This is the EVO backstory for RHAU. It all died in a fiery, purple heap.

Warnings are loooooots of characters dying.

WC: ~1200

Enjoy!

"You're an idiot," Grian sighed.

"Yeah, yeah," Taurtis grumbled, punching the stone around them. "I get it, Grian!"

They were stuck in a two deep stone hole, with no tools on them, because of a prank that someone had set up, and Taurtis had triggered.

"Don't you have any blocks on you?" Grian asked.

"No, I do not," Taurtis replied indignantly. "I'm not a smarty-mc-pants like you, Grian!"

"'Smarty-mc-pants'?" Grian echoed. "Really?"

"Yes!!"

Grian's communicator buzzed, and held up his wrist and the hologram projected to chat.

<MiniMuka was slain by {deleted_user}>

Grian's blood ran cold.

<SolidarityGaming> Who killed him? It just says deleted user for me. Weird glitch.

"Got it!" Taurtis cried as the stone broke. "Come on!!"

"Taurtis, wait," Grian grabbed his sleeve to stop him.

"Why? Like this humble abo..." Taurtis's joke died on his tongue when he saw the urgency in Grian's eyes.

"I... I have a confession to make," Grian whispered. Taurtis arched an eyebrow and opened his mouth to crack a joke, but Grian shook his head.

"Y'know the Watchers?" Grian said. Taurtis nodded. "Well- they-" he swallowed, and Taurtis took his hands.

"Hey, it's alright!" he said, smiling. "The Watchers are here to help us! I know you got super freaked out, especially since the obsidian incident, but-"

"No, no," Grian whispered. "They're not here to help. They- they're evil, Taurtis. And- and I'm one of them." Taurtis tilted his head.

"You're not evil," he pointed out.

"I am," he murmured. "I'm a Watcher." Grian took a breath, then launched into an explanation.

"Before I came here, I was one of the Watchers. Watchers are known for destroying servers, and I didn't like that, I didn't like anything they did, so I- I ran away. Here. I thought I was safe, but then they started leaving hints and being 'helpful' and I was so scared because I knew they would hurt us at one point but I couldn't muster the strength to tell you all because I was afraid that you'd hate me for bringing them here and now they're attacking and-"

"Woah woah woah, calm down," Taurtis soothed.

"You're not getting the weight of the situation," Grian murmured. "When a Watcher kills, the player doesn't respawn."

Taurtis froze.

"B-but-" he stammered. "Mini-"

"I'm so sorry," Grian whispered. "I'm so, so sorry. I'm one of them, Taurtis, I'm a Watcher-"

"No, you're not,"

Grian stared at him, blinking.

"You're not a Watcher," Taurtis persisted. "You're Grian. You're my best friend, and I'm going to stand with you no matter what. So shut up, and let's go get the others."

"Thank you," Grian breathed, and Taurtis took him by the hand and climbed out of the hole they were stuck in.

"Don't thank me," Taurtis replied. "Thank me when I save us all!! We can get the others out, Grian. We have to save them."

Grian swallowed thickly and nodded, Mini's death not quite registering in his mind.

His communicator buzzed again, and Grian opened it up, dread sinking in his stomach.

<bigbst4 was slain by {deleted_user}>

"BigB's down," Grian whispered, pain in his voice. Taurtis's eyes grew wet, but he kept going.

They ran into Jimmy.

"Remind me," he said when they arrived. "What the hell is going on??"

"We're under attack," Taurtis explained. "They don't respawn, Jimmy."

"They what-" he sputtered. "What?? No!!! Who's killing them???"

"The Watchers," Grian said softly.

"The Watchers??" he cried. "But they're helping us!!"

"They're not," he spat. "They're killing us."

"We have to get the others," Taurtis said firmly. "Before there are no others to get."

<NettyPlays was slain by {deleted_user}>

<SolidarityGaming> Everyone, get to spawn, now.

People started arriving, each in a state of confusion and panic.

"We need to forge a portal to escape," Grian said firmly. "The Watchers are attacking us, and- and when they kill, the player doesn't respawn." There were gasps of horror, whispers of the names of those who had already fallen, and Grian wanted to perish for bringing all this upon the people he cared about so much.

"Can we fight them?" Martyn demanded. Grian shook his head.

"Maybe you'll land a kill or two," he said. "But they respawn and we don't, so you're fighting a losing battle."

"How do we build a portal?" SB asked. "I mean, the Watchers normally make the portals for us-"

"I'm a Watcher," Grian pointed out. "I think I can pull it off."

"Pearl's missing," came Jimmy's soft voice.

"Pan out," Grian said. "Search for her."

They all did as he said, too scared to bother questioning, except Taurtis.

"I'm staying with you," he said. "I can help you build a portal!" Grian couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"You sure about that?" he laughed.

"Dude, we conquered the great seas of blood," he said, grinning. "We were vengeful pirates!"

"More like vengeful ghosts,"

Grian pooled his magic as they talked, tracing the EVO symbol in the dirt with it.

"Don't Watchers normally use bedrock?" Taurtis pointed out. Grian sighed.

"Do I look like I have access to bedrock?" he retorted. Taurtis wrinkled his nose.

"Fine," he huffed. "Maybe you do, maybe you don't! I don't know, Grian!!"

The two would've laughed, but the weight of the situation came crashing down on them, keeping them silent.

"Hey, Grian-" Taurtis's words were cut off by the feeling of their communicators buzzing.

And there laid every single other server member's death message, one after another.

They were the only two left.

"Wh- what??" Taurtis sputtered. "What the-"

And all around them came purple flames.

Taurtis scrambled back, bumping into Grian. Grian stayed frozen, frozen in fear.

A Watcher emerged from the flames, and Grian saw Taurtis's eyes narrow.

He took the headphones off his head, and handed them to Grian, pressing them into his palms.

"They won't kill you," Taurtis whispered. "I hope. Hang on to those for me, will ya?"

And before Grian could say anything, Taurtis fell, dead, a victim of Watcher magic.

"Xelqua," Grian forced his gaze to the Watcher, clutching the headphones to his chest.

"Crying?" the Watcher continued. "Oh, diamond. There's no need for that, especially when you did so good as a double-agent for us."

"D-double agent?" Grian stammered.

"Oh, of course," the Watcher said, her voice sickening. "Do you really think you could escape to a server without our vision and approval? No, we knew of it the whole time. We just wanted to show you what happens when you're... disobedient."

Grian's heart shattered in his ears.

All your fault.

"Come, Xelqua," the Watcher's voice was bittersweet. "No time to waste."

"I'm not one of you,"

The Watcher stared at him, and Grian felt too cold to feel afraid.

"You killed them, you killed them all," he hissed.

"You've grown too attached," the Watcher remarked, her voice dangerous. "I'm more than willing to change that."

Watcher magic, telekinesis, pulled the headphones from his hands.

"No-" Grian whispered.

The Watcher took them in her hands, examined them, then snapped them in half.

"It's not an option, Xelqua," she said cooly, throwing the broken headphones into the fire. "Let's go."

And Grian could only catch one more glimpse of his world, his everything, EVO, destroyed in purple fire, before he was whisked away.

Far, far away from the only place he could ever call home.

It's all gone.

And it's my fault.

Mmmmm yes angst I am really on a roll with all this angst ajhaksjhaks-

-Storm