"That took quite some time..." Zeqain said quietly. "Things nearly got chaotic without you... I presume your recovery went... well?" he asked, walking up beside the throne. Finally, it was accompanied by someone that wasn't him.

        The End Queen glanced to the side toward him for a small moment, then looked back out to the endless void. "It was... slow. Fast for the most part. Painful to begin with..." she said. "Lucky I have my Endermen... They are what kept me from hitting my head... too hard." she mumbled. "Your boys have too much fun messing with these sad humans. They could have killed me." She looked back toward him and watched again.

        "Some of them... Do not seem to enjoy the commands I already give them. They want to do more, but against my wishes. I'm... sifting them out. The foolish ones can't help me if they won't listen." he said, glancing to another mask in his hand. He had... disposed of another watcher. "The young ones seem to be in need of some... teaching. Luckily for me, I got that started. Let's see how they do now... Only the most obedient can join us in our... adventures tonight..." Zeqain smiled darkly, looking back to the void as he crushed the mask he held. Under his own mask his eyes gleamed with... excitement... Today was the day. The day the End would take over..

        "It is time we truly begin our... preparations..." The End Queen chuckled softly, a smirk slowly forming.

***

        Saturday. Oh what a glorious Saturday it was... Those last few days seemed to go on forever! Mumbo swore he lost track of the time- he couldn't remember yesterday if it was Saturday or Sunday! And he was in utter shock when he discovered that it was neither, but- well, Friday.

         Apparently his head just wanted it to be Saturday, couldn't wait for that get-together party! It was all he could think about. Off and on he'd pace around frantically, trying to remember all he would have to do, considering he had volunteered to help. Grian had to keep reminding him that it wasn't quite Saturday yet.

        But one thing they all seemed to forget was the message they had finally gotten from Etho. Finally it had sent out, reaching to every person in the text group, startling everybody... It wasn't a normal text, but an audio one...

        "I figured it out-" Etho said through much static. Some other yelling could be heard in the background, but it was too faint to understand. "I figured out who Zeqain is! I figured out who Zeqain is!" he repeated- suddenly shouting some other thing as the audio became even more staticy for a moment. Then a blast of some sort could be heard before it returned to it's normal static "Zeqain is-" And then there was nothing but static, and then it was over... Yet again, no one seemed to remember as the days went on, as they all eagerly waited for Saturday...

        And finally, here it was.

        Mumbo could not stop running around trying to remember everything, to make sure he had everything. For a moment he wondered where his mustache went, and even demanded Grian to give it back- until the sweater boy pointed out that it was still on his face. Oh the poor man. Mumbo had turned into a cherry at that moment. He asked for forgiveness then quickly hurried off. How could he forget?

        Oh well. Now he remembered, and now he had to get to work. So after making sure he was ready, and that he had everything for the millionth time, he said goodbye to his friends and left, quickly making his way to the central park.

        Only to discover he was a good few hours early for preparation. Again and again he checked his watch- only to be proven over and over that he was a little too early. So rather than waiting around forever, he gave up and returned to Grian's place. Hopefully, he wouldn't forget to go when he actually needed to be there.

        "Oh- back already? What happened?" Grian asked, looking up to him.

        "I've still got a few hours before they start getting ready..." Mumbo said.

        "Oh- well why don't you come play with us, then?" Scar asked. Him and Grian sat around a little table in the living room, some tv show playing in the background and a board game they were playing with. "Come on! It's fun." Scar chuckled.

        Mumbo let out a small sigh and put his things down, walking over. He sat beside Grian and joined the game, that single game going on forever. In fact, it was addicting enough, that once again Mumbo forgot something. He forgot he was supposed to be at the park now. And it was a text from Elenore that reminded him.

        Jumping up quickly he grabbed his things and ran- ramming right into the door. He squeaked and winced, rubbing his nose. Quickly he opened the door and left, leaving his friends behind as they laughed.

        Mumbo panted, sucking in a deep breath as he bent over. He shook his head, and stood back up. "Alright- alright, I'm here- I made it." he said, wiping his brow.

        Elenore lightly punched his arm. "Finally, I've been having to do everything myself." She smiled. "Now come on, everybody else is already here! We have only a couple hours to set up!" she said, grabbing his arm and dragging him along. She gave him a quick tour of everything, and where certain things would go. She then went to one spot, tables and a couple chairs set up and waiting. There were already some things on the tables, but the rest of the work here was Mumbo's job.

        "Alright, you know what to do. I'll let you get ready! I will be all around here, so come and find me if you need anything." she said, waving. She patted his shoulder, then turned and walked off to check on everybody else.

