Descent Into Overworld: An Unofficial Minecraft Adventure (12 page)

“That’d be me.” Jaina smiled at the memory of saving Bones’s pack from drowning only a few days ago. “Some old friends returning a favor,” she added.

“I hope they got here in time,” Hamid said.

He looked across the furry chaos to the diamond condensor. Their swords were still stuck in their umbrella stands. Hamid’s heart pounded in his chest. What if the wolves had arrived to late? What if Slashax had drained the True Diamond swords of their power?

The machine had fallen silent. The transfer of energy from their swords to Slashax had stopped like a light switch turned off. Only Principal Whiner remained in his place in front of his sword. He watched, eyes wide and speechless as Jaina’s wolf pack battled Slashax’s skeletons.

With the flow of energy suddenly gone, Slashax woke from his trance and noticed the canine chaos around him. Rage flamed through his bones.

“You dare stop my transformation?”

The skeleton king stomped down from the now silent condenser. He marched toward the three friends, his empty eyes fixed on each of them.

“It wasn’t us!” Ant said. “It was the dogs. Honest.”

“Don’t blame my doggies.” Jaina whacked Ant in the shoulder.

“It takes more than a few mutts to stop me,” Slashax snarled.

Hamid spied more skeletons pouring in through the doorway on the far side of the chamber. Reinforcements. Now that the element of surprise was over, the battle could turn very quickly.

“My minions will deal with this rabble soon enough.” Slashax stalked closer. A sinister-looking sword appeared in his bony hand. “But I will have the pleasure of dealing with you!”

Fear gripped Hamid’s own bones as the skeleton king stomped closer. Diamond blue energy crackled along the length of Slashax’s blade.

Hamid reached for his own sword, only to remember where he had left it.

“Probably would have been a good idea to grab our swords before escaping Slashax’s condenser contraption.”

“Too late for that now,” Jaina said.

“Far too late, little kiddies.” Slashax raised his blade high, ready to strike. “The power of the True Diamonds is mine!”

Hamid and Ant jumped back just as Slashax’s sword sliced through the air. The blade smashed into the ground, sending up an explosion of rocks where the boys had stood only moments before.

The skeleton king raised his sword, ready to strike again.

“Your time in my world is finished,” he snarled.

Hamid stood by Jaina’s side. He was out of ideas and they would soon be out of time, but that didn’t mean they would go down easily. Ant flanked Jaina. The three friends stood shoulder to shoulder.

Around them, angry wolf barks had turned to painful whimpers. Slashax’s reinforcements had corralled Bones and his pack to one corner of the Portal Chamber. The dogs were fighting valiantly, but it was only a matter of time before the boneheads won.

The battle for Minecraft was over. Slashax and his skeleton army had triumphed. He had taken the power of the True Diamond swords. He had stolen the Seed Generator. Now he would defeat Herobrine or die trying. It didn’t matter who would win that fight. Both Herobrine and Slashax would cause destruction and chaos to escape Minecraft and spread to their own world, their own school, their own homes.

Slashax held his fierce blade high, ready to cut them down.

“The game is over, brave heroes,” he snarled. “Prepare to die!”

“Slashax! Leave them!”

The voice came from the far side of the Portal Chamber. Tall, proud and pale, Yurei the ghost creeper zoomed across the room, straight for Slashax.

“You!” The skeleton king turned to face the new arrival. “How did you get here without me knowing?”

Yurei sped closer, his sad-looking face showing no fear of Slashax and his blade.

“You were too focused on the True Diamonds to watch the borders of your own fortress.” The ghost creeper began to flash. “And this time it ends for good.”

Hearing the sureness in Yurei’s words, Slashax stumbled away from the advancing creeper.

Yurei’s flashing pulse quickened with each second.

“Yurei, no!” Hamid shouted. His heart ached at what would surely happen next.

“Don’t do it!” Ant said.

The ghost creeper did not pause. Step by step, he drew closer to the fleeing skeleton king. Slashax ran to the diamond condenser, desperate to put anything in front of himself and the creeper charging at him.

