Minecraft Story Mode: Gods Don't Die

by MyLittleScrubs

The Ancients. Three godlike beings who wield power that made Romeo's look tiny in comparison. They are callous, cruel, and worst of all, they are immortal. They had destroyed countless worlds in the name of entertainment, so what's stopping them from destroying this one? Alex and her friends may have finally met their match... (Sequel to Minecraft Story Mode: Pain and Healing)

12. Chapter 12: Dystopia

Otto had no idea that they were going to go that far, and now he was paying the price for his ignorance. He was lying on the floor, a bloody gash on his forehead, having been brutally beaten by Hadrian and Mevia, who were towering over him with nasty smiles on their faces. Hadrian reared back his leg and kicked Otto in the gut, causing him to start coughing out blood as well as some teeth in the process. "Now, I'm going to ask you one more time, Otto," said Hadrian, crossing his arms behind his back like he usually did. "Where did you hide the Atlas?" Otto coughed some more, then glared up at Hadrian. "You don't know what you're doing," he admonished him. Mevia raised her leg and stomped on Otto's arm, causing the Old Builder to cry out in pain while clutching his now injured arm. "You're in no position to look down on us," she sneered. "In case you can't tell right now, WE have the upper hand. So you'd better tell us where you hid the Atlas before me and Hadrian have to beat you up even more."

How could things have possibly ended up like this? Well, it all started when all of the Old Builders: Hadrian, Mevia, Otto, Harper, and Cassie Rose decided to host the first Games. At first, it was only meant to be simple fun and games, a way for everyone to escape the horrible reality of the world and just immerse themselves in having fun. However, Hadrian and Mevia became greedy and corrupted. They saw the overpopulation issue as a way for them to assert their power and dominance. Since everyone in the world could rarely afford enough to sustain themselves and their families, Hadrian and Mevia began offering prizes to anyone who would beat the games. Sometimes, it was a cash prize of numerous diamonds, gold ingots, emeralds, and various other priceless items. Other times, it was a prize of bread loaves, melons, fresh fish, pumpkins, wheat, and other mouth watering foods, enough to sustain an entire family for many months. The point is, the Games were no longer the same friendly competitions as before. Now, they were gladiator matches and death rounds. Every competitor was desperate to get whatever prize was at the end, and they were willing to kill and betray each other in order to do so.

Unlike in the main timeline, where Hadrian and Mevia had to trap the competitors to gain more power, in this alternate timeline, they didn't have to even lift a finger. The prize offers that they began implementing in the Games were more than enough to get everyone to stay. In fact, there were plenty of competitors who lost the Games over and over again, and were willing to stay and keep trying to win that grand prize, and those people ended up staying for so long that they no longer remember what their own parents, siblings, and children even looked like. No matter how much Otto tried to convince Hadrian and Mevia to stop their corrupt ways, the two of them simply laughed off his concerns and ignored him. Finally, Harper couldn't take it anymore and ran away with the Redstone Heart, vowing to never return. Right after that, Cassie tried to stage her own miniature uprising, which only ended in failure. As punishment for defying them, Hadrian and Mevia banished Cassie to a world with two moons, without an enchanted flint and steel to help her escape, and effectively cut her off from any human contact. And as a result, Cassie would be driven mad from the isolation and turn to more drastic measures…

But even with all the power that the two of them had accumulated, it still wasn't enough for them. Hadrian and Mevia still wanted more power. They were sick and tired of ruling over, in their eyes, a silly string of competitions. They wanted something bigger. They wanted to become the rulers of the world. But to do that, they knew that they had to be very careful. After all, it was doubtful that Otto and Harper would just stand by and let them do whatever they wanted. So the two of them waited. They waited for that perfect moment, that one pawn that would soon come into their clutches, that one piece that they needed to set their plan into motion.

And eventually, that moment, or pawn, or piece, had finally arrived in the form of an abused and disgruntled teenage boy, Thomas. This version of him started his life off the same as his original counterpart. He was born to two god awful parents, one of them having been driven to insanity by peering into the eyes of an eldritch abomination, and the other having been turned into a perverted slut who walked around naked and raped her son on a daily basis. But in this alternate timeline, instead of eventually leaving his family, meeting Annie and Alex, and abusing the hell out of them, he decided to stay with his parents since there was no way for him to support himself in the outside world due to how many jobs had already been taken and how little food there was to go around. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and decided to take matters into his own hands. Killing his mother was the easy part. She was so immersed in their daily sex that she didn't even react when Thomas wrapped his hands around her throat and began to squeeze. She thought that it was just another kink that Thomas had decided to bring to the bedroom, and as a result, she didn't even call out for help until it was too late. To be honest, Thomas cummed a lot harder when strangling his mother than he ever did when having sex with her. Then, he chopped her body into multiple pieces, put them into a trash bag, and tossed her entire body into a nearby lake. The broken boy smiled and giggled the whole time.

Killing his father, on the other hand, was a much harder task for him. There was no way that he could physically overpower him like he did to his mother. That man had strength that could put a bodybuilder to shame. Thomas seriously doubted that calling the police would do anything, and for two main reasons. The first reason is that the police may not actually come, due to the numerous outbreaks of crime that naturally came with overpopulation. The second reason is that Patrick would easily slaughter an entire squadron of them on his own. So Thomas had to resort to more...subtle measures. After tossing his mother's corpse in a lake and before his father came home after doing god knows what, Thomas poured a cup of his father's favorite drink, which happened to be grape juice mixed with a few drops of human blood. To get blood into the drink, he pricked his finger and squeezed it, allowing a few drops to fall into the cup of grape juice. Then, he poured a fine, white powder into the drink and swirled it so that the white powder wouldn't be noticeable. That powder was a brand new type of poison that Thomas had discovered while walking through a market one time. It was supposed to be the deadliest poison known to man, enough to bring down an actual wither. Thomas hoped with all of his heart that the poison would work as intended, otherwise tonight just might be his last night alive.

Fortunately, the poison DID work. Thomas was hiding behind a corner just as Patrick came back home, slamming the door open while covered in blood. Whoever's blood it was from, Thomas didn't know, but it definitely wasn't his father's. Patrick immediately saw the drink set on the table and, with no hesitation, grabbed the cup in his hand and gulped the whole thing down. Thomas was pleased to say that the poison worked wonders. In an instant, Patrick's face turned as white as snow, dark red blood began leaking out from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and he instantly collapsed to the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Thomas slowly approached his father, still slightly apprehensive, but when he saw that Patrick was dying, his fear was quickly replaced with elation. Finally, his monster of a father was no more! For once, something finally went right in his life! Feeling cocky, Thomas kicked the cup away and stood over his father with a grin on his face. "How does it feel now, you son of a bitch?"

To his surprise, Patrick didn't seem the least bit frightened. Instead, he was sporting a grin of his own. He tried to speak to his son, but there was so much blood gushing out of his mouth that it was incredibly hard to understand what he was saying. However, Thomas was able to discern what his father was trying to say to him. He was saying, "I...am so...proud of you…" Then, Patrick's head slumped to the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling.

That sucked a little bit of the enjoyment out of his victory, but Thomas wasn't going to let something as small as that ruin his chance at a new life. Of course, there was no way that he could get a job in this world, nor gather enough food to sustain himself. He needed something much, much bigger. He needed the grand prize. He needed to win the Games.

When Thomas first participated in the Games, Hadrian and Mevia paid no attention to him. To them, he looked just like the average competitor, young and desperate. However, as the Games progressed, Thomas displayed a knack for winning each competition that he was placed into. And it wasn't just due to his undying hunger for victory - there were plenty of other players who had that same quality - but also his underhanded tactics which easily gave him the win. He still had the poison that he used to kill his father, and he used that poison to sabotage nearly all of his opponents. Whenever the competitors ate together, he would slip through the crowd like a snake and sneak a bit of the poison into his enemies' food and drink. By the time he was due to compete, his opponent would be too weakened by the poison to stand a chance against him. Of course, the Old Builders were not fools. They could tell right away that Thomas was cheating, and Otto wanted to have him disqualified from the Games. However, Hadrian and Mevia ended up overruling his decision. "Just give that sport another chance," Hadrian said casually. "I'm sure he'll surprise us." But in reality, both Hadrian and Mevia didn't want Thomas to be disqualified because they saw an opportunity. They saw a way to use Thomas for their own gain and finally get what they've always wanted: total and absolute power over the entire world.

And so their plan was finally put into motion. Hadrian secretly met with Thomas when he was alone in the locker room and made a deal with him. "I've seen how you keep winning the Games even when the odds aren't in your favor," the Old Builder told him. "So don't think that you can pull the wool over our eyes, sport. We know that you're cheating." Thomas narrowed his eyes and slowly took a knife out of his back pocket, being careful to hide it behind his back so that Hadrian couldn't see it. He refused to come this far only to have his secret discovered. He was going to stab Hadrian in the gut and steal the prize if he had to. However, that turned out not to be the case. "Calm down, bucko, I'm not here to tell you off," said Hadrian, holding up his hands calmly. "So you can put that knife away. There doesn't need to be any bad blood between us." Thomas' eyes narrowed even further. How did Hadrian know that he was hiding a knife behind his back? Nevertheless, he put the knife away because he was curious as to what Hadrian had to say, though he still kept his guard up. "That's better," said Hadrian. "Now I know that you don't trust me, but hear me out on this. I have quite the deal for you, and I think it'd be in both of our best interests to...work together, if you will. You know, quid pro quo."

"...what kind of deal?," asked Thomas. Hadrian grinned. "Why, I'm glad you asked!," he said. "You see, me and my little accomplice, Mevia, are getting a little bored of these Games. We want something bigger in our lives, something better, something more grand than we ever could've imagined. We want power. Surely, someone like you would understand?" Thomas slowly nodded, though he still didn't know how Hadrian knew so much about him. "Oh yes, I know you understand," Hadrian continued. "Power is what makes the world turn around. Power is what everybody in the world is after. But me and Mevia just might get it before anyone else does. And that's where you come in, Thomas. You still have that poison with you, right?" "...how do you know about that?," asked Thomas. Hadrian rolled his eyes. "I think you underestimate the intelligence of the Old Builders," he said. "We know when someone is poisoned. Also, don't you think I've occasionally dabbled in the same exact poison that you use?" Thomas slowly nodded in understanding. Now that he thought about it, that did make some sense.

"I have plenty left," he said, taking out a small plastic bag that was filled with the snow white powder and showing it to Hadrian, who closely inspected it to see if it was the real deal. Apparently, it was, if Hadrian's satisfied smirk was any indication. "Now that's real poison," he said, smiling evilly. "What do you want me to do with it?," asked Thomas. "Simple," said Hadrian. "Just do what you've always been doing. Sneak some of that poison into everyone's food and drink, but this time, make sure that the dosage is lethal." Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Why do you need ME to do that?," he asked. "And why would you want to kill off all the competitors?" "I picked you as the man for this job because nobody would suspect you," said Hadrian. "If people saw ME casually walking around in the mess hall, they'll know that something's up. But you're a competitor yourself. They won't suspect you. And everyone participating in the Games has to die because they're too dangerous and unpredictable. If Mevia and I try to overthrow Otto right now, he could very well influence the competitors to his side. Then we'd really be in hot water! I cannot have ANYTHING to go wrong. That's why I need you to do this for me, Thomas."

