Unexpected Entrance

Unexpected Entrance is the second book in Minecraftia: Arc 4. It will be published in October 16th, 2018.
==Synopsis==
And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that you'll be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
==Plot==
===Chapter 1: James===
My eyes filled with shock at the inventory scattered across the distorted white floor. The pile of inventory revealing the stereotypical items a warrior or raider would normally clutch on to. The broken, worn out face of Arbello showed anger, hate, yet shock. Hate invaded his discolored eyes, and he immediately went for his glistening sword. The hunting team we had affiliated with were too numb with shock to do anything, except Marlon.
Arbello charged at us in a fit of fury. We had finally accepted that our fate was set to die in the hands of this man we had wronged. I shut my eyes. And waited, and waited, and waited.
But nothing happened.
Marlon clutched Arbello. I could tell from his body language that, for once, we had wronged this man. But Marlon was different than that. He had done nothing, and though Ryland was responsible, Arbello wanted vengeance on our whole group.
"Get some supplies, then go!" he yelled.
But we were still too numb to do anything. Bystanders on both sides eventually came back to their senses. Connor, who was clear to us Arbello's right hand man, rushed to his aide. But he was too late, as Marlon used the only strength he still had in his numb body to shatter the light blue window on Arbello's left. His next move was quite a shock, as he impelled Arbello out of the hole in the wall that formerly served as a window. A small pack of mobs, consisting of three to four zombies, were allured to the sight.
That was all we could see of Arbello after that. The Port Arbello lieutenant, Connor, was realizing he needed backup. "Cain! Zander!" were the next words we heard, the impending attack becoming more and more apparent. The two members of Port Arbello that Connor had signalled for, Cain and Zander, knocked down what was left of the corroding wooden door. We were almost out of time. Finn tilted his head to Ryland, with a look of frustration.
Ryland was clearly not the sharpest weapon, as his next move was shoving Zander in to the very same mob that surrounded his master. Except Arbello was gone, despite there being nothing remaining of his possessions. We looked away for one second, but Zander was replaced with a sack full of inventory that we had expected to see instead of nothing when Arbello was impelled in. At last, we ran. I gave one last sorrow filled stare at Stella, before fleeing with the rest of my allies. I then gave my gaze to Aasim, who was noticeably frustrated due to Ryland's excuse of a plan.
We were so fearful, we had almost forgotten about Marlon, but expressed gladness to see him alright. By the time we were certain we had fled Port Arbello and its inmates, we had stopped for a breather. A peaceful sight, everyone talking away, new faces getting to know each other. Anyone passing through would have been oblivious to what had previously occured.
It was after a minute or two when I could sense a presence. I turned around. Impervious to daylight and lonesome, was the zombie, hidden behind trees.. Excluding the fact that it was standing in front of me in mid daylight, something else was not quite right.
The eyes.
Replacing the deep, empty black pair of sockets were two human eyes. Hazel in color, and clear as day. The zombie, although it could have been anything at this present time, had made a gesture with its hands. A gesture welcoming me in to its atmosphere, and so I entered. Looking back, Aasim did too, giving a confused look as to why I had backed up in to the woods.
But I was too curious. I had noticed by now that this was no zombie, but a human. A human who had learned skills beyond us. A skill that could make anyone spit out "Just when you think you've seen it all." The skill to walk among the mobs. The disguised human knelt down, and took a breath.
"Things are not looking good for you and your friends," the apparent male said at last.
I gave a confused look, and had question the authenticity of this man's claims. I asked him "How so?", which had led to a deepr conversation.
"Port Arbello is not what it seems," the man told me. "We were affected by them. They had taken our friend, Kari. We have many treasures at our boarding school, but we have mob heads. We treasure them and display them to make raiders and villains fear us. I put one on and disguised myself as a zombie. I snuck around the city at night, avoiding getting spotted. They appear to be kidnapping members of other cities."
I could not believe the information my mind was digesting. I had to pry for more information, and so I asked him for more.
"They recruit from different cities. You have any friends who are not here? Be their guardian angel and protect them, before they can get them, too," the man had responded to my quest.
I was puzzled, and knew I had to question the man some more. I had asked him several questions: What his name was, where he was from, and how long he had been in trouble with these people.
"My name is James. I built the boarding school right before we were transported here. Lived there ever since, and I remember the entire history of Port Arbello. I even remember its former name, clear as day. "Champion City." It was beautiful, then some madman tore it down. I didn't come in to contact with these raiders until about three years ago, when they took Kari. I don't know what he wants them for, but you should be careful," James clarified.
As soon as he mentioned the name "Champion City" I had felt it necessary to disclose my identity to James. James had instantly recognized it. We had both grown to show compassion for each other, and James would soon make an offer that would save many lives in The Falls.
"In case things go south for you and your group, you meet up with us at the boarding school. They've already attacked us, and I doubt they'd bother again. They won't expect it," he offered to me.
I gratefully accepted his offer, and shook his hand. The disguised James once again fled in to the depths of The Falls' woods, and I was back with my numerous allies. The first thing Kenney seemed to do was ask questions.
"Where did you go?" was the first thing he inquired.
I divulged to Kenney my entire experience with James. Needless to say, he was freaked out, as were the rest of them.
"We run in to those guys, and now a guy dressed in mob skulls is potentially trying to trick you?" asked Allison.
I shook my head. While it was odd he was so interested in luring us away from our well-protected turf, I had trusted James. I had felt several elements of trust in him, however, the group had decided to not listen to me, and instead vote on it when we had re-entered The Falls.
===Chapter 2: Reunion In Progress===
My heart and head lit up as soon as the well-needed surprise filled my eyes and ears. Beyond the grey, dull, recently buffed walls of my new home, were my old friends. All of them were safe: Jude, Witherstorm, Jimbob, Jayden, Evan, Warren, Brooke, and Swarfiga. So was Ray, although I had figured he would be. I could still overhear Finn arguing with Ryland, however.
"I am telling you, dude, until we see Gerald with our own two eyes, I don't trust these dudes!" Swarfiga yelled at Evan.
"Well, why don't you turn around?" grinned Evan upon noticing our arrival.
I had also noticed a new friend had joined our group, as visible from the little white rabbit huddled up in Warren's arms.
"This is Alice. We found her near the Mansion," explained Warren.
I was mainly focused on the erupting argument that was conflicting between Ryland and Finn. However, I gave Alice a quick pet, and warned Warren of Rosie. He was confundled at first, but I had explained to him that Rosie was Finn's dog, and that she was quite fierce.
"Oh, right. They had made some friends. They're exploring the city now," Ray had revealed.
Aasim turned his gaze to Ray.
"And your buddy Ryland has endangered us all."
Aasim quickly explained to Ray everything from encountering Arbello up until encountering James. Binta, who was sat on a nearby picnic bench, appeared to have overheard us, as she bounced off the table and rushed over.
"A man? What did he look like?" Binta demanded.
I quickly explained his appearance to Binta. His discolored eyes, his dirty, balding scalp, and his ragged clothes. Binta placed a hand on her chest as she started to panic.
"Everything okay?" were the first words that exited my mouth.
A shake passed over Binta's head as she started to divulge everything.
"The man... his name is Arbello. He takes people from different groups. Anyone he doesn't take, he kills," Binta told me.
Anyway, enough with all the fancy writing. The point is, I became terrified after hearing these words. My body refused to stop vibrating. And guess what made it worse? Marlon stepping up after Binta.
"Me and my friends were running from these people. It was sometime before we got to Xaron Bay. They were trying to recruit us for... something, apparently," he added on to what Binta had previously told us.
At this point we were all starting to freak out. Finn stepped forward to calm Binta down.
"Enough! We can arm our citizens. We can fight these guys!" yelled Finn.
Allison rolled her eyes.
"With what weapons? The higher-ups hog them for themselves," Allison explained to Finn.
Evan interrupted both of them.
"Some of us could head down to The Citadel. We have supplies, weapons, armor," explained Evan.
Swarfiga sighed.
"Dude, we've been gone for eight years. Do you have any idea how long it'd take to get back?" asked Swarfiga.
"We could just build a portal. If Champion City is nearby, we probably aren't even that far away from Amber's town. We could have gone south, then looped around," explained Warren.
At this point, our argument was attracting more and more Falls citizens.
"We should vote on how to handle the situation. We'll be running around in circles all day otherwise," suggested Baahir.
Finn looked at Baahir, presumably surprised by his simple yet effective plan.
"Good idea. We'll vote on it," Finn announced.
Another small group I hadn't met yet arrived. Two girls, one guy. The guy appeared to have a slimmer model than the other two, however.
"Dude, we should build landmines around the gates, and use redstone to make traps so they explode instantly when these idiots step on them, and then have the dispensers fire arrows at them," laughed Mitch.
Swarfiga also burst in to hysterics at Mitch's idea.
"Dude, that guy rocks," laughed Swarfiga.
Kenney and I walked away from the group momentarily.
"I'm glad our guys are back, but some of them are acting a bit... suspiciously," Kenney told me.
"How so?" I asked.
Kenney pointed at Brooke.
"She barely responds to our ideas, but she also is making odd movements. Like, she keeps twitching or blinking really fast whenever they mention Arbello... strange..." Kenney noted.
I just simply shrugged my shoulders and returned to the group.
