Hey ya'll, it's Ender! I hope you're having a great day and I hope to make it even better with this new chapter! 1,292 words this chapter. NOTE: I don't own Minecraft, Mianite, any YouTubers mentioned, and really, I don't own anything except this story.

Chapter 9

User swiftly nocked an arrow and aimed carefully. He was done being scared. He was done being frightened by death. Syndicate was right – he had to live, and not just be scared into submission. He had to be brave, for all his friends and for Syndicate, who had been wrongfully slaughtered all because of the so-called 'peace' goddess.

Wag and Firefoxx were right in the midst of the battle, dodging stabs and slices from Ianite's god sword, which was glowing with power. User let his arrow fly, but Ianite raised her sword to deflect it, and with one smooth swipe, knocked Wag away with the flat of the blade. Wag crashed into the half-crumbled wall of the temple and slumped to the ground. User gasped and ran over to check on his friend.

By the time User reached Wag, the wizard was already sitting up, clutching his left arm with his face twisted into an expression of intense pain. He swallowed as User approached but shook his head earnestly.

"Go back to the battle," Wag hissed through gritted teeth. "I'll be fine. Just give me a few minutes."

User nodded swiftly, but screamed a second later, pushing Wag to the ground as a ball of purple energy exploded over their heads. Wag shrieked in pain as his injured arm smacked against the hard desert sand, but he managed to hold back a pained sob.

"Sorry," User apologized, then ran back to the fight. He was sure Wag wouldn't have objected to User saving his life, but his arm had to be hurting – it was at least fractured, if not broken. That kind of injury would definitely take a fair bit of magical energy to heal and User knew it would be a while before Wag was up for fighting again.

Meanwhile, the battle was going poorly for User's friends. Twisted was limping away as quickly as he could, his right leg twisted at an awkward angle. Sonja's hoodie was torn with numerous sword slices and blood trickled out of shallow cuts on her face. Sparklez's bow was lying on the ground, broken in half, and he was left to fight with the iron sword User had used in training with Syndicate.

"Attack from the left!" User commanded, his voice rising above the shouts and the chaos of the battle. Firefoxx and Sparklez started focusing on attacking Ianite's left side, and User started letting arrows rain down on Ianite from the right, knowing it would be nearly impossible for the goddess to defend both sides at once. Ianite's eyes flashed with panic and she struggled to block User's arrows while still attacking the furiously fighting mortals.

It wasn't long before Ianite began to back up, switching to defense. Wag rejoined the fight, shooting bursts of silver magic from his wand at a distance, his eyes narrowed in concentration. User felt his courage grow as he shot arrow after arrow, each hit damaging Ianite's godly armour even more. When he had emptied his quiver, he quickly summoned a new one and continued his rapid-fire assault.

"Enough!" Ianite screamed, beginning to glow. Every one of her opponents was knocked to the ground as she let a wave of purple energy wash over the area, sending pain shooting through User's body as it crashed into him. He wailed in agony, but struggled to his feet, several small cuts now littering his skin. They stung horribly, but he continued to attack Ianite, forcing himself to block out the pain.

"You cannot win against me!" Ianite howled. "I will crush you like mere ants! No one shall stand in my way!"

"Oh really?" User snarled. "Because it looks like we're doing a pretty good job right now, you ignorant bitch."

"That's it!" Ianite screeched in fury. "I will not tolerate your insolence any longer! Perhaps you would like to see what's happening to your little mortal friend, Syndicate, right now." Ianite swiftly grabbed User's arm, and despite his terrified cry of protest, she forced him into an alternate dimension right in the middle of the battle.

XxX

User blinked and found himself surrounded by the scrawny trees and the bone-grass that had greeted him when he arrived in the land of the dead for the first time. User felt his heart pound with terror but there was something… off about how he felt.

He didn't feel entirely in control of his movements, almost as though he was sharing his body. User blinked again and swallowed, glancing down at his hands.

But they weren't his hands. The skin was a dark green, almost the colour of zombie skin. That's when User knew what Ianite had done.

She had sent him into Syndicate's spirit as he roamed around the land of the dead, helpless and alone. He would be trapped in the mortal's body until he was torn out of Ianite's spell, but who knew how much time would pass in the land of the dead before that happened.

User felt Syndicate look around, staring at everything with wide eyes. He could distantly feel Syndicate's terror, awakening within him the raw fear he too had felt upon arriving in the land of the dead for the first time. He didn't see any lost souls yet but he knew it wouldn't be long before they came.

They always came. And they never left.

User trembled as he realized what was going to happen to Syndicate. He was going to be faced with fearsome, vengeful souls, then fall to their hands, crumbling away in the face of Death.

"So this is death," User heard Syndicate murmur. "I wonder if…"

A black sword suddenly appeared in Syndicate's hands and User widened his eyes. How had he summoned that sword? And what was it even made out of?

"Of course," Syndicate chuckled, holding the sword up to study it. User was able to get a better look at the sword through Syndicate's eyes and noticed that the material that the sword was made out of was dark and smoky, and almost smelled like an underground cave. "This is only a layer of reality that doesn't exist. Willpower and hate is the only thing that controls it. And I'd be willing to bet that this sword is made of Wither poison. That should make it deadly enough to any spirits who dare show their faces near me."

User felt his heart lift slightly. Syndicate was tearing away the fear in the land of the dead. That would make him stronger, and more able to defend himself. It might also act as a shield of sorts to keep the lost souls away – or it would act as a strong aura, angering them further and making them gang up on Syndicate.

User hoped it would end up being the shield.

Syndicate swung his sword through the air as an experimental test, and the wither magic left little smoky particles behind. They danced through the air before dissolving, and User blinked.

"Talk about hope in the darkest night," Syndicate chuckled. "There's hope with this darkened sword. I suppose now I just have to wait."

User soon found that Syndicate was right. Glowing red eyes appeared in a loose circle around him, glaring evilly at the sword. None of the lost souls dared to make a move forwards just yet, and Syndicate raised his murky sword as though daring them to challenge him.

With a single unified screech, all the lost souls burst out of the shadows, their dark shapes billowing as they swarmed Syndicate. User cried out as his vision to the land of the dead suddenly faded, leaving him with the final image of Syndicate's rage-filled screams as he began the fight for his life.

Ermagersh, this is such a short chapter compared to the rest of the story. XD

Random Observation: I strongly object to Wag not liking bananas. I mean, I was shocked at everything else he said he didn't like, but I just got angry with the bananas. Of course, I am someone who will pass up Krispy Kreme donuts if only to get a banana for breakfast! XD

kay66727: Oh... but I did... *grins evilly*

ironhideandratchet4ever: ALWAYS!

RusYRP: It made my heart break writing about it...

DiamondScribe: If there can be 'tear-jerking' there can be 'feel-jerking'!

Phoenix-Magic: I'm sorry... wait... no I'm not! I love torturing people with the feels!

MyBrokenHeart123: Hmm... let me think... who dies next? Oh... well... they don't exactly deserve it... no. You're not gonna be happy with me then.