Act IV – Chapter 21

Trigger Warning: This chapter contains swearing and graphic descriptions of sickness and injury. Reader discretion is advised.

(Minecraft: Story Mode and its characters belong to Telltale Games, not me.)

The group was silent as they walked back up through the challenge room which still had fireworks going off and towards the surface of Romeoburg.

"You two," called Romeo as he climbed the stairs towards the city's parapets. "Did you see anyone?"

"Uh, no," answered Soup. "Everything's been real quiet."

"Good," said Romeo, before shifting his attention to the rest of the group. "Now, while you were in Fred's Keep, I figured out a way to get us above the bedrock, and let me tell you, I feel very stupid for not thinking of it earlier."

"What is it?" asked Jesse.

"Simple, A nether portal," he said. "Assuming you've built nether portals up there before, we simply build one here, go into the Nether and find another portal, simple. Only problem is, we have no obsidian."

"I got us covered there," said Soren, pulling out a bucket full of water. He approached the lava pool separating the challenge room from the rest of the town and tipped it upside down, spilling the water. As the water met the still lake of lava, it began to sizzle, letting off a plume of steam before cooling down, leaving a large circular patch of fresh obsidian.

"Excellent, let me just-"

"HEY!" a distant voice screamed. Turning around, Romeo saw a figure maneuvering quickly along the suspended minecart track towards Romeoburg.

"Who are you?" demanded Romeo.

"That's Ivor!" exclaimed Jesse, who had raced up to the parapets upon hearing him shout. "Let him in!"

"But he said-"

"JUST DO IT!"

Soup immediately opened the gate for this Ivor person, and immediately closed it after him.

"I-I couldn't s-stop it," Ivor panted, completely out of breath. "PAMA… angry… town… abducted!"

"WHAT?!" yelled multiple voices, including Romeo's. Was he saying that Fred's Keep had been abducted already?

"They're coming, we have to go! Now!"

Romeo did not have to be told twice, he quickly rushed and mined up as much obsidian as he could, which was only about 10 blocks, but he didn't care. That was enough to create a portal. He raced back and arranged them into a 2x3 portal frame, with the corners missing. Pulling out the flint and steel, he lit it, just as his ears caught the familiar sounds of admin teleportation and an unfamiliar static sound.

"EVERYBODY, GET IN NOW!" he yelled. Most of the group rushed in without hesitation, the stragglers being brought to their knees by the increasing sound of the static.

Said stragglers - Jesse, Romeo, and Radar - all clung together, heads rattling from the noise as a teleportation sound was heard loudly… and nearby, revealing a very familiar purple figure… Xara.

"I have to say, Jesse. I'm impressed," she began, smiling sickly at her. "Your escape plan actually worked out surprisingly well for you, hehehe. Understandable given the… situation up there, but I strongly urge you to give up now."

She grinned as Romeo shot a death glare at her. "Hello Romeo! Hehehe, say... you look a little angry! Is something the matter? Gonna have a little temper tantwum?" She mocked in a mock-baby voice.

"That's ENOUGH!" Radar suddenly shouted, jumping to his feet and giving Xara a hard kick - catching her off guard and knocking her off her feet. He quickly pushed Jesse and Romeo into the nether portal with his shield, and planted it firmly in front of him. "You aren't getting to them that easy… X-Xara…"

Xara giggled, getting back up and shoving the shield aside, picking him up by the chin and floating off the ground with him.

"We'll see, about that," she said, with a giggle. Radar watching out of the corner of his eye as Soup and Val were captured behind her by a horde of chipped zombies.

Radar closed his eyes as he felt a tugging sensation all around him - she had teleported with him still in her grasp.

Jesse… please get back to the surface quickly…

In the hazy, ashy depths of the Basalt Deltas, a newly formed nether portal began to swirl up within it's frame, before ejecting two figures out of it, following the first four that had already come out of it moments ago. The two looked at each other, before slowly turning to look at the portal. Radar did not appear after them… which meant...

"I… He really…" Jesse mumbled, brushing her hair from her face. "No!"

