Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with a long-awaited chapter from VOiD. Listen guys, I'm REALLY sorry about the wait on this next chapter. I got really, really sick and didn't really feel like doing anything except rest, so I didn't get opportunities to write often. Plus, even after I got better I had bad writer's block, so I found myself between a rock and a hard place for a few days.
Anyway, now we can get onto more replies to reviews!
Replies To Reviews...
YoshiEmblem: I know, right? I could picture the whole flashback of her death in my mind as I wrote. And the Goth girl Raven WILL have some importance, that's for sure. *maniacal laugh* XD
Volcanic the hedgehog: Well, not for Adrian. Anyway, about Raven: She was probably just in a really bad mood where she wouldn't believe anything if it weren't simple. Make sense, right?
Nwinds: Thanks for your support. I was thinking about just ignoring Jhon, but honestly, I knew he'd just keep putting crap in his reviews, so I couldn't just leave it.
Somebody10101: Shame on Mark? Or on me? Please be Mark. :(
Kyle McShade: Well, if I left it there then it'd be a shorter chapter than I wanted, so I kept it going. It still worked out, so I don't think it matters much.
Right then! Now to get on with the story!
Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from VOiD. Last time on VOiD we watched first as Norman and Lizzy finally arrived in Berlin, Germany for their meeting with Professor Explotar. Once they had reached him, they found that the portal found by the US Army soldiers twenty years ago had been restored to its former glory, and so they finally stepped through the other end back into Minecraft once more. Mark awoke during the aftermath of the big fire. Not only were he, Lucas and Bonbon the ones to be found unconscious, but one other person; an unenthusiastic gothic chick named Raven Clawfall. Then they were shut up in a small cave for the night, unable to go anywhere without Lucas and Bonbon being awake. That night Mark dreamt of his old girlfriend for the first time in a while, and at the end of his pleasant dream he realized that his old girlfriend on Earth had been Kelsey without him knowing it. He also realized that HE was the reason she had been hit by that truck and died at such a young age. With this horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, Mark spends more hours stuck in the cave with Kelsey and the others, every minute of which he spends relenting over his unforgiveable mistake.
Now, let the story commence!
Chapter 16: On The Move Again
After what seemed like an eternity, the morning arrived, letting individual beams of light stream through the checkered barrier into the cave where they slept. Mark got almost zero sleep because of that one dream he had. It was a dream that would change his life forever, and to be honest, Mark didn't like this kind of change. He couldn't stop thinking about it; he was the reason that Kelsey died from getting hit by a truck at too young of an age.
He and Kelsey were still holding hands from when they had gone to sleep like that, but Mark felt his being all sweaty and gross, and he quickly let go. Kelsey woke up a few moments later, probably from the sudden movement, and she looked up at Mark with a smile.
"Mmmhmm, good morning." she murmured quietly.
Mark couldn't stand to look at her, and he just stared past her at a wall with a blank expression. He just couldn't think of ANYTHING except how stupid he was back then! Kelsey noticed that he wasn't acting himself, and she propped herself up on her elbows to get a better look of him.
"Mark, what's wrong?"
Mark shook his head and looked away.
"It's nothing, I just had a bad dream, that's all."
He felt Kelsey clutch his hand from behind.
"Well, what was it about?"
Mark wanted desperately to get out of the situation, but he couldn't think of a way to escape. Thankfully, Adrian came by a moment later with some porkchops sizzling in his iron frying pan. He took out a stick and gave Mark a stick. Mark skewered the fried porkchop and then held it up.
"Thanks." he murmured.
Kelsey took one as well, and the two of them ate in silence for a few minutes. Mark tried to stretch his on as long as possible to avoid further discussion, taking bite-sized portions. Halfway through his porkchop, somebody shouted out from the back of the cave.
"He is waking up!"
Mark turned his head to look towards the wall and saw that somebody else was sitting up from their stretcher. It was Lucas! Rexum had healed up most of his skin, so he still had some burns here and there, but he was strong enough where he had woken up and was sitting upright on his golden stretcher. Everybody was rushing over to him, and soon enough he was pushing people back.
"What...? What's going on?!" he muttered groggily.
Rexum cleared a path so that Lucas could stand up. Rexum put a hand on his shoulder and said,
"Lucas, are you strong enough to walk?"
Lucas tried to walk, but his knees just buckled and he almost fell, but was caught by Rexum.
"Apparently not..." said Rexum.
Everyone groaned at the same time; now they'd have to wait even longer to get out of that tiny cave. For another few hours people just milled around the room, wondering what to do, and if they'd EVER get out of there.
