5 seconds. That's all it took.
5 seconds for Grian to get close enough to the ground to tackle Mumbo and send them both up slightly and toppling to the ground.

Mumbo clearly saw it coming but he didn't dare step out of the way. All he did was laugh and pull the younger on top of him for a hug.

"Hey, birdie!" Mumbo greeted lovingly.
"Mumby!" Grian laughed, "guess who I saw recently?"
"Who?" Mumbo asked.

"My dad!" Grian hummed his colorful wings flicking behind him.
"Holy moly, really?!" Mumbo asked sitting up, pulling the shorter with him.

Grian nodded excitedly.
"He's just like I remember 'im," Grian cooed.
"Aww, Gri! That's great!" Mumbo congratulated him.

"Oh Grian, welcome home!" Beef yawned.
Grian looked up and grinned at the bearded man. If their face shape wasn't so different and if they were both humans Grian doubts he would be able to tell Beef and XbCrafted apart.

Black hair, tanned skin, blue eyes. Though one's skin tone is a bit more gray than the other's.

"I'll grab Iskall," Beef informed easily and left them to it.
Which only caused a series of laughter from the 2 men.

It didn't take long for the other merling to run in and collapse on top of them.
"My boys~!" He greeted happily.

Mumbo let out a soft loving Enderman shriek and pulled them both into a weird headlock.
"Oh shooooot!" Iskall laughed.
"Sheeeeeeesh," Grian hummed in someone else's voice.

"What does that even mean?!" Iskall laughed at the new parrot.
"Pretty sure it's about taking drugs," Grian replied simply.
There was a long pause.
Then;
"Oh!" Mumbo gasped eyes wide.
Grian nodded and patted his arm.

It didn't take long in the silence for them to burst into laughter.

●●●●

"That's everyone!" Joe nodded.
Cub let out a happy buzz, his own necklace jingling as he looked around.
Everyone was in categories.

The Felines, BDubs, and False, plus the Renardian, Ren.

The Arachnid, which happened to be the woman who interviewed Grian, Gemini.
Which had lead to a hilarious moment of "You!"s once they saw each other.
Plus the human, Cleo.

The Shulks, Xisuma, and Ex, plus the Beelarians, Cub, and Joe.

The Phantoms, Stress, and Etho.

The Merlings, Iskall, Beef, and Scar, plus the Slimecicians, Jevin, and Kevin.

The Elytrians, Grian, Hypno, and XBC, plus the Avians, Wels, and Hels.

The Blazeborne, Tango.
(Poor Tango, all alone)

And

The Enderians, Doc, and Mumbo.

Distantly Joe wonders where the 2 new origins would slot in. Probably with Arachnid and human, and Blazeborn.

"Alright then, let's head on out!"

●●●●

They stood in a circular room.
In a crescent in front of them was an array of pedestals and doors. 1 for each group.

Once upon a time, the Crystals had sat upon the pedestals. Now they lay embedded in their hosts.
A crystal is needed to open each door.
Door 1.
One of many.

"Are we sure of this?" Iskall asked stepping into the water of the wall.
"You always doubt when there's always the same answer," Grian laughed from the other side of the room.
Iskall huffed glancing at his companions.
Beef stood, or rather floated, in front of the podium.

"No I mean, are we ready for this? It's been years," Iskall corrected himself.
Looking around at each group some people seemed excited, others seemed nervous. Then there was Tango and Grian who looked determined. The kind of determination that only comes from people who had never done it before. Never seen what lies ahead.

Yet they both had been here a multitude of times.

They were really doing this.
"Alright then," Iskall huffed.

1 person stepped forward, the one with the gem.

Beef, Etho, Xisuma, Grian, Tango, Doc, Cleo, and False.

Their gem glowed, then their hand, then they pressed it to the matching colored center of the door. Each door glowed, shook, and formed, ready to be pushed open. And that's exactly what they did.

Here we go!

●●●●

Each room had a puzzle. A puzzle that could be solved alone or with multiple people.

"Joe? What's on your mind?" Cub asked.
"Nothing," Joe assured.
So, so much.
Too much.

●●●●

The Merlings got to the middle doors first.
The one on the left was the Merling's door. The one on the right was the Slimecician door.
The first time it would be opened.

They sat and waited.

The Elytrians got to the middle doors second followed closely by the Enderians.

"Hello!" Grian called out, it echoed through each room.
Being the furthest away from the Merlings it was fainter over at them but they still heard and Iskall gladly yelled back, "'Ello!"

••••

Going through the fire-filled dungeon was not fun. Not to mention doing it alone.

He's done it before. He's lived in the nether his whole life, this was nothing!

But...

Tango still found it hard to not wish he had others at his side while doing it. Especially with this particular puzzle.

