Heroes can come from unlikely beginnings.. and broken friendships could lead to dark rivalries.
When the world is in danger, fate calls on the ordinary.. to do extraordinary deeds.. and go on journeys they had only dreamed of. Our heroes, thrown together by fate.. must now seek out from a legendary inventor and a legendary artisan of chaos..
But the question remains.. Will it be enough to save the world?
• Redstonia and friends! •
The minecarts zipped through the Nether, and riding them were Olivia and Jesse as they were taken to Redstonia. While Olivia seemed delighted, Jesse seemed a bit more cautious, especially since this was only their second ride through the fire world. But he did have to admit to himself that it was cool seeing the exotic ecosystem of the Nether. He was glad he was able to see these environments in person, getting a good look at them from a safe distance.
"This is so cool! The amount of engineering it must've taken to do this.." Olivia gushed as she watched the minecarts take them to their destination. "Automated train tracks running all through the Nether? Connecting all the different Order members? And imagine the scaffolding you'd need to make all this! Ellegaard was probably fighting off Piglins with one hand, wiring Redstone with the other.."
"This IS impressive. Thanks to these rails, we'll be there in no time!" Jesse agreed before a serious expression played across his face. "If we don't get the Order back together, the WitherStorm is going to eat EVERYTHING. We're going to get Ellegaard, get her to help us, and we're going to save the world."
"I hope you're right.. We definitely stand a better chance with Ellegaard's help," Olivia said, feeling a bit bummed out. Of course she really wanted to save the world, but should that really stop her from admiring Ellegaard's work? Her attention soon vanished from her thoughts as her eyes widened in horror. "Uhh.. JESSE!" She warned, pointing at a couple ghasts nearby.
Their surroundings had drastically changed, the atmosphere now a bluish tint as the land around them had brown soil with blue fire lit on many of them. Jesse stared at the mysterious blue flames in awe but he quickly shifted his attention towards the danger they were now in.
"Where are we-?!" He panicked as Reuben squealed in fright. He recognized the biome from before but he couldn't actually wrap his head around it.
"I-I think we're in the Soul Sand Valley!" Olivia guessed.
"What-? Not this place again! Jess said it's like the most dangerous place in the Nether!"
"Yeah! That's basically because of the ghasts and skeletons-." Olivia tried to reply but she was cut off when one of the ghasts noticed them and shot a fireball at them. Luckily, it didn't hit them so they were left unharmed but the fireball did manage to land a hit on the mine carts, throwing them off the tracks and sending them plummeting onto the ground.
"Ow-! Seriously?" Jesse groaned, sitting up and noticing two more ghasts joining it.
"At least the ground is soft," Olivia said, trying to look for the brighter side of things.
Jesse however ignored her, noticing a patch of soul soil that happened to be nearby them. "Hide!" He ordered. He didn't need to say it twice as he, Olivia and Reuben ducked behind the patch of soul soil for safety.
"Great. More ghasts. And skeletons? This is not good," his friend whined, noticing a couple skeletons nearby that were probably attracted to the chaos.
Jesse peeked out of their unfavorable shield and felt his heart drop when he spotted their minecarts hanging over an edge. "The mine carts!" He cried. Without them, they would never find Ellegaard in time. Jesse tried to go and reach for them, but was stopped by a skeleton arrow. Luckily, it wasn't at all close to hitting him but it did show that the nearby skeletons were now on their tail.
"Do something about the ghasts and skeletons!" Olivia said.
Jesse tried his best to quickly think of a plan, but his mind was racing as his heart thumped hard in his chest. He regretted not bringing his younger sisters along, knowing that they would have a good solution to dealing with these foul beasts. But he knew he had to stay strong. For them. He promised that he's going to make it back safe and sound and he's going to keep that promise.
"Okay, think fast, Jesse.. what to do.." he murmured. At first, he was thinking of using his sword to try his best to deal with both the ghasts and skeletons before an idea popped into his mind. Maybe.. if it was possible? It IS going to be dangerous, but at least it's better than just dying. Taking out his sword, he peaked out of their hiding place once more.
"So long as you really know what you're doing with it.." Olivia gulped. Jesse did in fact know what he was doing and as he raced out of their shield, he dodged the fireball of a ghast, running by the skeletons and making sure he didn't accidentally get shot by an arrow. His plan was to A. Get one of the skeleton arrows to hit the ghasts so the ghasts could attack the skeletons or B. Get a fireball from one of the ghasts to hit the skeletons so the skeletons could deal with the ghasts for them.
His plan had worked like a charm, for one of the fireballs shot by the ghasts had landed on a hit on a couple of skeletons, causing the others to switch their attention from him and onto the ghasts, starting to shoot at them instead. The ghasts were taken aback by this and started to attack them in return.
While both mobs were busy, Olivia raced towards the Mine carts and pulled them back onto their tracks, checking for any damage inflicted on them or the tracks. She had to work quickly because the ghasts and skeletons won't be held back for long.
"Okay, we're all set to go again! Hitting the powered tracks.. now!" Olivia declared once she was finally done. Now all they needed to do was to hop back on before the carts accidentally left them behind.
"Time to move, buddy! Let's go!" Jesse told his pet pig, picking him up in his arms and hopping onto the carts as they began to move and just like that, they were back on the roll.
"I never doubted you for a second but-.. But that was incredible!" Olivia beamed, gaining some respect for her friend after what he did back there. "Running right for skeletons and ghasts and still being able to beat them without having to fight them at all? Maybe we have a chance of getting to Ellegaard after all!"
"Thanks, but if our stop is in this place, I swear.." Jesse grumbled, not wanting to deal with the many ghasts and skeletons once more. It also didn't help that they could see ghasts all from afar, but at least luckily they were too to see them.
"Look! There's the sign - 'Redstonia!'" Olivia bubbled, pointing at a sign that says 'Redstonia' as they zipped out of the Soul Sand Valley. "Redstonia here we come!"
Once they were finally at their destination, the friends eagerly hopped out of their mine carts and slowly approached the Nether portal that would take them to where they needed to go: Redstonia.
"You're about to meet the greatest Redstone Builders in the world.." Jesse beamed, a thirst of adventure swirling through his stomach.
"Wow. Who would've thought that someday I'd really get to visit Redstonia? The one capital city of engineering. And Ellegaard's right in the middle of it," Olivia gushed. "Incredible.. Do you think Ellegaard will be willing.. y'know, to help us?"
"Only one way to find out.." Jesse murmured before stepping inside the portal, his friend and pet pig following after him.
Jesse tumbled a little, still not being used to the whole hopping through worlds thing. It felt so disorienting. On the other side, the friends found themselves on a sandstone and red clay platform. Impressed, they walked towards the edge, a sandstone-and-red clay bridge rising up and making a pathway for them to walk on to get through the rest of the city. There were redstone lamps lining the rails, lighting the way to the mainland. Redstonia was beautiful, resembling a beautiful wonderland with a bunch of Redstone machines.
Once the couple stepped foot onto the city, they saw a fountain with a statue made of red-stained glass and lava. It was made to look like a lightbulb with the rest of the area consisting of redstone machines, all which seemed to be unoccupied.
"Builders of Redstonia!" A strong voice suddenly declared. "I want you to know how much I value and adore each and everyone one of you - Your hard work inspires me every day!"
"Jesse. There she is!" Olivia squealed excitedly as their eyes laid on the woman speaking to a large crowd of people. Her dark brown curly hair that slightly reached past her shoulders covered a little bit of half her face and she had bright brown eyes, tanned skin and was wearing brown, red, and gold armor and spoke in a slight Hispanic accent. Jesse and Olivia gave each other delighted glances as the engineer went on.
"I am about to enter my Dome of Concentration, where I will be unreachable for the foreseeable future, but I will emerge when I complete my latest and greatest creation: the Command Block!" Ellegaard announced, the crowd cheering in delight, however Olivia and Jesse exchanged worried glances. How were they going to warn Ellegaard if they can't even reach her? "So please! Continue working! Continue building! And whoever most impresses me.. They shall be my protégé! Ready to help me usher in a new era of innovation and creativity! Calvin, throw the switch!"
