Heyyyy nerds :3 I'm sorry, it's once again a Monday I'm posting on instead of an actual weekend :( But I managed to resist the temptation to skip ahead to after the battle dome, and wrote the dialogue out instead. Sorry if it sucks, I tried :/

Hope you enjoy this chapter! Happy Veterans Day everyone!

~ supergeek4life


I made a frantic sprint for the trees, punching away at it. The Skype call ended, and I received a call from my team members only. After accepting it, there was an awkward silence.

Finally, I decided to speak. "So, what exactly is our strategy here?"

"I have the obsidian. Once I get enough cobble and some decent iron armor, I'll start making a base," said Ian.

"No, don't even bother making iron stuff Ssundee," Preston said. "I'll get your share. You're covered."

"Wow. Thanks dude."

"Who's going to be in charge of food?" asked Ashley. I spotted a chicken, punching it to death with my spruce wood planks.

"Whoever wants to, I guess," I sighed. "I just punched a chicken to death, though."

"Alright, so Ryah's in charge of food," decided Mitch.

"What?! No! Why do I have to be in charge of food?"

"Because you just killed a chicken," he responded. Ian and Preston laughed.

"Jesus! Only because I saw it!" I shook my head as I crafted my first wooden pickaxe and began mining downward. I was worried, since in a typical Minecraft world you'd never actually mine downwards, since you could dig right into lava. But I figured that someone else had gone down the cave I had seen, and I wanted some supplies of my own.

"So, who's gonna be in charge of food?" Preston said.

"I guess I will," I muttered. "Just let me get iron gear though. Killing piggies will only take a few minutes."

"Alright, sure," said Preston.

I found some coal in my mine, digging up seven pieces. I kept digging downwards, and I heard Ashley's excited cry.

"Guys, I found a diamond!"

"No way," slurred Mitch.

"G.G," called Ian. "How did you find a freaking diamond?"

"I don't know," Ashley said, laughing. "I just went down that cave you could see from spawn."

"Well, aren't you guys glad I picked this side?" I commented, grinning as I found a few pieces of iron ore.

"Yeah," said Mitch. "Good job, Ryah."

"Thank you."

I kept digging as Ian and Ashley got a side conversation going about finding another diamond, and where they thought the others should mine to find one.

"Are you sure there isn't another diamond around?" questioned Ian.

"I checked in every possible spawn point," sighed Ashley.

"I call dibs on the diamond sword," called Mitch.

"What? No way," cried Preston.

"I found the diamond," said Ashley.

"Yeah, that's bull-shrimp."

"Whatever, I called it," said Mitch with a sassy tone. I giggled, falling into a cave system I had dug in.

"Has anyone found an abandoned mineshaft?" I asked.

They all replied no.

I continued to walk around the cave. I was only 17 blocks above the void, finding iron and coal everywhere. But nowhere could I spot diamonds. I found lava, and busted out my crafting table, making myself two furnaces to cook my iron ore.

"Guys, I found another diamond!" shouted Ashley, excited.

"Oh God," murmured Mitch. "She's gonna make that diamond sword doe."

"No!" called Preston, and I laughed.

"Relax. Someone else will probably find more diamonds," I said. "I found lava too, so there might be diamonds around here somewhere." I was surprised in the confident tone of my voice.

I continued around the cave system, mining ores when I spotted them. Suddenly, a message from Jerome popped up in the chat. "Mitch, time?"

I laughed, and everyone else stopped talking. A few seconds later, Ashley and Preston started cracking up too. Ian gave off a quick but loud chuckle, and there was not a sound from Mitch.

After we had all finished laughing, there was a lingering silence. Ashley decided to break that silence by slowly asking, "Mitch, time?"

"ARGHHHHHHH!" screamed Mitch, pounding his keyboard. We laughed even harder as he raged furiously into the mic. "I cannot believe it! You guys are such jags. Hold on."

I gave off another awkward giggle, then gathered my iron from the furnaces and started crafting myself armor and an iron pickaxe. Mitch typed into the chat that there was thirteen minutes remaining. It had taken us seven minutes to find two diamonds and enough iron for a full set of armor.

"Ian, do you have full iron?" I asked.

"No, not yet."

"TP to me, I have extras. I think we should start picking a location for the base."

"Okay, hold on." I could hear him typing away at his keyboard, and his Steve appeared in front of me. "Thanks, Ryah."

"No problem. Should I go to the surface and get food yet?"

"No," said Preston. "You're in a cave, right?"

"Yeah, me and Ryah are by lava."

"Me and Ashley and Mitch are in a cave too. Try looking for more diamonds."

"I highly doubt Ashley wants to make me a diamond sword…" inquired Mitch.

"No thanks," replied Ashley. I could picture her victorious smirk behind her screen.

