Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from VOiD. Ok, the reason I'm posting this late is only because I just found out that I will not have any Internet access because both my parents work for the week and we still have summer. That means I won't be able to post for a week starting tomorrow morning, so THAT is why I post the chapter now. It might be possible for me to post chapters later in the afternoon—I mean, my afternoon, at least. I have no idea when all you guys have afternoon *derp :P time zones*.

Anyway, I very much appreciate your patience. But now, let's get on with some replies to reviews!

Replies To Reviews...

Kyle McShade: Have you caught on to the Glitch's plan yet?

CSICreeper: It'd be hard for me to watch you anyway; my parents are super-protective over what I see on the computer, so in other words... I've got YouTube blocked from me, unfortunately. But, I CAN look at it from a friend's house.

Somebody10101: You've got a point. Am I really doing that good of a job at the Glitch's personality? :3 I'm not promoting that it's a rapist, I'm just saying I'm glad you think it's a creep.

Volcanic the hedgehog: Spooky chap? ^-^ Thanks, that's EXACTLY what I was going for.

Nwinds: No, they all still had their Blockpacks with them during the party, so those were salvaged. Also, I'm glad you approve of these chapters, because I remember what you said about the party chapter being too much crammed into one, and I took it seriously. I guess I did a good enough job, then. Thanks to you! :D

Enderdude: Ha. Your aunt, eh? Dude, if you're part-Enderman then that means she's your half-mother. Is that what you call em?

YoshiEmblem: Aha, and TUBA won't be any better! That's what I PLAY!

Well then, how about we get on with the chapter! ;D

Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from VOiD. Last time on VOiD we watched as Queen Enderdragon decided to return into her egg form in order to open a portal for all her Endermen to escape safely. After hatching from her egg as a baby Enderdragon, all alone in the End, the Glitch appeared from out of nowhere. In the end, the little Enderdragon suffered something worse than death; getting her very soul sucked from her body and consumed by the Glitch, ripping her from existence. Afterwards we switched to the view of Mark. There we watched as the entire group was rained upon by a hailstorm of black death-bombs. Rexum was injured by one of them, and so they had to take refuge in a cluster of snow-covered mountains. Now we watch as they experience the next couple days in those mountains, their luck turning for the worst.

Now, let the story commence!

Chapter 18: Bloody Mountains

Then the morning came. Mark rose up from the newly-thawed ground shivering. The air was chilly still, but at least the snow was gone. He looked around at everyone else to see that they were all still sleeping. The bonfire in front of them was still burning somehow—must've been from Vanessa, who easily could've used her magic to stretch it on longer. Mark stood up with a slight quiver in his knees, cracked his neck and back, and then decided to take a climb up to the top of the mountain they were on.

He jumped up each block until he reached the tip of the mountain, which was over sixty blocks higher than where they slept. He shielded the bright sunlight from his eyes with one hand and peered over the mountains that were ahead. Mark actually had really good eyesight, but even he saw no end to the mountains. They'd have a lot of climbing to do, that was for sure.

Finally, after standing there for another five minutes, he headed back down the slope and then jumped over a three-block ledge and landed firmly onto their space of dirt. The noise made Lucas wake up near him. He stared up suddenly at Mark for a moment and stood up off of the ground. There was an awkward exchange of glances before somebody actually said something.

"So..." said Lucas, staring at his feet instead.

Mark shrugged.

"So, yeah..."

Another moment of silence followed, but then Lucas finally spoke again, and this time his voice sounded sincere.

"Mark, why don't you hang out with me anymore?"

Mark was a bit startled by the question. Suddenly, he felt a pang of guilt flow through him.

"Well, um..."

Lucas was right; he'd been hanging out with Adrian and Kelsey nearly the whole time. As regrets entered his mind, he gave a little jump as Mickey spoke for the first in a while—it kind of startled him, since he had totally forgotten about Mickey being in his Blockpack.

"Master! Do not let him make you guilty! He is liar and too good of liar to be trusted! Stay away, he dangerous!"

Mark looked into Lucas's hurt eyes and spoke back to Mickey in his head.

"No, Lucas is right! I haven't been much of a friend lately, and I should have been with him more often."

Mickey whispered right back with a warning in his voice.

"No! He is lying snake! He is untrustworthy! I sense it!"

"Mickey, just stop it, Lucas isn't lying about the fact that I haven't been a friend!"

"No, that not what I refer to, Master! I talk about—"

"Mickey, I said stop! I can decide for myself what I believe."

Mickey stopped talking after that. Lucas seemed to be waiting for a reply still, so Mark just sighed and looked again into his eyes.

