I'm happy about this chapter. I haven't even started writing it. I'm beginning it now, two days early, and I can already tell it's going to be good. #JustResponsibleThings

SPECIAL CHAPTER: ALL FOUR POVS

Shouldn't have mitsakes. But you know me 👉( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)👉

•    •    •

~ Amber ~

I hated everyone on the train.

That seems mean.

I disliked everyone on the train.

There were all types of people on it— rich snobs, large loud families, annoying little kids, elderly people. I'm pretty sure I saw a guy in overalls and a straw hat smuggle a chicken onto the train.

We didn't get one of those fancy compartments where the rooms are bedrooms. We were actually going to arrive at Wenechenca in a day (the person at the station said it would be near nighttime), so there was no point in that. Plus, they were expensive as Nether. Rae may have given us some money to pay for things, but I wasn't going to waste it. Instead, we got one that was just two benches on each side. They were surprisingly comfy benches though.

The dining car was noisy, however. When we went into it, there was laughter, loud conversations, and people walking around. A few servers were giving people their food, and taking away plates. People were in the booths with their loved ones, friends, or complete strangers to fill space. The compartment was a nice green and brown clay mixture with the walls being green, and the floor and ceiling being brown.

As we walked through, I watched a family of two kids and a single father in a booth together. One of the kids, a young boy, was doing his best impression of a ghast. It was really loud and irritable, but the father and sister laughed, and I couldn't help but smile at the nice yet annoying scene.

"Here's one." Sky said, going down the aisle. He was just about to get into an empty booth, but he met up with an elderly couple about to take it.

Well that's awkward.

"Here." Sky spread his arm as if to welcome them.

"No, no, no." The lady, who was well into her 70s, said. "You were here first."

Sky shook his head. "We can find another one. I insist."

The man smiled. "Thank you, sonny. You are an upstanding human being."

"Isn't he?" I pinched Sky's cheek, making him swat my hand away.

As the couple sat down, the lady commented, "You two are adorable together. Reminds me of Arthur and I when we were younger. Right, Arthur?" She turned to her husband.

"That's right." He agreed with her, taking a while to sit down.

"We're not together." I shook my head. "Just friends."

"That's nice too." She beamed. "Take care, you two."

"Take care." I replied back, and continued to walk down. There was another empty booth up ahead, which we kept our eyes on.

However, that didn't matter. Because as soon as we were about to sit down, the compartment door open. In spilled three guys, all wearing black tuxedos and bowler hats. That seemed normal enough, except they also wore black masks that only covered their eyes, and bandannas that covered their mouths. And in their hands... were machine guns.

As they walked in, someone noticed the weapons, and screamed. That alerted everyone, and more screams and gasps were heard. People tried to get to the other entrance to the car, but they were stopped by more tuxedo people appearing. This time, one of them wore a fedora, and no bandanna. The mask was still there. He held a pistol in one hand, and an iron sword in the other.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He shouted with a smile on his face. However, people were still panicking. He frowned, and fired two shots into the roof.

BANG! BANG!

The loud sounds made people become frozen in fright. After they quieted down, the man continued, "I hate when people interrupt me. Where was I? Oh, yes. Ladies and gentlemen! Prepare to be robbed!"

•    •    •

~ Lily ~

It was remarkable watching Cole work.

He was like a machine. Half the time, I didn't even know what he was doing. He was shaving leaves one minute, tying knots with vines another; the only thing I helped him with was dig a hole. We had dug ten blocks deep, and it was seven by seven. A little surprise (it was a surprise even to us) was waiting at the bottom.

The whole thing took only about ten minutes, but Cole said he was surprised we didn't get caught yet. That made me a little worried.

"Okay." He stood up, finished with his work. "How fast are you at running?"

"I'm decent." I almost said it as if it were a question. "Why?"

"We need to lure the GATU people to the locations. I'll need you to take one team, assuming they're in teams of two."

"And if they aren't?"

He looked at me. "Let's hope they are. Are you good?"

I nodded. "I'm good."

"Perfect. Let the hunt begin."

At the time, I figured we were the ones hunting them. However, two minutes later, I was running for my life.

I had been walking through the jungle quite loudly to attract their attention. Breaking sticks and stomping on leaves was the norm. Luckily, or unluckily, I managed to get the attention I asked for.

"There!" Someone shouted. To my left, I saw two of the members run towards me with swords drawn. I remembered that they wanted to take me in, and not kill me yet, but that didn't mean that they couldn't hurt me.