“Your sacrifice will be in vain, creeper!”

“My sacrifice will be enough.” Yurei collided with the skeleton.

The room around Slashax exploded in a blinding flash. Rocks, dust and skeleton bones flew through the air. When the smoke cleared, all that remained was the twisted frame of the condenser and their diamond swords floating on the edge of a deep hole in the ground.

The explosion sent a shock wave through Slashax’s minions. With their leader gone, many lost the will to fight. The cornered wolf pack jumped on this chance like a tasty doggie treat. Bones led the charge as the wolves swarmed the Portal Chamber, sending their enemies fleeing.

Ant and Jaina ran to collect the True Diamond blades before they disappeared. Hamid’s feet were rooted to the ground. Yurei had given his life for them. Their friend was gone because of Slashax and his greed. The skeleton king had been defeated but Herobrine remained. This battle would not be over until his plans for escape were stopped.

Jaina returned, tossing Hamid his sword.

“We got them on the run now,” she said.

Hamid’s gaze locked onto the Nether Portal. A very familiar and very bald shape stumbled up the steps to the purple-glowing gateway. Under his arm, he carried a bundle about the size of a football.

“Whiner is on the run, too,” Hamid said.

“And he’s taking the Seed with him,” Ant said.

Jaina raced to the Nether Portal.

“Drop the Seed, Mr. Whiner. Slashax is defeated. It’s over.”

Whiner grinned like he’d finally figured out how to give the entire school detention, including the teachers.

“You’re wrong, Jaina,” he said. “It is just beginning.”

Hamid and Ant stood beside Jaina.

“Come with us to deliver the seed to the Village of Keepers,” Hamid said.

With Slashax gone, maybe their principal had changed his mind about destroying Minecraft.

Whiner took a step backwards toward the Nether Portal.

“I am going to deliver the Seed,” he said. “But not to those foolish villagers. I’ll see that it is used to bring down this world and all Minecraft worlds.”

“How are you going to do that?” Jaina said.

“Simple,” Whiner said. “I am going to deliver the Seed to Herobrine.”

Before anyone could say another word, Whiner stepped through the Nether Portal and vanished.

Their inventories were full. They had food, supplies and even new armor. They were ready.

The Nether Portal stood before them.

“I still say we’ve left it too late,” Ant said.

They had been over this a dozen times since Yurei the ghost creeper defeated Slashax and Principal Whiner slipped through the Nether Portal with the Seed.

Ant had nearly jumped through the portal after their principal, but Hamid stopped him and reminded him of the chaotic nature of Nether Portals.

“Just because you follow Whiner through that portal, it doesn’t mean you’ll come out at the same spot as him,” Hamid had told his friend. “Besides, you’ll have no food and no armor. Who knows what will be waiting for you on the other side?”

It took some convincing, but after Bones and his wolf buddies had finished mopping up the rest of Slashax’s skeletons, Ant finally agreed to wait.

They gave themselves one night, or whatever passed for night this deep underground. Jaina led them to Slashax’s warehouse full of chests, where they found weapons, supplies and food.

They feasted on golden apples, baked potatoes and cake. They made toasts to fallen friends and cheered their furry new allies. When the food had been eaten and inventories packed, they made ready to leave.

They didn’t have much of a plan. Go after Principal Whiner and stop him before he delivered the Seed to Herobrine. Beyond that, it was all up to luck and their own wits. But they had one advantage. Their principal had never set foot in the Nether. He could have been blasted to bits by a ghast and the Seed would be there waiting for them, floating gently in the air. Hamid wasn’t holding his breath for that to happen. So far, lucky breaks had been as rare as diamonds.

They gave their inventories a final check. A familiar white furball trotted into the Portal Chamber.

“Bones!” Jaina cried. “Why aren’t you with your pack?”

The dogs had barked their goodbyes after all the food was eaten. But it seemed one dog wasn’t done with them yet. Bones gave a loud bark and licked Jaina’s face.

