Chapter 21: Madness Returns

Author's Note: I want to make a shout out and give some credit for giving me an idea for this one! Thank you Shiinon-chii for your idea and support! I hope all your other lovely readers enjoy my next installment! Make sure to message me ideas if you have them! Thanks!

A second deployment of Rebels were send out to the Nether by Notch. The remaining troops dealt with the hordes of creatures, who were now dwindling in size and retreating since Herobrine had been taken down. Blue, Red, and Steve didn't have too much trouble getting past the bridge, being as they were guarded from every side by Rebels and safely led to the other end and through the netherrack cave networks.

Red put up a fight the entire ways to the caves and eventually back to the hidden base. "Let go of me!" Red cried out and tried using all her dead weight to lean away from Steve.

"Please, stop resisting Red. You're killing my arm!" Steve whined while Blue intervened as they were walking up to the cobblestone steps that led up to the entrance of the doors to the interior of the base.

"Stop it, Red! I don't know what is wrong with you but cut it out! Being saved from that man is a good thing. You should be more than thankful Notch has even let this rescue mission commence." Blue chided her in her stern parent voice that usually came out when she was around Red.

"But we did get Herobrine! I knew this plan would work without a hitch! I can't wait to see my Father's face when I tell him the great news!" Steve beamed ever so brightly and was starting to finally go back to his normal goofy, kind, and confident self. Blue smiled back at him and blushed as she thought back to what Herobrine had said about them being together romantically. No, they couldn't be that way, it wouldn't be right. She wasn't even from this world and she would be returning back to her world and probably never see Steve again. It was a doomed relationship from the start, just like Red and Hero's bizarre relationship. Though, Little Red's relationship with her kidnapper confused her much more than her own feelings for Steve. As the bigger sister who had to take control and be the bigger person, she knew deep down what was right and she had to follow it as an example to Scarlett. So she wouldn't purse a relationship with Steve, even though it ever so slightly made her painfully depressed to think about it.

"I can't believe you left Herobrine laying there suffering to himself! How can you call yourselves the better ones! How could you!?" Red yelled and suddenly stomped on Steve's foot as hard as she could. Steve yelped in pain and Blue instantly shot Red a deep glare.

"Stop it, Red!"

"No! It's not fair! Hero needs me!" Red shouted as the three of them finally walked inside. The base was not the largest and it was hardly lit up but it did hold a hell of a lot of Rebels standing off to the sides and staring at Red with disapproving glares.

"She's the one that killed Wolfgang…" One of them whispered in a hushed voice that Red still caught on too. She harshly glared over at them while continuing to try ripping her hand away from Steve's sore arm. Even though it was obnoxious and uncomfortable, Steve still had a sturdy hold on her. Red's eyes turned from the gossiping Rebels and she stared up at the Nether portal that lit up most of the room in a grim purple sheen.

"Ladies first…" Steve said as he gestured for Blue to walk through the portal first. Red rolled her eyes at their petty flirting and scoffed as her sister gently smiled at Steve and went through the portal shyly.

"Quit flirting with my sister, you punk." Red growled but Steve decided to try and ignore her, since arguing with her would only be pointless. "Don't ignore me!" Red hissed at him before he stepped into the portal, he paused. He glanced to his right at her and frowned with sadness.

"Let me at least enjoy the rest of the time I have with Sapphire. You might have fallen for my brother, but maybe I might have accidentally gotten too close to Blue. I know you both will be returning home to your world soon and I respect and honor that. I just want to at least revel in the short time I have left."

Red continued to glare at him hatefully as he spoke softly to her,"You sure didn't let me have the time I wanted with your brother! You don't deserve it!" Red replied nastily and only beckoned a wistful sigh coming from Steve.

"No, I don't deserve her…" Steve muttered much more downbeat than before and finally without another word. He pulled Red through the Nether's obsidian portal that would lead them back to the portal room in Notch's castle.

