Chapter Text
Impulse placed the dynamite carefully. Gloves, helmet, glasses. The voice in the back of his head said there was too many explosives in one place; that the gear wouldn’t be enough to protect him; that this would kill him… perma-kill him. The voice fought against itself as it got distracted by the cherry blossoms. They blew past him and he worried they would somehow trigger the chain, even though he was fully aware that isn’t how chain reactions worked.
A petal landed in his open palm. He stared at it momentarily before whipping around at the sound of Gem’s humming. Was she working nearby? She shouldn’t be here right now; she’ll get hurt! Impulse looked around the perimeter of the hole and realized he had just been hearing things. Gem was no where near him and now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember her ever humming. Sighing, he stuffed the petal in his pocket and switched it for his lighter.
The explosion was blinding, even from up in the air. He hadn’t gotten far enough away from it quick enough. He felt the fire burn through his sleeve and lick his arm. Shrapnel clipped his elytra sending him spiraling to the ground at a rapid pace. Catching himself by his calloused fingertips moments before falling into the void opening hole.
“No!” He cried as he pulled himself back up. “No, it wasn’t meant to be this big. It wasn’t supposed to go past the perimeter.”
He stumbled down the perimeter toward Joel’s town first. He stopped himself before he could even venture down the first alley way, he gagged and turned around, repressing the tears. He glimpsed at his own city at the bottom of the mountain’s base, clipped by the explosion in the worst places. The city vault destroyed, all their resources gone. He swung around the edge of the mountain to Skizz’s house and saw it still standing, planted securely in the side of the mountain. His eyes drifted upward to the beach; he tried to rush over but his elytra were too damaged and he kept falling over. When he reached the sand, he came face to face with a smoldering pile of rock and rumble. He didn’t care if it burnt him, he started to push it away. Hot tears rolled down his face and sizzled below.
The agonizing scream he let out at the sight of Gem. It would’ve shook the world if it hadn’t already been shook. He sunk into the sand, not letting go of her hand as the devastation truly sunk in.
“You weren’t supposed to die first,” He found himself saying. “I’ve gotten far before, but you wanted to win…”
Memories he never had rushed to him. Death. So much death. It followed them everywhere. He squeezed Gem’s hand tighter, wishing her back. He couldn’t be the reason she was perma-dead. He couldn’t have sent her away, leaving her to be their play-thing, though he really didn’t know who he was thinking about. Or what he was thinking about. Everything was getting fuzzier and fuzzier as he felt a hand on his shoulder.
The world around him glowed purple, as a whisper in Pearl’s voice rang, “I won’t let you repeat old stories. I’ve seen one like this before. Wake up–”
Impulse woke with a start, sweaty and crying. He looked around at the fully intact house. He almost fell out of his bed as the loud banging knock came from the vault door.
“Wake up! Impy! Imp!” Gem yelled.
He ran out, panting. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah?” She raised an eyebrow. “I was just getting you so we could break more ground. You have all the tools…”
“Oh, right. Um, yeah.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah… Just had a weird dream.”
“Those happen, yeah.” She laughed, letting herself into the vault. “What was it about?”
“Nothing much, just dynamite.”
“You must really be excited for this demolition project then.”
He scratched his arm as she filled the crates with explosives. “I guess…”
He stuck his hand in his pocket, his heart sinking a little at the feeling of the silky, smooth cherry blossom petal that sat heavy as a stone. He wouldn’t forget this. No matter who wanted him to forget it, he wouldn’t. None of it.