No author's note—just read the chapter, I can't wait any longer.

The Battle Of The Core (Part 2)

"Enough chit chat," Dan snarled as he tossed his golden sword away and picked up two obsidian scimitars. "It's payback time."

And with that, spikes erupted from the ground all around Jax like a crown, cutting all the pigmen near him into dust. Jax flicked his hand into the air, and an obsidian pillar exploded from the ground and smashed into Bolo, sending him flying backwards through the cavern.

Everyone charged forwards with a cry, their weapons raised. We crashed into the pigmen on both sides—Jax on one side, and the rest of us on the other. Sparks flew and pigmen poofed into dust around us. Dan, though moving slower than usual, cut through the crowd of pigmen with no remorse. Dan backed up into Jax, who had just taken out three pigmen with a single slice. Wordlessly they seemed to agree on something, and together they carved a path of destruction through the sea of pigmen.

I cut down several pigmen, but I wasn't doing as good as Dan or Jax. Several times an arrow caught a pigman that would have killed me, and I glanced towards Sam, worried she was only protecting me.

Instead, I saw that she shot more than eight arrows per second, every single shot a kill. She fired a barrage of arrows into the crowd, but the arrows never hit one of our own, not even once. And she was doing all this while keeping an eye on all of us to see if any of us were in any danger.

Seeing everyone doing so well encouraged me, and my slashes began to get harder and faster, and more pigmen fell. I cut through them like weeds, killing several pigmen with one slice. Looking back on it, I couldn't tell you how I did it. Somehow, it had felt natural, even though I'd never had a combative bone in my body a week before this.

Still the pigmen came, and I screamed and swung my sword as hard as I could. Sparks flew, and lightning arced out of my sword, vaporizing at least a dozen pigmen. My eyes widened slightly, but I registered it in an instant. There was no place for hesitation in a battle.

I cut pigmen down with destructive speed, killing them left and right. I stepped back, letting them get close, and then decimated them all with a single swipe, sending electricity through the mob of pigmen and reducing them all to dust. I stepped forwards again, and repeated the process, cutting, slicing, letting them gather, and then blasting them all again until I was doing as much damage as Dan and Jax combined.

Just when I thought we might have been winning, Bolo reappeared, plowing through the crowd of pigmen with no regard for his own troops. He swung his fist and sent Nikai, Ben, and Seu, who had taken out a considerate amount of pigmen, flying backwards into the stone wall with a crack.

"You're too late," Bolo bellowed. "The Hellstorm has already been activated!"

My stomach dropped as I looked towards the Hellstorm. Inside the Hellstorm, chemical reactions raged inside of the glass bulbs, and the wires glowed white hot.

Suddenly Dan appeared from nowhere, his scimitar aimed at Bolo's ribs, and I was sure that his strike would land when Bolo reacted lightning fast, grabbing Dan's scimitar and kicking him across the cavern. Dan slammed into a stalagmite with a loud crack, and slid to the floor with a groan. He set his other scimitar against the ground, trying to stand, but gasped in pain and collapsed against the stalagmite. Bolo tossed aside the scimitar and ran towards Dan, raising his sword. He brought it down with destructive force, only for Cal to dive in front of Dan and barely manage block the strike with her netherite axe.

Bolo sneered. "What's this? You better move aside, girl."

I slashed my sword at Bolo, blasting him with a powerful bolt of lightning. He staggered a little, and Cal took the opportunity to sweep aside Bolo's sword and slash him across the face with her axe, making him double over and shout in pain. I pointed my hand at him, letting loose another bolt of lightning and blasting him sideways through a stalagmite.

Cal began to run up to me, but I stopped her. "Help Dan," I demanded. "I'll take care of Bozo."

"What?" Cal said, sounding concerned. "You know he's, like, the size of an iron golem, right?"

I showed her my sword, which crackled with electricity. "Are you forgetting who has superpowers? And as I recall, the last time you took someone head on you literally died."

"It was a cheap shot," Cal complained. "He got me from behind."

I grinned. "Just help the others."

A slight smile flitted across her face. "Oh, how the tables have turned. Now you're the one protecting me."

"I've been protecting you my whole life by stopping you from doing dumb things," I said with a grin.

"Fair point," Cal said, and then punched me in the shoulder. "Go get em."

I turned to Bolo. "You know it."

Cal ran towards Dan, and Bolo slowly rose with a groan, smoke curling up from his armor. He picked up his sword with a snarl and pointed it at me, the orange runes on the sword glowing bright. "Back for a rematch?"