A heavily bearded man with dark skin, hair and eyes and wore a suit walked towards the controls and pulled the levers, making iron blocks begin to block the blue-stained window panes on the side of the dome as Ellegaard trotted back in. As she did, the doorway from which she exited was shut, leaving the red sandstone stairs being the only glimmer of hope that Olivia and Jesse had to save Ellegaard.
"Jesse! We need to get there before she totally locks herself in!" Olivia panicked. The friends bolted up the stairs, however the steps were soon being blocked as well, pistons pulling them back into the wall until the only ones left were the ones the friends were standing on. With nothing else to do, they flattened themselves against the wall until eventually, their steps were pulled into the wall as well. The friends plummeted onto the ground in defeat, now with no way of reaching Ellegaard.
"Ah crap.." Jesse cursed as he staggered onto his feet, but he couldn't help but to feel curiosity rise in him as he remembered Ellegaard's words before locking herself in her Dome. "So, Ellegaard's trying to make a command block in there?"
"I don't know, Jesse. That sounds pretty risky," Olivia replied. "You saw what happened when Ivor tried to control a command block."
"Let's talk to her assistant. I'm sure he'll know something," the brunette then suggested. The friends trotted towards the engineer's assistant, hoping to get at least some answers. "Excuse me, Mr.. Calvin, was it? We need to speak to Ellegaard. It's urgent."
"Ohhh I'm afraid that's quite impossible. Did you hear the speech? She's on lockdown until she completes her next great invention," Calvin replied. "But luckily for you.. I'm here! How could I help you? I'm no Ellegaard but I am still pretty cool."
"Could you give her a message? Please?" Jesse asked politely.
Calvin then narrowed his eyes, unsure about these teenagers. "Mmmm, no. I'm afraid not," he murmured, starting to grow suspicious but at the same time, he was curious about what they wanted. "Look. I can tell you're not from around here. Level with me - Who are you? Why do you need to see Ellegaard? We don't do tours around this time of the year, I must tell you. And Ellegaard isn't the one for appointments."
"I have a message from Gabriel, okay? Ellegaard's old friend?" Jesse replied honestly.
Calvin looked more interested, but he still didn't fully trust them. "Hmmm. You just admit this all sounds a little outlandish," he scoffed. At this point, the brunette started to get a bit annoyed. This guy was hard to crack!
"Jesse! Show him the Amulet," Olivia said.
Jesse didn't need to be told twice. He pulled out the amulet from his pocket and when Calvin saw it, his eyes widened in surprise. "Look. This is Gabriel's amulet. It's how I got here. It's how I found Ellegaard in the first place," Jesse explained. He hoped that it'll at least prove his point and to show that he indeed wasn't lying.
"Oh my. Well that is interesting. If you'd like I could send that to Ellegaard. Maybe that would help your mission?" Calvin offered.
"Might not be a bad idea.." Olivia admitted. "But at the same time, you might want to hold onto it."
"No way. Gabriel gave this amulet to me - No way am I parting with it," Jesse denied. While he wasn't exactly telling the truth, he still needed it if they were going to find Ellegaard.
"Well fine then. I don't have time for this. I'm afraid I have many more things to attend to than answering all your questions. I must go," Calvin huffed but before he left, he went to the stair controls, picking up the repeater. "Better just take this repeater and disable the stair controls. We don't want any trouble makers disturbing Ellegaard."
"What a bitch," Jesse scowled under his breath.
"Guess we'll need to find another repeater," Olivia said.
"Right.."
Jesse shifted his gaze towards his pet pig, noticing that his little pig was sniffing the ground before dashing off somewhere. He was confused, but also curious, following after him in pursuit. Did he find something?
• Worried.. •
The sisters watched as Olivia, Reuben, and their older brother, Jesse vanished into the Nether Portal. Nikki couldn't help but to wish that Jesse allowed her to tag along, not only would it be nice to help save the world, but with that huge monster eating up the entire world, she was scared that the WitherStorm had gotten to him already. Heck, the beast probably even visited Redstonia before they had arrived and all they only saw was the ruins of the poor engineering city. She could even tell Jess was feeling the same way despite her offering to stay behind.
As she watched her sister and Lukas working on rebuilding the walls and Axel helping on rebuilding the floors, she simply sat there despondent, not having the energy to actually help. She wanted to of course but her mind was too focused on Jesse, how he was doing and if he was hurt. If he was hurt then it'll be even worse since they'll probably never even know until he returns. IF he returns.
Jess shifted her gaze from the damaged walls and towards her little sister, noticing how upset she looked. She already knew why, but she wanted to try her best to comfort her. She didn't want to just leave her there alone. Taking a deep breath, she went and sat next to her, brushing her chestnut brown hair lovingly and taking some strands of hair from her face.
"Hey, Nikki," Jess said in a comforting tone. "What's up?"
Nikki was so tired and disappointed that she simply shrugged. "I dunno.." she murmured. "I just hope Jesse is okay.."
"I know. I'm worried too, but he's strong. I'm sure he and Olivia will be able to find Ellegaard soon," her older sister replied before she stood from her seat, helping her younger sister on her feet as well before ruffling her hair. "C'mon. Lukas wants us to mine more materials as he and Axel see how much they could build on their own."
Nikki simply nodded in response before following her older sister to one of the chests, grabbed an iron pickaxe and headed out to find a cave. It was still early morning, rays of sunshine hitting their skin as they heard birds chirping beautiful tunes. Jess couldn't help but to admit to herself that she enjoyed the calm scenery. After all they witnessed, it felt comforting to her that at least some life was still able to grow in peace.
When the sisters found a nearby cave that happened to be wide open, meaning that they were able to mine many resources. They would probably be able to also find some ores like coal, copper, iron, or if they're fortunate enough, gold. The sisters mined in silence, neither of them saying a word as they mined for as many materials as they could.
Jess tried to distract herself from thinking about Jesse and Olivia, feeling pretty worried and hopeless herself even though she tried to stay optimistic. She glanced at her little sister before shrugging.
"Olivia and Jesse better hurry up finding Ellegaard," she said, breaking the silence between them. "The world isn't going to save itself." She expected a reply but when she once again shifted her gaze back onto Nikki, she noticed how more distraught she looked. Out of respect for her younger sibling, she placed her pickaxe back in her inventory and cautiously approached her. "Nikki..? What's eating you? Still worried about Jesse?"
"Yeah, but it's not just that. You, me and Jesse always stick together. We're not used to splitting up.." Nikki sighed. "Without all of us, it just feels incomplete.."
"Nikki, I know," Jess comforted. "But it's okay. I'm sure Jesse and Olivia will be back before we know it."
"But with that god-forsaken monster still on the loose? Eating the world bit by bit?"
"..yeah, you might be right about that.."
"We're supposed to be together. We're supposed to watch each other's backs. If something bad happens and we're not there.."
"Woah woah easy! Even if something bad really happens to Jesse, there's nothing he can't handle. Besides, he would want us to stay safe, even if we're not there with him. But I guess we just gotta be happy that Velvet and Lily are probably safe too."
Jess knew that Velvet and their youngest sister, Lily was out of danger considering they resided at the Nether but at the same time, the thought of them returning to the Overworld through the old Nether Portal and seeing the remains of EnderCon and their childhood home. If they saw or knew what happened, they would've been worried sick! And they would have no idea where they are or if they're alive..
"..I know he's happy living with his boyfriend and Lily's been doing better ever since they moved but.. I miss them.." Nikki sniffled as she the happy memories they had when all five of them with Olivia and Axel used to be together. But now they were all separated and Velvet or Lily doesn't even know about the WitherStorm which adds salt to the wound.
Even if they tried to find them in the Nether, it would've been impossible because they aren't familiar with the harsh environments and plus, the Nether was HUGE. And they could be anywhere. Nikki gave her older sister a hug for comfort as tears began to run down her cheek.
"I miss them too.." Jess sighed, returning the embrace as she stroked her sister's hair. "But they'll want us to stay strong. Velvet would be proud to see us growing and still being close. Jesse and Olivia will be back before we know it. And when they're back, we'll find Magnus together."
"You really think so?"
She gave her a warm smile as she wiped her tears. "I know so.."
Nikki now started to feel a bit better, her sister's words finally bringing her the comfort she needed. "Thanks, sis. I-.. I needed that."