"Wow. Thanks, friend," sobbed Mitch mockingly.

I crafted myself two buckets with the remaining iron, since all Ian needed were leggings and boots. I snagged some lava from the lava pool, and crafted myself another bucket to get some water.

"Ian, make buckets for lava and water," I said.

"Yeah, I know dude," he said.

"Mitch, time!" shouted Preston.

"Eleven and a half minutes," he replied. "Ohhhhh baby! Guess who just found two diamonds!"

"Ashley?" Preston asked.

"No, you noob! I did!"

"I already have a diamond sword, so…" said Ashley, quiet. "I found a third diamond though, so whoever finds the next one can get a diamond sword. Assuming it's not Mitch."

"I bet I'll find it," I muttered. Carrying half of the remaining iron, I set out along the lava lake to look for diamonds.

"I found an emerald," said Ian. I laughed.

"An emerald? What good is that gonna do?"

"Absolutely nothing," responded Mitch.

I began digging around, and eventually found the prize: three glimmering diamonds.

"GUYYYSSS! I found diamonds!"

"Really?" cried Preston. "Only me and Ian haven't found diamonds yet."

I triumphantly mined them up, slipping them into my inventory, where no one could take them. I sprinted back out towards the furnaces, collecting them with my pickaxe and punching out my crafting table. I then made a mad scramble for the surface, stacking cobblestone beneath me as I dug towards the surface. As I finally reached dirt and reached sunlight, I heard Preston shout. "Ryah! I found one diamond! Can I please get the other one?"

I smirked. "Maybe."

"Awww, come on man," whined Preston. "You can't do that to professional YouTubers."

I scoffed. "Please. I can't believe you're using that against me."

"Just one extra diamond, Ryah. Pwease?"

"Fine, whatever. Don't TP to me yet, though." I set out my crafting table, crafting myself a diamond sword and then picking the crafting table back up. I began sprinting around, searching for mobs. I killed three cows, five chickens, and two pigs, as well as gathered two eggs. "Hey, has anyone made a bow yet?"

"No. I haven't found any damn spiders," said Ashley.

"Yeah, now bows yet," said Ian.

"Fine. I have food, anyway."

"That's all G," said Mitch.

I managed to find a few more mobs, and grabbed a few more sticks. I looked into the cave, hoping for some spiders. There were none, so I hoped and prayed that someone would find an abandoned mineshaft with cobwebs in it. I made some arrows, since I had dug up some gravel on my way down. There was no hope of making a bow without string.

I set out my furnaces beneath a tree, cooking up the raw foods I had collected.

"Mitch, time!" called Ashley.

"I hate you guys…" Mitch mumbled. "See? Ian and Ryah are nice."

I smiled softly. "Mitch, time," we said in unison.

"Wow. Everyone hates me." We all laughed a little. "Oh God! There's only six minutes left until we can start killing people!"

"Ian, better get started on that base," I said.

"Already on it. Once you're done, TP to me dudes."

I watched the furnaces steadily cook the materials, running after a pig and swiftly killing it with a critical hit. I stuck it in the furnace with the other raw porkchops, when Ashley TP'd to me.

"I'm taking the cooked chickens," Ashley told me.

"Fine, go ahead," I said. She vanished in an instant, probably teleporting to Ian. Preston teleported to me, crouching near me.

"Ryah, please give me a diamond."

I sighed. "Whatever. You're glad I'm nice." I dropped the diamond from my inventory, and he walked forward quickly to pick it up. My eyes widened in surprise when he, like Ashley, quickly vanished from my view. "Geez. A quick thank you would be nice."

"Thank you," he droned, and I smirked.

After the steaks and cooked porkchops had finished cooking, I gathered my furnaces and teleported to Ian. The base was made high off the ground, rather large with walls made of stone. Three furnaces had already been placed, along with a large chest and a crafting table.

"Hey, should we go to mid and get enchants?" asked Mitch. I didn't know. Going to mid was risky, but I had seven levels.

"Yeah. I have five levels," said Ian.

"I have five too," said Ashley.

"I have, like, two," said Mitch. "But let's go anyway."

"I have seven," I added. "Food is in the chest." I left two pieces of steak for me, in case I got hungry during the battle."

"Thanks, Ryah," said Ian. "Who's going to stay here with me?"

"I will," said Mitch. "I only have two levels."

"Give me your sword," I told Mitch. "I can enchant it for you."

"Thanks," Mitch said, dropping his diamond sword for me. It sailed into my inventory.

"Let's go now," Ashley said, placing a water bucket off the edge of the platform. "We might not need this if we can still teleport."

I jumped down the water, Preston and Ashley following me. Off in the distance, you could see a similar cobblestone platform belonging to Ty, Tyler, Adam, Jerome, and Jason. You couldn't actually see the people, but I figured they were probably on top of the base by now.