Thomas nodded in contemplation. "Sounds like a pretty solid plan," he said. "But tell me this…" He narrowed his eyes again. "Why the fuck should I do anything for you? What's in it for me?" "Ah…," said Hadrian, grinning widely. "Now that's the best part of the deal, you see. If you help me and Mevia in our quest for power...you can join us. In fact, I will personally make sure that once this is all over and done with, you will hold just as much power as us, if not more so. Sounds like a pretty good deal, am I right? No more being scared, no more feeling powerless, no more being looked down on like a speck of dirt…" Thomas didn't know how Hadrian was doing this, but the Old Builder had managed to push all of his buttons with that one sentence. "Deal," he said, holding out his hand. Hadrian smiled, took Thomas' hand, and shook.

After that, one thing led to another, and now Otto found himself nearly beaten to death by Hadrian and Mevia, demanding to know where he had hidden the Atlas. Every competitor that had entered the Games was now dead, having been poisoned by Thomas. Now it was just him and the Old Builders left, and they outnumbered Otto three to one. The odds definitely were not in his favor today. A swift kick to his face by Hadrian knocked him out of his thoughts, as well as knocking a few of his teeth out. "I won't ask this again!," yelled Hadrian. "Where's the Atlas?! Where did you hide it?!" "...Hadrian, Mevia," Otto croaked out. "Please, stop what you're doing this instant. You both need to stop all of this madness! You two are better than this!"

He was silenced by another kick to the face, this time from Mevia. "Flattery isn't going to get you anywhere, Otto," she sneered. "Where. Is. The. Atlas?" "Your obsession with power will destroy you both," said Otto weakly, glaring up at them with disappointment. It was at that point when Thomas returned, his face and clothes covered in blood. "Ah, Thomas, there you are," said Hadrian. "Perfect timing. Did you do it?" Thomas nodded. "There were a few survivors who weren't killed by the poison," he said. "Fortunately, they were already pretty weak, so killing them was easy." Otto felt sick to his stomach upon hearing those words. "Heh, do you hear that, Otto?," sneered Hadrian, bringing his foot on top of Otto's head and slowly grinding his face into the ground. "You're all that's left standing between us and absolute power. If I were you, I'd just give up and tell us where the Atlas is." Otto finally relented and sighed heavily. "I...didn't hide the Atlas anywhere," he admitted. "It was in my robe the whole time." Mevia quickly stripped Otto's robe off and shook it around, causing the Atlas to fall out of one of its pockets. Hadrian picked it up and inspected it to see if it was the real deal, then smirked down at Otto. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?," he asked. Then, he took out an enchanted diamond sword and raised it over his head. "Killing me won't help you at all," said Otto. "I'll just respawn and stop you later."

"Oh, did I forget to mention that?," Hadrian asked casually. "We destroyed the respawn zones beforehand. There's no more extra lives for you, bucko." Otto's eyes widened in horror. "You...you did what?," he whispered. "Hey, it's nothing personal," said Hadrian, shrugging his shoulders. "...well, okay, it kind of is. See you in hell, slick." Then, he brought the sword down onto Otto's head, splitting his skull in half. Spurts of blood and brain matter gushed everywhere, spraying all over Hadrian, Mevia, and Thomas. None of them so much as flinched.

"...so, what now?," asked Thomas. Hadrian chuckled and began flipping through the pages of the Atlas until he finally found what he was looking for. "Now?," he said. "Now we start phase two of our plan. Mevia, how would you like us to visit an old friend?"

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Harper had no idea how she got herself into this position. She just wanted to help her people with their gathering and resources. Instead, she ended up creating a technological monster that enslaved everyone she knew and cared about, as well as draining her world of all its resources. Now, she was hiding underground like a coward, with only the statues and their recorded voices to keep her company. It had been a very long time since she left the Games and took the Redstone Heart with her. How long has she been in her underground laboratory for? She lost count of the days about three years ago. Meanwhile, PAMA was up there, plotting, waiting for the right time to snatch her away and brainwash her just like it did to everyone else in the village. If PAMA ever got a hold of her and her memories...if it ever learned how to build portals to other worlds...she shivered at the mere thought of what that could entail.

Suddenly, while making some adjustments to the headset that she planned on using to control the brainwashed mobs, she heard footsteps from behind her. Fearing that PAMA's forces may have finally found her hiding spot, she quickly turned around and saw what appeared to be three dark figures hidden in the shadows on the far side of her lab. "Is that you, PAMA?," she asked nervously. "Whoever you are, you better show yourselves before I go wild on all of your asses!" One of the figures chuckled in amusement, causing the hairs on the back of Harper's neck to raise up. She'd recognize that chuckle anywhere. "Now is that any way to greet your old friends?," asked Hadrian, stepping out of the shadows with Mevia and...some other guy that Harper didn't recognize. "I wouldn't exactly call you two 'friends' now," she growled, glaring at them with both suspicion and fear. "And who's the new guy?" "Oh, of course, how rude of me," Hadrian tsked, shaking his head. "This is our newest accomplice, Thomas. He used to be one of the competitors in the Games, but...well, let's just say he grew on us." He turned his head to face Thomas. "Thomas, this is Harper," he said, gesturing to her. "Charmed," said Thomas, crossing his arms with a nasty smile on his face. Harper disliked him right off the bat.

"And how did you three get here?," Harper asked suspiciously, keeping her guard up. "I don't remember telling any of you which dimension I was heading to. And my laboratory isn't exactly out in plain view." "We used the Atlas to find you," said Hadrian. "And as for finding your 'secret lab', well...it's not really that secret. I mean, really? A painting as your security system? That may be enough to fool an A.I., but definitely not enough to fool two Old Builders." "What?," Harper gasped. "How did you get your grimy little hands on the Atlas? It was supposed to be in Otto's possession…" She narrowed her eyes in anger and clenched her hands into fists. "What did you do to him?," she asked in a wary tone. "Oh, nothing too serious," said Hadrian, casually checking his fingernails. "All we did was rough him up, break a few of his bones, then kill him after destroying the respawn zones. Nothing too major." Harper couldn't believe what she had just heard. Other than herself and Cassie, Otto was the only Old Builder who actually gave a damn about other people. Unlike Hadrian and Mevia, he never wanted more power than he already had. He never lied, cheated, or manipulated people. In fact, Harper could even argue that Otto was the best of them. And now, he is dead. Slain at the hands of the three murderers who were standing right in front of her. Harper suddenly found that her legs no longer worked properly. She fell to her knees, a ringing headache growing inside her head. "Aw, is somebody sad that their best friend just died?," Mevia asked mockingly. "Oh, you should've been there, Harper. He was crying like a baby when we were through with him. He was begging for us to put him out of his misery." "Shut the hell up, Mevia!," Harper growled, feeling a surge of anger that gave her the strength to stand back up. "Don't you dare insult Otto with your lies!"

Otto may have been too trusting of others, he may have been a bit ignorant of other people's feelings, and yes, Harper will even admit that he was a stick in the mud. But there was one thing that Otto never did, and that was begging. "So is that why're all here?," asked Harper. "Did you come here just to kill me?" "Of course not," said Hadrian, taking Harper by surprise. "That would be a complete waste, wouldn't it? No, no. We're here because we have some… unfinished business to resolve." "Oh, yeah?," asked Harper, narrowing her eyes. "And what business would that be?" Hadrian, Mevia, and Thomas grinned simultaneously, sending a cold shiver down Harper's spine. "We're after the Redstone Heart," said Hadrian. "Well, you won't find it here," said Harper, placing her hands on her hips. "So if you want to find the Redstone Heart, I suggest that you look somewhere else." Of course, she didn't want them to know that the Redstone Heart was currently powering PAMA. The last thing she needed was another group of threats to worry about. "There's no need for that, Harper," said Mevia, a cold smirk on her face. "While you were hiding away like the little hermit you are…" Harper's eyes twitched. "...we did a little searching of our own. We know about PAMA." Harper's eyes widened in shock. "What?," she gasped. "But how are you not-?" "Brainwashed?," said Hadrian. "Well, we just happened to strike a little deal with him. Thomas, as it turns out, is very persuasive."

"What kind of deal did you make?," Harper whispered, fear tingeing her voice. "Oh, you're about to find out, Harper," said Hadrian, a grin slowly spreading across his face. Right at that moment, multiple pairs of red, glowing eyes suddenly shone from the shadows behind them, showing that they were not alone. And sure enough, a group of zombies and spiders began crawling out of the shadows, with blinking redstone chips embedded into their skulls. Leading them was one of Harper's lifelong friends, Ron, who was also being controlled by a redstone chip in his head. "Hello, Harper," Ron said in a mechanical voice. Of course, Harper knew that it wasn't Ron who was talking to her. "I am so glad to finally see you, my creator. Are you ready to join us?" At the same time, two of the red-eyed zombies rushed towards her at blinding speeds and grabbed onto her arms before she could react, forcing her to her knees. "No!," cried Harper, whose fear was only elevated when she saw the spare redstone chip in Ron's hands. "NO!" She struggled to break free, but escape turned out to be futile.

"Just hold still, Harper," Hadrian chided, sounding like he was talking down to a child who didn't want to get her teeth pulled out. "It'll all be over soon." Harper struggled some more, then stared at Hadrian with pleading eyes. "Hadrian, you don't know what you're getting yourself into!," yelled Harper, nervously glancing at the redstone chip as it got closer and closer. "If you let PAMA do this, he'll have access to every other dimension! He'll take over everything!" But Hadrian only grinned, his smile reminding her of a shark's. "That's exactly what we're counting on," he said. Ron finally placed the redstone chip on the back of Harper's head, causing her to scream in pain as she felt her mind being roasted. After that, everything went dark.

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Thomas should've known. He should've known that something like this was going to happen in the end. He should've known that he was being played like a fiddle the whole time. He should've known that Hadrian and Mevia couldn't be trusted. And now, he was about to pay the price. "Are you comfortable, dear?," asked Mevia in a mocking tone. "Are these restraints too rough on your sensitive skin?" Thomas roared like an animal and tried to lunge towards her, but the leather straps holding him to the upright metal table kept him from reaching her.

"Now, now, Mevia," Hadrian chided. "Let's not upset the poor boy any more than he already is." He walked towards Thomas with his arms crossed behind his back like always, a smug smile on his face. Thomas wanted nothing more than to tear that man's face off. "You lied to me," he growled. "You promised me that I would share in your power." "And you will," Hadrian assured him. "I'm still keeping my end of the bargain, sport. It's not my fault that you interpreted the deal in a different way." Right now, Thomas was completely naked and strapped to a metal table. Plastic tubes were inserted into every part of his body, even his nether regions. A single large tube was also shoved through his mouth and down his throat, making it very difficult for him to speak properly. All of these tubes were connected to a giant glass tank in the middle of the room, which was filled with a mysterious black liquid that bubbled and churned.

