Midnight: Okay, is this the last chapter you have completely written?

Mhm.

Midnight: Are you seriously working on the next one?

I have nothing else to do and absolutely zero self-control, so yes.

I took my chances peeking out, but saw a certain blondie doing the same thing from his chest.

They'd left Lukas down here too.

I ducked back down once I saw the iron golem coming back and tried to stay quiet.

Wish I'd picked a bigger chest.

It was very likely that Jesse had gone to get Gabriel, as I couldn't hear his loud whispering. Knowing what was going to happen didn't help me in my attempts to stay calm either.

All we could do was wait helplessly. For me, every second, waiting for the inevitable disaster, was like torture.

We heard the explosion from the Wither upstairs.

Lukas and I peeked out of our respective chests, coming to the same realization that we weren't going to be saved by anyone else. The iron golem was distracted trying to figure out what was going on, but it was too large to fit through the door.

Soon enough, a purple light shone down into the basement, giving us the signal to get the heck out of there, and fast.

I stumbled trying to get up and started to make a break for the door, only for said light to shine on me, lifting me into the air. I tried to swim out of it, but couldn't.

Lukas managed to pull me away after a while, right as the iron golem came back and saw us. It had apparently decided that we were the biggest threats in the room, and so tried to take care of us. I managed to gather enough strength (Not seeming to care that Lukas would find out) to be able to push it into the wall of bookshelves with my power. With that out of the way, I grabbed Lukas' hand and bolted towards the door.

"Lukas! Midnight!"

Lukas and I paused, seeing Jesse running towards us. As much as I wanted to be relieved, knowing that he'd left us both behind stung.

"You guys just left us down there!" Jesse actually looked apologetic, and finally responded to me.

"No! We were trying to get Gabriel to help!" Neither of us had much time to say anything, as Petra called us over to where the others were hiding. However, it was quickly discovered, and destroyed, by the wither storm. Everyone took off again, but Petra was caught in a tractor beam and Jesse had to help her. Once we regrouped, we set out for Gabriel's fortress.

The forest that Jesse and I had just been through only hours earlier had been lit ablaze, the fire spreading rapidly between trees. The gate to Endercon had been closed, as though it would do anything against something that could fly. People were running away in a massive panic, looking for anywhere that even looked safe.

When the temple was just in sight, the wither storm's tentacles began attacking everyone they could. I did my best to dodge them, but a few tripped me up. It wasn't entirely my fault either, something just felt off.

"The inner chamber is built entirely of obsidian. We should be untouchable in there." Gabriel exclaimed when we made it to the fortress. However, the major mistake he made was not closing the door.

The major mistake I made was forgetting to tell him to do it.

Inside was an unlit Nether portal. While I knew that Jesse had a flint and steel, no one else did.

"If you can get through the portal, you'll be safe!" Axel tried to run through the frame, only to realize it wasn't lit. Jesse pulled out his flint and steel and lit the portal.

Then Petra told Jesse and Lukas to go through the portal. I told Dipper to go with Lukas.

Gabriel got caught in a tractor beam, and when Petra ran to save him, she got caught too. Lukas was frozen. I went to save Petra, and the beam started to suck me in too. And so I was left holding on to Petra for dear life. Luckily, Jesse was able to save us both. After quickly thanking him, I went to go help Gabriel…

Only for a tentacle to somehow sneak up on me, and throw me into the wall.

But somehow, against all odds, I managed to survive the impact.

When I finally came to, I felt worse than I should've. Yes, I expected pretty much everything to hurt. I honestly expected to die in the first few minutes of being awake and aware. But after a while, all I felt was exhaustion and pain.

By the time I was able to keep my eyes open for more than three seconds, I was able to tell that I wasn't in the fortress anymore. Petra was there, pacing back and forth worriedly. She hadn't noticed I was awake yet. I wanted to up or say something to let her know I was alive, but just thinking about that made my head hurt.

Eventually though, I was thrown into a sudden coughing fit. Every cough intensified my pain until I felt like I was going to pass out again. Petra finally noticed and did her best to help. When I could finally look up, she also looked sick, though not nearly as much as I was.

Then again, being thrown into a wall by the wither storm definitely didn't help things.

After what seemed like an eternity, I was finally able to at least sit up without feeling like a bag of bricks was dropped on my head.

I'd been given what I've dubbed the Memory Test, recalling every event up to that moment I could. There were some blanks that Petra had to help fill in for me (I started to panic when I couldn't find Dipper, but she helpfully reminded me that I sent him with Lukas and the others), but I was otherwise fine there.

Even though I already knew what I would find, I rolled up my sleeve to confirm what else was happening to me.

And sure enough, I found a bruise colored mark on my arm, just like Petra's.

Episode 1 Complete.

Next time on Every Action Matters…

While Jesse and Olivia return to the Nether, intent on finding Ellegaard, the Redstone Engineer…

Petra and Midnight will have to do what it takes to survive, and arrive safely at the Order's temple.

All the while, the great storm grows, consuming everything in its wake.

And the clock is ticking.

Time is running out for our intrepid heroes.

And that's the end of episode one!

Midnight: Of course you gave me wither sickness.

I did that in the original too, didn't I?

Midnight: Did you?

I don't know, I was asking you.

Midnight: Whatever, it's not important. You're still writing chapter 8, so you may as well end the A/N now to get back to it.

Read my mind.

-Legend

Midnight: Hold up-

What?

Midnight: You aren't doing the thing you normally do to end chapters?

Oh right. See you next time!

-LegendEmpress