Sam had decided to go on a walk to clear his mind. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't realised how far he walked from the cave.
He looked up, seeing the moonlight shine through the dark oak trees. He sighed. He hadn't expected to be gone longer than an hour or two, but he had been walking for approximately half a day.

Suddenly, he heard a twig snap behind him, making him turn and throw a pocket knife in that general direction. It turns out it was just a rabbit, of which was now pinned to a tree and dying. Sam scowled as he stared into the lifeless eyes of the bunny. He pulled the knife out as the animal slumped onto the ground. The blood reminded him of simpler times, when he could kill without consequences and when people were too afraid to snitch. He stored the knife away and turned to see a familiar red sweater and parrot wings.

Grian had not seen him yet, meaning Sam had the upper hand. Sam immediately hid behind the closest tree as he watched the unsuspecting Hermit.

He was collecting branches and logs, loading them into a satchel which had been hung loosely on his shoulder.

Grian had been instructed to go and collect firewood since the campfire was dying and most of the wood resources were being used for other things like temporary housing.

He had ventured relatively deep into the wilderness and only a few of the Hermits knew he had gone. Luckily for him, there weren't any dangers near. Except for one.

Sam suddenly jumped in front of Grian surprising him and making him drop all of the wood he was holding in his hands.

"Hello, Gree-on. It's been a while hasn't it, friend?" Sam giggled a little, pulling out a knife.

In this situation, Grian would have been too afraid to run. But now, he had dealt with Sam enough times to know that, despite having the appearance of a rabbit, he didn't have much stamina.

So Grian ran. This caught Sam off guard, who began chasing and throwing his knife in frustration.

Grian began weaving in and out of the trees, ignoring the sadist's shouts and warnings.
For the first time in a while, Grian felt a rush of adrenaline. He was excited yet wary. He knew he had a chance to get away.

He looked back, seeing Sam grumbling and sprinting as fast as he could. Before Grian looked forward again, he ran straight into a low-hanging branch which made him fall over onto the ground.

He groaned in pain as Sam looked over him, still gripping a knife.

"Running never  works Gree-on. You should know that by now!" Sam giggled.

"Y-you sick sadist!" Grian coughed out, trying to lift himself from the ground.

Sam kicked him to the floor again, leaving a patch of dirt on Grian's face. 

"I prefer to think of myself as a sadomasochist." Sam laughed again, watching Grian struggle to keep his eyes open.

"Th-that's even worse..." Grian struggled to complete a sentence at this point. Black dots were clouding his vision and all his senses seemed fuzzy.

Suddenly, and arrow shot through the air above him, catching Sam off guard.

The psychopath fell to the ground instantly and coughed out some blood. Someone ran forward and grabbed him, making sure he couldn't move. Sam tugged the arrow from his chest.

"Hey, G? My dude? Are you still with us?" The figure asked, checking the many scratches and scars all over Grian's face and neck.

Grian let out a half-hearted grunt.

"Doc! Grian's ok!" Grian assumed the figure was Ren and the other was obviously Doc.

"Okay. Could I get some help with this idiot over here?" Doc said, trying to stop Sam from moving.

"Yeah, sure." Ren replied, helping Grian into a sitting position against the tree.

"Back away from Sam." A voice demanded.

Grian looked behind Doc, where Cleo, Etho and False stood, each holding swords.

"Why are you even on Sam's side?!" Doc asked, trying to reason with the Hermits.

"He must pay." They all said in unison.

"They sound like they're being controlled." Ren said, stood in front of Grian to protect him.

"...They are... We're just not sure how." Grian murmured, feeling strength return to his body little by little.

"Destroy Sam's communicator. I don't think it would be very helpful if he had access to the chat where we've been discussing our plans to take him down." Ren said.

"Wait. You've been discussing your plans to take me down in the one place I can see?" Sam enquired as Doc stole another knife from him.

"...In hindsight, that was a little silly of you." Grian laughed, feeling a little delirious.

Doc grumbled in agreement.

"Just destroy the communicator already!" Ren shouted.

Doc took a knife and jammed it into the screen of the device.

