Author's Note: A strange little story. Takes place after Bdubs' trap was sprung and trapped the Mycelium boys within. The raid didn't end well, and the MR got pretty badly hurt. Many months pass and we end up here...

 Things aren't looking too good, and there's something wrong with one of the hermits...

 The question is this:

 How long can H.E.P. keep a secret? (or how long until someone gets too curious for their own good?)

 Anyways,

 Enjoy.

 :)

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Tango's POV:

 I slowly followed Cub down the dark hallway. The only sounds that accompanied us were our footsteps and Cub's cane. 

 " How's uh..." I tried to fill the silence, " How's your leg?" I questioned as Cub's ears twitched, " My leg's fine, Tango... Scar managed to get the infected magic out." he answered coldly. I gulped and nodded as my tail twitched. 

 Ever since we captured the Mycelium Resistance, except Stressmonster, our entire group's been acting as if we're containing hazardous creatures that needed to be studied. Cub had built these strange chambers filled with blue liquid that held the suspended hermits inside.

 When we got to the room of many chambers, Cub stopped at the central control panel and turned the lights on. My ears lowered as I looked towards Impulse's chamber. The hermit's hands were badly burned and wrapped up in bandages; his neck and one of his cheeks were also bandaged.

What was Cub doing behind closed doors in this horrible lab? 

 I glanced around at the other chambers:

 Ren was in the smallest one due to being in his dog form.

 Xb was in stitches and was wearing an entirely different outfit than his normal one.

 Jevin was in his human form; however, his hands and legs were slowly trying to merge with the containment ooze. 

 Etho had his mask and green vest removed. On top of that, an icy cold mist was emitting from his chamber and frost was growing around the iron and glass. 

 An empty tube was prepared for Stress when we captured her. 

 Impulse's tube was next.

 Finally, Doc's tube, chamber, it both works. Doc had all his robotic parts removed from him. Occasionally, the creeper would twitch and glow until Cub used Etho's frosty magic in order to freeze Doc and keep him more sedated. 

 I crossed my arms. 

 Where was Grian? He was the leader of this rebellion, but why wasn't he with the others? 

 " Hey Cub.... I have a question..." I frowned as Cub stopped looking at the control panel in order to look at me, " Hmm?" his eyes glowed slightly as his ears twitched. I shook slightly, " Where's Grian?" I questioned as Cub motioned for me to follow.

 Cub led me down a tight hallway that led to an even tighter set of stairs. When we reached the top of the stairs, it led to some sort of surveillance room. I gave my fellow hermit a confused glance as he sat down in the large, blue arm chair and started clicking and clacking away at the keys until the central monitor turned on.

 A prison cell that was littered with torn up clothing, pillows, and a bunch of other oddities. I raised my eyebrow as a yellow and red blur zipped past the camera. My ears perked up as the fuzzy tip of my tail puffed up. 

 When the blur stopped zooming back and forth, a large claw smashed against the camera causing Cub to let out a groan of annoyance. 

 " This is the third time this weak." Cub growled as he rubbed the bridge of his blackened nose. Cub was about to stand up, but a loud beeping noise came from the cameras as they all flashed red.

 Cub's ears twitched, " Oh no..." he mumbled. The bear hybrid quickly typed at the keyboard and showed the many halls that littered the underground portion of our newly upgraded base. What was strange was that some of the camera seemed to stretch into Decked Out as well. I was about to question the Vex-bear's reasoning for putting cameras into my defunct game, but a loud alarm forced me to remain silent and cover my ears. 

 I looked at the cameras again as the Grian blur sprinted down one of the hallways and onto another camera. 

 " What's he doing?" I questioned as Cub narrowed his ears, " Grian's trying to find the others." 

 My tail twitched as I tilted my head. If Grian's some kind of animal, then why would Grian want to actively find the others? Was he still Grian internally? 

 I gently let go of my ears as Cub flicked through the cameras and growled when it reached the room where the other Mycelium members were. The two of us watched as the shapeshifting creature flapped its wings and flew on top of Ren's chamber.

 The two of us looked at each other, " Come on." Cub stood up with a growl. I followed the hermit back down the stairs and towards the chambered room. 

 My tail twitched as Cub and I lowered ourselves to the ground. We peered into the laboratory and spotted bird-cat Grian still perched on top of Ren's chamber. The bird was pecking at the chamber in desperation. 

 Cub looked at me and stood up with both of his hands glowing, " Tango, I want you to stay back.... This could get ugly." he walked into the room. I remained low to the ground and walked as Cub let out a low growl causing Grian to perk up. 

 " Now, Grian, be a good bird monster and go back to your cell....We've got some sheep's leg for you." Cub told him as the bird squawked loudly at him and went back to pecking at Ren's tube until it started to leak out the weird blue goo. 

 This action caused Cub to growl, " Fine..." his magic flared up even more as he threw a blast of Vex magic towards Grian. The bird-cat squawked and moved behind Ren's tube causing Cub's blast to hit it at high speed. 

