AN: 644 Favs. 650 Follows. 3182 Reviews. 1.8 Million Words.
Thank you all so much for your continued support. It makes me happy to see people reading my stuff and coming back to it. I still want to make this the most popular Minecraft story on the site, but the other ones are still up there in terms of Favs and Follows. It might be an impossible task.
But, it won't stop me from writing this story.
Let's see if anyone gets this reference...
Cobb: Landon_Noir! We challenge you to a SutsCoDown Throwdown Showdown! We wager our eternal loyalty for our freedom... and a load of SutsCo merchandise!
Landon: Accepted! The contest is a set of three challenges. Complete the challenges in the allotted time. Fail and you lose.
Cobb: Agreed.
Cobb and Landon: LET'S GO! SUTSCODOWN THROWDOWN SHOWDOWN!
Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. If I did, I'd add Potions of Levitation.
Chapter 190
SutsCoDown Throwdown Showdown
[Lenz]
The gauntlet had been thrown. The challenges set. To claim victory against the Scouts, the eight of us had to clear a trio of difficult challenges designed to test our strength and intellect.
I was secretly hoping for a challenge involving airships or Command Blocks.
Cobbert smacked the hand of Landon, accepting the challenge. Almost as soon as he did, the clock in Z7's hand started turning. Our time limit had begun. We had one full revolution of that clock to finish the challenges.
But how were we supposed to start?
"What's the first challenge?" Trenay demanded.
"Fufufu. Allow me to warp you to our specially prepared stage." Landon smirked before placing a Command Block and inputting a simple code. As soon as he activated it, the eight of us found our surroundings change in an instant.
No longer were we surrounded by Scouts outside the impressive SutsCo facility. Instead, we were placed on a flat plain of End Stone, surrounded by those dead, purple, chorus trees...
And one giant cube of bedrock.
"The hell is this?" Doyle asked.
His confusion was warranted. The bedrock cube was massive, extending to the dark, void-like sky. Definitely not natural.
"This is Landon's doing." Cobbert correctly surmised.
"I guess we should feel flattered he went through so much effort." Baltic said.
"Did he misjudge the warping distance?" Trenay asked. "Shouldn't we be inside the arena he prepared? What gives?"
[There's no mistake.]
Everyone clutched their heads as an invasive voice sounded from within. It belonged to the same irksome Scout who designed this challenge.
[Welcome to the first challenge, boys and girls. I'm speaking to you directly via a nifty 'tell' command. With this, I'll be able to convey the rules of the challenges as you face them. Also, this is a one-way link. You can hear me, but I can't hear you.]
It was unsettling how he could speak to us within our minds. He could also just be lying about not hearing our thoughts. No way to be sure how much privacy we had. Just what were the limits of his Command Block powers?
[The first challenge is nice and simple. Within the bedrock cube before you, there is an emerald block with a stone button. Find and press the button to complete the challenge and move onto the next.]
"Wait! How are we supposed to break through bedrock?"
[Best of luck!]
Landon's internal voice faded out, allowing us the peace to think, but already the first of the Scouts' challenges seemed unsolvable. Bedrock was indestructible. It was why we could not escape the prison in the first place.
"(Time's ticking!)" Z7 warned, holding up the clock. Cobbert and the Paragons scrambled to action.
"There's gotta be an entrance." Trenay reasoned. "Let's get up close."
"Watch out for Endermen. Or, actually, don't watch for them. Then they'll get you."
Cobbert solved this by donning the carved pumpkin, but the rest of us kept our vision unimpaired. I especially needed my full vision if I was to ascertain any secret entrances in the seemingly impenetrable cube.
Getting close made little difference apart from making the cube seem more massive. It towered to impossible heights. Our sense of time may have been off without a sun to go off of, but there was no way anyone could build this in so short a time. Not unless there was a Command for that.
Aurand, a pit filler, figured they could dig under the bedrock wall and get in that way. He brought out a pickaxe and started digging.
Cobbert, a trained parkourist-though he refused to accept it himself-figured there was an entrance on top, where we could not see. So he took out his water bucket and started placing it along the side, swimming up like a salmon.
