• Meeting an Engineer •
Olivia and Jesse made their way inside the Dome, headed down a flight of gray stairs, and entered some sort of room, Redstone repeaters allied by the walls. It wasn't too extravagant, but it was still enough to impress the friends.
"Wow. Here it is. Ellegaard's redstone laboratory," Olivia gasped in awe.
"Seems more like an entrance or a foyer or something.." Jesse revoked. When he heard Reuben whining, possibly from his ever growing anxiety, he rubbed his head to give him some comfort. "Don't worry, pal, we'll find her." He mainly said this to also comfort himself, feeling anxious as well. "I just hope she can actually help us.."
Without another word, the friends trotted deeper into the Dome, doors opening for them as they walked from the foyer into another room with red sandstone floors. There was Redstone everywhere along with water tunnels leading items around the Dome with glowstone lighting the way. This seemed less like a room and more like a huge bizzare and complicated lab moving several things around and the pair was so taken aback by it, neither of them didn't even know what to say and simply gazed around the lab in awe.
"That might be the most redstone.. stuff.. I've ever seen in my life," Jesse gaped.
"You can say that again," Olivia agreed.
"C'mon. Let's keep moving."
As the pair pressed on, Oliva and Reuben ran through what seemed like a gold archway. Jesse was just about to follow after them but froze when it started opening and closing rapidly.
"Gah! What are those things even for?!" He huffed, trying to identify a way to pass through.
"Maybe, I don't know.. breaking things up. Keeping intruders out," Olivia replied. "There are lots of possibilities."
"Yeah, but not many ways to get through! How do I cross over?"
"I saw a repeater while crossing over. Try messing with it?"
"Worth a shot!"
Olivia watched pensive as Jesse trotted towards the repeater, observing it for a moment before finally clicking it. This didn't exactly stop the golden blocks from moving, but they did start to move more slowly.
"Okay, almost.. Definitely a step in the right direction," Olivia said.
Jesse clicked the repeater a second time, the blocks now moving slowly enough for him to pass through. Taking a deep breath, the brunette leaped across, safely making it onto the other side.
"Nicely done, Jesse! You're pretty good at this," Olivia complimented.
"Hey, what can I say?" Jesse replied awkwardly. "Me and the redstone just.. speak to each other."
"Uhhh-huh."
A frown then quickly played across Jesse's face as he imagined his sisters waiting at the temple for him, probably worried sick. He was the last leading figure they had and he needed to stay as strong as he can, as strong as their eldest sibling. It was hard though. Because deep down, he knew he would never be as brave and courageous as him. He would be a real hero. But it didn't matter.. because he wasn't here.
Olivia noticed the frown across her friend's face and guessing what it was, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you miss them, and I'm sure they miss you too but we need to keep our heads up if we're going to find Ellegaard," she consoled. "And once we do, we'll be able to see them again. And plus, Jess and Nikki are both strong. If anything happens, they'll know how to get through it."
Jesse sighed, fighting off the remorse of leaving his younger sisters behind but he knew it was for the greater good. They just needed a couple more hours and finally they'll be reunited again.
"Thanks, Olivia," he replied, trying his best to not show any emotion. "Let's just get going."
Olivia then began to gaze around the lab, staring at the multiple tubes that sent many different items towards the center of the lab in awe. "She's moving a LOT of different ingredients around here," she observed. "Man. Look at all this, huh?"
"Any idea what all this does?" Jesse questioned.
"Well it's clearly taking all these materials and doing.. something.. with them. But I'm not sure what yet. But boy am I gonna find out.."
"C'mon. Let's keep moving."
The friends continued on their journey through the Dome, coming across a lava curtain, similar to the one at the Bovine Lava Disco. Jesse stared at it in awe, recognizing it from the machine that he accidentally destroyed, hoping that he was able to recreate his invention.
"Ooooh. Lava curtain," he beamed before pulling the lever by it. Almost immediately, the lava fell and revealed the part of a room where pistons pulled quartz blocks together, almost as if it was an entrance way or simply hiding something. It could probably even lead them to Ellegaard's laboratory.
Jesse then nudged Olivia playfully, giving her a small grin. "This close to meeting Ellegaard," he teased. "Getting excited?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," his friend gushed. "I wonder what she'll really be like in person.."
Jesse then wasted no time making his way towards the lever sitting by the pistons and flipped it. Just like that, the pistons moved the quartz blocks out of the way and revealed a water chute behind it. The friends glanced at each other before Jesse hopped inside, the water taking him up immediately as Olivia and Reuben followed after him. It's not the best way across but at least it's something.
Once they were at the top, Jesse gasped for air, his dark brown curls covering his chocolate brown eyes. He tried to move his hair from his face, shaking and ruffling them a bit to dry them. Reuben shook himself dry as Olivia took off her hat and let her curly hair down, drying it off with a cloth before putting it back into two low puffs. The cloth didn't dry it off completely but it was something.
"We made it," she said. "Now what?"
Jesse gazed around the new area they were in. They seemed to be in a long hallway, a couple doors planted on the side of the walls with huge doors standing at the very end. It was slightly dimmer than the previous room but they could still see where they were going. The friends and piglet were just about to trot down the hallway but froze when they heard a voice behind them.
"Stop right there!" The voice demanded. The friends felt a hard pit in their stomach. They were caught! There would be no way of warning Ellegaard now! They shifted their gazes towards the source of the voice, seeing a young boy around the age of fourteen.
He had fluffy brown hair and darker brown eyes, tanned skin and wore a white shirt with a red baggy jacket with long sleeves, baggy dark gray sweatpants, and white sneakers. What really caught the friends' attention was how he remarkably looked similar to Ellegaard, the two sharing similar features.
"I haven't a clue about your identities however Ellegaard's not in the mood for visitors," he said, giving them a harsh expression. "I thought Calvin put this place on lockdown? I have the foggiest idea how you two and.. a pig got in here!"
"Uh, we're not here to visit," Jesse awkwardly replied as Reuben oinked happily and ran over to the kid. His eyes sparkled, a wide grin spreading across his face as he pat his his head.
"He's right, we're here to tell Ellegaard something important," Olivia added, though she had to admit to herself that she found the small child adorable.
The boy raised a brow, confused. "Then.. Who are you? I've never seen you around here before," he inquired.
"I'm Jesse. This is my friend, Olivia," Jesse addressed. "We need to find Ellegaard like pronto! The world's kinda on the edge of here."
"Whatever it is, you may inform me," he replied. "I'm Christopher, but you could call me Chris for short. You may not be aware but I'm Ellegaard's cousin."
The friends' eyes widened in surprise. They didn't know Ellegaard had a little cousin! But their surprise quicken shifted to determination.This cousin of hers could definitely help them find Ellegaard.
"You see this?" Jesse asked, pulling out the amulet. The red bar glowing brightly, alerting Ellegaard was near.
His eyes widened as soon as Jesse pulled it out from his pockets. "Extraordinary.. the amulet! I recall Ellegaard and the rest of the Order having a pair. They used it to find each other just in case something happens," he explained. "But that's impossible. How did you manage to-?"
"Gabriel gave it to me- well my sister and she let me have it so I could find Ellegaard," Jesse interrupted. "You see, Ivor used a command block and used it to unleash a WitherStorm and now it's eating the entire world. Gabriel gave this amulet to us so we could reunite the Order. It's our last hope in saving the world."
Chris hung onto every word, his eyes widening in fear as he imagined a ravenging monster destroying their world. After putting some thought into it, he gave the friends a determined look. "If the world is truly in danger, then I'll assist you in reunite the Order," he answered. "Just follow my lead."
The friends sighed in relief before following behind the small child. Olivia tried to keep her excitement to a minimum, thrilled that they were now one step closer to meeting her idol.
"So what's it like being Ellegaard's cousin?" She asked as they trotted down the hallway.
"Exciting I suppose. Getting to see her new amazing inventions, having a lot of respect, the usual," Chris answered. "She's a busy person so we don't actually get to spend that much time together, especially recently because she's too busy trying to make a command block. I'm curious to see it though. I've never seen one up close before."
"She's a real genius, isn't she?"
Chris slightly frowned at this. "Sure, you could say that."
Once they got to the end of the long hallway, Chris placed his hand on the huge door, seeming to be looking for something. Olivia squealed a bit, unable to control her excitement as Jesse chuckled, happy to see his friend smiling. Chris eventually found what he was looking for, placing his hand on a certain place on the door. It was a kind of hand code thing and once it was activated, the doors flung open immediately.