Tango jumped up trying to grab the handle dangling above him. Which in turn made him step off the pressure plate. He grabbed the handle and tried to rely on his weight alone to pull it down.

Gosh, darn his weight loss.

Tango kicked helplessly trying to yank the thing down.
"Hello!" Grian's voice reverberated through the room.

Just. Needed. To. Get. To. The. Other. Side!

"'Ello!" Iskall proclaimed from the puzzle beside Tango's.
Tango groaned.

"Downtown!" Tango whined kicking wildly.
At least his grip strength is strong...

••••

"Grian opened up to you?" Ex asked hoisting himself over a wall.
Joe nodded hovering over the wall.
"Yeah, we were in a hotel room and he said he's been having panic attacks lately so I asked him why," Joe explained.

"Because of his dad?" Xisuma asked.
"Uh... Not exactly? It was about his brothers," Joe explained carefully dropping to the ground below.

"Brothers?!" Cub asked sliding down the length of the wall to meet beside Joe.
"Yeah."

"Didn't know he had brothers," Xisuma commented.
"Yeah, apparently his adoptive dad has a thing with adopting stray kids in bad situations," Joe chuckled.
"How many are there?" Ex jokingly asked.
"Uuuuh.." Joe paused, standing behind as Xisuma went forward through the trap to turn it off.
The arrows bounced off his shell harmlessly.

"Well, there was Grian, 2 phantoms Wilbur and Techno, uhhh... A Starborne named Smajor, an Inchling named Sneeg, an Arachnid they called Fragrance Man, though I doubt that's his name. There was a Merling named Niki, a Blazeborn named Jack, a BeeShulkian named Tubbo-" Joe listed.
"A BeeShulkian?!" Xisuma asked as they reunited once the trap stopped.

"He's not quite old enough to get his wings yet but he has all the traits of a BeeShulkian," Joe clarified.
Xisuma glanced at Ex.
"Do you know how rare BeeShulkians are?!" Ex whispered.
"Uh... Yeah? 1 in a million," Joe chuckled.

The 3 others glanced between one another.
"Something else, the Dad, the Merling, the Blazeborn, and the Avian were all holders," Joe commented.

"Hold up! Avian?!" Xisuma asked as they got to the door.
"Oh shoot, I didn't finish listing them did I?" Joe paused.
They shook their heads.
"Uh, well there was an Avian named Tommy, an Enderian named Ranboo, a Renardian named Fundy, and a Slimecician named Charlie," Joe finished.

"Jeez," Cub huffed.
Then from the ruins beside them came the startled voice of Wels, "did you say Tommy?!"

●●●●

"You know Tommy?" Grian asked looking up from his spot perched by their door.
A large drop sat below them. The climb had been almost angering.

"Uh, yeah! He's my boy! Where was he?!" Wels answered.
"Your boy?" Grian asked.
"Figured you knew him! Considering he knew you," Joe laughed.

"Pft, of course, he knows me. I practically raised him!" Wels scoffed.
"His parents are bi-" Hels began.
"Hels! Be nice, they don't deserve that!" Wels interjected.

"They kicked their child off a mountain in the middle of a crisis, Wels," Hels deadpanned.
"That's the only bad thing they did in their parenting!" Wels retorted.

Hels gave his twin a disbelieving look as Wels defended the Innit parents.
"They were self-absorbed and probably wouldn't have cared if we were there to tell them we found his body," Hels snapped.

"I mean sure, but-" Wels began.
"Wait, what?!" Hypno cut in as Xb let out a startled choked laugh.
"Wait, please tell me you're kidding!" Xb choked.

Wels blinked at the 3 winged men.
At one point it had been 2 winged men and 1 winged woman but... That time is long passed.
On the bright side? Grian is more fun?

"Oh my g*d, you're not kidding!" Hypno gasped.
"They're good at parenting-" Wels reasoned.
"Uh, no they're not!" Xb cut him off.

"I never said they were good parents, just that they were good at parenting!" Wels quickly stopped the upcoming argument.
"I mean, Tommy loved them so they couldn't have been that bad! They let him stay home from school when he got sick! And he got sick a lot," Wels reasoned awkwardly.

The rest of the group stared the blue patagiumed man down.
This is so embarrassing.

●●●●

Cleo sat down and slid down the cold metal slide. What type of metal was it?
I dunno, I can't identify types of medals from slides!

Weirdo.

Gemini slipped down behind her.
"So, what do you do for a living?" Cleo asked.
"I run the radios," Gemini replied a pair of hands grabbing at the sides of the slide so she didn't barrel into the other woman while another pushed her up off the slide.

