(June 19, 2020)

Thank you _Ash-Potato_ for talking about this with me :)

Sorry my dude I fell asleep a total of three times while writing this. I also changed a lot of what we discussed. Oops?

oh yeah Im editing my chapters to show who the main characters are so if you want to read a specific Hermit, it's easier to find.

Word Count: 1677 words
Category: AU + our/normal universe. backstory quite possibly in this AU?
Warnings: swear word and REALLY out of character (everything on my account is ooc tho i wanna burn this account in a fire-)

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The portal was first found in Wels' base. It was a small rip in the air, not like a nether or end portal. The knight couldn't see through it, but he knew it was there.

So like any honorable knight, Wels reported the portal/rip thing to the server admin. Xisuma had arrived at Wels' place a while later to examine the portal. After a quick greeting and a small conversation, the two Hermits turned their full attention to the portal, theorizing on what it could lead to.

It rippled and shimmered as Xisuma reached out to it. The admin pulled away, dragging Wels with him as the rip in the air widened and stretched.

Lightning flashed as two people- extremely familiar people- stumbled through said portal and faceplanted on top of each other. When they looked up to see which Hermits were there, both groaned at their horrible luck.

X reached for his communicator and Wels drew his sword, knowing from previous experiences that they were probably here to destroy Hermitcraft. The two on the floor had no choice but to scramble to their feet, wearily watching the Hermits as the portal behind them shimmered away.

This was the first time in a while that EX had seen his counterpart. The two stared at each other, their eyes connecting from under their visors. Neither could tell what the other's expression was, but both assumed the worse.

It was the first time in general for Wels to see his counterpart, and in that moment, with the startling red eyes that reminded Wels of hell, Wels dubbed his counterpart Helsknight.

The four of them were yanked out of their observations as EX lunged towards Xisuma, knocking both to the floor with silent lightning flashing around them. Hels drew his sword, watching Wels with blazing eyes.

They too jumped towards each other, their swords raised and ready for a duel.

"I thought I banned you from here," Xisuma grunted after a few solid minutes of hand to hand combat, pushing EX to the floor as a strike of lightning harmlessly struck the ground near them. The admin managed to pin his evil counterpart, lightly pressing his knee onto his back. EX wheezed, the sound from his lungs so loud it got through the voice modulator.

"Entering through portals aren't the same thing as joining the server," EX managed to get out, pressed into the ground under Xisuma's weight. But even though X gave him enough room to breathe, EX seemed to still have trouble drawing breaths in. He said nothing though, leaving himself to suffer with shortness of breath.

Further away, two swords clashed loudly. The scrapes of the blades sent shivers down their spines, but neither were able to get the upper hand. Both glared into each other's eyes, sapphire blue into blood red.

As the swords connected again, Wels wrinkled his nose.

"I don't want to fight you," he said. Hels blinked, almost not believing his ears. Clearing his throat, he squinted back into Wels' eyes.

"Excuse me? Wh-" Hels cut himself off with a yelp as he crashed to the floor, his sword flying out of his grasp as another sword's point found it's way under his chin. He growled, realizing what Wels did. The knight of Hermitcraft used the distraction and kicked Hels' legs, sending him to the ground while disarming him.

"What are you two doing here?" Xisuma demanded with his authoritative tone, sharing a look with Wels.

"I forgot what colors other looked like. It's nice, for once," Hels began, ignoring the question directed at him. Wels and X winced at his rough voice.

"What-" Xisuma started, only to be ignored as Hels looked around, plowing on his with observations.

"Everything looked red, orange, yellow, or some shade of black in our universe."

"Universe?" Xisuma exasperated. EX snorted under him, amusement radiating off him. The counterpart offered no further explanation. "Explain yourselves before I ban you from here. Again," X added, an air on uncertainty surrounding him and his words.

"We would have earlier if you didn't pull the sword," EX grunted. Hels, not seeing anything better to do, rolled his eyes and decided to comply.

"A large glitch caused... chemicals, let's say, to drown Minecraft," Hels dryly said, picking his nails. "We barely escaped permadeath. Everything else was turned to wasteland. Everyone changed, whether it was their personality, or their appearance, or both." He held his hand up, relatively close to Wels. The evil counterpart's skin tone was only slightly more grey and dry than Wels' skin.