Chris grinned, stepping out of the way. "After you," he said. Jesse cautiously stepped inside, hoping that he wasn't playing a trick on them. Olivia and Reuben followed after him and almost immediately, their jaws dropped as their eyes wandered around the room. They were in Ellegaard's private laboratory - and she was standing right there in front of them working on her invention! Olivia practically had to keep herself from fangirling as her eyes laid before her idol.
"This is just like how I dreamt it. Entering Ellegaard's laboratory. Seeing her.. Right there.." she whispered to her friend, trying to halt her excitement. "She'll ask me to be her apprentice, and the next thing you know we'll be changing the world together."
"Let's just try to save the world first," Jesse reminded her.
"Time to pace back and forth and check the systems," the engineer said. "Inventory request? Operational? Delivery latency? Speedy. Still talking to myself? Yep! Alright here we go!"
"Ells!" Chris greeted casually, calmly making his way towards her.
Ellegaard flinched in surprise before shifting her gaze towards him with a smile. "Whoa! Hey, Chris! Didn't see you sneaking up on me - guess that's the point," she greeted, but before he could reply, she shifted her gaze towards Jesse and Olivia. "Who are your friends? Don't touch anything in here, okay? It's all SUPREMELY fragile and genius."
"Actually-." Chris was about to explain but his cousin cut him off again.
"Did Calvin send you? You my new assistant? New assistants with a stupidly adorable pig, that is!" She chuckled when she noticed Reuben standing by his owner, the little pig oinking enthusiastically.
"Jesse. She thinks we're her assistants," Olivia shrieked, unable to stop herself from fangirling. "This is so exciting."
"Ellegaard-." He began but the engineer spoke once more.
"No time for specifics, I'm afraid," she said before shifting her gaze back on her cousin. "Chris, could you please get me some gold ingots and you, Goggle Girl." She then glanced at Olivia. "Switch on that T-flop circuit to activate the delivery chutes. And you, Non-Goggle Guy." She then glanced at Jesse. "Grab me a blaze rod and iron block."
Chris once again frowned but didn't bother to protest as he went to collect what his cousin wanted. Olivia however stood there frozen in shock. "She wants me to do something for her. What if I screw up? What if I- Oh I feel lightheaded.." she murmured before she flopped onto the ground, unconscious.
As soon as Chris returned and handed the engineer the ingots, the cousins glanced at the unconscious girl on the ground, a puzzled expression sitting across their faces.
Ellegaard blinked in disbelief before perking her brow. "Wow. Now I need an assistant to help with my assistant!" She said sarcastically before sighing. "Think you could handle it on your own?"
Just to stay on her good side, Jesse activated the chute first, pressing a button that connected to the chutes before flipping two levers that delivered the items into the chest dropper then walked over to the chest and collected the needed items. Once he was done, he then walked towards his unconscious friend, trying his best to wake her up.
"Olivia? Olivia! Can you hear me?" He asked. His friend fluttered awake but when she did, an embarrassed expression appeared on her face.
"I don't think I've ever fainted before. Ugh, so embarrassing," Olivia frowned, raising herself off the ground and trying her best to walk it off. Jesse could understand where she was coming from. It's not everyday you get to meet your idol.
"Everything working over- oh. Hm," she then gave them a judgmental expression. Jesse felt himself growing nervous from this before the engineer sighed impatiently. "Fine, I'll do it myself then."
As soon as she left, Olivia facepalmed, now feeling worse as Jesse gave her a comforting expression. Chris trotted up to them and scratched the back of his neck nervously, hoping they weren't too upset with him by not getting his cousin's full attention. "My deepest apologies. She's always like that. I'm trying my best, I swear!" He pleaded.
"Don't worry about us, Chris. It's not your fault," Jesse assured him. As soon as Ellegaard turned on the T-flop, four crafting tables attached to pistons pressed together and started to form a faded version of the command block. Ellegaard hoped it would be a success but instead, it quickly fizzled out.
"LOSER. Trial #6,451.. another bust," she groaned before shifting her gaze towards the friends. "Now about you three." She then glanced at Jesse, giving Olivia a harsh expression. "Your friend here.. does she fall over frequently? Is this going to be a regular occurrence? Someone's going to trip over her while carrying lava and it's gonna be.. such a mess. Lava. EVERYWHERE. And boy, nothing gets lava out. NOTHING. Except more lava."
Olivia felt flustered and hulliated. After all this time or gushing over her idol just for her to scold her felt like a huge bummer. "I.. No, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I was just so excited to-."
"And with me always pacing around, lost in my own brilliant thoughts. I could've tripped over you and conked my brain!" The engineer scowled. "Brilliant thousands.. GONE!"
Jesse felt his face burn up slightly from annoyance upon seeing how the engineer was treating his friend. Normally, he would've told her off right away but considering their circumstances and how she's looked up to as a hero, he decided to hold himself back.
"Well that seems a little unfair to blame Olivia. It's not her fault that she was so excited," he said calmly though part of him wished he could've said more. "Besides, we've actually got much bigger problems to deal with. We're actually here to get your help. There's a giant WitherStorm and it's attacking the whole world."
"A witherwhat-?" She repeated. "What are you talking about? Who.. who sent you?"
"Gabriel sent them," Chris answered. Jesse was relieved that they were able to get the little kid on their side.
"Chris, you too?"
"He's right," he then confirmed. "But we have no idea where he is now."
Ellegaard for the first time hesitated, unsure how to answer or whether to believe them or not. "Look, you both seem like very pleasant teenagers who are prone to fainting but I simply don't have the brain-power for this," she said awkwardly. "I'm in the middle of my greatest creation to date - a powerful block capable of altering reality itself!"
"I've seen one of those before. It's a command block!"
Wait. Waaaitwaitwaitwait. How do you know what a Command Block is? Not to seem belittling, but we're talking about some mega-ultragenius level stuff here," She gasped before glancing at her cousin. "Chris? Did you say anything?"
"No. He didn't. We've seen one up close before. It was Ivor's," Jesse interrupted before the child could speak. "He's done something terrible with it. The world needs The Order of the Stone! That's why we're here!"
"Sorry to bust your circuits but the Order isn't really 'together' anymore," the engineer cringed. "We, ah, sort of disassembled."
"That's actually kind of why we're here," the brunette replied, taking the amulet from his inventory and holding it up for the engineer to see.
"..Gabriel's amulet.."
"Yes, he gave it to us so we could find the Order."
"Yes.. this is serious indeed.." she murmured. She finally got the message!
"We must do something!" Chris said urgently as Ellegaard turned her back on them."Before that thing gets worse."
The friends expected that she'll come with them but they were proven wrong. "All the more reason why I need to finish my Command Block!" She replied. "I can use it to fight the WitherStorm.. monster.. thing.. or whatever!"
"Is that even possible? Can you really do that?" Jesse questioned, unsure if this is the right route they should go down.
"This is THE Ellegaard you're talking to. Who is me, if you're confused. And I, Ellegaard, will make a Command Block TO-DAY!"
"Wouldn't that take away precious time?" Chris disagreed. "Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I believe a Command Block would be difficult to master."
"Excellent observation, Chris and I appreciate your concerns but I'll get the hang of it," she replied before glancing at the friends. "Your 'WitherStorm' was created by a Command Block, yes? That means a Command Block is the perfect way of beating it!"
"And maybe-." Olivia spoke up but the engineer simply breezed right passed her and focused her attention on Jesse instead.
"Non-Goggle Guy, will you help me make one?"
Jesse put some thought into it. Chris was right that making one would be extremely time consuming but it'll definitely be worth it in the end once they've got a stable weapon to use against the beast. "You're the genius, Ellegaard. Let's get started," he grinned, holding out his hand.
"Fantastic," the engineer beamed as she placed her hand on top of his. Chris sighed but didn't dare to protest as he placed his hand on top of his cousin's. When Olivia awkwardly placed her hand in, the engineer gave her a harsh expression which only made her feel worse.
With that, they immediately got to work. Jesse assured Olivia that the engineer would eventually come around. Besides, it'll put her in a good place to assist her in building the rare block. And most importantly, it'll help save the world..
• Welcome to the griefing competition! •
Once the footsteps had stopped, Jess didn't know whether to feel relieved or creeped out. She didn't put much more attention to it, walking across to get the amulet, but before she could reach it, someone on the opposite side of the room crept up to a set of levers.
