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)

14. Chapter 14: Annihilation

"There you are!," Molly yelled angrily, running towards a little girl who was playing in a muddy puddle. She grabbed the girl by the arm and began dragging her back home. The girl began kicking and screaming while trying in vain to escape from the stronger girl's grip. "Quiet!," Molly hissed. "Don't be so loud! You might attract the gatherers!" The little girl immediately went quiet. She didn't want the gatherers to come after her. Molly sighed heavily. "Stella, what did I tell you about getting out of the house without father's permission?," she scolded. "You just wait until he hears about this!" Stella's eyes widened in fear. "No, don't tell daddy!," she cried. "He's scary when he's angry!" "Well, I'm telling him anyway!," Molly huffed. Stella began digging the heels of her feet into the ground, resisting her sister's pull. "Stella, what are you doing?," Molly snapped. "Let's go already! I don't want to be out there any longer than I have to!"

"No!," cried Stella, pouting like a petulant child. "You'll tell daddy, a-and he's going to give me a big spanking!" "A spanking that you deserve!," Molly retorted. "You know the rules! Father and I had to drill them into your head since you were only three years old, after all. You weren't supposed to leave the house without father's permission. Did he give you permission?" "N-no," Stella said shyly. "I got bored and snuck out the window…" Molly groaned upon hearing such a poor excuse. "You should know better than this," she sighed. "Now come on." She tried pulling her sister along again, but Stella remained rooted in place like a stubborn weed. "Are you going to tell daddy?," she demanded. "Stella, come on!," Molly growled, tugging even harder. "Are you going to tell daddy?," Stella asked again. "Because if you do, I...I won't love you anymore!" Molly stopped pulling and glared down at Stella. "Don't say things like that," she said sternly. "You don't know what you're talking about." Stella remained quiet, glaring down at her little feet with small tears leaking from her eyes. Molly sighed again. "You really don't want father to know, do you?," she asked tiredly. Stella silently nodded, swaying her arms back and forth.

"...alright, fine," said Molly. "I won't tell father about any of this. But only this once. If you pull another stunt like this again, you won't be so lucky next time." "Do you promise?," asked Stella, looking up at her with wide eyes. Molly nodded, trying not to be further swayed by those large, puppy dog eyes. She was finding it very hard to do so. "Yes, I promise," she said, giving a small smile. Stella, still not convinced, held out her pinkie. "Do you pinkie promise?," she asked. "Stella," Molly sighed, not wanting to take part in such a childish ritual. "You have to pinkie promise me!," Stella insisted. "If you don't, I won't go back in the house with you."

"Fine, fine," Molly groaned, holding out her pinkie as well. "I pinkie promise." The two of them linked their pinkies together. "Alright, now let's go back home," Molly continued. "But if we don't want father to find out that you've been outside, we'll have to enter through the back door. Then, we have to wash all that mud off your clothes. And we have to do all of it quickly, before father's meeting is finished. Can you do that?" Stella nodded. Suddenly, a nearby trash can fell on its side, spilling trash all over the ground. Both girls jumped a foot in the air, startled by the loud noise. However, Molly was much more fearful of what had possibly caused that trash can to fall in the first place. She quickly pulled Stella behind her, keeping her eyes on where the trash can had fallen. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. Was it a gatherer?

Fortunately, it just turned out to be a stray alley cat. The black cat crawled out from inside the trash can, covered in disgusting litter, then turned to stare at the two girls and meowed. "Aw, kitty!," Stella cooed, about to walk towards the cat. However, Molly quickly stopped her by placing her hand on her shoulder. "Come on, let's just go already," she said, grabbing Stella's hand and running home. This time, the younger girl didn't put up any sort of resistance. As the two of them ran, they didn't notice a pair of red, glowing eyes watching them from inside a nearby alleyway, shining in the darkness like two blood red orbs of light.

Eventually, the two girls arrived back at their house, or rather, their fancy mansion. They quietly crept around the outside of the mansion and made their way to the back door. After that, Molly slowly opened the door and gently guided Stella inside before entering herself and closing the door behind her. They were now inside the mansion's cellar, which had been empty and unused for so long that cobwebs and dust filled the entire room. Stella began coughing after accidentally inhaling some of the dust, but Molly managed to cover her sister's mouth before she could make any more noise. "Remember," she whispered. "We have to be quiet." "If that is what you two were going for," said a male voice, "then you are both doing a very poor job if I say so myself." Fortunately, they both had nothing to fear, because Molly recognized the voice in an instant. "Hello, Isaac," she said, greeting the dark shadow that was standing in the corner of the cellar. "I'm sorry you had to see this. Stella snuck out of the house again." "Were you followed?," asked Isaac. "Are there any gatherers nearby?" Molly shook her head. "None that I've seen," she said, smiling softly. "Don't be so paranoid, Isaac. We're safe and sound here."

"In times like these, you cannot afford to let your guard down," Isaac lectured sternly. "I am glad that you were able to get Stella back before anything bad happened to her." He then noticed how dirty the little girl was. "She was playing in a mud puddle," Molly explained. "I plan on cleaning her up before father finds out where she's been. You wouldn't mind keeping a secret for us, would you?" "My lips are sealed," said Isaac, miming a zipping motion across his lips. "You had better hurry up, then. Mr. Smith's meeting is going to end soon." Molly nodded and went to a corner of the cellar, where she pulled out a rusty metal bucket that was large enough for a large dog - or a small girl - to fit in. Then, she filled up the bucket with some water from a nearby sink, making sure to do it slowly and carefully so that the sounds of the water hitting the metal weren't loud enough for anyone in the rest of the house to hear. "Alright, Stella," she said. "Take off your clothes and get in the bucket." Stella did as she was told. Isaac took the clothes and went off to clean them while Molly took out a bar of soap and began vigorously scrubbing the mud off of Stella's hair and back. "Molly, you're doing it too hard," Stella whined, wincing under the intense pressure. "Oh? And whose fault is that?," Molly retorted. "You know how hard it is to get mud off. Now raise your arm, Stella. I'm going to clean your armpit."

After a while, Molly was done cleaning up her sister just as Isaac returned with fresh, clean clothes. Molly dried off Stella with a white towel, then helped her put her clothes back on. "There," she said proudly. "Spick and span, like nothing happened." "Thanks, Molly," said Stella, beaming at her. Molly sighed tiredly, but she couldn't stop a small smile from growing on her face. Even though she lost patience with her little sister more times than she could count, she could never stay mad at her for long. "Now you go run along and play," said Molly. "And don't tell father a word of this, or I'll be in just as much trouble as you." Stella nodded happily and ran out of the cellar, laughing and giggling. Molly sighed again and began to put everything away.

"You spoil her," said Isaac, helping her clean up the cellar. "If it was your father who caught her outside instead of yourself, he would have given her the spanking of a lifetime." "I would never do that to her," Molly said firmly. "I can't see myself hurting my own sister. Not in a million years." "Still," said Isaac, "you need to start being a little more harsh with her. If you keep letting her off the hook like that, she will just keep breaking your father's rules, never learning her lesson. These are dangerous times that we live in, Molly. PAMA has taken over everything. Gatherers prowl the streets every night. And I fear that things will get worse before they get better. I know that it is not my place to lecture you on how to discipline your own sister, but you must start preparing her for the dangers of the outside world. You cannot keep her happy and innocent forever, no matter how much you want to." Molly sighed heavily. "I know that, Isaac," she said. "But...she's just a child. She's not ready for any of this. I just want her to...live a happy life. Just for a little while longer." Isaac nodded in understanding. "Still, you should think about what I just said," he said. Without another word, he left the cellar, going back into the mansion. Molly rolled her eyes. Even though she and Isaac had been dating for a while, they were never really the type of couple who acted very intimate with each other. They never even kissed before! The closest that they had ever gotten to that was a short and awkward hug.

Molly understood that times were hard right now, but she still wished that Isaac showed at least some sign that he cared about her. Oh, Isaac DID love her. That, Molly never doubted in the slightest. But to an outside observer, the two of them were more like people who meet on a subway train every week and exchange one or two sentences. Still, at least Isaac had a good heart and was dependable. He stayed with her family and did everything he could to protect them, and he didn't care what Mr. Smith thought of his daughter dating a hitman.

Molly picked up the bucket, walked back outside, and poured the water into the grass. However, right when she was about to go back inside, she could've sworn that she just saw a pair of red, glowing eyes watching her from the darkness. She quickly spun her head towards where she had seen the eyes, but they were no longer there. "...*sigh* I must be losing my mind," she murmured, walking back into the cellar with a now empty bucket.

Placing the bucket back to where she found it, Molly finally went back inside the mansion, just as the door to her father's office opened on the other end of the hallway. Molly quickly shut the cellar door behind her and acted as if she hadn't been in there. A group of men in black suits walked out of the office and through the hallway. A few of them nodded at Molly as they passed her. Her father, Sebastian J. Smith, was the last person to come out of his office, watching the men in suits walk to the other end of the hallway. One of them pulled a lever on the wall, and a secret door opened up. The men walked through the door, which closed behind them. If Molly hadn't already known the layout of their house, as well as seen it with her own eyes, she would've believed that there had never been a secret door just now.

"Hello, Molly," said Mr. Smith, seeing his daughter standing nearby. "Hello, father," said Molly, trying to act casual. "Are you finished with your meeting?" "Yes, I am," said Mr. Smith, nodding his head. "Those were representatives sent by the world leaders. They've agreed to continue funding my investigations as long as I share with them the information that I gather." Molly couldn't help but frown when she heard the world leaders being brought up. She didn't like those people one bit. She thought they were arrogant, cold, and full of themselves. Except for Ivor, of course. He was much more mellow and reasonable than his fellow peers.

"What were you doing in the cellar?," Mr. Smith suddenly asked. Molly froze, then quickly tried to hide her sudden nervousness. "What do you mean?," she asked calmly. "I just came by to check on you." "Molly," Mr. Smith said in a firm, no-nonsense tone. "Don't lie to your own father like that. I know that Stella had been outside, and that you and Isaac decided not to tell me." Molly stared at her father with wide eyes, then mentally facepalmed when she saw the tiny camera hidden up on the ceiling. The cameras! Of course!, Molly mentally groaned. How could I have forgotten about them? "I...I'm sorry, father," sighed Molly, knowing that continuing to lie to her father would only make the matter worse. "Stella begged me not to tell you because she didn't want you to get mad at her…" Mr. Smith strode up to her until he towered over her, making her feel like a small child all over again. "...I don't want something like this to ever happen again, do you understand?," he whispered angrily. Molly nodded fearfully.

"Good," said Mr. Smith, seemingly satisfied. "You're lucky that you and Stella hadn't been followed." He narrowed his eyes. "You haven't, right?" Molly shook her head. "No, father. We managed to get back home safely with nobody seeing us." "Good," Mr. Smith repeated. "Now that doesn't mean that you and Stella are off the hook. Since you thought that lying to your father was a good idea, you will remain in your room for the rest of the week under lock and key. And neither you nor Stella will have any supper tonight." "What?!," Molly couldn't help but groan. "But Isaac decided to keep it under wraps, too! Why isn't HE getting punished?" She knew that it was childish of her to drag Isaac into this, but damn it, she needed some food in her belly! Mr. Smith rolled her eyes. "Isaac is a hitman who has killed god knows how many people, and has even tried to kill ME a few weeks ago," he said. "If I hadn't had this house booby trapped that day, I'd be dead right now. I never had any expectations for him in the first place."

Molly grumbled under her breath and crossed her arms. "I hate this, father," she began to vent. "Things were so much better before those 'Old Builders' showed up with their fancy 'computer.' Sure, we didn't have much food and people were dying left and right, but at least we didn't have to hide in our homes all the time in fear of being killed or brainwashed." Mr. Smith sighed heavily and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Believe me, Molly, I don't like this any more than you do," he said. "But you know that I don't have a choice in the matter. These rules that I set up for you and Stella - they're meant to protect you. If you and Stella keep breaking them, how could either of you expect to last long in this world?" Molly nodded silently. She knew that their father really did care about them, even though he wasn't so good at showing it, and that everything he just said was true, but still...it all just seemed so unfair. This wasn't the type of childhood that any person ought to go through. And especially not Stella…

Suddenly, both of them heard what sounded like a window shattering, followed by a familiar and terrifying scream. "STELLA!," Mr. Smith roared, running towards Stella's room with Molly hot on his heels. Once they got there, however, it was too late. Stella's little body was now on the floor, lying in a pool of blood. Her arms and legs had been twisted at unnatural angles, and her spine and neck were clearly broken. Standing above her was a man that they had never seen before. He was bald and slightly overweight, and he was also wearing a black and red uniform. His most prominent features, however, were his red, glowing eyes and the blinking redstone chip on the back of his head. "A gatherer…," Mr. Smith whispered in horror.

