Yes, I know. I'm an imbecile.

I'm sorry, okay? But I kinda had a lot going on yesterday, like…uh…

…

…yeah, I've got nothing.

I don't have an excuse for updating late, but hey! At least I didn't take a month this time to upload!

And to my new readers, yes, that definitely happened once.

Anyways, I hope you can forgive me, but most of all I hope you can enjoy this chapter!

Krios

Jax Uses X-Ray

Cal

"TO THE LEFT!"

Shell swerved to the left, dodging multiple red swords and nearly hitting an acacia tree.

"TO THE RIGHT!" Jax roared, and Shell swooped over a mountain as a long spear flew past us.

"Cha cha real smooth," I deadpanned.

"NOW…what?"

Toni grabbed me and pulled me onto my back as a scythe sliced through the air, nearly taking off my nose.

"Can we save the jokes for later?" Toni snapped.

"Sorry, Toni. I couldn't resist the urge."

Toni rolled her eyes. "Just keep it down. Literally."

"DOWN!" Jax yelled, and Shell plunged into a dive, shooting towards the ground. We were about to hit the ground when Shell pulled up at the last moment as pikes pierced through the sky all around us.

"I WILL GRIND YOUR BONES INTO DUST!" Klith screamed as he summoned a dozen swords and hurled all of them at Shell, who dodged them all. "I WILL TURN YOUR INTERNAL ORGANS INTO EXTERNAL ORGANS!"

"How much longer until we call it in?" I yelped as a halberd nearly cut off my ear.

"We need to get as far away from Cratre as we can!" Jax yelled back.

"What about Shell? What happens to him when Orca hits the stasis chamber?" I asked.

"I've got an idea," Toni said, "but it's incredibly stupid."

I groaned. "Let me guess. And life threatening, too?

"Yeah…sorry."

"This just keeps getting better and better."

"I WILL INVERT YOUR RIBCAGE!" Klith howled as he dived towards us, raising his scythe. Toni twisted around and slashed her sword at him, sending out an arc of lightning. Klith raised his hand, and an enormous glowing shield materialized in front of him. The lightning bounced off the shield in all directions, blasting apart the ground underneath us.

"He's starting to gain on us," Jax yelled. 'I think it's time to go!"

"Oh god." I moaned. "I've been dreading this moment."

Toni leaned forwards and called to Shell, "WHEN WE JUMP, FLY OFF AS FAST AS YOU CAN!"

I gaped at Toni in horror. "When we what?"

"Jax, get ready to send the signal!" Toni yelled.

"ARE WE JUMPING?"

"NOW!" Toni yelled, and kicked me off Shell's back.

"YOU PIECE OOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFF—!" I managed to scream as I plummeted towards the ground.

Out of the corner I saw Toni and Jax jump off as well, and I saw Shell turn and shoot away at the speed of sound, becoming a black pinprick in the distance. Jax managed to pull out a flip phone.

"SEND US TO THE AETHER!" Jax howled.

I slowly turned midair, and caught a glimpse of Klith honing in on Toni, reaching out to grab her, his eyes glinting with hatred.

And then the wind blinded me for a moment, and I squinted through my teary eyes, watching as the ground rose up to meet me.

And then there was a flash of purple light, and pain shot through my chest.

Suddenly I was submerged underwater. I had been in the process of breathing, and inhaled what must have been a gallon of ice cold water. Everything was cold and dark. And let me tell you, that water was cold. Like, that water was a frigid, freezing, hell. It felt like my skin was accelerating through every stage of hypothermia at once. If you didn't know already, it was cold.

I probably would have froze to death before drowning when I felt someone grab a fistful of my shirt and drag me upwards.

I burst out of the water and onto the wooden floor like a seal, hacking and coughing up water. The person who'd dragged me out, Orca, was sitting next to me, panting and also sopping wet.

"Good to be back," I coughed. "I think my stomach's in my throat."

"Typically that's not where stomachs belong," Orca said.

"No kidding, Sherlock." I groaned. "Toni? You there?"

"I'm here." Toni said next to me, looking wet and disheveled.

"Good," I said. "Because I want to kill you."

Jax, who was also very wet, stumbled to his feet. "I…I need to leave and…and look for the bomb."

"Hey, relax!" Ben said, sounding concerned. "Klith thinks you're in the Aether right now. We've got time."