"You're completely surrounded by hundreds of hidden death traps," the mysterious person warned. "One step closer.. and KABOOM!" They flipped the first switch, pushing prepared-to-be-lit TNT in front of the friends and blocking their way. Startled, Jess fell on her back, nervously looking down at the lava beneath them.
When the gang glanced over to see who it was, their jaws dropped as they were met by Magnus the Rogue holding the amulet in his hands as the green bar glowed brightly. He was tall and muscular with dark eyes, tanned skin. He wore green, gold, and black armor, was bald and wore black mask over his eyes, speaking in a deep western accent.
"It's Magnus! We totally got caught by Magnus!" Axel beamed but noticing the glare the sisters gave him, reminding him of the danger they were in. He froze when he got the message and now felt a bit awkward. "Er.. I think we're gonna die now."
"Did you really think you could sneak up on me? Ha! You're two of the worst griefers I've ever met," Magnus scoffed before glaring at Nikki. "And a little kid? Really? Hardly stealthy."
Nikki looked offended by his remark, but she didn't dare to protest considering that they needed to be careful because if they say one wrong thing, it'll ruin the entire mission. They didn't want to risk that, but at the same time she wondered where Maggie or whatever she went that it. It's not that she was worried but she really wanted to know if she was just a worker to Magnus but if that's so then why didn't he recognize them?
"Hey, no griefers here. Nooo way. We came from way out of time to find you," Jess assured.
Magnus however stared at them, not seemingly to believe them at all. "Oh really?" He challenged. "I mean, that guy? He's got 'griefer' written all over him." He pointed a finger at Axel before tossing the amulet back and forth teasingly.
"Man, you don't know how much that means to me," Axel frowned.
"Yeah, well, that's because he's your biggest fan!" Nikki explained. "Look at him!"
"I mean, not like 'biggest' fan," Axel awkwardly added.
"Riiiight. So tell me something, 'Not Griefers.' How'd you find me? Who are you working for?" Magnus inquired.
"We have an amulet that led us straight to you," Nikki answered quickly.
"Yeah. That's a pretty good one. That's Mini's, right? Strange. This is all sounding pretty weird, dudes.." he then said, reflipping the first lever and sending the TNT wall down into the lava. Instinctively, Jess ran forward but this ended up being a bad move as the griefer flipped another lever, pushing another TNT mini-wall. "Who are you really?! Why are you here? I want answers. Now."
"The world is being destroyed," Jess said.
"..you have me intrigued. Go on," Magnus pulled the lever again, sending the TNT wall away.
"There's a huge monster eating up the entire world and nothing can stop it. That's why Gabriel told us to reunite the Order," Jess explained as she crept forward slowly to avoid losing his trust. "Magnus, you've gotta come with us. You might be the only chance we have!"
This time, the griefer hesitated but he still wasn't too keen on trusting them just yet. "Give me one reason why, for even a second, I should come with you?" He challenged.
"You're supposed to be a hero, Magnus! And right now.. The world needs a hero. You could come with us and help stop this disaster."
"..all this.. stuff you've told me.. You expect me to just take your world for it? Three strangers with wild stories. And nothing to show for it.. Except an amulet.. That's not theirs."
"Are you THAT paranoid? Do you really not trust anyone?" Nikki suddenly snapped, losing her patience.
"That's how I've survived this long, kiddo."
"Well then fat chance! We did NOT escape a man-eating monster, lost two people on our team to that thing already and came all the way here just for you to tell us complete bullshit! Can't you see that we need your help?!" Nikki fumed. "I don't care if you're afraid to step up because either way, our friends and brother are still out there exposed and we don't even know if they're alive or not! We're going to take that thing down with or without you so please. Just trust us. Just for a minute, okay?"
Axel's and Jess' eyes shot wide from the little girl's speech. Sure, Nikki snapped a couple times before but they didn't expect for her to snap at a former Order member that could blow them up at any moment. They both awkwardly glanced at each other before glancing over at Magnus, who wore a surprised expression on his face.
"Geez, I dunno, bro. You know how tough Mini is. If they could get the amulet from her then these noobs may not be lying," said a new familiar voice nearby and the party quickly shifted their gaze over to see Maggie leaning against the wall on the opposite side.
She was no longer wearing her dark cloak, revealing that she had tanned skin with long fluffy hair that was held back by a black headband with a star on it. She wore a green top with short sleeves, a black choker with a silver necklace, an orange skirt with a black belt and black boots. She also had a matching mask over her eyes, similar to that of her older brother.
Realizing the new person in the room was Maggie, sisters and Axel looked confused. "Bro?" They were overly surprised that Maggie had dared to show up again but even more so when they realized that she was full on related to Magnus. They didn't know Magnus had a younger sister, so young in fact that she looked younger than Nikki by a year or so.
There was a deadly silence before Magnus gave in, groaning. "Okay okay, you sold me. I'm in.." he said, flipping the last lever, the last remaining TNT wall falling into the lava. The gang all sighed in relief as they grinned at each other gleefully. Magnus was finally on their side! Now they were one step closer to saving their world.
"Oh, but we might have a little trouble getting out of here.." Maggie then chuckled nervously, stepping forward and nudging her older brother playfully. The sisters and Axel all looked confused, wondering what she meant.
"Huh? You're Magnus. You can just walk outta here," Nikki protested.
"Hello? I don't know if you've looked around this place, which I'm sure you have but it's kinda filled with griefers!" Maggie replied as she and her brother gave them serious glances.
"But.. That's kinda awesome. Right?" Axel commented.
"Uh, no! You've heard about the whole 'Challenging the King for His Crown' thing, right? It's like their thing," Magnus explained. "So long as I'm king.. I can't leave this tower."
"We could sneak you out," Jess suggested, referring to how Maggie managed to sneak out without anyone spotting it recognizing her. When the sisters glanced at her for help, she gave them a scared expression, mouthing "no" as if she was telling them that Magnus can't know that she sneaked out. The sisters were confused by this, but wanting to respect her wishes, they decided not to bring it up.
"They'll spot me. Look, I'm too good and they're too eager. It's like a vicious cycle that just keeps me here," Magnus informed them before once again chuckling nervously. "Simply put, that's life as King of BoomTown. Not as fun as you'd think."
"But couldn't you just let them win?" Nikki asked, sounding a little more desperate.
"I've beaten them dozens of times. No one would believe it!" Magnus sniffed but his expression soon changed as he came forward towards them. "But you.. You're the newcomer with the golden amulet. By now there'll probably be all sorts of rumors about how awesome you are. If you beat me.. then I'll be able to leave!"
"Woah, great idea. Can't believe you didn't think of it before, slime ball," Maggie commented as she nudged her older brother playfully. Before he could reply however, Jess spoke once more.
"Yeah, but assuming I won, wouldn't I be stuck here then?" She pointed out.
"Nah, you're not as legendary as me. Should be easy enough to throw another fight or give up the crown with way lower level griefers. The trick is, don't become a legend. But looking at you, I don't think.. well, anyway," Magnus said. Jess couldn't help but to frown slightly, disliking how the griefer was doubting them but she didn't protest as her sister tugged on her shirt, getting her attention.
"I don't know about this," Nikki frowned as a worried expression sat across her face. "What if the WitherStorm comes?"
"It'll be quick, Nikki," Jess assured her. "Once we beat Magnus-.. and Maggie, they'll be able to leave with us back to the Order's Temple."
"This means you'll actually let me play this time, right..?" Maggie suddenly asked, gaining the sisters' attention back onto her and Magnus. "If there's actually a man-eating beast out there then can I actually join along instead of sitting at the sidelines? Please?"
Magnus frowned slightly. He didn't want to let his younger sister get injured, but at the same time, he didn't want to let her down, especially since they would be far from home for a long time. Plus, she WAS getting older and skilled for her age so he figured he'll let it slide, just this once. "Fine. But stay close to me, okay half-pint?" He grinned, Maggie smiling in response. "Ohhhh this is gonna be good. I'm actually excited by this! Especially with my little sis assisting me out, the crowd is going to go wild!"
"But we gotta make sure it looks legit!" Maggie reminded him before she snickered. "The Death Bowl has never seen the carnage that we're about to create!"
"Erm, what's the Death Bowl?" Jess inquired.
"THIS is the Death Bowl!" Magnus declared, spreading out his arms out to an arena. Their surroundings had changed dramatically, with many griefers cheering, whooping, and yelling as they stood at the base of the arena.