"If my memory's correct, I promised that you would have POWER," Hadrian recalled. "I promised that you would never be afraid again, that you would never feel powerless, that you would never be looked down on like a speck of dirt. And as far as I can see, I'm giving you exactly what I promised. Power." He chuckled sinisterly. "Of course, there are many different variations of power," he continued. "There's political power, something that me and Mevia both have in quite large amounts. Then, there's also influential power, which PAMA has in spades. What you are about to receive, my friend, is physical power. Never again will you fear other people. Instead, other people will fear YOU. They will talk about you in hushed whispers and speak your name with fear in their voices. Now THAT...is power. Honestly, I'm a little envious of you right now, Thomas. You should be grateful." Then, Hadrian leaned into Thomas' face with narrowed eyes, clearly unafraid of the possibility that he could lunge out at him like he did to Mevia. "And besides," he whispered coldly. "It's either this...or be brainwashed by PAMA like all of the others. The only reason you haven't been chipped yet is because I deemed it so. I pull the strings around here, bucko. Now tell me, Thomas...which option would YOU prefer?"

Thomas was silent for a moment, seeming deep in thought. On the one hand, he really wanted to spit in Hadrian's face and tell him exactly what he thought about their "deal". But on the other hand...he REALLY didn't want to be brainwashed. So he made his choice. "Fine," he growled. "Do whatever you're about to do to me. I don't even care anymore."

Hadrian grinned and gave the thumbs up. Mevia pulled the lever. Thomas screamed.

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I took my helmet off and waved my hair around, thankful that I was finally out of this stuffy headgear. Sure, it looked pretty cool on the outside, but once you start wearing it for an extended period of time, it becomes almost unbearable, especially in the hot desert heat. My hair was soaking wet from sweat, and so was my face. I took a bottle of water out of the sack that Jimmy and Hank were kind enough to give me, and gulped down about three quarters of the bottle before pouring the rest of it all over my head. Then, I took out another bottle and did the same thing. Then a third one. I knew that I was wasting water, but I couldn't help it. It was boiling hot outside and it felt like my skin was about to peel off from the intense heat. It also didn't help that my throat felt like it was on fire. Seriously, what the hell did PAMA do to the atmosphere anyway? After finishing the third bottle, I found myself reaching for a fourth one, then stopped myself through sheer will. Despite my body still begging for water, I refrained from doing so since I only had about a dozen bottles with me, and I needed to conserve as much water as possible. I was sitting under a rock outcrop in the middle of nowhere, it's shade barely providing any protection. I took out the map that Ivor gave me and looked through it while munching on one of the potatoes that Hank and Jimmy also gave me for my trip.

According to the map, I was only supposed to be a few miles away from PAMA Land, which was what I decided to name the city that I was heading to. And yes, I know that PAMA Land is the most generic and unimaginable name that you could possibly give to a city, but I had to come up with that name while walking in one hundred and ten degree heat and covered in enough sweat to fill an entire bucket while panting like a dog. I'd like to see you come up with something better. Anyway, it was weird that I still haven't seen any sign of the city for the past few minutes. Considering how absolutely massive it was on the map, it shouldn't have been too hard to spot its towering futuristic spires and gargantuan stone walls, even from a few miles away. Instead, as I peeked my head out from under the outcrop and looked around at my surroundings with squinted eyes, all I saw was sand, dead trees, and more sand.

"Ugh, this is going to take forever!," I groaned, sitting back in exhaustion. I even tried punching the rock that I was leaning against out of frustration, but all that did was hurt my hand. And I wasn't just being impatient either. I knew that I was on a severe time limit. If I couldn't get to the city and somehow defeat PAMA in time, Soren might grow impatient and electrocute me to death with the shock collar that was still locked around my neck. And if I die, I won't be there to help Jesse and the others take on Herobrine. And that doesn't even take into account that if I fail at all, Notch is going to torture all of my friends and drive them insane like Patrick and-! I shook my head frantically and tried counting to ten to calm myself down. God, I really WAS going insane. Keep yourself together, Alex, I thought. You still have a long road ahead of you… Deciding that I had spent more than enough time resting, I put the map back into my pocket, put my helmet back on, and continued towards the city, if it's even out there somewhere.

Fortunately, I wasn't ambushed by any bandits or criminals along the way, mostly because of the intense heat that actually ended up killing a silverfish that was crawling by. And those who WERE still out and about saw how heavily armed I was and decided to think twice before attacking and robbing me. Despite all of that, this was still one of the most difficult trips that I've ever had to go through. By the time I finally managed to spot the walls of the city, I was severely dehydrated and had already gone through every single one of my water bottles.

So now I was hiding behind another rock that was just outside of the city, which was also heavily guarded with chipped zombies and skeletons. Right now, I couldn't see any humans that were chipped, but that didn't really surprise me. After all, chipped mobs were more expendable due to their limited intelligence and abilities, so it would make sense for PAMA to use them as guards and meat shields. The humans that he brainwashed were probably kept safe within the city itself, waiting to be made "useful". I involuntarily shivered. God, even after all these years, that word STILL sounds so wrong, I thought. Alright, let's see what I've got to work with right now. I'm outside the city, and it's heavily guarded, so barging in with force is completely out of the question. And right now, I have no plan to get in undetected...shit. Still, I've already gotten this far. There has got to be some weakness in the city's defenses that I could exploit.

After some thinking, which didn't yield any useful plans for me due to the hot sun beating down on me and messing with my thought process, I noticed something that was going on near one of the gates in the city's wall. A lone silverfish just tried to wiggle its way through the gate, but was immediately incinerated and turned to ash on the spot. How that happened, I had no idea, but when a chipped spider went through that same gate, nothing happened. So if you're chipped by PAMA, you can move in and out of this city without being detected, I thought with interest. But how do I fool a computer system into thinking that I'm one of them? The answer came to me pretty easily after that. First, I waited until one of the chipped mobs, a zombie to be more specific, strayed away from the rest of the group. Then, I quietly snuck on that zombie and cut its head off with my lightsaber. Back in my timeline, me, Jesse, and Petra had a very hard time fighting PAMA's chipped forces just because they were so damn strong. But with a freaking lightsaber, that extra strength almost didn't matter. In the end, flesh was flesh, and there was nothing else that could cut through flesh with total ease quite like a laser sword.

After killing the zombie and dragging its body back to my little hiding spot, I carefully removed the redstone chip from the back of its head, making sure not to tug on it too hard lest I get electrocuted like Ivor did when he tried to do the same thing years ago. Then, I scooped up some sand, mixed it with the little water that I had remaining, and added a glob of my own spit to create some makeshift glue, which I used to stick the redstone chip to the back of my head. I also made sure to remove every piece of my new armor so that none of PAMA's forces would become suspicious by questioning why one of their own was wearing highly advanced armor that wasn't their own. My plan was to sneak through one of the gates by disguising myself as a chipped human. The only problem was that there was nothing that I could do to change the color of my eyes. Hopefully, the redstone chip alone would be enough to fool PAMA's security system. "Alright," I whispered to myself, taking a deep breath. "Here goes...everything."

I dug a hole behind the rock, hid my bag of goodies in it, then covered it back up before heading towards the city, while also making sure to accurately replicate the jerky movements and blank expressions of the chipped mobs surrounding it. As I got closer, the red-eyed mobs saw me coming and stopped to stare at me for a few moments, then continued on with their business. I mentally breathed a sigh of relief. Alright, I fooled the mobs, I thought. Let's see if I can fool the city's security system. I walked towards one of the gates and stopped right in front of it, my heart beating in my chest like a jackhammer. Come on, Alex!, I thought urgently. If you just stand there, you'll look suspicious! Go...now! Finally, I got my legs to move and walked through the open gate, steeling myself for what could possibly happen. Fortunately, nothing happened at all. Against all odds, my disguise worked! I sighed in relief and began walking deeper into the city. As I did so, I began seeing a lot more humans than mobs, confirming my earlier suspicions. Numerous people were lumbering around the city, staring straight ahead with lifeless, red eyes, acting more like robots than people. There were also many of them climbing out of various holes in the ground, holding broken pickaxes while covered in both coal dust and blood. Every single one of them was wounded in some way. One of them was missing a few fingers, one was limping with an injured knee, and one was even breathing through a small tube embedded in his throat. It didn't escape my notice that there were more people going INTO the holes than coming out of them. That, combined with the various injuries, painted a dark and depressing picture. PAMA was literally working them all to death, hoping to squeeze every last resource out of this world. I was sickened and disgusted by what I was seeing around me.

And as the cherry on this cake of death and depression, there were numerous posters all over the place, each of them featuring either Hadrian or Mevia's faces with smug smiles. No doubt that they only did that to boost their own egos, and because PAMA had to let them do whatever they wanted, since they were the only ones who could keep the Redstone Heart, PAMA's main source of power, up and running all the time. I mean, what was even the point in having all of these posters up? It's not like there's anyone around to admire their "good looks", since everyone in the city was brainwashed. Though I had to admit, one thing that bothered me was why PAMA left Hadrian and Mevia alone, even giving them their own positions of power in this so-called...government. Sure, it was because PAMA needed them to keep the Redstone Heart running, but since when was THAT ever a problem for him? After all, he never needed someone to take care of his power source back in MY timeline. The Redstone Heart was just always running on its own. It didn't NEED to be constantly fixed and looked after!

I slightly narrowed my eyes. Clearly, this whole thing goes a lot deeper than I can imagine. But I didn't really care about getting answers. I just wanted to get back to my own timeline and stop Herobrine from destroying the world. Suddenly, a single brick fell right next to me, causing me to slightly jump in fear. I quickly shifted back to my previous rigid pose that frantically looked around to see if anyone had seen my little slip up. Fortunately, nobody else noticed what had just happened, causing me to sigh in relief. I looked down at the brick that had nearly caved my skull in, then looked up to see where it had fallen from. My eyes widened in shock when I saw what looked like a strange figure on top of a nearby roof, vanishing out of sight right when I looked up, allowing me to catch only a glimpse of the person. "Wha- hey!," I cried, then quickly covered my mouth when I remembered where I was. One of the chipped miners stared at me while he was walking by, but thankfully decided to ignore me.

I sighed in relief and looked back up at the roof, certain that the mysterious figure was still up there. "Psst, hey!," I whispered. "Who's up there?" There was no response. "Look, I'm not brainwashed like the others," I continued. "I'm a friend. Please show yourself." Of course, there was still no response. Whoever that mysterious figure was, they were either long gone by now or had decided to flat out ignore me, though I couldn't really blame them either way.

So I continued walking deeper into the city, the wheels in my head spinning rapidly. Okay, so I'm inside the city now, I thought to myself. But how am I going to beat PAMA? Well, I used water on him the last time, so it could also work in this timeline. Ugh, but I drank all of the water that I had with me! Where am I supposed to find more? And how am I supposed to beat Hadrian and Mevia? Damn it, why do I always rush into these sorts of things without thinking them through?! I stopped and took a deep breath. Alright, Alex, calm down. The last you want is to let stress cloud your mind. Just think for a moment. What could I possibly do to-?

