The Crafters' Battle

three

Mitch's POV
What just happened?

As soon as we got home, we all gathered in the living room for a small meeting on the matter. How could Notch do such a thing? There was a slim chance any of us would win this damn thing, and we couldn't risk all of us dying to do this. What if we did win? How would we carry on knowing we killed people who didn't have to die? "This is so crazy," Quentin uttered, sitting down in a seat.

"Are we really doing this? Are we really going to kill each other?" Ian asked sadly. I shrugged. "Apparently so. This is ridiculous!" Adam sighed. "Guys, I want this violence to end, we all do. But this is the last thing I'd ever think of to end it," he said. "I don't want to kill any of you," Jerome defended weakly. "I'm sorry, in advance." Ty smiled. "It's alright, man." He patted his shoulder gently, and Ian stood up. "I'll be in my room. I gotta call Maddie and... tell her the news." Then he walked up the stairs, and we all winced at him slamming his door.

"This is so messed up," Jason groaned, covering his helmet with his hands and leaning back on the couch. "We'll be fine. We'll win this thing, and we'll keep our fans..." I trailed off my sentence, unsure of my promises. "They have just as much a chance of winning as we do. It's anyone's game, really," Jerome sighed, and Adam shook his head. "I don't know them very well, but I know enough to know that they're as strong as we are. It's an equal playing field, as much as I hate to say it."

We all nodded in agreement, much to our displeasure. None of us wanted to admit that we could possibly lose, but it was a possibility, especially knowing that they could use a sword as well as us. "It may be an equal chance for any of us to win, but we'll win this thing! Right?" Ty said enthusiastically, a hopeful tone to his voice. "Hell yeah," I replied immediately, slapping him on the shoulder playfully.

"We'll win for sure," Quentin said happily, and Jerome smirked. "Definitely." "You guys are crazy, but I know we can do it," Jason said, a grin coming to his face. Then we all turned to Adam, who seemed reluctant to agree. "We all know Ian's willing to do it. He's got a family to care for. We all do, Adam; you have to be positive, for them, for Alesa," I said seriously, and he sighed, thinking a moment.

Then he smiled, standing up and holding a hand in front of him. "Someone go get Ian; we have a promise to make." We all cheered, and Ty immediately bolted up the stairs to get Ian. Soon enough, Ty came down the stairs, with a thrilled Ian on his back. "Let's do this!" Ian shouted loudly, and we all cheered, putting our hands on top of Adam's. "We can do this, right?" he said, and we all nodded. "Then Team Crafted on three."

We all whistled as Adam counted down. "1, 2, 3-" Then we all lifted our hands and screamed as loud as we could, "TEAM CRAFTED!", not caring if the neighbors heard us. After we lowered our hands, we all plopped down on the couch, with me on top of Jerome, with Ian on top of Ty, and Adam on top of Quentin. Jason was lucky to not have anyone sit on him. "Okay guys, promise me something," Adam said seriously, shifting his body on top of Quentin.

"What's up?" Jerome said, his voice slightly muffled thanks to my body. "No matter what happens in the Afterworld, we will power through, for each other. And if we have to kill each other... do what you have to do to make that decision. If we lose, we are gonna be best friends in that dungeon." We all laughed. "Yeah, we will. But what if we do lose, and we never regain our memories? Alesa, Maddie, all of our girlfriends will be heartbroken..." Ian said sadly, his happiness vanishing immediately.

"Well, if we do lose, they can help us get our memories back," Jason said, rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. "And if it's one of us?" Jerome asked seriously. "One of us? What do you mean?" Ty asked in surprise. "What if we weren't dating anyone outside of the group? What if we were... I don't know, 'crushing' towards one of the members of Team Crafted?" Jerome said sheepishly, peeking his head out from behind me.