'Listen here, you little B****.' Joey spits, approaching where I'm trapped. 'You come here,  you DESTROY my empire... and KATHERINE'S empire...'

'Please...' I back further against the wall. 'Joey, I'm so sorry.' Right then, Sausage appears. I turn to him. 'Please, Sausage. Believe me. I was possessed. Pix said I was.' Joey gives a cold laugh, 

'I'm telling the other Emperors. And we'll see how many of them really think you're 'innocent'.'

'You can't... just...'

'We have our own chat. Jimmy and Joel are coming over. And Fwhip.'

'Joey, are you sure you should... HERMES GET AWAY FROM THE NASTY SCULK MAN!'

It's the last straw. I sink to the ground and start crying. Joey says something about accepting blame. I don't care. I can't fly, I can't get past, I don't know my way around Sausage's base enough to throw an ender pearl. Private messaging will take too long; Joey will notice and stop me. And if I put something in chat, he'll see anyway.

'Right,' Another voice. I look up, seeing Jimmy through the blur of tears. 'You have some explaining to do. About disrespecting the law.'

'No one cares about your bloody law, Tim. What I care about is Lore Village.' Now Joel. 'Where my people live, and worship me because I'm a big strong handsome god and YOU COVER IT WITH BLOODY SCULK!'

'I was POSSESSED!' I have to say again, standing to save some of my dignity. 'The sculk possessed me!'

'Sculk doesn't possess people!'

'Jimmy, please...' But I'm just interrupted again, and again. Soon every Emperor, except Pix or Shubble, is here shouting at me. Even Gem, though she doesn't speak much. But her silent glare, her lack of support, hurts just as much. She wasn't there to see the effect of the Vex, but uses it against me, saying it's 'suspicious how you've been a possessed into pranking people twice,'

'Oh hermit through the riiiiift...' Oli starts singing from on top of the roof behind. 'Who is a piece of s***... you Sculked the Olipeligooooooooooooo and when you say 'forgive me!' we all say NO!' He throws his lute at me, which hits. Hard.

'Please...' I say again, as if it'll be any help to my case. 'I can explain everything... Shubble asked me to check out something in the Evermoors...'

'Oh yeah, blame the person who isn't here and can't back you up,' Fwhip interrupts. 'Very clever.'

'And I went in, the Sculk attacked me and... next thing I know I was lying in a hole by Hermitopia.'

'How do you know you spread sculk?'

'Because Scar told me.'

'Look, ANOTHER PERSON who can't back him up. What a coincidence...' Katherine laughs. 'We've heard enough.'

'We don't want you on our server any longer,' Lizzie agrees. 'Hurting our people.'

'Destroying our homes.' 

'Ruining our precious musical instruments.'

'Threatening our children!'

'I can't just... go through the rift it's...'  I remind them.

'Then find ANOTHER WAY!' Joel shoves me. Lightning sparks at his fingers, enough to electrocute me. Pain cuts through me. I hit the ground, and my worst instinct takes over.

I play dead.

And stop breathing.

In seconds, I become irresponsive. I stop caring about everything around me. I close my eyes. I don't move. All I can think is about what I've done. How everyone hates me for it.

'Oh, come on you p****,' snaps Joels. 'It wasn't that bad...'

'Joel... I... I... don't think he's moving. At all.'

I can hold my breath a long time, far longer than most. I've spent ages diving underwater recover from the vex taking over, bad nightmares, or the rare occasion when me and Scar fight.

'He's pretending, Jimmy. He's trying to trick us into thinking he's dead.' 

'He's not breathing,'

I've done this before too... once after I realising the scale of the pranks the Vex made me and Scar do, once recovering from their complete control in Demise, once when panic about the moon growing in season 8 went too far. And every single time I've been unable to get myself out of it.

But I don't care.

'He's  just holding his breath.'

'How long can people hold their breath for?'

'Hey, HEY! Cub! Mister Cubfan! Sculky boy!'

I don't respond. I don't want to. I just want to lie here until darkness washes over and I end up in my bed, safe, alone, away from the others, or I don't wake up at all. 

'He's not responding... how long has it been?'

'About a minute.' 

'Is his heart beating? Is he awake? He's... he's really not responding,'

'Someone message Pix.'

'On it.'

I'm completely unfazed by their panic. It all washes past me. They want me gone, I'll go. They don't care about me. Why should I care about them? Why should I care about me? The Sculk took over. It might take over again. Lying under blankets with my eyes closed is enough to bring me back to that forest and make me panic. I can't sleep. I can't live like this.

'Pix is coming.'

'C... Cub? Cub, we're sorry for what we said to you.'

'I'm not.'

'Joey, don't you have ANY RESPECT? He's not moving, he's not breathing...'

'He vandalised every single one of our homes and refused to admit it!'

'Maybe he was possessed... maybe he wasn't... but this isn't good!'

'He's FAKING!'

'He's held his breath for...'

'Over 2 minutes.'

'What have you DONE Joel?!' 

'I didn't know he'd bloody DIE!'

'You hit him with lightning!'

'Not MUCH!'

'EVERYONE CALM DOWN! What happened?'

'Cub, it's ok.' Scar. Next to me, hugging me. 'Breathe. J- just breathe.' I can't. I still can't. 'Breathe in, hold, and out.' His own breaths mimic what he wants me to do until my body lets me copy, breathing again. I manage to hug him back, but still can't speak. 'Good... that's good. Just keep going. In, hold, and out... in, hold and out.' He's shaking. I know he's furious at the Emperors, who Pix is shouting at now, ignoring all their justifications. 

'I DON'T CARE that there's sculk all over your bases! It's no excuse to abuse our guest.'

'He pranks people! That's what he does! He's a bloody prankster who doesn't know when to stop! And just because you've been fooled by him using this excuse for the SECOND TIME.'

'HE WAS POSSESSED!' Everyone falls silent as Scar yells. 'He's been trapped under the control of a horrible, malicious entity that's made him do this. Why the F*** would Cub decide to do this? I- I can't believe any of you would think... I can't believe you. I can't believe you.' Scar falls silent, holding me close, protecting me from the Emperors who still don't speak. 

'Come on,' Pix murmurs. 'We should get back to Hermitopia. Cub, are you alright now?'

I don't want to go all the way back, shaking my head.

'Sausage, where's the closest room?'

'He just pretending!'

'Joey...'

'How is this my fault?!'

'We'll talk later.'

'I just...'

'LATER.'

He flies away. The others slowly follow as Pix and Scar help me stand. I can probably walk on my own, but I'm still grateful for them there. Sausage leads us, silent, into one of the houses before leaving us too.