I sprinted down to the center, towards the enchanting table. I got there first, enchanting my helmet, chestplate, leggings, sword, and boots, then enchanting Mitch's sword.

"I have extra levels," I told the two. "Tell me if you want me to enchant anything."

"Wait, Ryah," called Ian. "Come back by the water. I want you to enchant my iron sword."

"Okay." I ran back to the waterfall, waiting for Ian to drop his sword. But he didn't. "Ian, what the heck? Where's your sword?"

"I threw it down, dude."

"You did not. By the water, right?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, Ryah? I may or may not have taken it," said Mitch.

I sighed. "Hurry up and throw it down. How much time do we have?"

"Two minutes," said Mitch. He typed it in the chat, probably terrifying our opponents.

After enchanting Ian's sword, I teleported back to the base. I waited for Preston and Ashley to finish, then we all gathered as Ian placed the obsidian near the center.

"Are we going to rush them?" asked Mitch.

"I think we should," I said. "It'd take them by surprise. And also it'd be pretty funny."

"Yeah, let's do it," said Preston.

We waited it out, and I have Ian and Mitch back their swords. Both had sharpness one enchants. I had gotten protection one for all my armor, except for the boots, which had feather falling.

Finally, Mitch began counting down. "Thirty more seconds. Everybody slash heal right now." I typed it in, and my hunger bars were restored. Mitch quickly typed into the chat to heal a final time, and that the battle was beginning.

"Alright, CHARGE!" screamed Preston. He jumped off of the platform, slipping down the water.

"I'll stay here and defend," said Ian with a laugh. "You guys go ahead."

"Awww, Ian. Are you sure?" asked Mitch.

"Yeah, just go and kick some butt!"

Ashley hopped down the waterfall, and I followed before Mitch. "I hope everyone grabbed their food," I said.

"I didn't," said Preston. "Just YOLO it!"

I laughed. "Idiot."

"Hey, once again you have no right to say that to a pro YouTuber."

I smiled. "You are so glad you're on my team. I'd kick your butt."

"Ha. Yeah, it'd be the other way around."

"Fine, prove it." I was prepared to fight him for my dignity, even if only a couple people at school now knew my name.

"Hey, guys, don't backstab your teammates," Ian said. I laughed.

We sprinted past the enchanting table, heading in the general direction of our base. Ashley had waited behind Preston and I so Mitch could catch up. I followed the lava mob into the mountains.

"Hey, are they sniping us?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Oh my God, they're sniping us!"

"They must've found that damn abandoned mineshaft."

"It's okay, we can still win."

The four of us approached the base. Three unsuspecting victims sat upon the platform, waiting for our attack. Preston began stacking cobblestone upwards, and I followed suit, shifting. Mitch and Ashley followed our lead.

"We probably should all dig through at the same time," I offered.

"Good idea," said Ashley. "We can get them at the same time, so if one of us dies, there'll be three more to replace them."

We continued shifting, building towards the base. "Hey, Ian. Anything going on?"

"No, except two of them are enchanting. That isn't that big of a deal though."

"God, too bad we don't have bows. You could've been sniping right now."

"I'm a terrible shot. They would've run away before I could kill them. And they'd probably regen all their hearts before I saw them again."

"Whatever you say."

We had reached the top of the platform.

"Okay, as soon as you dig through, stack up immediately," commanded Mitch. "Everyone ready? Three, two one… GO!"

I mined through the cobblestone floor with my iron pick, stacking upwards above the other team. Adam, Jason, and Tyler began swiping at us with iron swords. I shouted in fear as Log slashed away at me, leaving me at two hearts. But before he could strike me again, Preston jumped on him and killed him with a crit. I laughed, glad I had survived. Mitch had managed to kill Adam and Jason, but Ashley was dead.

"Ashley," Preston droned, making tsk-ing noises. "How did you die?"

"I don't know!" she cried. "He had an iron sword, and I had a diamond one. I guess I just suck at PVP."

Preston laughed. "We'll avenge you."

"Hey Ian," I called. "Go after Ty and Jerome. We killed everyone in the base, so we're going back to spawn right now to back you up."

"Alright," said Ian. "I'm going down now."

"Crap," I muttered, searching my inventory. "I forgot to grab a water bucket."

"I have one," said Preston. He placed the water at the edge of the platform, and we all hopped into the waterfall. I hit the ground, sprinting towards spawn. There, Jerome and Tyler were nowhere to be found.

"Ian!" Mitch called. "Where'd they go?"

"I don't know dude…"

Suddenly, I was losing hearts quickly. I turned and swung my diamond sword at Jerome, and Preston joined in. Somehow, with half a heart remaining, the two of us managed to kill him. But when I turned behind me, Mitch was dead. In his place, Ian was hammering away at Ty, but to no avail. Ian died also, screaming in rage along with Mitch while Ashley laughed. I made a final attempt, with three hearts remaining, to kill the final opponent. And with one critical hit, I did.

