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Four heroes, Turtle, Proto, Kilster, and Warnado, discover that they are the heroes of prophecy. When Notch tells them that the world is in danger, they head to the Nether to confront (and defeat) the Wither. However, soon a new threat emerges from the shadows... The heroes discover that the mighty Basilisk is hiding in the Dark Dungeon. When they enter, they meet up with the fifth hero of prophecy, Risser, who joins their group. Warnado kills the Basilisk, but all of them lose something very dear to them...

One Year

One year. It had been one year since Proto fought the Dunecrawler, and he seemed no less heartbroken. If Kilster had been there, things would've been a lot different. Vanessa probably wouldn't have died. They were also no less confused about what exactly had happened there. Proto had said that he had died, but he was still living in breathing...if only barely. He had also said something about a bright light enveloping the area, and that's when he had woken up. The group of two had long since left Vertha and the Dark Dungeon. They hadn't talked with Risser, Warnado, or Turtle for the entire time they had been gone. They didn't know if they had defeated the Basilisk, let alone if they were still alive. But, they were picked by the Prophecy for a reason. Kilster doubted that any of them were gonna die, at least not for a long, long time. The sun was hot today. Kilster figured he should enjoy it, because winter was coming soon. Together, him and Proto sat in front of their wooden two-story house (which was complete with beds, crafting tables, furnaces, chests, a brewing stand, and even an enchanting table), eating apples, which they had harvested from the oak and birch trees surrounding them. The forest biome was full of life. "So," Kilster said, breaking the silence. "We can't wait here forever. What are we going to do?" Proto didn't talk as much anymore, but he responded, "I don't know. I guess we could use the Fantastic Sketchpads to talk to them. I mean, sure they don't work to well, but..." Kilster nodded. "Better than nothing." "Wait," Proto said. "Do we have to do this? Deal with monsters all the time? I never chose to be part of this prophecy. I don't want to lose anyone else." Kilster sighed. "If we don't, we will lose everyone. Herobrine will take over if we stop trying. Then, there would be no hope, and the Overworld will become a wasteland. There will be nobody left to stop him." Proto stared into the trees. "Nobody..." A beep from the Fantastic Sketchpad interrupted Proto's depressing streak. Proto frowned and pulled it out of his backpack.

TurtleMaster217: Hello? Hello hello? Uh, is anyone there? Protoshield86: You're still alive? TurtleMaster217: I think so. I mean, I may have lost an arm, but...anyways, I need you to head to Notch Island. I'm not sure where everyone else is, I'll have to find another way to relay the message. Protoshield86: Kilster's with me. TarisserTheWolfy: And I'm here. I don't know about Warnado, though. TurtleMaster217: I'll have to call him. See you guys soon!

"They did survive," Kilster laughed. "How much do you wanna bet Warnado is trying to break logic somewhere?" "Sounds like something he would do," Proto replied, smiling. "Time to go see some old friends.

The Egg

Risser didn't know what to do. They had beat the Basilisk, which was cool, but then Warnado left, and she didn't know what to do. She hadn't had friends for a long time, and now that their goal was complete, she had nothing to do. She couldn't go back to the dungeon, or start competing in games again. So, she decided she'd explore. The Extreme Hills biome was heated today. Mobs roamed around, grazing and making sounds. Risser checked her map again. The cave had to be around here somewhere... An oink almost made her lose her balance and fall off the cliff. Risser turned to find a pig, who inclined his head at her. Risser shook her head. "You almost killed me!" The pig oinked. Risser sighed and looked at her map again. The cave seemed to be in a hill nearby. Risser looked to her east and saw the crevice that led, apparently, to a dragon egg. Carefully, Risser scaled down the mountainside, making sure not to fall. The stone blocks made good hand and footholes, and Risser made it down safely. Her prize was close. She hopped up the mammoth hill, ready to enter the shadowy cave that held the egg. Lighting a torch, Risser plunged into oblivion. Stalagmites and stalactites of stone rose from the ceiling and floor, casting ghastly shadows across the walls of the cavern. Risser's footsteps echoed across the cave. If there were any monsters guarding the egg, they would know she was here. Just in case, Risser drew her dagger and held it at the ready. After a while, a faint purple glow penetrated the air. Risser knew she was close. Cautiously, she continued around the corner to find the pitch black egg, speckled with purple dots. And it was hatching.

Memory

The nightmares that lurked in Proto's mind were destroying him. When him and Vanessa had fought the Dunecrawler, and Vanessa had died, it seemed so unfair. Even though she had been working for Herobrine the whole time, she joined the right side in the end. And then she died... Ever since, Proto had been replaying the events in his mind. He still didn't know what had happened exactly. Herobrine unleashed the Dunecrawler, told Proto that Vanessa was working for him, the Dunecrawler bit Vanessa, and there was a bright light. None of it made any sense. Proto was determined to figure out what had happened, but for now him and Kilster had to go meet up with the others. After a while, the group of two reached the ocean. Proto remembered the first time he went to Notch Island. They had all gotten special items from him, and Proto had used one of his to defeat the Wither and get the Witherband. Only him and Kilster knew about it, but Proto planned on telling the others once they reached their destination. "We need boats," Kilster said. The blue expanse of water shimmered like diamonds in the sunlight. "Here, I'll ask Notch."

Kilster909: Notch, can we have two boats?

No answer. "Where's Notch?" Proto asked. "Shouldn't he be at the island?" "Yeah," Kilster looked around. "Something might be wrong with the server. I guess we should chop down some trees, then." Once Proto and Kilster had gathered enough wood, Proto made a crafting table and placed it on the ground. He munched on an apple as they constructed their boats. Proto broke the table and put it in his backpack. "Ready to go?" Kilster asked. "As I'll ever be," Proto muttered.

Point of View

Warnado sat on a chair in his dimly lit cave. Purple rays of light danced across the stone walls as Warnado stared at his view cube. Two sides showed Proto and Kilster on boats going across the ocean to an unknown location, one showed Risser and a hatching dragon egg, one showed Turtle at Notch Island, one showed Warnado defeating the Basilisk, and one showed the Hydra. The last side was completely black, except for two glowing red eyes. Warnado stopped his concentration and set the cube down. Warnado's cave was full of many magical relics, including the view cube he had been holding. Warnado had a bookshelf full of spell and lore books in one corner, and on the walls he had aligned shelves to hold different potions. Some of those potions were unusual, and their effects included fire breathing and transforming the user into a duck. Warnado decided that he would go to Notch Island to meet up with his friends, but first, he had to pack some things. He put the view cube, some random potions, and some spellbooks in his backpack, then began to utter a teleportation spell.

Discovery

What had occurred on the battlefield was questionable. The ground was stained red and littered with bodies. Hundreds of them. The creature-or creatures-that had attacked these humans had been relentless and bloodthirsty. However, there were no giant footprints to reveal the creature that had slaughtered all of these people. So, Turtle could only come to one logical conclusion: silverfish. Whatever had driven these mindless creatures to destroy innocent lives, Turtle had no clue. The silverfish were long gone. Turtle was making his way over the deceased to the other side of the battlefield when he noticed a human that was still alive. Turtle walked over. "Hey." The man ignored him. He was stooped over a body, an intense sadness in his eyes. Turtle stared at the body, taking in every detail, and was surprised to find that this lifeless girl closely resembled TarisserTheWolfy. Turtle shook the man's shoulder. "Are you okay?" The man once again ignored him. Turtle sighed, and continued across the foggy battlefield. Eventually, Turtle spotted a hill in the distance. There was an acacia tree at the top, and lounging in the shade of it was an Enderman.

Turtle was abruptly awoken by Linky, who had jumped onto Turtle's stomach. Turtle gasped, then started breathing normally. "Good morning to you too." Linky licked Turtle's face. What was that? Turtle thought. That dream... Turtle sat up and looked around his prismarine house. It was a mess. The crafting table was tipped over, the furnace was out of coal, and the chest was cluttered. Turtle shook his head. "I need to clean this place." Linky made an approving nod. "I had a dream last night...we should go see Notch."

Turtle stood on the pier of Notch Island. Notch had redesigned the place. Originally, it had looked like a perfect grass block, but now Notch had made it look like a medieval castle. Glowstone posts lit the walkway, and flowers grew off to the sides. But the place was quiet for the middle of the afternoon. Too quiet. Turtle pushed open the castle door to find a room more cluttered than Turtle's house. Turtle frowned disapprovingly. "Notch?" No answer. Turtle looked around. Something had happened here. There was a struggle. Turtle glanced around for anything that might help him gather more info, when he noticed a security camera in the corner. Turtle arched his eyebrows. Sitting in Notch's swivel chair, he flicked on the Master Computer. Turtle opened the security camera program. He looked through the footage, and found something that had happened two days previous. Notch was programming something on the computer when a group of...were those robots?...marched in and started attacking. There was only one human with the group: Jeb. Turtle shook his head. What was going on? Turtle looked under the recents tab to find out what Notch had been programming. Update 2.2.1: The Tech Update. Turtle sighed. He would need help.

TurtleMaster217: Hello? Hello hello? Uh, is anyone there? Protoshield86: You're still alive? TurtleMaster217: I think so. I mean, I may have lost an arm, but...anyways, I need you to head to Notch Island. I'm not sure where everyone else is, I'll have to find another way to relay the message. Protoshield86: Kilster's with me. TarisserTheWolfy: And I'm here. I don't know about Warnado, though. TurtleMaster217: I'll have to call him. See you guys soon!

Turtle put his Fantastic Sketchpad away and took out his phone. He dialed Warnado's number. "Hello?" "Hi," Turtle answered. "Is this Warnado?" "I'm sorry, this is Lord Herobrine's automated phone service. You can call me...Paul." Turtle's eyes widened. He ran outside and drop-kicked his phone into the ocean. Herobrine had taken over the airwaves. Turtle went back inside and sat on the couch, waiting for his friends.

Meeting

Kilster and Proto stopped their boats at the foot of the pier. They both hopped out. Proto looked like he'd had enough water for a while. Kilster stretched. "I wonder if the others are here yet."

"Let's find out," Proto said, walking up the cobblestone steps that led to Notch's castle. On the inside, Notch's castle looked like it had been hit with a tornado. Update plans were scattered across the floor, covered in muddy footprints and ripped in a couple places. Most of the redstone lamps that kept the place lit were smashed in. Chests full of random items were tipped over, with their contents spilled across the slippery ground. Turtle sat on a couch that had somehow managed to stay intact, reading through his Book of Spells. Proto gasped. "What happened to your arm?"

Turtle's left arm was completely skeletal. Turtle shook his head. "Nether Portal. You don't want to have a body part in their when it closes. Luckily I had this..." Turtle gestured to a ring on his finger, "...or I would've lost the whole thing."

"Sounds like you're pulling a Warnado," Kilster said.

"HEY GUYS!" Warnado blasted into the room, destroying a part of the wall and throwing blocks everywhere. "DID SOMEBODY SAY MY NAME?!"

"How did you know we were here? I tried calling you, but Herobrine took over the phone service."

"I prefer...different means of contact," Warnado answered, levitating a small white cube in the air.

Just then, Risser walked through the hole in the wall. "What happened here?"

"I'll show you," Turtle replied, walking over to the computer. The four others gathered around, staring at the screen as the security file played.

"Wait," Proto said. "Jeb did this?"

"It seems so," Turtle answered.

"But why?" Kilster asked. "What would drive him to do this?"

"I guess we'll have to find out." Turtle frowned. "Back to the Kingdom."

