Mumbo sat up and wiped his eyes. He stopped crying, but Sahara was still going.

"Alright, that's enough out of me." He mumbled to himself and stood up, holding his daughter close.

"I made a mistake." He sighed sadly and with regret.

Mumbo stepped out of where he was, ignoring the other hermits in the shopping district. He saw Grian on the other side of the district, talking with Iskall.

He didn't seem as distressed as he just had been minutes earlier.

The roboticist stroked Sahara's hair and gently told her that he was sorry, and that it was not her fault.

"It's my fault." He admitted. "I...broke a promise..."

Sahara looked up. The lenses of her glasses were wet with synthetic tears.

"Let's go home." Mumbo had to look away when she looked at him. He couldn't bear to see the misery that had overtaken his daughter. The misery that was his fault.

He shouldn't have told her about Grian.

But, if he hadn't...the other kids surely would have. They would have brought Grian up, and then would have told Sahara that he was her dad as well.

Mumbo briskly walked back over to the Jrumbot shop. He stepped inside.

Ren and Doc were sitting with the kids. Doc rolled a D20 and yelled out in frustration.

"DANG IT!"

Jrumbot giggled. "You faiwed da woll! Da gobwin's magic huwts you!"

Doc crossed his arms and Ren laughed.

Grumbot looked up to see Mumbo holding Sahara. It was obvious both had been crying. He got up quickly.

"Dad! Are you okay?" He ran over to the pair of them.

Mumbo nodded. Ren and Doc looked over and the dogman stood up.

"What happened?" Ren came over to Mumbo, Doc just watched from where he sat.

"I made a mistake, but it's...it's fine." He lied. "Were they any trouble?" He changed the subject.

"No, they were good." Ren answered. "In fact, I think Doc might actually not have hated it."

Doc rolled his eyes, but still asked, "Do you want us to stay here while you rest or something? You look...tired."

Mumbo slowly and silently nodded. "Thank you."

He turned around, holding Sahara close and stepped towards TVGrumbot. Ren and Doc couldn't see him enter the lift.

Mumbo got inside and it lowered him down into the HQ. The roboticist sat down at the kitchen counter, Sahara in his lap.

He played with her hair as she held onto her father.

"I'm sowwee." She whispered.

"Why are you apologizing?" Mumbo looked confused.

"Daddy's mad at you cuz of me..."

"No...He's mad at me because of, well...because of me."

Sahara didn't reply.

Grian had flown away after shoving Sahara back into Mumbo's arms. He landed in front of Iskall at the other end of the shopping district and tried to have a normal conversation. He pushed Mumbo to the back of his mind.

He joked and smiled, acting like Poultry Man for the rest of the day.

But when he went to his mansion...

Grian took off his mask and threw it onto his bed with an angry yell.

He was breathing heavily.

He couldn't believe Mumbo.

Mumbo knew that Grian didn't want a fifth robot. His friend went behind his back and did so anyways.

And not just that! Mumbo had taken Sunshine's sweater.

He took his Sunshine away.

"Whatever." Grian grumbled. He sat down on his bed. "He doesn't matter. He's just...bringing my anxiety back."

The bird thought about the praise the other hermits would give him. It felt great.

But it would be even greater if they loved Grian for being a hero.

Staying anonymous suddenly felt so silly.

The other hermits should know how great he was! Besides, that would help resolve the problem of him being "missing".

With a smirk, Grian started to drift off to sleep. He pushed his mask off of his bed and laid down on top of the blankets. He tucked his wing around him like a blanket and fell asleep.

The next morning, Grian jumped out of bed with excitement. He grabbed his mask and put it, rushing out the door.

He climbed up onto the roof of his mansion, about to fly off.

But someone was waiting for him.

Xisuma sat near the trapdoor.

"Grian. We need to talk."

The hero lowered his wings. "What's up, Bee?" He pushed his mask up.

X turned to face the bird. "We need to talk about your attitude. Why the heck did you question my brother like that?"

Grian felt very uncomfortable. "Uh, actually...could we discuss this later? I have an announcement to make!" He raised his wings again.

"Grian, I'm serious."

"Hey, serious. I'm Poultry Man." He pulled his mask back down and flew up into the air.

Xisuma yelled after him, but Grian ignored his calls. He instead flew towards the shopping district.