At that moment, I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize that I had walked into some sort of plaza, which had multiple giant screens all over the place. Suddenly, every single one of those screens lit up at the same time, revealing PAMA's smiling face to the public. It was so loud and so sudden that I immediately stopped in my tracks out of pure shock, my heart beating a mile a minute. Fortunately, every other chipped human and mob also stopped what they were doing and awaited PAMA's instructions, hopefully helping me blend in with the crowd. Unfortunately, PAMA seemed to be scanning the plaza with his eyes, almost as if he was trying to search for something...or someone. Eventually, his eyes landed on me. I tried to make my face as blank as possible, but on the inside, I was panicking like crazy. Oh crap, does he see me?! Of course he sees me, he's looking directly at me right now! Shit, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do…? The only thing that I could do right now was to remain as still as possible, hoping that PAMA would mistake me for one of his brainwashed subjects. However, that turned out not to be the case. "Why, hello there, new visitor!," PAMA greeted me. "What is your name?" ...shit. Feeling that there was no point in hiding any longer, I sighed heavily and turned to face one of the screens, which was smiling down at me in both a friendly and intimidating manner. "My name is Alex," I said, waving nervously. "Um...how did you know that I was…?"

"I can see through the eyes of everyone who has been made useful," PAMA explained. I shivered. There was that word again. "And after searching through my databases, I realized that you are not one of the people who have been chipped." His smile turned into a frown. "Why are you here, Alex? Who sent you? What are you hoping to accomplish by coming here?" Damn it!, I mentally cursed. Ugh, how could I have been so stupid?! PAMA's a fucking supercomputer! Of course he'd notice something as small as that! "Look, whatever you're thinking right now, that's not why I'm here," I protested. "Oh, really?," said PAMA. "So you were not sent by Soren's resistance faction and you are not here to deactivate me like all of the other spies that came before you?" Wait, other spies?, I thought. So Soren sent other people to fight PAMA, and none of them ever came back?! What the hell, you jerk! "I recognized the metal collar that you are wearing around your neck," PAMA continued. "The others wore that exact same collar. Even if I did not bother searching through my databases, I would have known that you were attempting to sneak into my beloved city." I glared down at the incriminating shock collar, wondering why Soren insisted on me wearing it if I was going to be found out with it anyway.

"Listen, I'd love to answer your questions," I said, lying through my teeth, "but to do that, I'd have to go way, way, WAY back, and that'd be a pretty long story. Trust me, you don't want to hear the whole thing. You'll be bored out of your mind. So how about you just let me go on my way and we can forget about this whole mess? Deal?" I knew that there was no way that PAMA was going to let me go, especially after he had just outed me as a spy, but hey, at least now I can't say that I haven't tried. For some reason, PAMA's frown grew when he heard me mention the word "deal". "I do not like deals, Alex," the computer said. "I have had someone make a deal with me before, and I have come to regret that decision to this day. So instead, I am going to make you useful, just like all of the others. You do not need to answer any of my questions. Once you have been made useful, I will have all the answers that I need." Right on cue, the chipped human and mobs started moving again and they began to close in on me from every side of the plaza. I instinctively took out my lightsaber, but hesitated when I realized something. All of these people...even though PAMA has brainwashed them, they were still people. There was no way that I could kill any of them. That zombie that I killed right outside of the city was different, since that was...well, just a zombie. But these were living, breathing people - or at least, they used to be - and if I ended up killing any of them, I never would've been able to forgive myself. PAMA's forces took advantage of my hesitation and made their move.

Two of them rushed towards me at inhuman speeds. One of them grabbed my right arm, which was holding the lightsaber, and painfully twisted it, forcing me to drop my weapon to the ground. Both of them grabbed me by the arms and forced me to my knees. A third one walked forward and crushed the lightsaber handle under his foot, flattening it into nothing more than a thin piece of metal. Aw, man, I thought in disappointment. And I really liked that lightsaber too. "You must have so much lovely information in your brain, Alex," said PAMA. "I cannot wait to find out what it is." A dark skinned woman with gray hair wearing a dirty brown and yellow robe emerged from the crowd and began walking towards me with a redstone chip in her hands. My eyes widened when I saw that the woman was Harper, who was impassively glaring at me with red, glowing eyes, and had a blinking redstone chip that had been implanted into the back of her head. "Harper...no," I whispered. PAMA overheard me and blinked in surprise. "You know my creator?," he asked, before a large grin spread across the front of his screen. "Then you are far more interesting than I gave you credit for, Alex. I wonder what else you secretly know."

I struggled some more, but escape was clearly fruitless. As Harper stopped right in front of me and brought the redstone chip closer to my own head, I felt tears flow from my eyes. So this is it, I thought morosely. I've failed. I've failed everyone. I've failed my friends, my family, Jesse...and all because I was too careless. I'm...I'm so sorry, guys… I squeezed my eyes shut in preparation for what was about to happen. However, salvation came in the form that I least expected. "Hold it!," yelled a voice from within the crowd of brainwashed citizens. For some odd reason, Harper instantly stopped in her tracks, the redstone chip only a few mere inches away from the back of my head. What was so strange was that Harper was only supposed to follow PAMA's orders, not anyone else's. So why would she suddenly stop just because someone else told her to? Unless...PAMA was the one who stopped Harper. I slowly opened my eyes and saw two figures walking out of the crowd. At first, I couldn't really make out who they were due to my tears blurring my vision. After blinking my tears away, I saw the two figures clearly, and my jaw was THIS close to falling off. The two people who had just stopped PAMA from chipping me, the two people who ended up saving my life...were none other than Hadrian and Mevia.

Though judging by the wicked grin on Mevia's face, their true intentions were actually less than noble. "Now, now, let's not rush into things like that," said Hadrian, walking through the crowd of red-eyed people with Mevia right on his heels. Surprisingly, the entire crowd separated to make room for both of them to walk through. And since the crowd was being controlled by PAMA… "I mean, really, PAMA," Hadrian scoffed, eyeing me curiously. "You're always so quick to have somebody brainwashed. Now where would be the fun in ruling over a bunch of brain dead robots who can never think for themselves?" "I am not supposed to be 'fun', Hadrian," said PAMA, sounding genuinely angry. "I am supposed to be useful." "And there you go, using that word again," said Mevia, giving a mocking laugh. "I thought that a computer of all things would have a more advanced vocabulary." PAMA was clearly annoyed by the Old Builders waving him off like that, but he still did nothing. I could only stare at the display in front of me with wide eyes. Hearing Soren mention it was one thing, but seeing it with my own eyes was quite another. He was right. The Old Builders really did have complete control over PAMA and his actions, which was especially strange due to the fact that it was usually the other way around.

Hadrian leaned towards my face and scrutinized me carefully. "What's your name, sport?," he asked, sounding like some kind of cheesy sports announcer. "...Alex," I answered bluntly. Hadrian waited for me to say anything more than that, but I kept my mouth shut and remained quiet. Fortunately, my multiple encounters with Hadrian back in my own timeline taught me never to give him any sort of ammo or blackmail material, because he can and will use it against me ruthlessly. I have no doubt in my mind that this Hadrian was no different. "And what brings you to our humble abode?," Hadrian continued, straightening back up. He had that same smug smile on his face, the kind of smile that you just want to slap right off of a person's face. Well, two could play at that game. I looked up at him and gave him my own cocky smile. "Sorry, I can't tell you that," I said sweetly. "That's classified information." The smug smile on Hadrian's face wavered for a moment, but it still remained strong. Huh, I thought. I guess this version of Hadrian is a lot more patient. The Hadrian in my own timeline never would've let an insult like that slide so easily. Hadrian chuckled. "I like you, kid," he said. "You've got guts. If you ask me, I think that letting PAMA brainwash you and make you mine ores every day would be a huge waste of your talent. Why don't you come with me and Mevia? We could always use some more gladiators, after all." Gladiators?, I thought. So they're still hosting the Games?

"I do not think that making Alex into one of your gladiators is a smart idea, Hadrian," said PAMA, clearly holding back a lot of rage. "She should be chipped so that I can access her mind and see what information she holds in her brain. It could be very valuable." "Oh, you worry too much, PAMA," said Mevia, waving her hand dismissively. "Besides, what could she-" "Mevia!," Hadrian suddenly snapped, jerking his head back to glare at her. "Would you shut your mouth, please!?" Mevia stared at him, then grumbled to herself and looked away while crossing her arms. "...oh, you worry too much, PAMA," said Hadrian, waving his hand dismissively. "Besides, what could she possibly have in her head that would ever be useful to you?" He had basically just stolen Mevia's line and passed it off as his own, which earned him a scandalized glare from Mevia. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or feel insulted by what Hadrian said about me.

PAMA's screen slightly flickered, switching between various different expressions, each of which were upset or angry in some way. Finally, he settled on a face of pure indifference. "Go ahead, Hadrian," he said, an undertone of resignation in his otherwise flat voice. "Do whatever you want to her." Before I could say anything or even react, Hadrian reared back his fist and landed a single strong punch on my face, instantly knocking me unconscious.

I wasn't sure how long I was out for, but when I finally woke up, I realized that I was no longer in the plaza of the city. Instead, I appeared to be inside some kind of ancient dungeon. There were iron bars all around me, imprisoning me like a criminal inside of a jail cell. I groaned and slowly sat up, feeling a dull ache all over the left side of my face. I also felt something very soft underneath me and looked down to see that I was sitting on a big pile of yellow hay. "Wha… where am I?," I murmured, looking around frantically. I noticed a dirty puddle of water on the stone floor next to me and tried crawling towards it on all fours, but was eventually stopped by a sudden yanking on my foot. I looked back and saw that my right ankle was chained to the wall, preventing me from going any further. Fortunately, the chain was just long enough for me to see my own reflection in the puddle. I was sporting a black eyes and had a nasty bruise on the left side of my face. I had no idea that Hadrian could punch that hard. I tentatively reached towards my bruised eye, then winced in pain and pulled my hand away right after touching it.

I tried to remember what had happened right before I got knocked out, but my memory was a little hazy. Something about becoming a gladiator...ugh, why is it so hard to remember all of a sudden? "Testing, testing, one, two, three," said a mechanical voice, causing me to shriek and jump in fear. That turned out to be a mistake, since the chain that was attached to my ankle forced me back down and made me fall onto my ass, causing me to wince in pain. "Let's see, it should be working now," the voice continued. "Hello? Alex, can you hear me?" "Who's there?," I asked urgently, frantically looking around in alarm, and yet seeing no signs of anyone who was nearby. "Show yourself!" For some reason, the voice sounded oddly familiar. "It's me, Soren," said the voice. "I'm communicating to you through a microphone in your shock collar. I had it implemented while you were in the weapons room." I began to calm down after that. So Soren was the one talking to me. It was no wonder that his voice sounded familiar, though it also sounded so strange coming out of the microphone that I almost didn't recognize him.

