'If Ren's trying to turn all his allies to hybrids, then we're all becoming phantoms.' Pearl decided at the start of the next resistance meeting. 'Who's in?' It was the first meeting of the soup group since the incident, and Pearl had instantly taken charge.

'Not me.' Impulse instantly decided. 'This is a very bad idea... you've been struggling yourself, and now you want us to join you?!'

'We'll be united as the Phantom Resistance. It's the only way we can fight back against Ren!'

'Why do we need to fight him?' Asked Gem.

'Because... we're the resistance! That's what we do! And if they're all becoming mobs, we need to as well.'

'This is a very bad idea.' 

'If we want to stop Ren, we need to one up him. If we're all united as the same mob, we won't hurt each other but will hurt him and everyone else on his side.'

'Pearl, please.'

'We must be prepared to do what it takes... nothing should be beneath us. We can become victorious... we want Ren gone, my fellow soup members.'

'What's in it for us? We're sacrificing our free will and hurting our friends for nothing!' Impulse snapped, on his feet.

'SILENCE!' One of Pearl's claws reached to attack Impulse and he returned to his chair. 'We'll all be rewarded with freedom and justice when this is done.'

'We're not doing this.' Declared Gem. 'I'm not hurting my friends.'

'You're friends with that selfish hypocrite?!'

'He's still our friend! He's still Ren! It's not like he's been possessed by an evil demon or anything.'

'Though you might be...' Mumbled Gem

'Fine. Then if you won't join me, I'll have to do this by myself.'

Impulse and Gem glanced at each other, then over at Pearl as she walked from the room. 

'Pearl?' There was no reply. Gem stood up and, ignoring a warning from Impulse, ran after, 'Pearl come back! We still want to fight against Ren but...' 

It was growing dark outside, and Pearl removed her hood for the minute she got of not burning before she turned aggressive. Raised her hands above her head as she stared at the sky. 

'Pearl, what are you...' Impulse skidded to the stop at the sound of a screech from above. 

Phantoms. 

'Pearl?!'

'WE WILL HAVE FREEDOM!'

One of the phantoms dived and Gem screamed, bowled over by their sharp claws and pinned there. In seconds, Impulse was at her side, slashing until it flew away, fending off more of the creatures as he helped Gem to her feet.

'GET BACK!' He yelled. 'ALL OF YOU! BAD PHANTOMS!' Another came in from the other side. Pearl's wings spread from her back and she took to the air. 

'You can't fight them.' She laughed with full 5AM energy. 'They'll just keep coming.'

'Impulse, run!' Gem pleaded, bleeding badly, shaking. 

'No! I'm not leaving you behind!' 

'You have to!' She pushed Impulse away as another phantom came in to attack. 'Run! Don't let Pearl get both of us!' 

'Gem- I can't- GEM BEHIND YOU!' Despite the situation, Gem laughed at the accidental reference as she fired an arrow at the approaching phantom. 

'GO!' She yelled again. 'PLEASE!' With one last glance at the soup group, Impulse backed away, turned, ran, and soon took to the air as the death message appeared. 

GeminiTay was slain by phantom

He didn't even look at the swarm of messages following, continuing to fly towards... he didn't know, but as Zedaph's base came into view, dived towards it. 

'Zed- help!' He begged, landing in the base, unable to stop all his emotions flooding out. Luckily, Zedaph was there, confused and concerned. 'Pearl tried to kill me with a phantom and Gem sacrificed herself so I could escape and I don't know want her to find me and... and please help.' 

'Woah- just... try to calm down. You're safe from Pearl here. Just... explain it slower.' Zedaph replied, a look of concern crossing his face as he reached his friend. It took a moment for Impulse to regain use of his lungs, but then he explained

'So... so... me, Pearl and Gem were meeting and... Pearl sudden said we all need to become phantoms... and I said no... and Gem said no... and Pearl left the room and... and... Gem ran after... and I followed... and there were phantoms... and... and they attacked us... and they got Gem and... and I ran away because I was scared they'd get me too.' Impulse looked down at Zed, a look of pure desperation on his face. 

'Ok...' Zedaph stepped away. 'Just stay here until dawn. If you want I can message Tango and he can come over too and we can all be stupid until you're less worried.' Impulse tried to nod back, but, as the emotions washed over him, began to cry. 'Impulse...' trying to think of something that would comfort him, Zed led Impulse over to the side, sitting him down, hugging him as he let out all the stress and emotion of the situation. 

'I'm really scared, Zed.' He admitted. 'Really really scared. Of Ren and Pearl... and of every single hostile mob, because it might kill me and I lose control and hurt my friends.' 

'If you get killed, me and Tango can trap you in an obsidian box so you don't hurt anyone, so don't worry about that.' Began Zed, getting a small laugh from Impulse. 'But seriously. You'll be ok. You're a decent fighter and not stupid like me.'

'But what about Gem and Pearl?'

'They're fine during the day...' 

'It's... all the people killed by mobs just... it's like something's making them want more people to be like them. Like... really intelligent zombies. First Ren, and now Pearl... what if everyone becomes a hybrid? What if we just stop respawning... I can't... I can't handle this!' 

'Hey, Impulse. You're the smartest member of Team ZIT and generally good at not dying. You'll be fine. And everyone else will be fine too. Xisuma can fix this.'

'You think?'

'Yeah. Now, I'll get Tango to come over and we can be stupid together, ok?' 

'Ok.' 

'We're going to get through this, Impulse, do you understand?'

'I... I understand.' Impulse managed a smile, wiping the tears from his face. 

'Are you alright now?'

'Yeah.'