Blue was standing there waiting for Steve and Red to come through. When she finally saw them walk through, she gave a questioning look, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, she's just putting up a good fight is all!" Steve replied and began laughing as he glanced briefly at the daggers that were being sent from Red's eyes. "Hopefully my Father is in the throne room, let's go." Steve ushered Blue forwards with Red being drug behind like a stubborn mule.

Notch was sitting on his throne and talking to a group of villagers before waving them off. Once he saw the appearance of Steve, Blue, and for the first time shockingly Red, his attention was immediately brought to them. "You're all back and you have your sister! Wonderful!" Notch exclaimed in excitement as the three of them stood in front of his throne. Red was standing there and staring at Notch with a heated glare.

"Hmph, you must be Notch…" Red scoffed and shook her head in distaste. The only King in her eyes was Herobrine, this guy was a joke.

Notch looked to Red and smiled warmly at her, "Yes, I am and you must be Scarlett or should I say Little Red? I'm thrilled to see you have made it back safely from Herobrine's control over you. Speaking of which, what of him?"

"We defeated him! Blue and I did it together!" Steve stated proudly and glanced from Blue and beaming her a wide smile before looking back at his Father. Notch almost jumped up from his throne in shock.

"Truly!? You have?"

Blue and Steve nodded vigorously while Red rolled her eyes and grimaced. "So they think." Red grumbled and still wouldn't let herself believe that Herobrine could possibly be really defeated. It seemed too simple, too fast. Hero couldn't have actually gone down so anticlimactically?! Red shook in nothing but anger as Steve finally let go of Red's arm, too much of her relief.

"This is such wonderful news! I hardly have words to even congratulate the two of you! I had heard from some of my informants that things were going well! This calls for a huge celebration! Minecraftia can finally be safe now that Herobrine is out of the picture for good!"

"Fuck all of you." Red suddenly growled loud enough for everyone to hear, she felt a sudden darkness overwhelm her. Everyone turned to look at her with wide eyes at her abrupt and unpleasant choice of words. "You really think Herobrine, who had taken all of the Nether, who has been around for as long as he has undefeated. Is finally killed off by some pitiful little wound and some blood loss? Do you really think he's gone? Sorry, to say but I don't buy for a second that Herobrine is dead. I won't believe it! It's not true!"

Notch's brown eyes narrowed and his shoulders slumped down at her dark words, he was afraid this would happen to the girl. Blue looked at Red in aghast at her coldness, "Listen to what you are saying, Red! Take it back!"

"Make me…" Red replied snappishly and then glared down at the ground as her red bangs fell in front of her face as she stared down ominously.

"I am assuming she did not want to leave." Notch brought up as he kept his eyes trailed on Red cautiously, something about her was way off. He could not just obviously see it but he felt it in the air around her. It was like the approaching darkening clouds of an approaching thunder storm that was just teetering on releasing its wrath. Red was teetering on her edge, he could clearly see it and it was worrisome.

"She didn't…" Steve answered and made a slight face as he thought about her actually loving a monster like his older brother. "We had to force her to leave. She claims to have fell in love with my brother, Herobrine." Steve concluded grimly and looked over at Red with concern.

"I am." Red retorted and turned her glare to Steve briefly before looking back at Notch. "I am his Queen and once Herobrine comes back, we'll have Minecraftia under our rule, not yours." Red spat at Notch with a flash of her eyes. Notch frowned at this and suddenly stood up from his throne and silently began walking towards Red. Each step closer to her, he could sense the disturbance inside her gradually rising. It was like walking up to a feral animal that you didn't know the intentions of. She was holding back cornered and was ready to bite.

"Steve, Sapphire, please step aside." Notch warned but never broke his eye contact from Red's who was staring at him dangerously. Sapphire made a questionable look but was stepping back as Steve took her hand gently into his own and tugged her backwards with him.

"What's going on?" Blue asked in worry but received no answer from Notch. Notch glanced at Red's hands and could sense the darkness inside her was rising faster and faster and forming near her hands. Faintly, he could see her veins darkening in color around her arms and hands, to the point they were almost becoming black as night.

"Red... calm down."