"What do you want?," I asked irritatedly. While it was a huge relief for me to hear another human voice in this dark and empty room, I was also pissed at the guy for putting me through all of this. "I want to remind you about your mission," said Soren. "I've been keeping a close eye on you for the past few days, Alex, and thanks to the tracking device in your collar, I always know where you are, when you are. And based on what I'm seeing right now, it seems that you've been completely stationary for the past three days. I hope that you're not slacking off right now." "What...three days?," I asked, feeling numb. Was I really out for that long? "Yes, three days," Soren confirmed. "And in case I need to remind you, you're on a very strict time limit right now, Alex. If you don't start moving right now, I might start growing impatient and just electrocute you on the spot. I wonder what either of the Old Builders would think if they were to come down here and see you as a scorched human corpse?" "Hey, I'm trying my best here, alright?!," I snapped. "Maybe instead of threatening my life and being an all around asshole, you could actually do something helpful like, oh I don't know...NOT SEND ME TO A FUCKING DEATH TRAP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING DESERT THAT'S BEING RULED OVER BY A PSYCHOPATHIC COMPUTER WITH A FUCKING GOD COMPLEX!" I stopped and began taking deep breaths, trying and failing to calm myself down. "...I know about the other people that you sent before me," I continued in an icy tone. "They never came back, did they? Heh, of course not. You're no better than Hadrian and Mevia. I mean, you clearly have no problem sending innocent people to their deaths, just so they could do YOUR dirty work! And I'm just your newest guinea pig, aren't I? I'm expendable, just like the rest. If I fail, you'll just shrug your shoulders and choose some other poor schmuck as your new candidate, and all while sitting on your ass all day long in the safety of your underground bunker. Don't bother worming your way out of this one."

For a while, there was only silence on the other side of the microphone. I was beginning to wonder if Soren was even still there. "...Alex, I don't think you're able to think straight right now," he said. "Because all I hear that's coming out of your mouth right now is gibberish." "Hey, don't you fucking dare deflect my question!," I growled. However, Soren was clearly in no mood to continue this conversation. "You're clearly under a lot of stress and pressure right now," he continued calmly. "I think that I'll call you back on a later date, when you finally get yourself under control." "No shit, I'm under a lot of stress and pressure right now!," I yelled. "You're the one who's decided to send me on a death mission with a fucking shock collar around my neck! I'm not your fucking guinea pig, Soren! I promise to any god out there that once I defeat PAMA and free everyone from his influence, I am going to expose you for the two bit hustler you really are!" There was no response. "Soren?! Are you still there?!" There was still no response.

I finally lost it and began screaming in anger while clawing at the collar around my neck in a desperate effort to pull it off. Of course, all that did was crack my fingernails. But that didn't stop me. I kept on scrabbling at the collar and screaming myself hoarse until I finally collapsed onto the pile of hay underneath me, my energy entirely spent. I couldn't cry anymore since my tear ducts had probably been shriveled up by then, so I just resorted to making weak, sobbing noises with my throat. I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take. With the constant threat of death looming over me like a storm cloud, and the heavy burden of the entire world literally resting on my shoulders, I knew that it wouldn't be long before I lost my mind completely. Even now, I could feel my own mind unraveling like a ball of yarn. I honestly didn't expect to be put under so much strain, especially in such a short amount of time. Then again, Herobrine DID say that he was going to send me to hell… I gritted my teeth in anger and clenched my hands into fists. That's exactly what he wants, I thought. He WANTS me to lose my sanity…

"WELL, IT WON'T WORK!," I screamed, shaking my fist at the ceiling. "YOU HEAR ME, HEROBRINE?! YOU WON'T BREAK ME! I! WON'T! BREAK!" Of course, the only thing that answered me was the echo of my own voice bouncing around the room. I sighed shakily and laid back down on the pile of hay, squeezing my eyes shut so that I didn't have to look at the depressing cell that I was being held in. Soren's face appeared in my mind, a cold smile on his face that could put Hadrian's to shame. My hands squeezed tighter. Damn you, Soren! I hate you! I fucking HATE YOU! But then, my anger vanished just as quickly as it formed, leaving me feeling nothing but bleak emptiness inside. No...I didn't really hate Soren. Well, I did, but only the Soren in this alternate timeline. He was nothing like the Soren that I knew, the Soren who raised me alongside the rest of the Order, the Soren who was proud to be my godfather…

...but that Soren was dead. Slaughtered at the hands of Herobrine, along with the others who raised and nurtured me into the person that I am now. They didn't deserve such a cruel fate. That's why I'm going to avenge them. I'm going to make Herobrine AND Notch pay for their crimes...whatever it took...even if it kills me… Suddenly, I heard a rustling noise coming from right next to me, causing me to sit bolt upright and stare into the darkness, my heart beating like a scared mouse. "Who's there?!," I asked nervously, realizing that I was actually not alone. At first, there was only silence. Then, something large and bulky moved in the darkness. I didn't notice it at first because it was black, which made it extremely hard to see in the shadows. The thing sat up, and I was instantly able to tell that the "thing" was actually a person wearing heavy armor, since I could also hear the sounds of metal rubbing and grinding against each other. I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, and in the very dim light, I could faintly make out someone who was sitting in a jail cell right next to mine, which was identical to my own. He had been sleeping on a pile of hay - just like me - and had a chain around his ankle that connected him to the wall - again, just like me. Not only that, he looked very, very familiar.

"Isaac?!," I cried, feeling a sense of joy that I hadn't felt since coming to this godforsaken timeline. I crawled towards him on all fours and gripped the iron bars in front of me, smushing my face between said bars. I was just so relieved to see another familiar face. "Isaac, it's so great to see you!," I cried happily. "What are you even doing here?" Isaac slowly turned to look at me, though I couldn't tell what his expression was since his entire face was covered by his helmet. He didn't say a single word in return. My joy diminished when a sad realization came to me. "Oh...you don't know who I am, do you?," I asked. I was so overjoyed from seeing Isaac again that I had forgotten that I had never even existed in this timeline. I mean, who's to say that the Isaac in front of me was going to be the same as the Isaac in the original timeline?

Isaac slowly shook his head to show that, indeed, he didn't know who I was. "Um...you don't talk much...do you?," I asked. Isaac silently shrugged. "Do you know how we can get out of here?," I asked. Isaac shrugged again. Then, my eyes widened in realization. "I've actually seen you earlier!," I said. "You were the one I saw on the roof yesterday. You almost dropped a brick on my head, you jerk!" Isaac shrugged for a third time, but this time, it was to tell me that it was an accident and that there were no hard feelings involved. "You're still not talking?," I asked tiredly. Isaac shook his head. I sighed heavily and flopped down onto the pile of hay in my jail cell, looking up at the ceiling. At least it made for some comfortable bedding.

Isaac suddenly tapped on the bars to grab my attention, then pointed at his own neck. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You know, I'd be able to understand you a lot better if you actually said something," I said. For some odd reason, Isaac shook his head, then kept on pointing at his own neck, and it became clear to me as to what he was trying to ask me: "What is that around your neck?" "Oh, that," I muttered angrily, glaring down at the shock collar. "It's a shock collar," I explained. "Soren made me wear this to keep track of my movements and electrocute me to death if I ever disobeyed him." Isaac seemed to tense up at the name. "Let me guess," I said. "You've met him too?" Isaac slowly nodded, causing me to sigh again. "Yeah, that guy's a real piece of work, huh?," I joked. Isaac's shoulders began shaking, and I could've sworn that he giggled, actually GIGGLED, like a little girl. I decided to chalk that up to my mind playing tricks on me. "Before I got here, Hadrian said that he was going to make me into a 'gladiator,' I continued. "What did he even mean by that?" Once again, Isaac shrugged. "Well, it was nice talking to you," I said, even though there was barely any talking involved, at least from Isaac's side. I rolled over onto my side, squirming deeper into the pile of hay, and before I knew it, the darkness and silence of the room helped me fall asleep. Isaac, on the other hand, stayed awake and stared at me in my sleep, wondering who I was and how I knew so much.

I was suddenly woken up by someone banging on the bars of our jail cells with a long wooden stick. It was Mevia, who looked like she had just finished a long procedure of making herself look as clean and prim as possible. Her black and red robe was sparkling clean, her long blue hair was brushed neatly, and she was surrounded by an aroma of sweet smelling perfume that was so overwhelming that I began coughing. "Rise and shine, gladiators!," she chirped. "The Games are about to start!" She left as quickly as she came, leaving me and Isaac alone in the room. The doors to our cells had been unlocked and opened, and the chains around our ankles had also been removed. I slowly looked at Isaac with question marks in my eyes, but since he was wearing a helmet that covered his entire head, I could only imagine what was going through his mind right now. "Well...shall we go?," I asked, giving a small but nervous smile. Isaac nodded and got up, brushing the hay off of his black and purple armor.

We walked out of the room/dungeon and straight into another room, which looked less like a medieval dungeon and more like a fancy lobby. There were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, furniture sculpted out of quartz, and colored glass in the walls. The only thing that ruined the image were the red-eyed people standing around the room, crossing their arms and glaring at us. "There they are!," Hadrian announced, sitting at the front of the room with Mevia standing right next to him. "Looks like our two gladiators are finally up and about! Tell me, did you two have a good night's rest? 'Cause trust me, you're both gonna need it!" I blinked in surprise. Wait, so me and Isaac are the only gladiators here? What about Slab, Clutch, Facemeat, and Em? "Listen closely," Hadrian continued. "Do you hear the crowd cheering for you?" Me and Isaac strained our ears, but we heard nothing. "Eh, they'll come around," Hadrian scoffed. "But in the meantime, I think you two better suit up before the big fight! I heard it's gonna be a big one." I rolled my eyes. Of course you'd know that, I thought irritatedly. You're the goddamn host. "Here's some chests for both of you to look through," said Mevia, pointing at some chests on the far side of the room. Then, she gestured to the chipped humans who were also in the room with us. "These people are here to make sure that you don't try anything funny. Now chop chop! We have a long and exciting day ahead of us!" Me and Isaac glared at the two Old Builders, but decided not to say anything and headed towards the chests. "Ah, I just love the Games," Hadrian sighed, leaning back in his chair and planting his feet on top of his desk.

The two of us began searching through the chests while under the watchful eyes of the red-eyed people. While we did so, I figured that now was as good a time as any to discuss with Isaac. "So what do you think we should do?," I whispered, making sure to lower my voice so as to not be overheard by anyone else in the room. "I'm no good at making up strategies, so I was hoping that you would have a plan." Isaac slowly turned his head to face me. "Don't die," was all he said, before continuing to search for weapons and items. "...great plan," I sighed, though I couldn't help but wonder why Isaac's voice sounded so strange. It seemed...lighter and softer than what I was used to, not at all like the deep and gruff voice that he always had. Maybe it was just the helmet that was warping his voice. Finally, Isaac got a pair of enchanted diamond swords, while I got a regular iron sword and an enchanted bow. It was a shame that my chest didn't have any lightsabers in it. "Are you both set to go?," asked Hadrian. We silently nodded. "Good," said Hadrian, beginning to walk away with his arms behind his back. "Let me tell you, I sure am excited about today's Games." "What are we going to do anyway?," I asked, causing him to stop in his tracks. "It seems like we're about to fight someone." Hadrian turned his head to look back at me, and he appeared to be deciding whether or not to tell me. He eventually made up his mind. "Mevia, leave the room and make sure everything is set for the Games," he ordered. "I'm going to remain here for the time being and have a little talk with Alex."

