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Written by: hapyhappiness, ultimatebookworm12, Duskstorm1, thebirdfantasy, p3pp3r_, Ash_InTheFlames, DracoDragonGirl, and hxrmits

Word count: 1834

Note: When we finished this 4 people were in tears.

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Iskall gripped the leather grip in his hand. He was about to do something stupid.

Iskall stood in front of the End palace with an enchanted dagger in hand. The End was being consumed by the void and as a counter measure Iskall was killing people with the enchanted dagger bestowed upon him by someone who called themself "Dinnerbone".

The dagger was supposed to send a person to a different dimension when used to kill said person.

Did Iskall believe them? Yes. Was the idea ludicrous? Yeah. Did it make sense? No. Then why did the Swede do it? He didn't even know who this Dinnerbone guy was.

He tightened his grip on the dagger and proceeded anyway.

Iskall heard steps from behind him. A soft hand fell upon his shoulder and turned him around. It was Bdubs.

"Iskall, why are you doing this? Please, I swear, I won't turn you in to Xisuma, I just want an explanation."

Iskall stayed silent.

"Iskall! You're seen as a murderer! A ruthless killer! A psychopath! All for what?! What do you get out of this?!" Bdubs yelled, tears pricking at his eyes.

The Swede didn't reply, instead, he swiftly turned and stabbed Bdubs straight through the chest with the dagger.

"I-... sorry...it's for the best," he whispered.

The last expression on Bdubs' face was one of betrayal and pure horror. Then he collapsed, hopefully taken to the other dimension.

Iskall choked back a sob. At least he would know the truth now. When you were killed, you were taken to an alternate dimension where you were safe. That's what the magic in the dagger did. That's where Bdubs was now. Safe.

One down.

Iskall wiped the tears from his face as he slowly lowered Bdubs's body to the ground. It was heart wrenching, but it was necessary for him to be reincarnated in the safe, alternate world. He made his way back towards his base. Towards Ren.

Once Iskall found Ren's base, he stalked the halls looking for him. His footsteps clicked ominously on the floor as he hunted for him. "Hey, Ren?" He called out, feeling the dagger tucked in at his back and smirking.

"Oh, hi, Iskall!" Ren's head popped around a corner, his eyes sparkling. "What you up to, brother?"

"Nothing much..." Iskall said, trying to calm his nerves and work up his confidence. Ren was too oblivious to his situation.

Ren stopped what he was doing to fully look at Iskall, but immediately regretted it when he saw the blood covered dagger.

"I-Iskall?" Ren backed away as his Swedish friend stepped forward.

"I'm sorry Ren..." Iskall said before rushing forward and running the dagger through Ren's stomach. Ren coughed up a bit of blood that dribbled down his chin and onto Iskall's shoulder.

"Why..." Ren muttered out as Iskall slowly laid him down on the floor.

Iskall looked at Ren's face one last time. He bent down and whispered into the dying hermits' ear,

"It's for the best."

He got up and continued his journey.
He walked farther into the end city, finding Stress and False huddling in a corner together. Sighing sadly, he yelled their name. They perk up, but seeing that it's Iskall, they shudder in fear. Again, he raises his dagger, and says gently,

"It's for the best."

——

The words "it's for the best" rang in Iskall's mind. No matter what he would think, those same words would pop up. He sighed.

"It's for the best..." he then processed what he just thought. Was it worth it? Of course it was! The End was doomed, so killing everyone was for the best.

"It's for the best."

Iskall activated his elytra, flying towards Grian's base. His heart sank as he realised that he would have to murder one of his best friends and fellow builder, but he held onto the thought that he had to kill Grian to save him.

That thought was all that was keeping him sane after all, or was it? Maybe it was doing the opposite... Iskall didn't know anymore.

"Grian?" The Swede called as he flew swiftly into the Hermit's base.

"Hey Isk-" Grian turned to see Iskall with blood on him.

Iskall didn't hesitate to move forward and slit Grian's throat with the dagger.

Next he took out Mumbo, then Tango, then TFC, then Zed, then Jevin, and so on. By the time he was done there was only two people left. He found himself infront of the End palace again. Bdubs's blood stained the ground, making Iskall's heart ache.

Iskall bent down. The more people he killed, the more it hurt. The more the phrase, "it's for the best" rang in his head. It got louder and louder each time. He rested his hand on Bdubs chest, looking in his eyes. they were blank, glazed over, but they were still Bdubs.

Iskall stood up, wiping a tear from his eye. Now was not to reminisce when he had two more people to save.

He walked through the gates of the End Palace and up to the front door. Iskall made his way to the throne room where he found the royal knight and the king.

The knight, Wels, instinctively stepped in front of the king, Xisuma, upon seeing Iskall. Wels then locked gazes with Iskall, challenging him.