Finally, night came and they were able to rest; hopefully they'd be able to move on the next day.
Mark had another dream involving his old life with Kelsey...
Now he was in the seventh grade. He was walking with Kelsey on his way home, and they were talking about the upcoming day when they would be taking a walk on the beach just to talk and hang out and have fun. It would be a nice break from schoolwork, that's for sure. As they were walking, Mark noticed that Kelsey kept moving closer and closer to him. Mark just grinned and put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her next to him.
"I saw that."
Kelsey blushed and looked away.
"Er, what? Saw what? I didn't do anything..."
Mark pulled her back and said,
"You were trying to get closer to me, weren't you?"
Kelsey didn't answer, but her cheeks reddened twice as bright. The rest of the walk was in an awkward silence. Once Mark had reached his house, he said goodbye to Kelsey, and they went their separate ways.
Then Mark awoke the next day at 9:00 exactly. It was still February, so the air was chilly, but at least there wasn't rain or snow. There hardly was snow, anyway. He leapt out of bed, threw some strawberry Poptarts in the toaster, and then headed out the door. His mom and dad were at work, and Vanessa was still sleeping, so he was able to sneak out unheard and unseen. As he was walking towards Cocoa Beach, he felt underneath his shirt, fingering the good luck Poptart necklace his dad had given him the previous year. He said that his mom gave it to him when they were teenagers, and that he might as well pass it down.
Kelsey was wearing a gray sweatshirt to keep warm, and she was curled with her knees pressed to her chest, looking out at the sunrise. She turned to see Mark coming a few seconds later, grinned, and then stood up, putting her hands in her pockets.
"Hey!" she said.
Mark walked up to her and said,
"So, shall we walk?"
She nodded, and so they began to walk side by side down the sandy beach. At first there was silence, but then Kelsey said,
"So... Can I get an update on the moving situation?"
Mark's dad was thinking about moving them down to Florida because of a business opportunity, but they still hadn't decided, because he already had a lot on his plate at the moment. Mark had been dreading the possibility of never seeing his friends again, but not as much as Kelsey, who wouldn't let go of his arm the day he first told her about it. Mark took a few silent steps, but then he said,
"Well... I don't know for sure. My dad talked to us when the whole family was around, and... It sounds like he really wants to do this."
Kelsey looked at him and said,
"Ohh, come on! Then you'd be gone forever and I'd have nobody to talk to! Those school jerks would just go back to bothering me if you left!"
Mark lowered his head to stare at his feet.
"I'm sorry, I wish I could tell you everything, but I don't even know what'll happen."
He heard Kelsey sniffle, and when he turned to look at her she was wiping her eyes with her sweatshirt. He felt horrible inside, so he moved close to her and put an arm over her shoulder.
"Hey, it's ok. I swear, I won't go through with this." he said.
Kelsey looked up at him, tears still in her eyes, her lip quivering.
"You don't know how crappy my life would turn out if you left. I'd be so lonely..."
Mark patted her on the back and pulled her into a comforting hug. They stood close together, Mark squeezing her tight, doing all he could to assure her that he wouldn't leave. But in his mind, Mark knew that it was easily possible that he'd never see her again, and that the move to Florida could be next month already.
A few moments later, Kelsey looked up at him, her face wet with tears. Then he put her arms around his neck and pulled his face to hers, and they kissed. That was the day of Mark's first kiss, and it was possibly the happiest moment of his life...
Then the next day, Mark bounced and pumped his fist all the way to school, and was met with shrieks of joy from Kelsey. The night of that day on Cocoa Beach, Mark's dad said that he had decided to stay here, that Mac headquarters couldn't handle the business without him. Mark and Kelsey jumped for joy for nearly ten minutes straight, and Mark felt ecstatic for a whole month. He had nothing to worry about anymore, and boy did it feel great...
When Mark woke from his dream that following morning there was a smile on his face. Also, Vanessa was standing over him. When she saw that he was awake, she lifted an eyebrow and said,
"Mark, you've been smiling in your sleep for nearly a half hour now."
Mark's smile disappeared.
"Go read your book, child."
Vanessa grumbled and walked away, swinging Cantatis back and forth heftily. Mark sat up on the floor and looked around. Lucas was the only one still asleep, and everyone else was either lying on the floor with bored expressions, fiddling with loose strings of their clothes, or just milling around the cave. Rexum was hovering in the center of the room above his Eyestone, humming softly with his eyes closed. Adrian was sitting at the edge of the room, dully plinking the strings on his banjo. The atmosphere was all too dull for Mark's taste, but he knew that if he even tried to escape the cave, Rexum would find out before he even broke past the checkered barrier.