"Iskall!" He landed in front of his Swedish friend. "Could you tell the hermits that I will be giving a public address at noon? I have an announcement."

Iskall felt honoured to be trusted with helping out the hero. "Of course!" The Swede started to run around the shopping district, informing the hermits that were there to tell the others.

Grian felt great.

Word came around to Mumbo. He had a lot of time to think and gather his thoughts. He thought that he could apologize to Grian after his address. Try to set things right.

Mumbo wanted to go alone, but the other hermits would all be at the address anyways, so he decided to bring the kids.

As he exited the lift at ground level, he was met by Bdubs and Scar. Both had the same look of worry on their face.

It was nearing noon, and as the eight of them approached the center of the shopping district, there was already a crowd. Mumbo held Sahara and Jrumbot in his arms, and his other 3 children stayed close.

"We should stay in the back." Scar said to his friends. Bdubs and Mumbo nodded.

A few minutes before 12, Xisuma walked up behind Mumbo. He looked concerned. He wasn't angry, but he was...disappointed in Grian.

"Has Grian been blowing you guys off too?" The admin asked.

Mumbo turned to look at his friend. "Yeah."

Scar nodded. Bdubs just shrugged.

Finally, the clock struck noon. Everyone's attention turned towards the platform that had been set up.

The hero stepped onto it, and the crowed cheered.

On stage, Grian felt strangely calm. The adoring fans made him feel confident. He was ready.

He stepped towards the podium.

"Hello Hermits! You must be wondering why I called you all here today, and that's because I have an announcement.

It...It involved your dear friend Grian. Many hermits have asked me if I could find him, and that has proven to be a difficult task. I knew it would be hard to do when ZombieCleo and JoeHills first approached me about it.

I've come here to tell you all the truth about Grian. The truth is..."

The crowd held its collective breath. A sense of worry came from the hermits, fearing the worst for their friend.

"The truth is..." Grian said again, this time reaching up to his mask.

" I am Grian." He pulled the mask off.

The crowd gasped in genuine surprise. Tango and Impulse shared a joyful look, since they had been right.

But the ones that were the most surprised stood in the back.

Mumbo, X, Scar, and Bdubs exchanged a worried look.

"Something's wrong. A week ago, Grian was insistent on not revealing his identity." Mumbo told the other 3. He held Sahara close as she hid her face. She still believed Grian hated her.

"Now, now! I know you have questions! But, uh, we'll need them one at a time." Grian told the clambering crowd.

Xisuma wasn't having it. He flew off before the first question was even asked, telling the others in the back that he had some business to take care of.

As the crowd all got closer to the stage to ask questions and praise their friend, Grian looked up.

He saw Scar and Bdubs, standing with Mumbo and the robots. Mumbo and Grian made eye contact for a moment.

Grian smirked with a glare at Mumbo as the roboticist's expression turned to regret.

He turned to his children and told them something, and then walked off towards the HQ. Scar and Bdubs shook their heads at Grian and followed Mumbo.

Grian didn't care. He didn't need their approval.

He had all the approval he wanted.

The public address went well, in G's opinion.

Grian stood on stage and shrunk himself back down to his normal size. "I can change my size! That's how you guys didn't recognize me!"

Iskall thought it was amazing that his hero had been one of his friends the whole time.

The hermits asked about Grian wings.

Grian told them that was still a secret.

Grian felt amazing.

Over the course of the day, hermits kept coming up to him to thank him and praise him.

False had given him an extra pair of her flight goggles. He wore them on his head like she did, and he disregarded his mask now.

Scar, Bdubs, and Mumbo were much more concerned. Once they got back into the HQ, Mumbo set Jrum and Sahara down and collapsed onto the couch.

"We need to talk to him." Scar sat down on a chair.

"Yeah. I...I thought he was cool, but..." Bdubs trailed off.

Jrum looked confused. "Does Daddy hate you, Papa?"

Amelia picked up Jrum. "I think we should leave Papa alone for right now. Let him and Uncle Scar and Bdubs talk."

Mumbo sat up. "I don't know if he hates me, but there's definitely something negative there."

Grum looked sad. "I miss Dad."

"Yeah, Daddy hasn't come home in a whiwe." Jrum frowned.

"We're going to figure this out, okay kiddos?" Scar told the robots.

"We'll let you guys talk." Circuit nodded and lead his siblings into the other room. Sahara looked at Mumbo. She had tears running down her face, but she followed her older siblings.