"Wellllllllcome ladies and gentlegriefers, to the Death Bowl. In one corner, we have Magnus, your king of BoomTown with his sister, the princess by his side, prepared to defend his title and crown!" Said an announcer as Magnus waved to his roaring fans. Jess couldn't help but to feel nervous as she fidgeted with her hands. She definitely wasn't expecting this.
"So, tiny. Welcome to the Death Bowl. The grief-OFF to end all Grief-OFFs," Maggie said, shifting her attention onto them. She and Magnus then came close to listen in to what they had to say. "How do you wanna fake this?"
"We'll start off small, and then I'll throw some TNT at you - Just let it graze you and then we'll call it a finish, all right?" Jess explained. She didn't want the fight to last long.
"You heard that, sis?" Magnus asked.
"Something about TNT," Maggie shrugged.
"Awesome."
This gave Jess a sinking feeling, realizing they both weren't fully listening to her.
"And you!" The announcer said to Jess. "What name do you go by?"
Jess thought for a moment, knowing that she'll have to come up with a really rad name so griefers don't end up clowning on her. "They call me.. The Amulet Holder!" She declared.
Satisfacted with the name, the announcer went on. "You heard the name, folks - Give a big Death Bowl welcome to the AMULET HOLDER!" The announcer said and right on his cue, the crowd went wild for Jess which made her feel a bit more confident. "Then let's begin! Opponents will craft their own griefing towers, which they will then use to grief each other. The only rule is.."
"-That there are no rules!" Screamed a griefer from the sidelines.
"- No eye-poking," he finished, making a couple of griefers in the crowd 'boo.' "Other than that, go crazy. Seriously. Amulet Holder! Pick your building material! And Magnus, you-."
"Nah, I'm good," Magnus said. "Brought my own supply."
"Then, let the griefing begin!" The announcer finished. "Remember, accomplices cannot help until the second part of the battle!"
Jess frowned as the sisters gave each other worried glances. "Don't worry, I'll help you," Nikki assured her, assuming that she'll be able to help as well since it won't be fair if it's one against two. "When I can, that is.."
The sisters then headed towards some chests that housed many materials. Wood, wool and stone. As Jess began to look through the chests to see what they have, Nikki gasped in surprise as familiar purple particles began to surround her. It was Zephyr? But what was he doing here? And how did he even get there-?
"Zeph!" Nikki beamed, happy to see her pet EnderBat was safe as he landed on her shoulder. He squeaked happily, showing his relief that she was fine but then started squeaking urgently, showing that he needed to tell her something. "I'm glad to see you too, buddy but we're kinda in the middle of something. Maybe it could wait until we're done?"
The EnderBat frowned before flying off her shoulder and flying above the chest that contained stone instead. Jess flinched slightly from seeing him, still trying to get used to him. "Woah-! Hey Zephyr! Nikki, what's he doing here?" She wondered, glancing at her younger sister. "I thought you left him back at the Temple."
"I did but I guess he found us here," Nikki shrugged. She didn't mind that her pet bat had come to join them. "I think you should pick stone though. It's the strongest out of the three."
"I think I'm going with the pink wool instead. It reminds me of Reuben," Jess replied, taking the wool from the chest.
Nikki frowned at her answer, knowing that wool wouldn't hold up well against TNT but she respected her sister's wishes. "If you say so," she said. The sisters then started to work on building their tower before Jess glanced back at Magnus and Maggie, noticing they were done with their tower as well. Zephyr on the other hand hid in Nikki's hoodie in order to stay safe and to keep out of sight.
"Hmm. Not bad.. not bad. Guess it'll have to do," Jess murmured, noticing how the towers looked equal.
"Axel, what are you doing over there on their side?!" Nikki suddenly snapped, spotting their friend fanboying over Magnus right next to his tower.
"Yeah, thought you might bring that up. It's just that Nikki wanted to take your side and I didn't wanna crowd her or anything," Axel sheepishly explained. "So I thought I'd, um, watch from over here."
That was the dumbest excuse the sisters had ever heard, but neither of them didn't bother to protest. They had a griefing competition to win.
"Take your best shot!" Maggie challenged. Jess picked up an egg and flipped it confidently before she chucked it in their direction as hard as she could. It sailed harmlessly past the two, not even coming as close to hitting them.
"And that's how you shouldn't throw an egg!" Jess awkwardly said but everyone simply booed and laughed at her.
"Ha! You grief with me? You grief with the best!" Magnus huffed. He then turned his back on Jess and seeing her chance, Jess chucked a second egg. Maggie this noticed and tried to warn him but it was too late and the egg hit him square in the back of the head, knocking him spat on his face as a baby chicken spawned. Maggie helped him up before the two glared daggers at their opponents.
"So, Amulet Holder. Taking an Amulet wasn't enough.. You need to take my crown as well?" Magnus snarled.
"I do not discriminate in my accessory-taking. Your crown shall be mine," Jess shot back, Maggie kicking the little chicken off their tower.
"You are but a student. Prepare yourself! For I am here to give you your final lesson!" Magnus chastised before flipping a lever that mounted upon a piston. The TNT flew at the sisters, but it fell halfheartedly well away from their tower and hit the announcer instead, making him plummet into a pit. Jess giggled as Nikki yawned, which she mainly does to feel and look cool during troubling situations. The rogue then tried to cover himself from the embarrassing situation. "Er, that was just a warning-."
"What? A warning that you need glasses?" Nagged a griefer from the bleachers. The sisters enjoyed a good laugh and even Maggie couldn't help but to cackle at her brother's silly mistake.
"Really, bro?" She snickered as she placed her hands on her hips.
"It seems the student has become the master, and the Amulet Holder will win the day!" Jess announced.
"I don't know what that means but I love it and want to put it on a t-shirt!" A griefer from the sidelines exclaimed. Feeling confident now, Jess went to her TNT cannon so she could graze Magnus and get a move on. She pulled the lever, her mini-cannon sending a TNT block but Magnus saw the TNT blocks heading right for them and built a slime block wall in front of him, bouncing the TNT right back at them. The sisters had to duck in order to not get hurt. Once they regained their composure, they glanced back at him with wide eyes.
"But.. what happened to getting hit by the TNT?" Nikki wondered out loud.
"They said they'll follow the plan!" Jess replied, still being confused and shocked as well.
"Nobody messes with the BOOM MASTER!" Magnus retorted, but this time it didn't seem like he was acting. He seemed sincere about it. They were now in the second part of the competition.
"Uh oh.." Jess whimpered.
"Jess? Nikki, are you okay?" Axel asked, racing to his friends' side to make sure they weren't hurt.
"Now that I'm ready to help, dear brother, we're going to show these noobs how we do it here in BoomTown!" Maggie declared before she snickered and faced their opponents. "Had enough yet? All righty. I think Noob Time.. is over."
"And what part of throwing the fight was that?!" Nikki hissed loud enough for them to hear.
"What say you, noob?" Magnus snarled. "I am king, and those who challenge me will be ANNIHILATED!"
"Guys.. I think they just lost it," Axel whimpered, having a sucken feeling about the siblings' behavior.
"You think?!" Nikki snapped.
"Magnus! Craft a cannon!" Shouted a griefer from the sidelines.
"Yeah, finish them off with a cannon!" Called another.
"If it's a cannon you want.." Maggie started.
"It's a cannon you'll get!" Magnus finished, making everyone cheer as they thrusted for more violence.
"Yep, they completely lost it - they're going in for the kill! Jess, Nikki, you guys better craft the.. I don't know, greatest thing of your life. Like right now!" Axel alerted them.
"You see why you should've picked stone?" Nikki then said, giving her sister a side glare.
"Well, there's still some material in the chest.." Jess reminded her. The sisters went to the chest, taking out some stone and crafting a stone wall with a two-block wide opening. At first, Axel thought they would be okay but as soon as his eyes wandered to Magnus' side, which changed dramatically, he a hard pit appeared in his stomach. Nikki noticed as well and felt all hope left her as she peered at Magnus' and Maggie's tower.
"Hey, Axel, check it out. Ha! That should hold them," Jess said, not noticing yet that their pitiful shield stood zero chance against their opponent.
"Yeah. It's.. yeah. Um, yeah, it might do," Axel stammered, Jess' smile fading when she noticed her friend's and sister's scared expressions. "But Jess, look." Axel pointed at their opponents, and when Jess noticed them, she felt all confidence left her. Right in front of them was a massive TNT cannon shaped like a skull, lava pouring out of its nose. Magnus and Maggie sat in the middle of it, their eyes burning flames as they both cackled.
