Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from VOiD. School's been a huge obstacle nowadays, and I sincerely hope you guys aren't losing faith in me, because I stayed up all last night trying to finish this chapter. I wouldn't want it to be all for naught, y'know?
Secondly, I'd just like to thank all my faithful fans for getting VOiD up to 300 reviews! *happy dance* I thought this story would only get to 300 at its end, but since there are many more chapters to come, who knows what it might heighten to? SO EXCITED! XD
And thirdly, I was just going back and recording a bunch of important stuff from The Glitch last night and I decided to look at some of the story's finest moments. When I came to the scene where Norman and Lizzy are about to leave for Earth and they're giving their final farewells to their friends, I teared up a little. It brought back so many memories... Just thought I'd share that.
Anyway, crying will have to wait, because we need to get on with the story! But first, how about some replies to YOUR reviews?
Replies To Reviews
Volcanic the hedgehog: Man, you know what's really hard, though? It's tough to put something that would be easier to film into writing. Like, with all the description I had to put in to Operation Overkill I was having a lot of trouble keeping it fluent.
CSICreeper: It's one of my top ten favorite episodes. *also piles cookies on top of you because you're special* I wish I could watch Naruto, but my parents don't think it's a good idea to let me have access to YouTube. *grunts in annoyance* Apparently I can't handle anything bad that pops up, but... Whatever, I survive.
BfheadGamer: Heck yeah! *brofist*
Dirt BlockZ: Yeah, I like bringing back characters from the first book. It's kinda fun, so why not?
AssassinRedCreeper: Do you like waffles? *YEAH I LIKE WAFFLES!* Do you like pancakes? *YEAH I LIKE PANCAKES!* Do you like French toast? *YEAH I LIKE FRENCH TOAST!* Doot doot dadoot can't wait to get a mouthful!
lightsaber36: I'm a guy, so let's get that straight just to make it easier. :D But then again, I could be a dog, couldn't I? On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog... NOBODY! XD
Nwinds: I am so very glad that you approve. I know that I was in a tough rut earlier in the story, but I seemed to have gotten out of it, right?
Mmtunlight: Actually, if you want to ask a question to the author (me) just talk in normal review form. If you want to talk in QAA style, then just ask a question to a character and specify who you want to ask and what. Do I make sense?
Okay, now that we've got THAT out of the way, how about we get on with the real story?
Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from VOiD. Last time on VOiD we watched as Mark and his friends prepared for Lucas's demise. They spent several hours poring over their plan, making sure it was perfect for the upcoming meeting. At the same time, Norman and Liz had found themselves wandering into the Temple Of Day And Night, although the Mastermind wasn't currently at home. There they witnessed a live-action vision of Mark and Vanessa's activity, and then the story switched back to Mark's view. After a long day of planning the meeting finally came, and Mark was able to recruit fifteen other graduating students. Now we watch as they work together to perform the ultimate prank against Lucas: Operation Overkill.
Now, let the story commence!
Chapter 24: An Operation Gone Horribly Wrong
The following days were hectic for everyone. Mark had an entire team of mischief-makers to direct, plus there were events, AND they had to organize all their stuff at night. Jack was doing a pretty good job, and when he wasn't moaning in the bathroom he was sitting secluded in the corner of the lunchroom with his eyes closed, obviously thinking up commands by the busload. Thankfully, he was able to slide beneath the administrative system undetected, so he was able to make all blocks within three blocks of the campus vulnerable, which allowed them to break and/or build as long as they were still within school grounds.
Every night was a hassle for both Alpha Team and Gold Team. Alpha Team had many close calls with distracting the nighttime guards, and on many occasions someone was nearly caught. Gold Team also had to deal with technical problems involving complicated redstone-wiring. At one point a whole waterfall came down out of the ceiling in one of the hallways they were working at, so it took at least five minutes of loud splashing to get it all cleaned up, that's how much there was. Still, Alpha Team did their jobs well enough along with Gold Team, so everything turned out okay in the end.
