Cleo was forced into her knees, her fiery orange hair falling into her face. She glanced up at Joe, his face twisted into a sickening grin. His glasses were cracked, his fingers now claws, and his eyes held no life. Her eyes then darted to the left and right, studying the remaining hermits that were stuck in the same position as her. Wels and Zedaph.

"Well, well, the last few troublemakers. Glad I finally got my hands on you.." Cub laughed to himself, his eyes radiating with power as he stared down at the three remaining hermits.

Joe had been caught some time ago. Snatched right off the ground by Xisuma and carried back to the vex-infested shopping district, where he was turned into a mindless servant to the mayor. The zombie had been lucky enough to avoid the brainwashed hermits, though it didn't last for long. They were practically everywhere, especially since nearly all of the server members were now vex hybrids.

Now, her hands were tied behind her back, and she was stuck kneeling before Cub. The southerner chuckled from above her, flexing his new claws and tapping them against her shoulder, like he was tempted to dig into her skin. Cleo looked over her shoulder once again, meeting the icy glare of her best friend.

"Don't worry—" He said while gently brushing away the hair in her face. "—this won't hurt at all. Not to mention you'll look beautiful as a vex!"

"Enough with your flattery." The undead hermit growled.

"C'mon, Cleo." Beef chimed in with a smile, tightening the ropes around the knight's wrists to keep him from escaping. "It's not all that bad!"

"Yeah! We're all connected to one another now, we're united by our magic!" Tango agreed, walking from behind Zedaph to take his place next to Cub. The other two vexes joined them, all four sharing the exact same sickeningly evil grin.

"You're brainwashed idiots, that's what you are."

"Ignore her." Cub spoke up again, his voice holding the vex-hermits undivided attention. "Are these the last hermits? What about the mycelium resistance?"

"Xisuma is working on adjusting their code to ensure undying loyalty towards our lovely mayor. We don't want any repeats of Mumbo!" Beef said cheerfully, as if it was just a silly little mistake. But no. They banned him.

"How many are left?"

"Just a few. Impulse, Jevin, Stress. There's also Etho and Iskall, but those two are already mindlessly loyal. We have all the time in the world." Tango grinned, his pointed teeth flashing a twisted smile. Cleo could see Zedaph shutter at the sight.

"Wonderful. Then I guess we should get started now, hm?" He asked, turning his attention towards the kneeling hermits. "Let's begin with—" Cub paused, his predatory gaze scanning the faces of the three before eventually settling. "—Wels."

The knight flinched at the mention of his name, though his eyes remained firm in a steely glare. "I'll never serve some power-hungry mayor. You can beat me, brainwash me, ban me, but I have something the rest of you don't have— honor."

"Don't worry, you won't be serving the mayor. You will be serving the king of vexes, the ruler of hermitcraft!"

Wels swallowed the lump in his throat, keeping his voice as steady and calm as possible. "I serve only those who deserve my loyalty. The king that you pledge, the king that you kneel before, is nothing more than a unstable fool."

Beef let out an animalistic growl, stepping forward while flexing his claws, clearly about to attack the knight, though he was stopped as Cub placed a hand on his shoulder. "Well, why don't I change your mind?"

With a snap of his fingers, Wels straightened his posture as his eyes began to glow. Wings tore out from the iron plating of his armor, ripping through like it was nothing more than paper. He let out a mix between a growl and a screech in pain, his wrists breaking free from the ropes that bound them. The knight was panting, heavily breathing while holding his head in pain, clearly trying to fight the magic.

"No need to wait for him to fully transform, let's just hurry and get you two ready as well." The vex smiled at them, snapping his fingers together once more.

Zedaph let out a scream, and Cleo understood why. Her body was burning, like lava had replaced her blood and was flowing through her body. Fuzziness was clouding her vision, with her mind struggling to think past the pain. Tears were rolling down her face, her limbs shaking, though she couldn't tell. All her attention was focused on the pain in her back.

It felt like something was alive, like it was trying to break free and escape.

She screamed again, biting down as hard as she could on her bottom lip to try and focus on a different sort of pain. Her long fingernails were starting to shift, becoming more like the long and wild claws that the other vexes had. The tips of her ears were morphing as well, turning pointed.

Finally, the wings that were trapped underneath her skin began to fight. They shifted and struggled, like they had a mind of their own. Cleo whimpered at the feeling, never before had she felt like this. It felt like her entire back was about to explode, and some awful creature or parasite was about to crawl out.

Then, the skin broke, and suddenly her wings were free.

All the pain, in just a moment, was gone. Everything came to a halt within seconds, the awful feeling of her body on fire now completely forgotten. She was sweaty, exhausted too, but overall, she was okay.