Molly could only stand there and stare at the corpse of her little sister, feeling numb all over. Even with the gruesome evidence laying right in front of her, she still couldn't believe it. Stella, her little sister, who had just been smiling and laughing moments ago, was now dead. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't. Suddenly, even more windows began to shatter all over the house. They could hear the front door downstairs being knocked off its hinges. Molly's blood ran cold. So it wasn't just one gatherer that had broken into their home. It was a whole group of them, which could only mean one thing. PAMA had finally decided to kill them.

Mr. Smith suddenly grabbed his daughter by the shoulders and pulled her back just as the gatherer that was in the room with them tried to snatch her away. "Run, Molly!," he yelled, pushing her out of the room. "Find Isaac and get as far from here as possible!" For a moment, Molly just stood there, unable to move or do anything due to the sudden shock that she was experiencing. However, she was snapped out of her trance when Mr. Smith literally slapped her in the face as hard as he could. Molly stared at her father, who was breathing heavily, his face red and his hand outstretched. A bright pink handprint was already forming on Molly's cheek. "I SAID RUN!," he roared. Molly finally turned tail and ran away, hearing her father struggling with the gatherer behind her. However, she knew that her father wasn't going to come out of that fight alive. She needed to find Isaac before the other gatherers got to him first.

As she ran through the house, she saw multiple gatherers, people who had been chipped and forced to do PAMA's bidding, breaking the windows and climbing through them. Some of the gatherers tried to reach out and grab her as she ran past them, but she was able to narrowly dodge their efforts. She ran downstairs and saw Isaac in the living room, fending off a whole group of them with a chair. So far, he was doing a pretty good job protecting himself, but Molly knew that it was only a matter of time before they overwhelm him through sheer numbers. "Isaac!," Molly cried, grabbing the hitman's attention. "Molly!," Isaac yelled. "Don't come any closer! Get away from here!" "No! I won't leave you to fend for yourself!," Molly argued, tears flowing down her cheeks. She had already lost Stella, and in her panic, she had chosen to leave her father behind, a decision that she had immediately come to regret. She refused to make the same mistake again. "Don't be stupid, Molly!," yelled Isaac, smashing the chair onto the head of one of the gatherers, shattering the furniture into splinters. Unfortunately, not only did that hit do nothing, but Isaac was now left without a weapon. "Go to Mr. Smith's office!," yelled Isaac, using his bare hands in a futile effort to keep the attackers at bay. "Call the world leaders and tell them to send help! Hurry! I can't hold them off any lon-!" He was instantly cut off when the gatherers piled themselves on top of him, pinning him to the floor. "Isaac, NO!," Molly screamed.

One of the gatherers looked up and saw Molly standing nearby. For a moment, Molly was entranced by the redstone glow of his eyes. Then, the gatherer pointed directly at her and let out a screech that was barely reminiscent of a human's, which made the sound all the more terrifying. Some of the other gatherers also looked up upon hearing the screech and saw her. Then, like zombies rising from the dead, they stood up and began jerkily making their way towards her. Even though they were only shambling, they were still unnervingly quick, crossing half of the room in a matter of seconds. Molly quickly turned and ran towards her father's office, just as Isaac told her. Still, she was overwhelmed with a feeling of guilt and shame. Just how much of a coward was she to abandon not only her father, but her boyfriend as well?

Molly was able to make it to the office unharmed, and quickly began to barricade the door with the furniture that was in the room. Then, she ran to her father's desk, reached under it, and pressed a red button on the underside of the desk. This caused the top of the desk to open up, revealing a small device which projected a blue hologram into the air. At that point, the gatherers had already…well, gathered at the door to her father's office and were pounding on it viciously, creating cracks across the wood and slightly pushing back the furniture more and more with each passing second. Molly knew that the flimsy barricade wasn't going to last that long, so she quickly began typing a secret code into the hologram, a code that her father told her was only meant for emergencies. Well, Molly thought bitterly, this sure seems like a big enough emergency to me. After she finished typing in the code, the face of one of the world leaders appeared on the hologram, glaring down at her sternly. His orange colored beard and mustache made it unmistakable as to who he was. "Who are you?," Soren asked angrily. "Why have you called this number? You had better have a good reason for this!"

"My name is Molly Smith!," Molly said frantically. "I am the eldest daughter of Sebastian Smith! Please, you need to send some of your forces over at once!" She tried to speak in the same commanding tone that she heard her father use numerous times, but it was nowhere near as good as his, and a hint of fear began seeping into her voice. "And why do we have to do that?," Soren demanded. "Where is your father, anyway? Bring him over here at once! I want to talk to that man face to face!" The door to the office began spintering open, caused by the gatherers punching their fists straight through it. "And what is all of that racket going on in the background?," asked Soren. Even though there was no way that he, nor the rest of the world leaders, could've possibly known what was going on in the Smith residence, Molly still couldn't help but feel a surge of rage. "I don't know what happened to my father!," she cried, tears of anger and sadness streaming down her face. "The last time I saw him, he was fighting one of those brainwashed freaks! I don't even know if he's dead or alive right now! All I know for sure is that my little sister is lying in a pool of her own blood, and there are more of them breaking into this room as we speak! Please, just send help already! If you come as quickly as possible, there's still a chance for you to save my family!" "...no, I don't think I will," said Soren, causing Molly to stare up at him in shock. The man's face was as cold as a winter storm.

"What…what do you mean you won't help us?," Molly asked fearfully. Soren sighed and rolled his eyes tiredly. "Miss Smith, if I remember correctly, your father made a deal with me," he said. "As long as me and the other world leaders continue to fund his little…revolution, he must share all of the information that he has accumulated with us." Molly nodded silently, even though deep down, she was scarcely believing what she was hearing. "But according to your own words, your father was just in a fight with one of PAMA's puppet soldiers," Soren continued. "Very few people can escape the wrath of one of those things, not even some of the strongest and most skilled fighters in the world. That means that chances are, your father is dead." "...no," Molly whispered, shaking her head in denial. Deep down, she knew that there was no way that anyone, let alone her father, who knew almost no combat whatsoever, could stand a chance against even the weakest gatherer. A part of her had clung onto the hope that her father may have somehow survived the encounter, that she was going to see him again soon, but all it took were a few of Soren's words to shatter that hope. She felt more guilty than ever for leaving him behind now. "And with your father dead, our main source of information has been cut off," said Soren, who either didn't notice or didn't care about Molly's plight. "And as a result, our deal is now null and void, and we have no reason to continue protecting you. Good day, ma'am."

"Wait, what?!," cried Molly. "Please, don't hang up just yet! What do you mean the deal is off?! Are you just going to leave us to fend for ourselves?!" Soren chuckled and shook his head in amusement, as if he was only dealing with an ignorant child who didn't know any better. "This is a cruel and treacherous world we live in, Miss Smith," he explained in a very condescending manner. "I only decided to help your father because he offered to help me. I scratch his ass, and he scratches mine. That's what our deal was." In that moment, he seemed to resemble Hadrian even more than Hadrian resembled himself. "But now that Mr. Smith is dead, he's no longer an important asset to us," Soren continued. "He's now…well, dead weight is probably the best term for him. I won't risk my neck for what has now become a burden, nor will I waste the lives of any of my men in dealing with your current situation. So now you have your answer, and that will be all. Good day, ma'am." And with that said, the hologram faded and vanished back into the little device, leaving Molly all alone in the room, with only the gatherers to keep her company.

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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."

I stared at her for a while, my mouth hanging open. I tried to speak, but the words got caught in my throat. Molly smirked. "What's the matter?," she asked. "Cat got your tongue?" I finally managed to find my voice. "Wait…you're Molly Smith," I asked. "As in, THE Molly Smith?" Molly raised an eyebrow. "It seems that you already know plenty about me," she said. "Which just confuses me even more, because I'm pretty sure that the two of us have never even met before. A lot of people knew who my father was, but very few of them knew about his older daughter." She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "I could've abandoned you back in that arena earlier," she continued. "I could've left you to die, or even kill you myself. The only reason that I didn't do so was because you could answer some of my questions. Who are you? Who sent you? And most importantly of all, how do you know Isaac?" "Um…would you believe me if I told you that I was from an alternate timeline?," I asked uncertainly. Molly glared at me. "Do you take me for an idiot or something?," she asked. "No, it's a legitimate question," I said.

"Then no, I wouldn't believe you at all," said Molly. "In fact, I'd probably have you carted off to some mental asylum, because nobody would be stupid enough to tell such a ridiculous, pretentious, and blatantly obvious lie." "Well, it's true," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "I don't know what else to tell you." Molly narrowed her eyes. "Nice try, but you'll have to do a lot better than that," she said. I sighed. "Look, how can I convince you that I'm telling the truth?," I asked. When Molly didn't respond, I sighed again. "Alright, I'll just start with the questions that I CAN answer," I said. "First off, my name is Alex, but I'm sure that either Hadrian or Mevia had already mentioned that. As for your second question, I was sent by none other than Soren. And let me clear something up first. I did NOT go willingly. Soren and the others pretty much forced me to do their bidding because they think that I'm somehow the key to defeating PAMA, Hadrian, and Mevia once and for all. They…" I looked down and gingerly tapped on the metal band around my neck. "...they gave me this shock collar, which is also supposed to track my movements and allow them to talk to me. You were in that dungeon with me at the time, so you already heard our conversation, right?" Molly nodded and waved her hand as if to say, "Go on."

"And this collar is also meant to keep me in check," I said bitterly. "If I try to escape or disobey them, this thing will send a million volts of electricity coursing through my body, and I'll be dead before I even hit the ground. I'm basically their prisoner…" Molly's eyes softened with sympathy. "You wouldn't be the first one," she said. "Huh?," I asked, tilting my head in confusion. "Wait, back up for a minute…are you telling me that Soren has actually done this to other people before?" "Unfortunately, yes," Molly sighed. "A lot of people, myself included, weren't too fond of him and the other world leaders, even before they allowed PAMA and the Old Builders to ruin everything. Soren was, without a doubt, the worst of the bunch. It's ironic that he hates Hadrian so much, and vice versa, when the two of them are almost exactly alike. He was nowhere near as bad as PAMA, but back then, he ruled the whole world with an iron fist. Fear was his favorite tool in keeping everyone in line. That shock collar that you're wearing right now…" She pointed to the collar around my neck. "...used to be a pretty common thing. People who broke the rules that the world leaders had set in place, like stealing food or mugging others, were forced to wear these collars for at least a couple of days. And if they committed any crimes while wearing them, they would receive painful amounts of electricity, as well as be forced to wear them even longer. The potency of those shocks depended on the severity of the crime. Sometimes, they weren't allowed to take them off at all. So as you can imagine, Soren and his little goons didn't exactly become the most popular people in the world." "...geez," I whispered, my eyes wide. "Even after meeting them face to face, I had no idea that they were that bad." It didn't need to be said that even at their worst, the Order of the Stone back in my timeline were saints in comparison.

Molly chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "You can say that again," she said. "The only one who wasn't a total asshole was Ivor. You've met him as well, right? As in, just the two of you?" "Yeah," I said. "He gave me a map that led to the city that PAMA ruled over. That was how I was able to find that place to begin with." "I'm not surprised," said Molly. "Out of all of the world leaders, Ivor was the most decent. Which makes me wonder…" She began to trail off. "Which makes you wonder what?," I asked curiously. "Which makes me wonder…," Molly tried to continue, "...why he would just stand back and…let them do these terrible things…" She shook her head. "You know what, forget it. At least you're being cooperative, which is honestly more than I could've hoped for. Here, before you answer any more of my questions, let me take that collar off your neck. I can imagine that it's already getting uncomfortable." "Yeah," I said, wincing. "It's honestly getting a little hard to breathe with this thing on. Plus, the knowledge that they could just kill me with the press of a button is…not that comforting." Molly nodded and reached towards my collar, but I quickly pulled myself out of her reach. "Wait a minute," I said nervously. "Are you sure that you know what you're doing? Ivor told me that this thing could only be unlocked with a key. And what if Soren finds out that you're removing my collar and shocks me to death?" "Don't worry," Molly said calmly. "These collars only allow them to track your movements and talk to you from a distance, but they can't actually see what you're seeing. Also, Isaac had one of those collars before, and he learned how to safely remove them without the use of a key. He was able to pass that knowledge onto me before he–" She suddenly cut herself off, a sad frown growing on her face. "Just…hold still for a moment, will you?"

I calmed down and allowed Molly to work on my collar. She opened a tiny hatch in the collar, then began fiddling around with the wires inside of it. How she was able to grasp such tiny little things with only the tips of her fingers was beyond me. Finally, both of us heard a small clicking noise from within the collar. "There," she said proudly. "It should be safe to remove now." I slowly reached towards it, and to my surprise, the collar came off rather easily. I grinned, stood up, and walked towards the entrance of the cave before flinging away the collar with all of my might. The collar sailed through the air and landed on the ground outside. It was too dark to see, but I could hear it breaking into pieces once it made contact with the ground. "Good riddance," I sighed in relief, glad to finally be rid of that thing. "It must feel great not to have that thing on you anymore, isn't it?," Molly chuckled. "Oh, you have no idea," I said, going back in the cave and sitting back down. "Okay…so I already answered one of your questions. What was the other one again?" "How do you know Isaac?," Molly repeated. "Through all the time that we've been together, he's never once mentioned you before." "Ooh…yeah, that's going to be a little tougher to answer," I said, rubbing the back of my head. "Remember what I said earlier about being from an alternate timeline? Not only do I still stand by that statement, but it's also something that you have to keep in mind when it comes to Isaac." Molly facepalmed and slowly shook her head in disappointment. "And we were doing so well before…," she sighed. "Molly, it's one hundred percent true," I said firmly. "I actually told Soren the same thing, and HE believed me."

