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Chapter Text

Season 5

"Can we go back home, Cub....?" 

"Not yet...There are rumors about these woodland mansions. Unspoken treasures hide somewhere, and I wanna be the one to find it."

Cub spoke with such confidence, it was hard for Scar to argue with his close friend. The terraformer choked back the fear in his quivering tone while he spoke, he didn't want to seem like a burden to Cub, simply because of the feelings of uneasiness that twisted his stomach into knots, leaving a sour taste in Scar's mouth. His footsteps echoed through the darkened halls, along with the sound of Cub's torch crackling and burning. 

The light guided the two curious males as they ventured through the abandoned mansion. Cub was fascinated at the structure he had never witnessed before, he'd only heard magical tales of creatures unlike any other, beings of magic and unending power. 

Scar had only come along to keep his friend safe, but he was starting to regret the decision. He felt....watched. The cat-loving brunet could hear faint whispers and quiet giggles coming from behind him, but as Scar looked to try and spot the voices, there was nothing in sight.

"Cub... Maybe there's a reason why the treasures are 'unspoken'. It could just be another dumb story.. I bet the treasure isn't even real!" Scar muttered as he clung closer to the burning flame that the scientist held, he felt safer in the warm glow of the fire. 

Cub chortled at the notion as he fearlessly continued down the hallway, barely taking a moment to consider his safety, too determined and focused on what great things could lie ahead. Scar reluctantly followed, as he grasped the sleeve of the scientist's lab coat, his legs would be frozen in place if it wasn't for his best friend pulling him onward.

"It's real Scar," Cub said as his slow pace began to increase, the scientist dragging the brunet along as his slow and careful walk had evolved into a frantically-rushed search for something, anything, that could be of worth. 

"It has to be real!" He cried while dropping his torch, devastated. Cub had always wanted to find something remarkable, something no one had ever seen before, but his luck had just run dry.

"It doesn't have to be real, Cub," Scar comforted his friend as he placed a hand on the male's shoulder, a calm smile on his face, but fear clawing at his insides. The terraformer wanted to throw up, the feeling of nausea overwhelming Scar, as he looked around for the exit for the dark-oak structure. 

"C-Cub... Where's the exit...?" Scar choked out with a weak voice, looking to his friend for an answer, his look panicked and stressed as he realized Cub was just as lost and nervous as he was.

"You told me that you knew where we are! You said this wouldn't take long!" Scar blamed Cub with overwhelming fear in his voice, the terraformer's friend hesitating before he quietly spoke in an attempt to reassure the stressed brunet. He reluctantly placed a hand on Scar's shoulder, Cub looking to the ground before he could lock eyes with his best friend.

"I-..I know... I was just so excited, I wasn't paying attention to where we were.. I just wanted to explore with you.." Cub admitted reluctantly, Scar's worried expression slowly fading as the terraformer heard his close friend speak with such honesty. He wrapped his arms around the scientist, Cub startled as the shorter male tightly held him.

"It's okay.." Scar mumbled quietly as Cub slowly embraced the hug, wrapping his arms around the cat lover. "Let's just go back to the shopping district.. I wanna get back to Jellie before she gets mad that I haven't fed her yet.." The shorter hermit said the last part jokingly, but he truly wanted to get out of the woodland mansion as fast as he could. The hair on Scar's arms stood on-end at the creaking sounds and ghostly howling that was heard through the empty hallway, the terraformer beginning to go pale with fear.

Cub however, wasn't afraid of the unknown sounds, the scientist slowly pulling away from Scar, his eyes glimmering with curiosity and wonder as he handed the burning torch to the terraformer. He moved into the darkness, fading away as he ventured forward towards the ghostly noises. 

"C-Cub! Please come back!" Scar asked while his legs trembled, petrified with fear. The brunet bit his lip as he waited anxiously, counting the seconds as they went by. It felt like an eternity before a voice called out from the inky-black shadows.

"Scar! You need to see this!" Cub called from the shadows, the cat lover trembling as he struggled to swallow his fear. He took in a deep breath, gripping as tight as he could to the torch, before he began to walk down the hall.

He felt like the darkness was smothering him.

It was getting darker, the torchlight slowly becoming less and less efficient with each step. The only thing that Scar could see was his breath, the hall had suddenly becoming freezing within moments. Scar could barely breathe, but he wasn't leaving without Cub. "Where did you go?" The brunette called out to the thickening shadows, no response from Cub. 

Scar glanced further down the completely-black hallway, small light blue glow catching his eye. He stepped towards the light, which seemed to flutter towards the terraformer. It was a creature of sorts, about the size of a hummingbird. It had pointed ears and glowing white eyes, but no legs, as if it were a small ghost of some sort. The light blue creature fluttered it's torn and mangled wings, landing onto Scar's shoulder.

Three more of the creature fluttered out of the darkness, swirling around Scar with curiosity and excitement as they flew. The terraformer couldn't help but giggle, were these creatures the ones that had been following him? 

Now Scar felt silly for being terrified of the kind, winged creatures. One of the small creatures took the brunet's sleeve, trying to pull Scar further down the hallway. The terraformer giggled as he spoke.

"Alright! I'm coming!" He said while allowing the creatures to lead him forward, the darkness of the hall beginning to fade as he walked with the strange glowing beings. Scar could see Cub at the end of the hallway, he too was surrounded by the small glowing creatures. He looked away from the mysterious floating mobs as he heard footsteps, the scientist grinning as he spotted Scar.

"Isn't this incredible?!" Cub said with excitement in his voice, Scar nodding his head in agreement.

"I've never seen these things before!" The terraformer gleefully spoke while opening his hands, letting one of the creatures land in his palms while flapping it's wings happily. "They're amazing!"

"Yeah..." Cub said the words quietly, suddenly sounding uncertain and concerned. One of the creatures was sitting in his hands, but they had placed their glowing hand against the scientist's finger, a light glow spreading off the magical creature and onto Cub's finger. It slowly began to morph, the tip of his finger beginning to change into a pointed claw of sorts. 

Cub raised his hand to his face, studying his finger with confusion and wonder in his eyes. The man smiled, his eyes beginning to lose emotion, replacing it's color with a dull light blue that seemed to faintly glow. 

His other fingers on his hand slowly transformed into claws, Cub's grin now sinister. Scar looked up from playing with the sweet creatures, frowning when he noticed his friend facing away, mumbling to himself.

"Cub? You okay?"

"They're vexes, Scar." Cub said abruptly while straightening his posture, the terraformer rather confused at what his friend meant. The scientist's back was facing him, so Scar couldn't see Cub's expression, but he could hear a low chuckle coming from the taller male. 

"They're giving us their power," he spoke in a shaky voice, staring down at his claws while vexes swirled around him. His back was glowing a faint blue, as wings tore through his lab coat, they looked identical to the vex's wings. 

Scar was horrified, his friend was changing into some kind of monster, right before his very eyes. Cub continued to laugh. "The vexes are giving us everything we could ever want, Scar! They're giving us power, we can do whatever we want!"

Cub turned around with an unsettling grin across his face, his ears pointed and his eyes a pale and unsettling blue. Scar took a step back in shock, staring at his friend in disbelief. "N-...no! Cub! I knew we never should have come here, these vexes are turning you into a monster!"

"Scar, I'm not a monster!" He smiled as he stepped towards the terraformer, Cub taking Scar's hands in his own. "I'm still your best friend!"

"Cub, we're going, before whatever this is becomes permanent." Scar said in a cold voice as he pulled away from the scientist, Cub's smile instantly fading. His eyes began to glow as his face slowly morphed, hatred in his eyes as he flexed his claws. 

The vexes giggled, a few flying around his pointed ear and whispering commands. Cub smiled as he listened to the magical creatures, the vex hybrid showing off his pointed teeth.

"The vexes knew you would be hesitant," Cub said coldly as he stepped forward, his grin never fading as he slowly began to corner his terrified friend. "You wouldn't accept their gift like I did.... they said that you would take me away..."

"Cub, listen to yourself! You're insane!" Scar tried to reason with his friend as his back hit the wall, the terraformer cornered as Cub approached, hatred burning in the vex's eyes. 

The scientist grinned as he flexed his claws, raising his arm and slashing across Scar's face, the brunet letting out a bloodcurdling scream as he fell to his knees, his hands covering his face.

The large scratch stung the terraformer's skin, the painful burning spreading throughout Scar's body. Tears pricked at his eyes, falling down his face and staining his cheeks. Scar could feel blood dripping down his face, staining his hands with the warm, sticky liquid. 

Scar shakily pulled his hand away from his face, staring down at the blood horror. It wasn't a crimson red that Scar would have expected, it was a light shade of blue, which seemed to shimmer in the glowing lights.

"wha...what did you do to me?!" Scar yelled the question as he looked up at the vex, Cub's pointed teeth forming a crooked smile that made Scar feel sick from the inside out. His laugh made the terraformer want to throw up.

"The vexes want us to work together...They told me of the untold power that we can have! The riches and control!" Cub smiled, Scar winced as the vex spoke. The brunette felt his face heat up, the fall of blood beginning to slow as a warm glow escaped his scratch. Scar ran his hand over the cut, shocked as he found that the large gash across his face had miraculously healed.

"I don't want any of that, Cub.." Scar mumbled while wiping the remaining blood into his sleeve, slowly shaking his head. He looked up at Cub, the vex looked outraged, annoyed, and betrayed. 

Tears began to blurry Scar's vision once more, his best friend was some sort of monster, and there was nothing he could do. The terraformer locked eyes with Cub's cold yet intense stare, his green eyes saddened and hurt.

"The only thing I want is my friend back."

Cub didn't respond as he turned away, the curious vexes studying the bloodstained hermit. Scar ran his shaking hand through his chocolate brown hair, he could feel the immense pain in his ears as they began to shift and morph, turning pointed and sharp.

"c...cub..." Scar choked weakly as he fought back the feeling of nausea, his world blurry as the room slowly spun. The terraformer's focus was set on Cub, who stood a distance away, his arms folded and his glare cruel as he watched the man suffer. 

Vexes floated around him, waiting for his command. Cub's pointed ear slightly twitched as he watched Scar scream in agony, his wings breaking free and opening to their full length outward.

His fingers sharpened as the ends of his teeth turned jagged and pointed. Scar looked down at his claws, tears rolling down his face as he looked up, terrified at what he had become.

"I don't want this..." he said to Cub, Scar's fellow vex taking a knee on the ground as he placed a hand on the terraformer's shoulder, the two now eye-level as Cub spoke.

"We're the Convex, Scar. This may not be what you want just yet, but you'll learn to accept it."

—

Season 6

"Convex is coming for us," Iskall said impatiently while arising from their chair, glancing at their fellow architects, both Mumbo and Grian nervous at the thought of Cub and Scar. The Swede shook their head while letting a sigh of despair slip from between their lips. "We can't just let them buy out every shop they can! We're their main competition, they're gonna try and ruin Sahara the first chance they get!"

"Iskall..." Mumbo said quietly while placing a hand on the PvPer's shoulder, the Redstoner's voice shakily nervous as he continued to speak. "You still haven't seen their full power, they've done things to Grian and I that is unexplainable.."

Iskall looked outraged, the Swede slamming their hands against the meeting table as they rose to their full height. "Well we can't let them keep tormenting us! They won't stop until they own Sahara, or it's destroyed!" Iskall said the words with rage, sick of the Convex messing with their work. Mumbo and Grian looked at one another with a similar look across their faces, before they looked back at Iskall.

"Iskall, y-" Mumbo froze as they spoke, their body stiffening as his posture straightened, Grian's eyes going wide at the familiar sight. The mustached hermit's eyes became devoid of emotion and color, only a faint light blue in his eyes. Iskall was confused, while Grian was petrified with fear and horror.

"Mumbo?" The Swede asked while stepping forward, the Redstoner's face seeming to light up with excitement, but it wasn't natural, his wide smile eerie as he burst out laughing. 

Mumbo pulled out a bucket of water, gripping it in his hands as his eyes lit up, the British male pushing past Iskall while laughing like a maniac, running towards the redstone in Sahara.

"After him!" Grian called to the confused PvPer as he bolted after Mumbo, who ran into the redstone modules that had taken him and Iskall ages to build and perfect. The Brit climbed atop one of the modules, laughing as he dumped the water bucket over the redstone, which destroyed the work that had taken hours to create. 

When the redstone was thoroughly destroyed, the bucket in Mumbo's hands clattered against the ground, his eyes slowly returning to their normal shade. The Brit rubbed the back of his head, glancing around at his surroundings.

"What's going on..? How did I get up here?" Mumbo asked with a tilt of his head, Iskall dumbfounded at what they had just witnessed. Hours of work had been completely demolished, and Mumbo didn't even know that he had done it. The Swedish hermit didn't know whether to yell or to completely give up on Sahara.

Grian opened his elytra and flew up to the module, landing next to the confused spoon. The shorter hermit took Mumbo's hands as he softly spoke to his friend. "It happened again..." he said quietly, the raven-haired Brit glancing around at the broken redstone, his eyes going wide.

"Nonononono..." he hyperventilated as he looked around at his ruined work, Mumbo pulling at his hair as painful tears formed in his eyes. Grian rubbed the taller hermit's back, attempting to comfort him before he got any worse.

"It's okay," Grian said as he took Mumbo's hand, helping his fellow Brit glide down from the module and land safely on the ground next to a speechless Iskall. "Let's go home, before something else gets destroyed..."

Mumbo nodded tiredly as he slowly followed Grian out of the building, Iskall running after the two, still unsure what had just happened. He caught up with the British pair in the courtyard, the two standing still as a figure stood in front of them, Scar giggling as his vex wings fluttered.

"Scar, we don't want to keep doing this." Grian spat at the giggling vex, Iskall still confused at what was going on.

"But it's so much fun, watching as Mumbo destroys the thing that he spent hours slaving over!"

"You're a maniac, you know that!? Your vex powers hurt people, and you don't even care! You force Mumbo to destroy his hard work, you make me blow up apart of Sahara, so when will you stop?!?"

"Never." Scar growled with his sharp eyes narrowing on the dirty blonde haired Brit. "I will never stop torturing you until Sahara is mine, or it's completely destroyed."

"You're a power-hungry monster." Grian spat as he took Mumbo's hand and pulled the taller Brit past Scar, the two heading into the Sahara building and towards the portal. Iskall looked from the vex to his friends that were disappearing into the nether portal, the PvPer running after their fellow architects to try and get away from Scar. The vex laughed at their fear, his pointed teeth forming a crooked smile.

"He's right, you know." A gruff voice called from behind Scar, the vex growling at the familiar German accent as he turned to face Doc. The creeper hybrid kept his hands in his lab coat pockets, he wasn't afraid like the others. 

The hermits feared Convex, including Xisumavoid, the 'seemingly fearless' admin. Doc didn't look scared, his serious expression causing Scar to growl and flex his claws.

"You're like a wild animal, Scar." Doc spoke as he stepped towards the vex, his voice cold and empty as he continued. "This isn't how you acted in season four when you joined. You and Cub shouldn't be these feral creatures bent on power and wealth."

"So what?" Scar responded with a snarl, his jagged fangs shaping an evil grin. Doc still didn't show any signs of fear or horror, the creeper hybrid adjusting to his full height, towering over the vex. 

"So, I know this isn't who you want to be." Doc said as he placed his robotic hand on the vex hybrid's shoulder, which resulted in Scar letting out a low growl. The German male didn't back down.

"I've been working all season on something. If it works right, it can change you back to your normal self while removing all the vex magic that corrupted you. I can then do the same to Cub." Doc explained as Scar's eyes began to soften, the vex hesitating for a moment. 

The corrupt terraformer shook his head, letting out another feral growl as his eyes turned cold and empty, Scar opening his wings as he tried to fly away and escape the creeper.

Doc rolled his eyes as he pulled out his crossbow, loading an arrow before he took aim. He didn't want to hurt Scar, but the creeper saw no other option. He pulled the trigger of the crossbow, sending an arrow flying through the air, cutting through one of Scar's wings. The vex panicked, flapping his wings in an attempt to land safely, although his left wing wouldn't move, which caused Scar to crash into the nearby ocean.

The vex coughed as he pulled himself out of the water, Scar looking back at his torn wing while cussing in a strange language underneath his breath. Doc stepped forward, pointing the crossbow at the corrupted male, a rocket loaded in the weapon. Scar laughed. "What? You're going to shoot me with a few fireworks?" He taunted, Doc chuckled under his breath.

"Don't worry," he said as his finger moved to the trigger. "This won't hurt a bit."

A white flash startled the vex, as his eyes suddenly became heavy, Scar consciousness slipping away as he fell to the ground. When the fireworks had cleared, the terraformer was peacefully sleeping on the ground, Doc letting out a quiet sigh as he lifted the vex in his arms.

"It's okay Scar.." He mumbled quietly while looking down at the unconscious brunette. "You'll be back to normal soon..."

—

"Ugh....." Scar groaned weakly, his entire body felt as though it was aflame. Everything hurt, he could barely even breathe without a shock of pain going throughout his body. The vex couldn't remember what had happened, all he knew was that he woke up in pain.

"Scar, are you awake?" Doc's voice called, Scar slightly groaning, unable to respond with anything else. The creeper smiled as he pressed a button, an iron door sliding open. Scar's vision was blurry, but he watched as the creeper hybrid entered the small cell, a wide smile across his face as he studied the brunette.

"It worked!" He exclaimed as he offered Scar his hand, Doc helping the vex out of the small cell and into a much larger room. It looked like a research lab, large and open with a machine in the center, the machine that Scar had just been locked in. 

Doc helped the terraformer take a seat on a shulker box before he stepped over towards the other end of the machine, which looked identical to the miniature cell that Scar had been locked in.

"What....what worked?" Scar asked as he rubbed the side of his head, Doc opening the iron door and lifting a jar off the ground, blue magic swirling from behind the glass. The terraformer's eyes went wide at the sight.

"I removed as much vex magic as I could," Doc explained as he walked back over to the confused male. "But it's apart of you now. You need a little for a life source, but it shouldn't be enough to corrupt you."

"So I'm...I'm me again?" Scar asked as his eyes began to water, a smile spreading across his face. He shot up from the shulker, ignoring the pain as he wrapped his arms around Doc, Scar muttering 'thank you' underneath his breath more times than the creeper could count.

"What was it like..?" Doc asked as he pulled away from Scar's hug, the terraformer's smile slowly fading as he looked towards the ground.

"..Painful."

Chapter Text

Season 7

"Bdubs?" Scar's voice echoed through the town hall, the Diamond throne glistening in the new morning light. The sun slowly rose over the world, lighting up the sleepy server. Only Scar was awake, he had to start early to get his mayoral duties done before his meeting with Doc.

‘He's probably still asleep..’ The terraformer thought to himself as he walked to the staircase, heading up to the second floor. Scar pushed the door to Bdubs' office, peering into the dark room. 

The curtains had been closed and papers had been scattered across the room. Bdubs was fast asleep at his desk, his head resting on his workplace. Scar stifled his giggles.

The mayor crept through the darkness of the quiet office, Scar carefully lifting Bdubs in his arms. He carried the assistant over towards the couch, softly placing the builder onto the soft cushions. The brunette took a blanket, pulling the wool cover over Bdubs and allowing him to get some well-deserved rest.

As Scar left the room, his communicator buzzed. "Hello?" He answered in a slight whisper as he shut the door of Bdubs' office, Doc's gruff voice answering the call.

"Scar,  I know we said that our meeting would be later today, but I think you should come to my house. There's been a spike in vex magic throughout the server, and we should stabilize you and Cub before things get worse."

"I wish I could Doc, but Bdubs and I have to get some work done." The mayor lied. The truth was, he and Bdubs were going to try and invade the mycelium resistance's new headquarters. Scar knew that Doc had joined their team, and the brunet couldn't let the member of the resistance know what they were planning.

"Scar, you know the risks of this. If you're magic starts to get the better of you, you could lose yourself completely."

"I-I know..I wish I didn't have any magic at all." Scar said as he brushed a bit of his hair behind his pointed ear, he needed a small amount of vex magic to survive, but the strange powers could grow and begin to change Scar back to the monster he used to be.

"I'm still working on something that can fix you and Cub. But for now, you need to be careful. Any interactions with vexes can activate your powers."

"Have you figured out why Cub and I got these powers?" Scar changed the subject, the mayor climbing his throne and taking a seat on the diamonds, Jellie hopping onto his lap and curling up with a light purr.

"Not yet, but I've learned a lot about these vexes. Vex magic is all mental abilities, which is why you were able to control people to do your will for a short period of time. They have telekinesis too, but I can't figure out the rest of their abilities. If I can figure out how they gave you and Cub your powers, maybe I can find a way to take them."

"Thanks Doc," Scar mumbled quietly, he had hoped that the creeper hybrid had good news on how to get rid of his vex powers. "I'll stop by as soon as I can, and we can run a few tests. I'll see you then."

Scar hung up as he stroked Jellie's head, the mayor lost in his thoughts. His mind wandered as he shut his eyes, the mayor thinking back to season six. He and Cub were turned into vex hybrids in season five, so for most of season six he was corrupted and cruel, the terraformer barely remembered any of it. From what Doc had told him, Convex had almost purchased every shop, Sahara being one of the last shops that they didn't own.

"If I turn back into that thing, everyone could be in danger." Scar thought aloud as he pinched the bridge of his nose as he slouched in his throne. The mayor had control over the shopping district, if he became a power-hungry monster again, who knows what chaos would be unleashed.

"Scar...?" Bdubs' voice called, the mayor opening his eyes and looking down at his assistant. His hair was ruffled and he had his blanket still draped around him, he had just woken up. Scar smiled weakly at him as he lifted Jellie in his arms, walking down the Diamond throne to greet Bdubs.

"You alright?" He asked, the mayor nodding.

"I'm fine, I didn't sleep too well last night."

Bdubs slightly laughed at that. "You should've come to me!" He said arrogantly. "After all, I am the sleep master."

Scar frowned as he looked to the ground, Bdubs' smile slowly fading as he hesitated to speak. "I-I was just joking, Scar.. Did I say something that upset you?"

"N-n-no! Of course not Bdubs!" Scar assured his assistant. Out of everyone on the server, the mayor was most terrified of harming Bdubs. The terraformer didn't want Bdubs to see the side of him that he'd been trying so hard to hide. He didn't want Bdubs to realize the monster that he really was, then he would never talk to the mayor again.

"Alright.." Bdubs said unsteady, he clearly knew that something was amiss with Scar. "I can just take you and Jellie home, you don't look so great. I think you need some rest."

"Thanks, but we need to go to the resistance base." Scar said as he set Jellie on the ground, looking out over the shopping district. "We don't have much time before this war escalates even further."

"Only if you're up for it."

"I am."

-

"I don't think they have any security measures," Bdubs said as he took Scar's hand, the mayor flinching as a cold chill ran through his spine. He couldn't tell if it was from his assistant holding his hand, or if was from the strange feeling that they were being watched.

"But we should probably be cautious, just in case."

"R-right." Scar mumbled nervously as he held tighter to the builder's hand, staying as close as he could to Bdubs as the hair on the back of his neck stood on edge. Something wasn't right.

Bdubs took a step forward, a faint click echoing through the large mushroom building. The mayor's assistant looked up at the ceiling, his eyes going wide. "LOOK OUT!" He yelled as he tackled Scar to the ground, zoglins and evokers falling from a trapdoor on the ceiling. Scar nervously backed away, hiding next to the large mycelium source block, his legs quivering as he watched Bdubs get chased around by the hostile creatures.

An evoker stopped as it spotted the hiding mayor, the magical creature waving it's hands and causing for blue sparks to fly out, it's magic creating tiny vexes that flew happily around Scar. The mayor was terrified, trembling with fear as the magical creatures flew around him, their expressions a mix of joyful and cruel.

Bdubs was busy fighting off the Zoglins, the male stabbing his blade into one of the large mobs. He looked up to see how Scar was doing, the mayor petrified as his eyes filled with horror, the vexes drawing closer to him. 

"STAY BACK!" He yelled while jumping in front of Scar, waving his sword at the magical creatures to fight them off. Bdubs felt the mayor's arms wrap around his neck, the terraformer clinging to his assistant while he softly cried. Bdubs gripped tighter to the sword handle as he sliced through the vexes one by one, the creatures disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Bdubs panted as his sword dropped to the ground with a clang, beads of sweat dripping down the side of his face. The builder looked back at the terrified mayor, taking a knee as his fingers softly graced Scar's chin, Bdubs making the mayor look up from the ground and lock eyes with him. The terraformer's eyes were red and puffy, the tears in his eyes rolling down his face. 

"Oh Scar..." he mumbled quietly as his thumb gently wiped the tears from the mayor's cheeks. The terraformer felt so weak, his entire body shaking as he tried to speak, but his words came out as messy sobs.

"You don't like vexes, huh?" Bdubs asked with a soft voice. Scar nodded his head. The builder returned to season six after Scar had returned to his normal self, it was unlikely that Bdubs knew the monster he really was.

"It's okay, they're all gone now. Nothing can hurt you anymore."

‘That's a lie,’ Scar thought to himself as he looked to the ground, carelessly wiping his tears on his sleeves. ‘That monster inside of me is still here. It can still hurt me.’

Bdubs lifted the mayor in his arms as he let out a sharp breath. He looked down at Scar, his embarrassed expression hidden as he looked to the ground, doing his best to avoid Bdubs' gaze. 

"Let's take you back to your magical village." Bdubs offered as he carried the mayor out of the resistance headquarters, his elytra opening as he shot into the sky, clutching Scar close to his chest to keep the mayor safe.

"I'm fine.." Scar mumbled as his assistant landed in front of the portal, Bdubs scowling down at the mayor.