"Lucas, I'm really sorry that I haven't been a friend to you lately. Any way I can, you know, make up for it?" asked Mark quietly.

Lucas put on a thinking face for a moment, tapping his chin with his finger.

"Hmm... Well, there is one thing I've wanted you to do."

He paused for a moment, as though purposefully stretching it on, and Mark immediately knew he wouldn't be let off the hook easily. Then Lucas grinned and turned his head to look sideways at Mark.

"I want you to kiss Raven."

Mark's eyes widened in horror and he felt his jaw drop down.

"What?! You have GOT to be kidding me!" he whispered angrily.

Lucas folded his arms and turned around slowly, a grin across his face.

"If you do just that I'll forgive you." Mark still just stared at him in utter disgust. "And you have to do it within three days for it to be valid."

Mark made a little choking noise in his throat and wiped sweat off his forehead. Lucas knew he had him in a difficult spot, so it was like he was playing a dirty game of truth or dare where he was the darer. Mark told himself that he wouldn't go through with it... But what if he didn't? Then he'd have to live with guilt for who knows how long... After bickering with himself for a few intense moments, Mark finally decided that he would go through with it, but somehow make it so unobvious that nobody, hopefully not even Raven, would notice. He knew otherwise he'd have a hard time dealing with his guilt.

So Mark made a very obvious sigh and turned to face Lucas. He extended his hand to Lucas, and Lucas shook it.

"Fine, deal."

Lucas's grin widened and he turned around.

"Good. Remember, you've got three days. Also, make sure that I actually see it, ok?"

As Lucas walked away, Mark started to panic. He busied himself with trying to think of a way to kiss Raven without it being obvious. Maybe he could make it look like an accident! Yeah! No, then maybe everybody else would think he made it an "accident" on purpose. Or he could... No... Then what about... No... Mark couldn't think of anything to do that would make it secretive. There were just too many people around...

And then an idea struck him. What if he did it when everyone was sleeping? As long as he didn't wake her up, he'd be under the cover of dark, and nobody would notice! He'd just keep Lucas awake long enough so that he would be the only other person to see it! Then he started wondering which night he'd do it. He could just wait for a day when everyone was extremely tired to ensure sleepiness.

In the midst of his thoughts, he heard somebody scream. Mark snapped out of his half-trance and looked around. Kelsey was on her feet, staring at the group of groggy people waking up on the ground.

"Adrian's gone!" she screamed.

Mark rushed over with a sinking feeling in his stomach. His head whirled around to look for their favorite cowboy, but he was nowhere to be seen. Mark walked to the edge of their flat little space and looked down towards the ground far below. To his surprise, he saw something colored a solid blue sitting in between a couple of trees at the base of their mountain.

"Guys! I think I found him!"

The others had finally gotten up, and they all walked up to where Mark was standing and looked down at the little blue speck.

"Hey, I see him!"

"Why would he be down there?"

Mark searched inside his Blockpack for anything that would get him down the snowy mountain. Finally, he found a bunch of wooden planks. He made a quick crafting table and then crafted a boat, which he placed on the edge of the mountain. Before anybody could stop him, he hopped into it and zoomed down the mountain, riding in the boat like a toboggan. It was very bumpy riding down that slope, but eventually he hit the foot of the mountain and used an upcoming tree to stop his boat. After his boat broke apart, Mark stood up and searched for Adrian, absentmindedly rubbing his sore legs.

Adrian was sitting in between two trees to his left, and to Mark's surprise he was back in his crumpled-ball form. Adrian looked like he was knocked out cold by the impact of hitting those trees. Mark quickly unfolded his crumpled form and then hastily folded his body back together like papercraft, suffering only from a few paper cuts. As soon as he folded down the last side, Adrian popped back into life and opened his eyes.

"Wha...? The hell jus' happened?" he muttered, his voice full of pain.

Mark could see large splinters of wood pierced through his checkered blue shirt into his back and arms, which must've been causing him a LOT of pain. Blood was streaming down his back as well, but at least it wasn't too serious. He took Adrian by the hand and helped his deeply shaken friend to his feet. Adrian tried to bend back, but the twenty or so giant splinters dug deeper into his back, and he winced. Mark put an arm over his shoulder and said,

"C'mon, let's get you back up that mountain; maybe Vanessa can do some of her hocus pocus, or whatever you call it."

They walked up the mountain at a slow pace with Adrian leaning on Mark's shoulder, the blood on Adrian's back dripping to dot the snow under their feet with crimson. Mark decided that he wanted to know what actually happened to Adrian.

