"Uh...I think the Eyes are broken," Steve said, shaking the stack in his hands, which seemed to be the same as they were a minute ago.
"Broken? That's impossib - whoa." Michael stumbled, almost falling headfirst into the ocean that spread on for miles before them.
"Well, watch." Steve threw an Eye high in the air, and watched as it sailed directly over the water without a care in the world. Michael blinked, but then shrugged his shoulders with a smile.
"That just means that the portal is across the ocean, or, rather, somewhere inside."
"Inside?" Izzy repeated. "We have to fight a dragon underwater?!"
"No! Not at all!" Michael reassured her. "We're just going to the portal that leads to the dragon, remember? We'll just have to take a short dip in the water; don't worry, I did bring water-breathing and night-vision potions so that we can see and, you know, not drown." Izzy's worried look lessened a little, but didn't disappear completely.
"Don't worry hon, we came prepared, right?" Charlotte rubbed her back, and Izzy smiled a little.
"Right," she said. "but how do we get across?"
"I thought that might come a little easier," Michael said, digging through his inventory and pulling out two full stacks of cobblestone. "We're just going to build a bridge. I don't feel like swimming all that much, so this would probably be better to conserve energy and all. It might take a little longer, though."
"Building a bridge sounds fine," Ami pitched in, taking a step up to Michael. "Here, I can help with laying down the stone." Michael nodded, happily handing her a stack. The two set off at once, building their way across the sapphire sea, all the while following the seemingly endless journey to the End Portal. They built for what felt like hours, when finally, something new happened. Steve fired another Eye of Ender, expecting it to sail across the sea again, but instead was shocked when it fell from the sky like a rag-doll, earning a satisfying plop when it sunk into the ocean.
"It's right over here!" he called ecstatically. There was a collective gasp from everyone - they had finally found it! Ami felt her heart pounding in her chest with adrenaline coursing through her veins. The end truly was near.
"Okay, everyone grab one of each of these potions. Right before we go in, take both of them, alright?" Michael said as he handed the potions out. "Once we're all down there and accounted for, I'll go over the strategy to defeat to Ender Dragon, alright? As soon as you hit ground, start to dig!" Michael said, then kneeling down to Rufus,
"You'll have to stay here," he said, giving the wolf one last pet. "See you soon, buddy." Then he chugged his potions, and the rest followed suit, all of them jumping into the water with a buzz in their systems.
As Ami sank down into the infinite depths, she half expected herself to drown. But when she took her first gulp of air, she was astonished to find that the water came just as easily as the air would. The only difference from being on land was the entire wet factor, and how she almost felt weightless now that she didn't have to worry about drowning. Ami saw a squid swim by, carefree and just as unrestricted as she felt.
But then the realization hit her - she still needed to get down to the bottom and dig. That seemed to be going well for her, for her natural weight wasn't as light as she initially thought; she sank more like a weight than a feather. As she felt her feet hit a rocky ground, Ami pulled out her pickax and instantly began to dig, noticing a small timer in the corner of her eye ticking down to zero. She only had about thirty seconds left, and cursed herself for wasting so much time looking at the twirling squid. The dig down was a lot shorter than she thought, however, and soon she found herself falling waterfall-style onto a warm, stone tile.
"Char, help me plug the holes!" Michael called as she fell through, the duo instantly on the task. Ami glanced upwards to see quite a few holes spilling an endless supply of water into the chamber. Quickly and efficiently, the holes were plugged up by some well-placed cobblestone. Ami breathed out her last breath of water, and air restored itself to her lungs with ease. No more water-breathing for her, it seemed. Ami made a mental note to ask Michael about turning this potion into reality that Ami had recovered slightly from her fall, she finally noticed the room around her.
If anything screamed 'portal to the end of the world' it would be this room. The stone tile was dirty and had moss growing out of it, there was a huge section where what looked like the portal itself must be, for there was important looking blocks in a square with stairs leading up to it, and below it a section of lava. Ami was glad she hadn't fallen in there. Lava was also present in two other places that were parallel with each other. They were the size of a bathtub and held the fiery inferno. Despite this, Ami had no inclination to take such a bath in said lava.
