#kangaroo writes

He doesn't understand what's happening- some kind of...game? Inside a mountain? A mountain the blaze demon who is currently a vampire BUILT? There's a lot of redstone. Skizz always gets a vicious little thrill when he sees redstone and this contraption is downright visionary, whatever the fuck it is.

Skizz follows along behind the demon, listening as he mutters. Tango, his name is- Tango Tek.

"I like you," Skizz says to Tango. "You talk funny. Like me."

He steps carefully over one of the blocks meant to trip up players, eyes the new river with trepidation. "I wasn't allowed to talk funny back home, or out on assignment," he says as he leans over Tango's shoulder, examining the inside of his redstone shulker. It's very organized. So many of these hermits are organized. "None of my little noises or nicknames. I couldn't tell you why I make the noises- it's not like I do it on purpose! I liked nicknames. I miss giving them." He looks Tango over, backing away as the vampire-demon straightens up. It won't matter if Tango runs into him- he'll pass right through- but it's the principle of the thing.

"Tango's already such a good name, though," Skizz says. "Did you get to pick it yourself?" "Lay the minecart over here so it'll pick up signal," Tango mutters, "but don't forget the glass.." "I didn't get to pick my first name. I had it when I woke up. We were all like that. I don't know about now- She's dead. Maybe the ones waking up now get to pick their own names. I don't use my first name anymore. It kinda sucks." A pause. "...no. That's not true. It's a perfectly decent name, it just- it meant a lot of bad things to a lot of people." Skizz settles down on a blackstone slab at the edge of the build, watching Tango work. "and it started to hurt. Hearing it. So I got a new one! Impulse gave it to me. Well he suggested it, anyway. Are you a naming demon? He is. Do you know his whole name? It's SO LONG. I bet it's even longer now." Tango lays down a test switch, tries it, cheers. Skizz cheers with him.

"Do you know where redstone comes from, Tango?" Skizz asks as Tango moves on to the next section of his work. "It's the ashes of a god. Well. He sure thought he was a god. And he was everywhere so I guess he sort of was."

A shrug that lifts and drops all six wings, stirring up dust that Tango is too far away to see.

"Doesn't matter. He died easy enough. Only I don't think he's actually dead? Like. Trust me I have KILLED killed some big dudes, and it wasn't just me, it was a LOT of us, but I still think sometimes, if enough redstone was kinda glued together again..?" Tango smears another mark on the stone and Skizz chuckles. "but that won't happen. If it hasn't happened yet it won't."

He snaps his fingers. "Tango Top!" he says. "Because you're the top! Do you like it?"

Tango packs up his shulker.

"I like it," Skizz says to himself. "Tango Top. I gotta remember that one. Nootch." He stands up. "I'll see you tomorrow, 'Top. Maybe I'll remember to take the dirt down this time."

He won't, he knows, but the hole he's been using is so far out of render from this part of the game map that it doesn't even matter. Maybe he'll leave a block of calcite near it.

The poor man is always so fretful, flitting here and there as he works on his base. This isn't unusual behavior, Skizz figures- it doesn't seem to disturb any of the other- hermits?

Yeah. Hermits.

No one seems worried about Mumbo's constant back and forth, how he tweaks one thing and then another, takes down whole parts of builds only to put them back up with a single block changed. He always looks at it from the same spot next to what is swiftly becoming a very beautiful shopping district.

"You know," Skizz says to the man in the flannel shirt, who is stroking his mustache as he contemplates the mountainside he's just terrained, "I can't build for squat, dude. That looks pretty awesome to me."

A pause. "Except for beacons." Skizz says with a lopsided smile. "Fastest beacon builder north of Quire. I think. Pretty sure this is north of Quire, anyway."

It starts to rain. Skizz stretches one huge wing out over Mumbo, but it doesn't matter- the rain falls through him.

"Right," Mumbo says, and stands, head momentarily inside of Skizz's wing before the angel draws it back in. He equips an elytra- only a few fliers in this bunch- and heads over the gorge to fuss with yet another boulder.

Skizz watches him for a bit, then looks to the left. Mumbo's started to make an impression in the grass- dirt shifted, plants broken.

Skizz quietly gets up and leaves, headed for the large nether portal that these Hermits have so thoughtfully put smack-dab at the front of their shopping district. It'll be a bit of a trek back home but he has time.

No one will miss him when he's gone.

-

"Grian?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you do this?"

Grian examines the little chair, set up exactly where Mumbo tends to stand as he's contemplating his base. "No, but it's neat. Mangrove. Who's working with mangrove? Tango?"

"I've seen X with some," Mumbo says. "You figure it's for me?"

"It's in your spot, dude."

"True, true. Well, I'll ask them about it, I guess."

And then like a year later Mojang introduced spears.

CCSkizz loves spears.

So I need everyone to imagine the moment when polearms are unlocked on Hermitcraft because IDK they weren't in the weapon rotation or whatever and Impulse is like "Guys you don't understand we all need to hide we all need to hide NOW-"

and then he explodes into gibbly bits as a cackling Skizz, who is no longer nerfed, takes him out in one hit with his beloved netherite spear.