"Calm down? You want me to calm down? Calm down after what you all have done to the man I love!?" Red's hand suddenly casted out a black eerie shadow that turned into her sword the Starless Gale. Notch glanced down at the sword that appeared in her hand with widening eyes at a sudden realization. Steve and Blue staring off at the side had their mouths agape as they stared at Red's sword and impending dark power that was stirring inside, begging for release.

"Her power has been more actively evolving than I first thought." Notch murmured as he stared at the sword with a frown. "Scarlett, put away that sword. There is no need for violence." He tried to sway her but she looked far from being compliant with him.

"Why should I?! Why don't I get the right to fight for what I love!?"

"Scarlett stop this! Do as Notch says!" Blue yelled out and Red only shook her head and began chuckling lowly.

"No… I'm going to do the very thing that Herobrine would have wanted more than anything." Red said darkly as her eyes suddenly flashed black, clearly enough for Notch to see. To everyone's horror, Red rose her sword and charged straight at Notch without a second of hesitation. With a battle cry and not one iota of mercy she was seconds from piercing straight through Notch's chest until Notch blocked it with a sudden flash and blur of light. A brilliant intricate white diamond sword that had a bright golden hilt that was encrusted with more white diamonds, held off Red's rapid blow.

Everyone in the room gasped and the Rebels in the room ran forwards but Notch rose his hand as give to gesture them to back off. "Stay away." Notch commanded, still not taking his eyes from Red, who was heavily panting and looking more depraved by the moment. The guards in the room hesitantly backed off but they still held their weapons out just in case. Blue had held onto Steve the second she saw her own sister try to attack the King of Minecraftia, she was so horrified by what her sister has become. What was happening to her? There was something seriously evil laying heavily in the air around her, even Steve was starting to feel it and shuttered.

Red simply chuckled lowly and tried slashing again at Notch who quickly blocked it and held both swords in their place as they pushed back against each other for dominance. Notch could see the dark energies literally billowing blackness out of her infamous sword. Being so close to it made awful chills go down his spine. He never imagined that Red would so quickly corrupted by this that she would be able to materialize that dreaded sword already, that only through the occult black magic of the black opal stones could assemble together. Herobrine must have personally taught her how to call it forth at her beckon and most likely had the know-how to enhance her power to even be capable of holding so much raw power in her hands.

"Scarlett, rid yourself of the sword. It will only taint your mind further." Notch warned as he pushed back on his blade that was cloaked with light. He was surprised he was even have any difficulty pushing her off of him, since he defiantly should be a lot stronger than her. It must have been the magic even enhancing that part of her. He never thought this would be a problem but Herobrine was the one to keep her magic sustained under how own power. Without him around her black magic from within is completely set free to corrupt her body and mind as it pleased. It was just gradually realizing it could take over and it certainly was acting fast now that Herobrine wasn't leveraging it.

Her veins were now fully black and her eyes kept occasionally flashing fully black. Each of them pushing off each other they began circling each other like two animals ready for the attack.

"This sword is about the only thing I have left from Hero. And quite frankly I don't plan on letting up, it feels WAY too good!" Red smirked and then pointed her sword at Notch tauntingly. "Come on, Notchy! Afraid I might beat you?" Red giggled like a crazed fiend and ran back at Notch and began violently slinging as many hits at him as possible. Notch having the expertise he did in combat was able to parry each blow easily, especially since many of her hits were very sloppy and at random. Notch had to be careful not to hurt her though, but to try and knock the sword from her hand if possible. If the sword was out of her hands then that would give him just enough time to try and knock her unconscious with his opposing power of light.

"Red stop this! Please!" Blue hollered from the sidelines but Red was certainly not in the listening mood, she didn't even glance at her sister as her narrowed preying eyes were on Notch and Notch only.

"Listen to your sister! Look at what you're doing!" Steve tried to help but it as well was pointless, if not making it worse.

"Shut up, already!" Red scoffed in a pout and was about to send a wave of black magic at them to 'permanently' shut them up but Notch intervened just in time.

