Say hello to the longest chapter yet :] Also didn't have any art for this chapter so have some wholesome

Enjoy <3

"It's Canem...He's broken into the ConCorp Vault." Doc said. Bdubs felt his heart sink as the realization hit him. 'ConCorp...'

"I have to go stop him," Bdubs said firmly, going to pull his bandana down over his eyes. Doc stood silent for a moment before nodding. The two ran towards the exit. As Bdubs went to swing open the door, Doc gently grabbed his wrist with his metal hand. Bdubs turned to look up at the villain.

"Promise me we'll be fighting him together," Doc said. Bdubs looked down at his wrist, then back at Doc.

"Ok." Bdubs smiled. He wouldn't be able to do it on his own, he needed him. Doc smiled back then pulling Bdubs close to kiss him softly on the lips.

"Now let's go kick some undead ass!" Doc exclaimed. Bdubs laughed at his enthusiasm. The two then climbed back up onto the roof and started making their way towards the large company building.

Bdubs almost dropped at the sight of the company facility. 'It's been so long since I have been here...' Bdubs thought, feeling a bit of uneasiness sink in. The building was covered in smoke or shadow. It was like every shadow around it had folded up around itself. He was snapped out of his thoughts as Doc walked up beside him, looking at the large building.

"Can you see where he broke in?" Doc asked, Bdubs figured he was using his robotic eye to scan the scene.

"No. But the vault is somewhere over here." Bdubs said as he started to descend from their spot and towards the facility. The two ran towards the opposite side of the building, the shadow smoke making it kind of hard to see. "There!" Bdubs pointed out, his finger aiming up at a large hole in the wall near a part of the wall that clearly wasn't properly secured. Doc nodded from beside him and quickly headed up towards the newly made entrance. Both jumped up and landed inside the erry vault. The place was huge, with large glass cases filled with valuable treasures and blue decorations on every wall.

"More of a show area than a secured vault," Doc commented. Bdubs laughed quietly, looking around the room himself.

"The Vex family always has been a bit showy," Bdubs said as he started to walk deeper into the room. The vault was dark inside, no thanks to Canem. The floors were covered in thick fog so it was hard to see where you were stepping. Bdubs and Doc stood in silence for a moment before a large crash echoed throughout the building. The two locked eyes as they both dashed down one hallway towards the sound. "What do you think he is trying to steal?" Bdubs asked, turning to see the villain running next to him. Doc frowned, but before he could respond the two stopped at the entrance to another room. Bdubs eyes narrowed as his eyes landed on the shadowy villain that stood at the far end of the room. The security guard that struggled in his grasp dropped down into the fog as Canem eyed them from behind his sunglasses. The hero could see Doc tense up at a mischievous smile branched across Canem's face.

"Ah you made it!"

"Got rid of the dog skull?" Doc asked, his tone deep and annoyed.

"Eh, it was getting too decayed for my taste. Besides! The sunglasses make me look prettier." He said, reaching up to adjust the dark sunglasses he had on his face. They made his void eye a lot more visible, sending a shiver down Bdubs spine. "I'm guessing you are here to stop me?" The reaper's gaze then turned to Bdubs. "You even brought the short star blaster. Wow, I guess you two really did hit it off." Canem laughed.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT?!" Bdubs yelled, his anger rising as the reaper giggled to himself. His laugh quickly turned to a growl as his hand slammed against the large vault door that was now very visible behind him.

"You know what's behind this door Mangler. I'm going to take the sun crystal for myself and there is nothing you can do about it." He yelled. Bdubs stared wide-eyed at the vault. 'Guess they finally realized leaving the crystal out in the open was a terrible idea.' He thought to himself.

"Stop your stupid monologue." Doc hissed, banging his foot against the hard tile floor. In a flash, the cyborg had pulled two small knives from his metal arm and held them up in front of him. "It's getting annoying." Canem's single blue eyes widened with delight.

"Oh? You only decided now to become the hero? Wow, I'm so hurt-" The reaper mocked, smiling as more black fog began filling the room from off the walls. "If only I cared," Bdubs grunted angrily as the room was quickly engulfed in darkness. The light from his white eyes danced around as the hero frantically looked from side to side.

"We can't let him get to that crystal!" Bdubs said firmly, summoning two light orbs in his hand, their light illuminating the space around him a little. The hero didn't flinch as he felt a familiar warmth pressing up against him. Doc narrowed his eyes as he flipped the knives around in his hands, now standing back to back with Bdubs.

"Right." Doc agreed. The room fell into a sickening silence as the two braced themselves. It felt like ages before out of the shadows crept a large claw that swung violently at them, prompting Bdubs to quickly summon a force field. The shadow hand crashed against the shield, then whipped back into the dark like a snake. Bdubs summoned another force field, holding the two in both hands. He had to watch out for any other attacks on either of them.

