The Road to Hell (is Paved with Good Intentions) Chapter 6, a minecraft fanfic

Chapter 6

They had been trying to find the hidden base for the last hour and a half, and they were still no closer to finding Etho. BDubs wanted to viciously tear something limb from limb (not really, he had felt that bloodlust already, and he couldn't do that to himself again). The multiple scout groups were still in the process of methodically digging down and then flying back up out of the hole only to travel 9 blocks forward to do it all over again. The worst part was that they were only about half way done with this, and still no sign of Etho. Pulling his head back and stretching out his shoulders, BDubs looked around the hole he was in and double checked his communicator to see what his Y coordinate was. Seeing he was at the bottom of the digging depth they had set, he sighed and pulled out his rockets to fly out. Mechanically, he hopped up and let the wings on his back catch the air as he launched straight up with a rocket. Knowing he would need multiple to get out, he spammed 4 more rockets in quick succession to get out of the hole. However he accidentally set off 5, and flew far above the ground out of the hole, and into the blue sky. He cursed under his breath, as this was a waste of time that he could be spending digging. But before he was about to take off his wings to fall at terminal velocity to the ground, he caught sight of something on the edge of his render distance near build height. He didn't think anyone had been building up that far, and realizing it was a bit along the same axis they were trying to explore, he flew up even higher to try and get a better look at whatever it was.

The closer BDubs got to the structure, the more hope began to pool in his chest. The structure was a strange box up at world build height, seemingly made out of obsidian. The box itself was a large 13x13x7 cubic room, with seemingly no entrances nor exits. BDubs could think of nothing else other than it would be simple to hide a 9x9x3 box inside and protect it with layers of obsidian and lava. Not wanting to break his cover just yet, he decided to make a note of the coords in chat without sending it; and then fly to the next closest searching Hermit.

He quickly found Tango, and explained the situation to him, before they both flew off back to the coordinates to investigate. "I can see what you mean. I'm surprised we hadn't seen it sooner when we were flying around this area."

"Well we were looking for something on the ground," admitted BDubs, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. "It makes sense we didn't notice something in the sky till now."

"Good eyes either way, my fellow big-eyed broski. How do we want to go about this then? Should we just announce the coords in chat and risk that scumbag getting away?" asked Tango, rocking back on his heels as he himself did some thinking.

"I was hoping to somehow pass a message along without letting EvilX onto our plans. What's the closest base to here?"

Tango thought for a moment, looking at the surrounding country-side as he did so. "You know, I think we're pretty close to my turtle farm at the moment. Closest base to that would be Joe and Cleo's so we could meet there. If we didn't want to draw as much suspicion though, we'd probably want to meet up at Jevin's base or Stress's base, since they are located pretty close to the center of the search pattern."

BDubs nodded and thought for a second, but decided speed would be more valuable than caution. "Let's have them meet at Joe and Cleo's base. Anyone late to the meeting we can meet along the way back and let them know what's going on as we go to raid."

With the plan set, Tango quickly put out a message saying that all search party members should meet at Joe and Cleo's base for a meeting about a potential new search pattern. BDubs hoped that the other Hermits wouldn't waste too much time in flying down by complaining or asking too many questions that could potentially blow their cover. Glancing down at his communicator as they took off in Joe and Cleo's direction, he saw most of the chat filled with confused but willing Hermits. He looked away to focus on his flight, and thanked his lucky stars that the other Hermits were able to take a hint better than he could.

"Don't worry Etho, we're coming. We know where you are, we just gotta break in," BDubs muttered to himself, happy to already see the skeletal structure of Joe and Cleo's mega-build castle. He could see Cleo, XB, and Hypno already gathering in the center of the small town at the base of the castle, and BDubs just hoped the rest of the searchers would be there soon. "Just hold on…"

Etho came to to see EvilXisuma's mask right in his face. To complain about the inconvenience of still being attached to the chair (though he had managed to get his left arm entirely removed from the cuff and was working on both of his legs, but then again his upper arm was still pinned to the chair.), Etho decided the most expedient way was to spit on EvilXisuma's mask. He managed to get some spittle and blood onto the mask on his first try, so he counted it as success, even though he was immediately punched in the face. Admittedly, the punch barely registered as pain, since he was already in so much pain constantly. But he had been in so much pain for so long, it just didn't really register anymore in general. Sure, his body would shudder, and squirm, and instinctively try to get away; but the rest of him just tried focusing on getting out of his binds a little more every time he respawned.

"Well Ethoslab, I was going to say it's been a pleasure, but after such a rude greeting, I think I'm just going to leave the punch as my response to our time together. Unfortunately for me, I must be off. Your friends seem to have caught on to our whereabouts, so I'll leave you with a little present and then I'll be off. If, for whatever reason Xisuma can't figure out respawn, I might make a second appearance. Wouldn't want you all to suffer needlessly for the sins of a few."

Etho tried to glare at EvilXisuma, but he just couldn't get his face to respond, so he settled for just being generally unresponsive, since his tongue never did grow back after all the respawns. His breathing picked up though as EvilXisuma pulled out a water bucket. Dread pooled in his stomach as he began to realize what final hell EvilXisuma was planning on leaving him in. "I can see you understand what my present is for you, and I know those watching are probably very aware as well. So I'll just finish up and I wish you the best till your friends come by to save you. I'm sure you can recover from this kind of repeated respawn."

With that, EvilXisuma created a small tower of cobble behind Etho's chair and set the bucket of water loose on the top of the tower. And of course, the water flowed down and over Etho himself. Before the water covered his head, he managed a single breath, and he held it as long as he could as he felt the water cover his entire head. Through the water, he watched EvilXisuma fiddle with his communicator and then disappear as if he had never been there in the first place.

Etho tried that first breath to hold onto it as long as possible. But his lungs were not infinite, and he eventually succumbed to the lack of air.

"Ethoslab drowned whilst trying to escape EvilXisuma."

"Ethoslab drowned"

"ETHO!"