Ray counted off the names of their team as they made their way down the narrow flight of stairs and into the Stronghold, chanting "No way in, no way out" gleefully as he erected multiple sets of doors around the entrance.
"Ray, shut the fuck up," Michael grinned at the man in front of him jumping across the blocks.
"Nah, don't feel like it- parkour!"
Geoff groaned and yelled at everyone to pay attention. "Alright, everyone, we're going into The End now, so it's time to get serious. As I said earlier, if you fall off the edge of the island in here you die. Since someone," he glared daggers at Gavin, who'd accidentally burned the house down before they could move the beds, "destroyed our house, you won't spawn back at the house. So don't do anything too fucking stupid, alright? Respawns without a bed aren't pretty."
Jack lofted up the final Eye of Ender. "Alright, are we all ready?"
"We have to be," Ryan rolled his eyes. "Ray blocked all the exits." Ray beamed.
"Right," Jack nodded. "Here we go."
The portal sparked to life. Michael turned, smirking, to Gavin. "Ladies first."
"Okay, go on, then," Gavin giggled back.
"For fuck's sake," Geoff groaned. "Flirt later, you two. This is serious business."
Ray laughed and muttered "Mavin" to himself, a term he'd come up with to use whenever Michael and Gavin were "acting like huge homos."
Gavin slapped him lightly on the arm. "Shut up, X-Ray."
"How about you shut up first," Michael interrupted.
"Ooh, got him," Ray quipped.
"How about everyone shuts up and focuses? God damn, guys, we've come too far for this." Geoff stepped between the Lads and forced his expression stern, though he knew they were all just nervous and trying to lighten the mood.
"Geoff's right," Ryan agreed. "Let's just get this over with."
"Geoff, how about you go first?" Michael offered.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter, just make sure we stick together and don't wander off-"
The rest of his leader's words were lost as Michael warped in the portal, feeling himself materialize on the strangely-textured Endstone. There was a whooshing noise as Gavin appeared beside him, blinking rapidly to adjust to the dim lighting of the stars and faraway fiery pillars of obsidian.
Michael drew his sword, Mogar, and motioned for Gavin to follow him.
"Michael, Geoff said not to wander off! They'll be here any second."
"Exactly! Let's just scout ahead a bit. No one will care," Michael shrugged.
Gavin sighed and took an arrow from his quiver and held it out in front of him, using the beams from the enchantment as a makeshift torch. He and Michael made their way cautiously down the broken stairs, frequently peering behind them to look where they'd appeared. There was no sign of anyone else materializing; Michael voiced his theory.
"There's probably multiple portal entrances. They just went into a different one."
"For our sake, I hope you're right," Gavin shivered. "Either that or time moves differently in the Void."
"That's probably it," Michael breathed. The End was eerily quiet; unlike the Nether, with its constant threat of Ghasts; or the Overworld's nightly monsters and sneaky creepers. Michael was so caught up in thought that he almost didn't notice as his foot missed the next step of Endstone and was met with the stuffy air.
Luckily, Gavin was quick and grasped a hand around Michael's own, tugging him back onto the stairs. "Michael!" He screamed, dropping the bow and arrow in favor of holding his friend's shoulders in his hands. "What were you thinking?! You could have fallen, could have died!"
Michael's breaths came in short, ragged bursts and he clutched his partner in crime's tunic as tightly as he could, eyes wide in shock. "Gavin..." He whispered. "I... Gavin, you..."
"'Course I caught you, you donut! But seriously, be careful!" Gavin's eyes were teary and he sniffled as the words poured from his mouth. "Promise me that, Michael, promise you'll be careful!"
Michael closed his eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. "I'll be careful," he solemnly promised. Gavin released his shirt and retrieved his bow.
"Come on, let's find the others," he muttered, drying his eyes quickly and evening his quivering voice.
The dark sky gave such little light that the two had a hard time distinguishing between obsidian and Endermen. When they inevitably were confronted with the gaunt black figures, sprinted from the monsters, hiding behind the tall ebony towers and shooting from a distance. They recovered the arrows they could and went on.
Since the incident, Gavin's face was steeled and his hand gripped the bow until his knuckles turned white. Michael was quiet and alert, viewing their paths several blocks in (almost excessive) advance.
Time dragged on with no sign of the other Achievement Hunters. Michael and Gavin were starting to get worried and, with no map, they were completely lost. They'd decided to take refuge in a small cave they'd created from the cobblestone they'd brought with them.
"Michael," Gavin whimpered, leaning against his friend's unusually strap-free shoulder. "I'm scared."
Michael patted his arm and smile softly. "Don't be."
Gavin closed his eyes and let the quiet overtake his thoughts. The sound of gentle breathing echoed back to him occasionally and, feeling the warmth of Michael beside him, he relaxed again.
Michael kept watch. Endermen stayed away from their cave for the most part, but when the came nearby, he sealed the door up and waited it out. He wondered when the others would find them.
After what felt like a few hours of recuperation, Michael and Gavin tore down the cave and continued on their search for the team.
They left behind bridges and small hints- a feather from a broken arrow here, a red rose there- and wandered the perimeter of the island. For such an empty expanse of darkness and quiet, there were several of the obsidian pillars and makeshift Endstone stairs.