"Yeah," I said as I raised my sword. "This is for Janlyn."

Bolo charged with a scream, and I waited for him to come to me. He swung, and I dived out of the way as his sword carved a line through the ground.

I ran for a lava pool nearby, Bolo following close behind. I got to the edge of the lava pool and felt my legs tingle with electricity as Bolo raised his sword to chop me in half. I kicked off the ground and flew at least seven blocks through the air, landing safely on the other side of the lava pool. Bolo growled in annoyance, and I stuck out my tongue at him. He bellowed with fury and chased me around the lava pool, but I was too fast, always being on the opposite side from him.

"Maybe if you lose some weight, you'll catch up!" I teased Bolo. "What's wrong? Those pork chops having an adverse affect on your health? Ever heard of taking a dieAH!" I screamed as I barely managed to dodge a stalagmite that shot past my face like a spear, shattering on the ground.

"HA! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?" Bolo laughed as he tore up another stalagmite. He lifted it into the air like a throwing spear and then hurled it with deadly force.

I frantically dodged and weaved as more stalagmites (Stalactites? What was the difference again?) flew past me, smashing on the ground. Several nearly hit me, and one definitely would have killed me if I hadn't smashed it to the side with my sword, which sent jolts up my muscles and made my arms ache.

I couldn't wait until he ran out of stalagmites, because, well, we were in a cave full of stalagmites. I was a lot smaller and faster than Bolo, but he had much more strength and stamina. Eventually, I would slip up and get impaled by a stalagmite.

My only option was to take the fight to Bolo. I took a few steps back, dodging another stalagmite as I did. I got ready to jump over the lava pool again, and it suddenly occurred to me that Bolo could just hurl a stalagmite at me midair and kill me.

Bolo ripped another stalagmite out of the ground, and an idea flashed in my head. He lifted the stalagmite, about to throw it, and I swung my sword as hard as I could, a bolt of lightning shooting from my sword towards the stalagmite. The stalagmite exploded in Bolo's hand, making him splutter as dust and shards of rock pelted his face. At that moment, I ran up to the lava pool and kicked off the ground with a scream, flying over the lava pool easily.

Oh god oh god oh god oh god don't fall don't fall don't fall

Luckily, I managed to clear the lava pool with no major issues. However, I might have made it a little short.

Instead of flying over Bolo like I planned, I landed on Bolo's face with both feet, hard. I heard a loud crack under my feet, and blood spurted out from under my shoes. Bolo screamed and stumbled back, and I unceremoniously fell forwards off of Bolo's face, landing hard on the ground. Bolo let out a bellow. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

I got to my feet just as he screamed and swung his sword at me with the strength of a bull. I yelped and dived forwards, rolling under Bolo's legs as he smashed his sword into the stone floor. I turned and raked my sword across his back and sent sparks of electricity crackling across his armor, making him fall to his knees.

"I…I'll kill you!" Bolo howled. I raised my sword to slash him again, but before I could, there was a loud crack and we turned.

A nether portal appeared near the Hellstorm, and we stared at it for a moment until someone stepped out of the portal.

My blood went cold.

Klith looked around at the ensuing chaos with a dark expression on his face, and then snorted. "Of course. I'm not sure what I expected when I left it up to someone as stupid as Bolo."

"K-Klith! I mean, King—Entity—?" Bolo spluttered. "I-I promise, I've got it all under control!"

A pigman ran past Bolo, screaming "THIS IS OUT OF OUR CONTROL! WE'RE DOOMED!"

"All…under…control…" Bolo repeated, sweating.

"Shut up." Klith said, then turned to me. I stepped back in fear.

Surprisingly, Klith smiled. But it was a cold, cruel smirk as opposed to a genuine smile. "You really haven't learned yet?" His smile turned into an insane leer as his scythe materialized in his hand. "Do you need a second lesson to finally know your place?"

I mustered up my courage. "This is the one class I'm not passing, Klith."

"So be it," Klith said.

"S-sir, I can—"

"Go help the pigmen," Klith snarled. "You'll only get in the way anyways."

Bolo gave me one last hateful look before running towards the Hellstorm.

"Now…no more interruptions." Kilth laughed, and bright red weapons materialized in the air all around him. "Just you…and me."

"I agree," I said. "And on that note…Jax, get him from behind!"

Klith swiveled around, and I turned and took a run for it.

The oldest trick in the book, I thought as I ran towards the Hellstorm.

"JAX!" I yelled, and Jax turned to me. "THE HELLSTORM!"

