Welcome back to the Minecraft Interviews! Where, like in the Hunger Games, we interview people before sending them to their deaths. (Although the interviews are more torment, and a lot more aggravating, too. Plus the dares. Oh, Mother of all things Minecraft, the dares...)

I'm kinda if-y about this chapter. It's not as good as it could be, because I'm trying to write it and three other chapters at the same time, but it's coming up, either way! So, uh, yeah. I'll just post it now.

Alright, iluvpb22 asked when the interviews were coming back. Well, you guys don't have to wait much longer. Counting this chapter, there are two left. And then it'll be the big, grand finale of all time. In other words, for that last chapter, I'm removing all rules. Except for one; have fun. So. Yeah, let's wish our mobs luck for that chapter. They're really gonna need it.

"Tyler!" Kristina yelled, and watched helplessly as Tyler fell limply to the ground. She rushed to his side, but he wasn't breathing, and had no beat in his heart.

The mobs, though, had other worries. Naaz had the Lens of Sight, and was about to reach to rip out yet another Item, and Akbar had his weird black axe raised, poised for attack. And, though they couldn't figure out why, their Items wouldn't work.

'Naaz, let's be rid of them all.'

And that's when it became too bright to see. From what they could tell by what was happening next, there was distant, quick thuds, a groan, and a muttered, "Brainz."

And then, Zombie, came out, not looking anything like himself. He was twice his usual size, and instead of flesh, he had a bright orange flowing, rock-looking skin. He had become Molten Zombie, but he had come back to the mobs anyway. It had taken forever to find them, (through which time, in an annoyed voice he would groan, 'brainz,') but he was here now. And he rushed out, grabbed the Blood of Self-Sacrifice, thinking to use it as a weapon, as he really didn't know what the hell it was, and rushed to in front of the mobs, so the the Immortals' weapons came down on him, instead. His rocklike form split in two, and in a gust of smoke, seemed to sort of melt and harden before them.

This shocked both the Immortals and the mobs, but it gave the Minecrafters enough time to regroup. And they were pissed, especially Snow. His eyes flashed as he charged straight towards Naaz, and with the Ring of the Dark, he did the impossible. He shot a circle of dark magic straight at her heart, and the black and green giant went rigid before letting out a low hiss, and then disappearing in a puff of smoke.

'Naaz?!' Akbar cried. 'How in Father's name-? What the-?! You are all insane!'

And then he universe travelled away, and all the mobs could turn back to Kristina and Tyler. Kristina had done one last thing to try and help Tyler; she had merged him with the Golden Apple of Love. Nothing happened, and the sight of her Ty, completely motionless, made something inside Kristina break. She had just looked away, wishing that Naaz was still alive so she could send three swords through her head, when Tyler gave a little cough, that might have sounded something like, "Kristi?"

Kristina turned to him. "Tyler!"

Zeus winced and stared at Tyler for a long time, his eyes flashing between red and black. "Kristina," His voice was quiet, "the Lens of Sight damaged him on the way out. He was originally human, and unused to an Item, which makes it so much worse. The Golden Apple of Love is keeping him awake, keeping his soul with us for a little longer, but it can't heal him. An Item cannot undo what another Item has done. He's...not going to last long."

Tyler blinked and whispered, "How much time do I have?"

Zeus sighed. "A couple minutes."

Tyler turned back to Kristina, and all the words he had been planning to say died on his lips. He didn't really have a clue what do to in his last moments, and mostly stared at the little shimmers at the end of her hair, the sparkle in her red eyes, drowned out by tears, and the shine of her lips, and how much he wished he could gain the strength to kiss them. The only thing he could think of saying came into mind. He whispered, "Scared?"

That broke her. That's what broke the last line that she held from keeping the tears in, they fell, and his hair got soaked, but he didn't seem to notice, as he stroked her wet cheek. She moistened her lips, and her voice came out as a whisper, and far too broken to sound anything like her. "Duh."

"I'm not, though. Thanks for that. And for...everything."

"Ty, don't." She whispered. "Please don't say goodbye."