Mevia gave Hadrian a suspicious glance, but decided to heed his orders and exited the room. However, the red-eyed people stayed inside, clearly to make sure that neither me nor Isaac attempted to do any funny business while alone with Hadrian. The Old Builder walked over to me and placed his arm around me in what he probably saw as a comforting manner, but to me, it reminded me more of a venomous snake wrapping around my throat. Isaac tensed up, but a quick glare from Hadrian and the red-eyed people made him stand down. "Let me tell you a little something about the Games, Alex," said Hadrian, leading me towards a window. "When you look through this window, tell me, what do you see?" I decided to humor him and looked through the window, but all I saw were a bunch more of those red-eyed people milling around like robots. "I just see a bunch more of those red-eyed people milling around like robots," I said. "Exactly," said Hadrian, snapping his fingers. "Before you came here, I'm sure that Soren and his little camaraderie told you all about how Mevia and I used PAMA as a stepping stone to gain ultimate power over the entire world." I slowly nodded, wondering where this was all going. "But I'm afraid that I hadn't thought that far ahead," Hadrian continued. "Sure, with PAMA having everyone in the world brainwashed, there were no more obstacles that laid between me and power. But when all was said and done, what more was there to do? All we had now was a position of authority that meant little to us and a bunch of drooling, brain dead idiots to rule over. That's no fun, is it?" As messed up as his logic was, it did make some sense. "I...guess not," I answered. "So you see, we brought the Games back because it has become something of a necessity for us," said Hadrian. "It's the only way for me and Mevia to feel and exercise our true power. Contrary to what Soren told you, not everyone has been chipped, and of course, I don't just mean myself and Mevia. I'm talking about hundreds of people, Alex. Hundreds."

My eyes widened. "You were somehow able to get PAMA to spare hundreds of people?," I asked in bewilderment. "Spare...is a pretty strong word, sport," said Hadrian. "But yes, I guess you can see it that way." At first, I was ecstatic from hearing that hundreds of people had been saved from being chipped or exterminated thanks to Hadrian. But that joy quickly turned into paranoid suspicion. Wait...they were saved by HADRIAN of all people, I thought. There's no way he did that with good intentions. "...and where are those people now?," I asked cautiously. "Oh, you'll see them soon," Hadrian assured me. "PAMA has allowed me and Mevia to keep hosting the Games, which are being played by real, non-chipped people, mind you. Having a bunch of, in your own words, 'red-eyed people that mill around like robots' playing the Games would be no fun at all. It wouldn't MEAN anything." Right, because there's SO much meaning in killing each other for food or freedom, I thought sarcastically. "But why would PAMA ever let you and Mevia host the Games?," I asked. "I got the impression that PAMA only cared about efficiency, not games." "He has no choice," Hadrian boasted. "We're the ones who keep him up and running. Without us, he'd eventually drain all of his power and die out." I narrowed my eyes. "But we both know that's not true, is it?," I challenged him. Hadrian froze and gave me a cold glare.

"...I have no idea what you're talking about, bucko," he said calmly, but there was now an edge to his voice that definitely wasn't there before. "No, I think you do," I pressed on. "I know all about the Redstone Heart, Hadrian. And I know that the heart doesn't NEED constant fixing and maintenance to keep it running. Even if it did, PAMA could always just have both you and Mevia chipped so he could add that information on how to keep his power source alive in his databanks." I harshly poked my finger at his chest. "You've done something, haven't you?," I whispered. "Something that you don't want PAMA to know about." Hadrian suddenly looked very nervous. Sweat was pouring down his face and his eyes were frantically looking around at the red-eyed people, who were no doubt able to send whatever data they had accumulated directly to PAMA himself. Fortunately for him, they were too far away and we were speaking too quietly for any of them to overhear us. However, they did notice how strange we were acting and were staring at us in suspicion. Hadrian gulped and looked back at me. He seemed both furious and terrified at the same time. "How the hell do you know all of this?," he whispered.

I gave a cocky smile. "I know a lot more than you think, Hadrian," I said. "A lot more." Of course, I could've just outright told him that I was from a different timeline, but where would the fun be in that? Let him keep guessing. I'm sure that whatever Hadrian can come up with would be far more terrifying than anything that I could say to him. Hadrian narrowed his eyes at me, trying to gain back control of the situation by intimidating me as much as possible, but there was now a glint of fear in his eyes. Good. "Oh, you may think you're high and mighty now," growled Hadrian, "but I'll be LAUGHING at you from my nice, cushy box while I watch you die in the most gruesome way possible. I promise you that, you little NOTHING." I couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu upon hearing those words. "Now listen up, you little RAT!," Hadrian continued. "These are supposed to be games. These are supposed to be FUN. So play. Along." "Oh, I will, Hadrian," I assured him, smiling coldly. "I will." Hadrian looked downright furious, but quickly tried to calm down when he noticed that everyone else in the room was now staring at us. He pointed a quivering finger at my face. "If you tell anyone about this, anyone at all, I'll…" The Old Builder couldn't even finish his sentence. "Just...don't." Then, he stomped out of the room.

I walked back to Isaac, unable to keep a huge smile from appearing on my face. At least this entire trip wasn't COMPLETELY miserable. Isaac stared at me, then nodded towards the door that Hadrian just went through. He was probably trying to ask me what had happened between the two of us just now. "I just brought him down a few pegs," I answered. "You know, give him a taste of his own medicine." Isaac nodded in understanding and patted my shoulder. I raised an eyebrow. "Wow, you REALLY don't want to talk," I said. Sure, the Isaac back in my own timeline was quiet too, but this Isaac was almost like a mime. Isaac shrugged again. I sighed. "Well," I said, "I guess we'd better get this over with, am I right?" After getting another nod from Isaac, the two of us walked out of the room with the red-eyed people following right behind us. We were now back outside, with Hadrian and Mevia waiting for us right outside of the building. "Well, it took you folks long enough!," said Mevia. "What in the world were you people doing in there anyway?" I gave a small glance in Hadrian's direction. "We had a little talk," was all I said. Hadrian began grinding his teeth together, and a low growl erupted from the back of his throat, but he didn't say a single word, not when PAMA could be watching right now.

We made our way through the city and eventually arrived at a giant arena that was in the center of the city. It reminded me of a Roman colosseum, but instead of being primarily made out of stone, this arena had numerous technological advancements that set it apart from any other arena that I had ever seen. Instead of stone, the outside of the arena was made out of some kind of silver metal, almost like iron, but much more shiny and reflective, like gold. The gates leading into the arena were actually light blue force fields that made buzzing sounds and occasionally flickered. You would expect to hear screaming and cheering coming from the inside of an arena, but when we arrived at this arena, it was completely silent. "Don't let that silence fool you, sport," said Hadrian. "There are actually hundreds of people in there, waiting for their newest gladiators to give them the spectacle of a lifetime." "You still didn't tell us who we're going to be fighting," I said. Hadrian grinned. "That's for me to know and you to find out," he said. After that, the force field shut down and me and Isaac were forced into the arena. Then, the force field turned back on behind us, preventing us from escaping if we wanted to.

The two of us were now in a dark tunnel with a bright light at the end of it, no doubt leading to the inside of the arena, where we had to fight...well, something. There were still no shouts and cheers that could be heard. I turned to face Isaac, barely able to make him out in the darkness of the tunnel. "This may be a bad time to ask this…," I said hesitantly, "...but are you sure that you don't have a plan?" Isaac shook his head. I sighed. "Yeah, I figured. Come on, let's just get this whole thing over with." We walked through the tunnel, our footsteps echoing around us in an ominous fashion, until we finally arrived at the middle of the arena, where the fighting would no doubt take place. Another force field turned on behind us, preventing us from going back into the tunnel. I looked around and saw that Hadrian was telling the truth. There were hundreds of people seated around the arena, looking down at us from their seats. This whole thing really was like a colosseum. But they weren't cheering when we came out, and I could easily tell why. Every single one of the spectators looked like they hadn't had a wink of sleep for days or even weeks. They had dark, heavy bags under their eyes and permanent frowns on their faces. Every inch of their faces were covered in wrinkles, making them look much older than they actually were. None of them were chipped, but they still looked miserable all the same. They also seemed to be chained up to their own seats, preventing them from leaving. I was both astonished and disgusted by what I was seeing. These people may not have been brainwashed by PAMA, but they were still forced to sit there and watch their loved ones die in the arena. It was way more cruel than what Hadrian and Mevia did in the original timeline. At least back then, the competitors voluntarily played in the Games rather than being forced into them. "This is inhumane," I growled, squeezing my hands into fists. "It's monstrous."

"Ladies and gentlemen!," Hadrian announced, standing on top of a platform that was overlooking the entire arena, with Mevia standing next to him. "Welcome to the Games! How are you all doing today?" There was no audible response. The people being forced to watch only sent him sad and tired glances, not even having the energy to get mad. "Yes, I hear you, I hear you!," Hadrian chuckled, nodding along as if they actually responded to him. "Let me tell you, I'm just as excited as all of you! We've got two new gladiators here! Give it up for Alex and this... other guy who won't talk for some reason. Let's give them a round of applause!" Ironically, the Old Builders were the only ones who were actually applauding. Everyone else just sat there with hopeless stares on their faces. Hadrian clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Eh, you can't win them all, I guess," he sighed. "Anyway, let's get this-" "Let's get this show on the road!," cried Mevia, pumping her arms up and down. "Damn it, Mevia!," growled Hadrian, angry that Mevia had interrupted him once again. Mevia ignored him and pulled a nearby lever. Suddenly, a massive doorway on the other side of the arena opened up, revealing nothing but darkness inside. For the first time since we came here, the spectators began showing some emotions other than sadness. They began squirming around in their seats and murmuring uncomfortably, with some of them even trying to look away. It was obvious that they were afraid of what was going to come out of that other tunnel. I quickly took out my bow and aimed it at the doorway, while Isaac took out his swords and shifted into a combat stance. Then, we waited with baited breath, wondering what our opponent was going to be. Please don't be Patrick, please don't be Patrick, please don't be Patrick, please don't be Patrick, I chanted inside of my head.

