Wow! I can't believe we're already in the teens!
Chocobo5000: I'd love to write about Access Denied, but I haven't got any of the episodes past Order Up. As I have said in the Authors Notes before, I don't want to spoil by watching it on YouTube (like my sister did), so until I buy the next episodes, this story will only go up to Episode Four. I'll probably make a sequel once I get the next episodes and write about them watching it.
Movie Mode
Episode Two: Assembly Required
Part Thirteen: Soren's Fortress
It was dark, as the screen came down to show the group of eight making their way through the woods. They kept close together for obvious reasons.
"Okay, everyone, let's get moving." said Jesse, who was in front of the group. They walked in silence for a few moments.
"Jesse, right?" Ellegaard spoke up suddenly. Jesse looked at her in surprise.
"Oh. Hello."
"We haven't had the chance to acquaint ourselves properly." said Ellegaard, "I heard you saved your friend Petra from this Witherstorm. Sounds like you're a pretty impressive individual."
"Oh." said Real-Jesse, "Thank you."
"Picks fights with lots of monsters?"
"I'm just doing my best to keep everyone safe." said Jesse.
"I can always appreciate humility. I like you." said Ellegaard, "Innn any case, I sort of wish you had taken my side earlier, but... water under the bridge and all that."
"I probably would have said we should leave immediately if I'd seen the Witherstorm for myself." Ellegaard admitted. Magnus crossed his arms.
"See? I told you!"
"Don't be so full of yourself."
They were now in a kind of formation: Reuben took the lead now, followed by Jesse with Magnus on one side and Ellegaard on the other. Petra was just behind them, Lukas in front of Olivia, who took up the rear with Axel.
"Slight tangent," said Ellegaard, "What's the, ah, 'deal' with your friend Olivia?" she glanced over her shoulder at the assistant, who was smiling, unable to hear what was going on at the front, "I appreciate her enthusiasm, but she can be a little... much, sometimes?"
Olivia's shoulders slumped. Lukas patted her back.
"She's always very eager to jump in and help. Which is sweet, of course, though sometimes I wish she would think a bit more before jumping in."
"Olivia's one of my best friends." said Jesse, looking slightly annoyed, "She's smart and she always has a plan."
Olivia smiled at him, "Thanks, Jesse."
"Ellegaard may be the greatest engineer of all time," said Jesse, "But I don't care if she's the Queen of the World; no one gets to talk about you- or any of my friends- like that. If she's got a problem, she can discuss it with you herself."
Ellegaard rubbed the back of her neck, "I suppose he's got a point. I'm sorry about talking about you like that, behind your back no less."
Olivia looked at the Onscreen-Ellegaard sadly, before glancing back at the real one, "It's okay. I think I was eager to prove myself to you and tripped over my feet while doing it."
"Oh, wow, interesting." said Ellegaard, "So... why didn't you listen to her plan to come and recruit me?"
"Aw," said Magnus, giving the engineer a cheesy grin, "Are you jwealous?"
"No," Ellegaard pushed him out of her face, "I am not jealous." Magnus cackled.
"Sure ya aren't, Ellie. Sure ya aren't."
"Not to make it awkward or anything. Or to demand 'why didn't you want to recruit me?'" Ellegaard gave a small laugh.
Jesse shrugged, "I figured that we needed firepower, and no one knows destruction better than Magnus."
"The man does know how to blow things up with reckless abandon, that's for sure." said Ellegaard, "I'll do my best not to let it hurt my feelings." she chuckled, "Joke. That was a joke."
"A very bad one." Magnus declared. Ellegaard rolled her eyes.
A noise cut through the air and Lukas stopped, turning around to see what it was. His eyes widened and the noises continued, everyone else turning around to see what it was. Monsters were coming out. Thousands of them as well.
"Uh oh." said Ellegaard, "This is why we should've stayed the night."
"You just agreed that it was better to leave immediately." pointed out Petra, "You can't go back on it now."
Zombies groaned as they limped by, skeletons searching for something to use their bows on, creepers silently slinking about, eager to find something to blow up.
"Yep." said Ellegaard, "Exactly what I worried about. And exactly why we should have waited til morning!"
"At least the Witherstorm isn't tearing us apart right now, all right?" shrugged Magnus.
Jesse looked over his shoulder as a spider came down from a tree, losing its web and landing on the ground. Its eight red eyes glowed in the dark, bum in the air as it sensed humans nearby. Jesse turned away from the hoard of monsters that they'd been looking at.
