A/N: Hello! Yeah, I'm a week late. But at least it wasn't a month this time XD.

Void of Shining Darkness: Thanks, it was fun to write. And yeah...my update schedule hasn't been winning any awards lately. Like the new name, by the way!

xEnderAwesomex: Yeah, that's probably my fault :P And I've got a replacement on the way!

minerspalace64: And here it is! Thank you, good sir! *puts up new 4th wall*

Curcle: Yay! I'm glad you enjoyed it! You would be correct in guessing that. *evil laughter in corner* and Thanks, I'll try! :P

TheEnderPickaxe: Thanks! Why are some people in ads so creepy! It's a "little" unsettling...

Mike's POV

Well, we had messed up, hadn't we? Though, that didn't even begin to cover it. I felt horrible, of course, but I was more concerned with how easily we'd been broken apart. I had to remind myself that we were just temporary allies. Soon enough, one of us would be the reason for a slain message. I saw Clipy and Evasive walking together, approaching camp. I noticed that they hadn't argued with each other, and didn't seem like they were planning to anytime soon. They had a strong friendship. Xena teleported out of the woods, looking extremely concerned. I noticed that someone was standing next to her. Had she brought someone to help her kill us?

"Guys, this is my sister, DK. She's here to help us." I breathed out with relief. I really needed to stop being so paranoid.

"Your sister DK? Isn't she the person who tried to kill Evasive and ended up shooting me?" Clipy asked. Then again, maybe not. DK winced.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Your little traitor threatened to kill Xena here if I didn't." Notch, what hadn't Kimmy done?

"Give us one good reason to trust you." I demanded. She smiled widely, though the result was a tad unsettling.

"Because," she said, "I'm about to save your life."

After she finished, we all just stood there.

"Th-thanks for telling us." I said eventually, sitting down. "So what do we do?" Xena shook her head.

"We fight, I guess."

"Well obviously," Evasive said with a snort. "But we don't know anything. You can't fight an enemy you can't see."

"Actually," DK interjected, "I do know a few things. There will be one main guy. From what I can tell, he doesn't like to engage in combat, but he will if necessary."

"And how do you know this?" Evasive asked. DK grinned again.

"He sent an Enderman to try and kidnap me." I said nothing, knowing just from her expression that it hadn't ended well for the Enderman.

"Second," she continued, "he won't be entirely alone, but I'm not thinking full scale army."

"Why not?" I asked.

"We're in the Games. A large army would attract far to much attention. Besides that, there are maybe a little over a dozen players left at this point. He couldn't even gather the manpower. Besides, he's just trying to kill one person in a game where people are going to die anyway. He wouldn't bother." Evasive murmured. DK nodded approvingly.

"Just what I was going to say." I frowned.

"That's a good point, actually. Why would he? There's what, like a 1 in 12 chance of me living through this? And why me? What the Nether did I do?" DK shrugged.

"I have no idea. But the fact remains that someone wants you dead, and my sister's too stubborn to just let you die."

"DK!" Xena scolded.

"Sorry."

"So," Xena chirped brightly. "What you're saying is that it's possible to win this fight?"

"Yeah, I suppose," I said slowly. But something was tugging at the back of my mind that had to be brought up. "But, we can't go into battle like this."

"Like what?" Clipy asked, though his eyes betrayed the fact that he knew exactly what I was referring to.

"You know."

"Yeah, I do."

"We all fought, correct?" They hesitated, then nodded. "And we're all kinda angry, to put it mildly. That's not good. So I'm going to step up and say I'm sorry." I looked at Clipy. He smiled. Xena sighed.

"I'm sorry, too."

"So am I."

"Yeah, I am sorry, I guess."

"I don't know what's going on, but I'm sorry!" DK put in, making me laugh. It was more out of relief than genuine humor, but sometimes that's what jokes do. I looked at Clipy again.

"Wait," Evasive cut in softly. "If we're clearing the air, I want to say something to Mike and DK..." Clipy turned to look at him.

"Are you gonna tell them the thing?"

"Yeah." Xena furrowed her brow.

"What?" They stared at her, and her eyes brightened in recognition. "Ohhhh! That thing!"

"You trust him now?"

"More or less."

"What about her?"

"Well yeah, but does it matter?"

"I mean, not if it doesn't matter to you."

"I mean-"

"Can some one just tell me what the Nether is going on?!" I exclaimed finally, frustrated. Evasive turned and shrugged, a smile playing at his lips, before he pulled down his hood.

"I'm a girl," she said simply, before walking over to the fire. "One more log or two?" WAIT, WHAT?