Noticing that she had fallen near the center of the room, Ami looked to where the entryway must have been. Any monster was barricaded from entering the chamber by an iron door, and beside the door was a small chest, which had already been ransacked by those who had come before her. Izzy pondered over some silver and gold, stashing them in her inventory for lack of a better place.
Ami went to one of the lava pools, allowing her wet clothes to dry off a little. She wrung out her hair, which was tucked in a loose braid, and proceeded to re-do the entire thing. The water in the room slowly slipped through the cracks in the stone, and the room was dry again, just as it was before they had arrived.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5jmLdLWPn
Finished with plugging the ceiling, Michael and Charlotte sat on the stairs, Michael shaking the water out of his hair and Charlotte infuriated by the fact that her afro had been watered down. It was odd to see her with her hair down and straight. Ami definitely preferred the big hair to the long hair.
"Okay." Michael spoke up, squeezing out the water from his shirt. "Battle strategy. So, the Ender Dragon gets most of its power from the several healing stations it has at its disposal. The obvious thing to do would be to destroy these stations so that the Ender Dragon is vulnerable. This is why," he stopped for a moment, only to grab a stack of snowballs from his inventory. "we'll be using these."
"Snowballs?" Izzy questioned, walking over and drying her hair over the lava.
"They're surprisingly the best way to destroy the healing stations," Michael explained. "One good shot with one of these babies and it's gone, destroyed and out of our hair. There will be several of these stations, a dozen or over, I'd say, and that'll be our first goal. Something of concern to pay attention to as we go about doing this is the dragon itself - it will attack us - and the hordes of Endermen that will be hanging around. Remember - they won't bother you if you don't make eye contact. The easiest way to make it through this fight is if we don't bother them. If by some unfortunate circumstance they do make eye contact, get away from them as fast as you can, build a beacon as high as you can if it'll save your life. Speaking of building, cobblestone and wood just won't cut it anymore - the dragon will break through it."
"Ugh!" Ami cried out. "How unfair is this guy?" Michael gave her an agreeable look. "I know. But, luckily for us, I have plenty of snow to go around. It's somehow sturdy enough so that we won't have to worry about it breaking unless we break it ourselves. So, a really useful asset."
"And the dragon itself?" Steve asked, resting in the opposite corner of Ami and Izzy.
"Another matter that's tedious to deal with. We'll have to shoot it from afar - either with arrows or in desperate cases, any remaining snowballs. When it comes closer and you figure you have the upper hand, go ahead and hack away at it with your sword, but please don't rely on it in this fight. Ranged weapons are seriously the best way to go about this. There's not much more I can tell you, really. Does everyone have an idea of what we need to do?" Nodding all around.
"So we just need to get to the healing stations, destroy those, then hack away at the dragon without looking at Endermen," Izzy clarified.
"Essentially." Michael rested his chin on his stubs.
"It sure sounds a lot easier than I would've thought," Ami said. Michael chuckled. "All plans sound easy. It's when you're in action that everything tends to go haywire." Ami nodded in agreement. The group huddled by the lava and chatted excitedly about the fight to come. While there was excitement, there was also a terror that grabbed them by the ankles and threatened to drag them down below the realm of the living. Though they smiled now, each one of them had a deep fear, knowing that not all of them would make it out alive. That unsettling thought lingered with them for the next while as they dried off their clothes and bodies. But soon enough, it was finally time to set foot in a foreign place. The End.
Michael took out the remaining Eyes of Ender he had, stepping up to the portal. Three Eyes were already in place before they had even gotten there. One by one, Michael placed nine Eyes in their respective slots. He hesitated on placing the last one, taking a deep breath and taking a small step back as the last Eye locked into place. The once empty portal with only lava that sizzled at the bottom generated a murky, toxic looking substance within it in an instant. It was almost black, but still bubbled enough to look like it had a small trace of blue and violet within it. When Ami gazed at it, she was reminded of a night sky, minus the stars.
"This is it," Michael said, looking at everyone. "Me, Char, Ami, Izzy and Steve. All of us have made it this far, and now our chance to go home is here. I..." he choked, averting his eyes. "I don't want to lose any of you."
"We aren't gonna try to die, Mike." Charlotte nudged him on the shoulder. "But I think we all feel the same way," she sympathized.