"Are you an idiot?" Sam, who looked bad tempered, said. "If this is where the bomb is, Klith will come back."

"Don't be rude," Seu said, annoyed.

Sam sighed. "Okay. That was unprecedented. But I'm in a bad mood, okay?"

Ender handed Jax a potion. "Drink it. It's strength, and you'll need it to look for that bomb."

"Thanks," Jax said. He took the potion, popped the cork, and downed it in one go. He looked at Toni, looking slightly better. "Are you ready?"

"No," Toni said wearily as she got up. "But we've all gotta do things we're not prepared for at some point. Let's look for this bomb."

Toni

Once me, Cal, and Jax got outside, Jax began to search. The others hadn't come out because Jax had said that he needed to concentrate, but that wouldn't be possible if there were too many people. Sam was taking care of Trevor, so Jax had just wanted me there, but Cal insisted on coming.

Jax took a deep breath, shut his eyes, and extended his hands.

"Well?" Cal asked anxiously. "Did you find it?"

"I'm not a miracle worker," Jax grumbled. "Give me time."

Cal took the hint and went silent.

Jax just stood there for a moment when shadows creeped out of his jacket sleeves like gas. Cal shivered, but didn't say anything.

The shadows fully wrapped around his arms and over his hands, concealing them completely. Jax murmured, "I feel things. A lot of things. There are caves. A big ravine…but none of them are right."

"How do you know when you find the right cave?" Cal asked.

"I'll recognize it when I see it," Jax muttered. "You know what? I'm starting to lose focus. I think it would be better if you and Toni go back inside."

Cal looked annoyed, but turned and walked back into the shack. I followed her, glancing at Jax before shutting the door.

"How's the progress?" Dan asked Cal.

"Well, he's just started. I don't think he has anything. Not yet." Cal said as she sat down. "Does anyone have a towel or something? I'm really wet."

"No, sorry." Dan said.

"Nine people in this room and not a single towel," Cal grumbled.

Sam grabbed a cloth and handed it to Cal. "It's small, but at least it's something."

"Thanks," Cal said gratefully as she took the cloth.

"How's Trevor doing?" I asked Sam.

"Still unconscious, but he'll be fine." Sam said. "That dragon's blood saved his life. I…" Sam's voice trembled. "I hope he wakes up soon."

"Owww."

Sam gasped as Trevor slowly opened his eyes.

"I feel like crap," Trevor groaned. "And I've got a headache."

"Trevor!" Sam gasped, and then fiercely hugged him. "Trevor, you…I…god! Trevor, if you scare me like that ever again I'll kill you myself!"

"Sam, let go." Trevor protested. "I can't breathe."

Sam let him go, looking a mixture of mad, embarrassed, and relieved. "Are you okay?"

"Well, like I said earlier, I've got a killer headache, but apart from that I'm just fine." Trevor said. He made to sit up, but then clutched his head and laid back down. "Ow. Actually, I think I should just lie down for a moment."

"Ah, young love." Nikai said loftily.

"If you don't shut it I'm going to shoot you in the legs," Sam warned.

Dan chuckled. "They remind me of Seu and Ben, actually."

"I'm not afraid to stab you in the legs either," Seu said.

I grinned. "We could set them up on a double date."

"I'll shoot you too," Sam said.

We all chuckled at that, and I was grateful. I really needed to get my mind off of the impending doom the was the Hellstorm.

Suddenly the door swung open, and Jax strode in, looking agitated.

"Well?" Sam asked. "Where is it?"

"It's not here," Jax said, running a hand through his hair.

"What do you mean, it's not here?" I cried, getting to my feet.

"Isn't it because you just stood in one place while you looked for it?" Cal asked.

"Wrong," Jax said. "I teleported five times around Cratre, and I found nothing under us. My powers have a range of half a kilometer, and I can detect things all the way to bedrock. It's how I find and summon obsidian. I double checked, and there's NOTHING!"

I paled. "You…you're kidding. Right?"

"Would I joke about this?" Jax snapped. "It's not here!"

Everyone stared at Jax, and then at me. "You said it was here!" Nikai said accusingly.

Dread and doubt seeped into my mind like tar, covering all the relief, all the happiness, and all the hope I had had earlier. I shook my head. "You just didn't look hard enough. It's here. You just need to look harder."