Shroud, meanwhile, figured he would use the readily available ender pearls from slain Endermen to circle the cube and search for points of entry.
The rest of us spent our time examining the bedrock wall, touching it, and confirming it was as unbreakable as the stuff lining our cell.
"No good." Baltic sighed. "It's not budging. We can't break it."
"Don't tell me that jerk Landon gave us an impossible task straight out of the gate." Doyle cursed.
"No, there has to be a way." Trenay said. "He wants the badge. That's the only guarantee that he'll play fair. Maybe if we throw our ender pearls enough times, we'll get lucky and one of them will warp us through."
Trenay, Doyle, and I began hurling pearls at the wall, warping and damaging ourselves in our attempts to brute force our way inside. Any time we took too much damage, Baltic would heal us with a potion. Z7 watched on idly, her hand brushing against the wall.
Our time limit continued to tick away.
After several failed attempts, we were forced to accept that ender pearls could not warp us through the wall. Soon after, Aurand emerged from his pit, confessing that the bedrock wall extended underneath to form six sides of unbreakable bedrock.
Shroud returned next, having warped around the entirety of the cube. His news was just as disappointing. No way in from the sides.
Cobbert was the last to return, ender pearling down to us from his swim to the top. His face said it all.
The top, sides, and bottom were all out.
A quarter of our time had been spent.
"Son of a bitch!" Doyle screamed, pounding a fist against the wall. "I knew it! Those fuckers duped us! When I get my hands on Landon-!"
"They wouldn't go through all this trouble challenging us just to make it unwinnable." Baltic spoke, though he sounded unsure. "Would they...?"
"At this point, I can't predict what they would or wouldn't do." Cobbert spoke slowly. "None of us can. All we can do is deal with this challenge."
"But it's unsolvable!" Shroud shouted. "Give me an army of Mobs and I'll fight them any day, but this is a problem with no answer! I can't fight my way through a wall!"
His words stirred something in my memory. What was it that Landon said? These challenges would test our brains as much as our brawn...?
"...Maybe this is a test of intellect." I suggested, getting the group's attention. "Do you remember the Scouts asking us how we bypassed their bedrock defenses? And Z7 said they had the fountain portal surrounded by bedrock almost as soon as we arrived."
"Yeah, they had us trapped as soon as we got here. So what?"
"What if the bedrock defenses they keep talking about were already in place before we arrived." I reasoned. "They said themselves that they could not risk any security breaches. Maybe the Scouts have a way to pass through bedrock."
"Yeah, and his name is Landon_Noir."
"Not possible. To maintain SutsCo's supply chain, that would require asking Landon for permission everytime they exited the End. There must be another means." I turned to Z7. "(Did you see any Scouts pass through to the fountain portal?)"
The scarred assassin thought for a moment before shaking her head "(None passed through. The only thing I saw before getting warped into your cell...)"
"(Yes, go on.)" I encouraged. "(Any piece of intel could be a clue.)"
"(...I saw a Scout approach the fountain location. He didn't break anything, though. He just ate some of that SutsCo fruit and warped around for a while. Shortly after, I was teleported to your cell.)"
"The Chorus Fruit?" I spoke in common. Landon had given the tour of the farms where they exclusively cultivated the fruit, and we knew that the fruit randomly teleported you within a certain radius. "(What do you mean he was warping around?)"
"(Just as I said.)" She answered with a shrug. "(He was just eating some around the sealed fountain. He looked pretty frustrated too. Like he was trying and failing at something.")
"What are you two saying?" Shroud asked. "Anything useful you'd like to share? Our freedom is ticking away here!"
I thought about Z7's information for a bit. The Scout who was warping around the bedrock enclosed fountain portal. The Scouts' touted bedrock defense. The challenge on how to enter the bedrock cube. Chorus Fruit...
My head shot up and swiveled to the dead purple trees surrounding us. Could the answer be staring us in the face?
"...Can Chorus Fruit warp us through walls?"
