Okay, almost done.
Midnight: You really want to get to the Portal Arc, don't you?
Of course I do, it's where everything fun happens.
Of course, Lukas was just as surprised as I was that I had the guts to do that.
I pulled away, and for a solid minute, we just stared at each other, both thinking the same thing.
What just happened?
Just as I was about to say something, possibly to comment on how awkward the situation was now, he kissed me back. The silence persisted for a lot longer after that, and both of us turned bright red and mentally prayed no one saw (Jesse did, but didn't tell either of us until much later).
"That worked, I guess." A short laugh escaped me there, I just couldn't help it. Then Lukas cracked a genuine smile, and we looked each other in the eye for a second before both bursting into uncontrollable laughter. It wasn't even that funny, really, but something about the timing made it absolutely hilarious.
When both of us calmed down enough to talk without laughing, Lukas spoke up.
"Yeah, I guess it did."
"Come on, lovebirds, Jesse found the way out." Petra called, a huge smirk on her face. Lukas and I didn't move for about thirty seconds.
"Agree to not bring this up again until this is all over?"
"Sounds great."
I went to check out the house with the others while Jesse and Olivia went into the jukebox room. There wasn't much to look at though.
This time, the transition between the present and past happened while I was walking. Gradually, the scene changed.
I wasn't supposed to be here, yet here I was.
The Sunshine Institute was around longer than most would think. There was a different warden, and Cell Block X didn't exist. A lot of the 'associates' were either 'guests' themselves or just weren't hired yet.
I was supposed to be watched by the Warden while my dad was off doing important stuff in his town, but the Warden lost me faster than a loyalty enchanted trident came back to its owner.
So now, as long as I wasn't caught, I was free to explore.
But a prison, even if no one called it that, was no place for a child.
Especially not the child of the person who put most of the prisoners there in the first place.
Eventually, my luck with avoiding prisoners, guards, the Warden, and the oddly colored golems that shared the same color scheme as my admin form ran out. Before I knew it, I was picked up by one of the taller prisoners, all the way up to eye level. I tried to escape, but was no match for them.
"Well, would you look at that? Admin's youngest kid, and she's running around the most dangerous prison on Earth." He taunted.
"Definitely not getting any Dad of the Year awards, I bet." Another laughed, as he and several others came over to see what was going on.
"I would say that he won't be a dad for much longer, but I forgot he has two minis, not just this one." It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant for me. The three main prisoners, the ones immediately in front of me, all laughed like they'd just heard the funniest joke in the world.
"It wouldn't hurt to get a little payback for lockin' us up unfairly. At least this'll give him a reason."
Weapons were strictly forbidden at the Sunshine Institute, but somehow, the one holding me managed to sneak a stone sword in. Or he raided the armory.
Seeing it, I immediately started screaming as loud as I could. The others tried to shut me up, but it was too late.
The current Warden, then the top associate, came running into the room, quickly followed by the former one, who knew immediately that he had just lost his job and/or his life (He definitely lost his job, as for his life, no one would tell me). The current Warden disarmed the prisoner and got me to safety just as my dad showed up.
Seeing my dad worried was a rare thing, but then, he looked downright terrified. Only when I was safely in his arms, in tears but otherwise okay, did he calm down a little. I didn't see it, but my dad's glare directed at the former Warden was the scariest thing that the poor guy had seen in his ten years of working there. Of course, he was fired immediately, in front of everyone. He begged profusely for another chance, but there was nothing he could do.
The next people to be punished were the ones that almost killed me. They tried to deny everything, but they couldn't refute me and the new Warden. I'm almost certain they were killed, if not worse.
And finally, the associate who saved my life was promoted to Warden. Everyone else was dismissed with a harsh glare, and my dad was so relieved that I got off with a warning.
Wow…
That was definitely one of the more detailed visions. Luckily (and conveniently), it was long enough to progress.
Lukas and I ran into the jukebox room just in time to interrupt Soren's song.
"Wait, is that…? Are you…?"
"Soren?" I finished by accident, not really realizing that Lukas was talking. He pulled Jesse aside, but I was thrown into a coughing fit, much worse than the last one. Petra also looked a lot worse than before.
"You look… terrible." Soren directed at Petra and I. It didn't take long for one of the endermen to teleport inside, right behind us. Everyone covered their eyes and quickly got out.
