Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from VOiD. Sorry about the longer wait, guys. I had my fourteenth birthday yesterday—WOOT WOOT—and unfortunately it was also my first day of eight grade. Yeah, that sucked buckets. I've just been busy with school and everything, so it took me a bit longer to get cracking on this next chapter. I am actually pretty proud of myself for this one, especially at the ending. Astrid appears quite a few times in this one, so she keeps bouncing back, too. Anyway, I'm not gonna give you any more info beyond that. Let's just get on with replies to reviews! :D
Replies To Reviews...
Volcanic the hedgehog: I like to picture Josh as a chubby fourteen year-old with a baby face. Yeah, that's pretty much it. ;D
BfheadGamer: Nice! Wait, was that before or after you read the chapter?
CSICreeper: Don't like the whole Kelsey-being-heartbroken thing, do you? Then you're gonna HATE these next chapters, man. *evil laughter*
Nwinds: 1. Hey, wait a moment, I had maybe two sentences involving the Mist. I don't go any deeper into that anyway, because if I did I'd have a LOT of work to do, and that's if I actually wanted to include Mythology, which I really don't (not including Minecraftia's legends and stuff). You do know that there's a Mythology mod for Minecraft, right? 2. Not Bad. :[ 3. Wait... What do you mean Malware free? I have no idea what that means, honestly.
Enderdude: Dude, I'm not picking favorites with Ky. He just gave the best overall OC, that's all. And yes, I don't care which OC you use for the next OC acceptance, although I have NO clue when I'll be asking for OCs again, but it will be a while, that's certain.
Alrighty then! Shall we get on with the story? Yes? Yes.
Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from VOiD. Last time on VOiD we watched as Mark awoke to find himself in a new place much different from the sodden forest he had fallen in before. He was in an infirmary instead, the hospital wing of the famous Diamond University—or at least another duplicate of it. There he became part of a group of graduating students and met some new friends, all of which were great. But still, with the infamous Astrid Silverfishstone following him everywhere and his thoughts still focused on getting Kelsey back and getting back at Lucas, Mark was still distracted from all the other things in his life. He wasn't sure what he'd have to do to get Kelsey to see the truth, plus what would he do to Lucas to make him pay for ruining a perfect relationship? Well, Mark's decisions only get tougher from here.
Now, let the story commence!
Chapter 21: Break His Soul In Half
Mark and Josh slept for the start of Blockbusting week since neither of them had to attend classes. It was nice for both of them; it was good for Mark because he had gotten pretty much zero sleep ever since their house had gotten burned down, and it was good for Josh because he'd had to wake up early for classes for a LONG time before then.
When they did wake up at 10:45 AM, they both got dressed—Mark got reasonably tasteful clothes from the university—and headed out into the hall where they found all the other graduating boys standing around and talking or moving through the hall this way and that. On their way down the stairwell Adrian caught up to them.
"Mornin, Mark!"
He looked at Josh, who was actually only three inches shorter than Adrian.
"So, who's your friend?"
Josh held out a pudgy hand to Adrian's calloused one and they shook hands.
"My name's Josh. I haven't got a Block power yet, but I will in just a week." he said with a polite smile on his face.
Adrian smiled back and they continued down the stairwell.
"My name's Adrian Grass." he said. (He didn't give his REAL last name from Earth, which would involve too much explaining.)
They headed down to breakfast and ate all they could for an hour, talking and talking about the upcoming week. But then, after an hour murmurs started to fly through the mass of fourteen year-old students as the president of Diamond University came up onto the podium that stood in front of all the cafeteria tables. The man was actually quite gangly with shaggy, unkempt hair, but still had a nice tan like he had taken a trip to Hawaii. The president cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone in front of him.
"Good morning, students!" he said brightly, beaming around at all of them. "I know that there has been a lot of hype leading up to Blockbusting week, and I am happy to announce that everything has been scheduled as planned and all accidents from the previous years have been avoided!"
Mark turned to Josh and whispered,
"What accidents is he talking about?"
"In the past years there have been lots of accidents, actually. One of the worst ones was when one of our monster-training Ghasts escaped set the whole stadium on fire before somebody could kill the thing. It took days to pour water over the entire stadium, and you wouldn't believe how horrible all the teachers were that week—they had to help, so they were all really surly and stuff."
Mark looked back up at the president and started listening to him speak again.
"But first, I must establish that this year there will be some changes."
At these words, the whole mass of students erupted with whispers and murmurs. It only lasted a few seconds, and when it died down the president continued.
