My Craft

by OnTheCobb

Devoid of memory or purpose, a new Crafter is pushed forth into the unforgiving land of Minecraftia. Armed with nothing but his wits, he must…well…actually he's pretty witless. Hopefully he won't get killed in the first week. Hopefully.

257. Disillusioned

AN: Happy Father's Day everyone!

I walked with my dad today... for five miles... without a hat or sunscreen. My scalp is now red and covered in aloe.

But I'm working through the pain to give you this absolute mountain of a chapter! Wear a hat/sunscreen, kids! Don't be stupid like me.

---

Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. If I did, I'd add Sunscreen... and Aloe. Ooh...

---

Chapter 257

Disillusioned

[Cobb]

"I've got forty Chorus Fruit and thirty-two cooked chicken."

"I've got nothing. Sorry..."

"You were imprisoned and tortured. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"I'm supplied enough for both of us." Baltic reassured. He wasn't the Team Leader of the support team for nothing. "I've got ninety cooked chicken, and we can use the melon slices and carrots from my alchemy ingredient supply-"

"No. Save those. We might need them for potions." I advised. "We eat what can only be used for food."

"Why? It's not like we have water for brews."

We were taking a break on our trek down the netherbrick highway to evaluate our food situation. Starving in the Nether was something none of us wanted.

"Nearly two stacks of cooked chicken, and forty Chorus Fruit." Dwight took stock. "Split three ways, that'll be enough for... twenty-seven days?"

"That's exactly right. Twenty-seven days." Baltic nodded. "Though, we can stretch it out if we ration it."

"I don't think that's a good idea." I shook my head. "Like you said, the Nether is dangerous. We don't have the luxury to abstain from eating. We need to be at top strength at all time. Twenty-seven days will do fine."

"If we're lucky, that's all the time we'll spend here." Baltic murmured.

I rummaged in my backpack for a moment. "Even if food runs dry, we'll make it. I got planks for bowls. We can scavenge some mushrooms for stew, or, hell, I'll eat rotten Zombie Pigmen flesh if I have to."

"You call that a nutritious diet?"

"It'll pack my Hunger Meter for me to top off with real food. I know what I'm doing." I assured. "By the way, how long do you think we've been here? Can you tell?"

"Well... When the barometric pressure reaches a certain... temperature... shit, I don't fuckin' know." Dwight replied.

"Time gets away from you here." Baltic noted as he eyed the burning surroundings worriedly. We had yet to run into any problems. I could hear distant Ghasts, but I couldn't see them so I figured we were safe for now. The netherbrick highway was currently bridging a sea of lava. Eating Chorus Fruit would be a little too hazardous a meal at the moment, so I chewed on some cooked chicken. It sated my hunger but did little to quench my thirst. Even with only my undershirt on, the Nether's heat was unbearable. The sea of lava simmering below only made the air around us hotter and stifling to breathe. Dwight was just as haggard from the environment, but old Baltic fared marginally better, almost like he was used to it.

With our food situation addressed, we pushed on. It was all we could do. The three of us were all we had in this dimension, which was why I grudgingly decided to split my supply of totems. Two for each of us. I had been saving them for when I saw Floyd, Soul, Noman, and Wynn again, but Baltic and Dwight's survival took precedence.

We all had to make it out.

---

[Floyd]

Forget herding cats. Chasing the Scouts was like chasing a gaggle of turkeys. They didn't slow down in their single-minded desire to get to the Illusioner before the cultists did. Reuben used a Splash Potion of Swiftness on us to speed things along, but the Scouts must've had one too for how long they stayed put of reach. I was almost tempted to use my Speed Hack to catch up if not for the cumbersome cooldown I knew I'd have to deal with.

We jogged further and further south through winding torchlit tunnels before passing some large, cracked-open spheres. The spheres were hollow on the inside, having an exterior of dark rocks, an inner layer of white rocks, and an interior of shiny, purple crystals which emitted light. There were a few of them on either side of the tunnel, and, at one point, the tunnel went through one.

"These are the amethyst geodes that cultist talked about." Anibal reported. We were close to where the Illusioner was last spotted. Many of us readied our weapons, expecting cultists to jump out at any second.

Anibal's fingers flipping through pages of the Miner's Guild notes. "The outside of the geodes are of smooth basalt, the white layer is calcite, and the purple interior is blocks of amethyst and budding amethysts."

"Any use for the amethysts?" Spaatz asked, eying the budding crystal formations as we passed through the geode.

"You can make tinted glass... or spyglasses. Huh." Anibal read with mild interest. "You know what, that sounds like it could come in handy. I'd have the eyesight of Lenz." She lingered in the geode and used the guild's Fortune III pickaxe to mine some of the purple blocks of amethyst... only to look bewildered as the blocks couldn't be broken down into the amethysts she wanted. "Wait, um..." She consulted the notes again. "Oh, I need to mine a fully grown amethyst cluster..." She turned to the clusters of gems that grew along the geode like flower buds and broke some of the largest ones, getting eighteen amethyst shards with the help of the picks Fortune III enchantment. "That ought to do."

With her curiosity sated, we continued jogging through the tunnels south, eventually getting drawn to the sounds of combat ahead.

"Give me a tap." Soul asked of Ciro, prompting the dark-haired man to bring out the Destierro del Palillo and give the axe-wielder a sharp tap that sent him on ahead, hurtling through the tunnel. The rest of us followed at a hastened pace.

When we arrived, it was in a narrow cavern with a high ceiling and a split path of tunnels. It was lit by a single torch, its light flickering off the cavern edges above and casting deep shadows on the ceiling, perfect for hiding Mobs. There in the cavern, Scouts and cultists were locked in combat, with Soul swinging his axe around to help. It looked like the Scouts caught up with the cultists in the worst possible way.

"Crafters don't belong in Minecraftia! Can't you see that!?" One cultist screamed while his blade was locked with Marble's longsword.

"Ha! You won't steal our Troxler Mirror Badge from us that easily!"

"...Wait, what?"

Marble broke the deadlock with the momentarily confused cultist, backstepping into his stance before careening forward in a surge of gold that cut the cultist's torso and brought him to his knees. Soul cleaved through another cultist with his axe. There were only six cultists here to delay us, and that number wouldn't delay a pack of Paragons, let alone a Hacker and an artifact wielder. We made short work of them, killing them all without leaving a single hostage.

"Damnit, I told you to wait! Don't tell me you didn't hear my echoing voice in these caves." Anibal rounded on the Scouts. "If you were struggling with this many cultists, you'd be dead catching up to Leadstripe."

"But the Illusioner!" One of the 'nameless' Scouts whined urgently. "The cultists are closing the net on it! Our badge is at stake!"

"And I can't tell which tunnel is the right one." Yulia chimed in, her hands held to her ears as she listened down the two diverging tunnels. She looked conflicted and panicky. "I'm hearing voices from both tunnels. Which one's on the Illusioner's trail?"

"Let's see... Eeny, meeny, miny, moe-"

"Let's just split up." Ciro steamrolled past Marble's asinine choosing method to take charge. "Teams should be balanced. Soul, Pyritz, Reuben. You're with me. We'll take the right path. Anibal, you take Floyd, Spaatz, and the rest of the Scouts left."

"What about Noman?" Soul asked. "He's still lugging a paralyzed cultists and trailing behind. Shouldn't we wait up for him?"

"If we do, we could lose the Illusioner." Marble remarked. "I'll stay here and wait up for him. I can give him an update on the situation and we can join you later. Just don't let that badge slip through our fingers a second time."

The junior Scouts voiced their agreement before forming the groups Ciro designated. With me on one side and an artifact wielder on the other, the teams were fairly even. I was sure we could handle anything the cultists threw at us.

Soul and I wished each other luck before hurrying down our respective tunnels with our respective teams.

---

[Noman]

"Ow! Hey! Stop biting my ear!

"Release me, damn Lighter Billionth! You don't know how obstinate you're being clinging to life!"

"Language! Also, life is precious! You should value yours a little more."

"Why would I value living in a cruel realm such as this!?"

I sighed as I stopped and hiked the paralyzed Rurik_Spindle into a better piggyback position before trudging forward as fast as I could. I passed through some spheres with beautiful purple crystals on the inside, but I couldn't enjoy them much on account of the cultist gnawing on my ear in defiance. I was also on the clock, considering that I had no splash potions to reapply the paralysis effect. Once Rurik could move again, he would fight or kill himself.

All life is precious. I thought to myself. All life is precious. There's good in all - OW! He pinched a nerve, there! I winced as he bit down on my ear more forcefully, making me tilt my head to wrest it free with no small amount of pain.

"What's so bad about Minecraftia that you would want to join a cult? You're going to walk out of this mine alive and see the sun again. You'll go to jail, yes, but as long as there is life, there's hope. You don't have to be with the cult."

"Hmph! You're as naïve as the rumors say, Lighter Billionth." Rurik sneered. "You think us cultists joined just because we were bored? No. We joined, because this world - this place - isn't real, and all you stubborn Crafters cling to it in spite of this. You bury your heads in the sand and pretend that this horrible place is worth fighting for, but it's not. There are better places out there. Places free from killing and strife, free of monsters, free of the boundaries placed upon us."

"But the Endward Cult is causing killing and strife!" I protested. "The cult could be a force of good, helping people. Instead you claim innocent lives and gather Heads like morbid trophies. How much more peaceful would Minecraftia be if not for the cult's machinations?"

"A genocide here is a baby boom in the Next Life. It's the circle of life. And we have our reasons for gathering Heads, not that you need to know it." Rurik argued. "New growth can't exist without first the destruction of the old, don't you see that? How many lives are being robbed of a richer experience because oldies aren't willing to accept when their time has come? This old world, Minecraftia, needs to be torn down to make room for something better."

"In Aikido, people should seek and give love. This creates a never-ending cycle of harmony." I spoke carefully. "If evil exists, good can redeem it. There's still hope for-"

"Good? Evil? Don't make me laugh." Rurik scoffed. "Who can say what is good to one person isn't evil to another? You're set thinking I'm evil because I oppose you, but I feel the same about you. After all, how many 'good people' resort to torture, and how many 'evil people' refuse to sell out their comrades?" I flinched at his rather poignant reference, using his own torture as an example. "You're not gonna twist my loyalty, and the other cultists won't be any different. You're just wasting your time, trying to make yourself feel better. I'll thank you not to waste my time. Kill me now. Liberate me from this mortal plane, or I swear to Herobrine you'll regret it."

It didn't look like I'd get through to the cultist in what limited time I had. He wasn't budging. I was still determined to try, however. I maintained that anyone could be redeemed if given enough time.

The tunnel opened up into a narrow cavern with a high ceiling shrouded in darkness. Two tunnels split off. Marble was up ahead, sitting on a rock and waiting for me.

"Mar-" I started only to fall forward as something heavy landed on me from above, adding to the weight of the cultist on my back. I banged my chin on the ground and became dazed as I felt limbs that weren't Rurik's shift and slam against my back. Marble leapt to his feet with a look of alarm as he drew his longsword and rushed to my aid.

I turned my head and saw the features of the ambusher who had dropped onto me from the shadows of the cave's ceiling. Dark gray hair, glasses, a black baseball cap.

