Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from Hourglass!

So...yeah, I'm back again! Like I said last time, my inspiration was still pumping even after finishing the chapter, so I just kept on writing! And I've been doing so since then for the past couple days! THREE CHEERS FOR PRODUCTIVITY! :D Let's see if I can actually keep this streak going!

Replies to Reviews...

Marshman101: Yeah, that's a pretty good way to sum up their situation. ^^'

Laner: Well, gee! How did you, um, "catch wind" of the series? :) That's awesome that you took a couple months to read everything (like, literally EVERYTHING) up to here! It made my day 100% better when I caught your review yesterday. Thank you a ton! :D Also, I agree! This probably would make a good original story. XD I do actually have an original story in the works (my first), so I'll be working on that after I'm finished with this trilogy!

I dunno, how about you answer those questions yourself? ;D It's time to get on with the story, don't you think? (I hope I can get Sensei back, too.)

Thanks, you two! I know there are other people who read this and don't leave reviews, but...heh, all I say is "follow by example!" Whatever thoughts you have on the story, good or bad, I'd like to hear 'em!

Now, let the story commence!


Chapter 52: Ghasts n Glitches

"Sssssssssssooooooooooooo, what are we looking for, again? Sorry, it's the ol' ADHD acting up again, heehee!"

"Amya!" Jeff groaned, glancing over his shoulder at her. "I know I sound like a killjoy, but you've got to actually use your brain and focus! If a Ghast shows up and blasts you off this bridge, I can't use my block powers to save you. And Evan doesn't even have them, so he isn't any help, either."

"Hey!" shouted Evan, who was behind both of them. "This is just as stressful for me, y'know! Almost as much as being privately called to a meeting with the Mistress…almost, not quite."

At that particular moment, Evan, Amya, and Jeff were building a makeshift Netherrack bridge over to the next set of islands, crossing a massive sea of lava. They'd run out of Pigmen to kill in the previous area, but they still needed more meat for rations. And thus, there they were!

"Jeff, can't I just use my own Block powers to stop myself from falling?" Amya interjected, holding her arms straight out on either side to keep balance.

He paused for a moment, about ready to say something against her statement when he realized she was actually 100% right. He cleared his throat awkwardly, staring straight down at the dizzying churn of magma far below as he placed the Netherrack blocks in front of him.

"Alright, good point." he replied, giving the tiniest of shrugs. "Still, though! If a Ghast blows up this bridge, there's no way you're gonna be able to catch all of us at the same time, since, well, like I just said, Evan doesn't have a Block power and mine lasts less than two seconds on average."

Amya gave a little wave at him, grinning slightly.

"I get it, I get it! I guess now I'm just wondering when we can leave the Nether, already. I don't know if it's just me, but the heat seems to be more heavy and gross than the last time I visited this dimension…or, I mean, this dimension within the Minecraft Dimension. This interdimensional dimension! Sheesh, this stuff gets more confusing every time, I can't even explain it to myself!" she breathed, raising her eyebrows to emphasize her point.

Jeff glanced around him just once, checking the muggy air around him for any signs of Ghasts. Blaze weren't likely to be around, thankfully, as they tended to stick to being in or around fortresses; of all the thousands of changes this world had gone through as its video game counterpart had, that was one thing that managed to stay consistent over hundreds of years. Sometimes, Jeff wondered how people from Earth could be so ridiculously obsessed with Minecraft to keep it popular for such a long time.

"Keeping a lookout, Evan?" called Jeff, returning his attention to the skinny bridge beneath him.

"Yeah, I gotch'a!" he shouted back, cracking his neck once to the relieve the tension. "But I don't think you'll need me to tell you if one's here. You'll probably hear it first!"

Amya looked around her as she walked along, confident enough in her balancing skills to not have to stare down at her feet. After a couple seconds of letting her eyes wander, she fixated on one particular formation in the distance and paused, tilting her head like a curious pup.

"What's a Ghast look like now? Is it still one of those giant floating cubes with tentacles? And really sad-looking faces?"

Jeff raised his head a bit, not taking his eyes off the blocks below him as he replied,

"How do you not know what a Ghast looks like? Didn't you just say not thirty seconds ago that you'd already been to the Nether?"

Amya shrugged, not taking her eyes off the figure in the distance.

