TW: mentions/vague flashback of rather gruesome death

After 1 interrogation, Scar was on edge. After Bdubs's interrogation used every fact he had about Scar as mayor in Season 7 and then the Life Series, he was fading towards full discomfort, the watching hermits and fear of being banned impossible to ignore. And after Doc's argument called the Vex unnatural freaks, and Vexlings not real players, he was utterly mentally and emotionally exhausted.

'I need a pause,' Scar insisted as Beef prepared. 'Just a couple minutes. I need a moment alone to recover. Please. The Vex are...'

'Enough about the stupid Vex, murderer.' Doc growled. Scar fell silent.

'We've been here for 3 hours straight. He needs time out,' Cub insisted. 'Seriously.'

'I'm all ready.' Beef stepped to the centre. 'Now, Scar.'

'What?' Scar's response came out somewhere between a sob and a frustrated laugh. 'No break then?'

'My learned friend Joel asked earlier how many times you were possessed. I'd like a full list of what happened all those times.'

'What?'

'Or did you not care enough to take note of them?'

'Of course I did. We pranked Xisuma first with a creeper, then Joe with Red Sky Bay of Pigs...' With impressive memory, despite the discomfort and the general exhaustion, possession, and little solid memory of that season, Scar recited every prank in season 5. And then the times in Season 6. And then the few times after that, '...and the last time was towards the start of the season where we just placed a lot of poppies around your base, Beef.'

'I remember that, yes.' A pause. Beef stepped closer. 'And I remember another time you forgot.'

'What?' Scar stopped, gaze shifting to Cub, then back. 'When?'

'When you invaded our home, grabbed Bdubs, held a knife to his throat and told us to obey you and Cub or you'd kill him.'

Silence.

'What.' Scars words were barely audible. 'No.'

'And Cub had his own knife and was stopping us from running. I've never seen Etho more scared than when Cub pinned him against that tree and trapped his hands in crystal behind his back. And you let all 4 of us down, down, down, under our base and into a pit made completely out of what we later figured out was unbreakable Vex magic, where you left us.'

'No... they wouldn't. They wouldn't do that. They'd tell us if they did... someone would've told us... there can't have been another time. We'd know.'

'Doc, can you pass me the book on our table about Vexling possession?'

Scar stopped breathing.

He scanned the room for a friendly face he didn't find. Most hermits couldn't look at him. Cleo and Joe were trying to comfort Cub. Grian was just staring at him in horror. Hypno's glare reached him from the back of the room, next to where Keralis was comforting the terrified xB. Ren was staring at the ground, fidgeting. Skizz was muttering to Tango and Impulse. Etho was next to Bdubs, who was struggling to hold back what could only be a panic attack.

'Vexlings can be possessed at any time, including if they're asleep. In this case, when woken, the Vexling remains possessed. These are often the times the Vexling will commit its worst crimes.'

For a moment, the only noise in the world was the thudding of Scar's heart in his ears. And the moment Beef spoke again, he wished it could've remained that way.

'Therefore, it is very possible you don't recall that, or the possession when you came back. Or our screams when you and Cub did what I can't mention, years later, in Bdubs's presence without the trauma coming back to him.' Beef's accusing stare didn't shift from Scar, who tried to look anywhere else.

Beef stepped closer, pulling up his shirt sleeve.

'But I can still show you the scars.'

And then Scar couldn't look away. He couldn't stop the train of thought leading to exactly what he'd done. Vague memories. Blood everywhere. He wanted to vomit. He wanted to scream, tear the Vex from his mind, even though it would kill him. He didn't care it would kill him. He wanted it to kill him.

'Do you still think you're innocent, Scar?'

He couldn't reply. If he opened his mouth, it wouldn't be words that came out, it would be the vomit he was forcing down. He struggled for breath.

'I want an answer, Scar. You're supposed to tell the truth here. Are you innocent? Because we've proved today that the little monsters in your mind could've taken over and killed Jevin.'

He shook his head. The Vex screeched in his mind. Laughing? Protesting? Scar couldn't tell, didn't know. His head was tearing in two. He wanted it to. He wanted the Vex gone, gone, gone, gone.

'I know you killed him. And Cub was there, laughing. Or did you watch Cub do it? As you taunted him, and told jokes, and watched him bleeding, screaming, begging for you to have mercy as he stared into those cold, white eyes that only want to kill...'

'Beef, enough.' Doc was first to speak. 'Bdubs is here.'

'We were recovering for ages from the injuries. Not to mention the time it even took us to respawn altogether after the trauma of our death.

His chest was on fire. He wasn't breathing, couldn't speak. There was just his heart, the Vex, the sight of those scars, the memory that couldn't be real. The growing nausea. The world span. His skull splintered. All he could hear was flashes of Beef's words. Monster... Blood... Didn't notice. His hands dug further into the wood, fighting vertigo. Beef was still talking. Trauma... Bdubs especially... Monsters like you... The Vex... The sound of footsteps. Etho calling Bdubs's name, following him out. Refusing to speak... he knows he's guilty... 'Beef that's enough.' Murderer. Killed us. Canni-

The ground gave way.

All he could hear was laughter. Their laughter. The Vex's laughter. Screaming. Pleading. Covering his ears did nothing. Scratching them. Trying to tear them out, stop the noise. But he could smell the blood. He could see the scene every time he closed his eyes. Feel blood over his hands, his face, his clothes. There was someone else there. Beef. Doc. Etho. Bdubs. Bleeding. Dying. Because of him. And Cub. Cub, holding them down, telling him 'It's over Scar. It's just us now.' He threw up. Again, and again, beyond there being nothing left. Until he was vomiting blood. Because he'd just... just... The blood had come from...

The world turned dark.