Chapter 50: Die in a Fire
Warning Tags: Violence and intense situations
In the location of Riverrun Village, the last of the burning flames had already died away from the work of the Sinners and Emotioners. And the same fate had already befallen upon the surrounding settlements around the once-brilliant civilization. Over 45 minutes had already passed and the fires had already burned through majority of the villages. Within the maelstrom of fire eating up the land, Minecrafters and villagers run in a state of panic and fear as the Emotioners spread out and clear the way for the powerful Tainted by attacking or burning the way, the Sinners casually walk in a horizontal line across a beaten road with smirks painted on their faces, not affected by the wildfire and chaos around them.
When they reach an intersection, they stop in place and watch their work being completed by the Emotioners. Enderlox reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cigar, lighting it with his fire breath before puffing it. He inhales deeply and moves the cigarette away from his mouth, blowing out a purple smoke ring in the air. He sighs deeply in content before saying "This is pure art at its finest form, my friends. The fire dancing across the rooftops and ground to burn the bodies of the victims that we slaughter with no regrets and watch the rain of blood stain upon the beaten ground to which we stand on".
"Pretty deep", Jagrome replied, resting his axe handle over his shoulder. "The amount of sinning here is so strong, it feels euphoria". The Sinners continue to watch the view take place, a few villagers and Minecrafters run for their lives as a few Emotioners chase after them. However, despite the pleasant chaos, Duskables couldn't help but wonder something that concerned her.
She looks over to Enderlox and questions "Enderlox...aren't you a little afraid that Herobrine might find out you're doing this behind his back?"
"Oh please", Enderlox said nonchalantly, tossing his cigarette away after finishing it. "I'm making progress on the spread of the Taint. If Herobrine has a problem with this, then it's his deal, not mine. Besides, I'm the one who truly started the Taint epidemic and all he does is just take the glory when the real person is me. Trust me, as soon as he hears the news of my work, he'll be impressed".
"Well, I hope so", Dusk answered back before looking back out.
Within the next few minutes that passed, all of the small villages have been destroyed by the Emotioners. Enderlox is please by the destruction of more villages, completely ignoring his master's orders to only spread Taint. However, the dragon hybrid felt more powerful than before leading his fellow Sinners and Emotioners into a city or settlement to tear it to the ground and watch its helpless civilians crumble to the ground on their knees, pleading for mercy before getting stabbed or Tainted. Seconds pass before the Emotioners regroup with the Sinners, Enderlox begins to explain the further plans in the future.
The Sinners of Wrath states "Alright, guys, I can see that majority of you have already reached your secondary forms while some of you are still struggling at the moment. Here's what we'll do now: we'll head back to the BadLands and from there, you guys rest up for the next attack. As for me, being the generous dragon hybrid that I am, I will help some of you reach your secondary form, no matter how much Taint I have to use. Sounds like a plan?" All of the Sinners and Emotioners nod back or mutter in agreement to the dragon hybrid.
"Good. Now let's move out!", Enderlox exclaimed, pointing in the south direction. Following his order, the Sinners and Emotioners begin to run back to the BadLands. The dragon hybrid grins manically before spreading his wings and takes off into the skies, following his comrades back to their main location to get stronger.
Meanwhile, back in the flower biome, Alix and the ex-recruits look in horror as the Naga moves its entire body out of its home and glares down at its prey, looking much like ants to it rather than humans. It shoots its head downwards, opening its large mouth to devour them. Immediately, the ex-recruits lunge out of the way as the Naga only bites into the ground from where they previously stood. After removing its mouth from the ground, it growls as it spots the Minecrafters making a run for it. Like a bullet, the giant green snake darts from its hole and slithers rapidly across the ground, stopping the males and females in their tracks with its long body.