"So, down to the nitty gritty: We eating tonight?" asked Trevor.
Louis emptied his pocket, to which everyone we went hunting with did the same. I was starting to get confused by the new people.
"They have names you wanna share with me?" I asked.
"Oh, right. Small dude is Willy. The other two are Jasmine and Luna," replied Ray.
Ryland pulled out sword.
"Hello no are you carrying that thing around with you!" Allison exclaimed.
Ryland sighed and handed her the sword. The rest of us returned to our duties, planning our attacks on Port Arbello for if they decided to attack. Serge walked up to Jayden.
"Dude, is that a villager? Do you know how long it's been since I've seen a villager?" asked Serge.
"I am Jayden. And you are?" asked Jayden.
Serge told Jayden his name, then the two excitedly shared conversation. I had noticed that Binta looked as if she was suffering from some sort of palpitation.
"What the hell is she doing?" asked Willy.
"You see, little dude... when some people get scared, they freak out," replied Swarfiga.
===Chapter 3: Finn's Plan===
The Falls was going to be in serious danger if we didn't fend off Port Arbello, and call me an empath, but I could sense the fear and worry in each member of our new community. Binta had grabbed Lluna and was heading back home, Swarfiga and Warren were discussing their idea for traps, Witherstorm, Jude, and Jimbob were talking to Trevor about stop caring about the real world so much, and everyone else was just trying to have as much fun as possible before all hell breaks loose.
So I walked over to Louis and Ray, who were discussing jokes.
"Hey, Gerald. Got any good ones?" asked Louis.
I thought for a moment, and came up with the perfect joke.
"What did the moose say to his son before he went to school? 'Bison'," I replied.
Louis had his mouth slightly hung open for a second. He looked at Ray, and the two of them burst out laughing.
"That was a great one," laughed Ray.
Allison walked over to the two of us, with a look on her face that told us she wasn't in the mood for jokes and puns.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Allison. "We're about to declare war on a group that's ten times as powerful as us, and you're sat here joking?"
Louis had a blank expression on his face, and slowly walked away from the scene.
"You guys find this funny, and guess what happens the second we come in to contact with these guys? Ryland shoots one of them dead, and now they're after us. Are you trying to get us all killed? Are you betraying both groups?" yelled Allison.
I shook my head.
"Yes, Allison. Ryland and I work alone and are plotting to destroy every town and city in all of Minecraftia. We're also gay for each other, and I secretly praise Ryland for all his dirty work," I admitted to her, jokingly.
Allison was becoming increasingly frustrated, but Finn showed up to break it up.
"Allison, quit it. Gerald, I need you to come with me. You, Willy, Aasim, Jimbob, Ray, and Brody," Finn explained to me.
Ray and I left Allison behind, and followed swiftly behind Finn.
Entering Finn's office, we could see he had numerous plans for defending The Falls from Port Arbello. I looked around me, and could see Willy, Ray, Aasim, Jimbob, and Brody. Rosie was also asleep on a bed.
"Phase one is complete. We've cancelled Eileen's school for the forseeable future to get everyone focused on making traps for the Port Arbello raiders. We have Ben, Alexander, Chris, Genevieve, Temperance, and Braxton making sure the landmines are up and running. Phase two is getting Serge to stop goofing around with the Noteblocks and get Trevor to stop caring about perfecting real world desgins so much and get to work on formidable structures," explained Finn.
"I see," replied Aasim. "You want me and Gerald to get Serge and Trev ready?"
Finn shook his head, and pointed at Brody.
"She will fetch Serge. You're fetching Trevor. Gerald and Jimbob can come, but they have to pick who to follow. Understand?" asked Finn.
Aasim sighed, but nodded anyway.
"Yo, can I come with Aasim? Trev's pretty cool," Jimbob asked Finn.
I guess I'm following Brody to get Serge, then. I made sure to stay behind her. I didn't want to come off as rude, and she knew the area way better than me. Entering Serge's lab I could feel in the air that something wasn't right. Serge was no where to be found. At least, not from where we were looking, because he jumped us.
"Gerald!" yelled Serge.
I let out a slight screech, but laughed it off. Serge was probably one of the least lame members of the Falls Council.
"Hey, Serge. Finn wants you working on defences and traps," Brody explained to him.
Serge pointed at a stack of gunpowder.
"Pyrotechnic specialist Serge is already on the case," he replied.
Serge walked over to a crafting table.
"I killed loads of creepers last night. Plan to build some kind of grenade," Serge explained.
He pulled out some sand, and some redstone torches. I could already figure out Serge's idea for a defence. Lobbing TNT at the raiders.
"You see, I'm making TNT, then I'm gonna light it with redstone torches, then THROW IT at the Port Arbello douches!" yelled Serge.
I was liking how Serge thinks.
"Great idea, Serge. We'll need it ready by tonight. They could attack in hours, days, weeks, we don't know," Brody lectured him.
Brody and I left Serge to do his thing, and caught up with Jimbob and Aasim.
"Trevor's finally taking this seriously. Not a clue why Finn needed Ray and the other new guy," Aasim said, his tone making it sound like progress.
We returned to Finn's office. Ray and Willy were debating over... something.
"Dude, isn't that a little overkill?" asked Ray.
"If they're gonna kill us or enslave us or whatever then no," replied Willy.
I asked Willy what his idea was. Long story short, he wanted to build a huge redstone circuit that would connect a ton of TNT blocks to explode when a lever was pressed to stop soldiers from entering.
"Heh, I like it, little dude," I told Willy.
I high fived him, and turned to Finn.
"Serge and Trevor are making traps," I explained to him.
Finn seemed to be happy by the progress the town was making.
"I think we should have some entertainment for the people fighting," I told Finn.
Finn seemed rather happy about the idea, and told me to do what I needed to do. And so, I gathered Serge, Aasim, Kenney, Ray, Mitch, Louis, Brody, Swarfiga, and Warren. They were all in on the idea.
"Entertainment and soirees for the soldiers. Sounds brilliant," Swarfiga told me.
Serge had several noteblocks ready, and Mitch and Warren had fireworks.
"Anyone else have any ideas? We need to get ready, so gets your ideas ready," I told them.
At least tonight would be a break from all the stress.
===Chapter 4: A Message For Me===
We had put on a show for all the tired Falls soldiers, with music, fireworks, games, and we got Baahir to make food for everyone in the Falls. Lydia, Ty, and the other lead members all seemed delighted by the show.
"Dude, that was awesome!" exclaimed Ty.
Joan and Estella were behind him, as per usual, and Ludwig's oldest friends, Witherstorm, Jude, Jimbob, and Jayden were all clapping.
"That was awesome. Pretty sad this'll be our last chance to mingle with everyone here before all hell breaks loose," sighed Witherstorm.
Eileen and Allison walked over to us. They looked pretty confused.
"There's someone at the gate, saying they want to talk to you. They looked worried when we asked if they were from Port Arbello," explained Eileen.
Kenney walked over.
"Oh, great. More unwanted visitors," he sighed sarcastically.
Kenney, Jude, Witherstorm, Jimbob, and Jayden all walked with me to the Falls' gate. I couldn't believe my eyes. One person was on the skinnier side, and the other one... Well, I immediately recognized to be an old friend from The Falls. Her name, as I remember it, was Annie.
"Gerald!" she yelled happily.
I immediately shushed her.
"Look, it's great to see you and Amber and the others okay and all, but there could be people watching," I told her.
She then came back to reality, and I immediately knew something was wrong.
"Everyone in Elliottown was killed. We held a meeting in the Citadel, and everyone seems to think that the same guys you found are responsible," she explained.
I was shocked at this. Everyone in Elliottown was dead? I barely knew anyone in that town, as all the ones I were familiar with had either moved to Xaron Bay or The Citadel. But if they knew where Elliottown was, then they knew where the other communities were.
The skinnier guy stepped forward.
"I doubt you remember me, but my name was Gabriel," he told me.
Of course I remembered him. How he betrayed me. However, he had spared me of having another murder on my hands by killing Ellis.
"I'm sorry for betraying you. It was a dumb move. But now that Arbello wants to take you all hostage, I think it's best you get as much help as possible," explained Gabriel.
"But if you died, how are you here?" asked Jimbob.
Jayden turned to face Jimbob.
"Don't you remember? My good friend Thibo was the Mayor because he came back! Gerald, how did he come back?" asked Jayden.
"He made another account to get sucked back in," replied Jude.
After a while of talking, we all decided it was best for Annie and Gabriel to stay with us in The Falls. Finn was skeptical at first, but after I assured him I knew who they were, he was fine with it.
"So, how's everyone? Sonar? Dana? Sirius? Von?" asked Ray.
"Fine. They're all fine," Annie assured him.
Gabriel walked over to Lydia to introduce himself.
"Hey, I'm Gabe," he told her.
It was great to see everyone getting along. As Witherstorm said, hell was about to break loose.
But it didn't. For two whole weeks, we were all okay. No bombs exploding under our feet or anything. I was helping Eileen around the school with Annie and Aasim, actually. Gabriel had already made friends with Mitch, Lydia, and Willy, so it was great to see him fighting on our side after what happened those years ago.
Braxton was teaching Ben, Alexander, Chris, Mitch, Genevieve, Temperance, Gabriel, and Willy how to make explosives.
"Hey, leg guy, c'mere!" Alexander called out.