"Yeah, but that was six years ago! I was in that zombie lady's prison for…yeah, six years! Being forced to stare at the same four walls for that long'll make you forget some things. Besides, I dunno how many updates there could've been in that time! Ghasts could've turned into spheres for all I know!" she said, flicking her arms out to accentuate her point.

Jeff rolled his eyes, letting out a brief sigh before saying,

"Alright, I get what you mean. But yes, they're still those giant floating cubes with tentacles…and sad faces."

Amya lifted her right hand and pointed, adding,

"So, kinda like that thing?"

Jeff turned his head and choked mid-swallow as he caught sight of the enormous Ghast hovering by just twenty blocks from them. He froze in place and shot a look back at Evan, who was now also staring at the massive mob.

"Evan!" he hissed, nodding violently towards the Ghast. "Shoot. It."

Evan rapidly moved his eyes from the Ghast to Jeff, eventually giving him a look confirmation before returning his attention to the monster. He drew back an arrow as quietly as possible, cringing at the creak of tension in the wood, and took aim; thankfully, his target was pretty big.

But before he could let the shot go, the Ghast turned around in place and spotted them instantly, opening its eyes to show their red glow. It opened its mouth as well, letting out a piercing shriek that rattled their bones. Jeff yelled in agony and fell to his knees, scrunching his fingers around his ears as he tried to protect his eardrums from bursting. He quickly realized what new ability the Glitch's corruption had given them: supersonic screams.

Evan had been so startled by the deafening scream that he toppled backwards, his top half missing the bridge and causing him to nearly fall off. He yelped and dug his fingers into the Netherrack's edge, holding himself to the platform; the lava that bubbled a hundred blocks below him came into view as his body tipped upside-down. He feverishly repositioned the bow in his hand—which was getting in the way of his grip on the bridge—and unintentionally dropped it in the process.

"NO!" he cried, watching as his weapon fell out of reach, falling gently into the red sea a hundred blocks below.

Just then, Evan's grip slipped and the rest of his body fell backwards off the bridge. He fell just a few blocks before landing hard on his back atop a papery surface. As he tried getting his breath back, he turned his head to look underneath him and found a small 3x3 platform of TNT.

"I GOTCHA!"

He lifted his head and stared up at the Netherrack bridge, spotting Amya's pigtails draped over the edge. He couldn't see her face, but he knew it was her.

"Th-thanks, A!" he called, voice breaking.

Up top, Amya clasped her hands back on her ears, turning around slowly to face the still-screeching Ghast before them. Jeff had his face scrunched up in pain and was just trying to figure out how to get the creature to stop. Eventually, he looked down at his hotbar and bent his neck forward, reaching with his chin to tap on his extra sword. Miraculously, this worked and the blade popped right out, clattering on the rock just in front of him.

He forced himself to unplug his fingers from his ears for one second in order to pick up the sword, which he lifted high as he got to his feet and immediately chucked towards the beast. The iron blade soared through the air straight and true, embedding itself in the gaping throat of the screaming monster. It gagged, its agonizing shriek cutting off suddenly as it reeled back and shook violently. While the Ghast was trying to cough the sword back out, Jeff ran to Amya's side and grabbed her by the arms, hoisting her to her feet.

"C'mon, let's grab Evan and back up! We're dead if we stay on this thing!"

Amya chuckled nervously and tapped her foot, looking down to her left.

"Yeah…we'll have to get him up here, first. He's kinda down there."

Jeff glanced in the direction she was now pointing and saw Evan suspended over the lava sea atop a platform of pure TNT, unsteadily getting to his feet. Not questioning how he got there, Jeff looked back at Amya and said,

"Quick, make a staircase for him!"

She nodded in response and pointed down below the bridge, summoning just enough blocks for him to get back up. Evan immediately took the opportunity and leapt up each stair, putting his adrenaline to good use. The three of them immediately started their run across the bridge, which extended almost sixty blocks out from a nearby cliff. After passing the 1/3 mark, the Ghast behind them had finally recovered from its throat-slicing ordeal and spotted them trying to escape. It rushed forward, screaming even louder now as it pursued its targets.

"NGAH!" Jeff cried in front, covering his ears again and struggling to keep hold of his weapon. "C'mon, c'mon!"