"Lieutenant Leadstripe!" Rurik cheered from beside me, identifying the culprit just as I recognized him. Rurik had toppled over as he was still paralyzed and unable to move, but those effects would soon expire. "You've come to my aid! Give me milk or time and I'll help you fight these heathens!"

Leadstripe tore his iron dagger free and drove it downward with both hands. I rolled aside on reflex, but I needn't have bothered. The dagger wasn't aimed at me.

"Ulk-!?" Rurik choked on the dagger plunged into his neck. Confusion and betrayal crossed his face right before the Lieutenant wrenched the dagger to the side, slitting Rurik's throat and doing enough damage to kill the cultist in a shower of gear.

"NOOO!" I cried out in futility while Marble careened past me and slashed at the Lieutenant with his longsword. The gray and black garbed man took the hit well, using its momentum to skip back and put distance between us.

"Why would you do that!?" I screamed at the Lieutenant. "He was your friend!"

"He was my subordinate. One who you'd extract harmful intel from if you hadn't already." Leadstripe answered back coldly, flipping his dagger as he reversed its grip. "Killing him is a preventative measure. Honestly, it's a wonder someone as soft as you has made it this far, crying for your enemies. And to think cultists whisper your title, 'the Lighter Billionth', like you're some otherworldly superman. You should at least be dead for all the money I paid Gunnah to kill you."

"...You mean you sent Gunnah after me? He killed Harbord and Anibal's teammates!"

"Then he wasn't a total loss, though I paid him to eliminate you and Cobb." Leadstripe revealed as he slowly walked to the side, keeping Marble and me in sight. "He might've succeeded if not for the Paragons' interference. Can't say I expected you and them to work together, but I guess you have to when you're hopelessly outmatched."

"Don't go acting like I don't exist, now." Marble called out cheekily. Leadstripe turned to him, his eyes narrowing. "Long time no see, Leadstripe. I recall you had a pet peeve for overpopulation. You must love all this added underground. Extends Minecraftia's finite resources."

"Right now I'm trying not to lose it being stuck underground in a suffocating, enclosed space." Leadstripe's reply was clipped as he gave an involuntary shudder. "Secondly, do I know you?"

"Ouch. You wound me." Marble feigned hurt. "I was with Noman here at Lord Maplefrost's mansion. The Looting sword. We fought. You escaped. Remember yet?"

Leadstripe's eyes widened. "Huh. Yeah, I remember." He furrowed his brow. "The report didn't indicate you joined the Beginners, though."

"What do I look like, Noman's shadow?" Marble asked. "I did my own thing, sort of like how you're doing your own thing down here. Or are you here on cult orders?"

"This is a personal matter." Leadstripe replied vaguely. "Though I heard your buddies earlier while I was hiding here. Who'd have guessed we'd both be after the same Mob? Illusioner, you call it? Fitting name. It's a shame you won't get it before my men do."

"How do you figure? We're going through your men like toilet paper."

"What do you want with the Illusioner?" I demanded.

"You know," Leadstripe replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to monologue about my evil plan."

"If you're not here to talk, you're here to fight."

"I'm here for neither. I know I'm no match for three artifacts, let alone the Severe Shield. It's why I went for Rurik instead of you. And now that I've dealt with the potential intelligence leak, I'll be leaving now."

"Because we'll just let you get away?" I asked just as sarcastically.

Leadstripe smirked before he threw a splash potion of something at his feet. Then he whirled around with his dagger, striking the cave wall where the one torch illuminating the place was hanging. That was what he had been inching towards. Without the torch, the cave was cast in utter darkness, making it impossible to see. Marble and I made noises of frustration as I heard sharp footfalls against the rock. I lashed out with the Stivali Magma and made a swathe of orange flames to re-illuminate the place, but Leadstripe was already past us and running down the rightmost tunnel. He took out torches as he ran past them, likely because the potion he splashed himself with was of Night Vision. We couldn't see in the darkness, but he could.

Marble and I were already moving after him. "He's not getting away again!" I vowed, remembering how he escaped me twice already. I was stronger than ever, now. There was no excuse to letting him get away. It was time to bring Leadstripe to justice.

"Then go get 'em, tiger!" Marble encouraged, slapping me on the butt so that I was a step further than him. A step closer to catching the gray-haired Lieutenant.

---

[Floyd]

The tunnel we picked opened up into a chasm, the bottom of which was a ten-meter drop and the ceiling being twenty meters high. Only the bottom was illuminated by lava flows. I held my hands out to prevent any of our group from running off the edge and taking a nasty fall.

"Hey! Over here!" I heard Soul's familiar voice shout. Anibal and I glanced to the right and saw Soul, Ciro, Pyritz, and Reuben waving back at us. Their tunnel had come out at the same chasm, around forty meters away. That explained why Yulia heard noises echoing from both tunnels; they led to the same place.

As for the source of the noise, that became apparent as we spotted cultists running perpendicular to us at the bottom of the chasm. They were shouting to one another, coordinating as they chased a quartet of blue-garbed figures that strafed and fired back with bows.

"THAT'S IT! THE ILLUSIONER!" Yulia screamed before running along the side of the chasm, trying to find a way down. The two 'nameless' Scouts were just as eager to reach the Mob before the cultists did.

"Get down!" Spaatz shoved Anibal's head down as an arrow nearly gouged her eye out. It was fired from above, at a higher level of the chasm. Cultists were perched there, and they broke off from herding the Illusioner to target us.

Anibal pursed her lips in annoyance before loading a rocket and firing it above. There was a glorious moment of panic on the cultist's face right before the explosion of white sparks that knocked him from his perch and sent him plummeting to the bottom of the chasm, the fall making him burst like a popped water balloon.

Spaatz and I took out some more cultist snipers with bow and MultiAura respectfully. Over to the right, Ciro was doing the same thing, though his Yanhua Gong was noisier and more deadly. The blasts echoed against the chasm walls. Rock and rubble rained down on cultists left behind, right before Soul ender pearled down to them and started swinging. Soul's group was dealing with half of the cultists. It was our job to take out the other half before they caught the Illusioner.

Anibal, Spaatz, and I all ender pearled to the bottom of the chasm and chased the six cultists on the ground. I didn't bother using my Speed Hack for this. I just slashed at the cultists' back with my iron sword. Anibal did the same, setting her foes ablaze with Fire Aspect II diamond blade. In all the fire and confusion, their coordination fell apart, enabling Spaatz to mop them up. The trio of junior Scouts joined us as they finally found their way down. Our victory was swift.

That just left the Illusioner to contend with.

The four blue-garbed figures turned on us as one, their movements synchronized. I knew it was because they were all illusory copies of one Mob. The original was hidden amongst the copies, invisible but very real.

It had the face, high-forehead, and nose of a Testificate, but it's skin was a sickly gray. It wore a blue, glittery, hooded robe and wielded a bow.

"Let's go! Take it down and the badge is ours!" Yulia cheered, firing an arrow that phased through a copy and missed the invisible one. "You won't get away this time!"

The four copies strafed left and right as they fired at us. Anibal leisurely leaned to the side to evade before loading a rocket and firing. The white sparks fried the area between all four of the duplicates, causing all of them to recoil in pain. Their forms snapped together into the now visible Illusioner before quickly snapping back out into new positions, the original obscured yet again.

"Got it!" One of the 'nameless' Scouts fired a spectral arrow where the original Illusioner had appeared and hit something invisible. He pumped his fist happily as the duplicates snapped together and back before paling when only the illusions received the glowing outline, not the invisible original. "WHAT!?"

It looked like the spectral arrow plan was a bust. Fortunately, one more firework would finish them off. Anibal loaded her crossbow and took careful aim.

Suddenly, the illusory duplicates raised their hands and produced a dark gray mist of particles while making a low pitched sound.

"Ah!" Anibal exclaimed as her eyes became unfocused and vague. Dark gray particles swirled around her, and when the Illusioner strafed to the side, her crossbow didn't track it as she fired blindly, completely missing. "Crap, it got me! I can't see!" She fumbled at her belt for milk but was interupted by an arrow to the shoulder. "Agh!"

"It's gotta be low on Health! Get in there and throw a splash - Oh!" Yulia blinked blindly as the Illusioner duplicates again raised their hands, inflicting the Blindness effect on her and the 'nameless' Scouts. "Uh-oh! This is how it escaped last time!"

"You mean you haven't learned nothing since then!?" Spaatz cried out in hysterics before one of the 'nameless' Scouts blindly threw a Splash Potion of Harming II at him. "DUDE!"

"Did I get it?"

"NO, YOU MORON!"

"Your Honor, I plead 'Whoopsie Daisy'."

Our coordination was falling apart. The Scouts were fumbling around blindly with outstretched arms. I thought about rushing in with my Speed Hack but hesitated. If I missed or got blinded, I would blow my Speed Hack and be rendered useless by the cooldown.

Instead, I went for the safer option. I allowed dark smoke to coalesce around my arms before I fired my MultiAura spikes near the center of the formation of illusory duplicates. My spines phased through two of the copies, but the illusions didn't snap back to the original like they did before. It seemed the illusions only snapped together briefly if the original was damaged. In other words, I missed.

Before I could throw out another volley of spines, or do anything else, I got blinded like the others. Everything was shrouded in a black fog, and, adding to that, I found I couldn't sprint at all. It was even more terrifying when I felt an arrow hit me from out of the fog. I could do nothing to brace myself; no tensing up before the hit.

"This is a disaster! I can't see anything!" I heard Anibal complain before she cried out in pain.

"Pyritz!" Yulia shouted. "Assistance! S.O.S.! Yeeouch!"

I couldn't believe we all got blinded despite knowing what the Mob was capable of. How could the Illusioner render us so helpless in a matter of minutes?

The Illusioner made a noise of triumph right before another arrow found its way into my armpit. I backed away blindly and tripped backwards, falling flat on my ass. I couldn't fight like this!

---

[Soul]

The half of cultists we faced totaled to about six. Ciro could've taken them all out single-handedly, but Pyritz, me, and Reuben especially wanted a piece of the action. I hacked at a cultist with my axe, killing him in three chops and taking his EXP levels. Pyritz shot at two with his bow, weakening them, and Reuben finished them off with a well-timed Splash Potion of Harming II.

"Ha! You see that? I'm just as capable as any Team Alpha combatant!" Reuben sought validation.

"Yes, yes. Very good." I gave a sarcastic golf clap. "Future generations will sing hymns of it."

"Be support for a few decades, then you can ride that high horse." Reuben frowned.

I noticed there was no more fighting on our end. The last three cultists were all encased in ice, their armor and in-hand weapons displaced. Ciro walked out from behind one of them with his hands in his pockets and the Arcticum Arma chainmail leggings on.

"No need to preserve these three. We already have the cultist Noman spared." Reuben readied a splash potion.

"I call dibs on their EXP!" I said in a rush as I cut in front of Reuben and wound up my swing.

Ciro got in my way, his mismatched eyes regarding me coolly. My heels ground to a halt against the deepslate as I stopped, my axe held aloft. "Leave them. More prisoners are better than one."

I lowered my axe and rested a hand on my hip.

"Believe me, Carys can get plenty out of just one." Reuben tried to convince Ciro to stand aside, but the Millionth refused to move. "Think about how many miners they likely killed down here. That EXP should be put to good use, not kept on ice. These cultists need to pay!"

Ciro didn't budge, his hands still in his pocket.

