"And Jesse, I know you can do this."

"So do I."

"We all do."

An anxious smile formed on Jesse's face as she cast her friends a grateful look for the support. Her heart was thudding rapidly inside her chest, sweat building up beneath the steal of her armour. She tried to show as little of her fear, masking it with a look of confidence.

"Thanks guys."

Pulling her gaze away from Axel, Olivia and Lukas, Jesse focused her gaze at the wither storm in front of her. She gulped thickly, realising that was it – she could finally end it all.

"NOW!"

Before anybody could react to Jesse's call, something leaped into the minecart with her.

"Reuben! This is no place for a-"

Then Axel pulled down on the lever and Jesse's minecart shot forward. She grasped the sides, her eyes widening as it flew up the ramp with her and Reuben, heading straight for the large hole in the wither storm. A scream erupted from Jesse as they were hurtled from the minecart, engulfed in darkness mere seconds later.

Jesse's shriek was cut off as her body collided with the ground, sending her rolling a good distant across the obsidian surface. She coughed as she tried to get her breath back, throbs radiating from her fresh bruises.

"We're inside." Jesse breathed once she managed to inhale a good gasp of air, grinning weakly. "One step closer."

Reuben grunted in agreement, nudging her arm with his snout in a way of encouraging her to get up. Taking a few more large breaths, Jesse rolled herself over, using that same momentum to push herself up. She looked around, her brown eyes wide and fearful as she took in the sights surrounding them.

The inside of the wither was like a cave interior carved from obsidian. A purple mist tinted the air, making everything off in the distance appear hazy. But the thing that really made Jesse's heartbeat accelerate, were the bodies littering the area.

All frozen in position, expressions locked in terror and eyes filled with fear. Mouths open in the last scream they had ever let out. A thick, slime-like purple substance glazed their bodies.

"Okay." Jesse let out a shaky breath. "This is... weird."

Reuben whimpered, cowering behind her legs. He pulled his stubby tail in between his legs, his entire little body shaking like a leaf. Jesse glanced down at him, her mouth beginning to open to say something reassuring.

She never got the chance, the ground beneath them all of a sudden beginning to quiver. Jesse yelped as she held out her arms for balance, the wither moving about in the air. It was no use as everything suddenly titled to the side, sending her flying across the obsidian surface.

Jesse shrieked as she collided straight into one of the walls, her reflexes just about quick enough for her arms to shoot up and cover her head. The wither fortunately stopped tilting, although it took a second for Jesse to make sense of which direction was which again.

She dizzily looked around, everything swaying around her. But even through the fuzziness of her vision, she could see the strong glow of the command block in the distance. Reuben let out an excited squeal, standing up with his front hooves on Jesse's knee. He looked in the direction of the command block and then at her, like he was encouraging her to approach it.

"Okay." Jesse said shakily, once more heaving herself up onto her shaking legs. "Let's do this thing."

Reuben snorted at Jesse's words, fearfully following behind her as she walked up to the command block. Having nobody around to put up an act for, Jesse's entire body was visibly trembling with fear. Both her hands gripped the helm of the diamond sword, it's blade quivering.

Jesse walked up to the command block, it's glow reflecting in her eyes. She felt almost mesmerized by the pulsing machine in front of her, tempted to reach out and touch it. But instead she raised the weapon above her head, getting ready to slam it down on the command block.

Cracks spiderwebbed across it's gleaming surface, the force of hitting the block enough to knock Jesse back a few feet. She staggered, just about able to keep her balance. Jesse's eyes grew wide, as tentacles came to life around the command block, aggressively whipping at the air.

"Crap." She breathed, her grip tightening on the sword. "How am I meant to get through that?"

She looked down at Reuben, her eyes meeting his. He whimpered, before giving her an encouraging snort. An anxious smile briefly flickered on Jesse's face, awfully grateful that she wasn't alone in there. She looked back up at the command block, taking a deep breath.

"Stay back, okay?" Jesse said seriously to Reuben. "I don't want you getting hurt."

Reuben gave another small whimper, stepping back at Jesse's words. She turned towards the command block, once more raising her sword and charging at it.

Jesse ducked beneath the first tentacle, swerving to the right to avoid the second and leaping over the third. She stumbled clumsily as she only just about avoided the fourth. There was no avoiding the fifth one as it was aimed right at her face. At the last, split second, Jesse raised her sword as a shield in an attempt to block the tentacle. The diamond black slid right through it, a goopy, purple equivalent to blood spraying all of Jesse.

