The HEP's Curse (A Hermitcraft Fanfiction)

Chapter 2: In the Dungeon

Impulse cracked open his eyes with a groan. Aches spread through his body as he tried to move, and his head throbbed with pain. Pausing and doing his best to relax, he tried to remember what had happened. Something about a party at Grian's base and some drinks... there was screaming over a Monopoly game... was he lying on the floor? Was that why everything hurt?

As the throbbing died down slightly, Impulse was able to make more sense of his surroundings. He blinked, trying to adjust to the dim light, and notice stone bricks surrounding him. That, and the lack of light, was already beginning to alarm him. With another groan and what little strength he could muster, he forced himself to sit up and stretch his cramped wings, allowing for a better look around. His concern only grew as he realized that this was nowhere in Grian's base or anywhere he knew of.

The bricks encased him fully on all sides, save one wall with an iron door and window of iron bars. It reminded Impulse of a dungeon, and he didn't like it. Something was up, but he couldn't place a finger on what.

"Impulse?"

Caught off guard, Impulse whipped around to face the source of the voice. Despite the spike of pain that ran through his head, he was able to make out Ren, and beyond him, Jevin, Stress, Grian, XB, and Etho. Doc lay on the ground not far from them, still unconscious, Impulse guessed.

"Oh, dude, you're awake!" Ren exclaimed softly. "We've been waiting for you."

"What happened?" Impulse murmured, rubbing his head to try to ease the lingering pain.

"The HEP captured us," Grian answered. "I left for a couple minutes and came back to them holding all of you hostage. They came out of nowhere."

"The HEP?" Impulse repeated, bewildered. "But didn't we just win the Turf War?"

"Exactly!" Grian said. "They have absolutely no reason to bother us. Yet, here we are, trapped in what I assume is their dungeon."

"They captured us... Then what do they want?" Impulse asked, still struggling to make sense of everything.

"We don't know," XB shrugged. "We haven't even seen them since they attacked us at Grian's base and brought us here."

Before Impulse could muse over that information, a groan drew his attention to the cyborg lying on the floor. Doc sat up, a hand against his forehead.

"God... what happened?"

"We were having the party at my base, HEP came out of nowhere and ambushed us, you were all drunk I guess and couldn't fight, Etho and I were knocked out, and we all woke up here," Grian summarized.

"That explains the headache," Doc muttered.

"You alright, dude?" Ren asked worriedly. "You did drink more than anyone else..."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm still alive and apparently still an idiot, so we're good," Doc replied, earning a few amused snorts from various others in the room.

Ren didn't look reassured by his boyfriend's words, but he didn't say anything else. Instead, he sat down next to Doc and wrapped an arm around him, which the cyborg had no qualms with, leaning into Ren's side. Despite the situation, Impulse couldn't help a smile as he watched them.

"So we're all awake and trapped in a dungeon," Jevin said. "What do we do now?"

"Try and get out, of course!" Stress responded. "We can't stay here!"

"Oh, you'll have to, I'm afraid..." All of the Resistance members froze at the voice, familiar yet with an echoey and chilling tone. Scar's face appeared on the other side of the iron-barred window, and he chuckled darkly. "None of you are going anywhere."

"Scar, let us go," Grian demanded. "There's no reason for this."

"Who said I need a reason?"

Those words sent a shiver down Impulse's spine. Part of him knew Scar must have motives that he wasn't sharing, but the idea that he might have no reasons or limits was scary. What had happened to the sweet, friendly terraformer Impulse knew before?

It seemed Grian was shocked by this as well, opening and closing his mouth awkwardly, not sure how to respond. Letting out a laugh, Scar remarked, "You know, you actually do look a bit like a cod right now."

"What are you gonna do, Scar?" Etho cut in before Grian could retort.

"To you and the Resistance? Hm... I haven't decided yet." Scar smiled evilly. "There are many possibilities, after all."

"I don't understand what we did to be here. We won the war fair and square, and nothing that happened, even during it, is deserving of this," XB pointed out.

"You winning was enough," Scar replied, his jade eyes suddenly cold. "I was supposed to win. I had the bigger and better team, the tools, the resources... and yet, I was still bested by you filthy mycelium-lovers."

"You're just jealous?" Impulse asked dubiously.

"That's what all this is about? You're just jealous?" Grian hissed.

"NO!" Scar shouted, causing them to flinch. Taking a deep breath, he added more calmly, "No. It's far more than 'just jealousy.'"

"Then what is it? Please, that's all I want to know right now," Grian begged.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Yes, I would! Scar-"

"No," Scar said firmly. After a moment of silence, he brightened up again, as if the event hadn't happened. "Well, I'm going to head back. The other HEP members will be wondering where I am. Enjoy your stay, Mycelium Resistance!"

With that, he turned and strode away, leaving the Resistance staring at where he'd been and listening to his fading footsteps. No one spoke for several moments, all likely trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Stress, I'm with you," Jevin whispered after Scar's footsteps had long since faded away. "We can't stay here."

"I agree, too, but how do we get out?" Impulse asked. "Scar made it pretty clear he wasn't willingly letting us leave."

Etho hummed and ran a hand over the wall. "There's always a way out. You just gotta find it."

"My head hurts too much for this," Doc groaned, laying back down and pulling Ren with him. "I'm just gonna sleep now."

Nudging Doc's arm with his foot, Etho muttered, "You and me are probably the best at finding escape routes."

"But I have a headache," Doc protested.

"You brought that on yourself by drinking the entire bottle of alcohol."

"I'll help later."

Shaking his head, Etho left Doc to rest and began examining the walls, running his hands over them slowly or tapping them now and then. Impulse titled his head slightly, mindful of his own smaller headache, but before he could ask, Grian beat him to it.

"What are you doing, Etho? Maybe I could help," the dark blonde Hermit offered.

"I'm just checking for anything that could be a way out. Cracks, weird edges, hollow spots, things like that," Etho answered. "It all seems pretty solid so far, though."

"Okay!"

Grian moved to another wall and started inspecting it the same way. Impulse hesitated only briefly before joining them, along with Stress. With four people, it didn't take them long to go over most of the walls. It was boring, though, and felt like an hour to Impulse, especially as the tapping and staring at bland walls began to mess with his head. Fortunately, they soon stopped, deciding they'd done enough for the time being with no results.

"I think we'll have to find another way," Grian murmured. "The walls aren't giving in, unless we blow them up, and I don't see any TNT being within our reach anytime soon."

"Yeah," Etho sighed. "I'm sure there's something, though. There's always a way out; it just hasn't shown itself to us yet."

~~~~~

Edits posted: 12/8/21