Grian and Mumbo were sitting at the table in the small kitchen area of the base, having lunch. Mumbo was trying to explain how the robots worked.

"...And they're all connected." He finished his speech proudly. The man had been talking for a solid 5 minutes to Grian.

The bird looked up. "Huh? What were you saying? Sorry, I wasn't listening." He joked.

Mumbo gave him a deadpan expression and an eye roll.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding! I was listening!" Grian chuckled before shoving another bite of food into his mouth.

The redstone man was about to say something when Grum ran up to them.

"Hey, there's people outside!" He said, holding his hand, palm up. A holographic projection came from the repulsor in his palm. It showed the camera view from TVGrum's eyes. Standing on the platform was Bdubs and Scar. They seemed like they were waiting for Grian and Mumbo.

"You can let them down here." Mumbo smiled. Grum nodded.

Above the water, Scar and Bdubs stood in front of the giant robot. The bot had told them to hold on for a second.

After a moment, the middle of his command centre opened up to reveal an elevator.

Bdubs grinned and hopped towards the lift as Scar followed, holding Jellie.

"This is really cool." The Boomer said as the lift brought them down through the water. The doors opened up into the base.

Mumbo and Grian looked up as the lift slid open.

"Hey guys!" Scar spotted them and waved as he and Bdubs started to make their way over. "You've done a great job with capturing that 'superhero' HQ vibe!"

"Thanks!" Mumbo smiled. Grian just nodded.

"Where's Jrum? I brought Jellie for him to play with." Scar said looking around. Something caught his eye. It was Jrumbot...but he didn't seem quite right. His screen was dark and he had a sticky note on his face. "I-"

The wizard was cut off by a little boy hugging his legs. "Hewwo Scaw!"

Scar looked down to see what he thought was at first a real human kid, but quickly realized that it was Jrumbot. He had gotten a new body.

"Hey Jrum! Can you watch Jellie for me while we talk with your fathers?"

Jrum nodded and held out his arms for the cat. Scar lifted her off of his shoulders and placed her in the little boy's metal arms. Jrum hugged her and ran off towards the twins, and another robot who looked like an older Jrum.

"You built another robot?" Bdubs asked Mumbo, motioning towards the group of androids.

"Well, sort of? I built another body for Grum. He controls that one and the one upstairs." Mumbo explained.

"They look amazing." Scar complimented the roboticist. "I thought Jrum was a human for a second." He laughed.

"Yeah, if they're panels were a different colour, it might've been impossible to tell." Bdubs continued. "They look a lot like you two."

Grian put his head down in his arms on the table. "I know" he said, but it was muffled.

"So....Poultry Man!" Bdubs changed the subject. "I drew up some designs for his suit!"

BdoubleO opened up his inventory and took out a sketchbook. On the cover was written "Scar's Sketches". He flipped through the pages of base designs until he reached a page full of concept art. He set the book down on the table for the Architechs to see.

It was a strange design, since the top and bottom didn't really match, but Grian liked it.

There was only one problem.

"How am I gonna wear a shirt and chestplate with my wings?"

Bdubs smiled. "Don't worry, I thought of that. It'll make sense once I make the suit."

"I had a few ideas for stuff as well." Scar said, reaching over to flip the page of the sketchbook.

On the new page were doodles and sketches of potion bottles in various shapes. A few recipes were written beside them. One of the designs was shaped like a chicken egg.

"I thought this would add to your chicken gimmick." Scar pointed at the egg-shaped bottle drawing.

"Oh my gosh that's perfect." Grian smiled even wider. His wings fluttered happily.

His smile faltered for a moment as the charge of electricity increased in him. He held back the lightning, not letting it zap out. His entire body tensed up for a second, but returned to normal quickly. All three of his friends looked at him.

"||𝙹⚍ 𝙹ꖌᔑ||?" Mumbo gave him a concerned look, whispering the foreign language to him. His eyes and freckles glowed, his hair slightly shimmered.

Scar and Bdubs turned their attention towards Mumbo now. Bdubs looked confused, while Scar looked more surprised.