But he had to. He had to tell her. He had to say goodbye. He had to say all he hadn't said, he had to. Tyler looked back up at her, and then leaned up, though the effort made his hands and feet go numb, while his brain was static and pounding with pain, and his heart was beating far too fast to be normal, and it didn't match his slow breath. But his lips were touching hers. He was with her. That's all he cared about, that's all that mattered. It didn't matter that his time was running out. It didn't matter that the world was getting darker, like it was hard to see, no matter how badly he wanted to see her. It didn't matter that his breathing slowed, and his lips felt weak. Kristina pulled away enough to look at him, but he used the last ounce of energy that he had to bring him mouth to hers again, as he couldn't let go of her, not for a moment. The desperate pull of it towards him brought fresh tears to Kristina's eyes, but also because she could tell what he was trying so very, very hard to say, that he couldn't, not without a breath in his body. But he was going, leaving her. There was thin, little air that was his last breath coming from his mouth. His eyes stayed closed as all his muscles relaxed. And Kristina's tears fell on his pale, still lips.

Akbar:

How? How did they do it? It's impossible, killing an Immortal, and so easily, let alone my sister! Are they really that strong? How much power will I need to stop them? What if they get to it, first?

My thoughts raced. There was only one thing to do, and it was the most forbidden thing of all; combining the Items of the Stars into one, and now I could, because they had recently been merged to someone, so they would have a stronger pull towards anything they could merge to, including each other. Dangerous, but possible, and it would make me stronger than all of them combined. Not only that, but I'll be stronger than any and every being combined. I would be the strongest living thing within everything, and everyone would have to bow to me.

The thought sent a smile on my lips. I would have to teleport the Items of the Stars out of all those pathetic mobs, and since it was simply disappearing and reappearing by me, it wouldn't harm them, but I decided that I could just deal with them later. The Items were all that mattered.

'Akbar, brother, please, listen to me, don't.' I hadn't heard Tarak show up, but there he was, looking tense.

And his presence annoyed me, as usual. 'Don't what? Become the most powerful being in existence?'

'Yes! It's like poison. There's so much power that all you want is more. You cannot keep it, and that's why I had gotten rid of it immediately. It would eventually kill anyone and anything who controls it, and then it will control itself!'

'Ast! I'd be so powerful that I'd be able to stop it from doing so.'

'There is limit to power for a reason, Akbar!'

'Yes, so that I can surpass it. And why do you care, so suddenly?'

Tarak sighed. 'I thought that this was a childish, cruel fight for one planet, but this, this would affect every living creature, every universe, every cell, every second. That's far too much power to attempt to control, brother, and it will take over you. Did you see what happened to our sister?! She didn't understand that power isn't what makes you strong, that's why she was overpowered, that's why she's dead! They didn't need magic to kill her, they simply did, because she refused to see reason! And the same will happen to you!'

'Tarak, stop speaking this nonsense. There is nothing better than the power I will gain. Now, stay out of my way.'

'Brother, are you insane? You'll-'

I shut him out, and then called out, 'Items of the Stars, I summon thee! Come to me, and become one!'

'Akbar!'

The Items all appeared, and sort of swirled around me, and mixing with the others, until they became one black object known as an inc sac. It was one Item. The Inc Sac of Ultimateness. It was all of the power in the universes. Akbar continued to protest, but he couldn't touch me. Not while I had the Inc Sac of Ultimateness. I merged it with me, and that's when it started. The endless, dangerous, beautiful power, all just waiting to be used. And all of it was mine.

Kristina sat on her heels, wiping the tears from her eyes, and then brought her hand close to Tyler's chest, and a white smoke curled and hovered out of right where his heart was, and she held out her hand, where the fog twisted into a small ball. And Kristina held Tyler's soul in her hand, but it was already slipping away towards the sky. She was slightly confused, because usually souls were a sharp kind of cold, like eating too many ice cubes at once, and gave her a little brain freeze. But this one was warm, like a small fire, like a small heart beat. She sighed, and blew the rest of her Ty's soul into the sky, whispering too quietly for the rest of them to hear, "Goodbye."

And with a little pop, a frowning Tarak appeared a couple feet away. Herobrine turned around, and his hand lowered to the weapon at his side. Steve did the same. Snow was getting ready to charge.

Tarak held up both hands. 'I know I haven't been much help, er, at all, but I've come to warn you.' His eyes turned to Zeus. 'Akbar took all the Items-'

"We guessed that." Zeus rolled his eyes.

'-And combined them.'

Zeus's jaw dropped. "He did what?! Is he insane?"

'I believe so.'