And then something exciting happened that totally broke the mood that had been cast heavily throughout the cave. Rexum flew down from his position in the air and landed in front of Lucas.
"Wait a second..." he muttered.
Now everybody was hurrying over to him. He was looking at Lucas, who was still zonked out on his golden stretcher. Rexum put an ancient hand over Lucas's forehead, waited a few moments, and then pulled it back suddenly. Without warning, he brought his hand back down and slapped Lucas on the cheek, waking him up with a scream of pain.
"YOU HAVE BEEN LYING! YOU ARE PERFECTLY WELL AND CERTAINLY WELL ENOUGH TO WALK, AND YOU HAVE BEEN THAT WAY EVER SINCE AN HOUR AFTER THE FIRE! YOU REALIZE THAT YOUR LAZINESS HAS COST US OVER TWO FULL DAYS?! WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME AS IT IS! HOW IMPUDENT!" Rexum slapped Lucas hard on the same cheek, and Lucas just screamed and fell over and off the stretcher, whimpering and hiding underneath it.
Rexum destroyed the golden stretcher with a twitch of his hand, leaving Lucas curled up in a ball on the floor. He looked up at Rexum and said,
"I-I swear I wasn't f-faking it!"
"LIAR!" shouted Rexum, turning on his heel to stomp away. As he paced the room, he said, "I can read your thoughts, boy, and I could tell in an instant that you have been lying. We need all the time possible, for we have very little of it! How do you expect we will be able to get to the Void Transport before the Glitch decides to shut it down?!"
Rexum stopped by the checkered barrier and waved his wand, making it disappear instantly.
"We are leaving now!"
The cheer that echoed through the cave was almost deafening. Mark's ears actually popped somewhere during the screaming session. He also noticed that Raven—no matter what—just stayed looking like a ghost. As everybody was pouring out of the cave, Adrian started on a very quick-paced banjo solo. As Mark was laughing and talking along with everyone else, he saw something black from the corner of his eye, and when he turned his head he saw Raven shuffling away, her black hood pulled up. Mark paused for a moment, looked back at his group, and decided to go talk her into staying. She did seem lonely, and besides, the more the merrier, right?
As Mark was running up to her, he heard her shout,
"Don't bother, kid!"
Mark stopped in his tracks and watched her walk away. A few moments later he ran forward again and grabbed her shoulder. She whirled around and slapped his hand so he would let go.
"I told you, I'm not coming with you or your gang of circus freaks!"
Raven turned back around and walked off, but Mark stopped her by walking right in her path.
"C'mon, Rexum said—"
"I don't care what the crackpot said, I'm a nomad, and that means I travel alone! Besides, I don't want to spend any more time with that redneck back there."
Mark shook his head and said,
"Just because he has a banjo doesn't mean—"
At that point Rexum came dashing over.
"Raven, I believe I demanded that you accompany us! It is too dangerous now for you to wander off all alone like you have been doing in these previous years."
Rexum clasped a hand around her wrist, and she immediately reacted by biting down hard on it. But for some reason, Rexum didn't let go, and when Raven realized this she stopped biting, and they could see that Rexum had cast a spell over his own hand to protect it.
"You are coming with me, young lady."
Rexum took them both back to the group, and they continued on with their walk. Mark kept glancing over at Raven, who just sulked along with the usual dead look on her face. He hated seeing people unenthusiastic, but then again, how do you make a Goth enthusiastic about something other than gloom and pain?
They spent the rest of the day walking, talking, joking, and listening to Adrian play the banjo. It was great now that they could stretch their legs for the first time in two days. After some long hours of joyous walking, it was time to rest again, and when Mark looked ahead he could see a range of massive mountains coming up.
They set up camp for the night—it wasn't actually a camp, it was just all of them packing together on the ground like sardines because they had no beds. Once the Eyestone had been put up to protect them from the mutating landscape, everybody tried as best they could to sleep, but considering the cold and the charisma that was wafting through the air, it was really hard to fall asleep.
Meanwhile, high up in the air-born heaven locally known as the Aether, Notch and his Mojang crew were NOT inside the Aether Palace, but instead were hiding behind an extremely large bush.
Yes, they'd been hiding behind that bush for a few days now, and it was all because of the Glitch. As a very late April Fools joke, the Glitch had used its manipulating powers to make all items of clothing that Notch and his crew owned disappear. Unfortunately, Notch and co. had been outside giving a speech about the Glitch's return to the Aetherians when it happened, so they all had to leap off of the stage and hide somewhere, the sound of the crowd's laughter echoing in their heads. Now Notch found himself hiding in the brush with the rest of his crew wearing only leaves to cover up.