So yeah, I had a lot of motivation to run.

Cole told me to walk in a straight line, and I did, but it was still a confusing chase back to the site. All the trees looked the same. I just hoped I wouldn't fall into the trap. That would be embarrassing.

I jumped over some leaves, and finally saw a familiar cocoa bean bunch growing on a trunk.

A few seconds later, I jerked to the left and hid behind a tree. I heard the GATU people running toward me. Then, I saw them run past me.

... And right into the trap.

The pile of leaves in the small clearing would be easy to spot if you were walking casually. However, if you're running after someone, you don't have time to notice the differences in nature.

The GATU members stepped onto the thin leaves, and crashed through the ground.

After a moment, I walked over and looked down the hole. At the bottom, about sixty blocks down, the two people were in a pond on the floor of an unexpected ravine. Cole said he hadn't explored it yet since there were a lot of mobs. I understood what he meant as I saw a few zombies wade into the water to go after the two. They ran away quickly, screaming like little girls.

I fist pumped the air, pleased with our work. However, I heard a cry from the right.

Instead of running away, I took my sword out of my inventory, and sprinted toward the sound.

•    •    •

~ Sky ~

"Prepare to be robbed!"

That concerned me.

The well dressed criminals shut the doors of the compartments. Someone shouted in protest.

"Don't try to fight." The fedora dude chuckled. His hat reminded me of the guy we were chasing. "This train is officially hijacked. My men are at the front car of the train, chilling with the conductor. We also planted explosives to the bottom of this train, which can be activated by pressing this button." He traded his sword for a small gray box with a single red button on it. It was so cliche I could cry. "So yeah, if you value your lives, and the lives around you, blah blah blah, you won't try to be a hero. You'll just have a heroic fail and end up killing everyone on the train. But by all means, go ahead and try!"

He waited for a revolt, but nobody tried anything. His mouth twitched in annoyance. However, I didn't know why. "Very well. Thank you for being cooperating people so far. Now, get out all your valuables, and I do mean all of them, and put them in these magical bags that my lovely men will show you."

His goons pulled out bags, and started to walk down the aisle.

I grabbed Amber, and sat down in the booth finally. I didn't want us to stand out. And stand.

"We have to do something." She whispered to me.

"No, we don't." I whispered back. "You heard him- he has explosives. TNT. Kablooey stuff. We can all die."

"Well all these innocent people will be robbed unless we do something." She glanced at the men walking slowly toward us, collecting money, jewelry, and other expensive things. "They can't ride the train to Wenechenca; do they plan on stopping the train and getting off?"

"I don't know."

"Or maybe they are going to cut off the back car. That would make more sense; there is luggage back there that they can take."

"Amber."

"But how would they get it back to wherever they're going?"

"Amber." I hissed.

"What?" She said with a regular volume.

I gestured to behind her. A man was holding out a bag, waiting for us to put our stuff in it.

"We don't have anything." Amber lied to him.

He stood there, glaring at us. "I'm not stupid."

"We don't!" She said. I could tell she was trying hard not to mock him.

"Yes, we do." I remembered the money Rae gave us. However, Amber had it. "Amber. Give it to him."

"I'll give it to him." Her low whisper was barely audible.

The guy snapped, "What did you say?!"

"People!"

The main guy in the fedora appeared by his buddy's side. He wrapped his arm around his shoulder casually, and flashed a bright smile. "Folks, is this guy giving you trouble?"

"Yes." Amber crossed her arms.

He tutted. "My apologies. Frank here just went through a divorce; he has some issues to work out. Frank, why don't you move along?"

The guy grumbled, but continued along.

I frowned at the fedora man, wondering why he was being so nice.

"To be quite frank with you two..." He laughed. "Frank! That was a good one! I crack myself up." He wiped an invisible tear away, "Anywho, to be honest, I don't want to cause you any harm. You two are very important people."

"Why?" Amber sounded nervous. I didn't blame her.

"Well..." The man made a big show out of reaching into his pant pocket and pulling something out. Two pictures. He showed them to us. My face paled as I realized they were pictures of Amber and I. Close-up front views of our smiling faces, like school pictures. Only that wasn't the outfit I wore for my school pictures. And they looked recent. Where did this guy get those? "You're pretty famous in our base. A close friend of mine mentioned you two were around this area, and, well, I just really wanted to meet you both!" He exclaimed in an excited tone.