"But you were supposed to throw the fight.." Jess whimpered through gritted teeth. She knew they were in HUGE trouble.
Magnus flipped the first lever, a TNT flying out of the cannon and nearly destroying their stone shield. Maggie flipped the next one, sending yet another one at the unfortunate sisters.
"Jess, Nikki, look out!" Axel warned, the sisters spotting more TNT heading right for them. They were lucky enough to be able to dodge the blasts but they knew it was only a matter of time. Magnus and Maggie were both flipping their levers like crazy and as Axel raced to the chests to look for something they could use, Zephyr flew from Nikki's hoodie and high into the air.
"You're going up against the best of the best and you pick.. wool? Ha! That's hilarious!" Maggie taunted.
"And thematically appropriate with your training by barnyard animals!" Magnus added. Before he could go on however, Zephyr flew right in their face, squeaking angrily. The fire disappeared from their eyes for a brief moment as they were being distracted by the little bat.
"Hey!" Maggie scowled.
"Get off! No bats allowed!" Magnus snarled.
"Stuff! I got cool stuff.. coming your way!" Axel called as he pulled out a bow and arrow, tossing it up to Jess. "I got you a bow and arrow! I think it's enchanted or something."
"A bow? In a cannon fight?" Nikki said in disbelief. "Axel! There are all sorts of cliched lines about this!"
"Yeah, but the TNT. Inside the cannon!" The big guy pointed at the TNT inside the mouth of the skull.
"TNT plus arrow.." Jess murmured, now seeing where he was headed.
"Oh yeah!"
"Time to see how well you fly, bat!" Magnus declared, drawing back their attention. He was putting Zephyr with his wings tied to his body onto one of the cannon launchers, the fire returning in their eyes.
"Bye bye, little bat!" Maggie snickered before she pushed one of the levers, launching Zephyr right in the air!
"Zephyr!" Nikki cried. As the little bat went flying through the air, Axel ran backwards and caught him safely in his arms, untying him and freeing him from his trap. Once the EnderBat was safe, Jess scowled and faced the former Order member.
"Hey Magnus!" She called.
"Yeah, short stuff?" He cackled.
Jess leapt onto a higher part of the debris of their tower. She drew her new arrow back, keeping her eyes on her target as she aimed directly at the TNT in the cannon. Neither of them had noticed and continued cackling as they mercilessly fired TNT at them, but Jess jump-dodged the explosions, and shot the arrow in midair!
Maggie noticed this and with her eyes turning back to normal, she nudged her brother to snap him out of his trance, but it was much too late. It flew like a bullet, flying through the lava and hitting one of the TNT sitting inside the cannon.
"Oh shit!" He cried as the explosions erupted, not even leaving a block to either of them to stand on. They both went plummeting onto the ground, Magnus groaning as he hit the ground before catching his little sister before she got hurt.
They had been defeated. They both looked miffed but overall seemed relieved. Jess screamed as she fell through the air but stopped when she felt someone grab her hand. It was Nikki! She was standing on a remaining block that survived the battle. With some struggle, she helped pull her up before giving her a huge hug. She couldn't believe it; they had done it! They won!
The crowd erupted in cheer as they rejoiced for the winners and the start of a new era. The announcer scrambled out of the pit and noticing the commotion going on, he grinned. "We have a winner! The Amulet Holder!" He bellowed.
Once the sisters got down, they grinned. Zephyr flew around them happily before landing on Nikki's shoulder and even Axel was proud of their new victory.
"You gonna say something there, champ?" The announcer then asked. "It's just the winner sometimes, I don't know, gives a speech..?"
"Helloooo BoomTown! How're we all doing, huh?" Jess addressed the roaring crowd. "Heyyy that's awesome. I'm so proud to be standing in front of you all today."
The mood then changed drastically as many griefers readied their weapons. "Welp, you guys ready then?" A griefer said.
"Yeah, this'll be a way easier target than Magnus!" Another agreed.
"Wait. What's going on?" Axel panicked. Nikki remembered what Magnus said back in the tower, "you've heard about the 'challenging the king for his crown' thing, right? It's like their thing.. so as long as I'm king, I cannot leave this tower."
"Oh well that's not good-." She whimpered, glancing over at her big sister who had the same expression. Before anyone could strike however, a loud growl sounded.
"Holy CRAP!" Maggie screamed.
Magnus glanced at what she was looking at, his eyes as wide as they could go. "Is that YOUR WitherStorm?!" He yelped. "How are we.. what are we.. That's.. GAGH?!"
The WitherStorm had arrived in BoomTown. He watched in horror as the monster began destroying the city, picking up debris from the buildings it destroyed and griefers with its tractor beam. Maggie was panicking, holding onto her older brother for comfort as they watched their home being destroyed around them. Magnus however looked angered.
"Stop eating my kingdom!" He ordered but the beast wasn't intent on listening. "Put my subjects DOWN!"
"Magnus, come on!" Jess urged, grabbing the rogue as they ran towards the direction of the Nether portal.
Magnus stopped for a brief moment, facing the monster. "You'll regret messing with BoomTown!" He vowed.
"GO!"
The trip through the Nether was surprisingly quiet and once they arrived at the vined cliff, they just needed to climb it up. It seemed to be around midday, which relieved them since they didn't want to be venturing out in the dark. "Okay! Just a little father!" Jess called.
"Wow. Someone really went bonkers with the defenses, huh?" Magnus commented, noticing how different the temple looked.
"Yeah. Getting kind of a lot of deja vu," Maggie agreed.
"Let's head inside," Nikki urged them. They hopped from the cliff and as they stepped closer to it, a new voice rang.
"MAGNUS! Maggie!" Mini cried as she ran towards her former allies. She had a huge smile on her face as she gave each of them a huge hug. It was a heartfelt union, the three embracing each other in a hug and it even seemed like Magnus was crying a little.
"Kid-! I was so worried!" He cried after breaking away from the union. "The moment these noobs came and told us what happened and how you gave them your amulet to find me and-.. I'm just glad you're okay."
"You and I both. What happened in BoomTown?" Mini asked.
"..BoomTown.. wish I could say it's still mighty swell," Maggie frowned, feeling shivers down her back as the events that went down replayed in her head.
Mini felt a hard pit in her stomach as she realized what her friend meant. "You guys must be tired. We should probably go rest inside."
As soon as she said that, a new familiar voice spoke. "Jess!" The voice said. They all whipped their heads around to see Lukas running towards them, giving Jess a tight hug before checking if she was hurt. "You're back! What happened-? Are you hurt?!"
"No need to worry about me, Lukas," Jess assured him. "I'm fine. But look: we got Magnus-! And his sister, Maggie."
The blonde glanced over at the rogue and his sibling, Maggie hiding behind her older brother as she waved shyly before he glanced back at the brunette. "I'm just glad you guys are back. You guys have been gone for.. a long time," he sighed. "Is Zephyr with you?"
"Yep! Right here!" Nikki piped up, the EnderBat resting on her shoulder.
"Yeah, we totally rocked it!" Axel beamed.
"Great. I just-.. I can't believe you guys actually did it.. Jesse's not back yet but you won't believe who showed up!"
He then led everyone back inside, leading them back to the Map Room where someone with auburn hair waited for them. The sisters' and Axel's eyes widened as they realized who the redhead was.
• Building a Command Block.. or not •
The party of four started to work on the Command Block. As they worked, Olivia had a feeling that her idol wasn't at all fond of her. While she doesn't give her that much of a hard time, she does mostly pay attention to Jesse, giving her dirty glares and sometimes even refusing to acknowledge her existence. She felt like she was only acting that way because of her embarrassing introduction earlier.
Even though hours upon hours had passed, it only felt as though barely a few minutes went by, everyone focusing hard on creating the Command Block. Olivia felt as though Ellegaard's distaste for her increased as she tried to include herself in more and try to stay on her good side. She could feel her burning glare on her and that alone was enough to make her feel anxious.
Despite this, Jesse tried his best to make her feel more included, allowing her to pull and push levers and buttons and tried his best to assure her when Ellegaard was being too harsh towards her and even Chris tried his best to keep things cool without upsetting his cousin. Olivia was glad to have Jesse and Chris as friends but it didn't hide how insecure she felt. At some point, Olivia carried a couple ingredients towards the crafting tables, but ended up tripping over. She sighed, knowing that it was becoming a regular thing. And it wasn't fun.
