AN: Happy 2024 everybody! We made it! We survived another year of crushing societal pressure and bills! Go us!
Hope everyone had a good holiday. I'm gonna miss not being able to enjoy days off, but all good things must come to an end. I gotta work to get the moneys.
The East Arc is almost over. Just this Chapter and next one. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. If I did, I'd make totems stackable.
Chapter 247
The Eastern Division (Part 1)
[Eastern Division HQ: Cafeteria]
"GET AWAY FROM MY FRIEND YOU DEVILISHLY SEDUCTIVE BATTLE JUNKIE!"
The encounter was right where it left off. Water was streaming through the hole in the glass walls of the cafeteria, spilling out along the floor and turning the cafeteria tables on one half of the room into half-submerged islands. There was a momentary lull in the fighting between the cultists and the escapees, as Cobb's meteoric entrance drew the eyes of everyone present. Fearful murmurs of 'Darker Billionth' were thrown around.
Cobb had his trident stabbed into Teal's torso. The Lieutenant's back was painfully bent against a table with her face slammed down against the surface by Cobb's hand. Despite wearing the Voda Shlem, Teal's defenses failed to protect her from Cobb's Riptide III enchanted trident. Furthermore, the fisherman had no trouble moving against the Voda Shlem's radius of water particles thanks to his anti-Teal armor enchanted with Depth Strider III.
Teal's blue eyes narrowed between Cobb's fingers and she flashed a vicious grin as she raised a fist. "That's devilishly seductive spoken for battle junkie~!" Her fist crashed into Cobb's side before her eyes widened to tears and she drew it back painfully. "THOOOOORNS!?"
"I'm ready for you!" Cobb remarked confidently. As Teal waved the pain away and blew on her fist, Cobb threw another trident at her point-blank, taking advantage of the water effects of the Voda Shlem satisfying his Riptide enchantment. The two corkscrewed across the room, the second trident impaling Teal's shoulder and making her dizzy from the spinning.
Teal winced through the pain. "Get OFF!" She launched a firework, propelling her Wonder Wings opposite of Cobb's corkscrew to counter their rotation. Then she dropkicked the center of his chest to separate, her feet taking further Thorns damage and making it feel like she kicked a cactus covered in barbed wire. Her eyes teared up again. "YEOWCH!"
Cobb's residual Slow Falling softened his landing while Teal landed in a crouch on a cafeteria table. She bit back a pained cry from her sore feet as she glared at Cobb.
"How did you find this place!?" Her teasing lilt had been dropped. "Even if the prisoners got their linked maps back to message you, it's too soon!"
"I'm here because the Paragons are smart and you're fucking stupid." His even reply had Teal's pupils and irises constrict as he touched a nerve.
"Cobbert!" Lenz called out in relief. "You made it!"
"Course I did. I wasn't about to leave my friend in the clutches of a bunch of Herobrine fanboys. And fangirls." He added as an afterthought. He looked at Lenz and the escapees still fighting. "But, uh, what happened? You escaped? And who are these guys?"
"Just think of it like the Pit situation in Akasha."
"Ahhhhh. Okay, I'm caught up." Cobb made a noise of dawning awareness.
"Where's the rest of the siege!?" Dwight demanded after fending off a cultist.
As if on cue, the speaking tubes on the floor rattled to life. Multiple echoing voices fought over one another to be heard.
"We're under attack!"
"Crafters are pouring in from the tunnels! Herobrine above, the ocean is thick with them!"
"The front entrance has been compromised! There's too many! We're falling back - EEAGH!"
"The Paragons are here too! NO, PLEASE - ULK!" His voice died out before a ferocious battle cry followed.
"Attention all cultists!" Lieutenant MarkAble's voice sounded over them all, his commands issued with uncharacteristic authority. "This is your Lieutenant speaking! Arm yourselves and take up defensive positions in Sectors 2, 5, 7, 10, 11, and 14! Skirmish Line! Use the narrow corridors to your advantage and watch for flanks! Cletus, support Sector 10! Teal, protect the Portal Hubs-!"
"Sir, we need to leave! NOW!"
"Damnit." Mark cursed before his words died out.
Teal looked frightened to hear Mark so distressed. She wanted to get to him right away. To protect him.
"Looks like this is one game you're losing." Cobb remarked to the blue-nette.
Unfortunately, Teal had some more pressing annoyances to stamp out. She glared at Cobb while cracking her knuckles.
Cobb responded by using the water spilling across the floor and using Dart Leader - not against Teal, but against the cultists blocking one of the cafeteria exits. He corkscrewed through them, sending bodies flying and clearing a path for the escapees.
"Get moving, Lenz!" Cobb pointed to the door. "All of you go find some of our troops! They can exfiltrate you."
"But what about you?" Lenz asked.
"Don't worry. I can take these chumps. More so if I don't gotta worry about you guys getting caught in it."
"But-!"
"Just go! I'm a lot more vulnerable with you here. You're down gear anyway." He jerked his head to the exit. "Get moving!"
"Lenny isn't going anywhere~!" There was a high-pitched whistle as Teal zoomed towards Lenz with her wings only to get sideswiped by Cobb's Dart Leader. This time, he had to bucket down water around him before he could use the trident's Riptide. The two crashed into another table, Cobb struggling to keep her down.
"Perry! Dwight! Get him out of here!"
The Paragons nodded before taking Lenz between them and pulling him towards the exit. The escapees followed, a few of them falling to the cultists before the rest made it out. Cobb watched them escape with a swell of relief.
A foot crashed into his chin, making his teeth clack together painfully. He fell backwards and jumped back while Teal grimaced and massaged her foot.
"I hate Thorns. And by the feel of it, you've got the highest tier." She looked at the tridents in his hands before taking off her light blue leather cap and examining it. She shook it as if testing if it was broken. "Why doesn't this slow you down."
"Herobrine's artifacts are outdated." I commented. "He never expected Bounty Days to create exploitable weaknesses."
"So then, if I go ahead and lose the cap," Teal stowed it away in her backpack, her grin broadening, "you can't do those barrel rolls anymore, yeah~?"
To prove her wrong, Cobb corkscrewed at her using the water flowing along the floor. Teal strafed to the side to try and dodge, but Cobb changed directions in a hook shape, using his second trident. Teal's eyes snapped open, and she brought one hand up and another to her side before the trident skewered her waist and she burst apart in a shower of gear and a Head. The watching cultists cried out in disbelief and terror at their Lieutenant's apparent demise while Cobb slid to a stop past the pile of Teal's gear and looked back with unease.
That was too easy.
He was right not to count her out so easily. Her discarded gear vibrated before gathering together and reforming in a flash of light. Teal_Larkspur emerged, alive and whole, and sneezed cutely. She stared at the remains of a Totem of Undying as it disintegrated in her fist.
"I just... died..." She spoke with stunned confusion. "He... killed me...?"
She placed a hand over her heart as the totem's regeneration effect fixed her Health Meter. Then she looked up at Cobb and grinned excitedly. Her pupils seemed to sharpen like a predator's as adrenaline, dopamine, endorphins, oxytocin, and serotonin surged through her veins. "You actually killed me~! My heart's pumping for real~!"
"Any chance you'll suffer a heart attack?"