"Really? How far do they reach?" Cleo asked.
"About... I'd say 30-50 miles on average? Though, there are quite a good few of them. At least one in a 3 town radius," Gemini explained.
"How about you? What do you do?" Gemini asked.

"I'm the captain of a ship," Cleo answered, subconsciously picking at the skin around her gem.
"Really?! So you go on the water and all that?! Who's your crew?" Gemini asked excitedly.

"You've met them, False, Stress, and Scar," Cleo answered.
"Ooooo," Gemini hummed jumping up to catch a pull-up bar.

"Ooo indeed," Cleo huffed.

●●●●

"Oh, my g*d, Ren are you ok?!" BDubs stammered holding back a laugh.
Ren had tried to squeeze through a small crack in the wall. And I mean, he did it, but the crack was high up and when he returned with their needed object he fell and belly-flopped into the water alone.

Good thing unlike the other 2 he didn't have a problem with water and instead just popped back up with a shiver and a distressed bork.

The 2 Felines held back laughter as the Renardian pulled himself up out of the water.
Then, he shook out his coat.
His brown hair tossed almost majestically, the fur collar puffed up with the force, the tail and ears poofed up too and perked to attention.

He looked oddly majestic.....

Too bad the felines were too busy shrieking and hiding from the water to notice.

"Mission accomplished!" Ren announced triumphantly.
But before he could place the small key into the slot his eyes trailed down to the water below.

At first, it was just his mind wandering. Did they miss something? Did they get everything? Does he need to grab something in the water first?

But it quickly changed to, why is there a gap in the wall between their hall and their neighbor's hall in the water?
Wasn't their neighbor Tango?

"Are you gonna place it in?" BDubs asked.
Ren didn't even snap out of it. Instead, he shoved the key into False's hand he distractedly instructed, "wait till I'm through the gap to put the key in."

"What do you- Ren!" They called after him as he launched himself into the water.

Ok, ok. I know.
Bad idea! What if the key covers all of the water and the gap literally doesn't lead anywhere?
Fair point, he might suffocate.
But also..... What if it does?

Ren has always been a curious person and the fear of suffocating in a small, filled with water space is only slightly enough to deter him.

The water made the trip a bit easier than if he was on land. Unfortunately, he's not a Merling and Etho has the Conduit so he was going to need to go up for air at some point.

The tunnel wasn't too long. He plummeted into the darkness for 30 seconds before he got to the other side.
The next area was very clearly bright. Brighter than the other room. And it was hot.
Like, 'dear lord! Save my soul, I just entered hell', hot.

Though I suppose that's to be suspected.

●●●●

Ok, Tango at least has a bit of self-preservation. Jumping in the water and swimming over was not something he was planning on doing.
But...

He grumbled as he tried to grab the thing again to pull it down.
HE'S NOT THAT LIGHT?!!

He wiggled as best he could before slipping and landing on his butt.
Maybe the water wouldn't be half bad?

Tango was startled by something breaching the water and a gasp and cough.
Looking over the edge he saw the long-haired brunette quickly.

"G*d, it's hot in here!" Ren grumbled shaking his hair like a dog.
Though he supposes that makes sense.

He kinda looks like a strider down there-
Hey, wait!
"Need some help?" Tango asked.
Ren looked up and grinned.
"You stuck?" Ren asked paddling over.

He looked awkward as f*ck, but he supposed everyone does while swimming on the surface of the water like that.

"Something like that," Tango replied reaching a hand down to the fox.
"Don't, don't want to burn you," Ren waved him off.
Tango didn't take orders from someone not wearing his gold though so...

Ren yelped as Tango forcefully grabs the dog's wrist and pulls him up with far more force than his body weight.

He was right, it did burn, but that was the least of his concerns.
"Take a moment, dry off," Tango offered at the younger's spluttering.
Tango eyed his new teammate. To say the younger was fluffy was an understatement.

He hadn't properly met Ren before. Just knew that Doc liked the guy and went to retrieve him instead of sending someone else to do it.
Must be really important to him.

Or maybe he was just the easiest.
The 2 sat together for at least a solid 3 minutes.
Surprisingly it was enough time for the fox to become clingy and the blaze to become packed.

It wouldn't last long. Just the amount of time they'll be together for the puzzle. And maybe a bit afterward where they follow each other mindlessly.

Ren hopped up and Tango followed.
"So where are you stuck?" Ren asked.
Tango replied simply by jumping up and grabbing the pulley.
The 2 stared at each other while Tango dangled.
"D*mn, yeah, that's a problem," Ren teased.

Tango dropped, caught by Ren so he didn't fall on his butt.
It was Ren's turn next. He was shorter so he couldn't quite reach it even when jumping.