Jess was relieved she was able to help calm her sister's nerves, though part of her still felt nervous about their scary situation. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a green creature creeping towards them and when she realized what it was, her eyes widened.
"Creeper!" She warned. She acted fast, throwing her younger sister behind her as she stood out her pickaxe, which was fairly the only weapon she had. As the foul beast drew closer, she managed to knock it off its feet before it exploded and stabbed it to death with one hit, making it disappear in a puff of smoke and leaving behind some gunpowder.
Nikki picked up the gunpowder as Jess trotted deeper into the cave to mine for more materials. Not that it was going to be that important in the future, but the gunpowder reminded her of Magnus. She then glanced over at some Redstone ore that was glistening in contrast to its dark environments. This reminded her of Ellegaard and how Jesse, Olivia and Reuben are on their way to Redstonia, or had already arrived right now.
She knew they had to wait for Jesse and Olivia to return with Ellegaard before they could all work together to recruit Magnus, but an idea popped into her mind that might actually be good. They had to reunite the Order of the Stone as quickly as possible. Maybe if someone managed to find Magnus then maybe..
"Jess! I think I thought of something!" She then exclaimed, skipping towards her older sister, who glanced at her curiously.
"Nikki? What's up?" She inquired as she mined some stones, collecting it and placing it in her inventory.
"Sis, look at me," the young girl whined. Jess sighed before lowering her pickaxe and fixing her full attention onto her younger sister. "So you know how Jesse and Olivia are trying to find Ellegaard? And how we need to reunite the Order as quickly as possible before that monster eats up the entire world?"
"Nikki, just go straight to the point."
The young girl eagerly explained her idea to her older sister. Jess at first seemed skeptical about it but the sisters eventually agreed to it. If they were going to stand a chance against that beast, they were going to have to break some rules.
Just as they dashed out of the cave to tell their plan to Axel and Lukas back at the Temple, they were startled by a skeleton hiding under a nearby tree that was about to shoot an arrow at them but was quickly taken down with a single sword of a blade. The sisters quickly glanced over to see who had dealt with the skeleton.
They were the only ones around and are alive.. right..? A young girl with long dark hair, tanned skin and dark eyes. She wore red, black and brown armor with black boots. She held her sword in her possession and looked as though she was kinda worn out, with some cuts visible on her legs. She looked young. At least a couple years younger than Nikki and she glanced at them, confused.
• Mini? •
"What-? Who-.. who are you-?! Answer me!" The young girl demanded. "That's strange.. you don't look infected. Or.. dead?"
"The name's Nikki. And this is my older sister, Jess," Nikki addressed. "What's in it to you?"
"I'm supposed to be finding the Order's Temple, not sit around and chit chat as the world is in great danger!" The young girl scowled before crossing her arms. "But this is also kinda great I guess. I found survivors."
"Okay, who are you? Why.. are you all alone?" Jess inquired, her curiosity about this new person increasing by the minute. When she realized she meant that the world is in danger, her eyes widened slightly. "You mean the WitherStorm-?"
"..yeah. How did you..?"
"We also escaped from the WitherStorm-! Well, technically. Gabriel actually sent us here to find the Order of the Stone and-."
"Gabriel-? The Order-?!" The girl's eyes widened in shock and curiosity, focusing her full attention onto the sisters before this quickly changed into a small frown. "I-.. was supposed to see Gabriel after the EnderCon ceremony thing. But when I arrived at the city, it suddenly went under attack by this.. wither thing and it began to destroy and eat everything, not leaving anything from its path." She then turned her back against them. "As I was trying to escape, I tried my best to find Gabriel but I couldn't. I couldn't find him in time.. and I knew I couldn't stay for long or else I wouldn't have made it. So with a heavy heart, I ran towards the direction of the Temple and never looked back. It was.. hard. And it took a while though. And the worst part is that almost no one made it out alive. At least.. that's what I've seen."
The sisters nervously shifted their gazes towards each other. They both felt a wave of sympathy wash over them as the events that went down back in Gabriel's fortress replayed in their minds. How are they going to explain Gabriel's fate?
"How do you know Gabriel?" Nikki questioned.
"It's.. a long story. But we have a long history," the little girl replied. "Have you seen him? Do you know what happened to him?"
"Gabriel is.. gone. He.. actually didn't make it," Jess explained sorrowfully. She couldn't even bear to look at the young girl's face as she broke the news to her. "We actually came from EnderCon too and we saw how the storm was created. Ivor used a command block and unleashed it in front of a huge crowd of people during Gabriel's keynote ceremony. We were fortunate enough to warn him in time but.. as we escaped through the Nether, Gabriel gave me the amulet and told us to look for the Order before he.. y'know.."
"O-Oh.. I didn't think Ivor would.." the young girl croaked but she tried to put her grief aside as she focused on what's important. "The Order's Amulet-? You actually have it?"
"Technically yes. But not on us," Nikki replied. "Our brother, Jesse and some of our friends have it and he left earlier to go find Ellegaard. We don't know when he'll be back but we're only hoping that the monster hasn't reached them yet."
"Ellegaard-? I was just at Redstonia the other day before I left to go see Gabriel at EnderCon.. okay, smart move. Redstonia IS safer to get through," she then sighed. "Magnus should be safe too for now. He's in BoomTown and I don't think the monster can move that quickly. I think?"
"That's nice to know but who are you-?" Nikki inquired.
"Mini."
"Mini-? I get you're kinda small but-."
"That's my NAME!"
"Oh-."
"Nikki, you shouldn't be talking. You're small too," Jess teased.
"Shut up! Anyway, Mini, we were just about to go find our other friends to tell them a new plan we just made."
"Oh really? Then I must tag along then. I'm sure I'll be much help!" Mini beamed.
"Really-?"
"Well yeah. DUH, you're talking to the Order's apprentice here!"
Both sisters' jaws dropped as they processed this new information in their minds. "YOU were the Order's apprentice-?!" Jess gasped.
"And still am! Haven't seen Soren in a while though. Or Ivor come to think of it but I have been there ever since the Great Split. Soren used to come back and see me occasionally before he stopped and.. disappeared completely," Mini informed them. "And Ivor hasn't been around for a while. But yeah! Just follow my lead!"
"So it's true. Ivor actually used to be part of the Order?" Nikki frowned.
"I wouldn't say that.. but then again, they DO hide a bunch of stuff from me," the young girl said before grinning. "But what I AM going to say though is that storm is getting stronger at the minute so we need to go." When the sisters glanced at each other nervously, she went on. "Well? You said you needed to tell your friends something, right? C'mon! We can't just sit around as you ask me questions! Let's GO! It'll be nice to get some nostalgia from seeing the Temple anyways."
Both sisters agreed. The three of them made their way to the Order's Temple. Mini needed a minute since it's been a while since she last visited the Temple and the memories from the place. Once they made their way towards Lukas and Axel, introduced Mini and explained the situation along with their new plan, they both looked shocked.
"You think we should do WHAT-?!" They both gasped.
"We have to reunite the Order as soon as possible and we have no idea when they're coming back," Nikki reasoned. "It could take days, weeks, even months!"
"Nikki's right," Jess agreed. "We don't have that kind of time. Plus, it'll be like killing two birds on one stone."
"Reuniting two members at the same time would save a butt load of time," Mini said as she crossed her arms. "Besides, what if your friends don't make it back with Ellegaard in time? Or what if that thing went over to BoomTown and Magnus didn't get warned of its arrival? If we're going to get some REAL work done, we'll need to work faster, think harder and about any possibilities that may occur."
"I agree! We should get going right now!" Axel grinned, though was trying to keep his excitement to a minimum. "We can't risk losing any time."
"Mini right-? Fair point. But counterpoint; if all you guys leave, I'll be left to work on this place by myself!" Lukas pointed out. "The whole reason why Jesse left us behind is so we could work together on this place until they get back."
"Geez. No need to remind us," Axel then scoffed.
"I just had to say it."
"Guys! We have to stay focused, this is serious!" Nikki firmly said as she took a few steps towards them. "If we don't find the Order in time, the WitherStorm is going to have the meal of its lifetime!"