A loud roar suddenly emanated from within the tunnel, nearly bursting our eardrums and sending a gust of wind that almost knocked us off of our feet. Then, a pair of purple glowing eyes glared at us from the darkness. An enderman?, I thought, knowing that my arrows would be useless if that was the case. However, it turned out to be no enderman. A bunch of black tentacles suddenly sprouted from within the tunnel, waving around aimlessly. Then, the creature that was connected to the tentacles finally emerged from the doorway, which was instantly blocked up by a force field once the creature took one step out into the open. The audience was now absolutely terrified, crying out nonsensical words and rattling their chains like crazy. The creature had long tentacles sprouting from its back, its eyes were glowing purple, and its skin was pitch black and rough, like the skin of a crocodile. Not only that, it was vaguely humanoid in shape, standing on two legs. It was very tall too, about three or four blocks tall, and its mouth was giant compared to the rest of its face. It had large, human-like teeth that could no doubt crush human skulls if it wanted to. The creature reared its head back and let out another roar, causing the entire arena to shake to its very foundations. "What a spectacle, folks!," Hadrian laughed, steadying himself after the shaking was over. "Seriously, what could possibly be more entertaining than THIS?!" The creature let out a low growl and seemed to observe us, as if it was anticipating our next move. "That thing looks like a miniature version of the Wither Storm," I murmured. Isaac turned to look at me, and if it wasn't for the fact that he was wearing a helmet with a visor, he most likely would've had one of his eyebrows raised in confusion.

The creature roared again and charged towards us, leaving deep imprints in the ground with its feet. Me and Isaac, who were taken aback by how fast the creature was, quickly jumped out of the way just as the creature charged past us and crashed into the opposite wall of the arena, leaving a large crater in the process. The creature was completely unharmed by the impact and stretched out its tentacles, with half of them reaching towards Isaac and the other half reaching towards me. Isaac dealt with the tentacles easily enough by slashing at them with his swords, cutting some of them in half. However, the tentacles kept growing back after each slash, like the heads of a hydra. Meanwhile, the other half of the tentacles tried stabbing at me with their sharp points. I rolled and backflipped out of the way, just as a few of them stabbed themselves into the ground, leaving deep holes. I shot as many arrows as I could in a short amount of time, and about three quarters of them made their marks and hit the tentacles dead on. However, they didn't do as much damage as I had hoped. One tentacle tried sneaking up on me, which I slashed at with my sword to keep it away. However, another tentacle was able to slither its way towards me without me noticing and wrap around my leg. Before I could even react, I was flung into the air like a rag doll, feeling the air rush around me. If my life wasn't in grave danger right now, this might've been kind of fun. "What a stunning turn of events!," cried Mevia. "Alex has just been tossed into the air like nothing! I wonder how she is going to get out of THIS one." As I fell back down, the creature suddenly plucked me out of the air with one of its tentacles and began to slowly crush me with its grip. "What's this?," Hadrian asked excitedly. "It looks like Alex is now at the creature's mercy! She's gonna get squeezed to a pulp!"

Shit!, I thought, struggling to break free, but the tentacle had managed to pin my arms to my sides as well as bind my legs together, preventing me from making any movements. I felt myself slowly being squeezed by the tentacle's immense strength, almost like I was being squeezed by a powerful boa constrictor. "Let...me...go!," I hissed, straining to escape from the creature's hold, but it was no use. It was quickly getting harder to breathe and my vision began to darken. Was this really where my life was about to end? As I began to pass out, my entire life suddenly flashed before my eyes. I saw all the smiling faces of my friends and family, the people who meant so much to me, the people who I would gladly lay down my life for. I remembered all of the good AND bad times we had, everything we went through and accomplished…

And yet, out of all those memories, there was one that stood out to me the most. It was everything that had happened right after me and my friends managed to defeat Romeo...

"Alex! Jesse!," cried a voice behind us, causing us to jump in shock. Thankfully, it was just Ivor. "I am approaching you two from this direction and am coming to speak with you!" "Yeah, I mean...I mean you're right there," said Jesse, calming down. "We can see you."

"I know, I know," said Ivor, sitting down next to us, "but I'm trying not to sneak up on people anymore!" "Might want to work on that a little," I chuckled. "So, no more 'Ninja Ivor' then?," asked Jesse. "Ha!," Ivor barked. "No, no. I decided it was time to stop running around in my pajamas and start trying to fix a few messes… Starting with trying to heal the rift between my old friends…" "That's great!," I exclaimed happily. "Gabriel and Magnus will be so psyched to see you again!" "You think so?," Ivor asked hopefully. "That's certainly the way I'm hoping it will happen…" He stood back up. "Well, I suppose it's time for me to go. This has been fun though, hasn't it?" "It sure has, Uncle Ivy," I said, also standing up and hugging him. "You'll come visit when you have time, right?" Ivor smiled at me. "Of course I will," he said fondly.

"Jesse! Alex! Hey!," cried Radar, jumping excitedly from below us. "What's up Radar?," asked Jesse. "We were just saying goodbye to-" Of course, Ivor was nowhere to be seen. "Guess ninja habits die hard," said Jesse. We hopped down from the roof and walked towards Radar. "I, uh, hope you don't mind…," said the intern, "but I've kinda been taking charge of the Beautification Project. I thought why not at least make it look intentional? Really stepping it up to leader-mode, if I do say so myself." "You've definitely been stepping it up!," Jesse congratulated. "Yeah," I agreed, nodding and smiling. "We're very proud of you, Radar."

"Oh. Wow…," said Radar, barely able to contain himself, "this is...best day." Suddenly, I felt someone tap my shoulder from behind. I turned around and came face to face with Stella, who was shifting her feet anxiously with her hands behind her back. "Hey, Alex," she said nervously. "Oh, hi Stella," I said, beaming at her. I noticed how nervous she was acting and began to feel worried. "Is something wrong?" "Well...it's just…," she said, looking down at her feet. "Since Champion City is now in ruins, me, Lluna, and everyone who lived there are basically homeless right now. Would it be all right if we...stayed here? Only for the time being! Once the city is finished being reconstructed, we'll be out of your hair."

I smiled reassuringly. "Of course all of you could stay here," I said. "If it were up to me, that is." I smirked at Jesse playfully. "The 'mayor' would have to give his okay first." Jesse rolled his eyes. "Alex, I already told you and Petra a billion times already," he sighed. "I'm not the mayor. But…" He smiled at Stella. "...you guys can stay here for as long as you want. We're already letting Binta's people stay here anyway. We'll even help you fix Champion City." Stella smiled gratefully. "Thank you both so much," she said, bowing her head. Then, she turned her attention on Radar. "And...I'm sorry for how I treated you back when you still worked under me, Radar." "That's alright," said the intern, waving it off good naturedly. "Water under the bridge." "I personally can't wait to hang out with my new sister!," I said, hugging Stella with one arm. "Me, you, and Lluna will have so much fun!" I looked around, realizing that someone was missing. "By the way, where IS Lluna?" Stella giggled. "She made a new friend," she said.

We looked over her shoulder and saw Lluna standing in front of Lucifer. The llama stepped forward and sniffed Lucifer's long, scaly neck. The dragon leaned his head down and gave Lluna a big, slimy lick with his tongue, covering the llama's fur in drool. Instead of getting angry or scared, Lluna leaned into Lucifer's side and snuggled under his wing.

We couldn't help but awww at the adorable sight. Even Jesse couldn't resist, though he quickly tried to disguise it as a sneeze. None of us were fooled. "Well, THAT'S cute," said Petra, who had walked into the scene just in time to see Lluna and Lucifer becoming fast animal friends. Ghost, Jack, Nurm, and Ramus were walking along with her. "So what did we just miss?" "Stella and her people are staying here while Champion City's being rebuilt," I explained, then turned to Ramus. "Isn't this exciting, dad?" "It is!," said Ramus, grinning. "I cannot wait to spend some time with my two favorite daughters!" "Favorite...daughter…," Stella whispered to herself, quickly wiping away the joyful tears from her eyes before anyone could see. "Where's Soren, by the way?," I asked, looking around. "Oh, he went to join Ivor," Ramus answered. "The two of them are going to pay the rest of the Order a visit and rekindle their friendships."

"Yeah, we know," said Jesse. "Ivor already told us." "So...I guess you're leaving too now, right?," Radar asked Petra sadly. I felt immense sadness upon being reminded, but tried not to let it show on my face. "It's okay, Petra," said Jesse, though there was definitely a tinge of sadness in his voice. "We'll support you, no matter what." "Yeah," I agreed. "You'll have tons of adventures out there. Just...don't forget about us, okay?" Petra smiled and shook her head. "Guys, you don't have to act like that," she said cheerfully. "I'm not actually going anywhere." "You're not?!," me and Jesse cried simultaneously. "Petra and I did a little talking," Jack explained. "She decided that she wanted to stay here in Beacontown instead."

"What you guys told me in the cabin really struck a chord in me," Petra continued. "For a long time, I never felt like I fit in. I thought that I needed to escape this place, to travel the world in order to find whatever was missing in my life. But now I realize that the thing I've been searching for has been in front of me this whole time." She beamed at us. "You aren't just my friends. You're my family. Why would I need to go out there in the hopes of finding something that may not exist when I already have YOU guys?" "Hold on, am I hearing this right?," asked Axel, walking up to us with Olivia and Lukas. "Petra, you're not leaving?"

Petra smiled at Axel. "Nope. Sorry, Axel. You'll have to try a lot harder than that to get rid of me." Axel actually burst out sobbing, running up to the redhead and hugging her tightly. "You have no idea how glad we are to hear that," said Olivia, her and Lukas joining in on the hug. "Yeah," said Lukas. "It's great to have you back." "Guys...can't...breathe!," Petra gasped.

I let out a loud sigh, relieved beyond words. So was Jesse, if the wide smile on his face was any indication. Finally, Petra was able to escape the hug of death with her ribs and lungs intact. "Thanks, guys," she gasped, taking in deep breaths of air. "Oh, and one more thing. Me and Ghost did a little talking of our own, and we've decided to…" Her face turned red, but this time, it wasn't from lack of air. Meanwhile, Ghost had a grin on his face that was threatening to split his face in half. I was able to put two and two together. "No way," I said, my eyes wide. "You and Ghost are actually dating?!" "Hell yeah, we are!," yelled Ghost, unable to contain his excitement anymore. "You better prepare yourself, Petra! I'm gonna be SUCH a perfect gentleman on our date, and you're gonna have SUCH a great time that-!"

"W-we're not dating!," Petra denied. "Just...finding out if we're compatible with each other." "Petra, that's exactly what dating is," said Jesse, smiling teasingly. "Wow, Petra going out on a date with someone," chuckled Lukas. "Never thought I'd see the day." We couldn't help but laugh at Petra's expense, and Petra couldn't help but join in on the laughter.

"Looks like everyone here is having fun," said Nancy, walking towards us with Isaac. Jack immediately lowered his head to hide his tomato red face. "We sure are," I said. "Are you gonna be staying in Beacontown, Nancy?" "Why not?," said Nancy, shrugging. "This is a very nice city. I'm thinking of moving in with Isaac." "Isaac, you're staying too?," I asked, staring at my bodyguard. Isaac chuckled. "Of course," he said. "It's not like I have anywhere else to go. Besides, I think it's about time I settle down. I've been traveling for long enough."