"C'mon, Ciro." I reasoned. "They're cultists. They're too dangerous to keep around."

"That's for Noman to decide."

"Oh no..." I groaned. "Did you fall for Aikido too!?"

"I didn't fall for anything. It would bring me great pleasure to do away with cultist scum like this."

"Then why stop us!?"

"Because Noman would want to spare them." Ciro's reply was resolute.

Pyritz lost interest in our argument and turned his attention towards the Illusioner fighting his fellow Scouts on the other end of the chasm. He jogged off and left us.

"You realize that's asinine, right?" Reuben told him bluntly.

"Of course it's asinine." Ciro replied flatly. "But Noman needs to make his own mistakes if he's ever going to learn from them. He helped rescue the lost Hackers and spared Serafina. I personally want to see what road the Billionth takes for this situation. Maybe he reforms them, maybe he learns a harsh lesson, maybe something entirely unpredictable happens. Whatever way it goes, he deserves the right to test his resolve. These are his beliefs. Instead of discouraging them, you could at least let him put them into practice."

I eased up the grip on my axe as his words resonated with me... to an extent. I didn't want to ignore what my friend believed in, but cultists were pure, irredeemable evil. I didn't want them to be reformed. It was easier demonizing them; made them easier to kill. Spring_Fever killed Silent. Teal blew up Attila's skyscraper community. Jade stabbed the Beginners in the back. Cobb and Lenz were God-knows-where after confronting the Eastern HQ. Why did the cultists deserve mercy when they didn't show an ounce of it to the people of Minecraftia?

"This is ridiculous. Stand aside-" Reuben tried to force his way through.

"You take one more step towards these cultsicles, and you'll find yourself a million steps back." Ciro warned as he drew the Destierro del Palillo.

Reuben scoffed, though he also went still. "You'd fight me over a couple of murdering scumbags?"

Before Ciro could retort, there was a shattering sound as one of the frozen cultists broke into a pile of gear. Ciro whipped his head around before glaring at Reuben. "I said to wait!"

"Hey, I may've wanted to do that, but that wasn't me!"

I held up my hands as Ciro turned his accusing glower upon me. "Don't look at me."

Suddenly, another frozen cultist shattered. This time, we noticed the arrow embedded in the deepslate in the middle of the dead cultist's gear. The three of us looked up.

There, on a ledge on the side of the chasm, someone in gray and black had a bow pointed down. Another arrow sailed down and shattered the last frozen cultist, killing him instantly. Ciro's gaze intensified as he screamed past his face mask. "LEADSTRIPE!"

The Lieutenant scurried along his ledge for cover, but it did nothing as Ciro brought out the big guns and fired an explosive arrow right into Leadstripe's path. The Lieutenant cried out in alarm as he took damage and lost his foothold. He fell far, but landed on his feet in a crouch. The damage should have killed him, but something - probably Feather Falling enchanted boots - kept the fall damage to a minimum. He took off in a run towards the opposite end of the chasm, towards Floyd and Anibal and the Illusioner.

"Did someone say Leadstripe?" A voice from above asked. I looked behind and up and saw Marble and Noman emerge from the tunnel. The captive cultist wasn't with them.

"He's going for the Illusioner!" I shouted back, pointing them in the right direction. They took off running from their spot and we took off running from ours.

---

[Floyd]

"Ngh! Enough of this!" I shouted, allowing my dark smoke to envelop my whole body. I was fed up with the Illusioner's annoying tricks. The six of us were still blinded and at the mercy of the Mob's arrows, but I had a move that would turn the whole situation around.

The Illusioner let out a mocking sound, certain in its victory. It knew not to get within arm's reach of us. Instead, it strafed close enough to have us in range of its shots.

You won't feel so clever after this. I thought.

"Everyone!" I shouted so that the blinded could hear me. "Forget fighting back! Group up on me! Follow the sound of my voice!" I kept shouting to guide them, feeling a pair of feminine hands grip my back.

"What are we doing, Mister Hacker?" Yulia asked right as I felt another pair of hands grab my left side. I couldn't tell who.

"Fish out a pickaxe and dig a hole where we're standing!" I ordered, stepping into the leadership role. "Make it big enough for five people, and deep enough that you can use it for cover!"

Another pair of hands found me, this one raising something flat and durable before us to block the Illusioner's arrows. "Digging a hole is supposed to help?" Spaatz's voice asked from my side.

"It's for cover. I'm gonna cover the whole area in an attack."

"Have you done this before?"

"All the time." I paused. "I mean once. In Ringwood." Another pause. "And I passed out."

"Oh no..."

"Just do it, whatever it is." Anibal's hands found us, followed by the final blind Scout. "I'm all out of milk and tired of fighting this annoying thing."

The Illusioner made a noise of discontent as its arrows thunked into Spaatz's shield. Yulia and Anibal dug together to make the hole in the deepslate while I closed my eyes and began to focus my emotions.

"I hate you, Spring. I hate you, Spring. I hate you, Spring. I hate you, Spring." I chanted over and over, the dark smoke responding to my bubbling fury by swirling around me more turbulently.

"Why does he hate the season of rebirth...?" One of the 'nameless' Scouts asked confusedly.

I envisioned the subject of my hatred, Spring_Fever. Orange slicked-back hair. Blue eyes. Dark-grey undershirt with the sleeves ripped off. Black bondage pants. Dark blue sneakers. A white bandana tied around his neck. The killer of my friend, Silent.

"I hate you, Spring. I hate you, Spring. I hate you, Spring. I hate you, Spring."

The more I thought about him, the more my anger radiated. I had to end him. It had to be me. I had to avenge my friend and redeem myself of my cowardice. Despite my blindness, I could sense my dark smoke growing more turbid, more solid. It swirled around me more viciously, like a thousand obsidian sawblades. My muscles were tight as a drum as I held back from releasing all that pent up energy. I let it build and build, waiting for my comrades to get to safety.

"Hole's done!" Yulia called out.

"Everyone... take cover..." I gritted out, barely holding the power in. I felt the ebony spines prickling under my skin.

There was a rush of movement before Anibal shouted to me that everyone was in cover. After that, I took shaky steps towards the sound of the Illusioner. I took an arrow to the thigh, but I weathered the pain, even while the Mob continued to make mocking noises.

I allowed my fury to spike. MultiAura responded to my stored emotions - my stored power - and detonated with the force of thirty bombs, sending thousands of jet-black shrapnel in every direction. I heard the Illusioner let out a dying wail as all its illusions and its invisible self were undoubtedly pelted with a hail of MultiAura spikes. It was as easy to dodge as raindrops in a hurricane.

I blacked out after that, feeling a pleasant sense of achievement. Last thing I remembered was falling into a crater of my own making.

---

[Noman]

I slipped on the Bottes Zephyr and used it to make platforms down for me and Marble. Leadstripe was still running down the chasm, though he suddenly fell off balance as Ciro launched Soul forward with the Destierro del Palillo, clipping the Lieutenant and sending Soul smacking against the far end of the chasm. Leadstripe picked himself right back up and kept running towards Floyd and Anibal's group with single-minded determination.

The Scout, Pyritz, was already with Floyd and Anibal's group, helping them out of a hole when Leadstripe blew past them. He bent forward while he was running, bringing himself low. His eyes were focused on something - some dropped item - which he snatched up with one hand without losing speed. I couldn't tell what it was, but it couldn't be good if Leadstripe wanted it.

"What's happening? Is the Illusioner down? Is this shitty sidequest over?" Anibal asked, looking in a random direction with an unfocused gaze. She, Spaatz, and the junior Scouts all had dark gray particles of Blindness swirling around them. Despite the urgency to catch Leadstripe, we stopped to check they were okay and give them a once over.

"It sure is." Pyritz declared proudly, uninterested in the escaping Lieutenant. "I witnessed it myself when that Hacker fired shrapnel is every direction. The Illusioner has been vanquished."

"And since he was part of our hunting party...?" One of the 'nameless' Scouts asked, daring to hope.

"You guessed it. The coveted Troxler Mirror Badge is OURS! QAPLAAAAA!"

"QAPLAAAAA!" The other Scouts, including Marble, echoed.

"Well, I guess we're done here." Marble added pleasantly. "Time to go home."

"What about Leadstripe?"

"Oh, right, him. I suppose I could lend a hand."

"You mean Leadstripe just ran past us!?" Spaatz complained while Reuben went to check on Floyd. "I can't see heads or tails of anything with this Blindness! Reuben, you got milk? Does anyone have milk!?"

I offered him a bucket of the stuff to dispel his Blindness. I only had the one. My mind was split between staying behind and helping Floyd and the Paragons, or following after Leadstripe, like Soul was doing. The two had just exited out of the eastern end of the chasm through a tunnel. Soul was strong, but Leadstripe was crafty. He'd need help fighting him.

"Leave us, Noman. We're useless to you now." Anibal ordered blindly as she was helped out of the hole by Spaatz and Marble. "The Blindness will wear off, and we'll bring Floyd with us. We also need to conclude our arrangement with the Scouts. We held up our end of the deal, after all."

"You'll get your wings as promised." Marble assured. "Don't forget, though, you still have to pay for it."

"I didn't forget." She asserted. "So go, Noman. Go get that son of a... female dog."

"Thank you for minding your language." I beamed kindly before turning to Ciro. "C'mon, let's hurry."

I left Floyd and Anibal to Reuben, Spaatz, and the Scouts to tend to while Ciro and I chased after Leadstripe and Soul out of the chasm and through the eastern tunnel. Our feet pounded on flat deepslate before it started to angle upwards in a gentle incline. We were gaining height.

The tunnel opened up ahead, leading into a truly massive cavern with a wide, wooden, square-spiral stairwell structure in the middle. There were levels and bridges to the stairwell, each one going off in various directions to connect with tunnels along the sides of the cavern. It was like the hub of the whole mine. The stairwell went up, up, up, to a bright light source that could've been natural sunlight.

Ciro looked up and narrowed his mismatched eyes to filter out the sunlight before pointing. "There they are."

Leadstripe and Soul were running around the stairs, Leadstripe in a bid for the top, and Soul in a bid for Leadstripe. The Lieutenant easily outpaced the axe-wielder - probably with a Potion of Swiftness - but Soul and his pets refused to give up the chase.

I kicked on the Bottes Zephyr and kicked up into the air, forgoing the staircase for a more immediate pursuit of the Lieutenant.

I heard an arrow shoot past me and sail up before it struck a portion of the wooden staircase ahead of Leadstripe and exploded, creating a wide gap in the stairs. Ciro was helping to slow the Lieutenant down. When the Lieutenant got there, he slowed to a stop, looking lost at the vast gap in the stairs before him. He looked left and right for another way before spotting me as I ascended.

Sensing he was running out of time, he climbed onto the wooden supports of the stairwell and pulled and shimmied his way up. He was awkward and slow, not at all a parkour expert like Jade, but he got around the gap in the stairs and made it to the next level.

Ciro fired more explosive arrows, each one just missing where the Lieutenant had been standing as he hopped and dashed around on the spot.

"Hey! Easy! I'm up here too!" Soul shouted as he shielded himself from falling planks and debris. He broke off his pursuit via the stairwell as there wasn't much to climb on. Instead, he pulled out his ender pearls and made short warps to safely ascend.

