Hidden Powers

Void Magic

Mumbo was fighting the pain. It enveloped his body, causing him to wince on occasion. It wasn't pain like a broken bone or a cut. It was a searing pain in nerves he didn't even know existed. The pain was relentless, and it was only getting stronger.

Mumbo hadn't told Tango about the pain, only the tingling that preceded it. The pain wasn't the least of his troubles, as he went through the portal, he found himself in Xisuma's base. If he couldn't use his wings, he couldn't fly. That also entailed not being able to put on the artificial elytra.

While his body was consumed by pain, his mind was free to think. It thought about the mission and how violent Xequla was getting. Mumbo wasn't losing Grian again, that was for sure. The loss of Cassius, Wels, and the others was weighing on his heart. Once they found the Master Coder, he could bring them back to life, but that would be tricky without Wels.

Grian seemed to notice Mumbo's pain and questioned him about it after they stepped through the portal.

"Mumbo you okay there?" Grian's own dragon wings were looser than Mumbo's tightly tucked ones.

"I'm fine." Mumbo kept it quick and short and partly said it through gritted teeth. Iskall gave him a worried look as Xisuma detached his helmet from his belt and put it on his head once more.

Once Zedaph stepped through the portal, Xisuma walked quickly to his storage.

"How long did it take you to build this?" Zedaph asked with wide eyes.

"Weeks," came the muffled reply from the storage. "Oh! Here you are!" Triumph gleamed in Xisuma's eyes as he pulled out a gray shulker box.

"Guys," Grian started making everyone turn and look at him. "My wings are tingling."

<_-=+=-_>

There really couldn't be a worse time for Mumbo's and Grian's transformations to wear off. Mumbo's pain was increasing by the second and had reached a point where he could barely move his body. Grian's wings had only started tingling, but Mumbo knew the pain was yet to follow.

"We have to wait." Tango ordered, carrying Mumbo to a bed since he could barely stand. "Mumbo is in no state to go anywhere and he is key to the mission."

Grian flexed his fingers and looked down at the ground when Tango said that. He knew he wasn't key to the mission, just a helper. After a bump from Iskall, Grian walked over to where Mumbo was laying down. Tiny beads of perspiration appeared on Mumbo's forehead.

"Is Scar still here?" Grian asked Xisuma who tilted his head in confusion.

"Presumably. Unless the poison has spread to him as well."

"Can you call him?"

Xisuma didn't seem to quite understand why but he nodded and pressed a button on his glove. Soon amplified ringing echoed in the large green room.

"Hello?" Came Scar's slightly garbled voice.

"Hello Scar," Grian replied.

"Grian?!?" The call fuzzed even more but quickly came back. "But you're dead!"

"It's a long story, but I promise I'm not dead. Can you come to Xisuma's base?"

"Yeah, just let me grab my elytra."

"Oh and Scar?"

"Yes?"

"Bring the potions."

<_-=+=-_>

Grian was waiting patently after the call had ended. He couldn't say the same for Mumbo, as he was tossing and turning every so often.

"It will be over soon." Grian whispered as he gently pulled the thrashing arm back down.

Xisuma and Iskall were going through the elytra box, repairing and improving the wings. Zedaph stood off to the side talking with Tango, but he was keeping an eye on Xequla. Xequla himself, stood in a corner inspecting a steel blade. That wasn't frightening at all.

As Grian continued to wait, the tingling started growing stronger and tiny pinpricks of pain started up.

"Scar," he mumbled to himself, making Mumbo open his eyes. As Grian locked his gaze, he noticed that Mumbo's eyes were no longer red. Instead the iris was the blue he came to know. "It's almost over." Grian tried to give Mumbo hope, but instead Mumbo just closed his eyes once again.

The sound of a rocket made him turn his head, and soon he saw Scar flying down from the top of Xisuma's base. Scar was looking worse for wear, his shirt was torn slightly and his hat had a chunk missing.

"What did you need me for?" Scar landed perfectly and ran over to Grian.

"I need you to remove the transformation on me and knock Mumbo out."

Scar looked at Grian worriedly. "That will be very painful, are you sure?"

"Can't be worse than what Mumbo is going through." Grian had already made up his mind. The mission took priority and Mumbo needed him.

"Very well then." Scar took out two syringes and filled one with a pink liquid. He proceeded to inject it into Mumbo who jerked then started snoring.

Grian braced himself for the pain of the orange liquid Scar had put in the other needle, but nothing could prepare him for this pain. It felt like a fire was consuming all of his nerves, and like his limbs were being ripped off. His brain felt like jelly and his vision was spotted and hazy.

Scar help Grian lay down on the other bed, sympathy in his eyes. As the pain grew more and more intense, Grian's eyes barely registered Scar looking at his watch and slowly counting down.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One. A painful countdown. Once one hit, all the pain released his traumatized body. His nerves tingled and his vision cleared.

"You alright there Grian?" Scar asked, giving him a helping hand up.

"I think...." Grian reached up to rub his head and was satisfied to find that the horns were gone. "Are my wings gone and my eyes green?"

Scar nodded and then looked a little apologetic. "Did you like your previous hairstyle?"

Grian raised his eyebrows and felt his hair again. Longish locks greeted his fingers, and he fluffed them up for good measure. Shrugging his shoulders with a grin, Grian gave a tiny laugh. "This one isn't too bad."

"I like that one better."

Grian turned around to see Mumbo sitting up slowly with bleariness in his eyes. Mumbo gave him a weak smile, pleased to see that they were both human again.

<_-=+=-_>

"Time to get the wings on." Xisuma stood up and gestures for everyone to join him. Mumbo had to lean on Grian to get to the center of the room. Iskall pulled a pair out of the box and strapped it on. A brief flash of light later, and he had silver wings.

Grian eagerly took one and gave a sigh of relief as his hawk-like wings appeared. Mumbo seemed less eager, and had to get help from Grian to get his black and white speckled ones. Xequla silently put his on, a mirror of Grian's, except his maroon was darker and looked more dangerous.

Xisuma was the last to put his on, liking the purple and black colors they turned.

Scar nodded to them as he left the vicinity knowing his work was done. Once he left, Xisuma turned to Zedaph.

"Portal to the end?"

"No problem." Zedaph grinned and started summoning the portal. They were two stones away from fixing this mess.