Chapter 10 - Forced Cooperation

Hugging my blade as I sat near the tree farm I built, I heard Lizzie yawn. She was watching Estella use her crafting table for quite some time. I raised my head with a sigh and tried to recall the things I've done ever since I joined this world.

For a second, I thought it was cool seeing a Minecraft world in real life. Yet I remembered that I still had an actual life in the real world... Man do I really need to hurry up...

After that I figured since this world is actually Story Mode, I would use the command block to escape. That failed. Probably because I wasn't in creative mode... Wait. How did Soren use the command block?

Then I planned to meet the Admin, but I figured that it was going to take a while. So, I geared up along the way while bumping into Jesse's group a few times... Silver Lunatic... Did you really have to call me that, Axel?

Anyways, joined up with Ivor and explored the Farlands to obtain the enchantment to destroy the command block. Which turned out to be awesome! I can now slow down time with this blade. The only downside is that I can only use it when I'm targeting living objects and if I use it too much my body will become more and more broken. Thankfully I can slowly regenerate my health back if I'm careful with the usage.

Me and Ivor then came back from that long journey and killed the giant Witherstorm that possessed the command block with ease. Plus, a pig died.

Soon after, I went to the jungle to set up a trap near the portal room to lure Jesse. I made a plan to make sure that he deals with Aiden first and also secure a few other things for me meanwhile I go to the mansion to get a group of YouTubers to come join me as backup. I tried to talk to the Old Builders next to see if they knew any valuable information. But they refused to talk. So, I destroyed them quickly. I did get interesting information from the YouTubers though. Apparently, every human stuck here once lived in the real world. Of course, not much to go by but it was better than nothing.

We soon made our way to the Admin. During this I've learned that I have another powerful skill. The blue flames... If I scrape my metal hand, I activate the flames and my opponents are unable to move for a moment. I can then use that opportunity to cut them down, especially if it's one of those fogbeast. I can as well release flaming shockwaves through the air if I touch my burning eye and slash the air.

So, with this power I felt more confident about facing this powerful 'god'. As soon as we reached the Admin who was in his underwater temple, he gave me a share of his admin powers. I was excited at first, but I quickly realized that it wasn't possible with his shared powers. Not even the Admin himself knew how to go back home. It felt like everything I did was all for nothing at that time. So, I killed him to remove his threatening presence.

Instantly I was quickly faced with someone called the Architect. I regained hope. I assume they were responsible for trapping us in this video game world. Meaning I still have a chance to escape this 'fake' world. Yet before I could get any answers, he escaped though his own personal portal. We went back to land only to find an army of fogbeasts and snow that burned anything that was flammable.

We escaped the threat, but I felt the YouTubers in my group start to go astray. One of them went missing. The others started to argue. So, I abandoned them for Jesse to take care of at the ruined Beacontown.

Finally, I found the missing YouTuber, Lizzie, who was carrying a mysterious person. This mysterious girl was called Estella. She has a similar flame power as mine and I don't know how but for some reason I can tell she isn't real. She feels dead but not really. Undead? Anyways, after a rough welcome, she told me that she has a lead on where this Architect is... The only problem is that I don't know how to get below the world since bedrock is impossible to break.

I shook my head and glanced back at Lizzie. "How is your scarred eye?"

"I'm beginning to get used to it. Still burns though..." Lizzie looked at me. "Remember when you told me that your eye burns whenever you use your power. How do you endure that pain?"

I held my left eye. "...I just ignore it. The pain will heal eventually. So, it's better to endure and do what must be done."

"Is it really that simple? I sometimes feel like giving up."

"Well, not always. I would feel like giving up too if I think too much. And that isn't good for my mental health. If I focus on those painful thoughts too much, it will make me insane. Which is why I ignore the pain and focus on what I can do now."

"I see..."

"My hand burns whenever I touch my blue flames," Estella joined us as she was still using the crafting table.

"Is that true?" I asked.

She nodded.

"I wonder what the blue flames even mean," Lizzie thought out loud.

"Blue flames..." I thought about it but couldn't think of anything. "This world isn't set in the nether update. So, I don't think it is soul fire... Wait!" I placed down my ender chest and took out the blue enchanted flint and steel.

Estella quickly turned around. "This feeling... what are you holding?"