The two boys both felt uneasy when Nikki brought up the WitherStorm, but they were seeped in her words, realizing how big of a problem they're both in.
"But what about the building situation?" Lukas reminded them. "Have you seen how huge this place is-? I can't work on this place all by myself!"
"Maybe you can," Axel joked.
"Axel.." Lukas rolled his eyes.
"The building situation won't be a problem, blondie," Mini declared. "We finish fortifying this place tonight and then our little friends are going to go get Magnus in the morning."
"You mean you're not coming?" Jess frowned.
"I'm still kinda weak from my long trip coming here. But if Gabriel trusts you enough with the amulet, then I'm sure getting Magnus will be a piece of cake. Don't die though," the young girl replied.
When she mentioned the amulet, Axel's eyes widened in surprise as they realized that without the amulet, they'll have little chance of actually finding him. "But what about the amulet-?" He wondered. "How are we going to find Magnus without the amulet?"
"Problem solved," Mini beamed, pulling out an amulet from her inventory. "This used to be Gabriel's old amulet. But he gave it to me and Soren made a second version of his for him. I'm sure it'll help. Do NOT lose it." She then handed it to Jess, hoping that it'll be enough to help find Magnus.
"Thanks, Mini," Jess grinned.
"Alright so that's it right? Now let's hurry!" Nikki said. "So we could find-.. wherever Magnus lives."
"You mean BoomTown?" Mini corrected.
"Yeah, there."
"It's building time!" Jess exclaimed. As everyone separated to start building, Zephyr flapped up to Nikki's ear, asking to see how he could help.
"Alright, little buddy. Go find help," Nikki ordered. "And look for survivors. We're going to need all the help we could get."
Nodding his tiny head once, Zephyr zipped into the sky and off into the distance. The day went by in a flash and before they knew it, the sun was already setting. They were just about to be finished and once the sun was completely out of the sky, most of the holes, cracks and crevices around the Temple were completely covered up. Mini led them to one of the rooms afterward, leading them to a large bedroom that the friends guessed the Order used to sleep in.
"Not the most comfortable. But it'll do," Mini shrugged.
"This is it," Jess said. "At the break of dawn, we'll head out, go back to the Nether and find Magnus."
Everyone nodded, understanding what the plan was. Jess laid on a bed, which was dark blue in color. She was exhausted. But they have a big day tomorrow and so they needed all the rest they could have. Lukas glanced over at her and couldn't help but to grin as he noticed how she was completely dozing off. He knew Aiden definitely would've never approved of this, he couldn't help but to admire how beautiful she looked, a warm feeling in his chest.
"You tired?" He grinned.
"I guess, maybe. It's going to be a LONG day tomorrow though," Jess replied as she slowly sat up. "I'm.. really sorry for having to leave you behind, Lukas."
"No, no it's alright. I just wish you luck on your quest tomorrow," the blonde assured her.
"No need to worry about me, by the way. We'll be back before you know it."
"But I still have to worry about you, Jess. We're on the same team and you're going and risking your life out there," he then frowned.
Jess gave him a warm smile in return. "But at least it'll be worth it when we come back with Magnus, right?" She grinned. "And when we finally take that thing down."
"Of course," he chuckled before cuddling in with the warm sheets. "Goodnight, Jess."
"Goodnight, Lukas.." she murmured before gently laying back down, finally closing her eyes and falling asleep for the night.
The next morning, everyone woke up a little before sunset. Axel had some trouble staying awake but it was all well and once they finished getting ready for their new trip, they then began to head out into the Nether portal. Jess offered Lukas to come along but he once again refused. He still believed Petra was still alive somewhere and plus, they needed someone to stay behind with Mini since it'd be kinda risky letting her stay by herself.
The two of them watched as the sisters and Axel disappeared into the Nether portal from a distance. Lukas still had mixed feelings upon letting them go out by themselves but at the end of the day, it wouldn't really matter. They were already gone and the only thing he could do was wait until their arrival, with Magnus of course.
"Scared? Worried?" Mini inquired as she began to trot back to the Temple.
"I guess.." Lukas sighed as he followed behind her.
"Don't worry. I haven't seen them in action but knowing them, they'll be fine. If Gabriel could trust them then I guess I'll just follow his gut," Mini assured him. "I just hope they stay safe though. With that WitherStorm on the prowl, it'll be hard to get past its.. possessed minions or whatever they are."
Lukas raised a brow, shifting his ocean blue gaze towards her. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"While I was escaping the WitherStorm, I saw some mobs turn.. I don't even know. Witherified? They weren't sucked up or anything but they looked creepy and scary and I think the WitherStorm possessed them or something," the young girl explained as shivers ran down her back from the memory. "They are stronger. More.. smarter too. It was hard to get them off my back while I was escaping."
"And you wanted to say that now-?!" Lukas' eyes widened in shock. He was already having a lot of doubts about letting them go off to find Magnus by themselves but this completely doubled it.
"What? I SAID that it was getting stronger by the minute when we bumped into each other outside that cave," she frowned. "It's not like we could do anything now. C'mon, let's head back inside and finish rebuilding."
Lukas' frown deepened at this but he didn't dare to continue to protest and instead sighed. "I'll.. just get some fresh air," he said before trotting off in his own direction. It was a peaceful morning. The birds chirped soft tones as the soft fresh air roamed through the air. Some ocelots nearby were fighting over some fish as many other critters scattered about. It felt.. normal. The blonde felt guilt wash over him as he realized that the people lost to the storm may not even get to see another morning. He was grateful to still be alive.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a squeak sounding above him and he glanced up to see Zephyr flying towards him. He sighed in relief, allowing for the tiny EnderBat to land on his shoulder and lick his face.
"Hey, Zeph. Found anyone?" He asked. Zephyr tipped his miniscule head in return before flying off his shoulder and flying towards a small forest. Lukas followed with ease, wondering who the small bat had found. He glanced around the area before flinching in alarm as a familiar redhead jumped out of the bushes. She looked pale, scared and lost and was breathing heavily as she held onto one of the trees to keep her steady. Lukas' eyes widened when he realized who it was. She wasn't no ordinary person. "Petra-?!"
• Nikki, Jess and Axel. And.. BoomTown •
"Woooo-hoooo!" Axel cheered as the mine carts zipped through the Nether. He was excited to meet Magnus the Rogue himself. It was a dream come true! Jess and Nikki however gave him skeptical glances from the mine carts in front of him. When Axel caught note of this, he frowned slightly. "Aw c'mon, guys. You're not even having a little fun? I mean, I am!"
"Just don't lose track of why we're here, okay?" Jess reminded him. "If we don't get the Order back together, the WitherStorm is going to continue having the world as its feast. That means we need to get to Magnus as soon as freaking possible!"
"Y'know what? You're right. We're going to find Magnus, bring him back before Jesse gets back, and he'll TOTALLY know how to blow that thing sky high!" Axel beamed.
"Where are we-?" Nikki suddenly asked, distracting her sister and friend from their conversation. The small group nervously glanced around their surroundings, noticing that they were no longer in the Warped Forest and instead in a volcanic biome that is mostly composed of basalt and blackstone. Like in all the other biomes, it was covered in mist with its color being a dull lilac color with dash particles passing by.
But unlike all the other biomes, this one was mostly made up of Archipelagos that are mostly packed together but had a couple islands scattered around here and there. They could see manga cubes on the surface of this strange new biome with of course, like always a ghast or two flying around in the distance.
"Uhh.. DUDE!" Axel warned and they all screamed as a huge manga cube bounded right above them. It didn't hurt them, but it did scare the living life out of them enough that Jess even started to have second doubts about the mission.
"We're fine! We're fine! Totally!" Nikki gasped as she tried to calm herself down. "Why the hell whenever we're in this place, there's always something terrifying going on?"
"I dunno but I think we're in the Basalt Deltas-! Petra told me about them once and the only thing I really know is that these things are dangerous!" Jess informed them before she groaned. "Now I wish Olivia or Petra were here. It wouldn't hurt to at least have some brains and strength here-! No offense, Axel. You're still awesome too, don't worry!"
"None taken.." The big guy grumbled, feeling bad that he could hardly do much to help his friends but his thoughts were completely interrupted when they noticed a ghast shooting a fireball at them. It came close to hitting them but luckily, the attack missed. "Geez. Why does it hate us so much?!"
