*Sorry if the last chapter seemed a bit rushed, it was late and I just wanted to get it done :P So as a way to make it up... Here's an early update :3

Warnings: Blood, slightly gory

     ~Jerome's P.O.V.~

As I lead Vikk and Lachlan through the dark halls of the fortress, I pay special attention to stay close to the walls and check around each corner for any mobs. The last thing I want is to lead a ton of mobs to Mitch and risk getting him killed the second he's revived. Speaking of which I didn't even tell Vikk or Lachlan who it is... Meh. They'll see in a minute. I tell myself, rounding the second last corner before entering the room containing Mitch.

"He's just up ahead." I inform Vikk and Lachlan, approaching the last corner before the room.
"I'm surprised we haven't run into any mobs for a while." Vikk comments.
"Don't jinx it!" Lachlan hisses, to which I roll my eyes.
"As if there's gonna be a whole group of mobs waiting for us." I continue, "Come on guys he's just around... This... Corner..."

My sentence fizzles out as I stare at the scene ahead, my stomach dropping. Lachlan makes his eyes half lidded and stares at me, him and Vikk still around the corner.

"There's a whole group of mobs waiting for us... isn't there?" Lachlan rounds the corner, takes one look, and sighs. "Yep. Dangit Vikk, why'd you have to jinx it..."

Vikk casts a sideways glare at Lachlan, but none the less tosses him his diamond sword, so Lachlan can dual wield two diamond swords opposed to just one. After all, his power being water doesn't exactly work in the hottest dimension in all of Acrion.

"Jerome, they haven't noticed us yet." Vikk points out. "Lachlan and I will hold off the mobs, you go get... Is that Mitch?" Vikk questions, straining his eyes to make out the figure in the centre of the room.

I nod.

"Ha! I called it!" Lachlan declares, Vikk and I giving him questioning looks. "Erm... In my head." He adds in quickly.

Vikk's about to say something else when suddenly, three fireballs are shooting for our heads, the three of us just barely ducking in time.

"We've got company!" I bellow, summoning a shadow ball, and hurling into the centre of the mass of wither skeletons and blazes.

Vikk sends me a reassuring nod and him, as well as Lachlan, give it all they have to create a path for me. Vikk explained earlier that all I have to do is run up and touch Mitch, and that will bring him back. So using the distraction Vikk and Lachlan created, I barrel through the cluster of mobs, straight to Mitch's frozen form. I don't have much time to check, but even in the few seconds before I touch him, I can see his stance. He's standing straight and tall, a defiant frown set upon his face. One arm is held out to the side, in a way that would suggest he was keeping someone behind him to protect them.

A wither skeleton tries to strike at me as I pass, but before it can hit me a diamond sword it protruding from its skull, Lachlan heaving the sword our a second later. 'Do it' he mouths, diving back to engage with a blaze. Without hesitation I press my fingers against the warm stone, instantly backing away as a blindingly white light is shining, in the shape of a heart, on his chest.

Everything, Vikk, Lachlan, Myself, wither skeletons, blazes, everything stops dead in its tracks and turns towards Mitch. Cracks start to form beginning at his heart, and spreading across his entire body. And then, all at once, the stone cracks and falls away. Mitch shakes his head, his expression changing from defiance to one of confusion, as he surveys the scene before him. The mobs around us still continue to freeze, the same with Vikk, Lachlan, and I as Mitch's eyes move between the surroundings, to the mobs, to us. He seems to choose his words carefully, before muttering a weak:

"What."

All at once the mobs launch themselves at Mitch, who in confusion and fear steps back as the three of us move to protect him.

Vikk impales a got chunk of them with spikes, and Lachlan blocks a wither skeletons sword that nearly cut into Mitch's head. I hurl my nearly broken stone axe at a blaze, caving in its face and sending it to the ground.

"Mitch, we'll explain everything in a minute, just stay back!" I command him, who obediently backs off into the corner.
"Ugh, how many of these guys are there?" Lachlan seethes, deacaptitaing a skeleton, and then spinning around to strike down a blaze.

Vikk yells out on anger, summoning spikes to seal off the entrances of the room, blocking the steady flow of mobs and trapping us in. Lachlan glowers and turns invisible, and I watch as a good chunk of mobs are slain by seemingly nothing. Using shadowballs, I have a projectile fight with a group of blazes, getting hit a few times myself but eventually killing them all off. And then... Just when it seems we're about to win. That's when the scream comes, one that I'll never unheard for the rest of my life.