The question coming from my lips gave everyone pause for thought. Chorus Fruit was a foodstuff with a random warping side effect. That much we knew.
But was it possible that the Scouts found another use? They, who uncovered its secrets before anyone else, realized it could warp them through solid walls. Its randomness proved a warping strength greater than the Ender Pearl, just as the Scouts' randomness was considered a strength in unpredictability. That was why they had an airtight defense at their End Portal. Only they knew how to exit and enter with Chorus Fruit.
"That has to be it!" I exclaimed before turning to Z7, who looked startled by my excitement. "(Good work, Z7! That was just what we were looking for!)"
"(U-unn. No big deal.)" She let her curtain of hair conceal her face while I gestured to the Chorus trees.
"Grab as much Chorus Fruit as you can! Hurry!"
"You heard the man! Go! GO!" Baltic threw down Splash Potions of Swiftness to envelop the eight of us before we sprinted towards the closest Chorus trees. Z7 outstripped us all with her speed and broke the base of the tree with a swift kick. The whole thing fell like dominos.
Chorus trees were brittle and easy to break, and they showered us with Chorus Fruit. There was plenty to harvest from, and in no time at all, we had two stacks of the stuff.
Returning to the bedrock cube, we each took a handful of fruit and positioned ourselves close to the bedrock wall. All that sprinting had worked up an appetite, so we tucked in without delay.
They had a nutty, custardy taste. Not sweet like I was expecting a fruit to be. But after eating one, I had to reorient myself as I warped to a random position. I pulled a dud, since I was still outside the cube, but looking around, I saw that Shroud and Trenay were no longer with us.
"We're through!" Trenay's voice sounded from the other side of the wall. "Can you guys hear me? We made it! And it's... it's... hoo boy..."
"What!? What's on the other side!?"
"It's an End City! A big one! You have to see it!" Shroud answered.
"Do you see the emerald block with the button?" Baltic asked between bites of his second fruit.
"Uh... yeah! It's at the base of-I'll just go press it!" Shroud called before departing footsteps could be heard.
"Keep eating!" Cobbert commanded, stuffing his face with his second fruit only to get another dud teleport.
"I can't! I'm full!" Doyle groaned.
"Then do friggen jumping jacks until you're not full!"
As ridiculous as it sounded, we all started doing jumping jacks to exhaust our Hunger Meters before we could make further attempts at warping with the Chorus Fruit. Each one gave us the chance to warp to a random spot, but it took five or six fruits before we all successfully reached the other side of the bedrock wall.
The inside of the bedrock cube was not much different from the outside. There was the End City in the center, true, but the landscape was all End Stone and Chorus trees. Also, the interior was illuminated by End Rods, glowstone, and torches.
Over by the base of the End City, I spied Shroud and Trenay running up to an emerald block. They must have pressed it as we started running after them, because intrusive messages began to relay themselves to us within our minds.
[First Challenge: Complete! Time elapsed: 29%]
Then, Landon's voice chimed in.
[Finally! And here I thought the first one would be a cakewalk. 29% elapsed time is awful! Be ashamed of yourselves, all of you! I don't see how you'll pass the next two challenges in time unless you pick up the pace.]
Easy for him to say. He and the other Scouts already knew what Chorus Fruits could do. If they kept challenging us on End knowledge, of course we would get stumped.
[Time for part two of the thrilling SutsCoDown Throwdown Showdown. This one was devised by many of our Scouts to give you a taste of what obtaining a well-known badge feels like.]
[Before you lies an End City; one of the virgin ones we recently found. We remodeled the interior a bit to fit this challenge, but everything else has been largely untouched, including the Shulkers inside!]
[The Great View From Up Here Badge is what you'll be trying for. All you need do is find the emerald block and press the button. But be warned: the higher you climb, the further you fall!]
[Let the second challenge commence!]
"Not another badge!" Doyle complained. "Leave it to Landon to put a badge challenge within another badge challenge."
Up ahead, the entrance to the End City's central tower opened up, allowing Trenay and Shroud to enter first. Thankfully, the structure was just like that of the SutsCo facility, so it seemed Landon was as good as his word that he did not alter it too drastically. But what did he have in store for us?