She sprang into the air in a somersault with an axe kick aimed at the fisherman's skull. Cobb corkscrewed to the side - bowling through a few cultists in the process - but Teal changed direction with her wings, zooming after him with the propulsion from a rocket. She landed on the fisherman and wrapped her arms and legs around him, pinning his arms and sending him crashing and skidding along the inundated floor. Cobb bashed the back of his skull against Teal's nose, making her recoil and loosen up long enough for him to get an arm free and swap out to Backlash 2.0. The handle tapped her side, and the Knockback sent her hurtling away, but she twisted her body and used her rockets in an impressive aerial recovery that kept her zooming above the cafeteria. "You actually use a fishing rod? I thought that was a joke~!" Cobb recovered to his feet, then he kept his eyes on Teal like she was a fly he aimed to swat.
"Die Darker Billionth!" A pair of cultists leapt at him from behind, but he just drew his Sharpness III, Fire Aspect I, Sweeping Edge III, Unbreaking III diamond sword and slashed backwards without taking his eyes off Teal. The bright flames, dying screams, and swell of EXP told him he got them.
It was then that the wary cultists filling the cafeteria decided to wear him down from a distance. They brought up bows and crossbows and started pelting him with arrows. Cobb used his three Riptide tridents to zoom about and dodge, but it ate up too much of his focus and allowed Teal a chance to divebomb him with a-
"Teal's Terrific TealDrop~!" The Lieutenant sang before Cobb got flattened by a flying knee drop to the back. It did more damage to Teal, however. No matter how strong she was, every hit could only do half-a-Heart of damage. Meanwhile, his full Thorns armor set dealt two Hearts of damage per hit to the blue-nette. Even if the totem's Regeneration II side effect was fixing her up now, he'd win a battle of attrition just by letting her beat him up.
The number of cultists was a bigger issue. The anti-Abyssmal countermeasures on his armor - Projectile Protection IV - greatly mitigated arrow damage, but the cafeteria was bursting at the seams with cultists. Two-hundred? Three-hundred? Way too many.
Luckily, I planned for this. Cobb thought to himself. It feels good to plan for things, then pull those plans off.
"Hmhmhmm~ You just sent the nerd away because you didn't want him to see you lose, didn't you~?" Teal giggled.
Cobb looked up and canted his head. "You misunderstand. I sent him away because he hates deep water."
"...Eh?"
Dart Leader!
Without further preamble, Cobb corkscrewed straight up, dodging a volley of arrows in the process, and punched through the glass ceiling and into the ocean. Water gushed into the cafeteria from the hole he left, but he didn't stop there.
Dark Mariner!
Using his three tridents and his Quickswap training, Cobb darted from the ocean through the cafeteria, wrecking large tracts of glass from the walls and ceiling and flooding the interior. The cultists within cried out in alarm and fled in vain before they were swept up or crushed by the surging water, Teal included. Cobb still had leftover Water Breathing and Night Vision in effect, so he had no trouble breathing or seeing in the ocean. The cultists weren't so fortunate. By the time Cobb was done, there wasn't an air pocket left in the cafeteria, and the cultists were all desperately swimming for the surface or the closest glass corridor of their HQ that still had air.
Hey, look. Cobb thought. Free EXP.
While the cultists desperately swam for air, Cobb sideswiped them with Riptide, then changed directions to drill through them again and again by cycling through his three tridents, racking up damage. In rain or water, his Dark Mariner technique was an unstoppable chain of swirling damage. Even if the cultists could defend, they also had to worry about their dwindling supply of oxygen.
Cobb would have enjoyed a profitable EXP farming experience if not for a distorted whistle of a rocket and something blue and winged barreling into his stomach. Cobb looked down and saw Teal grinning up at him with the Voda Shlem on. One of its effects was infinite Water Breathing, and it became apparent that her Wonder Wings and fireworks worked as well in water as they did in air.
Which makes no sense. How could fireworks, work in water? Whatever.
Anyway, Cobb felt crushing pressure around his waist with Teal's powerful arms squeezing him in a bear hug. It had to be causing her steady Thorns damage, though, so Cobb opted to ignore her in favor of continuing his Dark Mariner. He wanted to wipe out the drowning cultists.
Each Riptide surge dealt four Hearts of damage in a corkscrewing area roughly eight meters by eight meters by four meters around the wielder. Each trident could be used with Riptide two-hundred-and-fifty times before breaking, and Cobb had three. So from his Dark Mariner throwing, he could deal a maximum of three-thousand Hearts worth of damage to the cultists. That was enough to kill three-hundred cultists. Additionally, since the cultists took drowning damage the longer they stayed underwater, the fisherman could actually kill a lot more the longer he locked them in an underwater fight, if you could even call it a fight. More like scrubbing soap scum off the shower glass.
And, for every cultist over Level 15 that drowned or got shredded by Riptide (which was a lot considering their pastime was killing innocent Crafters), Cobb was awarded 100 EXP orbs.
Dark Mariner! Cobb shouted his signature move name in his head as he kept up the Riptide surge without letting up. Teal eventually released him when she died to Thorns damage only to resurrect and sneeze from another spent totem. She had more than one. But now that she was off him, Cobb could continue to rack up kills. Over and over and over. Cultists burst apart into gear and EXP which he hastily scooped up before targeting his next victim. Either they got shredded and died on impact, or they popped from running out of air. Cobb didn't know how many he took out - over a hundred, maybe? - but his EXP levels shot up from 53 to 92! And, with the exception of his main Awe trident with Unbreaking III, his tridents had exhausted two-thirds of their durability each.
That was also around the time his Water Breathing potion ran out.
Really missing those perma buffs now. Cobb thought as his gaze drifted up to the lone cultists that escaped his Dark Mariner and made it to the surface. He could see through the ocean darkness now, but his Night Vision would soon go. He definitely took out most of the cultists in that cafeteria, and even the ones that made it to the surface would have to face Captain Fo and her fleet of airships. They'd have no trouble picking off the stragglers.
There was another distorted whistle as Teal returned with a vengeance. Her wings cut through the water just as fast as his Riptide - maybe even faster. Now it was Cobb at an underwater disadvantage. He didn't want to worry about air throughout the fight.
With that in mind, Cobb used Riptide one last time to corkscrew down to an available glass tunnel and replenish his air. Teal punched through the glass after him and landed in a crouch on the stone brick floor. She jerked her head up, her wet, blue hair whipping upward to slap against her back. The cultists Cobb killed did not detract from Teal's bright, open-mouthed grin.
"You really put the laughter in slaughter~ Hmhmhmm~!" Teal giggled as she shook the water off her legs and arms, then wrung dry a handful of her hair. "Bet your EXP levels just took a bump up. What level ya got~?" She willed off the fishnet sleeve on her left arm and showed off an EXP level of 88.
"Is that all you can say after watching your cultists get turned into shark chum?"
"And what of the guy who can make all those cultists into shark chum without batting an eye?" Teal asked teasingly, willing her sleeve back on. "Seems like both of us have a screw loose~"
"Oh, I definitely got a screw loose." Cobb conceded with a haunting smile. "But they signed up for a cult of killers. It's a hypocrisy being prepared to kill without being prepared to die."
"That's exactly right~!" Teal's smile widened as her eyes sharpened. "It's no fun killing if there's no risk of dying~!"
She took off her Voda Shlem and Cobb swapped his trident out for his diamond sword. Teal paused, then took out the Voda Shlem again. Cobb paused, then swapped back to his trident in response. Teal blinked and took off the artifact. Cobb blinked and went back to his diamond sword. This went on for a bit before Teal piped up.