“I think he wants to come with us,” Hamid said.

“Awesome! We could use a skeleton hunter where we’re going.”

“Indeed we could.” Jaina nuzzled her face into Bones’s warm fur.

The three friends gave one final look at the Overworld, so far from any place they called home. They had succeeded in stopping the menace of Slashax the Skeleton King, but the battle for Minecraft was far from over.

With a silent nod, Hamid, Ant, Jaina and Bones stepped into the wavy purple light, out of the Overworld and into the Nether.

Being in the Nether was fun for about five minutes.

Then it became deadly.

BOOM!

The fireball blasted into the wall of netherrack in front of Hamid. Chunks of sandy red rock flew through the air, creating a very big hole in the very small wall Hamid, Jaina and Ant were hiding behind.

“They found us again,” Hamid said.

“You think?” Jaina snapped.

“Not my fault!” Ant said.

Above them, two ghasts floated on the lava-heated air like a pair of giant cube-shaped balloons drifting over a holiday parade. Except these balloons breathed fire and were doing more than drifting. They were hunting.

The angry screech of the closest ghast ripped through the air. Hamid didn't speak ghast, but he was pretty sure the flying, fire-breathing marshmallow above them disagreed with Ant.

“This is totally your fault,” Hamid said. “Why did you have to shout ‘Come and get us!’ at that pack of ghasts?”

“I was trying to unlock the Return to Sender achievement,” Ant said. “Is it so bad to want to smack a ghast with its own fireball?”

“Yes!” Jaina snapped.

“We can’t take dumb risks like that,” Hamid said. “If we die in this Minecraft world, we could die in the real world. Remember?”

“We don't know that for sure.”

“We'll find out the hard way if we don't get out of here,” Jaina said.

“Where should we go?” Hamid asked.

“Does it matter? We're totally lost,” Ant said.

“Again, your fault, Ant.” Jaina ducked behind the ever-shrinking wall that stood between them and the ghasts flying overhead. “Incoming!”

Another fireball smashed into their meager defense with a deafening boom.

“I thought that river of lava would lead us to higher ground,” Ant shouted over the blast. “How was I supposed to know it would bring us to a ghast nesting ground?”

“Because Jaina and I both warned you!” Hamid said. “But did you listen?”

“No, he did not,” Jaina answered.

“I was only trying to help,” Ant said.

“You can help by keeping quiet and following us,” Hamid said.

“Maybe you'd like it better if I just went away for good,” Ant mumbled.

“Don't tempt me,” Hamid said before he could stop himself.

Hamid and Ant had known each other since they were in diapers. From daycare to detention, they had been through it all, including getting sucked with their friend Jaina into this crazy world of Minecraft known as the Seed Server. The trip into the blocky world was not Ant’s fault. That honor went to Bano, the mysterious villager who gave them the True Diamond swords that pulled them into Minecraft. It was Bano who sent them deep under Overworld in search of the Seed, the powerful artifact that shapes every Minecraft server created in the real world. The Seed was missing, but that wasn’t Ant’s fault either. Principal Whiner was to blame on that one. Their school principal had been sucked into the Seed Server with them and had been a bigger pain in the butt than a barrel of creepers. Whiner hated Minecraft so much, he wanted it destroyed so no one could ever play the game again. He stole the Seed and brought it into the Nether in search of the one being who should never, ever get it: Herobrine.

Minecraft’s dark legend was real, and he was trapped somewhere on the Seed Server. If Herobrine got his hands on the Seed, he could escape into the real world. And he wouldn’t travel alone. Creepers, zombies and skeletons would all escape the game world and cross into the very real world of Earth. Hamid shuddered at the thought of Herobrine leading an army of creepers through his neighborhood. The destruction would be massive. Homes would be destroyed, people would be hurt and, worst of all, video games would be banned forever. Finding their principal before he found Herobrine was their only hope of stopping this destruction. At that moment, Hamid would have been happy just finding a better place to hide.