TWO ONESHOTS IN ONE DAY?! I know. I'm bored, okay?
Q: What if the Last Lifers never came back?
Battle royale?
Scott typed it into chat.
There were only four people remaining in the chaos that was Last Life, since they had killed Grian and Joel.
Scott couldn't shake the guilt from everyone's deaths, especially Lizzie, Jimmy, and Joel. But they would respawn back in Empires. That was how Third Life had worked, anyway.
He felt cold breezes swirling around him and shivered despite the warm, sunny day. Ghosts.
I know you're there.
The ghosts did not reply, which made sense. The only time a ghost had communicated with the living was when Grian and Joel used some sort of piston ritual to summon Bdubs.
And then all of the others ambushed and killed them.
So they were back to the present.
The last four players.
Sure, Ren communicated in answer to his question.
Why not? Martyn said.
Four corners of the map, a ghost commanded. Only one can remain.
Scott didn't have time to be surprised about the ghosts speaking.
Only one.
This time, Scott was determined to win.
The others were already claiming sides. Scott took the north and headed there.
He checked his inventory and sorted it out, putting the things he needed quickly like food, splash potions, golden apples, and of course sword and axe in his hotbar. He put his shield in his offhand just in case.
3…
2…
1…
GO!
Scott ran into the mountains.
He met Ren and Pearl first, in the oak forest near Spawn. He dumped a bucket of lava on them both. Ren got away. Pearl wasn't so lucky.
Sorry, former ally.
An arrow hit Scott from the top of the hill, where he remembered that Scar and Bigb had been killed by Ren, Cleo, and himself in Operation Bubblevate. Later, that hill had been the site of the trap that started the battle between Grian and Joel and everyone else who was still alive.
That's like, Murder Hill or something, Scott thought to himself.
Scott pulled the arrow out and found Martyn there, shooting his bow. Ren ran up the hill behind him with an axe.
Scott dove out of the way to avoid being sandwiched between the two men.
He thought they were going to gang up on him, which would have been very unfair. But they didn’t. Martyn ran into the forest, and Ren fell back.
Scott followed Martyn because he was more annoying. Anyone who said “AHA” nonstop just deserved to die.
JOKE JOKE JOKE PLS DONT KILL ME CRAZY PEOPLE FROM CAMP HERMIT-BLOOD
Martyn was out of sight, but Scott could still hear his loud footsteps as he crashed through the forest.
He suddenly heard Martyn cry out, “No! I’ve fallen down a hole!”
It was obviously a trap. But Scott didn’t really have another choice, with Ren behind him. Ren was much more dangerous.
He had hoped that Ren and Martyn would weaken each other enough that one of them died and Scott could pick off the other. Oh, well. That wasn’t going to happen.
Scott had to do everything, didn’t he?
Scott found Martyn in a creeper pit in a clearing and discovered that they had gone in a circle. They were very close to the puddle of lava that Pearl had died in. Ren was still nowhere to be found, but it was only a matter of time before he showed up.
Martyn placed an end crystal. Typical Southlander.
And then the idiot blew himself up.
It was probably intended to get Scott, but Martyn obviously didn’t know how end crystals worked. Scott took a little bit of damage but not much.
But the weird thing was that Chat said Scott blew him up. Whatever.
Scott set out to find the last survivor.
It turned out he didn’t need to. Ren found him.
Scott took out his bow.
The last duel was epic, or at least it was in Scott’s opinion. Sword against axe, bow against bow, potions against golden apples.
Scott shot his bow countless times. Ren looked like a porcupine in deep indigo robes, but still the fight lasted.
How much health did this guy have?
Ren climbed up onto a ledge on the side of the hill, trying to retreat. Scott followed, first throwing a potion, then stabbing from behind.
Items exploded outward.
I won.
I WON.
Oh, come on, Ren complained. I was so close!
Scott dumped Betty the axolotl out of a bucket. She would be the true winner.
And then he felt like he was dissolving, and everything disappeared in a flash of light.
------
Home.
The sounds of music played outside of Scott’s starter base, celebrating… well, everything. Elves celebrated everything, from simple things like the sun rising each morning to much bigger events like Winterfest.
