Cross-posted on Ao3

(November 11, 2020)

*worked on this all day and am proud of it noises*

Summary: Xisuma gets injured mid-flight and has to make it back to the allies' base while keeping highly explosive TNT safe from any possible ignitions. Evil X has to keep his brother from crashing into the ground. Both fail.
Category: Angst, this AU of mine where X and Evil X used to be part of an elite force thing
Warnings: mild description of gore, helluva lot of tnt, near death experience~
Word Count: 3277

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"Depart when ready. Stay safe out there, General X and Y," the strategist called to the generals who stood side by side, tension straining both their shoulders. "Remember, mind the new TNT and bring one back if you can. And--" They leveled a glare at General Y. "--be careful with it. I would like to have both the generals for the next battle."

Xisuma nodded as Evil X pursed his lips at being called General Y. Both brothers ignored it for the most part, but when strategist turned away to give instructions to another group, X nudged his brother in the side.

"General Y, aye?" he snickered. Evil X glared through the black reflective visor, the lights that indicated his eyes narrowing. Xisuma chuckled and clapped him on the back, almost knocking him off balance.

"Oh, shut it," Evil X grumbled, pushing Xisuma's arm away. "We've got a duo mission to do, and you mocking my title will make it oh-so miserable."

"C'mon, it's not that bad." Xisuma smiled, not that Evil X could see it behind the filter of his helmet.

"You'll be even more insufferable now that we don't have people watching our every move," Evil X scowled, and even though his visor was one-way glass, Xisuma knew the exact expression etched upon his face. "It's not even my name, where'd the Y come from?"

"Off-brand X?" the general tried.

"Xisuma-"

"Illegibly written X!"

"Xisuma, lets go," Evil X said, swatting at X's arm. He deployed his elytra and shot off before Xisuma could retaliate. The green clad general smiled and followed closely after his brother.

For the first thousand blocks they flew, all was silent. The only sounds they heard was the rushing wind, an arrow whizzing past, a metallic ring of a trident being thrown, and explosions that littered the battle field. It decreased the farther they got from the base, but never did they let their guard down.

And as if they were on the same wavelength, Xisuma and Evil X darted through the sky, concentration and focus one in the same. Their movements and turns were exactly the same, keeping them a safe distance from the other, but close enough to communicate through eye contact. Likewise, their maneuvers in sync, their shots and precision just as accurate at the other. They shot their bows at the same time, nailing each of their targets with a single arrow, all of this in a systematic and efficient pattern that left the two deadly to stragglers in the fields.

The speakers in their helmets crackled with the breaths of the others, but nothing verbal was said. Lack of concentration and the danger of not being aware was higher the closer they were to their base.

Below them, an explosion that was much larger than a normal TNT shook the air, leaving a gaping crater in the endstone island. Those who were unfortunate enough to get bombed from the sky couldn't have survived it. Others who were farther away were thrown off their feet or knocked unconscious, lucky enough to tell the story.

"That was a large explosion, oh my goodness me," Xisuma noted, wincing at the crater it left and shaking the funny tingly feeling from his bones.

If their opposing side was truly planning to drop that kind of TNT on their base, they stood no chance.

Evil X nodded, swerving away from a weakly thrown trident. "The strategist said they were making TNT with charged creeper gunpowder. That's probably the product, ay?"

X hummed in response, scanning the battlegrounds for any stragglers of the opposing side he could pick off. When he deemed himself satisfied with the amount of arrows shot, he looked up to see a massive end city ship floating their way at high speeds.

The two generals shared a look, and in unison like always, soared upwards to clear the mast of the ship. It was floating towards their base, but was a good thousand blocks away.

"Who's side-"

"Opposing?" Xisuma said, not needing Evil X to finish his sentence. Perhaps it was because the same question was being repeated in his head, or maybe it was the fact that Xisuma has been stuck with Evil X for his entire life. 

The red clad general nodded slowly, taking in the information. "Probably. Hm. Heading our way from this far out... is weird."

"Ah, ya never know. All the ships from the military forces in the End look the same." And Xisuma was right about that. With the limited resources in the End, it was difficult to get varying appearances in every build.