With Baltic's Potions of Swiftness, we caught up with Trenay and Shroud and entered the End City. There was no time to waste, and we had to find the mentioned emerald block quick.
The interior of the city's central tower was about ten meters long and wide, but was otherwise devoid of any stairs. The walls were made of smooth purpur blocks and end stone bricks, a handful of stained glass windows showing the outside. The place was lit with end rods, and I spied over a dozen purpur blocks jutting from the walls higher up. There was no pattern to how they jutted out, which seemed strange to me. Had the Scouts placed them haphazardly?
"There's the block!" Trenay exclaimed, pointing up.
There, about fifty meters up the tower and jutting from the ceiling, was the emerald block and the stone button. If it was a wooden button, I could activate it in a second with an arrow, but that would not work on stone. The Scouts knew their redstone.
The emerald block was within sight, though. In fact, it was almost too easy. We just had to climb up and press it? That explained Landon's warning about climbing and falling.
"This is all me." Cobbert volunteered, rubbing his hands together before preparing to parkour. He fastened both hands into the nearest wall and began to climb... only to slip back down. The smooth walls held no handhelds for him.
He growled and tried again, this time taking a running start before sticking to the wall. He made it two meters before sliding off and falling on his butt. He had the sense then to pull out his water bucket for aid.
However, for some reason he struggled with the bucket. He tried splashing the water against the wall, but it was like the water had glued itself to the inside of the bucket. Like the contents were dried cement.
"That's... unusual." He eyed the bucket suspiciously while Aurand stepped up next.
"I'll do it. Nerdpoling should get us up there in no... time?"
The block of end stone Aurand was trying to set upon the floor failed to leave his hand. It was the same problem Cobbert faced; the block was glued to his hand and refused to be placed.
"Have you guys forgotten how to do things?" Doyle spoke rudely, his hand already selecting a block to build a staircase up. "It doesn't have to be fancy, just..." He trailed off after experiencing the same issue. The block never left his hand. "Oh..."
All eight of us tried placing whatever blocks we had in our inventories, but we kept failing as the blocks stubbornly refused to be placed. In desperation, Cobbert called to Baltic.
"Give me one of those Potions of Slow Falling. I'm gonna try pearling up there to click the button."
"You think you can react fast enough for that?"
"If not on the first try, maybe the fifth or sixth." Cobbert replied, his questing hand reaching for a pearl. "This is a challenge, right? So we can't..." He paused as he checked all his pockets. "...we can't... uh... give up when..." He patted all his pockets worriedly before reaching back to dig through his backpack. "What happened to my ender pearls?"
"Ah, take mine." I offerred, reaching to the pocket I designated for them only to come up empty. No chance I had misplaced them. "Comparators, my pearls are gone too!"
"Wait, so are mine!"
"Mine too!"
"I just killed a bunch of Endermen, how could I be empty?"
"It is Landon!" I realized. "He wrote a Command to steal our pearls! He did the same thing with the emerald blocks and contract books in our cell!"
"We gotta get more then!" Shroud spoke quickly. He and Doyle were already about to run out into the End to slay Endermen when Baltic shouted at them.
"STOP! Think for a second!" He commanded impressively. "Running off without thinking will only waste time. We could have cut our time in that first challenge in half if we hadn't all tried our own thing. We need to take a breath and think, otherwise the Scouts win.
Slowly, and with visible effort, Shroud and Doyle turned from the door and inhaled and exhaled until they were adequately calm. Their panic was warranted; none of us wanted to become Scouts (airship offer nonwithstanding). But we would just be running like chickens with their heads cut off if we did not approach this logically. These were tests.
"Good." Baltic smiled when he saw we were all calm. "Now, we know our ender pearls were taken via a Command Block. Attempting to get any more will likely end the same way and waste our time."
"It could even be set up on a redstone loop." I suggested. "So anytime we enter this structure, our pearls dissapear."
