[Jesse's POV]
Lukas: "Wow..."
(Lukas exclaimed as we got off the horses.)
(That's right... I forgot. There are three of those things now.)
Gabriel: "Wait, I'm confused. Shouldn't the Enderman have dismantled those things by now?"
Ivor: "It's not just you. Something's wrong..."
(Two weeks have passed now, but it didn't look like the Enderman managed to tear apart the Wither any less than before.)
Ellegaard: "Guys! Over here!"
Olivia: "Ellegaard!"
(Ellegaard, standing on top of a nearby hill, jumps down towards us.)
Ellegaard: "Good to see you've made it! Nice armor, by the way."
Jesse: "So... what's going on? Why isn't that thing dead yet?"
Ellegaard: "Well, a little status report: After we parted ways at the cave, I lured the Wither Storm towards Soren's Fortress. We know that it has a harder time eating through hilly terrain, so I took the amulet and placed it deep underground somewhere inside the fortress. It looks like digging down isn't really a strong point of the Wither Storm, and with help from the Enderman stalling the Wither, I've managed to trap it in this crater relatively safely!"
Jesse: "That's good, but then what's holding the Enderman back from attacking it further?"
Ellegaard: "That's the problem; they aren't angry enough. I mean, some of them are, but a lot of them are just standing around doing nothing. Enderman only attack when provoked, and the Wither Storm isn't targeting the Enderman enough for it to make a difference. I've been trying for days now to provoke them so that they join the battle, but after a while, the ones who are already attacking the storm start to lose interest, and it's just an endless cycle. The point is, I can't get enough Enderman to attack at the same time, at least not alone!"
Soren: "Augh! Blast!"
Ellegaard: "They keep the main Wither Storm busy, but one of the smaller ones started targeting me, so I had to pull out of battle and couldn't make anymore progress. And that brings us to the current situation."
Lukas: "Wait, you said you can't get all the Enderman to attack because you can't do it alone, right? Now that we have more people and all work together, we could do this, right?"
Soren: "Um... I'm not so sure about that..."
Ivor: "Now is not the time for cold feet, Soren!"
Jesse: "Uh... but how are we supposed to bring down three of those things?"
Ivor: "Don't worry, even if there are three of them now, it's still all being controlled by one brain, the command block. We only need to destroy that block in order to kill it."
Jesse: "Okay... and the command block is...?"
Ivor: "I can only guess that it's inside the biggest one."
Jesse: "Yeah, but... how am I supposed to reach it?"
Ivor: "I'm not sure at the moment, but right now we need to focus on getting more of those skinny beasts to attack the Wither Storm! We have bigger chances when the Wither is weakened!"
Jesse: "You're right. Let's go!"
(The eight of us head down the crater, where most of the Enderman are congregated.)
(On the way down, we could spot a few parts of what once was Soren's Fortress.)
(All of the walls looked ruined, and flying debris was piling up everywhere.)
(It truly looked like a battlefield. Eventually, we reach the bottom of the crater, which is an open area.)
(Looking beside us, we could see what was left of the entrance of Soren's Fortress, with the broken golden piston door barely still shining.)
Ivor: "PEOPLE WATCH OUT!"
(We duck just in time as flying debris flies over our heads.)
Jesse: "Holy shit, I did not think it was gonna be that chaotic."
Ivor: "Just focus on getting these Enderman to focus on the Wither Storm!"
Olivia: "Wait! How do you even make Enderman focus?! I can't even make myself focus!"
(As we were trying to calm ourselves down, we noticed Soren slowly starting to walk away from the group.)
Ellegaard: "Uh, Soren? Where are you going?"
Soren: "No! We shouldn't be here! None of this is going according to plan!"
(Soren, now trembling, continues to speed up while still facing the Wither Storm.)
Lukas: "Soren? What are you doing!?"
Soren: "I, uh..."
(Suddenly, everyone was staring at Soren, and our glances caused him to suddenly stop moving.)
Ivor: "Soren?"
Ellegaard: "Y-You're not chickening out, are you?"
(After a moment, Soren regains his ability to move before looking back at us one final time with a forced smile.)
Soren: "You know, I've really enjoyed meeting you all, but..."
(Before finishing his sentence, Soren breaks his facade and runs away like a scared chicken.)
Olivia: "D-Did Soren just run away?"
Jesse: "Soren, you coward! I can't believe you!"
Ivor: "Well, I can! Jesse, you can handle things out here, right?"
Jesse: "What?!"
Ivor: "I can't let him get himself killed! Just get to the command block and destroy it!"
