Chapter Text
All he could hear was the pounding of his own heartbeat, his breath, and his own booming footsteps as it echoed through the dilapidated stone halls, running through the labyrinth, turning swiftly at each dead end. He was certain his pursuers would be close by, they had to be, his diversion in the nether couldn't have stalled them for too long. His ear twitched at the faint sound of bubbling lava, maybe he'd be lucky, there didn't seem to be too many cave systems nearby and this was pretty shallow for a stronghold. After only a few more wrong turns and following the smell of smoke he finally saw the glow of magma and heard the faint chitters of silverfish.
Yes! There it is! I might still have a chance after all.
He sloppily rummaged through his inventory, searching for the pearls he'd spent far too long collecting this time around. After only a few seconds he felt the uncomfortable stickiness of the eyes of ender in his inventory and started slamming them into place around the endstone structure.
Shit!
The faint sound of footsteps on stone not unlike his own, but in much higher numbers grew far too close far too quickly. He slammed the last pearl into place.
"There he is!" A familiar voice behind him shouted before picking up speed towards him. With one last far too hesitant glance back at the human dashing at him he scrambled through the portal.
Sloppy! What is with me today??
He steadied himself on the obsidian platform, leaping the small gap over the void and landing easily on the endstone structure. He made a dash for the closest pillar, using it for cover as he began shooting the large crystal podiums on top of the pillars. He watched as his friends began to pour into the end out of the side of his mask.
"Over there!" The short cat called, making a dash straight for him, the others following suit. He ran across the large island, dodging a few attempts from the great dragon to harm him on the way. He reached the farthest pillar and hooked his pickax into it, digging his hooves into the smallest grooves in the slick stone as he began ascending. A few stray arrows bounced off the wall as he climbed, none of which were close to hitting him and only served to chip easier grooves for him to climb. After what seemed like far too long he reached the top, hooking his arm over the edge and struggling to find a foothold as he caught his breath. He tossed his pickax at the crystal in front of him, which was a stupid mistake, as the blast nearly sent the pickax toward his head. Whatever, he won't need it anymore. He hauled himself to his feet and quickly surveyed his surroundings. The dragon was far too distracted by BadBoyHalo and Sapnap to care about the damage he was causing to the crystals, and George and Antfrost were trying to scale his pillar with much lesser success-
Oh wait no. The dragon swooped away from the two she was fighting, soaring through his pillar and knocking George to the ground, scattering his items. Ant held strong however, the feline was more confidently clawing his way up using the grooves he had left. Now where's-
He felt a sharp stinging on his ear as an arrow whirred past, Sam had climbed the next closest tower, which he thought was a stupid move. He had the high ground from here and Sam had to either destroy that crystal himself or waste an easy death. Whatever, his loss. He fired a few arrows at the last two remaining crystals, getting antsy as Ant neared the top. Out of the corner of his eye he caught something teal and hurtling right towards him reflect the light that seemingly came from nothing here. He hopped from the tower, throwing down a water bucket in time to catch himself as Sapnap warped away from him and up to the tower he had just left.
"Oh Dream" Sapnap teased with a dangerous and almost sing-songish tone. "You're not winning that easily!" He tossed himself from the tower, hardly missing Dream with his blade on the way down. That idiot really threw himself from that height?? Today would be easy. He swung his axe at his attacker, landing a good hit before having to raise his shield as Sapnap recovered from his fall. A sword swung for his throat in a wildly calculated manner. Even if this was all a game, it could get scary at times. Exhilarating at times. He grinned behind his mask, throwing up his dying shield a few last times before throwing a pearl. Sapnap ran after him, cornering him between Bad and George, who had only just picked up his things.
"There's no where to run now."
"You've lost, Dream." George added, meeting Sapnap's violent confidence in a much less convincing way. Fuck fuck fuck fuck no! He doesn't lose this easily. Fuck. The Dragon was hardly down a fifth of the way, and Ant and Sam were dashing towards him. Think think think.
"You got me." This was stupid, no one would buy it. "I concede." He dipped into a playful bow and began slowly reaching into his inventory.
"Give over your armor and weapons, and we might let you live." George sneered.
"Dude no, that's not how that works." Sapnap narrowed his eyes at his colleague. Maybe they were stupid enough.
"What? I'm having fun, can't we just call it a 'dub and go for dinner?" He watched George's shoulders relax, slightly turning past Dream to bicker with his teammate. His chance. He swung for the throat, dashing past George and not daring to look back until he was at a safe distance and the dragon was swooping for him.
"Darn brat!" Bad growled, running after him. Sapnap tossed a healing potion at George and followed closely behind. He swung for the dragon's throat, not bothering to avoid the breath attack for a few moments longer than he intended, it's fine, he just can't make any more mistakes. It had to be perfect. He had to be perfect. The dragon soared up once more, and Dream dashed away, pearling to the farthest edge of the island, seemingly chasing the dragon as his idiot companions followed, well, at least three of them. Ant was camping far too close to his real destination, farming a few pearls, and Sam was in the middle of a blank patch, shooting at him with-
"Yowch!!" An arrow flew into his arm, smokey green particles floating off the tip of it. Was this tipped with poison?! When did he have the time to make these?! God, sometimes he resented his friends’ ingenuity, he hadn't even seen any brewing stands placed, not that he was looking. Finally, the beast was circling the center, and the three major threats were catching up to him. He ran past them, catching as much momentum as possible before throwing an ender pearl. It was his last one, and he made it count. He slammed into the center pillar of bedrock, swinging precisely at the dragon's throat with his ax. He could feel his health ticking away. Just a few... seconds... longer... and...!
His vision flashed purple and then white as he heard the final death cries of the mother beast. He hollered a victory, leaping up to snatch the egg. He did it! God that was so close too. He really-
A sword connected with his back, easily slicing between his ribs and taking the last sliver of health points he had. He felt himself fall, and the egg between his hands fall with him, but as he should've collided with the portal frame basin, he caught a flicker of a swirly, almost painted night sky, and everything went white. His knees never hit anything, all he felt as the sickening lurch of falling faster and faster.