"So you really don't mind?"

The admin chuckled softly, "Of course not, Scar. I'll happily help you relabel your potions from season seven. It'll add a bit of excitement to this boring day."

The terraformer nodded his head, setting down a few glass bottles on a table in his starter base. "You really don't mind testing these out? I mean, they shouldn't hurt, and I have antidotes, but still."

"Eh, it'll be fun." Xisuma laughed as he took a seat, Scar smiling at the admin's courage. The cat-lover reached for a light pink brew, uncorking the potion bottle.

He poured a bit of the pink liquid onto the top of Xisuma's helmet, a light glow beginning to spread throughout his body. "Okay...this should tingle. I'll grab the antidote if it starts to hurt."

Xisuma slightly raised an eyebrow, looking down at his gloved hands, which were glowing from the potion. "I don't feel anything. The only thing that's really happening is this glow."

"Just give it a moment. It can take a bit for the potion to kick in." Scar explained as he set down the bottle, turning his back on the admin. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed a pink smog surrounding his ankles, the terraformer quickly turning around, X surrounded in the strange pink mist.

When the fog cleared, the only remnants of Xisuma was his helmet, which was sitting on his chair. Scar's eyes widened. 'Did he teleport? Or maybe he shrunk?' The terraformer thought to himself, but Scar froze when the helmet began to move.

He slowly reached for his sword, using the point of the blade to slowly lift the helmet up to see what was underneath Xisuma's headgear.

There was a small pink axolotl, happily smiling while its tail wagged with joy. Scar raised an eyebrow, "Xisuma, is that you?" He asked, setting down his sword while crouching to become eye-level with the amphibian.

Xisuma leapt off the chair and over Scar's head, snatching the small hat on the terraformer's head. "Hey! Give that back!" He called, chasing after the axolotl, that ran out of the starter base.

Scar scooped the mischievous axolotl into his arms, Xisuma squirming as the terraformer tugged his hat out of the amphibian's mouth.

"Alright X, I think I have an antidote to change you back, so stay put, okay?" Scar said as he set Xisuma down onto the table with the potions, the admin's tail wagging as he smiled at the terraformer.

Scar pointed a finger at Xisuma. "Stay," he said, as if he were training a pet. The amphibian bit his finger, gnawing on the terraformer. It didn't hurt, but it was annoying. The brunet pulled away, picking up one of the potions.

"Okay...one of these should be the anti—" Scar froze as he heard a bottle shatter against the ground. He turned around, Xisuma innocently wagging his tail after pushing the glass bottle off the table.

"And...I bet that was it.." he groaned, pulling open a drawer and pulling out an old book. He pushed the other potions out of the way, flipping through a few pages. Xisuma chewed on the edge of the paper, Scar slightly scratching the axolotl's head as he read.

Scar let out an annoyed groan. "These ingredients for the antidote could take days to get without an elytra.." he muttered, picking up Xisuma and setting the amphibian down in a water bucket.

The terraformer pulled out his communicator, calling a group meeting with the server. Hopefully they could help with his little Xisuma problem.

—

"Soooo.....this axolotl is X?" Grian asked as he poked the amphibian between the eyes, Xisuma sticking out his tongue while wagging his tail. Scar set down the bucket on the ground, nodding his head with a sigh.

"Yeah...he can't speak, and I don't think he has any memories of us, or anything, really. He's just acting like a mischievous little axolotl." Scar explained, Bdubs frowning.

"So what, he'll turn back in a couple hours?"

"I..it's not that simple. We need to make an antidote, but without elytras, it could take days.." Scar said hopelessly, causing the hermits to share looks of concern.

Stress stepped forward, lifting the bucket off the ground and staring at the little pink amphibian with an innocent smile on his face. "Awe, he can't be that much trouble. We can take care of him til' you get back!"

"I'm so glad you're willing to help." Scar sighed with relief. "If some of you could come with me to gather the ingredients, that would be great."

"The boatem village and I can watch him first, we can take turns babysitting Xisumalotl!" Impulse offered, Stress handing the Redstoner the bucket.

"Ren and I will take the next shift." Doc offered while petting Xisuma's head.

"And Tango, Keralis, and I can watch him too!" Bdubs said, Scar nodding at the arrangements.

