HoneyBee feels his consciousness slowly return to him. Surface-level thoughts broke through the surface first. Short, improper sentences about basic things he knew and felt. These thoughts finally connected together to form coherent notions that could be tracked from the initial thought to the final realization. He became aware of his senses next. He could feel his breaths rattling in his chest, and there was something firm and soft pressed into the back of his body. His head was laid across something a little more elevated than the rest of his body, and it was definitely softer. Something light was draped across the top of his body, keeping him warm but letting a few drafts of cold air in. As HoneyBee pieced together more clues about everything, he realized that something else in the room was breathing, too. Its breaths were quicker, shorter, and off-rhythm with HoneyBee's.

HoneyBee released an audibly groan as pain ricochet all throughout his body, seemingly brought on by his insistence to open his eyes. All his nerves felt too jittery, and his skin felt a little too burnt. His bones ached awfully, and his blood was slowly moving to every part of his body. The lights burned his eyes as he continued pushing them open, ignoring all the pain that was spreading throughout him like a food dye dropping into water.

"Shhh... it's okay. You don't need to get up yet. Just go back to bed. Continue resting," A voice- presumably the source of the breathing- spoke to HoneyBee in a quiet voice, right next to HoneyBee's head. The words were soft as they traveled into HoneyBee's pain-ridden head. As his thoughts wrapped around a thought that didn't send pain down his spine, HoneyBee was able to recognize one of his closest friends. Deviate, Ranboo, Lethe, the Endermen, whatever you wanted to call him, he was someone that HoneyBee cared about a lot. Ranboo was someone that HoneyBee promised himself that he would live for.

He wasn't sure what Ranboo was doing there. His last thoughts were of him trying to protect Croupier from the Blade by using the extreme limit of his power. He remembered being filled with uncontrollable lightning dripping like acid in his veins. He released it all in one neon green explosion. There was no explicit reason why Ranboo would be there. Even if he was Lethe, that didn't explain why he was at the Blade's cabin at that hour of the night. HoneyBee wanted to think more about it, wanted to figure it out, but the pain was returning back at full force. HoneyBee choked on his breath, and he felt Ranboo situate HoneyBee into a different position to make breathing easier.

'What happened?' HoneyBee attempted to croak out. The sounds came out wrong. They didn't sound like human noises, let alone words.

"Shh... we don't need to talk about anything at the moment. We can talk about everything later. I promise I'll explain it all. But right now, you should get some rest. I'll still be here when you wake up, okay?" Ranboo explained, and HoneyBee felt a light pressure against his hair. Ranboo's voice grew a little softer as he began talking in a wistful tone. "The End is where I'm from. It's a series of floating islands in the North. It is extremely cold and barren. There are Endermen, shulkers, elytras, and other creatures in the End. We have myths about our ancestors living among dragons. We live in treehouses, but the trees are different from what you're imagining. Our trees look like purple coral that stretches towards the endless night. Our days are extremely short, and our nights are really long. Most End creatures are nocturnal. It took me a while to get used to a diurnal sleeping schedule..."

Ranboo kept talking even when he realized he completed his objective of putting HoneyBee to sleep.

—

When HoneyBee wakes up again, it is a significantly quicker process. It's the same as when he wakes up in the morning: all at once awareness of the world. His eyes easily open up. He squints for a minute at the ceiling before his vision settles. He lifts his arm up, testing it. He brings it towards his face. There are thick bandages wrapped around his forearm, but he can see a few scars peeking around his wrist. There are raw, red colored shaped scars in a Lichtenberg figure, a stationary version of what his powers looked like in the opposite color as green on the color wheel. HoneyBee reaches for his other hand to feel one, but his first hand is grabbed by someone.

HoneyBee looks over to see Ranboo smiling at him. True to his word, Ranboo had remained with him. HoneyBee wanted to smile back, but that seemed like too much of a hassle. He just stared blankly at Ranboo, waiting for their conversation to start. Instead of words, Ranboo just helped HoneyBee into a sitting position. HoneyBee's lower back was pressed into fluffy pillows, and his shoulder blades dug into the wooden bed frame. Ranboo placed a tray in HoneyBee's lap, the hot food warming HoneyBee's thighs even with a thin sheet between the plastic and his skin.

HoneyBee looks around the room as he waits for the bowl of soup to cool. He's sitting in a small bed against the center of the wall with white sheets and pillows. The walls were a neutral cream color, and there was a small window with closed blinds in the middle of the wall to his left. There was a wooden door positioned to the right of the wall in front of him. Ranboo was sitting in a chair that was brought up to the bed, facing towards a wooden nightstand with nothing on it and a closed drawer beneath it. HoneyBee tried to sneak a glance outside the window, but the white light streaming through the tight blinds made it impossible to notice anything else.