"Do we have anything to use on the ghast-?!" Nikki yelped as she held onto her cart as tightly as she could.
Jess stood up as the carts continued to move. She kept her eyes on the beast and once the ghast shot another fireball, she managed to reflect it with her sword. It went on until finally, the ghast disintegrated into dust. "There-! Look, we're almost out!" Jess called as she safely sat back down.
"Good job, sis!" Nikki beamed.
"Yeah! You were awesome, Jess! With that ghast and dodging hot manga cubes..! This is the perfect warmup for when we get to BoomTown," Axel agreed. The sisters gave him perplexed glances in response.
"BoomTown?" Jess repeated.
"Yeah.. BoomTown!"
The rest of the ride luckily was more peaceful, with barely any ghasts or hostile mobs insight. Once they got there, they hopped out of the Minecarts, and in front of them was the portal with a sign that read "BoomTown." They made it! Now all they need to do is walk inside.
"This is it!" Axel gushed as they stood in front of the purple glistening portal. He then shifted his gaze towards Jess as now a nervous expression rested across his face. "I liked it when you went first last time. Maybe you should take this one again."
"Stay safe. We'll follow behind," Nikki simply said as her sister stepped in front of the portal. Jess had a determined expression on her face as she bravely faced the portal before stepping inside, Nikki immediately following after her. When they appeared on the other side, the sisters nearly fell from the air but they managed to keep their balance. When Axel came through however, the three of them smashed onto the ground in a cripple heap. It turns out to be the portal turned out to be an "o" in the floating words, "Boom Town."
It resembled a town, similar to EnderCon but more chaotic with people running around and chasing each other with TNT and damaged buildings here and there. They also appeared to be in a desert-like setting which gave it its more.. western cowboy vibe. Getting to her feet, Jess quickly led her sister and friend to a damaged building that was somehow still standing and flattened themselves against the half-damaged wall.
"Just be careful, okay? One wrong step.." Axel warned as the group shimmed carefully across the wall. He didn't get to finish however, for when they reached the end of the wall, Jess left the safety of the building's side and ended up activating a tripwire, causing an explosion. When they thought it was the end of that, many more explosions erupted after it. The group blindlessly dodged and ran through the explosions with exclamations of surprise.
At one point, a griefer even ran right at Nikki with a TNT block that was about to explode, but the young girl ducked just in time as the lethal block, taking the griefer with it. Jess grabbed her hand to lead her to a safer spot of the city but another griefer chucked eggs at the gang, but they dodged his attack and it only spawned a little egg. Finally, the gang managed to find a rare quieter area in their area, catching their breath as they tried to process the deadly situation they found themselves in.
"Woah. You see that? Utter chaos man!" Axel exclaimed, though unlike the sisters he seemed thrilled.
"Yeah, we noticed," Nikki panted. "How are we going to find Magnus under these conditions?"
Nikki was right. With all this craziness going on, it would be impossible to find Magnus. Let alone with all these people already trying to kill them even though they barely arrived. Jess glanced around the little area they were in. She didn't want to take the amulet out yet for fear of losing it but she couldn't help but to kinda admire their new surroundings especially since they don't see a lot of things like cacti back home.
"Your loot is mine, brigand!" A nearby griefer shouted.
"You'll have to catch me first, anvil foot!" The other jeered mockingly. They both ran out of sight followed by an explosion delivered by TNT.
"Woah! Geez.." Nikki gasped.
"I.. hope they're okay," Jess cringed.
"And if they're not, at least they died doing what they loved," Axel thought.
"How does anyone live here?" Nikki then said. "Are they nuts?"
"They're adventurous, Nikki! It's awesome!" Axel replied.
Jess didn't listen to their conversation, focusing her attention on a banner that resembled the amulet. As she gazed at it, she felt the amulet starting to glisten in her pocket and when she took it out, she noticed how the green bar was glowing brightly. Magnus was near!
"Dude, it's frickin' glowing!" Axel beamed.
"Yeah, well, the green part is. That's weird.." Jess murmured. "And look! It glows brighter when I move it in certain directions."
"Think we're onto something? Try and move it in different directions?" Nikki suggested. Jess didn't answer, holding out the amulet to help her better. Mini's amulet seemed to have worked like a charm!
"Maybe to the left? No. The right. I mean your left. Right. I mean.. you're right. About the left," Axel said, trying to help stir his friend but it didn't help at all.
"Axel. You're stressing me with that," Jess snapped.
"I'm sure Jess could do it on her own," Nikki assured their friend. The group then gasped in amazement as the amulet's glow pointed towards an obsidian spire that looked like it had been planted in the middle.
"Ding ding ding! Looks like that spire is where we'll find Magnus!" Jess guessed.
"Then let's go," Nikki replied. "We have no time to lose!"
The party of three was just about to get moving but they all froze when they heard a silent thud behind them. Whipping their heads around, they saw that it was a young griefer behind them. She had shoulder-length blue hair in pigtails, a pink oversized t-shirt, brown leggings, with brown boots and wore a black mask and had tanned pale skin. She landed from a building in front of them and down on the dry sand.
"Hey there, new people," she greeted, speaking in a western accent. "You, ah, you said you know where Magnus is? All the griefers here in BoomTown want to find Magnus, y'know."
"This isn't going to play out well.." Axel gulped.
"Just leave us alone, okay? It's none of your business," Jess spat.
"Yeah!" Nikki agreed. "Even if we were trying to find Magnus, why would we tell you?!"
"Hmmm. I'm afraid to say that you're just making me wonder even more what the heck is up with that thing," she replied.
"What's going on?"
The gang whipped their heads to where the new voice erupted from, spotting more griefers heading over to them. One with tan skin and a blue and green wrestler's mask, another with green hair tied in pigtails, and another with a red mask that covered his face and with a smile on it.
"Nohr found some noobs with a thingy that could find Magnus," the smiley mask answered.
"Guys..?" Axel whined, shifting his gaze towards his friends nervously. They hoped they had somehow come up with a plan to deal with the upcoming problem. Nikki stood in front of her sister protectively, ready to hold back any attacks the griefers may cause.
"Bunch of scavengers! This drop is mine!" Nohr scowled at the thirsty crowd in front of her.
"How about you help us, huh?" Jess tried to reason. "I promise, it's to help save the world-."
"Yeahh sounds complicated. I'd prefer you just handing over the thingy," the griefers with the wrestling mask denied. Jess didn't know what to do. Without the amulet, they wouldn't be able to find Magnus but at the same time, these griefers are definitely not going to get off their backs until they get what they want. Before she could react, Nohr leapt forward and snatched the amulet right out of her hands! Jess tried to snatch it back but she was much too quick and dashed off.
"Get back here with that!" Demanded a now-angry griefer.
"Get her!" Shouted another. Nohr raced a short distance away from the crowd and in front of the building, holding the amulet high in the air for everyone to see.
"Oh Mighty Magnus! I have for you this offering-!" Before she could finish her so-called 'offering,' a griefer named TNT Dustin above her with a black strip mask, dark skin, and a blonde Mohawk. "NOOOOO!" She cried, racing up some stairs to get to the roof with the sisters and Axel dashing after her, but when they got to the top, they saw the blue-haired griefer cackling with the blonde much to their surprise. When they noticed them, the both of them gave them mocking stares.
"Bunch'a noobs!" Nohr taunted before she and Dustin took off. The friends immediately followed after them, trying their best to catch up though it was hard because they kept jumping from roof to roof.
"Hey. Are they going the same way?" Axel inquired.
"They're working together," Jess reazlied. It was a scam! They were probably planning this to trick them into thinking Nohr got the amulet taken from her.
"Crap.." Nikki growled. "Should've seen this coming!"
"This is just how we do it in BoomTown!" Dustin said as they jumped across roofs. Seeing they were still on their tail, they then split up into different directions, Dustin taking the stairs as Nohr escaped through the side.
"Which one took the amulet?" Nikki wondered out loud. They had to come up with something, quick! Or else they'd risk letting them get away.
"I'll get the one with the fishing pole, you guys get the little blue-haired creep," Jess ordered, immediately dashing after Dustin.