"Toni…" Jax said.

"Go outside!" My voice cracked. "Go outside and look again! You didn't do it properly the first time, so do it again!"

"Toni, it's not here." Jax said. "I don't know how or why, but I promise you it's not here."

And before I could respond, the entire building caved in on us.

The floor underneath us shattered as swords, spears, and daggers tore through the wood. The windows burst, the roof caved in on us, and the walls exploded inwards, showering us with splinters. I watched as the floor disintegrated underneath me, almost as if it were in slow motion.

And with that I was dropped into the water again.

It was worse this time. The cold, I mean. The water was so much more colder than when I'd been drowning earlier, and I didn't know why that was. A board of wood smashed against my shoulder, and I screamed in pain. I broke the surface, gasping and coughing. I blindly grabbed a piece of wood and crawled onto it, gasping in exertion. My shoulder felt like the embodiment of agony itself.

I heard someone laughing. I looked up and saw Klith laughing as he watched me struggle onto the piece of wood.

I stood as the piece of wood wobbled underneath my feet. I drew my sword and pointed at him.

"WHERE IS IT?" I screamed. "WHERE IS THE BOMB?"

Klith's sneer widened as he opened his mouth, taking pleasure in every second of my fear.

"Not here."

I screamed, and electricity exploded out of my body as I kicked off the wood and jumped into the air, raising my sword. My diamond sword crackled with energy as I swung it towards Klith, who merely laughed and smashed the sword aside with his scythe, sending it spiraling into the water. He grabbed me by the neck, and I choked.

"That look of hopelessness in your eyes…" Klith hissed. "I revel in it."

I grabbed Klith's arm, sending a thousand volts of power through his arm. Klith's entire body lit up bright blue, and he was blasted away from me, smashing through multiple buildings until hitting the water with an enormous splash. I began to plummet towards the water, but electricity exploded out of my back, acting like a jetpack and launching me towards the boardwalk.

I smashed into the ground and rolled into a wooden post, making me scream in pain. Everything was starting to go hazy, but I forced myself to stay awake. I couldn't die. Not here, not now. I tried to stand, but gasped in pain as a spike of pain shot through my legs. I wanted to scream again, but my throat already felt like sandpaper and if I screamed again, I was pretty sure I would vomit blood.

I managed to prop myself up against the wooden post, groaning. I couldn't stand. Were my legs broken? I couldn't be sure, but they hurt like hell.

I spotted some silhouettes in the water climbing onto some driftwood in the distance, and I hoped with all my heart that Cal survived. And Jax, and Sam, and Trevor. If any of them died, I wasn't sure how I would have taken it.

That thought jolted me into action. Get up, I thought. GET UP!

I slowly began to rise as my legs screamed with pain. I got halfway up before sliding down again, gasping in pain.

"Damn it, get up, GET UP!" I screamed, and suddenly electricity surged through my body and into my legs, and the pain began to fade.

"What…?" I glanced down at my legs, and saw that they were crackling with electricity. I stood, albeit with some difficulty, but I still stood. I didn't feel pain in my legs anymore. In fact, I didn't feel anything in my legs anymore. It was like they were numb.

I didn't know why this had happened, but I wasn't going to question it. I ran over to the edge of the water, but stopped. I remembered the freezing cold.

I ignored the fear and dived in.

Surprisingly, the water wasn't as frigid this time. I swam towards the silhouettes, which were getting increasingly clearer.

It was Orca, Seu, Durham, and Sam. I grabbed onto their piece of driftwood. "WHERE'S THE OTHERS?" I yelled.

"I don't know!" Trevor shouted back. "I don't know where they are. I just know—ABANDON SHIP!"

I turned to see an enormous fireball flying towards us at a high speed. Everyone dived off the piece of driftwood, and I took a quick breath and sank underwater. The fireball exploded, and the water glowed orange as the flames lingered on the surface of the water for a moment. I could feel the heat even through the water, and knew that if that fireball had hit me, I would have been vaporized into dust.

The flames faded, and I broke the surface again, gasping for air. The instant I resurfaced, something snagged me by the collar of my shirt and threw me back over to the boardwalk. I smashed into the wooden floor again, and I gasped in pain as I slammed into the ground.

