[Axel's POV]
(As I stepped out of the portal, I fell straight to the ground once I realized that the portal frame was floating in midair.)
(As I try to stand up from the sandy floor, I'm immediately blown away from a nearby explosion and bruise my face even further.)
(Wow. I just got to Boom Town and after that terrifying nether ride with all those ghasts too.)
(After getting up a second time, I hurry over and take cover behind a nearby building.)
(Well, not exactly a building, more of what's left of a building... This place is a literal battlefield.)
(I was in a desert biome with destroyed buildings all over, and there was TNT everywhere, and people were screaming all over the place.)
Random Griefer: "AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
(A crazy person- I mean, a griefer, with a TNT in hand, rushed out of a building and exploded like a sui-! I mean a griefer.)
(And I thought I was crazy with my ideas of havin' fun with life.)
Random Griefer: "HEY."
Axel: "AH."
(I jump when a random man appears behind me.)
Random Griefer: "DO YOU WANT TO EXPLODE?"
Axel: "No thanks, I don't quite have 9 lives!"
(I run away as fast as I can as that person starts chasing me with TNT! This is NOT what I was expecting when I went to get Magnus.)
(His town is literally what its name says it is, if not more! The fuse of the TNT gives up and the man explodes behind me, sending me flying again.)
???: "Well, well, well, who do we have here..."
(I look up and see a random girl on the roof of a building, evilly staring down at me.)
Griefer Girl: "Noobs usually don't last very long..."
Axel: "Um... can you... be nice for once and help me find where Magnus is?"
(The girl laughs her head off, no, not literally this time.)
Griefer Girl: "You don't know how Boom Town works, do you? Though I'm pretty sure you won't last long enough to get this information to be useful to you, Magnus is in that obsidian spiral tower over there, but it's heavily booby-trapped and people have died trying to get in. I kinda pity you all by yourself, newbie. I think you should just go home."
Axel "Sorry, m'lady, but I didn't come all the way here for nothing. And don't call me a newbie! If you're not getting out of my way, then I'll have to push you out!"
(The girl hasn't changed her confident look.)
Griefer Girl: "Hoh? Is that really so? Then I'll just have to take care of you first!"
(She pulls out her explosives.)
Griefer Girl: "My goal is to get to Magnus ALONE, so I have to make sure my chances are the best by eliminating ALL of my competition!!!"
(She starts throwing her TNT all around the area.)
(You couldn't even describe that as 'running away'.)
(I was basically exploded away from the area.)
(Maybe I was wrong about my body, but am I glad I have extra layers of fat to protect me from these blasts, otherwise I would've been dead by now.)
(But putting that aside for now, I have to think of a way to get into that tower where Magnus is.)
(and I'm being chased by a crazy lady!!! Now what would the others do in this situation???)
(What would Petra do? I won't let a few traps get in my way! I'll plow through those ancient devices!)
(No, I don't have her skills.)
(I'll die halfway through if I try that.)
(What would Jesse do? Take time to digest the situation and create the best solution to the problem.)
(Or just use violence.)
(No, I can't fight violence with violence if they're clearly better at it, and I can't think straight when I'm chased by a crazy person!)
(What would Olivia do? Think of a way to get around it.)
(It's much better if you don't even have to face the problem.)
(I guess that's my best bet.)
(Man, if only I could just fly over there.)
(Aren't there devices that make such a thing possible?)
???: "Stop right there!"
(Another suici- I mean, griefer is staring right at me from the top of a weird looking device.)
griefer: "You should back away before I blast your face off with my TNT cannon!"
(The crazy lady was catching up with me, so backing away wasn't a choice.)
(I had to run straight through the shooting range of that device.)
(It fires and fortunately misses me as I was able to run through.)
(The person chasing me wasn't so lucky, however, and the TNT from the cannon and her TNT met and ignited.)
(A larger blast than normal occurs, and I'm flown away again.)
(Gee, that must be an interesting way to go out, but at least she died doing what she loved, right?)
TNT Cannon Owner: "Great. This was the 5th misfire today, all because of those dang people who keep getting in my way! I just want to break open that tower wall!"
(The guy on the TNT cannon yells in frustration.)
(I just realized that the cannon was aiming at the spiral tower.)