"╎'ᒲ 𝙹ꖌᔑ||" Grian replied in a whisper. His eyes and freckles also glowed, and his feathers took on a more astronomical look. It made it obvious that there were more feathers on his body. Scar glanced down at Grian's arm and saw the additional feathers.

Bdubs seemed speechless.

Grian felt their stares and shook his head. "Er, sorry-..." The glow on him faded, while Mumbo's had disappeared completely already.

"I really like your guys' designs!" The bird hastily changed the subject. Bdubs blinked, but then smiled.

"Thanks! This is really fun so far!" He gave G a thumbs-up.

Scar smiled but then moved next to Grian. He leaned down and whispered next to his ear. "⊣∷╎ᔑリ, ᓵᔑリ ╎ ℸ ̣ ᔑꖎꖌ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ||𝙹⚍ ⎓𝙹∷ ᔑ ᒲ𝙹ᒲᒷリℸ ̣ ?" His green eyes glowed and his scars shimmered.

Bdubs jumped back from Scar. "I'm so confused-" He looked at his friends.

Grian tensed up when Scar spoke. He should have expected that the magician would know something like this, but it caught him offguard. "I-...alright-"

Grian stood slowly and followed as Scar took him to the corner of the room.

"Where did you learn Galactic?" The mage spoke in a hushed whisper. Scar was gripping Grian's arm tightly. His eyes looked behind the bird to the counter where Jrum's old body sat. Next to the empty bot was that purple cloak. Scar's eyes grew wide.

"Where did you get that cloak?" The candidate spoke urgently, turning his attention back to the bird.

"I- uh, I-" Grian felt intimidated by Scar's intense stare. "Xisuma taught me-" He spoke quietly and quickly. He didn't know why his friend was so concerned about this. "And he let me borrow the cloak to hide my wings-"

Scar released his grip. "Oh. Okay." He let out a sigh of relief. "That makes more sense."

Grian chuckled awkwardly. "A-alrighty then."

The wizard held up his hand. "One more thing." Scar lifted up Grian's arm and looked at the feathers.

"I think I could make a potion that could help your situation."

Grian perked up, hopeful. "Wait, really?"

Scar nodded. "It won't get rid of this, but it'll slow down your change. You won't grow as many feathers so fast. It'll give you more time before...well.."

"The inevitable..." The bird looked at his feathers.

"Yeah. You'll still grow them, but it'll slow down."

G thought about this. He turned around to look at Mumbo, who was laughing with Bdubs and the robot kids. He didn't want to have to leave him. He didn't want to have to leave any of them.

"I'll take whatever you can give me." Grian turned back to Scar.

"Great. I'll see what I can mix up tonight and bring you it tomorrow."

The bird smiled, but then paused. "Wait, why do you know Galactic?"

Scar winked. "Wizards are a mystery." He headed back to the table, leaving Grian alone in the corner.

"Alright then...Where did Mumbo learn Galactic?" He mumbled to himself as he followed Scar.

Bdubs greeted his candidate and the bird. "Welcome back, you two." He smiled. "Mumbo was just telling me about your kids, G."

Grian pressed his lips together in a strained smile. He gave a thumbs-up. He wasn't feeling up to talking. He felt tired, even though he slept more than Mumbo.

The three of them looked at Grian for a moment.

"We'll get outta your feathers. We have some work to do for Poultry Man." Scar said after seeing Grian's expression. He seemed sick.

Bdubs nodded and picked up the sketchbook, putting it into his inventory. "We'll see you later!"

"I can't wait to see the results!" Mumbo smiled to Bdubs and Scar. Scar smiled back and then gave the slightest side glance over at Jellie. She perked her ears up and stood, walking over to Scar. She hopped onto his shoulders and laid down.

Jrum looked annoyed. "Bye kitty!" He waved as Scar and Bdubs exited.

On the way out, Grian could hear Bdubs ask Scar, "What the heck were you guys even saying?"

Scar chuckled in reply as they got into the lift. The door closed and Grian watched his friends rise up above the water. He turned back to Mumbo.