"Play it again," Risser said. She watched closely. "I don't get it. Jeb didn't do it, so how did this hole in the wall get here?"

"Magic!" Warnado exclaimed.

Turtle turned around in Notch's chair. "It's settled, then. We'll all go to Jeb's Kingdom and find Notch. On the way, we can tell each other our stories. It seems like we have a lot to talk about."

Infiltration

The Diamond Craft moved across the water at a slow, steady pace, leaving ripples in the water that were barely visible in the soft moonlight. The group had borrowed the boat from the pier at Notch Island, just in case they would need some extra firepower for when they infiltrated Jeb's Kingdom. Risser looked out across the water, thinking about everyone's adventures. Turtle fighting the Lich and recovering the Ice Bow Frostwing, Proto and Kilster fighting the Dunecrawler and losing Vanessa-then Risser got eaten by the Basilisk and had to be saved by Warnado.

Risser sighed. Suddenly, she noticed a faint reflection in the water. She looked up and gasped. "Guys?"

Kilster looked up from his position at the wheel. "The heck is that?"

Proto shook his head. "You had to blow up his Kingdom."

At the spot where Jeb's Kingdom once was, a massive futuristic city rose into the sky. The place looked like it was throwing some sort of party, because loud noises and searchlights broke the air of calm the ocean usually held. "It looks like they're throwing out a welcome mat," Turtle muttered. "'Heroes! We kidnapped Notch! Come join the party!'"

"How are we gonna get in?" Risser wondered. "They don't have a port anymore. Are we going to have to go around?"

"Seems so," Kilster replied. "We'll have to park away, though. Let's try not to blow stuff up if we can help it."

"Aww..." Warnado sighed.

"We wouldn't be able to anyways," Turtle said, looking at the city. "The place is made out of obsidian."

"They must be expecting an attack..." Proto stated.

"So it's a trap?" Risser laughed. "These people are terrible."

The group of five sneaked towards the city, away from the Diamond Craft. The gate was closed, and two guards wearing strange dark blue armor guarded it. "Wait," Kilster said, stopping everyone. "That armor...it wasn't added in the last update, was it?"

"Jeb must've caused a forced update..." Turtle muttered. "We don't know what that stuff can do. Make them fly, move faster, anything is possible."

"Well that's just great," Proto sighed. "Now how are supposed to get in?"

"Explosions!" Warnado said loudly.

"Shut up!" Risser hissed. "You're gonna get us all caught!"

"Still a good idea, though," Warnado muttered.

"Hold on..." Turtle whispered. He pulled Frostwing off of his back and strung it. He then proceeded to draw an arrow and aimed at the first guard. Kilster followed his lead, aiming a normal arrow at the second guard. Turtle mouthed, "3, 2, 1," and they both released their arrows. They each hit their guards right between their eyes, and they fell. The two archers high-fived.

"That solves that issue," Risser said. "Let's do this."

Proto pulled a key off of one of guards' belts and nodded. He pushed it into the door lock, turning it and opening the door. The five walked in.

"No turning back now."

The Electric City

The city was more crowded than Proto had thought.

People bustled around, doing all sorts of different things, such as shopping. Proto noticed that the place had a sort of electric vibe to it-and Kilster seemed happy.

"Look at this place!" Kilster exclaimed. "I think it's changed for the better!"

"Other than the fact that Jeb now has about a thousand more ways to kill us?" Risser asked, rolling her eyes.

"Well yeah, but-"

"GREETINGS!" a loud voice boomed over the city. "OH WAIT, HOLD ON...there we go. Volume was higher than I thought."

"Is that..." Warnado started.

"Herobrine?" Turtle replied. "Yes."

"It seems that the heroes of prophecy have arrived," Herobrine continued over the speakers. "And have fallen right into my trap!"

"Called it!" Risser exclaimed.

"We saw right through it!" Proto shouted over the noise.

"Just an announcement, if you are trying to say that you knew this was a trap, and that you saw right through it, I can't hear you."

Turtle rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, I've placed a bounty on their heads. Each one of them are worth 500 emeralds. If someone brings them all, then they get a 2500 emerald bonus!"

"Seems like a good idea..." a man said. He was wearing a set of...was that redstone?...armor, and was looking at the group of five. "I could use the money...this armor doesn't come cheap, y'know."

Other citizens drew weapons.

"Now, now," Kilster said anxiously. "Let's all be reasonable..."

The guy in redstone armor shot a blast of red energy at the group, which Warnado barely managed to block. "Run!"

The group ran through the streets, dodging flying bolts of energy and sword swipes. The street lit up wherever they stepped, creating a light show for redstone guy to follow. Suddenly, a voice called out. "Guys! Over here!"

Proto turned to see Dinnerbone gesturing to them from an alleyway. Proto ran towards him, the others on his tail. They quickly hid, and the hostile money-hungry people ran past. "That was close."

Dinnerbone nodded. "Come on, we need to get to the safe house."

The Safe House

At least the safe house was nice.

The room they were in was divided into four corners. The corner they were in had the door, and that was about it. In the corner opposite them, there was a kitchen area, full of furnaces and fridges for food. The corner to their right was a sort of living area, with a smashed in TV, a coffee table, and some couches. The corner furthest away was a forging area, with anvils, crafting tables, brewing stands, and chests.

In the very middle of a room, there was a ladder which Dinnerbone explained descended into the sewers. "They tried to build over me," he explained, "but they can't keep me underground that easily."

"What's down there?" Warnado asked.

"That's where you'll be sleeping," Dinnerbone replied. "It's also where the Hall of Prophecy is, and the library, for enchanting. It also..." Dinnerbone continued, sitting on one of the couches, "gives us easy access to the Undercity."

"Undercity?" Turtle asked. He, like Warnado, seemed to have just noticed that there were more people in the room.

"It's not a very...safe, place," an...was that an elf?...girl explained. She rolled her nature-green eyes. "It's where all the gangs hang out. Potion dealers, and gamblers."

"Gambling?" Risser asked. "Sounds like a Kilster type of place."

Kilster laughed.

"Why would we need access to the Undercity?" Proto inquired.

"Well-" a brown hair girl spoke this time, "-Chase," she gestured to a guy sitting next to her, "has been scouting below, and noticed that Upper City guards sometimes came down to gamble. But they don't gamble money. They gamble information."

"Why would those thugs need info?" Kilster asked.

"They're probably tripping on speed potions," another guy answered. "Everyone down there is."

"Before we go any further," Risser interrupted, "who are you guys?"

"I'm Lyra," the elf girl said. "This is Chase, Samantha-" she gestured to the brown-haired girl, "and Dravven-" she pointed at the speed potions guy.

"Turtle's met us before," Samantha replied.

"So you are the ones who made him lose his arm?" Warnado asked. "Cool!"

"So let me get this straight," Proto said. "You want us to go to the Undercity, and gamble for the information? Seems easy enough."

"You forgot," Risser pointed out, "everyone in the city is after us."

"That might be a problem," Warnado sighed. "I guess we'll have to blow them up."

"We don't always have to resort to explosives!" Kilster exclaimed.

"Says the guy who blew up this city," Dinnerbone said.

Everyone laughed. "When do we start?" Turtle said, getting over the joke.

"Tomorrow."

The next morning, Warnado yawned and stretched, then headed up the ladder to meet up with everyone else. He walked into a ear-breaking argument between everyone in the safe house. "What happened?"

"Proto's gone," Turtle said.

The Undercity Casino

"What do you mean, gone?"

"He's not here! I woke up this morning, and he wasn't here!"

Turtle's best friend was missing, and nobody knew why. "QUIET!" Dinnerbone shouted over the noise. "Since Proto is gone, this changes a lot of things. We're going to form two groups: one to look for information to find out what Jeb and Herobrine are planning, and one to find out where Proto is. Kilster, Turtle, Chase, and Lyra will go to the Undercity Casino, and Warnado, Risser, Samantha, and Dravven will go find out where Proto is."

"Where do you think he could be?" Kilster asked Turtle.

"I don't know, but I hope he didn't leave on his own accord," Turtle replied. "We have enough going on even without Proto running away."

Later that day, Turtle, Lyra, Kilster, and Chase walked through the very colorful Undercity. Tubes of light flowed throughout the strange area, and vendors filled with different weird items were set up everywhere. A shady guy soon stopped the group. "Hey, wanna buy a...stopwatch?"

Kilster rolled his eyes. "Sorry, but we don't have...time!"

"That was terrible."

"I know."

Lyra rolled her eyes. "Get out of our way. This is important business."

"But-"

Lyra shook her head and kneed the guy in a place where guys really shouldn't be kneed.

The guy fell to the ground, then got up and scrambled out of the group of four's way. Turtle smiled. Lyra was hot when she was angry.

The group continued, until Chase stopped and pointed at a large sign that read "Undercity Casino!" in big, neon redstone lamps. "There's our place," Kilster said. "Let's go do some gambling."

Lucky Blocks

The inside really wasn't surprising, for an underworld casino. People were drunk on potions, and others were tripping on blaze powder. It was sad, really. Kilster liked his lungs.

"Where do you think this clown will be?" Lyra asked.

Chase pointed at a table.

The guy wore a white jacket with gold stars all over and white pants. He had stringy dirty blonde hair and was aimlessly sipping at a nausea potion. He stared down the other guy, who was desperately looking over his cards for some way to win. However, his hand was as bad as people's hands could get. So, in an attempt to win, the other guy pointed at some unseen object and shouted, "Look!". When the star guy turned, the other guy swapped out two cards from the deck.

"Hey!" a man in a black shouted. "Cheating again, are we?"

The guy in the star suit turned back to the table and frowned. He slammed the other guy's head onto the green table, knocking him out. "Get him out of here," he said to the man in the black suit. "No one cheats with Roll-The-Dice, King of Gambling."

"Hey!" Kilster called, walking over to the table. "I'd like to place a bet!"

"Would you now?" Roll-The-Dice asked, pushing four sapphires and four rubies onto the table. Kilster pushed in three emeralds. "What's your name?"

"Kilster909, but call me Kilster. Yours?"

"I'm Zack, King of Gambling!"

"We'll see about that," Kilster answered. "We playing Lucky Blocks?"

"Of course."

After a few rounds, Kilster could tell that the board was rigged. Zack was winning by a whole lot. Kilster shook his head. Suddenly, there was a puff of purple smoke, and Warnado appeared. "HEY GUYS!"

"Aren't you supposed to be looking for Proto?" Turtle asked.

"Yeah, but that was a drag. So I decided I wanted to come here and gamble!" He pushed Kilster out of the chair and sat in it himself. "Kilster, when Dinnerbone said he needed someone who knew how to gamble, he meant someone who was good at it."

Warnado proceeded to win round after round, with Kilster shaking his head disapprovingly. Eventually, it was down to the last hand. "Hey, Zack? I have a proposition for you."

"Oh yeah?" Zack asked. "And that is?"

"If I win, you give us information about what Jeb and Herobrine are up to, and you keep all of the cash. Deal?"

A guy in redstone armor looked over at the group, curious.

Zack smiled. "Deal."

Warnado, of course, managed to win the last round. Zack shook his head and pushed a piece of paper at Warnado, who stuffed it in his pocket. Zack held out his hand, which Warnado shook in an act of sportsmanship. However, in doing so, a total of about 400 cards slid out of Warnado's sleeve.

Everyone stared at him.

