TW: description of injuries

'Are you alright?'

Scar ignored Elex's question, just continuing along the 1-block wide tunnel Ren and Keralis had led them to. Apparently Cub was down here. The brightness of his necklace proved the same. But it didn't stop Scar's worry much. Or the phantom pain growing clearer with every step, the growing faintness, both reminding Scar of whatever had happened to Cub, and the fact that if even he could feel it...

'Can we go any faster?' he asked instead. Ren sped up slightly. Joe put a hand on Scar's shoulder.

'We're getting him back, Scar. Stay patient.'

'Joe, he could be bleeding out right now! I'm not getting there too late to save him! Come on!'

It wasn't long until the tunnel opened into an empty cave. Elex checked coordinates.

'We're right at the bottom of the world... no wonder your necklace wasn't glowing much at the surface... Ren, Keralis, what way now?'

'I...' Ren glanced off each way, struggling to find any landmarks in the rock deepslate and tuff. 'I don't know...'

'This way,' Scar pointed off left, holding the necklace jewel tight. With every step it grew brighter, first walking, and then running as he noticed the trail along the ground.

Blood.

'Fuck- no- no... Cub? Cub?' Scar broke into a sprint. 'CUB I'M COMING!'

'Keep your voice down! Doc might still be here!'

'If he knows we led you here, he'll kill us!' Ren hissed. 'Shh!'

'CUB!' Scar continued regardless, voice breaking with terror, the trail of blood continuing. 'I'M HERE! WHERE ARE YOU?'

'Scar- SCAR!' Elex followed after. 'We said be quiet!'

'I'm saving Cub! There's blood everywhere and- and- here. It leads here. He's through here.' Scar stopped, uneasy at how dim his necklace still was. If he was right next to Cub, it would be so much brighter. Maybe there was another tunnel.

Or maybe it was bedrock, the block that slowly stifled vexling magic until it killed the vexling themself.

No. He couldn't think that. If it had already faded that much in this time...'

'He's through here.' Scar drew a pickaxe, cutting through the deepslate until it fell away. Joe's assistance next to him sped up the process, breaking through what quickly proved to be thicker than just 1 block. Or two. Or...

They hit a different material.

'Bedrock.'

'Fuck. No- no- Cub? Cub are you there?'

'He must be, I don't know why else they'd put bedrock here... Stand back, Xel taught me a good Watcher trick for breaking bedrock.'

'Isn't bedrock really bad for vexlings?' Keralis asked.

'Yeah. Yep. It's poisonous. If Cub's in there... fuck, no wonder I feel faint... what the fuck has Doc done?!' Ren grew pale, focusing on Elex's progress.

'I swear I wasn't part of any bedrock... stuff. I swear... Elex, is that working?'

'Yep!' Elex called back, despite the fact it looked like nothing had changed. Until the wall fell away and a wall was revealed behind.

'Cub?' Scar ran over, ready to enter the room until Elex blocked the way.

'Careful. There's a drop... It just goes down... there's some kind of pit of...'

'Sculk.' Scar's stomach twisted. 'I'm going in.'

Ignoring Elex's warnings, Scar summoned a ball of vexling fire before dropping into the pit. It wasn't a long fall, thankfully. Sculk covered the ground, and almost all of an unconscious figure that could only be...

'Cub...' Scar whispered, falling next to his best friend. 'No no... wake up, Cub. Wake up.' He was barely breathing, skin freezing cold, eyes closed. 'Wake up, the meanie bedrock's gonna...' Scar tore at the sculk, the veins tangling around his hands. 'Joe! Elex! Help!'

Scar's panic was so much that he couldn't even manage a thanks as Elex and Joe followed him in to help, though Ren and Keralis remained to stay watch above. the ladder placing a ladder to let them back up. With a mix of fire, claws, and sheer willpower, the three tore away the sculk, until they realised it wasn't the only thing trapping Cub there.

'Bedrock.' Elex realised, staring at the collar around Cub's neck. 'Where the fuck did Doc get this from? Joe, Scar, keep freeing him from the sculk, I'll handle this.'

The extent of Cub's torture was only revealed more and more as the three tried to free him. They found more bedrock restraining him, tight around his wrists and ankles. Cuts covered him, one of his legs was broken, something had stabbed straight through one of his hands, causing Elex's attention to immediately shift from freeing him to covering the wound in layers of bandages. But only once Cub was fully freed from the sculk and they saw his back did they realise the worst of Doc's work.

'They- he- Doc cut off his wings.'

'His Vex wings? That's possible?'

'Fuck, what?' Elex turned from breaking the last of the bedrock to covering the deep gashes where Cub's wings would have appeared from.

'I'm gonna kill him. I swear I'm gonna murder Doc with the passion of a thousand Scars...' Tears ran down Scar's face. 'I don't give a fuck what you say.'

'I wasn't going to stop you. Come on, let's get him out of here.' Elex decided, 'Both of you. Before the bedrock kills you. We can handle the rest of these cuts when he's out... fuck It looks like Doc just beat him up.' Elex reached out to lift Cub, but Scar was faster, hugging Cub close as he lifted him up. Joe quickly replaced his ladders with stairs that Scar could climb much easier with Cub in his arms.

'I... I might be able to find the room where his stuff is,' Ren muttered from the side, unable to look at Cub. 'I kinda remember that tuff patch... I think that was where I was sick.'

'Joe, go with him,' Elex replied. 'And stay safe. Don't let Doc catch you.'

The pair ran off, and Elex continued unravelling bandages, wrapping them around Cub's bleeding arms and legs. Scar ran one hand, flickering with vex fire, through his hair, hoping that magic was enough to pull him from the effects of the bedrock. Keralis stayed sat to one side, sometimes keeping watch for Doc, sometimes looking at the pair helping Cub. It wasn't long later that Elex had covered everything and Ren returned, empty handed.

'I'm sorry dudes... he must've destroyed or hidden them...'

'We looked as hard as we could,' Joe added. 'I know how much that labcoat meant to him.'

'I'll make another.' Scar muttered. 'I need something to distract myself from murdering Doc... come on. Let's get him out of here.' Scar lifted Cub again, leading the way towards the cave exit and outside.