Descent Into Overworld: An Unofficial Minecraft Adventure (9 page)

“Is this it?” Principal Whiner said. “Is this the diamond condenser?”

“It is,” Slashax said. “Give it a try. Just like I explained to you on our walk here.”

Whiner grinned. He hopped onto one of the blocky seats. Slashax handed him back his diamond sword. Whiner put the sword into the long slot. It fit perfectly.

Nothing happened.

Whiner turned to Slashax. “Not very impressive.”

“Oh, it will be,” Slashax said. “When I take my place in the middle and your three brats are also here, the condenser will tap into each of your swords and transfer that power to me. With that power, I will be the ruler of all the Minecraft worlds and more.”

“But what about Herobrine?” Principal Whiner said. “He is expecting you to deliver the Seed Generator.”

“Never mind that fool,” Slashax chuckled. “He is not getting anything from me. Help me capture the other two brats and you will have more power than Herobrine could ever give you. That is a promise.”

Jaina had the sudden urge to run away very far and very fast. Her brain screamed for her to rush out that door, past the skeleton archers and through the minefield of creepers. She wouldn’t get far, but she had to do something to stop this bizarre plan cooked up by her demented principal and a power-hungry skeleton.

A large painting on the wall above the enchantment tables glowed brightly. A line of redstone circuitry ran from the painting, down the wall and into a single block that flashed with colored lights.

Jaina recognized the command block right away. She had used blocks like this before on Hamid’s server. They held a lot of power to those who knew how they worked.

Slashax followed Jaina’s gaze to the flashing command block. The skeleton king scowled.

“Get her away from here,” he snapped to Whiner. He moved to stand in front of the glowing painting. “Take her to her holding cell.”

Principal Whiner nodded to the skeleton guards nearby. They followed his silent command and grabbed Jaina by the arms.

Jaina didn’t struggle. She didn’t protest. She was too busy watching the painting.

The image in the frame had vanished. The blurry shape of a square head appeared. Jaina was nearly out the door by the time the block was fully in focus. It was a head every Minecrafter recognized. The bearded face could only belong to Steve, the default avatar. But this was not Steve. On the painting-turned-screen pale white eyes glowed like two lasers in a dark night.

Jaina recognized that face. Every Minecraft fan knew it, too. And all dreaded seeing it.

Now she struggled against her captors, but the skeletons’ grip held her tight. She tried to scream, but no sound came out.

The weight of darkness filled the Portal Chamber and crept into Jaina’s heart. There was no hope.

Herobrine had arrived.

Turns out creepers make amazing mushroom soup.

Ant slurped his down in one gulp, and Hamid wasn’t far behind him. Soon their chicken bones were back and their hearts were pumping their way to being full again.

The food came from the strange white creeper who refused to blow up.

Hamid was still trying to wrap his brain around the fact that he was this close to a creeper and hadn’t been blasted into a dozen pieces.

After they had recovered from the shock of still being alive, the white creeper introduced himself as Yurei. It acted as if a walking, talking, not-blowing-up creeper was the most normal thing in the world.

At least he wasn’t trying to kill them. That counted for something. And it was the reason Ant and Hamid followed Yurei back to his humble home not far from the edge of the underground lake.

“I’m glad I found you in time,” Yurei said as they walked. “There is not much food underground. You both would have starved very quickly.”

“Um, thanks?” Ant said. He was still freaked out by the whole talking-to-a-creeper thing.

Hamid had to admit, he was a bit freaked out too.

The creeper’s mouth never moved as it spoke. It stayed forever in a frown, but Hamid and Ant could hear Yurei perfectly. The fact that they were actually talking to a creeper was weird enough without worrying about how they were talking to the creeper. Besides, Yurei refused to answer any of their questions until he had fed them.

“The mind is more open when the stomach is full,” he said.

After much walking Hamid and Ant found themselves slurping steaming bowls of soup in Yurei’s small shack on the edge of an abandoned mine. The wooden building must have been a bunkhouse for miners a long time ago. Now it was filled with cobwebs, dusty beds and one very friendly creeper.

When their soup bowls were empty, Hamid saw his chance.

“You mentioned helping our friend.” He held the bowl tightly, afraid if he put it down this chance for assistance would vanish.