"Heh, heh," Warnado muttered. "Well, this is a lesson for all of us." He turned to Kilster. "Want to know how to get good at gambling? You just...CHEEEEEAAAAAT!" Warnado ran out of the building, with Turtle, Lyra, and Chase on his tail, but Kilster had stayed behind. The guy in redstone armor stood up.

"Kilster909? I think you have a bounty on your head."

Search

"This is lame," Warnado complained. "Why did I get stuck with you guys?"

"It's better not to question Dinnerbone's motives," Risser replied. "I think he has a few screws loose."

"So do I!" Warnado exclaimed. "I'm gonna go gambling!" Before any of the group could stop him, Warnado disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"We didn't really need him anyway," Samantha said. "I just wish he hadn't drawn attention to us."

The group had been sneaking around the city for a while, looking for any sign of Proto. Dinnerbone swore that there was no way he could've been captured, and even if he had, then why didn't Jeb capture the others? They had being doing a good job at being stealthy so far, until Warnado decided to teleport away and create a pillar of smoke.

"Hey, that girl looks familiar..." a guy said suspiciously, pointing at Risser.

"Wasn't she one of the people from the prophecy? She has a bounty on her head, right?"

"Now, now, people," Risser laughed nervously. "You must be mistaken! You want...her!" Risser pointed at a birch tree.

Everyone looked at it. "She?"

"Yes," Risser replied. "Trees are people too."

"Oh," was all that was said, and everyone dispersed.

"Wow," Dravven said. "Some people..."

The group walked through the electric city for a while more, and didn't spot Proto anywhere. "OK," Samantha sighed eventually. "We haven't made any progress at all. What should we do?"

"Might as well report back," Dravven answered.

"Why give up?" Risser asked. "Come on guys, we'll find him eventually. Hopefully."

Riddles Written in Sand

Proto slowly opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the light that was filtering in through...

This wasn't his room.

Proto sat up quickly. He looked around the room for any possible weapon. However, he found something even better.

"Vanessa?"

He had to be hallucinating. Or dreaming. She was killed by the Dunecrawler. But when they kissed, he knew it was real.

"How-"

Vanessa held out a bed made of fabric. The inside was filled with sand. "I was given this by a man I met in the sky. He said that this belonged to me, like it was important. He said I could use it to save myself, but that I needed you."

Proto shook his head. This didn't make any sense. "Man in the sky? What-"

"The place has many names. Heaven, Eternia, but most choose to call it the Aether. The place where most go when they die, if they led a good life."

"So like the opposite of the Nether."

Vanessa smiled and nodded. "Exactly like that."

Proto looked around. They seemed to be in some kind of isolated room. Everything was made out of obsidian, and there was no furniture. In fact, there weren't any doors or windows. "Where are we?"

"Limbo. We have to wait for our destination."

"What do you mean?"

"We're going back approximately one year ago, the time when we fought the Dunecrawler, and lost."

Proto frowned; he hated the thought of returning to the time when she died. "What about my friends? They're going to freak out when they find out I'm gone."

"They'll manage without you." Vanessa took Proto's hands. "But I can't."

The desert one year ago looked exactly as Proto remembered it: terrible.

"There's one thing I should tell you before we get going," Vanessa told Proto. "We CANNOT interact with any of our past selves. Doing so could destroy the universe."

"Harsh."

Proto and Vanessa wandered around for a while, and eventually came across the Sand Golem Village from before. "Hey," Proto said, pointing at the store. "Shouldn't we be going in there soon?"

"Yeah," Vanessa said. "Let's hang back here a bit-"

"Hey guys," a shady sand golem said. "Wanna buy a sundial?"

"Sorry," Proto replied. "Can't. We're on a schedule."

"Exactly," the golem said. "They're only 12 sand dollars each..."

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Go find some other tourists to harass."

"Look!" Proto pointed at the store again.

"Gift shop!" It was Kilster, rushing inside the store. Proto and Vanessa followed.

"We don't have any emeralds!" Past-Proto shouted at him as he dashed inside. He turned to Past-Vanessa. "I hope they accept salami as payment."

"Wow," Proto observed. "That is weird."

"OK," Vanessa said. "They're occupied. Let's head to the Sand Mines."

Newbies

Warnado dumped his stolen emeralds on the table and sat in one of the chairs that surrounded it. Turtle, Lyra, and Chase entered the safe house soon after and sat down, clearly exhausted from trying to catch up with Warnado. Between breaths, Turtle puffed out, "Where's Kilster?"

Everyone looked around the table. "Great," Lyra groaned. "Two people missing."

Dinnerbone pushed open the trapdoor from the sewers and calmly walked over to the table, sitting at its head. Risser, Samantha, and Dravven followed, also taking seats around the table.

"So," Dinnerbone said, leaning over the table, "what did you learn?"

"Well," Warnado replied matter-of-factly, "we now have confirmed evidence that Kilster is terrible at gambling."

"The note," Samantha stated. She clearly wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"Oh yeah!" Warnado exclaimed. He took a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and laid it flat on the table. Warnado flipped off his hood and started reading the words.

"Uh, it says, 'Effective 28 August: Initiate Launch of Project Overcharged. Rocket built and fueled. Target: Green Moon.'"

"Rocket?" Risser asked.

"Just keep reading," Dinnerbone replied.

"Uh, this next part is a daily log thing. '26 August: The heroes of prophecy arrived in the city, looking for Notch. So far, we're keeping the scrub in the security block. Where at, I don't know. The system won't tell me.'"

"I have several questions," Dravven started.

"We all do," Dinnerbone replied. "System? I know where the security block is, but that place is going to be insane to break into. Plus, we have no clue where in the block he's being kept."

"That might be problematic," Turtle said. "Who wrote this, anyways?"

"'Signed, the Moderator-'"

Warnado's speech was cut off by an explosion that rocked the building, blasting a hole in the wall and sending blocks flying. Some guy in a black hoodie sprinted in. "Did somebody say...MODERATOR?"

Dinnerbone frowned.

Dinnerbone has revoked God Mode from The_Moderator.

"Do you think he can help us?" Lyra asked.

The Moderator swore. "Of course I can! But will you pay me?"

Warnado frowned at the emeralds on the table and pulled them all towards himself. "Xander! Kaine!" The pair of mobs teleported to Warnado. He pointed at the Moderator. "Take him my room. We'll deal with him later."

The Book

Turtle flipped another page of the Book of Spells, taking care to read every note on every old, delicate page. He couldn't understand why, but he had a feeling that the book was a lot more important than he originally thought. It might even be somehow connected to his unknown past, because Herobrine was after it. And it certainly looked old enough to be from...that time.

What even was that time? The only four people who seemed to know ANYTHING about it were Notch, Jeb, Dinnerbone, and Herobrine. And maybe Samantha, but Turtle still didn't completely trust her. And she certainly didn't trust him.

Turtle read one of the pages of the book with extra care. He remembered a while back when Proto had used the spell innocently as a joke, but Infernacos, which translated to Fire, was a powerful spell. It could easily kill any mob.

Or even a human...

A knock on Turtle's door startled him from his thoughts. Turtle quickly shook his head, clearing any traces of it from his mind. "Come in."

Lyra opened the door and stepped inside the mostly-barren room. Linky looked up from his place on the carpet, but settled his head back on the ground after observing who it was. Lyra walked across the stone brink floor towards Turtle's bed, sitting next to him. "Hey."

"Hey," Turtle replied. "What's up?"

"I think I still owe you an explanation about that." She gestured to the book.

Turtle nodded. "Okay."

Lyra scooted closer to Turtle to look at the pages on the book. "My parents got that book a long time ago, from Jeb."

Turtle's face must've given away how startled he was, because Lyra laughed, a soft, melodious tune. "Before he went off the deep end, of course."

Turtle laughed. "Hard to imagine."

"Anyways, the book had been in his possession for a while. He, in turn, got it from his father, Steve, who got it from the Minotaur's lair."

"How did it get there?"

Lyra frowned. "That part, I don't know. There's some strange stuff in that book. Dark stuff. Evil stuff."

Turtle shook his head. "If Herobrine wants it so badly, why didn't he take it from Jeb when he was the hero everyone looked up to?"

Lyra shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe he didn't know the importance of it then? There's lots of explanations, but it's not like we can walk up to him and ask."

Turtle smiled. "True. It must be important."

Lyra scooted even closer and grabbed the book from Turtle. She flipped to page 71. "Look at this." She pointed to the page opposite, which should've been page 72, but...

"Page 74? Someone ripped something out."

"You'd expect that from an old book, but none of the other pages are missing. THAT page is the key. There's something very important about it. But no one knows what it is. Except Jeb."

"He ripped it out," Turtle frowned. "He's hiding it."

"Exactly." Lyra leaned her head on Turtle's shoulder. "We need to get him to tell us why."

Turtle thought for a moment. The page was obviously important, but Turtle had no idea why Jeb would rip it out. He was about to say something, when someone in the doorway spoke up.

"Dark magic," Dinnerbone said. "You don't need to worry about that kind of stuff."

Lyra quickly lifted her head off of Turtle's shoulder and let go of his hand, which Turtle hadn't even realized she'd been holding. "You're not going to take the book, are you?"

"No," Dinnerbone frowned, as if he were remembering something. "I trust you. Meet us upstairs in five, we're going to form a plan."

When he was gone, Lyra handed the book back to Turtle. "Keep it safe," she said, and embraced him. Then, smiling, she left the room to go upstairs.

Turtle sighed. Then he frowned again, and looked down at the book again. He flipped back to the Infernacos page. Then he looked over at Doomsblade, which was leaned up against the closet door. He shook his head. Fire was bad. Fire melts ice. Turtle set the Book of Spells down, and stood up. Then he walked to door and stepped outside, closing it behind him.

The Bounty

The Bounty Hunter pulled out a redstone axe. "Look, man," Kilster warned. "I don't want any trouble. Dude, just back the crap up, and we can part ways as unlikely friends."

"Ha, good joke," the assassin replied. "But, I think I'd prefer the money."

Kilster backed up, bumping into a table. "Fine, but at least tell me who you are. You seem to know me pretty well."

The guy threw his head back and laughed. "Me? I'm MetroidSlayer451, but you can call me Ajax."

"And the only reason you want to kill me is for that...what was it, 500 emerald reward? Garbage, bro."

"Oh really?" Ajax replied, laughing. "Seems reasonable to me."

"I'd also like to point out that I don't have a weapon," Kilster continued. "Except for my bow, which is no good at such close range. You are going to give me a fair fight, right?"

Ajax seemed to consider this. "Hmm...you are a chosen one right?" He pulled out an iron sword and tossed it across the room towards Kilster, who caught it in his left hand. "Let's see what you're made of."

Kilster ran forwards and jumped, skidding across at table and kicking Ajax in his chest. Ajax staggered backwards, but recovered quickly and charged towards Kilster, swinging his axe downwards. Kilster sidestepped to the right and slammed the hilt of his blade against Ajax's head, causing his redstone helmet to rattle. Ajax clutched his head in agony. Kilster kicked him in the ribs and shoved him to the ground.

"You know," Kilster said, swinging his sword. "Being a chosen one teaches you things. And I was wondering: does being a bounty hunter do the same? Because you don't seem to be doing any good fighting me."

Ajax groaned in response.

Kilster disarmed the bounty hunter and lifted him to his feet. "C'mon, let's go find you a better job."

The Interrogation

Risser, Warnado, Turtle, Dinnerbone, and the others all gathered around the table grimly. Warnado had once again laid the piece of paper out across the table. The Moderator sat in another chair, arms folded. He didn't seem to happy about being a prisoner of war. However, it seemed that he'd have no choice but to talk, seeing as he was outnumbered at least 10-1.