The three controlled Hermits ahead started freaking out, saying different things randomly.

"Stop! STO- NO DOC, THE COMMUNI- Don't listen to him! -CATOR IS WHAT'S CONT- SHUT UP! -ROLLING US!" Etho kept switching between these two mindsets, grabbing his head in his hands.

Cleo was going through a similar situation.

"DESTROY THE COMMUNICATOR AND I'LL DESTROY YO- Doc! Please! We've been trapped for so lo- STOP IT! JUST STO- PLEASE DOC- SHUT UP!" She was also having a conflict with herself.

Doc gave Ren a quizzical look.

"Keep stabbing it, dude!" Ren said, pointing to the knife in Doc's hand.

Despite having a similar physical response, False had gone mostly silent, aside from a few screams.

Doc stabbed it a few more times and the 'controlled' Hermits were left on the ground, speechless.

"Thank you, Doc. But I can still feel the presence of the 'controlled Etho'. I feel like that's not the last we'll see of him. " Etho explained.

"Yeah. Same for me here." Cleo said, standing up and glaring at Sam.

False nodded along, not feeling like talking after the strange events that had led up to this moment.

"Why don't you just take your communicators off? Those things were controlling you, right?" Ren suggested, pointing at Etho's wrist.

"I think they're connected to us. Like a robot or something?" Cleo said, poking at the communicator.

"No offence, Doc." Etho added.

"Being half robot is pretty cool anyway." Doc shrugged, still sat on Sam.

"Yeah, but if it risks you guys, I don't think I want it connected to me." Cleo said, still prodding at the screen.

"Let's just head back to camp for now. I'm pretty sure Grian has a concussion. He is giggling randomly for no reason and keeps complaining about the 'world spinning'." Ren recommended.

"Yeah. Come on." Doc agreed, grabbing Sam by the collar and lifting him up to a standing position.

Sam's hands had been tied back by Doc whilst they were all talking.
Grian was struggling to stand up straight, even with Ren's help and was still dealing with the world 'spinning'.

Luckily, they weren't too far from the camp so it was quite easy to get back there, especially since there was still some smoke from the dying fire. Etho had taken Grian's satchel full of wood, since the shorter Hermit looked dazed and was having trouble standing upright. Cleo and Doc were holding Sam still. They even grabbed a piece of cloth and stuffed it into his mouth after he started talking and threatening Grian again.

They made it back to the clearing to see Xisuma talking to Mumbo about something.

"Hey, X." Etho said, oblivious to the fight that happened the previous day.

Etho got punched immediately by X in the stomach.

"Wait, X! We broke them from Sam's control. They're both ok now." Ren explained.

"Oh... Etho I'm so sorry! I didn't realise you were back to normal." Xisuma started rambling.

"It's alright." Etho said simply.

"Is there anywhere to but Sam? He's been kicking me for the past minute." Doc grumbled, shoving Sam in front of Xisuma.

"... Sam. Throw him in a hole. Just make some stairs down to it and make sure there's no escape. Also, someone needs to be watching him at all times." Xisuma said sternly.

"Understood." Doc said, harshly grabbing Sam's wrists and dragging him away.

Grian started giggling and slouching onto Ren again.

"What happened to Grian?" Xisuma asked, watching Ren hold Grian by the shoulders to keep him still.

"Sam chased him into a low-hanging tree branch, which he ran into. Ren thinks he has a concussion." Cleo explained sighing.

"Oh... You should probably take him to stress so that he can get that checked..." X advised, watching Grian start closing his eyes.

"No, Grian. You can't fall asleep yet." Ren said guiding him away from the group.

"Wait for me!" Mumbo shouted, jogging after the two Hermits.

Etho, False, Cleo and X were left, watching each other awkwardly.

"So... We're really sorry about the whole Sam situation. Even if he did control us, we decided to join him in the first place..." Cleo apologized, Etho nodding and agreeing with her words.

"As long as you're okay know, I think everyone else can forgive you." Xisuma smiled.