Jesse had to break some fountains in order for the rest of us to get back out to the Wool World safely. But of course, there were endermen there too. To get rid of them, since one had seen through Jesse's disguise, he had to unleash a whole bunch of water from a tower.
The water level rose quickly, much quicker than I thought. When I dove under to try to get to the trapdoor, I struggled. Everyone else made it, but I was about to drown.
I ran out of air before I even made it halfway to the trapdoor. I never realized before just how horrifying it was to drown, but I was close to blacking out before I was finally rescued by Lukas, who swam back as fast as he could.
We were both thrown out of the End portal, back into Soren's loot room.
This time, when I coughed, I was hacking up water.
"Is now a bad time to mention that I can't really swim?" I asked, barely able to raise my voice above a strained whisper.
"No, a minute ago would've been a bad time to mention that." I managed a weak laugh at Lukas' response. By the time I stood up, iron golems were killing every monster in the room adjacent.
"Do you guys hear that?" Axel asked once they were done.
"Hear what?" Olivia questioned.
"All that stuff saying 'Take me. Take me now'."
"It wouldn't hurt to take a few things…" Jesse reasoned. To this, Axel and Olivia shared wide grins, and ran off. Meanwhile, Soren went to get the Super TNT and sent Jesse to fetch gunpowder.
I thought about swiping some iron for myself, but figured there'd be no point.
When Jesse gathered up enough gunpowder, Soren jumped back down and explained how to make the Formidi-Bomb. Super TNT in the middle, and gunpowder all around.
When we were ambushed by endermen again, we escaped using minecarts.
Every monster in sight was running in the opposite direction, away from the wither storm.
Our minecarts were derailed, but it didn't matter much. We would run out of track eventually anyway.
"There you are!" Ellegaard and Magnus were fighting mobs.
"So glad you could make it!"
"I'm glad you're okay." Jesse said, but Magnus disagreed.
"This looks like 'okay' to you?"
"I thought Ivor was coming to get you!"
"Ivor? We haven't even seen him!" Ellegaard revealed.
"You don't have to worry about the monsters… They're all running away. Worry about what they're running away from." Everyone looked and saw the wither storm, much bigger than before, and still just as hungry.
But then there was a small reunion between Ellegaard, Magnus, and Soren.
"It's time to go! We only get one shot at this." I already knew Jesse was going to step up, but I'd have to find some way to protect whoever he took armor from.
"Remember… once the Formidi-Bomb is crafted, it'll explode in a matter of seconds." A long pause as Soren figured out what to say next. "It means whoever is doing the crafting… will be in great danger." He suggested drawing straws, but Magnus and Ellegaard both backed out with awful excuses.
"This is my chance to step up." Jesse said, once he realized neither 'hero' in front of him would.
"Perhaps."
With a defeated look, Jesse turned back to Soren.
"I'm going to set off the Formidi-Bomb."
Soren stepped down, and gave Jesse the Super-TNT. "That's what I was hoping for. The rest of us will build distractions in its path."
"You two should be ashamed of yourselves." I said this knowing full well I'd be saving one of their lives later.
Ellegaard and Magnus both offered their armor to Jesse, and he decided to take Magnus'.
We all ran off after that, Jesse trying to get close to the wither, and everyone else building distractions.
Among these distractions was a pig statue. I noticed a tentacle flying towards us, and at the last minute, pushed Magnus off, but got hit myself, along with Ellegaard.
I knew once I hit a tree that I was done for the rest of the episode, if not longer…
"Not to bring the mood down, but has anyone seen Lukas and Midnight?"
Episode 3 Complete.
Next time on Every Action Matters…
Faced with a devastating defeat…
...our heroes will have to search deep within themselves…
...in order to rise above tragedy…
...heal broken friendships…
...untangle bitter rivalries…
...and find the strength to make one last stand against the storm.
And that's episode three!
Midnight: Almost done with the wither storm arc, finally.
Yep.
Midnight: What is it with you and knocking me out? I swear that's the third time that's happened now.
It's like my once per episode thing, except it probably won't happen so much after this arc.
Midnight: Probably?
Probably. Anyway, I'll see you guys next time, in episode four!
-LegendEmpress