"You clearly aren't! Now relax, okay? I'm not leaving your side until you get better!" Bdubs said sternly as he carried Scar through the nether, heading towards the terraformer's portal. The cool jungle air brushed through Scar's face as they stepped out of the nether, but the mayor still felt like he was on fire.

Bdubs looked down at the sickly male in his arms, the color from Scar's face had drained away, leaving the brunet a sickly pale. The mayor's assistant placed his hand on Scar's forehead, frowning as he pulled his hand away. "You're burning up," he said as he reached the magical village. "We need to get you in bed now."

He carried Scar up the ladder and into Larry's shell, Bdubs laying the mayor down onto the soft mattress. Scar's body ached as Bdubs pulled the wool blanket over him, the builder sitting down next to the bed with his eyes locked onto Scar. He brushed a bit of hair out of the mayor's face, tucking it behind his pointed ear.

"You don't have to stay with me..." Scar mumbled with a tired yawn, his eyelids becoming heavier with every slow breath he took. Bdubs chuckled quietly.

"I'm not taking my eyes off you, if I leave you'll get right out of bed to try and work." The builder said with a small grin, his hand running through Scar's brunet hair. The mayor chuckled weakly, his mind and body exhausted.

"Yeah.....I'd...I'd probably do that.." Scar mumbled as his eyes slowly shut, the mayor drifting off to sleep. Bdubs smiled as he continued to softly stoke the mayor's hair, the builder's own exhaustion starting to get the better of him. 

He had fought off all the mobs in the resistance base before carrying Scar home, Bdubs' mind slowly beginning to drift off. He shut his eyes, Bdubs' head leaning against Scar's. The soft crackling of the fireplace carried the two into peaceful dreaming, the entire jungle silent as they slept.

But they weren't alone.

The vexes watched from the shadows, the room beginning to grow colder with each passing moment. Their glowing eyes locked onto the sleeping mayor, as they silently waited in the darkness. 

One vex fluttered it's wings as it dove down beside Scar, the small mob placing it's hand against the mayor's cheek, a light blue glow spreading onto Scar. The glow seemed to move through the terraformer's veins, illuminating his bloodstream before the glow faded. Scar stirred in his sleep as the glow disappeared, but he didn't wake up. 

The small vex fluttered away, as the rest of the creatures disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving Scar and Bdubs alone in the dark bedroom. 

They both slept peacefully, as if nothing had happened.

Chapter Text

Cub woke up in a cold sweat, the pharaoh sitting up in his bed as he gasped helplessly for breath, his eyes darting around the shadowy corners of his miniature pyramid. His frantic breathing began to slow, but small beads of sweat began to roll down the side of his face as he cautiously reached for his communicator that rested on his bedside table. The pharaoh's eyes never left the dark corners of the room as he dialed Doc.

"Do you know what time it is...?" Doc groaned with exhaustion plaguing his voice, Cub's hands beginning to slowly shake as he brought the device to his ear, the pharaoh could barely speak beyond a whisper.

"T-they're here..." Cub mumbled breathlessly with his eyes widening in horror. He didn't sound like himself, much more unsure and terrified with every word he spoke. On the other line of the call, Doc sat up in his bed, rubbing his non-robotic eye with a yawn.

"Who?" Doc questioned as he pulled himself out of bed, slipping on his torn lab coat while ruffling his messy hair. The creeper hybrid could have sworn he heard Cub whimpering over the phone.

"The vexes..." Cub mumbled, pulling the blankets over his head. He felt like a child as he hid underneath his covers, but there wasn't much the pharaoh could do. He was too terrified to run, the vexes had put Cub through months of suffering, it was hard not to fear the small creatures.

"Are you sure? Or was it just another nightmare?" Doc asked as he equipped his elytra, grabbing his sword as he ran down the stairs of his half-house, heading towards the portal.

"I-I can see their eyes watching me a-and I can feel their magic.. they're gonna turn me back into a vex hybrid..." Cub's voice began to break as tears began to overflow in his eyes, he didn't want to be a puppet to the chaotic mobs again.

"You're going to be okay," Doc assured as he flew through the nether, glancing around to try and spot Cub's base. The creeper wasn't entirely sure if the pharaoh would be alright, but he needed to sound confident to keep Cub calm. "I just removed your excess vex magic yesterday, it should be harder for them to corrupt you.. They're not going to hurt you, I swear.."

"B-but Scar.." Cub mumbled with a whisper as Doc landed in front of the pharaoh's portal, realization hitting the creeper hybrid.

"He wasn't at my base yesterday, meaning he hasn't been treated for his leftover vex magic! If one vex manages to find him, Scar could revert back to his old self!" Doc exclaimed, his communicator almost slipping from his grasp. The creeper hybrid shook his head to refocus, Cub was his main priority.

"If you could feel vex magic, so can Scar. He'll call us if something goes wrong, but right now, you need to get out of there!"

"I-I can't, the vexes are everywhere..." Cub said as his body shook with fear, Doc stepping into the miniature pyramid with a sword and shield in-hand. He growled a German curse underneath his breath as the icy stare of vexes turned to him, the cyborg gripping tighter to the handle of his blade.

"Stupid little vexes!" He grumbled and complained loudly as he sliced through the magical creatures, the vexes disappearing into puffs of smoke. Icy blue blood stained his netherrite sword as he sliced through the last vex, the creeper huffing while stabbing his sword into the ground, leaning on the edge of the hilt to try and catch his breath.

"It's okay to come out now." Doc called as he looked towards the pharaoh's bed, Cub slowly pulling the covers off his head.

"Sorry to call you here so late..." Cub mumbled quietly as he looked to the ground, Doc carelessly shrugging.

"It's fine, this is definitely more important. We should head to Scar's base and look for him, if the vexes came for you, they should be after him too."

Cub nodded his head, slightly embarrassed that Doc had seen him so terrified. There wasn't much the pharaoh could have done, he felt so weak and helpless around the magical creatures, they could corrupt Cub with ease and he couldn't do anything to stop the vexes.

He put on a pair of bug-like wings, the pharaoh searching through his inventory for a few spare firework rockets. Doc handed Cub a few of his own, another mumbled apology slipping out in a saddened breath. Cub hated that he needed to rely so heavily on his friends, he didn't want to burden them with his issues.

The two flew through the nether in silence, Cub's eyes glued to the bubbling lava beneath them. 

It would be so easy slit Doc's throat,

to drop him into the lava,

And to watch him burn.

Cub shook the unusual thoughts from his mind, the pharaoh glancing towards the creeper hybrid that was gliding beside him. Doc seemed unfocused, his eyes studying the glowing portals from below as he searched for the one that led to Scar's base. 

‘I wouldn't do that to Doc,’ Cub thought to himself. ‘I'm in control of myself..’ 

The two landed in front of the portal to Scar's magical village, Doc taking out his netherrite blade in case of any vexes. Cub quickly followed as he removed his own weapon, the two nodding at one another before they stepped through the portal.

—

Scar quietly hummed to himself, the mayor lost in his thoughts as he sorted through his shulker boxes. He normally didn't like to organize, but he couldn't sleep, the terraformer busying himself to try and pass the time. 

Bdubs was fast asleep in his bed, Scar had moved him onto the soft mattress to let his assistant get some well-deserved rest. The mayor glanced at the small clock that hung on the wall, it was about 1 in the morning. Bdubs had carried him back home around 6 pm before he passed out from exhaustion, Scar was surprised that Bdubs could sleep so easily for so long.

The cat-loving mayor had slept until 10, which was much better compared to his other nights of rest. Scar couldn't deny that he felt safer sleeping near Bdubs, it felt nice to know that he was there. The terraformer even found himself beginning to pull himself closer to his assistant, Scar clinging to Bdubs' arm as he slept.

But now Scar couldn't rest, after a few hours of peaceful sleep, the mayor couldn't drift off into the sweet feeling of peaceful dreams. He shook off his exhaustion and got to work, though he tried to stay quiet so that Bdubs could sleep.

"You look so peaceful..." Scar mumbled as he found himself glancing towards his sleeping assistant. A tiny smile spread across the mayor's face, his cheek resting in the palm of his hand as he admired Bdubs' sleeping figure. 

His pointed ears twitched as the ceiling overhead began to patter and creak with footsteps, Scar seeming to growl underneath his breath. He crept out of the bedroom and up the ladder to see who was making so much noise.

"What are you two doing here?" Scar asked in a hushed whisper, Cub and Doc turning as they heard the mayor's voice. His eyes were an icy blue, but they shifted back to their green hue within seconds. Doc stepped forward, the creeper's robotic hand clenching Scar's wrist.

"We need to take you back to my house," Doc began explaining, the mayor scoffing as he pulled his hand free from the cyborg's grasp on him. "The vexes came after Cub, and we think they're going to come after you next. We need to hurry up and remove your excess magic before it starts to overtake you!"

"I'm fine, there hasn't been any vex magic nearby. And can't we do this in the morning? It's too early." Scar complained as he tried to sound tired, despite being wide awake. He just didn't want to leave, he wanted to stay while Bdubs slept peacefully. 

"You're lying." Cub accused as he stepped forward, his eyes narrowing at the emotionless expression on Scar's face. "There's a faint presence of vex magic, they were here a few hours ago. Tell us the truth, Scar."

"Fine. If you want to know the truth, here it it: Bdubs and I snuck into the resistance headquarters, but triggered a trap. A few evokers came out of nowhere and attacked us, and they summoned a horde of vexes. I didn't want to tell you, since Doc is apart of the resistance.." Scar explained, the creeper hybrid beginning to feel a sense of guilt, since he was the one who set the evoker trap.

"Alright..." Cub said with hesitation in his voice, the pharaoh taking a few steps back back. He glanced to Doc before he spoke again.

"Let's just do the tests in the morning...It's definitely too early." Cub said with a yawn, Doc nodding in agreement. The two said their goodbyes and left Scar, the mayor heading back downstairs into his bedroom. 

He smiled as he spotted Bdubs, the mayor sitting next to the bed as he watched Bdubs' chest slowly rise and fall. Scar gently ran his claw-like fingers through his assistant's soft hair, his soft blue eyes studying Bdubs' sleeping expression. 

"They're not going to take my powers away," Scar promised Bdubs while continuing to stroke his hair. "I can control it this time.. And I can use my powers to beat the resistance and win us the war... I want things to go back to normal, no more wars or resistances standing in our way...”

“I know the vexes are evil, and they're going to try and control me, but I'll handle myself, I'll win us the war."

Chapter Text

"Scar! Open up!" Doc called, his voice gravely and tired. He had just woken up, the creeper hybrid came straight to the mayor's house to get rid of his vex magic as fast as he could. It was only eight in the morning, but the scientist thought that it was much too late in the day. 

Scar's magic had been growing for a month, they couldn't wait or waste any time to extract it. Vex magic was stronger than almost realized, and it could take hold of its host with ease.

The door creaked open, the room was dark and empty, almost cold. He stepped into the room, grumbling a few curse words in German. He climbed down the ladder to the bedroom in search of Scar, but there was no one in the house, it felt abandoned.

"Ugh, Scar! You little- ugh!" Doc couldn't find the right words to describe is annoyance, the creeper stomping his foot on the ground in rage. He equipped his elytra, storming out of Larry before launching himself in the air, his blood bubbling. Doc had a bad feeling that something like this would happen, and yet he still let Scar get away!

The cyborg flew from the jungle towards the shopping district, he blamed himself for letting Scar get away, Doc felt moronic. The vexes probably got Scar long before they got to Cub!

Doc landed on the HEP HQ landing bay, which led right into their meeting room. Scar and the rest of HEP (excluding Bdubs) were in the middle of having a meeting when the creeper stormed right towards the head of the table, pulling out his blade.

"Scar, I-" Doc started to speak with an anger-filled tone as he stormed towards the mayor, who seemed unamused. He raised up a hand, False and Xisuma stepping in front of the creeper and pulling out their weapons.

"Dirty mycelium spy, tell me, how long have you been listening in on our conversation?" Scar asked, though he knew that Doc wasn't here because of the resistance. He was simply toying with the rest of HEP, keeping the grass-loving group convinced that this was all 'for fun' or 'just a friendly competition', when clearly it was much more than that.

"You know very well that I'm not here for the resistance!" Doc snapped, Xisuma slightly lowering his blade with a perplexed look hidden behind his visor.

"Get him out of my sight." Scar's light and joking tone faded within an instant, his eyes turning cold as his voice growled the words. Doc could see his pointed fangs, the creeper assumed that he was hiding his other vex-like features, such as his wings and claws.

"Scar, you idiot-!" Doc started as he was being pulled out of HEP HQ, though the creeper stopped speaking as the vex raised a hand, signaling X and False to let him go. The German cyborg hissed a curse at the two underneath his breath as he stormed over to Scar, his blade still in hand.

"You need to get rid of your excess vex magic, it's growing beyond your control!" Doc snapped with a harsh tone, the HEP members all seeming to gasp aloud as they heard the resistance member mention that Scar hasn't removed his magic yet. The mayor's eyes morphed with hatred, turning cold and icy as he stood up from his throne.

"I think it's time you go now, Doc." Scar said with a blank voice, the creeper opening his mouth to argue. Before he could say a word, a blue aura surrounded the vex-hybrid's hand, the terraformer carelessly flicking his wrist. 

The same light blue glow that was around Scar's hand began to surround Doc, the cyborg barely able to think as he was thrown backwards, out of HEP HQ, Doc landing in the lake that the barge rested atop. 

He groaned, barely conscious after falling from so high up into the shallow water, his thoughts beginning to fade as his vision became blurry, but the last thing he saw was Scar, the mayor's hands behind his back, with his icy blue eyes gleaming, a cold grin across his face as he stared down at the creeper.

Doc's mind finally gave up, allowing for the cyborg to slip into unconsciousness. Scar snapped his fingers together as he watched the color fade from the creeper's robotic eye.

"Go down and get Doc, tie him up and bring him to my office. I want to question him."

No one dare move, all the HEP agents were frozen and pale, they weren't sure what to do or say after what they had just seen. Scar frowned, turning around to face his team of grass-lovers.

"What seems to be the problem?" He asked, flashing an obviously-forced smile with his pointed teeth. Xisuma shakily stepped forward, nervous beads of sweat dripping down his forehead as he approached the mayor, placing a hand on Scar's shoulder.

"S-scar...maybe you should listen to Doc and get treated.." the admin said, his voice a whisper as he tried not to alarm the others. The mayor cackled at Xisuma's words.

"I don't need my powers to be taken away anymore! The vexes used to be the ones who controlled me, but now-" He snapped his fingers together with a malicious grin, a group of vexes appearing out of thin air, one after the other. Their soulless white eyes were glued to the hermits as they hovered above the HEP agent's heads. "I control them!"

"S-scar, you could be turning corrupt-" X tried to reason with the mayor, but the admin was thrown backwards by the vex's magic, Xisuma slamming against the wall. He groaned in pain, X's eyes filled with sorrow and horror as he and Scar locked eyes. The mayor didn't even have a hint regret across his cold expression.

He stepped forward, the other HEP members practically frozen in time, yet everyone seemed to jump as the mayor slammed his hands against the table, his eyes scanning the group who all shared the same, terrified expression.

"I am in control of myself, and I don't need to go back to being without my vex powers. Now, if you all would be so kind as to take a seat so we can continue our meeting, that would be great."

False and Tango shared a nervous expression, yet they reluctantly obeyed. Keralis was with Xisuma, helping the admin back to his chair. Cub stared at Scar with watery eyes, the pharaoh wiping his tears on his arm before looking towards the ground, taking a seat on his chair. Scar smiled at the obedience.

Obedience was order. It keeps things in line, It keeps people in line. The mayor chuckled to himself, rising up from his throne at the head of the table.

"Now, if you all are ready to listen to my plan and obey, I know how we can get rid of the resistance for good."

-

Bdubs sat up in bed, rubbing his tired eyes as he examined the dark bedroom, the male realizing that he wasn't in Scar's house anymore, but he was in his office. The curtains had been closed to shut the light out, and the builder was resting on the sofa with a fluffy blanket draped around him. He yawned quietly, pulling himself out of the warm comfort of his blankets.

The doorknob jiggled as the door was lightly pushed open, Scar entering the room with two mugs in his hands, marshmallows floating atop the hot chocolate. He looked up from the hot drinks, smiling as he noticed that Bdubs was awake.

"Oh thank goodness, I was starting to get worried that you were asleep forever." The mayor joked as he set down the mugs on Bdubs' desk, Scar's assistant letting out a sarcastic laugh as he took one of the mugs, taking a sip of the warm chocolatey goodness.

"So how long was I out?" Bdubs asked while taking another sip of his cocoa, Scar pausing for a moment as he tried to recall how long his assistant had been sleeping for.

"I say you passed out after carrying me home, and it's only about eight or nine in the morning, so I would say you slept average compared to your other nights of sleep." He cracked another joke, but Bdubs almost spit out his hot chocolate, coughing as he set down the drink.

"Is something wrong? Did I make the cocoa wrong?" Scar asked as he tilted his head with confusion, his icy blue eyes locked onto Bdubs as he cleared his throat.

"N-no, the hot cocoa is great! But I've been asleep for fourteen hours?! I haven't slept that long before! And I missed the HEP meeting and-"

"Relax, Bdubs," Scar interrupted the builder. "You were probably just exhausted from fighting all those mobs and carrying me home." Scar tried to reassure his assistant while flashing a warm smile, his sharp fangs showing, yet Bdubs didn't seem to notice. 

"Y-yeah, you're probably right." Bdubs mumbled with a sigh, taking another sip of his warm drink to soothe his nerves. Scar set down his mug, moving over to his assistant and wrapping his arms around him.

"S-scar?" Bdubs said, slightly shocked at the mayor's sudden showcase of affection.

"I want you to take a few days off of work," Scar said quietly. "You seem stressed and tired. I just don't want you to overwork yourself. I want you to be happy, and I'll do anything to make you happy."

Bdubs set down his hot cocoa before wrapping his arms around Scar, the mayor's face turning a light shade of pink, though it felt as though it was on fire. The vex could feel his wings flutter happily from underneath his mayoral suit, and his heart began doing somersaults. 

He didn't want to let go of Bdubs, ever.

Chapter Text

Mumbo grumbled to himself, his suit coat and hair stained with purple fungi and mushrooms. He had arrived late, again, to a resistance meeting, meaning that the redstoner was put on mycelium-farming duty, again. 

He carefully guided down into his storage system, steadily landing on the soft grass. He walked over to a double chest, opening the storage box before pulling out a water bucket. 

"Why am I always the one on mycelium duty..?" He asked himself while sitting down, crossing his legs as he set the bucket of water in front of him. Mumbo took off his dirtied suit coat, beginning to clean his clothing manually. 

Lost in his thoughts, the Redstoner scrubbed his suit coat without thinking, letting his mind wander as he tried to clean off the purple gunk and mushrooms. The resistance only met late at night, as it was the safest time to talk without worrying that Scar or the HEP members would find them.

The Brit's pocket began to buzz repeatedly with alert and notifications, Mumbo pulling himself out of his thoughts. He set down his suit coat, drying his hands on his pants before reaching in his pocket and grabbing his communicator, staring down at the messages from the hermitcraft group chat.

>Falsesymmetry left the group chat.

>TangoTek left the group chat.

>Keralis1 left the group chat.

>cubfan135 left the group chat.

>Xisuma left the group chat.

'That's weird,' Mumbo thought to himself in the quiet of his base. 'Is HEP planning something? Why would they leave the group chat?'

The redstoner scrolled through his list of contacts, clicking on Xisuma's name to send him a message.

MumboJumbo> heya x, just wanted to make sure everything is alright cause it was kinda weird for u and the rest of hep to leave the chat lol

<message could not be sent:_user_not_found>

"What?" Mumbo said aloud with a raise of his eyebrow. "X's communicator should be tracking him at all times, does that mean it broke?" The Redstoner scratched his head, moving on to message Keralis.

MumboJumbo> Did x's communicator break? I can't message him.

<message could not be sent:_user_not_found>

Mumbo frowned, moving on to the next member of HEP to message, yet each time he tried to send them a message, it wouldn't seem to go through. He groaned in frustration. 

"Did all of HEP somehow break their communicators?!" He said with annoyance, Mumbo wanted to throw his own device against the wall and watch as it shatters into hundreds of pieces, but he knew that wouldn't be of much help.

Mumbo sighed, it was late and he was overreacting. He loosened his tie, exhaustion beginning to weigh the Redstoner down, the long night of grinding for mycelium had finally caught up to him. Mumbo crawled into bed, shutting his tired eyes as he drifted off to sleep.

-

"Mumbo? Are you here?" A voice from the portal upstairs called, which woke the Redstoner up from his peaceful dreaming. He let out a tired groan in response to the voice, pulling his wool blankets over his head to try to fall back asleep.

"There you are!" Scar's voice was much clearer now, Mumbo could hear as the mayor landed on the soft grass beside his bed.

"If you don't mind, I need to talk to you." Scar said, though Mumbo had no plans to get out of bed. His entire body ached from shoveling mycelium and carrying full shulker boxes all night, the resistance member just wanted to sleep the rest of the day.

"..mybe tmrrw..." he mumbled without effort, shutting his eyes to slip back into unconsciousness, but Scar wasn't planning on leaving.

"I don't have time to wait until tomorrow, we need to address this now." Scar said as he pulled out a poster of Mumbo, propaganda to urge hermits to join the mycelium resistance. The Redstoner pulled the blankets off his head and sat up to study the poster, his tired eyes widening as he nervously shook his head.

"O-oh nonono Scar, I-I'm not apart of the resistance, t-they're just trying to frame me!" He lied, knowing he wasn't any good at it. Mumbo wished Grian took down all the posters when he joined the resistance, because now HEP could actually figure out that he was siding with mycelium.

"Oh really?" The mayor, a cruel smile slowly spreading across his face. 

An icy blue glow danced around Scar's claw-like fingers, Mumbo's eyes widening as he recognized the vex magic. He stumbled out of bed, Mumbo tripping over his feet as he tried to escape his base. Scar cackled with an evil grin spreading to the ends of his face.

"P-please, not again!" Mumbo begged while holding his head, beginning to hyperventilate as the memories from season five and six began to return to him. 

The ConCorp vexes would do anything to stop Sahara from running smoothly.

Including possessing and controlling the architects, just to delay Sahara's progress.

"I just need the truth, Mumbo-" Scar said as he slowly approached the sobbing Redstoner, waving his hand through the air. The icy blue magic escaped Scar's fingers, twirling and dancing through the air. It would have been beautiful if Mumbo hadn't known the true horror behind it.

He got up to run, but the magic was faster than him. The mystic energy shot into Mumbo's back, seeming to fade into the Redstoner's body. He froze in place, Mumbo holding his head as he fell to his knees, groaning as his thoughts became overtaken with Scar's magic.

"-you wouldn't lie to me, would you?" Scar asked with his hands held behind his back, watching Mumbo struggle as his mind and body became overtaken with magic. 

Mumbo's hands slowly pulled away from his head, resting at his sides. His head was bowed and his eyes were closed, the Brit slowly rising to his feet, his back facing the mayor.

"No, sir." Mumbo replied blankly, Scar chuckling as he walked past the Redstoner, stepping in front of him to examine the resistance member. 

His eyes were glassy and dull, the original rich green color had been drained away, all the life and emotion seemed to be missing from Mumbo's stare. A pale blue rested in his eyes, the same color as a vex.

"Good. Now I have a few questions for you," Scar said, holding the resistance poster in front of Mumbo.

"What is the meaning of this poster, and why are you on it?"

"Grian made it to try and trick you into thinking that I am the resistance leader. He's been trying to grow the mycelium resistance and invite others to join him, this being one of the ways that he is doing so." Mumbo explained with an emotionless tone, Scar growling as he crumpled the paper in his hands.

"And what about you? Are you a member of the resistance?" Scar asked, Mumbo robotically nodding.

"Yes, XBcrafted came to me and convinced me to join. The other members include Impulse, Ren, Etho, Stress, and Jevin. Grian is the leader." 

"Not anymore, Mumbo!" Scar laughed as he spoke, an evil grin wide across his face. "From now on, you're a loyal member of the Hermit environmental protection agency, and you take orders from me, not Grian. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." Mumbo said as he took a knee before the mayor, slightly bowing his head. The redstoner reached into his pocket, standing up as he dropped the device against the ground, before crushing it underneath his foot. 

"Good, don't let anyone talk to you, track you, or try to convince you against my commands. Especially the resistance members, make sure you avoid Grian at all costs. I have a special punishment for him." Scar chuckled weakly, keeping all of HEP underneath his power was getting harder every second, it was starting to drain the vex's energy.

He needed more power.

And the vex knew just where he could get it.

Chapter Text

Scar put his hand on the stone brick wall to support himself as he walked down the darkened hallway, the mayor's breathing labored as he trudged through the dungeon underneath the town hall. The redstone torches on the wall lightly crackled, providing little light to the prisoners.

"Mayor Scar-" Mumbo started to speak, moving to the vex to try and help him walk, but Scar shook his head.

"Get....get in the cell..." he huffed, pointing to one of the empty prison cells. Mumbo nodded, obeying Scar's orders without hesitation. He entered the open cell, closing the door made of iron bars, the HEP member locking himself in the small room.

Scar let out a sigh as he shakily raised his hand, snapping his fingers together to release the HEP agents from his control. The vex was still exhausted, but at least he didn't have to use any more of his strength to control the hermits.

Five of the prison cells were in use, one holding Mumbo, one holding False and Doc, one holding Cub and X, and the final cell had Tango and Keralis. While most of the HEP agents were confused, as they couldn't remember how they ended up trapped in the prison cell, both Xisuma and Cub had frowns across their faces as they scowled at the mayor.

