BanjoNote: The epic three-part finale to the Broken Arc is here! I present to you, the Siege of Lafor!

Oh, and instead of revealing the Arc name at the end of the chapter, I'll reveal it now: Cowardice is Key Arc! Sounds familiar, no? Well, it's coming in a long time, so buckle up and stay with me.

This chapter is probably coming out late, so sorry in advance.

Let's do this.

BanjoMano does not own Minecraft. If I did, I wouldn't be saying this, would I?

[Gimero]

Saying we clambered down the stairs is a bit of an understatement. Once we took the first turn, Sileeno slammed into me in panic, and the rest of the way was bouncing down the steps.

We rolled to a stop in front of the piston doorway and each slammed a button on the wall. The door opened, closed, then only half of it opened. Not enough time to complain, I squeezed through the entrance and ran behind cover – one if the bushes lining the walkway. Sileeno stumbled backwards, looking at the bright white light emanating from the top of the building. I peered over the bush just as a loud whirring sound rang out.

Sileeno blinked twice, and then the top of the building exploded in a bright flash.

A ball of energy blew the sides of the tower off, raining debris on us. Sileeno stumbled out of the way of a chunk of cobblestone, looking at the figure floating in front of the ruined tower, several tens of blocks up high.

Alex. Her skin was glowing dramatically, and her eyes were pure white. She flew straight over us and towards the castle, and only then allowed myself to leave cover and go to Sileeno's side.

"Wha-" I coughed in the dust. "What was that?"

"It appears we… may be in trouble." Sileeno swallowed. "I misunderstood what the Griefer's plans were. They insert a piece of Wither code in her."

"They what now?" I asked, terrified. "The Wither is inside her?

Sileeno pondered that for a bit, making me more anxious then before.

"No," He concluded. "We would be in a lot less trouble if that was the case. They only inserted the urge to kill anything that moves. So… she's a double-edged weapon."

I coughed even more. "How long do we have until this wears off?

"About… ten minutes and 23 seconds." He answered. He turned to me and put a hand on my shoulder, a sudden smirk on his face.

"Time to move to Phase two." He told me, and I groaned.

Why am I pulled into these ridiculous situations!?

[Athara]

I raced down the streets of Lafor, ducking into side alleys and kicking away any Pillagers that attacked me on the streets. Once or twice I was shot in the shoulder, but I ignored it in favor of getting to the castle as quick as possible. I leaped without a second thought onto a ledge of a roof, and flipped myself onto the dark oaken roofs.

Looking over at the Command Center, I was taken aback when I saw that the entire top half of the building was blown into smithereens, and the debris covered the yard around it. I shook my head and muttered to myself "Now's not the time to lose focus."

I looked back at the castle, and swore loudly when I saw a figure flying it's way straight towards the castle. I raced down the rooftops, flipping from roof to roof, until I vaulted off of one and onto the road leading up to the castle.

The figure landed right in front of me, and only then I realized that it was Alex.

It seemed as if someone stuffed her full of lightbulbs. A deathly white light shone under her skin, and her pure glowing white eyes reminded me of… someone I'd rather forget.

"Alex?" I asked, weirded out. She took out a diamond cutlass, insert with jewels, and pointed it at me.

When she spoke, it was an if three of her were speaking at once. "Prepare, human, to fall."

I blinked, but took out my dagger. "Well, I've fought Crafters before and won. Another one shouldn't be too hard."

She laughed, and launched at me with unnatural speed.

Needless to say, the fight was not in my favour.

Alex twirled and fought like she'd been fighting for years. It was all I could do to dodge all of her swings, which was exceptionally hard as a cutlass is a light weapon. I got under her defense, but when I did, she flickered back as if teleporting. She flipped over me and swung downwards, only to be parried by my small dagger.

We were evenly matched, but only because I was giving it all I had. Alex regarded me with a blank stare, and winced.

"I…" She gasped, her normal voice. I took this moment to nock an arrow at her, but I didn't fire. She looked at me, and breathed in, focusing.

The light inside her flickered, but snapped back into place. She flourished her cutlass and ran at me, cutlass aimed at stomach. I did suite, charging her. She brought her blade up, but I twisted to the right and stabbed into her chest.

Looking her dead in the eyes, I shook her. "Alex, I know you're in there. Snap out of-"

I spun in a circle, ripping my dagger sideways out of her chest. "It!"

She stumbled backwards, and fell on her back. The glow faded from her, and her eyes reverted to there normal bright green colour.

Her wound immediately closed, and her clothes stitched back together. She still clutched at her side, giving me an evil eye.

"Did you-" She coughed up blood. "Seriously?"

I shrugged. "Considering you have every Crafter's ability, I had to make it quick."

"I – what?"

I pulled her up, looking into her eyes with a serious expression. "I know your Crafter abilities. You can copy another Crafter's ability. That's how you can do all of these… random things that other Crafter's can."

She looked at me, and stepped back. "How long have you known this?"

I sighed. "It's dangerous to know your ability without being able to control. It starts to act up, trying to get out."

She picked up her fallen cutlass and put it in her belt. "How do you know this? You're not a Crafter."

I gave her a pained smile. "No, but I've been around more then one. We need to get to the castle, now."