"We can't place blocks in here." Cobbert said with absolute certainty. He was over by the entrance, his bucket of water flowing freely. More importantly, it stopped flowing as soon as it reached the threshold of the End City. He performed the same test with blocks. "We can only place blocks outside of this place."
"Can't destroy blocks either." Aurand noted, trying and failing to break the wall. It was as impervious as bedrock. "Is this the work of a Command block too? It's keeping us from breaking or placing blocks?"
"Is that possible?"
"At this point, anything could be possible." Trenay frowned. "Landon is basically a God with those Command Blocks."
"A god with a hard-on for badges." Doyle insulted.
An arrow thunked into the wall as I tested my bow. "Projectiles still work. Ow!" I winced as Shroud punched my shoulder.
"We can still damage things too." He smirked before Z7 performed further testing by sticking a dagger in his side. "AUGH! I'm sorry!"
"(Had to be sure.)" She uttered indifferently, her dagger joining my arrow in the wall as she tested her throwables.
"So the real second challenge is being able to reach a button fifty meters high without climbing, placing or removing blocks, and without ender pearls." Doyle summarized dryly. "So what are we supposed to do, then?"
"If only Noman were here." Cobbert lamented. "He could get up there with the Bottes Zephyr."
"Assuming an item made with Command Blocks could be used against a Command Block." I added.
"Even a Potion of Leaping won't make it all the way up." Baltic frowned at the potions in his hands. "Nothing I have will be much help."
"There must be a way..." Trenay murmured to herself. The time for doubting the Scouts to fight fairly was over. They made a genuinely brain-stumping challenge the first time. It was difficult, but not impossible. There definitely had to be a way to reach the block.
*Blyat*
I recoiled from the throaty, retching sound, like someone throwing up. I looked between my companions, wondering who was choking to make such a sound. They all looked back at me, just as bewildered.
*Blyat*
"What the hell was that?" Cobbert asked before, slowly, turning his head up with the others.
One of more than a dozen purpur blocks jutting from the walls higher up began to tremble. The top half of the block then split sideways, screwing off like a cap. Something pale within was peeking at us. Something with eyes.
*Blyat* *Blyat*
It unscrewed fully to reveal a tiny, cubic head, no bigger than my fist, and pale yellow with eyes. What we thought was a block was more of an outer shell, with that thing nestled inside. And it had its sights set on us.
*BLYAT!*
With the sound like a miniature cannon, the creature spat out a pale projectile towards us before its shell screwed shut to conceal it. The projectile was a rapidly spinning sphere, though it moved slowly towards us, and only axially. Down, left, right, forward, or backward.
As the projectile approached, leaving a shimmering trail of light in its wake, we wisely chose to avoid it. The projectile was closest to Doyle, heading right for him, so he made a slow show of sidestepping out of the way.
The projectile changed directions.
"Hey! WATCH IT!" Shroud exclaimed, startling Doyle into hopping away from the projectile's altered trajectory. Still, the projectile seemed to pursue as best it was able, changing directions axially so that it would realign to where Doyle was.
Dodging it was easy with how slow it was, but it was also determined to hit the Paragon. A guided missile.
Seeing enough, I loaded an arrow with the intent to intercept the projectile, but Z7 was faster, flinging a dagger to put the missile to rest. It fizzled out as soon as the dagger pierced it, perhaps making a tiny explosion as it went.
"(Gotta be quicker on the draw.)" She teased, a dagger twirling between her nimble fingers.
*Blyat*
Above, the same block trembled before opening up. It retched, frustrated at having its missile thwarted. My loaded arrow would not be put to waste.
I fired directly at it, but it shut itself away under its purple shell, the arrow bouncing off harmlessly. "What!?"
"It must be a Shulker." Cobbert deduced, his Mob book taken out and his eyes gleaming. "It's camouflaged like a block, but it can fire slow-moving missiles and use its shell defensively."
"You can fawn over it later! We have a challenge to win!" Trenay reminded him.
"Here comes another one!" Baltic warned as the Shulker opened its shell.
As soon as it did, a dagger and arrow slipped in and struck the tiny pale head that must have been its core. It retched in pain, wiggling its tongue.
