The hermits were gathered at the portal, ready to bid the season farewell. The Vex had gone off in their rocket, the new Hermit was waiting on the other side, everything was ready. Everything  was just waiting on one last person to arrive: none other than Tango of the Tek.

In one corner, Doc could be seen bidding a sad farewell to the nHo, one last time. In another, Iskall and Stress were messing about, enjoying each other's company. In a third, Zed and Impulse were reminiscing about the good times, with team ZIT. 

Xisuma? He paced in front of the portal, waiting to activate the jump to the next season and watching Ren teach Mumbo to fire a bow midair. Biffa looked at X, eyes rolling behind his helmet. This was late, even for Tango. If they waited any longer, they'd have to leave him behind. The two nodded to the nHo, who waved goodbye to the other Hermits.

As they walked out the gate, however, they stopped to let someone through. Tango had finally arrived. He smiled an unnerving smile at X, which somehow set both the admins on edge. There just was something... wrong about that look. Impulse and Zed ran to greet their team member, smiling, but their smiles faltered and their faces dropped when they saw him clearly.

When they got close enough, he dropped the pretense. A full-on grin broke across his face, accentuated by strange sharp teeth. Bright red horns parted their way through his hair and similar wings burst from his back as he began to hover. The Hermits looked around, startled by the sudden transformation.

A cloud covered the sky as three more figures appeared in bright flashes of light, one blue, one yellow, one green. They blocked all of the exits, preventing any escape. X looked around in shock; he hadn't whitelisted any of these three. X ran towards Tango, but something held him back. Abruptly, Tango's voice echoed across the courtyard.

"Hello, Hermitcraft! The season is coming to an end, so I'd like to introduce some new faces. Say hello to your new demon overlords." He chuckled, as the other three closed in. He turned to face Zed and Impulse, his smile turning cruel. "First order of business: dealing with those who owe us."

He suddenly dived towards the two, grabbing Zed by the sleeve. Impulse leapt to save him, but just missed. Demon magic arced from Tango's hand to Zed, as the latter slowly appeared more and more drained. Eventually, Zed dropped to the floor, shaking, eyes empty.

Biffa took initiative, getting everyone's attention and ushering them through the portal. One of the other demons swooped towards Impulse, who staggered back, knowing that Zed's fate awaited him as well. He was saved by someone standing in the way, someone in grey boots. 

Someone shouting "Viva la Revolution!" at the top of his lungs. 

The demon drew her sword, pointing it at Iskall's throat. He stood his ground, blocking every attack she threw. Yet he was slowly being worn down. Stress saw what was happening and went in to save the two. She tried to throw up an ice shield to protect Iskall, but he kept on attacking through it.

She screamed for Iskall to stop, but this just served to make him distracted. The demon's sword went into his shoulder, and he fell to the ground, gasping in pain. The demon picked Impulse up, and Stress rushed to save Iskall, helping him stagger through the portal. She passed the nHo, who were protecting Doc, and ran through.

When they got through, they were greeted by a surprised Grian. Mumbo was explaining what had happened, and how they were going to have to lay low. He ran over when he saw the state Iskall was in, and thanked Stress for doing her best to save him.

It certainly wasn't the way they'd expected the season to end, especially considering that they were up an entire nHo than they'd expected.

Yes! Welcome to Soul Trade! There was a poll, but y'all tied it. Again. To satisfy the four who voted lore, I'll have the lore out tomorrow. I hope y'all enjoy this AU as much as I have enjoyed developing it!

OdalRune, signing off from the past!