(Without wasting time, Ivor runs after Soren, both disappearing into the darkness of what once was the entrance door.)
Lukas: "Aaaaand we already lost two people..."
(Olivia sighs.)
Olivia: "So much for the mighty Order of the Stone."
Jesse: "It doesn't matter; we have work to do!"
(I pulled everyone behind a nearby boulder that landed nearby for cover.)
Lukas: "Uh... not to ruin the moment, but Olivia's right. How do we get these Enderman to attack the Wither Storm?!"
(I peeked out of our cover to look for an idea.)
(Right at that moment, we were able to witness one of the tractor beams.)
(accidentally sucking up an Enderman, causing it to turn angry while being sucked up.)
Olivia: "The tractor beam! That's it! We need to make them chase you into the tractor beam!"
Lukas: "Okay, let's do this."
(We nodded at each other before splitting up to cover more ground.)
(I was about to run into the field with Reuben, but then stopped as I noticed Gabriel not coming in with us.)
Jesse: "What are you waiting for?! C'mon!"
(Ellegaard, Olivia, and Lukas have already run into the battlefield, so it's just me, Reuben, and Gabriel still standing here out in the open.)
Gabriel: "Uh... I don't know if I should join you or not..."
Jesse: "Gabriel, this isn't the time to hesitate! C'mon!"
Gabriel: "But! What if I can't do it?! Jesse, you said it yourself that the Order weren't what they thought they were. Ever since then, I've started questioning who I really am. Maybe I wasn't the mighty warrior I thought I remembered myself to be..."
(Goddamn it... why do you need to act like this at this point in time?!)
Jesse: "Yes, while it is true that the Order were frauds in the past, that doesn't mean you can still make things right in the present!"
Gabriel: "D-Do you really think I can do that?"
Jesse: "Sorry, but this is a dire situation; if you can't join us, just flee and seek shelter somewhere!"
(I and Reuben proceeded to run into the Enderman crowd after parting with those words.)
(It's not like I have anything against Gabriel; I just feared we would get attacked if we stood still for too long.)
(Besides that, I have a job to do. I eyed my first target to lure in.)
(As we approached the flock of Enderman, our gazes towards them had already started to aggravate them.)
(Good; that would save me the time of getting physical with them.)
(As they start to run towards me, I reverse my direction, now trying to find the nearest tractor beam.)
(Surely enough, there was one shining nearby. I ran towards it before swiftly going around it.)
(Now that I'm on the other side of the beam, the Enderman stupidly run into it all in a straight line.)
(Good thing mobs were never smart to begin with.)
(As the Enderman get sucked up right in front of me, I realize that the beam is now starting to move towards me.)
(Crap, now one of the Wither Storms is on my tail as well.)
(Wait, that could actually help me now that a beam is constantly following me...)
Jesse: "Reuben! Stay close to me, okay!? And keep staring at all of the Enderman!
We need as many chasing us as we can!"
(Reuben looked nervously at me.)
(What? Don't look at me! It's a good idea, I promise! As we and the beam make our way through the crater, I eye another target.)
(This one is holding a block, and if I know Enderman well enough, they don't like it when someone steals their possessions.)
Jesse: "How do ya like that?! You purple-eyed freak!"
(I yell as I aggressively fling the block out of its hands.)
(It barely had time to react before the beam caught up to us.)
(As we flee from the scene, the Enderman, who's stupid enough to still
stand in place, gets sucked up into the Wither Storm as well.)
(As we continue running aimlessly through the battlefield, we start to notice that we're attracting quite a crowd of Enderman.)
(Some of them started to try to cut us off by teleporting in front of us.)
(It was sudden, but we managed to turn away before we ran straight into them.)
(As I looked back for once, I could see a whole herd coming after us.)
(but even though a lot of them are able to keep up, a good chunk of them are falling for the trap.)
(When I looked up, I could see the sucked-up Endermen were indeed attacking and ripping out bits of the Wither Storm.)
(While they look small from down here, they are growing in numbers.)
Jesse: "Yes! They're falling for it!"
(As soon as I said that, another tractor beam started approaching in front of me.)
(Shit, they're really targeting me now...)
(In a close call, we manage to brake in time in order to maneuver past the second beam.)
(Unfortunately for the flock behind us, some didn't stop in time and ran straight into the beam.)
(Continuing with the chase, I lock on to another Enderman, who's foolish enough to hang out right next to another tractor beam.)
(I dash full force towards it and push it right into the beam.)
