Cub woke up in a cold sweat, the pharaoh sitting up in his bed as he gasped helplessly for breath, his eyes darting around the shadowy corners of his miniature pyramid. His frantic breathing began to slow, but small beads of sweat began to roll down the side of his face as he cautiously reached for his communicator that rested on his bedside table. The pharaoh's eyes never left the dark corners of the room as he dialed Doc.

"Do you know what time it is...?" Doc groaned with exhaustion plaguing his voice, Cub's hands beginning to slowly shake as he brought the device to his ear, the pharaoh could barely speak beyond a whisper.

"T-they're here..." Cub mumbled breathlessly with his eyes widening in horror. He didn't sound like himself, much more unsure and terrified with every word he spoke. On the other line of the call, Doc sat up in his bed, rubbing his non-robotic eye with a yawn.

"Who?" Doc questioned as he pulled himself out of bed, slipping on his torn lab coat while ruffling his messy hair. The creeper hybrid could have sworn he heard Cub whimpering over the phone.

"The vexes..." Cub mumbled, pulling the blankets over his head. He felt like a child as he hid underneath his covers, but there wasn't much the pharaoh could do. He was too terrified to run, the vexes had put Cub through months of suffering, it was hard not to fear the small creatures.

"Are you sure? Or was it just another nightmare?" Doc asked as he equipped his elytra, grabbing his sword as he ran down the stairs of his half-house, heading towards the portal.

"I-I can see their eyes watching me a-and I can feel their magic.. they're gonna turn me back into a vex hybrid..." Cub's voice began to break as tears began to overflow in his eyes, he didn't want to be a puppet to the chaotic mobs again.

"You're going to be okay," Doc assured as he flew through the nether, glancing around to try and spot Cub's base. The creeper wasn't entirely sure if the pharaoh would be alright, but he needed to sound confident to keep Cub calm. "I just removed your excess vex magic yesterday, it should be harder for them to corrupt you.. They're not going to hurt you, I swear.."

"B-but Scar.." Cub mumbled with a whisper as Doc landed in front of the pharaoh's portal, realization hitting the creeper hybrid.

"He wasn't at my base yesterday, meaning he hasn't been treated for his leftover vex magic! If one vex manages to find him, Scar could revert back to his old self!" Doc exclaimed, his communicator almost slipping from his grasp. The creeper hybrid shook his head to refocus, Cub was his main priority.

"If you could feel vex magic, so can Scar. He'll call us if something goes wrong, but right now, you need to get out of there!"

"I-I can't, the vexes are everywhere..." Cub said as his body shook with fear, Doc stepping into the miniature pyramid with a sword and shield in-hand. He growled a German curse underneath his breath as the icy stare of vexes turned to him, the cyborg gripping tighter to the handle of his blade.

"Stupid little vexes!" He grumbled and complained loudly as he sliced through the magical creatures, the vexes disappearing into puffs of smoke. Icy blue blood stained his netherrite sword as he sliced through the last vex, the creeper huffing while stabbing his sword into the ground, leaning on the edge of the hilt to try and catch his breath.

"It's okay to come out now." Doc called as he looked towards the pharaoh's bed, Cub slowly pulling the covers off his head.

"Sorry to call you here so late..." Cub mumbled quietly as he looked to the ground, Doc carelessly shrugging.

"It's fine, this is definitely more important. We should head to Scar's base and look for him, if the vexes came for you, they should be after him too."

Cub nodded his head, slightly embarrassed that Doc had seen him so terrified. There wasn't much the pharaoh could have done, he felt so weak and helpless around the magical creatures, they could corrupt Cub with ease and he couldn't do anything to stop the vexes.

He put on a pair of bug-like wings, the pharaoh searching through his inventory for a few spare firework rockets. Doc handed Cub a few of his own, another mumbled apology slipping out in a saddened breath. Cub hated that he needed to rely so heavily on his friends, he didn't want to burden them with his issues.

The two flew through the nether in silence, Cub's eyes glued to the bubbling lava beneath them.

It would be so easy slit Doc's throat,

to drop him into the lava,

And to watch him burn.