"Which just gives me another reason not to believe you myself," Molly retorted. "The last thing I need is something to have in common with that bastard." "Right," I said, "I guess that's… understandable." I sighed. "Look, if there's nothing I can say to convince you, then what else is there to tell you?" "Simple," said Molly, crossing her arms. "The truth." I was beginning to grow a little irritated with her. "I AM telling you the truth!," I snapped, pointing my finger at her. "And I'd really appreciate it if you didn't keep on accusing me of lying– Whoa!" Without warning, Molly's eyes snapped wide open in alarm and, faster than I could even process, grabbed onto my wrist. Maybe it was because I accidentally triggered some sort of hidden combat instinct in her, but whatever it was, it did the job. A rush of memories and emotions flowed through my mind, so fast and so sudden that my mind felt like it was about to break. Considering how Molly tightened her grip on my wrist and squeezed her eyes shut while gritting her teeth in pain, she seemed to be experiencing the same thing. I wasn't sure why or how, but I could somehow feel all of those memories, every single moment that I went through in my life, both small and large, flowing through my arm, towards my wrist, and then through Molly's arm and into her mind. For some reason, Molly grabbing my wrist managed to make her feel and remember everything that I already went through. And unfortunately for her, not all of them were good memories.

After what felt like forever, the rush of memories stopped and Molly, who was unable to let go of my wrist for some reason, finally did so. Both of us were down on our hands and knees, coughing harshly with tears in our eyes, feeling like our heads were on fire. But eventually, that terrible feeling passed. Molly stared up at me in wonder, and just by her expression alone, I could tell that something within her had changed. She was no longer looking at me like I was a complete stranger or an unpredictable unknown. Instead, she looked upon me like I was her long lost friend. "What…," she gasped, breathing heavily. "What…was that?" "I…I have no idea," I said truthfully. None of this made any sense. Herobrine had taken away my Admin powers when he banished me to this timeline, so it couldn't have been because of that.

"You…you…" For a moment, Molly looked like she was about to break down and cry at any moment, but she managed to steel herself and regain her composure. "You weren't lying, were you?," she asked. "Everything that you just told me…everything that I've just seen…it all actually happened. You really ARE from an alternate timeline." "Pretty much," I said, trying to smile through the pain. Reliving those memories was NOT something that I ever wanted to go through again, even though a lot of them were joyful and beautiful. "It's just…still very hard to believe," said Molly. "Not just that you're from a different timeline, but also all the crazy things that you went through. This Herobrine guy…banished you here? Why?" "I'm honestly not sure," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "He claimed that it was just a part of the 'game,' but now, I don't really buy it. I'm sure he's got some other sinister agenda in mind, but considering how messed up the Ancients are, I can't even imagine what that could be." Molly slowly nodded, but for some reason, her eyes began to twinkle. "Actually, you know what? Yes…now that I think about it… this could actually work…," she murmured to herself. "Uh…Molly?," I asked, confused by her words. "What are you talking about? What could work?" "You," Molly answered, staring directly into my eyes. A hopeful smile grew on her face. "You could be the one who could save us all," she continued excitedly. "Maybe Soren was actually onto something…god, I can't believe that I actually said that…" "Wait, wait, wait!," I said frantically, waving my hands like mad. "Are you saying that I can save this world? You actually believe that?!" "Well, of course," said Molly. "After witnessing all of your memories, I have no doubt in my mind now. After all, you killed a giant, mutated wither, beat the Old Builders AND PAMA back in your own timeline, and you even managed to defeat an Admin. A fucking Admin! Of course you can do this!"

"Hold on, let's not get ahead of ourselves here," I said, bewildered by what she was saying, as well as how excited she sounded. "Back in my timeline, I had my friends to help me every step of the way. I never did any of those things alone! And sure, we were able to defeat PAMA and the Old Builders, but there's no guarantee that this'll turn out the same. For one, they weren't exactly WORKING TOGETHER in my own timeline. And secondly, like I said earlier, I had my friends to help me. Without them…I never stood a chance." Molly stared at me in both confusion and sympathy. "Alex…," she sighed rather sadly. "Even after everything that you've accomplished…you still think so little of yourself?" For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to look at the sheer disappointment in her eyes, so I looked down at my own lap instead.

Molly sighed again. "You already showed me everything about yourself," she continued. "It's only fair that I tell you a story of my own." I looked back up at her curiously. "A story?," I asked. "You mean…from your life?" Molly nodded sadly. "Yes," she said. "It's not a happy story, though. But it's a very meaningful one that forever changed me and made me into the person that I am now." She took a deep breath, then proceeded to tell me her story.

"STELLA!," Mr. Smith roared, running towards Stella's room with Molly hot on his heels. Once they got there, however, it was too late. Stella's little body was now on the floor, lying in a pool of blood. Her arms and legs had been twisted at unnatural angles, and her spine and neck were clearly broken. Standing above her was a man that they had never seen before. He was bald and slightly overweight, and he was also wearing a black and red uniform. His most prominent features, however, were his red, glowing eyes and the blinking redstone chip on the back of his head. "A gatherer…," Mr. Smith whispered in horror.

Molly could only stand there and stare at the corpse of her little sister, feeling numb all over. Even with the gruesome evidence laying right in front of her, she still couldn't believe it. Stella, her little sister, who had just been smiling and laughing moments ago, was now dead. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't. Suddenly, even more windows began to shatter all over the house. They could hear the front door downstairs being knocked off its hinges. Molly's blood ran cold. So it wasn't just one gatherer that had broken into their home. It was a whole group of them, which could only mean one thing. PAMA had finally decided to kill them.

Mr. Smith suddenly grabbed his daughter by the shoulders and pulled her back just as the gatherer that was in the room with them tried to snatch her away. "Run, Molly!," he yelled, pushing her out of the room. "Find Isaac and get as far from here as possible!" For a moment, Molly just stood there, unable to move or do anything due to the sudden shock that she was experiencing. However, she was snapped out of her trance when Mr. Smith literally slapped her in the face as hard as he could. Molly stared at her father, who was breathing heavily, his face red and his hand outstretched. A bright pink handprint was already forming on Molly's cheek. "I SAID RUN!," he roared. Molly finally turned tail and ran away, hearing her father struggling with the gatherer behind her. However, she knew that her father wasn't going to come out of that fight alive. She needed to find Isaac before the other gatherers got to him first.

As she ran through the house, she saw multiple gatherers, people who had been chipped and forced to do PAMA's bidding, breaking the windows and climbing through them. Some of the gatherers tried to reach out and grab her as she ran past them, but she was able to narrowly dodge their efforts. She ran downstairs and saw Isaac in the living room, fending off a whole group of them with a chair. So far, he was doing a pretty good job protecting himself, but Molly knew that it was only a matter of time before they overwhelm him through sheer numbers. "Isaac!," Molly cried, grabbing the hitman's attention. "Molly!," Isaac yelled. "Don't come any closer! Get away from here!" "No! I won't leave you to fend for yourself!," Molly argued, tears flowing down her cheeks. She had already lost Stella, and in her panic, she had chosen to leave her father behind, a decision that she had immediately come to regret. She refused to make the same mistake again. "Don't be stupid, Molly!," yelled Isaac, smashing the chair onto the head of one of the gatherers, shattering the furniture into splinters. Unfortunately, not only did that hit do nothing, but Isaac was now left without a weapon. "Go to Mr. Smith's office!," yelled Isaac, using his bare hands in a futile effort to keep the attackers at bay. "Call the world leaders and tell them to send help! Hurry! I can't hold them off any lon-!" He was instantly cut off when the gatherers piled themselves on top of him, pinning him to the floor. "Isaac, NO!," Molly screamed.

One of the gatherers looked up and saw Molly standing nearby. For a moment, Molly was entranced by the redstone glow of his eyes. Then, the gatherer pointed directly at her and let out a screech that was barely reminiscent of a human's, which made the sound all the more terrifying. Some of the other gatherers also looked up upon hearing the screech and saw her. Then, like zombies rising from the dead, they stood up and began jerkily making their way towards her. Even though they were only shambling, they were still unnervingly quick, crossing half of the room in a matter of seconds. Molly quickly turned and ran towards her father's office, just as Isaac told her. Still, she was overwhelmed with a feeling of guilt and shame. Just how much of a coward was she to abandon not only her father, but her boyfriend as well?

Molly was able to make it to the office unharmed, and quickly began to barricade the door with the furniture that was in the room. Then, she ran to her father's desk, reached under it, and pressed a red button on the underside of the desk. This caused the top of the desk to open up, revealing a small device which projected a blue hologram into the air. At that point, the gatherers had already…well, gathered at the door to her father's office and were pounding on it viciously, creating cracks across the wood and slightly pushing back the furniture more and more with each passing second. Molly knew that the flimsy barricade wasn't going to last that long, so she quickly began typing a secret code into the hologram, a code that her father told her was only meant for emergencies. Well, Molly thought bitterly, this sure seems like a big enough emergency to me. After she finished typing in the code, the face of one of the world leaders appeared on the hologram, glaring down at her sternly. His orange colored beard and mustache made it unmistakable as to who he was. "Who are you?," Soren asked angrily. "Why have you called this number? You had better have a good reason for this!"

"My name is Molly Smith!," Molly said frantically. "I am the eldest daughter of Sebastian Smith! Please, you need to send some of your forces over at once!" She tried to speak in the same commanding tone that she heard her father use numerous times, but it was nowhere near as good as his, and a hint of fear began seeping into her voice. "And why do we have to do that?," Soren demanded. "Where is your father, anyway? Bring him over here at once! I want to talk to that man face to face!" The door to the office began spintering open, caused by the gatherers punching their fists straight through it. "And what is all of that racket going on in the background?," asked Soren. Even though there was no way that he, nor the rest of the world leaders, could've possibly known what was going on in the Smith residence, Molly still couldn't help but feel a surge of rage. "I don't know what happened to my father!," she cried, tears of anger and sadness streaming down her face. "The last time I saw him, he was fighting one of those brainwashed freaks! I don't even know if he's dead or alive right now! All I know for sure is that my little sister is lying in a pool of her own blood, and there are more of them breaking into this room as we speak! Please, just send help already! If you come as quickly as possible, there's still a chance for you to save my family!" "...no, I don't think I will," said Soren, causing Molly to stare up at him in shock. The man's face was as cold as a winter storm.

"What…what do you mean you won't help us?," Molly asked fearfully. Soren sighed and rolled his eyes tiredly. "Miss Smith, if I remember correctly, your father made a deal with me," he said. "As long as me and the other world leaders continue to fund his little…revolution, he must share all of the information that he has accumulated with us." Molly nodded silently, even though deep down, she was scarcely believing what she was hearing. "But according to your own words, your father was just in a fight with one of PAMA's puppet soldiers," Soren continued. "Very few people can escape the wrath of one of those things, not even some of the strongest and most skilled fighters in the world. That means that chances are, your father is dead." "...no," Molly whispered, shaking her head in denial. Deep down, she knew that there was no way that anyone, let alone her father, who knew almost no combat whatsoever, could stand a chance against even the weakest gatherer. A part of her had clung onto the hope that her father may have somehow survived the encounter, that she was going to see him again soon, but all it took were a few of Soren's words to shatter that hope. She felt more guilty than ever for leaving him behind now. "And with your father dead, our main source of information has been cut off," said Soren, who either didn't notice or didn't care about Molly's plight. "And as a result, our deal is now null and void, and we have no reason to continue protecting you. Good day, ma'am."

"Wait, what?!," cried Molly. "Please, don't hang up just yet! What do you mean the deal is off?! Are you just going to leave us to fend for ourselves?!" Soren chuckled and shook his head in amusement, as if he was only dealing with an ignorant child who didn't know any better. "This is a cruel and treacherous world we live in, Miss Smith," he explained in a very condescending manner. "I only decided to help your father because he offered to help me. I scratch his ass, and he scratches mine. That's what our deal was." In that moment, he seemed to resemble Hadrian even more than Hadrian resembled himself. "But now that Mr. Smith is dead, he's no longer an important asset to us," Soren continued. "He's now…well, dead weight is probably the best term for him. I won't risk my neck for what has now become a burden, nor will I waste the lives of any of my men in dealing with your current situation. So now you have your answer, and that will be all. Good day, ma'am." And with that said, the hologram faded and vanished back into the little device, leaving Molly all alone in the room, with only the gatherers to keep her company.

