When the Watchers came, there was never good news to follow.

This time was no exception.

The Watchers stood, tall and proud, masked and cloaked, at the center of spawn. All the Evolutionists had gathered--some rather reluctantly--and they were waiting with bated breath to see what the mysterious figures would say.

There were two. It was always these two. They never gave names, so the Evolutionists called them Watchers 1 and 2. There were more creative names, but they were too rude to mention here.

The Evolutionists hated the Watchers with a burning passion. They toyed with the world of Evo, notoriously snatching people out of the world and plopping them in the middle of the ocean, and they built those obsidian towers that were so hard to put down.

Everyone disliked them. But there was one person who was a cut above the rest.

Grian was the first and only one to step forward. "What do you want now? For us to do your bidding? To encase our bases in bedrock? Drop us in the ocean again?"

The Watcher on the left started forward, but the one on the right stopped them. "Hold on. Not yet."

That just made the whole situation worse. These two always brought bad omens with them. They were the deliverers of bad news.

There had been plenty of times where they had given bad news. New events and portals in the world, challenges to face, obsidian towers to take down...but this one topped them all.

"We have decided that one of you has to leave."

Quiet murmurs of shock and surprise echoed through the small group of people.

"Why?"

"How?"

"Who?"

Grian himself felt a slight sense of dread that started growing. He knew where this was going. Out loud, he said, "And what if we say no?"

The Watcher on the right's posture straightened. "You will regret it. We're the ones who made this world possible. We're the ones who allowed you to build your small world here. You should be grateful."

"You're also the ones who mess around with us mercilessly!" Grian protested.

Following Grian's lead, the rest of the Evolutionists began to argue with the Watchers. It may not seem like much, but this was a minor victory for the world of Evo--being able to stand up to the Watchers.

"Enough!" Watcher 1 thundered. "You will obey us, like it or not. One of you will leave. Ten will become nine. You will never see them again. If you try to refuse, there will be consequences."

The Evolutionists talked among themselves, wondering if there was any way to avoid the inevitable. Like all of them, though, Grian knew that there was no way to stop it. The Watchers were powerful--they could easily snap half of Evo out of existence if they wanted to. Grian needed to step up and take responsibility.

"I have to go."

Immediately, shocked shouts came up from the group.

"You can't!"

"What about the empire?"

"Please don't leave us..."

Grian knew what the Watchers would do if they didn't do what they demanded. It was best to go and keep everyone safe here.

Under the mask, Grian could tell Watcher 2 was smiling. "Well, then. That was easy, wasn't it? You'd better say your goodbyes now."

The other members of Evo spouted some choice words to the Watchers. How could they act so casual about this? They were going to lose a valued member of their world, and the Watchers were pretending like it was just all in a day's work.

"What are you going to do with him?"

"There has to be another way!"

It broke everyone's hearts to see Grian go. Despite their protests, everyone knew there was no way to avoid this.

Watcher 1 beckoned for Grian to come to them. A portal appeared behind them, and Grian knew that there was no turning back after he stepped through it. It was all so sudden, it was a normal day, even, until all this happened. In the blink of an eye, his whole life had turned upside down.

Grian stepped towards the portal, not looking back. It was too painful to say goodbye.

"Promise not to hurt them."

Watcher 2 tilted their head. "If it makes you feel better, we'll take care of them in your place."

Behind them, the Evolutionists tensed. Grian did too--he didn't like how the Watcher phrased that. But, at least, there was a chance that they would be saved if Grian left. The Watchers hated him more than the rest than Evo.

He stepped through the portal and didn't look back.

»»————-　★　————-««

"Welcome, Watcher 3. So glad you could join us."

Grian slowly opened his eyes. For a moment, he was disoriented, wondering where he was and where the other Evolutionists were.

Evo.

He had chosen to leave Evo. The Watchers were threatening to hurt the others. To save them, he went through that portal...and now he'd never see them again.

The reality of the situation almost broke him.