"You can't keep us down here forever," X said with a cold tone, his arms folded as he tapped his foot against the stone flooring, his eyes narrowed at Scar. "We'll get out of here, and when we do-"

"You'll do what, Xisuma? You may be the admin of this server, but I have these-" Scar held up the admin's gloves, which had a small keyboard-like attachment to them, allowing for X to type commands and debug the server. The Brit just shot a cold glare at Scar.

"You'll never control me the way that you control the others. I may not be able to type commands, but my magic is stronger than yours will ever be. I will never obey you." Xisuma spat with an angered voice, Scar had never heard the admin speak with such rage before. 

Cub had been lurking in the darkened corner of the cell, but he stepped forward when Xisuma finished speaking, placing a hand on the admin's shoulder.

"X is right, Scar. We're going to get out of here eventually. You may have all of HEP, but Xisuma and I are resistant against your magic." Cub said as he stepped closer to the bars, his eyes locking with Scar's.

"Scar, I know what this is like for you, we went through this in season six, but we went through it together. I'm a vex too, and no matter how hard you try, you can't control me. I know the thoughts that are running through your head want you to control everything and everyone that's in your way, but that's not what you want! Where's the old Scar, the Scar that I know and love?!" Cub's rage-filled broke down into weak sobs, his hands gripping the bars that separated the two, the mayor biting his lip as he took a step backwards.

"T-that's enough out of both of you! I can control you both, and soon I will! I just need a little boost in power.." Scar grinned as he looked to Doc with a half grin, Cub's eyes widening.

"S-scar, I know what you're thinking, but it's too dangerous!"

"Silence!" He growled with a flick of his wrist, sending a swirl of energy towards Doc, the creeper stepping backwards as his eyes widened in shock, the magic fading right through his chest. The creeper's robotic eye changed it's hue, shifting from a crimson red to an icy blue.

"Doc-"

"Move." He growled carelessly while shoving past False, Scar opening the cell to allow his loyal subject to join his side.

"Scar! Stop! Please!" Cub begged helplessly, his tears like a never ending waterfall that fell down his cheeks. "We don't know if this could kill you!"

"Enough, Cub. Doc has extracted our magic since area 77 was formed in season six. It has to be at his base somewhere, and then we can simply reverse Doc's machine, and I'll be able to have all the magic that he has stolen from me! Then I'll have enough power to control every hermit with ease, including Xisuma." Scar laughed as he spoke, the admin of the server shaking his head.

"It won't work-" X began to argue, but Cub placed his hand on the admin's shoulder, shaking his head.

"X...If Scar gets all of his vex magic back, it would be hopeless to fight his control. I don't think even you could fight it.."

"B-but you'll still be okay! H-he can't control another vex hybrid!" Xisuma said panicked, but Scar laughed as Cub opened his mouth to answer.

"That's why I'm bringing him with me. Cub will be my little test subject, then he'll be back to his true form!" Scar said with a grin shot towards the former vex, Cub frozen with fear upon hearing Scar's plan. 

Doc opened the cell door, grabbing Cub by the collar of his shirt, Xisuma frozen with panic and horror in his eyes. The creeper slammed the door shut, forcefully pulling Cub along without loosening his grip.

"Scar...p-p-please.." Cub begged for his life, the mayor chuckling as he walked down the hall of the dungeon.

"You're the enforcer, Cub. You're supposed to be on my side, but clearly, you need a reminder."

-

"Let me out!" Cub screamed helplessly as he banged the iron door of the machine. Doc was at the control panel, typing in a new set of commands to reverse the effects. What used to prevent Cub from turning into a vex was going to revert him back to the way he used to be.

The machine had two modules, with tubes and wires and other strange mechanical components that connected them. Cub was locked in one, while the other was still empty. Scar turned to his brainwashed subject with a frown.

"Where is all the vex magic that you've been taking from us?" He asked, Doc continuing to work as he spoke.

"I've hidden it safely, sir. Magic is like energy, so I couldn't destroy it, so instead I made a vault to keep it protected." Doc explained as he stepped away from the control panel, walking down the hall of his house. He came back a few moments later with two shulker boxes in his arms, setting the purple boxes in front of the empty tank.

"This is all of Cub's magic." Doc said as he opened the shulker box, revealing hundreds of metal tube-like containers. "Every time I would remove your magic, I would get about 20 of these little containers, but when I first removed all your vex magic, I got about 100."

"Hook it all up to the machine." Scar commanded, Doc nodding his head as he took the shulker boxes into the empty module, beginning to finalize the vex-infusing machine.

After a few moments of rewiring and adding the magic-filled containers, Doc stepped out of the machine, the iron door shutting behind him. He walked to the front of the control panel, typing in a few commands before nodding at the mayor.

"Everything is ready to go, sir." Doc said as he looked at Scar, waiting for the command to start up the machine. Without looking away from Cub, Scar nodded his head with an unchanging expression. Doc turned back to the controls, as he typed in the command to start the machine.

Screams of pain and agony echoed through Doc's basement, but neither of the two hermits even reacted, unfazed by the bloodcurdling screams. After a few long minutes of screaming and pleading for help, the whirring of the machine began to slow, and the panicked cries for help stopped.

Doc hit a button, the metal door sliding open with a light 'click'. Cub was on his knees, his head lowered as his fast breathing began to steady itself.

A pair of large wings tore through his lab coat, Cub's vex wings larger than normal. His fingers turned to claws, his ear pointed, and his teeth now sharpened, a sinister grin spreading to the ends of his face as he rose to his feet.

Cub laughed as he opened his hand, magic escaping his palm and dancing through the air at his command. He locked eyes with the mayor.

"Good to have you back." Scar said to his fellow vex.

"It's good to be back..I forgot how powerful I feel in this form." He said while staring down at his hands, a light blue glow radiating in his palms, which Cub then clenched into fists. Scar smiled, looking to Doc.

"Hook up the machine to the rest of my magic, and once you've finished returning it-" The mayor paused, looking away from Doc to examine the machinery.

"Destroy the machine so that no one can take away my magic, ever again."

Chapter Text

Bdubs set down a shulker box, staring up in awe and pride at his castle. He had spent the past few days away from the shopping district, giving the builder enough time to refocus and continue working on his castle.

"It's truly a stunning build, Bdubs."

Bdubs jumped at the voice, though he laughed with relief as he noticed Scar from behind him. "You scared me for a second!" He laughed, "I didn't hear any rockets, it was like you appeared out of nowhere."

Scar weakly chuckled, his cool blue eyes glancing down at the hand-made village that Bdubs had constructed. He smiled a bit, turning back to his assistant.

"Bdubs, could we talk? Somewhere...private?" Scar asked, his assistant nodding.

"Of course, come on inside." Bdubs invited as he motioned towards the entrance of his castle, he and the mayor stepping inside.

"So, you gonna tell me what's with the robe?" The builder joked with a taunting voice as he motioned to Scar's attire, a dark blue cloak wrapped around the vex's body. He chuckled in a tired voice, but didn't say anything, Scar walking down the long hallway of the castle.

Bdubs followed behind the mayor, the two walking in silence as they approached the diorite throne, Scar motioning for his assistant to take a seat. Confused, Bdubs reluctantly did so.

"I need to talk to you about the war," Scar started to explain as he turned around, his back facing Bdubs as he continued. "I found a way to win us the battle, to beat Grian and the resistance once and for all."

Bdubs' eyes widened. "Wow Scar, that's incredible!" He exclaimed happily.

"I-I know. But I need you to be a bit open-minded for this next part.." Scar said as he looked over his shoulder, waiting for his assistant to nod before letting out a nervous breath.

Removing his cloak and letting it drop to the ground, revealing that Scar was wearing a fancy blue suit and white dress pants, his vex wings about the size of an elytra as they fluttered nervously. Scar's fingers were sharp, the tips of his claws were a dark blue. His eyes were pale almost, yet they radiated with magic. A few vexes began to reveal themselves, three or four floating besides Scar, loyal to his command. Bdubs was silent as he got up from his throne.

He quietly walked over to Scar, the mayor still as Bdubs took his hands, gently rubbing his thumb against the cat lover's hand in a comforting motion. The builder's eyes were sad and tired as they stared into Scar's, the mayor seemingly confused.

"Why do you look unhappy? I found a way to win the war, for you, for us!" Scar exclaimed, a wide smile across his face. Bdubs shook his head.

"No, Scar. I-I can't let you become...this, just so we can win a dumb war. It's all just fun and games, we don't have to take this so seriously.. I don't want anyone to get hurt, especially you.."

Scar's pale face slightly filled with color, his cheeks turning slightly rosy. "N-no one will get hurt! I can control myself, I can turn hermitcraft into a beautiful world with everything you could ever want!"

"'Everything I could ever want...?'" Bdubs repeated, a bit confused why Scar would say that, but the mayor nodded eagerly, bouncing up and down with joy as he held Bdubs' hands.

"Anything you want, it's yours! I'll give you the entire shopping district if you wanted it!"

"Why...why are you acting like this...?" Bdubs said as he pulled away from Scar, who instantly frowned as his assistant's hands slipped from his grasp.

"Bdubs, you are the most remarkable, brilliant, and stunning person I know. I love everything about you, your smile, your laugh, the way your eyes sparkle each time you see a horse-" Scar giggled for a moment, before he continued to speak. "What I'm saying is, I want to win this war, for you!"

"S-scar-"

"Please, Bdubs!" Scar said, his eyes filled with sadness as he spoke. "I can control myself, and with these vex powers I can make the server a better place! I just want you with me, I want you to say that you'll be there by my side, each step of the way.."

He hesitated, but eventually nodded, a small smile across Bdubs's face. "I trust you, Scar, that's why I elected you for mayor. I know you'll make the right choices to help us win this war."

"Thank you, Bdubs." Scar smiled as he wrapped his arms around his assistant, his wings fluttering as fast as his rising heartbeat as he felt Bdubs' arms hug him in return.

'No matter what, Bdubs can't be apart of the war' Scar thought to himself as he tightened his hold on Bdubs, but the builder didn't seem to mind.

'He needs to be safe.'

'I need to protect him.'

—

It was like Mumbo fell off the face of the planet.

Iskall's messages wouldn't seem to go through, they couldn't call the Redstoner either, he had just completely vanished! The worst part is, the Brit disappeared right before their big meeting about the future of Pasific, and it wasn't like Iskall could work on their company without their partner.

He could have just been busy with the HEP and mycelium war, Mumbo had told the Swede that he had joined the resistance a while back, but Iskall had a bad feeling that they were wrong.

The Swede landed in front of the Pasific skyscraper, eyes widening at the front entrance, which had been boarded shut. They ran over to wooden planks, pulling out their axe and breaking the blocks that stood in their way. Iskall stopped as they noticed a sign on one of the wooden planks, setting down the axe as their eyes scanned over the tiny words.

"This shop has been closed permanently due to the lack of tax payments. Mayor Scar now has full ownership over this plot."

"Tax payments?! Since when do we have taxes!?" Iskall exclaimed in question, outraged that Pasific was already shut down, even when it wasn't opened yet. They pulled out a rocket, jumping off the island and shooting themself over the shopping district. 

Iskall scanned the colorful array of shops, most were now forced to close, some were already torn down and demolished. The Swede spotted Cub in front of Beefy tunes, he was boarding up the entrance just like almost every other shop. Iskall landed behind the scientist.

"Cub, this is outrageous! I wasn't even told about the taxes! I've been so busy working on the tree I didn't even know about what was going on here!"

"Well that's your own fault then." Cub snapped with a cold voice, laughing cruelly after his sentence. He didn't even turn around to face Iskall as he spoke, but the words hurt.

"I'm not giving up Pacific! I don't care if Scar is the mayor!" Iskall said in retaliation, Cub's posture straightening as the Swede finished speaking. He whipped around, Iskall stumbling back in horror at the vex's appearance. Cub laughed at their fear.

"Aw, what? Too scared to speak up now?" He asked tauntingly, Iskall frozen in place, unable to say a word. The Swedish Redstoner swallowed the lump in their throat before speaking up, their shaking voice quiet and nervous.

"I- um- I'm looking for Mumbo.." Iskall finally managed to say, too scared to talk to Cub about the taxes, so Iskall thought it was best to change the subject. Their eyes glued to Cub's vex features as the memories of Sahara began to flood their mind. Cub just rolled his eyes, turning back to his work.

"I don't know where he is, nor do I care." Cub sneered cruelly, Iskall grumbling underneath their breath as they left the vex to his work. 

The Swede walked through the seemingly-abandoned streets, glancing at all the closed shops. Grian's barge still seemed to be standing strong, but it clearly wasn't being cared for. Some windows had been shattered, parts of the roof and structure was beginning to fall apart, and the interior was a mess.

"Please Scar!" The familiar voice caused Iskall's head to turn, as they looked towards the entrance of the barge. Grian stood with an armful of diamonds, the mayor standing in front of him with a scowl across his face.

"Hand them over, Grian." Scar commanded cruelly, the British architect slowly extending the diamonds towards the vex, who smiled greedily as he snatched them out of his hands. 

"You've taken all the diamonds that everyone has! How can I pay off the taxes when I can't earn any money from the barge?!" Grian asked, Scar too busy counting the diamonds to pay attention to the resistance leader. The mayor frowned when he finished, looking up at Grian.

"You're four diamonds short." 

"That's all the money I have! You took the rest!"

"Well then, looks like I'll be taking the barge too." Scar cackled with an evil smile, Grian frozen in place as tears pricked at his eyes. Reluctantly, he stepped out of the way, allowing for the mayor to enter the barge. 

Iskall moved to try and comfort Grian, but he pulled out a firework rocket and shot into the sky without another word. The Swede turned to Scar, frowning at the mayor.

"Scar, what are you doing?! I thought this war was just for fun, but now you're taxing us?"

The mayor rolled his eyes, heading towards the town hall as he ignored Iskall. But the Swede wasn't going to give up very easily, following Scar up the steps to the Diamond throne.

The throne had almost tripled in size, most likely from the taxes that hermits were forced to pay, Scar opening his large wings to fly to the top. He took a seat on the throne, his icy blue eyes locked onto Iskall as he smiled.

"I'm just trying to show the resistance that I don't take too kindly to their little games, that's all." He said sweetly, Iskall frowning as they locked eyes with the vex.

"Then why are you taxing everyone, resistance or not? Our economy and shops are collapsing!" Iskall complained, Scar only laughing.

"Once we finish tearing down all the shops, Aque town will be able to expand throughout the entire island, then things will go right back to normal!"

Iskall shook their head. "Scar, this isn't right! You can't do this!"

Scar frowned, narrowing his eyes at the Swede with a scowl across his face. "I can do whatever I think is best for the shopping district, and you have no power to stop me."

"Xisuma can! He won't allow you to destroy everything we've worked so hard to build!"

"I think you'll find that he's grown to be more...agreeable towards my actions." Scar said with a chuckle in his voice, Iskall freezing as he spotted the admin entering the throne room.

His armor and helmet had turned to a light blue, his visor tinted so that Iskall couldn't see his eyes. Xisuma had a small pair of vex wings on his back, his gloved fingers in the shape of claws.

Scar opened his massive vex wings, gliding down and landing beside the admin, placing his hand on Xisuma's shoulder. "All of HEP is on my side, and soon we'll get rid of that resistance!" Scar laughed cruelly, Iskall stepping backwards in shock.

"This is insane, Scar! You can't do this, you have to stop!"

"This is war, I have to do what is needed to destroy the other side. Once the resistance is crushed, I will have full leadership and control."

"Scar, the vex magic is messing with your head! Just like it did last season! All the power you have as mayor is making things worse, you have to let Doc get rid of that magic!"

"Even if Doc wanted to, the machine is destroyed!" Scar said happily, while dread filled Iskall's stomach. "He used to to give me all the magic he ever stole from me, and now I'm more powerful then I've ever been!"

"Scar-"

"Enough." He commanded, turning his back on Iskall, Scar flying back to the top of his throne while looking down at the Redstoner.

"Mumbo, take Iskall down to the dungeons, I've had enough of them." Scar snapped his fingers, the Swede's eyes widening at the mention of Mumbo's name.

The redstoner appeared in a flash of blue light, his pale eyes empty and cold. His suit was now a light shade of blue, his fingers claws and a pair of wings resting on his back, with his teeth sharpened and pointed as well.

"M-Mumbo?" 

He smiled, straightening his posture with a cold gleam in his icy glare. Mumbo grabbed Iskall by the collar of their lime hoodie, lifting the Swede off the ground with barely any effort. 

"Mumbo, stop! We're friends! You're being controlled!" Iskall tried to reason with their friend, but Mumbo only laughed as he opened an iron trap door, pulling the Swede into the darkened basement of the town hall.

"Oh please, do you think that I'd believe you? I'm a loyal member of HEP, and I don't associate with dirty resistance members!"

"B-but I'm not a member of the resistance!" Iskall said as they were carelessly tossed into a prison cell, Mumbo grinning at the Swede as they slammed the iron door shut. Iskall looked around at the dark obsidian box, any attempt at escape seemed hopeless. 

Iskall brought their knees to their chest, fighting the urge to cry. Half the hermits were infected with Scar's magic, they wouldn't listen.

The Swedish hermit felt like they were going to be in the dungeon for a long time.

Chapter Text

"It's all set up, sir. The enderpearls have been successfully moved to the dungeon underneath the town hall." Mumbo said as he wiped his brow, his vex wings fluttering a bit as he waited for Scar's response.

"Good work, Mumbo," Scar's voice came over the walki-talki in the redstoner's hands. "Keralis, False, how is Bdubs?"

"Still unaware that we're watching him. He won't find out about what you're plotting, sir. We'll make sure of it." False's voice spoke through the device, Mumbo powering it off and slipping it into his pocket. 

He stretched a bit, it had taken some time to move the enderpearls to the dungeon, but the Redstoner was happy that it was done. Scar was making HEP take shifts in spying on Bdubs. Mumbo wasn't sure why, it was odd enough, but he didn't question the orders of his brilliant mayor.

Mumbo remembered what had happened, he remembered working for the resistance and he remembered being put under Scar's control, but this time was...different. It was a hard feeling to explain, Mumbo felt free to make his own choices, but he needed to listen to Scar. He couldn't disobey any order given to him.

And Grian..

Mumbo couldn't help but hate him.

He was ruining everything, turning the shopping district that Scar had beautified into a wasteland of mushrooms and purple sludge. Mumbo hated it, he hated Grian for disobeying the mayor and destroying what used to be stunning. He was just happy that soon, HEP's plan could finally put an end to the war.

Mumbo opened his wings as he reached the surface, flying into the sky with his dull blue eyes scanning the greenery below for any signs of the dirty resistance members. His pointed teeth turned to a scowl as he spotted a patch of mushrooms and mycelium, the vex diving down and landing by the purple sludge.

"Stupid resistance," he grumbled angrily while his claws dug into the ground, ripping the mushrooms out and crushing them in the palm of his hands. "They're ruining everything.."

"I agree!" Scar's voice came from behind him, Mumbo turning to face the leader of HEP. "I'm glad you realized what the resistance is really doing: ruining the shopping district."

The redstoner nodded his head eagerly. "You've opened my eyes, Scar! I thought I was on the right side before, but now I see the true beauty of grass! The resistance needs to be stopped!"

"And you're going to play a key part in that, Mumbo." Scar said, his large vex wings opening as he spoke. "I need you to spy on the resistance while we finish setting up the final bits of out plan. You used to be a member, and they don't know that you're on our side now, so you're perfect for the job!"

"Y-yes sir, I'll do anything to see the resistance fall!" The mustached vex smiled as he spoke, a cruel grin spreading across Scar's face.

"Perfect! Now we just need to disguise you so that the resistance isn't aware that you're a vex!"

Before Mumbo could say anything, Scar snapped his fingers together, a swirl of blue energy flying around the redstoner. His light blue suit returned to its black color, Mumbo's vex wings hiding themselves, and one of his icy blue eyes returned to a dark-chocolate brown.

The redstoner managed to catch Scar before he fell over, the mayor exhausted by the use of magic. He groaned slightly, Mumbo helping the vex steady himself with a concerned look across his face.

"Are you going to be okay, sir? You've used a lot of magic to give all of HEP our powers." Mumbo asked with concern, Scar simply nodding his head.

"I'll be fine, Mumbo. I just need to rest up, I've used a lot of magic today. I'll be better tomorrow."

Mumbo slowly nodded, although Scar squinted his eyes, noticing that one of the redstoner's eyes was still a pale blue. He growled in annoyance.

"Great. My magic wasn't strong enough to fully disguise you.." Scar rolled his eyes, pushing a bit of Mumbo's hair over his blue eye.

"Keep that hidden. If anyone sees that, the resistance will know."

"Yes sir."

"And cut that out, I'm you're friend, Mumbo! You can simply call me Scar." The mayor laughed a bit, the Brit thinking for a moment before nodding his head.

"Yes, Mayor Scar."

The vex simply rolled his eyes, turning away from Mumbo and opening his wings to take off, looking over his shoulder and locking eyes with the redstoner.

"The meeting is in an hour. Get to the resistance HQ, and gather as much intel as you can."

Mumbo nodded, waving goodbye as Scar flew off. He would do anything to help HEP, even if it meant spending the day in the resistance HQ with the people that he dreaded to speak too. He just needed to act like everything was normal.

-

"Mumbo!" Grian smiled as he got up out of his chair, wrapping his arms around the redstoner, the mustached vex wanting to throw up. The entire resistance HQ smelled like mushrooms, and Mumbo hated the scent.

"I've been so worried about you! You disappeared and I-"

"Just get the meeting started." Mumbo growled cruelly as he pushed past the shorter Brit, sitting down at the meeting table between Stress and Ren.

"Is something wrong with your eye, luv?" Stress asked as she pointed to the bit of hair over his eyes, Mumbo trying to stutter an excuse.

"O-oh, erm, I got redstone in my eye." He lied, Grian narrowing his eye in suspicion as the shorter Brit studied Mumbo's nervous expression, which quickly faded as he shot a scowl at the builder.

Grian took a seat at his chair, slamming his hands against the table and causing the other resistance members to flinch.

"Scar us onto us," The leader said with a cold voice, glancing around at the faces that sat around the table. "I'm a bit nervous that he's catching on to our real identities. Normally I wouldn't be scared but...It's just... Scar is beginning to take this a little too far, and I'm scared that he'll endanger someone's lif-"

Grian was interrupted by Mumbo's fist slamming onto the table.

"Scar would never hurt us! You've gone mad if you think he would!" The redstoner argued with a cold snap of his voice, Grian and Mumbo staring daggers at one another while the other resistance members watched in silence.

"Mumbo, could I talk to you in private for a moment?" Grian asked a bit too harshly, the redstoner rolling his eyes as he followed the shorter male to the corner of the resistance HQ, out of earshot of the other members.

"You show up out of nowhere after ignoring every message I send you and now you're acting like I'm the bad guy! Did I do something to upset you?"

"Yeah! This whole resistance is pointless, the shopping district is pretty, and the mycelium is ruining it!" Mumbo growled cruelly, a bit of hurt flashing through Grian's eyes.

"It's the principle that matters, not beauty!"

"And what principle is that? Because I'm starting to think that you just wanted to cause some chaos and you're enjoying this war!"

"Why would I enjoy this, Mumbo! Doc is missing, one of my people! I thought you were gone too, and I couldn't stop blaming myself! I just want this war to end, I want things to go back to normal!"

Mumbo narrowed his eyes. "Then surrender."

"W-what..?"

He scoffed as if Grian was ignorant. "Surrender and let HEP win! This whole war can be over if you just give up! The last time we had a war, it was all because of you, and there was tension between all of the hermits for the rest of season six!"

"M-Mumbo-" Grian looked like he was about to cry, but the mustached hermit wasn't finished.

"You tore our server apart, this stupid resistance is ruining everything! YOU'RE ruining everything!"

Grian went silent, at that point Mumbo had been speaking loud enough for all of the resistance to hear, the members all staring at the two in shock. They had never seen Mumbo and Grian fight before.

Tears slowly rolled down Grian's face, the Brit wiping the streams of water on his sleeves. He quickly pushed past Mumbo, running to the exit. He grabbed a rocket and flew off without another word.

Etho turned to the mustached hermit, Mumbo straightening his tie as if nothing had ever happened. He seemed unfazed.

"What's wrong with you, Mumbo! This was all supposed to be for fun!" Etho snapped, Ren nodding his head in agreement as he took off his sunglasses, seriousness frozen across his face.

"Yeah dude, it looked like you really hurt G's feelings."

"So what?" Mumbo laughed with the roll of his eyes. "I just told him the truth."

"That wasn't the truth!" Impulse chimed in. "That was just plain rude!"

"I just think that it's better for us to listen to mayor Scar, he made the shopping district so much better!" Mumbo argued, Xb shaking his head as he rose from his seat.

"This isn't better. This whole war was fun at first, but Scar has taken it way too far! I don't know why we voted for him, he taxed our shops until we had nothing and took everything away that we worked so hard to build!"

Mumbo's sharp teeth began to form a scowl. He wanted to his the meeting button and throw the group into jail, but Scar wanted to wait.

"None of you understand!" Mumbo said as he stormed out of the HQ, leaving the remaining resistance members to look around at one another in confusion.

"Mumbo is definitely working Scar," Etho said as the Redstoner disappeared, the other resistance members nodding their heads in agreement.

"HEP is clearly planning something, my dudes. I'm a bit nervous to find out what." Ren mentioned, "they somehow convinced Mumbo to be on our side, maybe Scar is doing that to other hermits too?"

"You're saying he's recruiting more help?" Stress asked, Ren nodding.

"I think so. Who knows how many members of HEP there are now."

"It makes sense," Jevin chimed in after being silent for the entire meeting, the blue slime frowning as he placed a hand on his chin. "But what doesn't make sense is why Mumbo would suddenly join HEP. He seemed loyal enough to the resistance."