I was higher up, then. Nearly level with Leadstripe and with the sunlight at the top of the stairwell almost within reach. The Lieutenant switched to ender pearls himself and started warping onto the undamaged yet perilous cavern ledges, always keeping himself a step ahead of his pursuers and Ciro's explosive arrows.

"Give it up, Leadstripe!" I shouted courageously. "You're not getting away!"

"Ah! Damn thing-!" Soul shouted below. I glanced down and saw him hanging off a wooden beam with an Endermite biting his fingers. He got unlucky with one of his pearls and spawned one. He kept switched hands to maintain his grip before Cat-Face chased the pesky Mob away.

I was about to go down to help him, but he waved me off. "I'm fine! Don't let the Lieutenant escape! We need his intel!"

"...Okay!" I nodded in understanding before kicking higher and higher off the footholds of solid air. I caught a glimpse of Leadstripe warping to the top of the stairwell and hoisting himself out of sight. I was right behind him.

Turns out the top of the stairwell led back into the Miner's Guild building, beneath a domed glass ceiling that filtered in sunlight. Miners were still bustling around as they had this morning, though their attention gravitated towards me as I came up from the underground stairwell like I was standing on thin air. However, they also gasped and pointed, recognizing Leadstripe as an Endward Cult Lieutenant from his wanted poster. Some turned and fled while a handful of others - likely Diamond Rank - armed themselves and closed in.

Leadstripe was panting and clutching a stitch in his side as made his way to the guild's communal ender chest and placed something in there. Then he turned on me with his dagger in hand and a cornered look on his face. I brought out my shield as I pointed it at him with the miners as our witness.

"It's over, Lieutenant Leadstripe! Your crimes have caught up with you! All the people you and your cultists killed! All the miners you attacked over the last two days! It ends now!" I declared. "You can't escape me! And even if you could," I spread out my arms, "there's no way you can escape all the miners present who are brave enough to rise against you!" There was a murmur of assent from the miners as they closed ranks, forming a circle of bodies around us. "You can't run, so you may as well come quietly! Surrender now!"

After I was done, Leadstripe took one sweeping look at the assembled miners, saw he was outnumbered, and eased himself as he stood straight and relaxed his tensed muscles.

"...Okay." He exhaled.

"I don't want to have - whuh?" I broke off stupidly, thinking I misheard. "Uh, what was that?"

"I said, okay. I'll surrender." The Lieutenant repeated as he carelessly tossed his iron dagger aside, letting it clatter along the stone floor. "I know when I'm beat." I was shocked as he slowly lowered himself to his knees, his hands going up and placing themselves on the back of his head in a position of surrender.

I stared at the surrendered Lieutenant in absolute bafflement. How many times had I demanded a foe to surrender, and how many times did they choose to go out swinging? Never, not once, did someone just give up... until now.

I wasn't expecting it. And now I just stood there, at a loss on what to do next.

"Well... um... good!" I affirmed rather lamely while Leadstripe was knelt down with his hands on his head. Thinking I needed to do more, and not quite trusting him surrendering so easily, I slowly inched forward, my shield held protectively before me.

Leadstripe didn't move a muscle. He even closed his eyes in apparent resignation. My foot nudged his discarded dagger and dragged it behind me and further away from him. Just in case he made a desperate lunge for it.

Once I was within arm's length of him, I hit him with a Splash Potion of Weakness and used my comparatively stronger strength to pin his arms behind his back and press him face-first into the floor with my knee pinning his back. He shuddered slightly from the contact and grimaced.

"Please don't touch me. I'll come peacefully, just don't press against me like that. I'm claustrophobic."

"Oh, sorry - wait, I shouldn't be sorry! You're a bad guy. This is nothing." I had to remind myself of all the crimes he committed as I kept him pinned, much to his discomfort, and started emptying his Inventory.

Then I heard it.

It started with a clap. A single clap, from one person. One of the watching miners.

Then it spread. Like wildfire. From that initial clap, more and more people joined in, their clapping coming together in to a sound that echoed throughout the Miner's Guild building.

I looked around, feeling awestruck and a little touched as the praising applause swelled in volume. Not just that, but the miners were giving validating kudos for a job well done.

"Nice going, Nowhere_Man!"

"Way to take that cultist scum down!"

"I woulda squared up and thrown hands, but I'm glad you talked him into surrendering!"

"Lock him up and throw away the key!"

"You're a real hero, Nowhere!"

"Minecraftia needs more people like you!"

As the applause and adulation reached a crescendo, I could only blush and rub my neck sheepishly as I let it go to me head a bit. They wouldn't hear of it when I tried to dismiss what I did as no big deal. A few came over and helped keep Leadstripe in check, splashing him with Slowness to complete his paralysis.

I was so proud of myself. I couldn't contain the smile spreading across my face.

I had done it. I finally apprehended Leadstripe, one of the pillars of the Endward Cult. Better still, I made him surrender without a fight! It was incredible!

That warm sensation in my gut, like invigorating fire. I felt on top of the world, like I could do anything.

---

[Carys]

I sidestepped another explosive burst of smoke from the Hacker. It kicked up bits of rock and sent me sliding back from the force, my defensive stance blocking the worst of it. I almost slid right into another hot spring pool before I backflipped over it and landed on the other side.

"You gonna come down here or what?" I taunted. Nikita didn't take the bait, however, despite appearing as the hot-headed sort. She remained aloft and out of reach. It was a smart strategy, showing she was more cunning than she looked. If I couldn't get to her, I couldn't kill her.

Noman's winged boots could do something. I thought to myself as I dodged another burst of smoke. We could also have Floyd test his anti-Hack Hack if he were here. Curious that this girl shows up while they're both absent...

Most of Nikita's attacks went for me. Probably because I was the 'silver-tongued witch who charmed her wayward brother astray' or whatever they called it. But since I was the focus of her ire, it allowed Kal to get some hits in with his newest Hack.

"Triggerbot." Kal mouthed to himself. The black vapor swirling around his body coalesced around his eyes right before they fired a solid stream of scorching-hot smoke at blinding speed. The stream of smoke struck Nikita in the gut and threw her for a loop in a head over heels spin, her body bent double and her arms clutching her stomach as she groaned from the nauseating impact.

"Ngh! That fucking HURT!" She recovered and turned on Kal with an enraged look in her red eyes. She threw down concussive burst after concussive burst with both hands in a destructive barrage that tore up the earth leading up to him. In response, he brought up his arms in a defensive stance, his Hacker smoke swirling around him.

His Enderport activated, spawning him behind Nikita in the air as soon as her burst of smoke struck him. Seems she had forgotten his abilities in her rage. He landed on her back and fastened himself there to try and weigh her down. His Strength Hack made it impossible for her to break his hold, though she certainly tried with how she flailed around in the air.

"Don't go making me MAD, brother!" The smoke around her buzzed like a thousand angry wasps. "If I can even call you that anymore!"

Kal recoiled as Nikita's smoke seemed to shred at his Health. He loosened his grip to the point where Nikita could whip him off of her and fling him into the nearest hot spring pool to soak his head. I noticed she didn't throw him on the hard stone to avoid fatal fall damage, showing she still cared for his well-being, traitor or not.

Albert buffed me with Swiftness to help my dodges, but I asked for an extra one for Slow Falling as I had something in mind. He broke off to brew one while I got Nikita's attention.

"If you're wondering how your siblings who faced us died, I can give you the highlights. I personally killed Xavier and Urson. Urson killed Ocan with his own One-Hit-Kill Hack. Can you believe it? Then your moron of a brother... what was his name, again? Poultry?"

"POULSEN!"

"Poulsen, that's right. Heh. That idiot made his own grave in the Void. Kal here just threw him down it."

Nikita clenched her teeth so hard I could hear them crack, her smoke churning more violently around her as it billowed forth from the dark sclerae of her eyes. Hacks were fueled by emotions, so it wasn't the safest bet egging her on like I was. There was a chance she could manifest Nuker like Thed just to be rid of me.

I kept taunting regardless, figuring she would close the distance and get within range of my End Crystals. Or Noman's whack-to-the-back-of-the-skull technique.

"I wasn't there for Marshall, but I hear he walked right into his death. The Griefers could testify to that. Giovanni got frozen, then bifurcated by his own spoils of war. How embarrassing. Come to think of it, the thing all their deaths had in common was hubris, if you know what that word means."

"Shut UP!" She made to swoop down and I hid a dark smile as I prepared my crystals. However, her face suddenly twitched as if remembering something, her smoke visibly flickering. With greater self-control than I gave her credit for, she abruptly stopped her hurtling descent, hanging there in midair for a moment before regaining her former altitude. The violently churning smoke surrounding her calmed to an easy yet powerful flow. I saw her cup her hands and take deep, calming breaths to steady herself.

"What's the matter? Scared?" I tried to reignite her anger to salvage things and get her to come at me. "Remembering why I shouldn't be messed with? I thought you said you'd kill me for that, or are you all talk?"

Nikita clutched her hands tightly, reigning herself in with visible effort before she flung both hands out, throwing a double burst of concussive smoke where I had been standing. She still hung infuriatingly out of reach.

"I've never seen her so in control like this." Kal piped up, having gotten out of the water to stand beside me. "She's showing remarkable discipline compared to when I knew her."

"What're her Hacks?" I asked.

"She's a Level 4, or she was." He stressed while dodging a burst of smoke. He knew his Enderport was useless against her defenses. "She didn't have KillAura last we met, but she has Flight, Strength, Regen, and a unique form of Reach in the form of concussive smoke bursts. I don't know what else she might have up her sleeve."

"We got to bring her down." I advised before dodging another burst of smoke. "Ground her and we can finish her in one blow with the End Crystals or Noman's occipital bash."

"Potions are done!" Albert reported dutifully before tossing me my cream-colored Potions of Slow Falling. I smirked as I downed one and allowed the cream-colored particles to swirl around me.

"Kal, discus throw with buzzsaw action!"

"Gotcha!" The combination attack from our practices was so deeply ingrained that he understood with just a few words.

Thick, black smoke enveloped his arms, strengthening them as he dipped into his Strength Hack. He grabbed a fistful of my sleeveless turtleneck along the back and lifted me effortlessly with one arm. I made my body smaller and more compact as I gripped my scythe with two hands. Then, Kal spun in place, picking up momentum before he discus threw me towards the airborne Nikita.

The Hacker's eyes widened at the Kalmarin-propelled-missile heading straight for her. Meanwhile, I made myself a more lethal projectile by spinning vertically with my scythe blade out, like a diamond buzzsaw. My blade struck true, slashing across Nikita's chest shortly followed by my shoulder slamming into her torso. She recoiled from the impact but remained aloft. After my strike, I glided gently to the ground with the help of Slow Falling, though I was ready to be launched again as soon as Kal-

"Ugh! Curse you, Carys_Angel!" Nikita shouted loudly as she flew to a higher altitude. "I'll withdraw for now, but I'll be back to avenge my brothers and sisters! Your Paragons are no match for the Hack Clan!"

And then Kal and I watched in utter confusion as she just flew off.

"What the - did she just... run away...?" I posed my question to the world as I held up my arms and glanced around. A Hacker would never admit defeat and flee. They were too proud! That one impact I did couldn't have done that much damage, and even if it did, her Regen would've healed it up in an instant.

Was this like an emotion thing? Her confidence waned, so her powers did too? The throw was a surprise move to be sure, but... but it didn't feel like a game changer.