"So, Moderator," Dinnerbone started. "What can you tell us about this rocket launch?"

The Moderator gritted his teeth. "Look, the system won't tell me anything because it thinks all I do is harass newbies like Joe! But that's not true! That was like two weeks ago."

Dinnerbone narrowed his eyes. "So that's how you're going to be?"

Dinnerbone frowned. "Look, bro, I'm telling the truth!"

Dravven laughed. "Lies!"

"Who do you work for?" Lyra asked. "Jeb? Herobrine?"

"No, no," The Moderator shook his head. "Jeb and Herobrine made a pact over a diamond. But, the diamond was the third. It was the third person in the pact."

"Now you're making stuff up!" Risser rolled her eyes. "Remember, my wolves can be very persuasive."

"So can Xander and Kaine," Warnado said, frowning at the Moderator.

"You don't believe me? The thing is alive! It has a mind of its own!"

"Can you believe this garbage?" Samantha asked Dinnerbone.

Dinnerbone looked haunted. "He's telling the truth. That Diamond...I know what it is."

"Yes, yes, it was implanted into the system, and now the system is a flipping god complex controlling everything redstone."

"Dinnerbone," Turtle asked cautiously. "What's the deal with the Diamond?"

Dinnerbone just shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

"Can I leave now?" The Moderator asked impatiently. "I've given you all I can."

"One last thing," Risser asked. "What's the program they used to create the system?"

"Oh, that's an easy one. They call it 303. Entity 303."

Dunecrawler: Round Two

Vanessa and Proto sprinted down the cool, dark hallways of the now-abandoned sand mines towards where they first fought the Dunecrawler. Vanessa's plan was to kill the arachnid before Past-Proto and Past-Vanessa fought it the first time. The only major problem was Herobrine.

Eventually, the two slowed to a stop. Around the corner was the entrance to the Dunecrawler's lair. Quickly the pair made their final preparations and ran towards the room.

The Dunecrawler's lair was just as Proto remembered it: sandy and full of cobwebs. The two walked towards the center, observing everything. Nothing seemed to be different, except for one thing.

The Dunecrawler was gone.

Proto looked slowly in Vanessa's direction. "What's going on?"

Vanessa shook her head. "I don't know. But-"

"I do."

Proto knew the voice anywhere. He turned to find Past-Herobrine, his white eyes seemingly staring directly into Proto's soul. Vanessa drew her sword. "How did I ever bow to you?"

Herobrine frowned. "You aren't them. You're older. You aren't supposed to be here."

"We're finishing our task in a different way," Proto replied. "Where's the spider?"

Herobrine laughed. "You never saw, did you? How to summon the beast? Well, why don't you let me show you?"

Herobrine pulled a vial of dark red liquid out of his inventory. Placing a cauldron on the ground, Herobrine dumped the liquid in and started chanting in an unknown language. Mist flowed into the room from the outside corridors and started swirling around the cauldron. Herobrine suddenly looked up from the cauldron, his eyes glowing red. Finally, the cauldron exploded and the Dunecrawler warped into existence.

The spider hissed at Proto and Vanessa. "Dunecrawler," Herobrine commanded, "attack."

The Dunecrawler leaped at Proto, who had just enough time to roll out of the way. He pulled out his sword and ran back towards the spider, managing to slice one of its legs off before it retaliated and kicked Proto away. Vanessa jumped on top of the creature and stabbed her sword into its thorax. The spider screamed in pain and shook back in forth until it managed to fling Vanessa off. Vanessa hit one of the webs and easily stuck. The Dunecrawler turned its attention back to Proto.

Proto knew that if he failed this time, there was no going back. He sprinted at the spider, who reared up on its hind legs and sprayed venom everywhere. Proto was about to stab the Dunecrawler's underbelly, but his sword was suddenly met with another. Herobrine sliced at Proto like a demon, until finally knocking the sword out of his grip. Herobrine kicked Proto in the stomach and sent him toppling to the ground. "Dunecrawler," Herobrine smiled. "Kill."

Proto tried getting to his feet, but all of his energy had been spent blocking Herobrine's vicious flurry of sword swings. The Dunecrawler scuttled over to Proto, fangs dripping with poison. The Dunecrawler's unblinking eyes stared at the human in front of him, who had once again failed to defeat him. Proto shook his head. This couldn't be happening. Until...

An arrow sprouted from the side of the Dunecrawler's head. The arachnid roared in pain and turned to look at whoever shot it. A strange figure cloaked in light stared down the shaft of another arrow, which he quickly released, this time between the spider's two biggest eyes. The Dunecrawler screeched terribly. The figure ran to Proto's side and stared disappointedly down at him.

"Must I do everything myself?" Jameson97 asked, rolling his eyes and offering a hand.

After being helped up, Proto grabbed his sword and cut Vanessa free of the web she was entangled in. "That's him," she muttered. "That's the guy who gave me a second chance."

The three heroes looked at the Dunecrawler, who had stopped screeching and now stood still, staring hatefully at the people before him. However, it seemed to have accepted its fate, and closed all of its eyes. Proto, Vanessa, and Jameson ran towards the beast, and all three of them stabbed their swords into its head at the same time. The spider fell to the ground, finally dead.

Herobrine wasn't amused.

"You may have killed my pet," Herobrine hissed angrily. "But there's much more. So much more..."

Herobrine turned around. "Dark times are coming for you and your friends, Protoshield86. Dark times indeed..." And with that, he teleported out of the chamber, leaving the heroes alone in the mines.

The Plan

Kilster burst through the wooden door and into the safe house, with Ajax the Bounty Hunter on his heels. Dinnerbone stood up quickly.

"What is he doing here?" Lyra demanded, pointing at Ajax.

"Listen," Kilster replied angrily. "Ajax used to work for the Weapons Facility."

"So?" Risser asked.

"So," Kilster said steadily, "we can use him to get in, get weapons, then break Notch out of prison."

An air of silence settled over the group. Dinnerbone sat back down in his chair and stroked his beard thoughtfully. "It might work."

"Does that mean I can leave?" the Moderator asked hopefully.

"Not now, this is important," Warnado answered.

Everyone in the room looked around at each other. Risser shook her head, Warnado bit into a taco, Samantha looked down at the floor, and Turtle and Lyra exchanged glances. Dinnerbone looked from Kilster to Ajax.

Dravven pounded his fist on the table. "Let's do it!"

"Hold on," Samantha said. "Only a few of us should go. We don't want to attract too much attention."

Dinnerbone nodded. "Wise words. We want to get this done as quickly as possible. The rocket will launch two days from now, and we need to stop it."

"And Notch knows how, right?" Turtle asked.

"Most likely. He can probably talk some sense into Jeb's head."

Kilster looked at Ajax. "You know how to get into the weapons facility?"

"Please," Ajax replied, rolling his eyes. "I designed it."

"Then it's settled," Dinnerbone said, placing his hands on the table. "Risser, Ajax, Turtle, Lyra, and Dravven will go the weapons facility, while the rest of us stay here and figure out how to reprogram the launch."

"Persuasion time?" Warnado asked.

Dinnerbone nodded. "Let's do this."

The Factory

The group of five crouched behind a low, mossy wall that surrounded most of the facility. The area was heavily guarded by what looked like mechanical ghasts. The weapons facility no doubt had traps and other security on the inside as well. Everyone looked to Ajax for instruction.

"OK," he whispered. "Those Ghastinations-" he pointed to the mechanical ghasts, "-are made of platinum. It's almost impossible to destroy them, and we don't have weapons that can. So, our best bet is to avoid their searchlights and get to the facility using stealth."

"Good thing we didn't bring Warnado," Risser muttered.

Ajax pointed at two rusty iron doors that served as the main entrance to the inside of the factory. Two human guards stood on the outside. They both looked pretty drowsy. "They're our ticket in. The guy to the right has a key card. I know him personally, he's a jerk."

"Harsh," Turtle noted. "Should I use Frostwing?"

"Be my guest," Ajax replied.

Turtle pulled the Bow of Ice off of his back and strung it, then nocked an arrow and took aim at the guard to the right. He fired, striking him in the stomach, then quickly launched an arrow at the second guard before he got a chance to flee. "Simple."

The small group carefully made their way over to the rusty doors, making sure to avoid any searchlights. Ajax grabbed the key card from off of the first guard's utility belt, then swiped it through the redstone processor. The doors swung open.

The usual silence outside was immediately broken by the loud hum of conveyor belts and the buzz of machinery at work as they created new weapons for the guards. The inside only had a few people, and luckily no one had noticed them. Ajax scanned the main area, then led Turtle, Risser, Dravven, and Lyra into a side room. "This is where the already-completed weapons are stored. How many of us are there back at base?"

"There's the five of us," Lyra replied, "plus Samantha, Chase, Kilster, Warnado, and Dinnerbone."

"Ten altogether?"

"I already have my weapons," Turtle said. "What about Proto?"

"Don't worry about him," Dravven replied. "If he's managed to survive this long, he probably doesn't need anything."

Ajax opened one of the many chests that were stacked in the room and rummaged through its contents. He pulled out an armful of various weapons that included a sword, an axe, a dagger, a crossbow, and a strange weapon that looked to be two gears attached by a redstone current.

"You guys grab whatever you need, these are for the people back at the safe house."

Everyone started digging through various chests. Turtle was about to do the same when something went off in his head. He felt drawn to a certain area in the back of the room. Curiously, he walked towards it. On the right was a metal armor stand surrounded by a glass case. The armor stand held a rather strange set of armor. It was black and covered in silver plates, and there were blue veins of energy running through it. Turtle read the plaque that described it:

Prototype Ice Iron Armor

Turtle opened the glass case and took the helmet off of the stand, placing it on his head. A sort of interface popped up. Various icons appeared in his vision as he looked around the room. When he turned to look at the others, icons appeared describing heat signatures, mental status, physical status, and more. Turtle took the helmet of off his head and looked at it.

Ice Iron...

Systematic Failure

"OK," Samantha said. "If you expect us to figure out how to reprogram the launch, you'd better tell us what the deal with that Diamond is."

Dinnerbone sighed. "Have you ever heard of a tesseract?"

"You mean the space gem from the Avengers?" the Moderator asked.

"No," Dinnerbone replied slowly. "A tesseract is the fourth-dimensional analog of a cube. Here, I'll give you an example." Dinnerbone placed a grass block on the table. "Imagine that, inside of this cube, there was a smaller cube. Now, imagine the smaller cube growing bigger and moving outside of the larger cube through one of its sides. As that happens, the larger cube will grow smaller until eventually it becomes smaller than the small cube. When that happens, the larger cube, which is now the smaller cube, will move inside of the smaller cube, which is now the larger cube, and the process will repeat."

Everyone stared at him blankly.

"What I'm trying to get at," Dinnerbone continued, "is that the Diamond can move in and out of reality. It both exists, and doesn't exist."

"How does that work?" Kilster asked. "I kind of understand the concept, but how can that be?"

"The Diamond was the first thing Light and Darkness ever created, even before the Elements. Therefore, they are incredibly powerful, and incredibly dangerous."

"How powerful?" Warnado asked.

"There are three Diamonds. One of them has the power to knock an entire continent into a different realm. All three together can destroy dimensions."

An air of silence settled across the table.

"And Herobrine has one?" Samantha asked.

