Soren was just as crazy and nuts as Petra remembered him, if anything, she disliked him even more. The only thing he did that made her feel incredibly satisfied, was the large bruise resting on the side of a very grumpy looking Jesse's face.

Everything were starting to pick up again rapidly, as they were forced to flee Soren's fortress while it was crawling with Enderman. Petra and Lukas barely got a moment to speak two words with each other, much less plan out their next step of action.

So they had silently went along, allowing things to play out the way they should. Everything was slowly going the way it should – not that that was going to last for very long.

"Quick! In the water!"

As the bridge's fence railing shattered, everybody leaped into the tiny river. Immediately water seeped into their clothes, thoroughly drenching them. Petra shook a string of wet hair out of her eyes, gasping slightly as it took nearly all her energy to keep her tired body above water.

The hissing from the enraged enderman drowned out everybody else's anxious talking. Petra only briefly caught onto Soren telling Jesse about the lever she'd have to pull.

"Come on, hurry... hurry." Olivia pleaded beneath her breath as Jesse began heaving herself up the wooden tower.

It was only seconds before Jesse pulled the lever, that the awful memory came flooding back to Petra. With a jolt remembering what was going to happen.

"I don't know how much water this thing is going to kick out!" Jesse said anxiously as she splayed out her arms and legs to keep her balance. "So everybody just- ah!" She let out a cut short shriek as the building shook again, knocking her off of the tower.

The water rose, a few people's heads going under before they managed to break through the surface again. Soren called out a praise to Jesse, before gesturing with his hands in the direction they had to swim. They were already metres above the trapdoor.

Everybody began to furiously swim across the room, their heads disappearing beneath the waves one by one as they dove down. Before she too could duck beneath the surface, Jesse glanced back at Petra who was swimming a few feet behind her.

And then she smirked. "Good luck."

With those words, Jesse dove beneath the water as well, disappearing from sight. Petra took in her own deep breath, diving down after Jesse – determined to prove her wrong.

Petra soon realised she needed way more than just determination. The water's strong currents pulled her back as she tried to swim downwards, despite how much effort she was putting into her movements. Physically not strong enough to hold her own against the currents, her muscles already beginning to cramp with strain, her lungs screaming for air.

The others were reaching the trap doors one by one, slipping through the gap. At the last second before going through, Lukas glanced back, his eyes widening at seeing Petra.

Ignoring the fact that he barely had any oxygen left himself, Lukas kicked himself back upwards, allowing the currents to push him closer to the struggling redhead.

Petra's desperate movements were growing more and more sluggish. Her eyes were wide as she began raising her hands to her throat.

Lukas reached out a hand, wrapping his fingers around Petra's wrist and pulling her downwards. His muscles throbbed as he began to swim against the current again with an added weight. Petra could do nothing to help propel them towards the trapdoor, barely able to move her exhausted limbs and forced to leave the swimming up to Lukas.

Almost there, almost there. Lukas tried telling himself as he fought against his body's desperate desire to gasp for air. Feeling Petra's hand start to slip from his grasp, he simply wrapped his one arm around her body and gave another firm kick to propel them downwards.

Almost there. Almost there.

Petra suddenly convulsed in Lukas's arms as she began to inhale water. He tightened his grip around her shaking form, forcing himself to swim faster.

Almost. There.

Lukas reached for the opening, pulling them through it with his free hand. He immediately felt the currents change, the water getting sucked towards the portal and immediately starting to carry them in the direction of safety.

Lukas didn't stop swimming however, barely holding on to the little air he had left his lungs. Much to his panic, Petra's form had grown limp in his grip.

Almost... there...

No longer able to resist the urge of breathing in, Lukas felt himself involuntarily swallowing a large mouthful of water, seconds before the two of them were sucked into the portal.

It was chaos in the broken grinder, the others barely holding off hordes of mobs, screaming orders and even accusations at each other. Nobody even noticed as Lukas and Petra were spat out of the portal as well.

Pained seared through Lukas's chest as he coughed up the unwanted water in his system, desperately inhaling the humid air that hung in the stronghold.

Lukas weakly looked up, seeing the others fighting off mobs from the corner of his eye. Thankfully the portal had thrown him and Petra out to the side, meaning they were mostly hidden from the monsters and other people's views by it.

Petra.