"Maybe he was sick of being on mycelium harvesting duty? He was complaining to Iskall and I that he hated it." Stress thought aloud, but Etho shook his head.

"I don't think so. Based on the way that Mumbo was talking, he seems undyingly loyal to Scar and HEP. Maybe Scar did something to him?"

"That could explain why Mumbo hated Grian all of a sudden," Ren said, his eyes moving to the empty chair that Doc was normally seated in. "but... do you think that he's done something to Doc too...?"

"I hope not, and if Scar did do something to him, we'll fix it." Etho assured Ren, causing the man to weakly smile and nod in agreement.

"Stress, you might want to run after Grian and make sure he's alright," Etho said, taking charge of the situation. "Tell him about Mumbo and HEP. Meanwhile, the rest of us should try and figure out what Scar did."

The brunette nodded her head, running out of the resistance HQ and setting off fireworks to fly off in search of Grian. Etho turned to the remaining resistance members.

"We're going to need more help if we want to stop Scar."

-

The moon slowly rose over the mountain that Bdubs had constructed, but the builder was already fast asleep in his village home. A calm breeze brushed through the grass, the peaceful night completely silent. The stars and moon light the sky, twinkling down on the beautiful village that Bdubs' had built.

Scar sat atop the mountain, his tired eyes watching the still village. Standing behind him, Vex-Suma typed on an admin panel, his pale blue armor gleaming in the moonlight. His wings twitched, Xisuma's hands moving away from the admin screen as he looked to the mayor.

"I've finished, Scar. Everything is ready for the resistance's downfall. Shall I gather the agents of HEP to start the plan?" Xisuma asked, Scar seated on the mountain top with his back facing the admin. Slowly, the mayor shook his head.

"No. Not yet. We'll do it tomorrow."

"But mayor Scar, you said you wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible. We can finish this now-"

Scar stood up, his cold eyes looking towards the admin who stood behind him. "No, Xisuma, I have something I need to do. We'll do it first thing tomorrow. You're dismissed until then."

Reluctantly, Xisuma nodded. With a flash of light blue magic, the admin disappeared. When he was gone, Scar quietly sighed, opening his wings as he walked to the edge of the cliff.

Scar flew off, the mayor diving down and gliding through the streets of Bdubs' village. He flew towards his assistant's home, the mayor searching for a window that was connected to Bdubs' bedroom. Scar froze as he stared in at the sleeping male, flapping his wings to stay in midair as he stared in at Bdubs' bedroom.

The mayor pressed his hand against the glass, a light glow escaping his fingertips. The window magically unlocked itself, Scar pushing open the glass and flying into the bedroom. 

He landed on the floor, the spruce planks creaking underneath Scar's feet. The mayor crept through the dark room, moving towards Bdubs' bed, where the builder was sleeping peacefully.

Scar smiled as he stared down at Bdubs' sleeping expression, his face was peaceful and calm. He reached out his claw-like fingers, gently pushing a bit of hair out of his assistant's face. Bdubs was perfect, even when he was sleeping.

"Bdubs, wake up.." Scar mumbled quietly with a calm smile, gently stroking his assistant's hair as Bdubs groaned quietly. His chocolate brown eyes began to flutter open, the builder sitting up and rubbing his head. 

"..wht tme isit..." Bdubs muttered in a tired voice, barely able to form a sentence.

"It's late," Scar said, taking Bdubs' hands and pulling him out of bed, smiling as the tired hermit let out a quiet yawn. "I'm sorry I had to wake you up at this time."

"It's fine..." Bdubs mumbled while rubbing his tired eyes. "What do you need?"

"To see you," Scar answered honestly, leaving Bdubs rather confused. The mayor giggled at his tired assistant. "You're incredible, did you know that? I would give anything to make you happy."

"That's..very sweet of you, Scar." Bdubs admitted, the vex's smile widening and his eyes sparkling with joy.

"Come on," Scar grinned as he moved towards the window, his wings fluttering with joy. "I want to show you something!"

"Alright, let me grab my elytra-" Bdubs began to pull his bug-like wings from his inventory, but he was interrupted by Scar laughing.

"You won't need an elytra!" He giggled, extending his hand towards Bdubs. The builder hesitated for a moment before slowly taking Scar's hand, letting the mayor pull him towards the window.

Scar let go of Bdubs' hand as they reached the window, the vex opening his wings and flying out of the bedroom. He hovered in front of the window, the mayor's wings flapping to keep him in the air.

"Trust me." Was the only thing that Scar said, extending both his hands towards Bdubs, the builder shakily nodding. He took the vex's hands, letting Scar pull him out of his bedroom, Bdubs standing on the windowsill while his grip on Scar's hands began to tighten.

"S-scar, are you sure I don't need an elytra...?"

The mayor simply nodded. "Just step forward. I won't let you fall."

Bdubs took in a deep breath, tightly shutting his eyes. He extended his leg, taking a step forward onto the nothingness before him, Bdubs' eyes quickly opening as he realized that his leg was standing on something solid.

"Wh-what..?" Bdubs muttered as he stared at the blue magic underneath his foot, acting as if it were a platform to keep him from falling. Scar just smiled.

"Come on." He said, flying a bit higher than Bdubs, but still holding his hands. The mayor's assistant walked forward as Scar pulled him through the air, Bdubs magically able to stand on nothingness.

"T-this is amazing, Scar!" Bdubs said as he glanced down at the world below him, the mayor smiling.

"I'm glad you think so." Scar giggled, the vex closing his wings as blue magic surrounded his feet, him and Bdubs standing under the moonlight as blue magic swirled around the two.

Bdubs froze as Scar placed a hand on his shoulder, the other hand wrapping around his waist. Their noses were almost touching, Bdubs' face beginning to heat up as he realized how close they were.

"Have you ever danced before?" Scar asked, Bdubs so stunned that he couldn't speak. He was barely able to shake his head. The mayor only smiled.

Bdubs copied what Scar had done: one arm placed on the mayor's shoulder and the other wrapped around his waist. He never thought that he would be dancing, especially not while floating midair.

"W-why are we doing this, Scar..?" Bdubs asked as he followed the movements that the vex was doing, he and the mayor dancing underneath the glistening stars and the glimmering moonlight. Blue sparkles and magic drifted with the wind, no phantoms or mobs anywhere in sight. It was really peaceful to spend the night like this.

"We've been so stressed during the war. I thought it would be nice to spend the night together, something peaceful and calming." 

"Well, this is definitely peaceful. I've never seen a night as beautiful as this one."

Scar went silent for a moment, his eyes drawn to his shoes as they continued to dance in silence. Bdubs shut his eyes, letting the mayor lead him in the graceful movements.

"B-bdubs...I.." Scar nervously stuttered, breaking the silence. "I love you. Everything that you say and do makes me smile. You're remarkable, the most incredible person I've ever known. But...after tomorrow, you may not see me the same way that you do now. I just hope...I hope you understand what I need to do. To protect you."

Bdubs was silent. Scar's heart felt like it had jumped to his throat after he told his assistant how he really felt. The terraformer was panicking, why had he told Bdubs how he really felt? Clearly his assistant didn't feel the same way.

Scar's nervous thoughts came to a sudden halt as he heard something.

Bdubs was lightly snoring.

Stifling his giggles, Scar realized that he had been gently pulling Bdubs along while he was fast asleep. The vex opened his large wings, lifting the builder into his arms bridal-style. The magic beneath the two quickly faded, Scar flapping his wings to keep them in the air.

"Of course you fell asleep, you've probably never stayed up late." Scar joked to the sleeping male, swooping in through the window and carrying Bdubs back to his bed. 

His assistant stirred in the mayor's arms, Scar setting the sleeping hermit onto the mattress. Scar turned to leave, but something weakly grabbed his wrist, the vex glancing at Bdubs. He looked exhausted, but he tugged at Scar until the mayor reluctantly crawled into bed with him.

"I love you too..." Bdubs muttered as he curled up next to Scar, the vex's face beginning to burn. The mayor didn't know what to say, he was completely stunned by Bdubs response.

"And...whatever is happening tomorrow, I'm still with you, 100%." He smiled at the mayor, Scar pulling him closer as Bdubs began to drift back to sleep. The vex chuckled a bit.

"I hope so."

Chapter Text

"You failed, Mumbo. You blew your cover almost right away and now the resistance is growing even more suspicious!" Scar shouted from atop his ever-expanding throne, now filled with anything shiny or rare.

It seemed like all the vex/hermit hybrids were attracted to anything that sparkled. Enchanted gear, gems and minerals, or even just a simple iron shovel. If it was sparkly, they would bring it straight to Scar and drop it on the throne.

"I-I-I'm sorry, m-mayor Scar, I couldn't help myself! They were saying such horrible things about you!" Mumbo begged with tearful eyes, though Scar's icy glare didn't have a hint of mercy in it. 

"You're lucky we had a backup plan with those enderpearls I had you move. Now, you're on dungeon duty until you prove your worth. We'll need you on watch when the entire resistance is teleported down there." 

"Y-yes sir, anything to prove myself!" Mumbo said as his wings fluttered with hope, the mustached vex disappearing into a puff of blue smoke as he teleported into the dungeon.

Scar stood up, glancing to the dark corner of the room, Xisuma looking at one of his admin screens while monitoring the locations of all the resistance members. The loyal vex locked eyes with his leader, X nodding his head.

"All is ready. No private messages have been sent and all of the resistance members are far enough apart, meaning that they aren't secretly meeting. We can teleport them now." Xisuma reported to the mayor, Scar nodding his head as he opened his wings and flew down from his throne.

"Good. Prep the other hermits for a server wide meeting, I want to make an example of the resistance." Scar laughed with a cruel smile as he left the town hall, Xisuma following close behind the vex.

"A-are you sure about this, sir? I don't t-think I'm completely on board with the plan—"

Scar snapped his claw-like fingers together, the admin freezing in place as he did so. The mayor turned around to face Xisuma, his expression stone-cold as he approached the vex. His posture straightened, Scar's arms folding with his eyes narrowing at the admin.

"Xisuma, I'm protecting your server from that mycelium infection. I gave you power to stop them from tearing everything apart."

"A-and I am grateful for that, s-sir, b-b-but..." Xisuma's voice began to trail off, Scar raising an eyebrow.

"But what?"

"What we're doing, this plan, it could completely destroy the server, even more than this war could. The other hermits— the ones who don't understand— they'll see us as monsters." X mumbled with a quivering voice, Scar placing his hand on the admin's shoulder.

"Everything will turn out fine, you need to trust me." The mayor said with his icy glare locking with Xisuma's eyes, the Brit nervously nodding.

"Y-yes sir, of course.."

"Good," Scar replied blankly, turning away from Xisuma and holding his hands behind his back, staring out at the new and improved shopping district. "This'll stop everything from turning even worse, Xisuma."

"I-I hope so.." the admin muttered as his hands moved towards the miniature keyboard on his glove, typing into the chat to call a server-wide meeting in thirty minutes. He nodded at Scar once it was done. The mayor grinned.

"Perfect! Glad we could come to an understanding. Now get the rest of HEP prepared, and ensure that the resistance's cells are ready." He commanded while opening the large wings attached to his back, flying off as Xisuma opened his mouth to try and speak. The admin sighed unhappily. 

He was loyal to HEP and to the mayor, Xisuma would do anything that Scar commanded, but that didn't mean that he didn't question his orders. The admin hated the resistance more than anything— but...their punishment..

Xisuma thought it was worse than death.

—

Grian woke up on the hard obsidian floor, no memory of entering the small box. He was laying on his back, unable to move, the builder's entire body was numb and frozen.

He sat in the dark, unable to cry for help or move to try and escape, frozen as time went on. It felt like ten minutes before the sound of breaking obsidian registered in his mind, the light from the outside world stinging his eyes.

Two voices were easy to recognize, Mumbo and Tango, but they were quiet to not let Grian overhear their conversation. The builder could tell that there were more voices, but he was forced to stare up at the ceiling, unable to glance at who they belonged to.

Mumbo walked into his line of sight, eyes glassy and dull, focused on nothing in particular. He took a knee next to Grian's limp body, wrapping a chain around his waist and wrists. With a snap of the Redstoner's claw-like fingers, feeling returned to the builder's body, but he felt shaky and drained of energy.

"M-Mumbo.." Grian choked with a hoarse voice, barely able to stutter out the taller Brit's name. The vex scoffed as he stood, tugging the chain and forcing the resistance leader to his feet.

"You're about to get everything that you deserve." Mumbo laughed while he dragged Grian out of the tiny obsidian box, the builder watching as the other resistance members were facing similar fates. They were all in chains, being pulled through the dungeon by the members of HEP, all either terrified or outraged.

Grian heard cussing and crying, some screaming from sheer pain, but he never looked up from the ground. Mumbo's words from the day before came back to him. How he was ruining everything. It all felt true now.

Trudging up the steps of the prison, daylight began to warm the area, Grian looking up as they approached the outside world. Light warmed his cheeks, but his insides felt cold as they twisted with fear.

"Your powerful mycelium resistance!" Scar introduced with a laugh as they reached the surface, the group standing on a stage in front of the rest of hermitcraft. Hypno and Beef shared a look of concern, Joe let out an audible gasp, Cleo pulled out her sword but was quickly stopped by TFC, the rest confused or terrified.

"The ones who thought they could stop me. But now—" Scar snapped his claws together, Mumbo harshly tugging on the chain and forcing Grian onto his knees. "Their leader knees before me!"

"P-please Sc-car.." Grian choked, his eyes pleading with the mayor. "Sp-pare them."

Scar laughed, "I am sparing them. I'll be undoing all the corruption and lies that you've been telling them. But you—" the mayor grinned, snapping his fingers once more, Xisuma standing loyal at his side. "—you won't be so lucky."

He looked to the admin. "Ban him. Permanently." He commanded, Xisuma nodding robotically while preparing the ban. Hermits in the crowd suddenly turned aggressive, pulling out weapons to try and stop X before he could ban their friend, but the over members of HEP simply waved their hands and all were frozen in place.

Grian looked up with tearful eyes, he and Mumbo locking eyes. The smaller Brit smiled as tears rolled down his face.

"You were right, Mumbo. I do ruin everything."

Before the taller male could open his mouth to respond, Grian disappeared within an instant, the chains that were formally wrapped around his body rattling against the wooden stage with a thud. Everyone was petrified while staring at the spot where Grian used to be. Scar just smiled as he glanced to the other resistance members.

"As for the rest of you, we will be reeducating you, cleansing you from that mycelium. In fact, we already did that do one of your members."

False walked up the steps that led down to the dungeon, a figure standing beside her. They looked ragged and worn out, their dark chestnut hair knotted and greasy. Their clothes were torn and dirty, face covered in scars, eyes nervous and paranoid.

"Iskall..?" Stress' voice was the first to speak, the Swede jumping at the sound of their name. Panicked and scared, the hermit looked at False for reassurance, the blonde nodding her head. Their posture was timid and nervous, Iskall shuffling over to Scar's side. The mayor placed his hand on the Swede's shoulder, making them flinch once more.

"Iskall here has fully recovered from any poisoning that the resistance may have caused. We'll be doing the rest to the other members before returning them back to society, completely freed from the mycelium that infects them."

"I-Iskall wasn't a member of the resistance!" Stress cried helplessly, her restraints holding her back as tears flooded down her face. "I swear on my life! Iskall even denied to join us!"

"I-I-its okay, Stress!" Iskall finally spoke, their voice happy yet fearful at the same time. They wore a wide smile, but their eyes begged for help. "HEP changed my life!"

Scar smiled, pulling out a block from their inventory, holding it out towards Iskall. The Swede took a step back, horrified by the purple mushroom block. 

HEP had broken Iskall.

"Now, unless you all wish to join the resistance in their reeducation, I suggest you run off, back to your builds. And if any of you misbehave—" Scar motioned to Xisuma, the admin's expression hidden behind his visor.

All the hermits rushed off, some murmuring to one another, others terrified as they flew off to try and seek safety in their bases.

All but one.

Bdubs stood, speechless, unable to even think of the right words to say.

This wasn't the Scar that Bdubs knew.

It couldn't have been. Scar was kindhearted, he would never want to do this horrible things on purpose.

Unless Bdubs never really knew Scar at all.

Chapter Text

By the time that Bdubs had processed what had happened, the builder was in shambles. Fat globs of tears began to soak his cheeks, rushing down his face and onto the grass beneath his feet.

He turned to run, attempting to flee the shopping district before he faced Scar. But as Bdubs turned, a flash of blue appeared, Xisuma teleporting in front of the builder to prevent his escape. Scar opened his wings, gliding down from the stage to greet his assistant.

"There's no need to cry, Bdubs. We won! The war is over now!" The vex said with a grin across his face, Scar placing his hand against the builder's cheek, the mayor using his thumb to wipe Bdubs' tears.

Slapping his hand away, the mayor's assistant stumbled back, completely dumbfounded. "Y-y-you banned Grian! Scar, this isn't winning a war, this is pure revenge!"

"I know! Isn't it great?" The mayor asked as he grabbed Bdubs' hands, his eyes sparkling as if he had done no wrong.

"N-no! This is awful! You hurt Iskall, and you're going to hurt our other friends! This is pure insanity!"

"I'm hurting them to save everyone who hasn't been corrupted by the resistance! You're supposed to be on my side, Bdubs! Can't you see I'm doing this for you? For us?!"

Bdubs pulled his hands away from HEP's leader, shaking his head. "I'm not on your side. Not anymore. And there is no 'us'! You're a maniac, Scar! A MANIAC!"

Without another word from the mayor or his assistant, Bdubs ran off, past the vex and into the portal, where he vanished through the swirling purple vortex. Scar's eyes narrowed at the portal, his face curling into a scowl.

"Follow him, then bring him back to me once he's cooled down. I'm not losing Bdubs that easily." Scar commanded the admin, who nodded before disappearing in a puff of light blue smoke.

"As for the rest of you," The mayor began, turning to the remainder of HEP, who were standing on the large stage with the resistance members.

"Begin reteaching these poor resistance members. And if they misbehave, remind them what happened to their great leader." Scar commanded his army of vexes, the leader of HEP opening his wings before flying back to his Diamond throne.

Cub turned to Mumbo, the redstoner stunned at the banning of his best friend. "I-I thought we were going to save him, reeducate him like the rest!"

The enforcer laughed at that. "Oh Mumbo," Cub said with a grin, placing his hand on the Brit's shoulder, "Grian was beyond saving. He'd only cause more trouble, even if Scar turned him into a vex like the rest of us."

Mumbo nodded sadly. "Y-you're right. He'd only cause trouble.."

Cub gave another sharp grin. "Now you're getting it." He said, before shoving the end of an iron chain into Mumbo's hands. "Hurry up and take Etho down with the rest of those mycelium lovers. I'm going to go meet with mayor Scar."

As the vex flew off, Mumbo's smile faded, the Brit and Etho walking down the stairs and back into the dungeon. The white-haired hermit didn't speak, he was too busy studying the dungeons, watching the vexes shove his friends into cramped obsidian cages.

The redstoner took Etho to the cell at the end of the hall, farthest away from everyone else. He shoved the Canadian into the obsidian box, Mumbo pulling out his pickaxe to break the chains around his body.

"Hurry," Mumbo whispered in a hurried tone, shoving the netherite pickaxe into Etho's arms. "Get out of here and start a rebellion against Scar. I'll try and keep the vexes off your trail."

Etho's eyes glanced between the pickaxe in his hands to the desperate vex in front of him. "How do I know that this isn't a trick..?" The Canadian asked, Mumbo pulling out his sword in response.

"Because," the Brit began, taking in a deep breath as he raised his weapon, Etho preparing to counter any attack that Mumbo would throw at him.

"Scar lied to me." The vex finally said before shoving the blade into his leg, Mumbo wincing in pain as icy blue blood rushed down the wound. He pulled out the weapon, falling to the ground while holding his injury in pain.

"I'll tell them that you stole my sword and did this to me," Mumbo hissed, "just go! Close the tunnel behind you, make sure no one follows you! Stop Scar before things get worse!"

Etho gave a nod, breaking through the wall with a swing from the Brit's pickaxe. He looked back at Mumbo one last time before replacing obsidian, mining a tunnel to escape the prison.

After a couple minutes of mining, the Canadian decided to take a peak at the surface. He mined a staircase, breaking through the dirt to poke his head out of the ground. 

Etho noticed that he was near Beef's wallpaper shop, which he quickly spotted the bearded male exiting the building with a shulker box in his arms. He noticed a tuft of snowy white hair poking out of the ground, Beef's eyes widening at the sight.

He dropped the shulker, rushing over to Etho and lifting his fellow Canadian out of the ground, Beef laughing as he hugged the snowy-haired hermit.

"Oh man, leave it to Etho to escape a dictator! I thought for sure that you and the other resistance members were going to end up like Iskall!"

Etho slightly pulled away from the hug, his eyes filled with guilt. "Well, they may still end up like Iskall. I was the only one who managed to escape. Mumbo gave me his pickaxe."

Beef held a perplexed look across his face. "I thought Mumbo was one of those freaky vex zombies that Scar controls.."

"He is. Or, he was? I'm not really sure. I think he snapped back to reality once he saw Grian get banned.."

"Come on, we'll talk more once we get out of the shopping district. Scar's vexes are everywhere.." Beef said, grabbing Etho by the wrist, pulling him into the wallpaper shop. 

Shutting the glass door and closing the blinds, Beef let out a sigh of relief, turning back to Etho. "So, what can I do to help?" He asked, the snowy-haired hermit shaking his head.

"I'm not sure. The best thing I can think of is to start a rebellion, but that already failed. We could put even more innocent hermits in danger.."

Beef opened his mouth to speak, but there was a knock at the door. He waved Etho away, the Canadian hiding behind the desk in the center of the shop. He slightly opened the door, giving a nervous smile as Scar and Cub entered the store.

"How can I help you, Scar?" Beef asked, keeping his voice calm, though his eyes were filled with horror.

"That's mayor Scar to you!" Cub growled, HEP's leader shooting the enforcing a cold glare, which quickly shut him up.

"Well, I'm actually here about the part you played in the turf war." Scar began, his eyes studying his sharpened claws. "What did you call it? The podzol party?"

"Y-yes, well, Hypno and I just appreciate and sell the block for others to use. No rebellion from us!" Beef laughed, Cub and Scar sharing an evil grin with one another before they turned back to the Canadian.

"Well, you see, we can't take any risks. That's why we're inviting you to HEP." The mayor grinned with his sharpened teeth, while Beef rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I-I appreciate the offer, really, I do, but..I'd rather stay out of this whole war.."

"Well, you don't have much of a choice." Scar said, his words cold as a spark of blue energy swirled around his fingers. Beef's eyes widened, the bearded hermit looking over his shoulder to Etho's hiding spot.

"ETHO! RUN!" Beef yelled as the magic shot into his chest, the Canadian falling onto his hands and knees as large vex wings broke through his back.

"Etho?!" Both Cub and Scar yelled in unison, running behind the desk to find that he was gone. The mayor growled underneath his breath, snapping his fingers together.

Beef looked up from the ground, his eyes glowing with energy as his vex transformation finished. "Hunt down that fugitive and bring him back to me."

A low growl came from the new vex, a cold and twisted grin spreading to the ends of his face while his eyes filled with insanity. Beef opened his wings and flew out the door in search of Etho, Scar letting a tired breath slip from between his lips as he flew off.

"Mayor Scar!" Cub exclaimed as the leader of the vexes fell, the enforcing catching him before he hit the ground. Scar let a weak groan slip from between his lips.

"I'm not sure how many more hermits I can turn into vexes.."

"Don't worry, I still have my magic. Everyone will be under your complete control by season eight, and us convex will rule over them." He grinned, Scar smiling weakly in return.

"Right.. Bdubs will be next, I turn him into a vex, then you can take care of the rest of the hermits."

"Are you still sure about turning Bdubs into a vex? He really seems to hate you. Wouldn't it be better to ban-"

"DON'T.." Scar took in a deep breath, growling as he let it out. "Don't you dare suggest that. Once he joins us, he'll understand what I've done to win his heart. Bdubs will love me, I'll make sure of it."

Etho listened as the footsteps began to depart, letting a sigh slip from between his lips. He had mined underneath the shop, listening into the mayor's conversation with Cub as he hid. The Canadian pulled out his communicator, throwing it against the ground while watching it shatter.

'Since Scar has Xisuma on his team, it's best not to use my communicator..' Etho thought, pulling out Mumbo's pickaxe as he began to mine towards the shopping district portal.

He needed to warn Bdubs, before it was too late.

Chapter Text

Bdubs sat on the roof of his castle, watching as the sun began to set over his village. He was so stuck in thought that he barely even noticed, the builder pulling his knees towards his chest as he tried to wrap his head around what had happened earlier.

Scar had banned Grian, not to mention thrown the members of the mycelium resistance in prison. So what was next? He had to be hungry for power, that was why he had done everything, right?

He sat, lost in thought, barely noticing the screech of the phantoms overhead. That was odd, Bdubs slept every night, there shouldn't have been any phantoms around. They only spawn of a player hadn't slept for three or more days..

Bdubs equipped his elytra, gliding down from the roof and towards the village, slowly landing onto the ground. He ripped off his wings, dropping them in the bushes without a care as he trudged into his house.

As he shut and locked the doors, Bdubs turned around to head upstairs, jumping in shock as he spotted Etho. He was covered in dirt, mud, and leaves, it looked like the Canadian had been living underground.

"Etho? H-how? I thought Scar—"

"It's a long story, but to put it simply, I'm being hunted by Scar. Mumbo broke me out, he told me to start a rebellion. I also overheard Cub and Scar, they're planning on turning you into a vex. I came to get you out of here before they got to you."