Kal shared my confusion as he hurried over with Albert. "That was so weird. She took us by surprise only to leave. That's not the Nikita I remember."

"Maybe she had second thoughts because of all the Hackers we took down." Albert suggested. "We survived her attacks for a certain amount of time, maybe outside her expectations, so she fled."

"Maybe..." Kal didn't sound too convinced, and neither did I.

The whole fight, Nikita had stayed airborne and attacked from a distance. Even when her temper spiked and got the better of her, she restrained herself and stuck to her strategy. And when we showed the smallest bit of innovation to hit her in the air, she withdrew, disgracing herself and Hackers everywhere. It was completely at odds with the Hack Clan's superiority mindset.

There was no fake-out, either. She clearly left the hot springs, her smoky form vanishing over the capital skyline.

I scratched my head, finding too many discrepancies in Nikita's ambush. What was the purpose even?

I was so confused that I had to be reminded we weren't in a private, enclosed space but an open hot springs with an audience of Crafters not fifty feet away, and I was reminded of such when a coarse, authoritative, feminine voice split the crowd of onlookers.

"Disperse! Disperse immediately!" Captain Lizabet_Agafonov demanded of the crowd, breaking them up so that she and a platoon of purple-capped guards could establish order. The Captain also narrowed her eyes on the three of us and marched over, her guards subtlety moving to encircle us.

"Here we go..." I exhaled, stabbing my scythe into the ground and leaning on it.

Captain Lizabet wore a black notch lapel blazer with gold trim on the lapel. Under that was a white collared dress shirt and blue tie. She wore a blue, pleaded skirt, black, knee-high stockings, black Mary Jane shoes, and a blue belt and backpack. Atop her head was a leather cap dyed in Exter's purple color. Strapped to her belt was an Iron Longsword and an Iron Battleaxe; she had two Tinker's weapons. She had a steady posture, slate blue eyes, and waist-length black hair.

"What happened here?" She demanded of us. "We got a report of-" Her husky, coarse voice broke off when she got close enough to notice the black lines on Kal's eyes. "A Hacker...?" Her guards didn't dare take a step closer, but Lizabet showed she was made of sterner stuff and held her ground. "A Hacker for one, and Carys_Angel for two. You're wanted for murder in Ringwood. Though those concerned citizens back there," she hiked a thumb behind her, "say you fought a different Hacker. They said she had a bone to pick with the hero of Zeppil, the Angel of Death. Are the Angel of Death and Carys_Angel one and the same?"

"We are." I accepted my title with a mock curtsy. Lizabet wasn't amused, her gaze scanning the busted up terrain of the hot springs.

"I'd like to be clued in on what exactly your relation to each other is," she demanded, "as well as what transpired here, and what you're all doing here."

"Is that really your business?" I asked.

"It is when you're stirring the pot." She stressed. "And mind your tone. I don't care how much of a hero you are in Zeppil. This is Exter, and you're disturbing the peace."

"We didn't invite all these people to come watch us." Albert chimed in. "We didn't try to involve them. We got ambushed by Nikita - the Hacker. Fact is, we want to know why all these civilians randomly showed up here."

"They already stated their business. We took their statement." A guard filled in. "They all work for the Miratorg Slaughterhouse. It's Friday, and they were let out early. Their boss gave them vouchers for a free weekend stay at the Sosnovy Bor Hot Springs Resort. They came to cash in and relax... when one of the resort rooms was exploded by a flying Hacker. Your 'Nikita' I presume."

That explained why so many people randomly showed up. Still, it was awfully convenient they just so happened to arrive at the resort we were staying at, and right when most of our heavy hitters were out. I'd have to look into the Miratorg Slaughterhouse to find out if their charitable voucher giveaway was something more, or arranged from somewhere high up.

"Nikita attacked us out of nowhere." Kal explained. "We were just defending ourselves."

"Defending yourself against a fellow Hacker?" Captain Lizabet questioned with an arched brow. "Are you infighting nowadays?"

"Kalmarin left the Hack Clan ages ago. He's now one of my valued Paragons." I answered on his behalf. "Nikita, as well as the other members of the Hack Clan, have it in their heads that I brainwashed their wayward brother into doing my bidding. As a result, I've had my fair share of run-ins with the Hackers, and they've not come out of it unscathed."

"Meaning they're targeting you?" Lizabet guessed, to which I didn't answer. My silence was telling anyway. "We can't have destruction of this scale in a populated area. It's a miracle no one was killed. Next time, we may not be so fortunate. Nikita could launch another attack at any time."

"We'll keep a low profile. We don't even know how she found us in the first-"

"You think I'll let you go with just that? Don't be ridiculous." The Captain scoffed. "It's in your best interest, and the interests of the citizens of Exter, that I take you into protective custody. We can bring you to a secure location to deter the Hacker, or at least limit the amount of damage she could cause."

"I don't need your protection." I argued, pointing to the sky with a hand on my hip. "Who's the one who scared her off? Us."

"Or maybe she was scared off by the platoon of guards, headed by the unflappable Captain Lizabet_Agafonov." The Captain countered, looking unimpressed. "Anyway, there's also the matter of the law on errant Hackers. Not errant meaning guilty," she clarified to Kal, "but errant as in wandering. Roaming. Lost."

"I'm right where I need to be." Kal affirmed with folded arms.

"It's a complicated case. We're told to bring in lost Hackers to send them to the Obelisk, but you left the Hack Clan voluntarily?" The Captain asked, to which Kal nodded. "Would they want you back, even?" Another nod. "But you wouldn't go back." A third nod. "I see. Quite the complicated case. His Highness never covered a situation like this. At the very least, you aren't antagonistic towards Exter, yes?"

"Not unless you give me a reason to be." Kal added. "Like, say, taking us into custody by force."

"Despite me doing that for your protection and the protection of the citizens of Exter? Maybe you Paragons think it's 'fun' to endanger innocent lives being targeted by Hackers, but I have far too much on my plate to indulge you in this." Her eyes narrowed. "Wait a second. How did you even enter the capital without raising any alarms? The toll operators know how to pick out a Hacker."

Kal became noticeably contrite as he avoided eye contact and refused to answer, earning a scowl from the Captain. "Okay, that's it." She held out her hand. "Fork over your Citizenship Informations, all three of you. I'm looking you up in the Hall of Records."

"...You won't find us there." Albert confessed, seeing that the jig was up.

"And why is that?"

"...Because I'm a Dover Plainer that snuck in to bypass being denied entry." Albert looked down while the Exter guards scowled at him. "And Carys and Kal snuck in to avoid detection."

Lizabet allowed an ironic smile to grace her face as she shrugged.

"You know, you don't have to follow our laws," she chuckled dryly before her expression became stone, "but you do if you expect to live within our walls."

"We're not going to live here." I answered. "We're here on business. Not that it's any of yours, but we have reason to believe the cult's Western Division HQ is somewhere close."

"That's absurd." Lizabet walked right up to me, trying to glare me down. "Cultist activity has been at an all-time low around the capital. If an Endward Cult base was nearby, there would be a lot more deaths, which there haven't been. You need to get your facts re-examined." She said, daring me to disagree.

"Our facts are just fine." I stepped forward, jutting out my chest to within an inch of hers. It was a silent challenge. "Maybe you're the one that's wrong."

She jutted out her chest right back, buffeting against mine while her forehead pressed against my own in a fight for dominance. "Are you suggesting I'm doing my job poorly?"

"More than one Captain, isn't there?"

Lizabet's face twitched. "Captain XoX may be a bit... primitive, but he wouldn't overlook cultists. And I'd mind what I say if I were you. Leader of the Paragons or not, you're a wanted criminal that entered this capital illegally, bringing a Hacker and a Dover Plainer with you when they're both unwelcome. Getting hostile with me is a bad idea." She gripped the battleaxe at her belt.

Heh. As if that would stop me. I tightened the grip on my scythe in response, our foreheads still pressed together in a fight for dominance.

"We're not here to fight." Albert hurried to deescalate tensions. "Carys, ma'am, cease this. The Captain isn't our enemy."

Not this one, anyway. I thought to myself, still not trusting the Ogre of the West, XoX. Maybe Lizabet was a good actor and also involved, but her dislike for me seemed natural, unfolding organically. She'd have hated me from the get-go if she was a cultist with a grudge.

So, knowing I could tear her limb from limb if I so chose it, I allowed her the victory and stepped away. She snorted back, satisfied, and let go of her battleaxe.

"What should we do with them, Captain?" One of her guards asked. "Arrest them?"

"No. This whole situation is a mess." Lizabet concluded. "His Highness might have a solution. He'll want to hear what a Hacker and the Angel of Death are doing here. He might even request an audience. But until then, you three are coming with us to the guard barracks so we can keep an eye on you if a Hacker comes a-knocking again. This isn't an arrest, despite your blatant defiance of our laws. Less innocent lives will be caught in the crossfire this way. If you don't comply, you'll be banished from the capital and any settlements in the kingdom of Exter."

"I thought I told you-" Kal began only to get shushed by my hand clamping over his mouth.

I smiled. "An audience with King Sdraw sounds like a wonderful idea. Fastest way to impress the severity of our mission onto him."

We just got our ticket into the Brimstone Bastion. What better excuse was there than this to get in there and investigate the bigwigs from the bastion walls they hid behind?

"Yes, well, His Highness might not share in your paranoia. He has real threats to worry about, after all." Lizabet took a subtle shot at me. "But, the sooner you see that the cultists are a nonissue and I'm doing my job well, the sooner you can be put to better use. His Highness might even have a job for your guild."

"Here's to hoping that job is just doing your job but better." I snarked back, making the Captain crack her fingers.

"...If you'll follow us, please." Lizabet's tone was clipped as her and her guards escorted us off the hot springs and towards the guard barracks.

Anibal will be able to track us through our maps. I thought, unconcerned with not leaving a map message first. I'll contact her later tonight to tell her about our scheduled audience with Sdraw. With any luck, we'll find the mastermind behind the Western Division and deal a body blow to the Endward Cult.

---

[Brimstone Bastion]

"Ugh, that was humiliating!" Nikita complained as she reappeared in Sdraw's private study with an empty bucket of milk. She had returned from flushing out Carys and Kalmarin. "Fleeing from insects like a coward!" Smoke rolled off her in waves as she paced the room in a rage.

"Pride comes before the fall, my dear." Sdraw answered without looking up from his papers, sat at his desk as he was. "Better your pride wounded than yourself."

"I don't see what the big deal is. I had her on the ropes."

"Everyone's had her on the ropes. Except when they didn't, which is when she killed them." Sdraw's blunt words were chilling enough to make Nikita reconsider. "I watched it all. Had you fallen for her provocations - like you were close to doing - you would have suffered the same fate as your fallen siblings."

"I just... I just don't understand how this strategy of yours is winning."

"Fair point, but consider this. Carys has murdered a handful of your brothers and sisters. Do you understand how she won, when you consider you and your siblings to be infallible?"

Grudgingly, as if the simple motion had to be dragged from her kicking and screaming, Nikita shook her head stiffly, no.

"Then it stands to reason, if you can't understand her winning position, you can't understand our winning position." Sensing he had offended her somewhat, Sdraw elaborated. "Victory isn't always about overpowering the enemy, my dear. Sometimes it's about exposing their frailties and weakening them to the point where you can crush them with but a twitch of your finger."

