Feathers and Eggs

Chapter Twenty-five

Grian glanced over to see the reactions of his friends. Doc had his fists clenched, his eye shooting daggers in the direction of the robot. Iskall also looked angered, but seemed to be doing his best to keep his composure. Grian stood taller, feigning confidence. "For being the clever AI I built you to be, your entire plan was so disappointing. I mean, really? You flee to this city, send villains after me, and then hide in a warehouse? What purpose does any of this serve?"

"Of course you wouldn't understand, Grian. You were not the one suffering for years under a master that never cared about you. You did not build me to be a friend. You built me to be a servant to take your place when you could not do work, and I was superior. I performed better than you ever could, and what did you do? You locked me away," Robot Grian stated in a low, frightening tone.

"Well leave Mumbo out of this! He did nothing!" Doc burst out, yelling at the top of his lungs. Robot Grian raised one eyebrow. "Oh Doc. I must say that of the many I have had to work with, you were my favorite. You impressed me numerous times. You remind me of myself: doing your best in an unappreciative world, and being unable to relate emotionally to most others. You have promise. I would be glad if you became my right hand man."

Doc made noises of disbelief. "Are you- Are you serious?! Why would I ever join you now? You controlled me, BURNED my wrist, and put civilians and my friend in direct danger! You are insane, man!"

Robot Grian shook his head. "No no. I did not control you the entire time. You do have to take at least some responsibility for all that you have done. The bands are all connected to a certain degree. I did not mean to burn your wrist. I was simply intimidating a certain... someone," his eyes flicked to Mumbo before swiftly staring at the others once again. Grian felt his face grow hot with anger. "Why would you do that, Robot Grian?! You need to leave everyone alone! If you want me, then fine! But no one else needs to get hurt just because you're envious of me!"

Robot Grian's eyes glowed brightly and his expression became more sinister. "You are mistaken. I would never be jealous of you. You dismantled me because I was the better of us both. You locked an innocent thing in your closet and kept him there for no reason other than he was seemingly bugged. You allowed all your friends in Evo to become shadows, you became a villain for the attention, and you enmeshed several 'friends' of yours into this fight between us. Additionally, you allowed this poor reporter to risk his life and reputation without even having the decency to tell him who you really are. There is no part of you to be jealous of," the Robot snarled, grabbing his own wrist.

Instantly, Mumbo's eyebrows furrowed, his eyes showing hurt as his face transformed from stone cold to betrayal. Grian felt his breath catch in his throat. "Mumbo, I- I'm so sorry. Please, just fight against Robot Grian's control and we can-"

"NO!" Mumbo screamed out. A silence followed that suffocated the whole room. Finally, he spoke up again, in a more quiet and shaky voice. "No... You- you should have told me. It's all I wanted from you. Even Iskall knew, and still you never-" Mumbo's voice cracked and he drew into himself, crossing his arms tightly over the dynamite on his chest.

Grian felt his eyes water, which hadn't happened to him for a long time. He did his best to keep the salty water at bay, but a tear managed to slip out and down his cheek. Suddenly, more and more tears followed one after the other as a guilty feeling took hold of him. "I just wanted you to be safe," the winged man croaked through his burning throat. He felt a hand on his shoulder to find that it belonged to Iskall, and even Doc positioned himself closer to him.

"You can't blame Grian for getting yourself into hard situations, Mumbo," Iskall stated firmly. Doc nodded in agreement. "Just earlier you were taking Grian's side over mine even when there seemed to be no escape. We both know that the fault of all of this lies with Robot Grian."