I'll bet you my left hand that at LEAST 5 people have already come up with this title already. But, I was low on ideas (as usual) and I just couldn't think of the right pop.

Lukas' POV:

Lukas fell on his back into the dangerous Nether world. He saw Jesse fall out beside him, his little sister on top of him. When they got to their feet, Lukas noticed her come to.

"Where's Petra?" Axel asked the three. Lukas swallowed a lump in his throat, unwilling to tell Axel the terrible truth.

"We did everything we could," he said. "Or at least...Jesse and Nikki did," he added privately.

"What are you saying?" Axel was a bit more worried now.

"It was chaos. There wasn't much we could do," Jesse explained. "Petra is still up there!"

"He's so worried about her..." Lukas thought, his respect for Jesse growing. "And he's not blaming me. Maybe they deserve the truth."

"I got scared," he admitted. "Just for a second." Bad choice. Axel had wheeled on him and was approaching threateningly.

"You got scared?" he growled.

"It wasn't my fault!"

"You got scared and it wasn't your fault?!"

"Back off, Axel," Olivia said sternly. Axel grunted, but obeyed.

"Yeah! We need to go back," Nikki agreed, rubbing her sore head and starting for the portal, but Olivia blocked her way.

"No! We just need to wait,"

Nikki stared intensely at Olivia, taking in what she said, as if she was having second thoughts, then she turned to Jesse.

"We should go back," Jesse said, shocking Lukas.

"No moment's thought, no hesitation, no memory of that Storm--" Lukas wondered just how much Jesse was willing to risk over one friend. Even Nikki had taken some time to think over it. Why would Jesse be in such a hurry? Unless...a friend was not what he viewed Petra as?

"She just needs more time," Olivia tried to convince her friend, but Jesse shook his head.

"Petra NEEDS our help. We're going!" he said firmly, apparently not set on changing his mind.

"Yup, he's gone crazy for her," Lukas groaned inwardly. Then, he heard the portal swish silently, revealing that someone was coming through. "Hey, there she is!"

Jesse's POV:

Jesse stared intently at the portal, begging that Petra would be the one walking out of it. Someone fell out, but it wasn't Petra. And it certainly wasn't someone they wanted to see. It was Ivor.

"You again," the old man huffed. Before anyone could exchange any harsh words, a Wither Storm tentacle burst through the portal! It whipped about blindly, trying to grab something. It found the portal frame, and squeezed it tight until it broke, then was gone.

Jesse gaped at the broken portal in despair. Everyone knew what that meant. Even if Petra had made it, she wouldn't be able to duck into the Nether after everyone else. She may be doomed! With this in mind, Jesse's gaze went to Ivor, full of hate.

"You ruined everything!" the dealer hissed, dusting himself off. Jesse was so angry, he didn't even move. He just sizzled his hot glare into Ivor. "Don't pretend you don't know, thief! You took my most valuable potion! And ruined what could've been my moment of triumph! What do you say to that?!"

Jesse watched Nikki march up stiffly until she was face-to-face with Ivor. Well, more like face-to-stomach, upon being shorter, but her stare caught his bravely. "Does THIS answer your question?" she snarled. Before Ivor even had a chance to reply, she socked him good in the jaw, causing a tooth to soar out and burn up in a lava pool nearby. At any other time, Jesse would have scolded her. But now, he couldn't have been more proud.

"More needless violence," Ivor groaned, still in pain from the blow. "It solves nothing. Learn the lesson now, or you'll share Gabriel's fate."

"Thanks for the useless words of wisdom," Nikki spat. "Now if you'll excuse us, we need to go rescue our friend from your crazy pet! No offense." She quickly added to Zephyr, who sternly glared at her from her shoulder.

"There's nothing left up there! Nothing but that Wither Storm,"

"Again, we are wasting our time talking to you, and need to go get Petra!"

"The girl! I saw her,"

Jesse's hard glare went from pinched and angry to open and surprised. "What?" Lukas gasped.

"When I was running for the portal, I passed her," Ivor said. "She was running in the opposite direction!" He plastered a jeeringly respectful expression on his bearded face. "Such bravery. But of course, there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity! And your friend has crossed it."

Jesse couldn't stand listening to this jerk talk about Petra this way any longer. "She's going to make it!" he insisted.

"You're concerned about your friend," Ivor kept up his mocking tone. "It's admirable. Almost like she's not a friend at all...but a love interest?" For once, Jesse didn't feel his cheeks burn. He cared about whether Petra was safe or not, and didn't care if anyone noticed something more.

"You're all going to be dead very soon," Ivor continued.

"When we're around you, maybe!" Jesse snapped.

"You don't even realize you're in danger, right now,"

"You don't scare us,"

"That's not even my goal. Through that tunnel is a network of minecarts built by the Order of the Stone. It's your only way out,"

"Much as I hate to admit it--" Nikki sighed. "—he might be right." Jesse was shocked that his little sister was actually trusting this jerk. Worse, he couldn't find the words to disagree with her.