(Thank u to editor for being my literal savior)

Darts of darkness were thrown towards Bdubs, he quickly braced himself. He started running towards Canem as he blocked them all. As he got to a good range, he flung a shield like a disc towards Canem. Canem blocked it with his arm, laughing to himself

"You're exposed, Luxshield!" a whip of pure void swung at Bdubs. He braced himself expecting to be hit, but before it could connect with him, Doc rushed in to slice the void in half.

"Don't go dying on me so easily, we're in this together now!" Bdubs looked up at Doc with a determined grin

"Let's take him down." The two looked at Canem, weapons drawn.

"Take me down?! You're fighting the void, baby! Nothing can stop me!" Canem summoned another claw of darkness, rushing towards the two with a slash. Bdubs made sure to block all the attacks as Doc tried to hit anything that came at them. As Canem went in for an attack for Doc, he managed to throw in a light ball slamming into Canem's side. The two worked well off of each other, getting a good amount of hits in and not taking a substantial amount of damage. Canem stood back, laughing as he seemingly blended in with the darkness, disappearing.

"Don't run you coward!" Bdubs angrily yelled.

"Me? A coward? Look at you two fighting together, always sticking together... it's so cute! Yet I have so much pity for it." Bdubs groaned in growing annoyance as the voice of the void echoed around them.

"We're not cowards, we're more powerful than you are by yourself." Doc stayed calm, realizing that the words of Canem were getting to Bdubs. A hazy and blurry Canem appeared in front of Bdubs, laughing.

"This relationship you two have, it's really funny. How long do you even think this will last, do you think he even trusts you, can you trust this villain, Luxshield?"

"You would never understand how we feel!!" Bdubs yelled, turning his shields into energy balls as he rushed towards the void.

"Bdubs wait no! That's not-" Doc realized too late, as the energy balls went through the Shadow mirage of Canem. The real Canem appeared to the side of Bdubs, smiling as he slashed his claw at him. The claw ripped through the hero's shirt, giving him a giant cut on his chest and stomach. He held up the hero with the claw, laughing as he flung Bdubs over onto Doc with an evil grin. Doc caught Bdubs in his arms as he was thrown back. The cyborg looked down in horror as the newly made gash in his chest leaked blood all down the hero's shirt. The happy explosion was smiling no longer. Doc tore off his lab coat, using it to quickly wrap it around Bdubs chest. He felt the hero try to sit up and help him tighten the cloth.

"Thanks, I'll be fine." Bdubs gasped. Doc froze for a moment before helping the hero up a bit.

"Can you walk?" Doc asked. Bdubs gave him a soft nod as he rested his hand against Doc's metal shoulder.

"Done so soon? Man, that was easier than I thought!" He heard Canem exclaim. "Taking down the lover kills the other I guess!" The reaper laughed. Doc's eyes scanned the room, the heat sensors highlighting any form of heat in the room. 'Bdubs is here, can't see Canem..wait.' Doc stopped as he saw a faint heat signature from across the room. 'The security guard is still alive.'

"Listen, Bdubs. I need you to try to get into the vault and get the sun crystal. I'll distract Canem." Doc said, his plan forming as he spoke. Bdubs looked up at him with a determined smile.

"Don't get yourself hurt too much." The hero said with a small laugh, making Doc smile back. He waited a moment before setting his plan into motion.

"Go," Doc whispered, getting a nod of confirmation from Bdubs. Doc then dashed forward into the darkness. He could see Canem's dark silhouette with the help of his robotic eye, allowing that to lead him out of the dense fog. With a hard throw, Doc launched his last knife at the reaper. The blade whizzed past Canem, causing the man to turn his head. The cyborg smiled as he stood in the center of the room. Canem tilted his head with a frown as the shadow claw he stood on lowered to the floor and dissipated back into the fog. The two exchanged no words as they ran straight for each other. Doc swung his hand forward, his fist headed straight for Canems nose, but was hit away by the reaper's hand. Canem's knee came up and slammed Doc square in the chest. It didn't hurt much, but it was enough to catch the cyborg off guard. Doc however, quickly recovered and punched upwards right into Canems jaw. The reapers' sunglasses fell to the floor with a small clang, the sound of glass breaking was like music to Doc's ears. Canem glared daggers at him as his void eye had a strange black substance now oozing out of it. The reaper sat fuming in anger for a moment, making Doc smile. The cyborg's small victory was ruined as he felt a small solid shadow hand grab his normal arm roughly. Doc stared down in shock as he was flung hard into the dark. He slammed against a wall, the shadows falling away as Canem walked up to him. He could feel a bit of sweat drip down his face as he stood up. Feeling a little dazed, he watched as Canem approached him. Behind him, Doc could see the bright outline of someone moving behind them towards the vault door. This was nowhere from over. Doc launched himself forward, hitting Canem square in the chest with his foot. The reaper fell to the ground and as Doc went to pummel him into the ground, Canem swung his foot up, the reaper's hard boots denting his metal faceplates. Doc shouted an aggravated curse as Canem quickly leaned to stand up and tried to swing another punch at him. Doc blocked the attack by grabbing the reaper's wrist tightly. Doc took another glance over to see the living figure stationed near the door but was quickly unable to see it as Canem hit his robotic eye with his free hand. 'That's not good..' Doc cursed aloud again, quickly going to grab the reaper's other hand. Both now stood trying to shove the other to the ground as Doc kept looking hopeful over the reaper's shoulder towards where he had seen the person near the vault, now unable to see it clearly with his broken eye. Canem gave him a confused look as he too looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening as he spotted the figure. Doc remained silent as he watched a shadow claw form out of the dark and quickly grab a hold of the figure. Canem laughed.