Suddenly red glowing strings wrapped around my chest and dragged me backwards, and I suddenly had a fleeting memory of a man with a fishing rod.

I smashed into the ground, and all the air in my lungs escaped me.

"This is it for you," I heard Klith snarl as he advanced towards me.

Jax

I slashed, and an entire row of pigmen turned to dust. I turned and slashed again, cutting through pigmen like a hoe through wheat.

"JAX!" I heard Toni yell, and glanced back.

Toni ran towards me, waving her arms and yelling "THE HELLSTORM!" Suddenly red strings wrapped around her waist, and she was dragged backwards. I turned to the Hellstorm, almost getting stabbed by a pigman as I did. I didn't like what I saw.

I'd been way too focused on fighting—how much time had passed since the Hellstorm had activated? Nineteen, twenty minutes? That meant the Hell storm was over fifty percent charged, which meant that blowing it up prematurely was out of the question. I cursed—how could I have been so stupid?

"CAL! SAM! COVER ME!" I yelled as I furiously carved through the crowd of pigmen, determined to get to the Hellstorm. Cal cut down the pigmen that tried to get to me with surprising speed, and the one that got through Cal were shot dead by Sam.

I pushed through the last row of pigmen and ran up to the Hellstorm.

Through the glass panel in the Hellstorm, I couldn't see anything—it was too bright. The insides of the Hellstorm glowed as intensely as the sun, and the air around the Hellstorm was even hotter than before, even though it had already been hot enough what with us being, you know, in the center of the Earth's core.

I cursed myself for not blowing it up earlier, when I had had the chance. The tremors from the explosion wouldn't have even made it up to the surface.

But that would have killed everyone here, including you and your friends. And Klith would still be alive.

But there was no time to think about that. What was done was done. I needed a way to shut it down somehow.

But all the notes I'd found on the Hellstorm had never actually explained a way to deactivate the Hellstorm. The one method I'd found was 'strictly experimental', and was to be performed under the right conditions, with the right equipment, and with the right experience. All of which I doubted I had. If I'd known beforehand that the Hellstorm had been the thing we were looking for, maybe I could have found a way. But even that was a pretty big maybe.

I growled softly as I glared at the Hellstorm, trying to think.

The mob of pigmen had been whittled down to just a couple dozen pigmen, all of whom looked reluctant to attack. More of them went down, impaled by arrows, and they all scattered. Cal stepped back, huffing and puffing. She had several cuts and bruises on her body, and her clothes were ragged.

"Whatever you're doing, do it quick." Cal panted, wiping blood off her forehead with her sleeve. "I'm not sure how longer I can go."

"You try and deactivate a world killing bomb," I mumbled as I thought. I took a few steps back, hoping getting a full view of the Hellstorm would give me an idea. I don't know what I expected—maybe a button that said 'press here to turn off the Hellstorm'.

But as I stepped back, I tripped a little over a small crack in the ground. I glanced down and through the crack I could see…a black and gray rock.

I swung my sword at the crack, smashing and kicking aside shards of rock.

Suddenly there was a loud bellow. "GUESS WHO'S BACK?" I looked up, and saw Bolo. Blood streamed down his face from a ruined nose, but he didn't seem to be very bothered by that.

Cal groaned. "You again?"

"I have orders from Klith," Bolo snarled. "And he ordered me to grind you into the ground."

Sam jumped down from the stalagmite she was perched on and ran to Cal's side. "Try if you want, meathead."

The pigmen, encouraged by Bolo's arrival, began to slowly inch forwards. They were still pretty apprehensive, but they were regaining their courage fast.

"Cover me," I told them. "I'm on the verge of a breakthrough."

Sam rolled her eyes. "My hero. Hey, you pigmen! Get back, or I'll blast you into next week!"

Hello!? I'm trying to deactivate a bomb here? I almost yelled, but refrained. While I thought, Cal and Sam kept the pigmen back, threatening and intimidating them, but they were regaining their courage. I needed to think of something fast.

I turned back to the crack, tossing aside another chunk of rock. What was in the crack that had caught my brain's interest?

Bedrock.

I didn't know why this had captured my attention so much. It was just good old unbreakable bedrock.

Unbreakable.

Bedrock was unbreakable.

The Hellstorm could tear through anything.

Bedrock's unbreakable.

Slowly, the puzzle pieces in my head began to arrange themselves.

Okay, so quick geography lesson. I know, boring, but hear me out for a moment.

The Earth has four distinct layers. Five, if you can even count the void.

There's the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core. But, there is another sub-layer.