"I'm not using my cap if you can just bypass it with your trident."
"But you will use your cap if I use anything else." Cobb correctly guessed.
"I mean, I'm game for making this a bare-knuckles brawl~"
"Fighting you at your best and me at my worst? Nuh-uh." Cobb straightened up. "Guess we'll just have to mix and match our combat tactics. Whoever can swap faster will have the advantage."
"Righto~ And we both have extra lives~" Teal showed the three totems at her belt before taking one in each fist and wielding them like brass knuckles. She tested them out by shadowboxing the air before her. Cobb supposed that was her advantage. She could hold anything as a weapon since she only fought with her fists and legs, and the damage would be limited to half-a-Heart. In other words, she could dual wield totems as weapons without having to switch to them to save herself. She'd need to fight like that to get over Cobb's Thorns armor.
Cobb dual wielded his trident and fishing rod, fully intent on taking down his second Endward Cult Lieutenant.
[Eastern Division HQ: Corridor]
"Block it! Block it!" An escapee shouted before the last chunk of cobblestone was placed, sealing up the corridor from which a band of fifty cultists had been pursuing. Half of the escapees had died, leaving only eight. There was a ninth who wasn't dead, just noticeably absent.
"Where is Lathrop?" Lenz asked, his gaze drifting to the cobblestone barricade. "Did we seal him behind-?"
"I think he just ditched us." Perry frowned. "He said he had his own agenda."
"When are we going to be rescued?" An escapee demanded sharply. "This siege you spoke of only seems to have put us in further peril!"
Dwight looked to the other side of the corridor before grimacing. "Further further peril incoming."
Fifty cultists were approaching with weapons drawn. They pointed cruelly at the vastly outnumbered escapees and advanced, expecting an easy victory.
Lenz raised his crossbow, but he needn't have bothered. Guards and Paragons burst through the glass tunnel in various spots and ambushed the cultists, dropping on them from the ceiling and hacking away at them with swords and axes. Water gushed from the compromised tunnel, sweeping all aside and making the battle a slippery, sliding mess. The cultists' formation collapsed, and it became a desperate free-for-all, with Crafter after Crafter getting killed, both friend and foe. Though, in the case with the Paragons, Lenz noticed people resurrecting and sneezing through the use of their totems of undying.
Dwight, Perry, and Lenz helped out where they could, and soon, the cultists were wiped out. The Paragons and guards suffered minor losses, but they were triumphant.
"Oh, thank Redstone." Lenz breathed out in relief as he sagged onto the floor along with a couple escapees. "We are saved..."
"Dwight, Perry. You guys got out?" One Paragon questioned as he embraced one of them. "We were planning to bust you loose."
"Lenz here got us out." Perry said. "We counted him out, but... we were wrong." He and Dwight then turned to Lenz and lowered their heads slightly. "We never should have doubted you, Lenzington. You've proven yourself time and time again, and... we're sorry. We'll never second guess you like that again."
"It-It is fine. Forget it." Lenz dismissed, feeling slightly touched by their words. "I doubted myself back there too. But I will not let you down again, friends."
The cyan capped Oak Docks guards amongst the Paragons' ranks went over to examine the few escapees that had survived this long. "These escapees need evac."
"Yes, please." An escapee begged. There was no telling how long they'd been left imprisoned under Teal's whims. "There were others who tried to swim to the surface. If they made it, they might need rescue. Please, don't confuse them for cultists..."
"Understood." A guard accepted before doling out Potions of Water Breathing for evac. One Paragon hurriedly sent out a map message declaring Lenz, Perry, and Dwight safe and secured.
"They need evac, but we need TNT." Dwight addressed the forces. "We know the locations of the two portal hubs and the Wither stockpile. We're going for one hub, but we can let our forces know where the other two targets are."
"Dwight, your drive is admirable," one Paragon complimented, "but don't you think you three should be evacced with the escapees? You've been through enough. You can coordinate us from the safety of the airship-"
"No way I'm sitting by after what that blue-haired bimbo put us through." Perry refused flat-out. Dwight was of the same mind. Lenz felt they had been through enough and would have preferred the airship, but he also knew the Portal Hub was too important a target to walk away from. Plus, he didn't want to have to swim through deep water just yet. "We're finishing what we started."
"Alright. We'll follow your direction. Lead on." An Oak Docks guard gestured, prompting Dwight to lead the platoon.
[Eastern Division HQ: Corridor]
This is bad, this is bad, this is bad. Mark thought worriedly as he ran down the glass corridor with his escort of four cultists. Everywhere the magenta-haired alchemist looked, Paragons and guards were busting into their HQ and assaulting their forces. How did they find us? Even if those escapees got a message out, the response time is too fast! And the convenient timing with Abyssmal gone and our forces at half strength!
It was beyond what the Lieutenant could contain. He ordered the cultists to amass at key sectors to dig in and mount a defense, but maybe evacuation should have been the priority. There was no telling how long Abyssmal and the other half of their division would be.
As Mark arranged his arsenal of potions, the glass behind his five-man group broke, and twenty Paragons flowed inside.
The Jibberwoman with the long purple hair was among them. Z7.
"You cannot be serious..." Mark couldn't believe his bad luck, having encountered her once already in Nitebane. He barely escaped her with a totem. Z7's eyes zeroed in on the Lieutenant from behind her curtain of hair, and she drew her daggers before darting after him. The Paragons behind - including Baltic, Wing, Luis, and Heather - followed her charge.
The four cultists squared off to meet the assassin, but Mark's shout changed their plans. "Don't bother! Save your strength! You can't beat her!" He drew a Lingering Potion of Slowness. "You won't even slow her down!"
He chucked the Lingering Potion directly into Z7's path. The glass broke and released a cloud of gray blue particles that filled up the corridor. With narrow corridors like this, Lingering Potions were an excellent way to stall. This particular potion cloud would last a minute, slowing down any foolish enough to cross it. Z7 and the other Paragons halted immediately, just shy of the cloud.
"Don't take another step." Baltic ordered. "Archers, try and shoot-"
Z7 backed up a bit before sprinting forward, leaping onto the glass walls of the corridor, and then running on the wall long enough to clear the cloud and leap towards Mark and his cultists.
"Son of a-" He drew a splash potion only for a mid-air, adeptly thrown dagger to knock it out of his hands and make it splash at his feet, poisoning him. He stumbled from the pain, and Z7 landed on his standing body, sinking two daggers into his arm and shoulder and perching on him. He was used to holding up the weight of a lithe woman when Teal sat on his shoulders, but Teal never stabbed him while doing it! He cried out in pain before falling under the weight, the assassin landing in a low crouch over his downed body before she diverted her attention to the four cultist grunts surrounding her.
"Just go! Leave me!" Mark ordered with a wince. "You can't beat her!"
The cultists disobeyed, thinking they could outnumber and overpower the assassin. They surrounded her with swords and potions drawn.
"R hkorg hrwvh rm gdl dzbh, yfg R'n zylfg gl yirmt mvd nvzmrmt gl gsv ksizhv 'Pmlxprmt 'vn wvzw'."
Despite Mark throwing two splash potions down on himself and Z7 - one of Weakness and the other of Harming II - the assassin darted forward and sunk her daggers in the nearest cultist's eyes. Her attack did less damage under the weakness effect, but she was still faster, slipping around the cultist's blind slash and jamming two more daggers into his back, killing him. She took a slash to the back in a moment of distraction, but that also helped her, since she was wearing the same anti-Teal Thorns armor that Cobb had. Her opponent recoiled from the Thorns pain before Z7 sliced upwards across his eyes, then swung around him with an arm wrapping around his throat. She then repeatedly stabbed his back with her dagger, digging in until he burst apart.