I walked over to see what Ben, Alexander, and Mitch were working on.
"See this?" asked Mitch.
He threw his sword in the air, then flung it at the wall.
"Imagine that, but the wall being a soldier!" yelled Mitch.
Binta, Trevor, and Jasmine entered the school. They seemed worried.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked.
Trevor looked me in the eye. I could tell he was part scared and half angry.
"It's Ryland. He and Evan keep fighting Finn," he replied.
Aasim rolled his eyes. Annie looked as if she had remembered Ryland's outbursts from eight years ago.
"I almost forgot this guy sucked," she told me.
Aasim and I laughed with her, then went back in to a serious tone. We left the school in order to see what Ryland was arguing about. When I exited the school, I could see clear as day that Ryland wasn't just arguing with Finn. Instead he had chosen to get physical.
"What the hell are you chatting? We're going to war any day now and you're concerned about who's to blame?" asked Evan.
"We're holding a morning meeting tomorrow. If you don't like it, the door is over there," replied Finn.
Swarfiga, Binta, and myself stepped in between the fight.
"Jeez, Ryland. You can be a pain, you know," Swarfiga told Ryland.
Ryland was just becoming angrier.
"And you can't? You did nothing for the eight years on the road! You just sat on your rear end flirting!" yelled Ryland.
Evan rolled his eyes, and left the courtyard.
"Screw you all," he hissed.
The pressure of war was definitely growing on everybody in the Falls. No amount of entertainment could help them escape.
"Warren, Brooke, Swarfiga, Jude, Witherstorm, Jimbob, Jayden, Annie, Gabriel, Willy, Jasmine, and Luna, you guys come with me. I need to sort your rooms out," Finn explained to them.
I had noticed that Louis and Binta were talking about something. Marlon had also noticed it. I walked over to him.
"You see Louis and that Binta person?" asked Marlon.
I nodded, obviously.
"I'm pretty sure Louis is flirting with her," Marlon laughed.
I laughed with him as Louis successfully flirted with Binta. Allison let out a grunt as she did so, clearly annoyed that neither of them were taking this seriously. I had decided it was time to get to know The Falls' citizens better, as I had barely talked to a few of them, including Ty and the kids.
===Chapter 5: Remembering The Good Times===
And of course, Rosie the dog had just woke up on the field by the park. She was looking for food, clearly. Aasim and Ty were looking for stuff to give her, or at least that was what I could make out, as they were about 100 blocks away. I checked my inventory, and found a chunk of rotten flesh. I ran over to Rosie.
"Hey! Rosie! Sit!" I yelled.
Rosie sat down, as I had commanded.
"Do you want a treat?" I asked, throwing her the rotten flesh.
She immediately began chewing on the meat, and Ty clapped his hands.
"Dude, maybe if Finn dies you can be Rosie's new owner!" Ty laughed.
Finn, who was nearby and heard Ty's joke, didn't find it that funny. At a nearby bench, Annie and Kenney were also laughing.
"Gerald the Dog Whisperer. If we ever return to the Citadel, that's your new name," Kenney laughed.
The two of them walked over to the five of us.
"I still can't believe this is real. Between Stevie's death and the cult, we were all too stressed to get to know each other," sighed Annie.
I stood up straight.
"Well, now we can. We'll fend off Port Arbello, then we can all go down to Xaron and have Baahir and a few others make a huge feast for the gang," explained Aasim.
Annie was visibly confused as to how Aasim knew about Xaron Bay.
"Yeah, you're about to ask how he knew, huh? Long story short, I told him," I told her.
Aasim got up and ready to leave.
"Anyway, I promised Trevor I'd help him around town. I'm glad he's finally realizing that not everything revolves around the real world anymore," he explained.
It was then Aasim walked away, and so did Finn with Rosie. Joan and Estella showed up for Ty about five minutes later..
"Man, I gotta bounce. Bye guys," he said.
Then it was just me, Kenney, and Annie.
"With Gabriel and Stella also back in the picture, we should have a reunion party," Kenney suggested.
A reunion party sounded great. I found it unlikely that we would return to Xaron Bay as long as The Falls' worked out. We gathered Gabriel, Ray, Marlon, Louis, Ryland, Leo, Binta, Lluna, as well as the team I was separated from in to the Function Room of The Falls' apartment complex.
Kenney and I took the stage, both of us sitting on a wooden table. It was nice having a meeting with all my friends, just like old times. It was just missing Randy, Kyle, and Von.
"Man, I've missed this loads. We barely get to see one another anymore," Jayden sighed.
He was right. I was spending so much time getting to know Finn and the others that I barely made time to chat to my old friends.
"Enough with the sap, Jayden. Let's enjoy this moment," replied Louis.
He too hopped on the table, facing the rest of our old friends.
"And for me, and this new girl I suppose, it's been years since we've seen you guys at all," added Binta.
The meeting went smoothly. We were all catching up on what are Falls duties had been.
"Pretty stable community we're all building for ourselves. If we can fend off Port Arbello, we should do this, like, all the time," Warren had suggested.
Warren definitely had a great plan. We were all learning how to become independent learners. I guess eight years on the road can do that to people. I needed to catch up with all my old friends, however, so I sat at a table with Marlon, Ray, Swarfiga, and Evan.
"So, then I said: 'What? You don't kill creepers with a bow and arrow?'" Ray was telling Marlon.
Marlon laughed in response.
"Really, though. It's the most logical choice. If you use melee weapons, what if they get close enough that they explode in your face?" asked Marlon.
Ray nodded.
"Yeah, exactly!" he replied.
Swarfiga was laughing.
"Dude, you guys are nerds," he told Ray and Marlon.
Evan was writing something down.
"These "nerds" are gonna save your life someday, Swarfiga," replied Evan.
I interrupted the conversation.
"What's going on guys?" asked myself.
Marlon laughed.
"Hey, Gerald. We're just talking about survival skills," he replied.
I nodded my head, and replied with a sarcastic "I can see that." It was clear Evan, Swarfiga, Ray, and Marlon were ready for battle. I just had to make sure the others were. Jude, Witherstorm, Jimbob, and Jayden had plenty of knowledge, but I figured I should at least make sure they hadn't gone rusty.
So I walked over to Witherstorm, Jimbob, Jayden, and Jude.
"Hey, Gerald! Trying to keep the group alive, I see. You remind me so much of Ludwig. And Ravenclaw is... like Arbello. Let's just hope this battle doesn't end the same way as the one with Ravenclaw slash Cedryth went," explained Witherstorm.
I had obviously trusted Witherstorm for a long time. I trusted Ludwig, and Witherstorm was his oldest friend. Jude and Jimbob were also trustable. Hell, they all were. I just hoped they didn't lose it in case the worst happened.
Binta, Brooke, Annie, and Gabriel were sat on the third table, so I sat down as well.
"Hey, Gerald," Gabriel greeted me.
"Wanna play a game?" I asked.
I slammed my hands on the table without waiting for a response.
"This game is called truth or dare," I explained.
Brooke left the table.
"Oh, God. Goodbye," she said.
I picked up the wooden staircase that was used as a chair, and flipped it around.
"Why are you sitting like that?" laughed Binta.
I smiled and nodded.
"We'll soon get to know each other a lot better," I winked.
I put my feet up, and turned to Binta.
"I'm sure we're all aware of Binta's relationship with our dear Louis by now," I laughed. "So I have to ask, Binta, truth or dare?"
With a simple response of "dare", I knew I could achieve my goal of embarrassing everyone as much as possible.
"Go and ask him out," I laughed.
Binta sighed, and walked up to Louis. We all burst out laughing at both of their reactions. Binta walked back to the table.
"That was awesome. Satisfied my teasing needs so much that I think I'm done teasing you about sweet Louie. For about 2 weeks. Instead, I'll embarrass someone else about unrequited love," I explained, with a slight laughter. "So, Gabriel, what's the deal with that Lydia girl?"
Gabriel was visibly shocked at my question.
"Um... what do you mean?" he asked back.
I nodded.
"I've overheard some of your conversations with her. You freakin' love her, huh?" asked I.
Gabriel slouched back in his chair, and sighed. I figured it was best to move on to Annie.
"Truth," she said, probably getting it out of the way.
I gave a chuckle.
"So... anyone here you like-like?" I asked her.
"Like-like? What are you, 8?" asked Annie, laughing.
"9, thank you," I replied.
Annie nodded in embarrassment. I got up from the chair.
"Well, I'm gonna go have a mooch around at Louis and Ryland's table. See ya," I saluted as a joke.
I walked over to Ryland and Louis's table. Brooke and Kenney had moved there.
"How you guys holding up?" I asked.
"Binta asked me out, so great," Louis laughed.
I was really helping out with the group. Almost everyone was in a great mood.
"I'm telling you, Louis. We can't trust these people. The first few days here they want to kick us out!" yelled Ryland.
Kenney sighed. He was visibly sick of Ryland arguing about Finn and the rest of The Falls.
"If they were not to be trusted, and this is by the slim chance that they are not, why did they feed us, give us homes, give us jobs, and clean us off?" asked Kenney.
Eileen and Aasim entered the function room.
"Hey, Gerald, Kenney, Swarfiga, and Evan? Sorry to disturb you, but Finn requested your presence at the school to help me and Aasim out," explained Eileen.
