Love is Vexing - ScarDubs

-12-

Wattpad deleted the chapter I posted yesterday, but luckily I had a backup
—

Bdubs eyelids slowly managed to flutter open, his vision unfocused and blurry as he tried to gather his scattered thoughts. It was hard to remember what had happened last, as the he was mainly distracted by the freezing cold temperature of the room.

A pounding feeling resided in his mind, like someone had cracked his skull open and stabbed a blade right through his brain. The builder slowly managed to sit upright in bed, a woozy groan managing to break free from between his lips.

He tried to stand, ignoring the unsteadiness and shaking in his legs, though the sound of jangling chains managed to grab his attention. Bdubs glanced down towards his ankle, which had been tightly cuffed in a glowing blue chain that connected to the wall.

Its color eerily resembled vex magic, reminding the mayor's assistant of what had happened between him and Scar. "Oh no," he muttered. "I gotta get out of here before—"

The doorknob twisted, Bdubs flinching at the sound as he glanced towards the door. His posture visibly relaxed upon spotting a non-vex hermit, Etho humming to himself as he carried in a tray of golden carrots and healing potions.

"Oh! Hello there!" He greeted while noticing that Bdubs was awake, the white-haired hermit setting down the food on a little desk that was tucked away in the corner.

The builder let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness you're okay, I thought for sure that Scar would have done something terrible to all of the resistance members by now." He said, though the Canadian responsed with a puzzled look in his dull eyes.

"Resistance? Ohnono, I'd never help those mushroom lovers!" Etho laughed happily, though Bdubs could feel his heart rate rise as fear began to prick his skin with goosebumps.

"Etho, what did they do to you."

The words sounded less like a question and more like a demand, with the advisor to the mayor trying to step closer to his friend. However, the chain around his ankle yanked him back, causing the builder to fall to his knees.

"Look, you're...Bdubs, right?" He asked, gaining no response to his questions. Etho continued anyway.

"I'm just carrying out Mayor Scar's orders, that's all. He's just resting up for the time being until he has enough energy to turn you into a vex, so in the meantime, you'll be staying here in your office under HEP's watchful eye!"

"No, NO! I don't want to be a vex!" He cried out, grabbing ahold of the chain around his ankle, a freezing cold shock of energy rushing through his body. It was like his fingers had been stuck in a blizzard, with the feeling of frostbite quickly spreading up his arms.

Etho quickly grabbed Bdubs by the shoulders, pulling him off of the chain before he could hurt himself. "Stop that, you can't handle vex magic yet! It can cause serious damage!"

"UGH— LET ME GO!" He yelled in response, shoving Etho off as tears of fury and anger rolled down his cheeks. The white-haired hermit frowned behind his mask, watching as the builder broke down sobbing.

"W-what about the NHO?!" Bdubs said while slamming his fist against the floor, a mix of anger and sorrow in his voice. "What about our friendship, you dirty traitor?! YOU'RE JUST GOING TO GIVE ME UP TO SCAR LIKE THIS?!"

The Canadian blinked, tilting his head to the side. He chuckled oddly, clearly confused. "NHO? Am I supposed to know what that is? And what do you mean, 'our friendship'? This is the first time I've met you before.."

Before Bdubs could respond, or even process what Etho had said, Doc stormed into the room. He was now some kind of creeper-cyborg-vex mix. He had a pair of wings and sharp claws like the other HEP hybrids, along with an icy blue glow in his eyes.

"Alright Etho, hurry up and head to the shopping district. The other HEP members need help working on the expansions of Aque town." The creeper said gruffly, while the forgetful hermit nodded his head before running off.

Bdubs turned to Doc, his sadness now fully transformed into pure rage. "What did Scar do to him?! Why doesn't he remember me!?!"

"We just meddled with his code a bit." He shrugged carelessly, as if Etho didn't even matter. "It's easier than turning him into a vex, so Xisuma has been going around deleting and altering the remaining resistance member's code, so that we ensure they'll never betray us."

"That's insane! You're deleting parts of our friends!"

"Etho just so happened to be the first, but we've been much more careful with the others. We've only changed and deleted certain memories, just so they'll stay loyal to our wonderful mayor forever."

"Well, your 'wonderful' mayor is a disgusting monster." Bdubs spat without remorse, causing a growl to escape from Doc. He grabbed the builder by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the ground so they would be eye-level with one another.

"You are lucky Scar hasn't banned you. I would do so in a heartbeat, but it's not up to me. Once Scar is strong enough, you'll understand all the hard work he's put into hermitcraft."

"If I was banned, I'd be happy! Then I wouldn't be a mindless servant!" Bdubs snapped while kicking Doc in the chest, though the cyborg didn't seem too phased by the actions. He just scoffed, throwing the builder against the ground.

"Doc! That's enough!"

The creeper quickly turned around, falling to one knee as he bowed his head, Scar entering the room with one hand dragging against the wall for support.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just defending y—"

"Leave." He commanded with no tone in his voice, Doc scrambling to his feet as he quickly left without another word. Scar glanced back to Bdubs, who stared at him in horror.

"Y-You're insane. You're awful. You're— Gah! I can't put it into words! Scar, you need to snap out of this, PLEASE! I'm begging you! This isn't the man I love, this is some insane monster bent on power and revenge!"

"I know." He said softly, taking a seat on the ground in front of Bdubs. "But I like the new me, and the other hermits are mindlessly loyal now. We can rule over them all, together, with you as my sweet prince. All of the diamonds, the shopping district, the entire server is yours if you just say the word!"

"We've had this talk before," Bdubs mumbled quietly while shaking his head, tears rolling down his face. "I don't want this. All I've wanted is you, the real you. Even if you turn me into a vex, you'll know deep down that you're forcing me to love you."

"You'll understand." Scar said, raising his fingers. "You'll see soon. This will be painless, I swear."

Bdubs shut his eyes as tight as he could, his fingernails digging into the palms of his hands as he fought the tears that managed to creep out of his eyes.

Then, Scar snapped his fingers, and everything went dark.