A wither skeleton had snuck behind us, and seeing Mitch slumped against the wall with a large bleeding gash across his stomach, I can already figure out what happened.

"MITCH!" I scream, pushing past a skeleton and blowing the other wither skeleton to bits, that just about finished Mitch off.

The fight in the background becomes dull as I drop to my knees in front of Mitch, who has tears pricking his eyes and is clutching his bleeding stomach. I pay not attention to the mobs behind me, trusting Lachlan and Vikk to hold them off as I gingerly place a hand on Mitch's forearm.

"Mitch, Mitch are you okay?! Just- just try to calm down!" I panic, unsure of what to do. "Take a deep breath or something!"
"TAKE A DEEP BREATH?! It feels like my insides are being RIPPED OUT!" Mitch shrieks, blood continuing to gush from his stomach.

     He has wither affect! I need to stop this bleeding! I realize, looking around frantically for anything to put over the wound.

     Not knowing what else to do, I rip my tie off and hold it out to Mitch. "Hold this over the gash to stop the bleeding." I instruct him, "I promise I- we won't let anything happen to you... Be right back!"

     And with that, new fury fuelling me, I dive back into the fight.

     To my dismay Lachlan is disarmed, and backed away in a corner, a nasty burn on the forearm. Vikk is in front of him, trying to fend off the remaining ten or so mobs. But it looks like he's nearly reached his limit too.

     "Hang on guys, I'm coming!" I shout, hurling a shadowball and killing the blaze about to shoot at Vikk.

     Vikk, looking extremely grateful I came, backs off a bit to let me at the mobs, knowing better than to get in my way. While Vikk turns back to see if Lachlan is okay, I let all the rage inside of me unleash, and prepare to destroy the sick mobs who dare hurt me and my friends.

     Using a combination of teeth, claws, and shadowballs (my axe having been lost to a blaze), I make quick work of the beasts. Or... So I thought. The moment I turned around to briefly check up on Vikk and Lachlan, which I would then go to tend to Mitch, their eyes widened. Vikk goes to shout a warning, but I already know it's there, and that no matter how good my reflexes are, there's no way I can stop the blade. So as the ominous rattle of bones sounds behind me, it's all I can do to tense up and prepare for a word of pain. Less than ten seconds pass without impact, and I immediately recognized that something happened, seeing as there isn't a gash in my back and I am not inflicted with the wither affect.

My first thought is that Vikk most likely slowed down time, and knocked the skeleton back before it could hit me. But when I turn around to see the charred skeleton face down on the ground, some sort of arrow made purely out of light sticking out of its skull, confusion quickly settles in. Last time I checked none of us had bows... And as far as I know arrows don't typically glow white... So that means... All at once, Vikk, Lachlan, and I direct our attention to Mitch, still tucked away in the corner.

Hie eyes are wide, he's sweating and shaking, breathing heavily, and the wound on his stomach is still bleeding a bit- despite my tie covering it. But there, clutched in his shaking hands, is what seems to be a fancy bow, purely made of a bright white light. Unlike the common simple curved structure, this one has horns and spirals flowing from its centre, both giving it elegance yet still letting it retain its efficiency. Mitch has the bowstring pulled back, an arrow identical to the one in the skeleton loaded up. But as soon as he releases the tension, the arrow vanishes into thin air. And Motch looks just as confused and shocked as we do.

"Mitch..." Lachlan calls weakly, the first to speak after a minute of silence. "That was awesome!" He exclaims, despite the bad burn on his arm, still having that bubbly personality.
"First of all thank you for pretty much saving my life," I add, "But are you okay?"
Mitch nods his head slightly. "I mean I still have a hole in my stomach, but the wither effect is gone and I know my power now so... Yeah I guess I'm pretty okay."
"Perfect! Now we just have to rediscover your ability." Vikk chimes in, helping Lachlan to his feet.
"Now... We should probably get out of here soon. But first..." Mitch trails on, wincing as he pushes himself up, "It'd be great if someone can kindly explain who, what, when, why, and how."
Lachlan raises an eyebrow. "What about where?"

The three of us stare at him blankly.

"Never mind."

~~~

Question of the chapter:

What do you think Mitch's ability is?

My answer: 🤐

Also just a fun fact, not sure if anyone caught this buuuuuutttttt

     I actually got inspiration for Mitch's and Jerome's powers cuz in their series 'Siege World' Jerome joined the dark side whereas Mitch joined the light side... So yeah that's how I decided on their powers. Have fun with that random fact lol