You know what? I'm bored and in the middle of a study period I can't be bothered to do any work in.

Let's just wing this.

Every time it seemed like the worst thing possible had happened, the world decided to prove the hermits wrong.

Xisuma was stung by bee

'Shashwammy's dead.'

'What?' Hypno looked sharply over at Keralis's statement.

'Shashwammy's gone. To a bee. Like Season 7.'

'The hybrids will be after us now. Or whoever's still outside the base...' Figured Cub. Impulse had sunk to the ground, unspeaking, trying to blink away tears.

'We're doomed.'

'Impulse, it'll be alright.'

'We're DOOMED.' He repeated. 'There are... 4... 5... Of us left. Xisuma's gone, and everything's just...' He sobbed, and Cub joined him on the ground, giving him a hug.

'If they come here we fight them.' Decided Hypno. 'And be prepared to kill ourselves to stop them killing us."

'Sweet face, they're gonna kill us anyway...'

'Or we go through the rift and hope what's on that side is better than what's on this side... Maybe Grumbot was right to suggest that to us.' Laughed Impulse.

'We can't abandon the other hermits...'

Right then, Grian appeared in what appeared to be one continuous glide from outside, to cave, to the base underneath the others had been working on.

'Have you seen the news?' Asked Cub as he got to his feet. A nod back.

'Yeah. I've seen it.'

'What do we do now?'

'Find Wels and Stress. They're the only non-hybrids left that aren't here.'

'Where?'

'Via chat?'

'If Xisuma didn't answer, it's unlikely that they will.'

'We can try. Just tell them privately to come here without worrying about where they are now,'

'Xisuma will definitely be able to hack chat for them. Or they'll just find them like they found him...' Hypno figured. 'With whatever inhuman intelligence they might have...'

'They're not inhuman! Even though they're sometimes mindless and just want to kill...' Cub replied. 'They're still our friends.'

'Scar's not on our side, Cub. None of them are. If you think we can convince them to join us, we can't.' Grian shot back quickly. 

'Shame, that would've stopped our Xisuma problem...'

'Look, I'm going to message Wels and Stress in the hope that they can find us... I won't even say location and just give coords.' Sighed Grian.

'I'm not saying they're on our side. I'm just saying they're still the same people and we shouldn't treat them like monsters.' Cub tried to justify.

'Messages sent.'

'Shashwammy is still shashwammy.' Keralis agreed. 'I don't want to fight them.'

'Well we're gonna have to if we want to survive.' argued Grian. 'They're not the people we knew. Scar's not Scar, X-I-suma isn't X-I-suma and allying with them is the worst idea ever.'

'Scar doesn't want to be on their side. And I don't think Martyn does either. They can spy for us.'

'I can spy for us! I'm good at spying for us!'

'Then spy now and stop pretending you're not sad about Scar!' Neither spoke for a moment after Cub's outburst, before Grian flew off. Cub sank to the ground next to Impulse.

'Brian's just stressed, Cub.' Keralis tried to comfort him by saying. 'He needs some space alone.'

Another moment of silence passed, before a yell from above. Wels.

'We're down here.' Called back Hypno. It didn't take long for the knight to slip down to join them, a concerned look on his face.

'So we're the last ones left.'

'Yeah. Except Stress.'

'And Grian.' Added Impulse. 'He wanted to be on his own though.' 

'I don't know what's been going on... Everything just started going downhill and I decided to hide... This is my first time coming out again.'

'Shashwammy's dead, Ren's allied the hybrids, and now they want to kill us.'

'What?'

'We're all going to die.' Decided Impulse on an equally cheerful note. 'There are only 6 of us left. It's barely been long at all. There's only us left already.'

'I still think I'm going to wake up with everything ok one day and realise it was just a dream or a prank...' Hypno sighed 'Like someone decided this is some fun new game or storyline. Except... It isn't.'

'That would be the kind of thing Grian would invent.' Cub replied with a smile

'Is he ok?' Wels asked.

'Now or in general? Because we're not sure about either...' Murmured Impulse

'He's been really shaken about Xisuma.' Figured Cub. 'And the hybrids allying.'

'Who isn't...' Muttered Wels, right at Stress's arrival.

'Hello luvs? You in here?' 

'Down here!' Wels called. A few minutes of confused searching later, Stress appeared.

'Welcome to the survivors party...' Cub tried to joke.

'Where's Grian?'

'Upset.' Explained Impulse. 'Probably needed some time alone.'

'An' it's just us left?'

'Just us.' A pause. 

'This feels so wrong. We... this can't actually be happening... some huge glitch and now we're all...' Hypno tried to speak. 'All hiding.'

'And Xisuma's gone, and Ren's gone mad...'

'Just like Third Life.' Remembered Impulse. 'When him and Martyn created Dogwarts and started a war but... a lot worse. At least then we knew it still was a game and not... this.' 

Silence followed. Wels looked around the base. It looked decent, just too small for all of them and incomplete due to lack of resources. A chest monster had started to form in the center that no one could be bothered to clean up. Hypno was leant against the wall, staring up at the stone ceiling, Keralis was staring at the ground next to him. Cub and Impulse were sat next to each other, both lost in thought. Stress glanced across at Wels, who tried to smile back but it ended up in a grimace, right as Grian appeared again.

'Wels, Stress, you're here.' He started to pace the length of the room. Impulse got to his feet. 'All of you are here. Good. Well, I have a plan to get us out of this mess. And... we're doing it... because I've already messaged Ren to say we're meeting at Scar's base.'

'What?' Cub was first to reply. 

'I've said he can bring 3 other people, so we outnumber them.'

'Scar's got an evoker in his base. And a warden.'

'It's the best point between them and us. I know Scar's base inside and out.'

'So does Scar. It's the most dangerous place on the server.'

'We'll still outnumber them, Cub. If you don't want to go, you can just stay here and miss the deal.'

'Deal?'

'I've made a deal with Ren that's going to stop all of this if you just trust me.'

'If he's agreed to it, why are we meeting?'

'To fulfill each of our terms officially. If we don't go now, they'll get there first and we'll lose the advantage of choosing position. Now come on or I tell Ren the deal is off.'

The surviving hermits looked around at each other.

'We should do what he says. He's normally good at coming up with plans.'

'He also only has two braincells.' Stress added. 'And does very stupid things sometimes.'

'I'm bringing weapons. There's no way this is ending without conflict...' 

It didn't take long for the group to be ready, Grian leading as they flew over to Scar's base. Main Street was empty, so they took position, far away from the evoker. Not long after, Ren appeared, joined by Pearl, Scar, and Tango.

'Greetings, dudes. I'm sure you're all aware of the deal.' The king began with a smile. 

'I haven't told them the details.'

'What are the details?'

'Freedom for a sacrifice. We leave you alone if you give over Cub and Impulse to join our side.'

:)