Quest for Justice (18 page)

“Well, that was fun,” he said, grinning.

Ben pumped his fist in the air and yelled at the top of his lungs, “Ye-yah!”

The six players met back in the corridor and congratulated each other on their spectacular performances against the Blaze spawner. Stan was much more excited on the way back than he had been on the way there, seeing as they were finally going to get out of the fiery new dimension.

They reached the final turn that would lead back to the Nether Boys' house and were about to turn the corner when they heard voices from ahead.

Ben, who was in the lead, held up his rectangular hand to stop them, and he peered around the corner. An instant later, he pulled his head back around, and he fell to the floor, eyes wide, breathing quickly.

“What is it?” Kat asked.

“What's out there?” Charlie breathed.

Stan remained silent. He was just imagining. He had seen all kinds of terrible things throughout the two worlds of Minecraft, but only one thing could provoke such terror on the face of a fugitive.

Ben closed his eyes and grimaced, and Stan knew what he was about to say even before the words left his mouth.

“It's the King's forces,” said Ben gravely. “They've found us.”

G
eno looked down at his partner sprawled out across two wool blocks on the Netherrack ground. Geno knew from experience that sleeping in a bed in the Nether was a bad idea, so he had decided that the wool blocks would have to do. Obviously, it would have been better for Becca if she could have lain down in a bed. However, King Kev had made it clear to RAT1 that they must catch the assassins at all costs. Geno had decided that the unconscious Becca would have to get her rest in the new dimension. As he thought this, Becca started to stir.

“Oh God . . . ,” she moaned, slowly sitting up as she held her stomach. “It hurts so bad.” She noticed Geno sitting there. She looked around and saw the fires burning everywhere, and she snapped into focus when she saw the armored men patrolling with bows in hand. “Geno, what the . . . what is going on? Where are we?”

“We're in the Nether,” he said. “Hold on, I'll explain everything.” He sat down on a lone Netherrack block next to Becca.

“Well, what's the last thing you remember?” Geno asked.

“Ah . . . ,” Becca mumbled. “Crap . . . well, Stan had just hit Leo with a shovel. And we were going after
him . . . and then . . . then . . . that's it. After that it was extremely painful for a second, and the next thing I know I'm waking up here. How long have I been out?”

“Almost a day,” Geno said. “Seriously, though, how do you remember their names? I looked at those pictures of them just as many times as you did, and I know what they look like, but I still don't know them by name.”

“I still don't know how you haven't gotten that yet. Leo and I both did,” she said, condescension dripping from her voice. “But anyway, what happened?”

“Well, it turns out that the girl that flew into the lava—”

“Kat,” interrupted Becca automatically.

“Whatever,” continued Geno. “Well it turns out that she had a fire resistance potion on her, and so she went back through the lava and jumped out behind you. The little turd stabbed you in the back and flung you into the lava. I dragged you out of the lava and healed you and Leonidas, and while I was doing that they escaped through the portal and broke it.

“After that, I set you up on the bed in your inventory, and Leo stayed to guard you while you rested up. I ran back to the jungle and led the legion of troops back here. The medics got to work fixing you and Leo up, and we fixed the portal. I sent a couple of scouts into the Nether to see where they were. When they came back, they told us that they had just entered into the Nether Fortress.

“So here we are. As far as we know, they're still in the fortress. Thirty men are circling, ready to take them out if they try to escape. We know better than to try to find them inside that maze, so we're trying a . . . different tactic.” A sly smile broke on his face at these last words.

“And . . . ,” said Becca, a wide smile spreading across her face as well. She liked where this conversation was going.

“We're gonna blow the entire fortress off the side of the mountain,” Geno said, sounding like a child eagerly anticipating Christmas. “Right now Leo and a team of ten guys are laying TNT around the structure. When they're done, they're going to detonate the entire fortress, and if they're still in there, they're going to die, and if they try to escape, the snipers will get them.”

“Excellent!” Becca chortled. She loved watching stuff blow up, and if her stomach didn't hurt so bad she would have insisted on marching up there and helping them lay down the explosives. “When are they getting back?”

As if in response to her question, Leonidas jumped down from atop the fortress, redstone torch in hand.

“Well, that's it,” he grunted. “Dynamite's all over this fort. Soon as they lay the redstone down here, we're ready to blow this thing up.”