They both glared at the thing before Ren finally said, "one of us could pick the other up?"
Tango took a deep breath, stood on the pressure plate, and then easily hoisted Ren up who let out a yelp.

Ren grabbed ahold of the pulley and Tango dropped him.
He tightened his grip on the thing as he fell.
Jeezus, this thing is f*cking heavy!
There was a clunk and a path built itself over the water.

They glanced at each other and they left their spots, happy to see that even though the pulley and pressure plate returned to their spots the bridge stayed.

"Hurry, it might not stay forever," Tango ushered and the 2 rushed across the Netherbrick road.

Sure enough, the moment they were on the other side it started collapsing. Where it was a time limit thing or an 'oh hey, they're here' thing is remained to be unseen.

Though how would it know? The gem?
Maybe.

"Technology in the old days is f*cking weird," Ren decided point-blank.
"You can say that again," Tango chuckled.
"Is anyone not at the door?" Xisuma called.

It reverberated through the room and Ren found himself slightly whimpering as the path behind them trembled and continues to fall.

"Where the heck did Ren go?!" BDubs yelled.
He sounded genuinely terrified.
There was a moment of 'oh sh*t' before Ren yelled, "Hi!"

"Are you in another room?!" False asked.
"I'm with Tango!" Ren announced happily.
"He's mine now, you can't have him!" Tango announced loudly.

Tango fiddled mindlessly with the gold necklaces sitting harmlessly on his chest.
Most of his gold had been discarded in favor of being lighter.
Guess that was a mistake.

He glanced over at the Renardian and knew he could get rid of a bit more gold.
He subconsciously reaching up to the earing on his helix and unclipped it.

Piercing the helix in the nether is so much harder to do and keep healthy than the lobe. So instead most high-class Blazeborns use clips. Tango is no exception.

Besides, it's easier to give to others.
"Hold still," Tango declared reaching up and tugging the fluffy relish brown ear flat.
Ren didn't seem to mind. In fact, his tail began to wag rapidly.

He carefully clipped the earring on the fluffy ear before letting go.
It was slightly uncomfortable but it was now officially his so Ren wasn't going to complain.

Although he did feel a bit like a pup with it on.

"Ok, raise your hand if you aren't here!" They faintly heard Grian yell.
"I am confusion!" Gemini yelled back.

"Gib me like, 400 yeas," Etho declared woozily.
He kinda sounded drunk but it was probably just the off and on off and on of his abilities. That can cause nausea and drowsiness.
Unless someone is doing it constantly all the time.

"Uuuh... You need backup?" Doc teased.
"Jus- let me- one minnut," Etho slurred preceded by a thump.
"Oi! Shuddup Stess, yo're jus as woozy as I 'm!" Etho pouted as Stress silently laughed, also against the wall tired.

"Alright, we can rest for a bit," they decided which seemed to appease some and annoy others.

●●●●

Ok so, the ground shaking while you are underground was probably not the most ideal situation.
In fact, it was probably the worst situation yet.

It was a new experience for them and d*mn, when was the last time they were down here?

It almost sounded like there was something below them. Something below them breathing.

Wels, who had been dangling his feet off the edge of the platform, froze. A cold chill running from his feet to his ears. Suddenly it became cold. Too cold. Cold enough you could see your own breath.

Wels' eyes slowly drifted down.

Blue met yellow.

The scream was blood-curdling.

•

••

•••

••••

Everyone froze. The scream that erupted from the other end of the ruins was almost worst than the shaking and the occasional rocks that dropped from the ceiling.

Was it always this f*cking cold?
Was it always this f*cking quiet?

"Beef?" Scar stammered.

He didn't want to turn around.
"Beef! I think we should open the door now-" Iskall joined in.
"What is that thing?!" Jevin shrieked.

Beef didn't need any more confirmation.

•
••
•

Blue.

It was all oddly blue.

He was shaking.
Who was shaking?

Who was he?
Where was he?

"Oh, G*d!" He faintly heard Scar gag.
Something wet and liquidy hit the stone ground.
Beef didn't have to look to know what it was.

Everything hurt.
"Beef! Beef, it's ok!" Iskall assured.

The faint screams of someone echoed through Beef's eardrums.
Someone was sobbing.

He faintly noticed the cool wetness that rolled down his cheeks. But he wasn't the one screaming.

"Beef, Beef, can you heal yourself?!" Jevin asked.
It felt like he was in a rubber casing. Where was he?
"Xisuma! What do we do?!" Iskall cried out.
Was it Iskall?

Someone.
Someone was behind him. He had to move.
Protect.
Protect.
Protect!

"It's ok Beef," a soft reassuring voice echoed through his ears.
They were close. Something carded through his hair.
Faintly he thinks, 'don't go that, it's rubbery'. He's not sure if he voices it or not.

