Disclaimer: "Liking is probably the best form of ownership, and ownership the worst form of liking."
― José Saramago
Summary: After the Moderator incident, the Server is at relative peace. Join in the misadventures of AvidCrafter, Minecraft4Eva and the rest of the players. Contains spoilers for Rise of Herobrine and The Griefing God.
I was playing the Hexxit pack a while ago and thought of this. Plus, Agents of Shield also kinda influenced this.
Respawn Snapshot: The Mod
"How bad?" AvidCrafter asked as he and Minecraft4Eva rode up on their horses. Swordcraft's grim expression was all the answer they needed.
"Plsdontkill and godofthunder are…assessing the situation," the swordsman said. "They said to try to keep it quiet."
"Do we have anyone preparing for trouble?" Minecraft4Eva asked, scanning the landscape as if preparing for battle (which she was).
"BigBang's setting up defenses, but you know what that'll be," swordcraft answered. AvidCrafter winced.
"How many men do you have?" Minecraft4Eva turned to swordcraft.
"Just me," was the concise reply. "They said not to tell anyone but you."
"Back us up," Minecraft4Eva ordered. "We don't know what this is."
"The defenses are ready," BigBang said as he stepped into the base where plsdontkill and godofthunder were working.
"I…think this is alive," plsdontkill muttered.
"Why do you say that?" BigBang asked, peering over his shoulder.
"These Command Blocks that Steve introduced are incredible," godofthunder said. "We've been running scans on it. That's why."
Plsdontkill stepped back, satisfied. "There. I just need to try one more—"
BOOOM!
The command block exploded setting of a chain reaction of BigBang's TNT.
"Think that means anything?" AvidCrafter asked grimly.
"Nothing good," Minecraft4Eva replied, speeding up until both there horses were galloping to the site.
It wasn't pretty. Massive chunks of dirt and stone had been blasted into oblivion. The three players were lying dazed in an even larger pit. Standing over them was…
"Who is that?" Minecraft4Eva asked.
"Does it matter?" AvidCrafter snorted, nocking an arrow. "He'll die just the same."
The arrow flew straight towards the figure who looked up calmly and disappeared.
"It's not Herobrine," plsdontkill said as AvidCrafter tried to force-feed him a healing potion. "But it might be worse."
Swordcraft looked up from sharpening his blades. "What makes you say that?"
"We were monitoring his life levels," godofthunder explained. "He overloaded the command blocks. I'd say he has at least a couple hundred hearts.
"A couple hundred?!"
"This is a problem for the Moderator," AvidCrafter muttered.
"The Moderator?" Minecraft4Eva snorted. "We need the Administrator."
"They don't trust me yet."
It wasn't a question.
The Administrator glanced at his newest Moderator. So many had stood in the same place, saying almost the same things.
"You haven't given them a reason to trust you yet," the Administrator replied.
"I defeated Godhead," Steve said, "and Herobrine."
"But not alone," the Administrator reminded him. Steve looked away.
"They need a reason to trust you," the Administrator said again. "So why don't you take care of this?"
"You need another Moderator," Steve sighed, shoulders sagging.
"My dear, young Moderator," the Administrator smiled. "Who ever said that you were the only one?"
"There," godofthunder said, pointing to the map. "And there, there, and there."
"Don't forget the other dimensions," plsdontkill put in, pressing a button on the command block. The map changed to the dark red and orange hues of the Nether.
"Seven appearances and we still don't know what it is," AvidCrafter groaned.
"I do," a new voice said.
"Steve?" Minecraft4Eva asked in surprise.
"Steve!" Plsdontkill, BigBang and godofthunder swarmed the Moderator, patting him on the back.
"It's called a Mod," Steve said. "And it doesn't belong here."
"A Mod? Like a Moderator?" AvidCrafter pressed.
"A Mod like a Modification," Steve said grimly. "And this is the bad kind."
"Wait…could Herobrine be a Mod too?" godofthunder asked, looking up from his command block.
"If he is," Steve replied darkly. "Then he's the Mod."
"We've got him," godofthunder announced. "He just popped up in the Nether."
"Alright," Steve said. "Who's going?"
"I will," AvidCrafter said.
"Hey, me too!" BigBang exclaimed. "I can't stand the nerdiness here!"
"Yeah, well, somehow you'll have to be able to find your way back," swordcraft reminded them.
"Leads," plsdontkill suggested. "Some of us stay here and hold the ends. The others go in."
"There's six of us, plus Steve," Minecraft4Eva said. "If the geeks stay home and BigBang and AvidCrafter go in…"
"I can stay," swordcraft said after a moment.
"No," Minecraft4Eva told him. "You go. I'll stay."
"And I don't need a lifeline," Steve said.
"Then let's get this show on the road," AvidCrafter said, strapping a lead around his waist.
Deep in the Nether, a magma cube was thrown from his position as an obsidian doorway materialized in a flash of purple. Moments later, the players appeared.
"Ugh," BigBang groaned, clutching his stomach. "Never doing that again."
"Trust me," AvidCrafter said, patting his shoulder. "If you run in a wither, you might want to at least try."
"Withers? We totally killed those at the Citadel," BigBang snorted.
The entire company paused when he mentioned the Citadel. It felt as if a cold wind was blowing through the cavern, but they were surrounded by lava.