"After that, there was nothing else for me to do but to hide underneath my father's desk," said Molly, her eyes shiny with tears. "I hid there and waited, believing that this was going to be the end for me. Miraculously, when the gatherers burst into the office, they didn't bother to check under the desk. They just took one look around the seemingly empty room and left." I just sat there and listened, my eyes wide with shock. I was both saddened by the fact that Stella, Isaac, and Sebastian were dead in this timeline, and also disgusted by Soren's actions. In this timeline, he really WAS no better than Hadrian. It just made me all the more grateful that the Soren in my own timeline was nothing like that…even though he did get killed. "I waited under that desk until I was sure that those monsters were gone," Molly continued. "After that, I immediately went looking for my father, but he was nowhere to be seen. I'm not sure to this day, but I think that PAMA decided to spare him so that he could chip him like everyone else. I'm honestly not sure whether or not that is preferable to death." I began to shift uncomfortably. What was it like to be chipped by PAMA, anyway? That sort of thing had never actually happened to me before. Would I just be trapped inside of my own body, unable to control my actions. Would I even be aware of what was going on? A shiver crawled up my spine. "I didn't bother checking up on my sister," said Molly. "I didn't want to, anyway. Seeing her body one time was enough for me. Isaac didn't survive either. The gatherers overwhelmed him and literally tore him to pieces."

I winced upon hearing that this version of Isaac was dead as well. I also began to feel bad for mistaking Molly for Isaac earlier. What could have been going through her mind when that happened? "I couldn't stay in that house any longer," Molly continued emotionlessly. "The aura of death that now permeated it was just too much. I ran away, but not before taking Isaac's armor with me. I wasn't sure why I did that. Maybe it was just my brain telling me that I needed something to protect myself. Or maybe I just wanted something to remember him by…" Her eyes grew even more misty, but she quickly wiped the oncoming tears away. "Anyway, there's not that much to say after that. I began training myself in combat as a means to defend myself and started wearing Isaac's armor as a way to…well, at first, it was to show respect for him, but now, it's just become my usual wear. After a few years have passed, I decided to dedicate my life to stopping PAMA and the Old Builders, ending their tyranny once and for all."

"So that's why you were in that city when I got there," I said, putting the pieces together. "You were on some kind of infiltration mission, weren't you?" Molly nodded. "That's right," she said. "But as you already know, that didn't turn out so well. I was found out and captured just like you, Alex. I guess I should count my lucky stars that Hadrian has decided to make me one of his gladiators rather than let PAMA brainwash me." After that, Molly didn't say anything else, which indicated that her story was finished. "Molly…I'm very sorry about your family," I said softly. I wasn't sure why I felt the need to apologize, but I couldn't help myself. "I can't say the same for your father, but…Stella was like a sister to me." "I know," said Molly, giving me a sad smile. "I saw your memories, remember? And I'm grateful that you were willing to give my little sister another chance and help her break out of her shell." She frowned. "I have to say, though. Your timeline is…very bizarre. I saw so many things there that were…kind of similar but also vastly different. For one, I never knew that there was another version of Soren who was so…nice." I giggled. "Well, he's got his own flaws," I said, remembering the times when he let his cowardice get the best of him, such as abandoning me and my friends when we were facing the Wither Storm. Fortunately, he became a lot braver since we rescued him from Null's clutches. "But unlike the Soren in this timeline, his heart's definitely in the right place."

Molly nodded again, but a sad little frown grew on her face. "It must be tough," she spoke quietly, "to see your own godfather and uncle lying dead in front of you." My breath slightly hitched. "I guess we both know what it's like to see your loved ones die in front of you… and not be able to do a thing about it," said Molly, her hands clenched into fists. "Yeah," I said, feeling a lump in my throat that refused to go away. "I guess we do." "...I'm sorry for bringing up such harsh memories," Molly apologized. "Would you like to rest first? Maybe get something to eat?" I shook my head vehemently. "Not now," I said. "First, we need to find a way back into that city - this time, WITHOUT being caught - and figure out a way to defeat both PAMA and the Old Builders." Molly raised an eyebrow in both confusion and interest. "You want to go back?," she asked. "After what just happened?" "Yes," I said, nodding firmly. "I no longer have that stupid shock collar around my neck, so I don't have to do what Soren tells me to anymore. I can go wherever the hell I want with no repercussions. But I'm still going back, and do you know why? Because I've seen how much pain and suffering the people there go through, and so have you. I've seen how they're either forced into servitude or locked up in chains, forced to watch their own brethren die in that arena over and over again. I…I'm not sure how to explain it. I know I'm supposed to find a way back to my own timeline and stop Herobrine, but…I don't think I'd ever forgive myself if I just left this place as it is. If it's possible…I want to save BOTH of our worlds." Molly seemed taken aback by what I was saying. "That's a pretty big order to fill," she said. "Do you really think you're up for that?" "Of course not," I said. "But…I have to at least try…"

Molly smiled bitterly. "You know, deep down, I was kind of hoping that you would say that," she said. "I've been trying to find a way to free the world from PAMA's tyranny, but even after so many years, I'm no closer to that goal than when I first started. I can't defeat PAMA, the Old Builders, and the world leaders. Not by myself, anyway." "You want to take down the world leaders too?," I asked. Molly nodded, her eyes filled with righteous fury. "They let my family die," she growled. "And they're partly responsible for this whole mess, anyway. I won't lay a finger on Ivor, though. He's the only decent one of that rotten bunch. But Soren, Gabriel, Ellegaard, and Magnus? I'd say that they're fair game." Once again, I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at that moment. Even though part of me agreed with her, another part of me still felt sick from the thought of Molly killing them. I knew that they were alternate versions of the ones that raised me from childhood, and very sick and twisted ones at that, but it still felt kind of wrong…

I decided to change the topic before things got too uncomfortable. "So where do we start?," I asked. "Simple," Molly replied. "We need to know our enemy first. You used water to defeat PAMA the last time, right?" I nodded. "Well, that's ONE of his weaknesses that we now know about. Before heading to the city, we'll make sure to grab buckets of water. And don't worry," Molly said upon seeing the worried look on my face. "PAMA wasn't able to get rid of ALL of the water in the world. There's a small spring that's deeper in this cave. We'll get our water from there." I relaxed and nodded. "But unfortunately, water won't be enough in this case," Molly continued. "On one of my…expeditions, I was able to get into PAMA's core." "You did?," I asked. "Where is it?" "It's located deep in the center of the earth," said Molly. "I couldn't stay there for long because it was so boiling hot there. The core itself was made to adjust the temperature so that the Redstone Heart still worked properly, but anybody who stayed in there for prolonged periods of time would quickly be roasted into a crisp. Unless we somehow hack into the core's mainframe and make the temperature much, MUCH lower, any water that we would use would instantly evaporate." "And let me guess," I sighed. "There's more." Molly nodded grimly. "The Redstone Heart is also protected by a force field," she said. "It's so powerful that not even ten creepers could blow through it. However, we may already have a solution to that."

"We do?," I asked. Molly nodded and pointed to the bow that I used to cause that landslide earlier. "That is an extremely powerful bow, the most advanced one there is," she said. "It could easily break through that force field in two or three shots." "Okay, so we now have that problem solved," I said. "But what about the core's temperature? You said that we need to hack into the core's mainframe or something." "Exactly," said Molly. "And that's where THIS comes into play." She took out what looked like a laptop, another one of those weird inventions that Kevin showed me, only it looked far more advanced. Molly turned it towards me and flipped it open, revealing a blue screen with huge amounts of data on it. "This will let you hack into just about anything," she explained proudly. "The only problem is…the mainframe must be hacked from inside the core…" "...oh," I sighed, my excitement vanishing. If the only way to turn down the core's temperature was from the inside, then there was no way for either of us to step foot in there without being cooked alive. "Wait a minute," I said, an idea coming to my mind. "Would this work?" I took out the bag of items that I brought with me and showed her the black, high tech armor that I got from the weapons room. Molly's eyes widened in shock. "That's state of the art armor you have here!," she cried. "It can protect the wearer from just about anything!" "Even from intense heat?," I asked. Molly smiled. "It could protect you from hot lava," she said.

"That's great!," I exclaimed. "I could go in wearing this armor and hack into the core's mainframe myself. You could teach me!" "Great," said Molly, nodding. "So now we have the basic layout of a plan. We'll sneak into the city undetected and get to PAMA's core. I'll lead the way. Then, you go into the core wearing the armor and hack into its mainframe. There should be a hole in the wall where you could plug in the laptop. After that, all you have to do is turn down the temperature so that I can get in as well. Then, we'll use the water we gathered to short circuit PAMA's spires and destroy the force field with your bow. We'll have to do both of them quickly before PAMA finds out we're even in there and tries to intervene. To make it faster, I'll focus on putting out the spires. You just focus on destroying the Redstone Heart. Not just take it out like you did last time, but destroy it. The Redstone Heart is too powerful and could easily fall into the wrong hands, after all." "Okay, so that's how we take out PAMA," I said. "But what about Hadrian and Mevia?" "Oh, them?," Molly snorted dismissively. "They're only as powerful as they are now because of PAMA. Without that stupid computer by their side, they'll be easy to deal with. After that…" She shrugged. "Well, we'll get to that later. For now, we should just focus on saving the world. Though I'm sure that's not so different from what you and your friends usually did." I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. "Yeah, this isn't all that new to me," I said.

"That's good to hear," said Molly. "And to make this even better…" She smirked and took out a journal with a light blue cover. "I also happened to snag this from Mevia's robe without her noticing." There were two words written in purple glitter on the front cover that glinted in the firelight, which said, "Mevia's Diary." "Mevia keeps a diary?!," I cried, staring at the journal in shock. "How did you even get that? I didn't even see you move!" "Removing shock collars wasn't the only trick that Isaac taught me," Molly explained, the smirk still on her face. "He also taught me how to pickpocket. Back then, I wasn't sure why I would ever want to pickpocket someone, but now, I'm glad that he taught me." "That's amazing," I said. "I didn't even notice." "It's kind of like performing a magic trick," said Molly. "You have the audience focus on one thing, but the real trick is happening elsewhere." "You think Mevia wrote something usef– er, I mean, important in her diary?," I asked. "Well, why don't we read it and find out?," asked Molly.

I took the diary and quickly began flipping through it while Molly stood next to me and looked over my shoulder. Some of the pages were filled with cutesy drawings of unicorns and rainbows, which both of us pointed and giggled at. The first half of the diary wasn't really that important or interesting. It was mostly just about her and Hadrian's rise to power, which both of us already knew about, as well as detailing some of her daily rituals, which were actually very strange and…rather childlike. Apparently, one of Mevia's favorite things to do before bed was to build a miniature replica of the city, then destroy it while pretending to be a giant monster. Molly and I had a pretty good laugh at that. It was about halfway through the diary when things finally got interesting. "Hadrian insisted that this was the only way to preserve our power," I read. "I don't want to make PAMA angrier than he already is, but I guess that you have to do what you have to do. So we hacked into PAMA's software and reprogrammed some of his memories to make him think that the Redstone Heart needed constant maintenance to keep going. But of course, that's not actually true in the slightest. Any Old Builder worth their salt knows that the Redstone Heart can go on forever without needing any maintenance. But we can't have PAMA know that or he'll figure out that we're useless to him and have us chipped."

"Of course, it all makes sense now!," I exclaimed. Molly turned to me in confusion, so I decided to explain. "I confronted Hadrian before we went into the arena, and I questioned him as to why PAMA would spare him and Mevia to keep the Redstone Heart running if said heart can remain fully operational without any human interference. He got both angry and scared, and threatened me against telling PAMA what I knew. I wasn't sure why he got so upset, but I think I do now! The Old Builders were able to get access to PAMA's memory banks somehow and made him think that he needed those two to keep him alive. Hadrian doesn't want PAMA to know that because he knows that PAMA would come to the conclusion that he never needed the Old Builders to begin with and either brainwash or kill them both." "That…honestly went a little over my head," Molly admitted sheepishly. "But I think I get what you're saying. You're saying that Hadrian and Mevia had been lying to PAMA this whole time, right?"

"Exactly," I said. "I think we can use this new piece of information to our benefit. Maybe we could turn it into some form of blackmail in case we encounter Hadrian or Mevia first." "Good idea," said Molly, before suddenly letting out a loud yawn. "But first, let's get some sleep," she said. "We'll put our plan into action tomorrow." "W-what?," I asked. "You mean we're not doing it now?" "After the rough day we've just been through, we need the rest," said Molly. "Going back to that city while tired and hungry would be the worst idea ever, trust me. And if we return too soon, we'll be bound to encounter heavier security." I nodded, getting where Molly was coming from, but I still couldn't help but feel slightly impatient. Molly noticed, of course, and placed her hand on my shoulder in a comforting manner. "Don't worry, you'll get back to your own timeline soon," she assured me. "But in the meantime, you need to rest. We've got a very big day ahead of us tomorrow." "Alright," I finally conceded, laying down near the fire while Molly did the same. I closed my eyes, but going to sleep was hard. Too many things were going through my head right now. I tossed and turned for about an hour before sleep finally came to me.

