(Y/N)'s POV
We're thrown out of the portal and back into Soren's fortress.

I let out a relieved sigh. "We made it."

"Making it is relative," Soren says.

Monsters from before start stumbling into the room we stand in. Jesse gasps.

"Ugh, stupid monsters!" I pull out my sword and kill a zombie.

Two skeletons draw their bows. I duck behind the doorframe just in time for them to miss me.

"Not to rain on the monster-parade," I say, "but can we grab this Formidibomb and get out of here?"

"One small problem," Soren says, killing a zombie that sneaks up behind him. "Tiny, really. Miniscule, even. I haven't actually built it yet."

"That's a 'small' problem?" I ask rhetorically.

"You seem like a person who appreciates stuff that's cool for no reason."

"I guess?"

"Go ahead and throw that lever behind you!" He gestures to a lever in the doorframe.

I hit the lever with my sword.

"Hold on to your socks," Soren says, "because they're about to get blown off!"

Pumpkins drop down onto T-shaped figures of iron blocks, creating iron golems one-by-one. It reminds me uncomfortably of Ivor.

The iron golems kill the zombies and skeletons, smacking zombies into the wall and crushing skeletons into a million pieces.

"That was—," Aiden and I say in unison, except I end the sentence with "terrifying" and he ends it with "awesome".

"Yeah, 'terrifying', that's what I meant," he says.

I giggle. "Sure."

The iron golems clear away and we walk through to the room filled with Soren's items.

"Do you hear that?" Gill asks.

"Hear what?" I ask. "You talking?"

"I think we hear that too much," Aiden laughs.

I laugh and high-five him.

"No," Gill says, "all that stuff whispering, 'Take me. Take me now.'"

"I think it's saying, 'Maya should get to take more than Gill'," Maya says.

I roll my eyes. "I know this is going to sound totally crazy, but I think we should just stick to finding the ingredients to the Formidibomb."

"Yeah, you're right, that does sound crazy," Gill snorts.

"I'll just fetch the Super TNT," Soren says. "It's right up there." He points to a high shelf with a few chests.

"And how are you going to reach it?" I ask.

"Oh, I have my ways. . . ."

The iron golems form some sort of ladder, of which Soren climbs to get to the shelf.

"Oh, and, feel free to help yourselves," he calls down to us, counteracting my orders to not take anything. "Just keep an eye out for the gunpowder we'll need to make the Formidibomb."

Maya and Gill run off to search through the chests, fighting over who gets what. I, instead, make myself helpful by searching for gunpowder. I find four in one chest and four in another. Then, out of pure curiosity, I push a button beside the second chest. The wall opens up and reveals eight minecarts.

"I think I have enough, now!" I shout up to Soren.

He slides down the ladder of iron golems. "And I—" He reveals TNT that glows in a few spots. "Have the Super TNT."

"So, how does this work?" I ask.

"Well, the crafting recipe is quite simple," he says. "The TNT in the middle with gunpowder all around.

"Now, I'll just hold onto this." He puts the TNT away. "The ingredients are highly unstable. Even having them in close proximity is a risk."

"So, we just have to find a way to get it inside the Witherstorm," I say.

An enderman appears behind Soren.

"Uh. . . ." I point at the creature.

"Oh, I was afraid of this," Soren says. We all turn away. "With the End underwater, the endermen will try to escape!"

"To the minecarts, everyone," he shouts.

We all make our way over to the minecarts and quickly get in. They start rolling away, slowly at first, but shoot off one-by-one.

*~*~*~*

When we finally make it outside, we are met by a few monsters. The line of carts collides with a creeper, flinging us onto the ground. The strange thing is, the monsters are running into the hallway we just came out of, rather than attacking us.

"Hey, there you are," someone says. As the monsters clear out, I find that "someone" is Ellegaard, accompanied by Magnus.

"So glad you could make it!" Magnus says, a little sarcasm in his voice.

I pull out my sword and help them fight. "I'm glad you're okay."

"This looks like 'okay' to you?" he retorts.

"Well, you know, you're not dead!"

A creeper comes towards us and explodes, but I jump out of the way.