She didn't have time to gape over the strength of her weapon, instead Jesse immediately thrust it at the other tentacles, chopping them off before they could hit her. Panting breathlessly by the time she reached the command block, Jesse weakly raised her sword above her head again.

The cracks spread further across the machine, the entire witherstorm hollering in agony. The ground disappeared from underneath Jesse the moment she yanked her sword from the command block. She shrieked as she tumbled across the obsidian surface, her armour getting scratched and dented while her face was painted with fresh cuts and bruises.

She weakly looked up, trying to keep the world from spinning around her before it made her motion sick. She could just about make out the command block, high above in the wither. Coming to the awful realisation that the wither had once more turned, and now she had no way up.

"No..." Jesse breathed, feeling her hopes fall away

Something cold pressed against the side of her face, turning her head to see the two large, brown eyes of Reuben beside her. He oinked encouragingly, giving Jesse's face a soft lick.

"You're right, boy." Jesse said softly. "I can't give up. Not with the entire world at stake."

Jesse could have sworn Reuben smiled at her words, letting out a soft squeal. She pushed herself up from the ground, her aching muscles screaming in pain as she forced them to cooperate. Picking her sword back off the ground, Jesse looked around for a possible way up.

She nearly dropped the sword again, her mouth falling open at the sight above her. A wither head, similar to the ones outside, had sprouted from the obsidian wall. It's razor sharp teeth were glinting in the purple fog, a glowing tractor beam flickering to life from it's eye.

A part of Jesse wanted to turn and run, not get anywhere near that thing. But she pushed those feelings aside, her eyes narrowing in determination. She could use it to her advantage.

"Stay back, Reuben, you hear me?" She said to the piglet in a serious tone. "Don't get anywhere near the beam."

Reuben whimpered, retreating once more at her words. His step was uncertain as he glanced up at Jesse with desperate eyes.

"I'll be okay." She reassured him. "But you have to stay out of sight."

Turning back, Jesse raised her arms and waved them. "Hey ugly! Over here!"

The head snapped in her direction, immediately directing it's beam onto her. Jesse had to hold back from crying out in fear as she felt herself lift off the ground, gravity abandoning her in an instance. Her arms and legs flailed wildly as she was pulled closer and closer to the wither head.

At the last moment, Jesse impaled her sword into the wither's eye, the beam immediately dying away. She grabbed onto the head before gravity could pull her down, heaving herself up onto it. Holding out her arms to the side, Jesse only just about managed to keep her balance.

She focused her gaze on the command block, only a few of its remaining surrounding tentacles still in a tack. Gritting her teeth, she began counting in her head.

One...

Two...

But before Jesse could get to three, one of the tentacles suddenly shooting out and grabbing her. She screamed as it flung her around, her diamond sword uselessly clattering onto the ground below.

"No!" Jesse cried out, thrashing against the tentacle. "No, no, no!"

Hearing her desperate calls, Reuben came darting out of the shadows. He stopped at the sword, looking at it in confusion before looking back up at Jesse.

"No, Reuben!" Jesse called, shaking her head rapidly. "Stay back, like I told you! Stay back!"

Reuben whined uncertainly, but listened to Jesse as he backed up again. He was trembling from head to toe, his eyes wide in fear.

Jesse kicked against the tentacle as hard as she could, desperately trying to get it to let out. As her boot collided with it's obsidian side, it released her, sending Jesse plummeting back down before she could even think about grabbing on to anything.

The wind was knocked clean out of Jesse as she collided with the ground, coughing and gasping desperately as she tried to get air back into her dying lungs. Letting free a series of panicked squeals, Reuben came running up to Jesse with her sword in his mouth. He dropped the sword beside her, beginning to anxiously lick her face.

"I'm... okay... boy..." Jesse managed to gasp out through her panting.

Her chest rose and fell with choppy movements, while her head spun. It took Jesse a good few moments to make sense of her surroundings again. The command block was still high above her, the tentacles around it flailing wildly, and the wither head roaring aggressively.

"I'm going to have to try again." Jesse said, weakly pushing herself up on her elbow.

The world tilted again and she closed her eyes, trying to rid herself of the dizziness. Reuben whined, nudging Jesse's arm. She opened her eyes again, giving him a faint smile in a failed attempt at reassurance.