"Flint and steel. Normally used to start a fire, but this one is enchanted and is used to open many kinds of portals." I lit the stone ground and a pillar of blue flames appeared before me. Feeling no heat being produced, I walked into flames and didn't get burned.

"I'm not surprised since you can survive the burning snow," Lizzie said. "But I remember that my friends and I found a green flint and steel that could produce green flames... Maybe there could be people who could use green colored flames?"

"Green? Maybe..." I closed my eyes and imagined unleashing green flames. Scrapping my metal arm and opening my eyes, I received a green vision.

Lizzie noticed my eyes. "Your flames are green!"

I glanced at Lizzie. All of a sudden I felt like slashing her eyes. "I... I can't. I... must... NOT!"

Seeing my eyes fixated on hers, Lizzie backed up in fear. "Must what?"

With all my strength, I rushed to her, touched my flames, and swung my blade that shined bright green.

"AAAAAAH!" Falling to the ground, Lizzie rolled around in pain. She laid on the ground for quite a while before calming down a bit. As Lizzie stood up, she gave me a deathly glare. "I'll kill you for that."

"Your scars are gone."

Lizzie touched her face. "Wha... My face... It's back to normal. And my left eye. I can see again, but it still burns... No. It. It... burns even more."

I pointed. "It's because your left eye is burning in green flames."

Lizzie reached out and touched her flames. All of a sudden, she started hopping around. "UAAAAAAAA!"

"Are you alright!?"

Lizzie took out her golden blade that glowed bright green. Slashing through the air, she released a green flaming shockwave in the air. The wave was quickly flying in my direction.

I raised my blade and diverted her slash away from me and into the stone wall. Closing my eyes, I instantly appeared before Lizzie using the command sword's power and grabbed her hands. "Don't touch your flames!"

Lizzie's hand tried to resist him. "But... but I need to. It hurts so much..."

"Just close your eyes and think about making your flames disappear."

Doing what I said, Lizzie had her flames dispersed. She fell to the floor, shaken. "That is what it means to wield the power of the flames? ...How horrifying."

I looked at her smoking sword. "Horrifying?"

"I felt like my body was in constant torment. Then I can feel my sword burning inside my inventory. Releasing the energy out was the only way that helped me cool down myself."

"Similar to how it affects me..."

Lizzie sat down and closed her eyes. "I think... I had enough for... today." She instantly fell.

Estella caught her before she could bash her head against the stone floor. Picking up the sleeping girl, she carried her to her bed. "Alpha, next time be careful when using the Purging Flames."

"Purging Flames? What are you saying?" I looked at her curiously. "Do you know something about this?"

Laying Lizzie in bed, Estella turned to me. "I think that is what the green flames are called. I'm not sure how I have knowledge of this information."

"Can you tell me what it does exactly?"

"Restore, Share, and Unite."

I folded my arms. "That's not much to go by."

"Well, that's all I know. I assume Lizzie's injuries that were healed and her powers that seem to be the same as yours are both 'Restoring' and 'Sharing'."

"Then what does Unite mean?" I asked.

Not knowing the answer, Estella shook her head.

"Hmm... What about the blue one?"

"... It's called the Denying Flames. It's only composed of Destruction."

"I see. That seems accurate. I've done nothing but destroy with my blue flames."

"Um..." Estella paused for a moment and gave a worried look. "Alpha, please be careful."

I was confused with this sudden tone. "Do you mean with my flames?"

She nodded. "It feels like it attracts the Architect the more you use it."

I silently gripped my blade. "Understood."

Suddenly footsteps were heard throughout the cave. Estella and I stood up alarmed and were prepared to fight.

The person who saw us quickly raised their hands up. "Woah! Alpha, it's me Lukas!"

Ivor showed up from behind. "Hi."

"Do you know them?" Estella asked.

I lowered my blade. "Yeah. I do... Lukas. Ivor. What are you doing here? How did you find us?"

Ivor showed off his enchanted compass with pride. "By using this!"

I simply nodded. "Wow. Should've known. So why did you come here?"

"I'm sure you have seen it. This world is dying and we need your help," Lukas explained.

"We need your power specifically," Ivor quickly added. "You're one of the best warriors I have ever seen."

"Okay?"

Ivor raised his hands, "we need your strength to save this dying world!"