"Due to the recent rise of the Glitch and the mutating of landscape at nighttime, there has been a protective field set over the whole of our precious mushroom island, so I must say that no one is allowed outside of the perimeter of the island, and this is for their own safety. This means that boating, diving, and swimming in the open ocean will be prohibited, and only fishing will be allowed among the water-oriented activities."
This caused an uproar of groans from all the students, but the president quickly quieted them down so he could continue.
"Although, ALL other activities will be going as scheduled!" this time, clapping erupted from the crowd. "So, it is my privilege to announce that I, Joseph Moses Camera, President of Diamond University, will be hosting most or all of the festivities!"
Mark felt an itch in his brain when he heard that name. Then he remembered his dad once talking about a psychedelic friend he had when he was a teenager named Joe Camera, and Mark laughed a bit when he looked back at President Camera. He certainly didn't look psychedelic. That was for sure. He looked so, well, important. President Camera continued on by listing all the events that would occur during Blockbusting Week. The first day—which was that day—they'd be having a day-long Sports Bash involving several sports that Mark loved, only they were being replaced with other words to make wordplay. These included Baseblock, Footblock, Basketblock, Volleyblock, Blockminton, and Bloccer. Mark couldn't help but laugh at all of them.
After breakfast ended Mark, Adrian and Josh headed outside to start a game of Basketblock. As they walked out the doors, Mark saw somebody running towards them from the corner of his eye. He groaned as he looked towards the person, because it was Astrid again. She stopped in front of the three of them, blocking their path, and then said,
"So, how about telling me those plans of yours?"
Mark walked right past her, taking his friends with him.
"I already said NO."
Astrid didn't follow them, thankfully, so they were able to talk in peace as they made their way into the massive sports stadium. Mark was pretty amazed, actually. It was the same size as a football field, and overall it really did look like one. There were banners, screens, goal posts, and yard lines in the grass. The entire stadium was full of students, too. Mark, Adrian and Josh quickly located a small wood-paneled area with two hoops by the edge of the stadium.
Mark got used to bouncing a basketblock (a basketball in the shape of a block rather than a ball) fairly quickly, and he was scoring so much that Adrian and Josh could hardly keep up with him. He was both tall and naturally gifted in sports, so those were probably main factors. After a few more games they moved on to tennis (there was obviously no way to put that into wordplay). As soon as Mark had a racquet he moved onto one half of the tennis court and waited for Adrian and Josh to get onto the other with their racquets.
"Alright: TENNIS!"
Mark jumped and looked to his left. Astrid was there. She was wearing an over-the-top tennis getup complete with a blindingly green sweatband—Mark had a difficult time looking at her. She was jumping all over, pretending to be pumped for the game. She looked over at Mark, clapped her hands together and then held her racquet to her side.
"C'mon! Let's go! Let's do some tennis!"
While she was jumping from side to side doing practice swings, Mark just glared at her and muttered,
"You're still here?"
"Yep! What a coincidence that you and I are on the same half of the court! You'll be my tennis partner, and while we're playing maybe you can tell me about those plans!"
Mark was about to tell her to go away when Josh called out from the other end of the court.
"Hey, Mark! Serve the ball, already!"
Mark grudgingly played a game of tennis with Astrid and her stupid sweatband, but then immediately avoided her and steered his friends over to where the footballs were being tossed around. As they sped across the field Mark looked behind him several times to check that Astrid wasn't still following him. Then they joined a group of twenty other graduating guys and started throwing the old pigskin around.
Mark threw the footblock to Adrian, then the ball went to the bladder-kid Jack, then back to him, to Josh, to another kid, to another, to another, to another—
"Hey, Mark!"
Mark turned his head for a split second and saw Astrid running towards him. He quickly avoided her gaze and turned his attention back to the game, but was immediately smacked in the nose by a footblock.
When Mark sat back up, there were people standing over him. He could feel something warm and wet sticking to his face, too. It must've been blood, because a moment later he looked down and saw a footblock sitting in his lap. And when he looked up, hoping that he wouldn't see that one person, he saw them anyway. Astrid was directly in front of him, and she looped her arm around his, pulling him up and trying to rush him down the field.
"I'll take him to the nurse!" she shouted in a horribly fake sympathetic voice.
Mark quick looked at his hotbar and was deeply disappointed to find no porkchops or anything to heal him. Within the next few minutes to come Mark was already back in the infirmary he had been so eager to get out of. When the nurse saw him she just handed him a chicken leg, and as soon as he ate it his nose stopped bleeding, and he wiped his face with a wet sponge.
"So, now that we're pretty much alone, how about just telling me about those plans? I'd LOVE to help!"
Mark glared over at her and set the sponge down on a tray the nurse was holding.