"There's no way we can escape this thing! It's too fast!", Via exclaimed in fear, taking a few steps back in while her hawk Midnight glares intensity at the creature threatening her and the ex-recruits
"Well, you know what they say. The bigger they are...the harder they fall!", Alix exclaimed, wielding out his trusty hammer in his hands while throwing a glare at the snake through his dark visor.
Aver states out "Alright, so while Alix deals with the snake, I'm gonna do the one thing that I'm best at...running away!" The half-devil man takes off in a fit of fright while Sierra and Via exchange awkward glances with each other. The Naga snarls and lunges at Alix, but the robotic man leaps out of the way before jumping onto the snake's head while the creature is still going down, aiming his hammer for one of its eyes and slams it down. The snake screeches out in pain, yanking its head sideways and sending the miner flying away. Sierra and Via watch helplessly as Alix crashes into the ground and skids a few feet through the dirt before stopping, groaning from the harsh impact he took.
"Alix!", Sierra cried out, taking off to see if he was still breathing. However, the Naga gets in her way and hisses at her, preventing her from getting to the miner. The rest of the creature's body lunges for Sierra and Via, capturing them in its tight coil around them. Midnight takes off from Via's shoulder as the two girls are lifted off of the ground, punching the scaly skin of the creature in a effort to get free. The hawk soars across the land quickly before finding Aver hiding behind a pillar. Midnight flies over to the man and bites down on his only devil horn, making him yelp out in pain. Aver glares at the hawk as he rubs his devil horn.
"What the Nether did you do that for?", Aver questioned angrily. The hawk only screeches loudly at him while hovering in place. The suited man glances from behind the pillar and gasps when he sees Sierra and Via about to be eaten by the Naga.
"Oh god, what do I do?! What can I use to defend myself with?", Aver said in a panic, looking everywhere on the ground for something that can be used as a weapon. Until he sets his sight on one object on the ground that he finds suitable.
Moments before the snake can devour its prey, a very faint thud is heard from below. The creature glances down and sees Aver had thrown a brick to its body. The half-devil man glances down at the brick near his feet before muttering "Maybe a brick would have been less than effective". The Naga roars at the man, making him hide himself from the loudness and the vibrations he feels across the ground. Across from the creature, Alix manages to pull himself up and shakes a few particles of dirt from his visor before looking up, gasping when he sees the Naga about to strike down on Aver. Quickly, the miner grabs his hammer and sprints to fight off the snake.
Right at the last second before the snake's jaws can catch the half-devil man, Aver strikes the hammer across the Naga's face with so much force, the creature is flung sideways. Its body uncoils, releasing Sierra and Via from its grasp. The ex-recruits stare in awe as the snake crashes into the ground several feet away from them. After several quiet moments, the snake weakly lifts half of its body off of the ground and glares at its prey, Alix grips his hammer tighter in case the snake decides to get up and fight.
However, the creature does the complete opposite. The Naga falls back onto the ground and unexpectedly...explodes into a million pieces of robotic technology and weaponry. The ex-recruits are absolutely bewildered by this event, unaware of the fires caused by the explosion. After a brief silence, Via exclaims in shock "What the Nether just happened?!"
"The snake blew up into a million pieces! That's what happened!", Aver answered her question, unable to take his eyes off of the remains of the creature. The smell of smoke fills the air as the ex-recruits take notices of the orange flames spreading across the land they are on.
"The snake must have built by someone as a trap! Because the Naga couldn't take any more hits, it self-destructed as a last attempt to get rid of us!", Alix exclaimed, looking at the fires growing larger and spreading across the land. He alerts his friends "We need to get out of here!"
The others agree before running away from the wreckage of the Naga. As they continue to run, the fires torch everything in their path and spread quickly. Luckily, the ex-recruits make it out of the flower biome and continue to run until they are out of harm's way. Back in the biome, the fires burn every single flower planted in the ground, as well as every tall or short grass. Above the fires in the biome, a figure dressed in a black cloak stares at the departing Minecrafters from the safety of a nearby cliff. The figure's aqua-blue eyes shine with fury.
