Chapter 41: The End


A/N: Hi, there!
If you're reading this, that means you've reached what is technically the last chapter of the alternate ending. After this, there will be an epilogue that caps off the story of Alex and Steve. Instead of saying anything there, I'll just say what I must here, so as to not interrupt the feel and flow of the ending.
Thank you for reading my story. I sincerely hope you had as much fun reading it, as I did writing it. It may not be perfect, but it's something special to me. Something I spent over 2 years finalizing.
Whether you've read the original ending, are planning to, or are planning not to, thank you once again for taking this journey with me.
Enjoy!


Bright green grass. Sparkling lakes. Healthy trees. Prosperous terrain. A clear sky. An unrivaled feeling of serenity. Those were all things I loved about my old home. Standing near the edge of that floating island reminded me of them, and of how things used to be. If one were to view this desolate wasteland, they would probably never believe that it was once a prosperous paradise.

It wasn't the same realm it once was. Of course, I wasn't expecting to see the real Sky dimension; I knew what had happened to it. I had seen it with my very own eyes. It just felt like a part of me simply hadn't internalized the change. It was okay, though. I wasn't the same person I once was, either. Neither of us were.

The sterile end stone that paved the relatively even terrain, and the towering obsidian pillars were identical to what I had seen in nightmares of old. Endermen were abundant, too numerous to even count. They were teleporting to and fro, leaving behind purple clouds which contrasted heavily to the thin fog, and the starless sky.

Sight aside, there were other senses that dreams couldn't replicate. The End was surprisingly cold. Not as cold as a tundra, but still significantly colder than a plains biome at night. The humidity was comparable, though.

I tried to take in the smell of this dimension, but unlike the Nether, which had a very prevalent smell, the End smelled like…nothing. There were some faint hints of a burnt scent, but I could have also been imagining it.

And then, there we were, standing in the middle of an obsidian platform that was hovering next to the island. We built a narrow bridge out of dirt, and connected our platform to the landmass.

That was when I realized that the portal we had traveled through wasn't anywhere within sight. This was a one-way trip. We would either return home victorious, or die trying. The very instant we took our first step on the island, a robust, guttural roar resonated throughout the landscape.

It was almost as if it had sensed our presence, before we could even see it. We got into position, as we heard wings flap. We were on the lookout for it, while also trying to avoid making eye contact with the passing Endermen, for we seriously could not afford to divide our focus.

A new bar faded in at the top of my vision. It was practically identical to the one that corresponded to the ravager's health from back in the raid, minus the color; this one was purple.

When the Ender dragon emerged from the fog, its purple eyes met mine. Despite the fact that it had clearly seen us, it didn't make a move to attack, instead opting to gracefully, or dare I say, majestically circle the ring of obsidian pillars. Its speed was impressive, too.

I didn't know if it was hesitating to make a move, if it was testing us, or if it was merely planning when to strike. To its credit, we didn't attack, either. Alex and I looked at each other with thinly veiled uncertainty. With a gulp, she brandished her bow.

"It'll come back, I can feel it. Cover me."

I stood in front of her with my shield raised, so that no one would be able to attack her from the front, while she pulled back an arrow. Surely enough, the dragon circled back and dove toward us.

Alex fired away, and the arrow lodged itself sideways on its neck, taking away a slim, but noticeable sliver of its health. Unflinching, the beast did not alter its course, and rammed itself right into me with staggering force.

Beside the fact that my shield took the brunt of the hit, I was still sent flying backwards, knocking over Alex in the process. We both landed uncomfortably close to the edge, but the dragon resumed its patrol around the edge of the island. That almost felt like a warning shot.

Alex hastily tried to fire another arrow, but missed by a fair margin. That was the first time I had ever seen her miss a shot. As we properly stood on our feet, I noticed that the slim chunk that had been taken out of the purple health bar was slowly refilling.

"Steve, look!"

I darted my gaze over to where Alex was pointing, and saw that a beam of white light was being emitted from the top of one of the pillars, and was being directed at the dragon.

"That's how it healed itself, then!" I concluded.

"What?- Ugh, you're right, I didn't even notice that! Come on, let's get closer."

We made a run for the center of the landmass, where there would be a lesser risk of falling off into the void. The bedrock platform with the short obelisk in the middle was visible from where we were.

That's exactly where the Ender dragon perched itself, meeting us halfway. Alex seized the opportunity and fired as many arrows as she could, but each one was deflected with a swat of the wing.

It roared in irritation rather than pain, and breathed out a spray of purple energy that was coming our way. I jumped in front to protect us from it, but it didn't work out the way I expected. The toxic breath ensnared us.

With how much it stung now, I didn't want to imagine how much it would have hurt if we hadn't enchanted our armor. We had to wade out of the dense cloud, so as to not sustain further harm.

I got my sword ready, but just as I was about to land a hit, the vile serpent took off, causing me to hit one of the Endermen who had the misfortune of standing so close. It got pissed, but so did I. With a couple more swings, I put it out of its misery before it could cause us problems.

