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“You’re siding with THEM?!” Impulse’s incredulous voice rebounded off the cavernous walls of Tango’s soon to be base, dramatically amplifying the sound and scaring the nearby cows that were wandering near the entrance.
He couldn’t believe it. Tango. His best friend. Is joining Grian’s gang of rapscallions! Granted, Tango occasionally relishes in the chaos of our line of work, but the G-team is just pure prank filled calamity!
“Yeah... Why’s that so hard to believe?” The red-eyed demon shot back, slowing in his search through a chest for quartz to raise a curious eyebrow Impulse’s way.
He huffed at his friends' dismissive tone. “ ’Cause of everything they’ve done!” Impulse listed on his fingers. “Cleo, Grian, Iskall-- even Joe! They’re splitting us apart! I mean, look at what they did to Ren. They just killed him with no proof that he’s the one who even built that stupid chicken!”
“Didn’t you do the same thing to Grian?” The blond inquired accusingly. Placing a handful of the precious white crystal in his satchel, he turned around flashing a devious grin at his human friend. Tango watched the brunette pace for a moment before continuing to search for more quarts; Impulse’s pride had no doubt been bruised from whatever retaliatory prank Cleo had designed.
“That’s different and you know it. It was meant for Cleo— Grian wasn’t even supposed to be there! We still don’t know who meddled with the signs. Besides, I thought we were supposed to stick together on this!” Impulse had stopped pacing, pointing an accusatory finger at Tango’s back.
That drained whatever momentum Tango had left. “Of course, we’re sticking together—You're joining G-Team with me after all!” He reassured enthusiastically, offering a lopsided grin raising an eyebrow, “aren’t you?” he asked hopefully, starting to worry that Impulse would reject the offer.
Impulse snorted, “That’s not an option.” He was callous toward the new group for the discord they’ve wrought. For forcing his hand and humiliating him.
Tango glared, daring Impulse to continue. “And why not?”
“I shouldn’t need to explain that. I originally came here to ask if you want to join Doc and X’s team with me. We’re still working on the name, but we have some good ideas.”
“Impulse, I had thought you’d agree with me on this one. Why can’t you follow my lead this once?” The demon sneered, his expression becoming tense the longer the conversation continued.
“So, that’s it. You’re just going to abandon me?” Impulse accused, his volume rising steadily.
“No. I want you to come with me!” Tango bit back, his volume escalating to match the brunette’s. “I want you to fight with me!”
Impulse steps back, caught off guard by Tango’s outburst.
The very wind seemed to still around them. For the first time since Impulse can remember, there was no playful shouting to be heard from across the server, no elytras overhead, no conversation from the wildlife made it past the tense wall of energy that seemed to engulf the two friends before Tango broke the silence. “I don’t care if you join the team or not, I’m still going to fight.”
Impulse could feel his rage, the bite of betrayal, curling in the pit of his stomach. It stung, and he just... didn’t have any energy left to process this. It was all he could do to whisper back, his voice cracking, “Is that all you care about? Fighting? And what about your friends- are you willing to kill them? And for what? So, you can have an excuse to kill without limitations?”
“Why not? It doesn’t affect me either way. This is a game after all. It’s just for fun.” Tango countered, striding slowly closer to the human. It suddenly dawned on Impulse that Tango didn’t understand the gravity of this civil war. This wasn’t some kind of game. This is war. Having immortals like the Hermits running around fighting each other would destroy everything that they had built. Hermits may not be able to permanently die, but that doesn’t mean the dying was any less painful or lonely.
The human’s heart seemed to beat in time with the pounding of his head. He felt the adrenaline coursing through his veins, absorbing the animosity in the air and converting it to righteous passion. “Doesn’t matter...? Doesn’t matter?! Tango, this is war! People’s lives are on the line!” He quickly closed the gap between them, grabbing the red-eyed man’s arm in desperation. Tango jerked his arm back suddenly before dodging behind Impulse, kicking his legs out from beneath him and knocking him forward to the uneven dirt floor.
The sound of a sword being pulled from its scabbard sliced through the ringing in Impulse’s ears before he felt the tip gently rest against his throat. He slowly turned his head up to meet Tango’s confident gaze. How dare h-- “Nothing we do here matters, Impulse. Nothing, but making it through without fading. And if joining Grian’s team means I get just one more day in the light, then I’m going to take that chance. If this is war, then you’re my enemy.” No matter how many years Tango had been with the Hermits, he still thought like a demon. Thoughts of power and punishment would always seem to go through his head first before remembering who he was with.
“Traitor!” he screeched, knocking the sword sideways, lunging and tackling the demon to the floor. They rolled around for a few minutes, neither one gaining the upper hand. With a grunt, the blond demon kicked the struggling brunet off, diving to the side grasping for the nearby weapon. Impulse recovered from his dazed state on the ground in time to see Tango drive the sword into his stomach. Tango slouched over him, resting on the hilt breathing heavily glaring daggers at Impulse. He tried to dislodge the sword but he could already feel the numbness in his arms growing stronger. Spots started clouding his vision, but the sight of Tango, his best friend, standing over his dying body, the sadistic grin plastered on his face was a sight he would never forget.
“I’ll see you on the battlefield, old friend.” The demon whispered just as his eyes closed.
Impulse woke up in his bed, safe and far away from Tango’s base. He sat up and looked around, tears starting to run down his cheeks, mourning the loss of his best friend now turned enemy. A sob wrenched itself from his throat. Pulling the covers over himself, he curled up into a ball. Another sob escaped making his entire body shake.
“Why would you betray me?”