The door was forcibly kicked open, Doc and Tango rushing into the mayor's bedroom as Cub leisurely strolled in. His smirk was cruel and smug, the vex knowing that he had caught Xisuma in a web of lies. He and Scar shared a glance while walking in, anger clear on his expression. Bdubs was cuddling next to his partner, keeping him from jumping out of the bed, though his expression seemed to be filled with sadness and disappointment.

"Well, well." The leader of the vexes chuckled, both Tango and Doc each holding one of Xisuma's arms to keep him trapped. His head was hung low and he was on his knees, avoiding eye contact.

"Looks like we caught ourselves a traitor, boys." Cub smiled with sharp teeth, the two vex-hermits snickering in response. "Anything you have to say for yourself? Maybe there's something you want to confess? Or do we have to do this the hard way?"

Xisuma looked up, his eyes glazed and foggy behind the tinted visor of his light blue helmet. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know there's something you're hiding from me." The vex insisted, "I recommend you tell me."

Shaking his head, the admin seemed frozen. "I-I really don't know. Please, let me go." He mumbled weakly, sounding timid and frightened.

Cub scoffed, straightening his posture. "Don't make this harder than it has to be, Xisuma. I can just wave my hand and make you tell me."

"Who is Xisuma?! P-please, I haven't done anything!"

Doc and Tango shared an expression of shock with one another, the two releasing their grip on X. "His memories—" the creeper murmured.

"They've been wiped!" The redstoner exclaimed.

Cub's expression morphed into rage as he turned to Scar. "What did you do?! WHAT HAPPENED TO XISUMA?!"

"H-h-he was working on some bugs in the player code." The mayor tried to explain, "Something happened, we don't know what, but he just collapsed!"

"We were about to get help before you barged in." Bdubs said, holding his boyfriend close.

"So what, he just 'accidentally' deleted all of his memory code?" Doc huffed, narrowing his eye in suspicion.

"We don't know! I swear Cub!"

The vex stared at Scar for a few moments. "Tango, you and Joe are back up admins, correct?" He asked, not breaking eye contact.

"Yes, sir. We can take over X's admin duties if need be."

"One of you will be the stand-in admin. The other shall try and recover anything you can from what Xisuma deleted. He's trying to hide something from us, and I want to know what. I don't care how long it takes, just get it done."

"Of course. I'll go inform him right away." Tango said, walking out of the room with movements that were almost robotic.

"What about him, sir?" Doc asked, gesturing to Xisuma. The admin blinked, tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy.

"First—" Cub said, extending his hand out to X. A mysterious aura escaped his fingertips, the light blue magic seeming to fade through his armor. Behind his helmet his eyes began to faintly glow while his posture straightened. "—We must bring him back to our side."

Xisuma blinked, his eyes blank while the wings on his back slightly grew. Doc offered his hand, helping the admin back on his feet. "Take him back to his base. Let him rest. Maybe something could jog his memory, but I doubt it. I'll have Keralis care for him for a while until he proves useful."

Doc nodded, placing a hand on the admin's shoulder before he vanished into a puff of light blue smoke. Cub then turned his attention back to the couple, watching as Bdubs grew visibly defensive, pulling Scar closer to his chest. The vex growled slightly.

"Remember your place, Bdubs. I would hate to have to do the same to you."

Without waiting for them to respond, he disappeared as well, leaving nothing but a cloud of magical dust where he once stood. The two waited in silence for a couple moments, as if they were hesitant to begin speaking, like they were thought someone else was here. After a few minutes of passing silence, Bdubs finally heard a sound, which came from his partner.

Scar was sobbing and sniffling, fat globs of tears running down his cheeks. "X-Xisuma—" he cried, "H-h-he lost his memory b-because of me."

"Hey, hey.." Bdubs cooed, using his thumb to swipe the tears away. "This isn't your fault. That was X's choice. He needed to protect Grian and Mumbo. Plus, maybe Joe and Tango will be able to recover their memory code from last season. I bet it can't be too hard."

"You don't get it." Scar shook his head, "All of this, every single terrible thing that's happened this season is because of me! Because of the stupid vexes!"