(We didn't even look back to make sure it got sucked up or not; we had to move or else the ones still chasing us would catch up.)
(We continued running.)
Ellegaard: "Jesse! Use these snowballs!"
(Ellegaard, who managed to cross paths with me in the field, throws a chunk of snowballs at me to catch before running off with her own flock of angry fans chasing her.)
(The snowballs suddenly flying in my direction caught me off guard, so I couldn't catch all of them, but this wasn't a good time to ask questions, so I didn't complain.)
(Actually, shouldn't it be obvious what these are for, Jesse? I grabbed one of the snowballs from the ones I caught.)
(That's right, even though it's impossible to hit an Enderman with a projectile, it'll still provoke them, which is exactly what we need to do.)
(Good thinking, Ellegaard! With the snowball in my hand, I take aim at a few bystanders that are still hanging out outside the battlefield.)
(The ball flies towards the Endermen, but all of them teleport away before it hits any of them.)
(Joining the crowd behind me, they too proceeded to get sucked into the beam.)
(As I look in front of me again, a surprise tractor beam suddenly pulls up to the left of me.)
(I hurriedly dashed to the right, but the sudden movement caused me to drop my remaining snowballs.)
(Great... and I was just about to use them...)
(Right then, another tractor beam approaches me from the right, forcing me to dodge it by turning left this time.)
(It looked like the longer I was doing this,
the more tractor beams started targeting me.)
(But they were kind of helping me in this scenario, as they were now sucking up the Enderman faster than ever.)
Jesse: "That's right! Come and get me!"
Reuben: "Oink!"
(Reuben notifies me about a nearby target that's standing near another beam.)
(It basically turned into a routine at that point.)
Jesse: "Hey, Reuben! Want to take this one out?"
(Reuben agrees with a short grunt before speeding up to place himself behind the Enderman.)
(As I approach the unsuspecting Enderman, I push it into Reuben.)
(Its legs stumble into Reuben, causing it to fall backwards right into the beam.)
Jesse: "Nice one, Reuben!"
(The Enderman barely had time to look back at us before getting sucked up.)
(Not wasting time, we proceeded to run away again.)
(Continuing our parade with the Endermen, we carried on narrowly dodging tractor beams by barely sliding past them and staring at more Enderman.)
Jesse: "Huff... This is starting to get tiring... I think we should start going back to the group; I think that's enough Enderman to do the job, don't you think?"
(Reuben nods as he starts to sweat.)
(I searched the playing field to find that the others seemed to have regrouped on top of a small platform overlooking the bottom of the crater.)
(I started to head over there, but then the worst thing that could happen to me happened... I accidentally trip and fall over.)
(When I tried to stand up again, I could only see the Enderman charging towards me.)
(I braced for the worst as my face suddenly got splashed with water.)
(Water? Where did that come from? I opened my eyes while I was still lying on the ground.)
(The floor around me had been splashed by water, causing all the Enderman that were chasing us to teleport away.)
(I looked up at the person who was holding the emptied bucket.)
Jesse: "G-Gabriel?!"
Gabriel: "I didn't go through this entire journey just to be a burden to you guys."
(Gabriel pulls me up.)
Jesse: "Y-You came back!?"
Gabriel: "Of course I did; while it may be true that I'm not the all-powerful warrior I thought I would be, it's still my biggest pride to save the people, the ones I love. Although I remembered that I once failed that task, I at least wanted to make up for my mistakes!"
(Gabriel grabbed me and Reuben and pushed us in the direction of the others.)
Gabriel: "Go and use that weapon to slay the Wither Storm! I'll take care of these Enderman!"
Jesse: "Gabriel!"
(Gabriel didn't look back; he was already focused on the herd around him.)
(I couldn't waste time. I grabbed Reuben and ran towards the platform where Ellegaard, Olivia, and Lukas were.)
Olivia: "Jesse, look! The plan's working!"
(Olivia pointed to a spot in the Wither Storm.)
(There was a big hole carved into its body.)
Jesse: "That hole's big enough to get inside of!"
Lukas: "Now we just need to find you a way up!"
Olivia: "Or... build you a way up!"
Jesse: "Okay, everyone, empty your pockets!"
(Everyone furiously rummages through their inventories.)
Jesse: "I've got redstone and cobblestone from Ivor's armory..."
Ellegaard: "I have fireworks and TNT I still have from the time Magnus gifted me some..."
Olivia: "I've got pistons, repeaters... some leftover slime from the maze."
Lukas: "I have some wool from Soren's place... oh, and I still have that minecart and rail tracks from Soren's Fortress!"