"And I'd LOVE it if you'd just shut up about the plans! They are CONFIDENTIAL! Know what that means?"
He didn't stick around to hear her answer. He just sped out of the infirmary into the hallway, eager to get back to the field with all the other guys. In another few minutes he finally set foot in the neatly-kept grass. He joined back in with the guys and threw the footblock around some more. And then, just as time was flying by, lunchtime came again and they all headed back into Diamond University for some grub.
Mark sat down at a table with Adrian, Josh, Barry and Jack, and they talked through the entire meal despite their mouths being stuffed with victuals. After lunch they headed back outside to play some Blockminton. As Mark walked onto the field he heard a familiar voice come from his right.
"Yeah, that's really what happened... I feel so embarrassed!"
When Mark turned his head and looked up he felt his stomach drop. Sitting above him was Kelsey, and she was surrounded by a group of new friends. She was crying, of course, and the rest of the girls were hugging her or patting her back or braiding her hair. Or all three. Mark could tell that she was talking about the scene with him and Raven. The dark-skinned girl next to her shook her head full of curly hair and said,
"You sound like ONE lovesick puppy, girly!"
Kelsey turned to look at her with reddened eyes and said,
"Janice, I'm not lovesick! I'm just...I'm just plain sick."
The girl sitting behind Kelsey grabbed her shoulder and said,
"Maybe Janice is right. You're lovesick for that boy!"
Kelsey shook her hand off quickly.
"I'm not—"
But she got interrupted by the last girl that sat in front of her, who looked her straight in the eye and said,
"I agree with Janice and Maggie; you're lovesick with Mark. But what YOU need to do is stop hanging onto that guy. He's bad for you!"
Mark could feel his face turn red with anger. He wasn't a bad person! He loved Kelsey more than anybody else in the world, whether that be on Earth or in the world of Minecraft! He wished more than anything to be able to have Kelsey forgive him and understand what really happened. Suddenly, somebody tapped his shoulder and he snapped back into reality.
"Mark. Mark! Hello, Earth to Mark!"
He turned around and saw Josh standing there with Adrian. Mark froze for a moment, took one last glance up at the stands where Kelsey and her huddle of friends sat, but then shook his darkened thoughts from his mind. As they were walking out onto the grass, Mark heard the girls' whispers become louder.
"Hey, look! Isn't that him?"
"Yeah... Oh, why does he have to be so cute...?"
"Girl, you ignore that piece of garbage, you know you deserve better!"
Mark sped down the field in a state of absolute rage. He was NOT a piece of garbage! Mark spent the rest of the afternoon in a bad mood, and time passed quickly on the field. Before he knew it he was already walking with Adrian, Josh, Barry and Jack back to the building.
They ate dinner with the rest of the students—a delicious meal of well-prepared lasagna for Mark—and then headed back up to their dorms. Unfortunately, President Camera made another disappointing announcement towards the end of the meal.
"I must let you all know that no student is permitted to wander outside of campus after 9:00 unless supervised by a staff member due to the mutating landscape."
This got an even louder and more angry reaction than his first one that he gave earlier. It took another minute for him to get everyone to shut up, and when he did he looked very flustered.
"All these precautions are to keep you safe, and what I cannot have is a student who is injured or killed!" At those words everyone fell completely silent, even the whispers becoming diminished. "So, after dinner you are all to stay inside for the rest of the night. You may wander freely throughout the building, but I deeply discourage anyone leaving the building. That will be all."
Mark turned back to face his group of friends. Jack groaned and rested his chin in his hands.
"Man, I was really looking forward to being out at night with all the girls..."
This got a laugh out of everybody. Barry slapped Jack on the back with a huge hand and said,
"Jack, you flirt you!"
Jack pushed the hand off him with a look of annoyance, but as everybody continued to laugh he couldn't help but join in. After dinner they headed back up to their dorms, but instead of going to bed somebody ended up starting an orange-throwing war. Mark had been caught off guard, because one zoomed past his ear as he was walking into the hallway. Halfway during the fight one hit Barry right in the family jewels, and he let out a little unmanly choking noise. Everybody just froze. Then Adrian came out of his room with his banjo and started playing it, singing made-up lyrics to the song "I'm Yours."
"Well Barry was fighting with a grapefruit,
But then he cried out just like a broken flute.
An orange hit him in the nuts...
And now he's coughing up his guuuuuts!"
