(1394 words)

Scar combed his fingers through his brown hair as he eyed the outfit in the mirror propped against the wall.

"I don't think a purple suit jacket and yellow pants are a very good combination." He turned to Bdubs, who was sitting on a nearby chair, chin on his fist, as if in thought.

"Ok, it seemed like a good idea on paper, but you're right, those don't look good together."

Scar sighed and turned back around to adjust the red bowtie.

"Leave it to me to try on an outfit at the last possible moment, only to find out I look like a cartoon character."

"If it makes you feel better, I've seen you in weirder outfits. Like the start of the season, when you were running around the jungle in that wizard get-up with no pants."

Scar couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's remark.

"I told you, I lost the pants to it, and none of my others looked good."

"Well, just think, you've gone from losing your clothes to the mayor of the Shopping District! How does it feel?"

"I feel like I might throw up."

"Don't talk like that, you'll be fine!"

"But what if I mess up?" He met Bdubs' dark eyes with his own. "What if I don't know what to do or say? What if I fail and let someone down?"

"Sure, you'll fail."

"Gee, thanks, Bdubs..."

"But so does everyone. Failure is what makes us human, it's a sign that you're trying. The thing is to not let it get to you. Tango, Impulse, and I narrowly escape blowing ourselves up all the time due to avoidable mistakes. But do we let that stop us? Never!"

"You really should be more careful; someone could get seriously hurt."

"Regardless. You're being sworn in as mayor today, you should be excited! Besides, it's not like you're in charge of all of Hermitcraft. Now come on, the ceremony is in an hour, we should get going."

"I may need a few more minutes, but you go on ahead; I'll be right behind you."

Bdubs backed towards the door, his hand to his brow in a joking salute, before tripping over a shulker box lying on the floor, its contents spilling out.

"It's okay, I got it." Scar watched as Bdubs scrambled to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Well, see you there, soon-to-be-Mayor Scar!" He strapped on his elytra and jumped out the door of the snail-shaped house.

Scar heard the snap of rockets, and waited until he knew the man had flown off before turning to the items scattered on the floor.

It was nothing a little magic couldn't fix.

His hands glowed a faint green color, similar to his eyes, as piles of sand and sticks began glowing the same shade and floated back into the shulker box.

The wizard stood up and looked down at his hands with a small frown, the glow fading.

"From now on," he told himself, "no more magic. You're a leader now, you don't have time for this nonsense."

He shut the door of the snail behind him and launched himself into the sky. Air wooshed under the elytra's wings as he soared above the fantasy village. Turning his body, he changed course for the Shopping District.

<~~~>

Grian's sneakers thudded against concrete as he ran down the only solid road in the Shopping District. He skidded to a halt, almost crashing into Mumbo, who jumped back in alarm.

"Woah! Grian, what happened to you? You're soaking wet!"

The shorter man ruffled his hair in a feeble attempt to dry it.

"My elytra gave out. Right over the bay," he said, still out of breath. "Am I late? Did they start yet?"

"Relax, nothing's started yet, we're still waiting for Scar. We can't exactly make him mayor without him being here. It'll be interesting, having him in charge of this place."

"...You're not upset, are you?"

Mumbo blinked. "About what?"

"Well, not winning. We both know how much effort you put into your campaign."

"Grian, it's all right. I don't even know what I'd do if I were mayor. Scar really is the obvious choice, he earned this."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"Besides, if I were mayor, who would keep you under control?" Mumbo ruffled the hair of his friend, who glared up in mock annoyance.

Mumbo looked like he was about to do something that would most likely end in a fist fight, but was saved when he looked up and laughed.

"Well, we found Scar. But what on Earth is he wearing?

<~~~>

The ceremony went as would be expected, with Xisuma conducting it, while Scar took the oaths to serve and protect the Shopping District, and everyone in it. Afterwards, the new mayor called all the current members of the Hermit Environmental Protection Agency to join him for a brief meeting.

Xisuma looked around at False, Tango, Cub, and Keralis, who sat in the meeting room of the town hall. It had been a while since they all met up like this. The HEP was usually called in when something went really wrong, and the Hermits had managed to not blow up hazardous substances for nearly a year.

"You're probably wondering why I called you all here." Scar sat at the end of the large table opposite the Admin. "Well, to start off, we're not undoing something that went wrong, this time. As you know, my promise for becoming mayor was to make the district more beautiful, which involves removing the mycelium covering the island and replacing it with green grass. And what better organization for the job than one we already have that specializes in the environment?"

Xisuma tried to pay attention as Scar explained his plan, but something was bothering him. As soon as mycelium was mentioned, he knew there was something he should be remembering, but the memory was just out of reach.

"Xisuma, are you okay?"

The Admin blinked rapidly, realizing he had been staring at the wall for who knows how long.

"Uh, yeah," he stuttered. "Sorry, I just thought I forgot something."

"Okay, well, as I was saying, make sure to get some sleep and we'll meet up outside the town hall tomorrow morning, to get started. If no one has any questions, you're free to go, meeting dismissed."

As the other members stood to leave, Xisuma went up to Scar. Whether it was something about the man's body language, the way he was talking, or something the Admin just knew, he seemed off.

"Hey, Scar, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, X. What's up?"

"Well, first of all, I wanted to apologize for zoning out earlier."

Scar smiled kindly. "It's okay, happens to everyone."

"Thanks," he sat down on a chair, and motioned for Scar to sit on the one next to it. "Also, I couldn't help but notice you seemed kind of nervous. Is it the whole mayor thing?"

The mayor laughed sheepishly. "It's that obvious? Yeah, I guess I'm just unsure of whether or not I'll be a good leader. You know?"

"Are you kidding? You've been in charge of the HEP pretty much from the beginning, and besides a ship sinking that one time, it's been going pretty well. You shouldn't doubt yourself so much, you're actually a pretty great leader. And don't forget, we'll help you along the way. All of us."

Scar smiled. "That really means a lot, especially coming from you. Oh, I should be getting back to my village now, Jellie's probably wondering where I am."

They walked outside to see that the sun was already setting

"Oh, and, Scar?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always here. Promise I won't zone out on you."

That got a laugh from Scar. "Thanks man, I appreciate it." He strapped on his elytra and took off towards his base.

<~~~>

As Xisuma glided across the darkening sky, he couldn't push away the feeling he was forgetting something.

When he arrived at his base, he combed through shelves of books before finding a few on different plants and fungi. He took off the helmet he always wore and set it on a table next to the stack of books. He was going to find the answer if it took him all night.