Olivia: "That's gotta be enough to make something, right?"
(We brainstormed for ideas.)
(Vertical flying machine? No, that could take too long to build... TNT Launcher?)
(No, that could kill me before I reach the hole.)
(After arguing for a while, I eventually settled on an idea I had in mind.)
Jesse: "Guys, I think I have an idea. We build a cobblestone ramp, lay down some track, attach the TNT at the end of the ramp, and launch the minecart off the ramp like a rocket! Since I'm inside the minecart, I'll have at least some kind of protection compared to being blown up by the TNT directly!"
Lukas: "Wait, the Wither Storm's quite far away from here; are you 100% sure you can reach the hole just with this?"
(I began to ponder, and then it hit me. Didn't I steal one of her potions back at the Witch's Hut?)
(I grabbed the green- glowing potion out of my pocket.)
Jesse: "What do you think this potion does?"
Olivia: "Uh... I dunno!? Does it matter?!"
Ellegaard: "Wait! I think I know this one!"
(Ellegaard takes a closer look.)
Ellegaard: "Yes... that's a potion of leaping! If you drink that, you'll be able to jump higher than normal!"
Lukas: "Then that just means if the minecart doesn't launch high enough, you can still correct it with that potion!"
Olivia: "Then it's settled! Let's build this thing before the Wither Storm starts targeting-"
Lukas: "LOOK OUT!"
(One of the Wither heads turned its head towards us, and a beam was now heading towards us.)
(We all jumped to the side to avoid it, except Ellegaard, who got distracted and is now starting to get sucked in.)
Ellegaard: "Woah!"
(Because she was holding all of her items out, part of the fireworks got dropped to the ground.)
Olivia: "Ellegaard!"
(Olivia managed to grab Ellegaard's leg before she floated away.)
Olivia: "Woah!"
(The tractor beam was more powerful than Olivia thought, and now she's starting to get lifted off the ground as well.)
Jesse: "Olivia!"
(I grab her leg and try to pull her down, but I can't; the beam's too strong, and the best I can do is hold them in place.)
Ellegaard: "Yikes, this monster really does hold grudges, huh?"
Jesse: "Lukas! I need a hand here!"
Lukas: "I can do better than that!"
(Lukas grabs the fireworks Ellegaard dropped and positions himself a little farther away from us.)
Lukas: "Hey, Wither Storm! Over here!"
(Aiming the firework, he shoots it right towards the Wither head that's trying to suck us in.)
(The firework explodes in its face, disorienting the head and causing it to violently fling the beam towards the sky.)
(The three of us, now no longer getting sucked in, come crashing down towards the ground again.)
Olivia: "Fireworks!! Good thinking, Lukas!"
(Lukas sends back a smile before turning his attention back to the Wither Storm.)
Lukas: "Eyes on me, you great big bully!"
(Lukas shouts as he diverts the Withers attention away from us.)
Jesse: "Let's build this thing while we have the time!"
(Me, Olivia, and Ellegaard get right to it. The build wasn't astonishing; all that mattered was that it worked.)
(A ramp with tracks, the minecart positioned at the top, and TNT ready at the end of the ramp.)
Ellegaard: "Okay, it's finished!"
Jesse: "Okay, I'm climbing on!"
(Just as I was about to climb the ramp, Reuben tried to come up with me. I immediately tried to stop him.)
Jesse: "No Reuben! I'm sorry, but this is too dangerous for you. Stay with Olivia until I get back, okay?"
(Reuben sent back a sad look, but I didn't care.)
(I placed Reuben back on the ground before I climbed up and boarded the minecart at the top.)
Jesse: "Okay, I'm ready, guys."
Olivia: "Okay, we're activating the device now!"
(Ellegaard runs over to a nearby button.)
Olivia: "And Jesse... I know you can do this."
(Olivia adds.)
Jesse: "Thanks, Olivia. It means a lot."
Ellegaard: "Now go demolish that command block!"
(She pushes the button as I drink the potion.)
(The cart immediately tumbles down the ramp as Olivia ignites the TNT.)
(I brace for the launch.)
(But then... out of nowhere... Reuben... suddenly jumps into the cart as it comes down.)
Jesse: "Reuben! This is no place for a-"
(Cut off midsentence, the TNT ignites, sending the minecart hurling into the air.)
Jesse: "PIIIIIIIIIIG-!"
(Crap! I don't have time to react! I grabbed Reuben and jumped out of the minecart, straight into the hole.)
Jesse: "ΑΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗ!"
[To be continued...]