"Keep your eyes on me, Red. They aren't what you want." Notch tried to regain her attention as he used his light to also bring out a wave that collided with the dark one, each of them canceling each other out.

"King Notch we must take her down! I will end her!" One of the random Rebel guards shouted and began to charge forwards to save his King from Red's insane abrupt waging battle with their king. Notch yelled at him from the top of his lungs to stop, but it was all too late. Red sharply turned and stabbed him straight through the forehead, his whole body enveloped in a darkness that began sizzling his skin as he fell down immediately after.

Red watched with a loud wicked cackle as he fell down face forwards onto the ground and steaming smoke from the darkness that she inflicted on him the second her sword made contact with his body. "What a fucking LOSER!" Red went into howling laughter and took her sword and stabbed into him again repeatedly, even though he was clearly already on the brink of death, if not most likely dead already.

"STOP THIS! Oh my God… Red! STOP!" Blue began sobbing on the corner into Steve as Steve held onto her tightly and let her cry into him. His eyes were narrowed and straight on Red, he couldn't believe the madness this black magic was making her act like. He didn't know Red long but he was certain she didn't typically act like this!

Notch swung his sword and slashed Red across her right arm as she was so busy stabbing into the guard who never had a chance. Red screamed at the top of her lungs at the sizzling pain from not just the wound but the light that intermingled with it. She backed up and kept screaming in pain until finally falling to her knees. Now sobbing on the ground, she held one hand onto her bleeding wound that was bleeding pitch black. "AAAAH, OH MY GOD! IT HURTS! YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! YOU'LL PAY! YOU'LL PAY NOTCH! I'LL KILL YOU!" Red bawled with hot tears flooding her vision as they cascaded down her eyes and down to her chin.

Notch took a couple strides forward until he stood in front of her, looking down at her. Her sword remained in her right hand as her left covered her wound, she looked down and was whimpering in pain. The light from Notch's sword was burning her insides and making her feel the same way she felt back when she was hit with the holy water in that church in the dessert. She held onto herself and whimpered on the ground, "H-help me!" She whined for someone to save her. Notch narrowed his dark brown eyes at her and was about to extend his hand out to touch her forehead with a lit up glowing white hand. Red immediately seeing him move close to her, she took her bloodied black hand and smacked his own hand away. Notch hissed in pain at the mere touch of her black blood that scorched his skin even at the slightest of touches.

"M-make it s-stop! Make the pain go away! It hurts so damn bad! H-H-Hero… I-I'm sorry! AARRRGH." Red sobbed and brought her head down and continued to cry as Notch quickly as possible purged the black blood that had gotten onto him with his own light powers. The black blood on him instantly turned back to a normal red color as he sterilized it with the light. The Rebels had enough from sitting on the sidelines seeing as she was down on the ground. A whole group of Rebels ran forward and tried to take her down in one big dog-pile.

Notch's eyes widen, "No! I told you to stay back!"

"She's down, sir! We can take her!" One of them answered back and right as they got near. Just as Notch expected, Red's eyes turned into fully black voids as she looked up at them with black tears now streaming down her face. Blue and Steve shuttered in terror from the side and couldn't believe the horrendous sight of the way Scarlett looked basically demonic with her black veins and eyes alone.

"DIE." She simply growled in a low animalistic way. The second she uttered that word a gigantic black shockwave from her body blew off her and began enveloping all the guards around in the pure blackness of the magic. They all began deathly screaming at the top of their lungs, Notch had been the only one capable of blocking the wave of darkness with his own powerful sword of light, that he brought forward and cancelled out from touching him. All the guards that were overwhelmed with the unsightly magic began falling to the ground, either convulsing, foaming from the mouth, or their eyes rolling back inside their heads before insufferably dying to it's shameless power.