"Okay okay. I get it, but is that it?"

"Of course not. We have a plan. Well, it's not perfect but it is the only thing I can think of doing. And that is finding Soren."

For a second I thought Ivor was joking, yet his eyes never wavered. "Why Soren?"

"He ventured out to almost every corner of our world and learned many secrets of this world. The only problem is he only keeps those secrets to himself. I just have a big hunch that he knows what this mess is outside."

"..." I thought for a moment and came to a conclusion. "Okay. I also don't have anything better to do. So, I'll join you guys. I might have questions for Soren as well." Something pulled my arm. I looked down to see Estella.

"What about us?" she asked.

I nodded. "Of course you guys can come with me. It's not like I'm heartless."

"Says the Silver Lunatic," Lukas smirked.

"Right..."

Estella was carrying Lizzie who was still unconscious. We couldn't wake her up and decided to drag her with us. It took us a while to get to our destination since we had to avoid a big group of fogbeasts but finally as we approached Beacontown, I turned my head to Ivor. "So, Soren is somewhere here?"

The old man looked at me with his tired eyes. "Didn't we explain to you that he's in the End?"

"Nope. I don't remember you saying that. You only said that we need to go here."

Ivor scratched his forehead. "Huh..."

I grinned. "Maybe your age is catching up to you, old man."

"Hey!" He grumpily glared at me. "You know, maybe you really are a lunatic. Just how can you keep walking without rest!"

Lukas agreed with him. "Really Alpha, give us time to breathe."

I shrugged. "Sorry. But at least we made it as fast as possible."

"...I guess."

"Anyways, if Soren is in the End why are we here? We could have gone to his fortress and found his End portal."

Ivor shook his head. "It's not that easy. We need the Amulet to locate him in the End. And that's why we are here. We need to find Jesse."

My face felt tired all of a sudden. "Oh. Jesse."

Lukas glanced at my upset reaction. "...What do you think of Jesse?"

I glanced back at him. "A simpleton."

"A simpleton?"

"In my eyes, yes."

Lukas nods. "I can see where you're coming at. But he's more than a simpleton. Jesse is-"

I held my hand up. "I know what you're going to say. I don't need to hear it."

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Ivor folded his hands. "Are we going to talk all day? We have to find Jesse now!"

I nodded. "Then let's begin our search."

By the time Jesse finished mining the final stone, his stone pickaxe snapped. "Another pickaxe down." He leaned against the wall and wiped his sweat off. "Making a room this big is tiring. At least we have a place to grow these saplings."

Jesse left the room that he hollowed out and climbed the ladder nearby. Opening the iron trapped door, he peeked outside to see if it was safe to go out. "Rain? Weird. I thought it would be snowing again for sure. Maybe I should take this opportu-" Before he could say any more, he spotted a familiar person walking through the ruins far in the distance. "Stella?!" He climbed up to the surface and ran up to her. As Jesse approached closer, he could hear her quiet voice.

"...Eonu?" she mumbled as she stared at the cat who was playing in the puddles.

How did a cat survive the invasion? Jesse thought. Shaking his head he turned his attention to his friend and just realized that she was carrying someone. "Stella, is everything okay?"

Immediately, she summoned her flaming blade and pointed at Jesse's head. "Who are you?"

He backed away in surprise. Blue flames!?

"Answer me!" she ordered.

Feeling the intensity of her flames grow, Jesse clenched his fists. "You don't remember? It's me, Jesse!"

Her face quickly lit up. "You're Jesse? We've been looking for you!" She turned her face around and yelled behind her. "Hey guys! I found him!"

He was confused. "Huh? Who else is here?"

She looked back at Jesse. "Oh. By the way, you said my name wrong. It's Estella."

Now he was more even confused. "Estella?"

Out of nowhere, another blade pointed towards his face. Only this time a bit closer. "We meet again," the all too familiar voice spoke.

Jesse sighed. "It's just my lucky day huh..."

"What a surprise. You're not going to attack me as usual?"

"..."

"Hmph. Whatever. Now give us the Amulet and we will let you go," Alpha said.

"The Amulet?" Jesse saw her sword inch closer. He shook his head. "No. First tell me why you need it."

"Why do you need to know?" she asked back. "I can just take you out if you aren't willing to give up your Amulet."