Scott had almost forgotten what music sounded like.
He breathed in the crisp scent of spruce wood and got out of bed.
Scott realized he was still in his casual clothes that he had worn through Last Life: denim jacket, rainbow shirt. They were torn and bloody from the many battles they had gone through.
This wouldn’t do for his grand return to Rivendell.
Scott found his crown, robes, and armor that marked him as the king. He felt a painful yet familiar sensation on the top of his head and felt two little bumps. His antlers were growing back in. His ears were getting larger and more pointy too. The same pain came to his back as his wings sprouted as well.
Scott nearly cried. He had forgotten the familiar weight of the wings on his back and the antlers on his head. It had been so long…
Maybe he could stay inside a little longer. Just to recover and get used to the wonderful feeling of being an elf again.
His antlers and wings reached full size.
Scott threw open the door and went to apologize to his subjects for his long absence.
An elf bowed to him as he walked by. "Good morning, your majesty."
Scott frowned. They were acting like everything was normal. As if he had just taken a nap, not been gone for two months.
Was it a dream?
Had time stopped while he was in Last Life?
"Scoooott," a voice said desperately.
Scott turned to see Gem land a little roughly behind him. "Oh. Hello."
"Something happened that you might want to know about," she said, tears jumping to her eyes.
"How long was I out?" Scott asked her.
"Out?" Gem asked, then shook her head. "I'm getting distracted. Scott, I was at Sausage's base, and we went over to Jimmy's house…"
"What happened?" Scott said, unable to hold back the fear. If Sausage did something, I'm going to kill him.
Gem's lip trembled. "We don't know how it happened… Scott, Jimmy's dead."
:)
"No," Scott said. "He isn't."
"He is," Gem said. "I know it's hard-"
"He isn't!" Scott took off and flew toward the Cod Empire.
No. No. NO. HE ISN'T.
He couldn't be.
Scott heard the sound of Gem's rockets behind him, but didn't look back.
He got to the Cod Empire and went inside of Jimmy's tiny and rather ugly starter house, but of course he didn't have the heart to say it to the Codfather's face. He went inside. "Jimmy?" He called. "JIMMY!"
Jimmy was not inside.
The storage room: empty except for Norman, who seemed a little confused.
Throne room: empty.
Secret head hall: empty.
Cod Cathedral: empty.
Embassy lake: empty.
Slime farm: empty.
Maybe he was at the Ocean Empire, or Mezalea, or Pixandria. Maybe he was gathering resources.
Scott tried to take off again, but Gem grabbed his arm. "This was on his bed," she said quietly.
She handed Scott a sword. It was stained with blood, but probably not Jimmy's.
Scott looked at it. Attached to it was a note that said two simple words: He died... somewhat bravely. Ask Scott.
There was no signature.
Gem looked at Scott suspiciously.
"Why would I- how could you think-" Scott abruptly stopped and flew away.
He came back from Third Life. We all did.
This can't be happening. It's a dream.
But the cold air rushing past Scott's face was very real.
Scott didn't stop flying until he was back at Rivendell, and then he immediately flew away again because he realized something.
If Jimmy had died… what about Lizzie, and Joel, and Pearl? Were they okay?
Or was it Scott's fault they were dead too?
Well, not completely his fault. Lizzie had died to Bdubs, but Joel and Pearl had both been killed by Scott himself.
If they were dead, that was entirely his fault.
The Ocean Empire was empty, Gilded Helianthia was empty, Mezalea was empty.
Scott found three more notes, all with the weapons of the deceased emperors, saying the same thing as Jimmy's.
As he picked up the third one, from Mezalea, Scott sank to the floor.
Dead. They were all dead.
Scott shook with sobs that he didn't realize were coming. Nobody else knew. But it was his fault, all his fault.
I didn't know.
How did I not know?
All four of them were my allies. If they were helping Xornoth, it would be different.
But would it really?
Four Empires had become ghost towns, left without a ruler. Four kingdoms full of citizens were forced to flee to other places, because they couldn't imagine life in their homes with different leaders.
Gone.
They're gone.
Just because you haven't had your daily dose of angst with the last oneshot :)