Trigger warning: mild violence

Mumbo struggled to open his eyelids. They felt like they weighed a ton, and pushing them open was no easy task. He was sprawled in the grass on his back, staring at the canopy of trees above. The sky was beginning to transition into a deep ocean blue and twinkling stars winked down at him.

"Why am...?" Mumbo managed before he felt his head pound. "Ugghhh"

He hulled himself up onto his elbows and raised one hand to rub his temples.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement.

"Iskall...?"

A groan of affirmation came from the crumpled body next to him.

"What happened...?"

Images flashed behind Mumbo's eyelids.

Screaming. Choking. Masks. Crying. Stress...

"Grian!" Mumbo croaked into the growing darkness. He heard his voice echo and reverberate inside his skull, and he clutched his head in pain.

Mumbo crawled over to a tree and used the lower branches to pull himself into a standing position. His heart thumped loudly in his chest and he broke out in a cold sweat.

"GRIAN! STRESS!"

Iskall had finally roused himself and sat up. The look on his face was as helpless as Mumbo felt.

Mumbo stumbled over to him and grabbed his arm.

"Get up! We have to go! We have to get the others!"

Iskall stayed seated as Mumbo desperately tried to pull him up.

"They took them" He whispered with a petrified expression as he stared into the trees. "They just... took them!"

Mumbo continued to pull on him.

"Iskall we have to get help! we have to go after them"

Iskall ignored him. He ripped his arm from Mumbo's grasp and stood, his face turning red as he mounted in anger.

"How dare... How could..." He was so angry he couldn't even form a sentence.

"Iskall come on! Please!" Mumbo felt desperate.

"I swear I will rip them to shreds!" Iskall continued, his fists shaking.

"Iskall... Iskall please" Mumbo felt something hot and wet run down his cheeks as he begged. "We... we have to go. We... we have to..."

He couldn't continue.

Iskall finally turned to look at him and his face instantly softened. He slowly wrapped his arms around his tall friend.

Mumbo choked out a sob as he reciprocated the hug.

"Iskall... what do we do?"

Iskall rubbed circles on his back soothingly.

"We do exactly what you just said. We go get everyone else"

He pulled away and shook Mumbo's shoulders slightly.

"It is going to be fine. Grian and Stress are strong, and they know that we will never stop looking for them"

Mumbo took in a shaky breath and nodded. Iskall patted his arm and let go.

"Now come on. It's almost dark"

The two half walked, half carried each other through the trees. The snow that had begun to melt under the sun had refrozen, and their feet slipped on the black ice. By the time they arrived back at the base, the moon was high in the night sky and the ground had frozen solid.

Every light in the base was on and they could hear loud arguing voices as they neared the door.

"We need to go after them!" Came False's voice.

"How are we supposed to know where they went?" Xisuma replied in a desperate tone.

"We'll figure it out" Doc growled. "But we can't just wait around here"

Iskall briefly met Mumbo's eyes before turning the handle and pushing the door open.

All eyes silently fell on the two men for a second before an explosion of noise erupted.

"Oh thank god" False said with a sigh of relief. She punched Iskall's shoulder hard. "Don't ever scare me like that again!"

"Mumbo, what the hell man!" Doc's usually calm and indifferent expression was plagued with worry. "What happened to your neck?"

Mumbo ran his fingers over his neck, having completely forgotten about the thin cut made from the string.

Ren and X looked outside.

"Where is Grian?" Ren asked at the exact same time as Xisuma asked, "Where's Stress?"

Mumbo opened his mouth to explain, but a lump formed in his throat. His eyes welled with tears for the second time that day, and he looked at Iskall.

Iskall broke away from False and guided him to the couch.

Mumbo barely listened as Iskall explained what had happened. He just concentrated on not letting tears fall down his face as he tried to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth.

When Iskall had finished, he seemed completely exhausted, having worn all of his physical and emotional energy.

Ren put his head in his hands.

"I... I knew... I hoped it wouldn't but... I knew this would happen eventually" he swallowed hard. "I just didn't think... "

He couldn't finish his sentence. He just clamped his hands tighter around himself. His shoulders shook as he began to cry.

False and Doc had similar expressions. It was the same look Iskall had had shortly after he had woken up. Shock, which turned into helplessness, which mounted into anger.

"I am going to destroy them!" False yelled, griping her sword so tight that her knuckles cracked.

Doc had similar intent on his face, but he didn't speak. He simply clamped his jaw down and left the room, returning seconds later with his coat.

X paced back and forth on the far side of the room muttering under his breath, his hands shaking as he pulled at his hair.