"How are we famous?" I swallowed, scared of the answer.

"Hmm," He showed disappointment. "That's a real bummer that you don't know. You see, you two are secret wanted fugitives with a bounty on your heads! Isn't that fun?!"

•    •    •

~ Cole ~

The plan was working well until I got stabbed in the back.

Lmao jk. Just wanted to get your attention.

K moving on.

The plan was working well until I got shoved into the mud.

Lily and I had spent around ten minutes working on my traps. Then, we split up. I specifically told her to walk in a straight line so she remembered where the trap was, because that would be embarrassing if she accidentally fell into it. I also told her to meet me at the jungle temple when she was done. And to whistle if something was wrong. I hoped she knew how to whistle. I didn't really ask.

I was on the top of a smaller tree peering into the jungle. It was only a small vantage point, but it was better than none. I had moved from tree to tree to get a wider spread view, and it had been a few minutes since we split up.

Finally, I heard leaves rustle. I looked down, and saw a creeper mask with a bow walk toward me; he didn't see me yet.

I jumped off of the tree, and grabbed a pebble off the ground. I chucked it toward the guy. As I said before, I had terrible aim. So it landed five blocks to his left. However, it did catch his attention. He called out, and charged after me. I waved, turned, and ran.

After about a minute of playing tag and ducking under trees, I finally entered the trap area. I jumped over the hidden vine on the grass, walked a few more steps and stopped. Then, I laid on the ground, making it look like I tripped and fell accidentally.

The guy entered the clearing, and notched an arrow. He pointed it at me. "Don't move."

I didn't move.

"Get up, with your hands in the air."

Doing what he said, I stood up and put my hands on my head. However, I also walked back a few steps.

"Don't move!" He barked again, moving forward a few steps. Just as I wanted. He stepped right onto the circle of entwined vine, and tugged it. The GATU member just had a second to look down before the circle tightened around his foot, and yanked him upside-down into the air. He yelped loudly, and dropped his bow in surprise. In moments, he was hanging upside-down a few blocks above the ground.

"Sorry about that." I grinned at him, taking out my sword.

The idiotic creeper pulled out his own sword, and was about to cut himself free. However, I smacked his blade out of his hand with my own, so he was weaponless.

"Man..." He whined, trying to reach up and grab the vine. He couldn't.

I pocketed his weapon. "Again, sorry man."

Then, I tensed up. I only ran into one guy. That meant Lily ran into the other three. God, I really hoped she was okay.

Suddenly, I felt a shove from behind. I fell to the ground, and caught some mud with my face.

"I wouldn't try anything if I were you." A voice warned me. The country accent sounded familiar.

I spat out the dirt in my mouth, and turned around so I could face the person. There were two people. One was the final GATU member, and the other, which pointed a pistol at my face, was...

"Ernie." I narrowed my eyes at the cowboy.

"Howdy partner." He smiled.

"You burned my house." I growled. "I swear, I'm going to kick your-"

"Now now," He waved the gun in his hand. "Easy on the language there, fell- OW!" A pebble came out of nowhere, hitting him on the back of the head. He lurched forward, rubbing his head. "Son of a-"

"Easy on the language there, fella." Lily called out from where she was. She was tossing a rock in the air, catching it with her hand.

When Ernie turned to look at Lily, I sprung into action. I grabbed the gun with one hand, and shoved his wrist away with the other. He lost his grip, and I successfully disarmed him. I pointed the gun to his head, and stood up.

"Tell your guy to drop his sword." I warned him.

Ernie sighed, putting up his hands. "Drop it," he said with an annoyed tone.

The GATU member put his sword on the ground, and raised his hands in surrender as well. He then muttered, "I don't get paid enough for this."

"Speak for yourself." The upside-down guy behind me grumbled.

•    •    •

I am the definition of responsible.

Who are the tuxedo criminal guys? Who is the leader? Why are Sky and Amber criminals?
What's going to happen next with Cole, Lily, and Ernie?

Tbh I added the well-dressed criminals at the last second because I like the idea. Guess I'm gonna have to fit them into the plot somehow ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

¸,ؤº°'°º¤Ø,¸¸,ؤº° ⓡⓞⓒⓚ ⓞⓝ, ⓜⓨ   ⓛⓘⓣⓣⓛⓔ ⓡⓔⓑⓔⓛⓢ °º¤Ø,¸¸,ؤº°'°º¤Ø,¸