"Well, we can hash all that out later, because we've got some monsters to fight here, people!" Magnus, Ellegaard and Reuben turned to face the direction Jesse was facing, Lukas, Olivia, Petra and Axel facing the other direction so that they were back to back.
Lukas drew his bow, Petra drew her sword and Jesse took out his own sword. It appeared that they were the only ones with weapons.
"We should have made more weapons before we left." said Ellegaard, "I mean, a wooden sword each is a lot better than nothing."
They ran off into the fight.
Jesse looked left and right at all the monsters, before advancing on a zombie that was heading towards him. In the background, you could see Petra and Lukas holding their own. But as Jesse approached the zombie, one suddenly became three as two more showed up. He quickly backed away to avoid getting hit, slashing as them with his sword. An explosion went off, revealing that while Magnus didn't have a sword, he sure had a lot of bombs.
One more hit killed the first zombie, and another hit had the second vanishing into a smoke. Jesse grinned, knocking the third zombie down and stabbing it.
"Yeah, that's the way to do it!" cheered Axel.
"It's gonna be light soon!" he called to the others, "We're gonna be okay!" The others appeared behind him, perhaps hurt but alive, and they began running.
"Man, I miss daytime." said Olivia.
"How far is Soren's?" Axel asked.
"It has to be close, right?" questioned Petra.
"Not much farther!" answered Jesse, "We can make it!" They continued running, right in the direction of a tall mountain in the distance.
"That's gotta be it, right?" asked Lukas.
The screen cut to show them climbing up the mountain, to where Reuben stood at the top in front of two large, shiny double doors. It blacked out.
"Yup, that's it!" Lukas exclaimed, "We made it!"
"Give it here, Lukas!" said Jesse, holding his hand up for a high-five. Lukas grinned and did just that, he and Jesse quickly doing the same with the others on the floor.
The screen came back on to show the doors opening and Jesse walking in, looking around in awe. It was the strangest place he'd ever been in, stairs making up most of it for mere decoration. They were upside down and right-side up to make the room nearly diamond-shaped, and a bridge went from the door to a staircase on the other end.
"Oh, wow," said Maya, "That's impressive. Why didn't we think of that?"
"Soren really lived down here?" asked Lukas, as they made their way across the bridge, "So far from... anyone."
"Maybe he had a pig to keep him company." said Jesse, rubbing Reuben's head.
Soren smiled, "Well, not a pig exactly."
"Enchanting, isn't it?" said Ellegaard.
"Was that sarcasm?" asked Soren. No one answered.
Petra suddenly started coughing, causing Jesse to turn around with wide eyes, looking at her in concern. But it quickly passed and Petra straightened, following the others past Jesse, who's gaze followed her.
Olivia frowned, "That doesn't sound good. Let's hope your not coming down with something."
Petra shrugged, "It's probably just a small cold. None of us seem to be living in much comfort the past couple days. It'll pass."
They made their way up the stairs, only to come to a huge black hole, the tops of columns around it. Another golden double door stood gleaming on the other side. The abyss, however, was a long way down and wore a shawl of pitch darkness.
"Wow." said Jesse, "You- How did you- Why?"
"That," Soren said, "You can blame Magnus for."
"Why do you three always blame me?" asked Magnus bitterly.
"Maybe because it usually is your fault." said Ellegaard. Magnus scowled at her.
"Yeah," said Lukas, "And I'm reeeally not feeling those columns..."
"Aw, come on!" Magnus said, jumping and landing on the closest one, "It's fine! Look!"
Axel was quick to jump with a grin and a "Whoo-hoo!" When he landed, the column didn't even shift.
"Well," said Petra, "I suppose if it can support Axel, it'll support the rest of us."
"I feel like I should be offended." said Axel.
After a moment, Olivia followed him, Lukas coming in after her, then Petra and Ellegaard. Magnus was already halfway across. Reuben looked up at Jesse, shaking in fear.
"Just... don't fall, okay?" said Jesse, stepping back to take a running jump. He landed on the column, quickly followed by Reuben, barely stopping from going over the edge. Jesse swallowed, "Oh... that is a deep. That is very, very deep." They backed away.
Jesse turned to the next column, jumping to it, quickly doing the same to the next and the next, but as he reached the next one his foot slipped and he grabbed onto the edge with one hand, dangling over who knows how far a drop.
"Jesse!" half the audience cried.
"Whoa!" yelled Jesse, trying to pull himself up, but he didn't have a good enough grip on the rocks and he fell. Jesse landed painfully in a small patch of light, which came from a sea-lamp in the floor. Reuben landed next to him.
