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A tall white structure stood imposingly in the center of the shopping district. The ground around it was warped, in a way that both looked and felt wrong. A path lead from the main road to the structure, dotted with colorful stones displaying various messages. This was very enticing to Mumbo Jumbo, the first person that entered the shopping district on that day.
"HCBBS," Mumbo read to himself. He put one redstone-stained hand to his chin in contemplation. "I wonder what that could be. Maybe I should be careful-" His thought was cut off as he saw another message on the ground.
He walked over to it. "Place your name here" he read, adding "and there's a dispenser right there."
Mumbo very briefly had an argument in his mind. On one hand, this HCBBS thing may be dangerous. On the other hand, this may be really funny. The later part won nearly instantly.
"Alright," he pulled a paper from his inventory and began writing his name down, "what's the worst that can happen?"
A bright light flashed in the middle of the shopping district, majorly confusing the sheep, wolves, and other assorted animals who thought a storm had come without warning.
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Grian was having a normal day. He woke up just before noon, ate a breakfast of whatever was in the closest chest, and spent two hours building various additions to his steadily growing megabase.
After the two hours were over, Grian flew up to his nether portal tree with lunch and admired his hard work.
As he layed back on the tree, he did the mental calculations of how many blocks he had left in the organized section of his base. He groaned, as it probably was not enough to finish his plans for the week.
He made a mental note to go to the shopping district tomorrow to buy some extra dark prismarine from Impulse.
Grian finished his lunch of golden carrots and bread, got a last look at his full megabase, and gripped on to his rockets to leave.
All the while, Mumbo slumbered.
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It was another normal day for Grian.
He got up at just before noon, flew up to his portal tree, and went to the shopping district. He bought Impulse's entire stock of dark prismarine. He decided to check the barge for spare profit, because why waste a trip?
As Grian walked up to the barge, he could have sworn that there was a tall, white, rocket-shaped structure across the street. He shook his head quickly and it was gone.
Grian marked it off as nothing. After all, today was a normal day.
The barge had a surplus of diamonds. Grian placed them into his hidden chest and went back outside of the barge, fiddling with his jumper's sleeve.
As Grian looked around, he saw a red shulker laying crooked in the middle of the street.
He walked over to it and grabbed itz turning it over in his hands. "Mumbo's Redstone Box" he read to himself.
Grian smirked. Today was no longer a normal day, today would be a fun one.
"I should give this back to Mumbo, like a proper friend would, but that doesnt mean I have to give it to him without a prank" he said to himself.
Grian laughed. He jogged towards the shopping district nether portal beneath town hall. He thought up plans and pranks that he could pull, but he settled on the classic of putting the shulker in a hard to reach spot. He wanted to be fun, not to ruin Mumbo's day.
Footsteps echoed through the halls of the nether pathways. A nether portal wooshed. The accompanying portal wooshed in the overworld. Grian was now in Mumbo's base.
A mechanical heart beat far above. Grian could have sworn that heard a faint song coming from below. He shook it off. His senses had been acting up recently, probably because of all the all-nighters he pulled last week designing the roof of his mansion by the moonlight that kept him awake.
"Mumbo-" Grian called out. He waited a few nearly silent seconds. He laughed, as no-one was home.
Grian pillared up to the ceiling and placed the shulker upside down, with a handful of signs pointing it out. The shulker stood out against the grey backdrop of the ceiling and the signs just made it nearly garish. It was perfect.
On the ground, Grian smiled, admiring his handiwork. The smile was a little bit strained, however, as the song was not going away.
He began to pace, wondering if he should investigate. He quickly decided to text Mumbo on his comm and ask if he had installed a jukebox.
Grian sat on the ground, uneasy. Today was supposed to be a normal day. His comm buzzed. Mumbo replied to his message, "Come down and I'll show you."
Grian frowned. He had been discovered. Well, he was never one to pass up a free tour, especially not one from one of his friends.
He descended the stairs. The air grew chilly and stale, but that is to be expected of basements.
