Jesse's POV
I was honestly expecting more to the stronghold. I mean yeah, It snaked all the way down to bedrock but it was just…. Underwhelming. It was too pristine, too new.
I couldn't shake the feeling we were being watched. The darkness felt like it would come for us.
My mini freak out was the first time I…. No.
"Anyone else getting weird vibes from this place?" Seto asked, his hand glowing purple.
"Yeah it's like…. Evil." Ryder said.
"Well, yeah but this feels different. Herobrine felt safer in a way. Its amlo - " Seto didn't finish. Beneath him, the floor gave way. "Ugh." He groaned as he hit another stone floor.
"Whoa, are you okay?" Ryder asked. "Heh. Are we gonna see you next fall?" He joked.
"Probably not if this is what I think it is." Seto told us. Not knowing what he was talking about, we all went down.
"Holy balls!" Ssundee (I believe his name is Ian) exclaimed when he saw it. In front of is was an activated End Portal.
"Wait, if it's activated, doesn't that mean someone been through it?" I asked. Silence.
"One way to find out." Husky (I don't know his name) said. Aspen stepped forward but quickly went back.
"We go together." I told them. One by one, we stepped up and jumped down into it.
Fulgur's POV
This girl seemed legit. Even though she worked for Enderbrine, she says she doesn't have a choice like a slave.
Arch knew her way around the woods. Pretty good for a 12 year old. A dead shot, too.
"So you want to help fight Enderbrine?" Arch asked.
"Yeah." I said flatly.
"I know some people. But…. I don't know where they are." Arch told me with a faraway look.
"I don't work well with people." I responded, using my fingers to make a Jacob's ladder.
"Can't help you then." Behind her there was a rustle. Without missing a beat, she snapped the head off an arrow and threw it behind her. The bush exploded and a dead wolf with red eyes flew out from behind it.
"Okay maybe a group wouldn't be so bad. Where's the last place you saw them?" I asked.
"Heading up that mountain." Arch pointed behind her. I fished through my pocket until I found what I was looking for. An ender pearl.
"Here. Attach it to your arrow. The one you ripped the head from." I said expressionless. Arch took some reeds and tied it to the shaft of the arrow. "You see where I'm going with this?" She nodded and stood up.
"Grab my hand." She ordered.
"I'm not touching you." I said as I grabbed her sleeve. Arch drew the bow back and fired. It flew surprisingly far but missed the top of the mountain and landed about ten feet below.
We disappeared and before I could register, we were in a cave near the top of the mountain.
"Oh, that makes me sick." I almost gagged and doubled over. I stood up and followed Arch out of the cave.
"Now we go up." She said.
Aspen's POV
I hated staying with groups. I mean, they're starting to grow on me but I still wish I could leave them behind and do it myself. But I know I can't.
Enderbrine had something to do with…. The incident. Whether it was a camera defect, it was him, or an Enderman, I don't care. When everyone was asleep I inspected all the pictures I had and in every shot there was a purple particle floating around somewhere. And in the every picture before he became…. Sick, the purple snowflake for closer and closer to him.
But one of that matters anymore. Cause we're going to kill Enderbrine.
"Okay. Xena, can you communicate with them?" Jesse whispered as we entered the portal.
"I don't know, I'll try though." She answered. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ryder slipping a ski mask over his head.
"Hey Argo, you know we aren't taking hostages, right?" I asked him.
"You didn't bring yours?" He responded.
"Enough, lets just get out of this hole!" Seto told us. The hole we were in was 9 meters wide and two meters tall.
Seto rubbed his hand together and purple mist came from them. His face twisted in agony and in front of him, armor stands complete with armor appeared. His face relaxed.
"Oh, okay." Jesse said. He grabbed a full set of iron armor. I grabbed leather, as did pretty much everyone else but Team Crafted.
"Guys, this might sting a little." Seto said. The nervousness in his voice made us uneasy. "Me and the Team are taking an alternate route. We'll take out the obsidian towers, you guys focus in the enderman." He said. Without warning, purple mist was sent out in a wave and we all fell down in pain. But as soon as it came it was gone.
"What the hell dude?" Ryder asked. "You could have at least given us a signal, I'm gonna piss magic now."
"It was a strength spell." Seto said. "We need to go. The trail is dug out." He jogged up stairs carved out of the (cool looking) end stone.