I got up, and Kenney and I said our farewell to the group.
===Chapter 6: The School's Armory===
Trevor and Serge were also at the armory. Serge was just goofing off in the music room, whereas Trevor was securing the school. Braxton and the students were still making traps. Willy, one of the new arrivals, was also helping out around the school.
"Could you help the students out?" Eileen asked.
I nodded, and walked over to Mitch and Alexander. They were making bombs, similar to the ones Serge had made.
"Hey, what's up armor stand leg dude?" asked Alexander.
I couldn't believe he was still calling me "armor stand leg dude." I laughed, but promptly told him my name.
"So, "Gerald", wanna help us make some bombs?" asked Mitch.
Making bombs with Mitch and Alex actually seemed like a decent way to kill time. Kenney and Swarfiga were busy helping Ben and Chris anyway. So, I walked over to Braxton.
"Ah, yes. I have the crafting recipe for the bombs in the armory somewhere," explained Braxton.
"Dude, I know how to make TNT. I was wondering if you had the stuff," I replied.
"Oh right," Braxton exclaimed, getting me the gunpowder and sand. 
I found my way back to Mitch and Alex's crafting table. I helped them make bombs. Port Arbello could attack any day now, and four people making bombs, including Serge, was better than just two. The Falls needed all the help I could get them. It was fortunate enough for Annie and Gabriel to return after all this time.
Needless to say, we were fresh out of gunpowder and sand to make TNT. We had plenty of bombs to attack the raiders, so I gave my farewells to Mitch and Alexander and went to help Ben and Chris. They were using surplus iron and diamond to arm everyone in The Falls with at least three swords. Once again, we needed to be prepared and fast, so I helped them make weapons.
"The Falls appreciate your services, Jerry. If you and your group weren't here, we'd all get murdered by these guys," Ben thanked me.
I nodded, and gave a prompt "No thanks necessary." It was my goal to help as many people as possible, after all. The whole reason I hadn't found a way to kill myself after Ludwig died and we found out how to get back was because I had too many friends I didn't want to lose. I did know the main reason the server only had a skeleton team of around 130 people as opposed to almost 8000 was because many killed themselves in the beginning.
After I had finished helping Genevieve and Temperance, I gathered Trevor, Aasim, Kenney, Swarfiga, and Willy to go help Finn with defending the walls. At the entrance, Finn was talking to Allison.
"I'm serious, Finn, we have almost no time left, and no one is taking this seriously! The only people even working on defending this place are the kids, Trevor, Aasim, and maybe three or four from Gerald's group!" yelled Allison.
Finn was becoming increasingly stressed from Allison's whining.
"ENOUGH! We have plenty of people working on defending The Falls! So what if Gerald's group aren't working on defences? They're working on offence! They're skilled fighters, we aren't!" yelled Finn.
"Speak of the devil," I replied.
Finn jumped the second the first syllable exited my mouth.
"Good! You're here! Allison, you can go now!" Finn told her.
Allison shook her head, replying with "No, I won't go. I'm one of the head members, and I deserve to protect this place just as much as any of you!"
Willy fired at the iron bar gate.
"Zombie!" yelled Willy.
Finn gave a confused look, and spread his arms out.
"Zombie? At this time of day? Are you crazy?" queried Finn.
He turned around, and saw the zombie. It was James. I recognized him immediately.
"Dude, that's James!" exclaimed I.
"Who be James?" asked Swarfiga.
Kenney squinted his eyes, and gave a shocked look.
"He's right. Open the gates. This could be important," Kenney ordered Finn.
Finn, depsite technically having control over Kenney, did as he was told, and opened the gate for James.
"The zombie guy? I honestly thought you were just hallucinating, but wow," gasped Allison.
James entered The Falls.
"I have news. I've been watching The Falls for a while now, and I have a big update," James said, sounding worried.
By his worried down, we were about to freak out.
"Well, don't just pause! When are they attacking?" asked Allison.
James looked at the ground for a moment, then turned to me.
"Two days. Not tonight, but the night after," replied James.
We were all shocked. We barely had enough time to prepare everyone.
"We can't get forty people ready in two nights, Finn! We have to start evacuating people!" yelled Allison.
"To where?" asked Finn.
I then remembered James saying he had a group taking refuge in an old boarding school near Port Arbello.
"You can go to my school. It's well defended, and we have lots of food," James offered.
We knew we had to decide on something.
"We'll have a town meeting. If you want, you can stay tonight and get something to eat. Maybe wash off, because, no offense, you smell terrible. You're definitely doing us all a huge favor, so maybe we should return one," replied Finn.
James shook his head.
"No, no thanks. You don't have to repay me. I just don't want anyone else to die," replied James.
James said his farewells to us all, and left The Falls via the woods. With the sudden shock of not having long to defend the city, we had to spread the word to everyone to speed up production of weapons. Allison and Trevor offered to do this, whereas Aasim, Swarfiga, and Kenney stayed with me.
Finn was utterly speechless. He had been able to protect his turf for so long, but now it was under serious threat.
"Just... get ready for dinner. We'll have the morning meeting and figure it out from there," sighed Finn.
Finn put a hand over his face, and walked to his office.
===Chapter 7: 24 Hours Remain===
We went to the park around 2 hours later. It was now dark, and everyone was getting ready for dinner. I sat at a table with Aasim, Ray, Swarfiga, Evan, Warren, Witherstorm, and Braxton. Baahir was busy making the mushroom stew, but we saved him a seat for when he was finished.
"So, how are you guys enjoying this city?" asked Braxton.
Evan was surprised, but looked at him.
"Oh... it's great," he replied.
Baahir finished making dinner, so he sat down with us after he handed everyone their bowl.
"So, what went down with zombie dude?" asked Evan.
"You knew about it?" asked Aasim.
"Allie told us," replied Evan.
I took a deep breath, took a bite of mushroom stew, then took another deep breath.
"From what James told us, we only have 24 hours before they attack," I sighed.
Everyone at the table was shocked.
"Jesus tapdancing- Are you sure?" asked Braxton.
"He's been watching them for a while, he must be sure," replied Aasim.
Ray stopped eating.
"For real? And they never told us?" asked Ray.
"Allie and Trev told some people, but only the ones who really needed to get in gear," replied Aasim.
We all continued to eat, trying to enjoy our final 24 hours before all hell broke loose. We all finished, and just started to talk.
"You know, normally we'd be in a joking mood by now, but this is... this is serious," sighed Witherstorm.
Witherstorm was right. We didn't have time to joke around any more, and this is what I told everyone. They all seemed to agree with me. Even Ray, who was usually amused by Louis's comical personality.
"Allie's going to list designated evacuation points in the morning. That is, if the majority of the Council decide to go through with her plan. She is second in command of this place, after all," Braxton explained to us.
Baahir finished tidying up.
"I think we should evacuate the students and anyone else unfit to fight. The rest of us can fend off Arbello and his soldiers. But a vote is the only way to settle this, or we'll be arguing forever," Baahir said, giving his 2 cents on the topic.
"I had to send Alice to the pen, by the way. If Arbello really does want to declare war on us, then I don't want my pet to get hurt," Warren elucidated.
"I heard Ryland and Binta also sent Leo and Lluna to the pen," replied Witherstorm.
"Good. Arbello can't hurt them, since it's on the other side of the city and Finn wants us in the courtyard near the entrance," explained Evan.
"Dude, we should use Willy's idea of putting explosives in the front gate," laughed Swarfiga.
"We were going to, but then we realized: That would blow up the gate, basically welcoming any other soldiers and probably mobs as well in to the city," explained Evan.
"Serge's idea of lobbing throwable TNT at them is pretty good," replied Ray.
We all got up from the table, ready to go to bed.
"See you at our place," Aasim said to me, walking away.
I decided I wasn't tired yet, and also decided to break the news to Jimbob, Jude, and Jayden.
"Dude, that's pretty messed up. No way can we prepare everyone in, what, 23 hours," Jimbob told me.
I walked with them around the park, passing the statue of Finn and Rosie.
"Maybe we should start taking this seriously," Jude replied to him.
"We are taking this seriously! Louis and I have been brewing offensive potions to throw at them!" yelled Jimbob.
Jayden looked at the ranch in the distance.
"I've been helping Baahir grow food for all the hungry Falls members," Jayden told Jude.
I had to admit how much I missed talking to Jimbob and the others. As I've previously mentioned, I barely get to talk to any of my old friends, but I spoke to Jimbob, Jude, and Jayden the least.
"Anyway, we're gonna head back to our apartments. See ya, Gerald," Jimbob concluded.
The trio headed towards the apartment complex, which was directly in front of the park. I met up with Kenney and Brooke. I had noticed that Brooke seemed to be on Ryland's side, stating that Finn was not to be trusted.
"Jesus, not you too. How exactly is Finn not to be trusted? He's gave us food, kept us warm, gave us homes. How is he dangerous?" Kenney asked her.
"He wants to kick Ryland out. Gerald's group, including Ryland, have helped with so much around this place. Why would he want them out?" Brooke counter-asked.
Kenney sighed, and left.
"Can you believe this, Gerald? You agree with me that Finn is untrustworthy, right?" asked Brooke.
I shook my head, and left without saying a word.