"I won't let you hurt the king, Iskall," Wels said, his voice cold. Iskall nodded, his eyes cold as well, though internally, he wanted to cry. It was for the best, wasn't it? Either they die by his hand and live safely or they die by the void and their flames of life wither.

Wels darted forward, towards Iskall, with his sword blazing and shield by his side. Iskall countered with the dagger, but Wels' shield blocked it. Thinking quickly, or perhaps not at all, Iskall threw the dagger towards Xisuma.

Time slowed down as the dagger traveled through the air. It was like things happened in slow motion. The dagger flew point first towards Xisuma, heading straight for his heart.

It's for the best. Remember, this is all for them to be in a better and safer place.

Iskall wanted to look away. He couldn't tear his eyes off the weapon.

The Swedish man was sure it would make contact. Then Wels jumped in front of X at the very last moment, taking the fatal dagger.

"WELS!" Xisuma yelled, running to the knight's side. Wels coughed, blood dribbling out of his mouth. The knife was lodged in his chest between two plates of armor.

"Why..." X whispered quietly.

"I-I had to protect... you..." Wels choked out. Wels held out his hand, X took the knight's feeble hand in his.

"I'm.... sorry...." Wels whispered before his eyes closed.

"NO!" X yelled. Iskall watched on with a sad look on his face. It's for the best.

Iskall, at this moment, realized that Xisuma had the dagger now. The one that sent the one killed to the better world. The one that Iskall had slain most of the server with. Xisuma's face looked blank, and Iskall couldn't guess what he was going to do.

'Is he going to kill me? It would make sense for him to... I did just kill Wels in front of him.' Iskall wondered what he was going to do.

"Why?" Xisuma asked Iskall, face still blank. "Why did you kill him? Why did you kill everyone else?"

"It's for the best." Iskall's voice broke as he said the words that had been engraved in his mind. "I'm sorry. I can't explain it." He walked over to the bloodied dagger and looked back at Xisuma.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Throw it at me. Stab me. You said it's for the better." The admin's eyes flashed with anger and betrayal. "Do it."

Iskall choked back a sob. He knew what he had to do. He didn't want to do it. X's attitude wasn't helping. He walked over to Xisuma and held the dagger up, his hand trembling. Then he brought it down swiftly, right down on X's chest, where it was meant to go before Wels saved him.

The light in X's eyes slowly faded out, the determination and anger dying down.

Iskall sighed. There was only one person left. He left the throne room, looking back at the two corpses behind him.

It was for the best.

He made his way out to the gates where he sat down beside the corpse of Bdubs, sadly looking at his friend. Everyone must hate him. He couldn't blame them.

Iskall grabbed Bdubs's cold, dead hand and brought the dagger up to his throat. With one last shakey breath he closed his eyes...

And slit his own throat.

-

Blackness... It was all Iskall saw. Suddenly, everything turned white, and he had to close his eyes. He opened his eyes slightly, before shutting them again. He repeated the process several times, adjusting to the light.

"H-hello?" he was on an island, surrounded by ocean. "Anyone here..?" Out of the corner of his eye, about 20 blocks away, he saw people. He turned his head- they were the other Hermits. The ones he had killed before. Would they hate him? Would they kill him in revenge? Even if they did... It was for the best, wasn't it. Iskall closed his eyes again, too tired to think about it anymore.

"Hey!" a voice called out to him. "Hello..? Are you dead..?" the same voice talked again, but this time, it was more concerned. Iskall momentarily felt a hand on his chest and a relieved sigh.

"Can you hear me, Iskall? It's me, Bdubs." Oh. It was Bdubs. Maybe he wasn't mad. Maybe he didn't hate him. Maybe it really was for the best.

Iskall rushed towards Bdubs and threw himself into his arms. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You did it for a reason," Bdubs said through tears. "You're still an idiot."

Iskall laughed, crying as much as his boyfriend.

After what seemed like an eternity of bliss, he finally let go and looked around. "What is this place?"

"We don't know," Ren said, from nearby. Everyone was there: Grian, Mumbo, Wels, Xisuma-they were together. It made Iskall guilty of what he'd done, yet happy that they were all in a better place. "It looks like a whole new world entirely."

"You knew all about this, didn't you," Grian said. "You absolute bastard. You should have told us! That's why you killed us for no apparent reason!"

"Uh...you just came to this conclusion?"

"Shut up, Scar."

Iskall looked off into the distance, where the sun was setting. Or was it rising? "We're all together again. That's all that matters." He took Bdubs' hand.

"It's okay." Bdubs' tone softened. "It was for the best."

Iskall shook his head. "I'm not doing it a second time. I promise. It may have been for the best, but I'm glad to leave that in the past."