 The tube fell to the ground with a loud thud and ended up on its side. With a loud shatter, the glass exploded causing Ren and the goop to slosh out everywhere with a very gross squelch. I gagged and walked into the room causing Grian to screech and curl himself around Ren's body. 

 Once again, the bird-cat's body shifted until he looked more like a giant fluffy cat with wings rather than a bird. Grian's tail thrashed as he started to lick the ooze off of the dog's body. 

Cub looked towards me, " I told you to stay back." he narrowed his glowing eyes as I crossed my arms, " Things weren't going as well as you wanted it to, Cub." I told him as he rolled his eyes, " Do not remind me." 

 " A-Anyways, can I try to get Grian to go back to his containment room?" I questioned as Cub's ears twitched, " Be my guest. But if anything bad happens, I'm electrocuting Grian in order to sedate him." 

 I shuddered at Cub's threat and nodded at him, " Noted." I turned back towards Grian. The bird-cat was angrily churring as I raised my hands, " W-We.... I want to help you, Grian... I know you're still in there..." I told him as his ears lowered. 

 " You can keep Rendog with you in your pen, but you have to let us check out his vitals first... You know that he's hurt...." I continued as the cabird lowered his head then moved backwards. 

 Good, Grian's still in there.... He still knows that we don't really want to hurt him. Well, I don't want to hurt him. 

 Grian made a sad chirping noise as he stared at me, " It's okay man.... Ren'll be with you in a bit... Go back to your pen." I told him as Grian kept staring at me. My tail twitched as I gently scooped Ren up causing him to whine and some of his bones crackled. 

 I shot Cub a glare, " Did you even heal everyone in the tubes?" I questioned as Cub looked away from me. I shook my head. I can get all angry at Cub later. Right now, I just want to get Ren into a stable state so birdian can calm down....

 ((A few hours later brought to you by an upset Birdian staring at Tango))

It took a good while to get Ren's body healed; his fuzzy legs were covered in blood stains and some blood oozed out of it. Along with the injuries, Ren's eyes looked almost completely void of color when I forced them open. 

 Ren twitched slightly as I gently scooped him off of the medical table and looked down at Grian. The cat bird's tail twitched as he flapped his wings, " Come on, let's get you two to your....cell." I told him as he flapped his wings again.

 When we reached the cell, Grian hobbled into the room and started to drag blankets, pillows, and torn clothing into the center of the room. I kept watching Grian until he stopped moving stuff around and stared up at me. 

 I looked down at Ren's fuzzy body and gently laid the sleeping dog onto the pawmade nest. Once Ren was safely in the nest, Grian shoved his head against my leg until I was away from the two of them.

 My ears twitched as I watched the catbird lay down against Ren and draped one of his wings over the still injured dog. Grian stared at me, and I nodded and took my leave. I turned around and looked at Cub and False as they both stood at the entrance to the cell. 

 " So, are you two going to lock me in here?" I questioned as my ears lowered. Cub and False looked at each other, " As much as I want to protect Scar and the others from this nonsense, Locking away another hermit wouldn't end well... Besides, there's no where to put you, and you're too useful with handling these two animals." he answered with a rub of his chin. 

 Should I feel relieved that I'm not going to be imprisoned by Cub and False? 

 Yes.

 I nodded my head and left the containment cell that now held two animal hermits within. My tail twitched. 

 " What do we do now, Cub?" False questioned as she crossed her arms. Cub looked towards her and put on his glasses, " We continue to study those in the tubes. Clearly, they still have some connection towards Grian's semi-shattered mind." Cub looked at the both of us, " If we can get into any of their mindscapes, then we could try and get into Grian's that way." 

 Cub walked up to a wall and put a lever against it. With a quick flick, a piston door snapped open and the two hermits walked inside with the door closing behind them. I watched as the lever popped off of the wall and sunk into an underground hopper. 

 My tail twitched as I turned around and looked into the cage. Grian was gently nuzzling at Ren and wrapping him up with blankets until only the dog's head and part of his wagging tail was visible. 

 I crossed my arms. 

 What if Cub can't restore Grian back to what he used to be? 

 Will the other Mycelium members be trapped in a permanent slumber? 

 I shuddered and turned away from the cage and up the stairs towards the bright light of the overworld's sun. I've spend too long underground. 

 Maybe I should go and pay Zedaph a visit? After that, I should probably see Iskall or even Stressmonster. 

 No, no, no not Stress. She's probably furious about what we've done, and I don't want to be entangled in her rage-filled murder vines. 

 My tail twitched.

 Just Zedaph then. 

 When I finally reached the surface, the sun had already begun to set. I let out an annoyed grumble as the world suddenly shifted to daytime. 

 My head shook. Man Bdubs, you never change.

 I adjusted my elytra and took off into the sky and towards the Nether portal. It's time to pay a visit to a friend I haven't seen in a long while.