The Ones Who Survived - An MCYT fanfic

Ch 6: Joe

Flashback timeeeeee

I'm already in the shopping district when the creature appears. Messages begin building up in chat, worry starts growing. I don't feel much of it, to be honest. Surely it will be fine...

Quick flight over, see the creature, panic increases. Reading and chatting with others make me think it's a Watcher... covered face, wings, aura of definitely-evil magic silently judging us for existing? Yep, it's a watcher. 

'Joe, what's going on?' Cleo lands next to me. I'm thankful for another friend. Someone who can freak out with me. 'Do you... know what that is?'

'A watcher. They're...not nice.' 

'Well... I could tell that. Why is it here?'

'I don't know...' I look back as Xisuma walks over to the Watcher and they begin talking. Galactic. The only words I recognise are 'no' 'why' 'Please' and 'death', and from the fact the watcher's saying the latter, we're all doomed. I check my inventory for what I've got on me during doomsday... not much, as it turns out. A few shulker boxes, food, tools, and other resources. Then the conversation turns silent. A worried glance is exchanged between me and Cleo. 

And the world turns to hell. 

Other watchers appear. Xisuma's sprinting away, grabbing fireworks and flying into the sky. A lot of people are already gone or going... someone firing arrows. False. One of the watchers turns on her. 

I watch in horror as a large spike of obsidian impales her before running. 

There's no death message, but she can't be alive after that. Cleo's ahead of me, yelling for me to follow or she'll break my effing legs, except she doesn't say effing. There's no way of knowing if we're being followed without slowing down. A message appears in chat. 

Xisuma: meet @ shopping district now

Xisuma: abandon server

Cleo drags me behind some kind of building, shoving me against a wall.

'I'm going with Xisuma. Are you going to come with me?'

'I...' As much as it sounds safe, I shake my head. 'It'll be a bloodbath. They'll kill all of you.' 

'Stay safe. Or I'll effing murder you.' There's tears in her eyes. 'I'll... I'll... don't you dare do anything stupid. Stay alive.' 

I can barely breathe, but manage to force out some words. 

'Keep... keep adventuring.' 

Before I can do anything else, Cleo hugs me. I numbly hug back as she sobs. 

'Don't die on me.' 

'I won't. We met again after season 8. We survived that so...' 

'Joe, promise me you'll stay safe.' 

'I promise I'll stay safe. Cross my heart and hope to... survive.' 

'Just come with me. Xisuma will protect us.' 

'I can't give up on the server this easily.' I reply. 'I just can't.'

Cleo steps away. 

'I... I knew you wouldn't. Because... you're Joe Hills. And you do what you do and no one can stop you and... I'm going to miss you.'

'We're not going to die.' 

I don't know why I'm unsure.

'I know.' 

Another hug. This time, it's not just Cleo that's crying. No Watchers have found us yet, but destruction surrounds spawn, explosions, screams, yells... 

'Goodbye, Joe.' Cleo smiles at me. I smile back.

'Goodbye, Cleo.' 

She runs off, towards the shopping district and I watch until she's no longer there before fleeing.

Into the air, away from the chaos. I don't look back, crossing the mountains. Someone's there. I don't have time to properly see them, but I do note the other person in the air with me.

'Keralis! I...'

'Joe! Oh my goodness, sweet face. Everything is... is...' 

'It'll be ok. Don't worry. Mumbo and Grian's bases appear in front of us, and I have a sudden idea, diving down. Keralis follows, landing after me on the bridge between the bases. The sudden force of weird energy makes me want to instantly move on, but I don't. I can't.

'We need to gather resources. And other people's stuff is the best we can do.'

'Ender chests,' Keralis states. 'We need to get ender chests. They have all our stuff in it.' (Which they're just magically not taking around with them for P L O T)

'Keralis, you're a genius. You search Mumbo's base, I'll search Grian's.' Even as I run off, I realise I've given myself the bigger base to look through. On purpose? I don't know. But I need stuff, and Grian-from-the-past can provide it for me. 

His stuff is an absolute mess, but I should've expected that as I search through endless chests and shulker boxes. I grab his enderchest, as Keralis recommended, and find a shulker with plenty of food inside, fireworks, golden apples and potions... it feels wrong. Very, very wrong. But I have to. If I want to survive. Besides, Grian's probably dead.

I stop at the nonchalance of my own brain. Grian won't be dead. And besides, how would that make it easier? I stop looking, knowing there's more stuff to cover, just taking his bed before joining Keralis again. 

'Got enough stuff?' He nods back. 

'I'll see you on the other side, sweet face.'

'Wait- can't we stick together?' I grab his hand as I'm about to continue. 

'It's too dangerous. They'll catch both of us when they find one of us.' His logic makes sense.

'Yeah, but we could fight them off too... we could find as many people as we can that are still here.' 

'I'll see you on the other side. Bye Joe. You have an amazing face.' 

I watch in disbelief as Keralis finds rockets and flies away. 

Welp, this is rubbish.

But at least it's now finished and rubbish