Watchers 1 and 2 stood nearby, watching Grian in amusement. They were in some sort of room that resembled the void, almost. Dark, mysterious...there seemed to be no walls, and it was like an endless hallway.

Grian looked down and yelped. He looked just like the other Watchers, dark cloak and everything. He hated it--he hated the Watchers, he hated that what he had fought against for so long was now what he had become. There was no way he was wearing this.

He threw off the cloak and mask. To his relief, he still had his old clothes. The splash of red in the dark environment was like a beacon.

"I'm not becoming one of you. No way that's happening."

Grian could see the sneer under the mask. "You left Evo and went through that portal. You're in the Watcher's world. You're one of us now."

"I'll become one of you when I become a god at Redstone! In other words: never!"

"I appreciate the self-criticism, but you have no choice," Watcher 2 said. "There's no escape from this world unless you get permission from one of us."

"You can keep me here until the Nether freezes over."

Watcher 1's posture grew more defiant. "You asked for it."

A window appeared. Evo. It seemed so real, Grian grew homesick just looking at it.

He realized, too late, what the Watchers were going to do. "No..."

Watcher 2's hands glowed with magic, and he directed the flow to the window Grian was looking through. In the window, explosions set off, fire was set to buildings, and everything went from a relatively calm day to complete anarchy. Grian could hear the screams.

All this destruction passed just as quickly as it appeared, but the world was unrecognizable. Worst of all...there was no sign of the world's members.

Grian's breath came out shallow. This couldn't be real. The Watchers were messing with him. They'd put the Evolutionists through so much--they had taken Grian away already. He wanted to tackle the Watchers, prevent the destruction somehow, but he could only stand there in horror.

In the blink of an eye, the world had been destroyed, and who knows what happened to the Evolutionists themselves. They could be severely injured, or...

"You didn't just..." Grian was still in shock. "That wasn't real."

"Oh, I can assure you, that was very real." Watcher 1's tone was casual, like they hadn't just killed an entire world. This angered Grian further.

"They didn't deserve that! You should have punished me!"

Watcher 1 chuckled a little. "You think we're done?"

Grian braced himself for what they would do. Kill him? Make him serve them for eternity?

"Your death is their fault, you know that." Watcher 2 seemed to delight in that statement.

"You promised..." his voice shook.

Watcher 2 held up his hands again. Grian tensed for the inevitable.

Instead of pointing the magic to Grian, Watcher 2 made something behind him. Grian looked behind him. A portal. Just like the one that brought him here.

Watcher 1 stepped forward. "Goodbye, Grian. You could have joined us. You could have avoided the death of your friends. This is all your fault."

And with those parting words, he pushed Grian through the portal.

»»————-　★　————-««

"Who are you?"

Grian opened his eyes again. He was in the Overworld again. Evo? No...this wasn't. That world was destroyed. Nearby, another person stood. He wore a helmet over a green and gray suit. He held a set of Elytra, but he seemed to be unarmed.

"Who are you?" he repeated. He tilted his head slightly, like Grian was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen. He seemed to be trying to figure out if Grian was a threat or not. "You just came crashing down from who knows where."

"I'm not dangerous," Grian reassured the man. "My name's Grian."

The other person still seemed on edge. "Xisuma--X for short."

The reality of the situation finally crashed down on him. He was in a new world. His old world was destroyed. There was no turning back.

He broke down right in front of X.

X blinked in surprise. "Hey...you okay?"

Grian wanted to break open the dam of feelings,  but he couldn't make himself speak. He just shrugged. "I could be better."

"I know what you mean," X said. "I went through my own things too."

He sat next to Grian. "Do you know what this place is?"

"I don't know...I came from a whole other world." Grian said.

X grinned. "I came from another dimension."

"Different dimension, huh? Seems like we have some talking to do."

And the two of them sat there, wondering what was in store for them. They went through their own hardships, and both had suffered losses, but for now, it was best to forget about everything.

Maybe things would get better. But right now, things were looking pretty bleak.

The echoes of the Watcher's broken promise lingered with Grian, and he couldn't shut it out.

(WC: 1701)