"I'm coming with you!" Nikki said, following her up the stairs as Axel followed Nohr to the side.
"Nikki, don't worry, I've got this!" Her sister assured her. "You go help, Axel, okay? We'll meet up later."
Nikki frowned but reluctantly followed after Axel. She hated being separated from her family but she knew it was for the best. Jess ran after Dustin, hopping onto roofs and ledges until he eventually saw that he was running out of places to run and as he ran up some stairs, he faced her and started throwing eggs in quick sessions.
"Think fast! Your training is coming along nicely, noob!" He mocked.
"Just give me the amulet!" Jess scowled, having enough with all these games.
"Geez pal, no need to shout. Here-." He was just about to hand the amulet back to her but before he could, the ledge he was standing on exploded, making him plummet onto the ground as the amulet flew from his hands and into the hands of yet another griefer. "Our reasonable conversaaaaation!"
Jess groaned before tackling the griefer before he could get away. The amulet fell right out of his hands and rolled onto the ground. Before either of them had a chance to get it, Nohr swooped in and snatched it before taking off.
Previously..
Nikki and Axel followed Nohr, jumping onto ledges and dodging gaps and fires as they went on. Unexpectedly, Nohr turned around, a smirk smeared across her face as she glared at the two friends.
"Hey, know what the best time of the year is to visit BoomTown?" She asked. Axel knitted his unibrow in annoyance as Nikki scowled. They both were equally annoyed with her games and knew that this most likely was a trick.
"Lemme guess. Fall?" Axel guessed, understanding the joke.
"I don't care about these jokes and games. Just give us the amulet!" Nikki growled.
Nohr simply rolled her eyes in response. "Nope! It's Winter," she cackled before pressing a button, catching the platform Axel and Nikki were standing to disappear under them, allowing them to tumble into the pit. "Later, dingus!" She then mocked before dashing off.
"Well, there's only one way out of a pit," Nikki shrugged, taking some stone that she still kept when they were fortifying the Temple yesterday. She collected some sand just in case, handing some materials to Axel before the two climbed out of the pit together. Once they were out, they continued their hunt of finding the amulet.
Back to present time..
The two of them desperately looked for where the amulet could be, but as they searched they bumped right into Jess, who seemed frantic. Axel immediately guessed that something bad happened and that Nohr was on the bottom of it.
"Hey! Did Nohr come this way?" He questioned.
"Yeah! And she had the amulet again!" Jess informed them.
"Stop right there!" Nikki suddenly snarled and the two whipped their heads around to see the blue-haired griefer holding the amulet in her hand.
"How about.. no?! Ha!" She laughed, darting inside a building, shutting the iron door and blocking it off with obsidian blocks. Axel gave the stone bricks an experimental punch and quickly withdrew his fist in pain.
"Augh! These bricks will take forever to punch through!" He groaned.
"But she's getting away! We have to try something!" Nikki whined. Jess wasn't listening, too busy staring at the vines resting against the wall that made it all the way to the roof.
"Luckily I found us a punch-free entrance.." she observed before climbing up the vines, holding onto it carefully. Nikki didn't take this route however and instead thought up another idea, taking out her pickaxe she still had from yesterday and easily mining through the walls. Axel grabbed another set, slightly doubting they'd be enough to hold him but when he noticed Nohr poking her head out from one of the windows above Jess, his eyes widened, running a safe distance away from the vines.
"Sorry guys, but I've been trying to find Magnus for way too long for you to stop me now!" She spat, raising a lit TNT above her head.
"Oh, bad.." Jess winced.
"Jess! Look out!" Axel warned.
As soon as the griefer tossed the TNT down at her, she dodged by leaping right onto a second set of vines. "Way too close!" She gasped before continuing on her mission. Much to her luck, Nohr was at the next window above her.
"Y'know what you remind me of? This song I had stuck in my head once," she scowled as she held out a second TNT block, Jess giving her an annoyed glare. "I just couldn't get it to go away!" She then tossed it down and before it could hit her, Jess quickly leaped onto another set of vines.
"Gahh-oh man!" She panted, the block nearly hitting her that time but she didn't let that stop her as she continued on. Nikki watched as her sister was almost brutally killed twice and felt her anger rise as she ran up the stairs. Once she reached the roof, she spotted Nohr standing there, trying to figure out how the amulet worked.
"Okay little amulet.. Show me the way. Of course, not sure what I'll do when I get there.. But that's Future Nohr's problem," she coaxed. As she was speaking, Nikki crept up behind her and once she got in reach, she bolted forward and grabbed the amulet. She expected for it to be quick and simple execution but Nohr had a tight grip on the Amulet and as soon as she recovered from her shock and surprise, she tried to yank it back, the two wrestling over who should take the amulet.
"Give it back! This is more important than you know!" Nikki grunted as she struggled to snatch the amulet back. At this point, Jess finally climbed onto the roof, taking a small breather before noticing the urgent situation in front of her. With no hesitation, she charged towards Nohr, tackling her and as she was distracted, took the amulet from her grasp. Finally, the amulet is back in her hands! This was short, however, for when she tackled Nohr, the three ladies fell over a TNT block and accidentally lit it.
"Uh oh!" Nohr gulped.
"Not again!" Nikki whined. The explosion sent them all flying into different directions, the amulet flying out of Jess' hands. Luckily, it flew in Nikki's direction but Nikki didn't have time to reach for it as she sailed right into a building window while it fell elsewhere.
Nikki then started panicking as she glanced around quickly. The amulet was nowhere to be seen and what's worse; Jess and Axel weren't in sight either. What was she going to do?
• Explosions and Redstone! •
Jesse glanced around their environments nervously. He had thought Reuben would at least find something that would help them find a repeater but instead, the little pig had gotten completely distracted, searching for food instead. The brunette sighed before glancing over at Olivia, hoping that she would at least bring some light into things. He did feel annoyed though, regretting trying to talk to Ellegaard's assistant at all. If he didn't disable the stair controls then they would've BEEN in the Dome and warning Ellegaard inside.
"Hey," he simply greeted.
"Have you seen all these inventions? These inventors are all incredible!" Olivia beamed.
"Seems like this place really has you blown away?" Jesse grinned, happy to see his friend amazed with the scenery.
"You're not kidding. This is like everything I've ever dreamed of," she gushed.
Jesse then frowned, noticing how she was here by herself. "I would've thought you'd be up in people's faces, talking about inventions.."
"I want to.. I might know Redstone from where we came from, but these people are the real deal, Jesse," Olivia frowned. "I mean I don't even know how they're making some of these things. That's rare for me."
"Pfft. You're just as good as them, Olivia. Just be confident," Jesse assured her, not wanting to see his friend all down in the dumps.
"Maybe.. but thanks for the vote of confidence."
"So Ellegaard's trying to make a Command Block in there?"
"I know! I heard that too! I'm actually not sure how I feel about that. I mean, there's no way we misheard her, right?"
Jesse started to have some doubts that the engineer had the power to build a command block. Not that he wasn't impressed by her skills. Of course he was but is she skilled enough for something so advanced? "Is that even possible? Can she make a Command Block?" He wondered.
"I wouldn't have thought so.. But it IS Ellegaard. As far as I'm concerned, she could do anything."
"So.. Crafting a repeater. How'd you do that?"
"We need three stone, two Redstone torches and one pile of Redstone dust to make one," Olivia answered with ease.
Once the recipe was stuck in his head, he then nodded. "Okay. I'm going to keep trying to open the Dome," he said.
"I'll see what I could do to help."
After their conversation, Jesse then went on to find a Redstone repeater. He either had to craft one, or find one. Or the least compassionate option: steal but he wouldn't do that unless he absolutely had to. He hated stealing anyways. As he explored the beautiful landscape, he couldn't help but to admit that Olivia had a good reason to fangirl over this place. It was beautiful. But it was also filled with random things like people's weird obsession with cows.
He couldn't tell if the cows were even happy or traumatized because they just seemed.. blank. Not to mention that not a lot of people here are friendly per say. A lot of them either had an attitude or in beef was someone else with only a few actually being nicer.