Zeus took a deep breath. "How the hell are we going to stop him?" He glared at him. "Or is it a 'we' this time?"

'I'm going to do all I can, because this has reached a new level. And I don't know, but I fear that the Inc Sac of Ultimateness may do that for us. And when it does, we'll have more problems.'

Zeus growled under his breath. "As if we didn't have enough of them already." He glared at Ashley.

Ashley had been staring into space, but it was kind of hard to ignore a glare from Zeus. "What?"

"You know what." Zeus rolled his eyes, and then burst out, "Was killing Tyler honestly necessary?!"

Kristina let out some kind of snarling sound that made Ashley take a few steps away from her.

Ashley pursed her lips. "Technically, I didn't kill him, and technically, he's not completely dead." She glanced at Tarak.

He blinked. 'Who's Tyler? Him?' He glanced at Ty's dead body, and Tarak's eyes turned black, and Tyler's body sort of jerked. 'Naaz's ripping of the Lens of Sight out of him severed his soul's bond with his body. I could heal it, but I would need his soul, first, which might be gone already. We'd have to get up there somehow...'

Kristina and Tarak both glanced at the sky, and then Kristina gave Herobrine the most desperate, begging, almost threatening look he had ever seen.

"Say no, I dare you." She glared at him.

"Hey, I'd be doing you a favor, be nice." Herobrine growled, but deciding that he really wasn't in the mood to fight Kristina, he sighed and held out both hands. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Kristina glared. "And make it real high, Herobrine."

"Oh, but then you might get hurt when you land." Herobrine grinned.

"Oh, you act like you care." Kristina rolled her eyes, and then ran as fast as she could towards him. At the last second, she jumped, and Herobrine used both arms to push her up to the point where she became a speck.

And she could see the last little wisps of Tyler's soul going up into the clouds. She reached out, hoping the soul would come to her, and she reached her highest point, and started to fall. The little last disappearing wisps of soul slowed to a stop, and sort of started to flow back to her, but she would start falling too fast, and she would get too far for the wisps to keep following her.

She closed her eyes, unable to look at Tyler permanently disappearing from her again. But her fingers stayed stretched out, and she as she began to fall faster, she felt something small and warm in her hand. She looked, and found only one miniature part of Ty's soul. She bent her knees, and and when she landed, her legs made a dent in the ground, and she wobbled, a little off balance, but she was still standing. She shook out her stinging ankles, and looked at the small part of soul in her hand.

"He can't go all the way if I have even a part of him, right?" Kristina asked.

"Right. So, that part of soul might try to get away. Maybe if it doesn't come, the rest of his soul will come back." Zeus said.

Kristina wrapped her hands around the small part of soul, and, as her father had said, occasionally it would jerk in her hands, but it couldn't get away. But the rest of Tyler never came, and it was hours later, when half of the mobs were asleep, Zeus and Tarak were talking and planning in hushed voices, and Kristina was still staring, with circles under her eyes, at the last living part of Tyler that she had left. She held tightly around it with one hand so that her knuckles were white and aching, although the little piece of soul hadn't budged in hours, though she had held it close enough to her to find out that it smelled ever so faintly and weirdly like mint and dark chocolate, the smell that lingered on Tyler's body. With her other hand, she ran her hand through his hair, something she'd always had the temptation to do. She stared tiredly and absentmindedly at his pale lips, wishing that they would move, just once, just once and say her name.

"And if it does destroy Akbar? What then?" Zeus whispered. Kristina had to strain her ears to hear them. Herobrine, whom she had thought was asleep, shifted a bit.

'The Inc Sac of Ultimateness will destroy everything if we don't find a way to stop it. I just don't understand how.' Akbar replied.

"That's the question. How? How do destroy the most powerful Item? I mean, it proved impossible to get rid of just one of them."

'It's possible, it's been done before, but it was so many million years ago that I only remember one story about it. Well, more of a poem, really.'

"Tell me."

Akbar closed his eyes and tried to remember. 'To break a thousand curses, to prevent them from stopping a thousand breaths, stop the shadow of it all, in the moment of your last, fight the greed that runs through your veins, fight that seemingly hopeless fight, don't fight the Stars, but your dark side.'

"Well, that sure was a lot of help." Zeus rolled his eyes. "Sounds a lot like one of those really confusing prophecies that are supposed to help somehow, and really just ends up all cliche."