After losing two guys in sixteen seconds, the cultists started to think Mark was onto something about retreating. Unfortunately for them, it was too late. Arrows pelted them from the Paragons on the other side of the Slowness cloud. With their attention on the arrows, Z7 had no trouble sinking her daggers into their calves to topple them. Then it was simply a matter of finding the right spots to jam her daggers into.
After the four cultist grunts were dead, Z7 knelt down over the downed Mark and held a dagger under his throat while her other hand seized both of his and pinned them behind his back. No chance of him reaching for the assortment of potions at his belt. "Dv nvvg ztzrm. Ovg'h hvv blf vhxzkv mld." She spat.
The slowness cloud dispersed after thirty seconds, permitting Baltic and the other Paragons to rejoin Z7. They were surprised to find the purple-haired assassin hadn't yet killed the Lieutenant, despite having him at her mercy.
"What are you waiting for?" Wing asked the Jibberwoman. "Kill! Kill! He's a Lieutenant! Even if just a bland one."
"Well excuse me for being bland - Agh!" Mark protested only for Z7 to knee him in the side to silence him. Not to kill him, though.
"What's up Z7? This isn't like you." Luis said.
"Lenz." Z7 spoke in common. "Lenz. Lenz." She tilted her head around to look at her fellow Paragons.
"Does she want him to tell us where Lenz is?" Wing asked.
"Lenz. Lenz." Z7 repeated more earnestly before pausing. "T-Tr... traaa..." She sounded out the word.
"How is this Jibberwoman talking...?" Lieutenant Mark questioned, only to get kneed in the side again.
"Tr-Traaa... traaaaay... traaaaaaayd... Traaayd. Trayd... Lenz."
"...Trade?" Baltic guessed. "She wants to trade Mark for Lenz. A hostage swap!"
"No way. Carys wouldn't want this." Another Paragon refused, much to the assent of his peers. They were Paragons not part of the close-knit landing party. They had no attachment to Lenz. "I say we waste Mark here and now."
"I agree. Killing me would be the smart move. Ngh!" The Lieutenant gave his opinion only to receive another knee to the side.
"...We'll do the hostage swap." Baltic decided. He then made it clear to Z7, flashing a thumbs up and repeating, "Trade, Lenz. Trade, Lenz." The assassin nodded, and she and Wing worked together to drag Mark to his feet and keep him restrained between them.
"This is ridiculous!" A Paragon protested. "Sir, we should just kill this Lieutenant here and now. He's a member of the cult's top hierarchy."
"And Cobb is a valuable ally. Lenz means a lot to him." Baltic offered in lieu of an explanation. "Therefore, we'll keep him around for a trade."
"You're making a big mistake." Mark tried to sow discord as he was hauled forward. He was indifferent to his own peril. "Listening to the old man is going to get you all killed. You should just end me now."
"Shut up. You want to die?" Wing asked. "Oh, right. I forgot. You cultists believe in your Next Life garbage. You probably think you're gonna be reborn in a 'better world'."
"I actually don't believe in Next Life." Mark admitted. "A lot of cultists don't. We all join for various reasons. I just want to help them."
"That's even worse!" Wing exclaimed. "You don't believe in Next Life, yet you send innocent people to their ends without any moral qualms? You're not a zealous fanatic but a cold-blooded murderer."
"I don't usually kill people from behind a desk, but you're right. I do kill without a thought. Why should I care about the nameless masses who'd just as soon watch me waste away? We're all just strangers." He snorted contemptuously. "Even if I did believe in Next Life, there can be no better world out there. In every other universe, I'd be just as I always am: a bland nobody. An everyman schmuck. Just another interchangeable cog in the machine of tedium."
"So then why do you want to die so bad?" Luis asked.
Mark reflected for a moment.
"What's the point in living if I'm hurting the only group who appreciates me. Accepts me? The cult thinks I'm worth something in a way no one else has. That's why I'm not afraid to die to repay them, even if there's nothing waiting for me on the other side. I would have died long ago without them." His dark gray eyes regarded the Paragons impassively. "I'm not going to let you use me against them."
Mark suddenly struggled with tremendous energy. More energy than the Paragons thought the unassuming Lieutenant capable of. He struggled and kicked so hard against his captors that he broke free of Wing and nearly broke free of Z7. He got an arm loose and raised a Splash Potion of Harming II to kill himself if not for the assassin seizing his wrist and holding it in place. Then she kneed him in the gut to knock the wind out of him before wrenching the potion away. Then two more Paragons helped to pinion his arms to his back.
"We should paralyze him, Baltic. This guy might actually take his life, not that I mind." One Paragon commented.
Baltic nodded, reaching for a Slowness and Weakness potion before noticing an incoming message on his map. "Hang on. We got an incoming message."
The blue-haired alchemist read the message carefully before turning up with a pleased expression. "They have Lenz. He's rescued. Dwight and Perry too. They were found by one of the other groups. They know the layout of this place, and we're the nearest to the Portal Hub they're gunning for." He went up to Z7 and touched her shoulder with a smile. "Lenz. Lenz." He repeated, pointing to the map, smiling, and flashing a thumbs up. Z7's intelligent black eyes seemed to understand.
"Lenz?" She asked hopefully, earning a nod. "Lenz, sa... saff... sayf...?"
"Yes. Lenz safe. Lenz very safe." Baltic nodded.
A relieved smile spread across Z7's face. The sight of it could melt hearts.
However, she then turned her attention to Mark. She pointed to the Lieutenant, then made a show of slitting her own throat with a dagger.
Heather understood immediately and grinned with a certain malicious satisfaction. She nodded to the assassin. "Yup. You can do it."
Z7 didn't need to be told twice. She marched right up to the Lieutenant, took him out of the Paragons' hands, took a fistful of his magenta hair and dragged his head back, then sunk her dagger in his throat before dragging it around. He exploded in a shower of gear, and a Head toppled to the floor.
"...Well that's that." Wing said with a note of finality. "As Lieutenants went, he was pretty weak."
"We should move for the Portal Hub." Baltic ordered. "There's still a chance for reinforcements to-"
"PARAGONS! REEEEEEEE!"
An unholy squeal rent the air and had everyone jerk their heads towards the source. Weapons came up fast, but not as fast as the thing sprinting on two legs and wildly hacking into the nearest Paragons with a golden sword. The first Paragon died in three fast swings before he even had the chance to wield his totem. The second Paragon was more defensive with her shield, even as the bipedal pig creature scraped against the wood, squealing like mad.
"...What the fuck...?" Heather backed up with a bit of unease at the sight before her. Luis moved to protect her. "Uh, guys? Are-Are you seeing this too?"
Baltic had a horrified and repulsed look on his face as he slowly shook his head. "I-I see it, but I don't believe it."
Pink skin, rotted green in places. Enough to show off bleached bone. And the whole thing moved as if it was still a living being capable of moving through such a state of decay. It was unnatural! Its ribcage was on display and... moving. Expanding and contracting organically. It gave an uncanny valley sort of look, for this was surely a Zombie Pigman. It had half a pig snout and wore a dirty brown loincloth, after all. But it also looked hideously deformed, and just enough like a person - with its shock of blond hair - that it greatly disturbed the war-hardened Paragons.