Jesse sneered. "Here I was beginning to think you had a change of heart when you gave me back Reuben. But nothing seems to have changed."

"That piece of meat?" Alpha shrugged. "It was just an extra item that was taking up space in my inventory. Oh, and the 'being nice to you' was only an act. As I saw how worn out you were that day, I decided to give you something that will lighten up that delusional brain of yours."

He didn't know how to respond.

Alpha continued. "If I really had to, I would have cooked that bacon and eaten the whole thing within seconds. It's just food anyways."

Jesse's whole body started to shake. "What did you just say about Reuben?"

Alpha rolled her eyes. "You really are an idiot. It's just a pig. Food to be eaten eventually. Especially in a world like this, these animals are the fake deal. But you probably won't understand what I mean since you've never seen a 'real' animal."

"Reuben was my pet. My friend!" he yelled back. "I don't fully understand what you mean by real animal but know you're the one who is wrong! You never experienced what it feels like to have a pet that has been with you your whole life."

"I'm on Jesse's side on this," Estella agreed as she continued to point her flames at Jesse.

Alpha gripped his sword. "I've wasted enough time hearing your bickering. Let me tell you the truth. I am the only one in this world who can clearly tell the difference between reality and fantasy. This world, our bodies, and even this atmosphere we are currently in is all fake. I am going to find a way to bring everything back to how it was. If anyone stands in my way, I'll crush them all."

Jesse shook his head in disbelieve. "You're nothing more than a lunatic!"

"Think however you like, Jesse, because I know I'm right! Now, let's just get this over with. Hand over the Amulet or your-"

"WAIT!"

All three turned to see Lukas along with Ivor running towards them.

"Guys! Please stop this! We are supposed to work together!" Lukas said loudly.

The two yelled in unison. "WHAT?!"

"You heard him. We need everyone to work together if we want to save this world," Ivor explained.

Jesse glared at him. "I don't know if you heard what this lunatic said but she doesn't care about this world at all."

Alpha nodded. "Indeed."

"See?"

Ivor looked at her. "So, you won't help us, Alpha?"

"At this point I think I will go my own way," she said.

Lukas looked worried. "But-"

Jesse gritted his teeth. "No buts! She just tried to kill me! If she joins, she will turn her back on us before we will even know it!"

"ENOUGH!" Everyone stopped talking as Ivor started wheezing after raising his voice. After he regained his voice, he continued. "You guys need to think this through instead of fighting each other like a bunch of potato sized, squid-brained, spider dirt golems!"

Potato sized. Squid-brained. Spider. Dirt golems... Alpha couldn't comprehend what that even was supposed to look like.

Pota-... Squ-... Spi-... What kind of... Jesse was totally bewildered.

Ivor continued. "Jesse, Alpha, please listen for a moment. We need-

*BOOM* A huge blast obliterated a nearby ruin. Fortunately, nobody was near it.

Alpha looked at the destruction. "What was that?!"

A loud booming voice filled with hatred made everyone wince. "I'll kill you Jesse!"

Jesse was growing tired. "Can this day get any worse?"

Aiden and his friends slowly appeared from the smoke. They all had their weapons activated in flames.

Alpha looked at Jesse. "Why is he here?"

Shaking his head, Jesse took out his two blades. "That's what I want to know. I clearly remember killing him with my sword."

"Of course I died by your blade. Maybe I should be thanking you for killing me because I have now been reborn with this amazing new power! ...But I won't." Aiden cut himself, making his flames burn brighter. "You've already humiliated me twice. The first was when you stole my victory up in the skies and the second was when you escaped my grasp in the city. You are not winning this time."

Alpha stepped forward. "Aiden. Stop this at once."

Aiden finally realized that she was standing there. "Hm? Oh, you are the one who helped me set up the trap for Jesse and gave me intel on how to become the ruler of Sky City. Why are you with Jesse right now?"

Jesse glared at Alpha for a reply, but she stayed silent.

"So, you are betraying me? Then I'll kill you as well!" He threw his burning blade with all his might at the group.

Alpha rushed in and swung her sword against Aiden's flying sword, making it fly into a different direction and explode the ruins nearby.

Aiden stood there dumbfounded. "What?! How is that possible!?"

"You're not the only one with fire power." Alpha scraped her sword against her left arm, activating her flames.