(I was so focused on the crazy lady, I didn't notice!)
(I think I've found the perfect way to approach Magnus! I get back up and plan my next move.)
(I turn back to the place where the explosion had occurred.)
(The girl completely vanished.)
(All that was left of her was her armour and some other loot.)
(The armour was quite damaged, but I think it, along with my extra layers, can withstand an explosion from close up.)
(I put it on.)
(It's a risky decision, but I couldn't see any other way through.)
(Petra was depending on me.)
(There was no way I could go back to the temple with nothing! I have to do it!)
(As long as I have a chance, even a small one, I have to try!)
Axel: "Hey you there, can your cannon shoot humans?"
TNT Cannon Owner: "What? Are you an idiot?! You'll get blown to bits before you can even fly!"
Axel: "Don't worry. I have enough protection to withstand that."
TNT Cannon Owner: "If you're so cocky, then fine. But don't be mad if you land in heaven because of your idea!"
Axel: "Just shut up and fire!"
TNT Cannon Owner: "Alright! You little maniac!"
(I'm standing on top of the TNT that will be thrown forward as the guy loads the cannon.)
TNT Cannon Owner: "I hope you had a good life!"
(The guy ignites the first set of TNTs.)
(I braced myself, clutching onto the TNT I stood on and closed my eyes as the ignited TNTs piled up right near the TNT I was standing on.)
(The inevitable comes, and the TNT pile explodes.)
(My vision turns white, even when my eyes were closed and my ears were deaf.)
(For a second, I couldn't tell if I had launched or if I had died.)
(I felt some breeze.)
(Was I in the air? My senses came back to me.)
(I could still feel the TNT I was clutching.)
(That's when I was finally able to open my eyes.)
(I wasn't dead. I was in the air with the TNT, who was now igniting as well!)
TNT Cannon Owner: "WHAT?! HOW?!"
(The guy who launched me watches in disbelief.)
Axel: "Hah! I guess you weren't expecting that, were you?! Well now you just sent me a free ride straight to Magnus!!!"
(I jump off the TNT before it ignites, causing me to fly further.)
(I'm flying all over the traps surrounding the tower.)
(I could only imagine the reactions of everyone seeing a fat man flying through the sky.)
(This feeling, I've never felt so alive before.)
(Who knew the feeling of cutting through the air at such speeds could be this amazing?)
(I'm pretty sure the others won't believe me when I tell them this.)
Axel: "OOF!"
(My experience was short-lived, as I crashed into the obsidian wall of the tower.)
(I was so distracted that I didn't see it coming.)
(The armor was completely destroyed and my body hurt more than ever.)
(I started slowly sliding it down as I suddenly started losing consciousness...)
(Meanwhile with Jesse and Olivia at Redstonia.)
[Olivia's POV]
(The dome entrance was quite a long hallway.)
(Was the building that big? Either way, it looked like it'd be a while until we get there.)
(so we decided to tell each other what had happened when we went to search for a repeater.)
Jesse: "So can you explain to me how you saw 2 people flying away?"
Olivia: "It's a bit complicated, but I'll try my best to make it understandable."
(Flashback to after Olivia helps the Auto-Farmer with the Cow problem.)
Olivia: "Hello!"
Engineer Person: "Why hey there! I'm Sandy, and what you see before you... is the future!"
(Sandy was standing on top of some sort of machine, filled with Slime Block's and sticky pistons.)
Olivia: "The future kinda looks like a lump of slime blocks."
Sandy: "Ah, don't let the looks deceive you! This here is a gen-u-ine flying machine!"
Olivia: "Flying machine, huh? Does it actually, you know, fly?"
Sandy: "You better believe it! But, uh, only straight-up for now..."
Olivia: "Wow, I guess you don't mind heights then. Wouldn't that be scary?"
Sandy: "Ha. Yeah. Scared? Who's scared? I'm not scared of heights at all!"
(I'm not sure if that's supposed to be sarcastic or not.)
Sandy: "I'm lying. I'm totally terrified of them."
(Oh ok.)
Olivia: "And yet you want to... fly?"
Sandy: "What can I say? The heart wants what the heart wants."
Olivia: "That's cool, but do you have a spare repeater?"