"Hey, uh, I don't...I don't feel too hot, I'm just gonna-" He put a hand on his head and backed up towards the bed. He sat down on it and slowly laid himself onto the mattress. His wings curled around him.

Mumbo studied his friend. He definitely didn't look okay. The redstone man went over to him. He crouched down beside him and rested his head next to Grian's.

"Do you need anything?" He asked in a quiet tone.

Grian shook his head. "N-no." He looked down at his arm, feeling sick as he saw the feathers.

"Do you want Jrum?" Mumbo rubbed Grian's arm. Grian shook his head immediately. He looked scared.

"You won't be able to hurt him. It's okay. I fixed him."

The bird closed his eyes, blinking back tears. "No, I just wanna sleep." He curled himself into a ball.

Mumbo gave him a sad smile. "Alrighty." He stood up and ruffled G's hair. We'll let you get some rest."

The tall Englishman motioned to the kids to follow him. They stood up and went to their father, except for Jrum. He ran over to Grian and hopped onto the bed, putting his face next to his dad's. Grian opened his eyes.

Jrum hugged him and planted a kiss on the bird's forehead. "Feew betta soon Daddy! I wuv you vewy much!"

Grian tried to smile, but couldn't manage it. He couldn't form the words.

"C'mon Jrum. Let's let Daddy sleep." Mumbo said from across the room. Jrum kissed Grian's forehead again and hopped off the bed and ran over to his other dad. He took the tall man's hand and followed him into the elevator.

The lights in the base dimmed. Grian lay on the bed, alone in the empty dome.

"I love you too..." He muttered to himself. He weakly pulled the blanket over himself and felt his eyelids grow heavy. He slipped away into dreamland.

Grian stood alone. He was in his bigger form. He looked around him, but it was nothing but void. He couldn't bring himself to panic though. He didn't feel like it was quite worth it anymore. He turned around to see if he could go anywhere, but felt something crack underneath his feet.

Grian looked down to see a picture frame. The picture was static. He crouched down and picked it up. The static started to clear and Grian saw the photograph. It was the one he hid in his closet.

He heard voices. They were his own and Taurtis'. They spoke the words that were said while this picture was being taken.

" We'll have to start a business together! Something like Mystery Inc., but cooler because I'm here." Taurtis' voice laughed.

Grian's voice chuckled. "We should probably debunk something first before we make any plans."

The voices faded as well as the picture. He heard intense static as the photo became blurry. The static faded as the photo came clear again. This time, it wasn't a picture of him and Taurtis, but of him and Mumbo.

Mumbo was standing in the exact same pose that Taurtis' had been. It was almost like Taurtis had been edited out to put Mumbo in instead.

He heard the voices again.

" We should start a business together! Something that involves redstone and building, but cool because I'm here." Grian's voice laughed.

Mumbo's voice chuckled. " We should probably figure out what we want to do before we make any plans."

Grian dropped the picture frame. He couldn't remember if that's how it really went down. Was Taurtis being replaced? He didn't want that. He didn't want to let go of Taurtis. If he did, then he would fall.

" It's okay."

Grian looked back down at the photo. He had heard Taurtis' voice again.

But the frame was gone, replaced by a pair of headphones with a blue and red checkered circle on them.

Grian backed away from them. He needed to get away from them.

He backed up into someone.

He turned.

It was Xisuma.

He was holding his burned hand and looking at Grian with a look of disgust. He said something, but Grian couldn't hear it.

He felt himself shrink down to his normal size as Xisuma glared at him.

He did something wrong, and he knew it.

Grian closed his eyes.

When he opened them, Xisuma was gone.

Sitting limply on the black voided floor was Jrumbot's empty body. The sticky note had a sad face drawn on it instead.

Grian tried to cry out, but no sound came from his mouth. He kept trying, but it was useless.

The darkness closed in on him. He couldn't breathe.

He turned and saw a mirror. He approached it, but he didn't see himself in the reflection.

Instead he only saw a bird.

A giant black bird.

He woke up.