As he began to feel frustrated, having absolutely no progress of getting a repeater except for some Redstone and stone, he noticed a machine that mostly consisted of slime blocks, redstone blocks, and pistons. It was being operated by a schoolboy that looked at least a couple years older than him.
When he noticed him approaching his machine, he gave him a wide grin and immediately started advertising his machine. "Heyyy what's up what's up? Here to see the.. Best. Machine.. that's ever graced Redstonia's shores?" He said. He unexpectedly had a deep voice despite his young age. Jesse wanted to ask him for a repeater but was too taken aback from the impressive invention.
"Tell me about this machine of yours. It's freaking huge," he observed.
"The Mighty MechMaster Nine Million? Yeah it's huge. It's bigger than huge. It's.. immense," the schoolboy bragged.
"Does it do anything other than.. be big?"
"It walks. I think. But most importantly, it'll totally nab me a spot as Ellegaard's protege," he explained before this quickly changed to a frown. "But why am I telling you all this? I'm trying to become Ellegaard's protege over here and you're probably all in the cahoots with that disco weirdo over there." He glared at a dark skinned man with an afro and white suit dancing nearby. "I'm pretty sure he just enjoys torturing cows."
With nothing else to say to him, Jesse left him alone to chat with this disco guy. Maybe he'll be more useful in finding a repeater? Just like the schoolboy, he noticed him immediately as he approached.
"Hi!" Jesse greeted.
"Heyy how's it goin' how ya doin'? Here to see the next great revolution in entertainment?" He beamed.
"What am I looking at exactly?"
"This, friend-o-mine, is the Bovine Lava Disco!" He addressed, flipping a lever behind him with a smooth twist. The lava curtain dropped to reveal three cows leaping up and down. "The perfect fusion of my two levers: Cows and Mu-sic! Ellegaard's gonna see it and make me her protege for sure."
"Actually I was wondering - Can you spare a repeater?" The brunette asked politely.
"Oooooh, sorry friend. Actually just used my last one on this puppy. One of the key components that helps the cows dance, ha ha!"
"I'm actually gonna keep on keeping on.."
"Enjoy the dancing cows! Just stay away from the little schoolboy, all right? He's never had an original idea in this life," he replied. Jesse sighed and was just about to leave with a heavy heart but froze when the man began speaking once more. "I saw you over there talking to him. What lies has he been telling you?"
Normally, Jesse won't start anything but seeing his chance, he decided it'll be best if he tried to get them to argue. "I told him I wouldn't tell you, but.. he thinks you're a cow killer," he informed him. "A real cow cruelty nut."
As soon as he finished talking, Disco Monkey's eyes narrowed in anger as he hopped off his stage. "That little-argh! I'll show him! Thanks kid," he said before storming off over to the schoolboy. As they exchanged some harsh words, Jesse snuck to the controls and swiped the repeater. He didn't expect it but as soon as he took the repeater, the lava dropped right onto the cows, lightning then on fire. Their panicked moos brought their owner's attention back to them and when he realized what was going on, he screamed in shock and raced back to his ruined invention.
"What-? No! My machine! My cows!" He cried. "Something's gone wrong with the clock circuit! The lava isn't switching with the water!"
"Oh nooo your amazing invention," the schoolboy scoffed sarcastically but he couldn't help but to chuckle, finding the scene amusing which ignited fury in Disco Monkey.
"You! You did this!" He accused.
"Hey. I'm not taking credit for annnny of this. That machine's been a cow death trap since block one!"
As the two argued, the cows poofed into cooked steaks. "Oh my cows! My poor cows!" Disco Mickey mourned. Jesse felt bad for him, but it's for the better. Fighting back guilt, he went to search for Olivia. It was time to get back on track. Once he arrived back at the stair controls, he placed the repeater in place watching the Redstone power up on the ground. Now all he needed to do was flip the switches.
"Okay, that's a step in the right direction," he murmured.
"Jesse!" He heard someone call for him and whipping his head around, he noticed Olivia and Reuben running right towards him.
"Jesse! I got a repeater! Now we could- oh," Olivia said, stopping mid-sentence. "Looks like you beat me to it."
"Yeah. But what did you and Rueben do?" Jesse wondered as he petted his little pig's head.
"Well, I was following Rueben around and we met this girl named Mabel, who had this kind of cow-a-pult machine which was annoying this auto farmer named Gloria so she asked if I could take it down. At first, I had no intentions to do so but this old man named Wilfred gave me some Redstone dust," she informed him. "But then I accidentally blew up this TNT cannon, which also destroyed the cow-a-pult so Gloria gave me some Redstone torches so I used them to craft this repeater. I also have some cow spawn eggs from when the cow-a-pult exploded."
"Woah. That's quite the adventure," Jesse replied before telling her his own expression. He remembered how upset Disco Monkey was before about his machine. When he was younger, his.. older brother used to always tell him how he always needed to be kind to people, telling him how not everyone's fortunate to have to have certain things. His heart stung as he remembered the last words from his older brother before he soon left. Knowing that it was the right thing to do, he asked Olivia if she could give him the spawn eggs and repeater.
"Wait right here with Olivia, Rueben," he told his pet pig as he oinked worriedly. "I have some business to take care of."
"Where are you going, Jesse?" Olivia asked curiously, reluctantly handing him her repeater and cow spawners
"..off to repay someone.."
He nervously went over to Disco Money, handing him the eggs and repeater and explained how he saw his machine go to ruins, also explaining that he stole his repeater but needed it desperately for something he needed. He understood and forgave him, much to his relief. He was glad he was able to help with the damages he did to his machine. As he was about to trot back to Olivia and Rueben, he waved back to him, the brunette looking at him in confusion, wondering what he wanted.
"Hey squirt, a little tip: help Ellegaard build that command block! We'll all like to see it with our own eyes," he advised him.
"Uh sure?" Jesse responded awkwardly. After the brief conversation, he walked back to Olivia and Rueben, seeing them by the repeater. When she noticed him, Olivia stood up, shifting her gaze towards him.
"You're back! I was just adjusting the repeater so the door controls could work better," she grinned. "It should work now."
"Thanks, Olivia," he sighed as he looked at the controls. He flipped one of the levers and grinned when he saw that it actually had an effect. "Switch is on!"
"That doesn't seem super useful," Olivia commented.
"I'm working on it, Olivia. These aren't exactly labeled, y'know," he huffed before flipping the second switch. This one once again worked, pulling the stairs out of the wall and staying open for them to climb on. "Switch is on! Okay, good, good." He then finally flipped the last one, the iron doors opening and allowing for them to come inside. "Bam! Door opened!"
They didn't waste any more time, racing up the stairs and finally entering inside. They both kept their guards up, wondering what awaited them in this mysterious building. Olivia was very excited, her excitement growing tight as they came close to meeting her idol.
• 1, 2, 3! Time to Grief! •
Nikki searched for the amulet as quickly as she could, wondering where it went and where it could've dropped. She scoured on the ground, desperate to find it but with no luck. Suddenly, she heard some voices coming under the floor below her. Curiously, she peeked through a crack on the ground and spotted two griefers bickering over the amulet. Seeing her chance, she snatched the amulet right out of their grasp.
"I got it! I actually got it!" She celebrated.
"Quick! Flush 'em out!" One of the griefers said, throwing a TNT block amulet the crack and onto Nikki's floor. Gasping, Nikki hid the amulet in her inventory before frantically searching for an escape before she leaped right onto a ledge just as the TNT exploded.
She flattened herself against the wall the ledge was attached to and slowly but safely managed to slide her way across and once she was on safer grounds, she took a breather as she flinched when someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Instinctively, she was about to attack them but froze as they started to speak.
"Woah-! No need to get defensive. You want to escape from those little buzzers? Follow me," they said. Nikki shifted her gaze towards the voice, noticing how they wore a dark robe that covered their entire body and a hoodie that masked most of her face.
"Who are you-?!" She questioned. She wasn't going to blindly someone who might stab her in the back. Considering what she went through with these people, she feared that this person was just trying to earn her trust to get the amulet.
"I'm kinda on the run. And since you're in similar danger, how about we make an alliance? You help me, I help you?" When they noticed Nikki hesitating, she went on. "Would you rather come with me or deal with them?" They then said, signaling to the griefers that heading right for her.