"Yes," Dinnerbone said grimly. "I don't know how he came across it, but we need to get it from him, at all costs."

"If we get it," Warnado asked, "will the launch stop?"

"Yes," Dinnerbone replied.

"OK," Kilster said, standing up. "Once we rescue Notch, we go and get the Diamond and shut down the launch. This should be easy."

Untold Secrets

Although not originally part of the plan, demolishing the weapons facility was fun.

The group searched through the chests, looking for anything that could be of use. Risser herself had found a wicked 7-inch dagger, which had zigzagged edges. She took it for herself, then, like the others, looked to Ajax to see what the next move was. Ajax looked around at all of them, nodded, then started to walk towards the door when he was interrupted by Lyra.

"Where's Turtle?"

Everyone looked to the back of the room to see a figure covered in strange armor. He laughed as everyone looked him up and down. "Pretty cool, huh?" Turtle asked.

"That was terrible," Lyra said, rolling her eyes, but she couldn't help but smiling. "As long as that thing doesn't draw too much attention..."

"Wait," Risser interrupted. Everyone looked at her.

"What if instead of leaving stealthily," she asked, "we went out with a bang?"

"What do you-" Dravven started, but he was shushed by Turtle.

"Blow up the weapons facility before Jeb and Herobrine can use it to make anymore weapons for their army? I like it!" Turtle exclaimed.

"Seems risky," Lyra stated hesitantly.

"You'll have to pay me more," Ajax said firmly.

"Come on, man," Dravven frowned. "You can't only be in this for the money?"

"I'm a mercenary and a thief. I only do it for the money. I have a debt to pay off, and my client doesn't like to be kept...waiting."

Risser rolled her eyes. "Fine. How much did Kilster promise you?"

"500 emeralds."

Dravven tipped over the armor stand he was leaning on, and fell to the ground with a loud crash. Everyone stared at him angrily.

"Are you crazy?!" Lyra asked, looking back and forth from Dravven to Ajax. "You'll get us all caught! And five hundred emeralds? Kilster's out of his mind!"

"Raise it about a hundred if we blow this place to smithereens."

"How does he plan on getting the money?" Dravven asked.

"Probably gambling, which we all know he can't do," Risser replied, rolling his eyes.

"Actually, he has...different means of getting what he wants. Smart man, he is. But he told me not to divulge to you what it is until the time is right."

Risser and Turtle, who had known him the longest, exchanged looks. What was he talking about?

"Fine, if he has 500 emeralds, I'm sure he could spare a hundred more," Turtle finally said.

"Let's do it," Risser continued. "Where are the explosives?"

Schist

"No," Vanessa said flatly, rolling her eyes at Proto's constant begging.

"I want to see them, I want to know what happened."

"You could disrupt the past and make it so that you were never born!"

"I won't! You know I won't!"

"I don't want to lost you again."

Proto stared deep into Vanessa's emerald green eyes. Even though he knew she would never show it, he could still spot a hint of compassion within.

Compassion for him.

"Look," Proto sighed. "You have to trust me. I need to go back. I have a feeling that if I don't, something terrible will happen."

"I'm afraid that something even worse will happen if you do!"

"Vanessa, please." Proto's voice took on a pleading tone.

It was Vanessa's turn to stare into Proto's eyes.

After a long pause, she sighed. "Fine."

Proto smiled and hugged her. She hugged back.

"How far back are we going?"

"15 years."

"Why that far?"

"It'll give me a chance to see my sister without being born yet."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah. I haven't seen her in years though."

"Why?" Vanessa didn't press when she saw the sadness. She wrapped her arms around him again. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Let's just go back."

The heat of summer was nothing compared to the hell that was the Nether.

Proto and Vanessa stood on a fiery island floating above a large lava ocean. Vanessa looked to Proto for an explanation, although he looked just as confused as he did. The two stared out across the burning landscape, looking for any ghasts that might try to disrupt them. Spotting none, Proto spoke up.

"I don't understand. Why are we here? We were supposed to go to my parents!"

"Unless..."

Proto turned to look at Vanessa. "How would they be here?"

"There could be lots of explanations. They could be mapping, or if they were soldiers, they could be doing something for the war-"

"War?"

Vanessa quickly changed the subject. "Never mind why they're here. They're here, so we'll find them."

Proto didn't want to change the subject, but he relented anyways. "Where do you think they could be?"

"They can't be far, the ClockPowder takes you wherever-and whenever-you want. So, let's-"

"Look."

Proto just pointed out something he was surprised he hadn't noticed before. It was an obsidian portal, inactive, and behind it, there was a bridge leading to...

"There's...people? In the Nether?"

"Their portal must've been closed...by a ghast, no doubt. We should go talk to them, they might know where my parents are."

Proto and Vanessa carefully crossed the rickety Nether brick bridge, careful not to make any missteps and accidentally plunge 40 feet to their death. Out of caution, Vanessa quickly grabbed Proto's hand, which he gladly held. He was more afraid than she was; he was going to see his parents!

After what seemed like a lifetime, the couple made it to the bottom of the bridge. Before them stood a small village. The houses were made of Nether bricks, and they had gardens of Nether wart. Weird mechanical noises came from a strange building in one of the corners of town. Proto and Vanessa walked into the village, only to be attacked by a mob of human survivors.

"People!" one of the citizens shouted. "How did you get here? Have you come to save us?"

"No, we've-" Vanessa started, but was cut off by Proto.

"How long have you been here?"

"Four years."

Proto's eyes widened. "That long? How have you stayed fed and hydrated?"

The citizen pointed to the strange building. "We process Nether wart, pop the pods to get water. As for food...the pigmen are good for something, right?"

Proto gagged. "OK. We'll help you escape, but only if you help me out in return. Do you know anyone named Celestia?"

Another one of the citizens spoke up. "The newborn?"

"Yeah."

"What do you want with my daughter?"

Proto jumped at the voice. He turned to see a tired-looking woman who was cradling a baby girl in her arms. The tiredness in her eyes was replaced with anger. She was obviously very protective of her daughter.

It took all of Proto's willpower not to call the woman "Mom". He frowned. "Where's your husband?"

"What do you want with us?"

Vanessa nudged Proto. "Uh, Proto?"

Proto rapidly came up with a lie in his head. "Schist specifically mentioned you and your family."

Proto didn't know who Schist was. All he knew was that his name was permanently engraved on the Witherband.

"Who's Schist?"

"I don't know, but he sent me to save you guys. To save you all."

The woman sighed. "My husband went to go fight the Wither."

Proto dropped his sword.

Influence

Ajax led Turtle, Risser, and the others through the door to the safe house. Warnado's group had been sitting at the table, conversing quietly as they waited patiently for the others to come back. Dinnerbone flicked off the TV (which he had repaired with help from Kilster), and smiled.

"We heard the news! Blowing up the facility was brilliant!"

"We have some weapons of our own, now," Ajax announced, dropping his burden on the table. Warnado, however, decided to examine Turtle's new armor.

"The heck is that?"

"This, my friend, is the prototype Ice Iron armor."

"What does it do?"

"Everything."

"Okay."

"Anyways," Samantha interrupted. "Now that we have everything, we should get the prison. The rocket is launching tomorrow night, and if we don't shut it down, there's no telling what Herobrine has planned."

"We still have time," Risser replied. "It's late tonight. Tomorrow would be a better bet. We'd better be rested if we want to have any hope of stopping anything."

Chase nodded in agreement.

Samantha sighed. "So be it."

The table dispersed, and everyone climbed down the ladder to their respective rooms, Dravven in the lead. Turtle was about to follow, but was stopped by Warnado.

"Your Book of Spells...can I see it?"

Turtle narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"It's important. You can have it back tomorrow."

Turtle rolled his eyes and handed Warnado the book. Then, following the others' lead, he headed down the ladder towards his room. Warnado sat back down at the table and looked at the book.

He had a feeling that the book was more important than everyone thought

Warnado closed his eyes, reminiscing in the past. He remembered another book, one that had troubled one of his friends. However, unlike the Book of Spells, that one was sentient.

Hopefully this one wasn't.

Warnado carefully flipped through the pages, deep into the night, not bothering to sleep at all. He was slightly irritated when he hadn't found anything and the sun had started to rise.

Well, he had found out about the missing page.

Sighing, he closed the book and waited for the others to wake up.

Dreams

The room was dark, but it was obviously messy. Straining his eyes to see but ultimately giving up, Turtle lit a torch and cast its light across the room. Its walls, ceiling, and floor were made of spruce wood. Bookshelves lined one wall, and he was sitting on a bed. A desk lay tipped over a little ways away, a smashed lamp resting on the ground near it.

Turtle had no idea who the room belonged to, or how he had got there. All he knew was he had to get out.

Now.

Turtle ran towards the door and pulled it open, finding himself in a hallway just as dark and decrepit as the room. A few feet away was another door, which presumably led to another room. Turtle ignored it and looked to the left, which led to two more doors, then to the right, which led to a much larger area. Turtle hesitated, looking back at the room he had just exited, then sprinted right.

Turtle didn't acknowledge anything in the large area, such as the couches, or the kitchen, or the table that was cracked down the middle. Instead he made directly towards yet another door, which hopefully led to the outside. He thrust it open, and found himself plunged in darkness.

Where do you think you are?

The voice wasn't deep or high-pitched, yet it still sent shivers down Turtle's spine. He decided to ignore it, and lit another torch.

Why do you think you are here?

Turtle once again ignored the voice. He noticed a pole with a flickering redstone lamp underneath it, and ran towards it.

I can help you, you know. We can make this world a better place.

Who was this person? Turtle's first thought was Herobrine, and then the Lich, but neither of them sounded remotely close to this voice.

Your friends will have to go, of course. But, I will save...her.

"Who?"

Turtle was now standing directly under the post, the lamp hanging above him. He had given up on ignoring the voice, and looked around to see who was talking.

I think you know who. Deep inside. She'll never leave you, and you'll never leave her. You promised.

Turtle frowned at the thought. Was he talking about Lyra? Had their relationship grown that strong? They'd only know each other for a little over a year, but was it possible that they had grown that close?

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm sure you don't." The voice spoke directly behind Turtle, who whirled around to find two red eyes, the same ones as before, the same ones he had seen in the Dark Dungeon. The pitch-black figure held out a hand.

"Just give in."

Turtle drew Doomsblade and shouted "Infernacos!" as he swung at the figure...

Turtle sat up in his bed, panting heavily. What he had seen in that dream was beyond any fear he had ever thought possible. Everything bone in his body ached, except the ones in his left arm.

Oh, wait. That arm was only bone.

Turtle?

The voice which spoke in Turtle's head was that of Lyra's. Turtle didn't know how to respond, but his first thought: How the flip is she talking to me?

A sort of laughter filled his head. My powers are that of telekinesis. I can communicate with anyone telepathically, as well as being able to read minds and such.

Oh.

Lyra laughed again. Now, I can sense it. You had a dream as well?

Turtle gulped. Yeah. It was strange...I would look something up in the Book of Spells about dreams, but I lent it to Warnado.

There was a pause. Turtle, do you trust him?

What do you mean?

He seems a bit...unstable. You're sure it's a good idea to let him look at the book?

Of course. I've known him for over a year now, and he's one of my best friends. Just because he's unstable doesn't mean he isn't smart.

Another pause. Okay. If you trust him, so will I.

Turtle didn't know how to respond. He was still troubled because of the dream.

Me talking to you like this strains my powers. May I come to your room?

Fine, but don't stay to long. It's late, and we don't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

Of course.