The two silently decided to circle the ship from fifty blocks above. Their main mission--fly at least a thousand blocks out west to see if there's any immediate threats--had been finished. Stealing the overpowered TNT?

Not quite.

"Evil X?"

The general only grunted to show he was listening.

"Where'd we get the TNT from?" Xisuma said.

But before Evil X could provide his answer, multiple arrows from the ship shot up at them. X hissed as one grazed his arm. Evil X twisted out of the way, looping back around to face the deck of the ship.

Lo and behold, the opposing side's members flooded the deck.

"Huh," Evil X muttered, squinting down at their small forms. "Must have modified their bows too. Normal bows can't reach that high when they're aimed up."

Xisuma suddenly spoke up. "They have TNT. I'm going to try to take some, then we can head back." And without warning, tilted himself down and towards the ship. Evil X didn't bother wasting a breath to stop him. If X saw an opportunity, he wouldn't be deterred.

The general went down with a crash, and whether that was purposeful or not, Evil X will be sure to not let him hear the end of it. The other members scattered for a moment before advancing on him with pathetic and blunt weapons of their own. Xisuma almost laughed at the shallow cuts the weapons made. So they could modify TNT to be deadly and bows to aim farther, but couldn't sharpen their own weapons? How peculiar.

He continued to fight the swarm of players with just his fists and bow. (How it didn't snap is beyond the two generals.)

With a roll of his eyes, Evil X took out a crossbow loaded with a firework rocket, and without hesitation, fired it at the crowd of people. If Xisuma had half a brain cell, he'd remember their earlier discussion about the use of the crossbow-firework rocket combo.

Turns out Xisuma had more than half a brain cell, and as he jumped off the ship's edge for his grand escape, he reached out and grabbed a tiny piece of the super TNT one of the members had. It would be enough for research purposes.

The moment he redeployed his elytra, the ship exploded. The fireworks apparently set off the remainder of the super TNT that was in the members' hands, starting a chain reaction that led to the stock under the deck.

(Xisuma, however, failed to see the one opposing member throw an ignited super TNT at him before they died to the other TNT.)

The general fumbled with his own rockets, shoving the TNT into the back of his inventory and regaining his balance midair.

And that's when the piece of TNT exploded.

Evil X cursed as Xisuma went limp for a split second, before recovering and free falling to the endstone many blocks under. Blood seeped from his armor as he fell, falling in drops like rain. Evil X dove straight down, catching up with his half-conscious brother. 

"X, please stay with me," Evil X said, flying dangerously close to Xisuma. Had his flight trainer seen him do this, he would have been stuck with a week of cleaning the ender dragons' crap by hand.

"I can't pull up, my back..." Xisuma said, his jaw locking to avoid any unnecessary pained noises.

Evil X pulled up the coordinates on his visor, pointing in the direction of the base. "Fly straight and keep firing rockets."

"Aight..."

And that's how they flew home...

But only for the first five hundred blocks. After that, Xisuma began to zone out, forgetting to fire a rocket. Occasionally, Evil X couldn't tell if his brother was extremely out of it or if he was treading on the line between consciousness and unconsciousness.

When X began to slow down to a dangerously slow speed, Evil X racked his brain for the last time he fired a rocket. "Xisuma, fire another rocket, you're losing air speed- Xisuma for goodness sake, you're stalling!"

When Xisuma didn't reply, Evil X pulled up and looped upside down, flying under Xisuma in a well-practiced way and setting a off firework for him as he fired his own. Both generals shot forwards slightly quicker before slowing back down to a gliding speed.

"Xisuma, I can't help you... we've got a hundred or so more blocks-" Evil X pointed at the base that began to come into distance. "-See? Look, it's right there!"

"Evil X..." X groaned. "I can't... I can't..."

"X, please- Xisuma- I can't land with you because I have no fatal injury, Xisuma-"

That was when Xisuma seemed to go dead in the air. The rockets slipped out of his hand and his elytra became floppy and loose.