The durability on the shield was worn away fast as the mad pigman hacked and clawed away at it before tearing it aside with unnatural strength and sticking the Paragon in the side. She took a knee and was barely in time to grab her totem before the pigman was on her and savagely beat her to death. She safely resurrected a moment later, but the pig beast had already moved on to the next Paragon.
"You made a big mistake invading our HQ! Now you're gonna die, pigs!"
"...We're the pigs!? What does that make you!?"
"REEEEEEEE!"
Z7 found herself beset by the bipedal pig monstrosity. It attacked without regard for its own safety, and Z7 had to duck and weave to dodge its ferocious slashes. She was also still under the effects of Mark's Potion of Weakness, so her attacks did less damage. Even when she landed an attack, the pig creature just tanked it and kept squealing and slashing like a berserk demon.
"What in Notch's name is that abomination!?" Luis shouted before firing an arrow into the pig creature's back. The creature paid no mind to the arrow and kept swinging at Z7. A lucky strike managed to slash her arm and force her back onto her butt with tremendous strength. Not even the Thorns damage could deter the creature.
"REEEEEEEE!"
Z7 brought her legs up as the creature pounced. One of her bare feet connected with the creature's rotting face, the feeling of it making her skin crawl. Her other foot locked at the elbow, keeping the creature's sword arm from swinging. In her weakened state, however, she couldn't contest with the creature's unnatural strength.
"Svok!" Z7 cried out as she inexorably lost ground. "Kfoo gsrh klip luu nv!"
Three Paragons rushed in with weapons drawn, but Baltic held back for one very troubling reason.
Lieutenant MarkAble's spilled gear and Head weren't on the floor anymore.
The totem usage and the sneeze must have been missed in the confusion, because the easily overlooked magenta-haired Lieutenant was alive again. He must've grabbed the totem before Z7 slit his neck open.
The Lieutenant threw down a Lingering Potion of Harming II on Z7, the pig creature, and the three Paragons that went to help. The maroon cloud ate away at large chunks of Hearts from the Paragons within, but healed up the pig creature in much the same way a Potion of Healing would. Z7 grabbed the only totem she had right as the maroon cloud finished depleting her Hearts. The other Paragons did the same. All four of them died, resurrected, and sneezed in the time it took the cloud of Harming II to disperse.
When it cleared, the armored pig creature stood with its golden sword as the vanguard. Mark stood behind it with potions at the ready.
"I guess this is our field test, Mr. Arning." Mark commented. "How do you feel?"
"Ready for a fight!" The hybrid squealed challengingly. "That Harming cloud felt good! Get me more of that!"
"That thing's got a name?" Wing questioned as the Paragons regrouped.
The Weakness that had afflicted Z7 was now gone, and any Paragon that died now had a short window of Fire Resistance I, Absorption II, and Regeneration II. Mark was in the same boat, having just used one. He quickly checked the four spare Totems of Undying he had left in his backpack before placing them at his belt for ease of access. It was a lucky thing Teal stole them from Lenz, Dwight, and Perry, and then divvied them up between herself and Mark.
"Name's Cletus_Arning." The pig person introduced. "And what you're looking at is the ultimate culmination of man and Mob!"
"You look like a freak of nature!" Heather blatantly insulted.
"Wha-?" Cletus turned to look at Mark with an accusing glare. "I thought you guys said I didn't look that bad!"
"Compared to what, a week-old elephant carcass?"
"Aghhhh... skip it." Cletus turned back to the Paragons. "You're just jealous!"
"Are decaying body parts known for being enviable?" Wing questioned incredulously. "Seriously. Are we looking at the same thing here?"
"What in Notch's name is this thing?" Baltic demanded. It wasn't his first time witnessing a Hybrid. That boisterous slime girl working for the Scouts in the End - Legoless - had a similar resemblance to a Mob. Was there a connection?
"This is the first of a new breed of fighters - a frighteningly powerful new breed." Lieutenant Mark set the tone. "You Paragons are the lucky few who'll first get to witness our Founder's research in action."
"So Herobrine made this Zombie Pigman monster?" Another Paragon questioned. "Is it some kind of Command Block construct or golem?" They couldn't even imagine the possibility that it was a Crafter under all that rotting pink flesh and exposed bone. The idea that any one of them could be made into that was beyond comprehension.
"Whatever it is, it's angry and out for our blood." Baltic noted before he buffed his team with a Potion of Strength and a Potion of Swiftness. "Proceed with caution. Fight at a distance." His orders sounded uncertain, as he had no idea what to expect from the creature. They had to get past the duo to reach the vital Portal Hub. "Eliminate the vanguard and Mark will topple next."
"You think I need you to tell me how worthless I am?" Lieutenant Mark questioned rhetorically. "As an alchemist, you should understand more than anyone what's fated for those of us relegated to the support roles. We exist to lift the few truly extraordinary ones on our shoulders. But I don't care! I'll gladly support those that count on me, because that's the kind of Lieutenant I am!"
With those words, Mark buffed the Zombie Pigman Hybrid with Swiftness and Strength and let him launch himself at the gathered Paragons with an inarticulate squeal of rage.
"Ml kfoovw klip alnyrv rh tlrmt gl pvvk nv uiln nb orggov tivnorm." Z7 swore in just as inarticulate a way before squaring off.
[Eastern Division HQ: Corridor]
"Come on! Come on! The map message says we're the closest to the Wither stockpile!" Trenay urged her platoon of thirty Crafters forward. They had already broken into the glass corridor and regrouped before dispatching a group of twenty cultists. All throughout the HQ, their forces were ambushing the cultists and wiping them out, but those Wither skulls were like live nukes that needed to be destroyed lest they be set off.
"You heard the woman! Get the lead out!" Daisy added on, her bow at the ready. Among the Paragons of the platoon were Trenay, Daisy, Milton, and Neiro. There were also a handful of white capped Zeppil guards in the mix.
The members of Team Delta fired their bows with precision, preemptively damaging approaching cultists before the ones with swords could crash into them like a wave. The Paragons moved as a swift unit, trained as they were in sieges and raids and knowing it was always a race to secure as much space as they could. The Team Beta members of the group kept buffing everyone with splash potions, keeping them strong, swift, and full of health. It was an effective way to fight indefinitely for an extended period of time.
On the way through, the platoon kept getting harassed by cultist archers shooting at them using a Skirmish Line formation. They only lightly harassed them, baiting a confrontation before running away from it. The end goal was to hamper their advance and buy their main forces more time to set up a defense.
However, the longer it took, the more their forces grew as various smaller platoons of guards and Paragons joined up to make one giant group over one-thousand strong.
Following the coordination from their maps, the small army located the room containing the stockpile of Withers. Unfortunately, over two thousand cultists had congregated there to guard it following Lieutenant Mark's orders. Outnumbered two-to-one was bad; the ratio needed to be the other way around when attacking a defended position like the cultists had.
Trenay, Daisy, Neiro, and all the other members of Team Delta loaded their crossbows with rockets and bombarded the cultists with a steady series of explosions. Not all at once, where damage would be competing with each other, but in one continuous stream of rockets, where one would blow up before the next one had its turn.
It mowed through the cultists like wheat.
The cultists with shields raised them to make some sort of defense, but the colorful sparks of the different rockets were too much for them to block entirely, and they succumbed to the damage. The rockets were just too perfect at crowd control.