"Yeah," Ami agreed. "I can't imagine a life without you guys."
"Once we get to the real world we need to promise to keep in touch! Even if we're, like, scattered across the world or something there has to be some way of finding each other again - the world is only so big." Izzy grinned.
"That's right!" Charlotte nodded. "See? We're going to see each other again, that's for sure. Now why don't we go and take down this thing?" Michael let out a nervous laugh.
"I guess you're all right," he said. "So...let's do this thing!" He hoisted his sword in the air and yelled. Everyone followed his command, as Michael jumped into the portal and disappeared. Ami waited until Izzy had disappeared in the portal and then looked back.
"Ready, Steve?" she asked him. He looked as though something was bothering him.
"Y-Yeah," he said, wiping the look off his face and giving her a nervous smile. Ami passed it off as the stress before the battle, and motioned for him to follow after her. Ami jumped into the portal and felt weightless as she drifted through the dark murk. But in another instant it was as if a hook had grabbed hold of her shirt and yanked her out of a thick substance.
She opened her eyes to find herself standing on unfamiliar ground. It was a sort of stone with a dull beige colour, and felt just like cobblestone. Ami lifted her head and saw everyone around her looking petrified. She was about to ask why they felt that way, when she heard a horrifying screech. Upon further analysis, it was a roar. The sound reverberated around the entire world, shocking her into a state of fear.
"Is that...?" she started.
"The Ender Dragon. Yeah. That's him." Michael was pressed against the wall, terrified. Ami looked again at her surroundings. They seemed to be in a cave of sorts, a little ways below the surface. They were safe from any enemy fire here, but that didn't make anything any more relaxed. Michael was clearly on edge, even Charlotte was forcing herself to calm down. The rest simply sat huddled where they attempted to feel safe.
"We...need to go out there," Ami said, gulping down her increasing heart rate. Michael nodded absently.
"Easier said than done," he said. "I don't want to go out there and die - or have anyone else die...but there's no way back. We can't get back home from here."
"Well that leaves us with a fair set of options, then, doesn't it?" Steve materialized before them, finally joining the party.
"Fair?!" Izzy exclaimed. "How is any of this fair?!" Steve smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling.
"Option one," he started, holding up an arm. "We stay here in fear and wait for something to kill us. Not the best way to go. Option two," he began to pace in a small circle. "We go out there and at least try to fight. Better to die valiantly than cowardly. I don't know about any of you, but I'm going out there in the hopes that I can see what the real world looks like, regardless of the consequences." Without another word, Steve pulled out a bow and arrow, took a deep breath, and boldly ran out into the fray. There was but a moment of silence in which a small hesitation cast itself across the group. Determined, Ami pulled out her bow as well.
"See you on the other side," she said, rushing out to catch up with Steve.
As soon as Ami stepped out of the underground cavern, her eyes were greeted with a new set of horror. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of Endermen stood in her way, all leering down at her creepily. She quickly averted her eyes, staring instead up at the several obsidian pillars that each held a glowing gem within it. Ami could only assume that these were the healing stations Michael talked about.
And above it all, soaring in the inky black sky, was a creature that Ami had only imagined she would ever see. It's body a dark ebony, it's wings glimmering silver and black, its eyes glowing a malicious violet; the Ender Dragon flew above with unrivaled grace and ability. Ami's heart skipped a beat when she saw the creature - she wasn't sure if it was too astounding or terrifying to attack.
"Ami! Over here!" called Steve. Ami snapped her head back in the game, spotting Steve only a short sprint away. She set off for him, avoiding the eyes of the Endermen that loomed around her. They didn't attack at all, but only watched. The dragon roared overhead, descending closer to them.
"Steve! Oh my God! We're going to die!" Ami's eyes were wide, her voice shrill.
"No, we're not. We're going to finish this and finally move on. Now, concentrate. Do you see those glowing gems on top of the pillars?" She nodded. "What we need to do is get up there and shoot a snowball at it, remember? So I'm going to take the one over there." He pointed to a pillar that was a bit of a distance away. "And you can take the closer one. If anything happens, yell and I'll come back for you. Okay?"
"Okay," Ami said, taking a deep breath. She looked to the tall, immobile pillar that towered over her, casting an alarming shadow.
