Well this is the second chapter in a row that my inspiration to write came from Epic-- There's quite a few songs from it that I relate to TLO in some way. Last chapter was written as a result to "Just a Man" by the way. "The Underworld" and even "No Longer You" are also ones I associate with the Void to some degree. (I very strongly associate things with songs even if it's grasping at straws)

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Grian's eyes widened in horror as he snapped his focus to the door. It swung open all too slowly, revealing a hooded figure in the entryway carrying a scythe. He stumbled backwards, bumping into his chair.

"Well, well, well..." Came the dark chuckle before the figure lifted his hood. His sunglasses glinted in delight of this new discovery. "What do we have here? A few daredevils, eh?" Ren opened his arms as he slowly came closer, as though to welcome them all.

"Ren, we're on a time out!" Iskall exclaimed, forming the T again and taking his own step back before he could help it. Mumbo was quick copy the T, Grian a little less so. The Convex merely snickered, smirking and rolling its eyes before also doing the motion anyway.

The werewolf merely tilted his head, displaying his fangs slowly, taking his sweet time to slowly lick them, as though he were a beast taking in the very last taste of blood upon its tongue. "A time out?" he merely scoffed as he lifted his weapon. "What, do you think this is some sort of childish game?" With one swift motion, he swung his weapon almost teasingly, the three Architects just barely jumping out of the way in time. The Convex itself had barely dodged, but instead of jumping back, it joined Ren at his side.

"We warned you. We will not protect you." It warned, crossing its arms.

"Run!" Mumbo screamed at the same time. With the door blocked, he scrambled to the opposite wall, Iskall following. From his inventory he produced an pickaxe, which he promptly used to start cutting through the stone wall before them.

"Oh, a game?" Scar's distorted voice carried in the telling octave of the Vexes. It rolled in a moment later, grinning in a way that showed its dangerously sharp fangs. "What are we playing?"

Grian told his feet to run, to join Iskall and Mumbo in their escape. They hadn't broken through the wall just yet, but they were working on it, and hopefully they would in a few seconds. Yet, his feet disobeyed. His eyes did too -- they were locked on his best friend -- no, his godchild. The very one who he had fought for. The very one whom he watched rise to the top only to be pushed to the very bottom without second thought. The ones who had pushed him so far down, they were right there! As though they had always been there, as though they hadn't used and abused him, then threw him away as though he were a piece of garbage! And it wasn't as though they were standing by idly -- no, they were with him, just like before!

The fear and the anxiety melted away. What emerged instead was a burning rage. "Scar." he whispered, almost as a curse, yet full of disbelief.

"Hmm?" The vessel asked, tilting his head as it smirked just like he would have. No, that smirk wasn't a smirk like Scar's. While his eyes usually filled with a playful, mischievous and even caring gaze, its blue pupils held no such thing. What was left instead was something akin to deceit and lies, a hollow shell that was the Vexes. As he stared deeper, he could barely make out mischievousness, but even so, it was nothing like Scar's. Without realizing, his wings began to unfurl themselves.

"You let him go right now, you bastards." He hissed. He didn't care what the consequences of that would be. It didn't matter. He could deal with that later; the Vexes had no right to get anywhere close to Scar after all they had done to him.

Both vessels of the Convex froze, blinking.

"What is it?" Ren asked them. "What did he say?"

"Grian!" Iskall called, grabbing the angel's arm. In doing so, Grian was ripped from his trance, prompting him to look over at Iskall. "We need to go!" And as Grian stared at his friend, his emotions began to simmer. He almost began to nod, but then he began to hear the chittering of Vexes, which were growing louder than before.

"We aren't bastards!"

"Do you even know what that word means?"

"Where did he learn Language?"

"Why does he sound like--?"

"Look at his wings!"

"But they look like--!"

"But surely not--?"

"How?!"

"How?!"

He flinched at their comments. Sure, one Vex on its own was not smart. But a large group of them weren't stupid. Could they really figure out who he was? Fear shivered through him yet again, but even stronger was his rage. He silently used his free hand to remove Iskall's. Both of his friends had paused now, staring at him with confused looks, but it really couldn't be helped now. He turned from them once more.

"I don't care about the stupid technical definitions. Where I come from, a bastard is an asshole, through and through. Simple as that. Tell me, did they let you take them over? And if they didn't, then why bother?" He asked, trying to glare at each and every one of them. It was impossible in this state of course, but he didn't care-- he would scare each and every one of them if it was the last thing that he did.

"Language!"

"Potty mouth!"

"Listen, Gri--" Mumbo begged, but Grian held a hand to him. He needed to hear it all, so he could counter it all. His eyes darted about, trying to follow each of the Vexes that spoke even though they talked over one another.