It's thinner than the crust by roughly 13 times, but the most indestructible one—the bedrock layer. The bedrock layer is so small, so thin, that it can't even be called a layer on it's own. It's technically part of the inner core.

But you know this next part—under the bedrock lies the void. And the void can and will eat anything up.

Now, most of that is pretty obvious, but to me, this was the missing puzzle piece in my mind.

The final puzzle piece clicked, and now I could see the entire puzzle for what it was.

I thought all of this in almost thirty seconds, and turned to the girls. "I've got a plan, but it's insane and if it doesn't work we're all going to get blown to bits."

"What else is new?" Cal and Sam said at the same time. They glanced at each other. "Jinx."

"Hold them off," I commanded. "Give me time."

Sam winked. "Will do."

"Just don't take too long," Cal added.

"Noted. Let's do this, guys. We'll make it out of here."

"Agreed," Sam said as she turned to the crowd of pigmen.

I turned to the Hellstorm and took out a shulker box. I opened it, and found as many bottles of enchanting as I could, smashing them all on the ground and letting the XP flow into my body. For this, I'd need as much XP as possible.

Behind me, I heard Cal and Sam yell as they charged at Bolo and the pigmen, but I couldn't look back. I raised my hands and clapped them together. Walls of obsidian erupted all around the Hellstorm until it was completely covered by the obsidian. I touched the obsidian—it was warm, and getting warmer. I needed to do this quick, before the obsidian got too hot to touch.

I touched the wall of obsidian covering the Hellstorm with both hands and began. I concentrated on the spot in front of me, and tried to release as much energy as I could into the Hellstorm as I could.

It felt like something was draining out of me, but I wasn't stopping. Shadows seeped from my hands, spreading out along the obsidian like smoke. The air around me seemed to solidify into shadow, slowly beginning to block out light. But it wasn't enough. I needed more power.

I groaned as I strained, and now I felt like the energy in my body was seeping out of me like water out of a tap. A bead of sweat rolled down my forehead. Shadows spread even faster over the Hellstorm, slowly enveloping it in darkness. Now I could feel the Hellstorm in it's entirety, like I was running my hands over it. The air around me finally solidified into shadow, and I was thrown into complete darkness. That was good—it would be easier in the dark.

But it still wasn't enough. I had to completely cover the Hellstorm in shadow. I screamed, but there was no sound. Darkness pressed in on me from all sides, like I was several hundred feet underwater with no suit to protect me from the crushing pressure. My ears seemed to plug, and something dripped from my nose. It might have been blood.

I felt, not saw, the darkness cover the last of the Hellstorm. And now, it was time for the last act.

I could feel the obsidian. It was burning hot now, but I was numb to all feeling now.

Including the sword that had just pierced my chest.

Bolo stood behind me, his sword stabbed through my back. It was then I realized that the shadow around me acted like a powerful gust of wind—Bolo was barely managing to stand, his facial features stretched back as if he were riding a rollercoaster. The only reason he hadn't been blasted away was because of the sword in my back, acting like an anchor. Even with the sword in me, I felt nothing but one burning desire.

I'm going to send this Hellstorm back to hell.

I screamed, and felt the last of my energy fade from my body.

And with that, I fell. I fell through an endless tunnel, taking the Hellstorm with me.

Toni

"So, this is the great Herobrine?" I barely managed to dodge Klith's scythe, which sliced through a stalagmite like it was butter.

"Reduced to a mere twelve year old?" I stumbled back, narrowly dodging a bright red spear.

"It's almost pitiful, it is." I brought my diamond sword up, and Klith brought his scythe down on on my sword with such force it was nearly blasted from my hands.

Klith kicked me in the chest, and I flew backwards into a stalagmite with a loud crack. I coughed as the air was driven from my lungs.

"The real Herobrine was more of a challenge," Klith sneered as he raised his scythe to cut me down.

"Agh!" I threw myself out of the way as Klith smashed the stalagmite to pieces. I rolled onto my back, and Klith stomped on my chest, making me choke. He raised his scythe again. "It's time to meet your father in hell."

My eyes widened, and I imagined my father, shaking his head as he watched Klith beat the tar out of me.

"SHUT—UP!" I roared as I slashed my sword upwards, letting loose an explosion of lightning that Klith dodged easily. The lightning struck the cavern's roof, exploding and carving a hole deep into the earth.

"Careful," Klith said. "You break that protection spell and we're all cooked instantly."

"Protection spell?"