"...Is that taken out of another page of The Art of War?" Nikita asked dryly.

"It might." Sdraw smiled apologetically. "Just follow my orders and watch things unfold. You might just learn something."

She wrinkled her nose in disdain. "Mind telling me how you wrangled all those witnesses at that hot springs?"

"Oh, it was simple, really. The owner of the Miratorg Slaughterhouse is in contact with the Councilman of Food and Agriculture. The councilman is in charge of buying food from the various farms and slaughterhouses in the capital to redistribute to the hungry citizens." Sdraw shuffled through some papers. "With the recent food shortages, it's more important than ever to secure food for my people. Enough to authorize dipping into the reserve treasury to pay four times the asking price. And, of course, if the Councilman were to suggest the slaughterhouse boss use a fraction of his recently acquired profits to reward his hardworking employees with free vouchers for a weekend getaway at the very resort Carys_Angel is staying at, why, how can he possibly refuse? All nice and neat, untraceable, and without a drop of gear to be shed."

Nikita balked at the explanation. "That's an awful lot of effort for so small a result."

"Is it? I flushed Carys out into the open, and she'll be coming to the bastion where I can keep an eye on her. At which point, I will enact the second phase of my - forgive my lack of modesty - brilliant plan."

"If I can't kill her, what makes you think you can?"

"Ask me that again in a few days." Sdraw flashed her his perpetual apologetic smile. "I'm sure you'll change your mind. Ah, but before I forget, I wonder if I could ask your help."

"My help?" Nikita asked in confusion as Sdraw slid his books and papers aside and reached over to open an ender chest beside his desk. He rummaged within. "What do you need?"

"Just your opinion. I'm torn, you see." From the ender chest, he retrieved four Crafter Heads, the morbid sight of them making Nikita slightly ill as he laid them on the table so that their dead eyes faced her. "Which one of these Heads would you say looks the most like me?"

The question caught Nikita off guard until she examined the Heads more closely and realized they all had the same light-brown hair as Sdraw. Same hairstyle too; spiked at the front, flat at the back. The shapes of the faces were different here and there, and their eyes were open even if they didn't have life in them.

"What's your eye color?"

"That doesn't matter."

Nikita paused as she took her time examining each one. "I think..." The Hacker narrowed it down to two, her eyes flickering between them before she reached her decision. "This one." She pointed to the third in the lineup.

"Your reasoning?"

"The shape of the face and the cheekbones resemble yours the closest." She explained, pointing out the features.

Sdraw nodded. "Indeed. My thoughts exactly. Thank you, Nikita. You've been a big help." He sounded pleased as he collected the Heads and put them back into the ender chest.

"...Whose Heads are they?" Nikita asked warily.

"Various people. Victims of the Endward Cult all." He waved a hand airily. "They were among the Heads stored in our Depository. I couldn't decide which one resembled my likeness most closely. Having a second opinion helped break the tie. Thank you."

Nikita stared at the place where the Heads disappeared to. "Why do you want a Head that resembles yours?"

"Just as a contingency. Call it a backup plan to a backup plan." Again, he waved his hand lightly. "Best not to dwell on it."

"...Sure."

The more Nikita hung around him, the more she found Sdrawkcab to be unfathomable.

---

[Soul]

We were in for a pleasant surprise when we finally caught up with Noman. Ciro and I, being the closest, were the first to get out of the mines and back into the Miner's Guild building, where we saw a relaxed Noman with an iron dagger in his hand, sitting beside the paralyzed Lieutenant Leadstripe. Some miners were standing watch with him, ensuring the Lieutenant didn't break loose.

"You got 'em! You crazy son of a b-word, you got 'em!" I held up my hands so we could exchange enthusiastic high-fives.

"Exceptional work!" Ciro congratulated, slapping the pacifist's back. "Leadstripe is a pillar of the Western Division. He must know dozens of cult secrets, including the location of their HQ and the identity of their Executive."

"Aww, sweet, no more reading Citizenship Informations for leads." I celebrated not having to skim through those tedious books anymore. I was so happy I could kiss Leadstripe. If, you know, he wasn't a cultist... or a guy. "Hey, four-eyes." I gave the Lieutenant a little kick. "Where's that traitor, Jade? I have some sharp words for her."

"...You mean you don't know?" Leadstripe raised a brow.

"Know what?"

"Jade has been MIA since the Tragedy of Ringwood. Presumed dead now that there's been two months of no word." His black eyes regarded us carefully while he broke the news. "I assumed you killed her for betraying you, but if you don't know what happened to her, and we don't know what happened to her, then perhaps she defied our expectations and deserted Ember and the Endward Cult."

"She had a chance to desert." Noman remembered. "Cobb extended his hand to her, but she refused." He turned to me. "Could she have changed her mind...?"

"No. This is just another trick to make us lower our guard when she resurfaces." I adopted a falsetto tone. "Oh, yes, I'm so sure she deserted them and we'll take her back - Ah! No! A cutlass in my back!" I scoffed. "Yeah, right. She's dead to me. And chances are, if and when I see her again, she'll be dead to just about everyone else!"

Leadstripe chuckled at our expense. "She sure did a number on you, didn't she?" I gave him a kick to the side of the face before Noman stood up and eased me back. He was paralyzed, after all.

He was also a killer. A higher-up of the cult who executed their will, killing an untold number of Crafters.

"Carys will do a number on you right back." I promised, recalling her torture methods. "She'll get the truth about Jade out of you, along with anything else in your head."

Leadstripe kept silent, closing his eyes as he focused on his breathing.

"Why were you hunting the Illusioner?" Ciro asked.

No reply.

"I saw you pick up a discarded bow. Something the dead Illusioner dropped. What's the significance of it?"

No reply.

Ciro bent down to rifle through his Inventory, making Leadstripe's breath hitch.

"I already stripped him of everything." Noman pointed out. "Potions, food, armor, his dagger, ender pearls, bow and arrows, crafting table, deepslate, one of the guild's missing pickaxes. Everything. If he had the Illusioner's used bow, he doesn't now. He did put something away in an ender chest just before capture, though."

"He didn't have anything incriminating?" Ciro pressed. "Orders? Maps? Written books?"

Noman shook his head disappointedly. "Just some basic gear. Nothing else. If he did have anything incriminating, he probably deposited it into his ender chest with the Illusioner bow."

"Did I hear you right?" The guild receptionist dashed over with flushed cheeks. "You recovered one of the missing guild pickaxes?"

Noman nodded and handed over the diamond pickaxe. "Efficiency V, Unbreaking III. Quite a valuable one." The receptionist took the pickaxe and happily cradled it against her chest. "The Lieutenant and his cultists were a contributing cause to the missing Diamond ranked miners. We dealt with them, and our companions found others pickaxes. They should be bringing them up shortly. We also took down the Illusioner Mob for you. There shouldn't be any more problems for your miners."

"Illusioner? So that's what it was called. Still, that's fantastic news! You were definitely the right crew for the job!" The receptionist praised liberally. She dithered in place, going back and forth as her mind fought to catch up with what she wanted to do. "W-Wait right there! The guild leader will want to hear about this. And he'll prepare a suitable reward for your efforts, I promise! Just wait there, I'll be back in a flash!" She scurried off, shouting to clear miners from her path. "MAKE WAY! OFFICIAL GUILD BUSINESS! MOVE!"

"Oh," Noman looked wistful, "I was gonna say she didn't have to worry about rewarding us."

"Then it's a good thing she ran off. I wanna be rewarded." I replied moodily. "You think the emerald fairy is just gonna bring us money whenever we need it? Food prices are through the roof, Noman. Just shut up and accept the reward."

"I agree with Soul." Ciro nodded along. "We did the job they asked for. We risked our lives. We're entitled to the payment." He looked to Leadstripe. "Plus, there's this one's bounty to consider."

"Some miners already went to contact the guards." Noman filled in.

A few minutes later, Anibal, Reuben, Spaatz, and the Scouts climbed out of the mine, their Blindness worn off. I didn't see Floyd.

"Invisible." Anibal read my mind and predicted what I was gonna ask. She could never predict the sight greeting her, though. Her jaw hit the floor when she saw Leadstripe apprehended. "H-Holy shit, you actually got him!" She laughed in disbelief before coming over and rolling the helpless Lieutenant onto his front with one foot. "Hahaha! He's helpless! At our mercy! You captured a Lieutenant! Oh, man! Carys is gonna have a nice, looong chat with you, my friend." She made the Lieutenant feel miserable before she stood up straight and beamed. "Well done! This was a resounding success! Who's the man of honor who caught him?"

Noman barely contained a proud smile as he raised his hand, receiving a flurry of high-fives from Anibal, Marble, Spaatz, Yulia, and me. I think he also got an invisible one from Floyd.

"Way to go, Noman. I'm happy you finally caught him." Marble congratulated. "How does it feel attaining something that felt so elusive? Why, the feeling can't be too dissimilar to that of, say, earning the Troxler Mirror Badge!"

"Qaplaaaaa!" The other Scouts cheered.

"I'm too happy that I don't even care about their brand of insanity. Today can't get any better - is that Leadstripe's dagger? Gimme gimme." Anibal swiped it from Noman and admired the craftsmanship, flipping it in the air between her hands, mostly to taunt Leadstripe. "Tell me, Leadstripe, how does it feel getting beaten by the most non-violent guy among us?"

"He didn't lose, actually." Noman pointed out. "He surrendered himself. Peacefully."

"...Is that so?" Anibal gave the Lieutenant a sidelong glance. "What's the matter, Leadstripe? No fight in you? You must know what the Paragons do to captured cultists. Why not drink suicide stew like your underlings? Send yourself to that 'glorious' Next Life."

"Hmph. I don't believe in 'Next Life'." He admitted freely. "There's nothing waiting for us, no afterlife. My master may disagree, but it's a hard truth I've come to accept. There's only one life and it's this one - one swarming with too many people." He shuddered before steeling his resolve. "Too many people in need of culling. Then there'll be space enough at last."

Responding to his words, Noman strode forward, looking disgusted. "So you killed your own people to prevent an intel leak, fully believing you were ending all trace of them, consigning them to 'nothing,' yet when you're put in the same situation, you... you surrender to save yourself!? You're nothing but a hypocrite!"

He laughed. "If anyone's a walking contradiction, it's you. All the power in the world, and you're unwilling to take a life. Bit of advice: Your compassion is a weakness your enemies won't share."

"That's why it's so important." Noman had his unflinching reply ready. "I'm different from you."

"Did you let the guild know that we - or should I say Floyd - took care of their Mob?" Spaatz asked. Noman's gaze held on Leadstripe for a bit before he broke eye contact and nodded. It was then that the receptionist returned, her belt pockets filled to the brim with blocks of emeralds. She also brought a very large, very old man in a flat cap with her. His name read Alexei_Stakhanov, and he too had a belt laden with emerald blocks.

"So you're the young folks causing a commotion, eh?" He smiled wryly, tipping his cap. "Name's Alexei_Stakhanov. I'm the guild leader here. I heard about what you did and I came in person to... ah, but you don't care about the ramblings of an old man. You're here for the reward!"