Bdubs seemed slightly offended at the comment about vexes being stupid, as his chest puffed out, though he brushed it off. "C'mon, it's not all bad. I got a pretty wonderful boyfriend out of all this. And the hermits don't mind being vexes! We all actually enjoy it!"

"Because you're brainwashed. You don't know right from wrong anymore. Cub can wave his hand and you'd do anything he'd say! He's controlling everyone!"

"You're stressing too much." The vex sighed, shaking his head. "We should try to take your mind off things. Why don't we head to my base? I'll make us some cake."

"Ugh. No more cake please. It's the only thing you've been feeding me..."

"Right. Sorry. I'll make you something else then. But still. I think it would be good to get you out of the shopping district. Then you and I can spend some quality time alone. How does that sound?"

Scar thought for a moment, guilt still on his consciousness, though he managed to nod. "That sounds good. I'd love to get out of this bedroom."

Bdubs smiled, easily lifting his partner into his arms. "I'm glad. I just want to see you happy."

"I'm happy when I'm with you."

He blushed at the comment, cheeks pink and flustered. "H-How about a nice steak dinner? With some cooked potatoes and carrots as well?"

"That sounds so much better." Scar let out a heavy sigh in relief. "I swear, I'll never eat anything sugary ever again!"

"Suuure." Bdubs chuckled, "Then tomorrow you'll be munching on some chocolate chip cookies."

"Cookies are very different than cake." The mayor corrected.

"Yes, of course. My mistake." Bdubs said with a playful snicker, opening the window using his magic. He climbed out, leaping from the town hall before his wings extended outwards. Carrying his boyfriend in his arms, the vex flew off into the night sky.

—

Scar woke up the next morning cuddling next to Bdubs, curled beside him in bed. He was snoring slightly, still fast asleep. Smiling softly, the mayor reached out his arm, gently caressing his partner's cheek before turning away.

He managed to pull himself out of bed, though it was a struggle. With how weak he had become, it was difficult to even stand. He walked down the stairs, his hand against the wall for support. Scar walked into the kitchen, groaning as he stopped to take a breath.

"Jeez, you look worse than before."

"Wha—?" Scar turned around, finding Cub standing behind him. He nearly fell over in shock, stumbling as he tried to distance himself from the vex.

"Oh, come on." Cub rolled his eyes. "Did you really think I would let you fly off with your boyfriend without telling me?"

Pink blush of embarrassment filled his cheeks. "W-we just wanted some privacy. We wanted to spend some quality time away from the vex zombies that YOU made."

"Don't throw all the blame on me." He growled, stepping closer. "YOU were the one who turned me into THIS! YOU were the one who refused to remove the vex magic in your body. And YOU were the one who first turned the hermits into hybrids. If you want to blame anyone, blame yourself."

Scar stared at him silently for a couple minutes, his hands trembling. The vex took the opportunity to grab hold of them, squeezing them. "But it's okay. Now we have an army. Now the hermits are connected to us. They're apart of us. Don't you see?"

His grip tightened, causing Scar to wince. "You are DYING. Without vex magic your body is unable to hold itself together. Come back to us, Scar. The hermits will worship you. You will be the king over us all! You'll live on, leading us vexes, with Bdubs by your side."

"I don't want to become that thing again." Scar muttered, pulling his hands away. "I want to spend my last few weeks with the person I love. I will NEVER turn into that thing. Not again."

Cub growled. "You're making a mistake."

Scar walked off without responding, heading back up the stairs to the bedroom. He heard the front door slam as the vex stormed off in rage, causing a sigh of relief to escape him. Cub would be back. He was sure of it. And next time he wouldn't be so nice.

Bdubs was awake now, a nervous look across his face. Scar immediately felt his heart drop as he noticed the betrayal in his partner's eyes. "Did you...Did you hear all that?"

He nodded. "Are you really dying, Scar?"

"I...I am."

"..."

"Why didn't you tell me..?"

"I'm sorry...I-I just, I didn't want to worry you."

"Oh, Scar." Bdubs mumbled, pulling himself out of bed to walk over and hug his boyfriend. "I just wish you told me sooner. I-I just got you, I don't want to lose you already."

"We'll figure something out. I swear. I don't want to lose you either."

Bdubs said nothing, he simply wrapped his arms around his partner. The two stayed like that for a few minutes, holding one another as silence hung heavy over the room.