Klith scoffed. "Not even a pigman can survive down here without any protection spells. There's a spell over this entire cavern and that elevator that negates the heat. Well, not all of it, obviously."

"I don't care," I said as I charged. "THIS IS FOR MY FATHER!"

Our weapons clashed, and I felt the impact run through my arms, yet my sword was steady. Only later did I realize that my arms were literally crackling with electricity.

I slashed wildly, electricity sparking with each strike. Klith's swings were just as powerful, but they were more accurate. I found myself blocking more than swinging as Klith advanced with a devilish grin.

I need to get away, I realized. If I don't, he'll get in a good hit eventually.

I swung particularly hard, and there was a brilliant flash of lightning, which blinded Klith for a moment. I swung again, but Klith still blocked it, sliding back a little as he did. He blinked, disoriented.

This was my chance to get away—I turned and felt lightning explode from my back, launching me forwards and probably blasting Klith in the face with lightning. I landed hard on the ground and rolled into a stalagmite with a crack.

"I need to figure out how to land safely after doing that," I groaned as I stood.

"Run, Deniara!" Klith bellowed as he looked around, blinking his eyes. "Run!" I dived behind a stalagmite before he could see me.

I wasn't being cowardly (okay, maybe I was a little), I was trying to come up with a plan. Some way to fight Klith without facing him directly. He was too strong for me, even with my powers.

That flash earlier…it had blinded Klith, even if it was only for a second. But even then, he'd still blocked my blow.

That's it, I thought. I need to blind him so he can't see me coming.

I stood from behind the stalagmite and yelled, "Hey, Klith! Say cheese!"

Klith turned to me and grinned madly as he ran towards me. I raised my hand up, and my palm flashed bright with lightning, making Klith blink.

"You think a little bit of light will stop me?" Klith laughed, and kept coming.

Not bright enough.

I had a flashback of toasting several zombies in Valaither as I raised my sword. I swung it towards the ground, and lightning burst from my sword into the ground, lighting up the area around me like a flashbang.

Klith recoiled. "What are you doing?"

I ran towards him, smashing my sword against a stalagmite and causing another bright flash. I saw spots after the flash disappeared, but realized that I could still see even when the flashes were happening.

"STOP THAT!" Klith staggered a little, rubbing his eyes. He waved a hand, and red weapons appeared in the air next to him.

The weapons flew towards me. There was another flash and they went wide, not even coming close to me as they smashed uselessly into the ground. I struck my sword periodically against the ground like flint against steel, creating a flash every time I did so.

Klith snarled as he summoned more weapons and hurled them all at me.

Another flash, and I dodged a red pike that flew past my face.

The closer I got, the more intense the light got for Klith. But that also meant Klith had a higher chance of hitting me.

I had a flash of inspiration (pun unintended), and struck the ground with my sword as I pointed at the cavern's ceiling. Lightning burst from my hand, arcing towards the cavern's roof above Klith's head.

The stalactites above shattered apart and rained down upon Klith, who snarled and summoned more weapons. The weapons intercepted every chunk of rock larger than his head, and Klith dodged the smaller ones.

There was another flash, and a rock that was big enough to have killed a regular man shattered on Klith's head, making him stagger.

Now's my chance. While he's disoriented, while he's blinded—I have to act now!

I felt my legs get a little lighter as electricity ran through them, and dashed to Klith's side and slashed towards Klith with all the strength I could muster up, my sword glowing with energy.

Klith jerked out of the way of the blow, but my sword still managed to slice his arm. Lightning arced out of my sword and crackled across Klith's skin, making him convulse as he dropped to his knees. I slashed towards him again, and he managed to block the strike with his scythe. I balled my hand into a fist and hurled it at him with all my might.

My fist connected with his face, and the surrounding area turned a bright white as Klith was blasted backwards into a stalagmite.

I ran towards him again, raising my sword, but before I could strike again Klith raised his hand, and several red spears appeared mid air and flew right at me, making me retreat as I blocked and dodged them all. One sliced my arm, and I grunted.

Klith slowly touched his arm and then pulled his hand back, looking at the glistening blood on his hand.

"What…what is this?" Klith said, his eyes wide with shock.

I stared at the wound on Klith's arm in disbelief. Did I…did I just land a blow on Klith? A real, solid blow with my sword?

"A twelve year old…a measly twelve year old…" Klith stood, his eyes burning with fury. "Made me bleed?"

"And there's more where that…came…from." I trailed off as I noticed the cavern slowly getting a little darker. A cold sensation, like when you're in a warm field and a cloud covers you, washed over me.