Suddenly, a fireball came from behind and struck the bridge, exploding violently in a shower of black and red fire: another glitch. They were sent flying in all direction; Jeff flew all the way across the remaining length of the bridge and smacked hard into the side of the cliff, falling to the next slim ledge; Amya was hurtled to the left, landing on the side of the hill that the high cliff belonged to and tumbling down in an uncontrollable spin; Evan, unfortunately, was launched almost straight up into the air and just barely landed back on the severed bridge. He groaned, adrenaline still pumping fast enough to get him on his feet again.

"Ohhhh…ow." he muttered, gurgling in pain like any other zombie.

He looked up after brushing a layer of red pebbles off his shirt and took a huge gulp of air, eyes widening at the sight of a Ghast flying directly towards him.

"Wait, Ghast's aren't supposed to pursue peeps!" he cried; this was basic Minecraft logic! "The Glitch's glitches never let up!"

On top of the mini Netherrack ledge, Jeff coughed out a mouthful of hot dust and pounded the ground. Chest heaving, he got up from the ground and leaned feebly against the cliffside, trying to blink away the black spots in his vision. When he finally managed to do so, he was shocked to see Evan still standing on the bridge, which had been cut off from the crag and was just floating there, suspended high over the magma ocean below them.

He gritted his teeth, immediately recognizing how much danger he was in, and pushed off the wall; he walked to the edge and licked his lips, trying to get enough air to shout. He opened his mouth, but the black dust that coated his throat stopped him from getting a single word out. Instead, he crumpled halfway to the ground and hacked, gasping and wheezing as he struggled to breathe.

While Jeff was trying to figure out how to reach Evan—audibly or literally—Amya jolted awake near the lava's edge when a stray particle landed in her hair. Sleepily at first, she lifted her head to the dull burn and raised her arm, dragging through the muggy air to touch her scalp. She winced when she touched the singed patch, letting her hand fall back to the rocky floor. Fighting through her muffled hearing and aching limbs, Amya forced herself to get to her feet.

"Ah geez…this is the worst…" she grumbled, glowering down at her scraped palms; she clenched her fingers into a fist and returned with a miniature TNT block in her grip. "I guess this is how people feel when I fight them…yeesh."

Suddenly, the sound of unmanly shrieking woke her out of her hot haze, causing her to turn her head in the direction of the scream. A few seconds of searching the smoky sky later, she spotted Evan being attacked by the glitched Ghast on top of their ruined bridge.

"Crap!" she snapped, quickly finding feeling in her legs as they broke into a run up the hill. "He's totally screwed! I gotta hurry up and…GUH! …maybe I should get some air back, first."

Amya paused for a couple seconds—maybe ten—to catch her breath. Unlike Jeff, who still had a lung or two full of ash, she was actually able to get her breathing back to normal before leaping back into a sprint.

Speaking of Jeff, he was busy chowing down on a couple burnt loaves of bread. Thankfully, he was able to restore most of the health he lost as well as some of his stamina. With this new spark of energy, he pushed through his breathing issues and started climbing his way around the side of the cliff to reach more mild slopes; then, maybe, he'd be able to get to Evan in time.

The dorky zombie child was already on the brink of death with such little space to work with: exactly 50 blocks of Netherrack. And bit by bit, the Ghast was blowing up what remained of the bridge underneath his feet, pushing him further away from the cliff.

"Get away from me, man!" he screamed, jumping out of the way as one of the monster's tentacles tried to knock him off the platform. "I'm a mob, too!"

In response, the Ghast screeched and knocked him backwards with its sheer volume. Evan flailed his arms as he struggled to keep his balance, his heel skimming the ridge just before he was able to tilt forward and steady himself. At one point, he lifted his head off the blocks underneath him and spotted Jeff climbing the cliffside; Amya, too, he saw was running up the left side of the hill in a hurry. Good, SOMEBODY knew he was up there!

In this one second of distraction, the Ghast took aim and shoot the blocks right beneath his feet, erupting in those same dark flames that sent him soaring through the air. Amya hadn't taken her eye off Evan for a second and saw this the second it happened.

"Craaaaaaaaap!" she repeated, pondering for a half a second what to do.

Instinctually, she flicked her arm out in the appropriate direction and focused on Evan, hoping she could summon a platform from so far away.

"Ahhhh, thank Notch!" she thought, feeling the stress lift in an instant.