Notch peered through the bush at the Aether Palace, which was within sight. Unfortunately, cameramen and reporters were swarming every inch of it, and probably were inside. If they caught him in his leaf outfit, the press would have a field day.
From behind him, Steve said,
"Lord Notch, what are we supposed to do now?"
Henrik Pettersson (otherwise known as Carnalizer) spoke up to his right.
"Can't you just use commands to get rid of them?"
"No, Carnalizer, I cannot do that." muttered Notch. "It's against the law to use commands on the Aetherian community, it's against the law unless for purposes involving the law. In my opinion, this should qualify as nothing less than crime, but I can't remove them. I could transport us inside, but I don't know where we could find a private room, they're probably sniffing us down right now."
Then to his left, Jeb said,
"Just transport us into a bathroom; it's illegal for them to search there."
Notch nodded and said,
"Alright, good enough." he grouped together the cluster of employees. Including him there were thirty of them there, and then there was Steve as well, so they were kind of difficult to hide. Seven of them were missing—Carl Manneh, Aron Nieminen, Mattis 'BomBoy' Grahm, Leonard 'xlson' Axelsson, Kristoffer Jelbring, Karin Severinson and Daniel 'C418' Rosenfeld. Once everyone was together—at the moment being a group of thirty-one—Notch whispered,
"Alright, I'm going to use a spawn command to get us into one of those bathrooms."
In his head, Notch thought, /spawn 639x 3394y 10245z. They disappeared the next instant and then reappeared inside a roomy bathroom made of smooth holystone.
"Perfect!" whispered Notch.
Somewhere in the crowd Kappische muttered,
"Ok, what do we do now?"
"I'll have to get us all into the Nether. If we can find Herobrine, he'll be able to help us. But we mustn't... Be... SEEN..."
They all nodded and murmured in agreement.
"And how are we going to walk four floors down to the portal room behind your throne? We'll be seen for sure!" said Jeb.
Notch pondered over that for a moment. Just as he was thinking of a solution, the door to the bathroom opened. It wasn't the paparazzi, nor was it an Aetherian, but it was just a—
Well, at the same time, the Glitch was laughing its nonexistent head off—obviously at the prank it pulled on Notch and the rest of Mojang. The Glitch knew that it had the universe wrapped around its wing, so it figured that it might as well have some fun with the heroes in the meantime.
Once the Glitch was done laughing—which didn't happen for a while—it just sighed and then stepped off of its plasma throne to slither around. Ben, who was getting darker and darker by the hour, watched the Glitch move around the throne room.
"Well, Ben, I must say... Our plan is going perfectly. Those foolish heroes will get quite a surprise when they reach the Void Transport, that is for certain..."
Ben bowed and said,
"I agree, Lord Glitch..."
The Glitch slithered around some more before moving up to an open window to look far out at the kingdom's square, which, at one point, glowed with a beautiful blue light, but now was extinguished to a mere pulse of red.
"Still, I have been observing them as they travel, and one of their members seems highly suspicious. I cannot jump in and kill him now, because if I am wrong my whole plan would crumble. The Spirits In Between would immediately detect my rise in negative energy and I would be exposed. I am not yet ready to oppose them; I still need to meditate for a small while longer..."
Ben stayed in the bowing position.
"I agree, Lord Glitch."
The Glitch turned around to face Ben. For a moment, it paused, but then it moved forward and said,
"Do I hear an edge of resentment in your tone, Ben? You know that now that Salutem has fled that you are my servant until death. You are no longer loyal to the horrific creation that is my counterpart."
Ben lifted its eyes and looked at the Glitch.
"Yes, L-L-Lord G-G-G-G-G-Glitch..."
The Glitch's glowing red mouth curled into a wicked grin.
"I see that you are still attempting to fight off my powers. Well Ben, you must realize that it is impossible to resist me. You are getting darker by the hour, and soon enough even your voice will become like mine and all the others'. Stop fighting and make it easier for yourself."
Ben's red eyes flicked back to blue for a few moments, and it looked as though it was struggling. Its plasma body was flickering between white and black as well, and all of it was seizing up.
"N-N-N-N-N-No... I w-w-w-w-wont-t-t-t-t-t..."
The Glitch slithered forward and towered over Ben. It extended a wing threateningly and declared,
"I said give yourself to ME!"
