The Fourth Star (COMPLETED)

7

"Come on.." Stress said in a low voice, holding Tinfoilchef's wrist, as the two ran through the empty streets, the midnight sky revealing thousands of brilliant stars glistening over the two hermits, who had no time to admire the glorious night sky. The two nervously looked for the eerie blue glow of Xisuma, but when it was clear he wasn't in the shopping district, the two could let out a sigh of relief.

"Why are we here?" Tin asked, pulling out his sword in a nervous panic, as he continued to look out for Xisuma. Stress was the one person left that wasn't paranoid, besides TFC himself, and Tin couldn't loose her, as he lost everyone else. The hermits were like his family, but to see them easily manipulated and fighting one another, Tin couldn't stand it much longer.

"Supplies.." Stress said, ordering a few golden carrots from Sahara, paying for them as she quickly grabbed the carrots from out of the shulker box, turning to leave before she was stopped, Iskall grabbing Stress's hand and startling the ice queen.

"I-Iskall. I didn't see you there..!" Stress said with a nervous laugh, the memories of Iskall snapping at Stress still vivid in the ice queen's mind. Iskall just seemed to be relived to see the two hermits, pulling Stress into a hug and letting out their signature laugh.

"Stress! I'm so happy to see you!" Iskall said, letting go of Stress and smiling at the brunette, who was looking to Tin for help, the elder hermit holding his sword to Iskall's neck, frowning at the Swede.

"What do you want, Iskall? The last time you saw her, you snapped at her." Tin said, remembering all the times Stress had told him about Iskall's bizarre behavior. Iskall just took a few steps back, the Swede clearly still guilty about what they said, but they just let out a quick sigh, looking to Stress, sadness in their eyes.

"Look Stress.. Xisuma was making me feel like that...I-I really didn't mean what I said to you, I swear..." Iskall said, trying to take a step forward, extending his hand to Stress, who flinched as if Iskall was going to hurt her. Iskall quickly took two more steps backwards, trying not to alarm Stress, the Swede wanting nothing more than to talk to her.

"So you admit you were under Xisuma's control..?" Tin said, still holding his sword as he raised an eyebrow at Iskall. "How do we know he's not controlling you now..?"

"Xisuma is unconscious, isn't he? I have some time before things go back to 'normal'. But I need your help." Iskall said, slightly paranoid as they glanced around the dark corners of Sahara, as if he was seeing things. Tin looked to Stress, making sure she was okay with Iskall, the brunette simply nodding. TFC put away his weapon, as Stress took a few steps towards Iskall, the Swede clearly afraid of hurting Stress again.

"Alright Iskall. I trust you. What's can we help you with?" Stress said, Iskall slightly smiling at her, as the Swede let out a heavy breath, fiddling with their fingers nervously.

"It's Doc and Cub. They disappeared. I didn't notice until I wasn't under Xisuma's control, but I can't find them anywhere. Scar is worried sick about Cub, and I don't know what to do.." Iskall said, the Swede running their hand through their messy brown hair, clearly stressed about the two's random disappearance. Stress simply took Iskall's hands, trying to help Iskall calm themself, as the Swede seemed to be hyperventilating, most likely trying to process everything that they've gone through.

"How did you find this out?" Stress asked in a quiet voice, trying not to alarm Iskall, who took in a deep breath, as they started to explain everything they knew.

"Scar came to me a few hours ago. He said that Cub wasn't answering his communicator, and that He couldn't find Cub. Then Ren called me a few minutes later, saying the same thing, but that Doc was missing. I think it has something to do with Xisuma, I mean, why would two hermits disappear while X wasn't in control of the server? Something is going on, I swear..."

Stress looked to Tin, who was just as baffled as she was. Two hermits missing? That didn't seem right, no wonder Iskall seemed so stressed. Normally, a few hermits missing wasn't that big of a deal, they were most likely working on a big project, and they wanted to keep it a secret. But something definitely felt off about this, especially because of all the strange things that have been happening, from the watchers, to the new hermit Grian.

"We'll help you find them." Stress said with a smile, TFC nodding in agreement. Iskall just smiled, pulling Stress into a hug once more, Before quickly letting go, awkwardly laughing a bit.

"Sorry, that was a bit unexpected.." They said, Iskall still seeming incredibly on edge, and with good reasoning. All the hermits were so paranoid, so scared of one another, Xisuma was the one person that they could trust, even though the admin only fed the hermits fear, making it grow and making everyones paranoia much, much worse. And now that they were free from the constant fear, even if it is for a little while.

If only Stress and Tin knew what they were going through, then maybe they could help the hermits.

~~~~~~~

Xisuma smiled at Doc, the cyborg creeper growling underneath his breath, as he gripped his trident in anger. Doc had woken up with no memory of what he was doing, and before long he realized what was happening. He was constructing the facility that Xisuma had asked him to make, willingly. And by the looks of things, it was almost done.

"What the hell did you do to me...?" Doc growled in a low voice, raising his trident with no fear, wanting oh so badly to impale Xisuma with his weapon. The admin simply laughed at Doc, gently stroking the snake coiled around his neck, barely caring for the cyborg creeper and his threatening trident.

"I did nothing to you, Docm77." Xisuma said, Doc slightly flinching as Xisuma said his full name, the admin's sinister smile only growing.

"Come along Doc." Xisuma said with a wave of his hand, the creeper grumbling as his legs forced him to follow the admin into one of the hanger bays, showing off all the work which Doc had done, although he didn't remember doing a single thing.

Xisuma lead the way, walking past the walls, which were lined with glass barriers, showing off small prison cells, a simple 2x2 space that was rather cramped. Doc kept walking until his body jerked to a stop, control returning to Doc as his pupils shrunk in fear, the creeper studying the bloody cage in front of him.

It was just another cell, or at first glance it was. The walls were covered in a dark blue liquid, handprints in the blue gunk staining the glass, as if someone was repeatedly slamming their fists against the glass. It was barely transparent, the glass stained with the blue sludge, so much so that Doc could barely make out the body crumpled in the middle of the cell.

Xisuma places his hand on a scanner, the glass barrier opening up, revealing Cubfan in the center, his blood no longer red, but similar to the blue that had been stained on the glass. One of his hands had a bite mark on it, the glowing blue bite illuminating the veins on Cub's arm, causing the blood to glow an eerie blue, which spread all the way up to his neck, and was continuing to slowly spread.

"What did you do to him?!?" Doc screamed, whipping around and pulling out his trident once more, pointing it directly at the admin's chest, who didn't even flinch, simply laughing at Doc.

"Oh Doc." Xisuma said, smiling at the creeper hybrid as he gently stroked the small reptiles head, the snake flicking its tongue happily in return. "He did it all to himself. He tried to snap Xisuma out of the trance that I spent so long putting him under. I couldn't let that happen, I had to do something to stop him. I wouldn't want to disappoint the watchers, now would I?"

Doc was startled as he dropped his trident, taking a couple steps backwards. Xisuma's voice was in sync with another voice, a small, female voice. It scared Doc, the creeper wanting to run for his life, he wanted to warn the others, he wanted to save Cub, but his legs weren't moving, his body wasn't listening.

Doc suddenly tumbled to the ground, his legs completely numb, no feeling in his body at all. Doc could barely think straight as Xisuma laughed, the snake around his neck slowly making its way down Xisuma's arm, and into the palm of the admin's hand. Xisuma bent down, placing the snake into Doc's chest, the creeper shaking in fear as the snake coiled itself around Doc's neck, the small, manipulative voice whispering into Doc's ear.

"Come now Doc. Let's get to work. We must not keep the watchers waiting."