"You don't have to worry about the monsters; they're running away," Soren says. "You have to worry about what they're running away from."

What he's talking about is the gigantic black mass of the Witherstorm.

"I feel like that got bigger," Gill says.

"It did," I say.

"Soren?" Ellegaard asks.

"It's him!" Magnus says. "It's you!"

"Hello, old friends." Soren's tone of voice doesn't exactly show he's glad to see them.

We turn our attention back to the Witherstorm, which thunderously growls.

"It's time to go," Soren says. "We only get one shot at this. Remember; once the Formidibomb is crafted, it will explode in a matter of seconds. It means whoever is doing the crafting will be in great danger. I was hoping, well, uh, we could draw straws."

I look back at the others. I know what I have to do.

"I'll do it," I say, despite my heart beating rapidly. I turn around to Soren to get the Super TNT.

"What?" Aiden grabs my arm. "(Y/N), you can't do this. It's way too dangerous."

"I have to." My eyes water. "Someone's got to do it."

"Then let me do it," he argues, his eyes also wet with tears.

"No. Lukas says I should step up as a leader, so that's what I'll do. Like you said; I'm initiative, driven, skillful, intelligent, and confident. It's time I show that."

He reluctantly pulls his hand away without saying another word. A tear escapes his eyes, but he turns away to hide it.

As much as I hate to see Aiden cry, I turn back to Soren. "I'm going to set off the Formidibomb," I say firmly to him.

"That's what I was hoping for," he says as he hands me the Super TNT. "The rest of us will build distractions in its path. Hopefully it will buy you some time."

"(Y/N), take my armor," Ellegaard says. "It will help."

"Nah, you can take mine," Magnus says. "It's gotten me out of a lot of jams."

"I insist," Ellegaard says.

"I double insist," Magnus argues.

"I triple insist!"

"I insist four times!"

"Quadruple!"

"Know-it-all!"

Without saying a word, I walk towards Magnus. It feels like I've been favoring Ellegaard this time. I should at least give this one to him.

"Nice choice, (Y/N)!" he says. "By the power invested in me—yadda, yadda, yadda—the Order of the Stone!"

*~*~*~*

"(Y/N), you're going the have to set down a crafting table out there to make the Formidibomb," Soren says as we run towards the Witherstorm. "Everyone else, grab a buddy and split up. We need to keep that Witherstorm on track, so build, build, build!"

I make a beeline for the creature, running at top speed, as my friends build distractions. Dang, armor is a lot heavier than it looks. I focus on the Witherstorm, dodging its occasional attacks.

I make it close enough to the Witherstorm and set down the crafting table. The buildings made by the others are swept up in the tractor beams. I sure hope they stay safe.

I place the TNT in the middle first, then outline it with gunpowder. Before the Formidibomb can form, a tractor beam makes the ground underneath me float. I let out a shriek. I collect the gunpowder and TNT, praying it won't explode while it's still in my hands.

A tentacle swings at my friends, destroying their build, and heaving Magnus into a tree. When he has no protection. Why doesn't he have protection? Because of me, that's why.

I try to push that aside and "swim" to the crafting table. I follow the recipe I have in my head. The table turns into a big metal box of TNT with a glowing F on the side.

"Eat this, you stupid jerk!" I let go of the Formidibomb as my friends grab me with a fishing pole.

The middle head of the Storm gladly takes it as if it's just another dirt block.

My whole life flashes before my eyes before all I can see is white, then darkness.

»-(¯'·.·'¯)->A/N<-(¯'·.·'¯)-«

Okay, first, I just want to say, thank you so much for getting this story to 1k reads! I mean, that's amazing! I never thought I would come this far. But, here I am, writing the author's note to chapter seventeen! I'm not even done with the book and I'm already getting pretty sappy with y'all, so be prepared for total sappiness when this story ends (not that we're anywhere close to the end ; ) ).

Also, may I take the time to say that I'm so happy for some reason about how perfectly those words are lined up in that paragraph (at least on my screen; I don't know how big all of you have your fonts)? Same goes for this paragraph OMG! My life is complete.

Word count: 1,600 (OCD HEAVEN!!!)