'I know. But, if we find Akbar, maybe we could try and convince him...'

"You act like it's that easy."

Kristina then blocked them out, because the look of Tyler's motionless lips drove her mad. Not being able to stand it, not wanting to believe it, trying to remind herself that the rest of her Tyler could still come, she leaned towards him, and her mouth fell on his. The kiss was far too cold, far too motionless, far too breathless, far too still, to convince Kristina that Tyler was still with her, like she had hoped. She had been hoping to lie to herself, but she failed. She knew that Tyler was gone. Tears blurred her vision, and finally, just as she slightly began to dream, and she was sure that that dream involved wisps of smoke coming towards her, she drifted off to sleep.

Tyler:

It was really annoying. I was almost there. I was kind of in a dream-like state, where everything felt real, but I knew, and didn't really care, that it wasn't. But all of me wasn't there. Part of me was missing, and that meant I couldn't go completely into that dream-filled place. Mombatti, was it? I tried to wait, but after multiple hours, I couldn't stand it anymore, and went to find that last part of me. And, if the weird thing that I was, whatever it was, had a heart, it broke, right then. I could see her, lying next to my body. It was Kristina. The dream-like state seemed to shatter around me. Kristina held on to the last part of me. Kristina kissing my very dead lips. (I mean, that's not weird at all...) Kristina still holding onto me. Kristina still needing me. Kristina, Kristina, Kristina.

I leaned, uh, flowed, er- fine, let's just say came, towards her, just as her tired eyes closed, and her hand fell limp. The last piece of me rejoined me, and immediately, I felt the pull towards the sky again. But I fought it. If Kristi had fought so hard, why wouldn't I?

I looked back towards my body and winced. I knew what that would mean. Just before falling under this dream, I had felt so much pain, excruciating, endless, pounding pain. If I went back, I would be alive, but just barely. It might be pointless anyways, and this dream felt so much better, so free, so fresh, and, best of all, free of pain. But it would mean no more Kristina.

With that last thought, my mind was made. That was the one and only reason I needed. I went back to my body, and the pain started again.

Kristina:

I woke with a start. Tyler was coughing. I jumped up and went over to him. The soul piece in my hand was gone. And, though it was small and seemed to hurt him, he was wheezing in and out oxygen. He had come back. My Ty had come back. I leaned towards him, the tears falling far too fast. "Ty?" I whispered, holding on far too tight to his shoulders. I needed reassurance he was really there.

"Kristi?" Came his cough.

'Um, Kristina, was it?' Tarak's voice reached me. 'He's really weak, and you're, uh, hurting him.'

I got off immediately, but Tyler didn't seem to like it, so I settled for holding his hand, that was almost completely limp, hardly able to squeeze mine back.

I turned to Tarak. "Can you help him?"

But Tarak was already working. His pupils dilated, staring into Tyler's eyes, and then Tarak's brow furrowed. 'I can try. But he's almost beyond helping. It might take weeks for him just to be able to stand again, if I worked hard enough. And he might still slip.'

"Please, try." I begged.

Tarak nodded. 'But it will keep me busy. So, Zeus, in the morning, you and the others will have to fight Akbar alone...Probably a really, really bad idea.'

"We'll try our hardest."

'As will I.' Tarak replied.

So Zeus and the other mobs that had been woken up went back to sleep, while Tarak focused on Tyler, and Kristina did the same by making figure eights across his upper arm, which felt like a brush of a flower on his arm compared to sea of pain he was in, and that small feeling of relief made him sigh. Kristina continued to touch his skin in some way until she drifted off, too, still as close to him as possible.

The next morning, Kristina was sad to have to leave Tyler, but she had to go and stop Akbar with the other mobs, because they needed all the strength they could get. Apparently, Akbar had become the most powerful being in existence. Kristina, thinking that Tyler was too weak to actually kiss her back, had gave him a light kiss on the cheek. But the softness of it, in the middle of his pain, made him feel so alive that he managed to sort of pull her towards him, and kiss her with all of the effort he had. According to Tarak, who looked rather alarmed, the energy had nearly killed Tyler. When she heard that, Kristina had pulled away far too quickly, but Tyler had a very small grin. Kristina gave him a look of annoyance, as he had practically killed himself for that, but she then had to force herself away, and she heard the Golems arguing.