The cavern grew darker and darker, and the lava pools everywhere began to glow a little less. Even the heat began to get a little less intense. Klith seemed to notice as well, and looked to the side. His eyes widened in shock, and I turned to see what he was looking at. My jaw dropped.

Where the Hellstorm had once been, there was now just a silhouette of the Hellstorm. When once the Hellstorm had been burning so bright it lit up everything around it, it was now so dark that it seemed to suck the light out of the air.

The pools of lava beside the Hellstorm rippled, still faintly glowing but not creating any light. Cal and Sam, who were close to the Hellstorm, were trying to stand, but they seemed to be getting pushed away from the Hellstorm by an invisible force.

Bolo slowly struggled forwards against the invisible force, getting closer and closer to a black sphere at the base of the Hellstorm. Sam tried to grab an arrow from her quiver, but she could barely stand up.

Bolo let out a muffled yell and dived into the sphere of shadow.

For a moment, nothing happened. And then…

The Hellstorm sank into the ground in an instant, like the stone underneath it was quicksand instead of stone. The Hellstorm vanished into the ground. For a moment, wisps of shadow lingered in the air like some sort of black gas, and then that was gone too.

The Hellstorm, along with Bolo and Jax, had disappeared. Light returned to the cave, which felt even brighter than before.

Klith screamed, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HELLSTORM?"

I had no idea what had just happened, but I smirked. "You like our little disappearing act?"

Klith turned to me, his face flushed with rage, and I suddenly found myself regretting all the choices I'd made that had led up to this moment.

"I'll make you disappear next," Klith snarled as an entire armory's worth of weapons appeared in the air.

Jax

For a moment, Jax really felt like he was falling through an endless tunnel.

Then he realized he was falling.

Jax looked up, and saw the bedrock layer get further and further away as he fell.

This is the void, Jax realized. This is it. I did it.

He'd teleported the Hellstorm through the bedrock and into the void.

Jax saw Bolo scream, but couldn't hear him. There was no sound in the void.

It was also…terribly, terribly cold in the void.

Well, it was cold except for the ticking bomb next to him.

Jax figured it was almost time for the bomb to explode. He wondered what would kill him first—blood loss, the void, or the Hellstorm?

He could feel the void now—it was clawing at him, eating away at his body, dissolving him like he was in a vat of acid. But he felt no pain.

Jax wished he could teleport back up. He wished he had the leftover XP…but he didn't. He didn't have enough XP to summon a pebble. Jax closed his eyes.

He'd die.

And then, the void whispered into his ears.

It is not your time to die, whispered a voice that Jax knew very well.

Jax weakly opened his eyes. "Null? That you?" he spoke, even though no sound came from his vocal cords.

You don't have much time. I'll lend you my power to escape…but your powers…

"Null," Jax said, slightly deliriously. "It's been a while since you stopped talking to me in my dreams."

I'm sorry, the voice said.

"Whatever," Jax groaned. "Just get me the hell out of here."

Understood, the voice said, and Jax felt his body stop dissolving. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Hellstorm. The obsidian layer he'd made had shattered entirely, and the Hellstorm now glowed bright. It was almost comforting in a way, compared to the darkness of the void.

I hope my plan works, Jax thought as he shut his eyes.

He vanished, leaving Bolo and the Hellstorm in the void.

Bolo opened his mouth to scream, but it never came out.

The Hellstorm exploded, and Bolo disintegrated instantly.

Cal

The entire cavern shook and rumbled, and me and Sam barely managed to stay on our feet. Stalactites fell from the cavern's roof, creating a deadly rain.

"CAL!" Sam plowed into me, and a stalactite smashed into the spot I'd just been standing in.

"Sam, we need to get—" I stopped when I noticed her furiously wipe away a tear. "Sam?"

"Get the others," Sam snapped. "In the obsidian cell."

I realized why she was crying.

We'll make it out of here.

I didn't say anything but instead said "Take them to the elevator," pointing to the iron doors a few blocks away.

Sam just nodded, and we both ran off. Sam towards the cell, and I ran towards the stalagmite where Dan laid.

"Hey, Cal." Dan said blearily as I ran up to him. "Weather's nice, right? Little too hot, though."

"It's going to get a lot hotter, trust me." I told him as I hoisted him onto my back. I began to run to the elevator, but it was a lot harder than it had seemed—the entire cavern shook, which threw me off. It also didn't help that it was slowly starting to get hotter than before.

I managed to get to the elevator and kicked the doors frantically. They slid open, and I unceremoniously dumped Dan into the elevator. "Stay here," I told him sternly.