        Mumbo let out a sigh and shook his head, chuckling lightly. He set the bags down on the table, then quickly got to work.

***

        Up through the hoop Scar flew, creating a loop as he leaned back diving down. Creating a full circle, he used the force of gravity as it pulled him down, to propel himself even higher as he curved upward. He passed up another person, gaining up on Grian.

        Grian made the mistake of looking behind him. "Oh crap- You can't catch up to me! I've got a rocket!" Grian said, using his little rocket to push himself further and through another floating hoop.

        "But I have real wings." Scar smirked, flapping them once, and hard, zooming through the hoop and passed Grian. He laughed as Grian shouted something, then folded his wings up as he curved downward. Quickly he began falling, eyes locked on the final hoop.

        "Oh no you don't- you can't beat me!" Grian said, putting more force into the rocket to give him another boost. Leaning downward he began catching up to Scar again.

        Scar laughed again and looked back slightly. He grinned a little and looked back to his target. "You're not going to win, Grian." he chuckled. Folding his wings just that little bit more... He suddenly zipped through the last hoop, confetti shooting into the air.

        "And we have a winner!" the announcer called. "Scar has soared from last, all the way to first!" he said. "How was it, my friend?" he asked, walking up to Scar as the man slowly eased himself into his wheelchair before putting away his wings.

        Scar smiled. "Exciting as always. The rush of wind gets me every time. Grian did great, too!" He laughed.

        Grian came down, landing in a stumbling crash. "Oh- I still can't get the landing right." he chuckled. "That was fun! Scar, you're so good at flying! So fast!"

        "Well, I guess it helps when you use your wings more than your legs." he said, gesturing to his own legs. Grian laughed again.

        Mumbo quickly ran up to them. "That was amazing! Scar- you are epic! I couldn't take my eyes off the race!" He said.

        "It really was fun. I love flying through hoops." Scar said.

        "And I love almost beating you in races," Grian chuckled, lightly nudging Scar.

        "And hey- don't you have a table to run?" Scar asked Mumbo, raising his brow.

        Mumbo's eyes widened. "Oh right- Uh, bye!" He waved, quickly turning and running back to his table. Scar shook his head and laughed again.

***

        "Oh come on!" Elenore laughed, throwing another small hoop. Away it spun through the air, landing and spinning on a bottle before it tilted enough one way and fell off. "I almost had that one!"

        Grian laughed. "Elenore, really, you are throwing too hard!" he said. Grabbing one of her hoops, he demonstrated to her the proper position and angle. And then he threw it, letting go of the hoop just as it was in line with one bottle. Through the air it went, gliding right onto the bottle's neck where it spung for a short moment, then came to a rest. It didn't fall off.

        Elenore blinked slightly. "How on earth do you make that look so easy?!" She asked.

        Grian chuckled and rubbed his neck. "Tons of practice, I guess?" He smiled, taking a small gift from the game keeper and moved to the next table with Elenore, handing her the small stuffed animal.

        "Grian- don't you think I've got enough things? Don't you need a couple prizes too?" Elenore laughed, gesturing to the bag she had picked up. It was full of all sorts of items.

        Grian chuckled again. "Nah, you keep them all. I don't need any." he smiled.

        "....Are you two love birds done talking? I think someone's got a game to win." Mumbo chuckled, leaning over with one arm on his table.

        Grian practically jumped. "Mumbo- we are not love birds!" he said. Elenore laughed a little.

        "Mhm. Now come on! Grab some cards, aim for the targets- win a prize!" he laughed, gesturing to the cardboard pictures.

        Grian shook his head and grabbed one card from the deck, aimed, and threw it. Only he missed. Extremely. Elenore laughed again.

        "No, no, Grian. You don't throw cards like that!" she laughed. Grabbing a card she demonstrated, then threw her arm out, letting go of the card at the right moment. Into one cardboard figure it went, deep and stuck.

        Grian blinked. "Woah... How did you do that?" he asked.

        Elenore made a face, giggling slightly. "Tons of practice."

        Grian set a hand on his side and made his own face, chuckling a little. "Mhm."

        Mumbo then suddenly threw a book into Grian's face, making the sweater boy stumble back slightly. "Love birds!" he shouted, laughing. Grian fumbled around trying to catch the book before it could drop to the ground. Elenore shook her head and chuckled.

***

        "And then- whoosh! There he went, right through the last hoop!" Mumbo said, using his hands as a demonstration. "It was insane! He's so fast!" he said. Their other friends had been there too, like Impulse and the girls, but they only stayed for a short time before leaving again.