"What's Reuben doing there?" asked Jesse, "I didn't see him fall."
"He must have jumped after you." said Olivia, relived that Jesse and Reuben hadn't been killed by the fall. Now they just had to find a way out.
Jesse got to his feet, only to spot a tall dark figure with a purple aurora, picking up a block. It was an Enderman.
Olivia squeaked, instinctively covering her eyes.
"Oh, no." said Axel. No one could bring themselves to look at the screen properly, settling for turning their heads away but keeping their eyes on it to see what's happening. Olivia, however, didn't uncover her eyes.
Jesse and Reuben quickly hid behind some blocks, which were a light grey color. "Oh, man." said Jesse, as he watched the large group of Endermen wandering about, "We've got Endermen."
The screen zoomed out a little, revealing that the place was crawling with the teleporters. Reuben squealed in fright, as suddenly someone else fell and landed on top of the sea-lamp with a yell. Lukas climbed to his feet.
"Lukas?" said Jesse, surprised, "You fell too?"
"I heard your voice," Lukas said, dusting himself off, "And I thought I'd come down to help."
"Jee, thanks, Lukas." Jesse said, "You don't have to do that."
Lukas shrugged, "Yeah, well, you didn't have to come back for me back at Ivor's basement. Or give me your cookie. Or stop me from leaving. And I could probably list off some other stuff if I thought for a moment."
Hearing the tall monsters, Lukas looked over his shoulder, eyes widening, "Endermen."
"There are so many of them." said Jesse, "I didn't think they ever came in groups that big." He turned to Lukas, "Thanks for coming back, Lukas. I mean that." Reuben's squealing pierced the air before Lukas could answer.
"Hear that?" said Jesse, "I think Reuben's trying to get our attention." He looked over his shoulder in search of his pig, only to come face to face with an Enderman. It's mouth opened, it started shaking and it began to screech, as Jesse gave a startled yell and fell onto his back.
The watchers jumped, some yelling.
"Oh, they're gonna die." groaned Olivia, "They're gonna die, they're gonna die."
"Not helping, Olivia." said Jesse.
Lukas screamed, running out of sight. The Enderman continued screeching, staring right at Jesse, as the other Endermen around it too began screeching and shaking, enraged at the intruders. Jesse got to his feet and drew his sword, but he and Reuben were surrounded, and there were too many of them.
One tried to grab him, but Jesse jumped to the side, only to reach a ledge and fall over with a scream, landing into a rushing river.
"It's okay!" exclaimed Soren, "He's safe as long as he's in the water!"
Jesse resurfaced, looking up at the screeching Endermen watching him from where they stood on the dry ledge. Lukas appeared, an Enderman right behind him, and he jumped in the river after Jesse with a scream of his own. Jesse looked back up at the ledge to see Reuben, watching them with wide eyes, "Reuben! Jump!"
The pig immediately obeyed, jumping in with a squeal, surfacing just behind Jesse and Lukas. The river carried them along.
The screen changed to show a waterfall someplace else, and Jesse, Lukas and Reuben came falling from it with screams. They landed with a splash in a large body of water.
Jesse resurfaced, his eyes widening as he took in the room. It was huge, and just beyond the water was a statue of the amulet, an even better one than the one at the Orders old temple. To the right were two statues decorated with light blue and red, and to the left were another two statues, these ones decorated with green and white.
"Soren," said Gabriel, "That is fantastic. It's even better than the one we had at the temple!"
"I know, isn't it?" Soren said, grinning, "So very much better than that crappy glass one."
Jesse swam after Lukas and Reuben, towards the statues. Magnus could be heard by them.
"Oh, be quiet, it's just a pointless building. That's all I'm saying. I mean, just look at-"
"That's it!" Ellegaard exclaimed, cutting him off, as the three climbed up onto dry land, "I'm going." She turned around, marching towards a hallway between the statue of Gabriel and herself.
"Oh, no, no, no!" said Magnus, "You do not get to be the one who walks away." When Ellegaard didn't say anything, Magnus growled, "That's it! I'm going." He turned around and went down a different hallway, this one between the statue of himself and Soren.
Gabriel gave a long-suffering sigh.
"See!" Magnus said, as the screen zoomed out to show both him and Ellegaard, leaving the others looking from right to left, "I'm walking away too, now! 'Super TNT' here I come!" Then they were both gone.
Olivia shook her head, "It's hard to pick 'glass half full' when they keep kicking the glass over."