The hand doesn't stop.
He must not have.
"It's ok," the voice repeated.
Was that Tango?
No, but Tango doesn't do comforting...

Look.
Look.
Look!

The blond sat down beside him, like a parent with their child about to get a shot.
One hand in his hair the other in his hand.

"Do you see me?" Tango asked.
Careful.
Delicate.
Was this actually Tango?
Blond, red....
Maybe it was Grian?

"Who-" Beef stammered.
"Tango. Beef, look at me. Tango Tek. Can you repeat that?" Tango instructed.

"Tan-go- Tan-Tango Tek," Beef stammered.
"That's right," Tango praised.
"Do you know what happened?" Tang asked.
Beef shook his head, "jus- Scream... Screaming.... Is Wels ok?!"

"He's ok, he's ok! Just shaken up," Tango informed.
"The thing, whatever it was, broke your ankle," Tango informed, "so don't walk on it, ok?"

Beef nodded.

"Who's screaming?" Beef asked.
"No one's screaming Beef," Tango replied and Beef looked around.
Still blue.
But easier to see.

"Why's everything blue?" Beef asked.
"Likely, a result of your gem," Tango informed.
"Why are we together?" Beef asked.
Tango didn't verbally answer.

Instead, he looked to the archway standing before them, large and absa-f*cking-lutely ominous, then he turned to look at the rest of the room.

Beef followed his gaze.
The archway was new... And what was through it was definitely not at all where Beef had been before. Turning to the rest of the room- oh... Oh, f*ck!
They were in the inscription room!

"Wha- but there were at least 10 more rooms to go through!?!" Beef startled.
Tango chuckled.
"Time flies when being chased I guess," Tango teased tilting forward slightly.
His necklaces clanked together.

Beef briefly glanced at them.
Zed and Pulse.
He still wears them after all this time..

"I'm gonna see if we can get you somewhere more appropriate, then I'll check on the others," Tango absently informed.
Huh... Must be in pack mode.

Although technically it was called BlazePack but that is far less funny.
There's just something about saying 'Pack Mode' in a deep brooding voice that always makes everyone laugh.

The room was large. Standing in it made even the largest of people, such as Doc, feel itty bitty. A solid 6 Elytrians could stand in this room with their wings open as large as it could and they'd still have enough room to squeeze 2 Enderians.

The room was was slightly abnormal shaped.
Some parts just didn't fit perfectly into a proper shape.
The wall was decorated with dulled and chipping paintings.

A galaxy of Origins all fighting in a harmony of colors.
None of it made sense and yet all of it did.

In the center of the room sat a lectern with a severely out-of-place looking book on it. The thing updated itself with the times.

Always staying new.
Always keeping its history safe.

Across the room, Wels laid splayed out on the stone ground. His legs were covered in minor scratches and bits of his hair had begun to turn a matted brown. Scar sat beside his body, a floating stream of water following his hands as he cleaned the young man's legs and hair.

"Is this my fault?" Etho whispered.
"No, no, of course not!" Doc assured pulling Etho into a half hug.
"You getting woozy has nothing to do with this," BDubs assured.

Beef hobbled up to his feet, the sharp pain in his ankle protesting.
Surprisingly, no one was paying attention to him.
Beef carefully limped to the trio, determined to make it a quartet.

"Beef! You shouldn't be on your feet!" Doc quickly scolded knowing for a fact that wouldn't stop him.
Beef gave the older a look.
The rest of the group snickered.

Beef shouldn't be on his feet for at least a solid 2-3 days after manifesting his feet again. And yet he always climbs up and marches on through.
Why shouldn't he be on his feet?
Well, you see, the first 3 days on land for a Merling are very odd. Since they aren't naturally supposed to be on land and walking, especially Beef since he doesn't naturally have legs, until their legs get used to the ground it's like walking on legos, tacks, and nails for 3 days with no shoes.

You're supposed to walk for 5 minutes then sit down and repeat for a while. Get your feet, and even your lungs, adjusted.
Instead, Beef tends to immediately start walking when he gets his legs. Much to the dismay of those around him.

He has the longest available time out of water, he forces himself to walk even when it's excruciating, and he tends to drag his pain out more by taking smaller steps.

Doc reached out, letting Beef hold onto him to keep his weight off his injured ankle.
"You're stubborn," Etho laughed.

"2 best qualities, stubborn and scared of being a nuisance to others!" Beef joked.
BDubs wrapped an arm around Beef's torso and hoisted the man up as best he could much to Beef's dismay.

Doc snickered and shifted so he too held Beef up, not without Beef trying to swat them away. Anxious about being helped when he didn't ask for it.

Not like he would've asked for it.
He's too anxious about disturbing someone to ask for help.

