AN: What's up everyone it's been a hot minute. I wrote this while feverish and dizzy so sorry for any grammar mistakes. But anyway yeah this is the scene that convinced me to add Humble as a character so woo. Also pls I'm greedy for comments they are the only thing fueling my motivation right now. I love reading them
OH the next few chapters should be pretty fun :]

TW: Vomiting, blood, potential organs, dislocation

     Sigils furrowed his brow as he calculated the amount of items before him. Muttering to himself, he said, "Alright, so I need 100 of these." He lightly tapped a glowing conduit.

     In the past few weeks, his wounds had healed with the help of spells. He was back in his true base- his pocket dimension- working on a project he had been thinking of ever since Biffle's betrayal.

     He gritted his teeth.

     Biffle.

     He hadn't seen much of him, but from what Jerome had said, he'd become cold. But no matter how much Sigils analyzed what had happened, he couldn't figure out why.

     Why would he betray the Lvengers?

     Why would he betray his friends?

     Why would he betray him?

     He shook his head. It makes no sense.

     His thoughts were shattered by Humble leaping onto the desk beside him, snuffling through the papers Sigils had used to write down calculations. He snatched one from the pile, shoving it in Sigils' face.

     Sigils raised an eyebrow, taking the paper. "Yeah, 100."

     Humble buried his muzzle under his paws.

     "It's 100, Humble."

     The fox didn't move.

     He double checked the math, confirming it was 100 conduits a third time. He could've sworn Humble rolled his eyes, but the fox let it go and went back to shuffling through papers.

     Sigils had barely gotten back to his project when another paper was flung at him. "Are you just here to tell me I'm wrong?" He chuckled, humoring the fox by checking the equations. This paper was for another experiment that he'd yet to test. "Look, I'm going to prove it to you, okay?"

     Taking a vial brimming with a bubbling emerald liquid, he slowly clamped it over a burner. He turned towards a shimmering blue liquid with flecks of white slowly circling within it. Sigils picked up the flask, carefully mixing the two together. The mixture sputtered and popped and crackled, emitting an eerie glow that shone with power.

     He took the opportunity to smirk at Humble, who had settled down on top of the papers, one paw crossed over the other. The fox flicked an ear at him, his expression unamused.

     Sigils then turned to a third ingredient, which was a chunk of rock that glittered a cyan hue in the light. A hammer laid on top of it. He brought the tool down on the lip of the rock, watching as a section of it cracked and fell off. He added the small portion of rock to the liquid.

     At first, the concoction simply glowed brighter, illuminating the room in a spectacle of beautiful colors.

     Then the vial began to shake.

     Then the table followed suit.

     The liquid began to churn, thickening into a wicked slime with large, lazy bubbles forming at its surface. The glow worsened as the vial hissed.

     Glass shattered as the concoction exploded, sending fragments hurtling across the room. Sigils yelped and dove behind a large, sturdy machine, fighting back a coughing fit as smoke poured into the pocket dimension.

     After an agonizingly long moment, the room seemed to settle, and Sigils poked his head out from behind the machine.

     The table he'd done the experiment on was black and smoldering with bits of goo clinging to its surface. The wall behind it was coated in ash and soot.

     Humble hadn't moved from his position on the papers. The fox, who had a magical shield around him, let the barrier fall, turning to Sigils with the most deadpan expression he'd ever seen.

     "Okay, okay," Sigils sighed, "Maybe you're right."

     Both of them turned their heads as a low whistle rang from the entrance to the pocket dimension.

     "This place has sure seen better days," Jerome said, gazing around the ash-covered room with wide eyes.

     Henwy, who was behind Jerome, nodded in agreement.

     Sigils scratched the back of his neck. "Yeahhh, Humble and I just had a bit of a disagreement. What are you two doing here?"

     Jerome raised an eyebrow with a sly grin. "Humble won, didn't he?"

     Sigils rolled his eyes. "Humble always wins."

     Henwy chuckled, crossing the room and offering his hand to Sigils. Sigils accepted, allowing himself to be pulled off the ground. "We wanted to create a plan to get those Infinity Stones away from SSundee."

     Sigils glanced at the conduit he'd been arguing with Humble over. That machinery would be used not to steal SSundee's Infinity Stones, but to create his own. In fact, the machine Sigils had dove behind was a large, magma-infused forge that he was using to devise a mold for another gauntlet.

     He turned back to Henwy. He'd tell him his plans another time. "'We', huh? So you're not going to leave me to do all the planning while you and Jerome call me 'Weak Knees'?"

     Henwy rounded his eyes innocently. Jerome matched his expression. "We'd never do that."

     "Uh huh. Where's the sorcerers?"

     Jerome raised an ear to the pocket dimension's entrance, tapping his claws against his wrist to a beat Sigils couldn't hear. "Three- two- one-"

     Right on cue, Frost, Florian, and Rafessor stumbled through the door, each calling out greetings to the present figures.

     "Well," Sigils said dryly, "If I'd known ahead of time this is where we'd discuss our Very Important Plans, I might've had some chairs set up. Thanks for the heads up Hen."

     Henwy bowed. "Of course."

     Frost shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Besides," he chuckled, flashing a smile at Sigils, "We all know how you like to pace when you plan."

     "Like you're talking," Rafessor snickered, "I've seen you nearly wear a trench in the floor."

     "Guilty as charged." Frost paused, then snapped his fingers. "I did want to warn everyone. Guess who tried to recruit me."

     Jerome blinked. "The Pickle Man?"

     "I- who?"

     "No? Uhhh- how about a fox in a pirate costume?"

