Angelo lay on the soft Netherrack, breathing heavily.
In front of him, he could hear the pulsing of the Nether Portal they just jumped through. Somewhere to his right, he heard Samus charging up a Charge Shot. He looked over to see here fire the projectile at the portal. The purple matter inside the Obsidian frame distorted and disappeared, leaving an empty portal frame.
"There," she said. "That should slow down…whoever that was."
Angelo laughed. "Uh, Samus? You do realize that it doesn't close the portal on the other side, right? Whoever's trying to end my read end, he can still go through, and then this side of the portal will get reignited."
Meta Knight grunted. "Which means we must move. We need to find another spot to build a portal."
Angelo blinked. "We…can't build a portal. We need Obsidian and a Flint & Steel, or at least a way to light it."
Samus grinned. "That's why Steve gave me 10 Obsidian blocks before we went through. He didn't give me his Flint & Steel, but we can make some fire of our own, right?"
Angelo nodded. "Wow. Steve's good."
"Enough talk. We must hurry!" Meta Knight said. "We do not know how long we have until–"
With a sound that reverberated Angelo's very soul, the portal lit up, purple matter reappearing in the empty frame.
And the newcomer jumped through, sword at the ready.
Angelo jumped to his feet and blocked the leaping strike, stepping back as they went on the offensive. Angelo couldn't do much more than defend. Every time he tried to attack, his opponent would defend themselves with disturbing skill.
"This guy must be able to see into the future!" he said as he switched his sword for his arm cannon.
He blasted off, trying to jump over the newcomer's head. They jumped up as well, once again assisted by the thrusters on the bottom of their feet, and kicked Angelo out of the air. He cried out as he slammed into a naturally formed Netherrack wall.
"ANGELO!" he heard Samus scream.
Angelo groaned and slowly opened his eyes to see Samus fighting the newcomer. She managed to knock the sword out of their hand, but they seemed to be just as proficient in hand-to-hand combat as they were in swordplay. Meta Knight rushed over to Angelo.
"Are you alright?" he asked him, laying a hand on his chest.
Angelo winced as he slowly stood back up, trying to think of a way to get out of this situation. He noticed that the ground below them was actually a one-block tall peninsula of Netherrack stretching over a vast lava lake. If they could somehow send the newcomer through the floor, they would have time to get away.
"Fight that guy," he said to Meta Knight. "I need Samus. I have a plan."
Meta Knight didn't even hesitate. He drew his sword and launched himself at Samus's opponent.
Samus stumbled and jumped back as the newcomer lunged and stabbed their sword into the ground, right in the spot where Samus had been standing a few seconds ago. Before they could recover, Meta Knight slammed into them from the side.
"Samus!" Angelo shouted. "I have a plan!"
The bounty hunter whirled around and ran over to the Mii Fighter, concern and exhaustion dominant on her face. "Are you alright?" she asked him.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said. "Listen, this floor is very thin. If we blast the floor with both of our Charge Shots, we can drop that guy down, and then we'd have time to get out of here."
Samus blinked. "That…might work. Okay, get ready."
Angelo started charging up his Charge Blast while Samus did the same with her Charge Shot. The two of them carefully aimed at the newcomer as they battled Meta Knight, then fired.
The two projectiles blasted through the floor right behind the opponent, who was one block away from falling down.
"No!" Angelo said.
That's when Meta Knight rushed forward and grabbed them by the arm, dragging them over the side.
Angelo blinked. "Oh, well I guess that works."
A second later, Meta Knight flew back up through the hole.
"They are still alive," he said, breathing heavily. "They landed on a Strider, but they are now stranded in the middle of the lava. Might I suggest we move now before…Angelo, are you…alright?"
Angelo blinked. Then he realized his face was wet.
He touched his cheek to find it covered in tears. He was…crying?
Then the reason came at him like a Ghast Fireball.
"Roy…" he whispered, falling to his knees. "That guy just…He just…It happened so fast and I…I couldn't do anything…"
Samus dropped to one knee next to him, putting a hand on the Mii Fighter's shoulder. "Hey," she said softly. "It's…it's okay. We'll make them pay. We'll..we'll make sure they don't get away with this. I promise you, Angelo."
Angelo laughed. "Oh, yeah, for…for sure. I…I'm gonna…I'm gonna…"
Meta Knight walked up to Angelo and sighed. "It is alright, Angelo. We will rectify this. For now, we must move. We do not know when they might come back."
Angelo nodded and wiped his eyes, slowly getting to his feet. "Right. Let's…let's go."
It had been a while since Angelo had been in the Nether. Last time, he'd also been with Meta Knight and Samus, but Steve had accompanied them.
Ever since that last time, the Nether had not changed one bit.
"Piglins!" Samus shouted, shooting her arm cannon at the pig-like mobs in front of them.
Angelo fought a Piglin alone, sword against sword. With a spinning slash, he sliced the Piglin across its chest, and it disappeared in a poof of smoke.
As he turned to help Meta Knight with a Hoglin, he saw a giant white blob rise over a small Netherrack hill.
"It's a Ghast!" he said, switching his sword for his arm cannon.
The Ghast screamed and spat a fireball at him. Angelo stepped to the right slightly and activated his Echo Reflector, causing the projectile to ricochet and fly towards the hoard of Piglins Samus was trying to fend off. The fireball exploded, instantly killing the entire group.
Samus sighed. "Thanks!"