Well, after one crazy week, their master plan had come to a finish. Right on time, too; the final day of Blockbusting Week had arrived, and they were going to take a fieldtrip to the Slayers Academy, the training camp for Dungeoneers who want to join the Slayers, the most skilled Dungeoneers in the Minecraft Dimension, the soldiers of Minecraftia. It was a fieldtrip envied by many, but all graduating students would take a six-hour-long schoolcart—a massively oversized minecart on tracks—ride to their destination.
Mark awoke with both high charisma and persistent nerves at three in the morning, for they would be leaving at 4:30 AM, but they needed enough time for Operation Overkill. He shook Josh awake, who grumbled for a moment, but got up a few minutes later; they both were able to get ready within fifteen minutes. They still had an hour and fifteen minutes to spare, which was a fine amount of time. As Mark was lifting his Blockpack onto his back he heard Mickey speak to him again.
"Master, today is day for embarassing suspicious boy, yes?"
Mark grinned and patted his Blockpack.
"Yep, we're going to make Lucas wish he'd never joined our group. Only after this will he understand what he's put me through..."
"Master is great! Master is great master for Mickey! Mickey does not like boy, he is suspicious, and Master does not like boy, so we close! We are close, right Master?"
"Yeah, I guess. Sorry we haven't really, y'know, spoken in a while."
"That is okay. Mickey has been sleepy, he sleepy in warm bag, he fall asleep a lot."
Mark just nodded, unsure of what else to say, and walked with Josh out the door. Adrian and Barry were waiting in the stairwell at the other end of the hallway.
"Hey." they both said, seeing Mark and Josh approach.
Mark leaned against the wall and looked down the stairwell at the end of the girl's hallway.
"So, where are Astrid and Jack?"
"They're both gettin' ready, I s'pose." murmured Adrian, who was occupying himself with twirling his iron frying pan on one finger.
Suddenly, Astrid came running up into the stairwell from above, coming directly from the boys' hallway.
"What took you so long?" asked Barry gruffly, folding his hairy arms.
Astrid bounced on her heels and quickly blew her hair from her eyes.
"I just filled Lucas's dorm room with silverfish stone—I gotta use my Block power sometime, right? Anyway, I covered the entire door with them and then stacked them up all over the room, in front of the mirror, above the trash can, at the foot of his bed, and pretty much everywhere else! Guess what'll happen when he wakes up at 3:30 to get ready and wants to clear out the "stone"?"
Mark's grin widened to match Astrid's as the image of Lucas screaming like a girl with silverfish swarming him flashed through his mind.
"Where's Jack?" she asked.
Barry shrugged and looked back up towards the boy's hallway.
"Getting ready too, probably."
Josh elbowed Mark and whispered,
"Or using the bathroom for the billionth time."
They stood around talking for a few minutes, but then Astrid remembered something and took off her Blockpack, rummaging around inside it.
"What are you looking for?" asked Josh curiously.
Astrid found what she was looking for and held out a stack of sixty obsidian blocks to them.
"What're those fer?" muttered Adrian in a slightly suspicious tone.
"These are for emergencies only..." said Astrid, handing them each a stack of ten obsidian and leaving ten for herself. "If you ever find yourself in trouble, like, in any circumstance, just build yourself a Nether portal! I carry this stuff with me all the time, plus like a dozen flint and steels. Is that how you say it? I always had trouble saying the plural for flint and steel..." she added, handing them each a flint and steel.
As Mark took a stack and the flint and steel he grinned, saying,
"Just as Vanessa, she'd give you a whole lecture on how to say it if you really wanted."
They waited until 3:36 before Jack walked down into the stairwell. He too was smiling, and Mark knew for a fact that he too was overcome with anticipation.
"Where were you, the bathroom?" muttered Barry impatiently.