"(Better.)" Z7 complimented, drawing a new dagger while the Shulker retreated into its shell.
"At least the projectiles it fires are slow." Shroud offered.
Suddenly, the purpur blocks jutting from the walls trembled and unscrewed themselves, revealing nearly twenty Shulkers, retching aggressively.
*BLYAT!* *BLYAT!* *BLYAT!*
"Oh..."
They all fired missiles down at us. They moved slow, but there were so many of them to keep track of, and they were guided too.
I started shooting them down with my arrows while Z7 quickdrew and threw her daggers. Cobbert and the Paragons drew their weapons, but otherwise focused on dodging the homing missiles that slipped by us. Things got more complicated when the missiles reached our level. They zigzagged around, looking to home in on any target they could. It was as if they had minds of their own.
"Whoa!" Shroud shouted as he twisted out of the way of two missiles. He then slashed at one, disabling it.
"So their projectiles can be knocked down by arrows and weapons." Cobbert noted excitedly, scribbling in his Mob book shortly after.
"You can study them later! Hey, eyes up!"
The warning came too late as a stray missile darted suddenly and struck Cobbert's side. There was a tiny explosion, a sharp wince of pain, and then Cobbert's feet left the ground.
"Huh? Whoa, WHOA!" He flailed his arms and legs, his body angling forty-five degrees as he floated off. Sky blue particles swirled around him.
"What the!?" Doyle exclaimed, so surprised that he missed a pair of missiles that cornered him. Twin impacts struck his body, chipping at his Health, but then he too started to levitate like a parade float, sky blue particles accompanying him. "Ah! Hey! S-someone grab me!"
"Is this Landon and his Command Blocks again?" Shroud asked, dodging a missile that suddenly dove for him.
"It's more likely the Shulkers." Trenay guessed, slashing a missile before it could hit her. "They inflict a status effect that makes you float. The reverse of Slow Falling."
"This effect is new to me." Baltic spoke before it dawned on him. He looked up to the emerald block near the ceiling and rubbed his chin.
"This is less fun than it looks, guys!" Cobbert complained, writhing in the air as he and Doyle ascended. The first volley of missiles had been dealt with, but the Shulkers were now firing their second shots.
And this time, two of our own were a lot closer to them.
"Crap!" Doyle cursed as he waved his arms in a swimming motion to try and evade a set of missiles gunning for him. They were about to hit before a bobber snagged his shirt and pulled him out of the way. "You saved me, Cobb."
"Well, who's gonna save meeee!?" Cobbert shouted as another missile struck his back. It sent him spinning into the wall, where he desperately tried to slow his ascent. It was useless with the smoothened walls of the End City. "Argh, they just reset the floating effect!"
"Well, mine's just about up." Doyle smiled as he watched the effect timer on his arm tick down. The particles swirling around him began to disperse as his Levitation effect ended.
And, with nothing else keeping him afloat, gravity reared its ugly head.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" He shouted as he took a fifteen block fall. He struck the floor hard, his legs crunching beneath him and his Health hanging by a sliver. Baltic quickly splashed him with a Potion of Healing while Trenay, Z7, and I readied our respective bows and daggers.
"As soon as they open up, shoot them." Trenay ordered.
"DON'T!" Baltic bellowed. "Don't shoot! We need them!"
"Say what?"
"OH! I get it!" Cobbert exclaimed, pushing off the wall and floating further up. "These Shulkers are our ticket to climbing this thing!"
"Exactly." Baltic nodded. He fastened a pair of splash potions to his belt before letting the next Shulker missile hit him. He winced from the blow, but soon began to float up after Cobb.
Quite the tricky challenge the Scouts devised. We never would have considered teaming up with a Mob to pass it, but tanking Shulker missiles was risky business. Climbing too high without getting hit would mean a deadly fall. Conversely, the missiles did quite a bit of damage. Take too many and you would die before you reached the top. There had to be a balance.
Currently, Cobbert and Baltic were the only ones floating, the former at thirty meters and the latter at six. The emerald block was at the ceiling, fifty meters. Also, since Cobbert was higher up, the Shulkers were targeting him. And he could not dodge well in midair.