At that point Barry chased after Adrian, who managed to keep plinking away at his banjo as he ran away. It was a very eventful night, that was for sure. When Mark went to bed finally at 12:30 he still could hardly sleep. Part of it was excitement for the upcoming week, but the other factor was the horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that was because of his thoughts about Kelsey. When he thought of Kelsey he thought about that horrible kiss with Raven, and when he thought about THAT his thoughts drifted to Lucas. A bitter taste came to his mouth as Lucas's grinning face swam into view under his closed eyelids. Unfortunately, that was the last thing he remembered seeing before he drifted into sleep.
It always seemed like a curse that was upon Mark, because that night he had ANOTHER horrible dream.
The beginning of the dream was great, actually. In the dream, Mark was lying on the ground next to Kelsey, cuddling next to her to share her warmth. They were just together for the blissful sleepy happiness they wanted, and there was nothing to disturb them. Mark remembered kissing her a couple times, but he was also half-asleep, so all he remembered was bits and pieces, though even that was enough to satisfy him.
But then later he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder, and when he looked up he saw Raven standing over him with a mischievous grin on her face. Before he could do anything he was hoisted to his feet, and Raven pulled him into a kiss. At first, Mark wanted to get away from her, but then he realized HE was enjoying it. Her usually chilly skin was very warm against his, and he was feeling a hot pleasure still running through him as he pressed herself against him. In fact, he could stay like that for a while...
But then Kelsey came in and pulled him back, and they kissed. A cool feeling spread over him instead, much different from the hot one he'd gotten with Raven. This sensation was equally pleasant, just a bit different. He stayed in the sleepy, peaceful silence kissing with Kelsey for only a moment, but then Raven wrenched him by the arm back to her.
The next thing he knew, Mark was dancing intensely with Raven, a sexy swing tune playing in the background that he couldn't identify. Her body moved in sync with his, and he actually was enjoying the heat that was cast over him as he swung back and forth with Raven, his senses maximized and his breathing heavy. His palms were sweating along with the rest of him; he was dizzy too, and for some reason the heat was becoming so addicting to him that he could only dance with Raven faster, their bodies darting this way and that with their hands clasped tightly together.
And then Kelsey pulled him back once again and put her hands in his, and that cool feeling swept over him, making him a little sleepy again. Mark put one hand with hers to the side and then the other on her waist, and the next thing he knew he was dancing with Kelsey. This was the opposite of what he'd experienced, for this atmosphere was so quiet and full of blissful love as they slow-danced to a calming tune. They swayed back and forth like palm trees, swaying in tune with the musical wind that was drifting past, her slow and steady heartbeat echoing with his. Feeling like he was melting away, Mark observed Kelsey's absolute beauty—those eyes really did make him want to fall asleep with her in silence...
But then Raven grabbed his hand again, ready to dance even harder than before and drown Mark in her heat, but Kelsey held tight onto his other hand, pulling in the opposite direction. Mark strained between the two girls, one half of him dizzy with heat, the other immersed in cooling, calming paradise. But right there when he had to choose between the hot and the cold, his whole body just felt like it would rip in half, and he couldn't bring himself to do it...
Mark awoke feeling both extremely hot and cold, just like he had in the dream. Not only that, but he felt bile leaping into his throat and tears leaping into his eyes. He leapt from bed and clambered over to the garbage bin in the corner of the room, throwing up in it, almost spilling it right down his front. Then the tears came, and as Mark's cheeks were wetting with the salty little drops he was approached by Josh.
"Dude, are you okay?!"
Mark's retching continued, this time some accidentally hitting his shirt, and once all the bile had gone from his throat and he had soaked his cheeks with his own tears, he stood up, threw off his soiled T-shirt and angrily put on a new one. He whirled around and faced Josh, snapping,
"I just can't DO IT! Damn it, I just CAN'T!"
Josh jumped back onto his bed with a look of pure terror.
"I HAVE TO PICK BETWEEN THEM! I WANT THEM BOTH TO BE HAPPY!" Mark leaned up against the wall and stared at the ground, his throat closing up. "OH GOD, I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS, I JUST CAN'T!"
The two of them stood in silence for a moment, Josh holding his breath on top of his covers and Mark breathing heavily up against the doorway, staring at the floor with a mind full of mismatched, jumbled thoughts.
"I...I can't hurt either of them...but damn it, I...I don't even deserve either of them, anyway. I've been such a CREEP! I mean, I BARELY know Kelsey and yet I'm SO F***ING OBSESSED WITH HER! WHAT THE NETHER IS WRONG WITH ME?!"
Mark stepped out slightly and then marched towards the door to his dorm room, slammed it into the wall as it opened, and kocked it off its hinges. The door fell down and smashed on his foot, and Mark screamed out in both rage and pain and crumpled to the ground in a crumbly, pathetic mess. He didn't hear the entire swarm of alerted-looking students that starting streaming into the hallway to see what the commotion was. Mark just clutched his head, trying hard to stop the incessant pounding that was blasting his brain. It was bad enough where he forgot that his foot was being crushed by the door.