“What took you so long?” sneered Geno. It had taken twice as long as he had anticipated for Leonidas and his team
to set up the explosives. “Hurry it up or they'll get away!”

“Hey, at least you don't see me waitin' around here like a useless sheep for your girlfriend to wake up!” snapped Leonidas.

“He's got a point, Geno,” said Becca. “It was nice of you to stay here and all, but next time you should go and help lay down the explosives.”

Geno grunted and turned away from his friends.
Honestly
, he thought,
sometimes I wonder why I don't just kill both of them.

The figure in iron armor laid down the final redstone wiring along the ground, and he looked up at Leonidas.

“The wiring is ready, sir, and the premises have been evacuated. You may commence detonation when ready.”

Leonidas nodded, and the player backed away from the redstone wire, closely followed by Geno, who looked irate as he carried Becca over one shoulder, the latter of whom was still prattling on about how Geno needed to think things through more. Leonidas was about to touch the redstone torch to the wiring when he hesitated for a moment.

Did he really want these players dead? No, he did not. As a matter of fact, though he would be killed for admitting it, he secretly admired that they had enough defiance and courage to try to overthrow the tyrannical King. The server had been so much better before the King had become so paranoid.

Leonidas remembered an earlier time, a time of peace, a time of prosperity, when the King was fair and kind to those of all levels. Then came the darker influences on the King, mainly his advisors, Caesar and Charlemagne. They had stolen Leonidas's peaceful life in the desert. With the threat of the death of his family, the King's men forced Leonidas to commit heinous acts for RAT1 until he was completely desensitized to murder.

And now he was about to kill three players who were trying to prevent his fate from falling upon the other young players of Elementia.

All of this ran through his head in less than a half a second. Leonidas wished he could refuse, but he knew the consequences, and he knew that there was nothing he could do to prevent it from happening. There was no hope for him anymore.

Leonidas touched the redstone torch to the wire, and the pain that he had kept bottled up was projected in the tear that trickled down the side of his blocky cheek as the entire Nether Fortress exploded in a shockwave of fire.

Stan was a half mile underground, but he was still seriously shaken when the mega-explosion above him went off. He had to give credit to Charlie. It was his quick thinking and mining instincts that had gotten them deep enough to be
safe from the explosion created by RAT1. He knew now that they were being hunted by the assassin team known as Royal Assassin Team 1, or RAT1, which was composed of sword master Geno, demolition expert Becca, and archery prodigy Leonidas. Apparently, according to the Nether Boys, they were a highly esteemed search-and-destroy group that the King sent after particularly evasive or dangerous targets.

Well, thought Stan as Charlie began to tunnel upward, he was honored that the King believed that he and his friends were a threat worthy of addressing with the most highly acclaimed assassins in Elementia, but this also came with a problem. Namely, that the King believed that he and his friends were a threat worthy of addressing with the most highly acclaimed assassins in Elementia. If these guys were willing to follow them all over two worlds, Stan guessed that he and his friends would have a pretty hard time finding their way to the End with these assassins in pursuit.

For the time being, however, Stan thought as Charlie hollowed out a little Netherrack room for them to plan their next move in, they had to focus on getting out of the Nether. Stan voiced this opinion to the others as soon as Charlie had finished the room and set up the torches.

“We have all the Blaze Rods we need, so the next thing we need to do is get out of here and break the portal. That way,” he reasoned, “we'll be able to start hunting the Endermen,
and they'll be stuck in the Nether, at least until they figure a way out. We can use that time to get as far away from the portal as possible.”

“Good thinking, Stan,” agreed Kat. “Now that we've got people after us, we've got to get to the End as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, I agree,” said Charlie, nodding. “We'll stop back by our old house to get our stuff and pick up Rex and Lemon, and then we'll go off into the desert. We'll keep moving around so they won't find us, and we'll hunt Endermen at the same time.”

Kat nodded, and Stan said, “Okay then.” He turned to the Nether Boys, who had been huddled together away from the others whispering. “So, what about you guys?” he asked. “What are you going to do when you get out of the Nether?”

“Well, first, we're going to kiss the sand beneath our feet,” said Bill.

“Then, we're going to breathe in air that's under eighty degrees Fahrenheit,” said Bob.

