First to find the anime reference in this chapter gets to keep one of the child hermits for the day-

Please return back the child later on, thank you.

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--Wels’ POV--

“Want a pancake?” the young blonde offered a pretend pancake/rock to the other.

“Cheewrs mate!” Xisuma accepted the rock.

While the two little hermits played around the grass, Zed paced all over the place, deep in thought, murmuring his worries. “What to do what to do what to do- Wels, what if all of the hermits were actually turned into 5 year-olds?!.

A hesitant chuckle escaped from my lips, “On the bright side, more adorable babies to take care of!

“WELS!”

“What!? They're adorable! “ I whined.

Xisuma roamed near the grassier parts of the area to pick up the leaves that had fallen from the tree. He ran back to the small pile of stones that Tango organised for his little pretend pancake shop. “How much is the cake?” he asked.

Tango eyed at the stack of leaves that the young strider could carry. He crawled to the bigger pile of rocks and slammed his fingers on the surface like he was using a cashier, also adding the beeping noises from the keyboard.

“Beep, bop, beep beep…..”

“BOOP!!”

“ One trillion money!”

Zedaph let out a dramatic but half-hearted gasp. “ Gee Tango, isn't that a bit much for poor X? Not everyone has lots of mon-

“I have lots of money!” Xisuma then tossed the stack of leaves to the poor little blonde who is now stuck beneath the pile of leaves. Tango popped his head up with the extra leaves sticking on his strands of hair. He showed another cheeky grin and handed Xisuma a bunch of rocks. “Thank you for shopping my pancakes!”  He exclaimed.

The weird but cute banter between X and Tango was now forgotten once the construction worker came back with a grin wider than before  “I'm backkkkkkkk!!!” Keralis cried out. “And guess who I found?!~~” He showed off another little body that rested in his arms. The young hermit was described as having dark brown hair, with a darker skin color, and a white sleeved shirt that reached to his tiny waist. And surprise surprise! He's asleep.

“It's a baby Bdubs?”

“Nah! Baby Bubbles is way better.” Keralis smiled like a proud dad.

“But he's not a baby,” I chuckled.

“W-Well!... He's babi no matter what okay!?”

The sleeping boomer winced, stirring his way to the opposite direction of the sound. The three of us did not dare to raise our voices again. Grown up Bdubs was already an angry ball of emotion when he doesn't get his sleep, but possibly a young, grumpy and sensitive Bdubs ain't a laughing matter..

Zedaph nudged his elbow to my shoulder and gave me a smirk. “Congrats Wels, you're officially the new king of sleep!”

“Oh haha,” I scoffed

Keralis stared bewildered at the both of us, and gasped, “Bubbles is still the prince of sleep no matter what! He'll always be our sleeping beauty.” He quietly giggled as he brought the young Bdubs closer to his arms. Keralis, as childish as can be, really looked like a dad the moment he said that about Bdubs. It reminded us that… we're now responsible for these kids, well I hope just these three. 20 babies isn't really ideal.

“Awww Tango , look at the baby boy!.” The young admin exclaimed. Xisuma stood up from his tippy toes, trying to have a proper glimpse of Bdubs. While poor Tango couldn't see a thing with us three blocking his view. I hoisted the two up in my arms, giving them a proper view of Bdubs. The two young hermits silently awed at the sleeping hermit.

“Hey Xisuma,” I called out.

“Hmm?”

“That's not a baby. His name is Bdubs and he's 5 years old, just like you and Tango.”

“Ohh…”  Xisuma quietly gasped. Young Tango made this weird thinking expression as he stared at Bdubs, then whispered in my ear. “But uncle Welsy, he doesn't look like 5. He's too small.

Zed and Keralis were now wheezing.

“You guys are meanies,” young Xisuma huffed.

*BZZZT!!*

Three communicators went off with a ding, ringing in sync. I brought the two hermits on the ground and retrieved the gadget once again. All of us did. But what I saw streaming was just nonsense.

*MumboJumbo: husbskakaaaaaa*

*MumboJumbo: hh8hswb111118ha*

*MumboJumbo: 11037777777777*

*MumboJumbo: in saw udaj*

“What on earth is Mumbo doing?” I stared at the gibberish that he was spamming in the chat. Mumbo says a lot of random things in chat, but they were usually words that actually make sense. Then a thought came through my mind. It was possible that… Mumbo doesn't know what he's doing, since… “I'm gonna go check if Mumbo’s okay,” I took the rockets from my inventory and flew off.

“Sure Wels, me and Keralis wi-

“I'll go find more babies!” Keralis swiftly but carefully pushed the sleeping Bdubs in Zedaph’s arms, and flew off before Zed could even start yelling for him. “KERALIS GET BACK HERE!!”