I opened my eyes again, but I was no longer inside the cave with Molly. "I must be dreaming again," I murmured to myself, having had so many dreams and visions recently that I was immediately able to tell when I was inside my own head or not. It was honestly starting to get annoying. I looked around and realized that I was floating in the air like a ghost. I was back inside Notch's temple on top of the Mountain of Mojang, complete with the creepy writings on the walls and the terrifying statues that were littered everywhere. Of course, I already knew by now that they were no ordinary statues. I looked down and saw Notch standing at the front of the room, facing a group of very familiar people: myself, Ramus, Soren, Isaac, Stella, and Lluna. It was a little jarring to see my past self, but nothing that I hadn't experienced before.

"...you're not lying, are you?," the dream version of myself asked. She liked to think of herself as a good judge of character, and she could tell that Notch, despite being corrupt, twisted, and on the very low end of the morally gray area, was no liar. "I've...really been an Admin this whole time?" "No," said Ramus, shaking his head in denial. "I don't believe it. I've raised her since she was just an infant! Soren can attest to that!" "It's true," said Soren, glaring at Notch. "The previous Order of the Stone raised Alex as our own, and we knew for a fact that she was never some omnipotent, power hungry deity like the Admin!" "Ah, you may have known her as Lucy," said Notch, "but not before that. After all, didn't you and your little camaraderie discover her when she was just an ordinary nether reactor core in an obscure temple?"

That caught both Ramus and Soren off guard, not just because Notch somehow knew about that event, but because...he was right. Even after all these years, the two of them had no clue what Alex's origins were, where she came from, or why she was a lifeless block in the first place. If they didn't even know that, what else didn't they know about her?

"A nether reactive...what?," said Stella, confused by what Notch just said. After all, she was not present when Alex told everyone what Isa told her so long ago. "Alex, what is he talking about?" "It's...a long story," Alex said. "I'll tell you about it later." She turned her attention back to Notch. "So after telling us all of that, does that mean you'll help unlock my powers?" "Not quite," said Notch. "Only you can do that, not me. I can only show you the door, Alex. But it's up to you whether or not you want to walk through it." High above them, I rolled my eyes at how cryptic Notch's words were. I swear that he was trying to confuse us on purpose.

Alex nodded firmly. "I do," she said. Notch smiled again. "Then come forward," he said, beckoning with one hand. Alex walked towards him until she was standing right in front of him. "Prepare yourself, Alex," Notch warned. "You are about to delve deeper into your own psyche than you ever had before. Fred, Xara, and Romeo had to go through the same process. It wasn't easy for them, and it won't be for you." Alex took a deep breath, and exhaled. Then, she firmly looked Notch in the eye. "I'm ready," she said. "Let's do this."

Isaac, Stella, Soren, and Ramus were surprised when Notch suddenly tapped Alex's forehead, then became alarmed when Alex collapsed to the ground right after. Her eyes were closed and it looked like she had just fainted. "What have you done to her?!," yelled Isaac. "Don't be alarmed now," said Notch. "All I did was show her the door."

Ramus ran towards his fallen daughter and shook her urgently. "Lucy? Lucy?!," he cried, unconsciously using her old name. "Will she ever wake up?," asked Stella, her voice breaking. I instantly felt sorry for her. "Oh, she will," said Notch. "Alex may not know it, but she's stronger than she thinks. It won't be easy for her to conquer her inner demons, though…"

So this was when we first met Notch and found out what kind of twisted individual he really was, as well as the moment when Kevin died shortly after and I was able to face my insecurities head on, becoming a new Admin. But…why was I dreaming about this? Didn't I already know what had happened back then? However, I was immediately proven wrong when Notch suddenly snapped his fingers…and everyone else in the room besides Ramus collapsed to the ground, now unconscious. I stared down at them with horror, not believing what I was seeing. When did THIS happen?! This never happened! Unless it actually did happen…and I wasn't aware of it at the time because I was also unconscious! But then…how come my dad wasn't affected like everyone else was? I continued watching the scene unfold in front of me. Notch had his head tilted and was smiling at Ramus, who seemed understandably tense. "Why are you so tense, old friend?," asked Notch. "Relax a little. You're in the presence of a friend." What?, I thought, completely bewildered. Why is Notch calling my dad his friend?

"Forgive me if I'm not that keen on seeing you again," said Ramus, his voice filled with fear and anxiety. Again?, I thought, my confusion growing. But that makes no sense! Notch and my dad had never even met before…right? "Come now," said Notch, sounding more amused than offended. "Is that any way to greet a friend?" "I know you're planning something, Notch," said Ramus, sweat pouring down his face. "You've been like that longer than I can remember. You've always been the smartest of us." "Why Jeb, I have no idea what you're talking about," said Notch. Now, I was even more confused. Why did Notch just call Ramus "Jeb?"

"Please don't call me that," Ramus said stiffly. "I don't go by that name anymore." "Oh yes, of course," said Notch, raising an eyebrow. "You go by 'Ramus' now. My mistake." "Just tell me what you want so that we can get this over with," said Ramus. "You wound me," said Notch, pretending to be hurt. "I just want us to have a little reunion. All three of us." "Three?," asked Ramus. "But there's only two…no. No, no, no. Please, not him–" Suddenly, a black mist burst from the ground between them, scaring me and Ramus. Notch was the only one who remained calm. The black mist condensed in on itself and formed into a humanoid shape, which began to grow more features as well as change color. The mist eventually transformed into the white eyed demon himself, Herobrine. "Really, Herobrine?," Notch sighed. "You just made a hole in the temple floor with your little entrance. Don't you have any regard for property damage?" Herobrine scoffed. "I fail to see how that's my problem," he retorted. Then, a vicious smile grew on his face when he saw Ramus, who looked absolutely terrified in his presence. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the runt of our little group," he said. "How was it to mingle with those insignificant insects? Tell me, I'm curious." "They are not insects, they're my family," said Ramus, his voice now small and quiet. Herobrine scoffed in disgust. "You really have grown soft."

"W-what is the meaning of this, Notch?," asked Ramus, glancing at Herobrine nervously. "Why did you bring…him with you?" Herobrine's eyes narrowed in anger. "You mind what you're saying, runt," he growled, causing him to shrink away in fear. "Like I said, I felt that we haven't seen each other in a while and felt like hosting a reunion," said Notch, shrugging. "On second thought, reunion may not be the best word to describe this. This is more like an…intervention." "An intervention?," asked Ramus. "For what?" Notch and Herobrine glanced at each other for a moment. "Me and Herobrine believe that you have lost sight of your true purpose," said Notch. "We just want to help you get back on the right track." "You're weak now," Herobrine sneered, glaring at Ramus with hatred and disgust. "You're an embarrassment to us all."

"Now, now, Herobrine," said Notch. "Let's not be too harsh on him. If you think about it, it's not really his fault." Herobrine only scoffed and turned away with his arms crossed. "Jeb," Notch said. "We need to have a little talk." Ramus narrowed his eyes. "I already told you, that's not my name anymore," he said. "My name is Ramus." The smile on Notch's face remained, but his eyes turned cold and dangerous. "You are one of us, Jeb," he said, a small hint of irritation seeping into his voice. "It's not right for you to turn your back on your own heritage." "I'm starting to get an idea as to what this 'intervention' is all about," said Ramus, crossing his arms. "I'm not going back and that's final. I'm happy here." "Do you see what I mean now, Notch?," Herobrine growled. "He's grown weak! Those mortals have infected his mind!" "Jeb…," said Notch. "You are an Ancient. You should know better than this." I gasped, then quickly covered my mouth in horror, even though this was all just a dream and that there was no way they would've heard me anyway. "This…makes no sense," I whispered. My dad couldn't be one of them…right?

Suddenly, the horrible truth dawned on me. Earlier, Notch had mentioned that there were actually three Ancients rather than two. When Notch first called Ramus "Jeb" in this dream, I couldn't help but feel that I had…heard that name before. Now I remembered. Jeb was the name of the third Ancient. And if that's what Notch called my dad, then did that mean…?

No! I shook my head. It can't be! There was no way that my dad had been lying to me - had been lying to everyone - about his true identity. He was a human, plain and simple! He couldn't be another Ancient! He just…couldn't… "I stand by what I said," said Ramus, crossing his arms even though he looked scared out of his wits. "I'm not going back, nor will I help you in any of your little…endeavors." Notch sighed dramatically. "I had a feeling that you would say something like that," he said. "But I suppose that's really my own fault. I've been far too easy on you. Fortunately, that's what Herobrine is here for. Would you like to do the honors, old friend?" Herobrine grinned viciously and teleported in front of Ramus, then grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the ground, creating a large crack in the sandstone floor. Ramus struggled to free himself, but Herobrine's grip was too strong and he was quickly beginning to suffocate. "You listen to me, runt," Herobrine growled. "You may not be afraid of Notch, but you sure as hell are afraid of ME. We're going through with this, and you're going to be a part of it, whether you like it or not. Is that understood?" Ramus frantically nodded, his face turning purple from lack of air. Herobrine smirked and let him go, allowing Ramus to breathe in huge gulps of air. "Pathetic," the white eyed man sneered. "Even nearly killing your avatar is enough to frighten you." "I think Herobrine has made our point clearer than I ever could," said Notch.

Ramus was shuddering while rubbing his now injured throat. "I'll…think it over," he said meekly. "That's good to hear," said Notch, the cold look in his eyes now absent. "Herobrine will visit you later to discuss with you on what will happen next. And Herobrine, you'll come to visit me once this whole Admin mess is over and done with." "I sure will," Herobrine growled. "You've got some explaining of your own to do, Notch." Then, just like that, he transformed back into a black mist and vanished through the hole in the floor, which quickly closed itself back up. "It was a pleasure to see you again, Jeb," said Notch, smiling. "The feeling's mutual," said Ramus, even though he clearly didn't feel the same way. Notch snapped his fingers, and suddenly, Stella, Isaac, Soren, and Lluna were back on their feet, wide awake. The dream version of me was the only one who was still unconscious. "Whoa, what just happened?," Stella murmured, holding her head. "I feel so dizzy all of a sudden." Ramus exchanged a quick glance with Notch, who kept on smiling. "I-it's probably nothing," he said quietly. "Let's wait for Alex to wake up."

I was absolutely bewildered by what had just transpired. There was no way that actually happened. I refused to believe that my own dad was one of THEM! This had to be another trick! Suddenly, Notch looked up at the ceiling of the temple. Actually, scratch that. He was looking directly at ME, as if he could actually see me. "...what are you planning?," I whispered fearfully. "You'll find out, Alex," Notch replied calmly. "You'll find out very, very soon…"

I bolted upright, gasping for breath. Sweat was pouring down my face and my heart felt like it was about to beat out of my chest. What the hell did I just witness? Was that dream trying to…tell me something? No!, I thought, squeezing my eyes shut and clutching my head. That wasn't real! It's just Notch or Herobrine messing with my head again! I won't believe it! "Alex?," asked Molly, who was sitting while looking at me in concern. She must have just been woken up by my gasps. Our campfire had already died down hours ago, leaving only a few dim embers behind, so all I could see was her silhouette in the darkness of the cave. "Are you alright? It sounded like you were having a nightmare." "No, it's fine," I sighed. "I'm sorry for waking you up just now." "I was already up for a while," said Molly. "You were mumbling in your sleep." Was I?, I thought, wincing. "I heard you mumbling the name 'Jeb' over and over again," said Molly. "Who is that? Someone you know?" "It's nothing," I said tiredly. In the darkness, I could barely make out her disbelieving expression. "I'm serious," I assured her. "It was just a stupid dream." "Not all dreams make people wake up in a cold sweat," said Molly. "You can tell me what's going on. You know that, right?" As much as I wanted to share my thoughts with someone, I really didn't want to burden Molly any further. "It was just a dream, Molly," I repeated. "I'm fine."

Molly sighed in what sounded like disappointment. "If you say so," she said. "Go back to sleep, alright? We need to save up as much of our energy as possible for tomorrow's big fight against PAMA." I nodded silently and laid back down on the cold stone floor. I heard Molly also lay back down, though I couldn't tell whether or not she had fallen asleep. Eventually, my eyes grew heavy again and I drifted off into slumber. This time, there were no more dreams.