Red still kneeled on the ground brought up her eyes to stare at the bloodshed she had caused with a vile chuckle," I can't believe those idiots fell for that. They thought I was too weak. Pathetic… I am the Queen. I am the Queen of all of the Nether and Minecraftia! Some sad stupid idiots you have here, Notch." Red chuckled even through her extreme pain from the light sword's slash on her arm. Slowly and shakily, she began pulling herself up and stood in the middle of the circle of corpses of Notch's men that laid there all sizzling from her black magic and most defiantly dead.

Blue and Steve had been thankfully far away enough from Red's position to be hit by the shockwave that didn't reach their proximity. Blue couldn't even comprehend what she had just witness from her own little sister. All she could do was cry into Steve. Steve held her close to him and tried comforting her by running his hand through her long pastel blue hair. He didn't know what to say to her, as all of this was even too much for him to comment on. Little Red had absolutely gone mad with power.

"You've done enough, Scarlett! Wake up and look around you. You are overrun by your own power. You need to wake up! See all these men you had just killed! These are innocent lives, Red! Lives you just took! Lives that have families!" Notch tried to stay calm but you could tell his voice was quivering on the side of pure outrage for what she had done to his men. Red didn't seem bothered by what he said as she merely shrugged carelessly. Her wound was actually healing as they spoke. Notch could see a bit of a black aura glowing from her wound and it didn't at all look as severe as it had first appeared.

"All these infidels here around me, Herobrine would have wanted gone, anyway. They are the brainless morons that didn't even listen to you, their all so wonderful King that they love SO much. They should have known coming near me would ultimately be their final end. You should be glad I exterminated such disloyal worms, who can't even follow a single direct command from the king they so blindly follow."

"… Truly. Your heart has truly been darkened, Scarlett. I won't let you do this. I'm going to take you out now."

"I'd like to see you try." Red smirked arrogantly and gestured tauntingly with her free hand for him to come near her.

"It won't be difficult. Your power may be active and strong but it is still in developing stages. My power has been with me for ages and I know how to use it. When you come back to your senses. I want you to think of all these honorable men whose lives you just cut short." Notch bellowed lowly before raising his sword of light at Red. Red merely smiled mockingly at him and also rose her sword of darkness towards him.

"Your power is out-dated, old man! I might be developing but I damn well know I'm more powerful than the likes of you. I'm all new and improved." Red laughed out loud and ran to lunge at Notch. Shockingly, Notch stayed still and watched her closely through narrowed eyes. The second she brought back her sword to swing at Notch, he took his free hand and moved forward to grip onto her forehead. Red's blackened eyes widen fully and her body stiffened the second his hand touched onto her forehead. It was a pain like no other, not even the pain back at the dessert could slightly compare.

Her vision began to get very blurry and her head began to pound. Stumbling backwards, she started wailing like a infuriated banshee in unbearable pain that coursed throughout all her body. Notch bringing his hand back down that was glowing and shimmering white light, he watched Red begin to obsessively panic as she stumbled backwards, holding the sides of her head in a delirium.

"What did you do, Notch!?" Blue yelled out from the sides in concern as she pitifully watched her sister from the side holding her head and crying and screaming her lungs out as she backed away in retreat.

"I have much more potent power than Scarlett. One that even matches up to Herobrine's power. Many do not know that most of the power Herobrine knows, he learned from me to begin with. That was before my oldest son had decided to turn against me to take Minecraftia for his own. He abused my power that I taught him and began learning more on his own. The power he bestowed Red with can not tread over his own. Her power is also still lacking as is incompletely formed as much as it could be in her body. Her power is still not leveled with Hero's and it never will be. In the end, I am more powerful than her and always will." Notch exclaimed and watched as Red began literally running into walls from being so disoriented.

Blue held her hands to her mouth and shook her head, "She can't always be like this! Is there a way to get rid of that black energy inside her? I can't take her home if she might kill me or others!" Blue said in exasperation. There was no way her little sister could go back being drunk off of this dark power that made her murderous towards everyone around her. There had to be a way to get rid of it!

