X, Impulse, Mumbo, Scar, False and Iskall crept towards EX's supposed secret lair.

"It says that it should be around here somewhere," Xisuma murmured, looking into the holograms of his comms as they walked.

Mumbo nervously glanced around the place as he followed. They were outside the main continent, in some sort of forestry location. "X, you sure this isn't a trap?" He asked, little effort to mask the uncertainty in his voice.

Xisuma hesitated before answering. "Pretty sure, but we're prepared for the absolute worst. That's why we have False, cause she's scary enough for all of us."

"Thank you," False said, half sarcastically, half amused. She rolled her eyes light-heartedly. "Y'all are just wimps."

X sighed but replied in an equally sarcastic manner. "Hey, look, it's not every day that your supposed evil brother just suddenly appears and kidnaps one of your friends. Though I do have some embarrassing stories I can use against him if it comes to that. There's one involving him and a stapler that's quite funny."

"That's nice and all, but we should be there now." Impulse announced nervously, looking back at the mapped holograms and the area, "Any plans?"

"Scar, don't bump into anything. Stick with Iskall, they're not so clumsy-"

"I don't like this trust you're putting on me, X," Iskall murmured.

"You'll be fine, trust me. Iskall and Scar, you search the top floor. False and Impulse go for the basement, me and Mumbo can take the ground floor."

"How do you know there's a basement?"

"Trust me, he's melodramatic enough to need a dark basement."

"Alright then, let's do this."

"Stay on comms as much as possible, I've linked them up to headphones so you should be good."

They all nodded in silence. They looked upon the not-so-hidden entrance on the mountainside.

"So- we're going in?" Mumbo mumbled.

X kept silent as he touched the rubble of the rocks. "Unfortunately, yes." He sighed, before turning around. "If you see him, don't engage, stay safe, and most importantly, stay alive."

"Well, that's terrible for me." Scar muttered, but no one really heard him, everyone was pouring most of their attention to the task at hand, and everyone was feeling an equal amount of tension.

Reluctantly, they finally entered the base.

.

..

.

X had to remark that it was considerably better than what he had expected. First off, he didn't expect his brother to actually have proper building skills, like damn, quartz? Terracotta? It looked far better than he thought it would. He had to give him credit for that.

But looks don't really matter much when you're trying to infiltrate the area to look for your friend which your brother supposedly kidnapped. And that was exactly what he was doing.

He walked around the pretty spaced corridors of the lair, a nervous Mumbo just following behind. They tried to keep some level of sneaky, trying their best to listen for any external noise, counting footsteps and making sure theirs aren't noisy.

"I feel like a spy," Scar whispered over comms. "It's like I'm back in season 7 and raiding the vault."

"That vault was terrible," Mumbo added, though his voice had significantly less humour in than the others.

"All we need is superhero music," Iskall added.

"Dun dun dun-" Impulse started, pausing. "Wait, that's Star Wars." Scar burst out giggling.

"Scar, in the nicest way possible, shut up, please," False whispered sharply. "You'll give our locations away if he's inside at the moment!" There was silence for a minute or so, apart from shuffling and footfalls as they all made their way deeper into the base.

"We've found some ventilation shafts," False said. "Should we go in?" There was silence for a few moments until Xisuma replied.

"Maybe one of you goes in, the other doesn't?"

"I'll go," Impulse volunteered. "False can fight her way out of situations, I can't."

"That's good," Iskall whispered. The sound of ventilation shafts opening and closing could be heard, as well as Impulse's echoey breathing.

"Ow!" Scar's voice was loud, far louder than everyone else's.

"What's wrong?" Mumbo asked, his voice thick with concern.

"I swear I was sparked by something purple," Scar whispered.

"That's weird," Xisuma noted. "This entire place feels thick, something's off," he mused. "Anyone else getting that vibe?"

"I mean, it's a very creepy base," Iskall whispered. "Maybe that's what you're getting?"

"I'm kinda picking up on that too," Scar whispered. "Probably nothing though." Murmurs of agreement could be heard from the comms, though when Xisuma glanced at Mumbo, he seemed frozen. Maybe with fear?

"I think I might've found something," False whispered after another 10 minutes or so of searching. "Think Grian's in there. Basement level, 2 rights, a left then on the third corridor on the right." Mumbo instantly perked up, taking off in a run towards the stairway.

"Got that," Xisuma whispered, following Mumbo but quieter. Repeating False's instructions mentally, it didn't take him long to arrive at the door False, Impulse and Mumbo were fiddling with. Mumbo was messing about with the redstone in the wall, carefully redirecting the course. He let out a sound of relief once it was done, and the door swung open. False led the group, now complete with Iskall and Scar, into the room.

It looked empty at first glance, but in one of the corners, was a curled up Grian. His hair was messy and greasy, and while initially he looked in terrible condition, upon closer inspection he seemed mostly unwounded. Even where he was tied up, his skin was fairly healthy, even decently clean, safe for a few rope burns. Scars were covering his arms, but the Hermits had seen those before, and clearly weren't new.

These observations however were all subconscious, as Xisuma was preoccupied with getting over to Grian and freeing him of his bonds.

Xisuma gestured for the other Hermits to stay back while he made his way over to Grian, first reaching for his neck to check his pulse. Relief flooded through him when the pulse seemed not only steady but pretty strong. Stronger than most sleeping pulses.

Still cautious, however, Xisuma put his ear to Grian's mouth, relieved once again when his breathing was stable. He checked the sides of his head for any form of trauma, but other than a couple of bruises, there was nothing.

Taking one final look over, Xisuma couldn't see any blood or any serious injury other than bruises. He looked back at the Hermits and nodded, setting to work untying the rope. It was badly tied - likely done in a rush. Had EX been eager to leave before.

"Just bruises," he said, turning back to the other Hermits. "Steady pulse and breathing."

"Oh thank god," Scar breathed, laughing with relief.

Even though not voiced, the others visibly shared the same amount of relief.

Iskall gave Mumbo a short pat on the shoulder, who while still seeming shaken up, was sighing with a small smile on his face. Mumbo walked over to the Admin and unconscious Grian, while False and Impulse watched from a bit of a distance.

"Hey, Gri?" Mumbo asked quietly, lifting Grian's hand. "We're getting you home." Upon the skin-to-skin contact, Grian's eyes flung open, his breathing becoming erratic. Relief flooded through him upon seeing Mumbo, his entire body relaxing against the wall.

"Oh god- I thought you were- I thought he'd come back-" Grian stuttered, struggling to get his words out.

"Who's 'he', Grian?" False asked quietly, the rest of the Hermit's registering in his brain.

"I do- I don't know, but he looked s-slightly like you," Grian whispered, pointing at Xisuma. "Except some- except something was wrong." He closed his eyes in an effort to refocus his breathing. "I think he said his name was Evil something." He tried to push himself up from the wall, staggering to his feet.

"That's EX alright," Xisuma confirmed. "Evil Xisuma, he's my brother. Been a pain in the ass for a while, forgot to check whether he was on the server this season." Grian gave a shaky nod, clutching onto Mumbo's arm for support.

"Can we just get out of here fast and you all explain later?" Grian whispered, stumbling forward with the help of Mumbo. Xisuma nodded, clicking a few buttons on his communicator and sending a message.

< Xisumavoid > Meeting at spawn ASAP, we have Grian

"Come on then, let's get out of here," Xisuma smiled, supporting Grian's other arm as they stumbled out of the base.

None of them noticed the grin on Grian's face as he looked back, locking eyes with a certain red armored figure.