Hidden Powers

Sacrifice

Xisuma floated in the void, an empty abyss. Normally the void was deadly, instantly gobbling up anything that dared to enter it. Xisuma was different, born with the ability to protect the Void Stone. This meant that the void could not kill him, only cause him pain.

The usual lack of oxygen didn't affect Xisuma, neither did pain. He almost felt like a ghost, floating in the blackness. Looking around to no avail, Xisuma wondered if the void hid anything. He wasn't sure why he was here, and he definitely didn't know how long he had been here.

"Xisuma...."

Xisuma did a back flip in the gravity-less atmosphere, frantically looking around. Normally he would have jumped, but you can't jump in the void. The voice sounded familiar.

"Mom?" Xisuma asked, tentatively reaching out a gloved hand.

"Xisuma...." The voice repeated, taunting him.

"Who are you?" Xisuma tried to swim through the blankness, then remembered that his boots had rocket boosters on them. Grian had told him that they were much like Iron Man's suit, only cooler. Xisuma wasn't quite sure why someone would want to walk around, clad in iron.

He reached up and clicked at button on his helmet, activating the boosters. Xisuma shot farther into the abyss, looking for the origin of the voice and a way out of the void.

<-_=+=_->

Grian knelt beside the unconscious form of Xisuma, resting his fingers on the breathing mask before getting up.

"He is still alive," Grian nodded at Doc, who had insisted on being there in person. "It's the strangest thing, what has happened to Xisuma. I've never seen anything like it."

Doc folded his arms making the lab coat he was wearing scrunch up. "Have you seen anything like that stone before?" He asked pointedly.

Grian shook his head, sighing at his naive-ness. How come everyone knew about these stones and he didn't? Mumbo himself even owned a stone and never told Grian, his best friend. How much other stuff was being held back from him?

Anger bubbled up inside of him, mostly directed at himself, but it came out towards Doc.

"Why didn't any of you tell me?" Grian growled, making Iskall and Mumbo take a step back. Scar had left after Doc had arrived claiming his assistance wasn't needed.

"Why can't I have all that I want?" Doc mimicked, raising his normally low voice. It was rather childish, but Doc didn't like dealing with complaining. Doc lowered his arms and glared at Iskall who had a look on his face. "Listen, Grian. There is a reason why you didn't know before. Only the guardians and a select few know about the stones. Part of it was so that this wouldn't happen."

Doc's last words make Mumbo glance at the sleeping form of Xisuma again. The world wouldn't be the same without his cheerful mood. Mumbo walked towards Grian and made the green Overworld Stone appear in his palm.

"Is there anything I can do with this?" Tiny flecks of green tinted light made their way across the white walls. The stone hovered in Mumbo's palm before sending a flash of green energy at the storage part of Grian's base. A pig spawned where the energy hit, and it squealed with fright, running around in a panic.

Iskall snickered as Mumbo frantically covered the stone back up. Smoothing back the tiny stubborn piece of hair, Mumbo chased after the runaway pig.

"Sorry, haven't quite figured out to not make it randomly spawn pigs."

Grian laughed a little as he held out a hand to the terrified creature. "Here Rueben!"

Iskall raised his eyebrows at the name, and shook his head at the obedience of the pig. Curiosity overcame fear as the pink pig wandered to the human beckoning it. Grian scooped up the pig, practically his size, and squeezed him happily.

"He's so cute!" Grian let the pig back down, brushing off dirt from his loose sweater. Mumbo sighed at his non-pig-catching skills and decided not to bring the stone back out.

Doc cleared his throat, reminding everyone of his presence. "Surprise pigs aside," he started noticing Mumbo's wince. "We need to figure out how to get Xisuma back. He will know more about the void stone than anyone else."

Everyone turned to look at Grian, then Xisuma. After a second of no one saying anything, Grian spoke up.

"I know what to do."

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The hole, the tear, the rip. Call it what you like, it was an entrance to a forbidden place. A tear in the fabric of time and space itself. Sealed by the strongest powers, it was meant to stay shut. Something had opened it and released the poison from within.

Now it was leaking out, spreading like wildfire towards unsuspecting prey. Fueled by the leak, the tear ripped further, letting more of the terrible stuff out. Nothing could stop it now.