Jack shook his head and broadened his smile, then pulled something from out of the hotbar on his right arm. It was a stack of six walkie-talkies.
"Nope, I was making these little beauties; I've got a homemade walk-talkie for everyone on the team. There were twenty-one before, but I already gave the others out last night." he handed each of his team members a walkie-talkie and then pocketed his. "Alright, so when does Operation Overkill officially begin?"
Mark pointed back up towards the boys' hallway and said,
"Well, Astrid set up a bunch of silverfish stones in his dorm room, so when Lucas wakes up at 3:45 to get ready for the fieldtrip he'll get a very unpleasant surprise. He and his roommate, actually."
Adrian sighed happily and a look of amusement crossed his face.
"Ah, I sho' do feel sorry fer Lucas's roommate. He's gotta deal wit' it too."
Mark checked his watch again. It was already 3:38, so they only had seven minutes before the fun began. The six of them stood around in the stairwell for another six minutes before Mark decided to alert both Alpha Team and Gold Team. He pressed down on the small speaker button on his walkie-talkie and spoke into it.
"Alright, everybody," he whispered, "Operation Overkill is about to begin. Everyone get to their stations immediately. I will be giving orders as we go through the plan, okay?" He looked down at his watch and saw that they had another thirty seconds before the digital alarm clock in Lucas's dorm room would sound.
"We begin in thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven...
...twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen...
...ten, nine, eight...
...five, four, three, two, one." somewhere in the boys hallway a soft buzzing sound could be heard.
"Operation Overkill has begun."
Mark whispered to his friends to stay quiet, and together they ran as silently as possible up to Lucas and his roommate Harry's dorm room. They all leaned in close to hear what was going on inside. Lucas could be heard getting up, and then there was a pause.
"What the...?" he muttered, probably seeing the silverfish stones everywhere."
"Lucas, why'd you put stone everywhere?" grumbled Harry.
"I didn't do it."
"Nobody else could have, we always lock our door."
"Maybe somebody broke in through the floor or the ceiling."
"Dude, there's no way anyone besides the staff could do that, isn't this, like, all protected under the admin?"
Jack flashed a grin to everybody, looking highly pleased with himself.
"Well, whatever, let's just clear this all out."
Then there was the sound of metal hitting stone, and when the pop of a block being broken was heard, the moment later Lucas let out an unmanly scream. A silverfish could be heard hissing on the other side of the door, and then it died away as Lucas killed it. But that only triggered the twenty other "stone" blocks to break open, and soon both Lucas and his roommate were screaming. Even the masses of silverfish couldn't be louder. Under the cover of the noise Mark allowed himself to laugh along with everybody else.
Suddenly, the door burst open and Lucas came flailing out in pj's with a swarm of silverfish piling on top of him. He ran screaming down the hallway, trying to shake the swarm, but the little insects ignored all the people now streaming into the hallway just so they could get Lucas. This was because Mickey was whispering commands to them the whole time.
"GET BOY! GET BOY! HE MEAN! HE MEAN!" Mark heard Mickey shout.
All the graduating boys were out in the hallway now, each with groggy expressions, bleary eyes, and slouching backs.
"What's going on...?" muttered one boy grumpily, rubbing his eyes.
Pretending to be concerned, Mark put on a serious face and said,
"I think somebody pranked Lucas! He woke up and got attacked by silverfish. Who would do such a thing?" he added, trying as hard as he could to remain serious.
Mark and his friends ran down the hallway to catch up with Lucas. As they ran down the stairwell Mark spoke into his walkie-talkie.
"Alright, Aquaman77, we're about to come your way."
Just as expected, they found Lucas walking down the hallway to their right, the one leading to the commons. He was shaking himself, looking freaked out and alert, and when Mark and the others approached him he swung around and lifted C.H.O. to strike them down.
"SILVERFISH!" he shouted, bringing it down the next moment.
