The moment Lukas and Jesse hit the Nether ground, Axel quickly asked. "Where's Petra and Raven?"

"We did everything we could."Lukas responded, sadly. He could have saved Raven, but he didn't. He was scared. If only he didn't have fear...

"What are you saying?"Axel questioned.

"Jesse, what is he talking about?"Olivia said, worried. Lukas looked at Jesse sadly, hoping it would make up as a sorry face.

"It was chaos. Petra and Gabriel are safe but... Raven's still up there."Jesse replied. "There wasn't much we could do."

"He's right. I got scared. Just for a second."Lukas confessed.

"You got scared?"Axel snarled angrily, approaching the blonde boy.

"It wasn't my fault."Lukas defended. He has a reason to be scared when there was a huge Wither out in the world.

"You got scared and it wasn't your fault?"Axel restated.

"Back off, Axel. We have a reason to be scared."Olivia said which was true.

"We got to go back."Axel insisted as he walked through the portal but Olivia blocked his way.

"No, we can't."Olivia shook her head. "We just have to wait."

"Olivia, they are still there. We need to go and save them, especially for Raven."Jesse stated. Lukas nodded in agreement. Within those, several hours from the moment he met her, Lukas could say Raven's worthy to be rescued. After her struggle with Aiden and saving him from the iron golem in the basement along with her iridescent green eyes, she's worth saving.

Did he just think her eyes are iridescent? Lukas shrugged that thought when he noticed the portal crackled lavender, a sign that someone will come out from the chaos.

"Hey! There she is!"He exclaimed. Soon, someone got out of the portal, almost hitting the Nether ground but was able to keep his footing. He was also carrying somebody on what seems to be the right foot with his left hand.

"You again."He spat, as that someone was Ivor, but the group did not recognize the person's he is carrying yet. Suddenly, a Wither tentacle came right through the portal swinging. The group (and Ivor) was able to dodge it until the tentacle broke the portal, cutting the tentacle off and leaving the group stuck in the Nether.

"Ivor."Jesse snarled as Ivor dusted himself off with his free hand.

"You ruined everything!"Ivor barked. Lukas felt his fear closing in on him. He was still surviving, which was a miracle as he backed up Jesse along with his friends.

"Don't pretend you didn't know thieves! You took my most valuable potion."Ivor ranted when Jesse approached and punched him. Hard. In the face. Lukas winced absentmindedly at this.

"More needless violence. It solves nothing. Learn the lesson now or you'll share someone's fate."Ivor hissed. "There's nothing left up there! Nothing but that Witherstorm."

"Why are we wasting time talking to this jerk? We have to go and get Petra and Raven."Axel snarled.

"The girls. I saw them."Ivor mentioned, catching everyone's attention.

"You're joking."Lukas said. He has to be but the tone says otherwise.

"Oh I'm not, Blondie."Ivor said. "While I was running toward the portal, I passed the girl with the bandana. She was running in the opposite direction. As for the other girl..."Ivor then threw the person he was carrying into the ground harshly, who was actually Raven knocked out. Lukas approached her and was glad to see Raven's still has a pulse.

"What did you do to Raven?"Lukas questioned angrily. "If you killed her..."

"Nothing. It's her stupidity that caused her this."Ivor answered. "I would say it's that same for the bandana girl."

"Our friends are in trouble because of you."Jesse hissed. "We are all in trouble because of you. If you hadn't scammed Petra, we wouldn't be even in this mess that you made."

"Just forget this ever happened. It was just my pity that I saved this girl. If she screwed herself again, she won't have my mercy."Ivor snarled, referring to Raven. "Through that tunnel is a network of mine carts built by the Order of the Stone. It's your only way out of this."

"How would you get out of here?"Lukas asked.

"Me? Well, I'll use my imagination, Blondie."Ivor replied sarcastically before they heard something.

"What was that?"Axel asked.

"I would wish you good luck but luck won't carry you through the Nether. You have my sympathies."Ivor said as he drank a potion that caused him to vanish and the sound of a splash potion breaking was heard. Lukas glanced at Raven and saw red effects bubbling at her, her unconscious body still not moving.

"Yeah right, it's pity when you harm someone."Lukas mumbled to himself when Jesse screamed. Lukas looked up and saw a Ghast approached them with its crimson eyes.

"RUN!"Jesse yelled as everyone ran. Lukas did the same after picking up Raven bridal style and found her weight surprisingly light with a few chunks of heaviness. The group soon comes across a set of mine carts.

"This is must be what Ivor is talking about."Olivia reasoned when the gang looked back and saw the Ghast staring at them before shooting a fireball. They dodged it before they settled on the mine carts, with Lukas and Raven on the same cart. Lukas has to admit it: it's quite a miracle that neither of them had fallen off as the mine carts traveled them through the Nether.