Notch began walking closer towards disoriented Little Red as she randomly stumbled across the room wailing in painful cries and practically blinded from the light that entered and was coursing through her body. "I believe when she returns to your world the magic inside her will be canceled out. This is not for certain but it is merely a plausible assumption. Being on the other side of the black opal portal and away from Herobrine might just be enough for the darkness to not necessarily go away completely but to simmer down into a dormant state." Notch said and finally gripped onto Red who was battling with light and dark energies that torturously mixed together in her body and was causing the insane amount of pain she was experiencing.

"It's time to go to sleep, Red." Notch put his hand to her forehead again and within just a couple of seconds. Red felt herself become overwhelmingly woozy from so much light being pushed into her dark corrupted body. Her eyes fluttered from black to normal, before just closing as she fell and slumped into Notch's arms. "She's unconscious." Notch brought up and picked up Red from her slumped position and into his arms. Turning her looked over at Steve and Blue with serious eyes, "This will hardly last long. I don't want to do this to your sister, Blue, but I must have her put into a cell until this dies over." Notch told Blue with a slight frown appearing on his lips. Blue eyed the circle of massacred men and nodded solemnly.

"Do what you need to do…" She replied with sadness as she looked down and tried to fight the next flood of tears that wanted to fall from her eyes. Steve patted the small of her back and tried comforting her with rubbing circles. Her lip quivered and once again she buried her face into Steve and broke out in breathless shaky sobs that made Steve pained at just hearing them.

"Its going be okay, Blue. We'll find a way to fix this. Red will come back and be her normal self. Just you wait." Steve tried to cheer her up but she was still a sobbing mess. Gently he laid a kiss onto of her head and watched solemnly as Notch started walking with Red in his arms over to the remaining guards.

"I want her in our most fortified cell. Be very careful handling her and be quick. I don't know how long the light will stun her body for." Notch commanded the guards as they nodded with salutes and took Red into their care.

"Yes, sir!"

"Good, be swift." Notch watched them rush away with Red as quickly as possible down a hall and towards the direction of the prison cells. Notch sighed and turned back to look at his fallen men and Blue crying and being held in Steve's arms.

"What a shame this has turned into this." Notch commented dully and stepped over to look down at the Starless Gale that had been left on the ground from Scarlett's disoriented floundering around the throne room from the light she had been inflicted with. "This sword is so dangerous and yet there is nothing I can do to get rid of it." Notch said as he watches the sword begin to combust into black flames. "It'll always be with the one who ignited the portal and cannot be touched by anyone except the igniter." Notch shakes his head as the sword finally disappeared leaving nothing but tiny remains of the black flame on the ground.

Turning back to look at Steve and Blue, he sighs again. "Give Red a day to calm down then we will bring you back to the black opal portal, where you may return home. I know it seems like an alarming and uncertain way to return home, but I am almost certain her power will become dormant on the other side. With time on your side, Sapphire. I believe she will return back to being the little sister that Herobrine had not manipulated, the one you knew before she came to our world. Time heals and if I am correct… On the other side, hopefully the darkness with dissipate for good from her body and mind." Notch tried to smile at her reassuringly. Steve even smiled down at her but Blue wasn't too certain. She hoped more than anything that what they were saying was true. Yet, the prospect of bringing home someone who was full of raw evil black magic that could kill another with a single touch… it was discomforting to be honest.

"I hope you're right. I just want to go home and for everything to go back the way it was. I miss my old sister."

"I know you do. Just have faith, Sapphire. Herobrine is finally gone, so her magic most assuredly has nothing else to connect too. It must recede eventually." Notch said and continued to smile faintly at the eldest blue haired sister. Steve even smiled at her and was doing everything he could to lightened her mood.

"It'll be alright in the end. I promise…" Steve whispered and ran his hand through her hair with a gentle loving smile. Even with all the comfort around her, there was a part of Blue that just wasn't so sure… Maybe, her magic would comatose but what about her memory and apparent love for Herobrine?

Blue stood there overwhelmed with her own worried intrusive thoughts that wouldn't go away. Notch and Steve glanced at each other in concern and then looked back at Blue as she stared down at her feet with tears silently running down her face.

"I hope you're both right… I really do…"