When the cultists pulled out their own rocket-loaded crossbows, all hell broke loose. Totems were expended, snot from resurrection sneezes flew, and many Crafters recklessly charged in to stop the shooters before they could do too much damage. More Paragons and guards poured in, along with cultists, and they all found themselves consumed by the throes of bloody combat. The only thing denoting an ally from an enemy was the black caps of the cultists against the white and cyan caps of the guards. Paragons had no denoting colors.
Milton and the Team Beta alchemists threw volleys of splash potions in areas most concentrated with cultists, but the alchemists on the cultists' side did the same, albeit with lesser regard for the safety of their own. They believed in a better life after this, after all. Swords and axes were swung and jammed into flesh or armor. Lava was poured down to ignite or incinerate large groups of Crafters. Sections of the glass corridor were broken, and water poured in to sweep fighters aside. It was complete and utter pandemonium, and both sides fought with hate and bloodlust.
"This is nucking futs!" Daisy cried out in between shots. For every cultist she shot down, ten more took their place. The cultists were desperate to protect their Withers, and there was no way to push through without eliminating everyone. The forces were even at the moment, however.
"I'm calling Fo for backup! Keep them off me!" Trenay howled over the din of combat before withdrawing her map and messaging the Zeppil Captain still with the fleet. This was why she kept one-thousand Zeppil guards held in reserve.
Neiro narrowly evaded a blade before shooting the offending cultist dead. Her charred face wrinkled angrily at the sheer number focused in one place, even while the rest of their forces were surely whittling down isolated bands of cultists throughout the HQ. She took out an ender pearl and focused her gaze over the crowd of cultists, towards the door to the Wither stockpile chamber.
The fighting went on for a while, and it was brutal. The Paragons and Nitebane forces, possessing the only totems, took the vanguard position, as they could afford to lose a life or two. The cyan and white capped guards didn't just hang back, though. They fought just as bravely, and were not without casualties. The cultists were losing far more, though. They were overwhelmed by the combined forces and their superior tactics. They had support roles, archers, shield-bearers, close-combatants. They were a disciplined, well-trained army, and the guards weren't far behind the Paragons in terms of training or discipline.
When Captain Fo arrived with an additional thousand Zeppil guards, and then she was joined by a thousand more Oak Docks guards and Paragons, the tide of battle turned in their favor, and they overwhelmed the cultists.
"Oh, screw this!" A few cultists shouted before falling back into the chamber with the stockpile of Withers. "They've forced our hand! Only way to win is to clear the whole board!"
That set off alarms in Trenay's head. "STOP THEM! FORCE YOUR WAY THROUGH IF YOU HAVE TO! STOP THEEEEEEM!"
Trenay, Captain Fo, and Daisy all drew ender pearls and threw them over the crowd of cultists to bypass them. Then they hurried through the door into the chamber. There, their blood ran cold as they saw a dozen cultists arranging the frameworks for three separate Withers. The soul sand bodies were already in place. All that was left were the skulls.
"You crazy psychopaths! You'll kill us all!" Captain Fo shouted at them while Trenay and Daisy shot fireworks at them. Four cultists blocked the shots with their own bodies, dying in the process. All so that the cultists at the back could complete their Withers.
"We welcome a farewell to this wretched world!" One female cultist cackled madly. "And if it will serve our fellow cultists by eliminating you meddling fools, I say go for it!"
"Stop them! STOP THEM!" Trenay, Daisy, and Captain Fo rushed forward, heedless of the danger. Being closest, they were most likely to die when the Withers spawned, but they had to be stopped. They couldn't hang back.
"You're all going to die!" A different cultist crowed victoriously as he lowered the final Wither skull.
It was shot out of his hands from above. A Paragon was perched up there on a makeshift sniper nest. It was Neiro!
"There's only one withered black face around here, and that's me!" Neiro retorted somewhat humorously. It was an ironic, almost prideful kind of one-liner - one that came to Neiro in the heat of the moment - but it also served as a fitting end to the Wither stockpile as Neiro dropped TNT on the three Wither frameworks before they could be summoned. They exploded, taking four more cultists out with them and ruining the cultists' self-destructive last resort.
"Noooo! You annoying - NNNGH!" The final four cultists could only draw their weapons and make one last desperate bid for victory. Captain Fo dispatched them all with some assistance from Trenay and Daisy. Their EXP flowed into their arms.
"Nice work, Neiro." Trenay praised, a little winded. The Paragon saluted in response before dropping down to help secure the storage chests.
"Holy-!" Daisy broke off as she cracked open a chest to reveal stacks and stacks of Wither skulls. "There's enough skulls here to spawn Withers every day of the year!"
"Then there's plenty to drop on the Hack Clan's doorstep." Neiro remarked nastily. "Carys will want these-"
"Belay that." Captain Fo stabbed her sword into the ground, the sound stopping Neiro and Daisy from taking out skulls. "We're destroying them. This all needs to be destroyed. Those uncontrollable monsters should never see the light of day again."
"But think of the firepower!" Neiro tried. "We can give the cult a taste of their own medicine. Carys would want-"
"Captain Fo is right." Trenay decided, silencing any opposition. "These Withers are too dangerous and will cause too much collateral damage. I dread to think what the cult planned to unleash these upon. Burn them. Burn them all."
Daisy and Neiro exchanged disappointed looks before taking out axes and flint and steels. They broke the storage chests, spilling the Wither skulls all along the floor. Then they set them ablaze. It was only a couple weeks' worth of skulls that were going up in smoke, but the cult would be set back further once the source - the Wither skull grinder in the Nether - was cut off from the Portal Hub.
At the very least, the stockpile of Wither skulls was eliminated. The guards and Paragons outside finished off the final pockets of resistance, and the survivors moved on to continue clearing out the HQ.
[Eastern Division HQ: Portal Hub B]
"What's the matter, cultists!?" Attila roared with a mad glint in her eye. "You got something good back there!?"
Captain Attila, Alfonso, Witige, Gregory, Eustace, and a force of two-thousand guards and Paragons were trying to break through a defensive formation of over four-thousand cultists. As the fighting dragged on, reinforcements came in the form of Captain Paolo and his three-thousand Oak Docks guards. They had finished their invasional sweep from the entrance and had been coordinated here by Team Delta to destroy one of the Portal Hubs.
Captain Attila set up End Crystals amongst the cultist's army, setting them up for Alfonso to detonate with his crossbows. The explosions left gaping craters in the stone brick floor and wiped out large pockets of cultists. Witige and Gregory supported and debilitated in equal measure, whenever they could. On occasion, they would have to blow a totem or two on a particularly zealous cultist that got through, but they stayed alive.
Then, an unexpected fighter joined the assault.
A pair of arrows were jammed into two cultists' throats. "Do my eyes deceive me, or is that the Mocha Snipe?"
Alfonso paused from looking down his crossbow sights before he lowered his weapon and tilted his gambler hat back to get a better look. "...Lath?"
The two Birds of Prey locked gazes admist the violence around them before they pulled their bows on each other, their eyes narrowing.
""You on Abyssmal's side too!?"" They accused at the same time before registering what was being said.
""You think I'm on his side!?""
There was a lull as the Snowy Sabrewing and the Mocha Snipe stared at each other. In that time, a team of thirty cultist warriors broke through to attack them.