About thirty seconds later, Lyra quietly opened the door and slipped inside, closing it behind her. She walked over to Turtle's bed at sat down on the edge of it. "Hey."

"Hi." Turtle paused. "What was your dream about?"

"I was back at my place in the mountains. Some sort of shadowy figure was looking through my books, and he said that the two of us could do great things together. He said that everyone would die, but that he'd let you live. What was yours about?"

"Pretty much the same thing. I didn't know where I was, though. Some sort of house, then darkness, then under a flickering lamp post. This...person. Do you know who he is?"

Lyra shook her head, then sighed. She lay down next to Turtle, and stared in his eyes. They stayed like that for a while, but then Lyra moved in and kissed him. It sent shivers down Turtle's spine, but in a good way, as he kissed back. Eventually they pulled apart.

"Don't worry about it for now. Worry about the task at hand. It's the most important thing right now. These dreams can wait."

Turtle nodded. Lyra kissed him once more, then got up and left the room quietly, leaving him with a "Good night, sweet dreams". Turtle flipped over and stared at the ceiling, thinking about what had transpired. Eventually he drifted off to sleep, blissfully unaware of the girl in the room next to him crying silently as she held a picture close to her heart.

"You promised."

To the Prison

Kilster woke up late the next morning. Groggily, he headed upstairs to find Warnado, Risser, Chase, Dinnerbone, and Samantha all awake, discussing their plans to break into the prison. However, Kilster took notice that, unlike her usual self, Samantha was only halfheartedly involved in the conversation.

She looked terrible. She hadn't bothered to do her hair, and she lay her head on her arms on the table. Her eyes were puffy and red, like she had been crying. Kilster decided that now wasn't the best time to ask, so he instead sat down at the table with the others and join the conversation.

Eventually, Dravven, Ajax, Turtle, and Lyra all joined the group upstairs. The Moderator was still downstairs, being monitored heavily by Xander and Kaine. After a few more minutes of discussion, Dinnerbone raised his hand for silence.

"This time, I'm the only one who will stay behind. Everyone else will break into the prison. We need to show Herobrine that we aren't people who should be taken lightly. If we break Notch out of prison, maybe we can show the citizens what side they should really be on."

There were many nods and murmurs of agreement. Ajax leaned back and crossed his arms. "To get in, you'll need weapons. Good thing Uncle Ajax can provide." He gestured over to the living room area, and everyone got up and followed him, Samantha somewhat half-heartedly.

Ajax dumped the contents of the weapons chest on the ground. Kilster rummaged through the various swords, axes, and the like, until he found something strange. It was like a saw, except it was made up of two gears connected by a redstone current. He frowned at it. It suited him perfectly.

"Oh yeah, before I forget..."

Warnado handed Turtle the Book of Spells. Lyra frowned at this, and Kilster shot her a quizzical look. She waved her hand in a tell you later gesture. Kilster shrugged and continued examining his new weapon.

After a few more minutes, everyone had at least one weapon. Someone coughed, and Kilster looked up to see Ajax staring at him, arms folded.

"Oh yeah, the emeralds...look, I can't give them to you right now. The others can't know how I got them."

"You have until the first of September. I'll be in the village of Oken, in the desert. If you don't show up, I will hunt you down."

Ajax shoved a golden lever into Kilster's hands and strode towards the exit of the safehouse, leaving as if nothing had even happened. Kilster frowned at this and looked at the golden lever. He had a feeling he'd need it soon...

"Everyone ready?" Dinnerbone asked.

There were scattered nods and yeses.

"Good," Dinnerbone said. "Come back to me in one piece."

The group headed through the open door of the safe house. Before Samantha could walk through, Kilster stopped her.

"We can't have you acting like this when we're breaking Notch out. What's up?"

Samantha looked at Kilster as though he was that one vein of coal that no one ever mined. "You don't have a right to know. That's between me, and...someone else."

"Who?"

"Not your business."

"Fine, but-just be on your guard."

Samantha's face softened considerably. "I will. I'm sorry, I-I'm sure you'll know the issue someday. But for now, we need to move on."

Kilster nodded, and they followed the others towards the prison.

Jailbreak

The guard was tired. Jeb had recently been making him and his coworkers work harder than ever. Once Herobrine took control of the city, everything went downhill. He missed the old castle, and the magnificent golden beaches. He missed the marketplace, with all of the kindhearted people. But those people were gone, replaced only with power-hungry brainwashed freaks. Although he wouldn't tell anybody, he was secretly rooting for the good guys.

On top of the watchtower, the guard looked down at the courtyard. The dry grass was occupied by a few prisoners, who were doing the most horrible thing imaginable: mining obsidian with wooden pickaxes.

The guard shuddered at the thought. Most of the people in the prison were innocent, only thrown in for taking a stand and supporting the heroes. Those who weren't thrown in for that reason took pride in bullying the ones who were. It was sad, watching, but never being able to do anything about it. Herobrine just had too much power.

An explosion snapped the guard out of his daydream. Quickly, he ran to the other side of the watchtower, and looked down. And there they were.

An alarm rang throughout the courtyard as prisoners ran towards the safety of the main jail block. Risser looked to her friends. "How do we find out where Notch is?"

"We could ask one of the guards," Lyra responded, pointing up at the watchtower.

The guard raised both of his hands. "I'm with you guys!" he shouted over the alarm. "He's in cell number forty-seven! Here!" The guard threw down a set of keys.

"Good to know there are still some sane people in this world..." Kilster muttered.

"Not me!" Warnado shouted, summoning a purple fireball in his hands. He took aim and blasted the heavy iron doors that led to the main cell block, breaking them off their hinges and sending them flying. "All right, let's go!"

Before anyone could move, a group of prisoners ran over to them. They had makeshift weapons-pipes, rocks, pickaxes, one even had a baseball bat. "You ain't gettin' to Notch that easy!"

"Come on, guys!" Risser said. "Do we really need to do this?"

"Emeralds!" another prisoner replied. "Rubies! Sapphires! Imagine how Herobrine will reward us when we defeat the only things that even stood in his way!"

"Screw you!" Samantha shouted angrily, and blasted the prisoner with lightning. The others retaliated, only to be brought down by an onslaught of vicious attacks.

Risser looked to Kilster. "Man, Samantha's fed up with something. You stayed back with her, do you know what's going on?"

Kilster shook his head. "She refused to tell me. It's good for us-" he gestured at the fleeing prisoners, "-but obviously bad for her. Don't worry about it, she'll tell us when she's ready."

Risser nodded, then ran towards the main prison block. They made their way through the winding hallways, terrified prisoners, and constant blaring alarm towards Cell 47. When they reached it, they found Notch, chained to the wall.

"Notch!" Turtle exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he replied. "Barely. Thanks for rescuing me...this is embarrassing."

Lyra unlocked the cell door and swung it open. Kilster whipped out his new saw and cut through the chains. Notch dropped to the cold stone floor, and Turtle and Warnado helped him up. "Let's get you out of here."

"Not...so...fast."

Herobrine stood at the end of the hall, wielding a diamond sword. He stared hatefully at the group in front of him.

"Your rebellion can't last forever. None of you will make it out of here alive."

Shamed

Proto
and Vanessa stood at the base of the Nether Fortress. The blood-stained
Nether bricks towered over the two, casting a dark shadow. Proto
remembered his battle with the Wither here not too long ago, which had
ended with a splash of water and the Witherband. The two entered the
building, and their eardrums were immediately assaulted by a flurry of
screams.

Proto looked around, but couldn't see the person (or
people) who were screaming. He took a slow step forward-and realized he
was walking on soul sand. "Oh."

"Shh!" Vanessa hissed. "Not so loud, or the Wither Skeletons will hear us!"

"Oh," Proto whispered. "Right. But won't the soul sand have already attracted them?"

The sound of clanking bones answered Proto's question.

Proto
and Vanessa drew their swords to meet the skeletons' attacks. Proto
disarmed one and stabbed it through its ribcage, while Vanessa sliced
her sword through another's head. When they thought they had defeated
them all, more flooded into the chamber. "Great," Vanessa muttered.

"Screw these guys, let's go find the Wither!"

Vanessa
kicked the skeleton behind her and followed Proto up a spiral
staircase. After a lot of running and a few more run-ins with skeletons,
Proto found the room he had previously battled the Wither in. He
pressed his ear to the door, and heard a few explosions and grunts.
Proto kicked the door open.

The Wither shot a head at a man. The
man jumped and stabbed his sword into the head, then spun in midair and
flung it back at the Wither. It exploded, and the Wither let out a
screech. "Foolish mortal, you dare believe you can take me on alone? You're pathetic!"

The
Wither blasted another head at the man, but this time he was too slow
to dodge. He flew back, and slammed into a wall, destroying it and
sending blocks flying. As he flew through the air, the man jumped from
block to block, making his way back up to the hole in the wall. He
jumped, and grabbed the ledge and held on. Proto drew his sword, but
Vanessa put a hand on his arm. "You can't attack, you could destroy the
future!"

"I can't just sit here and watch!"

"I told you this was a bad idea..."

The man tried to pull himself back up, but all of his energy seemed exhausted. The Wither floated over to him. "Pathetic."

The
man looked up at the Wither. "Please, Schist, you used to be a hero!
You commanded armies! Everyone idolized you! What happened on that day?
You're not a clone, I know you're not! I don't know what lies have been
put into your head, but you're a master of fire, not a lord of death!"

"LIAR!" the Wither shouted. "I AM THE WITHER! THAT IS MY NAME! I WAS CREATED TO BECOME STEVE'S OPPOSITE!"

"You
weren't created," the man whispered. "You aren't Steve's opposite. You
are a slave now to yourself, and to Herobrine, just as you were a slave
of the coal mine. Schist. Your name, is Schist."

The Wither screamed and blasted the man off the cliff and down, down into the lava.

"DAD!" Proto screamed.

Vanessa
took Proto's hand and led him over to the cliff, leaping off. She
whistled, and a Ghast floated over to them, picking them both up. Proto
didn't have the time to be happy for Fear's return. He was shamed.

Fear dropped the couple off back at the village. The villagers ran up to them. "What happened? Where's my husband?"

Proto looked at his mom. "He...didn't make it."

She
didn't cry. It was a sort of silent grief. Proto wasn't sure if she
could cry even if she wanted to, seeing as the intense heat could change
a lot about a person. Proto and Vanessa lead the way back to the Nether
portal, and Proto lit it. He gestured the villagers inside.

Before Proto's mom entered the portal, she looked at the two heroes. "I don't blame you for the death of my husband."

Proto
sighed. "I know. Just-take care of your daughter, okay? She'll grow up
to become an amazing warrior. And, your unborn son-"

"How do you know about him?!"

Proto smiled. "Well, I'm not from around here."

Timepiece

Time stood still.

Warnado stared at Herobrine, taunting him, waiting for him to make his first move. Herobrine did the same. Turtle pulled Frostwing off his back, and Kilster revved his new saw. Electricity surged between Samantha's hands.

"So," Herobrine started. "I'll be honest with you, I didn't expect you to make it this far. You stopped the Wither's plan, you've slaughtered the Basilisk, and now you're hoping to stop me from launching my shuttle. Very good for a couple of amateurs."

Warnado crossed his arms. "Amateurs? Please."

Herobrine laughed. "Next to me and my allies, you are just pesky ants, waiting to be crushed. And my friend will make sure that happens...if you continue playing this...'game'.