+++

"Wow. The Nether."Lukas whispered as he marveled at the sight the mine carts took them. Clearly, the Nether was a place full of lava, fire and hostile creatures.

"Yeah. That is a LOT of lava... and fire... and other things that could burn you into death."Olivia agreed. Suddenly Reuben let out an oink, hiding in his cart before Jesse yelped an 'oh no'.

Lukas looked ahead and gasped. There was nothing after several tracks up ahead. "Oh that's a drop. That is very, very much of a drop."He said, his breathing gradually getting shaky at what was about to happen in a few moments.

"What are you talking about, newbie? What dr-"Axel questioned when he saw Lukas' point. "Oh crap! You weren't kidding!"

"Here we go!"Jesse exclaimed as the mine carts drop. It turns out there was actually a set of tracks, but Lukas didn't care. All he focused on was gripping one hand at his cart, the other one at Raven, who was unaware of what was happening.

After the drop, the carts led them into a lighted path of Glowstone and torches. They soon were about to approach a wall that was blocking the path.

"Duck!"Lukas yelled as he ducked with Raven at his arms. When the wall passed them, Olivia's cry made him repeat what he recently just did as they passed that path and towards a fiery lava curtain.

"Okay, so I'm not the only one seeing that we're running out of track, right?"Axel asked.

"No!"Lukas responded vigorously. They're going to be toasted soon.

"Jesse, that switch!"Olivia yelled. Jesse then carefully leaned out of the cart with one of his arms out. As soon he was near, he quickly pulled the switch. Lukas breathed a sigh of relief as nobody's getting toasted.

"Haha, wow. I thought something bad was going to happen there."Jesse confessed. "But, heh, I guess everything's going to be-"Soon Jesse was interrupted as the group split paths because of the track set. Jesse and Reuben were on one side and the rest was on the other side. Olivia, Axel and Lukas also were split up as Lukas was stuck on the Nether track, alone with Raven.

"Guys? Anyone?"Lukas asked only to be replied by dead silence. He sighed, at least there were no hostile creatures disturbing him-

He suddenly heard two Ghast cries as they shot a fireball at him. Screw his luck.

+++

"AHH!"Raven's eyes bolted open and saw Lukas ducked fireballs from Ghasts. That was enough for her to figure out she was in the Nether and she was in Lukas' minecart; both of them in one minecart seems like a miracle that she has not fell off.

"Hey!"Raven said as she began to deflect the ghast's fireballs that fired at her with her sword, killing the mobs off. She turned to Lukas, who is hyperventilating.

"Catch your breath, Louie."Raven said bluntly before she covered her mouth. She's blurting nicknames, just great.

"Raven, you're alright!"Lukas exclaimed as he hugged Raven, unfazed at the nickname. Raven was surprised at the hug before she let it go as the hug broke.

"What happened?"Raven asked.

"Well, Ivor pulled you out of that beam, Jesse punched him, Ivor then vanished after some talk and dropped a splash potion at you. Since the guy manages to create a huge monster on the loose, I assume that was a splash potion of harming. Then after some running because of monsters, we found our way here."Lukas explained. "I'm so glad you're alive. I thought you were dead or something."

"Thanks for carrying me Lukas."Raven smiled before they felt the cart hit a metallic surface. The pair looked ahead and saw Olivia and Axel.

"Raven, you're okay!"Olivia said.

"Oh man, I thought you're a goner."Axel affirmed.

"Where's Jesse and Reuben?"Raven asked when she heard a scream and her cart felt something being hit from the back. The group then turned around and saw the person and the pig Raven is asking for.

"Raven!"Jesse beamed a smile, with Reuben giving a happy oink. "Is... ha... is everybody okay?"

"I mean, I'm not dead. I guess that's good."Axel responded. The group then turned up ahead.

"Ditto. Ditto with the not dead."Olivia nodded.

"I just can't believe you visited the Nether, Raven. This place is awful."Lukas commented.

"Eh, I could handle it."Raven shrugged.

"Heh, your throat's going to be sore later, Axel."Lukas chuckled.

"Why?"Axel inquired.

"I mean... wasn't that you doing all that screaming before? Sounded like you were really shredding your larynx."Lukas answered.

"Oh yeah. I heard that too. Really high-pitched? Kind of like a squeaky piston?"Olivia affirmed.

"You know, let's just not talk about this."Jesse said.

"Sounds good to me. I can't relate about the screaming."Raven agreed, although she assumed Jesse was the one screaming.

