(woo! A special 2226 word chapter!!)

=Sabre's POV=

Rainbow Steve and I took off running.

"Are you sure this is a good idea!?" Rainbow Steve yelled. I shook my head, starting to gather wood from the nearest tree. "Too late to change our minds, Elemental Steve said that our last chance to back out was when we entered through the portal!"

Rainbow Steve made a crafting table and crafted a stick. "Rainbow Steve, this is serious, we're about to fight Nightmare Steve, you can't use a stick!" I scolded.

"What do you mean, 'don't use a stick'!? This is my most trusty weapon!" He defended. I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose. "How about we get you a sharp stick instead? Would you like that?" I asked. Rainbow Steve nodded, a smile forming on his face.

I crafted two pickaxes, Tossing one to Rainbow Steve. He caught it and we both immediately started mining.

I reached a small vein of iron, about four in total. I pulled out a furnace and began smelting it with wood as I continued to mine. After a minute or so, I found a vein of three. I let out a frustrated growl. We were gonna need diamonds if we were to fight that lunatic!

I ran back to the furnace, putting the ore in. "TWO MINUTES UNTIL I RELEASE NIGHTMARE STEVE!!" Elemental Steve warned. Three minutes passed already? Geez! I made my way over to Rainbow Steve's mine.

"You got anything?" I asked. Rainbow Steve turned to me. "O-only four iron!" He whined. "Give it to me, I'll smelt it!" I took the iron and put it in my furnace, bouncing my leg anxiously.

I placed down a crafting table and made an iron pickaxe. It would be useful if we found any diamonds. I made a pair of stone swords to defend ourselves, then took the remaining iron to make a chestplate for Rainbow Steve.

He ran over and put three more iron into the furnace. "Rainbow Steve..." he turned to me and I fit the chestplate over his head. I fastened it so it'd stay on his small body. He grabbed my sleeve when he saw I didn't have any armor on.

"Sabre, what about you? Aren't you gonna put some armor on?" He worried. "I'll be fine, Rainbow Steve. It's you who needs to be protected." I gave him a pat on the head, then used the dug out dirt to cover up the entrance.

"NIGHTMARE STEVE IS RELEASED!!" Elemental Steve called out. "I WILL BE BACK IN THREE HOURS!!" There was lightning, then a storm of fireballs.

I shielded Rainbow Steve from a fireball explosion, gritting my teeth in pain. "Sabre!" He shouted. I was shoved back. "Quickly, go hide! I'll distract him!" He told me before taking off.

"Rainbow Steve, wait!" I called, but he was already gone and drawing Nightmare Steve's fire. I looked out across the ruined landscape. Ores had a higher blast resistance than regular stone, right? I caught a glimpse of something blue and shiny. Diamonds!

I took off running, jumping from block to block. I pulled out my iron pickaxe and stared mining out the light blue material. There were five in total. I slammed down a crafting table and created a diamond sword and a diamond axe, taking off towards Rainbow Steve. I ran into the burning forest.

"Rainbow Steve!!" I shouted, seeing a hint of shimmery white and wooly red among the bright flames. I dumped my water bucket out and ran to him, handing him the sword. "Sharp stick!" I told him. It frustrated me that I even had to say that to get him to take the dang sword.

"I should work on getting shields!" I told him. He nodded as I took off again. I gathered some wood that had beed blasted onto the ground, then surveyed the ruined field for iron. There! I slid down into a crater, mining out two blocks of ore. I put down a newly crafted furnace and waited for what seemed like an eternity.

I snatched a piece of newly smelted iron, yelping and tossing it from hand to hand. I crafted a shield, equipping it onto my left arm. I pulled out the second piece of metal, making another for Rainbow Steve. I suddenly heard a shreik of pain echo throughout the arena.

My head turned toward the noise. "RAINBOW STEVE!!!" I took off running, climbing quickly up the crater wall and running into the burning forest. I followed the sound of fireball explosions, finding myself at the top of a small mountain, face-to-face with the Nightmare King himself.

He glared up at me with his insane red eyes as I stared back. I grimaced at him, thankful that my bandana was hiding my fearful eyes. I swear I could've seen something in there. ..Regret? Remorse? Maybe my own eyes were playing tricks on me.

Nightmare Steve lunged forward and tackled me, sending damaging explosions into my shoulders. I let out a pained wail, punching him in the nose and sending him back. My arms felt heavy and weak now. Great.

I painfully lifted up my axe and shield, then charged. I deflected some fireballs and managed to tackle Nightmare Steve in return. We tumbled down the small mountain, kicking and punching at eachother. I landed a good kick between Nightmare Steve's legs as we reached the bottom.

Nightmare Steve yowled in pain as I leapt up, sprinting away from the fight. I needed food if I were to regenerate my body health, but there wasn't even an animal in sight. I slung my shield onto my back and my axe went into my bag to lighten the load on my arms.

I knew I'd have to modify my items to suit my temporary condition, but how and where could I do it? Would I even have the time to do so? And what about Rainbow Steve?

I dodged a flaming shower of fireballs, not wanting to worsen my condition. There were perks to being who I was, like my insane endurance and ability to quicky recover from injuries. However, I was still powerless and weak. I couldn't fight Nightmare Steve unless he was brought down to my level.

I hopped over a crater. Nightmare Steve had driven me from the flaming forest, whether that was good or bad I was unsure. On the plus side, Rainbow Steve could get away and hide and I didn't have to nearly burn myself to death, but on the down side, Rainbow Steve could be hurt and I wouldn't know, and there was absolutely nowhere to-

A cave. There was a cave!! I slid into a narrow crevice, running deep down into the twisting noodles of air within the rock. I gasped for breath when I got down far enough, slumping against the wall. I really needed this breather, huh..?