Suddenly the ground began moving again, the wither turning in the air. Jesse grabbed her sword before it could slide away, holding it protectively. Reuben let out a panicked squeal, splaying out his legs to keep his balance.

Jesse inhaled sharply, all of a sudden coming to the realisation of what was about to happen. The wither was turning to the left – if she just let momentum carry her along, she was going to end up falling straight down the large hole in the middle of the monster.

"No!" Jesse gasped, scrambling to her feet.

As if the wither noticed and understand her actions, it began turning further. There was nothing Jesse could do as the pull of gravity dragged down down towards the hole.

Her hands fumbling desperately, she just about managed to grab onto a piece of obsidian protruding the ground. In only seconds, it was holding most of her body weight.

"Reuben!" Jesse gasped, seeing the piglet beginning to slide too.

She looked around anxiously, but there was nothing she could do. Not with one hand holding up herself and the other holding her sword...

Without even thinking, Jesse let the weapon slip through her fingers. It tumbled down into the void of purple mist, getting wedged into the side of the wither on the way down. Jesse extended her free hand to Reuben, grabbing him by his front leg – the only part of him she could actually reach. Pulling him closer, Jesse tucked him securely in beneath her free arm.

Reuben squealed anxiously, squirming fearfully in Jesse's grip. She tightened her hold on him, feeling her own heart start to hammer violently within her chest. The arm holding them up was beginning the cramp.

The wither roared again, the sound sawing though the air and making Jesse wish she could cover her ears. She felt her hand beginning to slip.

I'm sorry. She thought, tears prickling in her eyes. I'm sorry I failed.

The Wither shook with another blood-curdling roar, and Jesse lost her grip. Her scream echoed throughout the wither as she fell, wrapping herself around Reuben in an attempt to shield him from any blow with her own body.

Jesse's shriek was cut off as she slammed into the surface of the water below, all the air getting punched right out of her lungs for a second time. She lost her grip on Reuben, flailing her arms below the water as she struggled. Automatically she had inhaled sharply for air, only to choke on a mouthful of water, desperately fighting for the oxygen she was unable to reach.

Two arms suddenly wrapped below Jesse's armpits, whoever had grabbed a hold of her pulling her head above the water. Immediately Jesse began to cough and splutter, hacking up the water in her lungs as she fought for air. Her hands desperately clutched the clothes of the person holding her, nails digging into the fabric. Everything was hazy.

"I need help over here!"

Jesse weakly glanced up, recognising the person's voice as Olivia's. Indeed, it was the engineer holding her. She let her head limply tilt to the side, searching for the others through her fogged up vision. Axel was quickly wading towards them, while Lukas stood at knee depth in the water, clutching a soaked Reuben.

"I got you, bud."

Jesse blinked dizzily as she felt herself being lift out of the water completely. She was nearly completely limp as Axel carried her to the shore. The moment he lay here down, Olivia and Lukas dropped to their knees by her side again. Reuben escaped Lukas's grip, placing his front hooves on her arm.

"Jesse, can you hear us?" Olivia asked her anxiously.

"Think so." Jesse mumbled hoarsely, still trying to get her mind to function properly again.

"What happened up there?" Axel asked, glancing back in the direction of the lake.

"I..." Jesse weakly began, only to trail off. She turned her head to the side, seeing the wither still high up in the air. Heads roaring, tentacles flailing wildly, still very alive.

"I failed." She breathed, feeling her breath hitch in her throat. "The sword's gone, the wither's still alive...

I made a mistake I can't fix."

___

Yay for a one shot so close to the end that I actually like!

Speaking of, not only is this one of the last one shots, but I also spent more than half the day on the road, as we went to a reptile expo. So wow, how I did I manage to do this?

I've always had this idea in the back of my head, thinking it would make a great story - What if Jesse failed to take down the wither and they were left powerless against it?
I never used this idea for a book, and probably never will, because I don't know what I'll do with the story other than maybe just kill everybody off and end it with world destruction XD

But I liked doing this for a one shot!

Anyhow, I want to go get some rest, because this was one hell of a long day. I'll come back to this tomorrow and fix the millions of tiny mistakes I probably brushed over in my exhaustion!

I hope you all enjoyed this one shot, and I'll see you tomorrow with the last one shot of the challenge!