Prompts from JacarandaAxolotl477. Go follow her or else

Grian was having a bad day even before Grumbot acted up.

First, he ran out of quartz again. Then, he died in the Nether and lost all of his things, including the quartz he had managed to gather. It took several hours of wasted time trading with villagers to regain what he lost.

So, naturally, it was just his luck that the armor didn't fit. Too big. Apparently Scar, with his tall-ness, had forgotten to tell the villagers that shorter people used this trading hall too.

And so Grian had groaned and grumbled and gone crawling back to the trading hall to get the armor fixed. That costed almost a stack of emeralds, not that emeralds were a problem. But the sheer time it took was enough to sour Grian's mood.

After the villager finally finished, Grian took his armor and stormed back to his base.

He didn't really want to do anything else that day, but he still had a long to-do list of things to get done. He crossed quartz off of the list. It could wait. Then, he squinted at the mess of lines and letters. Some items on the list were starred. Some were underlined. In his attempt to make almost everything stand out, he had just made life confusing for himself.

He managed to make out a few priorities, though, the most interesting-sounding of them being make sure Grumbot has no plans to destroy the world again.

Grian didn't remember putting that on the list, but it was on the list.

Grian headed down to the cave with the Rift. He hadn't really talked to Grumbot since they had left Empires. Up until now, he had been terrified of what the robot was capable of. He still hadn't told Mumbo about the fact that Grumbot lived in the mustached man's basement. He wasn't sure he wanted to.

Grumbot whirred to life as Grian cautiously approached him, his cheerful glowing eyes opening as if nothing bad could ever happen. A slip of paper came out of his printer. It read, Hello, Dad!

"Hey, Grumbot," Grian said. The fact that the robot called him 'Dad' had been funny at first, but ever since Empires Grumbot had tried to destroy Empires, it had just been unsettling. "How have you been? I haven't had a chance to talk to you in a while."

Another slip of paper, and some cheerful whirring noises. I have been lovely. Is Other Dad doing alright?

"Uh, yeah. Mumbo's great. He's been busy, with his... mayoral duties," Grian lied. He didn't know what would happen if he told Grumbot that Mumbo was on holiday.

You don't have to lie to me. I know that Other Dad isn't really the mayor.

Grian froze, and tentatively said, "What do you mean?"

Grumbot made some noises. His eyes flickered, and his mustache wiggled. Grian grabbed the slip of paper that came out and stared at it worriedly, his hands white from how tightly he was holding the message.

A world without Mumbo as Mayor is worthless. Initiating Update...

"Wait, what? Update? Grumbot, what are you doing?"

Opening Rift...

Grian whirled around. The Rift had long been closed, but there were cracks starting to spread through the obsidian.

Assembling Grumbots...

Grian started to panic as the pieces of black rock fell away. The magenta Rift was as prominent as ever, once again giving Grian that unsettling feeling of wrongness.

Eyes opened in the Rift. Strangely familiar eyes. Glowing in all colors, but somehow all the same. And Grian didn't need to ask Grumbot to know what they were.

They were getting closer. Grian fumbled with his rockets. One last piece of paper came out of Grumbot's dispenser. Grian didn't bother to read it. He didn't need to. He already knew the gist of what it would say.

Grumbot Network system update complete. All Grumbots been summoned to world: Hermitcraft Season 9.

while mumbo_not_mayor():
   destroy_world()

Grian made it out of the cave and frantically started placing blocks. He could see the glowing eyes of dozens of Grumbots, big and small, staring up at him. The cacophony of whirring and beeping exploded in his ears.

Grian finished covering up the cave. And even then, he kept placing.

He had to warn the server. He had to warn Mumbo. He had to warn the other mayoral candidates from Season 7, because he already knew they would be the first targets.

The sight of the Grumbot eyes in the Rift haunted Grian as he flew away, typing desperate messages in chat to all of the Hermits.

Yeah. Bad day was an understatement.

~~~

It sort of doesn't fit the prompt but it also sort of does so deal with it

Also I was so tempted to make glowing eyes prompt about watchers but that would be like- *dies* I already write about watcher grian too much

- Indigo