"Build a way up with snow. I'll only be a yell away." He ran off towards the other pillar, pulling out a stack of snow as he went. Ami watched him, torn between her fear and understanding. She had to do this. Ami reached in her inventory and brought out a full stack of snow, and began to build her way up. When she was a couple feet off the ground, she heard familiar voices cry out to her.
"We're joining the fight!" Izzy screamed, determination set upon her features. She was followed by Michael and Charlotte, who ran alongside each other.
"Go to the other healing stations and destroy the gems!" Ami instructed, building herself up as she said so. A second passed and the team split up; Michael veering to the left with Charlotte, and Izzy taking the one behind Steve. She kept building, the top almost there. Another roar from the dragon, who, upon Ami getting to the top and being able to see, was heading straight for Charlotte as she tried to build herself up. She said not a word and quickly grabbed her bow, firing a powerful arrow that hit the dragon straight in the neck. Screeching, and shaking the arrow out, the Ender Dragon retreated, searching for another to attack.
Ami turned her attention on the glowing gemstone before her. She held a snowball in her hand, aiming carefully - it would be horrible if she missed it from this distance. The snow left her possession and hit squarely against the stone. Instantly, the entire structure exploded, and Ami dived to the ground to avoid the blast. She looked back up, ecstatic to see that the gem was gone. Another explosion from afar announced Steve's succession. Gleeful, her heart still pounding, she went to break down the spire of snow and find another pillar. As she did so, the Ender Dragon flew over head, gearing itself to fly straight at her.
Her heart skipped a beat, and for a moment, she was paralyzed. But when she realized what would happen if the Ender Dragon knocked her off the pillar, it set her into motion. Without thinking or bothering to switch weapons, Ami pitifully threw a snowball at the Dragon. She didn't know how it worked, but the Dragon roared and veered away. She faintly saw the snowball melt and sizzle on the Dragon's hide.
After getting down in one piece, she saw the other three pillars disappear in an explosion of smoke, and their destroyers heading down. The dragon, beginning to become enraged, flew after them and targeted one. Ami couldn't tell who is was from the distance, but she did see them pull out a bow and arrow, shoot it, and then dodge as the Dragon swooped in on them regardless.
The Dragon, not waiting to give them a chance, glided down and opened its massive jaws. Ami was about to cry out, but she saw the person pull out their sword and deflect the sharp teeth that greeted them. She began to run over to the pillar, to see who it was. As Michael, Izzy and Steve grouped around her, Ami knew who was fighting against the dragon.
"Charlotte!" Michael called, a fear Ami couldn't recognize in his eyes. "Come down! He'll only keep attacking!"
"And let myself get knocked off instead? Not a chance!" Her strong accent was able to reach their ears, even from the skyscraper-like distance between them. Charlotte pushed against the dragon, her sword locked against his jaw. Amazingly, the dragon was pushed back, but only for a moment. Its wings flapped, and the Dragon headbutted Charlotte, sending her flying off the pillar. She didn't have any way to defend herself, or recover.
Time seemed to slow as Charlotte fell. Her body was like a rock, sinking fast through the air. Ami was unable to react fast enough to run, but only stared with wide eyes as she fell. Izzy was in the same predicament, except she had found the will to scream. Michael was already running to her, his arm outstretched. But even he couldn't make it in time. Only a few feet in front of him, Charlotte crashed with an earth-shattering thud to the ground. Michael fell onto his knees, cradling her head in his arms and speaking to her. As Ami and Izzy approached, they could hear the conversation.
"Char? Char...please, Char, don't leave me...Char! Charlotte! Come on!" Tears were running down his face, dripping onto her seemingly lifeless face. He held onto her tightly, unwilling to let go. Her body, from the feet up, began to disappear into smoke. Michael cried out to her, clutching her tightly.
"You can't die here," he said between sobs. "No...nononononono! We were supposed to go to the real world together again and...and..." Her eyes fixed themselves against Michael's. Whatever spirit she still had left was used on that final gesture. Charlotte looked at Michael with a pained expression, and smiled. Immediately after that, her body disappeared, smoke dissipating in the air. Michael sat there, the tears flowing and arms in the same position. The Ender Dragon roared from above, proclaiming its power to the four that remained.
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