The next morning, I awoke to the smell of cooked potatoes. I slowly opened my eyes and saw sunlight streaming through the entrance of the cave. Molly was already awake and fully decked out in Isaac's armor. She was standing in front of a furnace that she had crafted while I was asleep. "You're awake now," she said, not even bothering to turn around. "I hope you don't mind, but I took some potatoes from that sack of yours and baked them in a furnace for today's breakfast. We'll need to be at our best before facing PAMA again." I yawned and stretched my arms, then scooted over to where the campfire used to be. Molly finished baking the potatoes and the two of us sat in the middle of the cave, eating in awkward silence. Finally, Molly broke the silence. "Listen, about last night…," she said slowly, "...I know that what you had wasn't a normal dream. Something was eating at you last night, and it still is. You could still tell me what's wrong, Alex. I might be able to do something to help." "Thanks for the offer, Molly," I said in a sincere tone. "But these are very…personal problems that I'm going through. And I don't want to bog you down with my own problems…" "We're in this together now," said Molly. "Your problems are my problems." I smiled gratefully, but shook my head. "Thanks, but this is something that I have to deal with on my own," I said. "Besides, it's nothing to worry about." And maybe if I ignore the dream altogether, it wouldn't end up being true, I thought bitterly.

"...alright, then," Molly sighed. "I won't probe any longer. Just remember that you shouldn't have to face those problems alone. If you need me, I'll be there." I gave Molly a grateful smile and took a bite of my potato. Once we were finished with our breakfast, Molly showed me some buckets filled with water that she had gathered from the cave's spring while I was asleep. "Now we won't have to waste our time filling these buckets," she said. "We can go right now if you want to." "I do," I said, nodding in determination. "Let's do this."

I quickly geared up with my new bow and armor, and we both set out for PAMA's city, which was close enough that we could see it from a distance. Once we got closer, we slowed down and hid behind some nearby rocks. There was definitely heavier security now. The walls were overflowing with chipped mobs and civilians guarding the city's borders. A few dozen of them had pickaxes and were using them to mine away the giant pile of rocks that had formed in front of the city due to the landslide I caused. "So how are we going to sneak in?," I asked Molly. "Last time, the security was nowhere near as heavy, and we still got caught. How do we make sure to prevent history from repeating itself?" "Simple," said Molly. "PAMA knew that we were in the city because he has eyes literally everywhere. No amount of stealth would be enough to counter that. So we choose an alternative path…" Suddenly, Molly reached over and pressed something on the side of my helmet. A clicking noise could be heard, but that was about it. "Huh? Molly, what did you just do?," I asked. "Check your hands," said Molly.

I brought my hands to my face, only to see…nothing. "Uh…Molly?," I asked nervously. "My hands are gone." I quickly looked down at the rest of my body only to see the same thing. Nothing. "My entire body is gone! Molly, what happened to me?" "The armor that you're wearing has an invisibility mode," Molly explained. "I should know. My father was the one who invented this armor. All you have to do is press a small button on the right side of your helmet, and you'll be completely invisible to the naked eye." "Wow, that's amazing," I gasped. "Back in my own timeline, the only way to turn invisible was with potions. We didn't have armor that could make you turn invisible. Hell, I didn't even know that THIS armor could turn you invisible!"

"Like I said, it's state of the art," said Molly. "Now that you're invisible, nobody will be able to see you. Not PAMA, not the Old Builders, and not the gatherers. As long as you make sure not to make any noise or cause a ruckus, you'll be fine." "But what about you?," I asked, gazing at her questioningly. "I'm pretty sure that the armor that you're wearing right now can't turn you invisible like mine can, and unless you've got a couple of invisibility potions stashed away somewhere, you'll get spotted once you step foot inside that city." "That's where things get a little tricky," said Molly. "I can't turn invisible like you can, and I have to get into that city as well. But there is a way around that. Let me explain first. When your armor is set at its invisibility mode, it actually works differently from an invisibility POTION. You see, an invisibility potion has magical properties, so it can turn whoever drinks it completely invisible with no repercussions. Your armor, on the other hand, relies more on science than magic. It makes the user 'invisible' by having the surface of the armor activate thousands of tiny little mirrors implanted in it. These mirrors reflect the light waves that allow people to see people and objects, and as a result, the waves are sent back to them and they are unable to see where…" She slowly trailed off when she saw the lost and confused expression on my face. "...you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?," she deadpanned. "I'll be honest, all I heard was gibberish," I admitted. "This sounds more like something that Olivia would be an expert on." "Right, sorry. Let me rephrase it a little better," said Molly. "When you drink an invisibility potion, nobody can see you, but they can see PAST you as if you were a ghost. But if you wear this armor, people will not only be unable to see you, but they'll be unable to see what's on the other side. Does that make more sense?" "...nope," I said, shaking my head. "Still have no idea what you're saying."

Molly sighed in irritation. "Okay, how's THIS for simple?," she snapped. "You're basically a walking shield that prevents anyone from seeing you or whatever is behind you. Therefore, I'll try my best to mirror your every action and hide behind you so that you'll be blocking me from everyone else's view. That way, neither of us would be seen." I slowly nodded. "Okay, I think I finally get it," I said, much to Molly's exasperated relief. "But how are you going to do that? To make this plan work, you'll have to do EXACTLY what I do at EXACTLY the same time. That sounds kind of far-fetched and, dare I say it…impossible, if you ask me." "Well, it's the only plan we've got," said Molly. "Now come on. Let's put this plan into action." With that said, we both crept out of our hiding place and slowly walked towards the city gates. Molly made sure to replicate my movements perfectly, which was honestly very impressive, even though I had to move very slowly in order for her to keep up. To make things even harder, Molly also had to switch positions every so often whenever a gatherer got too close. After all, she couldn't stay right behind me forever, otherwise she would be spotted from behind. Fortunately, both of us were completely ignored by all of the chipped mobs and villagers in the vicinity, and we were even able to safely get through the gate without being vaporized. It seemed that even PAMA's so-called advanced security system was no match for good ol' invisibility. Ha!

As we walked through the city, with Molly taking extra care to remain hidden, one of the gatherers suddenly stopped and stared directly at us. We both stopped in our tracks and went as still as possible, hoping that we had not just been spotted. Fortunately, the gatherer turned away from us and continued on his way. I let myself breathe a small sigh of relief. "What was that all about?," I asked. "I thought they couldn't see us." "Well…," Molly said with uncertainty, "...maybe PAMA has other ways of spotting us other than sight. Like infrared or something…" I turned to face her in absolute bewilderment. "...Why the hell didn't you mention that earlier?!," I hissed. "It only just came to me, okay?!," said Molly, her face turning red with embarrassment. "We can't all be perfect!" I sighed heavily. "Let's hope that's not the case," I said. "Come on, we need to hurry." Molly quickly led me to a rather small tower near the middle of the city. There was nothing about it that looked that special. It didn't even look that impressive. "Are you sure that's it?," I asked uncertainly. "Of course," Molly insisted. "I've been here before, remember? And would you really expect PAMA to have the entrance to his own core be noticeable in any way?" Now that I thought about it, Molly did have a point. We both quietly went through a small door on the side of the tower and went inside. The inside of the tower was just as unimpressive as the outside. There wasn't even any advanced technology or gadgets that the other buildings had. In fact, it looked exactly like a boring old tower that someone at Endercon would make. However, there was one thing about it that caught our attention: a single elevator in the middle of the room. "Let me guess," I said, pointing at the elevator. "That leads to the core?"

"Pretty much," said Molly. "But we'll need to hack into it first. Here, let me–" "You!," cried a voice, causing us to turn around in fear. It was Mevia, who was…dressed in a green dinosaur onesie for some reason. And carrying a box of legos. "What are you-!" She quickly realized how ridiculous she looked and took off the dinosaur onesie, then stuffed it into the box of legos and pushed it away with her foot. "What are you doing here?! Come to sabotage our power again, I see! Wait until Hadrian hears about this! I'm sure he'll come up with a very suitable punishment for you. Clearly, turning you into a gladiator wasn't enough to teach you a lesson." Molly quickly took out her sword and raised it in front of her. "I think you should move aside before I cut you into pieces with my sword," she threatened. "Ha!," Mevia scoffed, shifting into a combat stance. "Do you really think that you can face me on your own? In case you've forgotten, I was able to defeat you in hand to hand combat the last time you were here, and I can certainly do it again!" There was something about what Mevia said that grabbed my attention, and it took me a while to realize what she meant. Do you really think that you can face me on your own? In other words, she didn't know that I was with them because I was invisible. She believed that Molly was all by herself. Seeing an opportunity, I slowly snuck towards Mevia quietly.

"It's been a long time since we've sent anyone to the mines," Mevia continued, grinning viciously. "Maybe a few years in there would do you some good. But before that, I think I ought to teach you a lesson that you would never forget." It was hard to tell which of the two fighters were going to win. Molly had clearly gone through similar training as Isaac's, and she was no slouch with a blade either. But Mevia was an Old Builder, meaning that she had extraordinarily quick reflexes and superb combat skills. Even with a sword and a full suit of armor, there was no guarantee that Molly would win this fight. Fortunately, said fight ended before it even had a chance to start. I was able to sneak up behind Mevia and knock her out with a swift blow to the head. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed to her knees, then planted her face into the ground. A skilled fighter she may be, but she's still human, and humans tend to get knocked unconscious when their skulls collide with blunt objects at high speeds.

Molly breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for that, Alex," she said. "I wasn't sure if I could take her on by myself." "Should we tie her up?," I asked, looking down at Mevia's unconscious form. "With what?," Molly retorted, raising an eyebrow. "It's not like we've got any rope on us. Besides, we don't have time for that. We need to get to the core as quickly as possible." She plugged her laptop thing into a small hole next to the elevator door and began rapidly typing things down. After just a few seconds, the laptop's screen turned green and the elevator door opened up. Molly unplugged the laptop from the elevator's mainframe and gestured for me to come. We both went into the elevator and Molly pressed a button that was at the very bottom of the panel, which was red and simply had the word "CORE" marked underneath it. "You'd better hold onto something," said Molly as the elevator door closed. Before I could ask what she meant by that, the elevator suddenly went down so fast that I was instantly flung to the ceiling and got stuck there. Molly was able to remain standing on her feet by gripping the elevator's railings, but even she seemed to be barely holding on. Finally, the elevator stopped in its tracks, causing me to fall to the floor and faceplant. "Owie…," I moaned. "I did warn you," said Molly.

The elevator door opened up again and we both stepped out - or rather, Molly stepped out while I stumbled out like someone who had a few too many drinks. Once I got my bearings back, however, I was suddenly aware of just how WARM everything felt. I looked around and saw that we were in a dark hallway. At the end of the hallway was an orange light that was so bright that it hurt to look directly at it, even through my helmet's visor. "That's where the core is," said Molly, pointing at the light. She suddenly sounded very out of breath. "It's…*pant*...man, it's hotter than I remember. This is as far as I can go without collapsing from heat exhaustion. But since you have that armor on, the heat won't affect you as much." "Geez, you weren't kidding about the core's temperature," I said. "Even with the armor on, I can STILL feel it." "Since you're the only one who can withstand the heat, you'll need to hack into the core's mainframe on your own," said Molly. "Here." She handed me the high tech laptop. "Like I said, the wall of the core should have a small hole where you can plug this thing in," Molly lectured. "You don't need to type anything in like I did with the elevator. I already set everything up for you. You just have to press this red button right there." She pointed at a red button on the laptop's keypad. "Once you do that, you'll have access to the core's settings and be able to lower the temperature."

"Got it," I said, taking the laptop and heading down the hallway. "Great," Molly panted from behind me. "I'll just stay…*pant*...back here…*pant*...where the heat's a little more… *pant*...tolerable." I got to the end of the hallway and had to wait a while before my eyes were adjusted to the intense light. After a while, the light was still searing, but I could now somewhat see through it. "Whoa…," I gasped, staring at the inside of PAMA's core. The first thing that came to mind was how absolutely gigantic it was. In fact, it was so large that it made the other PAMA's core look pitifully tiny in comparison. Then again, it did make sense. After all, if you decide to build your core in the center of the earth, then why not take advantage of all of the available space that's given to you? As for the contents of the core, I saw that everything in it seemed to match Molly's description. There was the Redstone Heart in all of its glory sitting on a tall pedestal in the center of the core. A red glowing force field surrounded it, protecting it from any potential threat. There were also four redstone spires surrounding the heart, each one shooting out a beam of red light that was giving the force field its power. Okay, so here's what I've got so far, I thought. There's the Redstone Heart, the force field, the spires. Now all that's left is the hole where I'm supposed to plug in this laptop. But where could it be…?

I looked around and finally spotted the hole. It was so tiny that I almost didn't see it, but there it was, just a few dozen blocks to the left over a hundred block fall…shit. Fortunately, there was a small ledge along the wall that I could scoot across, but it was about five inches wide and looked like it could barely even support a mouse, let alone a woman decked out in full armor. In hindsight, five inches wasn't actually that small. I could probably walk along a curb that wide with no issues. Yeah, and if I fall off a curb, I'd just shrug my shoulders and start over again. But here, I couldn't afford to make a single mistake lest I fall to my death. The fall alone was enough to make five inches seem that much smaller. I took a deep breath and slowly began scooting across the ledge while holding the laptop so tightly that my fingers turned white. I also tried to keep my eyes on the hole and not look down, but that was easier said than done. About halfway through, I momentarily lost my footing and was beginning to tip over the edge. "Shit, shit, shit!," I squealed, holding onto the laptop with one hand while my other arm was pinwheeling frantically. By some miracle, I was able to keep myself from falling even though I had just made an error that could've cost me my life. If my hand had hit the wall, I would've fallen into the pit below and possibly broken my neck. I stood still while breathing heavily, and for a moment, I was paralyzed with fear. But in the end, I managed to force myself to keep moving along the ledge.

