Prompt: "Not this again ..."

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Impulse set down his shulker box in the Decked Out area, examining his artifact board for pieces he could possibly trade out or combine into a set. He'd had quite a few successful runs, but now came the hard decision of choosing which artifacts stayed and which went. A smile played on his face.

He heard the sound of rockets being clumsily spammed behind him, and he turned around to see Tango himself walk in. He spotted Impulse and gave him a curt nod, not really acknowledging him. Impulse bristled, his smile fading for a moment. He wasn't able to hold back a remark.

"How was the HEP meeting today?" Tango frowned. "You should know. You were there, weren't you?"

"As an uninvited guest, yes," Impulse said, laughing a little as he attempted to make a lighthearted joke. Unfortunately, that did the exact opposite of what he wanted, and Tango seemed more irritated than ever. His smile dropped, too.

"You're in the Resistance, Impulse," Tango said. "Why? Why couldn't we have been on the same team for once? First the Civil War, now this..."

Impulse twisted his hands in front of him a bit awkwardly. "We each took our sides. I chose mine and you chose yours."

"And we chose different again," Tango replied, the hurt evident in his voice. "Just like last time."

"I know, I know," Impulse put his hands in front of him a bit defensively. "It sucks that it worked out that way, but I'm not switching sides. I'm with the resistance now and I'm sticking with it." Impulse stated, trying to make his words as clear as possible. Even if he couldn't get Tango to join him, he wasn't switching sides.

"Why don't we talk about these things before they happen then?" Tango asked, his voice starting to raise. "We could've taken each other's sides! Convinced each other to team up! It's always the same damn thing, Impulse!" He cried.

A cold silence hung between them for a moment.

"We made a promise. We promised to never split up ever again," he finally continued in a quiet voice.

Impulse opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't get anything out before Zed walked in mid-argument. Or maybe he didn't want to get anything out. Tango's words literally stung.

"What's going on?..." Zed asked hesitantly.

"ZED!" Tango and Impulse suddenly called out simultaneously to him. He whirled around to see the face-off and backed away involuntarily.

"Zed, join the resistance," Impulse butted in, stone-faced, not looking at Tango. Tango did the same. Zed felt both eyes boring into him, and he started to shift uncomfortably.

Then he immediately realised what was going on and started to back away "No.. I'm not getting involved..." "You have to," Tango insisted. "Choose a side. It's either me or him."

"I'm not doing this again!" Zed said. "It's just like last time. I'm not going to be here to help you guys sort out your quarrels. I don't want any part in this. For as long as this is going on, you're getting no help from me."

And with that, he grabbed his rockets and flew out of the Decked Out area. Leaving Tango and Impulse back to square one. For the first time since Zed arrived, Tango looked at Impulse. He felt more distant than ever, though. There was an expanding chasm growing between them, and it was too late for him to jump back to the other side.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take care of business," Tango said, storming into Decked Out without a look behind his back. His footsteps faded until they could no longer be heard.

Impulse was reeling from shock, dismay, and anger. He stood frozen in front of his artifact board. Not one, but both members of ZIT had left him to dry. Tango was on the opposing team and refused to talk to him. Zed wanted no part in it. It had started, just like last time.

And he was terrified it would end like the last time.

They were a broken team. For the second time.

"Not this again..."

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Score: 12 (Spectator Favourite)