Mark couldn't remember where he was for a moment, but then the pounding in his head slowed down, and he opened his eyes to see people trying to get him off the ground. Immediately Mark slapped the first person he saw in the jaw to get rid of a measly portion of the anger that was spilling into him. Mark wrenched his foot free of the weight of the door and got to his feet, stumbling down the hall half-blind, the tears still fresh in his eyes. He made his way down several stairways and down a lot of hallways, not sure of where he was going but not caring.
Then, after what seemed like an eternity of walking, Mark stepped out of another door and felt a rush of cold air hit him. He inferred that he was outside and that it was VERY late, but that didn't stop him from moving. He felt plants squish beneath his feet as he walked forward. Without warning, he felt his leg unexpectedly hit something wooden and he toppled forward, falling a great deal until he splashed down into water. He emerged a few confusing seconds later, soaking and chilled to the bone, and floated there in the eerie silence of night. He didn't care anymore, he just didn't care. Even there, floating in the freezing moonlit water, all he could think about was the fact that he'd be breaking a girl's heart very soon, which was something he swore he would never do. He didn't want to lose someone again. Not again...
Sniff... I'm making myself cry, darn it... Mark is in such a horrible place it makes me want to punch something... I probably will... *punches wall several times* I'm still bummed... Well, I guess I can't dwell on it, because we still have QAA to get on with.
To the Glitch: You have a choice. One, you can walk away and not get killed. Or two, I fire every ounce of destructive energy to destroy you. Which shall it be?
The Glitch: Here, let me explain what will happen here for you. If I don't walk away—really slither, but same thing—then you have Hell break loose on me. If you do that, you don't understand that I am capable of ABSORBING that. As long is anything is made of atoms I can mutate it and then consume. I am a virus, THAT'S WHAT I DO! I do not suggest you waste your energy on me if you want to live... Peasant... MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
To Kelsey: There, is that a little better? Here, I'll let you go out to eat, get anything you want. I just want help in any way, shape or form.
Kelsey: I don't know... It's just s-so weird, because I feel like Mark would actually consider l-leaving m-me f-f-for... For RAVEN! *continues to bawl her eyes out, but only for a few seconds* N-no, Kelsey, you're stronger than this. You d-don't need him... Yeah, that's it. You DON'T need Mark, you'll get over it and find somebody else! *talks to herself for a while*
To the Glitch: Hey u heard of Krillen from Dragon Ball Z? Take how bad he gets pwned and times that by ten. That's still won't be near the beat down you're going to get in the end. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if someone named Krillen kicked your ass.
The Glitch: COME AT ME BRO! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAYOUNGPEOPLELANGUAGEHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
To da Glitch: I bet you couldn't tell the rotting insides of a dead gundark from an Ithorian's butt. :P
Da Glitch: HOW DARE YOU! I AM THE MOST POWERFUL BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH— *rambles on about how great and powerful it is as it has billions of times before*
To the fourth wall repairman: *turns the fourth wall into a pigeon using his pigeon powers* AGOOGOOGOOGOO!
Fourth wall repairman: *is swarmed by Cuccos * GAH! HEEEEEEEEELP!
To the Glitch: *harnesses his dark energy to turn the Glitch into a bay!* OOOOAA! AGOOGOOGOOGOOGOOGOOOGOGOOGOGOGOO!
The Glitch: *is caught in a swarm of Cuccos just like the fourth wall repairman* BAH! SO MUCH POULTRY, SO LITTLE TIME! *eats all the Cuccos for an afternoon snack, freeing the fourth wall repairman of the feather torrent*
To Norman: Sorry.
Norman: I forgive you, but I STILL need to find those kids!
To Everyone: I GOT THE MCDONALDS MOD! LET'S GO TO THE MCDONALDS DIMENSION!
Everyone except the Glitch: YAY, MCDONALDS!
The Glitch: *Grumpy Cat face* No.
Well, for next time, how will Mark bring himself to choose between two girls when he knows he will have to break one of their hearts? Will somebody find him floating in that freezing ocean or will he just be lost in the current? Will Lucas ever get the horrible beat down he deserves?! (He'd better. -_-) Find out next chapter in VOiD! But for now, this is Pastrinator64, and I'll see you later with chapter numbah twenty-two!
*throws sugar bomb, disappears in a cloud of fine white sugar*
Byyyyyeeeeee...
~Pastrinator64 [~]