"Well guess what? In this game, there is no winning. There's no version of this where you make it out alive. You're all doomed, doomed to bow to me. If you don't, then you'll never see the light of day again."

"We have all the light we need."

Warnado turned around to find Proto and Vanessa standing at the other end of the hallway. Proto's sword was strapped to his back, while Vanessa had hers pointed at Herobrine.

"Ah, so our time traveling friends return!" Herobrine mocked. "The one who cheated death, and the one who betrayed me and then cheated death! Bravo!"

"Vanessa?" Kilster started. "How-"

"We'll tell you later," she replied. "Right now, let's take care of this loser."

"Shame you missed my speech, it was quite enlightening."

"So is fire."

Herobrine
frowned. "So, you seem to have come to terms with your elemental power.
But...every time a fire is born, it always destroys...let's wait and
see which one of you it consumes tonight."

"I think I know the answer," Samantha growled. "YOU!"

She shot a bolt of lightning at Herobrine, who narrowly dodged it. "Someone's angry. What, reminiscing in the past again?"

Warnado followed suit and shot his own, purple bolt of lightning at Herobrine. "We all have tragic pasts, we all know. But guess what? All of our pasts have one thing in common...you."

Herobrine grinned. "Very good. You have started to discover the pattern. But you are nowhere near discovering it all."

Notch looked at Herobrine thoughtfully. "I'd say that you're a little off the mark, Herobrine. They'll know everything soon enough."

Fear flashed across Herobrine's face, but was once again quickly replaced by a grin. "We'll see..." Herobrine shook his head and teleported away.

Notch looked around at everyone. "You need to get going, I can make it to the safe house on my own. You need to stop that rocket launch."

* * *

The heroes sprinted through the dimly lit streets, ignoring shouts of annoyance from the various citizens. They made their way to the center of town, when all the power was coming from. They neared the gates and swiftly took out the guards, then kicked open the doors.

A voice spoke over the intercom. "Welcome back, SethBling here. The rocket has entered its final stage of preparations."

"I didn't give you the right to use the intercom," a second voice replied. This was followed by a strange voice speaking in another language. "Yes, this is Duncan, the TRUE master of the intercom. Preparations are complete. Launch is in 10 minutes."

Zero

"Great," Risser groaned. "We're gonna have to move fast."

"Ten minutes should be enough," Dravven replied. He looked around at the scientists and guards, who had noticed the heroes and their untimely entrance. "We should split up."

Turtle nodded. "Lyra, Proto, Warnado, Kilster, Risser, and I will go shut down the launch, the rest of you can take care of these scrubs."

"With pleasure," Samantha growled.

Turtle led the others to the other side of the massive rocket, towards the control room. He slammed his hand on the "UP" arrow on the elevator, but nothing happened.

"They shut it down," Kilster muttered. "Hold on..."

Kilster opened the control panel a little ways away from the elevator door and did some speedy rewiring. After a minute or so, the door made a "ding!", then slid open.

They rode the elevator to the circular control room, and filed inside. A command console lay underneath a circular window, which provided a view of the white rocket. There were three others in the room, who were all arguing and hadn't seemed to notice the commotion happening around them.

Two of the people were human. One wore a white lab coat over a purple shirt. He had green goggles strapped to his forehead, and had blonde hair. The other looked very similar to Mario. The third being wasn't human, but a villager, who had donned a white robe.

"No, I control the intercom, you make sure that the workers don't screw up the redstone mechanisms!"

"You were busy doing 'science', so I took over!"

The villager was saying something, but Turtle couldn't understand him.

"Just because Jeb put you in charge doesn't mean you get to control us, Trayaurus!"

The villager shook his head, then pushed the two out of the way. He spoke something into the intercom.

The smile on Mario's face faltered. "Why did you have to call him? There was no point, we had it under con-"

"Seth, Duncan, what did I tell you?" Jeb had entered the control room from a door off to the side.

"Jeb, what did I tell you?"

Jeb noticed that it wasn't just him and his workers in the room.

"So," he started. "You're here to put a stop to the launch? No, no, no, we can't have that."

Proto drew his sword.

"You don't know how hard I've worked to achieve this goal," Jeb whispered. "With this launch, we can finally achieve Herobrine's goal. I'll be free."

"You're on the wrong side, Jeb," Warnado said. "I know what it's like. Join your brothers, we can stop Herobrine, and we'll all be free."

"You don't understand. There is no stopping him. He has so many allies...so many...he's invincible."

"The Warriors of Light," Lyra said. "We have allies too. There's a way out of this."

Jeb shook his head. "No no, no, there isn't. Trayaurus, start the launch."

Turtle aimed Frostwing at the villager. "I don't think you want to do that."

Seth and Duncan glanced at each other.

They were all at a standstill. "Oh, come ON, do you THINK you have the RIGHT to stop my work? You're all DOOMED, DOOMED to fail. No matter how hard you try, there is no winning. Launch it."

Trayaurus pulled a lever, and an alarm started flashing. A robotic voice sounded over the intercom. Launching in T-minus sixty seconds.

"What have you done?!" Proto shouted.

Kilster shook his head. "There's only one way to stop them now." He ran towards the elevator.

"Seth, stop him!"

Mario surged forward, but backed away when Kilster revved his saw.

"We have to get on that rocket!"

"Are you crazy?!" Risser exclaimed. "Going to space wasn't in the job description!"

Turtle shook his head. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Kilster's right." He stepped on to the elevator, and Warnado followed.

Proto stepped back, horrified. "The Nether was bad enough!"

"STOP THEM!" Jeb screamed, but Duncan and Seth had already left the room.

Launching in T-minus forty-five seconds.

Trayaurus followed Seth and Duncan.

Risser sighed and stepped on to the elevator. "Come on, Jeb, do the right thing! Shut this thing down!"

Jeb shook his head angrily. "There is no stopping it."

Lyra stepped on to the elevator. "I'm going with you."

Turtle shook his head. "I'm not letting you risk-"

"I'm not letting you stop me."

Launching in T-minus thirty seconds.

"Proto, are you coming?"

Proto sighed. "Fine." He looked back at Jeb, then shook his head and stepped on the platform. The door closed and descended.

In the control room, Jeb put his head in his hands. "What have I done..." He ran to the control console, searching desperately for a way to shut the launch down, but there was nothing.

Launching in T-minus 10 seconds.

Turtle ran inside the rocket, followed closely by the others.

"Vanessa!" Proto shouted over the alarm. "Stay safe!"

Vanessa's eyes widened. "What're you-" Proto slammed the door shut.

Launching in 5...

4...

3...

2...

Galacticraft

The rocket raced upwards at unfathomable speeds towards the skyline. Clouds rushed past, and the city grew smaller and smaller. Soon, a boom sounded, signalling their arrival into...

"Space."

Kilster stared out at the eternal sea of stars that lined the galaxy outside. As the shuttle slowed, the quiet of space hit them all. Well, it would be quiet, if there wasn't an astronaut outside listening to electronic music. He waved at Kilster as the shuttle moved slowly past.

Kilster shook his head and turned to observe those who were in the shuttle with him. Warnado, who was looking out the opposite window; Risser, who was sharpening her dagger; Proto, who was pacing back and forth while muttering to himself; and Turtle, who was searching through the Book of Spells.

"Weird," Lyra muttered. "I don't sense any more signs of life on this shuttle. What was Herobrine planning to achieve by sending an unmanned shuttle to Light-knows-where?"

"Simple," Warnado replied quietly. "He wants to harness the energy that is located at our destination for some sort of task. I've seen it happen before. Although," he continued, turning away from the window. "Last time I saw it happen, it didn't end well for anyone."

"You know," Turtle said, "you're gonna have to tell us some of your stories sometime."

"Speaking of stories..." Kilster looked at Proto.

"So," Risser said once he was finished, "Vanessa kidnapped you, you saved her life in the past, almost died again, got saved by your angelic friend, then watched your dad die?"

"That about sums it up."

"Hmm...you and Vanessa must have a strong connection if the Valkyries let you change fate in order to save her," Lyra noted. "They don't do that for anyone."

"Valkyries?" Kilster asked.

"Yes," Lyra replied. "They live in the Aether, where those of pure heart go to die. Vanessa met your friend, you say? Is he a Valkyr, or did he-"

"He's dead."

Lyra perked up at this.

"Dead people never leave the Aether. It's impossible for him to have helped you. Unless..."

"What's the opposite of the Wither?"

Everyone turned to look at Turtle.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," said Turtle slowly, "if the Wither is the personification of death that lives in the Nether, wouldn't there be a personification of death that lives in the Aether?"

Lyra looked at him thoughtfully. "The gatekeeper would be closest thing. He keeps the spirits in check."

"What if him and the Wither were meant to balance each other out? And when Proto killed the Wither-"

"Death changed." It was Warnado who spoke this time. "It reminds me of the situation with Darkness and Light. They need each other, so when one died, the other lost control."

"That's besides the point," Risser announced. "We should be focused on the task at hand. Where is this thing going?"

Kilster nodded. "Risser's right. Didn't the Moderator say that this thing was going to some sort of 'Green Moon'?"

"Hey, I found a green moon!" Warnado exclaimed, pointing outside at the green moon the rocket had just landed on.

"That's awkward."

The map pinpointed six locations. Five were green, and the other was red. The green ones were stationary, while the red one was moving towards one of the green ones. It also noted that the planet had a field of gravity, and the air was breathable.

Kilster looked at the door, which was open. "Someone was on here. Are you sure you sensed right?"

"Positive," Lyra responded. "I can sense all life forms. So either the thing that left wasn't living, or was blocking my mind somehow."

"Well, Jeb did manufacture an army of robots, right?" Proto asked.

"Can you sense anything living outside?" Warnado asked Lyra.

"Lots of living things."

"Those green things," Turtle muttered. "I think we should each go to one, find out what they are. Lyra can come with me."

"Sure, take the life-sensor for yourself..."

Risser poked her head out the door. "Guys? You might wanna see this..."

Kilster followed her outside.

The Green Moon

The planet was strange, to say the least.

It was filled with exotic plants, and very jungle-like. Risser could feel the electricity in the air. Kilster looked around, taking in his surroundings.

“How do you think the Queen Creeper got here?”

Everyone looked at him.

“The...what?” Risser asked.

Kilster frowned and gestured to the area. “This place is perfect for a creeper. Do you think that Herobrine’s goal might’ve been to find her?”

“It’s possible,” Proto replied. “But we need to be careful. That red dot on the map...I don’t like it.”

“We’ll follow it,” Lyra offered. Turtle looked at her.

“No way, it’s way to danger-”

“Oh, shut up.” She strode in the direction of the red dot, and Turtle had no choice but to follow her. Risser turned to the others.

“We should each go to one of those green dots. We can all handle ourselves in battle, it shouldn’t be a problem. Although, we still have these-” she held up a Fantastic Sketchpad, “-if we need to contact each other.”

Warnado nodded. “We meet back here in one hour.” He dropped a smoke pellet and was gone.

“I’ll tell Turtle,” Proto said. “You guys go on.”

Risser and Kilster each left the clearing, walking in opposite directions. It was light out, and the sky was a strange yellowish color. The trees provided shade, but it was still hot on the surface of the planet. Risser had to lean against one of them to catch her breath, but immediately jumped back upon feeling a shock. She already missed the Overworld.

It didn’t take long to find where the green dot led. It was a stone brick ruin, covered in vines. There was a doorway, and the inside showed a staircase that led downwards. Bracing herself, Risser walked into the darkness.