Cub shook the unusual thoughts from his mind, the pharaoh glancing towards the creeper hybrid that was gliding beside him. Doc seemed unfocused, his eyes studying the glowing portals from below as he searched for the one that led to Scar's base.

"I wouldn't do that to Doc," Cub thought to himself. "I'm in control of myself.."

The two landed in front of the portal to Scar's magical village, Doc taking out his netherrite blade in case of any vexes. Cub quickly followed as he removed his own weapon, the two nodding at one another before they stepped through the portal.

—

Scar quietly hummed to himself, the mayor lost in his thoughts as he sorted through his shulker boxes. He normally didn't like to organize, but he couldn't sleep, the terraformer busying himself to try and pass the time.

Bdubs was fast asleep in his bed, Scar had moved him onto the soft mattress to let his assistant get some well-deserved rest. The mayor glanced at the small clock that hung on the wall, it was about 1 in the morning. Bdubs had carried him back home around 6 pm before he passed out from exhaustion, Scar was surprised that Bdubs could sleep so easily for so long.

The cat-loving mayor had slept until 10, which was much better compared to his other nights of rest. Scar couldn't deny that he felt safer sleeping near Bdubs, it felt nice to know that he was there. The terraformer even found himself beginning to pull himself closer to his assistant, Scar clinging to Bdubs' arm as he slept.

But now Scar couldn't rest, after a few hours of peaceful sleep, the mayor couldn't drift off into the sweet feeling of peaceful dreams. He shook off his exhaustion and got to work, though he tried to stay quiet so that Bdubs could sleep.

"You look so peaceful..." Scar mumbled as he found himself glancing towards his sleeping assistant. A tiny smile spread across the mayor's face, his cheek resting in the palm of his hand as he admired Bdubs' sleeping figure.

His pointed ears twitched as the ceiling overhead began to patter and creak with footsteps, Scar seeming to growl underneath his breath. He crept out of the bedroom and up the ladder to see who was making so much noise.

"What are you two doing here?" Scar asked in a hushed whisper, Cub and Doc turning as they heard the mayor's voice. His eyes were an icy blue, but they shifted back to their green hue within seconds. Doc stepped forward, the creeper's robotic hand clenching Scar's wrist.

"We need to take you back to my house," Doc began explaining, the mayor scoffing as he pulled his hand free from the cyborg's grasp on him. "The vexes came after Cub, and we think they're going to come after you next. We need to hurry up and remove your excess magic before it starts to overtake you!"

"I'm fine, there hasn't been any vex magic nearby. And can't we do this in the morning? It's too early." Scar complained as he tried to sound tired, despite being wide awake. He just didn't want to leave, he wanted to stay while Bdubs slept peacefully.

"You're lying." Cub accused as he stepped forward, his eyes narrowing at the emotionless expression on Scar's face. "There's a faint presence of vex magic, they were here a few hours ago. Tell us the truth, Scar."

"Fine. If you want to know the truth, here it it: Bdubs and I snuck into the resistance headquarters, but triggered a trap. A few evokers came out of nowhere and attacked us, and they summoned a horde of vexes. I didn't want to tell you, since Doc is apart of the resistance.." Scar explained, the creeper hybrid beginning to feel a sense of guilt, since he was the one who set the evoker trap.

"Alright..." Cub said with hesitation in his voice, the pharaoh taking a few steps back back. He glanced to Doc before he spoke again.

"Let's just do the tests in the morning...It's definitely too early." Cub said with a yawn, Doc nodding in agreement. The two said their goodbyes and left Scar, the mayor heading back downstairs into his bedroom.

He smiled as he spotted Bdubs, the mayor sitting next to the bed as he watched Bdubs' chest slowly rise and fall. Scar gently ran his claw-like fingers through his assistant's soft hair, his soft blue eyes studying Bdubs' sleeping expression.

"They're not going to take my powers away," Scar promised Bdubs while continuing to stroke his hair. "I can control it this time.. And I can use my powers to beat the resistance and win us the war... I want things to go back to normal, no more wars or resistances standing in our way...

I know the vexes are evil, and they're going to try and control me, but I'll handle myself, I'll win us the war."