A few minutes later, Shadow, Non, and Turtle had been stripped of their weapons and armor and were locked in an unused storage area. Iluvmonkeyz had been splashed with a weak healing potion and was breathing a little easier, though she was still weak. Amaphora, somehow, was running from Fatal deep within the base. Non could barely think. She still saw the resignation and exhaustion in Devon's eyes as the axe came down.
Rez was pacing furiously as he and Mike waited for Fatal to return. Turtle was curled up in a ball in the corner, shaking as Shadow tried in vain to comfort her.
"How did you find us?" Shadow finally asked, breaking the terse silence.
"Bought the coords," said Rez casually. "A few million in the right places works wonders."
Iluv looked at him in shocked horror. "Who...?"
"Wyatt," said Rez triumphantly. "Sold you out to whichever one of your enemies paid him the most.
"But why?" Non gasped.
"He knew you didn't trust him. And he was tired of trying to prove himself to you."
"There's nothing here," Iluv snapped defiantly. "You came all this way for absolutely nothing. He lied to you the way he lied to all of us." She slipped back against the wall, exhausted.
"I don't think so," Mike murmured. "I think we found exactly what we were looking for."
Non wondered vaguely what he meant, but she was too tired to think clearly. They waited another few minutes for Fatal to return, but he didn't show.
"How long is this going to take?!" Rez roared. He raked his claws across the wall, leaving five deep gouges. "Fucking ridiculous."
Mike shrugged and polished the bloodstains off his axe with the hem of his shirt. "I'm fine to wait. Honestly, Fatal's probably killed her already and he's just helping himself to the loot right now."
Rez glared at him, but quieted down and started changing out his slightly worn armor for a fresh set.
"Nice place you have here," Mike added as he examined the prismarine inlay on the walls. Iluv started to say something, but coughed again as soon as she tried to breathe. Non grabbed her shoulders and pushed her as gently as she could until she was sitting upright against the wall.
Loud footsteps stormed down the hallway outside. Rez looked up as Fatal_Insane stomped in, alone, with so many arrows sticking out of him that he looked like a porcupine.
"Well?" Rez demanded impatiently.
"I can't find her!" Fatal growled. He slammed his axe angrily into the wall. "This base has more hiding places than a fucking rabbit den. Fitting because all you people know how to do is run and hide."
Rez shrugged. "Fine, she'll show up sooner or later. In the meantime, tell me about the value of what's kept here...
Shadow glared at him defiantly, but didn't speak. Non reached for Iluv's hand and squeezed lightly, knowing she would rather give up the few valuables they had than lose another leader.
"The grinder room," Iluv said in short gasps. "All our spawners... and a few stacks of eggs with the nether stars. Chests in the hallway are just building supplies... I don't know what else is in there. Chests in the room with the magma cubes might have Ancient Coins or Ancient tools... also enchantment scrolls or scrolled tools and weapons... Take what you want, but let us go."
Fatal laughed. "It's not that simple. We're here for a few other things as well... but that's a good start. I'm sure Mike can handle this bunch. Rez, let's go check it out."
Rez followed him out, looking slightly mollified by the promise of treasure. Mike picked up his axe and went to stand guard by the door. Non felt a sudden surge of hope. If Amaphora saw them leave, she'd know that only Mike was in the room with them. Maybe she could get them all out alive.
She didn't have to wait long. The door burst open a second later and a volley of well-placed arrows slammed into Mike, throwing him back onto the ground. Amaphora raced in, bow drawn and ready to fire. Her blonde hair was clotted with blood, and her armor was badly damaged, but she was alive. Mike recovered quickly from the shock, slashing clumsily at her with his axe. She ducked the swing and shot an arrow into his shoulder, locking the joint immobile. He let out a yell of pain and switched the axe to his left hand, but his arm shook and he seemed less sure of himself. Non watched in mixed terror and hope, barely daring to breathe.
"Let them go or you die!" Amaphora shouted. She aimed her arrow right between Mike's eyes and he took a step back. "Your friends are busy poking around in the hub, but they might get here soon enough to watch you take your last breath."