On their lord knows what try, once all the ingredients were mixed, Jesse flipped the T-flop circuit. Again, the pistons with crafting tables on them contracted and made a faded command block but it fizzled out. Despite another failure, the team gave each other another look of determination. The process started again; lever flicking, the crafting, chest digging, and of course, the T-flop activation. However this time, it didn't fizzle out. It kept on going.
"Okay! Okay! Excellent! Good!" Ellegaard squealed. "This is so exciting, terribly exciting!"
"You believe we got it?" Chris wondered.
"Has it gotten this far before?" Olivia asked.
"No! Never!" The engineer gushed as the command block started to form. They couldn't believe it: they did it! Their hope quickly washed away as the block soon began to move around quickly, almost as though it was getting unstable. Ellegaard's smile dropped by this. "Is it.. destabilizing?"
Suddenly, they heard a loud, familiar growl. Olivia and Jesse had a hard pit in their stomach as they shared the same scared expression. The WitherStorm was here. A black tentacle forced its way through the side of the lab wall, destroying everything in sight.
Chris' jaw dropped as he froze in place. The tentacle was just about to lash out at him but Olivia pushed him out of the way, protecting him from getting hit. Ellegaard ducked a hit from another tentacle, feeling herself frozen in fright as she watched the beast destroy her lab. As everyone bolted for the exit, Jesse noticed the engineer glued on the spot and quickly went to save her.
"Ellegaard! Come on!" He cried, pushing the older woman to her senses. Dodging hits from the beast, the party ran out of the lab, now going through the hallway that has been untouched and towards the entrance.
"We need to go! We need to get to the portal!" Ellegaard ordered as they ran, her voice cracking as she fixed a guilt expression on the friends. "I'm so sorry. So.. so sorry."
With that, the four ran out of the Dome, Jesse picking up his pet pig as they continued to flee. As they raced down the stairs, a tractor beam passed over them when Jesse was halfway down, breaking it away. He was going too fast to stop however and made a dangerous leap over the gap, and continued running.
Once everyone was on the ground, the screams of the poor unfortunate people rang through their ears as they raced towards the portal. Jesse cringed, feeling guilty that he wasn't able to help the innocent lives being taken.
"The portal! Hurry!" Ellegaard cried as they drew closer to the bridge. From the corner of his eye, Jesse noticed a tentacle heading right for him and at the last second, dodged out of the way, collapsing onto the ground, Reuben hopping out of his arms to join Olivia. Just when he thought he was out of danger however, the tentacle wrapped itself around him, holding him up in the air.
Acting fast, he took out his sword and stabbed it as hard as he could until it released him. Once he was back on the ground, he fell on his feet before venturing on. "Over here! This way!" Ellegaard alerted as she, Olivia and Chris ran onto the bridge. Jesse once again hopped down a large gap to join his team, nearly missing the gap and clinging onto the edge. He gasped in fear, glancing at the waters rushing below him before he pulled himself together, pulling himself back onto the other side. Chris had come to his side and with some struggle, he was able to pull him safely onto the ground.
"Thank you!" Jesse gasped.
"It's my pleasure," Chris assured him. "Let's go!"
With that, the team escaped inside the portal. Jesse nervously glanced at the roaring beast and the ruins of Redstonia one last time before he joined his friends. Once they were safe in the Fire World, Ellegaard and Chris both needed a moment to process all that happened. The place they grew up in had been destroyed. Everything and everyone they knew was gone. The rest of the trip was peaceful, and once they were back in the Overworld, they immediately got to work to make their way to the Temple.
"Okay! Just a little farther!" Jesse called once he climbed up the vined hill.
"Well. That's certainly impressive. Wow," Ellegaard said, her eyes landing on the Temple. It wasn't as broken down as it was before and had stone and brick blocks decorating it. Chris however didn't say anything, silently hopping down as everyone else leaped down after him. They were so focused on the building that they didn't notice a creeper heading right for them until they flinched in alarm as a couple arrows were shot at it, killing it instantly.
"Who goes there?" Called a bold voice. They glanced up to see Lukas and Mini sitting at the watchtower. When Lukas noticed them, his eyes widened in relief. "Jesse? Is that you?"
"Lukas, did you build all this?" Jesse asked in disbelief, wondering where he got all the various blocks.
"Well, yeah. I figured I would really try and fortify the place, y'know?"
"Nice!"
"I'm so glad you're back!"
"And we brought Ellegaard!"
"Fantastic! And guess what: we found more help!"
"Ellegaard! Chris! You're back!" Mini beamed, waving up from the watchtower.
"Mini! You're here too-?" Ellegaard's eyes widened in relief. She had been so focused on what happened in Redstonia, she forgot to wonder if she was doing alright.
"Mini! It's such a relief to see you!" Chris grinned. "How did you get here?"
"Well, it's a long story," Mini replied. "But quick! C'mon!"
The five, including Reuben went to the iron doors as Mini and Lukas welcomed them in, eager to share the news. "You guys are never going to believe who showed up while you were gone.." Lukas beamed, stepping aside and revealing a familiar redhead leaning against the wall, her face brightening when she saw who walked through the doors.
"Petra!" Jesse exclaimed, feeling a wave of relief and happiness washing over him as the redhead approached them.
"Hey guys. How's it going?" Petra greeted, looking equally pleased as well. Rueben oinked gleefully as he ran in circles around her and once he had calmed down, Petra kneeled down to pet him.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Petra," Olivia beamed, the two embracing.
"Yeah I'm pretty stoked about it myself," Petra admitted before her attention soon laid on Jesse. "And it's really good to see you, Jesse." She embraced him around his neck, Jesse resting his arms around her waist in return. "Back there in Gabriel's bucker.. It got pretty dicey."
"I missed you.." Jesse murmured as he held onto her as if his life depended on it.
"I missed you too.." she breathed back before they parted. "You pulled me out of that WitherStorm's clutches and I ran and ran and ran for the Temple.. If you hadn't saved me.. Well, I owe you everything, Jesse." Her eyes were filled with emotion and pain as her eyes locked with Jesse's.
"Did Gabriel get away too?" Olivia asked. "Did you see?"
"It's all a blur.. But the WitherStorm left almost nothing behind. Everything.. everyone.. was just gone," Petra explained sorrowfully as they trotted down the hallway. She hesitated for a moment before continuing on. "It even got Gabriel." The expressions that Mini, Ellegaard and Chris casted were too painful for her to look at so she simply glanced away. Gabriel was like a father to Mini, Chris and even Maggie, one of Ellegaard's closest friends.. and now he's gone.
"I wouldn't believe that anything could defeat Gabriel if I hadn't seen it for myself.." Ellegaard sighed. "This is terrible."
"I was at EnderCon when it happened so I had the luck of seeing it with my own eyes. I didn't get to see or save him but now that he's gone, I-.. it doesn't feel right.." Mini sniffled, Chris going up to her and wrapping his arm around her in order to give her the comfort she needed though he couldn't help but to admit she was right.
"Who are you again..?" Jesse asked, wondering who she was and how they all already knew each other.
"Mini. The Order's apprentice," Mini addressed. "You must be Jesse, right? Jess' and Nikki's older brother?"
"..right.. you're the Order's what now-?"
"We have a long history. Which.. I won't get into," Ellegaard explained, Jesse wondering what she meant by that but didn't bother to ask.
"We're alive. And that means there is still hope. Come along - Everyone else is still inside," Mini said. The rest of the trip was silent and when they climbed up to the map room, Ellegaard couldn't help but to glance around the room in awe.
"Boy. Can't remember the last time I saw this place.." she muttered but when her eyes landed on a familiar face nearby, her eyes narrowed. "Would someone care to explain what he is doing here?"
• Problems, Issues and Resolves? •
Jesse glanced at the other Order member, confused. What was Magnus doing here? Did Mini bring him here or did something else happen while they weren't there? And why was Ellegaard so mad about it? Weren't they teammates?
"Oh, this isn't going to go well," Chris muttered.
"Call this a hunch.. But do you two not like each other?" Petra asked, surprised.
"Right. I forgot to mention - Jess, Nikki and Axel went on a little.. adventure on their own, while you were gone," Lukas informed them. Jesse scowled, wondering why he didn't bother to stop them before they left on their own.
"An adventure to get him?" Ellegaard huffed before Jesse could say anything. She then shifted her gaze towards him, her eyes narrowed. "Did you know about this? Why didn't you tell me? You did this on purpose!"
