Author's Note: The second part as mentioned yesterday. I'm not too proud of this second part, but it's technically the last thing for this book. I've got other stories in concept so don't worry.

 I suggest reading Frozen Cold before this one. Enjoy everyone. 

-------------------------------------------

(A day after Frozen Cold)

 Ren's POV:

 My tail twitched as I opened my eyes while laying next to Joe. I was in dog mode, so I thankfully didn't take up much space. We, being Scar, Cub, False-y, TFC, Cleo, Doc, Joe, and myself, were still cooped up in Doc's lab. I was honestly lucky that I could become all small and fit onto a decently tiny area on Joe's bed. 

 We're all here to survive the storm, and I'm glad that I'm here with the others. Even still, I'm nervous about the other hermits out there. I'm glad that Cleo and TFC found them when they did. I looked over at Joe as he breathed steadily. The hermit still needed the breathing mask, but he seemed to be in a slightly better shape. 

 " Nononono..." 

 At least, I thought he was... 

 " N-no..." 

 Joe had a raspy voice currently, but the fear wavered in his words made the fur on my neck and back stand up straight. I looked at the sleeping hermits and shook my head. No time.. No time to wake the others.

 " Come on Joe... We're here..." I whispered to him as I gently put my paw on his forehead. Dang, it feels like he was drowning in lava. I nuzzled at him again as Joe groaned weakly. 

 " Why... Why would you.... h..." Joe wheezed as he shivered. I shook my head, " Joe please man..." I continued to nuzzle against him until Joe slowly opened his eyes slowly. Joe was sweating beads as he tried to raise his good hand to me.

 The hermit smiled slightly as his breathing settled down. I put my head on his chest, " That's it Hills.... We're here... No dragon or other threat is going to hurt you now..." I told him as he nodded slowly. Joe's eyes closed again as he drifted back off into a more peaceful sleep. 

 I sighed. We needed to get out of this lab. I love Doc from the bottom of my heart, but I need to be out and solve this mystery. If Cleo was awake currently, she'd agree with me wholeheartedly. My tail thumped against the bed as I looked around the room once more. 

 False was still fast asleep even after all the commotion, and I don't blame her. She was the newest dragon hybrid out of five hermits that have been turned, and she couldn't really make that great of a fire yet. I was honestly glad that Doc gave her a blanket after I decided to keep Joe warm. 

 My tail twitched as I looked towards closest corner to the bed. I raised my head and tilted it at the man that was stuck as a ghost floated through the wall.

 " Where... Where were you?" I whispered as Tinfoil's eyes glowed gently, " Floating through the blizzard... After what you said a day ago, I wanted to do some investigating while ya'll were stuck here." 

 I sat up and scratched at my ear, " What did you... find?" I mumbled as TFC crossed his arms. The hermit's ghostly tail twitched, " I'll explain in the morning.... Just... sleep for now..." he held his hand up as my tail twitched, " W...what? TFC don..." my whole body went limp as I dropped my head onto Joe's arm. I slowly closed my eyes as my whole mind went blank.

((A skip to daytime brought to you by a yellow wolftiger slowing dragging Mighty by her tail back to a bed))

 What... What happened?

 I... I can remember Joe waking up and needing to be calmed down... He fell asleep, and I guess I did as well after he was okay? My head hurts just thinking about last night. A lot had happened the previous night. Maybe it's a good thing that I don't have to remember some parts of it.

 I looked over at Doc as his tail twitched; the hermit was popping his back as he slowly woke up the other hermits. One by one, everyone was waking up as Doc nodded. Doc turned towards Tinfoil, " Alright TFC, what did you see man?" he tiredly questioned with a frown. TFC looked around the room, " I saw Keralis, Bdubs, and X. Bdubs, in his dragon form, was chasing what honestly looked like Mighty..." 

 Scar tilted his head as he sat on bear-formed Cub's back, " Is Mighty okay?" he questioned as TFC shrugged, " I... I think? A small portal opened up, and Mighty tumbled into it." the hermit answered. 

 I sat up and shifted back into my more human form. I was going to talk, but Cleo voiced my question for me, " What happened next?" she sat up in her chair.

 " This is where things get more odd... See, Bdubs fell to the ground, and his eyes started to glow... purple? I believe it was purple.. It could've been green... " Tinfoil continued as he narrowed his eyes while remembering, " X was saying something to both Keralis and Bdubs. The two of them quickly fell to their knees as if they were obeying his words." he explained with a shake of his head.

 My tail shook. Why and how did X do this? Even though I'm technically dead like him, I still don't see the purpose of controlling the other hermits to do his bidding. As I thought, TFC floated over to Cleo, " Do you remember how you died, Cleo?" he questioned as Cleo perked up. The zombie shook her head. 

 " No, I just remember going to IDEA before th-Oh my god.." Cleo's eyes widened as a harsh glow came from her eyes. It was almost as bad as when my eyes glowed when I intimidate the other alive hermits during the normal game. I can see why they were all jittery about it...