Evil X knew he couldn't catch Xisuma and safely land. Their elytras were made to be light, and in their case, specially made to fit the generals. To have extra weight that necessary would drag the both to the floor like an anvil falling, killing both of them.

The conscious general knew it was futile, he knew it was useless to attempt to prevent the inevitable.

But he tried, he tried for his brother's sake.

"X- X, please, pull up!" Evil X pleaded. "Xisuma! 'Suma, you're going to crash!"

And there was nothing he could do to save Xisuma.

Evil X refused to watch it, but it didn't matter. Just moments after he averted his eyes, he heard his brother crash into the endstone with a large explosion following in suit.

The screams and shouts reached Evil X's ears even through the wind that whipped past his ear, and his heart dropped.

Evil X swore to Minecraft's three dimensions that he would personally pick apart every member of the opposing force until they were forced to surrender due to lack of people.

Through the remainder of his flight, he attempted getting his clearance to land. Most of the time, the control tower was too occupied with the incident in the runway that he had to wait until he could give a response, and even then, he was usually interrupted. To pass time, Evil X tried getting rid of the lonely members of the opposing side, but his bow string snapped after the first attempted use. He could safely say he's never seen an arrow completely pass through a player like his did.

When EX was finally clear to land, he technically didn't. He overshot the landing strip, twisting to his side and skidding to a stop on the rough and natural endstone, effectively tearing his exposed flesh. The adrenaline shooting through him thankfully invalidated his sense of pain, but didn't erase the fear for his brother. With his silver blood dripping down the side of his body, he scrambled to his feet, pushing past the other Voidwalkers to get into the medical wing as quickly as he could.

As soon as he locked eyes with a healer, he scrambled towards them. Their eyes were instantly drawn to the ripped skin on his right arm. They were about to drag him to a bed, but EX interrupted their thought process.

"Where's my brother?" Evil X hasn't ever sounded so desperate, but when the medic didn't answer, he leveled an anguished glare at them, making the shrink back. "Where is he?"

They took a shaky breath, finally comprehending the question. "In the- General X is in the private medical wing. I don't think you'll be able to-"

"Screw the authorities and what they say," Evil X snarled, pushing past the poor medic. "They can't stop me from seeing him if I have anything to say about it."

And before the medic could stop him, Evil X stepped behind the curtains separating the standard and private medical wings.

The sight of Xisuma laying on a bed covered in his own blood was Evil X's breaking point. Seeing his brother on death's doorstep... he couldn't hold the tears in no matter how hard he tried. It was worse seeing his extremely pale face, no helmet to hide it. The general didn't realize his knees gave out, nor did he feel the two main medics holding him up from under his arms. His right arm flared in pain, but he couldn't have cared less.

Evil X's eyes were pinned on Xisuma's still form when they dragged him to the nearby bed. He watched for movement, for a twitch, almost as if to prove Xisuma was still living... he has to be, Xisuma doesn't die like that, he hasn't in a while and certainly would be too stubborn to do so now...

He didn't know he fell asleep until he woke up with his arm bandaged and in a cast.

Evil X sat up with great difficulty, pathetically struggling to push the blanket away. The top half of his beloved red armor was most likely stored in the chest, along with his beloved helmet. His blood red leggings and tan boots were still equipped to his person, both pieces of armor still stained with the silver blood of other Voidwalkers.

As soon as he tried to stand, his knees gave out again. He barely managed to catch himself on the edge of the bed. An exhale of effort later, he pushed himself back to his feet. He scooted over to the side of X's bed, although with very wobbly steps.

Evil X almost cried again. He ended up doing so, actually. Silent tears slowly rolled down his face. Xisuma was mostly healed and not covered in blood, but his incredibly pale face and barely rising chest scared the life out of him. New scars littered his face, one of which went through his left eyes. The right side of his neck down to his arm and leg was all burnt skin, flaking like sunburn and peeling like dried glue.