In the meantime, Alex successfully landed two of her shots, but that didn't matter in the end, for I could see that health bar slowly regenerating. While the dragon resumed circling the island, the two of us regrouped.

"Alex, are you okay?"

"No," she deadpanned after taking a bite off her bread. "Nothing we do works."

As much as I hated to admit it, the facts spoke for themselves. My defensive tactics were hardly beneficial, while Alex's offense was ineffective in the long run. After all our preparations, was there really nothing we could do?

Trying to remain calm, I looked at the top of a shorter obsidian pillar. What was so special about those structures that caused the Ender dragon's health to replenish? That's when I spotted something suspicious.

A purple crystal was spinning in place. That had to be it. I pointed it out to Alex and asked her to try and shoot it. Taking aim, she let an arrow fly across the distance between us and the pillar, right on the mark.

The crystal didn't just shatter; it downright exploded, releasing all its energy. The dragon must have been linked to it in some way, for its health got reduced by a considerable amount, even though it wasn't close enough to get caught in the blast.

Whatever the case may have been, our new breakthrough filled us with hope. We couldn't celebrate for too long, however. There were still nine active crystals remaining, and they were already putting in the work to make up for the other one's destruction.

"I'll focus on getting rid of them. Keep me covered."

I nodded at her request, and we set our plan to motion. Before we could move too far away from our spots, a louder roar than the others, preceded an incoming fireball.

"Look out!"

I jumped out of the way, but instead of bursting into flames, the projectile dissipated into that purple breath energy that had been unleashed against us previously. My evasive maneuver was not well timed, and I paid for it big time.

My exposed right hand was engulfed by the cloud. The burn caused my sword to slip from my hand as I retracted it, clutching tightly. The pain wouldn't let me open my eyes. Alex pushed me out of the way so that I wouldn't get hit by the dragon's subsequent dive.

I forced myself to look at the aftermath. Horrified, I saw that my hand had become as black as an enderman's. My chest tightened at the sight. My stomach turned, and my knees nearly buckled.

If I were to get hit like that again, odds were that I was going to meet the same fate as the rest of my kind. I reclaimed my sword after the miasma dissipated, and assured Alex I was able to carry out the rest of the plan.

Alex started to clear out each of the crystals, one by one, until there were only two left. While this was happening, I had to follow her closely enough to ensure that she wouldn't get harmed, but not too close for the Ender dragon to target her as well.

From what I had observed, there were three types of attacks to look out for. The first one was the dive, a direct attack. Although powerful enough to knock me off my feet, I was able to mitigate it sufficiently. Not to mention, it even allowed for a brief window to counterattack.

The second one was the toxic breath, which was mostly dished out whenever the dragon would roost on top of the central platform. While dangerous, its range was so limited, it didn't cause us further problems.

The final one was the fireball, which essentially served as a longer ranged breath attack. So long as it wouldn't come into contact with any of our unprotected points like it did with me, we were relatively fine.

This was a hectic hurdle to surpass, but we were keeping up. Of course, running around and weaving through incoming assaults was slowly but surely chipping away at our stamina, not to mention our food supply, but at this rate, there was a genuine chance we'd prevail.

When it came to the last two crystals, however, we were faced with an obstacle that disrupted our entire plan, and could very well lead to our downfall. Instead of being exposed and in the open, these crystals were fortified by an iron cage, meaning Alex's arrows couldn't reasonably fit through the gaps to destroy them.

It may seem like I'm overstating the importance of this hindrance, but if we didn't act fast, our entire progress was going to be erased. The dragon's health was going to revert to the point before the fight even started, while we would get progressively worn down. I don't know if it was the aching of my hand, but a part of me was starting to break.

We leaned behind a pillar in a moment of desperation. Alex was telling me something, but her words didn't reach me, until she squeezed my shoulders.

"Don't lose hope. There's still a way."

"..."

"Try and build your way up to the top, and break the cages for me. Can you do that?"

"...But what will you do?"

"I'll cover you," she stated definitively, but I was still uncertain.

"But what if you get cornered? You'll be completely defenseless…"

She went to respond, until a roar caused her to flinch, interrupting her temporarily.

"Steve, it's the only way. If we don't do this, we'll either get killed, or starve to death."

I knew this wasn't the time for hesitation, but…I had to admit…I was scared. Usually, I tried not to let fear get the better of me, and yet now, with everything at stake, I just…couldn't. At the same time, I was also aware that this very hesitation could play a detrimental part in our demise. Hence why, I trusted myself to agree.

"Okay…Just promise you'll take care…"

"I-Listen. I promise, on the condition that…you'll keep going if I die."

I did not want to even think about that outcome, but time was pressing.

"I'll…do it."

She gave me a fleeting hug, before running off, bow in hand. As I started scaling one of the remaining active pillars, I snuck a few glances towards Alex's way. She was shooting at the dragon, who was soaring around the other side of the island. I noted that each dive it would take, was landing closer and closer to its prey. I had to be fast.