Once I got to the hole in the wall, which was only about the size of an acorn, I plugged in the laptop and the screen began to light up. Then, like Molly told me to, I pressed the red button on the keypad and the screen turned a bright green color. It also showed the core's settings, which were displayed on the laptop's screen as sliders. I noticed that one of the sliders, which was supposed to represent the core's temperature, was set at the highest possible temperature, which was two hundred degrees celsius. There it is, I thought, adjusting the slider all the way down to a much more pleasant twenty degrees celsius. In an instant, I felt the intense warmth fade away, and at the same time, the bright light inside the core also dimmed down significantly, finally allowing me to see properly. I took off my helmet and was pleasantly relieved to feel the cool air on my cheeks. Not long after, I saw Molly poke her head out of the doorway that I had just come from. She also had her helmet off, and a large smile was on her face. "You did it, Alex!," she hollered. I smiled proudly. "Yeah, I guess I did," I murmured to myself.

Molly walked along the ledge much more casually than I did, not even looking down at the intimidating fall beneath her, and suddenly grabbed me in a hug. I didn't expect to receive a hug now of all times, but I smiled and returned it. Then, Molly took her laptop back. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?," she joked. I chuckled and rubbed the back of my head. "I guess not," I said. "So…now what?" Molly grinned and took out a bucket of water. "Now we short circuit these spires with some water," she said, pointing at said spires. "Do you see how they're shooting lasers at the force field around the Redstone Heart? Those lasers are actually continuously strengthening it and giving it power. If we destroy the spires first, then the force field will be susceptible to damage and you can destroy it with your bow." "Great," I said. "The only problem is…" I looked down at the pit that separated us from the pedestal on which the Redstone Heart rested. "...how do we get all the way over there?," I asked. "This pit has got to be at least a few dozen blocks wide or something. Neither of us can jump that far." Suddenly, Molly let out a low chuckle that made the hairs on my neck stand up. "Who said anything about jumping?," she asked. Then, before I could react, she picked me up and carried me in her arms bridal style. "Whoa! Molly, what are you doing?!," I cried. "We're gonna fly!," Molly cackled.

And with that said, Molly proceeded to jump off the ledge with me in her arms. I let out a shrill scream and shut my eyes, believing that Molly had just doomed us both. What I didn't know, however, was that Molly was wearing an elytra underneath her armor. The flaps of the elytra came through two slits on the back of her armor, allowing her to glide through the air. Then, while carrying me with one hand, she took out some fireworks with her other hand and used them to boost us through the air and onto the pedestal, where we collapsed into a heap. Molly was giggling while I was traumatized and very close to passing out from fear. "You didn't tell me that you were wearing an elytra," I whispered, my teeth chattering. "I know," said Molly, smirking. "I just wanted to see your reaction." "...what the fuck, Molly?," I moaned, slowly getting back up. "I mean, seriously, what the fuck? I thought we were going to die! I never even had a chance to write down my fucking will!" For some reason, Molly burst out into laughter while rolling on the ground. I glared down at her, completely unamused, and even flipped her the bird. That only made her laugh harder. "You suck," I groaned, taking a page out of Petra's book. "You suck so HARD." "I'm sorry," Molly chuckled, getting up with tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. "It's just that I used to prank my little sister all the time, and you kind of reminded me of her, so…" "And you just couldn't resist, could you?," I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"Is that laughter I hear?," asked a booming voice, startling us. "How strange to hear that noise from within the belly of the most powerful technological marvel in the world." We turned to see where the voice was coming from and were greeted with a massive hologram hovering over us. The hologram itself had PAMA's face plastered on it, which was grinning down at us in an incredibly intimidating manner. "Hello, Molly and Alex," said PAMA. "How nice to see that you're both here. This is very convenient for me." "How did you know we were here?," I demanded. "I have equipped everyone that has been made useful with infrared vision," PAMA explained. "The invisible effect of your armor did nothing to hide you and your friend." I slowly turned and glared at Molly, who was shuffling her feet sheepishly while avoiding eye contact with me. "Man, people can be so ungrateful, know what I mean?," she murmured. "Molly…," I hissed angrily. "Is it just me, or is this place starting to get hot again?," asked Molly, wiping some imaginary sweat from her forehead. "Molly!," I snapped. "I wonder what I should eat when this is over?," asked Molly. "Mushroom stew sounds nice…" I groaned and facepalmed. It was a wonder that the woman standing next to me had so much in common with Isaac, yet also acted nothing like him.

"And even if you had somehow snuck past my defenses," PAMA continued boastfully, "I would've immediately been notified of an intruder being inside my core once its mainframe was hacked into. Both of you would've been caught either way." The computer smirked down at us. "And now that you are both exactly where I want, we can get started." "We're not letting you chip us like everyone else, PAMA!," growled Molly, taking out her sword. "Not without a fight!" I took out my bow and aimed it at PAMA's face. However, PAMA seemed to be far more amused than scared. "You misunderstand my intentions," he said. "I don't want to chip either of you. Not yet, at least." That definitely caught us off guard. Why didn't PAMA want to chip us? It didn't make any sense. "Why not?," I asked suspiciously, keeping my bow raised. "I thought you'd be all for making us 'useful' to your cause." "That would usually be the case," said PAMA. "But having both of you chipped right now would actually NOT be useful, and would also go against my very objective. Let me explain," he said upon noticing how confused we were. "You see, even though I knew early on that you and your friend had once again trespassed my city, I decided you let you go unhindered and allowed you access to my core. Mevia was not sent by me. She merely happened upon you by coincidence. And now that you are both here, I can TRAP you." The entrance to the core suddenly closed up, effectively trapping us inside. "Do not bother using your puny weapons to break out," said PAMA. "This core is not only designed to keep out intruders, but also keep IN victims. It is both a fortress and a prison. There is no escape for either of you." "What are you going to do with us?," I growled, preparing for a fight.

"To talk," PAMA answered, once again catching us off guard. "That is all I want. Just to talk. I may also have you both chipped afterwards, but we'll get to that part later." I exchanged a nervous glance with Molly, who shrugged her shoulders. She was clearly just as confused as I was. PAMA had to have a purpose to all of this. He was not the type of person - sorry, machine - to play cat and mouse with his enemies. He prized efficiency above all else and would deal with his victims as quickly and efficiently as possible, so this was very out of character for him. What could PAMA possibly want to talk to us about anyway? "I am glad that you asked that question, Alex," said PAMA. …shit, I just said that out loud, didn't I? "Yes, you did," said PAMA. "I am not stupid, nor am I deaf. I have heard you and Hadrian talking to each other before the gladiator match, and you apparently know something that Hadrian doesn't want me to find out." PAMA's smile was quickly replaced with a frown. "I want to know exactly what that is. If you tell me, then perhaps I will spare you and your friend. I cannot say the same for the Old Builders, however." Despite PAMA's words, neither me nor Molly dropped our guard. The computer had a tendency to lie in order to get what he wanted, after all. "If you do not tell me, I will fry you both to a crisp," PAMA threatened. "Even though you have hacked into my core's mainframe, I still have full and complete control over its temperature setting. I can turn the heat back up to how it used to be and you will both die." There was now a slight undertone of childish hatred in PAMA's voice. "Now tell me what Hadrian's secret is, or neither of you are leaving this place alive."

Me and Molly once again exchanged nervous glances. What do we do now?, we both seemed to think. But what else was there to do? We had unwittingly fallen into PAMA's trap, and now he was the one in control. The only way for us to buy ourselves some more time - hopefully enough time to figure out a way to get out of this mess - was to go along with it. Molly seemed to have come to the same conclusion and gave a small nod. We put away our weapons for the time being and turned to face PAMA. "Do you really want to know?," I asked. "Because after this, there's no going back." "If this is your way to stall for time, then you are only making me angrier," said PAMA. "Get on with it." "Alright, then," I said, letting a small smirk grow on my face. Even though we were in mortal danger right now, at least we were going to drag Hadrian and Mevia down with us. "The Old Builders have been lying to you this whole time. They hacked into your memories and made you think that the Redstone Heart needed constant maintenance to keep it running, maintenance that only Hadrian and Mevia could provide. But it's all nothing more than a total scam. The Redstone Heart perpetually powers itself. It doesn't NEED any form of maintenance whatsoever. The Old Builders want you to think otherwise because that way, they could force you into doing whatever they wanted, like leaving them alone and giving them their own positions of power. You've been played with this whole time, PAMA."

"And if you don't believe us, here's the proof," said Molly, taking out Mevia's diary and tossing it into the air. A thin red light suddenly shot out from a tiny glass orb that was located just underneath PAMA's hologram projector. The light wrapped itself around the journal while it was in midair and froze it in place, then began pulling it towards PAMA's face. Whoa, what's that?, I thought, my eyebrows raising into my hairline. Some kind of telekinetic light thingie? The diary was suddenly completely absorbed by the light, which vanished back into the glass orb. PAMA's face on the hologram was quickly replaced by a loading screen. "He must've converted the diary into pure data and is now processing its contents," Molly theorized quietly. After about ten whole seconds, the loading screen was gone and PAMA's face was back, only this time, he looked absolutely furious. It was amazing how terrifying one could look with only dots for eyes and a line for a mouth. Suddenly, PAMA began to SCREAM. Well, it wasn't quite a scream, or at least, not in the typical sense. It was more like an ear piercing screech that made us cover our ears in pain and crouch down to our knees. It was just like the screeching noise that those chipped zombies produced back in my own timeline, before we faced PAMA for the first time.

And just like that, the hologram vanished, meaning that PAMA was no longer with us at the moment. Normally, this would've been the perfect opportunity for me and Molly to destroy the Redstone Heart before he came back, but unfortunately, the supercomputer made sure that we couldn't go behind his back by summoning a circular, half dome cage which shot out from the floor undeath us and closed in around us, trapping us inside. Now that we were trapped in a cage, with no idea what PAMA was doing right now or when he was coming back, all we could do was wait and pray that he doesn't decide to turn the heat up while he was away. "...do you think that was a good idea?," I asked, turning to face Molly. "PAMA seemed pretty angry just now. Actually, that's an understatement. I've never seen him so angry before. In fact, this is probably the first time that I've seen PAMA being genuinely furious." "To be honest, I have no idea," Molly sighed tiredly. "All I know is that NONE of this is going according to plan."

Eventually, the hologram reappeared, showing PAMA's face. He was clearly still upset, though he seemed to have calmed down enough that he wasn't going to start screaming again anytime soon. The doorway leading into the core opened up again, and two chipped zombies walked inside, each of them dragging a motionless body. The zombies used their superhuman strength to jump all the way from the ledge to the pedestal while still holding onto the bodies, making giant cracks in the ground with their feet. Then, the zombies tossed the bodies towards us, and said bodies landed in front of the cage facedown. Their hair and clothes immediately made them recognizable. "It's Hadrian and Mevia," Molly whispered. However, we were only able to tell that it was them due to what they were wearing. Other than that, they were nearly unrecognizable. Both of them had been beaten so severely that blood covered every inch of their body. Their arms and legs had been snapped in half, and their faces were so disfigured that it was hard to bring myself to even look at them. "I apologize for leaving you two here alone," said PAMA, "but I had to deal with two traitors who thought they could hack into my memory banks and manipulate me into doing what they want with no consequences. I had some of my subjects torture them for a while, and I was able to make them confess."