+++

"Can you throw up like inside your body?"Jesse asked as they climbed up the stairs at where the mine carts led them too, since everyone is already off the carts.

"Uh-huh. I know because I just did that about five times."Olivia remarked.

"Look at this place."Raven said in awe as she looked at the view, her voice echoing. She really only went to the Nether to fight Blazes as Gabriela to progress. She never thought exploring it would give off a blazing vibe.

"All of these tracks converge at one point. You could probably get anywhere in the world from here."Olivia observed.

"There's the portal!"Jesse exclaimed as they caught sight of a Nether portal.

"This is what Gabriel was talking about."Lukas remarked.

"That's our way out."Axel said.

"It must lead back to the surface."Olivia stated.

"The surface is also where that creature is."Lukas noted.

"Are we playing the obvious game now?"Raven mumbled to herself as Axel faced the portal. She sighed when she felt some paper at her pocket. She'll check it later when she finally settled in somewhere safe.

"He's right. We have no idea what we're walking into. It could be dangerous."Jesse agreed before Axel shrugged, facing the portal.

"Thanks for being so brave Axel."Lukas remarked.

"All right. I'm going to go. I'm going. I'm going right now."Axel repeated.

"Axel, maybe I should go first."Jesse said.

"That's not what I was saying."Axel remarked.

"I'm going in also."Raven agreed as she approached the portal only to be hold back by Jesse's hand.

"Rae, the last thing I want is for you to faint again."Jesse responded. "I'm going."

"If you insist then...,"Raven sighed as Jesse approached the portal.

"Well, see you on the other side... I guess."Jesse commented.

"Be careful."Olivia warned.

"Thanks, Jesse."Axel smiled as Jesse entered the portal.

+++

Few seconds passed, Axel sighed. "We should go and check on Jesse." He then went into the portal, Raven following him after.

"... Is it dead? I mean, you know, dead-dead?"Axel asked, with Jesse affirming it as they walked up some blocks. It was nighttime with the moon shining overhead. Raven could hear the moans of zombies nearby; quite lucky they had not been spotted by them.

"Where are we?"Olivia asked.

"Let's see. We're stuck in the dark, and we're in the middle of nowhere."Raven clarified.

"Maybe we should bed down for the night. It's dangerous to be out when it's this dark."Lukas suggested.

"I thought we were headed toward a temple."Axel voiced.

"We're looking for a giant building. It should be pretty obvious."Olivia remarked.

"Ivor said-"Lukas said.

"Oh... "Ivor said." Well then this is the temple."Axel said. "I'm being sarcastic."

"We need to build a shelter like now. We're really vulnerable out here." Jesse urged.

"I say we build a treehouse."Olivia suggested.

"That'll take forever and we'll be exposed while we do it. We just need a quick and dirty hut."Axel retorted. Raven quickly caught sight of a zombie walking mindlessly.

"We better build the shelter fast before some skeleton or zombie comes out."Raven said.

"Let's go with a treehouse."Jesse decided.

"It's functional. It'll keep us out of danger."Olivia agreed.

"It's not a bad idea."Lukas said, with Raven nodding as they began to work at their treehouse.

+++

"If I wake up with a spider on my face, I'm going to expect you to deal with it."Axel ranted as they looked over at their finished work.

"Lower your expectations, Axel."Olivia said.

"Well, maybe if we'd built into the tree a little bit more, it could've-"Lukas then shook his head. "Never mind. This tree is fine. It's good."

Lukas then began to climb it, along with the others as they began to settle in the treehouse with a Netherrack being lit, acting as a campfire.

Raven mostly settled herself on the fire, trying to warm her cold body. She felt her left arm prickling with pain again, but she tried to conceal it by looking down at the wooden ground.

"And one for Raven."She looked up and saw Axel giving her a cookie. She smiled in thanks when she noticed Lukas doesn't have anything. "Sorry Lukas, I only have five."

"That was intentional."Raven thought. She wanted to give the cookie but Jesse beat her to it. Jesse then looked at her in plea, before Raven gave in, eating the cookie.

"If you had to... what would you rather fight? A hundred chicken-sized zombies or ten zombie-sized chickens?"Olivia asked.

"Choose wisely."Jesse remarked. Raven chuckled. A little meme question wouldn't hurt.

"That's a good one. Let me think..."Lukas thought aloud.

"How can you guys joke at a time like this?"Axel questioned. "Petra is still up there."

"We can't just mope. We got to keep our spirits high."Jesse responded.

"No, we should be moping."Axel retorted. "That's exactly what we should be doing."

"Axel, she'll be fine."Raven agreed hopefully before she coughed again. She wants to rest and sleep but she can't. She has to check her stuff to make sure she'll be fine, even on her own.