No. I had to get back to Rainbow Steve, make sure he was okay, give his shield to him.. I rolled my shoulders, then began making my way up to the surface again. It was painful to climb with how my shoulders were, but I made it. I glanced the ruined landscape over quickly before taking off towards the last place I heard Rainbow Steve.

I ran toward the flaming forest once again, panic filling my actions. There was no time to even think as I bounded across the small trail of unruined grass and into the orange and yellow fire.

I saw a small glimpse of Rainbow Steve's shiny armor again, rushing towards him immediately. "NO, SABRE, DON'T COME ANY CLOSER, IT'S A TRAP!!!" He screamed. I tripped over a rope, faceplanting onto the ground.

I let out a pained wail as a heavy block landed on my legs, the familiar CLANG of an anvil ringing in my ears. I looked back to see that the anvil had fallen from a piston hidden in the trees. I struggled to get it off me to no avail.

Why wasn't Rainbow Steve helping me!? I looked up to him in a pained desperation, seeing him struggling against ropes that bound him tightly to a tree. He wanted to get to me, but he couldn't.

We both flinched, hearing a crazed laugh come from the sky. I glanced up to see the Nightmare King. I struggled even more as he landed before me. Not again.. Not again!! I couldn't let him win!! Not now, not ever! I'll never let him destroy me just to take my Rainbow away from me!!

I squeezed my eyes shut, preparing for the worst. I shivered, but not from fear.. My body felt all cold and clammy...

My eyes opened when nothing happened... well, to me, that is. Just in time, I was able to see a huge rush of water blast Nightmare Steve aside. I felt the weight come off my legs as well. I stood shakily, pained in one leg but relatively okay in the other. I felt a pair of arms grab me as the rushing water turned to ice, and my vision went black.

...

I gasped for air, feeling around for my surroundings. I coughed a bit as my lungs regained the air I had lost during the battle. There was a weight on my lap. Rainbow Steve. I wrapped my arms tightly around his small body, tears in my eyes.

"Rainbow Steve, what happened..?" I asked warily. He shifted a bit in my arms. "Something weird happened... There was a flash of blue and I was freed, and I saw Nightmare Steve get blasted away with water.. I grabbed you and the water turned to ice as I pulled you away.. I was able to hide us in this cave.." He simply explained for me.

It took a moment to process. "That water and ice wasn't you?" I wondered. "No.." He replied softly. I sunk down against the cave wall, holding my small friend comfortably. "So no torches, huh?" I asked. Rainbow shook his head. "No, I didn't have the time or materials.."

I sighed. That must mean no food then. "How long do you think it's been since Elemental Steve left?" I wondered. "Dunno.. The fight with Nightmare seemed like a blur.. and now, the time seems to be passing by so slowly.."

I sighed, standing shakily with my small friend. I took my bandana off, my eyes adjusting to seeing faint outlines of the rocks and stone. I limped to a slightly brighter area than the rest of the cave, Rainbow Steve helping me along. I looked up to see the moon halfway to midnight. 

"Three A.M...? I swear that Elemental Steve left us in the morning..." I mumbled. Rainbow Steve helped me out of the cave. He didn't seem to have any major injuries, thank goodness. "I know... I think he's either caught up in whatever he was doing, passed out in the process, can't get back here for some reason, or he was captured." Rainbow Steve spoke.

I gave a slight laugh. "You're thinking like me!" I joked, causing Rainbow Steve to roll his eyes. "I haven't heard any explosions or lightning for a while, so I'm thinking Nightmare Steve is either asleep, or he somehow escaped." He said.

I shrugged. "Wanna find out?" I asked. "Sure." He replied.

I cupped my hands around my mouth. "BEE STEEEVE!! BUMBLE BEEE!!!" I screamed. Nothing. "Yeah he's gone." I said.

Rainbow Steve giggled a bit. "Pff- Bee Steve- haha!" I smiled at his laughter.

I took his hand and began limping towards the exit portal. He happily followed suit, skipping a bit. I was glad to see he wasn't badly injured.

Rainbow Steve stopped, frowning. "There's no pressure plate to exit through the iron door.." He mumbled. I glanced into my inventory. "Now while that might be a problem under different circumstances, it isn't right now as I can just craft one!" I told him with a smile, putting down a new crafting table.

I started messing with some wooden blocks, getting a bit frustrated when I couldn't figure it out. "Uh, Sabre.." Rainbow Steve spoke up. He slid a block off the table, and the two blocks placed in the bottom right and bottom middle transformed into a wooden pressure plate.

(Y'all know Sabre, always forgetting how to craft things-)

I chuckled in embarrassment. "Heh, forgot about that-" I said, blushing a bit. "For a past Blue Steve, you aren't very smart!" Rainbow Steve said. I clenched my heart dramatically. "My feelings-!" I joked.

The two of us shared a laugh, Then we went through the iron door and the exit portal. "So, you think Nightmare Steve escaped? He didn't just pass out or something?" I asked as we walked through the portal hall. Rainbow Steve shrugged. "I heard the lightning kinda start to get farther and farther away.. I think he definitely escaped." He commented.

We came to the center of the In-Between. "Ready to get back home, heal up, and figure out whERE THE HECKITY HECK ELEMENTAL WENT!?" Rainbow Steve got a bit fired up, causing me to laugh. I nodded to him. We went up to the portal with the torch next to it, the one that would bring us home, then jumped through together.