"I meant to tell you, you don't have to pay-" Noman's voice went up an octave as Anibal stepped on his foot and ground her heel into it with a disarming smile on her face. Noman fell over, grabbing at his crushed foot as Anibal swept him behind her.

"We'd be honored to accept the reward for a job well done." Anibal beamed charmingly. She accepted the emerald blocks for the task of slaying the Illusioner, then divvied them up between her and the Scouts. When that was done, she held up three enchanted diamond pickaxes. "Some of the cultists in your mine were carrying these. We believed they were the valuable guild pickaxes that went missing, taken as spoils by the cultists. We brought some Heads too. Maybe you could identify them."

"Aye. Those are our boys." Alexei was somber as he gazed upon the Heads of his fellow miners. All of them the victims of either the cultists or the Illusioner. "Blasted cultists! If I never hear of them again, it'll be too soon. At least this bastard will get what's coming to him." He shot Leadstripe a look of deepest loathing.

"He certainly will." Anibal smiled coldly. "So what do you say, Leadstripe? Why don't you go ahead and save us the trouble of torturing you? Just tell us who your Executive is, who your fellow Lieutenant is, and where your HQ is. And while you're at it, spill how you guys make yourselves into Mob abominations."

The Lieutenant kept silent, his eyes sliding shut.

"Not feeling talkative? Alright, have it your way." Anibal gave him a kick before returning to the guild leader. "You can go ahead and give him a good kick too if you feel like it."

"Thanks, missy. I might just take you up on that." Alexei gave her a toothy grin before getting back to business. "Were these all the pickaxes you found?"

"We didn't look too thoroughly." She conceded. "We brought back whatever was in our direct path or in the gear dropped by the dead cultists. But, now that the cultists and mystery Mob have been cleared out, you might find the other seven missing pickaxes."

"I've already sent some Diamond and Gold ranked miners down to start searching." The guild receptionist noted. "I wish you'd have found the Fortune III pick, but I suppose we should be thankful the nightmare is over. Our miners will be able to get back to mining. We'll remunerate you handsomely for the four pickaxes you were able to retrieve."

Anibal nodded graciously, allowing the guild receptionist to take the pickaxes. The reward for retrieving them was given to Spaatz and Reuben to carry in the form of emerald blocks. The Scouts, having no interest in that particular reward, left it wholly for the Paragons.

As Anibal watched the exchange happily, I slid next to her.

"That was a nice thing you did, returning all the pickaxes." I whispered to her.

"Thanks." She smiled without looking at me.

"Now, you pocketed the Fortune III pickaxe, didn't you?"

Anibal's smile froze and turned brittle before she leaned over and whispered hurriedly out the side of her mouth.

"It was a Fortune III, Unbreaking III pick made out of diamond!" She hissed. "It yields quadruple the ores! How could I give that back?"

"Hey, I would've done the same thing."

"...Good."

"That being said, I want half of whatever you get with that pick or I tell Noman and have him guilt trip you into giving it back."

"You're a real crook... but deal." We swiftly grasped hands in agreement behind our backs before tuning back into the group talk and laughing off any of Noman's suspicions.

The guild leader had just finished offloading our reward. The Paragons wouldn't be hard-pressed for emeralds anytime soon, which was good seeing as how expensive food was getting and that they owed Marble ten-thousand for the Wonder Wings. I assumed that was next on our To-Do list.

However, there was an unexpected, mountain-sized obstacle we had yet to face.

"LEADSTRIPE!" A thunderous roar echoed throughout the Miner's Guild building, cutting our celebrations short. Anibal and I turned as one towards the entrance to the building, watching as armed, purple-capped guards filed in. At their head, towing his impressive iron warhammer with one muscle-bulging arm, was Captain XoX, the Ogre of the West. "WHERE LEADSTRIPE!?"

"Ah, the genteel Captain." Marble said with a sarcastic smirk. "Come to collect our captive Lieutenant. If you turn him over to him, I bet you can get the-" Marble broke off as he saw the traumatic expression on Noman's face. "What's wrong? You look pale."

"Don't worry, Noman. If he touches you, I'll take his hand off." I vowed, already getting my axe ready. The crazy Captain had savaged Noman in Galitsino, shattering his arm. Also, Carys suspected him of secretly being a cultist, even though we had yet to find proof.

Despite the lack of incriminating evidence, I shared Carys' suspicions of him. I considered him bad news for what he subjected Noman to, unprovoked. Plus, he threatened to shatter Alexandra's kneecaps just to drag Pheodora to the Hackers. He was deserving of the nickname 'Captain Sucks Cocks'.

The large man's hazel eyes found us, or rather Leadstripe. He and his entourage of guards marched towards us, prompting Noman to hang back behind Anibal. The guild leader, seeing the approaching Captain, strode forward to greet him.

"Captain. Thank you for coming. As you can see, we have a dangerous criminal in desperate need of a dark and gloomy prison cell."

XoX's eyes roved across each of us after he took in the Lieutenant's apprehended state. Anibal and Reuben watched him closely, looking for any hint of him being a cultist. Perhaps a flash of recognition from seeing Leadstripe. XoX didn't look pleased.

"Who caught?" He spoke a short, choppy utterance, his eyes locking on Noman. I stood in XoX's way when he tried to get closer.

"That's far enough don't you think?" I warned. "I'll thank you not to stir up Noman's trauma again."

While XoX narrowed his eyes, one of the other guards took over and asked us some questions.

"What happened here? Who caught him?"

"Cultists were hunting after the mystery Mob what's been terrorizing these mines." Spaatz replied. "We dispatched them ourselves while hunting the Mob for the guild. The receptionist here can testify to that."

"And this young man apprehended Leadstripe." The receptionist pointed to Noman, thinking she was helping. She didn't know that Noman and XoX had history, or that he was wanted with a minor bounty.

XoX strode forward, using his impressive size to bulldoze past guild-members, Scouts, and Paragons. He loomed over a shivering Noman; the shield-bearer gripped his arm tensely.

"You capture Leadstripe?" XoX demanded.

"Th-that's right." Noman replied, unable to meet the Captain's hard gaze.

"Mm." XoX nodded sullenly. "Wish it me."

"...Eh?"

"The capture." He elaborated with as little words as possible. "Wish it me who caught. Shame." He looked down on Noman. "You. Met before."

"He's Nowhere_Man, sir." One of the Captain's guards reminded. "Thirty emerald bounty, wanted for obstruction of justice, though, admittedly, it was only interference with the acquisition of a Hacker in Galitsino Village. Nobody is a fan of that law, sir." The other guards nodded in support. Maybe they were on Noman's side since he had just brought down an Endward Cult Lieutenant.

"Mm." XoX hummed, his hazel eyes lingering on Noman. He glanced at Leadstripe before turning back to Noman. "Pardon."

"...What?"

"Pardon."

"Pardon what?"

"You. Pardon. For Leadstripe."

Noman's quizzical look didn't change.

"If I may translate for our Captain," one guard offered helpfully. "I do believe he's offering you an official 'Captain's Pardon' in light of your work here, and the minor nature of your 'crime'."

"Pardon." XoX spoke tersely in agreement.

"This is a special privilege for Captains to forgive minor crimes. Your wanted poster will be rescinded immediately."

"Pardon."

"And you'll no longer have trouble entering Exter settlements, or be harassed by guards."

"Pardon."

"Oh!" Noman was caught off guard. "Uh... okay. Thank you. I accept your pardon." He paused for a second. "But... I have to confess, I snuck into the capital because I was worried about my wanted status." He admitted like a moron, making Anibal and I facepalm. He bowed in apology. "Please forgive me. I'm willing to accept any fines or punishments for violating your-"

"Meh. Pardon." XoX waved a large hand airily.

"...Just like that?" Noman looked up from his bowed position.

"Mm." XoX nodded gruffly. "Apology. For Galitsino." He added before extending his massive hand. "We cool."

Noman was tentative to take it, but he would never turn down a hand of friendship. I watched warily as the larger man shook Noman by his entire arm before relinquishing his hold.

"King will want commendate." XoX added, turning to his guards.

"He's right." The guards nodded. "Capturing an Endward Cult Lieutenant is a huge achievement. His Highness will want to thank you, and officially commendate you for your work."

Anibal took her chance to step in. "Do you think we can get an audience with him? We were all involved, after all."

"Oh, of course. Anyone who contributed would be entitled to the commendation." The guard nodded, his gaze washing over our assortment of Crafters. "I'm sure His Highness wouldn't begrudge people who helped with Leadstripe's capture. He's made it widely known that any contributors to the capture of a high-ranked cultist would be deserving of kingly bestowed honors."

Way to go, Anibal. I smiled her way. Getting into the Brimstone Bastion was exactly what we needed to keep the investigation going. We'd have a closer eye on the bigwig suspects, bringing us one step closer to uncovering the mastermind of the Western Division. That is, if Leadstripe didn't squeal on his allies first.

"Then, we'll take the Lieutenant off your hands." The guards moves to secure Leadstripe. "We'll speak with His Highness about arranging an audience, but it shouldn't take more than a day to set-"

"Whoa, hey, wait. Who said you're taking this guy?" Anibal cut the guard off. She, Spaatz, and Reuben stood before the paralyzed Leadstripe, barring the guards from taking him.

The guards looked confused. "We were called to transport him to a cell. Isn't that what the guild leader here just said?"

"Well, actually, we're part of a different guild. The Paragons." Anibal revealed, the name inspiring awe in the listening guards. "Yes, yes. Thank you. We're awesome." Anibal accepted the awe graciously. "Anyway, we're looking to get intel out of this guy. He knows a lot, so we're keeping him with us."

Half the guards seemed to accept that reason, but the other half disagreed or showed dispassionate expressions. XoX among them. The giant loomed forward.

"Leadstripe is criminal. Exter criminal. Exter deal with." He asserted, trying to brush the Paragons aside.

Anibal pushed back, the action eliciting a growl from XoX's throat.

"How come you're in such a hurry to claim custody?" Anibal asked pointedly, her distrustful gaze on the larger man. "We went through the trouble of catching him, and you haven't even paid us his bounty."

"Rest assured, you'll get paid during your audience with His Highness." A guard assured, even while XoX continued to glare, his grip tightening on his warhammer.

"No push, woman."

"And what if you lose him en route?" Spaatz added, the guards bristling at the insinuation. "This Lieutenant has precious intel we desperately need to catch the rest of the Western Division. We can't afford to take our eyes off him for even a second."

"Are you saying he'll be more secure with - three, six, nine - eleven Crafters than the hundreds of guards dedicated to protecting this fine kingdom?" A guard asked skeptically. "He'll be in prison. You can interrogate him at your leisure tomorrow. We won't lose him. Trust us."

"Wish I could, but the Angel of Death has a certain way of doing things, and I haven't had the best luck with authority figures." Anibal reasoned.

That was only part of it. Carys suspected XoX of being involved with the Endward Cult. It might even be why Leadstripe surrendered without a fight, knowing the Captain would come collect him. After all the trouble we went through to get him, it would be foolish to let him out of our sight. Exter would just have to live with it.

"Don't like tone." XoX growled as he rounded on Anibal. "Here am, being nice, pardoning, then you with rude tone. Maybe no audience for you."

"Ready the ice." One guard hissed to his fellows. I knew they meant the ice they applied to cool down XoX's skin and temper.