"What makes you think that?"Axel questioned.

"She's got to be."Raven responded as Axel walked away.

"Fine, then. We should get some rest. We got to start looking for this temple as early as we can."Lukas thought aloud as he stood up. "Now, my guess is, if we start at the portal and kind of split up-"

"Whoa! What are you doing?"Axel turned to face Lukas with a glare.

"Did I do something wrong to you? I'd really like to know." Lukas asked. "Because you keep getting on my case for what seems like no reason."

"We'll figure it out in the morning. We need to rest."Jesse said before he yawned.

"Maybe you're right. I'm pretty exhausted."Lukas agreed.

"Jesse means 'us', not 'you'."Axel informed.

"Axel, I think he meant all of us."Raven chided.

"You're the only one wearing that stupid jacket."Axel sneered. "Don't tell us what to do."

"Take. That. Back."Lukas snapped.

"Can't. Wouldn't."Axel replied on the same tone.

"You know what; I get to wear this jacket because I know how to build. But that doesn't mean I don't know how to break things..."Lukas asserted.

"Your threats don't scare me, now that we know who you really are."

"Jesse, your friend is way out of line!"Lukas snapped.

"Let's just drop it."Jesse replied.

"The stress is getting to the both of you."Raven noted. "Take a few deep breaths and then cool off."

"Don't be like that."Axel said.

"Just please?"Raven pleaded before she coughed again.

"Haven't you done enough damage for one day?"Axel hissed. "Petra might be dead because of you."

"Can the two of you just cool off?"Raven shouted, tired of the argument before she felt herself being sapped away of energy by something. She pinched her left arm absentmindedly at this, waking herself up.

"Look, why don't I just leave and let you guys hash this out?"Lukas suggested as he stood up and approached the ladder when Olivia blocked his path.

"You can't leave. There are monsters out there."Olivia said worriedly as she stood up.

"I can take care of myself."Lukas said. "Axel wanted it to happen anyway."

"Let him leave if he wants to leave."Axel shrugged.

"Axel, if Lukas' leaving, I'm leaving."Raven blurted as she stood up near Lukas. "One way or another, you two need to learn to get along, because I'm seriously getting sick of the both of you arguing."

"But Raven-"Axel began when...

"That's enough. We're all on the same team now. He's staying."Jesse decided. Lukas smiled before they settled down on the campfire.

"Zombie-sized chickens. That's what I'd fight."Lukas finally answered Olivia's question.

"Why's that?"Olivia inquired.

"Because I'm starving."Lukas replied when the sky crackled, before it rained with the Netherrack unfazed at the current weather

"Knew I should have added the roof, but oh well."Raven thought aloud.

"Rain's better than monsters."Lukas voiced before he turned at Jesse and Raven. "Thanks for keeping me in."

Jesse nodded and Raven smiled. "Consider it a thank you for carrying me."She said.

+++

The Netherrack's fire crackled loudly at the treehouse. Raven sighed as she looked at her sleeping friends. Raven then began to pull out her materials. She still has some stone blocks and her stone sword and stone pickaxe. She spent all of her wood blocks at the treehouse though. Raven then dug a little deep in her pockets and felt something smooth and thin. She carefully pulled it out and saw a letter with scribbled writing, as the person who wrote it was in a rush. She then read it:

To Diamond Clip Girl

I'm sorry I didn't have a bucket of milk. I hope you'll be fine on your own with that healing potion.

Raven then looked at who gave her the letter. It was rushed handwriting but Raven glared at it closer before she gasped.

The letter came from Ivor.

When Lukas told her that Ivor dropped a potion on her, he assumes it was harming. It's actually healing. Ivor, the man who created a mutant monster on the loose, saved her life.

"What's with the bucket of- COUGH!"Raven voiced when she coughed loudly. Fortunately, her friends were deep asleep, none of them quite waking up. She glanced at her left arm and found a dark purple pixel on it.

No wonder why Ivor said sorry because he didn't have milk. Raven is currently infected by a case of Wither Sickness. It was logic for Raven; she has been grabbed by a Wither tentacle twice and was sucked in a tractor beam trying to save Petra.

Reading the letter thrice, Raven decoded that Ivor cared for her. She couldn't believe it. Maybe Ivor wasn't that bad as she thinks. Maybe he could be the key for her way back home.

Should she tell the others? Raven glanced at them before shaking her head. No, she can't. They wouldn't understand. It would just be what happened back home; being cast aside all because of a crazy idea.

Drowsiness soon took over her. Raven looked at sky and sighed. "Mega Wither on the loose, you can't wither me down." She said before she fell asleep near the crackling fire.