Chapter Text
Grian bolted through the forest, trees reaching out to snag his clothes. He ran like the claws of death were grasping at his heels. Oak trees grew in thick groves, blocking the moon. What little light was left was reflected off of sullen puddles and glinted off of silvery leaves. He held back a flinch as his bare feet scraped across sharp rocks, too focused on fleeing to care. Grian could feel the panic growing in him. With each step it rose, threatening to burst out. Every twig snapped was the devil chasing him and every leaf rustled was a demon wanting to drag him to hell. Grian could feel the wood in his pocket rubbing against his leg, threatening to spill out. The box was the reason he was lost in a seemingly endless forest, running for his life.
A day earlier he had been camping outside the Void HQ when he saw Evil X leaving the fortified stronghold. He was accompanied by a pale, gangly man, whose dark hair curled out in every direction, getting caught in branches. He had to stop every few minutes to detangle himself. From afar, Grian could see the two men talking to each other, laughing and smiling. He was confused -- Void was a dangerous man, what was this innocent-looking guy doing with him? Grian drew closer hoping to overhear a little of their conversation.
Grian had grown up on the road. “Always move forward and never look back” was his family motto. He was raised by the two sweetest people in the world, Stress and Scar -- they were like family to him. It was partially thanks to them that he was here, hiding in the woods, spying on the most dangerous man in the world. For as long as he could remember they had drilled him about the group of people who were under the protection of Alex Void. “If they were near,” Stress and Scar would make him recite, “I will run. If they talk to me, I must respond with practiced answers. If I see them close to camp, I must hide.”
Those were the rules, and for seventeen years he had followed them. The night of his seventeenth birthday he was coerced (forced) by his best friend Iskall to attend a meeting that supported The Cause.
“Grian, come here.” Iskall said, gesturing towards a corner of the room. “Look, that’s Doc. He’s the leader.”
In the corner was a massive man, a frigid glare painted on his face. His skin was a mottled green, and a metallic sheen took over the right side of his face. His right eye was made of glass and bits of flashing technology. Periodically, a red light would flash when it hit the light.
“Who is he?” Grian asked, openly staring.
Iskall elbowed him in the side. “Don’t look too long, dumbass,” he hissed. Taking Grian’s arm, he led him towards the bathrooms. “He was caught by Evil X when he was a kid, and experimented on by their resident crazy man. He barely made it out alive.”
Grian glanced in Doc's direction, “Obviously worse for wear, I see.”
Iskall glared at him. “Don’t insult him, okay? He’s a huge asset, and an amazing person.”
Grian’s face burned with shame. “ Sorry ‘Skall,” he whispered.
His friend glanced at him. “It’s okay dude, just be respectful.” He smiled reassuringly.
Doc stood up, and instantly the mood of the whole room shifted. The room quieted and people began taking their seats.
“Hello friends,” Doc said. His voice was deep and booming, filled with warmth and authority. “I’m sure everyone here has noticed the recent changes that were made within Evil X’s organization. They have begun targeting children -- only yesterday, I saw an Enforcer drag a child away.” Doc’s voice grew cold. “We have to kickstart our plans as soon as possible.”
The crowd shifted in their seats, emotions rising.
“What should we do?!” shouted a young man. The crowd began talking loudly amongst themselves.
“We need to fight!” yelled a viciously blond young woman.
“Who’s that?” asked Grian.
“Oh that’s False, Doc’s friend.” Iskall said offhandedly. “You should introduce yourself to her, she’s amazing at checkers.”
Grian glanced back at her. “Huh, cool I guess.”
Doc glanced around the room, at the people muttering and gesturing to each other. He could see their mounting excitement laced with fear. Fear was normal, he reminded himself. He should be scared. And yet, he wasn’t. All he felt was determination and a bubbling, seething rage.