"Guys, leave the fishie alone," Xisuma chuckled.
"I'm going to sick a shark on you sick weirdos!" Beef declared swatting lamely at Bdub's mocking tail.
He looked more like a cat than BDubs does!

Xisuma turned back to look at Wels. He sighed and unfastened his armor before dropping it to the side, making it easier for the boy to breathe.
"Is he gonna be ok?" Hypno asked cautiously.

"I hope so. What exactly happened?" Scar replied.
Hypno hummed cautiously and then turned to xB.
"Did you see it?" Hypno asked.
XB hummed in consideration. Had he seen it? Not really?

He had been to first to turn and recognize what was happening. He had been the one to jump forward and grab the younger to keep him from being yanked off the platform.

He saw the pitch-black hands, more like claws, pulling him down.
But other than that he doesn't know what happened.

"Dunno, something was trying to pull him down, that's for sure. Or maybe it was a lot of things? It was weird. More than one set of hands-" xB shivered.
A careful hand was placed on xB's shoulder and he very visibly jumped turning around to look wide-eyed at Jevin.

"Sorry!" Jevin apologized.
"No, no I'm just jumpy," xB assured before pulling the blue goo cover boy to his chest.
"Jev? Is your leg ok?" Xisuma asked.

Jevin looked down at his ankle, where his gem was staining his slime red.
Jevin huffed.
"Yeah, got stuck on a trap. I'll be fine," Jev assured with a soft smile.
"Ok, but we should bandage it. All of these injuries," Xisuma huffed.

Jevin smiled.
"Dually noted, mom," Jevin teased, only to get lightly smacked in the arm by Xisuma.
"Get what you deserve, b*tch," Ex teased.

Jevin turned around and glared at the 3 other half of the twins.
Ex was leaning against the wall underneath a mural of a winged woman holding some kind of gauntlet up to the sky, catching some kind of red liquid. Probably blood.
Hels was sitting in a fetal position at Ex's feet, probably sitting on his feet from how impossibly close his back was to Ex's legs.
Kevin stood not even an inch to Ex's left, in front of a bunch of bowing people that stood behind the lady. His arm was wrapped almost protectively around Ex's shoulders as he half leaned on the poor boy.

To be fair though, Ex seemed to quite enjoy the clinginess.

The 3 weren't technically a part of the Hermits. Though to say they weren't offered would be a complete and utter lie.
Instead, the 3 chose to be back up or on stand-by for the hermits. Willing to hop in if ever their brothers and their odd *ss family needed help.

They actually formed their own group, though it's more of an inside joke than an actual group.
They nicknamed the 3 of them "The Evil Twins".
Which is pretty bullsh*t considering they were all sweethearts when you get to know them. But they all had darker color pallets compared to their twins and far more brash and quick to snap personalities.

Jevin stuck his tongue out childishly at the group.

No, not childishly! Totally maturely! He's a mature! They all are!
:p

Shut up, blowing a raspberry at someone is mature!

●●●●

"Do we have everyone?" Ex asked interrupting half of the group's oddly intense rock paper scissors match.
They all blinked up at the Shulk before finishing that round and getting up.

"Yep, I do believe we have everyone!" False nodded.
She fixed the sword on her hip and helped Scar stand up from her right.

'We reading the book now?' Stress signed cocking her head and twisting her face into a questioning stare.
"Yeah Stress, we're gonna read the book now," Xisuma assured.
She clapped her hands cheerily and glanced at Etho who stared lazily across the way to Beef who was insisting to Doc he was fine.

Doc was having none of it, trying to hold the smaller up without being slapped or headbutted.
Xisuma glanced over everyone with a snicker and opened the book.

●●●●

The world has gone to sh*t.
Yeah, that's the best way I can describe it.

A person with eyes as black as coal and hair as pink as bubblegum sat on a rock, staring lazily down into nothing.
Up from the nothing rose a man with wings made of the galaxy.
His hakama and nagagi were as white as snow and glittered with gold linings.

Below them, the nothingness cried and pleaded and screamed and threatened.
Neither seemed too bothered by this, even though neither of their faces could be seen.

One was obstructed by a large hat with a black veil, the other's mouth was covered with the skeletal teeth of some kind of carnivorous animal.
From the looks of it, his lips underneath it were pitch black.

"■■■■ ■■■■■■!" Someone yelled.
A boy, probably 16 or 17 ran to the bottom of what was probably either a pitch-black ramp or pitch-black stairs.
Though stairs seem oddly dangerous to be pitch black.

"Yes, my son?" The veiled man replied.
"Micheal!" The boy announced pointing up towards the surface.

This boy didn't contain any color. Other than bright blue eyes, he was colorless.