Mumbo set his face in his hands. "Oh my gosh. How did it all go so wrong?"

"I think the pride got to him." Bdubs noted.

Scar nodded. "We should talk to him."

"We should wait a day or two. See if he comes by to talk to us." Mumbo sighed.

Grian did not come by.

Mumbo went out the next day to pick up some materials he needed to fix the damage that Grian caused to one of the walls a couple of weeks before. He headed towards the barge, but froze when he spotted Grian. His friend wasn't wearing the Poultry Man suit anymore. He stood in his hero form, shirtless but proud. He wore flight goggles on his head and he laughed.

Grian spotted Mumbo out of the corner of his eye and turned to him. He gave him a happy wave. Mumbo turned away and headed into the shop, getting the materials he needed, and left quickly.

"Huh. Weird." Grian said to himself. He shrugged the interaction off and continued his conversation with Joe and Cleo.

Grian saw Mumbo later that day as well, but when Grian came close, Mumbo turned away.

Mumbo didn't really want to be around Grian at the moment. His new personality felt so fake.

Grian became annoyed at being ignored. He wasn't used to people ignoring him now.

He decided to talk to Scar and Bdubs.

He found the two of them hanging up some more mayoral campaign posters. They had kept up with the race even with all the drama going on.

Grian came up behind them.

"Heeeey guys!"

Scar turned around.

"Grian. Hi." Scar gave him a polite nod.

Bdubs finished tacking up a poster and turned around. "Hello!" He said with a happy smile.

Scar elbowed him to tell him to be more serious. Bdubs nodded. "Oh, right. I mean, hi."

Grian sighed. "Do you guys know what's going on with Mumbo? He's been avoiding me all day, and I don't know why."

Scar exchanged a skeptical look with Bdubs. "You...don't know why?"

Grian nodded.

"I think you should talk to him yourself." Bdubs told the bird.

"I...I'll try. Hopefully he won't run this time." Grian turned around and took off.

Mumbo paced around the HQ. He was trying to gather his thoughts and compose a statement. He was going to confront Grian and ask him why he suddenly became...unbearable.

With a sigh, Mumbo gave the twins a nod. They nodded in response. Mumbo took them up in the lift. Grum stayed at the HQ with Jrum and Sahara.

Mumbo spotted Grian standing by himself on a platform dock away from the shopping district.

"Let's go." Mumbo readjusted his glasses.

The roboticist and the twins headed towards the bird.

"Grian. I need to talk to you." Mumbo said firmly.

"Great! I need to talk to you too." Grian replied. He was in his hero form.

The sun was setting and the light cast dramatic shadows on the four of them. The twins stood back, giving their parents some space.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Grian asked simply.

"Why have I been avoiding you? Why have you been avoiding your children?" Mumbo calmly shot back. "Grian, what's happened to you? You've become...well, to put it plainly, a jerk."

Grian stepped back. This surprised him. "What do you mean, a jerk ? Are you-...Are you saying that you don't like that I can be confident? That I don't need you to be my emotional support friend?"

Mumbo exhaled heavily. "Well, you made your daughter think you hate her!"

"Oh ho ho, so that's what this is about." Grian felt anger build in him. "I told you that I didn't want another kid! You betrayed me! You stole Sunshine's sweater from me. And now you're blaming it on me?"

"Fine. I know. I was wrong, and I recognize that. I shouldn't have built Sahara, and I am sorry, Grian. But what about your other children? Jrumbot misses you! He keeps asking me when his father is going to come visit him. I don't know what to tell him anymore! You've changed Grian."

"I-...I thought you..." Grian paused. "You told me that you would still love me and be my friend, even if I became a bird. Why can't you love me and be my friend when I'm like this? This is who I am, Mumbo. I became a superhero and gained confidence, just like you wanted."

"You've blown off your family to chase fame instead." Mumbo looked up at Grian.

"I didn't even want this family in the first place! You threw me into this situation without my consent!"

Mumbo started to become angry.

"Grian. You're no friend , you're no father- "

"THEN WHAT AM I MUMBO?" Grian yelled out.

Mumbo sadly chuckled. "You're just a pesky bird ." He spoke those words with such disgust and reproach that it physically stung the bird.

Grian's heart sank. But his pride wouldn't allow him to give up the argument.