Her eyes slowly opened, and her head was resting on Joe's lap. The southerner gave a welcoming smile, stroking the undead hermit's hair. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

She found herself shaking her head. No, it really wasn't all that bad. All the pain she had gone through just seconds ago had completely vanished from her mind. The new wings on her back stretched out slightly, and Cleo barely noticed that they were there. It honestly felt normal. It felt...right. Joe stroked them lovingly, making her feel even more at ease.

Glancing over at Zedaph, he was already asleep in Tango's arms. The zombie felt like she could pass out at any moment from the new magic that had overtaken her body, so it was understandable. Wels was fighting against the exhaustion to try and get to his feet, though was struggling as he was beginning to lose his footing. Luckily, Beef was there to catch the newly-transformed vex before he could collapse.

A cold rag brought Cleo back to her thoughts, the undead hermit shuttering as the wet cloth touched her new wings. They were so sensitive and aware, like nothing she had ever felt before. Joe helped her sit upright, the room slightly spinning as he cleaned off a few specks of blood that stained her new vex-like wings.

"Let's get you home," Joe muttered softly. "Cub wants us all well rested. Tomorrow we have an important meeting."

He spoke as if he were talking to a sleepy child, which was pretty accurate. Cleo's brain was quickly falling behind, unable to correctly think of process the poet's words, yet she nodded anyway. She just shut her eyes and let all her worries drift away.

Cub smiled as Tango, Beef, and Joe scooped the new vexes into their arms, carrying them out of the town hall to fly back to their bases. He glanced up at the indoor balcony that overlooked the diamond throne, spotting none other than the mayor of the shopping district.

Scar was standing their with tears in his eyes, hands shakily grasping the railing for support. His office had been turned into a makeshift bedroom, and it had only been three days since he had woken up. There was no way that he had enough strength to be walking around, he had lost the energy that had been supporting his life!

Opening his wings, Cub took initiative. He swooped up to the balcony, landing atop of it. Scar let out a little yelp at how quickly he had appeared, falling backwards in shock. With a snap of his fingers, the vex caused light blue energy to surround the mayor, preventing his body from hitting the ground.

"Where is Bdubs? He's supposed to be keeping you on lockdown." The enforcer growled the question, waving his hand to gently set Scar onto the floor.

"A-asleep." He mumbled quietly, causing Cub to raise an eyebrow.

"What's got you so scared?"

His green eyes quickly glanced to the floor in an attempt to avoid the question, yet it gave the vex the answer he was looking for. "Wha-... Scar, are you afraid of me?"

No response once again.

"I can't believe this, I'm helping you! And you're looking at me like I'm some kind of monster!"

"Well you are!" The mayor snapped, tears in his eyes. "You're not my best friend! You are a vex! You're not Cub, you're some power hungry creature bent on controlling everyone on this server!"

"I'm still your friend, Scar..." He said quietly, taking a step closer, causing the terraformer to shuffle backwards to keep his distance.

That's when Cub saw it.

The pure fear in Scar's eyes. The horror, as if he were about to be murdered by some abomination that had hunted him down. Like he was about to be torn apart and maimed by a wild animal.

But...

He was staring at his best friend.

This didn't make any sense, they were still friends! Cub was just doing what Scar wanted! He was following what the mayor had commanded him to do! Scar still wanted this, he had to!

Taking a step back, Cub's hands balled into fists, and he turned away. He walked out onto the outdoor balcony of the town hall, flying off into the night without another word, as Scar sat there in horror.

Bdubs poked his head out of the office, his eyes widening at the mayor, who was on the brink of tears. "Hey, hey.." the vex spoke in a comforting tone, kneeling beside Scar. "You're not supposed to be out of bed. Is everything okay..?"

Scar just broke down then and there, shoving his face into the builder's chest and wrapping his arms around Bdubs, all while sobbing uncontrollably. His boyfriend (at least, Bdubs really, really, really hoped that they were boyfriends) scooped him off the ground and carried him back to the mayor's office.

After tucking him into bed, he was a bit less emotional, though tears were still falling down his face. Placing a thumb on his cheek, the vex wiped it away before planting a soft kiss on Scar's forehead. "Get some rest, m'kay? I'll get some cake and healing potions, and tomorrow you don't have to do anything but relax. Does that sound good?"

"Don't go." He whispered. "I don't want to be left alone here."

"I know. I'll stay."

Crawling into bed, Bdubs cuddled up right next to the mayor, holding him close and protectively. Scar let out a whimpering sigh, his eyes finally beginning to close.

As much as he hated all his friends being turned into vexes, he couldn't deny that he loved being this close to Bdubs.