The song grew louder.
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Mumbo woke up behind a veil. Not literally, but he felt as if a cloth had been drawn across his face, dulling his senses. He was in the basement of this base. He could hear a song that he couldn't place, or hear too clearly.
His hands tapped on the cool ground of their own accord. Time seemed to flow in a way that he could never describe.
His comm buzzed. He responded. He didn't know anything else about it. He was ok with that.
A spot of red was at the top of the stairs. He recognized that spot of red. It moved in a way that resembled a cat plodding down stairs to do something it wasn't terribly fond of.
He recognized that red. He just couldn't place it. He was ok with that. The red splotch didn't see him yet. He was ok with that.
The song continued on, never pausing, never stopping. Mumbo sat with a distant smile on his face, his lips moving in time. Only an outside observer would know that it was him who sang so hauntingly.
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Grian kept walking down the stairs. Mumbo must have hidden the song system well. It seemed to come from everywhere and no-where.
As he continued to descend, he began to be able to place the lyrics. That in itself was weird, as jukeboxes and note block systems never had words, just noises. But this music seemed to be nothing but a song by a single voice.
Grian suddenly became extremely unnerved. "Hello?" he called out. No answer.
He took a step up the stairs. It's never too late to back out, he thought to himself. The entrance to the stairway closed itself. Apparently it was too late to back out.
Grian eventually reached the bottom of the stairs. He felt his comm buzz. He picked it up to read it. "To your left" was the only message.
Grian turned left. Nothing. He looked a bit harder, walking in that direction. Was that- it was the knee of a suit, poking out from behind a chest. The song was loud now, able to be clearly heard. It was in no language that Grian could understand.
He stopped in his tracks. A sense of wrongness filled him, seeping into his bones and weaving its way around his organs.
Mumbo took that time to stand up and step out from behind the chest.
"I'm so glad you've come to join me" he said in a voice that was Not his own.
Grian froze. "What's going on, Mumbo"
Mumbo smiled, saying nothing.
Grian asked again, "Mumbo, what's going on?"
Mumbo smiled wider, looking as if his face would split in two.
"Mumbo?" A bit of fear creeped into Grian's voice.
Mumbo took a step towards Grian, and Grian was hit by a heavy instinct of wrongness. He took a step back.
Mumbo laughed, loudly. "I put your friend away for a little bit," he said.
"You're not mumbo" Grian said, in a shocked voice
"Observant as ever, Sherlock." Not-mumbo said, drawing a knife. "I feel a little peckish today, maybe I'll have a snack."
Grian balled his fists. "No-one possesses my friend and gets away with it."
Not-Mumbo shuttered as Grian punched him across the face. He made a mental note to give Mumbo plenty of potions after this was over as an apology.
Then, Not-Mumbo started singing in a register closer to a scream. He lashed out at Grian's in time with the beats of the song.
Grian ducked and punched between Not-Mumbo's movements. Fighting to a song tends to make you predictable, Grian quickly learned.
Not-Mumbo clawed and wailed, but it was soon obvious that it was losing. Soon, grian was kneeling over him, both of them breathing heavily.
Not-Mumbo smiled widely. "You'll never be truly rid of me"
Grian furrowed his eyebrows, wondering if he should punch him again, even as he lay on the ground.
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Mumbo woke up with a headache like a drum pounding inside of his skull like a heartbeat. He felt like he got in a fight with a wall and lost. Each one of his senses was as sharp as nails stabbing into his chest.
He opened his eyes. Above him sat Grain looking horrified. He looked down. His hands were clenched around a large knife held close to his chest.
Grian said nothing. He just sat there. Mumbo was confused about this.
"Hello?" he asked, meaning so many questions.
Grian looked so happy upon hearing his voice, it looked like he might start sobbing. "You're back" he said in disbelief
Mumbo snorted, "Did I die?" he asked
"Nearly." Grian replied. "It's a long story." He handed mumbo a swirling pink potion. "Drink up, we have a lot to talk about."