Steve Saga - Dawn of the Steves [DISCONTINUED]

CHAPTER 15

    "Look... we've crossed pretty far from the horizons... along endless shorelines... between the reefs of the shallow waters... the views were pretty much alike, all concealed in an infinite loop, as it spins around for days—"

    "Get straight to the point, Saber."

    "I'm not sure if we're getting closer to it. Like... I know you, Lucas and Rainbow Steve were granted a second chance to live here... but what is it for? Now that everything's over..."

    "You haven't paid attention to our conversation this morning, Saber,' replied Light Steve with a hint of grumpiness in his tone, "We need the Rainbow Tree of Life to wake him up from the coma... or something that seems like it."

    Saber scratched his head, "But I thought you said that he'll wake up if we give him some time."

    "That's just an assumption, but it's true... the sooner we get to the Rainbow Town, the sooner we can build the machine... and get Rainbow Steve back to normal," added Lucas, who glanced at the figure still dormant on Sabre's back, while Sabre, on the other hand, noticed something.

    "Hey, Thena, you alright? You look weary."

    "No, I'm fine, just... didn't get enough sleep back there..."

    "You sure? 'Cause you look like as if you... cried..."

    "It's nothing... I missed home."

    "But you're spawned in the middle of nowhere!" Saber piped up.

    The Nightmare Clone joined in. "Mentors who teach you everything they have. With knowledge that passes down from one generation to the next... It's a shame I couldn't have such dedicated teacher, not in my whole life..."

    He could hear her fists clenching, he could feel her trying her very best not to show her snarl. What? He had thought, what does one take to defect their close ones? The vision of his friend bringing him a pot of stew earlier in the cave aroused a bit of suspicion.

'Would you be kind to take it to them, Saber?'

'What's that?'

'The stew I made earlier during sunrise. I was thinking I could maybe give them a surprise regarding homecoming.'

'You don't say...'

Thena cut him off with a smile stretching across her face. 'A token of gratitude! Though I need a favor'

     'What's that?'

     'Can you maybe... not mention me when they asked who made it? It'll ruin it... just say you found it in some chests in the mineshaft nearby.'

     'But I'm sure they'll appreciate it more if you tell them you ma-' Saber backed away.

     'Do you remember what you promised?'

     'If it meant by helping you in exchange of her attention, yes.'

     Thena looked at the pot of stew she was holding and back at him again. Saber hesitated, but still slowly reached out to grab the pot handle as he then turned to the rest of the group who were all waking up one by one. Saber gulped as he staggered his way to his mentor, who flinched from the approaching shadow.

     'Oh, it's just you.' Sabre chuckled.

     'Yup... no evil Steves or anything...' He tried smiling back, though the weight of the huge pot made could only make him grit his teeth in a weird way.

     'You look like you're holding in a fart,' Light Steve scoffed, 'say, kid, what's that you're holding?'

     Saber glanced at Thena then back at the rest. 'I... found this stew... in a nearby mineshaft

That sudden thought whooshed right through him, sending him a gut feeling and a bit of a fear.

No... this isn't finished... I might not have an exact idea of what's going to happen, but...

The mega clone stared at the handcuffed Steve, where his umber red gaze fixed on the girl clone before turning away with a mild snicker. Saber gulped as silently as possible, then blinked and shook his head, re-focusing his gaze to somewhere else.

I trust you, Thena. Please don't let it be you...

Sabre's excited gasp brought his apprentice out of his thoughts. 'Guys, I see the Rainbow Wall! Up there at the front! We're here!' Curious to what the Rainbow Wall was, Saber hastened his steps to catch up with the trio. There, behind the thin mists stood a tall, colourful barrier, unlike anything he had ever seen during his journeys. Surely, they could've been to a ruin or two during the journey, but deep down, Saber was already in awe of the massive structure.

'Your jaw dropped, wait until you see the town inside Lucas, Rainbow Steve and I built!' Sabre laughed and patted his shoulder. As they moved closer to the gates, Lucas suddenly stopped as everyone turned to find the Steve he was carrying giving off a little glow. Sabre sensed his aura was increasing. Hope was near. Thrilled, he ordered the group to pick up their paces. Warm breezes swept through the reeds as they stomped on the grass, along their way through the marshlands and then the plains, until the gates were just fifty blocks away. Sabre was too overjoyed at the thought of saving his friend that he didn't notice a figure standing at the entrance, until he felt his arm grabbed by his apprentice. A little bewildered, he glanced at Saber as he pointed at the gates. Following his gaze, Sabre froze.

'Sabre! W-what are you doing here? Get out of this place!'

'I should be asking you this question, Prism Steve! What are you doing here in the Rainbow Town?'

The beige Steve narrowed his eyes. 'This place isn't safe anymore, get out!'

'You do realize how much we have to go through to get here, right?' Thena joined in, annoyed, 'We're nearly there to wake Rainbow Steve. Everything will be back to how it started.'

'Technically, it doesn't matter anyways... sunk cost—' the Nightmare Clone piped up, but was silenced by Thena's slap in the face.

    Lucas stepped up, his expression swirled with concern. Everyone watched as he knelt down on both knees while carrying Rainbow Steve on his back. Sabre was surely in shock and fury. 'Lucas! What in the world are you doing?'

    'Prism Steve, we don't want to fight you. If you want to claim anything else I own, I'm willing to, for the sake of Sabre and the others. But you have to let us past the gates, this is our home.'

'Do you not trust me? I said it's dangerous!' The beige Steve raised his voice.

'You've lost our trust the moment you doubt us!"

'What? I didn't!'

    Anger and insecurity spiked the air as both teams stood on opposing sides in stalemate. None of the travelers knew what had yet to come, and what Prism Steve seemed to be hiding behind the wall. But Prism Steve immediately charged his attack The Nightmare Clone seemed to have gained his chance and suddenly broke out of the grasp of his chains. In seconds, he soared up in the midair and quickly struggled free from his cuffs.

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This is the last part of the manuscript. Thank you for staying by the journey. This series is officially discontinued, I will not delete the previous chapters. It shall still be there in my front page. Thanks again for reading.

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