Chapter 13: Unearthed Truths
Reed immediately turned pale upon seeing the miner.
Victor appeared to be in the middle of giving orders. The group he was addressing included several diamond and iron armored guards, Blade, Rosetta, and… Parker. "Dang it…" Texik whispered, obviously displeased. Pickaxe and company hid behind the corners, just out of the other miners' sights. Endre was making a "What do we do?" gesture with his hands, his face carrying an extremely worried expression. The group didn't know. As if things couldn't get any worse, Texik tried fumbling for his flint and steel, when a block of TNT fell on the floor.
Victor fell silent, slowly turning himself toward the block.
Everyone was glaring at Texik, who immediately sunk beneath all the disappointment directed towards him. Victor slowly began walking toward the block, a few diamond armored guards following him. He approached it and picked it up, examining it, still unaware of the other miners. Everyone behind the corners froze. Victor began looking in front of him. They needed to act fast, before one of them got hurt. Luckily, Texik had a solution to atone for his slip up.
Victor looked down when he heard the ominous sizzling of TNT…
BOOM! While the explosion stunned Victor and the other miners, Pickaxe and the others made a run for it, retreating into the maze of the fortress. When Pickaxe was about to make a turn, Victor got a good look of him. Unfortunately for Pickaxe, he was carrying his… well, pickaxe, in one of his hands. Rosetta had told him about this miner. Especially about how he was dangerous…
"GET THEM!" he barked, "I WANT TO MAKE SURE THEY NO LONGER INTERFERE!"
"Split up!" Endre yelled, as the group ran down the halls. "We'll be harder to kidnap! Jewel, you, Reed, Sabrina, and Margret try to get back to the base and warn the village. The rest of us will play decoy!" Endre turned down one of the halls, splitting from the rest of the group. Jewel and company eventually split as well. The rest of the group eventually dispersed along the hallways of the Nether fortress.
Victor had the same idea.
Parker was darting across the halls, when he came across the sound of bones clacking. He groaned in annoyance, pulling out a bow. "Stupid walking corpses…" he muttered, shooting an arrow at the wither skeleton, killing it with a headshot. He went to pick up the coal it left behind, when he heard something running down the halls. He quickly hid behind the corridor, as the running came to an abrupt stop. He poked his head from behind the wall just enough to see a miner's hand, carrying… an enchanted diamond pickaxe.
Parker grinned maliciously, as he strung another arrow.
Blade had just finished off another blaze, picking up its rod. Gonna need another sword soon, he thought, looking at his damaged iron sword. Darn Nether mobs… they were a lot harder to kill than Overworld mobs. Hope Parker hasn't gotten himself killed, he wondered, he still owes me my pay, and a lot mo- Zzzrt! Blade turned toward the sound of teleportation, but saw nothing. Zzzrt!
Blade turned again, but was met with a flint steel.
Jewel and company were just about to reach the exit. They had somehow gotten lost along they way, most likely due to the angry mob of skeletons that had rained arrows on them. Luckily, they were now making their way out of the fortress. From there, they would have to relocate the base, bring Stan up to speed, and prepare the village for a final assault. They just needed to get back to the ba-
Shhhk! Shhhk! Shhhk! Of course…
Reed looked from the top of their new gravel prison. A strange redstone mechanism hovered above them. He could see several miners heading to the outside of the prison, obsidian in hand. "Oh no…" Sabrina squeaked, her eyes filled with fear. Surely enough, they heard the sounds of obsidian being placed around them. The group instinctively huddled closer together.
A figure jumped into the trap, as Reed's defensive position tightened further.
Texik held Blade in a standoff, or at least that's what he thought. Blade scoffed, "You can ambush me with anything you like, and you chose a flint and steel?" Blade swatted away Texik's pitiful weapon, as it fell off to the side of the fortress. He pulled out two diamond swords; "Pathetic…" he spat. He charged for Texik, who was barely able to block with a rather inferior wooden sword.
He managed to swat Blade back, and tried looking for a different weapon.
Blade recovered rather easily, and rushed to Texik, who narrowly sidestepped, but not fast enough to avoid getting hit. He gripped his ribcage, a small slash mark from where the sword hit. Why didn't I take a potion with me?, Texik mentally scolded himself. Blade was readjusting himself from the narrow miss, focussing on Texik again. Texik growled; he only had a full stack of fire charges on him… Wait, a full stack? None of Blade's armor was glowing, either. Texik began to make a sadistic grin. "You don't have fire protection, do you?" he asked Blade, pulling out a fire charge.
Blade really wished he had visited the armory beforehand.
Parker finally worked up the courage to expose himself from his hiding spot. "Sayonara, scumbag!" he yelled, releasing the arrow in Pickaxe's direction. At long last, that loser was gone for good! Gone were the days of his meddling, his affiliations with Jewel, his pickaxe about to whack him upside the- SMACK! Parker was slammed into the wall, as a now angry Pickaxe was preparing for another strike. This time, Parker was smart, and ducked beneath the pickaxe's head. "Hmmmph… too easy. But how did you dodge my superior arrow?" Parker questioned, regaining his smug ego.
He noticed Pickaxe was holding a shield at his side… oh.
Instinctively, he pulled out his golden pickaxe, lunging for Pickaxe. Pickaxe blocked it with his own pickaxe, as he replaced his shield with his sword. Pickaxe looked at Parker with a Seriously? expression. "What?" Parker asked innocently, "It's a decent combat tool…" Pickaxe swatted Parker away, preparing to charge at him. Parker did the same, the two miners locked onto one another. They lunged for each other in perfect sync.