"Ouch…" Dan whined, and I ran back towards the obsidian cell. Sam and a limping Ender were dragging an unconscious Durham back to the elevator.

"You good?" I asked Ender, who wordlessly nodded. She really didn't look good, looking pale and sweaty, but I just let her help anyways. Durham was a pretty heavy guy. I ran into the obsidian cell, and it was absolutely baking in here. Trevor struggled to stand with the help of Nikai, and Ben and Seu had their arms around each other but didn't seem to be moving that fast.

I grabbed Trevor and pulled him up, but his knees just buckled. I cursed and looked to Nikai. "Can you walk?" I asked him. He nodded. "Good, then go help Ben and Seu." Nikai didn't argue—time was of the essence. I hoisted Trevor onto my back and began to run back to the elevator.

"LOOK—" Trevor coughed loudly, and I glanced up just in time to see a stalactite dropping towards me. It was about to smash me and Trevor into tiny little pieces when a bolt of lightning struck the stalactite and blew it up. Shards of rock nicked my face, but I just kept running towards the elevator.

Thanks, Toni.

Sam and Ender finally dumped Durham at the elevator, and Sam seemed to be arguing with Ender. Finally Ender seemed to relent, and Sam ran to me.

"I'll take Trevor," Sam said urgently. "You help the other three."

I passed Trevor to Sam none too gently, but I didn't have time to be gentle. Once Trevor was in Sam's hands I turned and ran back to Nikai, Seu, and Ben, who were struggling towards the elevator.

Nikai seemed to be trying to hold both of them up at the same time, but was failing miserably. I took hold of Seu's arm and told Nikai to do the same with Ben. We began making our way to the elevator, slow but faster than before.

And then, there was an enormous sound like a concrete building crashing to the ground. and after that, intense heat.

I looked up to see that streams of lava began to pour from the cavern's roof, dripping onto the ground and spreading out along the floor.

"Just go," I urged Nikai, who did not look very enthusiastic about running through a minefield of lava. "And dodge the lava!"

"Thanks for the advice," Nikai snapped.

"Just leave me," Seu gasped. "It's no use if we both die."

But as I watched, it was starting to look impossible. How would I—no, how would we get across the lava without cooking alive?

That's when I heard Ender shout. "CAL! LOOK!" I looked up, and saw Ender waving around an enderpearl.

Hope sparked in my veins.

"CAL, IF YOU DON'T CATCH THIS I'LL KILL YOU!" Ender shouted, and tossed the enderpearl.

I watched it sail through the air, and almost all eyes in the cavern were drawn to that enderpearl. Memories of playing baseball flashed in my mind as I reached up for the enderpearl…

…and snatched it from the air, holding it close to my chest so it wouldn't break. If it broke, Ender would teleport over here and die with us.

The enderpearl didn't even crack.

"NIKAI!" I yelled. "GRAB SEU'S HAND!"

Nikai looked up and saw the enderpearl in my hand. Without hesitation, he ran up to Seu and grabbed her hand.

"IS EVERYONE HOLDING EACH OTHER'S HANDS?" I yelled.

Everyone yelled back, "YES!"

"Then I hope this works," I mumbled under my breath as I cocked my arm.

The cavern's ceiling above us shattered, and lava rained down as I hurled the enderpearl. As soon as I hurled it, I quickly grabbed Seu's hand.

Which flew through the air…

…and shattered against the wall of the elevator.

There was a flash of purple light, and we all collapsed in the elevator, coughing and groaning.

"TONI!" I heard Sam yell. "GET OVER HERE! THE CAVERN'S GOING TO COLLAPSE!"

Toni

We were numb to the fact that the cavern was breaking apart all around us.

We fought like demons, lightning and fire twisting and swirling around each other as our weapons clashed. Klith's scythe had fire swirling around it, and lightning crackled down my diamond sword.

I had no idea how I was keeping up—it was like something had gripped my body, forcing me to fight as hard as I could. I knew that if I stopped for even a second, I'd collapse from exhaustion.

As we fought, Klith began to push me back, and both of us slowly moved across the cavern, and the ground raised slightly as Klith pushed me backwards up a thin slope. Now we fought on a high ledge above the entire cavern.

Lava seeped from the roof of the cavern, and the ground below us began to crack and open up, revealing magma bubbling beneath the ground. The ground broke apart like sheets of ice in the Arctic, floating on a lake of fire.