"Lapis, you can't come. You've seen how freaking dangerous this is! And, apparently, it (somehow) just got a lot worse." Iron pointed out.

"I want to come and help out, and finally get a chance to do something awesome with the training I got! Plus, you guys need all the help you can get." Lapis folded her arms. "And you can't stop me, anyways."

"Let her come, Iron." Snow groaned. "Arguing will just waste our time."

So all of the mobs began to universe travel towards the Middle of Nowhere, the center of all the universes. Akbar blinked when he saw them, his eyes now golden with power, his black skin seeming to shimmer.

'What's this? Your little gang is here, huh? And just what, exactly, are you planning on doing?' Akbar laughed, but it wasn't the low hissing laugh, and his voice didn't hiss on the 's' anymore. In fact, the voice he spoke sounding nothing like him.

The mobs didn't really seem to have a plan, or maybe they did and they didn't follow it, or maybe they did and it just wasn't a very good one, because they all charged at once, bringing their weapons down on Akbar, and all of them bounced off. Akbar held up a hand. 'Fools. If you had a brain, you would back off now.'

Steve, getting really pissed at this new version of Akbar, swung his sword one last time at his head. A piece of Akbar's hair fell off. Akbar raised an eyebrow. 'I admire your spirit, but honestly, that was pathetic. You have annoyed me long enough. Let me show you what a real game looks like.'

And with a single wave of his hand, he divided all of the mobs, and both he and they disappeared with a pop.

"Where are we?" Blaze stood up, but not all of the rest of the mobs were there. There was only Slime, Magma Cube, Zombie Pigman, Spider, Cave Spider, and Mama Mooshroom.

And where they were was a place that distant but intense heat made sweat form on their brows, the heat that was coming from the boiling volcano so far away. The ground beneath them was tough and uneven, but all of the mobs that were there managed to get up and walk around, but everything in sight was rocks, lava streams, smoke, and heat.

Mama Mooshroom looked around, and had a miniature heart attack when she couldn't find her child anywhere.

Spider groaned. "Well, what now?"

"Midnight, Midnight, where are you?!" Creeper yelled. A meow and a black cat jumping off a dead tree and towards him was his reply. "Oh, thank cookieness."

They looked around, finding nothing but Wither Skeleton and Skeleton trying to convince Ghast to stop trying to burn everything, Baby Mooshroom muttering quietly, "Where's my mama?" Lapis trying to calm Iron down, because Snow was nowhere to be found, and Enderman teleporting around, staring into the distance.

"Guys, there's a freaky-looking castle a while's away. And a storm is about to start, and these dead trees and leaves aren't going to help us much against the rain and lightning. We have to get over there, fast." Enderman called.

That's when the rain started crashing down on them, the drops feeling like icy nails on their skin. Though they ran like ants towards the tall mansion that seemed so far away, by the time they got there, they were all soaked to the bone. They took on the porch for a moment, and looked inside, but the window was fogged with dust and cobwebs. And, as the thunder was rolling in the sky, Cave Spider opened the creaky door, and peeked inside. The rest of the mobs crawled and pushed their way in, Baby Mooshroom being the last. The door slammed shut behind them.

Herobrine yelled, his voice echoing off tight walls, "Alright, who's touching me?! Knock it off before I rip your damn throat out!"

"Sorry." Came Jessica's small voice.

His voice lowered. "Oh, that you, Jessi? Sorry, thought you were Steve."

There was a growl an uncomfortably close distance away.

"Hold on, I got a light somewhere..." Zeus held up a multicolored flashlight. "Dang, wish I could remember where I got this..."

Herobrine and Steve noticed how close they were to each other. Herobrine jumped back, and Steve glared, and lowered his hand to his belt, where his weapon lay. Herobrine did the same, but also summoned a miniature tiger, that meowed at his feet. Jessica grinned and started to pet the tiny cat, who purred and licked her face.

"Hey, where's everyone else?" Kristina stood up and turned around. It was only her, Steve, Herobrine, Zeus, Ashley, Jessica, and Snow Golem, the last of which looked around and frowned, not being able to find Iron anywhere.

"How about where are we?" Zeus asked, and looked around. The walls of rock around them were damp and oozing green droplets from all sides, moss clinging to the walls, making it smell like algae and fresh earth. The ground beneath their feet was soft, sticky mud. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to break open the cave walls without any Items, and that even if they did, who knows what would come tumbling down, they would have to go through the cave until they found a way out.

