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The changes are subtle at first. He wonders if he's the first to notice. They’ve been concealed even more by the fact that she’s been holed up in her base for so much of the season, perfecting every block of the sprawling build. Her eyes are the first thing Tango notices when he’s called over to help with a redstone problem. They’re bluer, brighter, almost glowing. He does a double-take when she first emerges from the darkness, startled by the ethereal, non-human quality they give her. When she reaches a hand up to pull her hood down, he notices the sharpened tips of her nails, like a big cat’s claws, matched by her pointed teeth as she grins. Tango may get scared easily in most situations, but he’s almost never afraid of his friends. Now, though, he shudders.
“Hi, Pearl…” he greets. “Are you… okay?” His words are uncharacteristically hesitant, caution beating out his usual bubbliness.
“Tango! Thanks for coming, mate! Of course I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be, silly?”
Tango makes the mistake of making eye contact as she answers, and he flinches at the almost predatory look in her eyes. “Just making sure,” he replies carefully, adding a fake laugh to the end to try to sell it. He’s pretty sure it doesn’t succeed, but she seems eager to move on, and for that, he’s grateful. “I heard you needed my help?”
“Yep! I’ve done all the building, so now it’s just the redstone left, and you know how I am with that.”
“Sure, yeah, I can do that! Lead the way, great Dungeon Master.” He adds the joking title the Hermits have bestowed upon her in an effort to break the tension remaining from his first question, but instead, the glow in her eyes fades for a moment. She shakes her head back and forth like she’s trying to get something off of her head, and a look of confusion floods her face.
“Tango…” Pearl starts, and Tango doesn’t know if he’s imagining it, but he thinks he can hear a tinge of fear bleeding into her voice. Before she can finish whatever she was going to say, though, the glow returns and her posture stiffens. Her eyes snap back to Tango’s, making direct eye contact as if challenging him to question what just happened. He wants to check in again, now even more concerned for his friend, but he feels paralyzed, frozen in place. Instead, he just follows silently as she turns and makes her way toward where he assumes the entrance to the dungeon is.
Tango can’t hold back his gasp as he steps through the final set of doors. The dungeon sprawls out in front of him, covering as far as he can see in any direction. Everywhere he looks there’s a new room filled with detail and life. No wonder Pearl doesn’t leave her base. How has she had time to sleep, even? “Pearl, this is incredible,” he says in amazement, not having to fake the awe and pride he’s feeling. He expects her to get flustered at the compliment and try to brush it off, like she always does, but she just keeps walking. Weird. He trails behind like a loyal duckling, distracted from focusing on where they're going by his confusion over Pearl's reaction (or lack thereof), and he almost bumping into her when she stops abruptly.
“Here,” she says, as if that one word explains everything. Tango takes in the mess of wiring at their feet, but he can’t figure out what it’s meant to do. At his blank stare, Pearl signs and continues, “It’s supposed to be a trap. They walk over this tripwire and the ground gives out. I’ve got the disappearing part, but I don’t know how to make it reset itself when the game ends,” she elaborates, seemingly annoyed at his lack of immediate understanding.
If alarm bells weren’t already ringing in Tango’s head, they certainly are now. This exact trap was part of the original Decked Out. In fact, he taught her how to build it then, too. He knew for a fact that she’d build a version of it multiple times since then too, between minigames and life series. Maybe she just forgot a step or two?
“So, which part don’t you remember?” he inquires. That feels like a relatively safe question, so he’s taken aback by the hostility in her voice as she responds.
“Remember? What do you mean remember? I just need you to build this for me.”
Okay, now Tango is *really* worried. Does she really not remember building this countless times before? She’s acting uncharacteristically on so many fronts. The Pearl he knows is fiercely independent, accepting guidance but determined to do things herself. What happened to her? He needs to get her out of this dungeon so he can figure out what’s wrong or find someone smarter than him to help, but if prior attempts from a variety of Hermits are any indication, she won’t go willingly. “Oh, did I say remember? My bad. I must have gotten mixed up. I can definitely buildificate this for you! Let me just—” he backpedals, pretending to feel around in his pockets. “Oh silly me, I must have left my redstone box at my base. Would you be ever so kind as to accompany me to go get it?” he tries.
Pearl whirls around to face him, anger painted across her face before she even opens her mouth. “You’re just as bad as the rest of them,” she shouts. “You don’t want to help me, you just want to rip me away from my dungeon. Well, joke’s on you, that won’t work on me.” Her voice continues to rise as she yells. “Get out!” she finishes, advancing toward him. When Tango doesn’t move, she pulls out a sword, and he isn’t able to scramble backward fast enough. He feels a sharp pain, sees a white light, and suddenly, he’s in his bed again.
Sitting up with a start, one thought runs on loop in Tango’s head. Something is very, very, wrong, and they need to save Pearl.