"Come on! Your little boyfriend can't leave the party so soon!" Canem started but stopped in astonishment as he threw the figure to the floor. Doc watched as the security guard fell to the ground, Doc's control on him fading as the man slipped back into unconsciousness. Canem turned to stare at Doc, the cyborg smiling back. His distraction had worked. Bdubs should have been able to get into the vault no problem. Canem tried to let go of Doc to go running to the vault door But Doc held on tightly. He was far from over.

Bdubs groaned as he closed the vault door shut. Getting in was easy, but he didn't realize how much his injury hurt until now. It felt like hundreds of knives stabbed all over his chest. The hero turned to look over at the farthest wall. Hand clenched tightly to Doc's lab coat, Bdubs slowly walked over to the pedestal that sat in the room. There it was, the sun crystal, sitting in all its yellow glowing glory.

"Nice to see this again. I guess?" Bdubs said to himself. His eyes went from the crystal and back to the door, were just on the other side, Doc was fighting to give him a chance to save them both and get out of here. The hero sighed as he reached a bloody hand out towards the shiny gem. "Hope I don't just break off a bit this time." He joked, placing his hand on the gem. Then it was white, nothing but a void of white.

(Kept this bc i thought it was funny)Wow flashback pog? Owo uwu ;3 wink wink nudge nudge its lore and backstory explaining time bby. Help. its 1 am. Kill me :'] actually dont. Ok. nice. Good. got it. I'll stop now.

Bdubs smiled as the glass door he had opened shut behind him. When Cub had invited him and a few others to his father's company for something, he didn't expect the place to be this big. The walls were a clean white with very formal blue decorations.

"Woah, Cub's Pa isn't messing around!" Said an enthusiastic Keralis, who stepped up behind him.

"Right?" Bdubs said, equally as impressed. "I wonder where everyone is?"

"I don't know but this room looks important!" Keralis said, quickly walking from the lobby towards another small room. Bdubs followed him without any second thought, he was sure the two of them would find their friends eventually. The two didn't have to look long as an employee in a dark suit came up to them and directed the two lost souls to where they were supposed to go. Bdubs waved to Cub, who was now standing in the center of the main lobby Keralis and Bdubs had entered from. The man's dark black hair was pulled back a bit in a very formal fashion, and his green eyes glistened with joy as he spotted the two.

"Hey glad y'all could make it!" Cub smiled.

"Of course! Though I was surprised that we were all asked to come here." Bdubs said. Really, he didn't know why he had been invited.

"I'll tell y'all in a second, come on, everyone's in here!" Cub said happily, as he began walking. Bdubs and Keralis turned to look at each other with a shrug and followed after the young businessman. The three then stepped into a small room, where Scar, Grian, Stress, and Mumbo. Bdubs hadn't known Mumbo for long, but he knew he was a super-smart guy. The man smiled as his eyes met the room of familiar faces. Keralis waved to everyone as the two went to go stand over with the others. Bdubs grinned as Stress gave him a sweet smile in greeting.

"Ok, so the reason I brought y'all here is because One day I'll be inheriting this entire company. I wanted to show my friends around the place because what's important to me I want to share with you guys. After all, you are important to me." Cub explained.

"So basically what you're saying is we get to see all of the cool stuff y'all do?" Scar's eyes lit up with excitement. Bdubs knew Cub didn't y'all about his family's very popular company, or his family very much, but it was touching to see him want to share that part of his life.

"Yes, and don't touch or break anything!" Cub said in a joking tone. "Come on."

"Oh, this is going to be so cool!!" Keralis smiled. Bdubs followed everyone out the doors. Cub led them all around the entire building, through offices and meeting rooms. Bdubs didn't know entirely what the company did but it seemed everyone else did so he never asked. Everything was so nice and polished, he guessed that's what places look like when you have money. Soon The seven stepped down a hall towards a door, next to it on the wall was a small little keypad.