"Which way do we go?" Steve asked.

"Right. If it's not the right path, we'll turn around and go back." Jessica put in. So they headed right, and walked down the long, dark, seemingly endless cave. Zeus's flashlight was bright, but it seemed dim when fighting the dark that surrounded them. The dark that didn't want to be beaten, and wasn't planning on taking them out of that cave anytime soon. The dark that was Akbar's shadow.

The volcano was worse than the mobs there could imagine. They had decided to go up there, in hope that they could get a look around and figure out where they were, as they couldn't tell without Items, and without them, they couldn't universe travel without going basically random places.

But it seemed that going up that mountain of heat would be something they would regret. When Magma Cube helped him, Slime was able to get up, (as Magma Cube was doing just fine,) Zombie Pigman and Blaze were actually enjoying themselves, (not a whole lot, considering everyone else was miserable,) but Spider, Cave Spider, and Mama Mooshroom were having a lot of trouble. Spider and Cave Spider were built for dark, cold caves, and the hot, wide heat exhausted them. And Mama Mooshroom was ahead of them only because she pushed herself, thinking only of Baby Mooshroom. They were all covered in sheets of sweat, and Mama Mooshroom's knees felt weak, climbing up for what felt like hours. Multiple times, Cave Spider and Spider fell over, considering begging for a break, but Mama Mooshroom kept on pushing, despite the fact that the heat surrounding them only increased, to the point where waves of humid air seemed to blow into them, making them feel ready to melt and slowing their every step.

And finally, once they made it to the top, and they all took quick breaths and tried to enjoy finishing their energy-sapping task, they found that it had been fruitless. There was nothing but rocks, fog, and smoke on the horizon.

"What-y now?" Slime groaned, speaking everyone's minds.

They sort of had their answer when the volcano started smoking more than it already had, and they coughed on it while the ground beneath their feet shook.

"The volcano's erupting! Run!"

The weird mansion was practically empty, with some broken chairs, an old piano, and a blanket of dust and the hovering smell of decay and wood covering it all. And though it was a small protection from the rain that was now becoming hail, it wasn't any protection from the strong, harsh, biting wind that blew between the broken floorboards, windows, and holes in the roof. Baby Mooshroom shuddered as wherever the raw wind made goosebumps form on her body, and seemed to blow her a bit to one side. She glanced around at the others, who weren't off any better than she was.

While Wither Skeleton and Skeleton, both who did their best to ignore the horrible weather, (it seemed like it went straight to their bones, if you know what I mean,) Ghast hovered near them, feeling like his fire was getting dangerously low. Enderman sat on a dust-covered couch with his legs tucked in, his long arms around them, shivering. Beside him, Iron and Lapis sort of had an awkward, sidewards hug so that they got ever so slightly warmer, and they whispered in quiet voices about Snow and everyone else they couldn't find. Midnight, shivering and soaked, walked towards Creeper, who was shivering by himself. Midnight hopped on his lap, and Creeper started to pet her, (for the millionth time being so happy that he had hands and arms to do so,) and two things happened; Creeper stopped shivering, and Midnight started purring.

Baby Mooshroom watched all of this without really thinking about it, mostly worried about her mother, whose voice she could almost hear inside her head, 'Oh my gosh, honey, are you cold? Come here, I'll warm you up.' Baby Mooshroom felt a lot like a baby when she felt like crying, wondering when she would see her mother again.

That's when, in the midst of all the cold, something very warm happened. Ghast puffed out a small fire, that didn't have much warmth left, but Wither Skeleton and Skeleton went near it, and Ghast, anyway. Iron and Lapis glanced at Enderman, and then both of them let him join their weird hug. Creeper and Midnight both looked at Baby Mooshroom, and exchanged glances. Creeper sighed, and Midnight hopped up and walked over to Baby Mooshroom, who soon felt a warm little body rubbing against her face. Baby Mooshroom felt a lot more like crying, but for a different reason, when Creeper and Midnight both hugged her. Where they touched it seemed so much warmer, though the edges of her hooves, ears, and nose were going numb. She could hardly breathe in anything but the crisp rain or dusky air. And though the temperature was uncomfortably low, Baby Mooshroom didn't feel cold anymore.