"C'mon," Steve said, glancing at his map. "It's not far from here."
It wasn't, much to BigBang's sorrow. The pop of bubbling lava and the clack of wither skeletons was bad enough.
"Hey!" AvidCrafter called to the figure standing in the Nether fortress. It—he—looked up. BigBang blinked.
"He's a pirate!" he exclaimed in disbelief. The pirate raised a glowing purple dagger.
And disappeared.
"He teleported," swordcraft grumbled.
"No, he's just invisible," Steve said warily. "But just in case…"
He raised his hands and chanted a spell. All around them, blocks of obsidian fell into place, completely enclosing the group.
"You can't teleport out of obsidian," Steve told the empty room. "Don't even try."
"Yeah, fight like a man!" BigBang goaded. He yelped as an invisible dagger slashed at him. Acting quickly, swordcraft brought up his sword and parried, flipping the knife out of the Mod's hand. The pirate reappeared in surprise.
"Get the knife!" AvidCrafter bellowed. BigBang lunged for it, raising a splash potion of slowness, but the pirate got to it first. The magic blade glowed and BigBang blinked at what he saw.
Standing there were two identical copies of the Mod.
"Oh dear."
"So far, we know that the Mod can teleport and has massive health," plsdontkill told Minecraft4Eva.
"Yeah, trans-dimensional teleportation," godofthunder piped up.
"—And now they're saying that he can turn invisible and duplicate himself," plsdontkill said in frustration.
"Are the duplicates as powerful as the original?" Minecraft4Eva inquired.
"No," plsdontkill said.
"At least, they aren't as durable," godofthunder put in. "They fade after a few hits."
"Fade…or just teleport away?"
"…I'm optimistic."
Two swords slid out of the dupes chest as swordcraft watched it fade away.
"How many do you think we can kill?" BigBang asked.
"How high can you count?" swordcraft replied, cleaving two more in half.
"Steve! Can you do something?" AvidCrafter called between gasps for breath. The exertion of fighting an endless army plus the toxic air of the Nether was taking its toll.
Steve paused in his fight and muttered a spell. Train tracks materialized on the ground. A minecart barreled into the crowd of dupes, tossing them aside until the TNT in it exploded.
"Where'd you learn that?" swordcraft grunted.
"New spell with the Update," Steve replied as he summoned an iron golem.
"Can you summon anything better?" BigBang suggested as an invisible dupe brought down the metal juggernaut.
"…Not like that!" BigBang winced as a pirate dupe was snapped up by the massive Ender Dragon.
The Dragon roared as the dupes tried to swarm him. His neck snaked around and constricted, vaporizing those trapped.
"Well, it seems to be working," Steve offered.
The Dragon clamped his jaws on another pirate. This one didn't fade, just struck out with its dagger.
"That's the original," AvidCrafter realized.
"Okay. So…if that one dies, were good, right?" BigBang asked nervously.
"No," swordcraft said grimly. "If that one dies, the Dragon has no playmates—except for us."
As if on cue, the Ender Dragon flung the pirate leader into an obsidian wall. Godofthunder probably was shocked at the sudden drop in hearts. The pirate disappeared, leaving only a purple dagger. His dupes faded as well. The Dragon turned to them with a growl.
"Run," swordcraft suggested, scooping up the magic knife.
They did.
Steve thrust his hand at one of the walls, making it vanish. The group rushed through, quickly following the leads back to the portal.
"Uh…guys?" BigBang called. With a roar, the Dragon exploded through the wall, his very aura vaporized any blocks that touched him.
"Duck!" Steve called as the monster chomped at their heads. A Wither appeared in front of them, firing an exploding head. The group slid past and the head detonated on the Ender Dragon's face.
"Ouch," BigBang said sympathetically as the Wither disappeared down the dragon's gullet.
"We won't make it," AvidCrafter hissed as the dragon continued on their trail.
"Keeping going," swordcraft growled, drawing his sword. "I'll slow it down."
"Not an option!" Steve barked. "All or none!"
"No time to argue!" Swordcraft turned and threw a sword, impaling the Dragon in the eye.
The portal had come into view.
Swordcraft jumped to the side.
The others continued onward.
So did the dragon.
Steve, AvidCrafter and BigBang leapt through the portal, followed by the dragons head.
Without even aiming, swordcraft flung his final sword at the portal. The portal was severed, along with the dragon's head.
"So we just leave him?!" AvidCrafter raged. "Not on my watch."
"The Nether is complicated," Steve said. "He could be thousands of blocks away by now."
"So we go thousands of blocks!" AvidCrafter exclaimed.
"This isn't the only crisis," Steve said regretfully. "The Administrator has me working overtime."
"He saved our lives!" AvidCrafter hissed.
"He made a choice," Minecraft4Eva said. "And whether we like the consequences or not, we can't change."
"He's a pretty amazing player," Steve said. "He's probably fine."
"And, if he can't get a ghast's fireball, he can't recreate the portal on his side and get back here!" AvidCrafter realized. "He'll probably be back any moment."
Swordcraft held the shimmering purple dagger carefully. He ran his hand along the magic blade, feeling its energy.
He let out a dark chuckle.
And disappeared.
Defining Terms
Player=Human/Person
Spell=Command
Review=What you're supposed to do next!
—Jangling Bacon