"Maybe he's not then?"

"They always cared."

"All high and mighty."

"Perfect."

"And boring!"

"Boorrring!"

"Perfectly boring!"

"But he can understand us?"

"Enough." Grian commanded, his tone laced with a dangerous poison. He needed to know the answer, and he needed it now. Even if he knew the answer, he needed to hear it for himself. "Tell me the answer. Stop your stalling."

"We don't stall."

"We would never stall!"

"Nope, never!"

"Not a million zillion years!"

Mumbo could no longer stand by and watch, even if he didn't really understand what was happening. This time it was him who reached out and grabbed Grian's hand. "Grian, we need to flee. We can come up with a plan later, but if we stay here, we could end up dy--"

Grian turned to him, the same deep glare held in his eyes. He pulled his hand back with such force that Mumbo almost fell to the ground. He didn't apologize as he looked back at the Vexes. "Just answer me!" He yelled.

"Some things are worth doing without permission."

"Some things are worth even dying for."

"Even if they are not fun."

"Or full of diamonds."

"Or blood."

"Yum!"

Arms wrapped around Grian's torso. He fought to push them off again, but with Mumbo and Iskall working together, he was not a match for them. "We need to get out of here!" Iskall exclaimed again as he and Mumbo lifted Grian up. While continuing to fight their friend, the two of them began to run through the hole in the wall that they had created.

Ren tilted his head back and chuckled. "I don't really know what that was about, but-- you can run all you'd like, but you cannot escape death here." His maniacal laugh echoed against the walls.

"He's right. You've well overstayed your welcome." The Convex spoke in unison as the three fled.

"Let me go, guys!" Grian exclaimed as he was jostled about. No matter how much he struggled against though, he just could not get free.

"No." Mumbo scolded, with such certainty that left no room for discussion. He slowed to a stop, forcing Iskall to do the same. With breaking the wall, they were in a completely different area from when they entered. They could keep going straight, going into the darkness, or they could turn into this new hallway. "Which way?"

Iskall glanced at the way ahead, and then at the intersecting path. His emotions were hidden behind the mask he wore, but he nodded at the new path.

"Are you sure?" Mumbo asked him.

A pause. "There's no time." Iskall decided before leading the way for the three of them. He forced Mumbo into a sprint. Vexes loomed in the corners, peeking out from the walls, ceilings and floors as they chittered amongst themselves. The sounds of footsteps resounded against the walls, and it belonged more than just them two. They were being pursued, and Iskall could feel it deep down in his soul.

In their fear, they had forgotten one critical thing: this mansion was littered with traps and snares. When Iskall heard the soft click under his foot, he let out a scream. "It's a trap!" He yelled. He threw all of his momentum into an even faster sprint, Mumbo right there behind him. But it wasn't enough, because the explosion was almost instant. The three of them were thrown violently in three different directions. Grian and Mumbo were splattered against opposite walls from each other, while Iskall was thrown ten blocks down the hallway, sliding another five.

Grian blew up

MumboJumbo blew up

Iskall winced as he felt the two vibrations from his communicator. His skin buzzed with carpet burns, and he could tell that he was at half a heart. He pounded his chest as he let out a cough, shaking his head to get his senses back in order.

"Well, well, it seems as though you are alone now." Ren hummed from above him. When Iskall looked up at him, he could see his fangs had fully come out, ready to bear down on his prey. "Whatcha going to do about that now, Iskall?"

The man scooted away from where he was on the ground. He winced, closing his eyes as he looked away. He couldn't possibly get away.

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Grian gasped, sitting up suddenly from his bed. His heart beat rapidly inside of his chest as he tried to catch his breath.

He sensed... something. One of his eyes opened as he turned towards the corner of the room. If there was something to be seen, he had just missed it. All there was was a single white feather fluttering to the ground. His own, he presumed.

He let out a sigh, letting himself relax. He was no longer in danger. He could let down his guard. His eyes fell closed as he took in the serenity of his bedroom.

Something deep down inside of him stirred. The calm within him lasted only a minute, and in its place a deep restlessness began to awaken. When he could no longer ignore it, he moved the blankets off of himself before standing up. He walked out the door and went to his storage room. Rummaging around, he tossed odd blocks around as he tried to find what he was seeking. It was only when he pulled out a flint and steel and a bunch of TNT that he ceased.

"This is going to be fun." He smirked as he struck the flint with the steel.

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Fun Halloween fact: If you know the one startling bit of canon ConVex lore.... I've no reason to see how it would conflict in TLO. And if you don't know... you probably don't want to know. (No, I will not elaborate)