Doc opened the door and turned back to the rest of them expectantly.

"What's taking so long? We need to go"

"No!"

Everyone turned to X. His eyes were bulging and his face was red.

"We need a plan! We can't just... we don't... I can't..."

He began to hyperventilate.

"X..." Iskall said hesitantly.

X wasn't listening. His knuckles were white as his fists shook.

Suddenly without warning he slammed his hand down on the table leaving a large crack in the dark oak.

"THEY PROMISED THEY WOULDN'T TOUCH ANYONE ELSE!!!"

Everyone was shocked into silence for a moment.

Mumbo stood up.

"What did you just say?"

X looked as if he had seen a ghost. His hands flew to his hair and he continued to tug on it muttering nonsense under his breath.

"You... it was all you?"

Mumbo felt his blood begin to boil as he slowly made his way to the far side of the room.

"You told Grian where to go. You told him to go alone. You made him think he wasn't wanted! YOU SENT HIM OUT THERE TO DIE!"

In one swift movement he grabbed X's throat and slammed him into the wall, holding him in place.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!"

X's bloodshot eyes were rolling in every direction. He looked crazy.

"I didn't... I wouldn't... I... I"

"You what?!" Mumbo thundered, pulling X towards him just to slam him against the wall once more.

"I didn't mean to!" He cried out. "I didn't have a choice!"

"There is always a choice" Mumbo hissed. "And you made the wrong one"

"Wait... X... you didn't..." Ren stammered.

"I... I..." X looked around wildly. "It was only supposed to be Grian!"

Mumbo's eyes widened with fury and he slammed X into the wall for the third time.

X's eyes rolled back in their sockets and he hung limply in Mumbo's grasp. Mumbo let go of him quickly and he slid down the wall. Whether he fainted from shock, exhaustion, or head trauma was unclear.

Mumbo didn't care. He left X in a lump on the floor and turned to see the rest of the team with mixed levels of shock and anger on their faces.

"What are you looking at?!" He barked. "Let's go!"

Iskall and False nodded, turning towards the door.

"What about him?" Ren asked in a small voice, pointing at X.

"What about him" Mumbo glowered, grabbing a weapons belt that sat by the door. "He can rot for all I care"

"Mumbo..." Doc's voice trailed off. He looked at Mumbo with a strained expression. "We don't know what happened yet"

"Are you serious?" Mumbo said bringing himself up to his full height and towering over the rest of them. "Are you seriously backing him up?"

"Of course not!" Doc roared, refusing to back down. "I'm just as mad as you are!"

Mumbo scoffed. Doc narrowed his eyes and continued.

"But this is not you Mumbo. You need to calm down!"

"Or what?!"

"Or you'll do something you regret" Doc finished setting his jaw in a way that meant this conversation was over.

"That doesn't matter right now" Iskall interjected as Mumbo opened his mouth to retort. "What matters is Stress and Grian"

Grian...

Mumbo took a deep breath.

"You're right" he said. "Follow me. I saw which direction they took them"

"Guys... what about him" Ren repeated, nudging X with his foot, who stirred and slowly opened his eyes.

"Leave him" Mumbo spat. "I don't want him anywhere near me"

"We can't leave him" False said. She looked just as disgusted as Mumbo. "If he really is working for the other side then we can't lose sight of him"

"I'm not-" X started.

"Shut up!" Iskall yelled, glaring. He turned back to Mumbo. "False is right"

"I need to come with you!" X interrupted.

Doc shot him an icy glare.

"Why? Are your buddies going to ambush us again, and you want to be there to see it"

X struggled to his feet. He looked pleadingly at everyone in turn.

"I need Stress back! They were never-"

"Don't you dare say her name!" False thundered pointing her sword at him. "You're lucky I haven't run you through!"

"You don't understand!" X cried. Tears began to stream down his cheeks. "If I didn't give Grian up they were going to kill all of us!"

"And why couldn't we have just left?" Ren asked.

"They said they have bombs pointed at the base" X said. "They sent threatening letters everyday. I was protecting us! What else was I supposed to do?"

Mumbo walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar. He stared into X's eyes.

"You don't. Abandon. Grian" he said.

His voice was shaking from anger and it took all of his will power not to hit him against the wall again. Instead he threw X forward. He stumbled, catching himself before he fell.

"We're leaving" Mumbo announced, never removing his eyes from the crying spluttering figure beneath him.

No one moved. Mumbo glared.

"Now."

Oof rough chapter sorry. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did please leave a like, and leave a comment if you have any feedback!