"That's where you're wrong," said a soft voice from the doorway. Amaphora whirled around, wildly aiming at the source of the voice, but no one was there. No one visible, anyway.
A second later, there was a sound like breaking glass followed by a wet squelchy thud. Amaphora gazed down in horror at the diamond axe blade that had broken her armor and pierced her ribcage. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, running down the remains of her chestplate. Her bow fell from trembling fingers and clattered on the ground.
The attack had forced Amaphora's assailant out of their invisibility. Prysms materialized in front of her, blue eyes like ice staring into Ama's brown ones. Her pale hands gripped the axe handle.
"You..." Ama breathed. Before she could say any more, Prysms cruelly shoved the curved blade deeper. Ama fell at her feet, choking for breath as she tried to pull the axe head from her own body. Prysms yanked it free, splattering Non, Shadow, and Iluv with gore, then casually wiped it clean on Amaphora's T-shirt.
"I trusted you," Shadow whispered in horror. "We all trusted you, how could you do this?"
"Quite easily," said Prysms. "Rez is very... persuasive."
Amaphora was still alive. She tried to speak but when she opened her mouth, all she could do was make a horrible gurgling noise as a fresh run of blood spilled onto the clean quartz floor.
"Oops, looks like she's having some trouble here," Prysms remarked lightly. She kicked the blonde girl onto her side, then touched her bloodstained axe to Ama's throat. "Hold still, this will only hurt for a second."
"No!" Shadow screamed. She tried to lunge forward and tackle Prysms, but Mike slammed the blunt side of his axe into her gut and she collapsed.
Blood spurted from the ragged stump of Amaphora's neck as her head rolled away and came to rest at Mike's feet. Non turned away from the horrible sight and retched in the corner, the image of Ama's dead eyes too much for her to bear. Shadow started hyperventilating as she clung to the screaming Turtle.
"Anyone else feel like pulling a weapon on me?" Prysms inquired sweetly. She pointed the axe at each of them in turn.
No one answered.
"Good," she said. Mike handed her a set of armor, which she quickly put on. "Nice to know you can barely handle fighting one wounded girl with a bow. Go help Fatal sort out what we're taking, I need to stall Vanquish and Bluecats because they're getting suspicious. I swear, the only reason CookieCrew's survived this long is because of their allies."
"See if you can pull the other CookieCrew enemy factions here," Mike suggested. "They're not exactly our allies but if they can keep Vanquish occupied, I don't care."
"I'm contacting G-Town and BTK now... GodHands and Guardians would be our best options but Sus probably doesn't give a damn and Awedawg is basically AWOL. Shit, Waffles and MuchDoge from Vanquish are at the fucking entrance! How the fuck did they get here so fast?"
"If they see Rez, they'll back off," Mike pointed out.
Prysms laughed. "Yeah, they'll back off until they get more fighters. Alchemists and Bluecats are on their way. G-Town is en route now... and apparently BTK is looking for horses, for fuck's sake. Honestly, Draegan is always the first person to show up for encampment but when it comes to a little run in the free world, his ass turns to lead."
Mike shrugged. "I'm going to tell Rez to seal the base back up so they can't get in. Secure the room and then we need to talk to whatever's left of NightWatch."
"Ugo would live and die for CookieCrew, we're not getting anything from them. Get ready to fight in case Vanquish breaks in. I'm sealing this area."
Prysms quickly broke down the door, then blocked the doorway with more obsidian as she and Mike went to rejoin Rez and Fatal at the grinder area. Non listened until their footsteps faded in the distance.
"Dammit," Shadow muttered. "Even if we had all our allies here, they couldn't take down everyone they brought."
Non buried her face in her hands as crushing exhaustion overwhelmed her. "I don't know what to do..."
She looked over at Iluv, whose breathing was starting to rattle horribly in her chest again. "She needs stronger healing than we can provide here. I don't know how much longer she has."
"Maybe if we just wait..." Turtle said shakily. "Vanquish and Alchemists might be able to defeat them."
"We don't have any other option anyway." Non took a deep breath and tried to force herself to be patient. Turtle reached for her with shaking hands, and Non let her bury her face in her shoulder. A few seconds later, they heard the first of many screams as the three factions clashed just above the base.