"Everyone's voice is rough and dry, and-" Hels side-looked EX. "-in Xisuma's case, his lungs got even worse." At Xisuma's surprised look, Hels added, "Oh, my bad, I meant to say Evil Xisuma."

"I-" Hels released a grunt and sigh at the same time, cutting the poor admin off again.

"Do you really think our names are just your names with 'evil' stuck to the front of it? Or- if Wels is actually creative for once- some odd variation?" Hels continued, pushing Wels' sword away with the back of his armored hand.

"I mean- no?" Wels said, narrowing his eyes as he sheathed his sword.

"We're not evil. We just have... darker intentions," EX grumbled, uncomfortably shifting under Xisuma's knee. "But it's not our fault. Blame the... chemicals."

X sighed. "Goodness me, this is extremely confusing," he muttered under his breath, slowly taking his knee off EX as if the counterpart would suddenly jump up and attack him.

He didn't.

"We're basically you with a worse temper," Hels begrudgingly admitted. Xisuma looked between the two counterparts, and if anyone had to guess, was slowly starting to contemplate the meaning of life.

"And when did this happen?" he asked, cautiously stepping closer to Wels. Helping EX off the floor, Hels looked to the blue sky, a sight he hasn't seen in... well, forever.

"Ages ago. It happened to every server, every world. There is not one person or place in our universe that hasn't been affected by the... chemicals."

"You're hesitant with the chemical part," Wels noticed, tilting his head upwards with narrowed eyes.

"We don't know what it was, but it was liquid. We call it chemicals because that's what Joe speculates." Hels paused. "Oh, my bad, I meant to say-"

"We understand," Xisuma waved his hand in a 'no' motion.

"I've got another question-" Wels said, flinching back when his counterpart groaned.

"The hell is this, an interview?" Hels muttered, causing Wels to pull further back at the language. EX quietly chuckled, an odd and rather unnerving sound coming from his modulator.

"Why are you here?"

Hels pursed his lips before answering, "Xisuma's breathing problems got worse and he desperately needed fresh air. If we didn't go elsewhere, he might have suffocated to death over and over. He couldn't think of another universe other than this one so... Doc ripped a hole in the universe multiverse thingy.  Still don't know how that works at all," Hels added in a low mutter at the end. Clearing his throat, he spoke as if he hadn't said any side note. "The only reason I'm here- and trust me, I don't want to be- is because Doc shoved me through after I commented on his weird habits of breaking science."

Xisuma stood still, contemplating his choices. A silent lightning strike went though EX, reminding X of what he did the first few times they met.

"Why did you want to destroy Hermitcraft back in Season 3?"

"I was only joking. I'd truly never destroy another server, especially one that I'd be proud of." EX said this in his normal low growl, but the sincerity behind his voice was genuine.

The lie was unfounded.

Would this man really be identical to Xisuma if this odd chemical glitch problem didn't happen?

"I'm not evil, per say, but I'm not fully... good," EX continued. "I know what I've done, and so have you. So whatever your decide to do with Wels and I, I... I'll respect it." The counterpart seemed to have a hard time saying this, but relieved after forcing it out of his mouth.

Xiusma narrowed his eyes again. "... For now, I will let you stay under the conditions that you two will not hurt anyone or break anything, alright?" The two nodded quickly, relief settling on their faces.

"X, you can't seriously trust them-"

"Admit it Wels, if they wanted to destroy this server they would have done so ages ago from the technology they have." Xisuma brought a hand to his purple visor, rubbing it as if he were massaging his forehead.

Wels eyed the counterparts through narrow eyes. "Better not hurt Hermitcraft. You'd have to deal with me," he said with a slight edge to his voice, wrapping his fingers around the hilt of his sheathed sword.

Hels matched Wels' tone, a smirk tugging at his lips, "Wouldn't dream of it, Welsknight."

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lol so ooc

I dont know what I just wrote? I dont know anymoree Im so confuseddddd

I thought Xisuma's bee skin scared me, no no screw that the strider skin will keep me up for weeks holy-

oh btw the next thing is also going to be about the evil counterparts because i found something that i needed to write something on. im sorry for lack of variety and lack of bthb but i need to write something on the fanart i found.

Thank you for reading! <3 :D