Lukas sighed, "And I thought they were doing so well."
"Yeah," said Olivia, "I wouldn't go that far."
"They've definitely got issues to work through." Jesse said, "But hopefully they'll work things out and got on with the important stuff."
Magnus and Ellegaard decided to not comment, although Magnus scoffed.
"What are we gonna do now?" asked Olivia, as those remaining spread out, "Where should we go?"
Jesse looked to the hall Ellegaard went down, then to the one Magnus went down, "Let's figure it out..." Bats flew about above them.
Lukas was looking around with wide eyes and a large smile. As Jesse came up to him, he turned, looking up at the statue of the amulet, high above the ground. Then he turned to the statues, the screen passing over the one decorated in white, "Soren the builder," It passed over the one in green, "Magnus the rouge," now it showed the one in red, "Ellegaard the engineer," and finally, the one in light blue, "Gabriel the warrior..." Lukas finally turned to him.
"Jesse, isn't this incredible? I can't believe we're actually here." As Lukas turned back to admiring the architecture, Jesse turned to Axel.
"If they made a statue of me," Axel said, gesturing to the statues, "I wouldn't choose that pose. I'd look like this." He put his arms in the air, flexing his biceps. Jesse grinned, playing along and flexing his own muscles. They stopped when they saw Olivia watching them, Jesse giving her a sheepish grin. Olivia just looked unimpressed.
Real-Olivia rolled her eyes, "Boys."
Jesse walked over to her, but Olivia spoke before he could say anything, "Hey, Jesse?"
"Yeah?"
"It's Petra." Olivia looked over to the other girl, who was sitting on a bit of raised floor, Reuben at her feet, "She... I don't know, doesn't seem right. I tried asking but she... Well, maybe she'll talk to you?"
"I'll see what I can do." said Jesse.
"This super TNT feels like such a long shot." Olivia continued now that that was out of the way.
"Well," Jesse rubbed the back of his neck, "We're trusting Ellegaard on this one, so maybe are chances are better, right?"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" asked Magnus.
"It means," said Ellegaard, lips twitching in a smirk, "That your ideas are almost always dumb and death-defying."
Magnus growled at her.
Onscreen, Olivia gave a small shrug.
Jesse walked over to Petra, "Hey, Perta."
"Hey."
Jesse frowned, concerned, "You... okay?"
Petra shrugged and didn't say anything else. Now that they had a proper look at her, she seemed a little pale, with light bags under her eyes.
"You really don't look that good, Petra." said Olivia, "Maybe we should find some help."
"I'm sure I'll be better in no time." Petra objected, "It's just a small bug, I'm sure of it."
Having seemingly given up on finding out what was wrong with Petra (for now, at least), Jesse looked from the tunnel to the left to the tunnel to the right, brow furrowed in thought. Finally, he made his way to the one on the left, which had been the one Ellegaard had taken.
"Ha!" said Ellegaard, "They chose to follow me."
Magnus crossed his arms, grumbling with a scowl.
Before Jesse could lead them after Ellegaard, Petra came up behind him, tapping him on the shoulder.
"Petra?" asked Jesse, looking at her in a mix of confusion and concern, "Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry." she said, "I don't mean to worry you." Petra glanced at the others, who were standing just behind he and Jesse, "I've got something I want to discuss with you in private."
Lukas, Olivia and Axel frowned, looking at Jesse and Petra in confusion.
"Why can't you tell us?" asked Axel, quickly covering up his hurt. Petra looked at him apologetically.
"I'm sorry, big guy. If I'm not willing to tell the whole group, it must be something big."
"Do you think it has something to do with her not looking so good?" asked Maya.
Gill shrugged, "Dunno. I suppose we'll just have to wait and find out."
Onscreen, Jesse looked at her for a moment, before seeming to come to a decision and turning to the others, "Let's split up."
Albeit reluctantly, Olivia, Axel and Lukas turned around and began walking down the way Magnus went without comment or objection. Jesse, Petra and Reuben walked down the hall where Ellegaard had vanished. The screen went dark for a moment.
Axel opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and shut it, shaking his head. Petra wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. No one knew what to say, so they said nothing.
The screen came back on to show Petra leading the way down a tall, dark hallway, Reuben taking up the rear. They walked in silence, Jesse patiently waiting for Petra to start speaking. Finally, she turned to him.
"I feel bad about ditching everyone else, but I just wanted to talk to you about this alone. It's... a little tough to talk about."
Most of the watchers frowned, but no one commented.