"There's... Something else, too. Sam might still be able to control us. Until we get these communicators off, it's uncertain when we'll turn into our controlled counterparts." False explained, holding out her wrist for X to inspect.

"It seems that the communicators have fused with your skin and has been able to connect to the nerves in your arm, which is connected to your brain, hence why it's able to control you. It's very dangerous and you might need undergo surgery to get rid of it without damaging your arm." Xisuma explained, tapping the communicator.

"For now, we'll just have to hope nothing happens. And if you guys are open to getting that surgery, you'd need to talk to Doc. He is probably the most trustworthy since he has been updating his own robot body parts for as long as I can remember. If he's not available, then I guess Iskall would be your best bet. He's got his cyborg eye, which he sometimes modifies. If those guys both can't do anything then I suppose Cub knows as few things and he could help. He may not be the best on the server but he at least knows how to do science things." Xisuma finished, letting go of False's arm and sighing.

"Thanks, X. We'll probably talk to Doc later." Cleo smiled, knowing that she wouldn't have to deal with the anxiety of attacking her friends for too much longer.

Grian had made his way to his own house, where stress was talking to a few of the Hermits.

"Hey guys. What are you doing in here." Stress asked, watching Grian giggle.

"I'm pretty sure Grian is concussed." Mumbo explained.

"Right... How did this happen?" She asked, guiding Grian to the seats which she had set up for her 'patients'

"He hit his head on a tree branch." Ren explained to both Mumbo and Stress.

"Hey, Grian? Can you tell me how you feel?" Stress asked, checking his head for any physical damage.

"...The world is spinning and I feel reaaaaallllllyyyyyy tired." Grian giggled a little bit, closing his eyes.

"Alright. Grian, please don't go to sleep yet."  Stress told him, whilst grabbing Mumbo and Ren, pulling them both to the side.

"He is almost definitely concussed. He has some obvious symptoms- he seems confused, there's a delay when he answers questions, he literally can't stand up straight, his world is 'spinning' (whatever that means). And worse of all he keeps complaining that he's tired which means he'll probably loose consciousness soon." Stress finished, watching the delirious Hermit in her peripheral vision.

"So what should we do?" Mumbo asked, worried for his friend.

"For now, you can let him rest for a few hours at a time but check on him every few hours. There is no noticeable swelling but he does have a bruise so you'll want to but an ice pack on that. On terms of medicine, you can give him a healing potion. Other than that, just make sure to keep an eye on him." Stress explained, continuing to observe the concussed Hermit, who was tapping on the arm of the chair randomly.

"He'll be okay soon though, right?" Ren asked.

"By tomorrow morning he should be less... Hysterical. And he should return to his normal self in the next week or so. I'll check on him every day. If you have any worries, just message me or something." Stress continued, finally turning her gaze to the two taller Hermits.

"So all we need to do is make sure he's not doing something stupid?" Ren was taking notes mentally.

"No, that's inevitable. Grian always makes stupid decisions, just keep some ice on his head and make sure he gets rest since most concussed people have trouble sleeping." Stress explained.

"Thank you  Stress. I'll take him to his own room now." Mumbo finished the conversation, turning to see the short Hermit right behind him.

Mumbo screamed a little, startling Grian and making him stumble back slightly.

"Okay, let's take you to your room, G." Ren said, grabbing the shorter Hermit by the shoulders and leading him up the stairs.

Luckily for them, Grian didn't protest to the idea of sitting and doing nothing, despite getting bored after a few minutes.

Sam grumbled, at least in his last prison he had moss. But now he was just stuck in a hole, guarded by a creeper-robot thing and a zombie.

"Can I go now?" Sam complained.

"No." Doc replied, beginning to get tires of Sam's constant talking.

"Can't we just kill him?" Cleo suggested, scowling at the psychopath.

"Nope. Under strict orders of Xisuma- until we can get Xanthe to ban him and send him to that cool void prison place, we're stuck with him." Doc sighed, not happy about dealing with the killer.

The fighting had finally stopped. Despite the lack of physical conflict, the Hermits still had many things to do before they were completely satisfied with the outcome of the server.