The veiled man stood over a small child who seemed to be crying. The child had pink hair similar to that of the black-eyed person and a single pitch-black eye, the other seemed to be colorless, similar to that of the blue-eyed boy. He wore a black and yellow sweater, matching the boy holding him, who wore a green shawl on top of a yellow and black shirt. He too had brilliant blue eyes.

Behind him stood a very tall man. Half of his skin and hair were black as obsidian, while the other half was white as quarts.
He wore a black long Renaissance shirt, cinched at the waist by an EndShawl and an eye of ender. The writing on it was unintelligible.

Sitting on some kind of thrown-looking thing a man with 6 arms sat over an array of materials. He held what looked to be a blue doll of some kind in one of his many hands and a few bottles in 3 of his other hands.

Behind him, a small boy crawled up on top of the back of the thrown.
He had 4 arms, 2 legs, and 6 red eyes. He seemed incredibly proud of himself as he greeted the older Arachnid.

"Ah, hi Shroud," the older man greeted.
"Hi, ■■■■■■■■ ■■■!" The child greeted back his feet kicking happily as he settled himself.

His eyes landed on us but he seemed to be looking straight through us.
Instead, he grinned as the blue-eyed boy stepped into view.
"Hi, Dad!"

The man with wings of galaxy was falling.
Falling straight into the nothingness.

Falling straight into the waiting arms of a young lady painted in pure black ink.

You get the sense he's returning home.

A man with dirty blond hair wearing a toga stood in the opening of a cave. Ge was the only thing not colored except for his hair, dull indigo eyes, and 2 chains of yellow. One around his neck, the other in his hand. The rest of his face couldn't be made out. The background was covered in green and brown.

"■■■■■?" The man called, he seemed more scared than you'd expect of someone normally.
"■■■■■? I swear to g*d if this was a f*cking trick!" The man snarled, he was still obviously scared.

Why? We have no idea.

A woman sat on the shore of the ocean. She sat uncolored as her surroundings sat in hues of pinks and blues and tans. Beside her sat a boy wearing a toga. He too was uncovered except for the bright yellow rods that circled both him and the girl.

A boy sat in a small room. He was holding a small calico cat. He was entirely colored. The entire page was.
The room was a dark gray, like a dungeon. The boy was light-skinned with black eyes, blond hair, and a light blue too short patagium. Easily recognizable.

He seemed comfortable, watching something we couldn't see.
"Hi D■■!" He greeted with a soft grateful smile.
Whether a conversation started or not couldn't be seen.
Just his soft carefree smile as he held the cat just a bit tighter.

●●●●

Wels' fingers traced the final picture and he let out a staggered breath and stepped back.
He couldn't look at it anymore.

"Can we go now?" Wels asked.
Checking to make sure it was the last page Xisuma agreed.
They walked up to a door pushed up into the corner and hidden amongst the mural. This door could be unlocked by any gem. It was the easy escape route, unopenable from any other angle.
Ya know, like backward.

Because the people who made these ruins were d*cks.

Xisuma opened it and stood in the way of it closing so everyone could walkthrough, like a stone elevator.

Which is really what it was.
"Anything weird this go-round?" Ex asked leaning against the was as the door slid shut behind Xisuma.

"There were 2 new doors headed downwards in our section!" Cleo commented.
"Really? What did they look like?" Cub asked.

"Well... One was about the size of my foot," Cleo answered.
"What? Are you sure it was a door?" Ex asked.
"Definitely, it required some kind of blue gem?" Gemini butt in.

"Probably for an Inchling," Joe commented.
"A what?" Tango asked.
"Oh! The SneegSnag guy?!" Grian asked and Joe nodded.

"Explain," Ren hummed his ears twitching anxiously as the stone around him unnaturally whirred.
"Well, it's a subspecies of Arachnid from what I gathered, and they're about the size as the average person's hand," Joe explained.

Gemini paused before gasping.
"Oh! Those guys?! The blind ones who if you touch them they will bite you and there is about an 80% chance you will die?!" Gemini asked cheerfully.
"What?!" Grian instantly stammered.
"Yeah! We called them 'baby buggers' back in my web," Gemini chirped.

The box chunked and the door opened.
Xisuma once more held the door open so everyone could get out unharmed.

"What did the other door look like?" Ren asked.
"Well, it was average height... And it had 3 skulls on it with a black gem in the center," Gemini recalled.
"Was was super weird. And, it glowed, glew? Glowed when I got near it like it would have accepted mine instead of its own gem?" Cleo commented.

"That's weird," Xisuma grumbled.
"Oh! The other door in mine did the same thing!" Tango commented.
"You had a new door?!" Beef asked excitedly, lightly kicking his feet from his perch on a rock.