"My, my. A traitor and a rebellion? Mayor Scar will be pleased once I tell him this little story." A voice cold purred, Etho flinching as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He glanced back, Xisuma appearing out of thin air, the Canadian only able to make out a sly grin from behind the admin's visor. Before Etho could run away, Xisuma picked the white-haired hermit off the ground by his hood.

"I only came to bring him Bdubs, but this is much better!" The admin grinned, flapping his wings a bit to hover above the ground, his eyes a sparkling blue. Etho reached for his sword, slashing Xisuma's wrist, forcing the Brit to drop him to the ground.

"Etho—"

"Go." He commanded Bdubs while looking back. "Try and fix this, I'll hold Xisuma off—"

The admin tackled Etho to the ground, only to have the white-haired hermit shove his sword through his right wing, causing Xisuma to let out a screech of pain. By the time the Canadian had stumbled to his feet, Bdubs was now gone, the front door wide open.

His attention turned back to the admin. "Come on, X. Scar made you ban Grian! He's evil, you gotta snap out of this!"

Xisuma placed a hand on the side of his helmet, slightly shaking his head as he pulled out his own sword. "Liar!" He hissed, lunging towards the Canadian. 

Clashing swords, Etho struggled to keep up and hold his ground. Despite his injury, the admin moved swiftly, his soulless eyes filled with no remorse. He was getting forcing into a corner, no way of escape.

Just as the Canadian thought it couldn't get any worse, his former friend flew through the doorway, Beef grinning as he spotted Etho. His teeth were sharp, eyes horrifyingly evil and cruel, leaving the snowy-haired hermit distracted as he appeared.

Xisuma knocked his sword from the Ninja's hands, kicking the blade out of his reach before holding his netherite sword to Etho's neck. "T-two on one? Doesn't seem that fair, now does it?" He stuttered, trying to hide his fear.

Beef approached, a smile across his face as he and Xisuma kept the Canadian cornered like a weak animal. Etho couldn't take his eyes off his friend, it was so hard to see him like this. And now that he was trapped, he had no idea what to do.

"So what, you're going to take me back to 're-education' with the other resistance members..?" He groaned, Etho's back pressed against the wall as nervousness managed to shine through his eyes.

"The mayor has... different plans." Beef said with a grin, his voice making the Canadian shiver. The two vexes turned towards the entrance of the base, none other than the leader of the maniacs stepping forward.

Scar grinned at Etho, his claws digging through the fabric of the ninja's mask, holding the resistance member by the chin. The mayor giggled, his claws managing to draw blood.

"Awe, it's a shame. You'd look pretty as a vex, but I barely have enough energy to turn you. And I know that you'd just escape re-education again, so I have something special planned for you."

"Let me guess: you're going to ban me, like you did to Grian?"

"Hmm..I would, but that wouldn't be as much fun." Scar said with a sharp grin, snapping his fingers together. As he did so, Xisuma pulled up an admin screen, scrolling through player code until he reached Etho.

The mayor turned his attention towards Xisuma, letting go of Etho's chin, which caused for the Canadian to fall to his knees from the pain. "You know what to do, X!" Scar smiled, holding his hands behind his back as he took a few steps back.

Xisuma copied a part of Etho's code, before hitting delete, a chunk of who he was being ripped away with no remorse. The snowy-haired hermit flinched as his body slightly glitched, a burning pain overtaking ever part of him.

"Wha-... what are you doing to me..?" He panted, feeling as though he had fallen into a pool of lava. Scar gave another giggle.

"You see, my assistant Xisuma has informed me that player code isn't just physical, it can be mental too. Memories, thoughts, behavior, it can all be adjusted. He's never done it, but I thought it would be right to give him a little push in the right direction.."

"I-I'm just an experiment to you, aren't I?" He hissed the question, resulting in another giggle from the mayor. It was getting so hard to think, Xisuma removing more and more of Etho's code. Things were getting stripped away, the Canadian clinging onto everything he could.

'My name is Etho, Scar is evil. My name is Etho, Scar is evil. My name is Etho, Scar is evil. My name is—'

Xisuma copied another line of code, before pressing delete. Something left the man's mind. Something...important? It felt like thoughts were flying out of his head, before melting into oblivion. 

What...what was his name again?

It was an odd thing to wonder. I mean, he should have remembered his name, or at least where he was. But everything was...blurry. It was hard to think. Hard to stay awake.

One unfamiliar figure gave a nod to the other, closing the floating purple screen that he had been typing on. The other figure stepped forward, his eyes a light blue and his smile sharp as he stared down at the man.

"Hello, Etho."

The man glanced around at the two other figures besides the scarred-face male, neither reacting. He glanced back, pointing to himself with a foggy mist of confusion fogging over his eyes. "Are...are you talking to me? I-I'm sorry, I don't know any...E-tho.."

The name sounded silly, but it didn't remind him of anything. Was he supposed to know what that meant?

Giggling, the scarred figure turned to the man in the blue armor. "Oh, it worked, Xisuma! Flawlessly, might I add! This can make re-educating the resistance members so easy!"

The man in armor silently gave a nod, but nothing more. Glancing around the room, the forgetful male tried to spot something that would jog his memory. There was a man with a fluffy beard and an apron stained with blood, but he wasn't familiar even in the slightest.

"E-excuse me, sir. But... I'm having trouble with my memory. Could you tell me where I am..?" He asked the scar-covered man, who got another giggle out of his forgetful behavior.

"Oh, I'm going to tell you a lot more where you are." He grinned, eyes glowing ominously as he spoke. "But first, we should bring you back to the dungeons."

With a snap of his fingers, the man's eyes fell heavy. Why...why was he so tired all of a sudden...? Why was is..so...so hard to th...think...?

"It's alright, just sleep." A voice encouraged him, his voice so soft and welcoming... "Goodnight, Etho."

He passed out onto the ground, Beef walking over and scooping the former resistance member off the ground. Etho was out cold, no signs of waking up anytime soon.

"Now that he's taken care of.." Scar said, turning to the admin, his smile fading.

"Bring me Bdubs, and if you fail again, you'll regret it." He hissed, the admin nodding his head. Xisuma couldn't fly due to his damaged wing, but he faded into a puff of light blue smoke, teleporting away.

"As for you, Beef." Scar continued as he turned to the new vex. 

"Take Etho to the dungeon, then find Mumbo and bring him to my throne. Looks like I need to have a talk with the traitor.."

Wordlessly, the vex gave a nod, opening his wings to fly out of the house and back to the shopping district. Scar then teleported back to his throne, leaving a cloud of light blue mist where he used to stand.

Bdubs watched as Beef carried Etho over the mountains, back to the shopping district. The builder was hiding by the horse stables, holding his breath as the vex flew by.

He was being hunted, Scar wanted to turn him into a mindless vex just like the others.

This wasn't love, this was insanity.

Chapter Text

Mumbo was pulled through the shopping district, an iron chain wrapped around his neck. Tango held one end of the shackles to tug the traitor along like a dog, while Beef followed close behind the two incase the Brit tried to make a run for it.

Was it stupid to betray the mayor? Obviously, Mumbo knew that the moment he released Etho. But despite being turned into a vex that was brainwashed to serve him, the redstoner couldn't help but feel sour just thinking about helping Scar.

"Come on," The blonde member of HEP growled underneath his breath, tugging on the chain to 'motivate' the mustached vex to walk faster. "let's hurry up and get you to Mayor Scar. He wants to have a nice, long chat with you before you get banned."

"I'd rather get banned then ever help that maniac again." Mumbo snapped in response, not a hint of emotion in his voice or eyes. He didn't seem to care, surprisingly. 

No, the redstoner was not afraid of getting banned. He didn't know what it would be like, but there was a faint gleam of hope that he clung to, hope that he could see Grian again. Mumbo just wanted to tell him that things would be okay, that he didn't ruin anything.

The last time he had seen the builder, he blamed himself for everything, and seeing his watery eyes that held painful regret seemed to bring the mustached hermit out of whatever zombie-liked trance he had been forced into. Trudging up the steps, Mumbo held no regret about what he had done. 

Seeing the leader of the vexes perched atop his throne caused for the feeling of guilt to pull at the back of his mind, but the redstoner quickly shooed the thought away. That was just from whatever magic Scar had used to mess with his thoughts, he didn't really feel sorry or ashamed for what he had done.

"Well, well. Looks like we caught ourselves a traitor.." Scar's delightfully cold voice purred, a giggle managing to break through his lips while his wings fluttered with joy. Mumbo spotted the admin of the server standing at the base of the throne, Xisuma arms crossed as he stared at the redstoner with disappointment in his eyes.

"Xis—" he tried to step forward to snap some sense into the vex, though Tango pulled on the iron chain, causing Mumbo to stumble backwards and choke on his words.

Opening his wings, the mayor swooped down from his throne of valuables, landing in front of the Brit within a blink of an eye. "Well? Would you like to beg for mercy? Tell me about this little resistance that you told Etho to form? Xisuma overhead everything, and unlike you, he's undyingly loyal to me."

"I'll tell you this:" Mumbo began with a blank smile and eyes that were filled with exhaustion, one of Scar's pointed ears slightly twitching due to his curiosity.

"you're a maniac who is forcing innocent people to worship you by using magic to brainwash them into submission. You'll never get away with this if you keep banning those who oppose you, soon enough it'll just be you, all alone."

Scoffing, the mayor crossed his arms with a huff of rage. Still, despite the anger burning in his normally-cold eyes, Scar spoke with a daunting tone. "Awe, I was going to pity you if you gave up some useful information. Oh well, just get him out of my sight, then go back to searching for Bdubs."

Tango undid the chain around Mumbo's neck, the iron letting out a loud 'clang' as it hit the ground. The redstoner wasted no time, lunging towards the leader of the vexes to try and attack him. He wanted a single moment of sweet revenge, just having the chance to scratch Scar and draw blood would be more than enough for him.

But before he could get too close, Mumbo disappeared without a trace. Xisuma looked up from his admin panel, shutting the floating screen after banning the mustached hermit.

"Ugh, finally." The mayor groaned while opening his wings, flying back to the top of his throne. "He was useless, anyway. No need to reset his player code when he has nothing to provide, even if we retaught him everything. Really, it would be a waste of time."

Out of the corner of his eye, Scar caught the admin glancing to the ground. "What? Feeling guilty?" He asked with a laugh, though a scowl grew across his face when Xisuma didn't respond.

"Oh please, don't tell me you're really feeling ashamed. We banned Mumbo and Grian to protect the server, you should know that by now."

"I-I know, I understand why we banned Grian, but...Mumbo? He was just misguided, probably driven by his guilt about his best friend getting banned. We could of fixed that with a bit of vex magic, or even a few tweaks to his code—"

"Enough," Scar growled, clearly fed up. Xisuma quickly bit his lip, not wanting to upset his leader. "just drop it, okay? I'd rather focus on the re-education of the resistance members, the changes to the shopping district, and finding Bdubs."

The admin nodded his head quickly, obeying what the mayor had commanded. "Yes, yes, of course." He said nervously, his tone as if he were apologizing for speaking out of place.

"Well, you'll be happy to hear that we've torn down all the shops that littered the island. Soon the other HEP members will begin to expand Aque town to the rest of the shopping district. W-with all of the profits of the shops going straight to you, of course."

The mayor picked up a diamond that was sitting on the throne, inspecting the shiny blue rock while Xisuma spoke. When the admin had finished, he fiddled with his thumbs, only gaining an unenthusiastic 'hm' from Scar in response.

He set back down the diamonds, turning his attention back towards the Brit at the base of his throne. "I don't want any work on the expansion of Aque until Bdubs is loyal at my side. He has to be here with me, he's supposed to be my advisor!"

"Well, I can put the HEP members who were working on Aque on the search party, but I can't do much else besides that.." Xisuma said quietly, pulling and tugging at his gloves in a nervous fashion. "I'm sorry, his communicator is offline, it must have been destroyed. I can't teleport him here."

Swooping down from his throne once again, Xisuma stumbled backwards as the mayor was suddenly eye-to-eye with him. "That's not good enough!" He hissed in anger, "Put all of HEP on the search! Bdubs is top priority, I want my advisor! I want my PRINCE!"

"..Scar..?"

Turning his head to see the owner of the voice, all of the terraformer's rage seemed to melt into oblivion as he spotted Bdubs standing in the entrance of the town hall. He looked uncomfortable and nervous, trying to avoid eye contact with the vex.

"There you are," the mayor sighed, extending both his wings and his arms, as if he were about to welcome his assistant with a hug. "my sweet prince! Oh, you had me worried! When you ran away, you scared the life out of me! You could have gotten hurt!"

"I-I'm fine," he muttered, uneasy around the brainwashed HEP members. "but can we talk? In private?"

"Of course!" Scar giggled, waving his hand to dismiss Xisuma, Beef, and Tango. As they left, the mayor grabbed the builder by the arm, clinging to his assistant and refusing to let go. His head rested on Bdubs' shoulder, and he couldn't help but giggle, wings fluttering as the leader of the vexes pulled his advisor along.

They were silent, besides the faint giggles and purrs that the terraformer made. Allowing for himself to be pulled along by the vex, Bdubs was brought into Scar's office. As he entered the room, the mayor's assistant could hear the lock click from behind him.

"Finally," Scar purred as he stepped a bit closer, placing his hands against Bdubs' shoulders. Forcing the builder to push his back against the wall, the mayor wasted no time when he saw that Bdubs was pinned. "oh, my sweet prince, I've missed you."

"S-scar, pl-please.." Bdubs stuttered as his cheeks began to flush with color, never before had he felt so helpless and small. He could barely choke out a sentence without a stutter in his voice. "I just want to talk—"

"Sure, sure. Just give me a moment.." he said while brushing a few strands of hair out of his advisor's face, the mayor's eyes sparkling as he leaned in ever-so-slightly, their noses so close to touching.

"Please! Scar—" The builder tried to speak up, though he was very quickly silenced by the vex placing his lips against his own.

His eyes widened in shock, Bdubs unable to fight against Scar's force that kept him pinned to the wall. A faint dizziness clouded over his thoughts, while the mayor's advisor felt his legs quiver and shake unsteadily. His eyelids felt like they were beings weighed down, while the builder's vision became foggy and unfocused.

Shutting his eyes, Bdubs felt himself lean into the kiss. He wasn't sure why, the advisor knew that he needed to fight against this, to fight against Scar, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. The builder felt so weak compared to the mayor, which would normally upset him, but he couldn't deny that this felt good.

As the vex pulled away, there was a weak and frail whimper of displeasure, and it took a few moments for Bdubs to realize that he had made the sound. It was like he was begging for Scar to come back, b-but that wasn't how he felt! Bdubs shook his head, trying to snap out of the strange high that the kiss had put him on. The mayor had to have used some kind of magic to mess with his assistant, there was no other explanation.

"Did you like that?" He purred the question, softly dragging his claws across the back of the builder's neck, which made the hair on Bdubs' arms stand on end. Based on his assistant's stunned expression, Scar let out a giggle. "Oh, I've been waiting so long to do that.."

He was flustered, confused, and most of all, speechless. Bdubs could feel the heat that burned his cheeks, with no doubt in his mind that the entirety of his face was overtaken by a red blush. The builder had almost forgotten why he had come here in the first place, his head still spinning about the kiss.

"Come onnnn~" the mayor's called, his smooth voice bringing Bdubs back from his thoughts. "You liked it. You can't even find the words to describe it."

Opening his mouth to speak, Bdubs heard nothing but another whimper, it was like he had forgotten how to talk. Scar giggled, his pointed fangs showing. "Oh, my dear prince. I've missed you so much, and once you're a vex like me, we'll never be apart."

The vex's words managed to snap Bdubs out of whatever love-induced trance he had been stuck in. "W-wait, no!" He exclaimed, the builder shaking his head to try and clear his thoughts. "Scar, I came here to try and reason with you. N-not to, erm.."

His voice trailed off, his cheeks flush with pink before he shook his head once again. "Look, I want you to turn everyone back to normal. I want you to unban Grian and turn everything back to normal, please. I'll let you turn me into a vex, I'll never leave you, just please, I want hermitcraft to go back to normal."

"Well.." Scar thought for a moment, the mayor still leaning in close, as if he was about to kiss his assistant once again. "Why would I do that when I could just turn you into a vex anyway?"

He let out a giggle, tightening his grip on Bdubs' shoulders. "S-Scar!" The builder squirmed uncomfortably, trying to escape the mayor's hold. "I don't want this! I don't want my friends as brainwashed zombies! All I want is my Scar back! Not some vex set on turning all of the server into his servants!"

"But this is all for you!" The mayor frowned, "I can give you all the diamonds and land you could ever want! All of the hermits will soon be at your mercy, you can have an army to build you anything you wish! My sweet prince, you don't understand how much I've done for you!"

"YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING BUT HURT ME!" He snapped, shoving the vex off of him. Bdubs made a run for the door, but a faint blue glow began to surround his legs. The builder fell to the ground, with his lower half seemingly paralyzed by the blue glow.

Scar's hand was surrounded by magic, with a stone-cold expression across the vex's face. "Fine, if you want to be difficult, then be like that." He growled, eyes darkening as he spoke.

"But I'm not letting you get away from me a second time, my sweet prince."

Chapter Text

Bdubs eyelids slowly managed to flutter open, his vision unfocused and blurry as he tried to gather his scattered thoughts. It was hard to remember what had happened last, as the he was mainly distracted by the freezing cold temperature of the room.

A pounding feeling resided in his mind, like someone had cracked his skull open and stabbed a blade right through his brain. The builder slowly managed to sit upright in bed, a woozy groan managing to break free from between his lips.

He tried to stand, ignoring the unsteadiness and shaking in his legs, though the sound of jangling chains managed to grab his attention. Bdubs glanced down towards his ankle, which had been tightly cuffed in a glowing blue chain that connected to the wall. 

Its color eerily resembled vex magic, reminding the mayor's assistant of what had happened between him and Scar. "Oh no," he muttered. "I gotta get out of here before—"

The doorknob twisted, Bdubs flinching at the sound as he glanced towards the door. His posture visibly relaxed upon spotting a non-vex hermit, Etho humming to himself as he carried in a tray of golden carrots and healing potions.

"Oh! Hello there!" He greeted while noticing that Bdubs was awake, the white-haired hermit setting down the food on a little desk that was tucked away in the corner.

The builder let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness you're okay, I thought for sure that Scar would have done something terrible to all of the resistance members by now." He said, though the Canadian responsed with a puzzled look in his dull eyes.

"Resistance? Ohnono, I'd never help those mushroom lovers!" Etho laughed happily, though Bdubs could feel his heart rate rise as fear began to prick his skin with goosebumps.

"Etho, what did they do to you." 

The words sounded less like a question and more like a demand, with the advisor to the mayor trying to step closer to his friend. However, the chain around his ankle yanked him back, causing the builder to fall to his knees.

"Look, you're...Bdubs, right?" He asked, gaining no response to his questions. Etho continued anyway.

"I'm just carrying out Mayor Scar's orders, that's all. He's just resting up for the time being until he has enough energy to turn you into a vex, so in the meantime, you'll be staying here in your office under HEP's watchful eye!"

"No, NO! I don't want to be a vex!" He cried out, grabbing ahold of the chain around his ankle, a freezing cold shock of energy rushing through his body. It was like his fingers had been stuck in a blizzard, with the feeling of frostbite quickly spreading up his arms.

Etho quickly grabbed Bdubs by the shoulders, pulling him off of the chain before he could hurt himself. "Stop that, you can't handle vex magic yet! It can cause serious damage!"

"UGH— LET ME GO!" He yelled in response, shoving Etho off as tears of fury and anger rolled down his cheeks. The white-haired hermit frowned behind his mask, watching as the builder broke down sobbing.

"W-what about the NHO?!" Bdubs said while slamming his fist against the floor, a mix of anger and sorrow in his voice. "What about our friendship, you dirty traitor?! YOU'RE JUST GOING TO GIVE ME UP TO SCAR LIKE THIS?!"

The Canadian blinked, tilting his head to the side. He chuckled oddly, clearly confused. "NHO? Am I supposed to know what that is? And what do you mean, 'our friendship'? This is the first time I've met you before.."

Before Bdubs could respond, or even process what Etho had said, Doc stormed into the room. He was now some kind of creeper-cyborg-vex mix. He had a pair of wings and sharp claws like the other HEP hybrids, along with an icy blue glow in his eyes.

"Alright Etho, hurry up and head to the shopping district. The other HEP members need help working on the expansions of Aque town." The creeper said gruffly, while the forgetful hermit nodded his head before running off.

Bdubs turned to Doc, his sadness now fully transformed into pure rage. "What did Scar do to him?! Why doesn't he remember me!?!"

"We just meddled with his code a bit." He shrugged carelessly, as if Etho didn't even matter. "It's easier than turning him into a vex, so Xisuma has been going around deleting and altering the remaining resistance member's code, so that we ensure they'll never betray us."

"That's insane! You're deleting parts of our friends!"

"Etho just so happened to be the first, but we've been much more careful with the others. We've only changed and deleted certain memories, just so they'll stay loyal to our wonderful mayor forever."

"Well, your 'wonderful' mayor is a disgusting monster." Bdubs spat without remorse, causing a growl to escape from Doc. He grabbed the builder by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the ground so they would be eye-level with one another.

"You are lucky Scar hasn't banned you. I would do so in a heartbeat, but it's not up to me. Once Scar is strong enough, you'll understand all the hard work he's put into hermitcraft."

"If I was banned, I'd be happy! Then I wouldn't be a mindless servant!" Bdubs snapped while kicking Doc in the chest, though the cyborg didn't seem too phased by the actions. He just scoffed, throwing the builder against the ground.

"Doc! That's enough!"

The creeper quickly turned around, falling to one knee as he bowed his head, Scar entering the room with one hand dragging against the wall for support. 

"I-I'm sorry, I was just defending y—"

"Leave." He commanded with no tone in his voice, Doc scrambling to his feet as he quickly left without another word. Scar glanced back to Bdubs, who stared at him in horror.

"Y-You're insane. You're awful. You're— Gah! I can't put it into words! Scar, you need to snap out of this, PLEASE! I'm begging you! This isn't the man I love, this is some insane monster bent on power and revenge!"

"I know." He said softly, taking a seat on the ground in front of Bdubs. "But I like the new me, and the other hermits are mindlessly loyal now. We can rule over them all, together, with you as my sweet prince. All of the diamonds, the shopping district, the entire server is yours if you just say the word!"

"We've had this talk before," Bdubs mumbled quietly while shaking his head, tears rolling down his face. "I don't want this. All I've wanted is you, the real you. Even if you turn me into a vex, you'll know deep down that you're forcing me to love you."

"You'll understand." Scar said, raising his fingers. "You'll see soon. This will be painless, I swear."

Bdubs shut his eyes as tight as he could, his fingernails digging into the palms of his hands as he fought the tears that managed to creep out of his eyes.

Then, Scar snapped his fingers, and everything went dark.

Chapter Text

"Ah! He's waking up!"

Scar could hear the faint voice of his assistant as his consciousness faded in and out, barely able to find the strength to open his eyes. His head was an aching mess, with the mayor barely able to recall what had happened. Why did he feel so weak? He tried to close his fingers into a fist, but even that took an excruciating amount of effort and energy.

Using every little bit of strength that he could muster, the terraformer managed to crack his eyes open ever-so-slightly. The people standing at the edge of his bed were blurry figures that he struggled to identify, though he knew that one of them had to be Bdubs.

"Good to see you up, Scar." Cub's voice spoke up, "You've been asleep for the whole day."

"Just rest," Xisuma chimed in, "no need to worry about anything. We don't want you pushing yourself, now do we?"

Someone took his hand, their palms icy cold. "I'll be here to care for you, my lovely mayor! Soon you'll be back to your full strength in no time!" Bdubs assured him, his voice soft and comforting.

Scar shut his eyes, unable to keep them open for much longer. He couldn't remember what had happened to leave him bedridden, everything was a blur that the terraformer couldn't make sense of.

"Might want to grab him a regeneration potion, that'll give him a bit of energy to talk. He must be exhausted." The admin spoke up before the sound of a cork popping could be heard. Someone gently opened Scar's mouth, pouring the liquid down his throat.

He swallowed the best he could, the faint aftertaste of a blend of berries resting on his tongue. A jolt of energy shot through the mayor as he did so, just enough to help him keep his eyes open. Scar blinked a few times to clear his vision, the silhouettes of the hermits surrounding him becoming clearer and clearer.

Bdubs was the first thing his attention was drawn to, with his normally-red band tied around his head now a light shade of blue. His eyes shared the same color as they sparkled with excitement, while the wings on his back flapping as fast as his heart beat.

The mayor's eyes slowly trailed down towards his hand, which his assistant was holding with his claw-like fingers intertwined with Scar's. He jumped, instantly pulling away from Bdubs as he almost fell out of bed.

"Y-you're a vex!" He shouted in horror, "Bdubs, what—"

"You did this to me!" The builder said happily with a grin that never faded. 

"You used the last bit of your magic to turn me into a loyal subject! I know you probably don't remember much, but you won the war against the resistance using your vex powers! At first I didn't understand, but now I can see how you've improved all of our lives!"

Scar glanced towards Xisuma with his green eyes begging for help, only to find the same light blue color and wings that rested on his back. "Don't worry," the admin said calmly as he opened a floating screen. "I'll change your game code and mix it with the code of a vex, you'll have your powers back in no time."

"N-no! Please!" The mayor begged desperately, with the vex freezing instantly. He closed the screen, giving a slight nod.

"Of course. My apologies." Xisuma said, almost robotically. Cub laughed at the slightly perplexed look that had come across the terraformer's face, the enforcer crossing his arms as his blue eyes glowed.