It seemed like hours of wandering around in the dark. There were no twists and turns, so everyone in the cave couldn't really have been lost, but it seemed like everything behind them disappeared in a thick cover of shadow. There was no going back.

But it was boring, hearing nothing but water dripping, breathing, footsteps. It was almost quiet enough to hear heartbeats. But what they didn't know is that they were the ones who had it the easiest out of all the mobs, and that Akbar was about to change that.

He knew he would have to pick them off, one by one. He wasn't stupid, he had seen how desperately they clung to each other. Though it sickened him, he used it to his advantage. Alone, they can't be that strong, he reasoned.

However, he made the mistake of trying to choose defenseless looking Jessica. Though she didn't know why, she suddenly felt a lot more tired than the rest, and her legs seemed weaker, almost restraining her, so that she fell towards the back. And that's when Akbar made his move, trying to bring his sword to her neck.

And, immortal or Item-powered or not, no one, I shall repeat, no one, can sneak up on Jessica. Akbar's sword clashed against hers, and the immortal's weapon fell to the ground. Everyone whirled around, just as Jessica was firing up a light spell that none of them had seen before. Herobrine rushed to go help her, even though he could see that she really didn't need it. But then, Akbar disappeared into the dark, and reappeared again a while's away, and grabbing the nearest body, which, unfortunately for him, was Kristina, who fought harder and longer than was really necessary. But when it came to that, Akbar got annoyed, and then Zeus's flashlight started flashing until it flickered out. Them not being able to see gave Akbar an advantage. Moments later, there was a shout and a grunt of annoyance, a gust of wind, and then complete, utter silence.

Trying to run away from lava and smoke was definitely not the highlight of that day for the mobs. Already exhausted and ready to fall asleep where they stood, they had to run from the heat that now seemed to be chasing them. Earthquakes and new waves of smoke hit them every couple minutes, and still, just like going up, the bottom of the mountain seemed so very far away. But this time they were retreating from the heat, not going straight towards it, and they were heading downwards, which was preferable from all of them. And, like last time, Mama Mooshroom was pushing herself to get farther ahead, Cave Spider and Spider, who had collapsed, were bouncing on her back.

And they were racing the lava, and they won, just in time to get out of the way, and looked around, hoping for anything cool, anything cold, anything to drink, but came up short. And, as there was nothing else they could have hoped for right then, they all laid down in the strange, narrow little cave they found that protected them from the heat, and watched as the smoke rolled by the setting sun. There was moss surrounding them, and the ground beneath their feet was cool and muddy. Though they didn't mean to, the mobs fell asleep almost instantly.

When Baby Mooshroom woke, her first thought was of how stupid she was to have fallen asleep. She blamed it on her comfortable position, with Creeper's shoulder to use as a pillow, while Midnight curled up towards her on the other side. The other mobs had dozed off, too, which didn't last long in that weather. But it seemed to so abruptly have stopped, leaving the sky gray and bleak. The wind was still crisp, but it didn't bite into her skin anymore, so Baby Mooshroom stood up and looked outside, and she noticed something she hadn't before. Rather far away, black smoke rolled in the sky. And, where there was smoke there was fire, and fire meant heat. The mobs were all excited to think of that, and sitting around in the mansion wasn't going to do them any good, so they all walked out and headed in the direction of that black sky.

Finally finding a light, Herobrine shined it and looked around. Again, it was dim compared to the dark, but it was light. And once he found Jessica he relaxed a little, but Kristina and Akbar were nowhere in sight. Growling and muttering under his breath, he headed towards the way they came, hoping to find something, anything, new, and hopefully that something was either Kristina or a different form of light, because Herobrine's torches and flint 'n' steel were running out.

And then, as, with a frown, he turned the first corner he had seen there, and then Herobrine could see his sister, tied with a glowing green rope somehow immobilizing her, and Akbar staring at her, his eyes on the distance, as he absentmindedly caressed the Inc Sac of Ultimateness.

"It's not gonna work. They're not so stupid that they would just walk on in here, Akbar!" Kristina groaned.

'Oh, they will if they see you in pain. I wish they would hurry up and get here, though, I don't have all day. What I do have is plenty other fools to get rid of.'

With a shing, Herobrine unsheathed his sword.

"Herobrine, you can't just go in there." Zeus said in a harsh whisper. "We need a plan, or this could be worse than a suicide mission."