Angelo was too busy trying to kill the Ghast. He shot a Charge Blast and a Missile at the flying mob, but it was too agile. Finally, he blasted off with his arm cannon and flew at the Ghast, summoning his sword and slashing through the Ghast himself. The Ghast disappeared in a puff of smoke and was no more.
Angelo landed with his arm cannon just as Meta Knight killed the Hoglin. The smaller swordsman was breathing heavily as the Hoglin disappeared, dropping a couple of Raw Porkchops.
He shook his head. "Have we traveled far enough yet?" he asked.
Samus looked around. This…this looks good. We can build the portal here."
She pulled out the Obsidian that Steve had given her and got to work, building the basic portal frame in an open area of the Nether Wastes. Angelo and Meta Knight kept watch, making sure they didn't get surprised by–
"There he is!" Angelo shouted, pointing in the direction they'd come from.
Sure enough, their hunter had found them.
They were running towards them at full speed, sword at their sword, across a narrow Netherrack isthmus that extended over a lava lake. It wouldn't be long before they reached the three Fighters.
"Angelo!" Samus said. "Light the portal!"
Angelo whirled around, arm cannon ready, and used Flame Pillar to create a burst of fire in the portal frame. With a whooshing sound, the Nether Portal lit up purple.
"Hurry!" Meta Knight shouted, lunging for the portal.
Angelo, however, was focused on another Ghast that was flying over the lava lake. It hadn't noticed them yet, but Angelo got an idea looking at it.
He fired a Missile at the flying mob. The projectile exploded before it could reach the Ghast, but it got its attention. The Ghast turned and screamed at Angelo, spitting a fireball at him.
"GO! NOW!" he said as he practically tackled Samus through the portal.
He didn't know what happened next. He'd gone through the portal by then, meaning he wasn't able to tell if his plan had worked. He only knew that when he came out of the portal, he was at the edge of a cliff.
"AHH!" he shouted as he fell over the side. He instantly activated the thruster on his arm cannon and hovered in the air, holding Samus with his other hand. The bounty hunter was breathing heavily as she looked down at the very long drop below her.
"What was that about!?" she said, glaring up at Angelo. "The whole thing with the Ghast!? Was that necessary!?"
Angelo grunted as he tried to keep both him and Samus aloft. With some effort, he managed to fly back to the edge of the cliff and touch down on solid ground. Gasping and panting, he tried to speak.
"Sorry. I…I was trying to get the Ghast to…destroy the portal after we went through. I was…hoping that would slow him down."
Samus frowned. "'Him'? How do you know that guy is a he?"
Angelo blinked. "Sorry. I default to 'he' when I don't know what I'm talking about. I call Mewtwo a 'he' all the time, and he tells me–Look, I just did it again. It tells me that it has no gender. It's just a habit of mine. I don't know who that guy is, but I know that I wanna get away from him as fast as I can."
Meta Knight sighed. "Well, we appear to be in the Minecraft Overworld now. Do you think we will be safe here?"
Angelo wasn't sure.
"How about we not stay and find out? Let's go," he said.
The three of them turned away from the cliff and walked into the forest.
Literally 5 seconds after that, Angelo heard something come through the portal.
Without even a word, Samus grabbed his hand while he blasted off with his arm cannon, quickly alighting on top of a tree and crouching down. Meta Knight flew up as well, hiding in a blocky tree adjacent to Angelo's.
His heart rate jumped up a couple levels as he saw the hunter below them.
The hunter had apparently found a way to light the Nether Portal, even after Angelo risked their lives to destroy it. Angelo would have to make sure they paid for that.
The hunter looked around, possibly pondering where the three Fighters could have gone. Angelo was trying his hardest not to make a sound or move in the tree.
Then the hunter moved their shoulders slightly, almost like they were scoffing, and looked up, right in Angelo's direction.
Angelo threw himself to the side as the hunter leaped straight up from the ground and landed on the tree he was hiding in, sword at the ready. He blocked a few strikes, then turned and jumped down from the tree, using his arm cannon to slow his fall. He felt the ground shake as the hunter landed behind him. Angelo whirled around with his sword, ready to block a strike, only for the hunter to get tackled by Samus.
The bounty hunter slammed into them, knocking them off-balance, and immediately fired Charge Shot at point-blank range, which hit the hunter in the chest and sent them flying back. They crashed into a tree and slid to the ground.
"Come on!" she said, already running. Angelo and Meta Knight quickly followed.
"Where do we go!?" Angelo said as they ran. "How are we gonna get out of this dimension!?"
That question was immediately answered by a pink-and-yellow blur zooming right in front of them. Angelo stopped and gasped as Kirby, riding on the Warp Star, made a wide loop and flew at the hunter. The hunter only had time to look to the side before getting absolutely sent by the Warp Star riding at almost full speed.
"Kirby!" Meta Knight called as the other Fighter flew back towards the three of them. "Well done!"
Kirby cheered as the Warp Star alighted in front of them, gesturing for Angelo, Samus, and Meta Knight to get on. Angelo didn't hesitate, and he jumped on first.
"How did he know we were gonna be here?" he asked as the Warp Star sped off.
Meta Knight shook his head. "I do not know. I can only imagine he was genuinely trying to help. For now, let us hope we can outrun our pursuer."
Angelo nodded as he looked back. There was no sign of the hunter among the trees of the forest, but he got the feeling that it wouldn't be the last time he saw them.
The Warp Star continued blasting through the sky at mach speed, then eventually disappeared with a small bling! as it traveled to another dimension.
Nah, the true threats (and annoyances) of the Nether are Magma Cubes. Freaking hate those things.