"Dude, who'd you shake hands with? You would've had to do it if you were in your ball form."

Adrian looked down at Mark and his face gained a look of puzzlement.

"Well, I'mah not really sure, Mark. I only remember last night when somebody woke me up. It was dark, so under the cover o' dark they must'a pushed me as a ball down this mountain! I don' remember a face, though."

Mark frowned and set his mind in motion. Who would want to kill Adrian? Nobody in their group, that was for sure. Mickey must've been reading his mind, because the little silverfish spoke the moment he was finished thinking.

"The Lucas boy did it, Master! He wants Adrian to be dead! He wants to kill all us one by one!"

Mark was very angry with Mickey at the moment. He'd been accusing Lucas for things ever since they first met. In response to Mickey's antics, Mark reached behind him and bashed the backpack, making Mickey give a short squeak of pain. Afterwards he thought,

"Mickey, I said stop accusing Lucas of everything suspicious that happens! He's my friend!"

"A friend who will only become friends with you again if you do the thing you dread?"

Mark stopped for a moment, not while he was moving up the slope with Adrian, but in his brain. He had figured that Lucas was just having some fun, but... Did he just want to make Mark look like a total idiot?

"Lucas is suspicious. I say you keep an eye on him for suspicious behavior." whispered Mickey.

Then he went quiet. The rest of the walk up the snowy mountain was masked in silence. Once they reached the flatter part, everybody came crowding around them. Most of them were trying to see if Adrian had suffered from any injuries, which he had, so Mark just said that he got a bunch of splinters in the back, and that that was all. This was good news, considering a tumble like that fifty blocks down a mountain into a tree during a snowstorm would normally kill a person or at least give them permanent damage. He just got lucky.

Mark shushed everyone, grabbing their attention. They all seemed to know what was coming.

"Alright, I need to know if any of you have information on what happened to Adrian last night. If you do, step forward."

Nobody moved, they just all exchanged nervous glances. Mark couldn't really tell whodunit just by looking at faces, so he couldn't figure out if it were one of their group of someone else. He quickly locked eyes with Vanessa and said,

"Vanessa, can you, like, turn Cantatis into a scanner or something to look for any other people hidden in these mountains? If there are other people here then they must be confronted before somebody else gets attacked."

Vanessa nodded and lifted up Cantatis, and it shifted around for a few moments before appearing again as a small device that looked something like a scanner. She lifted it up into the air and a red wave flashed all around them, basking the whole area in red light for a few seconds. Moments later she lowered the red scanner and looked at the screen. She skimmed over it a few times, but obviously saw nothing of interest, and turned back to Mark.

"No, there's nobody else here but us."

"It could be a ghost!"

...

Everybody turned in silence to look at Lucas. Raven actually facepalmed. He immediately stopped talking, knowing his idea was a complete fail. Then Gabe cut in with his suggestion.

"Perhaps Adrian just rolled down the hill on accident."

Mark shook his head and explained to everyone about the story of how Adrian got his hat stolen, how he was trapped in that cave with the Spherical Specter, and especially about the curse he received. When he was finished Gabe shook his head and said,

"Well then, I believe my suggestion is very much invalid. It's not exactly possible for Adrian to shake hands with himself during his time of sleep..."

Mark immediately realized that it would have to be someone in their group. At this thought, his stomach immediately curled unpleasantly, and he thought back to what Mickey had said. Was he wrong while Mickey was really right? Was Lucas to blame?

"No... No, it wasn't him, he isn't good at hiding stuff anyway. He'd definitely look guilty." he thought to himself, trying to convince himself.

The rest of the day wasn't nearly as exciting. Rexum, still being out-of-action, could only sit up to eat and drink from what little food they actually had. Somewhere around noon Mark went out with everyone else to search for food, but they could only find a couple of sheep in the frozen mountains. They killed them anyway and just carried their bodies one by one up to their camp for cooking. That night they ate some lamb, which was tough and very gristly, barely enough to fill their stomachs for one night.

Part of the reason they were all starving was because Rexum was getting most of the food. He was still recovering from the massive—and still festering—wound in his back, and he needed a LOT of nutrients, even though they had barely anything to give him. It was that night that Adrian remembered about his Block powers, and he grew so much grass that within a minute they had plenty of seeds for wheat. With wheat they could find animals, and with animals they could breed, which meant more meat than they could carry. It sounded like a great idea, and with the prospect of food seeming closer than ever, that night's sleep seemed to pass much quicker, even with the chilly weather around them.

