Minecraft: The Marvelous Adventures of Steve: The Invasion Trilogy

Loose Chains

"I thought I told you to leave!" He shouted, raising his lead in the air.

"Leave her alone!" Steve demanded as the lead came down. He grabbed it, ignored the pain in his hand, and yanked it from Nicholas's grip. Swiftly, he cracked it down on his left hand. He screamed in pain and pulled his hand back.

"Doesn't feel good when it happens to you, does it?" Steve said.

"You'll pay for that!"

Nicholas pulled out a diamond sword. Everyone around them gasped and muttered among themselves. A crowd had formed around them in a wide circle, enslocing the three. Steve stared at the sword. It reeked of evil. He showed his weapon in kind.

"Sam, get the girl out of here and make sure she's alright!"

Sam ran in between the gathering and swooped the girl up in his arms. She whimpered in his embrace. Sam rank back out before Nicholas decided to find another target.

"I won't let you get away with what you just did," Steve said.

"You wont? I'm the chieftan of this village. I do what I want as I please. No one tells me what to do."

"I might not be one of your villagers, but you can't order me around like a slave like you do everyone else."

There was an "ooh" from the crowd around them.

"I should kill you right now," he said. "From this point onward, you are trespassing. Leave, or I will kill you."

"Like what you wanted to do to that girl?"

The crowd stayed silent. So did Nicholas.

"You were going to kill her. I could see it in your eyes."

Nicholas's anger grew.

"You're a murderer," Steve said finally.

Nicholas roared and charged. Just as he swung his sword, Steve ducked and backed away. Nicholas came running at him again. This time, Steve met his speed and charged at him, too. At the last second, he slid below the swing of the diamond blade and brought his own sword around. The sharp edge cut against his side. He screamed in pain and grabbed his ribs. He could feel the warm blood between his fingers.

Ignoring the pain, Nicholas lept at him and thrusted the sword down upon Steve. He lifted his sword in a blocking position, and the blades connected with a *clang*. Sparks flew with the pressure of blade against blade. Steve could feel Nicholas's breath as he pushed against him. He could hear his own sword cracking under the pressure. Nicholas smiled and pushed harder. The sword grew cracks. Steve had to lean back to ease the stress on his weapon, but his stance was failing. He knew if his sword broke or fell, he was done for. Nicholas knew this, too. When Steve's arm began shaking, Nicholas smirked and pushed harder.

Steve's arm hurt, but he wasn't done yet. With every last ounce of his strength, he yelled and pushed against Nicholas's force. Nicholas was shoved back just as Steve's sword broke. Steve came at him with a fist and hit Nicholas hard on the nose. Stunned, he fell back, dropping his sword. Steve picked it up and gripped it tightly. Nicholas looked at Steve and grimaced.

"Go ahead," Nicholas said. "Finish me."

Steve wanted to. Oh, he wanted to so bad for all the pain Nicholas had caused. He would be one less patch of evil in this land, but Steve knew he couldn't. He felt it. Saw it. Something changed inside of Steve. Something powerful grew inside.

Instead of swinging the sword at Nicholas, he backed away. Seeing the lead on the ground, he picked it up and stuck the sword in the dirt. He raised his arm and whipped Nicholas. Every mark he made sure would sting more than the last. Nicholas yelped and tried to block the hits. Steve hit as many different places as he could. He had lost count of how many times. When he saw the faces of the villagers around him, he stopped. His point was made. He backed away and threw the lead away.