"You all are harder to get rid of than cockroaches. Maybe you won't be such a disappointment...when you're dead", Sigma hissed out before turning away and disappears from the cliff.
Meanwhile, back in the Ice Spikes biome, in the village where Sky and the group had found refuge in, the remaining members of the team warm themselves near the fire as a blinding snowstorm ravages from outside. At the moment, Sky looks around and sees everyone pretty much in content with each other, some of them in a deep sleep while others are drinking cocoa while having conversations with each other. He smiles deeply as he moves his gaze at the window and stares at the blowing snow outside.
While the others are preoccupied, James sneakily slips away from everyone to check up on Bonks as it has been a while since anyone had heard from her. With a hot cocoa cup in hand, he walks up the stairs until he reaches the second level. He peeks his head up and sees Bonkers sitting in the middle of the room, gazing longingly at the only window in the room with her knees close to her body. The blue primate frowns before he steps onto the second level, his steps make very quiet creaking sounds on the floor. When he is a foot away from the bud hybrid, he says to her "Hey Bonks. I brought you something to drink".
The bug hybrid doesn't reply to Blue Monkey, continuing to stare at the window in front of her. James sighs heavily before walking over to Bonkers and sits down next to her, putting the hot cocoa next to her. He looks over at her for a moment before asking "Bonks...are you okay?"
"I don't know. Does feeling betrayed and depressed at the same time count as okay?", Bonkers replied in a sad tone, lowering her head down and presses against her knees.
"No, actually", Blue Monkey replied back. Bonkers just looks away from the primate, shutting her eyes tightly to prevent her tears from escaping again.
James sees this and tries to explain to her "Listen, Bonkers, I know it's a very hard time for you, but it's also hard for all of us as well."
"WeedLion tainted one of our friends after I thought I could have trusted him after I got into a relationship with Bash! This is beyond hard for me!", Bonkers exclaimed, wiping away a stray tear that managed to escape.
"I know, but Sky is doing all he can to help us", James reassured her, but the bud hybrid is less than convinced by the statement.
"Yeah, right. All that he has done is let people get Tainted after he promised that he wouldn't let anything happen to us. Frankly, I'm beginning to wonder if he's already Tainted himself and just leading all of us to our inevitable fates", Bonkers replied back in anger, glaring at the humanoid monkey sitting next to her.
"Bonkers, we would know if Adam was Tainted or not", James answered back.
"Well, he's doing a very poor job at it. Now I know why WeedLion decided to leave", Bonkers muttered to herself. She sighs before ascending to her feet and pads over to the window, glancing through the clear glass that separated her from the raging weather outside.
"James...I know your intentions with Adam are good, but I no longer trust him to save us. Poor Amity had to be pulled into this, along with her squid friend. I feel so sorry for her and it's all because of her father", Deceptibonks explains, staring out at the snowflakes flying past the glass of the window.
"I feel bad for her as well, Bonks, but her father knows what he has to do. We have to get him and Amity to Mount Foreverest so they can get the cure and save this world. In the process, we could get everyone back. But I just need you to get a grip on yourself and think about everyone's future", Blue Monkey stated back to her, getting on his feet and stares at her.
A moment of silence passes until Bonkers speaks up "Okay, fine. I'll give Adam one last shot to prove himself".
"Okay. If you feel okay now, good. And if you need anything else, tell me. Just remember that you're not the only one who's suffering", Blue Monkey says before proceeding to walk over to the staircase and walks to the lower level of the house. Bonkers looks down as she contemplates all that she had witnessed, from becoming a victim of her boyfriend's corruption to see her closet friend depart from the group and the team altogether after discovered that he had purposefully Taint one of the water bottles to infect someone. After thinking through everything, the bug hybrid sighs deeply as she makes he decision.
"As soon as everyone is asleep...I'm leaving as well", Bonkers thought as she extends her ladybug wings out.