"You created an army, these vexes of yours listen to any command you give them. You're not a mayor anymore, you're a king!" The pharaoh explained, which made Scar's heart sink. He had turned his friends into mindless servants, even Bdubs!

The mayor shook his head. "N-no, we gotta undo this. Cub, this is wrong!" He said, eyes beginning to fill with tears.

"Oh please," he scoffed. "I knew you were gonna be weak when you turned back, but this? You stopped the mycelium resistance, you won the war! Just enjoy the new world that you created because of it."

"Tell me what I did, tell me everything that I've done!" Scar said, directing the question towards Xisuma knowing that he would answer without hesitation.

The admin nodded. "You first gave HEP vex powers, then you captured the resistance and thew them all into the dungeons to begin re-educating them. After that you banned Grian to prevent his corruption from spreading, as well as Mumbo when he turned against HEP. You started the expansion of Aque town, tearing down all the shops to build the city, and now all of HEP is currently working on rounding up the last few hermits to turn into vexes."

He was stuck in a stunned silence, tears slowly flowing out of the mayor's eyes. He tried to speak, but all that managed to come out was a choked sob. "I-I knew it would be bad, but...Banning? Corruption? Re-education...? I...I really did all that...?"

"Awe," Bdubs cooed, "it was all for the greater good! Now hermitcraft will thrive under your rule, you'll lead us to a brighter future!"

"U-unban them! Bring back Mumbo and Grian!" Scar begged, all while breaking down in shaky sobs. "They didn't deserve it! I didn't mean to ban them! I DIDN'T MEAN TO!"

Xisuma opened a screen to follow his order, though he froze as Cub placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm alright with you staying like this, fully human, but you aren't going to bring those two back. They'll only cause trouble, even if they're mindless vexes."

"B-but—"

"C'mon, X. We've got a lot of work to do, between finding the rest of the hermits and finishing Aque. Bdubs, stay here and take care of Scar, won't you?"

The builder grinned, "Of course! Anything for my lovely mayor!"

"Good," he sighed, Cub then turning his attention towards the terraformer. "unlike them, I'm not some fool who will follow every order you give. I'm here to keep folks in line, including you. Step up and act like the mayor I know, or I'll make you."

With that, he turned and left the room, Xisuma following close behind the enforcer.

—

Bdubs lay in bed next to Scar, the mayor recovering from the loss of all his magic. He grinned, stroking his claws through the green-eyed hermit's hair. "Don't look so sad," he purred. "I'm here. I'll never leave you."

"You're just saying that because I brainwashed you." The terraformer said harshly while staring up at the ceiling, his eyes still filled with tears from the day before. He was still in disbelief of all that he had done, with no clue on how to fix anything.

"That's not true," he said, leaning in to gently litter kisses onto the mayor's neck. "I love you so much, I'll always be here to care for you."

Putting his hands in his face, Scar let out a groan. "You don't really love me! I bet this is just another twisted thing I did while I was a vex, make you imagine you've been madly in love with me! I'm a twisted and awful person, I know, but the fact that I'm forcing you to feel this way about me hurts more than anything else I've done!"

"Don't say that about yourself," Bdubs said quietly while brushing a bit of hair out of the mayor's face. "You are the greatest man I could have ever fallen in love with. I don't care if you think I'm doing this because you 'brainwashed me', but I really do love you. So, I'm going to stay here with you each day and night until you get better."

Scar couldn't help the fluttering in his heart or the blush across his cheeks, the builder's words sounded so truthful. "Y-you really mean it?" He asked with tear-filled eyes, Bdubs nodding as he wiped away the mayor's tears.

"I do, every single word. GoodtimeswithScar, I have been madly in love with you since the elections for mayor. I've been in love with you before all this started, and even if you tried, nothing could make me ever hate the most wonderful man in the world."

Scar fight back the tears that were undoubtedly crawling out of his eyes, the terraformer throwing his arms around his assistant. He hugged Bdubs between sobbing, the vex holding him while stroking the mayor's hair softly.

Neither spoke, both enjoying the comfort of being close to one another, before they eventually drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Cleo was forced into her knees, her fiery orange hair falling into her face. She glanced up at Joe, his face twisted into a sickening grin. His glasses were cracked, his fingers now claws, and his eyes held no life. Her eyes then darted to the left and right, studying the remaining hermits that were stuck in the same position as her. Wels and Zedaph. 

"Well, well, the last few troublemakers. Glad I finally got my hands on you.." Cub laughed to himself, his eyes radiating with power as he stared down at the three remaining hermits.

Joe had been caught some time ago. Snatched right off the ground by Xisuma and carried back to the vex-infested shopping district, where he was turned into a mindless servant to the mayor. The zombie had been lucky enough to avoid the brainwashed hermits, though it didn't last for long. They were practically everywhere, especially since nearly all of the server members were now vex hybrids.

Now, her hands were tied behind her back, and she was stuck kneeling before Cub. The southerner chuckled from above her, flexing his new claws and tapping them against her shoulder, like he was tempted to dig into her skin. Cleo looked over her shoulder once again, meeting the icy glare of her best friend.

"Don't worry—" He said while gently brushing away the hair in her face. "—this won't hurt at all. Not to mention you'll look beautiful as a vex!"

"Enough with your flattery." The undead hermit growled.

"C'mon, Cleo." Beef chimed in with a smile, tightening the ropes around the knight's wrists to keep him from escaping. "It's not all that bad!"

"Yeah! We're all connected to one another now, we're united by our magic!" Tango agreed, walking from behind Zedaph to take his place next to Cub. The other two vexes joined them, all four sharing the exact same sickeningly evil grin.

"You're brainwashed idiots, that's what you are."

"Ignore her." Cub spoke up again, his voice holding the vex-hermits undivided attention. "Are these the last hermits? What about the mycelium resistance?"

"Xisuma is working on adjusting their code to ensure undying loyalty towards our lovely mayor. We don't want any repeats of Mumbo!" Beef said cheerfully, as if it was just a silly little mistake. But no. They banned him.

"How many are left?"

"Just a few. Impulse, Jevin, Stress. There's also Etho and Iskall, but those two are already mindlessly loyal. We have all the time in the world." Tango grinned, his pointed teeth flashing a twisted smile. Cleo could see Zedaph shutter at the sight.

"Wonderful. Then I guess we should get started now, hm?" He asked, turning his attention towards the kneeling hermits. "Let's begin with—" Cub paused, his predatory gaze scanning the faces of the three before eventually settling. "—Wels."

The knight flinched at the mention of his name, though his eyes remained firm in a steely glare. "I'll never serve some power-hungry mayor. You can beat me, brainwash me, ban me, but I have something the rest of you don't have— honor."

"Don't worry, you won't be serving the mayor. You will be serving the king of vexes, the ruler of hermitcraft!"

Wels swallowed the lump in his throat, keeping his voice as steady and calm as possible. "I serve only those who deserve my loyalty. The king that you pledge, the king that you kneel before, is nothing more than a unstable fool."

Beef let out an animalistic growl, stepping forward while flexing his claws, clearly about to attack the knight, though he was stopped as Cub placed a hand on his shoulder. "Well, why don't I change your mind?"

With a snap of his fingers, Wels straightened his posture as his eyes began to glow. Wings tore out from the iron plating of his armor, ripping through like it was nothing more than paper. He let out a mix between a growl and a screech in pain, his wrists breaking free from the ropes that bound them. The knight was panting, heavily breathing while holding his head in pain, clearly trying to fight the magic.

"No need to wait for him to fully transform, let's just hurry and get you two ready as well." The vex smiled at them, snapping his fingers together once more.

Zedaph let out a scream, and Cleo understood why. Her body was burning, like lava had replaced her blood and was flowing through her body. Fuzziness was clouding her vision, with her mind struggling to think past the pain. Tears were rolling down her face, her limbs shaking, though she couldn't tell. All her attention was focused on the pain in her back. 

It felt like something was alive, like it was trying to break free and escape.

She screamed again, biting down as hard as she could on her bottom lip to try and focus on a different sort of pain. Her long fingernails were starting to shift, becoming more like the long and wild claws that the other vexes had. The tips of her ears were morphing as well, turning pointed.

Finally, the wings that were trapped underneath her skin began to fight. They shifted and struggled, like they had a mind of their own. Cleo whimpered at the feeling, never before had she felt like this. It felt like her entire back was about to explode, and some awful creature or parasite was about to crawl out.

Then, the skin broke, and suddenly her wings were free.

All the pain, in just a moment, was gone. Everything came to a halt within seconds, the awful feeling of her body on fire now completely forgotten. She was sweaty, exhausted too, but overall, she was okay.

Her eyes slowly opened, and her head was resting on Joe's lap. The southerner gave a welcoming smile, stroking the undead hermit's hair. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

She found herself shaking her head. No, it really wasn't all that bad. All the pain she had gone through just seconds ago had completely vanished from her mind. The new wings on her back stretched out slightly, and Cleo barely noticed that they were there. It honestly felt normal. It felt...right. Joe stroked them lovingly, making her feel even more at ease.

Glancing over at Zedaph, he was already asleep in Tango's arms. The zombie felt like she could pass out at any moment from the new magic that had overtaken her body, so it was understandable. Wels was fighting against the exhaustion to try and get to his feet, though was struggling as he was beginning to lose his footing. Luckily, Beef was there to catch the newly-transformed vex before he could collapse.

A cold rag brought Cleo back to her thoughts, the undead hermit shuttering as the wet cloth touched her new wings. They were so sensitive and aware, like nothing she had ever felt before. Joe helped her sit upright, the room slightly spinning as he cleaned off a few specks of blood that stained her new vex-like wings.

"Let's get you home," Joe muttered softly. "Cub wants us all well rested. Tomorrow we have an important meeting."

He spoke as if he were talking to a sleepy child, which was pretty accurate. Cleo's brain was quickly falling behind, unable to correctly think of process the poet's words, yet she nodded anyway. She just shut her eyes and let all her worries drift away.

Cub smiled as Tango, Beef, and Joe scooped the new vexes into their arms, carrying them out of the town hall to fly back to their bases. He glanced up at the indoor balcony that overlooked the diamond throne, spotting none other than the mayor of the shopping district.

Scar was standing their with tears in his eyes, hands shakily grasping the railing for support. His office had been turned into a makeshift bedroom, and it had only been three days since he had woken up. There was no way that he had enough strength to be walking around, he had lost the energy that had been supporting his life!

Opening his wings, Cub took initiative. He swooped up to the balcony, landing atop of it. Scar let out a little yelp at how quickly he had appeared, falling backwards in shock. With a snap of his fingers, the vex caused light blue energy to surround the mayor, preventing his body from hitting the ground.

"Where is Bdubs? He's supposed to be keeping you on lockdown." The enforcer growled the question, waving his hand to gently set Scar onto the floor.

"A-asleep." He mumbled quietly, causing Cub to raise an eyebrow.

"What's got you so scared?"

His green eyes quickly glanced to the floor in an attempt to avoid the question, yet it gave the vex the answer he was looking for. "Wha-... Scar, are you afraid of me?"

No response once again.

"I can't believe this, I'm helping you! And you're looking at me like I'm some kind of monster!"

"Well you are!" The mayor snapped, tears in his eyes. "You're not my best friend! You are a vex! You're not Cub, you're some power hungry creature bent on controlling everyone on this server!"

"I'm still your friend, Scar..." He said quietly, taking a step closer, causing the terraformer to shuffle backwards to keep his distance.

That's when Cub saw it.

The pure fear in Scar's eyes. The horror, as if he were about to be murdered by some abomination that had hunted him down. Like he was about to be torn apart and maimed by a wild animal.

But...

He was staring at his best friend.

This didn't make any sense, they were still friends! Cub was just doing what Scar wanted! He was following what the mayor had commanded him to do! Scar still wanted this, he had to!

Taking a step back, Cub's hands balled into fists, and he turned away. He walked out onto the outdoor balcony of the town hall, flying off into the night without another word, as Scar sat there in horror.

Bdubs poked his head out of the office, his eyes widening at the mayor, who was on the brink of tears. "Hey, hey.." the vex spoke in a comforting tone, kneeling beside Scar. "You're not supposed to be out of bed. Is everything okay..?"

Scar just broke down then and there, shoving his face into the builder's chest and wrapping his arms around Bdubs, all while sobbing uncontrollably. His boyfriend (at least, Bdubs really, really, really hoped that they were boyfriends) scooped him off the ground and carried him back to the mayor's office.

After tucking him into bed, he was a bit less emotional, though tears were still falling down his face. Placing a thumb on his cheek, the vex wiped it away before planting a soft kiss on Scar's forehead. "Get some rest, m'kay? I'll get some cake and healing potions, and tomorrow you don't have to do anything but relax. Does that sound good?"

"Don't go." He whispered. "I don't want to be left alone here."

"I know. I'll stay."

Crawling into bed, Bdubs cuddled up right next to the mayor, holding him close and protectively. Scar let out a whimpering sigh, his eyes finally beginning to close.

As much as he hated all his friends being turned into vexes, he couldn't deny that he loved being this close to Bdubs.

Chapter Text

Cub stood on the balcony of the town hall, his eyes glassy and unfocused as he stared off into the distance, past the shopping district and out into the sea. Xisuma stood further back, guilt resting in the admin's eyes, though he tried his best to ignore regret he felt. He had done what he had been tasked. He had banned Grian and Mumbo, altered code of players, even adjusting their own memories to ensure loyalty. The vex should feel relieved that he had Cub and Scar to guide him, to lead him with these decisions that would protect the server.

Then, why did he feel sad?

He shouldn't be sad. The wonderful mayor had helped to protect all the hermits from the influence of the resistance! Grian had only ever caused trouble on the server, he was reckless and ignorant to oppose HEP, and Mumbo was no better! The entire resistance was lucky that they hadn't been banned, manipulating their recollection was the only way to protect them from the influence that the 'mother spore' had on them. They had been infected with lies and evil, Xisuma was helping them!

Still, that little seed of doubt in the back of his mind just wouldn't go away. Was this...wrong? He couldn't tell. The admin no longer knew the difference between right and wrong. He had forgotten long ago, before he was a vex. Scar had always known, he had been the one to tell Xisuma what to do and what to think. He needed direction. He needed instructions. He wasn't supposed to be like this, he was only supposed to take orders—!

"Xisuma!" Cub suddenly yelled with a harsh tone, snapping the Brit back to reality with a shock.

"Y-yes?" The admin stuttered, his wings beating nervously.

"The meeting." He growled, "I asked you about the meeting. What is on your mind that is so important?"

"N-nothing," Xisuma said underneath his breath, his eyes shamefully cast to the side. "I'm sorry, Cub, I just—"

"You got distracted." The enforcer said, taking a step closer to close the distance between them. His eyes narrowed as his posture straightened, like he was looking over the admin. X could feel himself shrink in fear at that very moment.

"You know who else got distracted? Hm? Mumbo. He let that mother spore take over and distract him from his goal of serving HEP. Scar got distracted by Bdubs and used all the power he had to get his little prince. Now he's stuck in bed, too weak to even stand. I can expect it from those two, but you?" Cub scoffed. "I thought you someone like you would be more adamant on protecting the server."

"I-I am, I swear! I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean for this to happen. My mind, it just keeps making me feel pity and regret. B-b-but I know what we did helped protect all the hermits! I didn't mean to let it get out of hand.."

The vex scoffed at him. "Control yourself." He said, rolling his eyes while walking back to the balcony. 'Scar's magic must be weakening on the hermits he used to control.' Cub thought to himself silently, glancing over his shoulder at the admin, who nervously shuffled his feet while avoiding any sort of eye contact. Another problem that would need to be fixed, wonderful.

Xisuma's mind was breaking away from the brainwashing. It was likely that the other hermits who had formerly been controlled by Scar were suffering the same fate. That would mean that all of HEP would soon snap out of their mindless loyalty. Cub couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't.

Hermits had begun to flood into the shopping district, gathering at the staircase of the town hall. Cub overlooked them all, the enforcer's grip on the railing starting to tighten. Everything that he and Scar had wanted, from power and control over the hermits, to all the wealth and diamonds on the server, it was theirs. But now, his partner was a human again. Everything that he had worked for, what he had been after since season five, would be lost.

"Go and take care of Scar, Xisuma." The vex commanded blankly, his eyes fixated on the hermits below him.

"B-but sir, shouldn't I be here for the meeting?"

"I'll fill you in. Bdubs could use the help, our 'lovely mayor' has been refusing to eat or drink anything." He said, somewhat sarcastic while referring to the mayor. The admin slowly gave a sad nod, his body disappearing into a puff of light blue smoke as he teleported away. 

Cub's posture straightened, noticing as the last few hermits began to join the crowd of vexes. All of the resistance members had been turned, along with Etho and Iskall. Despite the fact they truly didn't need to be hybrids, the enforcer liked it better this way. He had more control over them. And now, every hermit on the server had vex magic flowing through them. Now, every hermit was perfect. They were complete.

With Scar unfit to rule over the army he had created, Cub knew that he was the only person that could step up and fill the role. The enforcer felt a strange sense of pride, but he didn't question it. He just knew that it was meant to be. He had been the first. He had been the one to accept the vexes, to harness their power. It was only right.

His large wings unfolded, opening to their full length. "Your formally glorious mayor is no longer worth your praise!" Cub's booming voice echoed through the shopping district, holding the full attention of every single hermit. "He's weak. Powerless! That fool gave up every bit of his strength for a boyfriend, and now he can barely manage to stand on his feet. Scar is not fit to lead you anymore, but I am."

With a wave of his hands, light blue magic flew over the crowd. It resembled powdered snow being carried on the wind, before slowing falling over the hermits like a calm winter storm. The sparkling aura melted as it made contact with the hermits' skin, causing their eyes to radiate with the vex magic.

They began to cheer, just as Cub had wanted. "So it's settled, then. Perfect." He laughed, his pointed teeth twisted into a manic smile.

"Things are going to change! Now, the vexes will lead us, just as they should have been since the very beginning!"

—

Bdubs knew that Scar was getting weaker by the day.

It was something that he hated to admit, though it was true. The mayor was guilty, ashamed, full of self-hatred, and it was only getting worse. He would spend the days in bed, barely strong enough to walk, laying alone in the darkness. Something inside of him had finally snapped, and he had given up.

The vex was sitting at the edge of the bed, holding a plate that held a slice of cake. "Please eat," he urged sadly. "I don't know how much longer I can stand to see you like this."

"I don't want cake..." Scar mumbled, hiding underneath the blankets. He spoke with a slur, too tired and weak to talk properly. "It was the only thing I ate as a vex.. I'm sick of it.."

That was true, cake is one of the few things that can satisfy a vex's hunger. It refueled their magic and strength, so it was the only thing that hermits would eat nowadays. Cake was basically for every meal, but it never negatively impacted their health. Vexes could basically eat endless amounts of cake with no repercussions, without ever getting sick of it!

Still, the human wanted nothing to do with the frosted treat. Bdubs sighed in defeat, setting down the cake on the nightstand before crawling into bed. Scar slowly pulled the blankets away, revealing himself from underneath covers where he had been hiding. He pulled the mayor close to cuddle, before softly pressing their lips together. They kissed in a dazed sort of way, like they were both half-asleep. 

His lips moved away ever-so-slightly, remaining close to Scar to continue at a moment's notice. "You need to eat someth—" the vex muttered, quickly being silenced as their lips were brought back together. 

The green-eyed hermit just wanted to stay with the builder and ignore the outside world forever, he wanted to stay in bed and never leave. He didn't want to be reminded of his friends and what they had gone through, from Mumbo and Grian, to HEP and the resistance members. Scar knew that he had ruined the lives for every single hermit, and he knew that it was all his fault, but he also knew that he couldn't fix it. Not with Cub standing in his way.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something..?" Someone suddenly asked from the corner of the room, causing Bdubs to pull away and glance towards the voice, while the mayor simply buried his face in the builder's chest to hide himself.

"Oh, Xisuma! How long have you—"

"Not long." The admin hummed, his gaze fixated on Scar. "Cub has assigned me to assist you with our mayor's recovery."

"He could just use some food, preferably not cake."

Xisuma nodded, though he didn't move to leave. He shuffled his feet a bit, clearly struggling to speak his mind. After a moment of hesitation, he walked over towards the door, though paused as his hand gripped the handle. "Can I..ask you something, sir?" He said, only glancing up from the floor when he referred to Scar as 'sir'. The mayor was silent, though he reluctantly gave a nod.

"Why...why did I ban Mumbo and Grian? They could have been fixed. A-and I know, you said that Grian would only continue to do mischief and cause trouble, but Mumbo was confused and misguided..It just...doesn't add up for me."

Bdubs could feel as Scar's grip tightened on him, the terraformer sucking in a tense breath while his eyes slightly watered. "I didn't mean to," he muttered in barely a whisper, shaking his head while he spoke. "I wish I knew why, but I don't. I-I guess, they were in my way, and I wanted them gone before they could ruin everything that I was trying to accomplish. I was...insane, power-hungry. I hate myself every moment for what I did to them."

By the end, his voice was breaking, and the mayor cuddled back up against the vex's chest to sob quietly. Xisuma thought for a moment, pulling his hand away from the knob. "You're saying that becoming a human again was...good?" He asked, tilting his head to the side out of confusion. 

"Y-yes." Scar muttered into the builder's chest, though he slowly pulled away to meet the admin's eyes. "Being a vex made me do thing that I would never want to do otherwise. I-I was pure evil, I let two of my closest friends get banned, trapping them in a lifeless and endless void. For that, I'll never forgive myself..."

The Brit was silent for a few long seconds, his eyes flooding with empathy for the broken man. Xisuma was confused, he didn't know which side was truly good or evil. He loved the mayor and would do anything for him, but the mayor was no longer a vex, but did that change anything? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that his friend was in pain, and that was reason enough for Xisuma to help.

"What if I brought them back?"

Chapter Text

The vex was unsure how long he'd been trapped here.

Time was a fickle thing, though it seemed much more unstable in this world. With no sun or light, it was impossible to tell how many days had passed since Mumbo arrived in the void. It felt like he was banned just yesterday, but that was impossible! Right? The stubble that grew on his chin told the Brit that much more time had passed, yet his brain couldn't catch up. It could have been years, and he wouldn't have known.

This realm wasn't what he thought it would be. Mumbo thought it would be like the void in the end, yet it felt entirely different. He couldn't explain it, the only real difference from the two being that he could actually walk around here. At least he wasn't falling endlessly, like in the end. Still, it felt...odd. Maybe he was just losing his mind. 

At times, he could have sworn he saw faces in the shadows. He could have sworn he heard voices that called out to him. Yet it was always the shadows, playing tricks on him. Grian was nowhere to be found, but the void always made the redstoner believe that he was just out of reach. Mumbo didn't know what he would when he found the Brit, they were both stuck here until Scar showed a bit of mercy, which would probably never happen...

Grian was probably so alone. So scared. His closest friends betrayed him, leaving him in the void to rot alone. The vex just wanted to hold him and whisper that everything would be okay, he wanted to apologize over and over again. Grian didn't deserve this fate. He didn't deserve to be stuck in this world forever.

It was freezing here, but Mumbo was lucky enough to have a bit of his magic left to keep himself warm. He was able to form a small flame in the palm of his hand, though it wouldn't be long before the fire would die out. The mustached hermit barely any energy left, since he had been walking through the void for who knows how long. Though he was hopeful that the small fire would somehow catch Grian's attention, wherever he may be.

His legs were aching, begging for a moment of rest, but he couldn't bring himself to take a break. Mumbo would rest when Grian was safe, or when he was dead. And truthfully, the Brit was afraid that he would die here. If he were to lay down and rest, he may never wake up again. Was it possible to die in the void? He wasn't sure...

Maybe Grian was dead. Maybe they would never see each other again. Maybe the void was so vast, that it could take years before they found one another. That didn't stop Mumbo. He would find Grian, even if it cost his life. He wasn't going to stop until the builder was safe in his arms. 

They could run away together, escaping the void to join a new server. It would be just them so no one could hurt or ban them ever again. They could start a new life, just him and Grian, forever. Scar definitely doesn't want the two Brits to return, especially since they both caused rebellions against HEP and the vexes. The likelihood of ever seeing the hermits again was...impossible, really.

As Mumbo continued to lose himself in his thoughts, walking further and further through the void, his eyes caught a glimpse of something coming from behind. His body whirled around, eyes widening at the sudden burst of light. The vex had to lift his arm up to block the brightness in front of him, he had gotten used to the small flame as the only source of his light.

"G-Grian?!" He choked out a cry, his voice hoarse after not speaking for weeks (at least, he thought it had been weeks). Mumbo ran towards the light, his eyes squinting at the blurry figures standing on the other side. 

He couldn't make out any details, but there were three of them, which caused a sour feeling to twist the Brit's stomach into knots. He slowed down, stopping a bit away from the light. As his eyes adjusted, the figures became clearer. Bdubs, Xisuma, and Scar. 

Mumbo could have sworn he saw red.

Scar was the one who put him here.

Scar was the one who put Grian here.

"YOU!" Mumbo yelled with rage, his eyes glowing blue with vex magic. "WHERE IS GRIAN?!"

"Mumbo, calm down.." Xisuma spoke up, his voice kind and reassuring. The redstoner couldn't listen, he was too angry. Scar deserved to suffer, just like how Grian suffered!

Pinning the mayor to the ground, the Brit found himself growling like an animal. His claws were digging through Scar's clothes, beginning to pierce his skin. Mumbo wanted to feel his blood. He wanted to hear screams of pain. He wanted revenge.

"GET OFF HIM!" Bdubs yelled, tackling the mustached hermit. The mayor's assistance let out his own sort of growl, which must have been a vex thing. Now Mumbo was the one pinned to the floor, though he thrashed and growled in an attempt to free himself.