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--Zedaph’s POV--

And I was abandoned by the two men, left to care for the children…. Actually that's a weird way to phrase it-

Tango and X retreated back to their messy pile of leaves and rocks to continue with their game. They insisted that I should join in their game as a customer and so I did, the two were already collecting more flat rocks for the shop. “Are you hungry uncle Zeddy? The pancakes are almost done!” Tango exclaimed.

“Hehe, yeah..” I beamed at the young hermit.

“Aww, hope my presence is not ruining something here!” a female voice cried out.

Zombie Cleo walked in, along with another child tugging her hand, eying at his surroundings with curiosity sparkling his eyes. The child was another brunette, a teal shirt with an @ symbol, and the glasses he usually wears are now just hanging on top of his head. Cleo smiled sheepishly as she ruffled the young hermit’s hair and said, “That's right, no more breaking Joe’s legs for fun now. Damit.”

“Auntie Cleo, inappropriate words,” Joe scolded.

“Oh hush child.”

I stared at the child in disbelief, I felt a pathetic laugh escape my mouth after hearing those words. “Those are some big words coming from a small child like you Joe,” I smirked.

The young brunette turned pink, beaming brightly. “Thank you Uncle Zed, I've learned a lot of stuff!”

I'm convinced that Joe isn't a 5 year old like the other three. But it doesn't hurt to be knowledgeable at such a young age.

“Howdy random kid, my name is Joe!” The brunette ran to the other young hermits playing on the grass. Tango swiftly jumped from his bum and welcomed Joe with warm arms.

“Sooooo… what's with the baby Bdubs?” She cooed at the little boomer in my arms. “Seriously Zedaph, you like a tired mom dealing with her feisty kids.

“Wels and Keralis have abandoned me, “

“Pftt, you mean your husbands?*

“Yep but now you're my new wife. Take good care of our children, I'll be back for dinner-”

“oh NO YOU DON'T!” The zombie female dragged my arm to the ground before I was able to fly away as a joke. We both looked utterly horrified when I was about to fall face first on the ground, nearly squishing young Bdubs into a flat pancake. Thankfully I managed to avoid that terrible scenario with Bdubs showing no signs of waking up from that impact, but now me and Cleo just started chuckling nervously to ourselves.

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--Wels’ POV--

I arrived at Mumbo’s base, it was quiet and the faint sounds of my heart beating was the only thing ringing through my ears. Or that was just the artificial heart producing the sound. The new details of his base weren't missed, with the rigid spruce path, ruined stone walls and overgrown grass, this redstoner really did deserve to actually be called one of season six’s famous architects.

But alas there were no signs of that mustached redstoner. “Mumbo?” I called out, but no one answered back.

Suddenly footsteps echoed behind me, the tall grass made signs of movement, and not from your average breeze blowing the grass. “Is that you?”

A head bobbed near the bamboo before they leaped back into the grass. I wasted no time and immediately grabbed the person's hand before they escaped. “Gotcha!” I cried out. The child let out a silent gasp, struggling to escape my grasp. Honestly I think the way I grabbed the child like I was some kidnapper was just wrong, and loses my chances of getting the young hermit’s trust. But soon when we both locked eyes on each other, the child’s expression changed into relief, then to a face of nervousness. “W-Wels?”

Somehow he still recognizes me, just like the other young hermits. He had black hair, a white long-sleeved polo shirt and a small red necktie hanging loosely on his neck, the black coat jacket was nowhere to be seen. The biggest difference is that this child doesn't have the iconic Mumbo Jumbo mustache that nearly half of the hermits in the server were jokingly obsessed with. It's probably why I have my doubts that this is even Mumbo.

The young redstoner launched himself to me and wrapped his tiny arms around my neck. His little body trembled and his chest kept rising from his hasty deep breaths. “U-Uncle Wels… There was the creepy creature and-and- I tried asking for H-help and-” he gasps when I carefully lifted him up from the ground before I started comforting him, awkwardly but carefully cradling the scared redstoner. He clutched for the communicator like a teddy bear, hugging it for comfort.

“It's alright Mumbo, I saw your messages,” I laughed softly.

His spelling wasn't really understandable, and the messages didn't really show any signs of distress. But I'm glad I was able to confirm my theory and found Mumbo. “What did this creepy creature look like?”

Young Mumbo pondered for a bit, frowning every single time he nearly got the full memory of what he saw, rubbed his back every time he did that. “He looked like.. like uncle Doc but scawy....” He mumbled.

Ahh, a creeper.

“Don't worry. I, Sir Welsknight, shall protect  you from the vile creatures of the blocky underworld! Anyone who dares hurt you Sire, shall first face me and my trusty swords. And I swear on my life that I will!” I declared with the most stereotypical Shakespeare accent I could do, and whipped out my sword with pride. Mumbo seemed to enjoy my little role play, all fear left the room and now he was a ball full of giggles.

“Hehe, horsey go! Giddy yap!” Young Mumbo softly patted my shoulders.

Even after I declared my knightly speech that I made up in a whim, and he has the audacity call me a horse!?...... In the end I still became his horse.

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