His hatred for the Void Organization stretched beyond his experience with them. He despised how the clan had changed society and the way of life within the country. The corruption inside the government, which had burrowed itself into the very core of their country, so deep that no one could see the difference. Change would never come if no one stood up.
During his days stuck inside the Organization, Doc had determined that he would be the one to bring that change.
“Everyone!” He called out.
The crowd ignored him, continuing in their chaotic discussions.
“LISTEN TO ME,” he bellowed.
Everything stopped.
Doc immediately felt bad.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, looking at the floor. Everyone stared at him in shock. It wasn’t often that Doc acted like this.
He shook his head, dispelling his guilt. “I need everyone here to listen to me until I’m finished, no interruptions.” Doc said. “If you want to participate, you may choose to stay. If you don’t feel comfortable, then--” Doc’s voice hitched. “Then I need you to leave. We can’t have anyone who isn’t willing to help listening in on our meetings.” Doc fell silent, waiting for his words to sink in.
Grian looked around the crowd. Many people were nodding, and Iskall had a determined look in his eyes. Grian was confused -- how was he supposed to know what to do? He didn’t even know the point of this meeting, but he was sure that Iskall was going to stay. He also knew that he couldn’t let Iskall jump into a dangerous situation with a bunch of people who he barely knew.
The walking mountain continued talking about the “extreme dangers,” and the “massive repercussions,” that Evil X had apparently inflicted on pretty much everything.
Grian glanced up at the stage only to find Doc’s eyes searching his face. His heart stuttered. Suddenly, he understood why everyone respected him. The man’s left eye, dark and unashamed, glowered at him. His right eye ceased blinking and instead began to glow faintly.
Doc smiled lightly and a piece of Grian’s soul died. The subtle quirking of his facial muscles made him wonder if somehow his closely guarded secrets had fallen into Doc’s hands. Grian did the only thing he could think of -- he smiled shyly and glanced away.
Grian tried to focus on the details of Doc’s speech -- it was important to know what he was getting into.
An hour later, Doc was wrapping up the meeting, watching people slowly trickle out the door. Grian stood awkwardly beside Iskall. “Who do you think will stay?” He whispered.
I’m positive False and Cub will stay, and a couple others who have been with Doc for a while. Impulse will definitely come, and Ren also; who knows about the rest.”
Grian looked around, wanting to put faces to these names.
Iskall continued. “Don’t feel bad if Stress and Scar don’t show up, they--”
Grian snapped his head back towards Iskall. “What do you mean Stress and Scar?” Iskall’s face drained of color.
“Shit,” he said through gritted teeth. “I don’t think you were meant to know about that.”
Grian glared at him. “Not supposed to know what exactly?”
Skall gulped. “Well, you see, Grian…” He trailed off as Doc approached them with Stress in tow.
“Hey man,” Doc glanced at Grian.
“Hey Doc!” Iskall replied. “Who’s your friend?”
“Oh, this is Grian, I convinced him to come.” Iskall nodded in Grian’s direction.
“H-hey,” Grian said, wilting beneath Doc and Stress’s gaze.
“Fancy seeing you here, Grian,” she said. “I thought you were at the movies tonight.”
Grian flinched. “I know Stressie but--”
Stress glared at him. “Don’t try to turn on the charm Gri’, you should’ve asked and we could’ve come together.”
Grian’s face grew warm. “Sorry Stress,” he mumbled.
“It’s fine dear, just know whatever you choose, we’ll support you.”
Grian smiled awkwardly, not wanting to be put on the spot. He glanced at Iskall. “Are you going to stay?” He asked.
“Yeah, probably,” Iskall replied.
“Well, I guess I’m going to have to keep you alive, then.”
Iskall smirked back at him. “You are aware, I’m going to be the one keeping you alive?”
“You can try!”
It was through these events that Grian found himself in the proximity of a “super bad person”. The man was now gesturing emphatically toward his friend with a big grin on his face as Grian edged closer to them. After his first meeting with Doc and his friends, he sat through many hours of stories about the horrendous acts that Evil X had committed.