Tango blushed and looked away.
"He did! It was really cool! It was all sparkly and pretty like a galaxy! And the gem was also a really pretty reddish-purple!" Ren gushed.

"R-rasin," Tango cut in.
"Hmm?" Ren hummed his tail wagging devilishly as if he knew the man would correct him.
"The color was rasin," Tango murmured.

"Really?! How do you know?" Ren asked his tail wagging even harder.
"I learned a ton of the colors' shades names so I could visualize them better," Tango admitted slinking down slightly.
"Really? And what is my gem called?" Ren asked rocking back slowly.

Tango was blushing incredibly bright at this point. He could probably rival the lava back in the Nether with how hot his cheeks were.

"Honey orange..." Tango informed glancing away.
Ren squealed and asked what Xisuma's gem's color was.
"H-heather Purple- are you making fun of me?!" Tango accused.
"No! Of course not, I'm just curious!" Ren assured his ear twitching, jingling with the gold.

Tango shrunk slightly.
"You're totally making fun of me," he grumbled.
Ren huffed and rushed towards Tango.
He pointed to him, specifically his eyes.
"And what color's that?" Ren asked.

Tango stiffened fear washing over him.
"Ren-" Wels tried to warn.
"I dunno, what is it," Tango growled.

A soft smile sat unfazed as Ren answered.
"Candy Apple Red."

"A bright, loud, wonderful color. Probably the loveliest color I've ever seen," Ren hummed soft and forgiving before excitedly gasping, "Just like you!"

His hand dropped and he rushed to Doc's side, tail wagging with accomplishment.
Tango blinked slightly agape at the spot where Ren had been only seconds prior.

He pursed his lips together before tears started spilling out of his eyes and he smiled a real genuine smile that was hard to see from him nowadays.

"W-why am I crying?" Tango genuinely asked trying to while the painful liquid from his face using his toga. BDubs helped wipe his face for him and snickered at the bewilderment on the older's face.
"What, you've never been this happy outside of the nether before?" BDubs teased.

Tango paused to think it over.
"Not since Impulse," Tango admitted quietly.
BDubs chuckled and loudly announced, "Group hug, then nap time!"

It was quickly agreed upon and soon everyone was smothered in each other. Except for the Elytrians.
They were doing the most smothering.

"Ok... Now nap!" Etho loudly huffed.
Even though he'll probably be the last person awake.

-----
Notes:

From the depths of the Void it crawls, desperately you withdrawal
"We're so lonely!" it shrieks
Up for you, it Reaches

Your Screams are the sole reason you lived
Your blood now stains the hands of the Victims
"Please come save us!"
They still echo in your mind as you sleep

-----

For some reason, I made it so only humans, Avians, Shulks, and occasionally a few other origins living in human towns wear now everyday wear.

Everyone else has a specific outfit type, if they're from this origin this is how you know on their outfit, kind of thing.

Elytrians wear Japanese (mostly traditional) wear.

Beelarians wear black and yellow stripes and usually Egyptian wear.

Phantoms wear some kind of cobblestone decorated garment. (like a bag, a shirt, a dress, a shawl, a belt, whatever the f*ck it is that Wilbur is wearing.)

Shulks always wear something with a hood.

Enderians wear an EndShawl.

Slimecicians wear what appears to be bandages over their chests and usually incorporates lily pads or cattails into their outfit.

Renardians/Vixinians always have a fluffy collar and usually incorporates fluff into their outfits.

Inchlings outfits are usually all homemade and incorporate something too big in their design. (Like a button or a zipper.)

Merling's outfits are usually designed to look like their cities' buildings, the ocean floor, or like coral reefs. Depending on where in the ocean they are settled.
(Ex, Niki's outfit looks like Dark Prismarine and Prismarine bricks. Beef's outfit looks like brain coral block and dead coral. Scar's looks like swamp water and clay. Iskall's looks like packed ice and sand.)

Blazeborns wear togas, stolas. Or, you know, as little clothes as they can while covering everything they need to. Cuz it's H O T.

Arachnids usually wear gowns, robes, or short-sleeved outfits.

Felines wear outfits that wrap around the body and hold tight with a type of ribbon or rope usually.

Starborns usually wear things that are long in the back but short in the front. Extremely comfortable too. (No matter how uncomfortable it looks)

Also, if they don't have some kind of flowy thing or too long thing on their outfit, they don't exist. They ain't a main character, get out of here with that sh*t!

°°
Why did it take so long?
Oh you know, because I decided I wanted to draw half the freakin chapter instead😒

Also, I had a mental breakdown in the middle of writing and you can very obviously see it.
And if you can't then.... I guess I did a good job covering it up! <3

(Could doesn't look like it's spelled right. You can't tell me otherwise)