"Hey, Jess and Nikki? They're my sisters, okay? I didn't know they were going to get Magnus," Jesse answered honestly. "I told them to stay here before we left. You gotta believe me."
"Is that so? Well I hope you're not expecting me to work with that cretin."
"Look, just wait here a second while I figure out what's going on."
"Much appreciated."
"What's going on?" Petra asked, glancing down at Mini and Chris who both had nervous expressions.
"Magnus and Ellegaard don't really have the best relationship," Mini awkwardly said. "They have.. a messy history."
Jesse approached the small gang, being cautious since he was unsure if Magnus would actually be accepting of him. When his sisters noticed him, their faces lit up as they ran towards him.
"Jesse! You're back!" Jess beamed.
"About time! What took so long?" Nikki whined, but before she could get an answer, a new voice spoke.
"So, who are you, then? And why did you bring the Queen of the Nerds with you?" Magnus huffed.
"That's Jesse, my best friend," Axel addressed. "Trust me. Jesse's totally cool."
"I'll, haha, I'll be the judge of that, huh?"
"We're reuniting the Order of the Stone," Jesse said. "The plan was to get Ellegaard first but well.." He glared at his sisters.
"We got tired of waiting around so Nikki thought it'd be a cool idea to go recruit Magnus ourselves," Jess explained. "And when Mini came along, she agreed to stay with Lukas as the rest of us went along and-."
"We went to BoomTown and boy, it was crazy! But it all worked out in the end," Nikki butted in. "We had to beat Magnus and his sister, Maggie in a crazy tournament!"
"Yeah. And now, I'm the King of BoomTown!" Jess grinned.
"King?" Jesse repeated, confused. "BoomTown?"
"That's the name of Magnus' kingdom. And it wasn't easy. The tournament, I mean."
"No, I mean like. Don't you mean 'queen?' And what crazy adventure?"
"Long story. You had to be there," Maggie replied. "Short version? Epic battle of explosions and mayhem.. Death-defying action shenanigans and pyrotechnics.. Badabing badaBOOM!"
"Your sister here is kind of Supreme Ruler of my kingdom now.. or what's left..You know what I mean.." Magnus added awkwardly.
"Well, this is unexpected," Ellegaard huffed as she came over. Chris approached as well but only came to wave at Maggie, who noticed him and waved back at him.
"I'm not entirely sure what you mean, but I'm definitely sure that I don't like it," Magnus growled.
"Yeah! Show him some respect!" Axel warned.
Ellegaard had hardly noticed Axel at all before but his snarky comment got her attention. "Oh. You're sticking up for Magnus. That's very.. sweet," she said passive aggressively.
"Yeah he's sticking up for me. It's because I'm really awesome and super cool."
"I'll never understand your fans."
"Would you all cut it out?! Holy crap you're all acting like crazy people!" Jesse ordered. Magnus and Ellegaard were both far from ending the conflict however and both trotted towards the map sitting at the other side of the room. "Uh, people? Can we PLEASE focus on the bigger picture? We have a very hungry WitherStorm in the process of turning the whole world into its dinner."
"It WAS terrifying," Ellegaard admitted. "It came out of nowhere and just destroyed.. everything."
"Little too scary for you Ellie? Couldn't just think it away?" Magnus taunted.
"You weren't there, Magnus. I'm telling you - This thing was like nothing I've ever seen."
"You think I came here for fun, Ellie? I SAW what the thing could do! I bet you would've NEVER guessed because it's never come inside one of your little workshops."
"Would you two STOP fighting?" Nikki barked, catching everyone around the room by surprise.
"Nikki's right," Jess said. "This arguing isn't helping anything. If we want to stop that thing, we are going to need some serious firepower."
"I hear everything but lies," Mini agreed. "We must find a way to defeat that monstrosity."
"Such as?" Chris asked, not having anything in mind to stop that beast. The only chance they had was when they were trying to craft a Command Block back in Redstonia, but with that option gone, everything felt hopeless.
"We have to try something! Does anyone have any ideas?" Nikki inquired.
"Well I don't know if you've had the chance to poke around this old dump yet, but it's pre-tty much stripped bare," Magnus reminded them. "It would take a mountain of TNT to kill that thing!"
"I hate to say it, but you have a point," Ellegaard agreed. Are they agreeing with each other?
"Do we have enough gunpowder to craft some then?" Maggie asked.
"I don't think we have that kind of time, sis," Magnus replied.
"So what are we gonna do? How are we going to stop it?" Jesse inquired.
"Well let's not panic, first of all. That's a good first step," Ellegaard suggested. "But against such an unthinkable enemy, even all the TNT in the world might not be enough." She then groaned, frustrated. "If only Soren were here.. He might have something we could use."
"Oh Ellie. Not this again," Magnus grumbled. "You know I hate when you brag about you and Soren's little brainy club."
"Wait Magnus. She may have a point," Mini said. "Soren did have certain.. Objects. Inventions. I think Ellegaard got a legitimate idea here!"
"What are you talking about? What did Soren have?" Jess asked, getting even more and more confused.
"Wait, I believe I got an answer. Soren had a kind of 'Super TNT,' stronger and more explosive than anything else in the world: The Formidi-Bomb," Chris recalled.
"The what now?" Maggie wondered.
"Where did you hear about this?" His cousin asked, wondering how he got this knowledge despite his young age.
"I overheard Soren talking about it before."
"Yeah yeah yeah. I've heard all about the 'F-bomb' before," Magnus huffed though he wasn't pleased to talk about it.
"F-Bomb?" Axel repeated, his unibrow twisting in confusion.
"Yeah. Soren claimed that dropping the F-bomb could destroy anything-."
"And no one showed me because?" Maggie interrupted, nudging her brother.
"-But I've never seen it," Magnus continued, giving her an annoyed expression.
"Do you know where it is? Can we get some?" Jess questioned.
"Well, there's a little problem there.." Ellegaard sighed.
"We don't know where Soren is," Mini finished. "But.. you found Magnus. And Ellegaard. Do you know where he is?"
The crowd made their way in front of the map, their eyes landing on the map sitting in front of them. "Our map could locate him," Ellegaard said. "Unless he's in the Nether or the End. But it's worth a shot."
"He wasn't on the map," Jesse frowned, remembering how they only saw two lights the first time.
"Then you better get to working then, partner!" Maggie replied as everyone else scattered, waiting for the siblings to turn the system back into motion. Jesse went ahead and placed the amulet back onto the pedestal before going to the controls and flipping one of the levers. Once he was done, two beams of light flashed over their heads, pointing in the same direction, altering that both Magnus and Ellegaard were at the Temple.
"Incredible.." Chris gasped in awe as he, Mini and Maggie all gazed at the lights in awe. They had never actually seen it work before and were all taken aback by how amazing it looked.
"All right, there's your light, my light.." Magnus observed. Suddenly, a third white light flap flickered on the edge of the map.
"That's new," Axel commented.
"There he is," Ellegaard gasped. "Soren had his fortress deep inside the mountains. After the Order.. broke up. That's where he went to keep doing his experiments."
"Look, he invited me there a couple times," Magnus revealed. "But it always seemed a little.."
"Weird, right? It always seemed a little weird," Mini guessed. "Glad to see you two getting along. For once."
"Not for long," Magnus sighed.
"I mean, I never actually went there with him.." Ellegaard admitted.
"That's probably the only time you made the right call."
"Then let's stop hanging around here and go get us some super TNT," Jesse urged them. Suddenly an indigo light flashed onto the map. Everyone was confused. Why was this light suddenly appearing now?"
"Whoa.." Maggie gasped.
"It didn't do that before," Jesse said, confused.
"Blue..?" Jess murmured, wondering what it could mean but when it hit her, her eyes widened in realization. "Blue! That's Ivor!"
"Ivor is going to Soren's! We need to move," Ellegaard said urgently.
"It's not too far.. We could probably make it on foot," Nikki observed.
"Righteous. We'll get some rest and head out first thing in the morning," Magnus suggested. "Avoiding all the 'nighttime' and 'monsters' and everything."
"If you had actually seen that monster, you shouldn't be saying that. We need to leave. Now," Ellegaard disagreed. "I think it's following us, Magnus. And I don't want to risk it catching up with us. We have to go now."
"I may be a fan of getting into danger but I'm NOT a fan of just waltzing in the woods at night!"
"It's not night YET. We'll just go as fast as we can."