The Birds of Prey flew into action, twisting to press their backs to each other as they fired and swung crossbows into their respective foes. Cultists died in showers of gear as arrows sunk or were stabbed into flesh. The two worked in perfect sync, their joint training in the same guild never forgotten. By the end of it, their ambushers were piles of gear and Heads on the ground.
Lathrop turned his head to his fellow Bird of Prey and smirked. "Just like old times, eh Alfonso?"
"Yup." The Mocha Snipe loaded his crossbows and detonated another of Attila's End Crystals for massive casualties. "Like back in the good ol' days. The hell are you doing down here?"
"I got caught, but I got rescued by a fledgling archer."
"I know the one. Boy's got promise."
"Abyssmal's down here." Lathrop's face hardened. "That disgrace of a leader is now leading the Endward Cult."
"So I've heard."
"We need to call up the old crowd." Lathrop informed in-between rapid eyeball stabs. "This is a Birds of Prey issue. An internal issue. One that calls for a reunion to settle."
"Let's just make it out of here alive first, then we'll talk." Alfonso shelved the issue for now.
"I'll hold you to that, Al."
The two went back to taking out cultists.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the fighting, Captain Attila used her Thorns armor and a drinkable Potion of the Turtle Master II to tank hits and damage cultists attacking her. It was like a scaled down version of the Severe Shield, with the downside being she couldn't move for twenty seconds.
Things were going well for the Paragons and guards right up until a surge of cultists seemed to swell up their ranks. Attila couldn't fathom how that could be until she saw them spilling out of the Portal Hub room at the back.
The ten-thousand cultists from the duel up north were now returning.
Throwing caution and ender pearls to the wind, Captain Attila warped to the entrance to the hub and darted inside. She took some hits in the process and used up a totem, but she made it inside and saw a long corridor of Nether portals. One of which had cultists pouring put of it in groups of ten. Attila narrowed her eyes at it.
"Hey, that's the turncoat Attila!" A cultist roared.
"Kill her!"
"Send her to the Next Life!"
This is payback for bombing my community. Attila thought as she warped over to the portal and planted obsidian and an End Crystal. A hail of arrows followed her, making it unnecessary to trigger the crystal herself. She closed her eyes and gripped her second totem. Kate. I hope you're watching, wherever you are. You're not gonna wanna miss this.
A stray arrow struck the End Crystal promting it to explode and disrupt the Nether Portal from which all those cultists were pouring out. The obsidian frame was undamaged, but the purple portal bits within were obliterated. Even if it was relit, the previous passage connecting the two portals could never be mended. Any new portal made from that same frame would send a Crafter to a new random point in the Nether. At the same time, the portal in the Nether connected to that one - which appeared untouched from the Nether side - would spawn a new random portal somewhere in (or out) of Minecraftia's borders. Cultists were still pouring into it, but were now spawning, not in their HQ, but in an uncharted forest outside of the Border, to be vaporized and killed instantaneously. With no one to go back and warn them that the passage was unsafe, the thousands of cultists filing into that portal were basically walking into a meat grinder.
Attila respawned with a cute sneeze before she reveled at the damage she had wrought. "How do you like that, scumbags?" She grinned vindictively. "Should have left me and mine alone."
"KILL HER NOW!"
"That was just the beginning!" Captain Attila kicked up to her feet and batted blades aside as she darted to the next portal with End Crystal in hand. This time, the ensuing explosion broke the stone brick wall and let ocean water in, flooding a section of the floor and pushing the cultists back. Attila stayed out of it by climbing a portal frame and setting another End Crystal down atop it. Her mouth was split into a brilliant smile as she enjoyed taking revenge on her old cult. "I'm gonna blow this whole hub sky high!"
[Eastern Division HQ: Corridor]
Cobb lashed out with his diamond sword before trying to snag Teal's halter top with Backlash 2.0. He missed on both counts, giving Teal an opportunity to propel her winged self forward and ram a knee into Cobb's face. Teal took more damage from the Thorns, but the impact had Cobb's eyes clench shut as his face felt the white hot pain and numbness of blood rushing to it. He took out a Chorus Fruit and chewed it.
"Snack break over~!" Teal sang, zooming back with her wings only for her foot to crack down on empty space and stone brick. She blinked in lost confusion before spotting where Cobb's Chorus Fruit had warped him.
Outside of the glass tunnel.
"Dart Leader!" Cobb cried out as he skewered through the glass and into Teal. She grabbed at the trident in her gut and grit her teeth before Cobb slashed her face with his diamond sword and ignited her with the Fire Aspect. She cried out in pain and anger before throwing out a totem-clenched fist and cracking Cobb in the jaw.
Her Health burned up a second later. The accumulated damage was too much for her, but not enough for her totem. She sneezed as she resurrected and sideflipped away from Cobb's folow-up.
She missed how her sash skirt was caught by Backlash 2.0.
"Two extra lives left." Cobb taunted. "Not getting nervous are we?"
"Please." She laughed. "I live for this~ The more likely I am to die, the more fear I feel. Knowing I don't have a safety net is what really gets the adrenaline - WAK!"
Cobb tugged with Backlash 2.0 and pulled Teal's leg out from under her. Her head cracked on the stone brick floor, presenting Cobb with an opportunity. He lunged forward, but he slowed down when he got close. She had the Voda Shlem on. Teal's legs suddenly spun to life in a devastating windmill move that deflected Cobb at the cost of more Thorns damage. Cobb backed up as Teal finished with a starfish kip up to get back to her feet.
I need to keep the pressure up. He thought as he swapped in a trident and a sword. Even if I take hits, the damage will stack up faster for her.
Teal kicked at the floor. "Aw, man! I'm powerless against Thorns... iswhatIwouldsayifIcouldn'tdothis!"
She suddenly zoomed forward with a high-pitched fireworks whistle and her wings and latched onto Cobb's upper body before twisting around. Her legs tightened around his shoulders and her fishnet clad arms wrapped around his neck like twin pythons. She aimed for the unprotected space between the armor. Cobb grabbed at her arms and felt the muscles underneath ripple as she attempted to twist his neck and paralyze him. Soul had warned him about this. There was a brief contest of strength as their arms fought for dominance, but Teal's legs suddenly went down and pinned Cobb's arms to his side. The Voda Shlem slowed his movements down and she finally twisted his head around.
Cobb spun with the motion, using his trident to corkscrew the rest of his body in time with her twisting to avoid getting his neck snapped. Instead, the two rocketed into the glass ceiling and punched through into the ocean.
Teal refused to let go as she tried to snap his neck, so Cobb twisted his body so that they were facing down before using his Riptide trident to slam the two of them into the ocean floor. It broke Teal's hold over him and Cobb was able to corkscrew away only to come back with another slash across Teal's torso. Teal bit back a cry as she used her rockets and wings to fly back to the tunnel for air.
Cobb replenished his Hunger Meter before pursuing her. When he crashed through the glass walls, Teal was still gasping for air only to get sliced across her back. She spun with the hit, lashing out with a spinning hook kick that nailed Cobb in the shoulder, but she took more damage from the Thorns and fell back with a pained cry. Cobb pressed the advantage and slashed towards her face. As soon as she swapped to the Voda Shlem and his swing slowed down, he used Riptide to surge forward and clothesline her face, killing her again and blowing her second totem. She resurrected with a sneeze and made space by zooming backwards with her Wonder Wings... only for them to snap off her back in a tattered mess and disintegrate into oblivion. She waved her arms in a panic after the sudden loss of her Wonder Wings' support, and she fell to the point where her chin and front skidded along the floor before she came to a stop and flipped herself over. She had neglected to repair her wings' durability these past few days, and the fighting and constant flying only accelerated the wear and tear. The precious SutsCo item was gone now.