“The girl,” Yurei said.

“Jaina,” Ant and Hamid said at the same time.

“She’s here?” Ant said. “Where is she? We have to find her!”

“Yes, we do,” Yurei said. “And we must leave soon. There isn’t much time.”

“We?” Ant said. “You are coming with us?”

“Only so far,” Yurei said. “We cannot risk you walking into another one of Slashax’s traps. Bano was very upset he nearly killed you both.”

“Bano is alive?” Ant said.

“Naturally. It is Bano who told me where to find you.”

“But he didn’t make it out of the lava. We saw.” Hamid fell silent at the memory of the villager’s inventory items disappearing into the flames.

“There is more to Bano than you think,” Yurei said. “He is alive but it will be a while before he can aid you. He asked me to help you stop Slashax before he betrays Herobrine.”

“Betrays Herobrine?”

“I thought Slashax was working for Herobrine?” Hamid said.

“So did we.” Yurei paced around the small shack. With the frown on his face, it was hard to tell if he was deep in thought, sad or just being a creeper. “Slashax is the king of the skeletons. They do his bidding, along with many other monsters. He has never been satisfied ruling from Fang Fortress deep underground. We have stopped his armies in the past, but this time he might be too strong. Now that Slashax has seen the True Diamond swords, he wants their power. With the diamonds, he plans to defeat Herobrine, keep the Seed Generator for himself and rule all Minecraft worlds.”

“And he needs our swords to do it,” Ant said.

“They are crafted from the four True Diamonds.” Yurei turned to face them. “They are the only ones of their kind in any Minecraft world. Alone, each sword holds great power. Together, their power is unlimited.”

Hamid sat up straight. “That’s how we got sucked into this Minecraft world. When Whiner came out of his office, he brought the four swords together.”

“And that released their power,” Yurei said. “The True Diamond swords can only be activated when held by four players from your world.”

“That power is what brought us here?” Ant studied his empty bowl, as if it contained the answers to his questions. “Is it enough power to defeat Herobrine?”

“That is what Slashax is hoping,” Yurei said.

“Why didn’t you guys just use the four True Diamond swords to defeat Herobrine?” Ant said. “That would have solved all our problems.”

“Because we need Herobrine alive,” Yurei said. “Every world requires a balance between order and chaos. Notch knew this when he created us.”

“Notch?” Hamid said. “The guy who created Minecraft, created you and Herobrine?”

“And Slashax,” Yurei said. “Myself, Herobrine, Slashax and others are alpha-creatures. We were created by Notch when Minecraft was in alpha, before the rest of your world played it. We were not included in the final release of the game.”

“Why not?” Hamid said.

“Various reasons,” Yurei said. “I am a ghost creeper; that is why I am white and not green. I believe Notch decided having only one type of creeper would be better for Minecraft. He chose my green cousins. Herobrine and Slashax were too powerful to welcome into the game, but their influence is felt by every Minecraft player.”

“But no one has ever seen Herobrine,” Ant said. “Some people think he is just a myth.”

“Herobrine is more than a mere myth,” Yurei said. “He and Slashax are forces of chaos across the worlds of Minecraft. Myself and a few others are forces for order. I have clashed with Slashax in the past. While we both live, we strike a balance that ensures the worlds of Minecraft contain all the good and bad that life can bring. Herobrine is the ultimate chaos. He seeks to destroy Minecraft and all who dwell in it. But without Herobrine’s chaos, Minecraft would also perish. We need him as much as we fear him. That is why he is imprisoned. Herobrine must stay that way so we can watch him and ensure he doesn’t destroy us all.”

Hamid shook his head. “I still don’t get it. Everyone has heard of Herobrine, but I’ve never heard of Slashax.”

“I believe that is the source of the rivalry between them,” Yurei said.

“Slashax is jealous because Herobrine is more popular?” Ant said. “What is this, high school?”

“Slashax is controlled by his pride. If you don’t stop him, he will cause much destruction in your world.” Yurei said. “He will become the new evil in Minecraft. With the Seed Generator and the power of the True Diamonds he will be free to cause chaos and destruction in all the Minecraft worlds and even in your world.”

Ant scratched his head. “So we have to stop one evil dude from killing another evil dude, so that evil dude can keep being evil. Is that about right?”