"Don't dwell on it too long…" Romeo looked away. "He bought us some time. Saved our lives."

"But… Radar…"

"Jesse. Come on - we're already far enough behind them; crying about him is only going to slow us down… I'll let you cry on me when we get out of here."

He helped Jesse to her feet, looking around the landscape. "Where are we anyway? I don't remember this being a part of the Nether."

"That's because you haven't explored deep enough," The two heard a familiar voice, heads turning to find Soren there, the others not far behind him. "Despite what most people believe - Yes, the Nether is also split into separate biomes. It appears we are in the Basalt Deltas biome."

"Then what's the main part of the Nether called…?"

"Well, the Nether Wastes," Soren chuckled. "We're going to have to find our way through this part of the Nether, until we find our old rail system. From there… we have portals to most major areas on the surface. Luckily I explored this far out a few times, so I generally know how to get back."

"Then let's get going, now," said Ivor. "Before she follows us."

Romeo and Jesse shared a look, following closely behind Soren and the others. They both agreed to not bring up Radar being abducted by Xara until someone either asks first, or notices him missing. Romeo was constantly looking back to make sure they weren't followed.

Soren led them deeper into the Basalt Deltas, dodging not only lava, but also the hostile mobs that plague the nether, namely magma cubes and ghasts. Inside the Basalt Deltas, Jesse also noticed a third mob that appeared to be passive. It consisted of a giant red colored head and legs with the bottom-half colored brown, and it was walking on lava? How is that possible?

"Striders," explained Soren. "They are actually quite friendly. You can use them to walk across big bodies of lava."

"Interesting," said Romeo flatly. "Can we move on, like today please?"

"Romeo!" Jesse yelled, flabbergasted.

"Sorry," sighed Romeo. "But I'm a little stressed out right now, having to constantly look over my shoulder, making sure she isn't following us."

The group continued on through the rest of the Basalt Deltas biome, even using the striders to cross a large body of lava, and then quite suddenly, they found themselves in a clearing, with blue fog, lots of soul sand and… blue fire?

"Welcome to Soul Sand Valley," welcomed Soren.

"Soul Sand?" repeated Romeo, outraged. "How in the fuck do you expect us to be able to outrun anything here?"

"If you like, you can turn back and wait for PAMA to find you then," Ivor snapped. Romeo gave him a glare in response.

"Let's not argue, please," pleaded Jesse, having to play the peacemaker.

Reluctantly, they slowly maneuvered their way through Soul Sand Valley, which was no easy feat, considering there were mobs everywhere in the nether that wanted to kill them.

After what seemed like forever, the environment started to change again, signifying the end of the Soul Sand Valley biome.

"Thank fuck for that," Romeo said, angrily. "Where are we now?"

The new biome that they had now reached consisted of significantly darkened fog and... blue-colored trees?

"Warped Forest," said Soren. "It's the most peaceful biome in the Nether, with only Striders and Endermen to worry about."

"Good," responded Romeo, relieved.

The trip through the Warped Forest went off without a hitch, considering they didn't need to worry about ghasts spawning here, although it did take longer than expected, having to cover their eyes as they trekked through a haunting of endermen.

"Where's the kid?" asked Magnus, looking behind him for once and noticing that they were missing someone.

Jesse froze… the dangers of the nether had put Radar right out of her mind. "He… h-he..."

"Magnus!" chastised Gabriel. "If he's not here, then…?"

Romeo gave Jesse a pitying look, taking a step forward and explaining what happened himself.

"We got ambushed by Xara herself just as you four went through the portal. Radar… sacrificed himself to buy us time to escape," he explained. "That's why I'm constantly looking over my shoulder… to make sure she isn't following us."

"I'm... sorry…" Gabriel lowered his head as the others looked mournful. "We should hurry."

Eventually they reached the edge of the Warped Forest, to find themselves in another forest-like biome. This biome had a forest just like the Warped Forest biome did, except this time, it was red, along with the fog which was now red. Good, this must mean they're getting close.

"How much further?" asked Jesse.