Nikki cringed. She didn't want to trust this person but at the same time, she really didn't have anywhere else to go. "I- fine! This better NOT be a trap," she sighed.
"You made the right choice," she then grinned before dashing off, expecting Nikki to follow after her, which she did hesitatingly. As she led her to safety, she couldn't help but to feel curious about the amulet everyone's so interested in. "Say, that amulet you have. I know everyone's going after it but I just wanna know.. where did you get it?"
"Oh this-? Umm.. Mini, the Order's apprentice, gave it to us. She said it'll help us find Magnus," Nikki answered honestly. "Gabriel wanted us to reunite the Order because there's a crazy monster eating up the entire world."
"..you don't say?"
"I DO say! That's why we need to find Magnus as soon as possible!"
"Of course, luckily I know a shortcut."
"Nikki!" Called a new voice and the ladies quickly came to a halt, seeing Jess making her way towards them. "You're safe!"
"Yep! And I have the amulet right here!" Nikki beamed, holding up the amulet to show off before quickly hiding it back in her pocket before anyone could see it.
"Great! Who's.. that?" Her sister glanced at the masked figure, confused.
"Let's not focus on that, okay-? Where's Axel?"
Jess didn't answer, only having a frightful expression on her face. The ladies had the misfortune to look down from the platform they were standing on, spotting a bunch of griefers heading right for them. What's worse is that they even started taking some interest in the masked figure.
"You were supposed to lead us to safety, not put us in more danger!" Nikki scowled.
"Hey, at least I didn't leave you alone down there!" The masked figure nagged before crossing her arms. "Besides, all we really need is a distraction!"
Jess noticed Axel standing nearby in a safe area out of sight from the griefers. "Axel! Magnus is somewhere in that building above us! He's gotta be close!" She alerted them.
"Then quick! Toss me the amulet!" Axel ordered, but Nikki hesitated. She was afraid that he was going to lose it again and that they would have to spend more time trying to get the amulet back again.
"You need to move faster, pipsqueak!" The masked figure said. "We're surrounded by griefers who want to tear us apart. And they're mostly going after you!"
Nikki glanced at the increasing mob below them before sighing and tossing down the amulet to her friend. "Just.. don't lose it!" She begged.
"Hey, don't worry about me. I got this. You just keep them distracted," Axel assured her.
The masked figure hopped down, landing on the dry sand safely. "Follow my lead! I know a shortcut," she ordered.
"Nikki, you should go too," Jess suggested. "I'll follow behind, I promise!"
Nikki frowned, but she didn't want to argue considering their dire situation so she simply wished her sister luck and followed Axel and the mysterious person away from the mob and safely to the spiral.
The party of three arrived at the courtyard of the spiral in after about a minute or so and after taking a small breather, they went on. Nikki and Axel were both confused. They both thought Magnus would know better than to just put a clear path.
"Stay on your toes. There's bound to be some booty traps," the masked figure warned. It was too late however, Axel stepped right onto pressure plates without even noticing. Two blocks in front of the group rose up from the floor with activated TNT blocks on them.
"Oh for the love of-." Nikki couldn't even finish her swearing as they all leaped out of the way before they exploded, just for more to rise from the ground by them.
"Don't die!" The masked figure simply said as she dashed ahead to dodge the upcoming traps.
"Oh, come on!" Axel complained.
Sure, TNT is fun but not when it's trying to literally kill you. Once they were done dodging the TNT, the friends took a small breather, but their troubles were far from over, powered up dispensers rising up from the ground. They scrambled to their feet and raced through the arrows fired from the faces. An arrow caught Axel's leg, but it wasn't enough to take him down. Suddenly, a pit opened up in front of them as they escaped the dispensers.
"You ready, Axel?!" Nikki called as they approached the pit, her friend narrowing his eyes in concentration. As they reached the edge, they made a crazy leap, feeling everything going into slow motion for a second before they actually touched solid ground.
"Axel! We made it!" Nikki beamed as she tried to regain her energy. "In one piece!"
"You both have me impressed. For outsiders, you guys surely know how to bounce out of danger," the masked figure chuckled. She had been waiting for them at the end of the crazy courtyard and they could tell that she had a large smile on her face.
"Woo hoo!" Axel cheered.
"Don't celebrate yet," Nikki sighed. "We still have to wait for Jess to come so we can go get Magnus."
Meanwhile..
Jess sighed in relief, her sister and friend now safe but now she had bigger things to worry about. She quickly moved, getting up to higher ground as fast as possible. Griefers noticed her escaping and immediately notified each other that she was heading for the top. As she hopped onto another ledge, she noticed some eggs planted by a fence.
"I love a good table-turning.. excellent," she grinned, collecting the eggs before continuing on.
"Oh no you don't!" Shouted one of the griefers and as the brunette ran up some steps. As she moved, she turned around and chucked eggs at as many griefers as she could, hitting most who dare to come near her but she knew it wouldn't stop them all for long. Once she reached the very top, her luck finally turned around when she noticed a TNT block sitting there, almost as though it had been waiting for her.
"Well hel-lo, opportunity," she smirked. As it was about to explode, she picked it up and tossed it right as the griefers were climbing up the steps to reach her. As soon as the TNT exploded, they all screamed in alarm, flying into different directions until finally the coast was clear.
Jess collapsed onto the ground, taking a breather before standing back up, to make sure no griefers were left. Luckily, She didn't see any insight and after fixing herself up, she made her way to the spiral. The courtyard was filled with TNT holes and a wall that was filled with arrows, some dispensers still shooting out a couple arrows.
"Jess! You made it," Nikki sighed in relief.
"You don't need to sound so surprised," Jess grinned as she calmly trotted past the mess. "Do you have the amulet?"
"Of course! Nikster and I, we totally rocked it!" Axel beamed.
"Yeah, with SOME injuries but I have to admit, you guys are pretty cool," the mysterious person admitted.
"Well I'm glad everyone's safe-." Jess started but paused mid-sentence when she noticed the arrow still in Axel's leg. "Alive, I mean." She then grinned as she ruffled her sister's hair lovingly.
"I'm just glad you're still in one piece," Nikki replied. "I was really worried about you, y'know."
"I could take care of myself, Nikki," Jess chuckled. "Those griefers didn't even know what was coming at them."
"Neither were us with all those traps.." Nikki whined.
"I kinda saw it coming," Axel said. "I knew Magnus wouldn't just make things that easy."
"Yet you still fell for the traps anyway," the masked figure scoffed playfully.
"Good job everyone," Jess smiled, now full of determination as she stared at the door in front of them. "Magnus, here we come!"
The party of four stared at the iron doors that would soon lead them to Magnus, but with a slight problem. How are they going to open the iron door without any levers or buttons?
"Huh. Maybe it's, I don't know, locked or something? That's a thing people do to important doors, right?" Axel shrugged. "Griefer girl? What do you think?"
The masked figure glanced at him before shrugging. "Knock," she simply said. "And don't call me 'Griefer girl,' I have a name. It's Maggie."
Jess thought she was being sarcastic but she didn't care, simply knocking on the door while being careful not to knock too hard to avoid hurting her hands. When no answer came, the sisters and Axel glanced at each other awkwardly before the doors finally opened. The friends, excluding the masked figure, flinched in alarm, not expecting this at all.
"Fine. Knocking worked. For once," Axel presumed.
"So it seems. Let's get in there," Jess shrugged.
"Right behind you," Nikki commented.
The gang stepped inside, seeing that it was almost impossible to see. The brunette glanced at their new ally in confusion, hoping that she would know something. "Maggie? Where do you think we'll find Magnus here?" Jess inquired.
Maggie grinned as she stepped in front of them. "It's quickly quite simple really. All you have to do is to not look down," she said. The friends didn't know what she meant but when she flipped a switch that was on the wall next to her, the trapdoor beneath them opened, letting them all plummeting inside.
The friends screamed as they fell through, landing on the obsidian and sandstone floors with lava sitting next to them, the amulet falling out of Axel's pockets and rolling around the corner. Jess groaned before she stood up to try and reach for the amulet,
"What was that?!" She fretted as Nikki and Axel scrambled to their feet. The footsteps sounded louder and louder until eventually. They stopped.