“I think you’re beginning to get it,” Yurei said.

“Okay, so how do we do that?” Hamid asked.

Yurei sighed.

“I have no idea.”

* * *

Yurei did have an idea on how to move quickly through the caves. The ghost creeper led Ant and Hamid through a maze of tunnels, past bubbling rivers of lava, around slurping slimes and through web-infested spider dens all without a single incident. Before they left his humble shack, Yurei added more loaves of bread to their inventories and made sure their bellies were full.

It felt like they had marched for days when the tunnel ahead finally opened up into a large cavern.

“We are here,” Yurei said. “Fang Fortress.”

Hamid and Ant had never seen anything like it in all their Minecraft adventures. Rough-cut stone walls climbed up and over the cavern, creating a wide dome large enough to fit their school a dozen times over. Rivers of lava poured from the walls and snaked along the cavern floor like the flaming roadways. In the center of the cave stood a sprawling stronghold taller than any mountain the boys had ever seen. Reinforced stone and obsidian towers stood at each corner of the fortress. Each tower was connected by a thick wall dotted with turrets. Behind the turrets patrolled skeleton archers with aim as true as a bully’s punch. On the ground below, skeletons riding massive cave spiders guarded the entrance to Slashax’s lair.

“Spider jockeys,” Ant sighed.

“With a side order of creepers,” Hamid added. A wide trench ran around Fang Fortress, like a castle moat. In the bottom of the moat, creepers wandered aimlessly. Hamid lost count of the number of explosive green bodies in the trench.

“Slashax is expecting trouble. He has gathered his forces.” Yurei crept along the ledge with purpose. “There is a venting crevice ahead that will hopefully get you two close to the walls.”

“You two?” Ant said. “What happened to us three?”

“You’re not coming with us?” Hamid said.

“I cannot,” Yurei said. “Slashax and I have fought many times. If I get any closer, he will sense my presence and we will give up the element of surprise. That is our only hope for rescuing your friend.”

“Jaina is down there?” Ant said.

Yurei nodded. “Not all the creepers down there are loyal to Slashax. My sources say he recently returned with a prisoner. A girl.”

The knot in Hamid’s stomach tightened. If Jaina was inside that fortress, that was where they must go.

“How do we get across the creeper minefield?” Hamid said.

Yurei stopped at a small hole carved into the ledge. A wooden ladder ran down the hole, disappearing into darkness.

“Very carefully,” the ghost creeper said. “We are lucky there are no guards around. Slashax is too focused on defeating Herobrine to worry about the perimeter of his base. Now, hurry down the ladder. When you reach the bottom, walk toward the light.”

“And then what?” Ant said.

“Find your friend and return here,” Yurei said. “I will be waiting.”

“Just like that,” Ant said. His voice was rising like he was getting a pile of homework before a long weekend. “We waltz in, tell Slashax we’re taking our friend back and stroll back out. I don’t think he will be too happy to see us.”

“There is no other way,” Yurei said. “You are here for a purpose. It was not an accident that Bano gave you the True Diamond swords, despite how it all happened. Only you three, united by your friendship, can stop Slashax and save Minecraft.”

Ant opened his mouth to argue.

“We don’t have time.” Hamid pulled his friend to the edge of the hole. “We can do this. It’s just like raiding a base on the Planet PvP server.”

Ant sighed and stepped onto the ladder. Hamid followed his friend down the hole. It led them to another tunnel that ran into darkness in either direction.

“Where’s the light?” Ant said. “There’s no light. I knew that creeper couldn’t be trusted. He didn’t even give us a torch!”

“Relax, Ant. Let your eyes adjust to the dark.”

Hamid stood still and let the walls fade into focus. The tunnel was only one block wide by two blocks high. Just enough room to move. In the distance, a faint glow appeared. It wasn’t much more than a pinprick of light, but it was enough.

“This way,” Hamid said. He hurried to the light. “See? Yurei wasn’t lying.”

The tunnel ended in an iron grate, two blocks high. On the other side, rock as smooth as a parking lot ran to the wall of Slashax’s fortress. A sea of creepers moved through the wide trench.

“You got to hand it to the bonehead,” Ant said, peering through the gate. “Some forts have lava-filled moats. Slashax packs his with monsters.”