"This is bullshit!" He swung at the excess missiles as best he could, but he was only one Crafter against a barrage of missiles. He could not destroy all of them. Two struck him at once and sent him spinning to the side, his Health dangerously low. "I'm gonna be sick! Blyat!"
*Blyat* A Shulker echoed before Cobbert got himself stuck under one.
Since they jutted from the wall, they could impede a Crafter's levitation. The fisherman had his palms pressed against the underside of the Shulker, his neck and back bending as he bobbed beneath the camouflaged Mob.
"I need Health badly! Whoa!" Cobbert batted a missile aside before jamming his sword in between the Shulker's shells. It retched in pain before teleporting to the other side of the wall. "Oh, come on!" Cobbert looked irritated as he lost his temporary handhold and floated further up.
Apparently, the Shulkers could teleport like Endermen. They were a fascinating Mob, and I could tell Cobbert wanted to study them more for his book, but right now they were trying to kill us.
Well, not us, but rather Cobbert and Baltic, who were closest. The missiles left us alone in favor of those two, meaning wehad to keep the extra missiles off them.
Luckily, this was where my long-range archery outdid Z7's mid-range daggers. I loaded my bow and intercepted the missiles targeting Cobbert. Baltic I left alone, but not out of indifference for his safety. He had Healing and Regeneration Potions on him and could tank the missiles for however long he needed to reach the top. Cobbert could not.
"Uh-oh. My Levitation's about to run out!" He sweated as he peered at his arm. He could not take another missile, nor could he climb any higher without one. He glanced down before, with a flick of the wrist, he snagged Baltic's shirt with his fishing rod and yanked up as hard as he could.
Baltic went from a lazy paced float to suddenly rocketing towards Cobbert thanks to the fisherman's aid. He pulled again and again until Baltic was at his level. Then, just as his Levitation was about to expire, Baltic returned the favor by splashing Cobbert with one of the Potions of Slow Falling he prepared. Instead of plummeting to his death, Cobbert floated gently back down to the floor.
"You got this, Baltic!" Cobbert called up, encouraging the old man who floated higher than forty blocks, then forty-five, his fingertips reaching out as far as they could.
*click*
[Second Challenge: Complete!] The intrusive words entered our minds. [Time elapsed: 43%]
Although the challenge was more touch-and-go than the first, barely any time elapsed. That was two of the three challenges completed, and we still had more than half our time to work with.
[Well done! Well done!] Landon's voice echoed in our minds. [You've certainly redeemed yourself from that atrocious showing in the first challenge. With the time you have remaining, you might just finish this last challenge.]
The End City and the blasting Shulkers vanished in an instant as we were warped somewhere new. From the obsidian pillars, I recognized it as the central island-the place where we started. We were deposited right beside a small bedrock cube, likely the one sealing the fountain portal.
Landon was there too. He hovered over us with a pleased expression.
"Before we begin the final challenge, you all get one of these." He passed out a piece of paper to each of us. "The Great View From Up Here Badge! It can be claimed by levitating a vertical distance of fifty blocks! You're well on your way to becoming proper Scouts with a badge like that!"
Cobbert wordlessly lit a fire where we proceeded to deposit the trash we just obtained.
"OH NO!" Landon cried out. "Your badges accidentally burned when you threw them in that fire! Don't panic! I have spare badges back at the facility. I'll get you them after you lose this challenge."
"Awfully confident we'll lose?" Doyle questioned sharply.
"Quit wasting our time and just tell us what we have to do." Trenay demanded.
"Fufufu. Alright~" He tittered in a sing-song voice. "Without further ado, I'll lay it on you. The third challenge is a blast from my past, and won't require a lick of intellect. You've shown enough brains so far, so now, you'll show off your brawn."
"What do we have to—?"
"RRRRROOOOAGH-GH-GH!"
We whipped our heads as the Ender Dragon roared its terrible roar and dove towards us. Everyone leapt out of the way or else rolled to cover as the beast's wings whipped up dust and beat like thunder.