"Here, let me help you," Ranboo broke the silence. He reached for HoneyBee's spoon, lifting it up with a spoonful of soup resting in the bowl of the metal utensil. Ranboo held one hand underneath the spoon as if he were worried about spilling it. Ranboo brought the soup all the way to HoneyBee's mouth. He waited for HoneyBee with wide eyes like a parent trying to feed their baby. HoneyBee blinked warily at the spoon. He felt fine enough to feed himself, but he was still a little sore. If he could preserve his strength here, it would be beneficial. Plus, he didn't mind inconveniencing Ranboo. He considered it revenge for Ranboo being tight-lipped about the situation.

Ranboo continued to help HoneyBee eat the soup. He had not made a single comment. Every time HoneyBee opened his mouth to ask, Ranboo shoved soup into it without caring if HoneyBee was going to choke. This meant that Ranboo wasn't keen on talking about whatever they needed to talk about, and this made HoneyBee even more eager to learn what was going on.

When HoneyBee's stomach has had enough, he grabs Ranboo's wrist. Ranboo looks away from him as HoneyBee takes the spoon out of Ranboo's hand. HoneyBee drops the spoon into the soup, ignoring the few drops that splash onto his sleeve. He shifted his body, releasing Ranboo's wrist. Ranboo takes a few steps back, getting out of his chair to pace. HoneyBee puts the tray on the nightstand, his legs hanging off the bedside. He watches Ranboo for a minute. He tries to figure out what thoughts are running through Ranboo's head. He eventually says, "Let's start this off with an easy one: where are we?"

"We're in Origins. It's an underground section of Kinoko district. All sorts of people come here for a second chance without the tyranny of heroes and villains ruining their already fragile lives. Nemesis started it, and I've been helping her out," Ranboo says with a slight edge in his voice. It's nervousness, sharp as a knife and just as dangerous. His body language continues to change, showing the deeper emotions that make HoneyBee a little bit worried how Ranboo is going to react.

Ranboo stops pacing, turning to give HoneyBee his full attention. Without any prompting, Ranboo finally begins explaining what HoneyBee really wants to know. "The Blade sent out an emergency signal. I guess I was the closest because when I responded to it, there was no one else there. All I could see is that you were lying on the ground, and the Blade was stalking towards you with his axe. I was terrified that he was going to kill you. I couldn't... I just... I don't want you to die. I'm more scared of losing you than I ever will be of the Blade. It was easier than I imagined to stand up to him when I knew that I had an important reason to. He allowed me to shelter you and Croupier... However, he wants a meeting as soon as you wake up. That would be now, if you didn't know."

"If the Blade wants to talk, fine, then, let's talk," HoneyBee said. He pushes off the bed to stand up. His body protests by sending flares into his brain. His vision sways. He continues to stand, though, and he hopes that his face doesn't show how much pain he is in. Ranboo gives him a worried look, his mouth opening and shutting several times before he looks away. His tail flicks back and forth with nervousness as Ranboo opens the door. It leads into a bare hallway. HoneyBee takes a step to the door. Before he can cross the threshold, Ranboo grabs both of HoneyBee's hands. He pulls them behind HoneyBee's back, holding them together. They both HoneyBee is way stronger than Ranboo, but they pretend for the moment that Ranboo has HoneyBee secured.

Ranboo nudges HoneyBee down the hallway. It's illuminated by lanterns and hanging candles with the same cream walls as the room HoneyBee woke up in. All the doors are the uniformic, and HoneyBee wonders how someone doesn't get lost. Ranboo apparently knew where he was going as he led HoneyBee into a side room through a door with discernable qualities that made it different from the rest. It led into a descending staircase, barely illuminated by the hallway behind them and some light source at the end of the stairs.

The bottom of the stairs revealed a large room made with obsidian walls. There was a table sitting in the center of the room made from some ancient Enderian technology. The Blade, Nemesis, and the Crowfather sat at the table, their faces hidden behind masks. The Blade is at the head of the table. Crowfather is on his right and Nemesis on his left. Ranboo slides into a seat right beside Nemesis with his mask pressed against his face. They were all staring intently at HoneyBee, but the sidekick refused to shiver. He was not scared of the Syndicate. He could never hope to defeat them, but he was positive he could escape them. He was going to make it out of this meeting alive. He wasn't bold enough to have overwhelming confidence, but he wasn't going to cower in front of these three. Four, if you counted Lethe, but HoneyBee would never be scared of someone he trusted more than anyone else in his life.
The council stands before him silently. He supposes they're eyeing him up. It doesn't matter to him, but he can't afford to waste time. He has things he needs to do. He has to come up with a back-up plan with Croupier.

