Chapter 2
Bailey took a stumbling step as he exited the Nether Portal. Gribbles and Balthazor saw fungal spores fly off of him as he landed, so he must have gone through a lot of nether wart to find that heart.
"So, you're back, did you get it?"
Balthazor said this almost expectantly, as if a prerequisite for Bailey's arrival was that he brought back this so sought after heart.
"Yes, yes I did. I had to kill a lot of nightmares to find this thing, and their Pigmen did not enjoy it too much. Here ya go." The heart felt dry and porous, something similar to that of a sponge.
"Now, before the rest of the blood from this thing drains, we need to get it inside of the machine. Otherwise, Bailey is going to have to make another Nether run, and I don't think that he will be too keen on that."
Gribbles talked as he walked, navigating Balthazor's furniture to get to their operating table. On this table, recumbent on its back, was what the boys were calling their "greatest invention yet"; a bionic Eldrich mechanism that they would be using for future missions. They had yet to decide what specification it would fall under, however it was expected that this project would turn out to be profitable when put in conjunction with their "exploding tiger" project, undergone just prior.
This project began as a simple genetic study. The boys had decided that for any ventures they would have, that they would certainly need a level of explosion resistance enough to withstand at minimum, that of a supercharged creeper. So, as this series of genetic splicing continued, their test subject had begun to undergo some innate changes. Their choice, a captured tiger, was slightly smaller than the average human; however, some change in its genes resulted in an EXPONENTIAL growth increase, the most recent measurement they had taken showed that he had grown to be 10'6" when he stood on his hind legs. The splicing also led to the ability to properly speak English, as well as efficiently walk up on his hind legs.
Gribbles placed the heart inside the idle machine's chest, leaving the rest of this process to Bailey and Balthazor. Leaving the room, Gribbles crossed the bridge connecting his own house with Balthazor's, to go check on their first experiment.
With the heart in place, the two begin work upon this skeleton of metal. They secure the heart and connect it to any vital portion of its body, granting sentience. Sentience, however, is useless so long as a being cannot function; accordingly, a final spark must be attached to truly make this being alive. Balthazor, reaching into his cape, pulls out an Eye of Ender. As he holds the sphere in his hand, an aura appears about him, giving the orb itself a glow and a light inside. This was the last bit of magic Balthazor truly had to spare without causing him potentially mortal injury, and in relieving himself of this last extra bit on energy, he sprouts his wings and the tail granted to him in his uncontrolled state.
Bailey's expression showed intense surprise and a slight hint of disgust at Balthazor's ability to withstand that bursting of skin, all for something that could be for show. Nevertheless, he withstood the uneasy stomach, and pressed onward with the operation. Though there was only one small action to take, this one was the most difficult of any they had done up until this point. To get the Eye of Ender inside the dip in this Compound of metal and magic, multiple locks and levers had to be adjusted and pulled, many of which he never knew had actually served a purpose here. Once he finally got it in, however, the rest took care of itself.