"Now my Father was against showing this but I thought that the tour really couldn't be complete without the valuables room," Cub said as he tapped something on the keypad. The door slid open and Scar walked over to him with a grin.

"Man is it cool to have your best friend be a super-rich guy! You get super secret vaults!" He said excitedly. Cub laughed as the two bros went inside. Mumbo's eyes gaped at the small keypad, probably wondering how it worked so he could build one. Grian patted the spoons back in amusement and followed Cub into the room. The rest followed, eyes wide at all the fancy-looking objects. Bdubs's eyes looked around the room as everyone set off to go look at the different cases and jewels. He saw Keralis taking a picture of the big room, making Bdubs confused.

"Surprised Cub would let you take pictures."

"He said I could! And besides, it's for Shashwamy! He's gonna love it!" Keralis explained. Right, Bdubs almost forgot about the man's online friend. Bdubs shuffled awkwardly as everyone exploded the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a yellow crystal. It was decently sized with small spikes of gems pointing out of it, it was beautiful.

"Hey Cub, what's this?" Bdubs asked. The rich man stepped up behind him with a smile.

"Oh, that crystal has been kept in the Vex family for...well forever. It has a partner," Cub said, turning to stare at the empty podium that sat next to it. "But that was misplaced decades ago. Until now. Someone found it, and it should be returned to us soon."

"Oh, good," Bdubs said, his eyes still captivated by the crystal. He heard someone shout something but it didn't register. Footsteps echoed out of the room as he felt himself reaching out to it. His hand barely touched the shining gem when a piece broke off. Bdubs jumped backward in panic. 'Crap Crap Crap' He tried to search the floor for the missing piece but was unsuccessful. He failed to notice the small spark of light that danced up his arm.

"Hey, Bdubs? Are you coming?" Scar shouted, peeking his head out from another room.

"Ya Ya I am!" He replied frantically, running over to meet the man. Everything's fine, not like one little piece was going to matter. Right?

When Bdubs opened his eyes, the crystal was gone. Waves of light moved frantically up and down his arms, almost like he was taking the remnant of the crystal into his soul. Suddenly it was like a burst of adrenaline hit him. The hero turned away from the pedestal and back towards the vault door. As it swung open, the bright light from the room spread out and pushed the void away. Bdubs eyes landed on Canem, who stood above Doc with a claw up in the air.

(Thank u to editor for being my literal savior, AGAIN)

"Get the hell off of him!!" Bdubs yelled, hurling a brighter than ever orb of light at Canem with enough force to send him flying back away from Doc. Canem pushed himself up, looking at the hero with disgust.

"You?!? How are you even alive? Ugh, it doesn't matter," Canem pointed both his fingers at Bdubs and stood back as two void tendrils shot towards the Hero. Bdubs two shields on his wrists managing to block both hits. He ran to the side, flinging a shield over at Canem. Canem dodged to the side but became alarmed as the shield quickly accelerated and curved towards him, hitting him down to the ground. He jumped up, groaning. As he got up his eyes were met with Bdubs, his fists glowing with energy. Fists were hurled towards Canem, him barely being able to block with his void claws. It seemed like with every hit to him, the void in Canem felt weaker and weaker. Even enough to where he was so exhausted, Bdubs managed to land a punch to his face. Canem laid on his back on the ground, cowering in fear.

"Who's the coward now?!" Bdubs shouted as he stood above Canem. Canem shuffled backward, he felt like his void powers were being dragged out of him. Bdubs pointed his finger up, as a bright ball of light appeared above it. "Goodbye, Void," Canem yelled, lunging himself off the ground flying at Bdubs, but it was too late. The hero flung the ball onto Canem, slamming him to the ground again.

In what seemed like an instant, all the void flooded from the villain in an instant, weaving across the ground like a snake towards Doc. The cyborg reached down, allowing the substance to weave up his arm. It plunged into his eyes, almost to his soul. He blinked for a moment, trying to process what just happened. It was like for the first time in a while, his entire body felt whole. Doc looked at the reaper as he sat motionless on the ground. Now anything that was left of his friend was truly gone. Bdubs had succeeded. The cyborg ran over to Bdubs. The hero stood with both hands on his knees trying desperately to catch his breath. Doc swung his arms under the hero, spinning the short man around in his arms.

"Man, that was incredible!" He said.

"Ow! injured man here," Bdubs winced. Doc set him down, making the hero laugh a little.

"Is he dead?" Doc asked as he looked over at Canem. Bdubs shook his head.

"No, just really knocked out." Doc was about to say something else when sirens began screaming in the distance.

"Geez, now they decide to show up?" Doc groaned, moving to hold Bdubs upright.

"Thanks," Bdubs muttered. Doc nodded and began heading out of the building. His eyes looked over at Canem one more time. Leave him to the police, they will deal with him properly.

'Sorry...Ren.'

>:D <3