Thankfully, Amya managed to catch Evan even from a hundred blocks away—just thirty or so from the lava, too! It was a good thing she wasn't making a bunch of giant structures, otherwise she'd end up knocking herself out. Out over the sea of magma, Evan grunted in pain when he landed flat on his back, knocking the wind out of him temporarily. He groaned a tiny little zombie groan, gradually getting himself into a sitting position. The Ghast spotted him floating in the air just a couple seconds later, its beady eyes flashing red as it recognized his shape.

At this moment, Jeff hit solid ground again and let go of the jagged wall, landing on his feet and spinning around in place. Immediately, he noticed Evan sitting on yet another square of TNT blocks.

"Gee, Amya's good at this! …I wish I had my Block powers back. Stupid Aetherian body!" he thought, shaking his head once as he approached the edge of the immediate slope. "H…EV…!"

The ash had officially cheated him out of being able to speak, so his shouts went unheard. He knew he had to act fast, however, and pulled out a porkchop from his hotbar. With as much force as possible, he chucked it at the zombie's head to get his attention. Evan's greasy, greenish head jerked to the right—after being slapped in the face by a slab of meat—and they caught each other's eye…well, Evan didn't actually have eyes as much as empty sockets, but whatever.

He scrambled awkwardly to his feet, though his rotting limbs were having an even harder time supporting him after being blasted this way and that, and so he merely fell to one knee.

"Y-yeah, dude?!" he cried, rapidly glancing from Jeff to the oncoming Ghast.

Jeff directed the kid's eyes to the space between both of them and drew a line with his fingers. He then lifted his hand and summoned a block of iron next to him, which stayed up for almost four seconds before shattering in place. Evan seemed to get the message, but this made him all the more hesitant. Hurriedly switching between him and the Ghast still, Evan shouted,

"But I thought you couldn't use your powers!"

Jeff half-shrugged, half-waved his arms and proceeded to jab at the Ghast that was trying to kill him. The zombie continued to stare between the two of them, considering his options. Neither of them were very good…

Evan gulped, quickly recognizing the Ghast again just forty-ish blocks away and brewing a fireball in its mouth. After a couple seconds, he groaned and got unsteadily to his feet, clenching his fists and turning to face Jeff.

"Alright, go! I'll jump…y-you catch me! Okay?!"

Jeff nodded in confirmation and raised his hands, focusing on the eighteen blocks of space between them; hopefully he could keep his promise, otherwise the lovable zombie would drop right into the lava. Evan backed up on top of his platform, trying to push all his energy into his legs to keep them from collapsing, and pushed off the edge in a rush towards the other side. He jumped with all his might, soaring several blocks through the air.

Jeff tensed up his fingers and summoned the appropriate-length bridge just before Evan got too low, allowing him to land safely and keep running. Instantly, he felt his energy drain; the iron blocks in front of him started cracking just as quickly, sending a jolt through him for a moment. Thankfully, Evan was able to reach the hill just in time to leap the rest of the distance when the broke was about to shatter.

Clumsily, Evan skittered across the landscape as he struggled to control his inertia. Jeff jogged up to him and grabbed him by the arm, helping him regain his balance.

"Ah, geez!" he breathed, legs shaking. "Let's get back to the base before my legs give up on being legs!"

Suddenly, an explosion sound blasted them from the right along with the dying screech of a mutant Ghast. They peeked around the corner of the cliff, watching in shock as their pursuer plummeted into the lava below from a cloud of ash, straight-up dead. As they were trying to figure out what just happened, a shout from above grabbed their attention. Craning their necks, he stared high up at the cliff and noticed Amya standing there, waving her arms frantically and pointing out into the distance.

"GUYSGUYSGUYSGUYSGUYSGUYSGUYSGUYSGUYSGUYSSSSSS!" she screamed, her tone uncharacteristically scared. "LOOK!"

Jeff and Evan couldn't really tell where she was pointing to from this angle, honestly. They gave each other a brief look of confusion before deciding to start their ascent up the hill. Maybe thirty seconds later, they jumped up the last set of blocks to reach her level. When she realized that they were standing behind her, she whirled around and grabbed the two by either arm.

"Guys, we are literally so screwed!" she shouted, dragging them over to the peak.

"Whoa-ho! Watch it, Amya!" Evan piped, teetering near the edge of the cliff. "You're gonna drag me right off!"