Grian crept through the foliage, close enough now to hear what the two men were talking about -- and surprised to find that it wasn’t all “evil-doomsday” stuff.
“I don’t believe you!” Mumbo laughed, poking X’s arm.
“No, I promise it’s true!” X said before breaking into laughter.
“So you’re telling me that Tango actually went up and sang? Of course I had to miss it.” He shook his head, chuckling.
“I mean, you didn’t miss much. He was super quiet and kept messing words up.” X pursed his lips. “He should definitely get out of that lab more.”
Mumbo looked at him in disbelief. “ I wonder whose fault it is that he’s stuck in there twenty-four-seven.” Giving his friend a pointed look, he continued. “Maybe if you didn’t force him to work on all your crazy endeavors he could have time to wind down. You know, listen to music, hang out with Zedaph, that sort of thing.”
X grimaced. “Zedaph? Why him?”
Mumbo exhaled loudly and shook his head. “Sometimes you can be extremely oblivious”
As they trekked deeper into the forest, their conversation turned from ridiculous tales about people with unfamiliar names to plans that Grian couldn’t even begin to understand. He felt extremely inadequate.
Iskall would have been keeping tabs on the details.
Doc would have remembered the path that they took.
False would have noticed their individual weaknesses.
Grian was too busy trying not to give himself away to notice any of these important details.
The sun was setting and the two men were beginning to pick their way downwards towards a small creek. Near the bank was a small hut made from oak planks, thin saplings covering it. X and Mumbo puttered around outside, collecting firewood for a while before going inside.
As the sky darkened and clouded over, Grian huddled in the bushes outside, chilled but comfortable for the time being. Peeking through the window, he could see the two men leaning over a desk tucked in a corner. They both had pensive looks on their faces and were muttering to each other.
Mumbo was puzzled. X had brought him to their forest hideout for a bit of down time together. Instead, they were looking over the updated reports on one of X’s experiments. Mumbo had been looking forward to this time for the past couple months, so it had finally been scheduled, he was excited. To be let down like this...hurt.
When Mumbo was younger, they would come here nearly every weekend. X would teach him to fish and hunt. But as X’s fame and power grew, their time together dwindled until they would only go every few months. When he asked when he was free, X would brush him off, telling him that they just needed a few more weeks to finish a project -- and a few weeks later, he would say the same thing. By the time Mumbo was fourteen, he hadn’t visited the cabin in over a year.
The two men had been crouched over the small desk for over an hour, both intently focused on their work.
Grian was shivering.
Darkness had quickly crept up and settled in, the cold sinking into the ground and sneaking into Grian’s bones. The world started to go fuzzy before he shook himself awake. He crept to the window, looking in just as Mumbo stood up and stretched, joints trembling. “X, can we please take a break?”
The other man looked up and yawned. “Good idea,” he said, looking over at the dying fire. Its embers glowed minimally, flames getting smaller and smaller.
“We should go get more wood. Take a walk, maybe stretch our legs.” He stood.
The two men left the cabin, heading deeper into the woods.
Grian was suddenly wide awake, adrenaline replacing his fatigue. This was his chance! He slipped through the door, heading straight for the desk.
A manila folder was open atop it, with papers strewn across the desk’s surface. Grian rifled through them, catching bits of information about various deviant diseases and side effects. On the desk was a small wooden box with irises carved onto it.
Grian picked it up, running his fingers across the grooves.
“What is this,” he whispered to himself. What significance could a wooden box have to one of the most dangerous men in the world? He slipped it into his pocket, saving it for later. He was almost out the door, before he turned back and grabbed the folder as well.
Grian opened the door, expecting to see nothing but forest; instead, he was faced with Mumbo in the doorway.
“Who the fuck are you?” Mumbo gasped.
Grian looked at him for a moment, eyes wide before he pushed past him and bolted into the woods.