Lukas's head snapped up, his eyes desperately searching for his friend. He felt his heart skip a beat when he spotted Petra lying on her back a few steps away from him, violently coughing.

Forcing past his own exhaustion, Lukas pulled his sore body over to Petra, hastily but gently turning the struggling redhead over onto her side. With a few more violent hacks Petra managed to relieve herself of the remaining water in her lungs, taking a deep, shuddering breath.

In the background, Lukas could hear the metallic clangs of iron golems coming to life. He paid no attention, his focus on the barely conscious Petra in front of him.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, weakly looking up at Lukas above her. She couldn't make out his expression through her blurry vision.

"You saved my life." Petra breathed, her voice coming out in a mere raspy whisper. "Again."

Lukas let out an audible sigh of relief at hearing her voice. She felt him carefully take her by her good arm, helping her up into a sitting position.

"Thank you." Petra said honestly.

"You don't have to thank me." Lukas said, managing a half-hearted smile. "I'm just glad you're okay."

The others, who had seemingly not noticed that two members of the team were lacking, started to walk off after Soren. They could just about make out Axel's voice as he voiced his excitement for all the loot around him.

Lukas's body groaned in protest as he pulled himself up onto his feet again. He held a hand out to Petra, helping up into somewhat of a standing position as well. Her legs trembled beneath her as she slightly swayed on the spot.

"Think you can walk?" Lukas asked her hesitantly, offering his arm for her to hold onto.

"I don't know." Petra admitted as she clutched his arm for balance. "Every thing's really... hazy."

Lukas worriedly bit his lip, uncertain of what to do. He could hear the others' voices sounding out from the next room. They sounded somewhat calmer than earlier, almost relaxed. Lukas hoped that they could take a short breather before having to leap into action again.

"Come on." He said to Petra. "Let's see if we can at least have you sit down for a few seconds."

Petra just gave a weak nod, not really responding. Lukas wrapped his one arm beneath hers, allowing her to drape her right arm around his shoulders. Most of Petra's weight leaned on him as they slowly headed in the same direction the others went.

It was a battle for Petra to keep even her eyes open. She just dazedly accepted Lukas's help, weakly moving her feet along as they headed into the other room.

Blinking heavily in a failed attempt to clear her unfocused vision, Petra's eyes briefly scanned the loot room. She couldn't see Soren... He was probably getting the super TNT, wherever that was. She couldn't really remember.

Jesse, Olivia and Axel – who Petra was almost certain had been sulking over something ,the first time around – were all three digging through the various chests. Clearly stuffing their pockets with more than just the gunpowder they needed.

"Here." Lukas said, helping Petra sit down on the edge of a brick platform.

He watched as Petra let out a slow exhale of relief once she was off her feet. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering slightly.

"How do you feel?" Lukas wasn't sure if that was a question Petra wanted to be asked at that very moment. He almost half expected her to just shrug or grumble something under breath.

"Awful." Petra responded with a sigh, closing her eyes.

An excited oink caused both of them to look up again. Reuben darted straight through Jesse's legs with a squeal, heading straight for Petra and Lukas.

"Reuben, what the-" Jesse began, turning around.

The moment her gaze landed on Petra, Jesse's eyes widened and her mouth silently opened. An astonished look resting on her face as she saw the person who she had left for dead, again, still alive and breathing.

Jesse's face twisted into a scowl, her hands balling into tight fists at her side. And despite her current, miserable position, Petra managed to toss Jesse a triumphant smirk.

Jesse swung around on the spot, swiftly walking away to join Axel and Olivia again. Petra simply rolled her eyes, directing her attention to Reuben who was standing with his front hooves on her leg.

"Now that's rage, if I've ever seen it." Lukas said, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"Yeah well, another failed attempt at ending my life." Petra said softly. "She's bound to get impatient."

Reuben whimpered, clambering up beside Petra and giving her arm a gentle nudge with his snout. Leaning her back against the wall, Petra gently stroke Reuben's ears.

"Listen, I know this might be the last thing you want to talk about right now..." Lukas said, taking a seat beside Petra. "But what to we do next?"

"For once, Lukas, I don't know." Petra responded softly, closing her eyes again. "I don't feel like I have the strength to walk right now..." She broke off, letting out a weak cough.

"We're going to find a way, somehow." Lukas insisted, glancing around. Despite the confident tone he had tried to put on, his eyes were flickering about anxiously.