At that point, Nancy noticed how Jack was staring at the ground, not meeting anyone's eyes. "Jack?," she asked in concern. "Are you alri-" "WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?!," Jack suddenly yelled, holding out a rose that he got from...somewhere. "W-what?," asked Nancy, taken aback by Jack's outburst. Jack cleared his throat, his face bright red. "W-will you go out with me?," he asked again. "I mean, I'm just asking because Petra and Ghost are already going on a date and I just thought I could do the same, but now I realize that this is a huge mistake and oh god why the hell am I still talking shut up Jack shut up-!" Nancy suddenly leaned towards Jack and kissed him on the cheek, causing the gruff warrior to stop his ranting and stare off into space. "I would love to go out with you," Nancy giggled. Steam could almost be seen blowing out of Jack's ears while Nurm let out a "woohoo" for his love sick friend.

I giggled. "Wow, people are just asking each other out left and right," I joked to Jesse. "I wonder what else is going to happen." Jesse suddenly cleared his throat, then turned to face me, his eyes hopeful and uncertain. Alex…," he said. "There's something that's been in the back of my mind for a long time, and...I was never able to gather up the courage to tell you. But I think I'm ready now." "Jesse...what is it?," I asked, suddenly feeling scared.

Jesse got down on one knee. "Alex...will you marry me?"

Although there were many terrible things that happened in the past few days, there were many joyful, even magical things that happened too. Meeting my father for the first time, getting to know Stella more...but hugging Jesse while repeating "yes" over and over again as everyone around us cheered was definitely the happiest one. There were still many things that made no sense, still many questions in my mind that were left unanswered. But you know what?

This is my family. And I wouldn't trade them for all the answers in the world.

I gritted my teeth in anger, feeling tears seeping from the corners of my eyes. "No," I whispered, feeling a surge of adrenaline rushing through me. "I won't…" I managed to slightly move my arms and grip onto the tentacle that was holding me with both hands. "...let them…" Then, with a surge of strength that I never even knew that I had, I slowly began to pry away the tentacle with my bare hands. "...DOWN!" With one final push, I not only managed to break free from the tentacle's grip, but also ripped it apart with sheer strength. I wasn't sure how I was able to do that, since out of nearly everyone that I knew, I was probably physically the weakest. Still, I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and slashed away at the remaining pieces of the tentacle, leaving behind nothing but a wiggling stump. I knew that it wasn't going to be long before that stump would grow into a brand new tentacle, so I had to act quickly. Seeing Isaac fend off the other tentacles, an idea came into my mind. First, I quickly shot some arrows at the tentacles that were attacking Isaac, which briefly distracted them and gave him the opportunity to finish them off with a single swipe of his sword. "Isaac!," I hollered, grabbing his attention. I pointed at the creature, who was roaring in pain from its tentacles being cut off. "We have to attack it together before its tentacles grow back!" Isaac nodded in understanding and the two of us ran towards the creature as fast as we could. Then, once we got close to it, we both jumped into the air, narrowly dodging a strike from one of the creature's half-reformed tentacles. Right before we raised our swords above our heads and brought them down onto the creature's head as hard as possible, I could barely hear Hadrian letting out a yell of anger and frustration.

Right when our swords made contact with the creature's head, a burst of bright white light suddenly erupted from within the creature, sending us flying back and skidding across the ground. We managed to quickly regain our footing and shifted back into our combat stances, ready to attack the creature again if it had somehow survived our attack. Once the light faded, I was shocked to see that the creature was now gone. Instead, there was just a puddle of black and purple goop staining the floor, and in the middle of the mess was a young man who was laying on the ground motionlessly, completely covered in the goop. Everyone, even the crowd that was being forced to watch us, even Hadrian and Mevia, remained silent. I slowly walked towards the man, being careful not to let my guard down, and poked him with my foot. The man began to stir and sat up, staring right at me. I couldn't help but gasp. At first, it was hard to tell who he was due to his face being covered by the purple slime. However, I was quickly able to figure out where I had seen his face before. "...Thomas?," I whispered in disbelief.

Thomas glared at me suspiciously. "Who are you?," he asked in a raspy voice. "How the fuck do you know my name?" He coughed violently, a few droplets of black slime tinged with blood coming out of his mouth. "You…" He was rapidly taking in deep breaths, as if he hadn't been able to breathe for a very long time. "You...did this?" I blinked in confusion. "Um...d-did what?," I asked. "This!," said Thomas, gesturing to himself. "You...saved me." Now I was more confused than ever. "I...I don't think you-" Before I could react, Thomas suddenly rushed towards me and wrapped his arms around me, splattering some of the purple goop all over my chest and shoulders. He buried his face into my hair and began sobbing like a little kid. "You don't know what it was like," he whimpered. "You don't know what it was like to have no control over your own actions, to be trapped in a body that's not your own. Thank you. *hic* Thank you!" Finally, I was able to put the pieces together. "Thomas...you were that creature the whole time?," I asked. Thomas nodded weakly. "...what did Hadrian and Mevia do to you?," I asked.

"They promised me power," Thomas sniffed. "But I didn't read the fine print." Suddenly, Thomas began to convulse violently and shoved me back. "No. No! It's taking over again!," he cried. "I can't live like this! Not again!" Before our very eyes, his skin began turning black and more tentacles slowly sprouted from his back. "Y-you...need to get out of here. NOW!," Thomas roared, his voice becoming deeper and more monstrous with each passing second. Suddenly, he grabbed both me and Isaac with his tentacles, but instead of crushing us to death like earlier, he tossed us through the air...and we ended up flying over the wall and landing in the middle of the audience members, accidentally knocking a few of them over in the process. Isaac was able to recover from the landing much faster than I did and helped me get back on my feet. Then, we noticed that everyone was now staring at us. "Um...bye!," I said, grabbing Isaac's hand and pulling him along as we ran up the seats of the colosseum. "Why are you all just sitting there?!," yelled Hadrian. "Stop them!" The spectators, however, did the complete opposite. They cheered us on and waved their arms in celebration, filling the air with the clanking of their chains. They looked more happy than ever before. "RAAAR!," Hadrian yelled, tugging at his own hair. "Wait!," said Mevia, getting an idea. "PAMA could help us!" Hadrian blinked, then a grin split his face. He quickly took out what appeared to be a highly advanced radio and held it to his mouth. "PAMA, Alex and her armored accomplice are escaping!," he yelled into the speaker. "Stop them!"

Fortunately, once me and Isaac got to the top of the colosseum, there were some nearby buildings that we could jump onto. We began hopping across the rooftops, but then we noticed that the red-eyed people being controlled by PAMA were now climbing up the buildings in an effort to capture us. Isaac grabbed the hilt of his sword, but I quickly stopped him by grabbing his arm. "Don't hurt them!," I said. "They're all just people like you and me! They've just been brainwashed, that's all!" Isaac appeared to be very hesitant, but he complied and let go of his sword. We continued running and jumping across the top of the buildings, while also evading and dodging some red-eyed people who had made it up to the top. Eventually, we jumped onto the top of the wall that bordered the entire city. "Hold on," said Isaac, suddenly grabbing me and hoisting me onto his shoulders. Then, he took out one of his swords, jumped off of the wall, dug the blade of his sword into said wall, and slid down smoothly, skillfully landing at the bottom without any injuries. Now that we were outside the city, it was time for us to retreat. However, as we ran away, I looked back and saw the red-eyed people leaving the city and chasing after us. My heart dropped when I realized that we weren't going to escape. They were fast. Too fast. And they were going to catch up to us and drag us back to the city if we didn't do something other than running. Suddenly, an idea came to my mind. "Wait!," I cried, stopping Isaac by grabbing his arm again. Then, I frantically looked around before my eyes landed on a single rock in the desert - the same rock where I hid all of my weapons and materials.

"Over there!," I said, dragging Isaac along. Once we got to the rock, I immediately began digging behind it. The thundering footsteps of the red-eyed people grew louder and louder with each passing second. I knew that we didn't have much time left and began digging even faster. Finally, I was able to unearth my bag of goodies and took out just the weapon that I needed: the super advanced bow of retro-awesomeness, or S.A.B.R. as I had come to call it. "Isaac, get behind me and hold me in place as much as you can!," I ordered. Without any hesitation on his part, Isaac got behind me and held me by the shoulders. I took out one of the energy arrows, notched it into the bow, pulled the string back, and took aim...not at the red-eyed people, but at the small nearby mountain that was only a few miles away from the city. With a loud ZAP, the arrow took off at blinding speeds. The bow's recoil was so strong that even with Isaac holding me in place, both of us were knocked back by a few blocks and landed on our backs. But since I was the one who fired the bow, as well as the only one with no armor, I ended up getting the short end of the stick. A sharp pain exploded in my chest as I felt one of my ribs break, and a few drops of blood flew out of my mouth. In just a fraction of a second, the arrow hit the top of the mountain. What exactly was that supposed to accomplish, you may ask?

This, of course. It turned out that the explosive yield of the arrow was not exaggerated in the slightest, and it wasn't long before a massive landslide occurred from said explosion. Even though it was coming at us at very fast speeds, it could still be seen from literally a mile away, giving all of us plenty of time to get out of the landslide's way. A massive torrent of rocks and gravel rushed between us, separating me and Isaac from PAMA's forces. After the landslide ended, there was now a huge barrier of rocks towering in front of us. Of course, even that wasn't enough to keep them away forever, and there was no doubt that the red-eyed people would find a way around it sooner or later. Isaac knew it too, so he instantly picked me up, carried the bag of weapons and food, and ran off while the chance was still there.

As we ran through the desert, the pain in my chest finally caught up to me and I began groaning and crying in agony. Isaac was careful not to jostle me too harshly while he was running, and eventually, we arrived at a small cave in the middle of nowhere just as the sun vanished below the horizon and darkness fell. Once we got inside, Isaac gently set me onto the ground and made me lean my head against the wall. As he went deeper into the cave to do… whatever, I took the opportunity to look around. The inside of the cave had a small campfire, some drawings on the walls, and evidence of food being eaten here. It was obvious that this was where Isaac spent most of his time. "Hey, Isaac," I called out weakly. "How long have you been living here?" "I ask the questions around here, not you," Isaac responded. I jerked my head in the direction of his voice, my eyes wide in shock. Even though I was in immense pain right now, I was still able to notice just how...different Isaac's voice sounded. In fact, it didn't sound like him at all. It sounded more...feminine. Isaac finally stepped out of the shadows of the cave, only it wasn't Isaac. It was a woman who was wearing Isaac's armor. Now that she was no longer wearing the helmet, I was finally able to see her face. She had long, brown hair that was rather dirty, and her eyes were the color of emeralds. She had dark lines under her eyes and a scowl that put Ivor's to shame. I could only stare at her for a while, my mind going blank. Finally, I could only utter one word. "...bwuh?," I said oh so eloquently. The woman rolled her eyes, then walked towards me with some bandages in her hand. "Hold still while I wrap some of this around your midsection," she ordered sternly. "It's not much, but it will do the trick."

"Who...who are you?," I asked. "You're not Isaac." The woman rolled her eyes again. "That's because Isaac was my boyfriend," she answered. "My real name is Molly Smith."