“And then, perhaps, build a shrine to the clouds and swear that we're never going to take them for granted again,” said Ben.

“Okay,” said Kat, rolling her eyes. “We get it. You're going to be very happy to be back in the Overworld. But what are you going to do? Long term, I mean.”

“Oh,” said Bill. “Why didn't you just say that?”

Charlie sighed.

“Well, we were just saying that we want to go back to the Adorian Village to help you guys organize the rebellion.”

“Really?” asked Stan, his heart lifting.

“Absolutely,” said Ben. “You keep your end of the deal and get us out of this stupid dimension, and we've got nothing to lose by helping you guys out.”

“All right, well, thanks, guys,” said Charlie. “Now, it's only a matter of time before they realize that we weren't killed in that explosion, and after they realize it, they're going to look everywhere, including underground. Now, if my calculations are correct, we should be located right under the cave that has the portal in it. If they got in here, that means that they've fixed the portal themselves, so that shouldn't be a problem anymore.

“So here's what I want everyone to do.” They all leaned in to listen. Charlie had clearly thought this through. “I want Kat and Bob to jump out of the hole that I'm going to make above us, and be prepared to shoot down anyone in the vicinity. Stan, Ben, and I will run toward the portal, and we'll attack anyone who gets in our way. However, we shouldn't have that many people to deal with, because I want Bill to use his fishing rod to fling any people between us and the portal out of the way so that Bob and Kat can shoot them. Any
questions?” Nobody said a word.

“Okay then, get ready,” said Charlie. Kat and Bob drew their bows and arrows out, Stan drew his shovel, Bill drew his fishing rod, and Ben drew his sword. Charlie took his pickaxe and, trying to conceal his heart pounding within his chest, he gave three swift blows to the Netherrack block above him. It shattered, and Kat and Bob burst out of the hole, quickly followed by Stan and the others.

Exiting the hole, Stan had to do a double take to truly believe their good luck. He had thought that this was a daring escape, certain to be met with some opposition—but there were no guards around the portal, which was indeed glowing purple and complete once again. Stan looked back as he dashed toward the portal. He could see five men guarding the mouth of the cave, but the six players were silent as they dashed toward the portal, and the guards could not hear them.

Stan was still giddy at their good luck as Charlie dived through the active portal. Charlie was closely followed by Ben, and Stan was about to dive through himself when a figure stepped around the edge of the portal and into his path.

Stan didn't even think or look at the figure as he beat it senseless over the head with the shovel. The figure fell, and it gave a squeal of pain. Stan was stepping into the portal when he realized that something odd had happened. Why would it squeal?

Stan looked down at the unconscious body and realized that he had not just knocked out a guard—this was a Zombie Pigman, and he had just knocked it dead. He looked around in horror for the horde of angry, undead warriors charging at him, lusting for his blood. But there were none. This Pigman had apparently been alone. However, he did see an even scarier sight.

The sound of the Pigman's death had alerted the guards to his presence. The five of them were now charging toward the portal, shooting arrows as they ran. Stan became aware of Kat, Bill, and Bob diving through the portal, and he did, too. He experienced the horrible squeezing sensation for the few seconds, and then tumbled out onto the sand in the dawn's early light.

“They're coming through!” Stan yelled to his five friends, who lay panting on the sand. Stan raised his shovel and began beating the bottom right block of the obsidian portal, and Charlie joined him, as did everybody else. Through the purple particles, they saw the five guards rushing toward the portal, coming to attack them. At the head of the pack was a player who had the skin of a cow but wore iron boots, leggings, and a helmet and held an iron axe in his hand. Stan punched faster and faster to break the black block that was so frustratingly solid, and the block broke into several useless chunks at the same moment that the cow-man burst through
the portal and set his axe on the nearest target, Kat.

The other five players stepped out of the war zone as Kat and the barbaric warrior battled, their iron weapons moving as fast as silver spirits in the dim pink light. It was obvious that Kat was the superior fighter. She remained calm, while the axe-fighter's wild attacks became increasingly desperate. One false swipe later and the axe flew out of the player's hand and skidded across the ground, coming to a stop at the base of the broken Nether portal.

Kat kicked the player to the ground and raised her sword. She held the sword above her head and looked down into the player's face. He lay sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily from the kick that Kat had inflicted upon his chest. Kat raised the sword.