Word count: 1400

Xisuma squinted at the light streaming into his eyes.

"Wh-what?" He flopped over, disoriented. He snuggled deeper into the sheets, trying to fall back asleep. He felt a buzz on his wristwatch. Xisuma ignored the buzz and groaned, still half asleep. The watch buzzed again harder this time.

"Okay what is it?" Xisuma pulled his wrist out and glared at it.

"You have five new messages." Hermitee told him in a too cheerful voice.

"What, Scar fell on a tree again?"

"No sir."

"What then?" Xisuma got out of bed and grabbed his armor. He glanced at the clock, it was twelve.

"First message is from False. She is asking how you slept. Would you like to reply?"

"Yes." Xisuma put his armor back on and headed out the door not really paying attention until the last message.

"Last message is from Ren." Hermitee started.

"Wait what? Ren! Read it!" Xisuma tapped his watch.

"Ren says 'Hey man! Sorry that I went AWOL for a little bit. Don't worry about me I'm fine. Something has happened to my skin. Come over to my track and we'll talk.' That is all."

Xisuma stared at the watch in disbelief. Sorry that he went AWOL? He's fine? All of those days of worrying and he just gets a text? Despite this, Xisuma walked to his nether portal, wincing at the familiar nauseating feeling that came with dimension traveling.

Iskall happened to be on the other side, looking like he wanted to go through. Xisuma gave him a nod and prepared to fly up to the higher section when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Xisuma, wait. I just need a minute of your time." Iskall had worry written all over his face. Xisuma turned and nodded, waiting for Iskall to continue. "I'm worried about Stress. She disappeared after that explosion, and then she went to Grian's minigame. Apparently she died there, but she wasn't at her respawn. I have no idea where she is."

Pressure applied itself to Xisuma's shoulders, the poor things taking so much lately. Xisuma looked through the tinted lens of his helmet at the concerned man.

"I am about to talk to Ren. Maybe he knows what happened to her." Xisuma half looked up at the upper level. "He is going to have to answer some questions about what is going on."

Xisuma decided now would be a good time to use his special wings. He needed to get there as quickly as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ren was sorting through a chest, items sometimes falling out of his fingers.

"Prepare...." The voice hissed, mocking the small part of Ren left.

I'm not going to tell you anything! Ren aimed invisible daggers at it.

"You don't have to." It laughed. "I already know all of your memories. This should be a piece of cake. Soon your admin will have fallen."

Ren pushed down the rage, needing to get information. Yelling at it would do no good, that strategy had been tried and failed.

Since it's sharing day, can I at least know your name?

"If you must know, I am V-65."

V-65 made Ren close the chest and walk out to the track area. Ok, I'm going to call you Vbee.

"How weak that your only power is to call me different names. Call me what you want, human, nothing you do will effect me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xisuma launched himself out of the minigame district portal, wasting no time. He typed quickly on his watch while in flight, looking for Ren's code. It was next to the boat race track. His visor went into tracking mode, searching for life forms.

Pig, cow, another pig, cat, Ren! The small circle focused on the blob of heat from under an awning. Xisuma was playing it safe, so using his wings he glided silently down. Landing without a single sound, Xisuma peeped his head slowly over the edge.

Something had happened to Ren. His skin had lost all color, even greying out his clothes. No Stress in sight, though. Xisuma rolled up and pressed a button on his helmet. The visor popped up to let the light hit his blue eyes.

"What are you up to, Ren?" Xisuma muttered to himself. He forged a ball of green light and pulled it into his body. His armor flattened out, and his wings changed back to normal. No risks today. Xisuma pretended he just fell, by rolling off the roof and feigning panicking.

Thump. V-65 turned his head at the sound.

"I take it that is your friend? Not a very graceful person ."

You planning on helping him up?

Xisuma looked up to see a vacant look on Ren's face. Understanding flashed across it, then Ren held out a helping hand. Strange indeed.

Xisuma tended to err on the side of trusting his friends, so he brushed off any weird feelings. He gave Ren a pat on the back.

"I'm glad to see you again." Xisuma nodded at the chest. "I wish you would have come to me sooner. Everyone is worried about you."

Ren glanced back at the chest and ran his fingers through what used to be hazel hair. "Sorry, Dude."

Xisuma raised an eyebrow at that weird comment. "I can fix your skin by the way. I just need to pull up my adm-"

"It's okay!" Ren held his hands up. Xisuma frowned at them, taking his hand off of his bag.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely positive!" Ren sounded way too cheerful for having his skin lose all its color. "I asked you over here so you could test something."

"What did you want tested?" Xisuma looked over at the track. Ren tucked one hand behind his back and used the other one to point at a water elevator. A stone pressure plate lay there just waiting to be walked over. Xisuma's computer focused on the redstone component. A warning sign flashed over his vision.

"Okay, I get it! Go away!" Xisuma told the computer.

"I beg your pardon?" Ren looked at Xisuma, multiple emotions warring against themselves.

"Nothing." Xisuma quickly replied, making Ren shake his head in confusion.

"The track is up there."

"You first," Xisuma stepped back. He wasn't taking any chances.

"You don't trust me?" Ren sounded hurt. Xisuma searched for a viable answer, hating to lie. Something about Ren just wasn't right. Thankfully his visor popped in with the perfect answer.

"I want to make sure nothing attacks us. I haven't slept in a while."

"Very well." Ren jumped into the water stream. Nothing happened. Satisfied, Xisuma followed. A quaint little walkway led to a holding cell containing a row boat.

Ren walked to the side of the cell. "When I flick this lever, prepare to go around the track." Xisuma nodded. The floor opened and he was off. Nothing could go wrong now, right? The track continued for a while but eventually Xisuma reached the end and the boat stopped.

Plunck, Hisssss.... Oh No! That was the sound of TNT! Xisuma leapt out and felt his body get pushed back. The totem flew out of his hand, healing him. He had survived! Xisuma began looking for a way out. He knew there was something wrong with Ren!

Boom. One last explosion. This time nothing saved him. Xisuma slumped, while Ren's evil laugh permeated his remaining hearing. I trusted you, X thought as the world faded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ren tried and failed to fight Vbee. The only product was him now slumped with no energy left, watching through eyes that used to be his.

You made a grave mistake today, Vbee.

"And how is that?" V-65 laughed at the weak form of Ren.

You just revealed yourself to the admin of the world. Now you will be eliminated.

"Shame you all have to die. You have so much faith in each other. Xisuma will be taken over by V-89, and his powers rendered useless."

Useless! How?

"Your code had been corrupted. Now, so has your admin's. That means that he has no powers."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xisuma jumped up from where he had been laying down. The world spun rapidly, the blood leaving his head. Trying to get his bearings, X's hand steadied his head. He noticed something odd, and had to do a double take. His hand had lost all its color.

"Okay, we need to get back." Xisuma tried summoning the admin light. Nothing. Just a tiny flicker that got snuffed out. "What in the blazes is going on?"

V-89 roared up inside of him, fighting to get control. The battle was tough, Xisuma had such a strong will. Eventually V-89 won out and pushed Xisuma to the back of his mind.

"Have fun making traps." V-89 laughed as it made Xisuma walk slowly back to the nether hub.