"And Axel can get a little... explode-y sometimes."
Axel sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the top of the coffee table sadly. Jesse put a hand on his shoulder, whispering to him, "Only because you care." Giving him a small, grateful smile, Axel returned to the screen. If anyone overheard them, they said nothing.
"Hey, whatever it is... I trust you. You can tell me." said Jesse. Petra gave him a grateful smile.
"Thanks for being so understanding." They turned a corner, before Petra continued.
"You got me away from the Withrstorm..." she came to stop, Jesse doing the same a second later, "But I'm worried I didn't get away soon enough."
"Petra?" said Olivia, cocking her head to the side in confusion. Real-Petra paled as she finally realized what was wrong.
Jesse's eyes widened in surprise, "What?"
In answer, Petra pulled up her sleeve, showing that the skin on her arm had turned a purple, brightening as it got to the middle. It appeared to be some sort of nasty bruise, but no one had ever seen a bruise like this before, and if you looked closely, you'd see that her veins were purple too. Jesse looked taken aback. "It showed up not too long after you saved me..."
"Oh my god." gaped Lukas, "I- I thought it was a myth or something."
"What?" asked Axel, "Thought what was a myth? What's wrong with Petra?"
"Holy crap- What are we doing down here?" asked Jesse, "We need to get you help!"
"I don't know if there's anything we can do, Jesse." Petra said. She was silent for a moment, "Do you know what Wither is?"
"The Wither? Of course." said Jesse, frowning in obvious confusion, "We've been-"
"No, Jesse." Petra cut him off, "Just 'Wither.' Or 'Wither Sickness,' I guess."
"Wither Sickness?" said Olivia quietly, eyes wide.
Petra looked a the ground, "And... I feel like it's just going to keep getting worse."
"Well, we're going to go back and tell the others." said Jesse, "We can get help-"
"You can't tell anyone about this." Petra cut him off again. Before either of them could say anything, a creeper suddenly appeared, hissing as it prepared to explode.
Olivia jumped, Lukas giving a startled yell. Maya and Gill accidentally bumped heads.
"Ah! Creeper!" yelled Petra, running away before it could explode in her face. Jesse wasn't quite as fast.
The creeper exploded, creating a large hole in the floor. Jesse grabbed on to the ledge, Petra and Reuben appearing in front of him. "Grab my hand!" Petra said, reaching out, "I'll pull you up."
Jesse grabbed her hand and Petra began to pull him up, but their fingers slipped and Jesse fell down into the hole with a yell, landing with an "Oof!"
Half the audience gasped, the other half's eyes widening in surprise.
The amulet bounced out of Jesse's pocket, giving off a dark blue glow, and landing a few feet away from Jesse. It's glow lit up the darkness.
"Blue?" said Olivia. Then, eyes widening, "Blue! Ivor's nearby!"
Ivor gave long, suffering sigh. Great. More screen time.
Jesse got to his feet, looking up at the two above him.
"Jesse!" said Petra, looking scandalized, "I just couldn't... I'm sorry!"
Jesse took a moment to answer, blinking in surprise and probably sore all over after having fallen from a great height in the span on an hour, if even that. "Jesse? Are you okay?" Beside her, Reuben whined.
"Hey, you're the one that's sick." said Jesse, "Take care of yourself first. I'll be okay."
Petra got to her feet, glancing at Reuben, "Okay... I got this." she looked back down at Jesse, "Stay safe. I'll find a way down to you." She turned and began making her way back down the tunnel, probably going after the others. Reuben looked down at Jesse, whining sadly, before reluctantly turning and following Petra, leaving Jesse in the dark hole with nothing but a golden sword, a bow and a glowing amulet.
Jesse took in his surroundings, but there wasn't much to take in. The floor was littered with huge holes. He walked over to the amulet- which had thankfully not fallen down the hole it was next to- and picked it up, finally seeming to register the blue glow. He looked ahead of him, but there was only darkness.
"Oh, please be all right, Jesse." Olivia muttered. All this watching-her-friends-in-danger-while-she-was-helpless-to-do-anything was starting to stress her out.
Jesse started making his way forward, avoiding the gaping holes in the floor. There were no lights, but there was also no monsters, just him and his little glowing amulet. He walked for a long while, before finally coming to some sort of archway.
The amulet's glow faded a little as they came into a brightly lit room, Jesse squinting at the sudden light and giving a moment for his eyes to adjust. When they finally did, they widened in surprise. The room was huge, even bigger than the place with the statues and where they'd all split up at, and there was glowstone on every surface. It appeared to be some sort of ginormous library.