Magnus only scoffed in response which was enough to anger the engineer. "Did you forget what it could do, Magnus?!" She spat.
"No but I did forget who just saved us from it!"
"Are you serious, Magnus?!"
"HEY, enough. Can you hold your bickering for later? We have work to do!" Nikki scowled.
"How old are you? I bet you're not even eighteen yet and you're butting into important matters. Why don't you stay in your own lane, huh, kiddo?" Magnus spat.
"What? But YOU don't know me! I could be as tough as anyone here!"
"Oh really? Show me then!"
"Enough! I don't want to risk being outside when it gets dark. We should wait til morning so we can have a full day of sunlight," Jess said, ending the argument between them. "We'll leave at dawn."
"Jess here's talking a lot of sense. Let's just go with that plan," Magnus grinned, though Ellegaard was less than pleased.
"You're just saying that because it's your plan," she scoffed. "But fine."
With that, everyone went downstairs and went into the large bedroom. While it's true that there were a lot more people than before, there were still more than enough beds to fit everyone. "Okay everyone - Rest up. We'll head out at first light, alright?" Jesse said before sitting down. His eyes narrowed when he noticed Jess and Lukas talking nearby, but since he was too tired to really care, he sighed as he rested.
"I appreciate you giving us a chance to rest, Jesse. I hate to admit it.. But I needed this," Petra sighed, sitting next to him as she tried to make herself comfortable.
"Jesse?" Nikki said as she trotted over to them. "Can we talk-? Alone.."
Jesse glanced at Petra, who assured him that everything was fine before he stood up and followed his sister outside of the room. He was confused, wondering what his sister wanted but he asked until they were now standing alone in one of the hallways. "Nikki? What's wrong-?" He asked slowly.
"Everything? What Magnus was saying about me before I-.. it's not fair!" Nikki vented. "They don't understand. Just because I'm smaller doesn't mean I can't be a hero too! Can you tell them that?"
"I don't know, Nikki, but.. they kinda have a point?"
"What?"
"Nikki, let me remind you there's a very hungry WitherStorm in the process of turning the world into its dinner? You have to stay with us if we're actually going to have a chance of beating it. Just-.. let the stronger people do the work."
"Jesse, I already proved that I'm just as strong as you guys! Did you forget what happened at EnderCon when-."
"Things aren't the same as they were before, Nikki! This isn't like EnderCon!" Jesse snapped, making his little sister flinch. Jess had come from behind, listening to their conversation. She wondered where they ran off before so she followed them to see what they were talking about. "You can't just run off like that! Both you and Jess. What if something happened when you guys were getting Magnus and I wasn't there? Can you imagine the dangers you guys could've gotten yourselves in?!"
"Y'know this is why I wish Velvet was still there!" Nikki chastised though it looked as though she was holding back tears. "If he was here, he would've been actually proud of us! He wouldn't be saying those things!"
"Nikki, no we're not doing this again! Velvet's not here anymore, I'm here," Jesse retorted, though his voice was cracking. "And I know I'm not Velvet, okay?! I know I'm not super cool and I know I'm not funny or super chill or could do anything that cool people do!" He then froze, trying to steady his shaky breathing. "But you could talk to me."
"You don't even understand why this is important to me! No one does. And it's not fair.." Nikki sniffled. A moment of silence loomed over them which was quickly broken by a new voice speaking. They both glanced around and noticed Jess awkwardly standing at the doorway.
"Guys-! I-.. I don't mean to interrupt but.." Jess said, trying to find the right words but after hearing the explosive argument, she didn't know what to say, or even to react.
"It's fine. You guys head back. I'll just-.. go get fresh air," Nikki said, turning her back on her siblings as she went out on her own.
"Nikki-!"
"Leave her alone. She needs some alone time," Jess interrupted, grabbing her brother before he could go after their younger sister. Jesse frowned, feeling remorseful for what he said earlier. He didn't mean to hurt Nikki's feelings but only felt the overwhelming stress washing over him. They already lost Gabriel to that thing. And they nearly lost Petra as well. He doesn't want to lose anyone else. They had to be careful.
• Bonding •
Nikki went to sit alone on the roof, feeling as lost and alone than ever. She wondered why everyone kept doubting her: first at EnderCon and now here? As she dug a little more into the problem, she realized she wasn't the stereotypical hero. Heroes were supposed to be tough and strong and able to scare off evil. She couldn't do any of that. It seemed like just because of her size, she was automatically seen as weak. She wished at least ONE person would see her differently.
"You're up late," said a familiar voice behind her. Surprised, she quickly twisted her head around to see Maggie standing behind her. She went ahead and sat next to her, gazing up at the peaceful night sky.
"Shouldn't you be asleep-?" Nikki asked.
"Shouldn't you?" Maggie scoffed. "I'm not sleepy. And since I have nothing better to do, I came up here. What's up with you?"
"Just.. feeling a little down.."
"It's my brother thinking you're too small to help take that thing down, isn't it?" The griefer guessed, glancing at her ally who refused to meet her gaze. "Knew it. I know Magnus is rude sometimes but he doesn't mean half the stuff he says. He just says things when he's mad. Or stressed. Or both." This didn't at all make Nikki feel any better, Magnus' words replaying in her mind.
"Alright.." she sighed.
"I'll try talking to him about it though. I know he doesn't seem like the most reasonable but.. he'll listen. I promise," Maggie assured her before a guilty expression played across her face. "I'm-.. sorry about tying your bat up and tossing him up in the air. I guess we were both just in the heat of the moment. Doesn't excuse what we did, but it's a start."
"Thanks," Nikki replied before her mind wandered from her problems to how the two remaining Order members and how they obviously weren't happy at all to see each other. "What about you-? How come Magnus and Ellegaard don't get along?"
"It's.. complicated.." Maggie sighed. "They do sometimes, but something bad just happened between them and the rest of the Order a while back. I wish I could say what it was. I was too young to remember it."
"Was it hard to like.. y'know, listen to all the arguing?"
"..yeah.. but I'm used to it by now. Pretty sure Mini and Chris are too. Magnus took care of me as long as I could remember. I don't really remember our parents.. I only know that they died a long time ago."
"I see.."
"How about you?"
"Well- I don't know. I never knew my parents either. It makes me sad though since my siblings all have memories of them yet, when I try to think of them, my mind goes blank.."
Maggie glanced at her curiously. "What happened to them?"
"I don't know. None of us knows. Jesse said they just disappeared one day and.. never came back," Nikki explained, her eyes starting to water. "We don't know if they all died or abandoned us or.. whatever. But all we know is that they're gone and they're probably never going to come back."
Nikki sniffled, trying her best not to seem weak compared to the griefer. Maggie's eyes filled with sympathy before she glanced back up at the night sky. She at first was unsure of how to reply but not wanting to see her so down, she nudged her playfully. "Hey, at least we're here now, right? Parents or not, I could stand without them. And so can you," she encouraged. "We haven't exactly met on the right page but I can say that you're strong. I mean you did come to BoomTown, escaped a bunch of deadly griefers and nearly got annihilated. That's, Heh.. that's not something I see everyday."
Nikki felt her heart flutter at her words but she glanced at the griefer but she shook her head, frowning. "What's the point of doing all that if it's not enough to prove you could help take down the WitherStorm?"
"Pfft, are you serious? Who said you needed other people's opinions on what to do? I sneak out of the spiral ALL the time even though Magnus' overprotective ass is trying to keep me inside. Why? Because for fun. I want to FEEL alive," Maggie beamed. "Short version; If you think you could do something, you have to believe in it. I just met you and I already like you. That's rare. You should own it." She then held her hand, giving her a wide grin. Nikki felt her face burn up slightly by this but she couldn't help but to smile as well, now starting to feel better. Maggie then withdrew, her face slightly tinted red. "We should probably head back though.."
"No, no!" Nikki stopped her before she got up. "I-.. I want to stay here. Together. Please?" She gave her pleading eyes, wanting to spend more time with her alone.
The griefer knew that they might get in trouble in the morning but glancing at Nikki's emerald green eyes, she gave in, sitting back down and wrapping her arm around her. "Alright. That's chill with me. Come closer so I could keep you warm, princess," she said.
Nikki blushed at her words. "Princess-?"
"Anything wrong, Princesa?" Maggie's eyes sparkled with mischievousness. Nikki huffed before allowing herself to lay on her. She couldn't help but to admit that she felt comfortable resting in Maggie's arms and before they knew it, they eventually fell asleep together as the night went by..