Landon evaded it by languidly floating down its back; his bright eyes seemed to glow as he announced our challenge.
"Kill Jean."
Inventory (Cobb): 1 Carved Pumpkin, 1 Leather Tunic [Dyed Green], 1 Diamond Leggings [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Fishing Rod {Backlash} [Knockback II, Luck of the Sea III, Unbreaking III] {Weak}, 1 Diamond Sword [Sweeping Edge III], 12 Cobblestone, 28 Sand, 2 Glass, 52 Glass Bottles, 1 Stone Pickaxe, 1 Furnace, 17 Flint, 1 Flint and Steel, 17 Oak Wood Planks, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Clock, 1 Water Bucket, 1 Lava Bucket, 1 Milk Bucket, 14 Coal, 37 Snowballs, 5 Ender Chests, 24 Obsidian, 64 Steak, 26 Steak, 6 Chorus Fruit, 15 Rotten Flesh, 1 Book {How to Kill Stuff for Numb Nuts}, 1 Book {Advanced Mob-Slaying}, 1 Book {Mobs of the Nether}, 1 Book {Mobs of the Bounty Days}, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}
[EXP: 38]
Inventory (Lenz): 1 Chainmail Helmet, 1 Chainmail Chestplate, 1 Chainmail Leggings, 1 Chainmail Boots, 1 Carved Pumpkin, 32 Pumpkin Seeds, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Shears, 1 Lever, 13 Tripwire Hooks, 9 Redstone Torches, 8 Redstone Repeaters, 3 Redstone Comparators, 18 Blocks of Redstone, 2 Hoppers, 3 Pistons, 2 Sticky Pistons, 13 Cobblestone, 1 Compass, 25 Gunpowder, 1 Bow, 1 Bow [Infinity], 1 Crossbow, 43 Arrows, 11 Jungle Wood Planks, 1 Crafting Table, 43 Steak, 4 Chorus Fruit, 1 Splash Potion of Healing II, 1 Potion of Regeneration II {0:22}, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Airship Piloting 101}, 1 Book {Notebook}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Daymonte Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Akasha Entry Pass}
[EXP: 19]
Inventory (Baltic): 1 Carved Pumpkin, 1 Iron Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Sword [Sharpness II, Unbreaking III], 1 Shield, 1 Bow, 1 Diamond Pickaxe [Silk Touch I, Mending I, Unbreaking II], 25 Arrows, 4 Brewing Stands, 1 Splash Potion of Weakness {4:00}, 1 Splash Potion of Fire Resistance {8:00}, 64 Glass Bottles, 33 Glass Bottles, 1 Water Bucket, 56 Blaze Powder, 52 Nether Warts, 30 Soul Sand, 28 Bones, 63 Phantom Membranes, 9 Golden Nuggets, 64 Blaze Rods, 26 Fermented Spider Eyes, 59 Carrots, 58 Melon Slices, 14 Steak, 3 Chorus Fruit, 2 Ender Chests, 1 Map {Paragon Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 26 Emeralds
[EXP: 30]
Inventory (Z7): 1 Clock {SutsCoDown Timer}, 1 Carved Pumpkin, 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection III, Unbreaking IV], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 32 Cobblestone, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 21 Charcoal, 14 Torches, 18 Oak Wood Planks, 1 Cake, 1 Cake, 1 Cake, 1 Cake, 1 Cake, 1 Cake, 1 Cake, 19 Pumpkin Pies, 5 Chorus Fruit, 8 Cookies, 45 Baked Potatoes, 1 Bucket, 1 Potion of Swiftness II {1:30}, 1 Potion of Night Vision {8:00}, 1 Potion of Slow Falling {4:00}, 1 Map {Paragon Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}
[EXP: 42]
AN: Jean is the Dragon.
Hey! I cranked this out in a week. Not too shabby considering I'm balancing a full-time job now.
Ten Chapters to 200. At this point, we're more than halfway through the story.
FAV. FOLLOW. REVIEW. FORUM. DISCORD. OREOS.