"This is really starting to get old," I groaned as I stumbled to my feet. I glared at Klith, who was shaking his hand like someone who had just touched a hot frying pan.

"Oops," Klith said.

"Still in the air?" I snarled. "Come down here and fight me."

"Gladly," Klith smirked as he dropped out of the air and landed with a 'thud' on the boardwalk.

Oh god. He actually came down here and now he's going to fight me. I'm an idiot. Why did I say that?

Klith walked towards me at a leisurely pace, spinning his scythe like he had all the time in the world.

I don't even have my sword. How can I fight?

"TONI, CATCH!" I turned to see Shell circling in the air with Dan riding on his back and holding my sword. He threw it at me, and I was lucky I caught it and didn't get impaled by my sword. Dan jumped off Shell, drawing his obsidian scimitars as he did. He landed with a thud on the boardwalk next to me.

"Ready for round two?" Dan said.

"Three on one seems awfully unfair," Klith said coldly.

"Stop complaining and fight," Dan said, raising his scimitar in Klith's direction.

"So be it, then," Klith said as he gripped his scythe and charged towards us.

He swung his scythe towards me, but Dan jumped in front of me, blocking the blow with both of his scimitars, which trembled from the force of the blow. I dashed to Klith's side and raised my sword with the intention to cut him down. Klith tried to pull away his scythe, but Dan caught the blade of his scythe in between his scimitars, keeping Klith in place.

I brought the sword down, and Klith kicked Dan's feet out from under him and blocked the strike with a loud clash. Sparks flew as our weapons scratched against each other, but it was no contest. Klith easily forced me back, and my feet ground lines into the wood as he slowly stepped forwards. Klith grabbed my sword and swung me back as Dan aimed a strike at his neck. Klith swung me in front of Dan's scimitar, and Dan stopped his scimitar right before it cut into my neck. Klith threw me at Dan, who caught me and then dropped me unceremoniously on the ground.

Klith made to charge forwards, but before he could Shell landed in front of us with a thud.

"Get out of the way," Klith snarled.

In response, Shell's maw opened as wide as it could go and blasted violet flames at Klith, who threw up his arms as if to protect himself. An enormous red shield appeared in front of him, blocking the flames. Shell leaned forwards, and the stream of flames became more concentrated and stronger, pushing Klith back.

Klith began pushing against the fire with his shield, moving forwards slowly but surely. I ran up beside Shell and pointed both of my hands at Klith's shield and lightning burst from my hands, forcing him back further.

With my lightning and Shell's fire, we slowly began to push forwards as Klith struggled to stand against our combined power. Klith turned to escape when an enormous obsidian wall erupted from the ground, showering him with water. I risked a glance away, and saw Jax standing a few feet away from us, looking pale and exhausted but determined. "Keep moving him," Jax yelled. "I'll encase him in obsidian!"

I turned back to Klith, who had summoned multiple weapons to help him push his shield. We stopped completely, both of us pushing as hard as we could. We were at a complete standstill.

More, I thought. More power!

Electricity crackled from my body so intensely that nobody could have gone within a meter of me. A dozen bolts of lightning began exploding from my hands at once, and Klith began to slide back again, back into the obsidian wall.

Jax screamed and raised his hands like an orchestra conductor at the height of a crescendo, and enormous obsidian spikes burst from the ground at once, pushing Klith against the wall. The obsidian spread out, covering every crack, until Klith was completely gone.

I turned to Jax and saw that the whites of his eyes had gone black, and his irises had turned purple. Slowly the black receded back until his eyes were normal again, and Jax groaned as he sat down heavily.

"That was…" Jax trailed off. "I don't even know."

"Yeah," I agreed. "That was crazy—"

And then, the pain came back.

I gasped and stumbled a little. The numbness in my legs was beginning to fade, replaced by pure agony. I fell onto my back, my legs feeling like they were slowly being dipped in lava. Nope, scratch that—I felt like all of my blood had simultaneously turned into acid.

"Toni? What's wrong?" Dan asked.

"My…my legs…" I gasped in pain.

Klith screamed from inside the obsidian, and a large crack spread down the obsidian.

"We need to go," Jax said urgently. "Toni, can you walk?"

"No," I groaned.

Jax cursed. "Alright. Dan, can you—?"

"Got it," Dan said as he scooped me up bridal style. "We'll ride Shell."