"Bravo for embracing the truth, young one," Ivor sniffed.

"Don't get too comfy. I still don't trust you," Nikki warned. Just then, they all heard the moan of a ghast nearby.

"I would wish you good luck, but luck won't carry you through the Nether," Ivor said. "You have my sympathies." With that, he took out a potion bottle, drank it up, and was gone. No sooner than he had disappeared, a ghast came floating over the horizon, looking ready to shoot.

"Let's get out of here!" Nikki cried.

"Run!" Jesse yelped.

Nikki's POV:

Fear and call for energy coursed through Nikki's body as she dashed from the wailing ghast behind them. Zephyr zoomed ahead, squeaking and doing little flips just above a hunk of netherrack. Behind that lump, there was a minecart system! Ivor had been right!

Above the tunnel it drove into, Nikki saw a stained glass replica of the amulet, making her heart plummet. Gabriel had entrusted her with the amulet before being left behind with the Wither Storm. She knew what she had to do, but wasn't entirely sure if she could do it.

Well, there was no time to think about this matter now, because they had a different one on their hands. And that other one was a ghast! It shot a fiery ball, causing everyone to dive in different directions. Once they rose, they made a break for the minecarts. Axel climbed into the first one, Olivia behind him, Lukas in the next, Reuben wriggling in the one behind, and finally, Jesse and Nikki in the last minecarts.

"Everyone, hang on!" she ordered as the minecarts started to move through the tunnel. The ghast was too big to follow, so it lumbered defeated on the outside.

The minecarts rumbled through the dangerous world, giving Nikki a chance to look around. Petra had taken her here once on her 10thbirthday, against Jesse's own wishes, but she was still amazed by the sights she saw.

"Wow...the Nether," mumbled Lukas.

"Yeah..." shuddered Olivia. "That is a LOT of lava...and fire...and other things that could burn you to death."

"Uh, how about fall damage?!" Jesse gulped.

"Yeah, and fall damage, why—oh my Notch!" Olivia yelped mid-sentence. Nikki turned ahead to see what was worrying them, only to see that the tracks dipped dramatically.

"Oh, that's a drop, that is VERY much a drop!" cried Lukas.

"Here we go!" Jesse said, throwing his hands up.

"Well...when in Rome..." Nikki figured, and threw hers up as well. Axel copied, but Olivia covered her eyes, and Lukas hung on tight as they plummeted down. Zephyr squeaked delightfully as he felt the wind cruise over his slick black ears from atop Nikki's head as Reuben squealed in a panic and ducked under the minecart. When they reached flat ground again, they were going at super-speed. There were two overhangs of soul sand in front of them, too low to speed under.

"Duck!" she warned her friends, sinking under the minecart. Zephyr flapped off her head and joined her in the shelter. The first overhang was avoided, then the second, then everyone rose their heads. But they weren't done yet. Now they faced a giant lava curtain that flowed over the tracks. If they went through those, they'd all be charred to wither skeletons.

"Okay, so...I'm not the only one who can see we're running out of track, right?" Axel whimpered.

"No!" Lukas shouted back.

"Good!"

Suddenly, Nikki caught sight of a lever in front of her. It protruded from the side of the tracks, and was just in reach. "Zeph! That lever! Quick, buddy!"

Zephyr was in his element. He shot at the switch like an arrow, and flicked it just as the minecarts passed. They stopped abruptly, right in front of the curtain. The tracks the carts had stopped on were being dropped to a lower elevation with pistons.

"Huh, wow," Jesse sighed in relief. "I thought something bad was going to happen there, but I guess everything's gonna be--" Before he could finish, the tracks in front suddenly changed direction! It broke Jesse and Nikki off from the team, and the track kept switching, breaking up everyone else as well. There was a lot of clamor and yells, but after it was all over, Jesse, Nikki, and Zephyr were left on a lone track.

"Uh, Axel? Olivia? Reuben? Anybody?" Nikki called. The only response was a squeal of terror. There was a skeleton in the minecart in front of Reuben, shooting at him! Zephyr, noticing his ally in danger, screeched loud, creating a shockwave that hit the skeleton, and made its skull top-heavy. As it was off-balance, Zephyr stuck the final blow, knocking it into the lava lakes below. Reuben oinked gratefully at the ender bat, then jumped into Nikki's lap.

"And you said he lost his mind," Nikki couldn't resist pointing out to her brother.

"Hey, guys, remember when I said everything was going to be just fine before?" Jesse sheepishly said. "I know I was wrong then, but I'm sure this time, everything will be fi—whoa!" He was interrupted when they sped under a ghast, which turned around and pursued them! To make matters worse, two more ghasts heard the commotion and joined the chase. "Duck!" he cried, sheltering in his minecart. As Nikki did the same, she rose her sword, and it deflected the fireball, hitting the ghast in the middle. Sensing a chance to fight back, Nikki stood up straight and whacked the oncoming fireballs until all the ghasts were reduced to white mist.