        Elenore laughed again. "It was pretty amazing. He's very passionate about his flying." she said.

        "I sure am, It's the fastest way to get around besides these wheels!" Scar said as he rolled along beside them. Grian laughed.

        "And then- that double loop you did at the beginning- that looked so awesome!" Mumbo said, turning back toward Scar. "I don't think I can even make mine look that epic!" He said.

        Scar laughed again. "I was in the moment. I felt like I was in a movie!" He said.

        "Well it sure seemed like one!" Mumbo laughed. "Right Gria- hey, where did- Oh, there you are!" Mumbo said. Looking behind him he saw Grian and Elenore had stopped walking, and were talking to each other. "Are you guys coming?" He asked. They were heading back to Grian's place, the get-together party was over, and it was very much dark outside.

        "Oh, you guys keep going. We'll catch up!" Grian smiled, ushering his friend to keep walking.

        "Love birds!" Mumbo shouted, turning back forward and running before Grian could throw the book back at him.

        Mumbo ran the rest of the way back to Grian's house, laughing as he talked with Scar who rolled quickly beside him. "I can't believe how fun this night has been! I'm so grateful we did it. It has been so refreshing after these recent events!"

        Scar nodded in agreement. "It really was fun. Now how about we play a game while we wait for Grian and Elenore! Knowing them, it'll be ages before they get here!" he laughed.

        Mumbo chuckled and pulled a game out, nodding in agreement. "I swear Grian is lying about having a girlfriend- either that or Elenore is his secret girlfriend!"

        Scar laughed again, helping Mumbo set up the pieces. "That would be hilarious. But I don't think she is. They didn't seem to really know each other when they first met in class."

        "Your right, your right." Mumbo said. "Although, I wonder why he really never brings up his 'girlfriend'. The only time we hear any mention of her is when we say he doesn't have a girlfriend!" he chuckled.

        "Maybe she's just one of those weird girls and he's too embarrassed to say anything about her?"

        "Either that, or she's one of those cool girls every guy would fall for!"

        "What if she's both?" Scar asked.

        Mumbo laughed. "There's no way she's like that."

        "I know, I know." Scar chuckled. "But what if she was?" he asked again. Mumbo laughed again.

        ...And then an alarm went off on both their phones, startling them. Quickly Scar pulled out his phone, looking at the alert. "...Fire..." he said hesitantly. "At the central park. And they say it's spreading fast- hey, where are you going?" he asked as Mumbo quickly stood up, going straight for the door. He looked back to Scar, his face as pale as paper. Flashbacks of that one... dream... ran through his head.

        "We have to find Grian and Elenore."

***

        Mumbo ran fast as he looked around. Orange light glowed everywhere- it really was spreading fast. Yet, there was still no sign of Grian and Elenore. He should have seen them by now. He looked up to Scar who flew above him, looking things over from the sky. "Do you see them yet?" he asked loudly, the smell of smoke invading his nose as it scrunched up for a moment. Scar shook his head, but pointed forward toward the central park. Once again Mumbo looked ahead, then came to a sudden stop. His eyes went wide. How could there be... purple fire?

        Quickly he began running again. This surely couldn't be a good sign. He looked behind him to his wings. If only he was healed enough to fly right now... He was so close to it, but he didn't want to hurt himself and make it worse... He bit his lip and looked ahead again, pushing himself to run even faster. If Grian and Elenore weren't there, someone else could be, and they'd need help too... He only wished it wasn't too late for anyone...

        The purple fire seemed to grow as he came closer to the park. He began to notice it was the plants all around that were burning in the dark color. He kept running though. Someone was here- he just knew it.

        And then he saw a figure. So quickly he started toward them before pausing again. This- this was no normal figure, no normal person. They were dressed in odd apparel, purple wings out. A mask covered their face- but what really caught him were the eyes on both the clothing and the wings...

        ...This was a watcher...

        They're arm was extended out, flames a deep purple emitting from their hands and to the ground.

        But then something else caught Mumbo's eye. Something just behind the watcher, laying on the ground.

        Something... red...

        No, it wasn't blood or anything. But it was a sweater. Grian's sweater... being consumed by the fire... Mumbo dropped to his knees, the breath seeming to have left him. He felt the wind of another, wings flapping as Scar slowly came down behind him to look upon the scene... But Mumbo had not noticed... All he seemed to see was the sweater and the watcher. And all he could hear was the crackle of the fire... Slowly his eyes lifted to the watcher, who seemed to pause upon finally noticing the newcomers. All Mumbo could do though, was get a few words out as his body trembled, and as the tears came... All he could manage to say was...

        "What did you do...?"