I reached the top, and swung my pickaxe wildly at the bars. They yielded, and a large enough gap was opened. Content, I dug away the dirt stack I had built to climb, and got back on the ground. I had to inform Alex that she could safely destroy the crystal from a distance.

Once I saw her, a dark realization informed me that I had been too slow. I saw her being flung away, like an object that had long since outlived its use. Again. She was going to fall into the void, with no one there to catch her. Again. There was nothing I could do but watch. Again.

Time seemed to freeze. The first time something similar to this happened, was the most powerless I had ever felt. I couldn't save her then. I wasn't going to save her this time, either, by the looks of things.

She told me to keep going. How was I supposed to do that? Had I really not grown at all? Even after all our training, in the end, I still couldn't save the one person I loved the most. The one person I…I…

I refused to let that happen.

I chucked an Ender pearl as far away as I could, near the edge, and grabbed her outstretched forearm with both hands. I pulled her back up, and she used her other arm to support herself. Her eyes painted a maelstrom of emotions, ranging from terror, to shock and relief.

As much as I would have loved to hold her tight and pretend we were home, cuddling, we couldn't afford to lose track of the situation. The dragon was probably under the belief that Alex was out of the picture, hence why it returned to patrolling the circumference of the End.

We ran back to the center, and after the crystal whose cage I opened got blown up, we had to repeat the procedure for the final one. I didn't want to risk another close call like that, so I offered to take Alex's role so she'd be safer. She promptly declined, assuring me that she wouldn't make the same mistake twice. I couldn't question her statement even if I wanted to.

We followed the same strategy once more. This time, I wasn't looking over my shoulder constantly. In fact, I never even snuck a peek. In order to be as efficient as possible, I had to give this task my undivided attention, and have faith in Alex that she'd manage to hold out long enough.

After my part was done, but before my feet could touch the ground, an explosion boomed overhead. Every crystal had been destroyed. It was time to put this to rest. A quarter of the health bar's length had been depleted. Unless the dragon was holding out on some top secret ability, the only thing that stood in the way of our victory was time.

Alex was focused on shooting the dragon while it was airborne, landing most of her shots in the process. I, on the other hand, did most of the heavy lifting while it was perched on the bedrock obelisk, since I was more skilled with the sword. If it was out of my range, I'd just take care of the nearby Endermen, just to ensure they wouldn't interfere.

The lower its health got, the more anxious we were getting. A strange purple light was protruding through the wounds that were dotting its scaly body. The beast, too, did not remain unphased by this turn of events.

It unleashed its attacks more rapidly, but also more haphazardly, not caring whenever a haunting of Endermen would get caught in the crossfire of its assault. It was circling the inner side of the island, clearly not being in shape to cover the larger distance. We were so close, it was tantalizing.

It settled on the bedrock platform again. I swung at it once. Alex followed. We delivered the third swing simultaneously, reeling in the satisfaction of the upcoming decisive blow that would seal the fate of the creature that had deprived us of our home and our lives.

That was it.

As it attempted to flee in futility, the Ender dragon disintegrated before us, and its health bar vanished. A purple light shone from deep within its core, before it burst into a countless amount of experience orbs. I knew we both felt the power rush through us, as we leveled up all the way to around level 70.

I pulled Alex in what might have been the tightest hug I had ever given, and she returned it with just as much vigor. It may have been cumbersome due to our armor, but it was still oh so satisfying. We were trembling, panting, and tears were wetting our eyes. We had done it. I almost couldn't believe it!

The End - no, the Sky dimension was free!

We took our time in order to calm down. As I looked around us, I noted that not much had changed - at least, at a first glance. The ground; the sky; the Endermen; everything seemed the same. In fact, the only thing that seemed to have been altered was the bedrock platform. It turned into a portal that would lead us back hom-

My eyes widened once I looked at the top of the obelisk. I lifted my shaky hand, which seemed so unnaturally heavy, I felt like an old man. The Ender dragon… It left behind a gift for us. Or rather, she had left a gift for us. An egg. A dragon egg. A dragon egg that was identical to the previous one. A dragon egg that looked identical to the previous one, which had been the root of all evil.

I suppressed the urge to scream into the abyss. We had to do something that we would have never done in our previous life. Destroy it. That way, this plague would be permanently gone from this world.

Alex attempted to swing at it, having built a bridge to it, but in a way that defied every sense of logic, the egg teleported away, like an Enderman. Seeing it land on the ground near me, I tried in a similar way, only to achieve the same result.

…Were we going to lose to a ******* egg!?

That's when I remembered the TNT we had brought with us. I proposed my idea, to which Alex agreed. We set up the explosive next to that hellspawn, and ignited it. We took cover behind a pillar of endstone, and awaited the bang.

Once that happened, we peeked from the sites, and saw that the egg had been successfully reduced to a shrunken item in the middle of a crater, that could be picked up.

In spite of that temporary scare, once the egg ended up in my inventory, our jolly mood returned, but it was accompanied by exhaustion. Our way home had been opened, waiting for us. Whether our trial was going to restore balance to the world, I didn't know. What I did know was that I was happy we made it.

We held each other's hand, and jumped into the cosmos..