"Hey Soren!" Petra internally groaned when she heard Jesse's voice called out. "I think I've almost got enough gun powder now!"

"Well, we have to make a move soon." Lukas said to Petra, keeping his voice down. "By the sounds of things, they're getting really close to putting that formidi-bomb together."

"Remember, the bomb won't kill it." Petra whispered back. "We still have time to do something, even if they end up setting it off."

We. More like him. Petra thought bitterly. She wasn't sure how much time she had left in her hourglass. A few days at the most, maybe even less.

"We can't just stand back and let things play out." Lukas responded desperately. "We have to make a plan as soon as we can, time isn't on our side here!"

"You don't think I know that?" Petra hissed back.

Their conversation was suddenly ended, the panic in the other people's voices catching their attention. Petra quickly looked down, her eyes just about catching a glimpse of the appearing Enderman.

"Petra?" Lukas asked anxiously, swiftly looking away as well.

"To the mine carts everyone!" Soren's voice rang out suddenly, before Petra could even respond to Lukas.

Shielding their eyes, everybody broke off in a run towards the mine carts. Lukas grabbed Petra by her good arm, pulling her up from the platform and after him. Knowing very well that she'd barely be able to stay on her feet if it weren't for Lukas, Petra didn't object to being dragged after him.

There were clangs of metal as each person clambered into a mine cart, even Reuben leaping into his own. As soon as Petra had a grip on her own mine cart, Lukas left her side to get in one as well. She heaved her tired body into it, grasping the side as she waited for the sudden jolt of the powered rails.

Even when you know perfectly well it's coming, there's no way any person could really prepare themselves for the mine carts and powered rails meeting.

Petra shut her eyes tightly, hearing everybody around her let out screams as the mine carts shot forward. She had to hold onto her bandanna as the air rushed past, pulling at her clothes and hair. Still wet from their near drowning experience, the wind completely chilled Petra to the bone.

"Incoming!"

Hearing the warning, Petra tried to ready herself for the sudden impact. The mine cart bounced off of the track, sending her tumbling across stone and then grass. Petra really had to resist the urge to throw up when she finally came to solid stop.

Everybody were screaming to make their words heard above the roar of the storm. Petra could only just about make out Magnus and Ellegaard's voices – right, that's where they joined the party again.

Using the fence post of a horse paddock, Petra heaved herself up onto her knees. Her vision was a jumbled mess of colours, so she had to mostly rely on her hearing to know what was happening around her.

"There you are!"

Petra let out a breath of relief, hearing Lukas's call as he came running up to her. She gratefully accepted his help to get to her feet again.

"Everything is happening so fast, Petra, I'll be honest with you, I am panicking right now!" Lukas said anxiously.

"In any other situation, I'd probably call you a baby." Petra responded, a light bit of sarcasm audible in her voice. "But for once, yeah, you have reason to panic."

"We only get one shot at this!"

Hearing Soren's voice, both Petra and Lukas turned their attention to the rest of the people. Petra hated how hard her heart was beating inside her chest, despising the fear clawing at her broken confidence.

"Remember, once the Formidi-Bomb is crafted, it'll explode in a matter of seconds." Soren went on. "That means whoever is doing the crafting, will be in great danger." He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I was hoping-"

"I'll do it!" Heads snapped in Jesse's direction, as she proudly stepped up beside Soren, keeping her head high. Once everybody's gazes were on her, a smirk of pride began to form on her face. "I'll do the heroic thing here!"

Petra's face crinkled up in disgust. It was revolting to hear Jesse's voice, filled with such selfish pride. She could still hear the real Jesse's statement in her head, her voice quivering with fear while she tried so hard to hide it for the sake of doing the right thing.

I never wanted to be hero... but I'm willing to do the heroic thing.

"Are you certain?" Soren asked in surprise, not seeming to have expected that from Jesse. His expression was doubtful.

"Of course." Jesse responded, crossing her arms. "I can do this!"

Petra gritted her teeth, feeling her hands ball themselves into tight fists, her heart painfully pounding with hatred.

"Well, uh, better you than me." Magnus said quickly, both him and Ellegaard stepping back.

Petra clearly remembered how she had raised her weak voice that day, telling the two order members just how ashamed they should be of themselves. But that moment, she stayed completely silent.