"Wow." said Lukas, "That is a lot of books. Who needs that many books? I mean, no offence to bookworms or anything, but holey cow that is a lot."
Onscreen, Jesse walked deeper into the library, looking around in awe. In the center of the room, on the floor, was yet another amulet-themed decoration.
"He seriously likes that amulet, doesn't he?" muttered Petra, so only Axel could hear. He nodded in agreement.
Spotting a wide gap between two bookcases, Jesse made his way up some stairs towards it, coming to another room. Someone passed over the screen, too close for anyone to make out who it was, and Jesse took a step back in surprise.
"Is that Soren?" said Ellegaard. Soren shook his head.
"Can't be. Otherwise the amulet would have glowed white not... uh oh."
Jesse walked into the room, spotting a figure with their back to him, looking through a smaller bookshelf. He was talking to himself. "He must have something useful in here! He has to! Why would he have so many books? Was he just... collecting them? He can't have read all of these..."
Soren shrugged.
"Uh, hello there?" Jesse finally spoke up. The figure turned around, revealing that it was indeed Ivor.
"You!" the villain snapped, "Trying to interfere with my plans again, I see." Jesse glared at him, as Ivor marched towards him, "Your tenacity is commendable, but misguided. You found your way here, so now you may find it back out again. Immediately."
"Ivor, just calm down, okay?" said Jesse, "I think we're here for the same reason. I'm here with the Order to find Soren's super TNT. We're going to take down your Witherstorm."
Ivor, however, looked unimpressed. "The Order?" he laughed, "Believe me, that plan will blow up in their faces in more ways than one. They cannot help you."
"Jee, thanks for vote of confidence." Ellegaard rolled her eyes. Ivor glared at her.
"What? I'm simply speaking the truth!"
"But me? I choose not to." he stepped forward, but Jesse was blocking his path, "Out of my way."
"Wait, but I-" Ivor shoved passed him, but someone else had joined them.
"Oh, you're not going anywhere." said Petra, Reuben at her feet as she drew her sword.
"Petra?" Ivor gaped, backing away as the girl advanced on him, "You escaped?"
"Hurrah for Petra!" said Lukas. Olivia, Jesse, Axel and Maya threw their hands into the air.
"HURRAH!"
Petra smiled at them, although it fell into a frown when she spotted Aiden giving Maya a sharp kick to the shin.
Petra grinned, but she had backed Ivor up right to a sword stand, and he grabbed one before she could do anything. He slashed at her, but Petra blocked, and thus began the sword fight. "Foolish girl! I-"
"Shut up. I don't care what you have to say." she blocked another swing, "I'm just going to take you down."
"Yeah, go, Petra!" cheered Axel. Olivia and Lukas shared a look of concern. While Ivor was obviously not the best fighter, could Petra still take him down while she was sick?
"Petra," Jesse spoke up, "Just let him go. He's not worth it."
"Sorry, Jesse. I didn't escape one monster just to let another get away."
Realizing that Petra wasn't going to give, Jesse drew his own sword, coming forwards and knocking Ivor to the ground, away from the sick girl.
"I'm the only one who can stop the Witherstorm." Ivor claimed, pushing himself away from them and climbing back to his feet, "Not you! Not the Order!" He raised his sword, the golden blade gleaming in the lamp-light, "Don't make yourselves the villains in my story."
Ivor charged at them, bringing his sword up to cut Jesse in half, but he too raised his own sword and blocked it. They struggled, golden blades interlocking, before Ivor shoved Jesse to the ground. But the boy was on his feet again a second later.
The screen went in slow motion, as Ivor raised his sword above his head only for Jesse to slam his own into his arm, throwing off his opponents balance and causing his arm to fly back. Then Jesse raised his foot and kicked him right in the chest, sending Ivor to the ground, but he was on his feet again as Petra came up behind him.
"I never knew you were such a good sword fighter, Jesse." said Lukas.
"Funny. Neither did I."
"You're not going anywhere." she said, knocking him to the side. Ivor scrambled to his feet, turning to face the two as they advanced on him.
"This could have all been avoided." he said, "If you want to stop me, you'll have to catch me first." Ivor pulled out a potion, downing it in one go.
"Hey, that's cheating!" said Axel. Ivor rolled his eyes at the glares he was receiving.
"Jesse, look out!" exclaimed Petra, bringing her sword down to hit Ivor, but the man was suddenly gone, as if he had never even stood there. They looked around, Petra quickly running to the gap between the bookshelves, "You're not getting out of here that easy, Ivor."