Sandy: "Sorry, no dice."
Olivia: "Well, I'll leave this to you. By the way, what does this lever do?"
Sandy: "Wait- don't press that-"
(Too late. My hands already did it.)
(As soon as I did that, the machine turns on and Sandy starts flying up.)
Sandy: "Oh no, oh no oh no oh no oh no OH NO OH NO OH NO OH NO OH NO!!! SO HIGH. GOING SO HIGH!!!!"
Olivia: "S-Sorry...!"
Sandy: "That's okay! Now that the fear has completely paralysed me, I'm almost enjoying myself!"
Olivia: "But you're most likely going to die! No one has successfully gone to space before!"
Sandy: "That's why I'm exploring it! If I die, at least I'll go down in history as the first person to explore it! Tell your friends about my invention! Spent ages on it. Wow. Wonder how high it'll go. This view is spectacular!"
(Sandy completely lost it, and now she's so high up that I can barely see or hear her anymore.)
(Whoops! I'm just gonna back away and act like I had nothing to do with this...)
(Oh my gosh. My day just gets more and more bizarre. I wonder who I'll meet later.)
(I approach another machine I saw in the area.)
(It had TNT in it. Now that's not a good start.)
(I hope the owner isn't crazy.)
???: "HELLO."
Olivia: "AHHH."
(Aaaaaaannnnd it's a crazy person...)
Old Man: "Do you want to explode?"
Olivia: "Ummmm... no thanks? Any spare repeaters please??"
Old Man: "If you want one, then you'll have to test out my grand machine."
Olivia: "What kind of machine...?"
Old Man: "Why, a TNT launcher, of course!"
Olivia: "Umm... no thanks. Wouldn't it be more suitable if the owner tested their own devices?"
Old Man: "You know what? That's a GREAT idea!"
(The man, with no hesitation, jumps onto his own device and ignites the TNT.)
Olivia: "W-Wait, I DIDN'T THINK YOU WOULD DO IT IMMEDIATELY!!!"
(I quickly take cover, and the TNT explodes, sending the man HIGH into the air.)
Old Man: "WEEEEEEEEEEE..."
Olivia: "Umm... send my regards to Sandy, I guess..."
(The Old Man vanished into the clouds. It doesn't look like he'll be back anytime soon.)
(I decided to check if he even had a repeater.)
(Damn it! He didn't even have one! Oh well, I hope Jesse had better luck...)
[Back to the Present]
Olivia: "And after that, we met up. I think that was every weird thing that happened to me today."
Jesse: "Wow... and I thought I felt bad by indirectly burning a dozen cows."
Olivia: "Not going to ask about that cow part, but, ...yeah..."
(After that conversation, we finally reach the end of the hallway and end up in front of a door.)
Olivia: "Wow. Here it is. Ellegaard's redstone laboratory."
Jesse: "Seems more like an entrance or a foyer or something..."
Olivia: "Well, let's open it!"
(We saw 2 weird-looking machines beside the piston door, so we guessed those would activate the door.)
(But instead, they just end up moving some sand blocks up and down.)
Olivia: "Umm... okay? Not what I was expecting..."
Jesse: "Did we miss something?"
(I approach the door to take a closer look.)
(I accidentally step on a pressure plate placed in front of it and the door opens.)
Olivia: "Wait... all we had to do was step on those pressure plates??? Then what were those weird-looking machines for?!?!"
Jesse: "I don't know... maybe there are just decorations or maybe they were Ellegaard's first inventions and they are here to show that off?"
Olivia: "Meh... I don't think we'll get a more logical answer. Let's just ignore these and head further in."
Jesse: "Okay..." We head in.
(Back at [Axel's POV])
(I wake up and find myself underground on top of some sort of bridge suspended above lava.)
(I don't know how long I was out for.)
(Did I end up here after sliding the entire tower down?)
(I look around and find someone in green armour at the other side of the bridge.)
???: "You're completely surrounded by hundreds of hidden death traps, in case you're wondering. One step closer... and KABOOM!"
(The guy flicks a switch and a bunch of TNT suddenly rise from below the bridge and incircle me.)
(The voice was grim.)
(Could it be? I stand up to confirm my suspicions.)