Sparks flew when their pickaxes collided.
They kept exchanging slashes for the longest time. "Freaking die, already!" Parker would screech, while Pickaxe kept his cool attacking and counterattacking. While Pickaxe could've cared less, Parker decided to start monologuing. "Do you really think you can beat me?" he snarled, "Even if you do, the guards are gonna show up and finish you off! Once you're out of the way, I can finally be with Jewel. I'm sure the only reason she's resisting me is you! She's all I care about, nothing else! I could honestly care less about that stupid End portal. Once Jewel is mine, I'll just have to finish off Victor and his foolish daughter. Their both so naive; they honestly think I'll help them because I hate Reed? Hah! I'll I have to figure out is how to make it look like an accident and-" "What?"
Pickaxe and Parker stopped their fight, turning their heads towards a shocked Rosetta.
Endre was simply walking down the halls, trying to see if the others made it safely to the village, when he heard the sound of Rosetta saying, "What?" Curious, he peaked across the corner of the hallway, and saw Rosetta standing in front of Pickaxe and Parker, who looked like they had just finished a furious battle sequence. "So…" Rosetta began, "That was your intention this whole time?" Parker tried to explain, "Rosetta, I-" "No," she interrupted flatly.
Endre hid behind the corner, wondering what the heck was going on.
"It was all a lie, what you told us… wasn't it?" Rosetta's voice increasingly got more and more bitter. "We saved you," she started, her voice quivering in rage. "We saved you from that ghast, we patched you back up. My father and I trusted you! Do you know how long he's been in that funk? How long I've seen him with a depressing look on his face? When you gave him the opportunity to redeem himself, he was the happiest I've ever seen him. And then you went and played me! You made me feel special… I actually thought you cared about me! I only assumed you got close to the girl for negotiable reasons, but- but you're obsessed! You're obsessed with that girl, and I was too blind to see it. You...you…"
Endre had never felt that awkward in all of his existence.
Parker was looking to the side, away from Rosetta, away from Pickaxe. Pickaxe had taken it upon himself to back away from the scene, but only down the hallway, still in their fields of vision. "I hope you enjoyed it," Rosetta choked, "Once my father hears of this, he'll see to it you never see the light of day again." Parker remained uncharacteristically still. Out of nowhere, he pulled out two splash potions, one of slowness and one of weakness. He threw them at Rosetta, who, surprised stiff, took the hits. She tried to move, but did so at a snail's pace. Parker pulled out a golden sword, a cold stare on his face. Pickaxe could've helped, but the blazes decided to steal his attention.
"Sorry it has to be this way," was all Parker said.
Victor had Reed right where he wanted him. "How long has it been?" he started, "A few years?" Reed increased his defensive stature. "I have nothing to say to you," he remarked flatly. Victor looked like he wanted to laugh. "Still as arrogant as ever, eh?" He pulled out an iron sword and an iron axe. Reed's defensive form stiffened. "Believe you and me, I don't want to do this, brother…" Victor said, his breathing heavy, "but most of us don't have that luxury, do w-"
"ROSETTAAAAAA!"
The room turned stiff. Both Reed and Victor swiveled their heads toward the voice. It was coming in the direction of the fortress. "Well?" Jewel frowned in annoyance, having already built a cobblestone staircase, "That was Endre; come on!" Jewel, along with Sabrina and Margret, climbed up the staircase and out of the gravel prison. Victor and Reed stared at one another. "This isn't over, brother," addressed Reed, glaring at Victor. Victor nonchalantly shrugged. "Just be glad your little friend shouted my daughter's name."
The two reluctantly rushed to the Nether fortress.
Several guards were blocking the way into the fortress, preventing Jewel and company from entering. "Let us pass!" Victor demanded, determined to see whether or not his daughter was okay. "Sorry sir, but we no longer take orders from you," one of the guards said, pushing Victor aside. "The boss says we can't let you in. He's done playing his little game…" A diamond sword suddenly went through the guard's chest. As he fell to his feet in a puff of smoke, Jewel stood behind him. The other guards had also mysteriously went missing.
"GET OFF OF HER, PARKER!"
That time, it was Pickaxe's voice. Victor quickly rushed into the Nether fortress, darting left and right across the halls. "ROSETTA!" he cried, running back and forth the dangerous through corridors. He ran into a group of wither skeletons. "OUT OF MY WAY!" he yelled, cutting through them with his dangerous blades. Several blazes showed up. When he tried reaching for his bow, he realized he had damaged it on the way there. "Darn!" he scolded himself. He looked to the blazes, ready to face them to the bitter end…
...only for some miner wielding fire charges and a diamond axe to cut through them all.
The miner turned to face Victor. His bright yellow eyes startled him. Following closely behind him was Blade, who looked charred to the bone. "Long story," was all he said. The rest of the group caught up with them. "ARE YOU CRAZY!? YOU COULD'VE BEEN KILLED!?" Reed yelled at Victor. Victor scoffed indifferently. "Where's Parker?" asked Texik. Endre's scream would provide them with the answer. "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The group wasted no time reaching the scene.
Rosetta was on the ground, unconscious, but still alive. Endre was slumped against the wall, a huge gash in his chest, slowly dripping blood. Pickaxe was doubled down on the floor, as if recovering from a sucker punch to the gut. Above them all loomed Parker, a soulless gleam in his eyes. His golden sword looked like it had been very busy. "PAARKEER!" Victor screeched, lunging at the miner. Parker took notice of him.
...he really had no problem plunging his sword through Victor's spine.