Hello! This chapter is extremely rushed so I apologize if it's OOC or has any grammatical mistakes. Once again, this story is about the characters and not the content creators. I will take this down if this violates any of their boundaries. Constructive criticism is welcome and if you don't like this then don't read. There's really no point in leaving hateful comments. All it does is waste your time and mine. Enjoy!
TW: child abuse, blood, and swearing (just one little word). If any of these things make you uncomfortable or can trigger you then please don't read. Stay safe ya'll!
George hated the nether. It didn't even matter how many valuables you could get there, it didn't make up for the danger a block away no matter where you are and the blistering heat forever present.
Unfortunately for George, Bad had to go to the nether to get something he didn't care to listen to when he had told him and of course he had insisted the blue clad boy come with him.
So here they were, George reluctantly following the demon through the nether.
"Why couldn't you have brought Skeppy along? I'm sure he would've loved to help you find… whatever it is we're here for." George grumbled.
Bad sighed. "Ok firstly, we're here to get more blaze rods to replace the brewing station you broke. Secondly, I would've loved to bring that muffin along, but he's doing something with a6d. Thirdly, this is your punishment for breaking Ant's brewing station, so you would've come along even if Skeppy had joined us."
"That's so not fair. It wasn't even my idea to shoot the firework in the first place."
"Come on, George."
"No, really. I think the person who had the idea should be the one being punished. You blaming me is like me blaming you if you were ordered by a dictator to execute my entire family, when really it's the dictator's fault. So––"
"George, please. It's not li––"
"Bad, just listen to me. You should be punishing Skeppy because he told me to do it. He practically forced me to do it. It's really all his fault, so he should be here and I should not."
Bad rolled his eyes and glanced over at the boy. "Skeppy did not force you to do anything. Yes, he shouldn't have suggested it, but you should not have gone through with it. So, you are here and he is not."
George groaned. "Baaad. Come on, that's not fair and you know it. It's Skeppy's fau––"
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Both of them froze, heads turning towards where the sound came from. They were outside a nether fortress, which both of them had somehow missed in their argument. Which was weird, because usually they'd be surrounded by mobs this close to a fortress.
They could hear nonstop screaming, only stopping for a moment before starting up again. To George it sounded more like a child throwing a tantrum than someone in need of help. That would be if you couldn't clearly hear a layer of fear in the wordless screams.
"Come on." Before George could say anything, Bad had entered the fortress, turning a corner to head to where the screams were coming from. Mumbling some colorful phrases, George followed after him.
It didn't take them that long to find who was screaming, since the culprit appeared to be heading right towards them.
The culprit was a little boy with shaggy jet-black hair that fell into his eyes. He was screaming, kicking, and writhing in a man's arms. The man noticed them immediately and released the boy, only to grab him by the hair and slam his face into the wall. The boy whimpered but didn't stop screaming. It was muffled but still sharp. Bad had to grab George's arm to stop him from charging at the man.
The man grunted and pushed the child's head further into the wall. "Are you the guys I'm supposed to hand this brat over to?"
Without missing a beat, Bad replied, "Yep! That's us!"
The man nodded and loosened his grip on the kid and pulled him away from the wall only to shove him unceremoniously towards George and Bad.
Bad moved to help the boy off the ground but pulled back when the boy flinched away violently.
George was filled with rage. If he could, he would've surged forward and beat that man till there was nothing recognizable about him. But that would've given them away and then they'd be in a good amount of trouble.
The man nodded curtly and moved back down the corridor.
Bad knelt down a few blocks away from the kid and tried to meet his eye. The boy no longer had the ability to scream, if his wheezes were anything to go by, so now he was curled up into himself and sobbing silently.
"Hey sweetheart, can you look at me?" Bad asked in his calming, gentle voice. The voice he had used when George had first met him as a dirty, starving fourteen-year-old hiding behind his house, trying to steal some food.
The black-haired boy trembled, and his silent sobs didn't retreat, but he raised his head hesitantly to look at the demon. A small trail of blood ran down from his forehead to his chin where it dripped onto the floor. The wound was no doubt from where the man had slammed his face into the wall.
"Hey," Bad murmured. "What's your name?"
The boy didn't respond and instead just stared blankly at the demon.
When he still didn't get a response after a few moments, he tried again. "Can you understand me?"
This time the boy bobbed his head slightly and Bad smiled. It was a small smile, probably more for the boy's comfort then Bad being genuinely pleased or relieved about something.
"Ok, then. How about we start. I'm Bad and this is George," Bad gestured at himself and then at George, before focusing his attention back onto the sobbing child. "What is your name?"
The boy looked between Bad and George before shaking his head and glaring down at the ground.
Bad gave George a nervous glance before once again trying to talk to the kid. "That's ok. Do you want to come with us? We'll get you somewhere safe."
The boy shook his head, tears appearing faster in his eyes. With a shaky hand, the boy pointed back down the corridor from where he came.
Bad frowned and glanced at George again before rising slowly from his crouched position. The boy ducked his head back to his chest and resumed his earlier curled up pose.
Bad took George's arm and led him a few blocks away from the child.
"What are we going to do with him?" George whispered once they had stopped.
Bad sighed and shook his head. "We have to take him with us."
"But what if that guy comes back and sees we've disappeared with him? What if we run into someone else and they stop us? We don't even know what they think we're supposed to do with him."
"It doesn't matter. We just have to take him and hope no one sees what we're doing."
"Bad this isn't a good idea. We should just hand him back over that man and forget any of this ever happened. We'll go find another fortress."
Bad glared at him and George winced. That wasn't a smart thing to say.
"No! We're not leaving him here. Not when it's clear how he's treated."
George groaned. "Fine! Fine, we'll take him with us."
Bad nodded and turned back to the boy. "Ok, sweetheart. How abou––"
He froze and George glanced over too. The boy was gone.
"Shit." George mumbled.
Bad agreed too much to disagree with the term.