Skizz giving Grian spear lessons in the air. Skizz and False setting up elytra/wing jousting. Skizz just having a ton of fun flying and fighting with his favorite weapon- hell doesn't even have to be Beacon Skizz it's not like I have a shortage of winged Skizzes to choose from.

The House of Sulphur still exists but the First Circle got its ass beat pretty bad, like unconditional surrender possibly barely escaping occupied home server beat, and one of the requirements was that Sarandiel 'leave' which is just whoever got there first's code for 'send that motherfucker out here so we can kill him' and Skizz basically had to fly by night flee Quire and can't ever realistically go home, or mount a beacon lest he connect with a third circle who would turn him in.

So our boy hobo'd across the multiverse for a while before settling onto a single player world where he proceeded to basically be lonely and miserable and not at all productive until one day a bug means a fresh mutli-player world basically generates INTO or perhaps ATOP his own.

Which is how Skizz finds himself in a semi-spectator mode on HC season 11, able to interact with objects to an extent but not seen, heard or crucially listed as present. He is in a singleplayer world. They are in a multiplayer world. And because he hasn't done any of the Big minecraft things, the world appears untouched. No End portals open, dragon's still alive, no End cities raided.

So Skizz discovers his new neighbors and, after freaking out a bit, spends all this time basically following random hermits around (within reason he doesn't want to be a creep even though he figures out early on that he can see and hear them but they can't see or hear him.)

it's almost like being with people and hey, here's Impulse the demon buddy I parlayed with for a bit! He's okay! He retired from his Princedom the way he said he would! He's making cool stuff! That's neat! That's great! That's...great.

And like the Hermits know SOMETHING is going on someone keeps using Xisuma's music machines when no one's around, Tango's found a small hole in the mountain he knows he didn't leave AND a dirt tower he accuses Scar of leaving. Gem's positive someone harvested some of her nether wart and Beef keeps finding resources he knows he didn't mine left where he logged out.

So it's all fun and games and existential dread with Cleo making Borrower jokes until one day Xisuma is doing routine maintenance and the bug menu notes that 'fusion is 100%' where before it had been like 85 and he couldn't find out why, and there is a name on the whitelist he doesn't recognize.

And a portal in the nether that's suddenly there, where it definitely wasn't before.

And there is Skizz, who thought he was just fine passively watching these people before they inevitably reset and left his world, finding out that's not exactly the case anymore.

Which makes things.

And then one day in a public warp someone like harasses Skizz over 'refueling the supply line' and his friends just watch their goofy buddy go Cold As Ice and calmly inform this rando in full Life Series Red Mode to get lost or he's gonna tear the guy's lungs out and make him eat them

And that's how the Gang finds out that prior to Hermitcraft Skizz made money and connections by basically being a drug kingpin on a modded server so when he brews he brews The Good Shit

but like the whole point of leaving was to NOT be doing that

So can we not talk about my extensive chemical knowledge please and thank you

WitherSkizz: Hi!

Me: WHAT THE-

WitherAngelSkizz: HEY GET OUT OF MY SPOT

WitherSkizz: No no nono I'm not an angel!

Me: ...no?

WitherSkizz: Not even angel adjacent! I'm- er. Technically a litch? I think? At least that's what me and Cleo decided.

Me: ...how?

WitherSkizz: well I'm a wither! From a server where someone spawned me and then just like left, which was RUDE, and when there's nobody around and nothing left to kill you sort of- finagle with your sliders and boom! The central hubs accept you're a real person!

Me: So no angel stuff.

WitherSkizz: I mean I can fly but it's more of a up down thing?

Me: Multiple heads?

WitherSkizz: Yeah but I can hide those mostly. If I turn real fast or lose some powerlocking you can see 'em!

Me: withering effect?

WitherSkizz: I mean I USED to have sleeves...

Me: relationship with piglins?

WitherSkizz: Oh SO bad. I need two gold items to get anywhere near 'em and don't get me STARTED on the skeletons they're just jealous of my rizz.

Me: I need you to never say that ever again welcome aboard also does killing you-

WitherSkizz: I am NOT farmable for multiple nether stars no

Me: Tragic

WitherSkizz: I know right maybe we can change that? That can be my OP thing? Everyone else gets an OP thing! You gave him magic crystal spears!

WrathSkizz: They ARE pretty great I'm not gonna lie

BeaconAngelSkizz: I'm not sure I like where this is going

Which of your Skizz's makes the best food (or at least edible food)?

Okay this one's a DEEP cut but that would be Neon Blue Skizz, who started out a sex worker, transitioned to a sex worker who also owned a bar, and then after the AI uprising/retaking of his home of PixelPulse Valley became the official right hand of the Man In Charge, AKA Mr. Impulse Esvey.

That particular Skizz knows how to make a little stretch a long way and is used to feeding a crowd.

Most of the other Skizzes can manage- definitely Mr.s House and Trick, Disk Jockey and Siren Head. Our OG Beacon Angel Skizz might just barely be able to cook but since he's more embedded in an established minecrafty world, cooking full meals isn't exactly a thing.

Wither Angel Skizz can cook but his knowledge is millenia out of date and Ascendant Envoy Skizz can barely boil water. He's lucky demons had a vested interest in keeping him alive when he moved to a more permanent non-light form or he'd have starved to death a couple times.