The Tablet

Proto glanced around the crumbling stone brick ruins, taking in all the interesting patterns woven into the blocks. Sunlight filtered in through holes in the ceiling, but the cool shade that covered most of the area was a welcome change. Proto frowned. What were they looking for?

A particular pattern on the stone wall caught Proto’s eye. He walked over to it, studying the wall. It showcased five creatures, which, upon closer inspection, looked like the Lich and his five clones. A warrior stood under each creature, each holding up a weapon that seemed to frighten them. The first held up a sword, the second a scepter, the third a saw, the fourth twin daggers, and the fifth a bow. Recognition dawned on Proto’s face. These were the Heroes of Prophecy!

A sixth figure rested on the wall, above all of the heroes and clones. At first Proto assumed it was Herobrine, but upon closer inspection, it looked nothing like him. The creature was pure black, and radiated darkness. It had red eyes that seemed to bore into Proto’s soul. He looked away. He didn’t want to meet...whatever that was.

Continuing on through the ruins, one thought kept nagging at Proto’s head. Where was Herobrine? Who was the dark being? But then an even more terrifying thought occurred to him.

How would he save Vanessa?

Eventually Proto reached a door. It had a creeper face on it, and looked suspicious. He pushed it open to find a small room, which was housing a tablet. The tablet was inscribed once again with a creeper face. He picked it up, finding it to be surprisingly light. He turned to leave, but found his was blocked by a strange bedrock golem. It raised its hand.

“You aren’t leaving.”

Stone Sentinel

Warnado looked at the tablet, then stuffed it into his inventory. He turned to face the Stone Sentinel that stood opposite him. He had fought them once before, in the Nexus.

“You aren’t leaving.” The voice was like a robot grinding two stones together. Warnado didn’t like it.

“Watch me.” He tried walking past, but the golem stepped to the side with surprising swiftness, blocking him.

“You aren’t leaving.”

Warnado snapped his fingers twice, and an energy pickaxe appeared in his hand. “Try me.”

The Stone Sentinel tilted its head, then fired a laser from its single eye. Warnado dodged to the side, knocking over a stone pillar with his pickaxe. The golem turned, emitting strange clicking noises. Warnado ducked behind the fallen pillar and assessed his options. Running wasn’t an option, that thing must’ve been pretty fast to sneak up on him like that. He couldn’t fight, the golem was designed to be virtually indestructible. So there was only one option: trap it.

Warnado flipped his pickaxe and sprinted towards the next pillar.

“You can’t leave.”

Warnado ducked as a laser blast shot past his head. He broke the next pillar, sending it toppling towards the golem. While it was distracted, Warnado shot a bolt of energy at the pillar furthest from him, sending that crashing to the ground as well. More clicking sounds emitted from the golem as it struggled under the weight of the pillar.

Warnado ran in a circle around the ruin, sending as many pillars toppling to the ground as he possible could. The golem was fast, but Warnado was faster. Eventually there were so many pillars on top of the golem that it was completely immobile, at least for the time being. Warnado laughed.

“Not this time.”

He turned heel and ran back to the shuttle.

Ichor

Turtle tried to breathe as quietly as he possibly could.

A figure stood over a broken golem, just staring down at it, holding a tablet in his hand. It was wearing a dirty white robe, and nothing could be seen of its face other than its piercing red eyes, which never moved from the golem. Turtle grasped Lyra’s hand.

“Foolish.” The voice was robotic. It looked up, staring at Turtle and Lyra. It tilted its head. “You agree, no? Bedrock is supposed to invincible, when in reality, it is just as breakable as a human’s mind…

“Who are you, who have followed me here? Did you not know what terrible fate shall come to you, in following me?”

“Are you Entity 303?” Turtle asked, his voice shaking.

The figure closed its eyes. “Such an unworthy name. But so is yours, TurtleMaster217.”

Turtle’s eyes widened. “How did you-”

“Herobrine has provided me sufficient information about all who oppose him. Your ally is Lyra Kiaro, elf, magician, fool.”

“Don’t insult her!” Turtle shouted. Lyra narrowed her eyes.

“It is no insult compared to what he has said about you, Turtle. Filthy amnesiac. You’ve been chasing the wrong dreams this entire time.”

Turtle roared and charged at Entity 303, Doomsblade in hand. He swung, but 303 ducked and kicked him in the stomach. It teleported to the top of a pillar, then jumped off and punched Turtle in the side of the head with a metal fist. Stars danced in Turtle’s eyes as he attempted to stand to his feet. Lyra rushed to his aid.

Entity 303 picked up Doomsblade and examined it. It weighed the sword in its hand, then whispered “Infernacos”. The blade lit itself, sending orange flames dancing across its golden surface. 303’s eyes brightened. It was smiling.

“You are not deserving of this sword,” it said, pointing the tip at Turtle. “You are not the master of fire. In fact, you are the opposite.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Turtle growled. “Give me back my sword.”

“It’s not yours.”

Turtle stood up and drew his bow. “Turtle…” Lyra warned.

Entity 303 smiled, then stabbed Doomsblade into the ground.

The ruin lit up around them.

Entity 303 teleported away, laughing mercilessly, while Turtle and Lyra stood trapped. Turtle pulled his sword out of the ground and grabbed Lyra’s hand. They ran towards the exit, only to find it barred by a wall of fire. Turtle pulled out the Book of Spells, looking for a way to put it out. “Come on…” he muttered, but nothing was coming up.

Finally, he flipped to a page that described a water spell. He prepared to chant it, but before he could, he felt himself being pushed. He fell to the ground and heard a crash behind him.

“Lyra!”

The elf girl was trapped beneath a fallen pillar. He ran to her side and tried lifting it.

It wouldn’t budge.

“Turtle…” she whispered. “Go on without me.”

“I’m not leaving you!”

“Your friends need you.”

“I need you!”

Lyra smiled sadly. “We’re out of time. You need to go, you need to stop Herobrine. You have to leave me.”

The fire was snaking its way closer to the two. Tears blurred Turtle’s vision. “I won’t leave you.”

“You have no choice. The task at hand is more important than I am.”

Turtle stood in complete shock. He couldn’t leave without her. But somehow he found himself running towards the exit with shaking legs, putting out the fire, and running back outside into the dense jungle.

As the ruin exploded behind him, Turtle had never wanted a pickaxe more.

Explosive Heart

Kilster jumped as the door twisted open.

He entered the room cautiously. It was dark, and he didn’t have a torch. He took a step forward and heard a click. Instinctively he stepped back, but nothing shot at him. Instead, the room lit up.

Redstone lamps hanging from the ceiling around the room became beacons in the previously pitch-black room. It was shaped as a coliseum, with Kilster standing on a platform that overlooked the inside of the room. Kilster drew his new saw. He knew what was waiting.

It sat in the center of the room, its back to him. It was giant, with four terrible legs that stuck out like a spider’s. It was green, like a normal creeper. It was hissing softly.

The Queen Creeper was sleeping.

Kilster sighed in relief. He didn’t have to fight it yet. Hastily he thought of a plan of attack, running through all the strategies he had used while fighting regular creepers. Before he could recall anything useful, a hiss sounded behind him, followed by a loud boom.

Kilster flew forwards into the gap in the floor and landed with a thud. Groaning, he pushed himself to his feet and jumped back.

The creature had stopped hissing. It raised its long neck, surveying the area. Kilster moved back slowly, but stepped on a bone, snapping it. The creeper swiveled its head, hissing. It was utterly terrifying.

Kilster revved his saw, and the battle begun.

At first, the creeper just sat there, pulsing white every few seconds. Kilster backed up, afraid it might explode. Instead, lightning struck her (they were inside, and Kilster had no idea how that was even possible), and she became charged. Kilster shook his head and sprinted towards the beast, using his saw on her leg. She screeched in pain and leaped into the air. Kilster jumped out of the way as it landed, and the creeper created an explosion. Kilster was flung against the wall, and his saw flew out of his hand.

Kilster staggered to his feet and ran towards the saw. The creeper hissed, and a block of TNT appeared in midair, flying towards Kilster. Kilster leaped out of the way right before it landed, grabbing his saw. The Queen Creeper bore down on him, and Kilster hacked at its leg once more, severing it. The creeper roared and agony and scuttled away from Kilster on its remaining three legs.

Kilster ran towards her again, his saw revving. The creeper hissed and tried to slap him away with her remaining front leg. Kilster held on to it then flung himself onto the creature’s back. The creeper tried to shake him off, but he clung on for dear life. He plunged his saw into her back, and she screeched in agony. She flung him off, but not before he had cut a hole in her back, exposing her still-beating TNT heart. It was one of the Chaos Shards. It was what they needed.

The Queen Creeper screeched, and many normal creepers flooded into the room. Kilster hacked at them, easily taking most of them out. But as he ran towards the Queen Creeper once more, an explosion sounded behind him, and he flew forward, landing flat on his chest. A leg stepped on him, pinning him to the ground.

The Queen Creeper hissed in triumph.

Kilster tried reaching for his saw, but it was just out of reach. Creepers swarmed behind him, preparing to explode. Kilster closed his eyes…

...and an arrow sprouted from the Queen Creeper’s leg.

The creature jumped off of Kilster, and he got to his feet, picking up his saw. He turned to find Turtle crouched on the platform overlook the battlefield, firing arrows at any creepers that got close. “Hurry up and kill it!” he shouted. He sounded mad.

Kilster nodded and ran towards the Queen once more, jumping on to its back. He revved his saw and reached into the hole he had cut previously. The creeper didn’t have the energy to scream as he cut out its heart and pulled it out. The creeper finally fell to the ground, dead. Kilster surveyed the wreakage as Turtle jumped down to meet him.

“How did you find me?”

Turtle held up the book.

“Where’s Lyra?”

Chaos

“So,” Notch said. “How did you get back?”

“We stole the rocket and left Entity 303 on there to die!” Warnado exclaimed.

“Oh.”

“How’s Jeb holding up?” Kilster asked, sipping at his Potion of Strength.

“He’s doing fine,” Notch said. “Dinnerbone’s talking to him, and he wants to remodel the city. He wants his kingdom back. But what of Turtle? Is he good?”

“He’s as bad as I was, when...” Proto glanced at Vanessa. “Samantha’s with him right now. He hasn’t cried yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”

Notch shook his head. “Too much death, but this is only the beginning.”

Risser twirled her dagger in her fingers. “Where’s Herobrine?”

“No one knows. He fled the city before you got here.”

Dravven sighed. “That’s not good.”

“Also, the Moderator’s dead,” Notch said. “Herobrine got to him somehow. Probably mad for revealing his plans. But other than that, there’s no sign of him anywhere.”

“We got this,” Kilster said, placing the creeper heart on the table. “That’s three of the shards.”

“Nether Star, Basilisk Fang, Creeper Heart…” Notch said. “Now all that’s left is Dragon Egg and Lich’s Scepter. The Chaos Shards.”

No one spoke for a while. Then Risser spoke. “Come to think of it, the Lich hasn’t been seen for a while either. Do you think we should go to the End?”

Notch smiled. “Not yet. We’ve had enough war for a while.”

Entity 303 stared into space, hardly listening to the words that were being relayed by Herobrine.

“...letting them steal the rocket, now there’s no way back! I’ve gone into hiding with the Lich for now, and I need you to help us plan!”

“There is a way.”

Entity 303 stared at the shuttle that was approaching the moon. An astronaut waved at him.

“Hello, fellow wanderer! I’m MinecraftUniverse, do you want a ride home?”