"I don't care if Finn kicks me out. I only stayed for Leo. If he wants me out so bad, I'll leave. Remember how Gerald gave us those diaries? I named all the biomes we came across on our journey. I can find my way back to Xaron easily," I overheard Ryland explain to Kenney.
"What about Louis? And Ray? And Marlon?" asked Kenney.
"Forget them. They're always douchey towards me anyway," replied Ryland.
Ryland was really ticking me off the past eight years, but now he wanted to abandon us? Well, forget him too, then. I decided it was finally time to head home, and so I did. I was gazing upon the progress made by The Falls' citizens. On the big distant skyscrapers was a huge banner with the words "LEAVE OR DIE" in black on the white wool background.
Several cobblestone walls were built for cover. There were several redstone circuits on the floor leading to the underground, which presumably set all traps to go off once every raider had entered. And finally, I had arrived at my house. I waved at Binta, who was also entering her house. She waved back, and so I entered my house.
===Chapter 8: All His Ten Hearts===
It had been years since I had a real house. My last one was probably when I was friends with Ludwig. I didn't really have a house in The Citadel. I just slept in my spire. I had almost forgot what an actual house had looked like. I sat in my room. My roommate Aasim was still out. I decided to put up some treasures. A skeleton skull went on a table, and several paintings and item frames were also hung up.
Everything in my room was ready. Above the double bed was a painting of me, Kenney, and Von. We had painted it right before we were introduced to Randy and Kyle. Man, I missed them every day. I missed everyone in the Citadel; Randy, Kyle, Von, Sirius, Sonar, Dana, Ender, everyone.
Finally, Aasim entered the room.
"You're back before me? Oh right, I was helping Finn with defences," explained Aasim.
Aasim climbed in to the bottom bunk of the bed.
"It's been a long day, man. We should sleep as much as possible before all hell breaks loose," I suggested to him.
Aasim looked around the room.
"You've been doing some remodeling, I see," he noticed.
"Just some old junk I've been clinging on to," I replied.
He looked at the painting of me, Kenney, and Von.
"That's new. They your old friends? I recognize Kenney, but not the other dude," asked Aasim.
I nodded.
"Traveled with them the second longest out of all my groups. Seven years," I divulged to him.
"Man. I've lived here all my time in this world and nothing ever changes. I do my daily duties, have about an ounce of rabbit stew for dinner, then go to sleep. But now, we're going to war, and then the "surplus population" of The Falls decreases, giving us more food, but at the cost of around twenty or more lives," explained Aasim.
He was right. Nothing was going to matter after the war started. All that mattered was keeping ourselves and our friends safe.
"I've been on the road for so long, got to know my new friends so well, that if they die, it's going to mess me up real good. I can tell Arbello wants that, so we can't give him the satisfaction," I replied.
Aasim walked over to the window.
"This city is gonna be in ruins after tomorrow. Everything's just wool and concrete, with bits of wood and brick. Maybe if Trevor took this seriously and didn't just care about everything looking nice, we'd be well armed and defended," Aasim said, with a slight tone of anger.
I joined him in looking out of the window.
"Might as well get one good look at it before 'boom', then," I replied.
I stared at the city. At the trees, the park, the buildings, the skyscrapers, everything. I noticed Binta and Louis talking outside of the former's house. I was laughing.
"Look at them go," I smirked.
Aasim laughed too.
"I've known Binta for maybe six years. She's pretty cool. I've been meaning to ask: How do you know her?" asked Aasim.
"We've been friends for a long time. During the war with Cedryth," I replied.
Aasim sighed.
"If this war is gonna be just like this battle with 'Cedryth', do you think people really will die?" asked Aasim.
I sighed also, waited a couple of seconds, then nodded slightly and slowly.
"I hate to say it, but probably," I replied.
Aasim looked at me.
"We have about 20 hours until the fight starts. What do we do?" he asked.
I couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Look, man. We've only known each other for two weeks, but you've become one of my best friends. If you or Kenney die, I don't know what I'd do," I replied.
Aasim patted me on the back.
"Jeez, man. This is pretty intense. We'll just have to fight as best we can," he told me.
I looked back at the window.
"You, Kenney, and all my friends mean everything to me. I'm gonna protect you as much as I can," I promised him.
"Thanks man. You rule," replied Aasim.
We went back to the bunk bed.
"Now all that mushy crap is out of the way, we should plan our attacks," I suggested.
We got out a book and quill from one of the shelves.
"We could probably get Rosie to attack the raiders. Maybe one of the higher ups, like Connor," suggested Aasim.
I wrote it down in the notebook.
"Then we get Serge to throw the bombs at Port Arbello. If we can get Stella to join our side maybe she'll stab Arbello in the back and buy us time to do any more offensive damage. Remember, these guys want to kill or kidnap us, so we can't show any mercy," I explained.
I wrote down everything I said in to the notebook, and a few more of Aasim's notes and ideas. We reread them all, and decided we had a great plan.
"At the meeting tomorrow, we can show all these ideas to Finn and the rest of the Council. I'm one of the more popular members, so I'm sure at least Serge, Brody, Lydia, and Ty will listen to me. Eileen and Finn probably will too, but Allison will need convincing. Even if she doesn't, she'll still be in the minority. I still like her idea of evacuating the schoolkids, but we need our offense and defense groups," Aasim explained to me.
I liked how Aasim was thinking, and we could definitely use Stella to our advantage. Having someone we knew well in the group could definitely work for us. Then tomorrow when they attack, we could probably win.
"Great idea, man. Now we need to rest. Keep that journal on you, we need that too," I concluded, climbing to the top bunk and shutting my eyes.
"Good night" was the last thing I heard Aasim say before my brain became oblivious to the world.
===Chapter 9: Morning Meeting===
Aasim was already up and ready for the morning meeting. He had something in his hand.
"Good, you're up. Last potential day, huh?" asked Aasim.
My heart was racing, and my breathing was heavy and delayed. Aasim gave me an apple.
"Don't worry, I didn't take them. Finn came earlier and said we should probably have breakfast for the big day," explained Aasim.
I thanked him, eating my breakfast. We then went down to the morning meeting. Finn, Serge, Trevor, Eileen, Allison, Brody, Ty, and Lydia were already there. Finn looked at Aasim and I, and motioned us to sit down.
"Well, it's the final day before this all breaks, so we better think of something fast!" Brody yelled at Allison.
I handed Brody the journal that Aasim and I had wrote. She looked through it.
"Now THIS is a plan! Finn, you need to see this," Brody called him over.
Finn and Serge had a look through the journal, and agreed with Brody.
"We'll go with this, unless anyone thinks otherwise," exclaimed Finn.
Everyone had a look through the journal, and it was decided that we go with that plan, eight to one, the only person thinking otherwise being Allison.
"This is a bad idea. You really think all the kids should fight?" asked Allison.
"I originally thought they should be evacuated, but then I remembered that they're all armed," replied Aasim.
After an hour or so of organization, Finn invited Kenney and Swarfiga in to the function room.
"We heard about your plan getting used. Awesome," Swarfiga congratulated me.
Kenney also gave his congratulations to me. We would almost certainly win this war at this rate. I decided to talk to some of the higher ups, and so I sat at a table with Ty and Lydia.
"Dude, that plan rules! We'll win for sure," Ty exclaimed.
Lydia agreed with him, and so I said bye to the two. It was honestly weird seeing Ty alone without Joan and Estella. I decided to sit at a table with Finn, Serge, Trevor, Eileen, and Allison.
"It's my guy, Gerald! We need a joker right now," Serge laughed.
I sat down at the table.
"Serge, we should be taking this seriously!" yelled Allie.
"No, he's right. We could all use something to diffuse the tension," replied Trevor.
Serge and I put our feet up almost simultaneously.
"How about you give a game idea, Gerald?" asked Serge.
I decided on playing "two truths and a lie" with them.
"Damn, I love that game. Who's going first?" asked Finn.
I inhaled.
"I'm 6 feet tall, and I'm either gay for Aasim or love Annie. Make your guesses," replied myself.
"You? Six feet tall?" asked Serge.
Finn actually laughed. I had known him for nearly two weeks, and he had never laughed.
"I'm going with you being gay for Aasim as the lie. I can't really see you being in a relationship at all," replied Trevor.
Everyone was conflicted on whether the second or third was a lie, so we moved on to Serge.
"I'm in a band, I play guitar in the real world, and Finn is my best friend," stated Serge.
"Definitely the first," replied Allison.
"Definitely the first," replied Trevor.
"Definitely the first," replied Eileen.
"Definitely the first," replied I.
"Definitely the first," replied Serge. "What? It is the first."
We were all laughing at this point, even Allison. I was seeing sides to all the Falls leaders that I never would have expected to see.
"Instead of stating three facts, could I instead ask a question? For Gerald?" asked Allison.
She took a deep breath, but laughed a little.
"Out of me, Serge, Trevor, Eileen, and Finn, who do you think will die first?" she asked.
I thought about it for a bit, while the others remained shocked at her question.
"Probably Serge," I replied.
Serge was shocked.
"Come on, man. I thought we were friends," Serge replied.
I shrugged my shoulders.
"We are, but you don't really do anything. And that's bad if you're gonna fight in a war," I told him.
Serge also chose to ask a question.
"I'm gonna retaliate at Gerald," laughed Serge. "Marry, kiss, kill: Aasim, Annie, Allison?"