There was a heavy weight on my wrist so I looked at it. Attached to my wrist was a leather strap and on the other side was a sheath holding a knife about 8 inches long. I ran up the steps and saw a sight I think you see when you die. The sky was pitch black and Enderman were everywhere. The obsidian towers were burning something. But most noticeable was the dragon.
The Ender Dragon.
"Guys, this wasn't in the job description." I said. Jesse pulled out his two axes and walked to my side.
"We can't turn back. Right?" He looked at me.
"Right." All of us said in unison.
"Yeah, let's get out there and make a difference!" Ryder said an he unsheathed his katana and charged an Enderman. He sliced it cleanly on half and it disappeared.
Jesse ran and slid into a small pit with an Enderman. His axe was plunged into it's chest.
This might be easier than it looks, I thought. Until they started teleporting.
I pulled out my knife and tried to stab one. It teleported behind me and pushed me down. I turned on my back.
"Hi." I said, fumbling for an invisibility potion. Out of nowhere, Xena runs and jumps feet first and hits the Enderman.
"Oh, he'll kill me?" She asked. "That's nice." She drew her sword and sliced it's legs, leaving it for dead. She held her hand out for me to get up.
"Thank you." I told her.
"No problem." She said. I pulled out an invisibility potion and took a drink. I started to feel really fuzzy and it took effect. I ran up behind an Enderman trying to throw a block at Jesse, and stabbed his back. The knife went through and the mob disappeared.
"Aspen?" Jesse asked. "Keep doing what you're doing." He gave a thumbs up in the direction I am. He ran off.
I saw Team Crafted destroying the healer things on the towers as the dragon swooped down. We all hit the deck and waited for her to pass. When she did, the Endermen had the upper hand.
Ryder was surrounded and Jesse was being stared down. Xena was trying to hold her own but was being pushed to the edge. I wasn't seen so I wasn't attacked. I ran to Ryder and slashed the Endermen attacking him. They retreated and Ryder looked confused.
"Thank you, almighty force." He said.
"Dude, its me." I said before running off. Jesse was being stared down by an Enderman, frozen in fear. He had his own stone cold look but you could tell from his eyes he was afraid.
I threw my knife, not killing the Enderman but getting stuck in him. I ran and grabbed it out, stabbing it again.
Jesse saluted my invisible figure.
"Team's done destroying the towers." He said glancing in the direction of the dragon.
Then we heard a scream. We both looked over at Xena who was pushed against the edge of the End. Me and Jesse both sprinted towards the Enderman attacking her.
"You take the Enderman, I'll get Xena." I said to Jesse. Wait, did I just make plans to save the life of someone I barely know?
We got there just as Xena fell over the edge. I dove forward and grabbed her and and got a grip on a nook in the ground. Jesse jumped and sliced the head of the Enderman off.
Unfortunately, it landed on me causing me to lose my grip. I went weightless but felt a jolt in my arm and stopped moving again. I opened my still invisible eyes and saw Jesse hanging off the edge and holding onto the ground.
How he got my hand, I don't know.
"RYDER!" He yelled. "I NEED SOME HELP!" About ten seconds later, Ryder appeared.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Hanging over the edge here!" I told him.
"Right." He took Jesse's other hand and pulled us up. Jesse got up first and pulled me and Xena up.
"Xena. Why didn't you just teleport?" I asked.
"I'm running out of energy." She answered. "Thank you for getting to me." My effect wore off then. I was visible now.
I looked around and saw the Endermen retreated.
"Who's ready to fight the Ender Dragon?" Jesse asked.
Arch's POV
We reached the top of the mountain and saw a hole dug down into the stronghold tunnels.
I know you're asking "But what about earlier when you were afraid of angering Enderbrine, why aren't you afraid now?" Well the answer is simple. I have someone I might kind of trust by my side.
"Convenient." I said. "They found it." I jumped down after Fulgur and started following the torches.
I couldn't place it but the whole place looked strange. I'm not sure how.
In two hours we found the End Portal. And that's where they went unless they were just explorers.
"You willing to go through there?" I asked.
"You ready to kill the man who killed your parents?" I nodded.
"Then let's go." He said. "But don't expect me to protect you with my life. Don't expect it at all."
"Likewise." I responded.
"That's what I like to hear." Fulgur then ran to the portal and jumped in. I followed close behind.
After the brief moment of pain my vision cleared up. And we weren't in the End.
Back to back udpdate! I got way into this story and it might be my main one for a while so for whoever reads Mission, expect chapters soon!
Also, who can spot my continuity error from last chapter to here?
