‘Stay here. In the middle,’ Scar demands, standing with his arms out as if it’ll protect us from the approaching flames. ‘Both of you. Don’t touch the fire.’

‘Oh, no shit, Scar!’ Grian shrieks, clinging tight to me. I hug him back. Scar runs to where the door was, straight through the flames.

‘CUB? CUB ARE YOU THERE?’ Scar bellows, hammering on the door. ‘WE’RE TRAPPED, CUB!’

You whispered to cubfan135: TRAPPED IN FIRE DEATH ROOM HELP

You whispered to cubfan135: W SCAR AND G

cubfan135 whispered to you: WHY WOULD YOU FUCKING GO IN THERE????

You whispered to cubfan135: JUST RESCUE US

Grian hugs me tighter, as the fire burns closer and closer. The heat alone nearly melts me. Scar’s still knocking desperately for freedom. Cub doesn’t respond.

‘We’re actually going to die in here,’ I mutter. ‘Cub’s just killed us. With his fucking torture chamber of vex fire and…’

‘CUB!’ Scar screams again. ‘CUB PLEASE!’

Laughter. Grian hugs me even tighter, wings wrapped close around us both. I think he’s crying with terror as he recognises the sound of vex, shrieking and screeching as they fly through the walls and swarm us. A flare of magic at Scar’s hands. I think he’s trying to control them.

The Vex don’t stop.

‘SCAR HELP!’

‘I’M TRY- OW!’ Scar winces as one of the vex, and then a swarm of them, swipe at him. ‘Oh- oh no… Cub… what have you done?!’ He backs further against the wall. Me and Grian can’t move without getting burned by the fire. He’s still sobbing.

‘Hold on!’ I order, before lifting Grian off the ground as some protection from the fire. He clings to me. I’m left hopping from foot to foot, trying to avoid the fire licking at my toes, and the vex slashing at my exposed arms, hissing and chittering. I feel every single hit of searing pain, biting my tongue to stop myself from screaming.

The door opens.

Scar's first out. I follow, sprinting for freedom through the receding flames, legs burning, agony driving through every muscle and step, until I’m out.

I collapse. Grian breaks free, a moment before I hit the ground, gasping for breath. No one helps me up. Scar’s staring into the room, Cub stands watching us all.

‘Why the fuck are you all here.’ Cub’s voice is little more than a low growl. A prickle of fear runs through me. I don’t reply. Grian’s staring at the ground, clearly still haunted by that room. Scar glares back.

‘Oh, come on, Cub! Why would you avoid us, refuse to tell us anything, and then run down into this creepy tunnel where you’ve got a TORTURE CHAMBER-’

‘Are you FUCKING SERIOUS right now, Scar?’ snaps Cub back. I spot tears in his eyes. ‘You’re the one who just had to be fucking rescued, and you’re immediately blaming me.’

‘Because you’re-’

‘You don’t want to know how FUCKING CLOSE you were to the vex killing all of you! This is supposed to be my safe space and you decide to break into it and break one of my rooms, and nearly kill yourselves-’

‘Well, if you just talked to me, instead of hiding and literally running away from me, and refusing to talk about what’s going on, I wouldn’t have to follow you down here!’ Scar interrupts, vex wings wide behind him.. ‘It makes me think you don’t trust me anymore! Do you not trust me?! What happened, Cub?’

‘It’s not about you, Scar, it’s-’

‘So I don’t matter to you?’

‘Why would you think that, Scar?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re hiding down here making private death chambers you're not telling me about, for reasons you’re not telling me about, and when we innocently walk in, expecting nothing, you start shouting at us and getting mean because apparently I’m not allowed to be upset about my best friend needing a room like that, and being covered in Sculk and bandages, yes I’ve seen that, Cub. I've known something's up since the horror story party. And- and I’m terrified for your life, Cub, and you're just telling me nothing. So you’re going to tell me, right now, what’s happening, or I'm fucking off back to my base and not helping, as you clearly want me to do!'

A moment of silence.

'You really don't understand, Scar, do you?'

‘Of course I don't FUCKING UNDERSTAND!’ Never before have I heard Scar so upset. I think he's going to attack Cub, before he turns and storms away.

‘Scar, please.’

‘Goodbye,' Scar continues, ignoring Cub running desperate after.

‘No, Scar, please, I’ve been trying to-’ The secret entrance closes. Cub stops, blinking away tears, just stood in the middle of the corridor.

‘You know, Cub, Scar’s right. We’ve been terrified for you, and you’re not giving us anything… Why do you even have that room, Cub?’ Grian retorts, crawling his way to his feet. Cub turns on him. I try to read his expression. Fear? Anger? Pain? ‘Why would you make it kill you the moment you enter?’

‘Fuck off,’ Cub growls back, stalking back down the corridor.

‘No, Cub, I’m not accepting this. Why do you have a fucking death chamber under your base?’

‘I said fuck off, Grian.’

‘You do realize that this is a safety concern, Cub. If you don't explain, I’m telling Xisuma because I’m very, very worried about why that room exists.’

‘Grian, just FUCK OFF!’

A wave of blue. Grian screams as he’s thrown backwards, crashing into the ground and lying there, unmoving. Cub slams the door of whatever room he’s reached. I crawl to Grian’s side, still wincing from the fire.

‘Grian? Grian, are you ok, buddy?’

‘...ow…’ mutters back Grian, curling up. ‘That’s… ow…’

‘Oh my gosh… Here I’ll… ow-’ As I try and stand, I nearly black out, the pain from the fire too much. Every movement flares with agony as I try to get to my feet. I’m left leaning against the wall, tears blurring my vision, unable to even lift Grian, let alone rescue him.

You whispered to GoodTimeWithScar: come back please I can't do this alone

You whispered to GoodTimeWithScar: Scar please

You whispered to GoodTimeWithScar: Grian’s hurt idk what to do I'm scared of Cub

GoodTimeWithScar whispered to you: fuvk odf

You whispered to Tango: need help

Tango whispered to you: ???

You whispered to Tango: at Cub’s base underground w. Grian we’re both hurt Scar abandoned us

Tango whispered to you: why tf u spying on Cub again???

You whispered to Tango: just rescue us please it's behind the nether wart farm

A crash.

I look up, in the direction Cub went in. Something’s happened. Cub’s in trouble? What happened?

‘I… oh my gosh that’s not good…’

‘Skizz…’ Grian grabs my leg. 'Don't.'

‘I’m worried about whatever that crash…’

Cub screams.

‘Cub’s in trouble,’ is all I say before limping, as fast as I can, to help.

I rewrote this so many times and changed Cub's whole plan oh my gaaaaaah