Long story short, Brandon did not take the news well. It was either that, or the fact that he'd basically been tortured for the past years, but as the blond finished speaking he had passed out.

Wonderful.

'They're not bad or anything, but - Brandon? Oh crap, no no no... Salt, go get my Mum, like right now!' The Australian yelped as his reptile gingerly lowered the hybrid down, before snorting worriedly and thundering off towards the house. In the meantime, Lachlan had to make an attempt in seeing if his friend was still breathing or if he still had a pulse, or if he was too pale, but of course he couldn't remember what would happen in these situations and-

'Oh Lords, Brandon, what's happened to you?' He asked out loud, concerned eyes darting along his frame as the slime seemed to frown. In his unconscious state, Brandon somehow shifted so that he was on his side, allowing Lachlan to see an angry red... What even was that? It was as if crimson red roots had embedded themselves from one point, and had spread to fill a 4-inch blotch/circle/whatever.

"This has not been the month for injuries, my gods."

"You can say that again."

'Privacy, Vik!' The blond yelled jokingly as his short friend broke through the bushes. The ebony-haired teenager just rolled his eyes in response, sitting by the two and letting out a quiet sigh. 'How long's he been like this?'

'Once he passed out, I sent Salt to come and get- How did you get here so quickly?'

'Heh, about that... Your thoughts kept coming through, and you started panicking so I figured you might need some help. I did see Salt on the way here, but he was going too fast to talk.'

Lachlan just sighed, crossing his legs as he kept his eyes on his friend. 'We didn't even realize that... That who we thought was Pete, was actually some kind of doppelganger. Something's happened to him, and I don't know-'

'Alright guys, what's the situation? Just kidding, I know what happened, but small talk isn't bad.' Marina called as she rushed towards the trio, kneeling down as she brought a selection of potions out of her satchel. 'Alright, just need some conformation, apparently this is actually the real Brandon?'

'Yep, we've had a substitute for the past few years, and none of us realized!' The blond snapped angrily, his hands clenching to fists in his lap while Vik and Marina exchanged certain looks.

'Vik, sweetie, could you take Lachlan somewhere? Take him to the house, or maybe the lagoon.' The Brit nodded and stood, tugging on the back of the younger's hoodie and forcing him to follow 'What?! But he might-'

'He'll be fine mate, you need to cool off.'

'No! If I'd realized sooner, then maybe- Maybe I could have-'

Vik stopped him before he could continue by levitating a bunch of leaves and shoving them into the Aussie's mouth 'Cool off, Lachlan, you're literally so mad that your eyes are changing colour.'

Spitting the foliage out, Lachlan glared at his friend before storming off in the direction of the beach. Visibly deflating as he walked away, Vik took a deep breath before turning back to his friend's Mother 'Mrs. Power, do you need help with anything?'

'I've told you to call me Marina, so you could start with that. I think everything's under control here, but could I ask you a massive favour? The boys should probably know about this, but try to make sure they don't go to the copycat's house - It might be dangerous.' The woman asked softly as she examined the root/like mark. Of course, Vik agreed, and he soon found himself back at the Power's door.

"This is gonna be interesting."

And with that, he opened the door into chaos.

~~~

Not going to lie, Lachlan was pissed. He should be there, helping his friend, but no - He gets sent away like some toddler.
He couldn't help but feel like they were all treating him like a small child. There was last night, when Preston had to practically babysit him, then there were all of those times he kept someone up because he couldn't sleep.
Maybe there was finally someone to blame for the mess. It made sense - He was the weak link. He couldn't even explore with his friends without falling into some guardian arena.

...

That was it.
He needed to prove himself, to find a way to show that he wasn't weak.

Lachlan was going to go back, and face the zombie Guardian by himself.

'Master Lachlan, this isn't good for your health-' Salt tried to talk him out of it, like any good friend/dragon would, but the Aussie was having none of it.
'I'm doing this, Salt, don't you dare try to say otherwise.' His scarlet eyes flashed with ignorance, and the reptile snorted sulkily. This behaviours was unlike that of his master's, but he couldn't speak against him.
His past life had done that, not a pretty sight.
'Lachlan, I speak to you not as a companion, but as friend. You're not strong enough to do this by yourself, and even if you were, your friends would try and stop you.'

'I'm going to do this. They wouldn't know what happened - I'd be worthy!'
'Of what?'
'...I-' He cut himself off with a groan, placing his hands on the sides of his head as the blond's eyes flickered colours once more. Now, they'd changed to a shimmering gold, with a darker border around the iris.
'I must prove that I am worthy, and I must protect them. I cannot allow them to be - Ack!'

~~~
Father, Brandon Hutt has found his way back to the hybrids.

I see... And what of the young Power?

I don't know how to explain this, but he's shifting already. His DNA's mutated so quickly, it's like someone - You did not. The half-goddess' eyes widened in shock and admiration as her creator nodded, a sly smirk on his face.
Of course he'd caused the rapid mutation - The boy would probably die from such change, which was exactly what Herobrine needed. There was no way he could risk the prophecy coming true, especially now that the slime had rejoined his friends.

Keep an eye on him, and if there is any change contact me immediately. I have a Pygott to deal with.
_____________________________________

Ahah, banter.

Theories? Any different behaviour from the cast?

See you all in the next chapter, and have a great Morning - Afternoon - Evening - Dawn - Dusk - Midnight - Paranormal Timezone!