That was an easy question.
"Marry Aasim, kiss Annie, kill Allison," I replied.
Allison was shocked, but laughed.
"See? Look at the benefit of having a laugh. We're not panicking about this at all," I told them.
Allison actually seemed to agree.
"I think this is what we needed. You and your group aren't as bad as I thought," she replied.
We had decided it was Eileen's turn.
"Okay, so, Finn: Art, music, or history?" asked Eileen.
"Probably history. I like learning about the past and stuff. Lets us not make similar mistakes," replied Finn.
We were interrupted by Ben entering the function room.
"Finn! We got creepers on the walls!" he yelled.
Finn immediately grabbed his bow and a quiver full of arrows.
"Gerald, Swarfiga, Ty, Aasim, come with me," ordered Finn.
The five of us left the function room and headed straight for the walls. There were about seven creepers headed straight for the Falls. Aasim and I took out the first two using our bow and arrow. Finn and Ty took out the next two, and Swarfiga was struggling to fight off three of them. He was the only person without a bow and arrow. He drew his sword and went for the fifth creeper. However, it blew up in his face. He slowly got up and went for the next two. The penultimate creeper made its hissing sound, and were sure it was the end for Swarfiga.
But it wasn't.
Two arrows came out of no where, perfectly hitting the creepers in their faces. Swarfiga turned around, as did the rest of us, and saw Marlon holding a bow.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Fine," was what Swarfiga replied with.
We were about to re enter The Falls, but I saw someone, or something, in the distance. I tried to get a closer look.
"What is it?" asked Ty.
"Not sure," I replied.
I walked closer to the thing.
"Be careful, man. Arbello could be playing you," Swarfiga told me.
"Didn't you hear what James said? He's not attacking until tonight," replied Marlon.
===Chapter 10: My Second Reunion===
It was Stella. Yes, that Stella. Former leader of Champion City turned Port Arbello lieutenant.
"Gerald, I need to talk to you. About what Arbello's doing," Stella told me.
"What, that he's attacking tonight and is gonna kill me and take as many residents of The Falls as possible? Yeah, I know. Some guy I met in the woods has been spying on them and divulging to us what they're up to," I explained.
Needless to say, she was shocked.
"I wanna switch to your side, but I know that the others will need convincing," she replied.
"Are you sure about that?" I asked. "I know we've known each other technically for years but I don't trust you anymore."
She sighed.
"Please. I don't want to see so many of my friends die. You're on the opposite side but you, and the others, are still my friends," she begged.
I reluctantly agreed to let her in.
"Fine, but you're going in the basement," I told her.
She agreed to my conditions, and I brought her in to the Falls. Upon entering, I was greeted by Ryland.
"Dude, really? You let HER in?" he asked.
"Calm down. She's going in the basement, and she's staying there until tonight. That way, we'll know what side her bread is really buttered on," I replied.
I brought her to Finn and Serge.
"Dude! We can interrogate her for information!" Serge said to Finn.
Gabriel, Kenney, Binta, Jimbob, Jayden, Jude, and Witherstorm, who had all previously met Stella, stood beside them.
"Do what you have to do," she sighed.
Finn and Serge took her in to the basement.
"Is that Stella?" asked Jude.
"Long story short: She's a member of Port Arbello now. Willingly," replied Kenney.
Witherstorm was confused.
"How? I saw her die!" he yelled.
I explained to the others what actually happened when the volcano erupted. They were all confused, and shocked.
"She should've died. What do we do with her?" asked Jimbob.
Once Finn and Serge came back, we decided we should gather the Council once more and decide what to do with Stella. And that is exactly what we did. Finn, Serge, Trevor, Eileen, Allison, Aasim, Lydia, Ty, Brody, and myself all gathered in the Function Room.
"We obviously can't just let her roam free. I say we go with Gerald's plan and lock her in the basement until tonight, then we let her fight," suggested Ty.
"As his friends also said, that'll help us decide which side of the field she's really on," added Trevor.
The voting had been 2 - 0, with seven abstaining for the present time. It was going to be a long day.
And I was right. 30 minuted passed, and the council had came to an agreement. 6 people, Finn, Ty, Trevor, Serge, Aasim, and Brody, suggested keeping her in the basement, whereas 3 people, Eileen, Allison, and Lydia wanted to kick her out. Finn left the Function Room to break the news to Swarfiga and Warren, who had been guarding the basement doors.
It had been a tough road the past two weeks. The war scare had shaken everyone, and I found out my friend who I thought was dead is actually on the opposite side and now we're going to lock her up.
"It's good Finn listened to us and kept her around. Even if it turns out she is trying to betray us, numbers are gonna matter a lot in the fight," Ty was telling me.
"I'm sorry, but I really think kicking her out would have been for the best," replied Eileen.
I turned to Eileen.
"Um, Stella is my friend," I told her.
I noticed Aasim alone in the corner, so I decided to check up on him.
"You okay, man?" I asked.
Aasim nodded.
"Less than 12 hours now. We're in trouble," he replied.
The war wouldn't be pretty. I was sure at least someone in my group would die. The Falls? As Finn had told me, they were not prepared. I had feared from the start that they wouldn't stand a chance.
"Hey man, if we die in this fight," I told him. "Wanna see the Cannibal Holocaust in the real world?"
Aasim had gotten the joke from the beginning, and laughed.
"Sure, man. I'm in the Ontario province," he replied.
We left the Function Room as the meeting was officially over. A group of my friends were near the park.
"You should probably meet some of my friends," I told Aasim.
We walked over to my group. In the conversation were Jude, Annie, Gabriel, and Louis.
"And that's how I discovered my love for potatoes," Jude concluded his long rant to Gabriel.
Gabriel was laughing, and so were Annie and Louis. That was what I had liked about Jude and Louis. They were able to keep the group in a great mood, even in times like these.
"Hey, it's Jerry!" exclaimed Louis. "So, Annie, what was that about you liking Kenney?"
I was laughing too, and Aasim and I sat down with them.
"Hey, what's up, Aamis?" asked Louis.
"It's Aasim," he replied.
Louis rolled his eyes, but then laughed.
"What's going on, guys?" asked Jude.
I also laughed.
"Just trying to diffuse the tension a bit. Enjoy some games, have a joke around with my friends, stuff like that," I replied. "Anyway. Aasim, you know Louis. But these are Jude, Annie, and Gabriel."
Gabriel waved.
"Hey," he said.
The Falls felt almost vacant. I had been getting creepy vibes from it all week, but today it felt so much more different. It was like no one lived here. I brushed it off as me being paranoid about the fight. We had barely any time left. Annie sat up, and was proceeding to leave the area.
"I need to do something at my house. Get everything ready for the war. Could you help me, Gerald?" she asked.
I agreed to help her, and followed her back to her house.
===Chapter 11: Making Friends===
I had to admit, I barely knew anyone from my Sunshine Citadel adventure. The only people who were on the road with me were Ryland, Louis, and Marlon. I have to admit I felt bad for leaving Amber, however. But I thought she had seen enough, and that she had finally completed her story. Her end goal was leading a town, and that is exactly what she had accomplished.
Annie walked up the stairs in to the upstairs section of her house. Looking out of the window, I spotted mine and Aasim's house, and the house that I assumed Binta and Louis had now shared.
"It's an amazing city, isn't it? Reminds me of the old world," Annie had asked.
I nodded in response. All hell could break loose at any moment now.
"What do you miss most about the old world?" I questioned her.
She paused for a moment, probably unable to choose a most missed thing.
"I miss music the most, I think," she replied.
"You'll like Serge, then," I laughed.
I rested my arms on the window sill.
"I miss my piano. I wish I could say I missed my friends, too," I replied.
"How come you don't miss them?" she asked.
I didn't really like talking about my relationships I had in the real world, but I was willing to divulge just in case this was the end.
"The first two used me and the other moved," I replied. "I like the people here better."
I was becoming increasingly confused.
"What did you need help with?" I asked.
"I didn't need any," she admitted.
I jokingly did an eye roll.
"I've not seen the Cannibal Holocaust," I replied.
After a while, we both sat down and decided to catch up. I wasn't going to lie, I never was friends with Annie. Not that I didn't like her, more because we never got the chance to talk.
"So, how's Amber? Is Xaron Bay still doing alright for itself?" I asked.
"They're all fine. Amber, Nathan, and Taylor miss you guys," she replied.
I was honestly really starting to feel bad for walking out on all of them.
"And Randy, Kyle, Von, and Sirius?" I asked. "Are they fine?"
Annie gave a shrug.
"It had been a while since I visited, but they were okay the last time I went," she replied.
I gave a sigh of relief. I had been stressing so much about the state of the Xaron province. Von, Kyle, and Randy were skilled fighters, but they wouldn't be skilled enough to defend themselves from a madman like Arbello.
I looked out of the window once more. The sun was starting to set. It wasn't just me who was worried, but so was Annie. The day was almost at an end, and war was about to begin.
"The sun... but that means..." gasped Annie.
"Should we make sure everyone's okay?" I asked.
Annie nodded, and we left her house. Binta, Louis, and Aasim were watching the sun set with Lluna.
"The day's ending. War follows next," Louis told Binta.
They held hands.
"It's not the end of the world yet. No need to start watching the Cannibal Holocaust," I told him.