Jesse felt like backing up but was paralyzed in place. "Y- you have blue flames as well?!"

Ignoring him, Alpha clenched her flames in her left eye. With all her strength, she slashed the air releasing multiple blazing shockwaves.

Aiden and his assistants dodged and weaved her attacks as if they were nothing. "You would have to do more than that slowpoke!" He laughed.

But you can't seem to figure out how to approach me. Alpha looked for Estella, but she was nowhere to be found. Where is she when I need her?!

Alpha grunted. "New plan it is." As she switched her flames to green, she moved her focus to Jesse. "You better prepare yourself. It will burn!"

Jesse glared at her. "I knew it! I won't lose that easily to you!"

"No Jesse. You are going to help me!" Closing her eyes, Alpha appeared before him and struck one of his eyes down.

"GAAAAAAH!" Jesse's cut eye began to leak out green flames and his diamond sword started to glow green. "W- what is this?!"

Alpha brought her attention back to Aiden. "Follow my lead, Jesse. With this power, we will take down Aiden with everything we've got!"

"What. Why-"

"Don't ask. We need to focus on him!" Alpha snapped.

Straightening up, Jesse nods. "Fine! I want him out too. Let's do this."

As Aiden watched what was happening before him, he only grew frustrated. "It's the Purging Flames!"

"Grab your flames and slash like I do!"

Following what Alpha said, Jesse unleashed multiple green flames at Aiden. Alpha joined with her own green flames.

Aiden and his friends still managed to dodge the shockwaves, yet this time they sometimes get damaged from the waves of attacks. Estella finally joins up with Alpha and Jesse and plunged her blazing sword to the ground, causing the blocks below the trio to fly up. This messed their fighting stance up. Alpha and Jesse took advantage of this opportunity and cut them a few more times before Gill protected his team with his shield.

"Estella! You're finally here! Where were you?" Alpha asked.

"Sorry! I just had to put Lizzie and Eonu in a safer place...," she replied.

"Eonu? Um, whatever.. I'm glad you are here now."

Estella nodded. "Yeah."

Alpha grinned. "Aiden leave now or you're finished."

Just as Aiden's mouth was about to open, out of nowhere, random blue flames came spinning like a wheel and was quickly headed towards Aiden and his friends. Before they knew, it knocked them into the clouds. The spinning object did not stop there. It bounced in the direction where it sent them and vanished into the thick clouds.

"..." No one knew what just happened. They couldn't even tell what the blazing wheel was supposed to be.

Lukas broke the silence as he looked at the gray clouds. "Well, the wheel of death sure took care of them. I suppose."

Estella placed both her hands on her chest. "At least we're safe," she said in relief.

As both Alpha and Jesse deactivated their flames, their knees fell down to the floor. But before their face could hit the floor they held on to their swords for support.

"Jesse! Alpha!" Everyone rushed in to see if they were alright.

Alpha stood up weakly. "Don't worry about me. I'm alright. You should worry about Jesse."

Upon hearing his name, Jesse stood up slowly as well. "D- Don't listen to her. I'm fine as well. It's just a slight stir in the stomach."

"Jesse?" Alpha curiously looked at him. "How are you still standing after using my powers?"

"I am not as weak as you think, you lunatic."

Ivor nodded. "Well, seeing that you guys can work as a team, let's work together again."

"Nope. I'm not working with her," Jesse stated.

Alpha crossed her arms as she stared into Ivor's eyes. "Explain."

"Finally, someone opened up!" Ivor placed his hand against his mouth. "Ahem. So, our plan is to find Soren. He likely will have the answers on how to turn everything back to normal. The problem is that he's in the End dimension. Thus, Jesse and his group will go in the portal and search for Soren using his Amulet. And originally, I planned for Alpha and Estella to just keep the fog monsters from enter the portal, but apparently you guys will have to be on a lookout for people like Aiden as well. I'm not an expert with this fire magic stuff but do you think you can manage?"

Alpha shook her head. "Maybe. But I don't think I can use this power for a long period of time. I would rather have two extra people with us so we can share our flames and double our power."

"Jesse. How many people are with you right now?" Ivor asked.

"Ugh... Eight. Including me it would make nine."

"Good. Then we can make it work. Let's make some preparation first and tomorrow we can head out to Soren's Fortress."