Charged Up [Hermitcraft Gen Fic]

Charged Up

A thunderstorm had rolled in and Grian had what was probably a very bad idea.

But that didn't stop him from perching on a hill, a Channeling trident in hand as he watched Doc cutting down trees in a forest below. Apparently he needed the wood for something he was building and not even a storm was going to discourage him. He claimed to like rain anyway, it made creepers feel more refreshed and was good for their fur.

So Grian had taken the opportunity to track Doc down, knowing he would be out in the storm. There was something he was intensely curious about, something he has wanted to do since he first got to know Doc. Could he be charged with lightning? And if so, how large would his explosion radius be?

Grian took aim with the trident, watching Doc pause to put logs in a shulker box, then he hurled it at him as hard as he could. It wasn't his best throw but he managed to nab Doc in the leg, which was enough. Doc's leg buckled and he shouted in surprise, then let out a louder, pained cry as lightning struck him.

Grian flinched, feeling bad for him, but that didn't stop him from perking up with intrigue when he saw blue sparks circle around Doc. Doc leaned over, panting and holding his heart, and Grian heard him groan. His fur was sticking up in jagged spikes.

Grian grabbed the trident when it returned to him, then carefully headed down to meet with Doc.

Doc stared at him as he approached, his organic eye twitching. His long tail kept lashing back and forth, sparks continuously jumping from his fur.

"Hey," Grian said nervously. "Look at that, guess you can get charged."

Doc didn't respond at first. Then he hissed and said, "You pesky bird. Do you have any idea how much this stings?"

"It does look kinda uncomfortable." Grian looked him over, seeing that Doc's eyes were both glowing. "But it's gotta feel powerful too, right? I mean, you've got lightning in your body!"

"Oh, I feel powerful, alright. I also feel more hostile, I want to kill someone, and oh, look who's right in front of me." Doc grabbed him, dragging him against him while Grian chirped in alarm and struggled. The grip was painful, giving away just how mad Doc was. "The person who did this to me."

"D-Doc, I'm sorry, I just wanted to see if this was possible, but I should have just asked, please, let me go," Grian pleaded.

"Oh, no," Doc purred. "Let me show you what my explosion looks like when charged, since you're so curious."

Grian immediately regretted everything. He kept struggling, but Doc was far stronger than him. He kept his arm clamped around him, laughing softly at first, then maniacally. Grian tensed as electricity snapped against his skin, and before he could plead for mercy, Doc hissed loudly.

There was a brilliant white light and an impact so powerful that Grian couldn't even describe it, it seemed to blow his entire body apart, he couldn't even scream at the pain of it before his mind disappeared into the dark haze of respawn.

Grian shot up out of his bed, panting and patting himself. He was fine, he had no injuries, but he also didn't have any of his gear. Doc's explosion had killed him despite him having armor on. He sighed, rubbing his face.

Checking his communicator, he could see death messages saying both he and Doc blew up. It didn't say Doc was the cause of his own death, but since the messages happened at the same time, there were other Hermits in the chat asking what happened.

<Grian> I made a mistake

<Docm77> Grian is a menace

Grian stood, shaking out his wings and looking himself over. Though the respawn had completely healed him, he still felt a little shaky. He could tell that had been a huge explosion.

<Grian> I was curious to see if Doc could be charged. Like a regular creeper

<Xisuma> oh geeze

<Renthedog> GRIAN! He hates being charged, it feels awful!

Grian looked away from the screen, feeling guilty. Then he typed a response.

<Grian> I know, I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry, Doc.

<Docm77> I'm going to head back and get my stuff. You should too, Grian. I need to have a word with you.

Grian groaned, trepidation trickling down his spine. He looked outside. It was still raining and going out in that would be miserable, but he did want to get his stuff back. He started to head out, then paused and ran to look through his many chests. He collected several redstone blocks and some various redstone components he had, then opened his wings and flew out through one of the windows.

He raced back for the spot where he had hit Doc with the trident, then stared as he saw the crater where they had been standing. It was at least triple the size of a regular charged creeper's explosion, carving deep into the ground. He was surprised their stuff had even survived the blast, but it had. Everything was scattered around in the hole. Doc hadn't arrived yet, so Grian quickly gathered up his own belongings.

Once he had his stuff back in his inventory, he picked up Doc's items. He made a chest and began tossing everything into it, and as he closed the chest, Doc glided in with an elytra.

He landed and walked toward Grian with a determined expression. Intimidated, Grian took a couple steps back, but he forced himself not to run off, resigned to face whatever lecture or retaliation Doc had in store. Doc reached for him and he expected to be slapped or throttled, but instead, Doc just rested his hand on his shoulder and stared him down.

"Have we learned our lesson?" he asked, his voice deadly quiet.

"Y-yeah," Grian stuttered, nodding. "Yes, sir."

"Sir?" Doc's brows went up, then he started laughing. "Okay, now you're laying it on a little thick. You're forgiven, as long as you don't do that shit again."

"Never," Grian promised. "I shouldn't have done it, I'm sorry. I was just really curious to see what would happen."

"You could have asked. I might have even willingly demonstrated. But don't just hit a guy with a trident and zap him without permission. Come on, man." Doc gave his shoulder a few hard pats that made Grian's knees buckle.

"Won't happen again," Grian said.

"Good." Doc turned away from him, looking through the chest Grian had made for him and gathering his items.

"Oh, uh. I brought you some presents," Grian said. "To apologize." He put the redstone items in the chest too and waited nervously as Doc took a look.

Doc smiled and picked them up too. "Oh, this is very nice, I can always use more redstone supplies. Thank you."

Grian shifted from foot to foot, flustered. "No problem. So, uh. I guess I should get going, we are just standing here getting soaked, so..."

"Yes, yes. Well, I wasn't done getting logs, but you can go if you like. See you later."

"Are you actually gonna want to see me again?" Grian asked awkwardly. "Because I totally understand if you don't."

"Aww, Grian. Of course I do. You did something stupid, and I got my revenge. We're cool." Doc patted Grian's head, which felt a little condescending, but he kinda liked it too.

"Okay. Uh, cool. I'll leave you to your logging, then." Grian opened his wings, shaking water off them, but it was a futile effort. He walked away so the draft from his wings wouldn't knock Doc over, then took to the air. He circled around to get his bearings, then headed toward his base.

As he flew, he watched distant lightning strikes, listening to the thunder that rolled in after. He was glad he and Doc were cool, but he definitely wasn't going to do that to him again. He liked Doc and didn't want to ruin their growing friendship. But less lethal pranks weren't off the table.

Grian gave a mischievous smile as he thought about how else he could mess with Doc. Doc could seem scary, but he had a mischievous streak too, and as long as Grian was careful about it, he felt like he could have a lot of fun with him.