Feathers and Eggs

Chapter Twenty-nine (Pt. 1)

Doc was trying to ignore the raging headache he had before the final fight. Seriously? This couldn't have happened at a worse time. He glanced over at the rest of his friends, observing their determined, yet nervous expressions. Chleo looked the most antsy of them all, and he was sure it was because she wasn't keen on the idea of risking herself. He thought back to Grian's plan:

"All we have to do is challenge Robot Grian to something that I can definitely beat him at, and once he starts losing, he'll probably try to self destruct! I'm great at flying, but he was just as good when we battled it out earlier. Not to mention, I made him excellent at everything I'm good at... so there's only one thing I could hope to beat him at that could be set up in a fair way," Grian explained, hopeful yet very unsure.

Doc had leaned in closer in curiosity, wondering what Grian could possibly have over his mechanic counterpart. The shorter man continued. "I think the only chance I have is... engineering something with... redstone."

Doc's jaw dropped. In fact, the entire room had incredulous looks. The detective was familiar with the concept of redstone engineering. The discovery of the red ore had flipped the science world on its head, being able to power things better than electricity and batteries. It was difficult to master, which is why Doc had abandoned that profession in pursuit of a career as a detective. He did not know many people who were specifically redstone engineers; the closest was Mumbo, but he only dabbled in it as a hobby instead of career.

Doc was about to stutter out an objection to the vigilante's insane idea when Grian spoke up once more.

"If he starts to lose against me, he'll get frustrated and try to stop me. That's where you guys come in. He might chase us, try to destroy us, and who knows what else. But as long as I can finish before he does and do a better job, he will lose and malfunction!

"It will work!... I think. You just have to trust me!"

The detective sighed. The group walked through the sewers, on their way to the surface. Mumbo was doing his best to teach Grian the basics of redstone in the short time they had, with indeterminable success.

Doc was still uncomfortable with his friends being in this situation with him. He wished it could just be him against Robot Grian, even though the odds would not be in his favor. I'm not going to tell them to go home. That is basically what I told Mumbo over and over with the Poultry Man stuff, but he didn't listen. I guess it is safer if I'm there with them in a fight to watch out for them.

"-Doc? Hello??? Earth to Doc?" he heard the Swedish voice beside him ask. Doc, still irritated from his headache, glared at the man. "What? I was thinking about something," Doc snapped.

Iskall raised a brow. "I was just asking how you felt about all this, but you weren't listening to me."

"I feel like I'm about to absolutely destroy this oversized computer because I am the g.o.a.t. But what does it matter?"

Iskall chuckled. "The g.o.a.t, ey? Well okay Mr. Full-of-yourself! I was just curious. To be honest, I'm scared out of my mind right now, but I'm trying to act cool. How do you deal with dangerous people everyday as a detective? I could never, bro."

Doc smirked. "Well, detectives don't deal with different people everyday. Sometimes I'm stuck on a case. And even when I am investigating, my job is mostly figuring stuff out. I normally go with a team or my partner, Ren, to actually arrest someone. But don't worry, man. I'm kind of scared too right now. I've never had to save the world from an evil robot with the lives of my friends directly at risk before." The detective looked to others with a stressed expression. "But I'd rather be here than at home letting Poultry Man of all people save my life. That would be much worse."