"Yeah! I'm a bird, Mumbo! But YOU don't understand what I can do! YOU don't understand what I'm capable of! YOU don't understand my abilities!"

Mumbo looked at Grian. He started to yell.

"Oh! I understand them alright! Even the ones you don't want me to know about! The night you blacked out? You wouldn't listen to me so I THREW MYSELF OFF OF MY BASE to snap you out of it. I TRUSTED you with my LIFE to HELP you." Mumbo's face was red with anger.

"What?" Grian blinked in confusion and disbelief. His scary demeanor started to fade.

"Yeah G, and it was a mistake I'm not gonna make again. But you wanna know what I saw? You know what I saw that saved me? A bird. A giant freaking bird.

So don't you say that I don't understand your abilities. If YOU had trusted ME like I did with you, maybe we wouldn't be here right now!" Mumbo clenched his fists.

Grian looked afraid. He looked down at his hands, and then back at Mumbo. "I-"

"I don't want to hear any excuse you have right now Grian. At this point, you're just wasting my time and filling my children's mind with behaviours I will not let stand." Mumbo took a step back. Grian stood there in disbelief.

"Im sorry, Grian. I'm sorry that I helped you become the most arrogant and self-centred man I've ever had the displeasure of knowing. Don't try to talk to me or my kids. I don't even want to see a single FEATHER around them."

"Mumbo-" Grian tried to speak.

Mumbo glared and shook his head at his ex-friend. "Goodbye, Grian." He turned around. "Let's go." He told the twins. They gave Grian a dirty glare.

"FINE! GO! I DON'T NEED YOU! I'M BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU!" Grian called after Mumbo.

His friend didn't turn around. He just kept walking.

Grian turned and flew into the air. "I don't need him. Or the kids. I'm perfectly capable by myself. I have all the approval I need."

But Grian could feel he was lying to himself. He wouldn't let himself admit it.

As Mumbo marched back to the HQ, his fists still clenched, he felt hot tears streaming down his face.

It all escalated too quickly. He said things he didn't mean.

Mumbo had told Jrum that he would bring Grian back to visit him. But, of course, he couldn't deliver on that promise.

As the lift opened up, the twins looked at their crying father. He didn't look alright.

The lift brought the three of them down. The twins hurried out first and ran to Jrumbot, comforting him and telling him that it was all going to be okay.

Jrum was confused, of course.

Mumbo walked out the lift. He felt his anger dissipate, and he let his despair take over. He was crying.

Jrum became concerned. Mumbo came over to his baby.

"Papa! What's wong? Whewe's Daddy?" Jrum started to panic. Mumbo crouched down in front of the little boy.

"Grian's...Grian's not coming home anymore Jrum. He broke my heart." Mumbo's voice wavered when he said this. He started to cry a bit harder. He removed his glasses and set them aside.

Jrum started to cry as well, but he couldn't produce tears.

"Is...Is Gwian still my Daddy?" He asked his father.

Mumbo felt himself break even further. He felt tears fall from his face as he shook his head. "N-no, Jrum. He's...not. I'm sorry, baby."

Jrum broke down in "tears". Mumbo sat fully on the ground and held Jrum close, rocking back and forth to calm his child. The longer Jrum cried, the sadder Mumbo became.

The twins stood by, wanting to help, but not knowing how.

Grum and Sahara ran in at the sounds of sadness. Sahara climbed into the embrace and hugged both her father and her brother. She was crying as well. Grum looked hurt. He sat down on the couch and let himself fall over onto the cushion. He just laid there, not saying anything.

Grian stood on the top on Mumbo's base, on the same pillar that Mumbo had fallen off of weeks prior.

It wasn't even that long ago, but it felt like years.

Grian started to feel sick. He felt the weight of his wings on his back, and all the self-loathing he thought had disappeared came back.

He sat down on the edge.

Mumbo's words had cut him like a sword.

He tried to pretend they didn't affect him, but now he just felt alone.

He started to cry when he realized that Mumbo didn't want him to see their kids anymore.

Grian thought that he would be relieved at the removal of responsibility, but he felt so very much alone. He had no one.

He had blown off everyone.

Mumbo hated him. The kids probably hated him. Scar and Bdubs probably didn't like him too much at the moment, if they even knew.

But...the rest of the hermits didn't hate him. He tried to focus on the love they gave him. It made him feel better.

He wondered how long he could just ignore the problems.