"Again, yet another demonstration of your horrible judgement skills!" she wheezed at Jesse breathlessly, not used to fighting in such intense heat.

"Well, ghasts are officially crossed off my to-see list," Jesse assured her. "Done with ghasts, never need to see them--" the siblings and their pets rounded a corner where another ghast floated, waiting. For a few moments, their mouths hung open. "Don't you say a word," Jesse finally hissed before Nikki even had the chance to say something.

The ghast shot a flaming ball at them, knocking Nikki's minecart off the edge! Reuben jumped to Jesse's minecart, but Nikki only managed to grab the side. Stomach swaying, Nikki tried to avoid looking down at the lava below. Zephyr grabbed the back of her hoodie, and tried to pull her up, but she was rocking around too much for him to do so. To make the situation more difficult, they were shooting up to a high height, where the tracks were abruptly cut off towards emptiness.

"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!" Jesse repeated over and over as they got closer and closer to the edge. Finally, they rocketed into the sky, soaring right in front of the ghast like it was E.T. all over again. But they missed the tracks on the other side and took a nosedive towards the lava!

As the siblings screamed their fright, Zephyr's eyes started glowing an intense purple. They blazed so bright, Nikki had to squint to save herself from being blinded. But what was her pet up to? Zephyr was now vibrating very hardly, but briefly. Just as the tip of the minecarts dipped into the lava, the entire party was gone in a shower of ender particles. Zephyr had just teleported them all!

They reappeared on the tracks, and as luck would have it, right behind the rest of their friends. The little sister and the big brother just sat there, unbelieving of what they just experienced, then allowed their flabbergasted jaws to close when the rest of the gang looked back at them.

"Is...ha...is everyone okay?" Jesse feebly asked. At first, no one spoke. Then Nikki piped up.

"Zephyr's wiped out, but I think he's fine," she murmured. Zephyr, who was wasted after teleporting so many objects at once, had been knocked out and was resting in Nikki's pocket. "But I think I'LL be fine if someone pulls me up." She was still dangling from the edge of the minecart, but not for long. Jesse hauled her up and deposited her in the empty minecart in front of them.

"I mean, I'm not dead. I guess that's pretty good," Axel supposed.

"Ditto. Ditto with the not-dead," Olivia agreed.

"I just can't believe that Petra comes down here all the time," Lukas shuddered. "This place is awful."

"Hey, at least we're still alive!" Jesse reminded everyone. "That's more than any other people can say. Their bones are still sizzling away under those lava pools." Lukas looked back at them skeptically.

"Wow. Morbid," he commented.

Axel's POV:

Axel never thought he'd be happy to see a floating hunk of netherrack, of all things. But that hunk held the portal home, and out of this hellish world, so he was all for it.

"Can you throw up, like, inside your body?" Jesse groggily asked.

"Uh-huh," Olivia answered, looking a bit green herself. "I know because I just did. About five times."

"Sure hope she's okay..." Axel found himself worrying about Olivia. Thank Notch he was aware enough to keep this to himself. The party of seven climbed the stairs all the way up to another portal.

"All the tracks converge at this point," Olivia identified. "You could probably get anywhere in the world from here."

"Clever observation...she's fine," Axel comforted himself. The party of seven climbed the stairs all the way up to another portal.

"This must lead to the surface. That's our way out!" Nikki beamed gleefully. Impatient to leave the Nether, Axel started for the portal.

"The surface is also where that creature is," Lukas reminded her, causing Axel to stop dead.

"Way to make it more difficult for me, jerk!" he thought furiously. Now he was going to look like a coward if he backed out, which he greatly longed to do, now that the image of the Wither Storm was locked in his mind.

"Thanks for being so brave, Axel," Lukas was mockingly egging him on to make him look dumber; he just knew it.

"Okay, I'm about to go," he declared. "I'm going. I'm going right now." But Axel didn't move a muscle. His mind and body were not in synch at the moment.

Just then, he felt a hand touch his arm. He peeked over curiously, and blushed a bit when he saw it was Olivia whom it belonged to.

"You got this. We'll be right behind you," she coaxed. Her encouraging tone and warming eyes gave Axel all the courage he needed, and much more.

"You're right," he breathed. "Thanks, Liv."

"If it's not love I see, then I'm blind!" Nikki commented.

"Then you need glasses, Nikki," Olivia retorted, backing away. To Axel, she said, "Be safe up there."

"I will be," he promised. Taking a deep breath, he went in. for a moment, it was just purple swirls and ender particles, but then, a clearing with a few nearby trees and a water source, which he stepped into. "Okay, not what I was expecting," he said simply. Then, he heard that old recognizable groan. Before he could turn to it, a zombie jumped him, taking him by surprise and knocking him over! "Yeah, THIS is more like I predicted!" he yelped.

Nice move, Axel. REEEEEAL nice. But whoop-whoo! Olixel in da house! And Nikki strikes again with her amazing shipping powers! XD Anyways, next chapter will come out ASAP. See ya till then!