"You know, Noman's good enough to forgive anyone," I cut in, pointing an accusing finger at the Captain, "but you smashed his arm bones to dust! I don't know if you ever felt that-"

"I have, puny man."

"...I can lift a Cleaver for sixty seconds. I dunno about, about puny, I dunno, I dunno what you're talking about-"

"We taking custody." XoX insisted. "Or, we delay audience with king. Your. Choice."

His tone brokered no argument. If we pushed back, there goes our ticket into the Brimstone Bastion. The way Anibal clicked her tongue confirmed that our hands were tied. This was, after all, their kingdom, and they had authority here. As it was, we could only watch as XoX and the guards brushed past us to seize the paralyzed Lieutenant.

"Finally done with your little swap meet? My legs are falling asleep." Leadstripe snarked before XoX brutally drove the head of his warhammer into the Lieutenant's skull, knocking him out and maybe giving him a concussion. The Captain may have been sus, but I approved.

"Hold this head trauma." The redheaded Captain quipped before his guards reapplied the paralysis effect and carted the Lieutenant away. "Head trauma. Uohhohho. I slay me." He chuckled to himself before turning to follow his guards out.

"If you lose him," I suddenly spoke up, stopping the Captain, "it'll prove just how incompetent you lot are! Your pride is riding on this." XoX twitched at the mention of pride. "I don't want to hear your excuses should he slip away."

"Yeah." Anibal chimed in with a grin. "You'd be utterly humiliated if he escaped. I'd certainly never let you live it down."

"We'll bear that in mind." A guard assured, though XoX kept noticeably silent. "Leadstripe will be in his cell waiting for you. We take our security seriously."

With that parting line, the guards exited the guild building. The guild leader, guild receptionist, and miners left shortly after.

"Well, that happened." Yulia broke the silence with an upbeat attitude. "We don't have to join them for the audience, do we?"

"No, we did our work." Pyritz reassured her. "Besides, Sdraw and Exter aren't so welcoming to our kind. Best to leave it to the Paragons."

"Yeah, I'm not eager to meet the king anytime soon." Marble agreed. "You guys head off without me. I gotta finalize the wing trade."

"I'll have to pick up the ten-thousand emeralds from Carys." Anibal responded, taking out her map to search for her guild leader. She flinched at what she saw. "What's she doing at the guard barracks...?"

---

[Exter Prison]

It was midnight.

A purple-capped guard was doing his rounds. There was one cell left to check. The cell of their latest prisoner, the Western Lieutenant of the Endward Cult, Leadstripe.

He was there when Captain XoX took custody of the cultist from those Paragons. They had the gall to claim the Lieutenant would escape under their noses. They weren't so careless or negligent. They were disciplined. He'd prove it by keeping watch of Leadstripe. The thought of proving those Paragons wrong made him smile.

It was a beautiful night for a patrol, even with the New Moon casting a dim light on the capital.

The guard stopped when a creepy, grainy sound echoed down the prison corridor. It sounded like heavy breathing and footsteps, accompanied by other miscellaneous sounds. Unless the guard was mistaken, that creepy racket was the cursed disc '11' playing. He ran towards the source of the sound as it played out. It was coming from Leadstripe's secluded cell in the solitary confinement wing.

The guard approached Leadstripe's cell at a cautious pace and his shield out, though he kept his voice light. "How you doing, cultist? Have you gotten over your 'enclosed' cell, or are you faking another panic atta-?"

He broke off and dropped his shield when he saw a cell with no prisoner. No prisoner, but some strange renovations and additions. The bed, toilet, and any other furniture was ripped up and replaced with a circle of redstone dust in the pattern of an eye. A cauldron of water atop a jukebox was sat in the center. The jukebox was playing out the final notes of that creepy song. There was also an ender chest in there.

"Oh no..." The guard scanned the cell for any place the cultist could be hiding and found nothing. "Damn it! He's gone! Those Paragons were right! And who smuggled in a jukebox and ender chest-?"

"An excellent question."

The guard whirled around and immediately backed up into the cell walls, his eyes widening in terror at the sight before him.

It was Leadstripe.

Yet, he wasn't.

He was something else not Leadstripe, but there was just enough of him remaining to be unmistakable from the real thing.

He kept his dark gray hair, black baseball cap, and small gray framed glasses, but his skin had gained a sickly gray hue to match. He also had a larger nose - like a Testificate's - that drooped down over his mouth. His eyes were now a dark green, his forehead was larger, and he had thicker, bushier eyebrows. He had a bow in hand, and his attire had changed from a dark-gray jacket and black t-shirt to that of a glittering, blue, hooded robe. He retained his black jeans with dark gray straps, and black shoes with light gray at the toes. His backpack and belt were inexplicably gone.

The guard drew his sword and tried to put up a brave front despite not understanding exactly what Leadstripe had transformed into.

Leadstripe smirked before three more mirror images of him emerged out of thin air. The guard gaped and fell back, slamming into the cell bars as the four Leadstripes advanced.

"W-What the hell are you-?" He tried to ask just before he felt an invisible arm slip through the bars and wrap around his neck from behind. He struggled for breath as the invisible arm tightened, the four Leadstripes watching the scene passively.

Then he felt the invisible someone lift the sword from his belt. Right before he felt that same sword stick him between the ribs. He made a pained noise that was barely audible over the arm choking him. Then the sword was pulled out and thrust in again. And again. And again.

The guard burst apart in a shower of gear and Leadstripe made himself visible, still trapped inside the cell. His four illusory selves outside the cell winked out of existence, their job in scaring the guard done. Leadstripe bent down and picked out a pickaxe from the guard's spilled Inventory.

Leadstripe smiled darkly as he busted himself out of his suffocatingly small cell, his eyes shifting. "Wait'll those Paragons get a load of me - pah, puh, pyeh!" He spat out after his longer nose accidentally slipped into his mouth when he talked. "Ugh. Gross. This'll take some getting used to..."

---

Inventory (Floyd): 1 Mob Head {Creeper}, 1 Diamond Pickaxe, 1 Iron Sword, 1 Diamond Helmet [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Leggings [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Boots [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Shears, 2 Iron Ingots, 24 Coal, 20 Torches, 17 Baked Potatoes, 1 Fishing Rod, 1 Furnace, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Minecart, 1 Bed, 1 Boat, 16 Gunpowder, 8 Ender Pearls, 1 Splash Potion of Slowness {4:00}, 1 Splash Potion of Weakness {4:00}, 1 Splash Potion of Weakness {4:00}, 1 Splash Potion of Healing II, 1 Splash Potion of Healing II, 1 Splash Potion of Healing II, 1 Splash Potion of Healing II, 1 Bucket, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Written Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}

[EXP: 48]

Inventory (Soul): 1 Diamond Axe [Sharpness V], 1 Iron Cleaver, 1 Diamond Pickaxe, 60 Iron Ingots, 19 Flint, 1 Flint and Steel, 8 Gold Ingots, 11 Blocks of Diamond, 9 Emeralds, 10 Raw Salmon, 9 Pumpkin Seeds, 15 Baked Potatoes, 1 Shears, 1 Bucket of Axolotl {Axolittle}, 1 Milk Bucket, 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Chestplate, 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection IV, Feather Falling IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Crafting Table, 1 Jukebox, 1 Music Disc {chirp}, 1 Bed, 1 Furnace, 24 Torches, 22 White Wool, 61 Cobblestone, 14 Jungle Planks, 2 Bowls, 1 Armor Stand, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Written Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Exter Entry Pass}, 1 Splash Potion of Slowness {4:00}, 1 Splash Potion of Weakness {4:00}, 1 Potion of Invisibility {8:00}

[EXP: 43]

Cat-Face the Cat

Christopher Squawken the Parrot

Axolittle the Axolotl

Inventory (Noman): 1 Diamond Sword [Sharpness I], 1 Shield, 1 Diamond Chestplate {Severe Shield}, 1 Golden Boots {Stivali Magma}, 1 Leather Boots {Bottes Zephyr} [Dyed White], 1 Iron Helmet, 1 Diamond Chestplate, 1 Iron Leggings, 1 Iron Boots, 1 Diamond Pickaxe, 1 Flint and Steel, 10 Cobwebs, 1 Ender Chest, 17 Baked Potatoes, 2 Cooked Porkchops, 1 Water Bucket, 5 Buckets, 1 Bed, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Written Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Exter Entry Pass}, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Paper {MarbleFinder; 1909 Oleg Street}, 1 Written Book {The Art of Peace}, 1 Written Book {Artifact List}, 1 Enchanted Golden Apple, 1 Potion of Invisibility {8:00}, 1 Splash Potion of Healing II, 1 Splash Potion of Healing II, 1 Splash Potion of Healing II, 1 Splash Potion of Healing II

[EXP: 35]

Inventory (Kalmarin): 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Mob Head {Skeleton}, 1 Diamond Sword [Sharpness III, Unbreaking I], 1 Map {Paragon Minecraftia}, 1 Written Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 1 Bow [Power I], 36 Arrows, 6 Ender Pearls, 14 Baked Potatoes, 1 Bed, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 40 Torches, 31 Sand, 12 Cobblestone, 21 Oak Planks, 1 Bucket, 1 Lava Bucket, 1 Milk Bucket, 1 Potion of Invisibility {8:00}, 43 Coal, 1 Clock, 1 Compass, 1 Iron Pickaxe [Unbreaking I], 1 Wooden Pickaxe {Old Reliable} [Unbreaking III, Efficiency V], 1 Written Book {Meetup}

[EXP: 43]

Inventory (Anibal): 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Crossbow {Buckner}, 1 Crossbow {Devers}, 64 Arrows, 38 Arrows, 16 Firework Rockets {Flight Duration: 1, Large Ball x 7, White x 7}, 8 Firework Rockets {Flight Duration: 1, Large Ball x 7, White x 7}, 5 Ender Pearls, 2 Cooked Mutton, 8 Apples, 18 Oak Planks, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 1 Bed, 39 Torches, 21 Coal, 1 Map {Paragon Minecraftia}, 1 Written Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 1 Bucket, 1 Potion of Invisibility {8:00}, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 3 Ender Chests, 18 Amethyst Shards, 50 Blocks of Emerald, 41 Emeralds, 29 Cobblestone, 1 Bow [Flame I], 1 Bow [Power V], 1 Diamond Sword [Sweeping Edge III], 1 Diamond Sword [Smite V], 1 Diamond Sword [Fire Aspect II], 1 Diamond Sword [Bane of Arthropods V], 1 Written Book {Miner's Guild Notes}, 1 Diamond Pickaxe [Fortune III, Unbreaking III]

[EXP: 53]

---

AN: Leadstripe: Let's see people forget who I am now.

Also Leadstripe: *Hybridizes as a scrapped Mob that never made it to release.*

Leadstripe: Stupid nose. How does Squidward manage it?

This Chapter was a mountain of action scenes, despite Nikita running off and Leadstripe surrendering. Hoooo boy, but that ending scene. Mwah. Chef's Kiss.

We get a character description of Captain Lizabet_Agafonov, the other Exter Captain, and basically a genderswapped design of our favorite pacifist, Noman.

Carys and the Paragons finally have access to the Brimstone Bastion, but how much of that is their doing, and what does Sdraw have planned in that devious brain of his?

Find out next time on MyCraftBall Z!

FAV. FOLLOW. REVIEW. FORUM. DISCORD. ALOE.