"Not too far now, this is the last biome we have to cross before reaching the Nether wastes," Soren said. "But this biome is known for Piglins, dangerous if you're not wearing gold armor."

Without much trouble, they crossed through the Crimson Forest, only encountering a few sets of Piglins and Hoglins, and at last, they were finally at the Nether Wastes. As they continued to pass through, Jesse's eyes widened at the sight of an old, still-smoldering portal frame, torn in half with obsidian scattered around it. She was surprised that it hadn't been fixed yet after all these years.

Then again, she reasoned, no-one really goes exploring in the Nether that much anymore.

"It's good to be back in familiar territory..." Jesse said, shrugging. "This was the portal that the Wither-Storm broke when we ducked into the Nether."

"Wither-Storm?" questioned Romeo.

"Long story," Jesse continued, looking over at Ivor. "Still feel guilty about punching you here, Ivor,"

"Yes, well… like I said, you weren't the first…" Ivor mumbled, voice trailing off as he rolled his eyes.

Soren cleared his throat. "Just ahead is our old railway system that we've been looking for. Once we're there, we can ride towards the portal leading to our old temple.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Racing towards the carts, they each managed to get a cart to themselves and they were off.

"Yep, that should get us some distance between any pursuers…" said Romeo as they went over a giant lake of lava. "Um… guys?"

They were approaching a drop. Jesse, feeling adventurous, waved her arms up like she did the last time they were down here. Romeo and Magnus did the same, while Soren covered his eyes and Gabriel and Ivor both held onto their carts tightly.

After what seemed like forever, but was only a few seconds, the carts hit the bottom of the massive drop and the path rapidly evened out, but they weren't out of the woods yet. They still needed to duck down through two low walls, which extended down to just a few inches above their carts.

"Why would you put those there?" growled Romeo as his head just narrowly missed the second overhang. Seeing the lever ahead, Jesse moved to grab it… only to remember that her right hand was missing. Jesse let out a quiet, half-nervous laugh. How could she have forgotten, what with the… pain, and everything else. She couldn't really think clearly.

"Don't worry, I got it!" Soren said, snapping Jesse back to reality as he reached his hand out and flipped the lever, stopping the minecarts from rolling directly into a curtain of lava. The tracks underneath them began to descend, piston by piston.

"T-thanks," stammered Jesse, putting her remaining hand up to her temple with a sigh. "You'd think… you'd think I'd realise a little sooner, you know?"

"Well, not really." Soren shrugged. "You lost an entire hand; I doubt anyone would immediately assume you're instantly used to not having it anymore."

Jesse was caught by surprise when the tracks began to separate the carts. Right, she'd forgotten about this. She immediately got her guard up for any passing ghasts, clutching her sword in her left hand. It felt clunky, but she made it work - she didn't practice sword swinging with her left hand for nothing. She caught a glance of Romeo filling a ghast full of poison arrows with precision, grinning wildly as the ghast fell in the distance. She couldn't help but find herself grinning right alongside him; finding herself glad that no more ghasts were nearby as she sheathed her sword...

The two tracks eventually ended up right next to each other.

"Romeo, that was amazing!" she said, only allowing the tiniest squeak to leave her as she bounced on her heels. For a moment, Jesse could've sworn that she saw the tiniest hint of color appear on his face as she said that.

"Practice makes perfect!" he responded, returning a wink upon seeing her wide grin. The two tracks merged, with Romeo's cart right behind Jesse's. "Though… I don't know what you see in me, considering you defeated a giant three-headed ghast…"

"That was before I lost my hand though…" Jesse said, shrugging as the tracks turned and eventually started going up. "Here comes…"

The carts flew off the edge of the ascending tracks and straight into the air, Romeo throwing his arms into the air and squealing in delight as the carts flew through the hot, humid air of the nether before dropping directly onto the top of another track below them, speeding up and bumping into the others.

"You guys okay?" asked Jesse.

"Yeah," answered Magnus. "I forgot how much of a rush this minecart ride used to give me…"

"Indeed…" agreed Gabriel.

Soren nodded, face a faint tinge of green as he gave a shaky thumbs-up.