Now I could feel it—I was beginning to run out of steam. My attacks got slower, my movement more sluggish. Slowly, all of the injuries I'd sustained began to burn, like my body had only just realized it had been damaged.

Fire brushed against my wrists, making me snarl in pain. Klith wildly slashed his scythe, and there was a flash of blood and netherite, and I screamed in pain as I clutched my arm.

I staggered back, and Klith looked like he was taking pleasure in my agony as he pushed me back, closer to the edge of the cliff we were on.

Now I only used one hand, and Klith had the advantage in every way.

Klith spun his scythe towards me, and my sword was slashed out of my hands, skittering to the edge of the ledge we were on. Klith kicked me back, and I landed beside my sword with a groan of agony.

Klith stomped on my chest, making me yell in pain. I tried to grab his leg with my good arm, but he stomped on it, pinning me to the ground. He lowered his scythe towards me, slow and cruel. I tried to press my face against the ground, trying to get as far from the scythe's blade as I could. It got closer and closer until it hovered over my eye.

"Tell your father I said hello," Klith snarled.

But before he could drive his scythe into my skull, a flaming arrow soared through the air, striking Klith squarely in the side of the head. He made a guttural sound, more stunned than injured. His foot twisted painfully on my right arm, but his foot had moved just enough so that I could move my arm.

I reached up and grabbed the scythe's blade, sending a surge of electricity through the dark metal. Klith convulsed involuntarily, and his foot lifted off my chest.

I managed to twist onto my stomach, making Klith trip and stumble back. I grabbed my sword with my good arm and dived off of the ledge.

And plummeted towards the lava.

I screamed and there was a flash of light as I shot to a piece of rock floating on the lava, electricity bursting from my back. I landed hard and almost plunged into lava as the chunk of rock wobbled dangerously. Specks of lava stung my back, and I felt the heat a lot more than before. The amount of sweat I was pouring could have been enough to fill a small lake.

I looked up—the lava hadn't managed to reach the elevator yet, but it was close. Everyone was screaming, calling for me to get to the elevator.

But I didn't know if I had the strength—I was pretty sure the XP I'd got from the dragon had been all used up, and I was badly injured.

Would I die here?

I thought so, until I felt a hand on my back. I looked up to see…

Jax.

He looked horrible. Blood soaked his jacket, and he was paler than a snowman. His clothes were ragged, and he had too many cuts on his body to count.

"Toni," Jax said. "We need to go."

"Jax?" I said wearily. "You're alive."

"We're not out of the woods yet," Jax said. "I've got a little bit of juice left. Come on, get up."

I wanted to get up. I wanted to get up so badly. But I just didn't have the energy. And also there was the fact that this chunk of rock would probably flip over if I did.

"Okay, don't stand then." Jax grabbed my hand. "I'm not sure if I have enough power for this."

"Then I'll help." I grabbed Jax's hand with as much force as I could muster, summoned the last dredges of XP from within my body. "We need to do this…together."

Jax grinned wearily. "Just like old times."

"We go on three." I said.

"Three…"

I was exhausted to the point of just dying then and there.

"Two…"

And by the looks of it, so was Jax.

"One."

But we summoned the last of our strength…

…and shadow and lightning intertwined.

I heard Klith scream, and I heard the whistling of weapons cutting through the air.

I shut my eyes, and we both fell. It was like we were falling through a long, dark tunnel. But I also had a tingling sensation, like the feeling you get when you bang your funny bone on the corner of a table.

I opened my eyes, and saw bright orange light at the end of the tunnel.

We sailed through the air, tumbling into the elevator where Sam and the others were.

I heard Klith howl, and saw him fly towards our elevator, his hand outstretched. Then, Sam stood and in a smooth, graceful move, fired an arrow at the roof of the cavern.

The arrow exploded, and lava crashed down upon Klith, rushing towards the elevator. The doors slid shut, and we shot up as the entire Earth rumbled and shook from the explosion of the Hellstorm.

Well, there goes my hopes of ever getting my upload schedule back to normal.

Yeesh, that was probably the longest chapter I've ever written, which makes sense because I wrote it over nearly a week and a half. This chapter was hard but fun to write, and I think it was worth the wait, re reading it back.

Unless you don't think so, in which case…sorry..

Anyways, the chapters after this will be just the story slowly ramping down, which is to be expected considering this was the climax of Blast Radius.

Soon, Part One will finally be over and we'll move on to Part Two. Finally, after literally three years, I will be moving on to the second part of this story. The sequel, if you will. Are you excited? I know I am.

Anyways, thanks for the support—this was Krios. Have a nice day.