Chapter Fifteen

The trio speed off to the Nether Fortress to get Squid.

"Here it is!" Stampy exclaimed, running inside. They follow him in.

Lee cringed at the memories of this place.

"You alright?" Finnball asked. The sudden noise made Lee jump a bit.

He laughed nervously but quietly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Finnball seemed a bit cautious for him anyway.

They make it to the cells, the smell of blood almost made them gag. It was also very dark inside the Fortress, minimal lighting was pretty much expected from HTT.

When they heard a groan, they ran to the cell in which it came from. They saw a body laying in the middle of it, eyes half lidded and covered in blood. Stampy gasped, grabbing ahold of the bars.

"Squid!" He exclaims. The figure weakly looks up at him and sits up.

"You guys are here...? Or am I just hallucinating...?" Squid asks wearily.

"You're not hallucinating, okay? We're actually here!" Stampy said assuringly. He picked the lock and opened the cell door. Squid weakly got up and walked out.

"Ah, that place was horrible..." He sighed.

They made their way to the exit, until Hit appeared, standing in front of them. 

"Hit!" They all exclaim.

"I'm baack~!" He said in a sing-song voice.

"But- how did you-" Finnball stuttered confusedly.

"A good magician never reveals his secrets~" He purred. "Now, let's finish what we started, hm?"

"Finish!? We won, fair and square, Hit!" Stampy growled.

"You obviously don't know how I play, I don't play fair." He said. "I play to win."

He then walked towards the four, bringing his sword out of the holster with a slash.

"You are all going DOWN this time." He snarled.

He lunged at Finnball first, but luckily he brought his sword out in time to block the hit. The others drew their weapons and helped out Finnball.

They got Hit away from him, but he just started attacking Stampy instead. He switched from his bow to his sword, clashing it to Hit's right on time.

The two dueled until Hit backed Stampy into the wall, both wielding cuts from each other's swords.

"Just give up, kitty-cat!" He said, pushing his sword down onto Stampy's.

"Never!" He exclaimed, switching their positions quickly.

"You will never defeat me with my friends at my side!" Stampy growls.

"I have friends too, you know!" Hit says as mobs appear.

Stampy gasped, loosing his grip and giving Hit just enough time to push him down to the ground.

His sword and bow fell out of his hands as he crashed to the ground, face first. He tried getting up, but Hit put his foot on his back, and sword to his neck.

"I've got you now!" He snarls.

"G-Guys!" Stampy yelps.

The two with weapons, Finnball and Lee, ran in the opposite directions of each other to confuse HTT.

Hit growled and released Stampy to deal with the two. Stamps grabbed his weapons, picking up an arrow and struggling to put it in while he heard swords clashing together, all the while trying not to get seen by monsters. He hurried to get it in, pulling the string back and turning to where he heard Hit was. He closed one of his eyes and aimed it at his head, but when he moved, still fighting with the two, the arrow hit the wall instead.

Stampy scoffed at himself, getting another arrow ready until he heard a yelp. He looked up to see Hit, driving his sword threw Lee's chest while pinning him against the wall.

He weakly tried to push him away, but failed. Hit laughed evilly.

"Lee-Bear!" Stampy exclaims, pulling his string back and shooting HitTheTarget in the shoulder blades. He growled, looking back slightly, pulling his sword out, making Lee fall to his knees.

Finnball kneeled down, to assist him from what Stampy could see. About a million thoughts were racing threw his mind, but he stood up, pulling the strings of his bow back again and fired right at HTT's chest.

Hit looked down, snarling as he pulled it out, blood gushes out of his chest and he disappears in a cloud of smoke. Stampy growled but remembered what just happened. He looks back over to see Finnball helping Lee stand up.

Stampy runs over to them.

"O-Oh my Notch, are you alright!?" He asks worriedly.

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm fine." Lee stutters.

They suddenly hear something, something that sounds like...dogs.

"Was that..." Finnball says, a little nervously.

"I...think that is..." Stampy said.

"Well, let's go find 'em then! What're we waiting for?" Lee said eagerly.

"But, you've just been-" Stampy tries to tell him.

"So? Cmon, let's go!" He said, still keeping an arm over his chest, though.

"...alright..." Stampy said hesitantly and they went to find the dogs.

They searched several rooms until they stumbled upon a room filled with howls.

"They're are all here!" Stampy exclaimed.

"Oh my Notch..." Finnball said.

They all started working to unlock the cages of the dogs. When they had the cages all unlocked, the dogs crowded around Stampy, barking and whimpering happily.

"Okay, let's all get out of here, and fast!" Stampy says.

They make it to the exit, again, and run outside. The light of day makes them relieved, but when they look back at each other, they cringe at their injuries.

"Geez, that was a close one..." Finnball says. They all nod.

"I'm glad to be out of that hellhole." Squid says with a sigh.

"Squid, language!" Stampy said, sounding like an overprotective mother, making the other two smirk.

"Sorry." Squid said, emotionless. "What're you two smiling about?" He says, putting a hand on his hip and looking at them.

"Oh, nothing." Finnball and Lee said, looking away.

Squid rolled his eyes.

"Let's just get back to the house." Stampy said, trying to hold in laughter.

They nod and make their way back to the house. They put the dogs back in the DogHouse, and go inside.

"Eugh, what smells like blood?" Squid asks.

The three look at him, obviously unamused.

"Oh, right." He chuckled sheepishly. They sigh.

"Let's get cleaned up, hm?" Stampy says, the three of them nod and go off to get clean and...un-bloody and flesh-showey, yeah.

Tbc...

Tune in for the next chapter which I might be posting tomorrow! Daily updates are a pain in the hiney but hey, it's worth it! -Meg