"Ouch, n-now that really k-kills the throat," coughed Romeo as the track led them across another wide gap, before entering another tunnel and stopping.

"I… I'm gonna…" Soren mumbled woozily, ducking his head into the minecart as his body lurched forward. Jesse heard him make several gross sounds. "T-there… S's'good," He shook his head slowly, wiping his mouth with his sleeve as he stumbled ahead.

"Forgot you couldn't handle rollercoasters and fast rides very well," chuckled Magnus. "It's a wonder all that teleporting around didn't mess you up more."

"Th-that, never quite… f-felt so… t-tumble-y," Soren said, still somewhat wobbly. "More… like it tugs on you. Not like you're being shaken around."

"It would probably be best if Soren didn't have to talk so much, Magnus," Gabriel cautioned, "He can barely keep his lunch as it is, you really don't want it on your shoes."

"Been there, done that," Magnus rolled his eyes, waving a hand dismissively. "Long as he stays quiet, he'll live."

Soren grumbled, shrugging as they continued moving forward. Romeo and Jesse, like before, trailed a bit farther behind them - still following, but not closely to hear (or smell) the other four. Reaching the top of the stairs, they found themselves staring at a lit nether portal. Everyone gave each other relieved looks, knowing where the portal led - barring Romeo, who looked at Jesse with confusion.

"Home," she mouthed. Romeo nodded understandingly. "I'm gonna go first, make sure that it's safe…"

The others nodded, stepping aside to allow her to pass through.

"Be careful," warned Ivor. "PAMA is still out there, and he could have mobs guarding the exit portal."

Jesse nodded. "I'll be careful - do any of you want to come with me? I might need backup up there."

Romeo stepped up, "I'll come with you."

"Yeah… thanks, Rome," Jesse nodded, the two stepping through the portal. The others all shared a look, Ivor sharing a fatherly smile.

Jesse and Romeo appeared on the other side of the portal just as quickly as they'd entered the nether side of it, Romeo froze upon realizing what she called him, standing behind Jesse as she looked around, eyes narrowing as she tried to focus.

"H-Hey, wait, you-" Romeo stammered, face flushing as Jesse put her arm out in front of him, sword already in her hand.

"Ssh," She hissed quietly. "I heard something."

She slowly took a step forward, Romeo following close behind - bow already in his hands. They looked around, the night around them suddenly falling… disturbingly quiet, as the two of them made it up the hill overlooking Beacontown. Jesse couldn't help but a horrible bad feeling by how quiet everything is. It was too quiet.

"That's Beacontown… my home. My city," Jesse said, sitting down at the edge and quietly patting the spot next to her. "...Let's just sit here for a bit; get some fresh air before we go back for the others."

"Might as well..." Romeo mumbled, kneeling down next to Jesse but not actually taking a seat. "Might as well as catch my breath, but let's not slow down too long. Once Xara knows we're on the surface, she'll be onto us like an angered enderman."

"Funny you should compare her to them, considering how she teleports like one," she said, wiggling her eyebrows as Romeo finally sat, and they both shared a chuckle. She leaned against him, their heads touching without even really thinking about it.

"...Funny, how we've only been free about an afternoon, and it still feels like days have passed," Romeo lamented. "Nice to finally have a chance to catch our breath."

"Yeah… Rome," Jesse replied, giggling. He blushed again, covering his face with his hands as he groaned.

"Is that what you called me?!"

"Um, obviously, what else was I gonna call you-"

Boom. The two were immediately blown back by a powerful, sudden shockwave. Their attention immediately snapped over to the source of the shockwave - a bright, blinding flash before them. It was coming from Beacontown. Romeo sat up first, having landed on Jesse's chest when they had gotten blown back.

"Oh… fuck," was all he managed to say as he stared at it, eyes widened in horror.

End of Act IV.

Author's Notes: Well... just what has she done now?

Again, I would like to credit my friend attackatosh for proof-reading and helping me considerably with this chapter and for Act V coming up.

Like it? Review. Don't like it, look up another story.

More to follow.