A black beam of crackling plasma flew from the tip of the Glitch's wing, which constricted tightly around Ben. Ben screeched in an unearthly way and struggled against its bonds, shaking violently. Then words began to spill slowly from its mouth...
"...I...Will...Obey..."
The bonds were released, and Ben just melted into a black puddle on the floor, his eyes flashing dully. The Glitch turned to face the open window again and retracted its wing.
"Good, that is exactly what I wanted to hear. Now then, you WILL cooperate as we go through with our plan, Ben. You will NOT do anything to reveal where we hide, and you will NOT disobey me."
Ben's mouth had spilled somewhere past his body, but it still managed to form the words, "Yes, Lord Glitch...".
The Glitch continued to shuffle around the room, and then it stopped by the open window and looked up into the blackness of The Void.
"Still, during the cover of this night I can perform part of my master plan that will ensure my rise to complete and utter power. Once I have absorbed the three other Souls I will be unstoppable. In fact, tonight is the perfect opportunity to absorb the Darkness Soul. Don't you agree, Ben?"
Ben had finally managed to bring itself back together out of its puddle form, and it bowed before replying,
"I agree, Lord Glitch."
I apologize that this chapter isn't as long as it usually is. Like I said before, I was sick and having MAJOR writer's block. Anyway, what is this about a secret plan, huh? Have any ideas? (I do cuz I invented it. X333)
Now then, we can talk about that later, but for now how about we give out some QAA!
To the Glitch: I'm wayyyyyy cooler than you. I've got purple eyes and can teleport... I have a DRAGON! What do you have? Stupid computer viruses that can get cleaned up by McCafé or something...
The Glitch: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! HOW DARE YOU?! I will have you know that I can summon any creature I want with my infective powers! And also, DO NOT insult McCafé! I personally love their McCafé Frappé, so you PISS ME OFF! I DO NOT EVEN FEEL LIKE GIVING YOU A SAMPLE OF MY MANIACAL LAUGH!
To the Glitch: Bet you can't go an entire QAA without laughing evilly! If you do, I'll stop pestering you with questions.
The Glitch: *exaggerates laugh* MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! That is my way of saying, "NOBODY CHALLENGES THE LORD GLITCH!" MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
To the Glitch: Baddest super villain ever, here's a present. *gives The Glitch the same present Danny got* Never gets old.
The Glitch: Yes, yes, very funny... *brushes chunks of ice from wings* Now it's my turn! *freezes you in sub-zero plasma for all eternity* MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
To Kelsey: Have a baby sheep! It comes with a comfy two person bed. ;)
Kelsey: Ohhhh... Yeah, what I wouldn't give to sleep next to Mark. I'd be warm all night, not to mention the fact that I'd never feel lonely again... Ah, that is a dream I have a lot, I must admit. ^-^
To Norman and Lizzy: Excited to reenter Minecraftia?
Norman: I'll admit, I am kind of excited, I guess. It's been a while, and when there's the possibility of meeting some old friends I guess it gets me excited.
Lizzy: I agree with Norman. I can't wait! I would love to meet Joe or Quinn or... I was about to say Danny, but I don't know if he's, well... If he still resents us or not.
To Mark: What was your favorite game series on Earth besides Minecraft.
Mark: World of Warcraft, hands down, even if it means I'm a total geek. :3
To the Mutated Bed From Chapter 4: DBFHFGFHDBFNDHEUFUGJHBBXHEHUHFFSDFNDJTK5JTYPI!
Mutated Bed From Chapter 4: Hey, hey, hey! Someone actually speaks my real language! *whips off translation device* BLARHDFFFINDJFIOEJROWWPPAAIFBNGOAHGUEHEAOFNFNAAHGH !
To Vanessa: Why don't you turn Cantatis into the Glove of Gloom and the Hammer of Notch?
Vanessa: Woah, woah! Hold it, buddy! You do realize how powerful of magic I'd require to do that! Plus, to make the Glove of Gloom I'd need Dark magic instead of Light, which is something I can't obtain easily. Even if I did get my hands on Dark magic I wouldn't be able to control it. :/
Well, that's it then! For next time, what new heroes and/or enemies will Mark and the crew meet as they enter the mountains? Will they all survive the trip, or will one of their number not make it through the rugged terrain? What interesting things can we expect to see come from Raven? Who exactly burst in on Notch and the Mojang crew? And WHAT is the Glitch planning, I mean really? But for now, this is Pastrinator64, and I'll see you later with chapter numbah seventeen!
*throws sugar bomb, disappears in a cloud of fine white sugar*
Byyyyyeeeeee...
~Pastrinator64 [~]