     "What?"

     "A man with a top hat?"

     Henwy had his eyebrows knitted together and was staring at Jerome with an incredulous look. "Are you high?"

     Frost slowly shook his head, as if he was clearing out the cobwebs Jerome had just cluttered his brain with. "SSundee."

     Sigils grimaced.

     "I told him no, obviously, but I'm sure he'll either try again or go for someone else." Frost fixed his gaze on Sigils, his eyes darkening. "I wouldn't be surprised if he came after you, considering what you'd bring to the table."

     Sigils crossed his arms, giving Frost a glare that wasn't directed at him. "I'd like to see him try."

     "Frankly," Florian commented, "I don't see why he'd even try to recruit anyone else. He already has the Stones."

     "Because we pose a threat to taking them away," Rafessor murmured.

     Henwy nodded slowly. "He's right. But while we're on that subject, how do we take them away?"

     Silence blossomed like wildflowers on a sunny day. The sorcerers glanced at one another, or rather, Florian and Rafessor did, while Frost seemed to have lost his focus, instead gritting his teeth and shaking his head. Jerome found the floor very interesting, while Henwy was watching the wheels begin to turn in Sigils brain.

     Humble came trotting up with a piece of paper in his jaws. The fox's eyes flickered as he released the paper, allowing it to float in the air as magic grasped it with tight claws. On the parchment were what looked to be ancient runes surrounding a small pendant.

     Jerome glanced up at Sigils for translation.

     "Er, I'm not really sure," Sigils murmured, furrowing his brow, "This is a trinket I'm developing, but I don't know why he's showing it to us."

     Henwy tipped his head. "What does it do?"
     Sigils shrugged. "Nothing that would help us take down SSundee."

     Humble flattened his ears, recoiling, then spun the paper around so he could see it. The fox dropped the piece of paper and whirled around, leaping back onto the desk cluttered with ideas and experiments. He snuffled through the stack again, then returned with a different paper.

     Sigils slowly clapped. "Great job Humble, you grabbed the wrong paper."

     Humble shot a small, pebble-sized bolt of magic at Sigils, who ducked at the last second, shooting the fox a nasty glare.

     This paper had a neutralization spell scribbled on it.

     Florian blinked as he skimmed the paper. "That could work, actually. Short radius, so we'll have to get close."

     Rafessor turned to Henwy and Jerome. "That means you'll have to distract him. This spell takes a while to cast. Don't annoy him enough for him to do anything worthwhile, but just keep him busy. We all know he likes to play with his food, so it shouldn't be much trouble to get him to mess around with you."

     Jerome nodded. He turned to Frost, concern weaving through his eyes. "Are you okay?"

     The sorcerer swallowed thickly and nodded. "Y-yeah."

     Rafessor gently touched his shoulder. "You need some water?"

     He screwed up his face as if the thought of water alone could kill him. "No- no, I'll be..." He blinked a few times, then slowly backed up. "I'll be fine."

     Florian quietly made his way over to Sigils, asking in a low voice, "Do you have anywhere he can sit down?"

     Sigils nodded, gesturing for the sorcerers to follow him. It was quite literally a wooden chair right by his storage system, but it was a chair nonetheless. Rafessor guided Frost over to it, and together, he and Florian forced Frost to take a seat.

     The sorcerer looked extremely unhappy, but obliged anyway, probably just to appease his friends. Henwy handed him a cloth soaked in cold water and Florian silently mouthed 'thank you'.

     Jerome pulled Rafessor aside and asked if he'd been okay before coming here.

     Rafessor nodded. "He was acting perfectly fine. I don't know what came over him."

     Jerome tapped his chin. "Has he eaten?"

     "I think so...."

     "Well, let's keep an eye on him. He looks pretty pale, but, well, it's Frost, so it's hard to tell."

     After getting the sorcerer settled, they went back to drafting a plan.

     "Even if we get SSundee distracted, we have someone else to deal with," Sigils pointed out.

     Henwy sighed. "You're right. Who here wants to take on Biffle?"

     "I will," Sigils volunteered, although the glint in his eyes was obvious, and it was clear Henwy saw it right away.

     "Absolutely not."

     "Oh, here we go," Jerome muttered.

     Sigils narrowed his eyes. "I can do it."

     "I'm sure you can, but you're not going to."

     "Oh yeah?"

     "Sigils, the last time someone even mentioned his name you couldn't stop messing with your throat for the rest of the day. I don't doubt your ability, but I do doubt your mental capacity right now. Humble and I can distract Biffle."

     The glare he received could probably melt an iceberg. However, as everyone murmured their agreement, Sigils realized he was outnumbered, and had to back down.

     For now.

     Humble jumped up on his shoulder, placing a paw on his head. The fox was staring over at Frost.

     Just then, Florian shouted, "Guys!"

     Sigils followed his gaze, then gasped, breaking into a run.

     The sorcerer was on the floor, clutching his head. He was sweating and his eyes were glassy and unfocused. He gritted his teeth, stifling a shriek that faded into a groan.

     Frost suddenly retched. Blood spilled onto the ground, thick and sticky and foul-smelling. Sigils, however, was far more concerned about the black, goo-like substance intermixed with the blood.

     Frost retched again, this time something lumpy splattering into the blood and goo.

     Sigils barely had time to process that it could very well be an organ before Frost's arm snapped back, ripping itself out of its socket.

     The sorcerer spasmed, impervious to Florian's and Rafessor's healing spells, then collapsed, his dull eyes slowly trailing towards the ceiling.

     Silence.