With a gulp, he brushed Xisuma's arm, wincing as some skin flakes fluttered to the bed's mattress. He couldn't help the all-consuming questions from flooding his mind. What if X stopped breathing? (He guesses that's what the plastic oxygen tube thingy is for.) What if he can't see in his right eye anymore? What if the burnt skin doesn't heal? What if the explosion caused him to be deaf? What if he lost too much blood earlier? What if he doesn't wake up? What if-

"Xisuma?" Evil X finally muttered, taking X's limp hand in his free hand as he pushed the thoughts away. After a pause that seemed like eons, the other general barely cracked an eye open as his head tilted to the sound of EX's voice. The cry of relief that escaped Evil X's throat scared both brothers. He didn't even try to hide the sobs that racked his shoulders. "You're alright... oh thank Notch, you're alright..."

X tried to speak, but he could only manage a pathetic excuse of a grunt. Evil X shushed him with a watery chuckle, shaking his head. With a huff, Xisuma pursed his lips, almost as if he wanted to pout. His eyes then traveled to EX's bloodied bandages and cast, and the pout was gone as soon as it came.

Xisuma weakly reached up, his hand brushing the white cloth. It moved farther to the torn elytra that still hung on Evil X's back. X ran a hand down the shiny wings, his nails getting caught in the holes. "Wha' happened?" His voice barely reached his brother's ears. EX shook his head once more, scoffing to himself without genuine disproval.

"Always caring for others but not looking out for yourself," Evil X murmured, grabbing Xisuma's wrist with a firm but not unkind squeeze and holding it to his chest. He was sure he was holding Xisuma's hand up, and if he weren't, it would have thumped back to the bed's mattress by now.

His tears dripped onto his brother's knuckles. X twisted his wrist so his palm laid flat against the black undershirt EX wore, his long fingers resting upon his brother's chest. He found Evil X's heart and pressed lightly over the strong heart beat.

"I worry, Evil X," Xisuma whispered back. "I care."

The grasp on X's wrist tightened subconsciously, another tear falling to his hand and sliding down the side. "I know."

The two twins stayed like that for a long time, just staring into each other's eyes. Rose red connected with lilac colored, the silence that blanketed the room around them greatly needed.

"Mind enlightening me with what happened?" Xisuma finally said with a slight tilt of his head, wincing when the burn caused a flash of stabbing pain.

Evil X gulped--whether at the thought of explaining or his reaction to the movement, Xisuma couldn't tell. He answered in a low volume, "Oh, yeah... you- eh, you got hit with one of the creeper bombs about a thousand blocks from the base. It was... it was bad, 'Suma... it was horrible. I tried keeping you in the air for as long as I could, I even tried the loop trick thing to get you farther, but you were half unconscious... and you weren't speaking correctly and couldn't fly and I couldn't-" His nose was too stuffy to continue coherently. Xisuma's hand on his chest pressed slightly harder, urging him to go on and telling him that it's okay, that he's okay.

"I couldn't get you back in the air because flying close together is dangerous... and you crashed into the runway strip. The TNT you stole from the ship exploded on impact and I thought-"

Evil X didn't realize he was crying until a sob broke his sentence. 

"Exy, I would have respawned," Xisuma said, pulling his hand away from Evil X's chest and holding his brother's hand to his own.

"Yeah, sure, but respawn takes ages... we can't afford three months without you. We're in a war, 'Suma."

Xisuma shook his head, eyes directed to the ceiling as if to search for a better response. He readjusted the cannula tube under his nose and held his arms out, inviting Evil X in for a hug. When he didn't accept right away, X frowned and tugged at his wrist. With a sigh, Evil X fell down next to his brother with a muffled crash as the remaining of their armor collided.

Since Xisuma lacked the ability to roll onto his side, Evil X draped a hand over his torso, hugging him close.

"They're gonna yell at me for disturbing their patient," Evil X muttered into Xisuma's side, squeezing his shirt. X carded his fingers through his brother's hair, ignoring the settling pain in his arm.

"General's authority and patient's wishes. They won't." X sounded so sure that Evil X didn't have the heart to argue.

And in the morning, the medics found the two generals--the two brothers--curled next to each other, their fingers tightly interlocked and breathing in sync, just like it always had been.

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Thank you for reading and have a good day! <3