 Cleo body twitched, " I'm going to go kill some hermits..." she hissed out as black and red magic moved around her skeletal hand like serpents. Everyone looked at each other as Doc took a step forward, " Easy there Cleo... Remember, Bdubs and Keralis are not in control of their actions..." he raised his hands lightly. 

 I stood up slowly as if to not stir the still recovering Joe. The hermit's nose scrunched up as he stuck his tongue out, but he didn't fully wake up. I looked between Joe and Cleo as she looked around the room. 

 " I know Doc.... I just can't bloody believe that X would stoop this low. I'm going to find him and free the others... X is dead, and he's mad with power." Cleo twitched slightly as everyone nodded slowly. 

 I stood up as my tail twitched. My arms crossed slowly, " So, Cleo, can I go with you?" I questioned as Cleo looked directly at me. The hermit nodded, " I don't see why not." she grinned as my tail wagged before stopping. I looked sadly at Joe again before Doc clicked his hooves and walked over to me, " It's fine, Rendog. The rest of us will watch over him." his tail wiggled. I nodded slowly as I put my black cloak back on and shifted to my dead self. My eyes burned as they became almost fully black with little white pupils. 

 " Let's go... "

((Small S and Q are hiding in the corner with Q wrapping his tail around S. A sign is taped to the wall and says, " Two hours later "))

The two of us stood in front of the IDEA warehouse. Cleo had her hand on the grip of her sword and was ready to pull it out at the slightest sound. I looked at her and patted her shoulder, " Take a deep breath, Cleo. We can't anger X..." I told her as she nodded slowly. The two of us slowly made our way inside to find that X was waiting for us with Keralis and Bdubs behind him.

 " Hello fellow greyskin." I waved slightly as X waved back. X crossed his arms behind his back; his head was lowered slightly as he blinked. How could X even control Keralis and Bdubs in this state? Cleo's eyes were narrowed, but she seemed silent as I continued, " So, why are Keralis's and Bdubs's eyes glowing like that?" I questioned as I motioned to the two. Neither of them responded to the question as X looked up. 

 X frowned, " I'll admit that I'm, maybe, mind controlling them... I had good intentions though! They weren't trusting me, and I may have gotten a bit mad. It got to the point were they both dropped to their knees, and their eyes changed color until they both listened to my every word."

 My ears twitched. X shuffled slightly, " They didn't talk after that. Only watching me in silence, then I can't remember much after that... Maybe the power got to my head? I don't know. I... I think.... I think I killed people...." he mumbled as Cleo nodded. Cleo explained how X used the other IDEA boys to both harm Joe and kill her. X's eyes widened as his body shivered slightly. 

 " You... You guys have to help me! I.. I'm sorry! I.. I can't even remember what happened..." X whimpered as he held his head. I let out a sigh as I walked past X and looked between Bdubs and Keralis. Bdubs, the still dragon hybrid, had his muzzle open slightly with some blood dripping from his muzzle. 

 I waved my hands in front of the two's eyes. My tail lowered as I grabbed Bdubs and slowly moved him away from X. Bdubs's eyes flickered as he groaned softly. His legs buckled as he fell slowly into my arms. I looked back at the others, " I guess we just need to keep them away from you Xisuma...." I told him as Cleo picked Keralis up and carried him away. As soon as Keralis was a very feet away from X, he fell asleep in Cleo's arms. 

 " Look, X... We're going to take these two back to Area 77... Doc should take a look at their mental states and a proper way to separate your control over them." I explained as X nodded and sat down on the ground. X looked up at us, " I'm... I'm going to talk to Void when he gets here..." he mumbled as we nodded and left back to Area 77. 

((One last time skip brought to you by drago!Bdubs trying to reach out to Keralis))

 I sighed as Doc had Cleo and me put Keralis and Bdubs down into another room that had a containment door. Doc, thankfully, had made the room actually look friendly and comfortable. What still worried me was how Keralis was going to react once he woke up and realized he was stuck in another cell. 

 " He should be fine. Keralis has Bdubs to calm him down." Doc explained as his tail twitched. I nodded as I took my cloak off and let my colors return. My body shivered as I took one of Doc's blankets and wrapped up in it. Cleo had left the room to be with Joe's still hurt body. This just left me, Doc, and our two new probably hurt people. 

 I sat down against the wall as Doc studied the two, " It's amazing that X could tap into his admin override..." he mumbled as my ears twitched, " Override?" I questioned as Doc nodded, " I've... heard it when I encountered Void back when he was Evil Xisuma. It's how he took X's mind over and warped his perception of helping people." he waved his claw as his tail twitched. That's honestly a bit odd. 

 My tail twitched as I laid down, " I should have this figured out in a few days... Maybe the storm will even die down by then." he shrugged as I nodded. My eyes closed slightly as I started to drift off. It... This blanket feels so warm... I looked tiredly up at Doc as he walked over to me and rubbed behind one of my ears causing my leg to twitch, " Sleep well Ren." he gave me a toothy smile as I nodded and drifted off.