They reached a trench in the grayish yellow Endstone, across from which the lone Ender Dragon sat, spanning its wings as it caught their scents. With a screech it bore itself aloft and flew straight at them.
Gavin's metallic facade slipped as he fired arrow after arrow at the approaching beast. Its purple eyes glowed and its nostrils smoked; as a gigantic maw opened, great tongues of flames danced across the land towards them. Michael braced himself, positioning his sword. Gavin fired his final arrow of the first quiver, sparing his usual good luck call, "MARK NUTT," in the dire situation. The enchantment held true and the shaft struck the right eye of the dragon. It vociferated and swerved, clawing blindly at its face. The arrow splintered and it turned to them, silvery-black blood streaming down its face.
In a flash, it had Gavin in its talons.
"GAVIN!" Michael hurtled his body into motion, barely spanning the narrow trench and hitting the ground running.
Gavin struggled against the vise-like grip holding him in place, drawing his iron sword and slashing at the pitch black legs of the Ender Dragon, chipping off small scales that littered his hair and clung to his skin. He could hear Michael's screams down below, and, from the height he was at, he could see the team in the near distance (close enough to recognize their expressions of shock and fear for Gavin and Michael's safety) moving towards them.
"Michael!" He shouted down. "They're coming!" Michael didn't hear him. "Michael, they're coming!" He repeated at the top of his lungs.
Michael could hear Gavin yelling something at him but his ears were filled with the sound of flapping wings and the Ender Dragon dove at him. The bony edge of its appendage clipped him in the shoulder and he went flying. He landed on his right arm and cried out, losing his sword and rolling from impact. The edge of the world loomed beneath him and, grasping desperately for the Endstone with his uninjured arm, heard Gavin hit the ground a few feet before where he had. He heard his name again as his fingers strained too hard under his weight and released his life line.
The last thing he could see was Gavin's arm reaching out for him, a second too late, crying and screaming and kicking as Ray and Geoff pulled him from the edge. Red ebbed into his line of vision and everything went fuzzy.
Gavin struggled against the Dragon's talons- no, not talons; his friends' arms were holding him back from the edge. Tears dripped down his cheeks as Michael blurred into nothingness, enveloped by the darkness below the island.
His screams rubbed his throat raw until it was painful to suck in every breath. His eyes and cheeks burned with the salty trails blazing down his skin. He grasped Ray's jacket and sobbed into it.
Ray wrapped his arms around the Lad. "It's okay, Vav," he whispered softly into Gavin's hair.
"He's g-gone," Gavin managed through wracks of his frame.
"We'll find him, Gavin," Geoff murmured, rubbing soothing circles on Gavin's back. "I promise." At that word, Gavin let out a wail of anguish that chilled Geoff and Ray to the core. Geoff winced. "Right now we have to get out of here, okay?"
Gavin choked back a sob and nodded weakly, sinking to his knees and clasping the bow again. He replaced his quiver and put his head back into the game. "Its right eye's damaged, as well as its leg. If you can take out the Ender Crystals we might have a better chance at grounding it," he strategized, calling out loud enough for Ryan and Jack to hear. Immediately they began scaling the pillars with towers of sand.
Geoff and Ray helped Gavin up and all three ran to the raised obsidian altar where the Dragon sat. Endermen spawned, one right in front of Ray, and moved towards them. Ray panicked and pulled out the first thing in his inventory- a piece of cake.
"WHOA, WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?! GET THIS SHIT OUTTA HERE," he hollered behind Gavin, tossing the confectionary as far away as possible. It hit an Enderman that spun and teleported into the midst of them.
With the Lads and Geoff as a distraction, Jack and Ryan quickly took out the Ender Crystals surrounding the battle. The Dragon let out a mighty bellow and pounced at them. They quickly started mining their towers down to the ground, jumped in, and began to drive the Endermen back.
With the Endermen gone all that was left to do was to kill the Dragon. Ray climbed the alter to stand beneath the underbelly of the beast, whacking incessantly with his golden gardening hoe; Geoff and Jack swung their enchanted diamond swords, slashing dripping black wounds into its neck; Ryan built step-towers up and slashed his pickaxe at the Dragon's tail; and Gavin shot arrow after flaming arrow at the paper-thin gray membrane of its wings.
When the Dragon plummeted to the ground, Gavin almost couldn't believe his eyes. They'd actually done it. They'd gotten to The End and beat it.
Not all of them, he reminded himself. Most of them had. Michael...
And then it dawned on him again. Michael, his best friend, the only other member of Team Nice Dynamite, was gone. Lost in a spawn above ground, who knew where he would turn up or what he would remember without his bed?
Gavin's knees failed him and he collapsed to the ground. The celebrating around him stopped immediately. Ray was instantly at his side again, pulling him into his arms and whispering, "I know, Vav. I know."
Gavin coughed. "R-Ray, I should have saved him!"
"There's nothing you could have done, Gavino," Geoff reminded him.
"I'm the one who... Who didn't stop him from g-going off," Gavin clutched his head. "This is... It's all my fault...!"
Jack laid a hand on Geoff's shoulder. "We should get him home," he supplied.
Ray gently pulled his friend up from the Enderstone- Gavin was starting to hate the material- and threw his arm beneath Gavin's. he walked them to the portal and stepped them both through without a single look back. They appeared back in Achievement city. It was night time.
"Come on, Gav," he whispered. "Let's get you to bed."