"Looks like your wings got clipped. Now you're grounded." Cobb commented. Now he'd have full control fighting her out in the ocean. No more propelling herself away.
"You don't stop do you~?" Teal tried to smile only to grimace as her Hearts regenerated. "I just wish Marrrrrrrgaret was as clingy as you~"
"May as well call him by his real name." Cobb revealed, making Teal go still. "Lieutenant MarkAble. Executive Abyssmal. We know them all. Even if they escape, they'll have wanted posters and won't be able to show their rat faces in public again."
"How? How? How do you know?" Teal questioned, her voice small and lost.
"I already told you. Because the Paragons know what they're doing, and because you have no fucking clue what you're doing."
Teal's jaw clenched and her irises and pupils constricted. "...You're saying... I did this? It's my fault Mark is exposed to danger? How...?"
She lowered her head as she thought about possible mistakes that might have led to this. Her mind seemed to latch onto one mistake over all others.
"...Was it that nerd what did it?"
Cobb shifted tensely.
"It was wasn't it? He used some sort of nerdstone messaging to get you all here and tell you everything. That's why you made it so fast." She gnashed her teeth, her bangs obscuring her eyes as her temper rose. Her teasing lilt was gone. "That geek took advantage of my kindness and played me as a fool. He's probably laughing at me right now. Well I'll have the last laugh."
"You're misunderstanding so many things it isn't funny." Cobb replied flatly.
Teal's fierce eyes snapped up as she held her last totem tightly before her. "I WON'T LET YOU ALL MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME!"
"Why bother making a fool out of you when you do such a good job making a fool out of yourself?"
"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
This is good. Get mad and make stupid decisions. Cobb thought confidently. He had full control of the battle thanks to Teal's fighting style, his Thorns armor, and his tridents. It was like rock trying to beat paper; it couldn't be done. Everything's going to plan. Her Elytra even broke. If I keep this up-
Teal seethe and fumed while cracking her knuckles. She was working herself up into a frenzy, preparing to pounce, but she suddenly stopped herself, her eyes going wide as she looked past Cobb.
"...Abyssmal. You're back."
Cobb scoffed. "Oh please. You think I'm gonna fall for that? Lady, I practically invented that move. I know Abyssmal is up north at some duel." She just wanted him to turn around to take his eyes off her so that she could take him by surprise. "You have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool me with that trick-"
There was a twang of a bow before Cobb was struck by a flaming tipped arrow of Weakness. He ignited and flailed momentarily before breaking the nearest glass wall with greater difficulty and letting ocean water flood the floor and extinguish himself. Another tipped arrow of Slowness came next, but Cobb dodged it by using Riptide with the partially flooded floor. He then took Teal's words more seriously, turning to find they had been true.
Executive Abyssmal stood loosely before him with bow drawn. It was Cobb's first time facing an Executive, and this guy was supposedly the greatest archer in the world. The eyepatch wearing man definitely exerted a kind of pressure.
"I leave you guys alone for one day and already the place is nearly burned down." Abyssmal sighed wearily. "First fighting two Withers, now this. Working me like a dog..."
Inventory (Cobb): 1 Diamond Sword [Sharpness III, Fire Aspect I, Sweeping Edge III, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Pickaxe [Efficiency II, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Helmet [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Chestplate [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Leggings [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Boots [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV, Depth Strider III], 26 Obsidian, 6 Ender Chests, 42 Chorus Fruit, 41 Cooked Chicken, 3 Glass Bottles, 64 Oak Planks, 64 Cobblestone, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 1 Bed, 30 Blocks of Coal, 64 Torches, 1 Lava Bucket, 1 Water Bucket, 1 Milk Bucket, 64 Snowballs, 64 Snowballs, 11 End Crystals, 16 Ender Pearls, 1 Fishing Rod {Backlash 2.0} [Knockback II, Luck of the Sea III, Lure II, Unbreaking III], 1 Trident {Awe} [Riptide III, Unbreaking III], 1 Trident {Shock} [Loyalty II, Channeling], 1 Trident [Riptide III] {Weak}, 1 Trident [Riptide III] {Weak}, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Mobs of the Bounty Days}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Green Shulker Box {Pocket Box}, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying
Green Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 35 Eyes of Ender, 30 Blocks of Emerald, 6 Emeralds, 1 Diamond Cutlass, 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Leather Tunic [Dyed Green, Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection IV, Feather Falling III, Unbreaking III], 25 Lapis Lazuli, 64 Books, 64 Glass, 64 Glass, 64 Glass Bottles, 1 Fishing Rod, 1 Fishing Rod, 2 Books, 1 Enchanting Table, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Book {How to Kill Stuff for Numb Nuts}, 1 Book {Advanced Mob-Slaying}, 1 Book {Mobs of the Nether}, 1 Book {Mobs of the Bounty Days}
[EXP: 92]
Inventory (Lenz): 11 Cooked Rabbit, 1 Crossbow, 34 Arrows, 1 Bowl, 7 Cobblestone
[EXP: 25]
Inventory (Baltic): 1 Iron Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Sword [Sharpness II, Unbreaking III], 1 Shield, 1 Bow, 1 Diamond Pickaxe [Silk Touch I, Mending I, Unbreaking II], 35 Arrows, 3 Brewing Stands, 1 Water Bucket, 64 Bones, 1 Ender Chest, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 20 Emeralds, 64 Cooked Chicken, 32 Cooked Chicken, 1 Lingering Potion of Slowness {1:00}, 1 Lingering Potion of Slowness {1:00}, 1 Lingering Potion of Healing II {0:05}, 1 Lingering Potion of Regeneration II {0:05}, 1 Potion of Slow Falling {4:00}, 1 Potion of Water Breathing {8:00}, 1 Potion of Night Vision {8:00}, 1 Blue Shulker Box {Pocket Box}, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Map {Paragon Minecraftia}
Blue Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 12 Glass Bottles, 64 Dragon's Breath, 59 Dragon's Breath, 52 Blaze Powder, 39 Nether Warts, 30 Soul Sand, 40 Phantom Membranes, 64 Blaze Rods, 62 Fermented Spider Eyes, 39 Carrots, 64 Melon Slices, 64 Rabbit's Feet, 47 Gold Ingots, 17 Gold Nuggets, 62 Gunpowder, 13 Redstone Dust, 64 Glowstone Dust, 64 Ghast Tears, 64 Sugar
[EXP: 32]
Inventory (Z7): 1 Iron Helmet [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Chestplate [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Leggings [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Boots [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV, Depth Strider III], 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 1 Flint and Steel, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 21 Charcoal, 39 Torches, 59 Oak Planks, 1 Potion of Slow Falling {4:00}, 1 Potion of Water Breathing {8:00}, 1 Potion of Night Vision {8:00}, 4 Glass Bottles, 1 Cake, 1 Cake, 23 Cookies, 36 Baked Potatoes, 1 Milk Bucket, 1 Bucket, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 1 Purple Shulker Box {Pocket Box}, 1 Map {Paragon Minecraftia}, 1 Book and Quill
Purple Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III]
[EXP: 48]
AN: Lot of action. Lot of jumping around. Not much else to say.
FAV. FOLLOW. REVIEW. PM. FORUM. DISCORD. LASAGNA.