Louis let go of her hand, then turned to look at me.
"Dude, even though we could die, you're still joking," Louis laughed.
Aasim walked over to me.
"If you die and I don't, do you have any funeral plans?" asked Aasim.
"Surprise me," I replied.
Aasim laughed with me and Louis, but we knew deep down we should be worried. We met up with a few others; Ray, Marlon, Baahir, Alexander, and Willy, to be exact.
"The calm before the storm. We should pick our hiding spots," Baahir suggested.
"I agree with the chef dude," added Alexander.
The two of them left.
"Didn't think being afraid of stars was possible. I'm gonna call it Stellophobia," Ray told Marlon.
The rest of us ran to the courtyard. Everyone on the fighting team was ready. Jude, Witherstorm, Jimbob, Jayden, Swarfiga, Evan, Warren, Brooke, Ryland, Finn, Serge, and Trevor.
"Brody and Lydia will join us in a minute. All the kids except Mitch are hiding," explained Finn.
Gabriel and Kenney were both in the courtyard, waiting for the impending doom.
"Gerald, Annie, you stay on watch. I'll go see where Brody and Lydia are," Finn told me.
Annie and I went to the top of the walls, looking over the landscape of the surrounding area. I could see the Woodland Mansion completely burned down, then Port Arbello. Then another building. It looked like a school, so I assumed it was James's camp. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary yet. Just a couple of zombies, skeletons, creepers, and other mobs.
Cows, sheep, and pigs still filled the area. If we weren't about to go to war, one would see it as being a beautiful night. I had noticed a zombie that was acting strange. I tried to get a closer look at it.
"Do you see that zombie?" asked Annie.
I nodded, and was able to see it better now. It was James. He had arrived at The Falls for whatever reason he had. We had hoped he had news about the impending attack on The Falls. We both rushed down and opened the gates for him. He walked in, and everyone gathered around.
"Any updates?" asked Evan.
James nodded.
"You have one hour. Are your people prepared?" asked James.
"Mostly," replied Finn.
Brody and Lydia came back with Stella. Braxton and the students were hiding behind cobblestone walls. Serge had the throwable TNT ready, and the armory was filled. Everyone's inventory was filled with potions.
"Her," James said, pointing at Stella. "She was with Port Arbello. But not anymore. I saw the whole thing. She walked out on the group."
Lydia looked shocked.
"It's a good thing we didn't kick her out, then," she replied.
Finn welcomed James in to The Falls.
"I don't care if you don't want us to repay you. What if Port Arbello come and find you and take you away? You're staying with us," Finn told James firmly.
===Chapter 12: The Calm Before The Storm===
James and I sat down at the picnic benches. Baahir was making dinner for everyone, though most chose to not stay at the park. Everyone did, actually, except for me and James.
"I haven't been introduced to any of your friends. I know the one who used to be in Port Arbello. Stella. How do you know her?" asked James.
"I've known her for years. We first met during the war with Cedryth," I replied.
James opened a book, and pointed at a sentence.
"I've been reading all about that. The war, Ludwig, the volcano. I even have a book written by someone who claims they went on an adventure with you. Her name is Amber," James explained.
I nodded.
"She's legit. We took down a cult together," I replied.
James picked up his zombie helmet.
"I read about these in a book once. It said if you wore a mob head, then the other mobs won't know you're human," James told me.
Well, that explained why he was always dressed in zombie flesh. I had also read about mob heads, but the thought never crossed my mind. Hey, I had been too stressed to think.
"I don't want to overstay my welcome here. I'll leave just before Port Arbello arrives, but I'll do all I can to stop them from doing harm to your group," he promised.
Baahir came over and brought us the bowls of rabbit stew.
"I hope you and the new guy are ready for the attack," Baahir told me.
We said goodbye and he left. James tasted the stew, then ate the rest of it.
"As I've said, I run a school east of Port Arbello. You and your community are welcome there during the battle. If Arbello takes any of your friends, we can help get them back," James continued.
We gave our bowls back to Baahir once he came back, and then returned to the courtyard. Aasim, Evan, and Swarfiga were talking.
"Well, Gerald, there are only 30 minutes left before the war starts. It was nice knowing ya, pal," Swarfiga saluted me.
James said goodbye to me, and left The Falls. Evan shook his head.
"That guy is pretty weird, but he's cool," he stated.
We noticed Ryland in the corner becoming increasingly frustrated.
"That dude is gonna snap," Swarfiga told me. "And it's only a matter of when."
Annie walked over to our little group.
"I don;t know about you guys, but I'm pretty scared," Annie told us.
"Are you kidding me? I'm urinating in my pants right now," I replied.
We saw Finn gathering Lluna, Leo, Alice, and Jayden.
"Jayden, you're in charge of watching the animals. We need you to stay alive, so stay away from the courtyard. Got it?" asked Finn.
Jayden nodded, and allowed the three animals to follow him. Rosie was still attached to a lead and looked ready to attack.
"Man, just twenty five minutes left before all hell breaks loose," sighed Aasim.
"After the lifestyle that I've led, war shouldn't scare me at all. Yet some how, I'm crapping myself right now," I added.
Finn sat with us.
"Be prepared for anything. And I mean anything. Stella is telling us most of Arbello's plan, but now that she's escaped, he must know she'd try to tell us, with you two being such good friends," Finn told me.
I got out a book. I had nothing better to do, so I just concentrated on my reading. Aasim was reading it with me.
"You know, I've decided: I wanna go home," Evan told me. "Like, as soon as possible."
"Don't we all at this point?" asked Swarfiga.
Time was speeding up, and our hearts were racing faster at every passing moment. Waiting for this war to start was basically waiting for our own death at this point.
"If we need to evacuate The Falls, we should get our valuable stuff from our house," Aasim suggested.
I agreed with his idea, and we both went to our house. We only had fifteen minutes now. I got my skulls, books, the painting of me, Kenney, and Von, some other souvenirs from The Citadel and Xaron Bay, my "lucky nether brick", and my spare tools, and returned to the courtyard. Now fully armed, Aasim and I were prepared for battle.
Annie had noticed our idea, and requested that I help her with gathering her stuff. I agreed once again, just to kill some time. We now had ten minutes until battle.
"You know, Gerald, I've been thinking a lot. About the war, about The Falls, about you, even about our home. I was even thinking about Ludwig the other night. It's almost as if my life is flashing before me. You know what supposedly happens before we die? Well, I hope I'm wrong, but I'm starting to think I'm not. And if this is the end, then... thank you. For everything," explained Kenney.
"Everyone, get to your places. If there's anything you want to do before we start, then do it. Because there's no turning back after they get here," Finn told everyone.
Aasim, Annie, and myself all visited the Function Room.
"This is where we've held all our meetings. Now, it could all end," sighed Aasim.
"Try not to think of that last sentence. Just stuff like the first," I replied.
We only had eight minutes left. We planned to explore as much of the city as possible one last time. We looped around the park, and visited our old apartment, now accompanied by Marlon and Ray. Everything was ready, and there was nothing else left to do. Three minutes left.
"Just in case this is the end, good bye," I said to my old friend and my new friend.
"We should get back to the others," replied Annie.
===Chapter 13: The Third Minecraftia War===
The three of us the sheer amount of noise happening in the courtyard even from the apartment complex. When Aasim , Annie, and myself arrived, we could make out the scene. Evan, Ryland, Brooke were almost fighting Finn and Serge.
"What do you mean you're gonna give me up? That I'm too dangerous? That I'm responsible for this attack? I did what I had to to protect my friends!" yelled Ryland.
Everyone in the Falls were starting to argue and panic.
"Look where it got us! Port Arbello could strike us down at any moment and you're planning on killing more of his members? If all he really wants to do is recruit us, I'm giving you up!" yelled Finn.
Ryland charged at Finn and punched him in the groin. Finn fell to the floor, but Serge helped him up.
"That dude knocked him down!" yelled Mitch.
Brooke backed Ryland up. I couldn't believe how much my group were falling apart.
"Ryland! Stop... this... this has gone too far..." panted Evan.
Kenney walked in front of Ryland.
"Come on, man. Stop this," Kenney ordered him.
Everyone in the community backed up by two steps.
"Come on, Ryland. Be reasonable," Marlon told him.
Rosie growled at Ryland, and was getting ready to charge at him. This was getting intense, and I knew I had to find a way to calm Ryland down, otherwise someone could get hurt or maybe even killed. I joined Kenney in stepping in between the fight, as did Aasim, Mitch, Lydia, Trevor, Willy, Binta, Eileen, Baahir, Annie, Gabriel, Ray, and Marlon.
"Fine... you win," growled Ryland.
Kenney sighed.
"Ryland, you can't..." Kenney tried to say.
I almost screamed as an arrow basically flew in to Kenney's leg, practically paralyzing him from a mix of pain and shock. Everyone was running around frantically and screaming. The kids returned to their hiding spot as did Braxton. I turned around, facing away from the chaos, and heard a voice. It was Connor, a Port Arbello lieutenant, and one of the people we encountered in the Champion City ruins.
"Boo," was the word I heard.
Kenney was in pain on the floor. Even though everyone else was behind cover, I couldn't leave Kenney. I dragged him behind a wall that Evan, Swarfiga, Aasim, and Annie were hiding behind.
"Dude, you have to leave me! I can cover you! Just go!" yelled Kenney.
