You can't go two days without doin' some'n' silly, huh?" He laughed, pulling out his communicator, dyed red to signal the difference between a regular one and an admin's communicator. Jumball- as they were now going by for the time being- smiled sheepishly at him.
"...Ah. We have problem," Xisuma sighed, clicking his tongue, before turning his communicator around. "You two are still whitelisted in the world, while this, uh- mixed up version of you two is not. And you have no registered name, or communicator, or, or... Ugh. I can't do anything, this is beyond me." He admitted, frowning behind his helmet.
"...Oh." Jumball said quietly, shoulders tensing. If they were stuck like this, then... "How will I- We- You, I mean- Get stuff done- Work on things- Redstone? Projects? Sahara?" He croaked, teeth clenched and tears gathering in their eye, before quickly disappearing.
"Hey-! Mumbo, Iskall, don't worry, okay? We can all help you make, like, an un-jumbler, or something! I mean, I'm not the best at redstone, but-" Grian began, before shutting his mouth as Jumball rose to their feet in an instant. "...Um, you guys? Are you-"
"Stop! It's fine- No it's not! This- Your stupid machine- You're the one who-!" It quickly became clear they weren't speaking to either Grian nor Xisuma, as they quickly grabbed onto their head, teeth grit.
"Just shut up, this is anything but fine! We can work it out, it'll be- This whole machine was your idea- You were the one who wanted to go in together- I won't be able to do redstone again- I can't stay cooped up in here, I need- I have to-" They coughed, heaving lightly as they caught their breath.
"Iskall- Mumbo, you, you both need to calm down!" Xisuma yelled, grabbing a hold of Jumball's shoulders. "You're gonna be fine- just a week at most, okay? You aren't gonna be-"
"Get out-" They rasped pushing Xisuma aside as they staggered forward, moving to go left, then right, then forwards, then back. "We have to get out right now-"
"Iskall! Mumbo! Calm down!" Grian huffed, running up to them. "I know you're both panicking in there, but you gotta calm down, okay?" He said sternly, pushing them into a sitting position.
"Calm- down?" He murmured, eyes drooping. "I can't- We have to-"
"Guys. Listen, you're gonna tear yourself apart if you keep going like this!" Grian sighed, hand still on their shoulder. "You gotta learn to cooperate for the time being. Yes, I know, it's soo difficult to work with another person for once but you gotta at least try instead of arguing!"
Jumball was silent for a minute, before sighing exhaustedly. They curled up, resting their head on their knees, inhaling and exhaling slowly.
"...We're tired. Can we sleep?" They muttered, eye fluttering closed.
Grian sighed, a small smile on his face, and he patted their shoulder lightly before standing up completely. He gestured his hand to Xisuma, telling him he could take it from here, and turned back over to Jumball, rockets in hand.
"Well, I don't think you'll be able to fly, so lemme go get you a bed and bring it over to you, okay?" Grian hummed, taking off without another word.
Jumball curled and uncurled their fists once, twice, and three times more, tired eyes trailing over the splotches of lighter skin along their hands, the nail paint popping out with its vibrant colors. Their head still rung painfully, overlapping their own thoughts.
"Just... Calm, calm down," They huffed, wrapping their arms around their knees. "We'll be okay. We'll- we're fine. Going to be fine. It's fine now! Not the- crazier things have happened. Yeah."
They desperately tried to sort through their thoughts, and yet the more they did, the less coherent they became, and soon their thoughts felt like nothing but static. Gritting their teeth, they screwed their eyes shut, curling up more, and hiding their face.
"We're okay." They whispered, the static in their head clearing ever so slightly as they came to an agreement. "We'll... We can get through this. It's not so bad."
By the time Grian returned with a bed, they were fast asleep, the static in their head silenced as they dreamt.
Sighing quietly, Grian dragged them onto the bed, heaving with the effort it took to do so, his mouth pulled into a thin line as he stared at Jumball's sleeping form. They probably wouldn't be able to move all too well, especially not to either of their bases or through the Nether...
Eyes widening, a small grin grew onto his face, and he reached for some wood and logs in his inventory, quickly getting to work.
By the end of the hour, a small, yet comfortable spruce cabin rested nicely next to the de-saturator, the sign above the door reading "Jumball's House" in scribbled, white dye.
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