"A few weeks ago, Croupier approached me with an offer. He declared that we would overthrow Minotaur, and I would be put in charge of what Minotaur owns, including Snowchester and the Red districts. I agreed to this offer. In order to do this, we needed to prove to the Hero's Association that I am eligible for being a hero and that I can protect the districts that will be put under my authority. The Syndicate is the association's greatest enemy. Croupier believed that if we could capture and hand over a member of the Syndicate, I would have a good footing to stake my claim over the districts. Through his information network, he figured out where one of your safehouses was. When we went there, I found a compass that would lead us to Protesilaus. We figured this was a low- to mid-ranking member. We didn't mean to find you, Blade, and I do not know what Croupier was thinking when he attacked you. For someone who owns a casino, his risk assessment skills are subpar," HoneyBee told them all. The intensity and emotions of their stares changed throughout his proclamation, but their body language never changed. Lethe looked around cautiously a lot, his fingers fidgeting with one another. The other three were blank faces with highly charged eyes.

The Blade was the most composed of them all. His stare was as cold as the district he was the leader over. HoneyBee felt a chill race down his skin, but he didn't shiver. He suppressed the urge and kept his spine straight. The Blade leaned forward slightly, the only indication that he was paying attention. "Why?"

"Why?" HoneyBee repeated. "What the fuck are you talking about? You cannot be so stupid as to not realize how shitty a leader Minotaur is. Snowchester district is one of the worst districts to live in. Your property is always under threat of possession. Your businesses are always under threat of a sudden repression in the economy. The district is in serious debt, and we can't even get proper food for the people. This is without talking about the Red District. That place is barely functioning. H. Bomb did a whole lot in order to keep it afloat, and Minotaur doesn't give a damn about it. Snowchester is my home. The people there are my people. I am going to protect my people no matter what. I will even overthrow my father, if he can be called that, if I have to."

The Blade's stare burned into HoneyBee's skin, a sharp contrast to the bitter cold of earlier. It seemed the Blade had found something in HoneyBee's speech to latch onto. HoneyBee wondered if the heat meant anger or happiness. He didn't get a chance to figure it out as the Blade waved his hand to the side. HoneyBee raised an eyebrow, and Lethe whisper-shouted that HoneyBee was dismissed.

HoneyBee scoffed. The Blade didn't consider HoneyBee a threat if he was letting the sidekick walk around without an escort. HoneyBee marched up the stairs, refusing to look back even as he heard whispers. He didn't slam the door shut, per say, but it did shut louder than necessary. HoneyBee took a deep breath, looking around the hallway. He went back he had come, but he kicked open every door he passed. Most were filled with barrels and boxes, but he found one that had a bed inside of it. There was a man laying on the bed. HoneyBee didn't recognize him, at first, but he realized it was Croupier after staring for a few seconds.

HoneyBee slowly walks into the room. It's identical to his except for the placement of the door on the left wall in the perspective of someone sitting on the bed. HoneyBee sat down in the chair pulled to Croupier's bedside. He stares at the man's wound for a long moment. It's a cut that runs up from his lip to his forehead, crossing through his eye. It's bright red, still bubbling with blood and pus ready to be released with the slightest tear to the cut's surface. HoneyBee doesn't touch it, instead running a hand through Croupier's hair. His mind reaches into the past, recalling a memory of their positions reversed. Croupier would sit in HoneyBee's room when he was a child, playing with HoneyBee's hair until the toddler fell asleep. It was the happiest HoneyBee ever was because it was such blatant, unrestrained affection and love, something Minotaur never provided.

Instead, all Minotaur delivered was pain. He hit and kicked and screamed and threw glass bottles. He never hugged or kissed or played with or cared about HoneyBee. Croupier might have left, he might have given a child false hope, he might have been the cruelest person HoneyBee ever met, but he was also the one that taught HoneyBee that the world wasn't all unhappy. He was the one that made it possible for HoneyBee to see the good in people. He stuck around for a long time, and HoneyBee wondered if he was part of the reason Croupier stayed. He misguidedly loved Minotaur, but maybe at some point, he came to care about the child that Minotaur failed to mention on his first few dates with Croupier.

HoneyBee swore to Croupier, and maybe a little bit to himself, that he was going to overthrow Schlatt. He would kill the man if he had to.