"We can't leave you!" replied Evan.
Kenney basically forced us to leave him. We gave up, and left him to buy us some time to run. I looked at another wall. Finn, Serge, Trevor, Eileen, and Allison were hiding behind it. Rosie was desperately trying to break free from the lead. Serge looked back at me, and grabbed some throwable TNT. He threw it at two Port Arbello soldiers.
"ABRAHAM! VOSS!" yelled Connor.
Evan realized that Connor was distracted.
"Cover me! I'm gonna take him out!" yelled Evan.
I grabbed my bow and arrow and fired several shots at the Port Arbello soldiers. Evan ran for Connor, sword in hand, and tried to stab him. Another man disarmed Evan, and was now holding his sword. It was Arbello, and he had stabbed Evan in the neck. He was badly injured, but not dead. That was, however, before Arbello continued to stab him until he burst in to a pile of inventory.
"EVAN!" yelled Swarfiga.
Swarfiga tried to go for Arbello, but we were able to stop him. However, Connor had noticed us. I grabbed my armor stand leg and whacked him in the face. I stabbed him through the foot. Ray, Marlon, and Louis ran over.
"This the lieutenant?" asked Louis.
"WATCH OUT!" yelled Ray.
But it was too late. Louis was shot in the shoulder. He quickly ducked behind cover, as did Ray and Marlon.
"Those guys will just keep pouring in!" yelled Aasim.
But something else was pouring in. Zombies were flooding The Falls.
"Nice one, James!" I yelled.
A group of zombies knocked down two members of Port Arbello, but didn't kill them.
"Dammit! Cain, Victoria, get your rear ends in gear and don't die because of these idiots!" yelled Arbello.
Connor was able to get back on his feet, and went for us again. Rosie had had enough, and broke off her lead and was proceeding to maul on Connor. She carried the mortally wounded man to Finn. Binta ran to Louis's side.
"You okay?" she asked.
Louis nodded, but Binta had seen something that had clearly upset her.
"Steph?" she asked.
We were all confused.
"Who be Steph?" asked Swarfiga.
Binta walked over to the woman.
"Binta?" asked "Steph."
I was so confused as to what was happening. Then I remembered Binta's story. She had been with a group, and they were all killed except for one, Steph. This woman was her friend. I couldn't believe it.
"Binta! What are you doing?" asked Louis.
"Binta, you can join us. All of you can. Join us, and no one gets hurt," Steph told Binta.
Brooke walked over to Binta.
"You can't be serious! You'll abandon Gerald, and even your boyfriend for someone who's been brainwshed?" asked Brooke.
"We can recruit them too," replied Steph.
Arbello grabbed Brooke, and threw her in a minecart.
"Those Minecarts! They take people away!" yelled Binta.
Steph went to attack Binta, but Louis did it to Steph first.Louis grabbed Binta and they returned to cover.
"What the Hell is James doing?" asked Ryland. "This isn't helping us!"
===Chapter 14: The Ruins===
Arbello had figured out where I was located.
"He knows we're here!" gasped Annie.
Arbello was approaching us, but Kenney grabbed him. Even with only one good leg, Kenney was a knight in shining armor.
"Dude, you killed Evan! And I will do the same to you, I swear to God!" yelled Kenney.
Serge threw TNT at Arbello, but he was able to dodge it.
We knew we were in trouble when the gates were blown up in the explosion. Arbello walked to the center of the courtyard. I looked over at another cover area, where Witherstorm, Jude, and Jimbob were hiding.
"You never learn, do you? Just come over, and no one will be done! We gather survivors to help them make it through this! I'll bet we have friends of your own!" yelled Arbello, to which Binta gave a frightened look. "We have people from The Citadel, even some former Champion City refugees!"
Stella, and Ray got up to retreat.
"People from The Citadel?" asked Ray.
Arbello nodded, and reached his hand out. Ray walked over to him, not even hesitating.
"I know you betrayed us, Stella, but we'll gladly take you back," Arbello assured his former lieutenant.
Marlon shot Arbello in the shoulder, allowing Ray to return to cover.
"Screw that, Arbello! You're just gonna kill us all anyway!" Ray yelled.
Rosie was still chewing on Connor, but gave up.
Arbello noticed Finn, and pointed his bow at him. He fired, hitting Finn in the shoulder. Finn was able to stop Rosie from attacking. Meanwhile, several of the kids as well as Annie and Aasim rushed Arbello. Serge and Stella ran back to me.
"These guys won't quit! We have to stop worrying about the recruits and take out Arbello!" yelled Stella.
Brody, Baahir, and Lydia rushed over.
"What's going on?" asked Brody.
"We didn't see much after taking cover inside," added Baahir.
Baahir was shot through the leg with an arrow. Swarfiga and Ray rushed over and helped Baahir. Marlon and Ryland went for Arbello. Louis was lobbing potions at soldiers, and the others were struggling in fight. Brody and Lydia were knocked out by Arbello, and so were Braxton and Alexander. Everything was happening so fast.
I couldn't believe this was happening. Two soldiers of Port Arbello grabbed Annie and Aasim. My mind went blank at this point, and a mixture of fear and panic overfilled my body. That was right before I blacked out for around five to ten seconds. I was now on the floor with Aasim, and  Annie had been knocked unconscious by a soldier. I helplessly watched. Just another bystander, as Kenney and Annie were dragged away by several soldiers. The one attacking Aasim was on the floor, an arrow in his back.
Arbello and the remaining soldiers left The Falls, taking away several members of our group with them. All we had to do was take out the zombies now. Marlon and I got our bows out and were ready to go ape on the mobs. This time, Swarfiga had remembered to use a bow and arrow to take out creepers. There was so much fire everywhere and we had to watch our step.
The gates were blown open, causing even more mobs to enter our turf. Trevor quickly patched up the destroyed gate, and went back to helping us kill the mobs that had invaded The Falls. Our kill counts were increasing every second, and the remaining members of The Falls were quickly learning offensive attacks, not that it mattered much anymore.
Warren was struggling to attack the mobs, and was hit in the face, giving him a black eye. However, Marlon and Finn were there to come to his rescue. All the mobs were nearly gone now. Aasim was shot in the arm by a skeleton, but he powered through it. We were in ruins after the attack, and all we could think of doing was fighting. But it was over. We had protected our turf.
I was too helpless to care any more. Evan was dead. And Port Arbello chose their pick. Ben, Braxton, Chris, Alexander, Temperance, Genevieve, Brody, Lydia, Brooke, and... Kenney. All gone. Aasim gave a helpless cry.
"They're gone. Ben, Braxton, Alex, Chris, Brody, Lydia..." he cried.
We had even lost our old friends. Evan's inventory was spilled on the floor. Brooke, Annie, and... Kenney...
We had to find them. We couldn't lose eleven people in just one night. We were too strong to just let that happen. The forgotten lieutenant, Connor, lay on the floor helplessly. He was bruised and ragged, having suffered so much pain and damage. We were surprised he was still alive. I could tell Rosie was enjoying her new toy, however. I kicked Connor in the jaw three times to wake him. I was going to enjoy this.
==Characters==
===Returning Characters===
*Gerald
*Kenney
*Ryland
*Marlon
*Louis
*Ray
*Brooke
*Evan
*Warren
*Jude
*Witherstorm
*Jimbob
*Jayden
*Swarfiga
*Binta
*Lluna
*Leo
*Stella
*Annie
*Gabriel
===New Characters===
*Finn
*Rosie
*Eileen
*Allison
*Trevor
*Serge
*Arbello
*Connor
*Aasim
*Ty
*Joan
*Estella
*Mitch
*Baahir
*Brody
*Lydia
*Braxton
*Ben
*Alexander
*Chris
*Genevieve
*Temperance
*Willy
*Luna
*James
==Deaths==
*Zander
*Apollo (Confirmed fate)
*Ophelia (Confirmed fate)
*Leopold (Confirmed fate)
*Voss
*Abraham
*Evan
*Every resident of Elliottown. (Confirmed fate)
==State of the Survivors==
*Alive - Gerald, Ryland, Louis, Leo, Marlon, Ray, Swarfiga, Warren, Jude, Witherstorm, Jimbob, Jayden, Lluna, Leo, Alice, Aasim, Finn, Rosie, Serge, Trevor, Eileen, Allison, Ty, Joan, Estella, Baahir, Mitch, Willy, Jasmine, Luna, Arbello, Connor, Binta, Gabriel, Stella, Steph, James
*Unknown - Kenney, Brooke, Brody, Lydia, Braxton, Ben, Alexander, Chris, Genevieve, Temperance
*Dead - Evan
==Trivia==
*First appearance of James.
*First appearance of Annie since S.P.S.
*First appearance of Gabriel since End of the World.
*Last appearance of Evan.
*This book reveals that Arbello has killed everyone in Elliottown.
*Evan is the first main character to die since "End of the World."
*The book name was revealed by Master E. Ludbizzy
*It was confirmed that there will be a major character death in this book.
*It was also confirmed that every member of The Falls would survive Book 2.
*The tagline is a reference to a bible quote, Matthew 24:6
Category:Minecraftia Arc 4
Category:Minecraftia Series
Category:Complete Stories
Category:Books
Category:Gerald-XR-Donovan
Category:Master E. Ludbizzy