Ivor began zooming around them, going so fast that he was like a blur, laughing all the way, "I'm like the wind!"
Everything went into slow motion again, as Ivor held his sword to the side, running right towards Jesse to cut him in half. Jesse leaned backwards as if he were playing limbo, the blade brushing against the tip of his nose. Ivor ran on, still in slow motion, straight towards Petra. He raised his sword and everything returned to normal speed just as he knocked her down.
"Oh no!" gasped Olivia.
Jesse gasped, as Petra climbed to her feet. Ivor continued hitting at her, Petra blocking the best she could, but her forehead was beaded with sweat and she was even paler than before. She couldn't keep it up, but she refused to move.
"I'll cut through you if I have to!" yelled Ivor. But he seemed to have forgotten about Jesse.
Jesse ran forwards, hitting Ivor with his sword and knocking him to the side. Ivor yelled, be it in pain or surprise, and climbed to his feet again, "Don't tempt your fate."
"Jesse!" Petra exclaimed.
He ran right at Jesse, who slashed and stabbed with his sword in an attempt to hit him, and finally he succeeded. Ivor once again slammed into the hard ground, gasping and panting as the potion wore off.
Ivor got to his feet, backing away as the boy made his way towards him with his sword raised, "It didn't have to go this way, Jesse. You could've just let me go."
Axel frowned, "Wait, what's he talkin-"
Suddenly spinning around, Ivor ran away, taking out another potion and smashing it at his feet, "Now you see me, now you-" he vanished.
"Oh."
Jesse, who had been chasing him, came to a halt, looking around for the invisible foe. Laughter that was neither his or Petra's filled the air. "He could be anywhere," said Jesse, standing next to Petra, "Stay on your guard!"
"Vanish all you want, slimeball." Petra said, "You're still not going anywhere."
Jesse looked around, spotting a potion bottle floating in midair. He jumped to the side, hitting the ground as it smashed where he'd been not a moment before. He got up, just as he saw another floating potion on the other side of the room, and stepped away as it was thrown, little swirls coming up from where it had landed. Ivor laughed.
"Coward!" yelled Real-Jesse, earning sounds of agreement throughout the room. Ivor scowled.
Another potion appeared just in front of him, and Jesse jumped over it.
"End of the rail, Ivor." said Petra, "We're not letting you get away with this." Silence reigned. Jesse and Petra looked around, eyes narrowed. Another potion appeared.
"This one's on you, you puffed-up fool!" The potion flew right towards Petra, and Jesse leaped towards it, smacking it away and rebounding it back towards Ivor just as he reappeared as the invisibility potion wore off.
Petra smiled at him, "Thanks, Jesse."
Ivor gave a startled yell as the potion hit him, sending him onto his back. Obviously badly hurt, Ivor got to his feet, "There's no time... no time... This could have all been avoided." He limped towards Jesse and Petra, who still had their swords raised, stopping a few feet in front of them.
"Jesse! Petra!" Lukas yelled, running towards them with Axel and Olivia right behind him. Ivor growled.
"Even more of you? Will this parade of useless blabber never cease?"
"That's it." sighed Axel, "I give up. I have absolutely no idea what he's saying sixty percent of the time."
"What's going on?" asked Olivia, coming up to stand next to Jesse.
"We found Ivor." Jesse explained simply, "We stopped him."
"Jesse did, anyway." said Petra, Lukas and Axel appearing on her other side.
"False." Ivor said, glaring at all six of them, "You have stopped nothing." He walked towards them almost casually, "A query... Have you ever seen the effects of a Splash Potion of Slowness?"
"That can't be good." muttered Gabriel. Axel frowned.
"Something about slowness?"
Jesse frowned, "What-"
Ivor pulled out a potion and smashed it at the groups feet, and Jesse continued in a much, much slower voice.
"-aaare yoooou taaaalkiiing aboooouuut?"
"Oh, snap crackers." sighed Olivia.
Ivor grinned smugly.
Onscreen, Ivor walked past the group casually, Jesse turning to watch him far too slowly to do anything.
The screen showed Ivor's face as he walked away, the group behind him slowly turning to face him, brows creased in rage as they realized what he'd done and tried to run after him.
"Yoooouu biiiiig jeeeerk." said Axel.
"Geeet baaack heeeere." Petra called.