"I'll try and contact the others," Jax said as he pulled out his flip phone.

But before he could do anything, the obsidian exploded, and a red sword flew out of nowhere and smashed the flip phone into pieces.

"I have had it up to here with you brats!" Klith screamed and raised his hands.

Weapons appeared in the air above us, and then fell down like rain.

Shell dashed over to us and sweeped the weapons away with his wing, making multiple purple scratches on it. Dan tossed me onto Shell's back unceremoniously, and Jax jumped on as well. Dan made to get on when an enormous fireball fell from the sky, heading straight towards us.

"SHELL, GET AWAY!" Dan screamed, and I barely managed to grab the saddle before Shell launched into the air, and the boardwalk exploded behind us.

"DAN!" I screamed, but he was lost in a fiery inferno. Klith began to rise through the air to chase us, but Dan exploded from the fire, grabbing Klith's ankle. Klith screamed in fury and a dozen weapons descended down upon Dan's body, but before I could see if he had been injured, Shell shot away.

"DAN!" I screamed again.

"He'll be fine," Jax yelled. "He's been in situations like this before."

I remembered how Dan and Klith's fight had gone, and felt sick. I couldn't help the feeling that somehow Dan had died because of me.

"And besides, I think we've got bigger issues," Jax said. And that's when I saw them.

Enormous nether portals. Appearing in the sky.

Just like Janlyn.

"No, no, no, NO, NO!" I cried. Ghasts and pigmen jumped out of the portals, landing all over Cratre. "Not again!"

Somehow I heard a scream amongst all the chaos, and looked down to see Cal, Sam, Ender, Seu, and Ben fighting back to back against a horde of pigmen. Cal glanced up and saw us. "SHELL!" she howled, and Shell shot down towards the pigmen, raining down flames upon all of the pigmen. They all screamed and dived for the water, but they all disintegrated before they hit the water, floating down as clouds of ash.

"CAL, GET ON!" Jax screamed. "YOU TOO, SAM! WE NEED YOU!"

"What about us?" Ender cried.

"There's not enough room for us, Ender." Ben said solemnly.

"No!" Cal cried.

"GET ON!" Jax ordered.

Cal hesitated, and then the cries of pigmen pierced through the air. She turned, and saw an enormous horde of pigmen run towards them.

"Get on," Seu said. "We'll buy you time."

"No," Cal said, but Sam grabbed Cal and lifted her onto Shell before climbing on herself. She looked at Seu. "Thank you."

"It was an honor to meet you, Shaft." Seu smiled.

"STOP!" Cal yelled, but Shell launched into the air, leaving the group of three behind to fend for themselves.

Cal sobbed into Sam's back as we flew through the air, plumes of smoke stretching into the air from Cratre. The once peaceful nature of this town had now been tarnished. And it was my fault. All my fault. I wanted to cry, but my tear ducts had probably dried up.

"We've still got time," Sam said fiercely. "Time to look for that bomb. And Cal?"

Cal looked up, wiping her face with her sleeve.

"I can't promise they'll be okay, but I can promise we'll make them proud."

Cal gave Sam a watery smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Sam said. "Now let's get the hell out of—"

And then someone flashed past us, and Sam tipped sideways. There was a look of shock on her face, and she plummeted towards the water.

"SAAAAAAAAM!" Jax screamed.

As Sam fell, she swung an arrow out of her quiver and fired at us. I turned to see Klith flying towards us. He raised his scythe, and Sam's arrow struck him in the chest, exploding on impact and blasting him back for a second. Just a second.

And in that second, Shell shot away, faster than light itself.

Cratre burned. Like the tinder for a cruel fire.

Sheesh. This was a devastating chapter, wasn't it?

Will Sam and the others be fine? Has Toni finally given up? Will the bomb actually be found?

The answer to all of these is—!

—in the next chapter. Yeah, I know, I know. You can boo me and throw vegetables. Sorry, but you'll just have to wait until next Friday for those answers. All of them.

Honestly, I'm just really excited that Herobrine Reborn is finally starting to reach it's climax after what, like a year of being trapped in the same spot?

Well, that's just the first part. *wink* I assure you there will be a part two to this story.

Anyways, I hope all you humans out there have a wonderful day and not fall to your impending doom!

Too soon? Yeah, you're right.

Krios