Hidden Powers

Jeweler

Clicking greeted Mumbo's ears the moment he teleported in. Tango was crumpled off to the side, the rise and fall of his chest the only indication of life.

"He'll be alright," A gruff voice eased Mumbo's fears. When everyone turned to look at the man who had spoken, he didn't even bother to look up. TFC was refining a gem and was not going to take his eyes off of it. "Netherites don't take teleportation well."

Tango didn't even stir at the sound of voices. Grian looked at Mumbo with distress before leaning over Tango. Xisuma lent Grian a warm cloth to press on the Netherite's forehead.

"Who are you?" Xequla barked from the back corner. Iskall glared at him before muttering something incomprehensible.

"If you didn't bother to learn my name, Xequla, then it shouldn't bother you." TFC put down his tools and pulled his glasses up. "I have had many names, as have you."

Xequla scowled but did not reply. Xisuma took the lead on telling TFC what had happened so far and why they needed him. The whole time TFC just listened, nodding his head from time to time.

"I see," he commented when Xisuma had finished. The End Stone was nowhere in sight, but every stone was hidden in a different way. Zedaph had his on a pendant around his neck.

"Can you come with us?" Xisuma asked, knowing that there wasn't much of a choice.

"No."

Everyone was shocked, even Xequla stopped glowering for a second. Mumbo could have sworn he heard him say, "Stupid old man."

"But we can't fix anything without the End Stone..." Xisuma prodded, trying to get TFC to change his mind.

"Is there any immediate threat?" TFC hunkered over his gem again.

"Not exactly... The poison is spreading and our camera men have been taken over."

"Have you been accosted by the poison?"

"No," Xisuma lowered his head, knowing what TFC was going to say.

"If you have no idea where this light stone is, perhaps you should stay here and train." Satisfied with his contraption, TFC took the gem to a cabinet. "Tango needs time to recover anyway."

"Train?" Grian turned his head towards Mumbo who shrugged in reply.

"You have End Magic in your blood, young man." TFC studied Grian thoughtfully. "Perhaps Xisuma would be kind enough to help you hone in on it and Iskall to share his knowledge."

When no one made a move, TFC took a more commanding position. "Xisuma. Iskall. Grian. Back room. I want to see progress."

They quickly scrambled to do his bidding while he continued, "Zedaph, fly Tango down the hall to your right. There will be an infirmary at the end."

"Where do I go?" Xequla muttered as Zedaph hoisted an unconscious Tango easily onto one shoulder.

"You and I are going to have a talk."

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"End magic is confusing," Xisuma paced around the small room while Iskall looked bored.

Grian was currently leaning against a wall, having been there for a good half an hour listening to Xisuma drone on about the concerns about End Magic.

"Xisuma," Iskall interrupted the lecture, much to Grian's relief. "Maybe we let him use it, instead of tell him."

"Very well," Xisuma turned to face Grian again. "Aim a small blast at me, and keep it small."

Grian hadn't used the magic before, except when he felt anger at Xequla, and that was an accident. The name of his alternate universe still bugged him, but he shoved the thought out of his mind.

Grian thought about how his friends would all die if this darkness wasn't stopped, and concentrated on that anger.

"Woah!" Xisuma had created a shield of purple mass and looked at Grian with shock and fear. "That was not small."

Grian winced and looked down at his hands. "How big was it?"

Iskall was shaking slightly and had moved away from direct fire. "If Xisuma hadn't summoned that shield in time, he would be dead."

The Void Stone glowed through Xisuma's glove as he pulled the shield away. After a moment, Grian realized that Xisuma was shaking.

"How did you summon a blast that strong Grian?" Iskall cautiously inched towards Grian as if he would explode at any second.

"I felt angry," Grian stared down at his grey shoes.

"Kay, so stay on Grian's good side people!" Iskall tried and failed to joke.

"Perhaps we should try something else, like help Mumbo with his pig problem." Xisuma glanced at where Mumbo was half hidden in the back of the room.

"At least it's a constant source of food," Mumbo waved his hand around and came into full view.

"I have an idea," Xisuma's eyes twinkled. "Mumbo, how do you feel about a duel?"

Shock appeared on Mumbo's face as he registered what Xisuma wanted to do. "Nothing painful, right?"

"Nothing too painful." Xisuma backed up a few steps. "Void magic isn't exactly a walk in the park."

Mumbo backed to the other half of the room and they both summoned their stones. Walls of something clear were built up, creating a corridor to where they could duel.

"Ready," Iskall pulled out a tablet made of the strange golden light he used. "Arm, Release!"

What happened was rather anticlimactic. Mumbo looked like he was trying to summon something useful, but ended up summoning about twenty pigs to aid him. This successfully distracted Xisuma, who shot purple blasts at the pigs, vanishing in a poof of purple light.

When Xisuma looked back up, he was surrounded in a ball of Overworld air. He started feeling dizzy, unbeknownst to Mumbo.

"Mumbo wins!" Iskall cried out. The victory was short lived, as Xisuma's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell backwards. Mumbo panicked and removed the air pocket.

"What did I do? What did I do? Oh no, oh no." Mumbo wrung his hands through his hair.

Xisuma started coughing and quickly revived. "Sorry, Overworld air is poisonous to me. I think I should take a break," He said weakly.

"Do we know how Tango is doing?" Iskall asked as they made a move to the door, Xisuma leaning on Grian for support.

"We should probably find out," Mumbo replied, opening the door. On the other side, Xequla and TFC were chatting amiably, all signs of the bitter Xequla gone.

"Hello!" Xequla grinned when he saw them come out. "How did practice go?"

Xisuma seemed to feed off of the energy that came from the changed Xequla and replied back with some enthusiasm. "Not as we expected, but Grian here is definitely strong."

Xisuma didn't elaborate, and Grian was glad he didn't. Suspicion edged his thoughts around Xequla, and he refused to trust him as easily as the others did.

"X, you okay?" Xequla tilted his head in concern.

"I'm just exhausted," Xisuma nodded and slowly walked towards the infirmary with the others close in toe.

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Tango didn't look too bad, considering the conditions. His feathers seemed to have dulled a little and his eyes were slightly clouded. He sat up when he saw his friends come through the door, and his wings drooped from lack of strength to hold them up.

Zedaph too perked up from the chair he was sitting on next to the hospital bed. "How are we doing on time?"

"As far as I can tell, the darkness isn't anywhere near us. We have time to rest and train." Xisuma fingered the cube his helmet had become.

A slight tremor shook the ground, making the lights flicker on and off. Everyone turned at the sound of two rushed footsteps. TFC stood panting at the doorframe, one hand leaning on the steel.

"What a fool I've been. We have to leave now."