"Both of you, stop it!" The admin snapped, magic surrounding the two vexes. They were pulled off one another and lifted into the air, the two frozen in a light blue aura to prevent any more violence.

"Let me go, X.." He said with a low growl. "Scar needs to PAY for everything he's done!"

"No, Mumbo. You don't understa—"

"What don't I understand, Xisuma? Scar banned Grian and tortured the mycelium resistance! And he brainwashed all of HEP to think that it was okay!" Mumbo argued, "I want him to understand just how much we all suffered!"

"I'm not a vex anymore." The mayor stepped forward, his voice causing the room to fall silent. "I was corrupt with power, but now I'm human...I think..." he muttered the last part underneath his breath, before shaking his head. "I want to fix things, Mumbo. I want to change all the hermits back to normal. But we need your help."

Mumbo glanced from Bdubs to Xisuma, taking a quick moment to think. "Unban Grian, then I'll consider helping."

"I was already planning on it." He said with a kind smile behind his helmet, typing something onto the floating admin panel. A portal opened up, identical to the one that the redstoner walked through to return to hermitcraft.

Slowly, he was lowered to the ground. Mumbo glanced into the dark void, a figure sitting in the darkness. He could feel his eyes water at the sight, the vex rushing into the void without a second thought. Grian's eyes widened in horror, his body frozen in place. The mustached hermit knelt beside him, before suddenly he was being hugged.

"Mu—...Mumbo..?" Grian mumbled weakly.

"Yes, yes! I'm here to bring you back home! I can't even begin to describe just how sorry I am, I-I should have protected you! I shouldn't have let Scar ban you like you were nothing!" He sobbed, hugging the shorter male tighter than ever before.

"I-it's okay, Mumbo. I know that wasn't you back then. I'm glad that you're back to...normal." The builder said reluctantly, since Mumbo was still technically a vex hybrid.

"It's not okay! I should have fought against Scar and his power sooner! I should have protected you!"

"Hey, hey.. that wasn't you making all those decisions, it was Scar controlling you. I know that you wouldn't have let that happen if you were yourself."

"Well, I'll make sure that it won't happen again. I'm going to protect you from all the other vexes, okay? No one is going to hurt or ban you anymore.." The redstoner muttered in a whisper, pressing a soft kiss to Grian's forehead.

The smaller hermit blushed, his heart beginning to race at the sudden affection. Mumbo lifted him off the ground, his embrace warm and comfortable. Grian had been freezing for who knows how long, not to mention how exhausted he was, so it didn't take much time for him to pass out. The vex smiled at the sleeping Brit in his arms, his wings fluttering out of joy. Finally, he had Grian back.

He carried the builder back through the portal, which then closed behind him. "Alright," Mumbo said, glancing between the three hermits. "What can I do to help?"

"You can start by running," Scar said with a serious expression. "I need you to go to Doc's base and search for any blueprints he may have. Then run as fast and as far as you can. Doc was the only one who knew how to create a machine that removed vex magic, if you can somehow recreate it, then we can fix everything."

"Alright, so I just need to rebuild a machine? That sounds simple enough.."

"Well, you can't let anyone see you." Xisuma spoke up, "Cub didn't want you or Grian to be unbanned. He thought you would only cause trouble. If he finds out that you two are back on the server, you could suffer a worse fate than being banned..."

Mumbo glanced down at the builder in his arms, his heart skipping a beat. "I won't let that happen." He said confidently, "I'll do my best to recreate the machine, but it may take some time if I can't find the blueprints.."

"Just hurry. The shopping district is swarming with vexes, so I'll take you to Doc's base." The admin said, placing a hand on the redstoner's shoulder. Within a moment, the three vanished without a trace.

Scar let out an exhausted sigh of relief, stumbling over to his bed. He was weaker than ever before, making it near-impossible to stand for a long amount of time. Bdubs was taking care of him, but... it wasn't enough.

He was getting worse without his vex magic.

He would die without his vex magic.

"You okay?" His assistant spoke up, laying down in bed next to the mayor. There was no answer.

"Bdubs, what are we?" Scar asked after a long few moments in silence, turning his head to meet the vex's gaze.

"What do you mean?"

"Are we...dating? Are we friends? Is there really anything between us, or did I just brainwash you to love me?"

Bdubs frowned at that, sitting upright in bed. "Hey, we already talked about this. I loved you the moment we started campaigning together." He said reassuringly, wrapping an arm around Scar to pull him closer. However, he pushed away.

"N-no. What if that isn't real? What if I put those memories into your head?"

At this point, he was starting to cry out of distress. "Scar, I love you." He said, taking the mayor by the hand. "And if that's not real, I don't know what is. You're amazing! How could someone not love you?"

"Because of what I did." The terraformer mumbled, his eyes glued to the blankets to avoid looking at Bdubs. "I'm a monster. I hurt everyone. Just like Mumbo said."

"Is that why you're so upset? Mumbo doesn't know what he's talking about! He's just mad that he was banned for a little while."

"Nono, that's not it..." Scar's voice trailed off as he looked out the window, before shaking his head. "N-nevermind, it was stupid."

"Nothing you think of is stupid." He hummed, cuddling up against the mayor before kissing his cheek. 

There was silence again, and for a long while it stayed like that. Scar was lost in his thoughts for the most part, his mind wandering. "I think..." he hesitated, breaking the silence as he spoke. "I think I want to be your boyfriend, Bdubs."

"I think I want that too."

His heart fluttered with joy, Scar's eyes closing as he felt Bdubs cuddle up against him. He knew that he wouldn't survive much longer, only a couple more weeks at most. But at least he had his boyfriend by his side now.

Chapter Text

For the first time in a long while, Grian felt warm.

The harsh freeze of the void was gone, the cold that had plagued him for what felt like months now was no more. He was barely coming back from unconscious when he realized that the frigid temperatures had finally stabilized to a normal level. Did that mean he was dead? Grian knew that he passed out from his own fatigue and weariness, so had he somehow died?

His eyes opened, the room around him dark. He couldn't feel his legs, as they ached from the constant walking he had previously put himself through. Grian had hoped to find a way out, or someone to talk to at the very least, though it was hopeless. The void was a merciless realm.

Grian moved his head, taking a look around the room using the least amount of effort in order to save his energy. He was in a bedroom. A small one, at that. With only a dresser and a bed that he laid in, the room seemed cramped, even with the bare minimum of furniture.

Wherever he was, it wasn't the void. Was he back in hermitcraft? Or was this an entirely new server? There was no way of telling until he had a chance to try exploring. However, it would be a while before Grian could move due to the lack of energy he faced. If he got a bit more rest, maybe he could head out in search of food.

As the builder was about to lay back down in an attempt to fall asleep, the door to the bedroom suddenly creaked open. "Grian!" Mumbo blinked, the wings on his back fluttering with excitement. "Oh my, you're awake!"

His body jerked with fear at the sight of the vex, reminding Grian of the day he was banned from the server. He hadn't seen Mumbo since then. "Wh—, why am I here?" He mumbled rather weakly, barely able to speak.

"Oh goodness, uh, it's quite a long story." The vex shook his head, walking over to the bedside table. He placed down a tray that had a cake, causing the shorter male to remember just how starving he was. "Please, eat first."

He was about to snatch the fork off the plate, though hesitated before shooting a glare at the mustached hermit. "What's in it? Poison? Did Scar bring me back to kill me?"

"No, no! In fact, he's not even a vex anymore!"

Grian raised an eyebrow as Mumbo handed him a slice of cake and a fork. "Well, after you were banned, I came back to my senses. I'm still a vex, but Scar's control over me seemed to have...faded, I guess."

"Sho your not evil?" He asked with a mouthful of cake.

"Um, I don't think so?" Mumbo scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Well, anyway. I helped Etho escape before I was captured. And well, Scar banned me."

The builder nearly choked on his cake. "Wait, he banned you too?"

"Yes. I spent all my time in that void looking for you to make sure you were okay, but I could never find you!" Mumbo sighed, sitting down next to Grian on the bed. "I don't know how long we were there for. It was like—"

"Time moved slow and fast at the same time?"

"Exactly!" Mumbo smiled, his wings fluttering. "But well, it must have been a while." He chuckled in a rather sad way, dragging his fingers along his stubble-covered cheek. "You're lucky you can't grow facial hair."

"I told you that in confidence! You know if I could grow a mustache, I would!" Grian joked with a wink, causing the redstoner's sad smile to return to a happy one.

"But, well, Scar brought as back. He used up all his magic turning the hermits into vexes, and now he's a human. Xisuma is back to normal too, I think. Though he's rather quiet now, he just watches."

"Watches? Watches what?" The builder asked as he finished his first slice of cake.

"Me, mainly. Whenever I work on— oh, I nearly forgot to tell you! Scar asked me to recreate the vex chamber that Doc made back in season six!" Mumbo said with excitement, his light blue eyes seeming to glow.

"Does that mean—?"

"Yes! If I get this right, we can turn everyone back to normal!"

"Oh, Mumbo!" Grian beamed, wrapping his arms around the vex. "You mean it? Things will actually go back to normal?"

"Uh- w-well," He stuttered a bit, his face covered in a bright pink blush. "W-we're still trying to locate Doc's old blueprints for the design. They might have been, um, destroyed along with the machine. B-but, I'm trying my best to recreate a design that can work!"

"I know you can recreate it. I mean, you're MumboJumbo, the redstone genius!" 

The taller male blushed slightly more at the praise, the tips of his pointed ears turning pink. "You really think so? I mean, I've had a bit of trouble with the designs."

"I can always help—"

"No!" Mumbo interrupted before Grian finished speaking, before embarrassment became visible on his face. "I-I mean, well, I would love to work with you on this, you're wonderful— a-at building, that is, but you were in the void longer than I was, and you slept nearly two days! You need rest."

"Two days? I've been asleep two days?!"

"Maybe longer. Scar said when they pulled you out of the void, you were already unconscious."

"Well, what about you?" Grian raised an eyebrow, "You were in the void too. Don't you need rest?"

"I'll be alright. Being part vex has some advantages, I guess. We have more stamina, energy, and strength. But you aren't a vex, so you need as much rest as you can get. I'll check on you every now and again. Xisuma is also around if you need anything."

Grian frowned, though eventually nodded. "Okay, if you say so."

Mumbo was about to stand to leave the room, though he froze as the builder placed his hand atop the vex's. Grian leaned forward, pressing their lips together for a short embrace. Mumbo felt his heart skip a beat, his cheeks heating up even more. His wings were flapping almost as fast as his heart was racing.

He eventually pulled away, though their faces remained close as their foreheads touched one another. "Don't do anything stupid," the shorter male warned. "I like having you around."

"I won't," Mumbo reassured. "I promise."

—

Xisuma reappeared in the second story of the town hall, teleporting from Doc's starter base where Mumbo was working. It was midnight, meaning the shopping district should be empty at this time, yet it was abuzz with vex magic. Hermits were flying around, carrying boxes of supplies as they worked tirelessly. They couldn't help it, everyone was under the influence of Cub's magic.

"Xisuma!" 

Speak of the devil. The admin turned to face Cub, slightly bowing before him. "How may I help you, sir?" He asked, trying to sound as robotic as he had before. Xisuma was free from the control of vex magic, for now, but if anyone found out, he would surely be turned into a mindless slave...again.

"Where have you been?" Cub huffed while crossing his arms, his piercing blue eyes shooting a glare.

"Patrolling, sir. Making sure everything is going to plan."

"That's funny." He chuckled slightly, "Because Doc was on patrol duty."

Cub snapped his fingers together, the cybernetic hybrid appearing behind Xisuma within moments. Doc placed a hand on his shoulder, his teeth sharp as he flashed a grin. "You wouldn't be lying to me, now would you?" The leader of the vexes asked with a smirk, raising an eyebrow at the admin.

"Of course not." Xisuma spoke calmly, "I only want what's best for the server. I guess Doc and I must have just missed each other."

"Possibly." Cub hummed to himself, glancing out the window to look upon the shopping district. "Why don't you deliver Scar his medicine? Bdubs is probably asleep by now. After that, we'll have a much longer chat..."

X nodded. "Yes, sir." He said with a bow, Doc grumbling underneath his breath as he was forced to let go of the admin. Both he and Cub watched as Xisuma head into the mayor's office, shutting the door behind him.

"Get Tango." The vex commanded with a gruff voice, "X is hiding something."

—

Scar was already awake when the admin barged in, his hand stroking through Bdubs's hair. The vex was fast asleep, snuggling next to his boyfriend in bed. He raised an eyebrow at the sudden interruption, nudging his partner awake. "Is everything okay?" The mayor asked, noticing the panicked expression behind X's helmet.

"He's onto me," Xisuma said. "Cub knows that I'm lying."

Scar's eyebrows shot up. "What does he know?"

"Nothing yet, he said I should take care of you first before we have a longer discussion. But I think he's going to use his magic to turn me into a mindless vex servant. And if that happens, then Grian and Mumbo will be in danger, not to mention the fact that our last chance at changing the hermits back to normal will be ruined!"

"Calm down," Scar hushed the panicked admin. "We can figure something out, right?"

"We don't have long. If Cub thinks I'm in here for too long then he might just decide to get things over with.." Xisuma shook his head, staring down at his gloved hands. "I-I mean, there's something I can do, but..."

"But what? X, what are you planning?" The mayor asked, gripping his bedsheets.

"I could..well, I could erase my code...Like I did to Etho.."

"Xisuma, are you insane?!" Scar yelled in a hushed voice, which was enough to wake his boyfriend up.

"wha's goin' on?" He mumbled sleepily, resting his head against his partner's shoulder.

"Scar, it's the one way we know that I won't give up any information. Even if I'm brainwashed or tortured, I won't know anything!"

"But what about you? All your memories?"

Xisuma shook his head sadly. "I...Don't know. I've never played with player code before, it shouldn't be altered. We might be able to find previous versions of the code, like at the end of season six, but it's a long shot...Even if we find old player code, it may be impossible to use it to restore my memory."

"There's got to be another way."

"Whahuh? What are we talking about?" Bdubs huffed, "Etho already doesn't remember me, and we're talking 'bout erasing your brain too?"

"It might be the only choice we have." Xisuma said, opening an admin panel.

"X, stop it." Scar said as he tried to pull himself out of bed, struggling to do so with his lack of strength. "We can find something else. We don't have to do this."

"I'm sorry," he said with a quiet voice, glancing up from the screen to lock eyes. "But we don't have any other options."

Chapter Text

The door was forcibly kicked open, Doc and Tango rushing into the mayor's bedroom as Cub leisurely strolled in. His smirk was cruel and smug, the vex knowing that he had caught Xisuma in a web of lies. He and Scar shared a glance while walking in, anger clear on his expression. Bdubs was cuddling next to his partner, keeping him from jumping out of the bed, though his expression seemed to be filled with sadness and disappointment.

"Well, well." The leader of the vexes chuckled, both Tango and Doc each holding one of Xisuma's arms to keep him trapped. His head was hung low and he was on his knees, avoiding eye contact.

"Looks like we caught ourselves a traitor, boys." Cub smiled with sharp teeth, the two vex-hermits snickering in response. "Anything you have to say for yourself? Maybe there's something you want to confess? Or do we have to do this the hard way?"

Xisuma looked up, his eyes glazed and foggy behind the tinted visor of his light blue helmet. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know there's something you're hiding from me." The vex insisted, "I recommend you tell me."

Shaking his head, the admin seemed frozen. "I-I really don't know. Please, let me go." He mumbled weakly, sounding timid and frightened.

Cub scoffed, straightening his posture. "Don't make this harder than it has to be, Xisuma. I can just wave my hand and make you tell me."

"Who is Xisuma?! P-please, I haven't done anything!"

Doc and Tango shared an expression of shock with one another, the two releasing their grip on X. "His memories—" the creeper murmured.

"They've been wiped!" The redstoner exclaimed.

Cub's expression morphed into rage as he turned to Scar. "What did you do?! WHAT HAPPENED TO XISUMA?!"

"H-h-he was working on some bugs in the player code." The mayor tried to explain, "Something happened, we don't know what, but he just collapsed!"

"We were about to get help before you barged in." Bdubs said, holding his boyfriend close.

"So what, he just 'accidentally' deleted all of his memory code?" Doc huffed, narrowing his eye in suspicion.

"We don't know! I swear Cub!"

The vex stared at Scar for a few moments. "Tango, you and Joe are back up admins, correct?" He asked, not breaking eye contact.

"Yes, sir. We can take over X's admin duties if need be."

"One of you will be the stand-in admin. The other shall try and recover anything you can from what Xisuma deleted. He's trying to hide something from us, and I want to know what. I don't care how long it takes, just get it done."

"Of course. I'll go inform him right away." Tango said, walking out of the room with movements that were almost robotic.

"What about him, sir?" Doc asked, gesturing to Xisuma. The admin blinked, tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy.

"First—" Cub said, extending his hand out to X. A mysterious aura escaped his fingertips, the light blue magic seeming to fade through his armor. Behind his helmet his eyes began to faintly glow while his posture straightened. "—We must bring him back to our side."

Xisuma blinked, his eyes blank while the wings on his back slightly grew. Doc offered his hand, helping the admin back on his feet. "Take him back to his base. Let him rest. Maybe something could jog his memory, but I doubt it. I'll have Keralis care for him for a while until he proves useful."

Doc nodded, placing a hand on the admin's shoulder before he vanished into a puff of light blue smoke. Cub then turned his attention back to the couple, watching as Bdubs grew visibly defensive, pulling Scar closer to his chest. The vex growled slightly.

"Remember your place, Bdubs. I would hate to have to do the same to you."

Without waiting for them to respond, he disappeared as well, leaving nothing but a cloud of magical dust where he once stood. The two waited in silence for a couple moments, as if they were hesitant to begin speaking, like they were thought someone else was here. After a few minutes of passing silence, Bdubs finally heard a sound, which came from his partner.

Scar was sobbing and sniffling, fat globs of tears running down his cheeks. "X-Xisuma—" he cried, "H-h-he lost his memory b-because of me."

"Hey, hey.." Bdubs cooed, using his thumb to swipe the tears away. "This isn't your fault. That was X's choice. He needed to protect Grian and Mumbo. Plus, maybe Joe and Tango will be able to recover their memory code from last season. I bet it can't be too hard."

"You don't get it." Scar shook his head, "All of this, every single terrible thing that's happened this season is because of me! Because of the stupid vexes!"

Bdubs seemed slightly offended at the comment about vexes being stupid, as his chest puffed out, though he brushed it off. "C'mon, it's not all bad. I got a pretty wonderful boyfriend out of all this. And the hermits don't mind being vexes! We all actually enjoy it!"

"Because you're brainwashed. You don't know right from wrong anymore. Cub can wave his hand and you'd do anything he'd say! He's controlling everyone!"

"You're stressing too much." The vex sighed, shaking his head. "We should try to take your mind off things. Why don't we head to my base? I'll make us some cake."

"Ugh. No more cake please. It's the only thing you've been feeding me..."

"Right. Sorry. I'll make you something else then. But still. I think it would be good to get you out of the shopping district. Then you and I can spend some quality time alone. How does that sound?"

Scar thought for a moment, guilt still on his consciousness, though he managed to nod. "That sounds good. I'd love to get out of this bedroom."

Bdubs smiled, easily lifting his partner into his arms. "I'm glad. I just want to see you happy."

"I'm happy when I'm with you."

He blushed at the comment, cheeks pink and flustered. "H-How about a nice steak dinner? With some cooked potatoes and carrots as well?"

"That sounds so much better." Scar let out a heavy sigh in relief. "I swear, I'll never eat anything sugary ever again!"

"Suuure." Bdubs chuckled, "Then tomorrow you'll be munching on some chocolate chip cookies."

"Cookies are very different than cake." The mayor corrected.

"Yes, of course. My mistake." Bdubs said with a playful snicker, opening the window using his magic. He climbed out, leaping from the town hall before his wings extended outwards. Carrying his boyfriend in his arms, the vex flew off into the night sky.

—

Scar woke up the next morning cuddling next to Bdubs, curled beside him in bed. He was snoring slightly, still fast asleep. Smiling softly, the mayor reached out his arm, gently caressing his partner's cheek before turning away. 

He managed to pull himself out of bed, though it was a struggle. With how weak he had become, it was difficult to even stand. He walked down the stairs, his hand against the wall for support. Scar walked into the kitchen, groaning as he stopped to take a breath.

"Jeez, you look worse than before."

"Wha—?" Scar turned around, finding Cub standing behind him. He nearly fell over in shock, stumbling as he tried to distance himself from the vex.

"Oh, come on." Cub rolled his eyes. "Did you really think I would let you fly off with your boyfriend without telling me?"

Pink blush of embarrassment filled his cheeks. "W-we just wanted some privacy. We wanted to spend some quality time away from the vex zombies that YOU made."

"Don't throw all the blame on me." He growled, stepping closer. "YOU were the one who turned me into THIS! YOU were the one who refused to remove the vex magic in your body. And YOU were the one who first turned the hermits into hybrids. If you want to blame anyone, blame yourself."

Scar stared at him silently for a couple minutes, his hands trembling. The vex took the opportunity to grab hold of them, squeezing them. "But it's okay. Now we have an army. Now the hermits are connected to us. They're apart of us. Don't you see?"

His grip tightened, causing Scar to wince. "You are DYING. Without vex magic your body is unable to hold itself together. Come back to us, Scar. The hermits will worship you. You will be the king over us all! You'll live on, leading us vexes, with Bdubs by your side."

"I don't want to become that thing again." Scar muttered, pulling his hands away. "I want to spend my last few weeks with the person I love. I will NEVER turn into that thing. Not again."

Cub growled. "You're making a mistake."

Scar walked off without responding, heading back up the stairs to the bedroom. He heard the front door slam as the vex stormed off in rage, causing a sigh of relief to escape him. Cub would be back. He was sure of it. And next time he wouldn't be so nice.

Bdubs was awake now, a nervous look across his face. Scar immediately felt his heart drop as he noticed the betrayal in his partner's eyes. "Did you...Did you hear all that?"

He nodded. "Are you really dying, Scar?"

"I...I am."

"..."

"Why didn't you tell me..?"

"I'm sorry...I-I just, I didn't want to worry you."

"Oh, Scar." Bdubs mumbled, pulling himself out of bed to walk over and hug his boyfriend. "I just wish you told me sooner. I-I just got you, I don't want to lose you already."

"We'll figure something out. I swear. I don't want to lose you either."

Bdubs said nothing, he simply wrapped his arms around his partner. The two stayed like that for a few minutes, holding one another as silence hung heavy over the room.

Chapter Text

“Oh my gosh,” Scar said with a mouthful of steak. “I forgot how good food is!”

He was practically scarfing down the plate of food Bdubs had prepared for him, as if he hadn’t eaten in days. It had been a long time since Scar had actually eaten real food, the vexes mostly fed him cake. Even with all the different flavors, it still got really sickening really quick.

Bdubs watched his boyfriend eat, staring at him dreamily while the wings on his back flapped slowly. It took Scar a moment to realize he was being watched, causing him to sheepishly pause in embarrassment and put down his fork.

“Sorry. You probably think I’m a pig.”

“Nono!” Bdubs threw his hands up in defense, shaking his head at the accusation. “No it’s not that, it’s just—, you look good.”

“What like, hot?” Scar gave a smirk, playfully teasing the vex.

“I mean, uh, you know what I meant! I mean you look healthy, better than before.”

Scar looked back down at his plate, using his fork to move around the potatoes and carrots he was staring at. “I feel better.” He said, a bit reluctantly. “Like I’m not on the brink of death, at least.”

“Really?!” The vex’s eyes went wide, sparkling with hope as his wings flapped with excitement.

“Calm down, please.” Scar’s face fell into a frown, his eyes serious as he looked up from his meal. “I don’t know if I’m going to live or not. Just because I’m feeling better doesn’t mean my body can fully recover. I mean, I lived off of vex magic for years…”

Bdubs looked away, his eyes sad and disappointed. Scar let out a breath, reaching across the table to place his hand atop his boyfriend’s. “I just…don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

“You’ll live.” He said firmly, blue eyes focused on the floor of the kitchen. “I’m gonna make sure of it.”

“Bdubs—“

“Please, Scar.” The vex looked up from the ground, his eyes welding with tears. “I just…I really love you. I can’t lose you when I just got you.”

Scar let go of Bdubs’ hand to instead cup his cheek. His lips curved upward slightly, his voice soft with sympathy. “I love you too, but I don’t want to live if I have to live as a vex.” Bdubs sniffled, trying to hide it behind a sleeve.

“But we can save you—” He tried to say, though the human interrupted him.

“You’re brainwashed, just repeating what Cub wants you to say.” He said, using his thumb to wipe away the tears that rolled down his boyfriend’s face.

“Sorry,” Bdubs muttered, leaning into his partner’s touch. “I just wanna keep you safe.”

“Right now, I just wanna be here with you.” Scar smiled calmly, staring into the icy blue eyes of the vex. “Let’s enjoy the time we have. Let’s enjoy each other.”

“I think I have a bottle of champagne somewhere.” Bdubs said as he grabbed Scar’s hand and gave it a slight squeeze. “Maybe we should pop it open, celebrate a little?”

“That sounds much better than moping around.” The mayor giggled a little, his green eyes sparkling as they stared at his partner.

Bdubs flapped his wings, hovering slightly above the ground as he began to rummage through the cupboards of his kitchen. He grabbed two glasses for the alcohol before managing to find an old bottle he had stashed away, covered in a thin layer of dust.

“I got this to celebrate our victory against HEP,” He explained while popping the cork, beginning to pour the bubbly drink. “But, you know..that didn’t exactly happen, heh..”