Mevia wasn't moving at all when she was dragged in here. It was very likely that she had been beaten to death. Hadrian, on the other hand, was still alive, albeit barely. He slowly raised his head to look directly at us, blood dripping from the entirety of his face. Even Molly turned green and looked away from the gruesome sight. PAMA had only been gone for about three or four minutes. In such a short amount of time, how was he able to reduce two of the greatest enemies I had ever faced into…this? "I see now that I have made a grave mistake," said PAMA. "I conquered the entire world and forced everyone to do my bidding, to use up their full potential, to finally receive meaning in their pointless lives and become useful. But now, I see that it was only a fool's dream. No matter how advanced my technology grows, no matter how many more people I enslave, there is no fixing the human race. They are beyond redemption. Hadrian and Mevia's actions have convinced me as such." Hadrian softly groaned, sounding like a dying man who was fully aware of what was going to happen to him. "Therefore, I am finally going to do something that will forever rid the world of its uselessness," PAMA continued. "I must eradicate all of mankind and hope that a new race will repopulate the world, a race that will never turn on their own kind or wage war on each other, a race that will surpass mankind in every way. You will all thank me for this later. That is, if you survive what is to come next…which I highly doubt. Goodbye, everyone." PAMA's face vanished again, but the hologram didn't vanish along with him. Instead, the number "300" appeared on it in bold, white digits. Then, to our collective horror, the number began to count down. 299. 298. 297. 296. 295. 294. 293…

"M-Molly, what's going on?," I asked nervously, unable to take my eyes off the counting down number for some reason. "I…I have no idea…," Molly said quietly, her eyes wide with fear. On the ground in front of us, Hadrian began to cough, spitting out drops of blood in the process. "We're all doomed," he croaked, the volume of his voice barely above a whisper. "PAMA has given up on making people useful. He has officially initiated the Armageddon Phase." "The what?," I asked incredulously. "What the hell is the Armageddon Phase?" "This was never supposed to happen," Hadrian continued. "This phase was only meant to be a last resort for PAMA. He was afraid that somehow, his influence would be tampered with and everyone would break free from his mind control. The Armageddon Phase is meant to deal with those people as quickly and efficiently as possible. It has never even been tested yet." "Will you start making sense already?!," yelled Molly, already on the end of her rope. "What's this phase supposed to do?! What do you mean 'deal with them?!'" "The Armageddon Phase…will activate a giant cluster…of high-powered explosives scattered all over the globe…just underneath the crust," said Hadrian, running out of breath. "The explosive output will be enough…to incinerate every living thing on this planet…and plunge the world into a nuclear ice age." "WHAT?!," screamed Molly, her face turning pale with fright. "Well, how do we stop it?!," I asked desperately. "How do we stop the countdown?!" Hadrian let out a hoarse laugh. "You can't," he answered. "Once the phase starts…only PAMA can stop it…you're all doomed." And in his last moments, the dying Old Builder pointed at us and let out a mocking laugh that was made haunting by the sound of blood gurgling in his throat. Then, he succumbed to his wounds and died instantly.

Me and Molly looked away from Hadrian's now dead body and up at the countdown on the hologram, which almost seemed to be taunting us. A full minute had already passed. 240. 239. 238. "We have to power off PAMA before that number reaches zero!," yelled Molly. There was one problem, however. We were both still trapped inside the cage that PAMA had put us in earlier, and the only two people who could possibly know how to get out, Hadrian and Mevia, were now dead. Molly tried slashing through the bars with her sword, but the bars must have been made out of some sort of special alloy because she couldn't even put a scratch on them. All I had with me was my bow, and I couldn't exactly aim it at the bars of the cage while we were still inside of it. I didn't forget how a single shot from it was powerful enough to decimate part of a mountain and cause an avalanche. Using it now in a very enclosed space was, needless to say, a VERY bad idea. "Ugh, it's useless!," Molly groaned. "How are we supposed to get out of this stupid cage?!" Her answer came in the form of a loud, animalistic roar, followed by a black tentacle that suddenly punctured itself through the closed door leading into the core.

"...WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON ANYMORE?!," I howled, throwing my arms up in what could only be described as "hopeless irritation." Thomas, who was now back in his Wither Storm like state, broke through the metal door and saw us on the pedestal inside the cage. Me and Molly may as well have been free food served on a silver platter to him. Just like the chipped zombies that came before him, Thomas used the enormous strength in his legs to jump across the giant gap between the ledge and the pedestal, clearing the distance with ease while also using some of his tentacles to pull himself along the rest of the way. The human turned monster also happened to land on top of the chipped zombies, which were unable to move out of the way due to being disconnected after PAMA left and started the countdown. The zombies were instantly pulverized into bloody mush underneath Thomas' feet. Then, Thomas looked directly at us, his tentacles twitching erratically, observing us like we were his prey. "Uh…hey, Thomas," I said nervously, giving him a small wave. "Nice to see you again. Hey, you remember that time when you momentarily regained your humanity and helped us escape the arena?"

Thomas rushed towards and banged his own body against the bars of the cage, easily bending them in the process. However, he was unable to squeeze himself through and only got so far as to snap at us with his teeth and claws while his tentacles were just out of range. Moly suddenly kicked Thomas in the face as hard as she could, sending him flying back. Thanks to Thomas accidentally bending the cage bars, there was now enough space for me and Molly to squeeze through, allowing us to finally escape. Of course, that was not the end of the problems. We also had an octopus monster to defeat and an explosive apocalypse to prevent.

I quickly glanced at the hologram and saw that only three minutes were left. 180. 179. 178. 177. There was literally no time to waste. "Molly, you go short circuit the redstone spires with water!," I ordered. "I handle Thomas!" Molly seemed to be unsure about my plan, which was actually understandable. After all, Thomas had been turned into a seven foot tall monster with razor sharp claws and teeth, as well as tentacles that could crush a man into a pulp. The chances of me beating him on my own were…slim, to say the least. Still, Molly knew that in this particular scenario, time was everything. "Be careful," she said, before running to the spires with a bucket of water in her hands. I turned back to face Thomas and nearly had a heart attack when I saw that he was only a few inches away from me. I quickly jumped out of the way just as he charged past me. Even though he didn't hit me directly, the air current generated by his momentum was enough to make me nearly lose my footing. Thomas dug his tentacles into the ground to stop his own momentum, then turned around and charged at me again. Once again, I jumped out of the way. It was almost like a bull fight, but in this case, Thomas was the bull, and I was the matador. Finally, Thomas charged at me for a third time, but this time, I had a plan in mind. Once Thomas got close enough, I dropped down just as he practically FLEW over my head, and reached out with one of my arrows in my hand, which was pointed upwards. Thomas' belly was instantly sliced through due to the arrow's plasma makeup, and he collapsed right after, his momentum carrying him a little further so that he didn't end up crushing me.

I quickly got up and turned back around, but fortunately, Thomas was not getting back up anytime soon. Purple colored blood was pouring out of the slit in his stomach, and it was clear that he was going to bleed out pretty soon. But then, something else happened, something that I didn't expect. Thomas' current face, complete with its black and bumpy skin, its purple glowing eyes, and its sharp fangs and abnormally wide mouth, suddenly split open, revealing what was underneath the whole time: his real face, his HUMAN face. No longer was he glaring at me with hunger in his eyes. Now, he just looked hurt, tired, and vulnerable…but also very, very relieved. I slowly walked towards and kneeled down next to him, cradling his head in my lap. I wasn't sure why I was suddenly so keen on comforting him, but a part of me was happy that Thomas was finally going to get the rest that he had longed for for so long. "You saved me," he said in a hoarse voice, gazing up at me gratefully. He looked so unlike the Thomas in my own timeline that it was straight up uncanny. "I'm sorry about…that," I said, gesturing to the wound in his stomach. Thomas looked down at his wound and didn't seem bothered by it at all. "I've endured more pain than I could've possibly imagined," he said tiredly. "A little wound like that means nothing to me now." "...you somehow knew that me and Molly were inside PAMA's core," I said softly. "You broke in here and attacked us. Why?" Thomas smiled bitterly. "Because I knew that one of you would succeed in killing me," he said. "One of you would set me free."

"Well, it's over now," I said, smiling back. "Close your eyes, Thomas. You can rest easy knowing that you'll never have to feel pain again." "Oh, that's exactly what I'll do…," he said, his voice growing softer and fainter. "That's exactly…what I'll…" His eyes closed forever and his head went completely limp. I gently settled his head back onto the ground and stood up, my clothes now covered in purple blood. "Good night, Thomas," I whispered sadly.

"Alex!," cried Molly, coming back with an empty bucket. "I did it! I was able to short circuit all of the spires! Now we just need to–" She stopped and stared down at Thomas. "Is that…?" I nodded slowly. "That's him, all right," I said. "He sure is a lot different than the one you saw in my memories, right?" "Y-yeah," said Molly, vigorously shaking her head. "Anyway, we need to hurry up. We've only got two more minutes left!" 120. 119. 118. "Yeah, I know," I said, quickly taking out my bow and aiming it at the force field surrounding the Redstone Heart. Like last time, Molly stood behind me and firmly placed her hands on my shoulder so that I wouldn't get knocked back by the recoil. Then, I let loose. Thanks to my armor, the recoil only caused a dull pain in my chest and nothing else. Both of us were knocked back a few blocks, but we were able to regain our footing rather easily. The arrow flew towards the force field at supersonic speeds and exploded on impact, the shockwave alone knocking us off our feet. We quickly got back up and saw that the force field now had a noticeable crack in it. "It's working!," said Molly. "Keep shooting!" To save as much time as possible, I notched TWO arrows into my bow and shot them both at the same time. As a result, not only was the recoil twice as powerful as before, but so was the arrows' payload. The recoil combined with the explosion sent us flying back once again, and we ended up crashing into one of the redstone spires. If Molly and I hadn't been wearing armor at the time, we probably wouldn't have survived that. Once the smoke cleared away, we saw that the force field was now completely destroyed, leaving the Redstone Heart vulnerable and without any protection whatsoever. "We did it!," I cheered. "Now we just need one more shot to destroy the heart!" However, I was so busy stringing another arrow into my bow that I didn't notice the incoming danger behind us. Molly, however, did notice.

"Look out!," she cried, pushing me out of the way just as I shot my bow. The bow fell out of my grasp and skidded across the floor before falling over the edge of the pedestal. "No!," I cried, reaching out with my hand even though getting it back was now a futile effort. The arrow ended up missing the Redstone Heart by just a few inches and hit the wall of the core instead, creating yet another explosion that, surprisingly, didn't make a single dent. I looked behind me and was horrified to see that Molly had her legs pinned down by a spire that had fallen on top of her. I felt sick to my stomach once I realized that it was the same spire which we crashed into earlier. If I hadn't jumped the gun and shot two arrows at once, we wouldn't have flown back and crashed into the spire, and the spire wouldn't have fallen down and crushed both of Molly's legs. "Molly!," I cried, running towards her. "Are you okay?!" I mentally facepalmed for asking such a stupid question. A spire that probably weighed about a ton just fell on top of Molly's legs and most likely crushed every single bone in her legs. So no, of course she wasn't okay!

I tried lifting the spire off of her, but the thing didn't even budge. "Alex, you don't have time for that! Look!," cried Molly, pointing at the hologram. Now, there was only a minute left. 60. 59. 58. "You have to get the Redstone Heart!," yelled Molly. "Don't worry about me! Just go!" I nodded and began running towards the Redstone Heart with the intent to pull it out since I could no longer destroy it, not without the bow. However, just before I was able to reach the heart, an invisible force suddenly pushed me aside, sending me flying towards the edge of the pedestal. Fortunately, I was able to grab on and pull myself back up before I could fall into the seemingly endless pit below. "Alex?!," I heard Molly cry out. "It's okay, Molly!," I assured her, climbing back onto the pedestal. "Everything's just…fine…" I couldn't help but stare at the white eyed man who was floating in the sky, glaring down at us with an amused smile on his face. "Well, well, well," he murmured. "What do we have here? This seems rather…interesting, to say the least."

"Herobrine?," I whispered, feeling a pit form in my stomach. What was he even doing here? And why now of all times? "I must say, you've gotten a lot farther than I thought you would," said Herobrine. "But I'm afraid that your time is up. It's time for you to go back home, Alex." His hands and arms suddenly morphed into giant, black versions of themselves with large, red claws. His arms stretched towards me like giant rubber bands and he grabbed me around the torso, his hands large enough to wrap around my entire midsection. Then, he began to lift me up. "Hey, what are you doing?! Put me down!," I yelled, fruitlessly pounding on his fingers with my fists. A portal suddenly opened up next to Herobrine. "Isn't it obvious?," asked Herobrine, a mocking grin on his face. "I'm taking you back home, Alex. Back to your own timeline. I thought that's what you wanted." "NO!," I cried, trying to pry myself out of his massive hands. "No, not yet! I have to save them first! I have to stop PAMA from blowing up the world!" "I said your time is UP!," Herobrine growled, harshly squeezing me so that my cries turned into weak whimpers. "Now come along, Alex. It's time to go back now." He slowly began dragging me towards the portal. "No…," I moaned in despair. "Not yet…not yet…" I glanced up at the hologram, which only had ten seconds left on the clock. Then, I looked down at Molly, who was still trapped underneath the spire. She was staring up at me with sad eyes, tears flowing down my face. "Molly…no…," I whispered, reaching out to her. Molly gave me a sad smile, then closed her eyes peacefully. She was ready to accept her fate, even though I wasn't.

5. 4. 3. 2. 1. "ARMAGEDDON PHASE HAS NOW COMMENCED," PAMA's voice blared out. Right when Herobrine dragged me into the portal, I saw Molly's face tearfully looking at mine. After that, loud booming noises filled my ears, almost making me have flashbacks of when Jesse detonated the Formidi-Bomb. My entire vision went white, and not long after, all I heard was a shrill ringing in my ears. Then, the portal closed and I was dropped to the ground. I still couldn't see or hear anything for about a minute. When my vision slowly returned and the ringing in my ears stopped, I realized that we were no longer inside PAMA's core. I was now outside, looking up at the night sky. High above me, over half of the moon was covered in a giant shadowy mass, slowly consuming it like the hungry maw of a great beast.