But then the next morning came, and whatever attacked Adrian the previous night struck again, only this time it attacked Gabe. When Mark awoke that morning he decided to make sure that everyone was there, and he found that Gabe was nowhere to be seen.

"Guys! Now Gabe's missing!" he shouted at the sleeping lot.

This was the second disappearance in two days, so the rest of their group got up quicker than the first time. Mark ran over to the edge where the slope began to steepen and looked down again at the trees. He didn't see anyone down by the trees, but Gabe could easily be somewhere inside the mini forest. Mark re-crafted his boat and rode it down the slope. He steered a bit better this time and managed to avoid hitting the trees. Once he was at the bottom he heard whooshing noises come from behind and assumed that everybody else was catching on to his idea. He heard several slams of wood on wood and painful groans a few seconds later, and felt his eyes roll.

Surrounded by people with sore limbs and headaches, Mark walked through the clustered dark trees, the sound of his and everyone else's footsteps muffled by the snow. A few seconds later, something burst suddenly from behind another tree. It was Gabe. But as soon as he emerged, his eyes glazed over and he tipped over, falling unconscious into the snow, landing heavily on his side.

He looked like he had gotten in a fight with a werewolf. His normally well-kept blackish-green hair was matted to his forehead with several chunks of it ripped out. His face was also scratched up and bloody, and both his "THIS IS SPARTA" shirt and jean shorts were torn to shreds. Kelsey screamed and rushed over to him to see if he was even still alive. She put her head to Gabe's blood-splattered chest and her eyes widened with relief.

"He's alive! Let's get him back up the mountain!" she whispered urgently.

It took both Mark and Adrian to lift the unconscious Gabe to his feet and drag him up the slope. As they went, the blood leaking from Gabe's many scratches and cuts stained the snow red, exactly like Adrian had; only it seemed twice as bad. At the flattened edge of the mountain they lay Gabe down near the bonfire next to Rexum to keep him warm. His zombified horse Felix trotted over slowly and nudged his master with a wet muzzle. He licked Gabe's blood-covered face to wake him up, but it only made him roll his head to the other side. Felix whimpered for a moment, but then just lay down beside Gabe, getting as close as possible without pushing Gabe into the bonfire.

The rest of the day went by slowly. Everyone was dreading the upcoming night, because they knew that someone—or something—was going to attack again. While Mark was sitting near the bonfire thinking about food, Kelsey came over and sat down next to him.

"Mark?" she said quietly.

Mark turned and smiled at her.

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared for tonight." she whispered.

Mark pulled her closer to keep her warm and comfortable.

"Kelsey, we'll be having nightshifts this time, so one person'll always be awake." he explained.

Kelsey sighed and scooted as close as possible to Mark, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I just hate thinking about it. It makes me feel like I'll die in my sleep as soon as I drift off or something..." she muttered.

Mark kissed her on the cheek, and she blushed but didn't push him away, just hugged him even harder.

"Nothing is going to happen to you. If anybody even TRIES to hurt you, I'll—"

Mark uttered something that he knew he'd never say aloud, and Kelsey elbowed him afterwards.

"Mark, language!" she whispered loudly.

Mark shook his head and muttered,

"Sorry, sorry... I just don't want anything to happen to anybody right now. Adrian and Gabe are pretty injured, plus Rexum can barely do anything, and he's supposed to be protecting us. I can't ask Vanessa to make a shield for us, that would mean she'd have to stay up all night long, which she wouldn't do even if you payed her. Unless she can get Rexum's Eyestone to work I think we've got nothing." suddenly, Mark stood up and looked down at Kelsey. "I'll be right back, I've got to ask Vanessa if she can control the Eyestone for us, maybe then we'll be protected."

Mark reluctantly walked away from the warmth of the fire and found Vanessa helping Adrian nearby, who winced every time she pulled out one of the huge splinters in his back. She didn't look up at him for the five seconds he stood there, so he cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Mmm, what?" she muttered, going back to pulling out splinters.

"Can you see if you can activate the Eyestone for us with your magic? Then we'd be protected overnight." Mark said quickly, eager to get back to Kelsey by the fire.

Vanessa paused and looked up at him with a serious look.

"Sure, I'll try. Can it wait, though? I'm trying to get all this wood out of his back..." she said, pointing down at Adrian.

Adrian gritted his teeth and muttered,

"Yeah, and it hurts like—"

"Hey, I'm going as fast as I can!" cut in Vanessa.

Mark walked away from the bickering and sat back down next to Kelsey, who put her arms around him again as they sat by the fire.