Suddenly, Evan stopped his complaints and froze in place, his jaw dropping quite literally at what he was seeing. Off in the distance there flowed a monstrous black wave, which lapped over every landscape with ease as it spilled towards them. All three of them recognized in a matter of seconds what these "waves" were really made of.

"More plasma?!" Evan squeaked, his past life flashing before his eyes as the black sludge hissed at them from a distance. "Oh Notch, you're right! We're SCREWED!"

Jeff grimaced, also feeling the sudden hopelessness of the situation, but immediately set his brain on survival tactics. Despite not being able to speak, he got both of their attention and kept it as he silently explained an escape route with the obsidian in his hotbar. The plasma was moving too quickly for them to do anything but build an exit, so he handed them each three or four of the purple blocks and set them to building the frame.

Considering how rushed the whole scenario was, they finished the ten-block portal frame in record time. Jeff pulled out the flint and steel he carried and held them together. For just a couple seconds, he looked back to check the progress of the plasma waves: three minutes at most before they were dead. He motioned for them to hop in the portal.

"Me first, lol! Oh-ho man, this is actually really nerve-wrackiiiiiiing!" she muttered anxiously, bouncing in place inside the glowy portal matter. "See you guys on the other side! I'm OUTIE!"

Amya popped out of existence the next second. Evan, who was nervously chomping away at a porkchop—specifically, the one he got slapped with—while he waited for her to go through, hopped up into the frame next. He too was about ready to leave the Nether for good, but something startled him mid-bite and made him jump out of the portal. Unable to yell at him, Jeff's eyes widened and he flailed his arms, searching for an explanation with his bewildered expression. Evan swallowed his bite of cooked pig and said,

"I-I'm sorry, Jeff! I had a revelation just now, and…and I realized we forgot about JB!"

Jeff's eyes somehow widened even more after this statement. That's right! Johnny was still back at the base! His brief moment of despair was interrupted by a loud screech of the living black matter in the distance, which threatened them with its presence even more each second. Evan grabbed Jeff by the shoulder and stared straight into his eyes with his own black sockets.

"You guys have done nothing but save me from bad situation after worse situation. I know it's a suicide mission, but…b-but dang it, I gotta actually return the favor for once! I'm dead anyway, y'know? So…it's okay."

Jeff shook his head feverishly, opening and closing his mouth in a desperate attempt to yell at him. No matter how hard he tried, however, he was unable to get a single word out thanks to his coated throat. Instead, he choked on a single syllable and bent forward.

"I don't know if it's just the effect of the plasma telling me to get myself killed or what, but I'm doing it! I swear I'm gonna be useful for once!" Evan continued, turning away from his leader.

Jeff shuddered from weakness and lifted his head, gritting his teeth as he stared up at Evan. Everything in his eyes was telling Evan that he didn't want him to do this, but the small soldier seemed to have already made up his mind. He looked over his shoulder, holding back fearful tears as he caught a bit of Jeff's raw emotion.

"Just, uh…leave the portal open for me, alright? If the plasma gets too close, blow it up instead. Alright?"

Jeff paused, sharing a seriously intense moment with his teammate. Heck, no…his friend. After a couple seconds of sore silence, he glanced back at the oncoming waves. Now they maybe had TWO minutes before it was too late. This, of course, still couldn't change Evan's mind. Finally, he returned the rest of the glance with him and just barely nodded his head in agreement. Never before had he wished to be able to speak more…

"Okay." Evan whispered, biting his lip.

He took a big breath of air through his nose, turning back around to face the landscape in front of him; there, a couple hundred blocks away, stood their base, still glowing gold through its few windows. He swallowed, feeling the nerves of his new situation begin to set in, but pushed them down before they could get to him.

"Right…here we go!"

And with one large step, Evan tore off into the unknown without a second thought.


I guess Evan's finally had enough of being the weak link. *sheds tear of simultaneous sadness and happiness*

Will Jeff be able to recover from inhaling all that dust? Where did Amya end up after she fled through the portal? Is Evan completely dooming himself by going after JB? And how are the rest of our heroes still dealing with their last day of agonizingly boring travel through the woods? Find out in the next chapter of Hourglass!

This is Pastrinator64, your fellow writer and reader, signing out!

*throws sugar bomb and disappears behind its cloud of fine white sugar*

...Goodbye for now...

~Pastrinator64 [~]