"I can and will, I already got one, and...Kristina would do it for me." He paused. "Er, probably."

"Fine." Zeus sighed. "What's your plan?"

His intention was to get Akbar away from Kristina, which meant that Akbar had to be lured somehow. He hoped that a running, screaming Snow Golem would be enough, but in case it wasn't, (this part was more a certain angel and less Herobrine, because the vampire didn't agree with it at all,) Jessica would try and tempt Akbar somehow, while the others went to go help Kristina.

And, like most plans coming from Herobrine, it kind of worked, and it kind of failed.

The upside was that Snow and Jessica were able to get Akbar away, and that they were able to get Kristina out. But, Jessica and Snow Golem came running back, Akbar laughing. He didn't even have to walk very fast to catch up with them.

Kristina quickly turned towards Herobrine. "Er, Hero, this might be a really bad time, but I might not get a another chance to mention, if you use merging spell four on the Golden Apple of Love, the Emerald of Time, and the Flint 'n' Steel of Hate, you won't be cursed anymore."

"Oh. Er, thanks?" Herobrine blinked.

And Akbar stood before all of them. With a flick of his finger, all exits to the cave, and the room they were in, were slammed shut.

Akbar cracked his knuckles. 'Let's get started then, shall we?'

Slime, Magma Cube, Zombie Pigman, Spider, Cave Spider, and Mama Mooshroom all stirred. They could hear shouts ahead of them, and Mama Mooshroom looked up, but all she could see was a mob of familiar faces, the most familiar of them being Baby Mooshroom. And, after being stunned for a moment, she rushed towards her daughter.

And that's when they all began to turn. The mobs were all glad to see someone else in the same position as them, but just as they were about to reach each other, and Mama and Baby Mooshroom were inches apart, their bodies slowed, their legs grew stiff, and impossible to move. Mama Mooshroom felt like a hard restraint was on her body, but the only difference to it was that she was turning gray. The same gray that then came to her face and covered her eyes, and the world became frozen and dark.

Herobrine was never quite sure of what had happened next. There was a flash of light, and then he wasn't in the cave anymore, but at the mouth of it. And he wasn't the only one there, but the ones around him were sort of...frozen. He tapped Steve's leg, and immediately jumped backwards, because usually if he did so Steve would have his sword drawn before you could say supercalifragili...that word. But Steve didn't move, and when Herobrine tapped his leg again, it sounded like knuckles hitting solid rock. Everyone he could name was there. Everyone, all frozen, all unblinking, all unbreathing. Solid stone. All except for Jessica, whom he couldn't find anywhere.

'What the-?' Came a voice behind him.

Herobrine whirled around, sword at the ready.

Akbar just stared at him like the sword didn't exist. 'How...? You're awake. So that must mean you've been cursed by an Item...'

"What? What does being cursed have anything to do with it?"

Akbar rolled his eyes. 'Are you really that uneducated? The spell I cast to make them in permanent sleep was cast by the mixture of all the Items, the Inc Sac of Ultimateness. And the only way that one can't be affected by that spell is if you have been touched, or cursed, by an Item, and the spell wouldn't be able to touch you. Which Item were you cursed by?'

"And why the hell would I tell you?"

'Good point.' Akbar chuckled. 'I suppose it doesn't really matter. I'll just have to use a different tactic, most likely one you're familiar with.' He drew his double-sided black axe.

Herobrine flipped his sword, and growled under his breath. "Bring it."

And Akbar brought it. Herobrine was having trouble as it was, when he slashed left, and Akbar's sword was simply there, already blocking him, wherever he striked. And the vampire noticed that Akbar was hardly moving his arm, not even putting any effort into it. Akbar was just playing with him.

So a rather pissed off Herobrine lunged towards Akbar, charging with a kind of bodily attack that can't be easily blocked, forcing Akbar to actually move. Akbar put his weight towards his lunge, too, and then their swords were blurs again, too fast to see, and it was only reflexes that made Herobrine's sword block wherever Akbar striked.

And Akbar was getting tired of playing games. So, since it was merged to him, Akbar put some of the power of the Inc Sac of Ultimateness into his axe, and charged at the exhausted Herobrine, who hopelessly blocked it. Three things happened; First, Herobrine's sword bounced at the collision and flew far, far out of his reach, second, Akbar's axe shook a bunch before shattering like broken glass, and a light blinded the both of them.