"She says she'll give it a go." said Mark as he ran his fingers through Kelsey's golden hair.

"Good, that makes me feel a lot better."

They sat in a warm, silent atmosphere for the next few hours, the two of them hugged together by the fire, just enjoying each other's company. Once the sun started going down and everyone was by the fire, Mark looked up and realized how late it was getting. Kelsey let him stand up to go find Vanessa, who was sitting with Adrian by the fire, covering his back with Cantatis, which was in the form of a large bandage.

"Ok, now you can only wear that while I'm still awake, but after that it turns back into a book." she said.

Adrian nodded and said,

"As long as yer magic fixes up ma back I'll be happy."

Vanessa looked up at Mark and immediately the gears in her head clicked.

"Oh, right! The Eyestone..."

She stood up and walked towards Rexum, who was sleeping with his bony hands folded on his chest on the other side of the bonfire. The Eyestone was still placed next to him, so Vanessa just bent down over it to get a good look. Then she stopped and looked back at Adrian.

"I need to borrow Cantatis back for a moment." she said.

Adrian took off the bandage with a grimace on his face and gave it up to Vanessa, who transformed it back into a book. Then she placed the book over the Eyestone and screwed her face up in concentration. Cantatis's glow intensified, surrounding the Eyestone with its aura. A few moment later, a sputtering beam of red light rose up from out of the top hole in the Eyestone and began to spread slowly, but then a few seconds later it stopped, shuddered violently, and then just dissipated away into the air, and the Eyestone returned to its icy blue state. Vanessa picked up Cantatis and turned to face their group, who'd been watching intensely the whole time—with the exception of Gabe, who was still out cold. She shrugged and said,

"I've got nothing."

They all groaned and lowered their heads in disappointment. Sadly, it wasn't just disappointing, but it was anticlimactic too. It was then that Mark started giving people their shifts. He would go for the first two hours, then Adrian, then—it took an extra five minutes of complaints from her—Raven, and then Vanessa, and finally, Lucas.

Just a half hour later, all the mountains were covered in a sheet of cold and dark. While everyone else attempted sleep by the bonfire, Mark sat up and kept a watchful eye. It was pretty easy for him to stay away considering how restless he had been all day. His two hours went by slowly, but when they were over he crawled on his hands and knees over to Adrian and shook him awake. Once Adrian was ready to begin his shift, Mark fell flat on the finally-thawed ground to go to sleep. It took a long time, but after what was probably an hour he felt his eyelids begin to droop. Soon after the drowsiness began, he fell into a troubled sleep full of nightmares. He couldn't even find peace in his sleep anymore...

Oh man! Now that Rexum is out of action I guess none of them are safe! Who'll be attacked next?! (I knoooooooooowwwwwwww... ;D)

Anyhow, let's get on with some more QAA!

To the Glitch:You think I'm done? *Kamehameha turns around suddenly* Bending Kamehameha! I thought you would do that!

The Glitch: Clearly you misunderstand! *opens black hole mouth and sucks up the blast* I... ABSORB... EVERYTHING! THERE IS NOTHING I CANNOT ABSORB! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

To Notch:You are the all powerful being in Minecraft, right? So why don't you use a /give command and spawn in 30 sets of leather/iron/gold/diamond armor? You would at least be covered!

Notch: You don't think hard enough, my friend! Don't you think I've tried?! The Glitch has ripped me of my ability to spawn armor and any other type of clothing! It wouldn't have let me go with all my abilities, what would the fun be in that? It wants this embarrassment to last as long as possible... *grumbles*

To the Glitch: Why did you kill my aunt?! You dirty virus! And last time I said mcafee like the antivirus program not the McDonald's thing.

The Glitch: Oh... Not McCafé... STILL! I AM INSULTED EITHER WAY! THE ANTIVIRUS MCAFEE PROGRAM IS NOT NEARLY ENOUGH TO DESTROY ME! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Dear Notch: Why can't you spawn in clothes? Is it more difficult than it seems?

Notch: I already told you; I CANNOT spawn in clothes because the Glitch has ripped that ability from my code!

Well then, how will Mark and the others survive now that they know someone—or something—was out to kill them? Was it the Glitch, possibly coming to steal the Balance Core? And will Rexum be able to recover soon enough for them to leave before their situation gets worse?! Find out next chapter in VOiD! But for now, this is Pastrinator64, and I'll see you later with chapter numbah nineteen!

*throws sugar bomb, disappears in a cloud of fine white sugar*

Byyyyyeeeeee...

~Pastrinator64 [~]