Evasive's POV

Later, we lay down by the fire. We would've gone to our various usual sleeping spots, but there had been an unspoken agreement for everyone to stay by the base. We'd spent the afternoon checking our combined weaponry and supplies, and going over basic battle strategy. I had explained the whole "female" thing, and Mike took it pretty well, except being a little annoyed that I hadn't told him. DK couldn't have cared less. Everyone felt confident, which was good, but I could feel the tension in the air. Conflict was avoided at all costs, and there were too many awkward silences. No one was really sure about what was going to go down. For me, it was simple. Some arrogant jerk was trying to send in an attack team to kill in a free-for-all murder game and hoping to get away with it. I wasn't going to let that happen. I stared at the group. For now, we were allies. Mike, Clipy, and DK were asleep. Mike's face was peaceful, though his hand gripped his sword hilt. Clipy was apparently unarmed, but a deep frown was set on his face. I considered waking him and asking him what was wrong, but then I looked to the side, seeing a pair of glowing purple eyes watching me intently. Instinctively, I squeezed my own shut, before slowly opening them again and fixing my gaze on the figure's forehead.

"Hey Xena." I rolled over and sat up.

"Hey Katy. Lot on your mind?" I exhaled slowly.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"What's up?" I considered.

"It's not that easy."

"Hmm?"

"We didn't just kiss and make up. This isn't some fictional universe! There's still conflict."

"Yeah, I suppose."

"And that doesn't worry you?" She shrugged.

"It does, but what can you do?"

"Something." I sighed, getting up. "I'm going for a walk." Xena stared at me.

"You're going for a walk? Alone? At night? In a death trap? Are you insane? That's dangerous!"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, probably, and I'll be fine." She leaned back.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Like I said, I'll be fine."

I wasn't fine. My sword matched, strike for strike, with a snarling teenager. I'd stumbled across him accidentally. I was doing okay until he drank some strength and regeneration, and then splashed slowness on me. He swung and...

I gasped as a thin iron sword appeared buried in his rib cage. He collapsed into white pixels, and I winced. His inventory was spread across the ground, but I didn't pick anything up.

"Well, that was easy! Hardly even left a mess!" A far too cheery voice exclaimed. A boy stepped out of the shadows, his icy blue eyes fixed on me. "There you are!" I gripped my sword.

"Do I know you?"

"Nope!" He replied, popping the 'p'. "But I have something to tell you. " He held out his hand. "I'm Raiden, by the way." I declined.

"Cool. So do you have something to say or are we going to fight?" Raiden shook his head.

"Nah, no fighting. But I do have something to tell you."

"Then tell me." He bit his lip.

"Fine. But don't shoot the messenger, okay? Someone told me to tell you that you can't save the fallen. I have no idea what that means, but maybe it's something to you?" I frowned.

"That doesn't sound good." He nodded.

"Well, I have to get going, but I have a feeling we're going to see each other again sooner than you'd think. Bye, Katy!"

"Hey wait, who sent you? And how do you know my name?" He was already long gone.

I walked along the path back to camp with growing unease. So, it was only natural that I nearly beheaded the thing that leapt at me from the bushes. The fact that it was Mike was just an unfortunate coincidence.

"Ahhh!" He shrieked, tumbling to the ground.

"Oh my Notch I'm sorry! Are you okay?" He groaned, holding his back.

"I'm fine. What are you doing out here?"

"I was just going for a walk? What about you?"

"Me? Oh, I just heard a voice and went to investigate. I guess it was you." He got up, brushing dirt off his jeans.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He laughed.

"Yeah Katy, I just fell, it's not like I got stabbed or something." I froze. No, it wasn't that literal, was it? No, it couldn't be...I shook my head quickly. "You alright?" I snapped out of it, nodding.

"I'm fine, lets just get back to camp." We laid back down, Mike falling asleep almost instantly. Me, on the other hand, not so much. I stayed awake for a few more hours, watching the stars and wondering what destruction the next day would bring.

A/N: *Looks up* Did Evasive seriously break the 4th wall again?! I'll get the duct tape. Oh, another quick note: I made a pretty confusing error, up there ^ so I should probably mention that Mike is NOT dead...yet, anyway. #MikeLives!

HarmonyHeart: Yeah. I rewrote that scene a few times, because it flat out ended in violence. *Perks up* Did I hear a pun? I'm glad you liked having your OC mentioned, we will certainly be seeing more of her ;) As for the plot, I'm not sure. It will more or less begin where this book ends, so the first major fight. But the actual timeline itself may jump around a little, or change perspective, so I'm not one hundred percent positive. :)

Ivygreenstem: le gasp! Yep! Your character will be introduced officially soon, either the very end of this book or the very beginning of the next one. ^_^

CaptainClipy: Why thank you! I am considered to be a pun master in many circles, though I believe even I cannot compete with you in that area. XD And thanks for the compliment! I was grinning like the Chesire Cat while writing that scene, to be honest. I would have been super weirded out if I saw my name, so I get ya! :P And yay for weirdness!

Keep on being awesome!

-ThatRandomMooshroom