[Gimero]

I followed Sileeno down the streets of Lafor, dodging swings and passing by battles. A young guard was cut down by a Pillager, who I smacked in the back of the head and knocked out. Sileeno dived out of the way of an arrow, sliding down the gravel path and giving himself a hundred different cuts. Of course, I got shot in the leg with that arrow, and I got a hundred different wounds.

I pulled out the arrow and stumbled over to Sileeno, who had disappeared into an alleyway. He took out a potion of healing and chugged it, tossing another one to me.

"What are we doing out here?" I asked, wincing as a building to the right was exploded by TNT. Sileeno got a conspiratorial look on his face and looked at me.

"For the past year, I have been working on a project." He started, giving me a dread feeling. "In case Lafor was attacked, I have a large, underground operation, lined with bedrock provided through commands. It is an absolute secret, and... well, you will see the entrance."

"What does it do?" I asked, looking out the alley. "Don't tell me that it teleports everyone out."

He frowned. "No... but that's probably a better idea. No, it is a little project called Killswitch."

"Doesn't sound little." I squeaked.

He stood up and lowered a hand. "Me and you, they think us useless in combat. But the Pillagers see us as a bright light. The Griefers feel us as a searing heat. But us two, we know what we are."

"...we do?"

"Why, we're a flame. And, my dear villager, that will be there downfall. Let us get moving."

[Alex]

We dashed to the castle, where the fighting was the most crowded. Athara slipped into the crowd and onto the castle bridge, leaving me behind. I took a deep breath, pulled out my cutlass, and pushed past the crowd. Compared to Athara, I was a Ravager, but I managed to get out of the crowd without exploding. I looked at my hearts, and stifled a yelp.

It was at 2 hearts, but it was rapidly filling in the other empty hearts. Athara rolled out of the way of an axe and kicked the wielder - a man with a trench coat and gray skin - right into the moat. I ran up to her, looking over the side.

Athara blew her hair out of her eyes and turned to the castle. "Try to keep up, Alex. Kat is in there, and I need to get to her."

"Who's Kat?" I asked, confused. She sighed and replied, "A... friend."

She gave me a glare and ran into the courtyard. We broke through the gates, passing by Gimero's friend - Rosa - who was in combat with three Pillagers. She kicked one towards us and flinged one into the other, sending them tumbling like bowling pins.

Athara grabbed the Pillager and swung her dagger at her back repeatedly, exploding him into a couple of arrows. Rosa brought her cleaver down on the fallen and turned to us, a look of determination on her face.

"Don't know if this is great timing, or awful timing." She noted. "Redonath is inside the castle, and no one can even get close to him."

"Shit," Athara swore. "This isn't good. We need to get to him."

"Are you-" Rosa started, then looked at me. "Actually... you may be the only ones able to defeat him."

I looked between the two of them. "Is this Redonath a Crafter or something?"

Rosa gave me an annoyed look. "No, but he's equivalent to one. But we don't have time to talk - I need to get to work."

And, with that, she pushed past us and ran towards the bridge.

We turned to the castle, no words shared between us. The massive archway leading into the castle was blown to pieces, and the stairway to the second floor was somehow collapsed into rubble. Athara vaulted over a wooden barricade, leaving me to quickly climb over it. She ran into the castle, took out some sort of glass bottle and drank it's contents, and jumped eight feet into the air. She grabbed the ledge to the second floor, pulled herself up, and gave me a hurry up motion with her hands.

"Yep," I muttered. "Like I could jump eight feet on a whim. Totally normal."

I took out my stack of dirt and quickly repaired the staircase as quick as I could, running after Athara into what looked like the throne room.

[Gimero]

We ran to a stop in front of a large stone building, catching our breath. Looking at the sign, I read Southern Warehouse: Weapons and Dangerous Equipment.

"Tell me this isn't where the..." I started, but Sileeno was already nodding his head.

"Who put's a warehouse in the middle of a suburban area! Anyone could steal from it!"

Sileeno gave me a look that I got a lot: exasperation. "Usually there are guards defending this building. But as you can see-"

A building two houses off exploded, as a block of TNT sailed overhead. Pillagers flooded the streets, only to be stopped at a line of guards.

"-most of the guards have a more pressing issue." He finished, opening the door. "You first."

I laughed. "Yeah... no. I'm not going into a warehouse filled with dangerous -"

"Either that or Lafor is lost." He interrupted. "I can't defend myself. You can."

I gave him a blank stare, and raised my pan. "With this?"

He shrugged. "Sure. I mean... you had the capability to get it from the keep anyways."

"Oh!" I mentally smacked myself upside the jaw. "I, uh, ah. Sorry?"

Sileeno waved his hand. "We will see what happens after this all blows over. After all, your Manyullyn Sword order may not have been crazy after all."

I nodded slowly, then said "The defense wasn't very hard to get by."

He let out a snort. "It was a frying pan. It's not like it's a weapon of mass destruction. Anyways..." He slid into the dark warehouse, leaving me alone in the streets.

Looking at the line of guards, I decided a creepy warehouse was better then out here. I rushed in after him, slamming the door shut behind me.

BanjoNote: Short chapter, but my brain has been deep-fried. I need this hiatus, and I need it soon.

Read, Review, Favourite and Follow! Check out my other Fanfic, My Craft: UnderCover! And, as always, Banjo-on!