Jesse's eyes widened when Soren all of a sudden handed her the Super TNT. "The rest of us will build distractions, try and keep the storm's attention while you set off the bomb. Good luck."

"Wait." She looked over at Magnus and Ellegaard, her eyes wide. "Just like this?"

"Yes, just like this – we don't exactly have a lot of time on our hands." Ellegaard spoke up. "If you're going to do this, Jesse, you have to do it now."

Jesse gaped at them for a few seconds, the confident pride melting off her face and quickly replaced by terror. Her eyes darted in Axel and Olivia's direction, who both just gave her shrugs, stepping back.

"Um, guys, what's the hold up?" Lukas asked anxiously, pointing. "The storm in nearly upon us."

"Right, everybody! Move out and start building to distract the storm!" Soren called, gesturing with his hands.

Nobody objected, Magnus and Ellegaard both swiftly disappearing off to separate sides. Axel and Olivia exchanged glances, before each picking a side and following the two members of the order after calling out a short good luck to Jesse.

"Over here!" Petra said to Lukas, gesturing to a cluster of trees right beside one the builds the others were beginning to put up. "This is where I hung out the first time, we'll be untouched standing here."

Petra didn't wait to hear Lukas's response, instead directing her attention to the storm itself. Her blue eyes searched until they landed on Jesse's form, running towards the storm.

Should she be worried for Jesse? Or should she be glad that they're at a disadvantage?

Crouching slightly behind the trees – with Lukas cowering behind her – Petra watched the scene anxiously. Soon the first of the others' build was pulled out from the ground, hungrily suck in by the storm.

Jesse set down the crafting table, hastily throwing the ingredients on. A beam coming to rest on her and the crafting table right at the last minute, pulling Jesse into the air along with all the bomb's ingredients.

While Petra really had no care for the person desperately floating in the air, she flinched every time a tentacle whipped at them. Any blow could be fatal, without the protection of armour.

As if on cue, the wither storm let out a deafening roar, one of it's tentacles whipping at the newest build. Both Magnus and Ellegaard were thrown off of the build, soon followed by the awful thud as a body hit a tree. Only for both of them to reappear seconds later, armour simply dented.

"Jesse's not going to craft that thing in time." Lukas said anxiously from behind Petra, starting to chew his nails.

"Oh she will..." Petra responded softly, her eyes locked on the sight in front of her. "The question is, will she survive the explosion?"

"What?" Lukas turned his head to Petra. "Didn't she survive the first time? Or am I missing something big here?"

"Let's just say, somebody's high and mighty attitude, might have costed them the opportunity to wear armour into this battle." Petra breathed.

Her voice trailed off as she focused herself on Jesse. The ravenette's actions were visibly panicked, her hands shaking violently as she tried to get the bomb's ingredients onto the crafting table in time.

As the items fused together, forming the formidi bomb, Jesse's green eyes widened. She anxiously looked up at the storm, then back down at the bomb, seemingly wanting to get away from it more than she wanted to push it closer.

"Hey down there!" Jesse screamed at her friends, pushing the bomb higher up into the beam with her feet, simultaneously trying to propel her own body backwards. "Get me out of this goddamn beam!"

Petra watched with wide eyes, as nobody responded to Jesse's screams for help, all just retreating further in behind their builds. Even Axel and Olivia huddled behind a tree, watching their friend from a distance.

Seeming to realise that nobody was going to come and save her, Jesse shrieked in panic. Her arms and legs flailing madly, as she physically tried to swim away from the pulsing bomb.

And then everything was engulfed in a white explosion.

___

Okay, so two days ago I realised with a jolt that I had not yet written one word for this chapter, which had to come out today. So, in a totally burst of panic, I wrote not only this entire 3000+ word chapter, but also the entire next chapter, in one day.

Holy crap, is that what panic does to motivation? I need to try this more often...

But hey, I am quite happy with this chapter in comparison to the last one! Sorry if I skipped over a ton of mistakes in editing this, as I said, I had limited time here.

The ending was so friggen satisfying to write, you have no idea.

So, do you all have any theories about how this is going to do? Because I'd certainly love to hear them after this little twist!

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I'll see you all again in two weeks with another chapter!

Oh and as a quick note... if things go as planned, this book's updating  schedule might soon be changing to just once every week. No promises though!