As Vrumpo put the finishing touches on the base and Skruunk worked below in the basement, you headed out to gather seeds and wood for Vrump. Somewhere deeper underground, Fearfein was mining for iron.

Suddenly, Skruunk’s walkie-talkie crackled to life.

“Hey, I got enough iron—I’ll head up— WAIT—WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! IT’S THE MIMICER!!”

Static.

Silence.

Skruunk froze for half a second before shouting, “GUYS!!! FEARFEIN’S COMING BACK—something’s wrong!”

You and Vrumpo immediately turned and rushed back toward the base.

⸻

Minutes passed.

No sign of Fearfein.

The air grew tense as all of you tried to keep busy, pretending not to worry. But the silence stretched too long—and it finally snapped.

Skruunk slammed a tool down. “This is exactly why we shouldn’t have split up!”

Vrumpo shot him a sharp look. “Oh, here we go.”

“I’m serious!” Skruunk snapped. “If we had just gone with Fearfein, he wouldn’t be stuck out there dealing with—whatever that thing is!”

Vrumpo stepped closer, voice rising. “We had a job to do! The base doesn’t build itself!”

“Yeah? And what good is a base if one of us doesn’t make it back?!” Skruunk fired back.

“You don’t know that he’s—” Vrumpo cut himself off, frustration boiling over. “Fearfein can handle himself!”

“That’s not the point!” Skruunk shouted. “We’re supposed to watch each other’s backs, not split up like it’s nothing!”

“And we’re supposed to survive!” Vrumpo snapped. “Splitting up was the smartest move—we cover more ground, get more done—”

“Or get picked off one by one!” Skruunk interrupted.

The two were now nearly face-to-face, voices echoing through the base.

“You’re reckless!” Skruunk accused.

“And you’re overreacting!” Vrumpo shot back.

You stood there, heart pounding, watching the argument spiral out of control.

You didn’t know what to do.

But you knew you had to stop this before it got worse.