"YES!" I cheered. "I AM THE BEST AT PVP! COME AT ME BRO!"

"GG!" cried Ian. "But you and Preston gotta battle it out now."

"I'm adding everyone back to the Skype call," said Mitch.

I wasted no time. Only seconds after my celebration, I turned on my teammate in a desperate attempt for victory. He hit me twice, but apparently I dealt more damage because the lava creeper fell before my eyes.

"IIIII AM THE CHAMMMPION! MY FRIENDDDDS!" I sung, oddly happy.

"I cannot believe I just got killed by a noob," sighed Preston.

"Haha! Suck it!"

"Oh my God, we got dominated," whined Jason.

"Yeah, that sucked," said Jerome. "I demand a rematch."

"Nope," said Mitch, confident. "No sumatori today."

"Awww, come on!" said Jerome. "No sumatori?"

"No. We won fair and square," said Ian.

"Well, GG everyone," said Tyler.

"GG," I said, drawing it out. I hopped into creative mode, flying up above the ruins of the other team's platform.

"Oh God, that was embarrassing," droned Jerome.

"Well, anyway guys, that was battle dome with Mitch, Jerome, Preston, Ian, Ashley, Jason, Ty, Log, and Ryah, and I'll see you guys later!"

"Bye!" called Ashley.

"See ya!" added Mitch.

There was a silence as recording equipment was turned off. I continued flying around, watching as people stood still then came back to life. Suddenly, my game mode was turned to survival, and I fell from the sky to my death.

"Hey! Who did that?" I killed Adam and Preston with my fists.

"It wasn't f*cking me!" screamed Adam.

"Geez, Ryah! Didn't you have enough fun killing me already?"

I grinned. "Then who was it?"

"It was me."

"God, Mitch," said Jerome. "Anyways, I gotta go. See you guys later!"

Others began leaving the call, some because they had plans and other people to edit their footage. I felt bad, since I was one of the few people who had not recorded the battle. I had no intention of creating videos just yet though…

"Ryah, people loved you on the Splegg video!" Jason said. "Seriously."

"I still can't believe it," I said. "People actually liked my commentary."

"You don't talk that much," Jason said. "But enough so that it's entertaining."

"You honestly think so?"

"Yeah, I thought you were pretty impressive."

I smiled to myself. This day was just getting better and better.

Eventually, everyone left the call except Jason and I. I was left alone with a YouTuber I had fangirled over for hours.

"Ryah? Adam told me about how you're… not that social. Honestly, I can hardly imagine that since you seemed so comfortable in front of the mic. I cannot imagine you not being sarcastic and confident with the people around you."

My heart stopped. Adam had told him about that?

"I know that you probably didn't want anyone to know. But Adam promises he'd tell no one else. It's just that I asked. I promise I won't tell a soul, okay?"
I was quiet, then took a deep breath. "I'd rather not have anyone know about this anyway. I only have a few friends who are Team Crafted fangirls, and sometimes I can seem a little uptight. But being in a video when hardly anyone from my school knows my name is my freedom. I can be however loud and obnoxious I want to be, or me generous and nice if I want. It's like my alter ego. At school, I'm the quiet girl who sits in the corner reading when everyone is laughing and chatting. I'm the person who, up until a few weeks ago, sat in the hallway during lunch and recess with earplugs instead of friends. I guess I'm just not that used to trusting people. I'm sorry if I'm suspicious, but I've been backstabbed before. I don't want to take that risk again."
"Well, the only way to move on is to take risks."
"And I'm not ready for that."
"Not ready? Being on YouTube with people like us is a risk. Maybe you're more ready than you think you are."

"I'm probably not."

"Don't doubt yourself, Ryah. You know me and the guys will do everything to try and help you."

I was still slightly skeptical, but I felt good about his reassurance. "Thanks, Jason. I know you guys will."

"If you ever need someone to chat with, I'll message you my number."

"Really? Thanks!"

"Anytime. Just know that you can trust us, and that most of us will be there for you."
"Thanks. You don't know how much this means to me."

I imagined him smirking behind the screen. "You've got potential, Ryah. Don't be afraid to use it. Take a risk once in a while. Anyways, I've gotta go. But who knows? Maybe one day, you'll finally have enough trust to feel accepted."


Hehe, and hence the ending of chapter 12! Jason is pretty cool. I wish I knew him :( anyways, review, follow, or favorite if you enjoyed, and/or want the next chapter ON AN ACTUAL WEEKEND INSTEAD OF A MONDAY! xP Thanks again nerds for all the support, and cya next week!