He trailed off awkwardly, his hands trembling slightly as he handed Scar one of the glasses. He took a seat next to his partner, trying to scoot a bit closer to the mayor while holding his own glass of champagne. “Is it weird that I really wanna kiss you right now?” Bdubs asked, muttering underneath his breath, half-hoping that Scar wouldn’t hear him.

“No,” Said his partner, setting down his glass before he even took a sip. “I’d like that.”

Bdubs moved in slightly closer, hesitant at first. They had kissed before, so it shouldn’t have been such a big deal. Still, he felt nervous. Scar placed a hand on the vex’s thigh, his touch calming Bdubs in just a moment. The mayor closed the gap between them, their lips connecting softly. It was a brief kiss, just a few moments, but it left Bdubs feeling lightheaded and dizzy, his mind buzzing with happiness.

When they pulled apart, Scar leaned forward again, kissing Bdubs once more, slower and deeper this time. This kiss lingered longer, more meaningful. There were no awkward fumbles or shy pecks of affection this time. It was a sweet, slow kiss with passion. One that felt right, that felt real.

Scar pulled away after a few more long moments, though he kept their foreheads pressed together and their noses touching as he smiled. “I love you.” The mayor whispered, his eyes practically glowing with love as he stared at Bdubs.

“I love you too. More than anything in this world.” The vex replied, pressing a gentle kiss to Scar’s forehead.

—

“You should really take a break,” Grian frowned, seated nearby while watching Mumbo work and build. “I-I made cake, I’m not good at baking, but I thought you’d like some.”

Mumbo stepped out of the large machine he had been working on, coughing as black smoke poured out of the inside of the machine’s chamber. The vex waved the smoke away, shaking his head as he coughed a bit more. “N-no, no. I-I need to finish—“

“It’s been days!” Said the human, worry in his eyes. He had been working nonstop, trying to perfect the machine that Doc had made last season, without any guidance of blueprints or designs. The vex was pretty much flying blind.

Shaking his head, Mumbo pulled a pair of mechanical goggles over his eyes, turning back to the machine. “Sorry, Gri. I can’t stop. I need to finish this. If Cub finds out we’re back on the server—“

“I know, I know.” He pouted a bit, “I’m sick of this. I’m ready to just, I don’t know, run away.”

Mumbo chuckled a bit, though his eyes were still focused on the machinery. “What, and leave all the Hermits as vexes?” He smirked a bit at the idea, though shook it from his head almost immediately.

“Yeah, kinda.” Grian threw his hands in the air, defeated as he let out a dramatic sigh.

“Once this is finished, we can run away.” The vex hummed, his wings flapping as he worked. “Just you and I for a bit, away from all the craziness of, well, everything.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.” Mumbo said, finally looking away from his machine. He lifted his goggles above his head and locked eyes with Grian, smiling at him for a moment with red cheeks. He set down his tools and stepped out of the machine, putting his hands on his hips as he studied the chamber.

“Alright…I uh, think that’s what Doc’s design looked like?” He muttered, clearly uncertain at his work.

“Nono, there were two chambers! And they connected with some funky tubes!” Grian pointed out, though the vex could only shake his head.

“I don’t have enough supplies for that. Xisuma hasn’t stopped by with materials in a while, I’m practically out of redstone and iron!”

“Do you think he was caught?” He asked, worried at the thought.

“Maybe. But we can’t think about that now.” Mumbo said, staring at the ground for a moment before looking towards Grian with a sad gaze. “I need to test the machine.”

Grian practically fell out of his seat, nearly dropping the plate of cake that sat on his lap. “WHAT?!” He practically yelled, putting the cake safely on the stool as he rushed to the vex. “Mumbo, no, you can’t! What if that thing kills you?!”

“I have to take the chance.” He said, placing a hand on Grian’s shoulder. “You have to activate the machine from the control panel on the outside. If all goes to plan, I won’t be a vex anymore.”

“But—“

“Grian.” Mumbo spoke, his voice calm. “Please, let me do this.”

Hesitant for a few moments, it took the human a second before he reluctantly nodded his head. “Okay.” He mumbled, “I trust you.”

Mumbo bent down, pressing their lips together for a brief kiss. “Thank you.” He murmured against his partner's lips, pulling away. “I’ll see you on the other side.”

He stepped into the chamber of the machine, the metal door shutting him inside. There was only a tiny window that Grian could see him through, but it was enough for him to know that his partner would be safe. He would come back. He had to.

Grian pressed the button, causing the machine to rumble and start up, flashing lights and loud whirs filling the air. He watched as steam began to fill the chamber, fogging up the glass of the window. He wanted to open the door, run into the chamber, grab Mumbo and pull him out of the machine. But he couldn’t. He had to trust Mumbo.

After what felt like an eternity of noises that didn’t sound quite right, the machine began to slow down, and the rumbling began to stop. Grian pressed another button on the panel, unlocking the door to the machine. Steam and fog left the chamber as he opened the door, finding Mumbo slumped over on the ground.

“Mumbo?!” Grian began to panic, rushing to his partner’s side. He was breathing, though he was weak and tired. It took the vex(?) a few moments before he could open his eyes, though he smiled upon seeing Grian.

“Hi..” He mumbled, a bit tired in his slurred speech.

“Are you okay?” Grian asked, almost beginning to cry with panic.

“I think so.” Mumbo groaned as he slowly sat up, beginning to rub the side of his aching head. He stared down at his fingertips, which were no longer sharp claws. “Did…did it work?”

“I-I don’t know.” Grian shook his head, almost in shock. “You still have wings, but—…”

“But what?” Mumbo looked worried now, as if he was about to be told he had grown a tail or something.

“It’s not…the same color blue? I-I don’t know, it looks more vibrant, less pale. And your eyes—“

“Wha—? What about them?”

“They’re the same, you don’t look so dark and gloomy anymore.” Grian shook his head, almost in awe.

“Wait, look—“ Mumbo pointed to the ceiling of the machine, drawing Grian’s attention to a vex that was scrambling to find its way out. It looked weak and tired, as if it had been drained of power. “Did that—, did I—?”

“I think you managed to extract the ‘evil’ part of your vex powers!” Grian exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. “Hold on, let me test it!”

He rushed to his feet, running over to the plate of cake he had prepared. “Here, try this!” The builder said, scooping a bit of cake onto a fork as he tried to feed it to Mumbo. He made a disgusted face and tried to move away, clearly not interested.

“No thanks.” He said, a bit disgusted. “I’ve had enough cake for the rest of my life.”

“I think it worked!” Grian dropped the plate, wrapping his arms around Mumbo and squeezing him. “Oh, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!”

“Hehe, I uh, love you too..” Mumbo blushed, wrapping his arms around Grian to return the hug. “So uh, what should we call this thing now? I’m not a vex hybrid anymore, am I?”

“Hm…I guess not. You look like a friendly vex. Like, if a vex was an ally to players.” Grian pointed out, reaching out to brush his fingertips against Mumbo’s wings.

“Huh. Ally. What about…All..ay?” He shrugged, a bit embarrassed at his naming skills.

“Allay.” Grian hummed at the name. “I like the sound of that!”

“Alright, Allay it is.” Mumbo sighed, relaxing his body a bit as he leaned against Grian for support. “Let’s tell Scar about this as soon as possible. But first, I may need a nap.”

“Alright, alright. Can I get you something to eat?” The human asked, kissing the top of Mumbo’s head as he thought.

“Cookies.” The allay smiled, “Cookies sound nice.”

Chapter Text

Mumbo was busy in the kitchen, wearing an apron and oven mitts as he fluttered slightly above the ground. The allay pulled a sheet of freshly baked cookies out of the oven. From the kitchen table, Bdubs, Grian, and Scar sat, watching as Mumbo happily continued to bake another batch of goodies.

“It’s amazing.” Scar said, his eyes lighting up and his smile wide. “It’s like he managed to remove all the negative effects from a vex, while keeping all the powers! It’s almost more impressive than Doc’s original design.”

“He’s a genius.” Grian spoke a bit dreamily, a smile across his face as he watched Mumbo shuffle between the oven and the stand mixer that was spilling cookie dough all over the kitchen counter.

Bdubs looked over at his boyfriend, placing a hand on Scar’s hand. “Does that mean…you can survive?” He asked, the vex’s blue eyes big and hopeful. Scar was a bit stunned for a moment, before he cast his gaze to the side.

“M-maybe?” He sounded hesitant, reluctant at the idea. To become an allay, he’d need to become a vex again, and that just sounded awful. The mayor shook his head. “It’s not something to worry about right now. Why don’t we get you changed back first?”

Bdubs looked a bit shocked. “O-oh. Right.” He sounded sad, almost disappointed, as his gaze fell to the floor.

Scar frowned, placing a hand on his partner’s chin. He lifted the vex’s head, allowing for their eyes to meet. “Hey. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I just…what if…what if I don’t love you when I go back to normal?” Bdubs voice was quiet and shaky, his blue eyes filling with tears. Scar’s heart hurt at the question.

“I…I thought you said you loved me before being turned into a vex.” He mumbled, Bdubs quickly noticing his boyfriend’s saddened expression.

“I-I did!” The vex quickly tried to assure, shaking his head. “It’s just…I don’t know. I’m just scared, I guess. I don’t..I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to leave you, cause..well, cause I really like you, Scar. But…I don’t know what thoughts are my own, and which are from me being brainwashed..”

Scar rose from his seat, pulling his hands away from his partner. He looked out the window for a moment, green eyes saddened. “Bdubs..I can’t force you to love me, and I can’t leave you brainwashed for the rest of your life. I wish I never did any of this in the first place, I wish I never went crazy with all that power…but one good thing came from it all, I guess..”

Bdubs felt his cheeks go a bit pink as he stood up, stepping a bit closer to the mayor. “And…what was that?” He asked, a smirk across his face, while his gaze was loving and dreamy. The vex already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear Scar say it.

Turning back to face Bdubs, the worry in Scar’s green eyes faded away. He smiled, stepping a bit closer and cupping his partner’s cheeks. “You.” He said, pulling the vex closer to connect their lips in a warm embrace. Bdubs shut his eyes and leaned into the kiss, melting into the softness of Scar’s lips.

They pulled away at the sound of clanging metal, turning towards Mumbo, who had dropped the baking sheet he had been holding in shock. “YOU TWO ARE DATING!?” He exclaimed, stunned at the sight of Bdubs wrapped in Scar’s arms. Grian burst out laughing.

“Yes, you spoon!” He fell out of his chair from laughing so hard, shaking his head at the allay’s cluelessness. “They’ve both been crushing on each other for like, all of season seven?”

Scar’s cheeks went red. “Oh no, was it that obvious?”

“Apparently not to me.” Mumbo shook his head, bending down and lifting the cookie sheet off of the ground. “Ah, well, cookies are done! Luckily they didn’t fall off of the sheet…anyone want some?”

Bdubs shook his head, as Scar quickly pushed past his partner to snatch one off of the sheet. “Oh, it’s been so long since I’ve had something sugary that wasn’t cake!” He said while shoving the cookie in his mouth. Mumbo laughed.

“Yeah, it seems like these allays have a sweet tooth too. Except, instead of cake, I’m craving cookies!”

“So…what happened to all the evil magic?” Bdubs asked, “Magic can’t be destroyed, right? So what happened to the magic that made you evil? That made you a vex?”

Grian and Mumbo shared a look, before the human walked over to a backpack they had brought along to Bdubs’s home. Grian pulled out a glass butterfly jar, revealing a vex inside of the glass. It was trying its best to escape, with no success.

“It’s like all the evil was sucked out.” Grian explained, “We’re lucky we managed to catch this thing, it might have flown off and found Cub.”

Scar bent down to become eye level with the jar, tapping on the glass that separated them. “Aw,” he cooed. “ I forgot how cute little vexes are. And, hey—! Look! It has a little Mumbo mustache!”

Sure enough, the vex had a mustache, nearly identical to Mumbo’s. Grian placed the jar down on the kitchen counter, looking into it to study the creature. “Hey, you’re right!” He laughed, “Awe, he’s like your little mini-Mumbo!”

The allay shuddered. “Ugh…don’t remind me..that thing is just a reminder of all the bad things I did as a vex..” He mumbled, biting into a cookie to try and distract himself.

“So what? Should we kill it?” Scar raised an eyebrow, looking to Grian for answers.

“Maybe not. What if it’s some kind of freaky soul-link? And if we kill it, we kill Mumbo?”

“That would not be good.” Mumbo nodded, finishing off his cookie.

Scar shook his head, turning to the three. “We can find a way to get rid of these things after we help the other Hermits. Starting with you, Bdubs.”

He looked a little sad. “And you’re sure I can’t stay as a vex?”

“Trust me, you’ll feel so much better once you get all that evil magic out of your body.” Mumbo said with a smile, trying to assure the vex.

“I promise, I’ll be here with you. We can do this together.” Scar promised his partner, pressing their foreheads together.

“Okay..I’m ready.”

—

“And…you’re sure this thing is safe?”

“About 75% sure.” Mumbo said, pulling his pair of goggles over his eyes as he worked at the control panel. Scar nudged the allay in the ribs, causing him to flinch. “A-ah! I mean, 90. I’m 90% sure.”

Bdubs fiddled with his hands, standing awkwardly in the center of the machine. He peered out of the glass, staring into the eyes of his partner. “Scar…I’m scared..” Bdubs said quietly, his blue eyes saddened and afraid. The mayor pressed a hand to the glass.

“It’ll be okay.” He cooed, “I’ll be here.”

Mumbo looked towards the pair, his hand hovering over the button. “Are you two ready?” He asked, watching as Bdubs gave a reluctant and slow nod.

“Alright then. Here we go.”

He pressed the button, which caused the machine to jump to life and activate. It let out a low rumble, prompting Scar to step back in surprise. Bdubs stared through the tiny glass window, which was beginning to fog up from the steam on the inside. After a few moments, Scar could no longer see the vex, as the fog had completely covered the glass.

The allay was working at the machine’s panel, tapping the screen and adjusting settings as the machine continued to rumble and shake. His gaze was firm as he focused on the work, flipping a couple switches before typing in a command.

“I upgraded the control panel a bit since the last use,” Mumbo explained as he worked. “Hopefully that should make this transition a bit easier.”

“It doesn’t sound easy.” Scar mumbled in worry, flinching at every sound the machine made.

“Progress is at 78%…82%…almost there.” He spoke while entering more commands into the panel, his brow furrowed in concentration. The machine rumbled a bit more, though it slowed, before coming to a stop.

The mayor looked at Mumbo. “Is it over?” He asked, worried for the safety of his partner.

Mumbo pressed the button that activated the machine once more, causing the metal door to slide open. Steam rolled out as Bdubs stumbled forward, practically collapsing in Scar’s arms. The transformation seemed to have worked, as the same changes that Mumbo went through had now happened to Bdubs.

He no longer had claws or fangs, his wings seemed less ripped and shredded, and the color of his eyes and wings were much more vibrant. The machine had worked once more, changing Bdubs from a vex to an allay.

Scar helped his partner sit down on the floor, allowing for the newly-transformed allay to rest his head on the mayor’s chest. His eyes slowly opened, and Scar held his breath, waiting for Bdubs to come back to the moment.

Bdubs took a shaky breath before opening his blue eyes fully, gazing up at Scar. He gave a tired smile before leaning in, pressing a short kiss to his partner’s lips. “Guess I had no reason to worry,” He said, resting his head on Scar’s chest once more. “I feel like I love you even more than before, actually.”

The mayor’s eyes filled with tears as he wrapped his arms around Bdubs, pulling his close while kissing the allay’s head. “Oh Bdubs,” he mumbled between peppering his partner with kisses. “I love you so much.”

“Heh, Scar…you’re embarrassing me..” He blushed, watching as Grian and Mumbo giggled.

“I don’t care, I’m gonna cover your entire face with kisses!” Scar declared happily, pressing his lips to the tip of the allay’s nose. Bdubs gave an embarrassed scoff as he pulled away, cheeks red.

“I definitely feel like myself again,” He said, relaxing in his partner’s arms. “I felt like before my brain was just filled with thoughts that weren’t my own, that were just put in there by someone else…It feels nice to have my head back.”

“I’m glad you’re back too.” Scar kissed his partner on the forehead, his arms still wrapped around him.

Mumbo stepped forward, carrying a tray of cookies. “Sorry to interrupt,” He said a bit awkwardly, bending down to offer the baked goods. “But you might want to eat something. That machine basically drained all the vex magic from your body.”

“Speaking of which..” Grian grabbed another glass jar, jumping up and snagging a vex that was trying to fly away. “Gotcha!”

“Did that..come from me?” Bdubs asked, eyes wide in curiosity.

“He’s your son!” Scar giggled joking, as the allay rolled his eyes with a scoff.

“Hey! He’s got that little rope.. belt… thingy.. around his head! Like you!” Mumbo pointed out, tapping on the glass. The vex seemed to get angry, trying to bang on the glass before flying around in circles.

“Awe, he’s throwing a little temper tantrum! That’s definitely your child, Bdubs.” Grian smirked.

“I DO NOT THROW TEMPER TANTRUMS!” The allay huffed out angrily, his wings flapping in annoyance. Scar giggled as he leaned forward, pressing kisses along Bdubs’s neck.

“I think it’s cute.” His partner said, immediately calming Bdubs down. He blushed, trying his best to hide his embarrassment.

“Come on, it’s been a long day.” Mumbo said, offering his hand to the allay in order to help him stand. “Tomorrow, we can work out a plan. But we all need some sleep.”

“Sleep sounds amazing.” Bdubs sighed, swaying a bit on his feet.

“I agree.” Grian yawned, resting his head on Mumbo’s shoulder as they stood. “We only have two beds here, hopefully that won’t be much of a problem.”

“I like cuddling.” Scar smiled as he came up behind Bdubs, wrapping his arms around his partner.

“Wait, but what about you two? We’re still short by one bed.”

“Gri and I can cuddle as well.” Mumbo blushed a bit at the idea, “It would be nice, actually.”

“Wait, are you two—?!” The allay’s eyes went wide in shock.

“I..think so?” Grian gave an awkward chuckle, looking up at Mumbo. He took the allay’s hand, before looking back at Bdubs with a more confident smile. “Yeah. We are.”

“I didn’t even realize.” Bdubs shook his head.

“Well, to be fair, quite a lot has been going on.” Mumbo awkwardly laughed, looking down at Grian with rosy cheeks.

“We can discuss everything more when this whole ‘situation’ is over. Come on, let’s get some sleep.”

Chapter Text

It was late into the night, the entire server quiet. Grian and Mumbo were cuddling in bed, sharing the single mattress. Bdubs and Scar were meant to be sharing as well, though the mayor was missing. The allay stirred in his sleep, waking up when he realized his partner was missing.

“Scar?” He yawned, looking around. The mayor was missing, having wandered off somewhere most likely.

Bdubs was still pretty drowsy, but he pulled himself out of bed, heading out of Doc’s base in search of Scar. He glanced around for a few moments, rubbing his tired eyes, before eventually spotting the mayor sitting on the top of Doc’s goat statue. Bdubs frowned, opening his wings to fly over to his partner.

“Hey,” Bdubs spoke up as he landed nearby, walking over to Scar. “Everything okay?”

“Y-yeah!” His boyfriend sniffed, wiping away tears as he glanced away, clearly caught off guard.

The allay frowned, sitting down on the edge of the statue. “What’s wrong?” He tilted his head, staring into Scar’s green eyes. They were watery and red, filled with sadness and…something else. Guilt, maybe?

“I…I need to do something.” Scar looked down, twiddling his thumbs as he spoke. “I don’t want you to be mad.”

Bdubs cracked a smile, playfully punching his partner in the arm. “Awe, come on! I wasn’t mad when you turned me into a vex!”

Scar looked at him, clearly upset at the comment. The allay’s smile quickly faded. “Too soon?” He asked, softly.

His partner nodded slowly. His legs dangled over the edge of the stature, staring down at the water that was far below them. “I’m just sick and tired of everything.” Scar said, shutting his eyes for a few quiet moments. “I wish I never did any of this.”

“We can’t turn back time.” Bdubs placed a hand on the mayor’s shoulder, shaking his head. “All we can do is look back and remember what we did wrong. We just need to fix our mistakes.”

“About that..”

Bdubs tilted his head, his light blue eyes filled with curiosity and puzzlement. “What are you planning?” He teased, but Scar didn’t smile. He still seemed weighed down by guilt, something clearly on his mind.

“I’m going back.” Scar let out a heavy sigh, “I gotta turn myself back into a vex.”

“WHAT!?” Bdubs yelled out, his eyes glowing as his wings flapped anxiously behind him. “That’s suicide, Scar! You can’t do that! You’ll turn evil again, you’ll—“

“Bdubs.” Scar’s voice was calm, collected. He placed a hand on his partner’s thigh, his touch warm and comforting. The allay quickly shut his mouth, his eyes wide as he stared at his partner’s solemn expression.

For a moment, the two stared at one another, sitting in the moonlight. Scar leaned in, bringing their lips together for a long, tender kiss. Maybe it was to shut Bdubs up, maybe it was to calm both of their nerves, but either way, it managed to work. After they parted, their lips remained close, as if they both wanted to return the kiss.

Scar pulled away, his eyes serious. “Do you trust me?”

Bdubs sat there for a few moments, his eyes studying his partner’s expression. “More than anything.” He eventually said, despite his reluctance.

“Then let me do this.” Scar said, “Please.”

“Alright,” Bdubs brushed a bit of hair out of Scar’s face, placing his hand on his partner’s warm cheek. “How can I help you?”

Scar smiled, though his eyes remained tired and sad. “Just…stay with me. For a little bit longer.” He closed his eyes, leaning into the gesture.

“Of course.” Bdubs rested his forehead against his partner’s. “I’ll stay with you forever.”

—

“And…you’re sure?”

“I am.” Scar spoke with such firm certainty, it was hard to doubt him. Still, Mumbo, Grian, and Bdubs had all seen firsthand the monster Scar turned into when he was a vex hybrid. It was hard to trust him with that unstable power.

Mumbo and Grian shared a look of concern, before the allay let out a sigh of disapproval. “I don’t know, there’s gotta be another way…” He scratched his head, trying to come up with an alternate solution. Still, the mayor seemed adamant.

“Cub has an army.” Scar frowned, shaking his head. “And he’s too powerful for just the four of us to face. If I can take back control over the other vex-hermits, maybe I can even the playing field, or even change things for our favor.”

“This is way too dangerous!” Grian argued, looking to Bdubs to convince his partner to stop this reckless behavior.

Placing his hand on his partner’s shoulder, Bdubs stood firm. “I trust Scar. If he says this is the best way to stop Cub, then I believe him.”

Mumbo and Grian once more shared another look, but there wasn’t anything they could do to convince Scar otherwise. Letting out a heavy sigh, Mumbo stepped forward. “Alright, I’ll try to change you back. But…I don’t like this. It feels like Grian and I will get banned all over again…”

“I need to control myself,” Scar clenched his fists, looking away. “I know I don’t deserve your trust, especially after everything I did. But this is the best shot we have.”

“Alright Scar. How should we turn you back?” Mumbo asked, still reluctant.

Scar walked over to the glass jars they had trapped the two vexes in. The ones that were extracted from Mumbo and Bdubs, to be more specific. “Would these guys work?” He asked, holding up the jars. Mumbo frowned, scratching his chin.

“I suppose…It would likely turn Bdubs and I human again though, so our allay forms would be gone for good..”

“Boo!” Bdubs huffed, flapping his wings in an upset manner. “I liked flying without an elytra.”

“Agreed, but I’d like things to go back to normal.” Mumbo said, turning back to Scar. “Place those jars in the machine and step inside. Once you’re sealed in, let the vexes out.”

“Can you reverse the machine to put vexes back into people?” Grian asked.

“Maybe. Probably. Hopefully.” Mumbo just shrugged as he started pressing buttons on his keypad, typing things into the machine. The metal door slid open with a hiss, allowing Scar to step inside the machine.

Bdubs followed Scar close behind, anxiety in his eyes as he watched his partner step into the pod. “Be safe.” He said, trying not to show his worry. The door slid shut before Scar could respond, but they could still see one another through the glass window. The mayor just smiled and nodded, his gaze soft and calm.

“Alright, I think this might work!” Mumbo poked his head round the corner of the machine. “Scar, release the vexes!”

Scar twisted the metal caps off of the jars, freeing the two vexes. They began to fly around the machine, trying to search for an escape. “I’m ready!” He yelled out, standing tall as he shut his eyes.

Mumbo flipped on the machine, causing it to rumble and shake and whirl. The glass window quickly fogged up, making it hard to peer inside. The redstoner glanced over at Bdubs, noticing the bright blue wings on his back slowly beginning to fade. “It’s working, I think!”

“Working for us,” Said Bdubs. “We still don’t know about Scar.”

The machine continued to shake and run, a few minutes of waiting and worrying eventually passing by. They felt much longer now, especially waiting for Scar as he turned back into that horrific creature.

Then suddenly, it stopped, and the room became quiet.

Mumbo waited a few moments, almost as if he were waiting for a response, before pressing the button to open the door. He once again looked to Bdubs, who was fully human now. Mumbo didn’t feel very different, but he no longer felt the wings on his back, so he must have been turned human as well.

Stepping through the smoke, there was a cold blue glow in Scar’s eyes as he walked into the room. His wings were large, his claws sharp, and his teeth looked like fangs. He glanced around slowly at the three, from Mumbo, to Grian, to Bdubs, who all stared at him in fear and horror, waiting for the vex to say something.

Scar walked forward, locking eyes with Grian. “Go hide,” he commanded. “I’m going to bring Cub back to the machine. Get ready to lock us in at any minute.”

With that, the vex opened his massive wings, and flew off towards the shopping district.