Ivor turned around, just outside the gap between the two bookcases, the group still far from reaching him. "Magnus and Ellegaard may think they can stop me, that they can destroy the Witherstorm... but they are mistaken. And it will cost them their lives." The two bookcases slammed together and closed the gap. Blackness doused the screen.
"Did- Did he just do that?" gaped Lukas, "He seriously just did that?"
"Hold on, how'd he close it?" asked Petra.
Jesse looked at Soren, "Is there any other way out of that room?"
Soren shook his head sadly, "Afraid not. And it can only be opened from the outside."
Olivia blew out a long breath, "Great. Just... great."
The words Next Time on MINECRAFT: STORY MODE appeared on the screen, Jesse's voice reading it out.
"Wait, that's it?" asked Magnus, "Damn cliff-hangers!"
Ellegaard raised an eyebrow at him, "Wait, are you becoming like one of those people who reads something or watches a play and immediately has to know what happens next?"
Magnus glared at her, "Shut up, Ellie! You can't say you don't want to know if they starve to death or not."
"Okay," said Lukas, "Now I'm slightly scared."
The screen showed Jesse's hand, holding the amulet, all five gems glowing brightly. It slowly fell from his hand, as the same deep voice from before began speaking, "In pursuit of answers, all our heroes found in Soren's Armory was decent... and treachery."
The amulet fell through open purple air in slow motion, slowly spinning round and round, "Locked in a dark chamber deep in Soren's mountain, as the Order of the Stone rides off towards near-certain doom," it zoomed in a little on the amulet, revealing that faces could be seen in the gems, "Our heroes must ask themselves..."
It zoomed in closer, revealing Petra in the light blue gem, Ellegaard in the red, Jesse in the white, Magnus in the green and Ivor in the middle. "Would they find a way out of this dark tomb?" It gave a close-up of Petra's gem, "Is there anyway to cure Petra's Wither Sickness?" The screen zoomed out again, as the amulet continued to slowly fall, "Would they find a way to defeat the Witherstorm?"
Ground could be seen now, appearing to be in the End with its tall block tower-like structures, as the amulet fell towards the white-yellow ground, "Or will they remain, trapped, as it continues it ravenous rampage across the entire world?"
The amulet clattered and bounced against the ground, spinning twice in the air before settling on its side. "Only time will tell..." So there the amulet sat, alone, leaving those to wonder how something so small could be of such great importance. The faces in the gems faded away, soon followed by the images on the screen.
Magnus broke the silence.
"You gotta admit, that voice-thing sure knows how to tell a story."
"Maybe it has children." Gabriel shrugged.
"Ivor," Petra said lightly, still looking at the screen, "Let's play Hide and Go Kill."
"What?" asked Ivor, confused. Then his eyes widened, and his hand flew up to his black eye, "O-Oh, er-"
"You have until the count of five." Petra continued, still looking directly at the screen and her voice still light, "One."
"Petra-"
"Two."
"Is this really necessary-"
"Three."
"You really might want to run right about now." said Ellegaard, lips twitching in a smile.
"Four."
Ivor jumped to his feet, scrambling out of the room and nearly tripping over himself. Something banged in the hallway.
Petra waited a second.
"FIVE!" She was on her feet immediately, pickax in hand, and running after the Witherstorm's creator. Ivor screamed.
Did you follow Magnus or Ellegaard? Let me know in the reviews!
Wow, I can't believe that's part two done all ready. Did this one seem to go really fast for you too? Maybe it's because there's more action in this one than the first episode. I'm not saying the first episode didn't have any action, because there's the Nether bit and running from the Witherstorm and the Iron Golem, but the first few bits are kind of slow.
Okay, so just like last time, they're going to take a break. Since there wasn't any sleeping last time and they'd had dinner before starting episode two, I'm probably going to have them get some sleep.
If you're wondering why this chapter took a few days to write, it's because we had to go to the high school I'll be going to this year (we have a really long summer in Italy) and give them a picture of me, and a family we know from the UK that has Italian origins came to visit some of their family and they stopped by our house for a couple hours so I was hanging out with the daughter, so I didn't finish this chapter. Then I had chores earlier today.
Also, my new high school looks really good! It's an art school, the same one my older brother went to when he still lived with us. They've got sculptures and paintings on the walls, wooden trains and boats, there was a metal chess set in a glass cabinet and in the garden they've put up big animal figures made of metal, like a fox, rabbit, an owl and a few others. And people had drawn and written all over the walls, and this was only the first floor. We didn't get to explore all that much, seeing how it was pretty much in and out, but now I'm actually pretty excited for school to start! This hasn't happened since I first started going to school.