Axel: "Y-You're... Magnus!"
Magnus: "Now what kind of sui- I mean griefer do we have here? I must admit I'm quite surprised to see someone overcome my field of traps by using explosives to fly over it. You're quite the unusual one, so I patched you up as I wanted to interrogate you further on that matter."
Axel: "Oh Magnus! I'm your biggest fan! I've always dreamt of this moment coming true!"
(Magnus looks at me confused.)
(Oops... My excitement got the better of me, and now I'm embarrassed.)
Magnus: "Who are you? You don't look like you come from this town."
Axel: "Yes. I'm not from here. Gabriel sent me and my friends on this mission."
Magnus: "Gabriel? Hah! You're seriously telling me you're buddy-buddy with Gabriel? You know how often people try and tell that one? WHO are you really? Why are you here?!"
Axel: "The world is being destroyed. There's a huge monster eating up the entire world, and nothing can stop it. That's why Gabriel told us to reunite the Order. Magnus, you've got to come with me. You might be the only chance we have!"
Magnus: "Am I supposed to believe that? Am I supposed to believe someone who suddenly barges in like that and tells me I should go with them 'to save the world' just like that?!"
(Magnus approaches another lever and wonders whether or not he should blow up the TNT around me.)
Magnus: "Give me one good reason why, for even a second, I should come with you!"
Axel: "Y-You're supposed to be a hero, Magnus! Please! My friends are in danger! And it's all because of Ivor, who built that terrifying Wither storm with that weird machine block! You have to believe me!"
(Magnus pulls away from the lever to directly face me.)
Magnus: "W-What did you say? Ivor? A weird machine block?"
(Magnus's voice turns more serious than it was before.)
Axel: "Yes, you heard me correctly."
Magnus: "Hmph. You know a lot more than I thought. Your story does sound a lot more believable than what I usually hear from the other kamikaze- I mean griefers that manage to make it here."
Axel: "Well? Did I convince you? Will you help me save the world?"
(Magnus rethinks for a while.)
(It seems he has reached a conclusion when he suddenly flicks a switch.)
(I fully expected the TNT to explode in my face, but to my surprise, it suddenly flung away and exploded in the lava below.)
Magnus: "I'm going to be pissed if you were lying, but your knowledge has convinced me."
(I sigh in relief.)
Axel: "Thank you so much! I love you so much!"
(I couldn't be happier.)
(Perhaps we finally have a chance to win against that creature, against Ivor!)
Magnus: "Ummmmm... ok...?"
(Magnus looks at me with a confused expression again.)
Axel: "Sorry... My excitement got the better of me again..."
Magnus: "Oh, but we might have a little bit of a problem getting out of here."
Axel: "Huh? You're Magnus. You can just walk out of here."
Magnus: "You still don't know how Boom Town works? I'm currently their king. I can't just walk out of here like that, It'll hurt my pride. I can't leave this tower. Of course, the king can be overthrown if they make it here alive and win a death match against them. Which you can clearly see, no one was able to do. How come you never wonder why so many people want to come in here?"
(*sigh* It can't be easy, can it?)
Axel: "Then just choose a new king and then come with me."
Magnus: "Look, I've beaten them dozens of times, and none are worthy. They'll see right through it if I suddenly elect some random person as king with no resistance. I don't want to be remembered as such a person."
Axel: "Oh, come on. There's got to be a way to make this work!"
Magnus: "There is. You're the newcomer with that crazy flying performance! By now, there'll probably be all sorts of rumors about how awesome you are. If you beat me, then I'll be able to leave."
Axel: "Wouldn't I just be stuck here?"
Magnus: "Nah, you're not as legendary as me. It should be easy enough to throw another fight or just give up the crown with way lower level griefers."
Axel: "Ooookaaayyy then, so you're saying we fight each other and you let me win so that I become the new king and THEN I fight someone else and then THEY become king and THEN we can finally leave?"
Magnus: "Yes! Ohhhhh this is gonna be so good! I'm actually excited about this! But we gotta make sure it looks legit. The Death Bowl has never seen the carnage that we're about to create!"
Axel: "Erm, what's the Death Bowl?"
Magnus: "Why don't we find out?"
[To be continued...]