"Okay, everyone else, let's pack and get going to gather the ingredients." Scar said as he turned to the little amphibian, the terraformer pulling out a small tropical fish. Xisuma wagged his tail excitedly, grabbing the fish out of Scar's hands and eating it in seconds.

"Take good care of him!" Scar waved goodbye with the rest of the hermits that were available to go on the journey, Mumbo taking the bucket from Impulse.

"Oh, this shouldn't be too hard!" He laughed, before Xisuma leapt out of the bucket, grabbing onto the edge of Mumbo's mustache, trying to pull it off the Brit's face.

"Ow! Hey! Get Xisuma off of me!" Mumbo said hopelessly, Pearl and Grian sharing a look before falling over with laughter. Impulse quickly grabbed hold of the small pink amphibian, putting X back into the bucket before he could cause any trouble.

Xisuma, despite the lack of teeth, had somehow managed to pull off a chunk of Mumbo's mustache, which only made Grian and Pearl laugh harder.

"You lost a fight to an axolotl!" Grian said between his laughter, while the redstone's face heated up with embarrassment.

"H-he's stronger than I thought, okay?!"

"Sure, sure.." Grian chuckled as he got off the ground, taking Xisuma from Impulse and letting the amphibian gnaw on his finger.

"I had two axolotls a while ago," the Brit explained as he put Xisuma back into the water bucket to let him swim around. "I'll take first watch."

—

Grian was sitting at a desk in his starter base, Xisuma's bucket sitting on the edge of the table. He hadn't caused any trouble, allowing for the builder to begin drawing up sketches of his mega base for the season. He hadn't even realized that a few hours had past.

"Grian, are you here? I'm here to pick up X." Pearl called as she knocked on the door, while the builder stood up and opened the front door.

"He's right over here," Grian said as he moved to his desk, Pearl following close behind. He picked up the bucket and handed it to Pearl, who frowned.

"Um, Grian, Xisuma isn't in here." Pearl said nervously, causing the Brit's eyes to widen. He glanced into the bucket, but there was only water.

"H-he was right here!" Grian exclaimed nervously, looking around to see where X had waddled off to.

"Well, we need to find him!" Pearl said while rushing out the door, Grian following after him. He couldn't have gotten far, but who knows how long Xisuma was gone for.

When the two stepped outside, the first thing Grian noticed was the large holes in the ground. "Xisuma is probably looking for worms, that's what axolotls like to eat." He suggested, Pearl nodding her head.

"Alright, let's hurry and find him, before he gets into even more trouble." The Australian said while kneeling in the mud, digging through some of the holes to look for the pink axolotl.

"It rained yesterday, right? Hopefully X can find some puddles or something if he needs water." The Brit muttered, feeling guilty for losing the admin almost immediately.

Pearl placed a hand on Grian's shoulder, giving him a warm smile. "We'll find him." She assured the builder, who slightly nodded. He wanted to believe her, but the Brit couldn't help but worry.

—

Ex stumbled out of a ruined portal, lightning striking the area as the evil hermit gasped for breath. He leaned on the obsidian to try and steady himself, after so long in the void, the overworld felt so hard to breathe in.

He couldn't stay here, not in hermitcraft, not with Xisuma. Ex needed to hide, before his brother would ruin the little time of freedom that he had.

When the admin's brother finally caught his breath, he ran. Ex ran as fast as he could, as far as he could, somewhere away from the hermits.

Stumbling through the snowy mountain tops, he reached the edge, staring down at a village, something the hermits made, Ex assumed.

He was freezing, hungry, and alone. Ex sat down in the snow, letting out a quiet sigh as his shoulders relaxed. The Brit knew that he would need to keep running soon, but he needed some time to relax.

A rustle in the snow came from nearby, Ex stumbling over upon hearing something. He thought it was a hermit, grabbing a stick that was in the snow, holding it in front of him to use as a weapon.

He lowered the stick as he spotted a small, pink head poking out of the snow. Ex set down the wooden stick, standing up to investigate.

"How the hell did you get up here?" Ex asked while lifting the axolotl into his arms, the pink amphibian smiling as it wagged its tail.

Ex chuckled underneath his breath. "Alright. I'll keep you with me, I need a friend, anyway." He said while turning away from the village, stroking the amphibian's head.

"Come on, let's go find a place to hide before my brother finds the two of us."