Mark yelped and launched himself backwards, narrowly missing the sharp blade of his diamond axe. When he stood back up Lucas had realized that it was just them. He sighed with relief and wrenched his blade from out of the wooden floor.
"Oh, it's just you." he murmured, taking a quick glance around them. He then looked Mark straight in the eye and said, "Dude, somebody put a bunch of silverfish stone blocks in my dorm room!"
Mark kept a straight face and widened his eyes in fake surprise.
"Really? Who?"
"I dunno, but I'm gonna use C.H.O. on whoever did." he looked back the way he came towards the bottom of the stairwell. "I'm afraid to go back up and change, though. What if there're more?"
Mark put his arm over Lucas's shoulder and started walking him the other way.
"Don't worry, Jack can help you with that."
Of course, Lucas had no idea what Mark meant by that, but he just continued to look worried.
"Okay, but he'd better get me into normal clothes before we get into the commons."
Mark looked down the hallway and saw an upcoming tripwire only ten blocks from their position, and they were walking right into it. With two blocks to go Mark pretended to trip on the flat ground and landed on his hands, pretending to be hurt. Lucas looked down to see him rolling around on the ground moaning, and he quickly looked up at the others, saying,
"Somebody get a staff member!" he said a bit overdramatically, and then turned around in the other direction. "I'll quick find someone!"
Lucas ran forward only two steps, and then his foot caught on the tripwire and he too fell to the floor. Mark quickly rolled out of the way as a waterfall poured down upon Lucas, who was engulfed in the downpour within seconds. Mark gave himself a moment to laugh again—Lucas wouldn't hear with the distraction—and then plugged up the holes that had dropped all the water. Lucas lay gasping and soaked to the bone in his pj's on the ground, looking dazed as ever. Mark helped Lucas to his feet and said,
"Lucas, are you okay?!"
Lucas just gasped for another ten seconds, but then blinked away water and looked at Mark.
"Somebody must really hate me, dude!"
He made Mark let go of him and turned around for a moment, bending down with his weight on his knees, taking deep breaths. Mark once again leaned away and whispered into his walkie-talkie.
"Aquaman77, stage two is complete."
When Lucas had finally gotten his breath back he started walking back towards the stairwell, shivering like crazy.
"I-I'm going to g-go change."
Behind his back Mark and the others were laughing as quietly as they could manage. They walked up the stairwell and into the hallway, getting a lot of amused looks from the other guys. Lucas was quite the sight at the moment. Mark and co. stood outside Lucas's door as the kid went inside to change. A few seconds passed, but then Lucas could be heard saying,
"What the heck?"
He came back outside still in his soggy pajamas, only he was holding a sign. He held it up to them and it read, "COME TO NORTH TOWER TO GET YOUR CLOTHES BACK," in bold print. He grunted in anger and chucked the sign item at the wall, breaking it apart on contact. Lucas stormed down the hallway, giving all the boys around him dirty looks. Mark looked back and grinned again, and they followed Lucas as he navigated his way upward through the stairwell.
"Bouncepad, we're coming your way..." whispered Mark.
They exited the stairwell and followed Lucas down a dull, dark hallway with boxes piled on either side. Mark hurried up and jogged next to Lucas, who just scowled.
"Mark, I'm so gonna beat up this guy." he muttered, speeding up.
"I'll help you when we find him." said Mark, keeping his face as concerned-looking as possible.
Suddenly, Lucas's foot landed on a pressure plate, and a spring beneath him jerked up, launching him into the ceiling. Lucas screamed in both pain and surprise, and then fell back down to the ground, and another spring-loaded pressure plate was activated, sending Lucas flying down the hallway roughly. Mark jumped back to avoid the pressure-plate-covered floor that Lucas had gotten stuck in, and watched as Lucas flew this way and that, being thrown everywhere by the merciless springs. Finally, another minute later Lucas hit the right spring and he flew at the other end of the hallway, smashing face-first into the wall.
The block at Lucas's face broke open, and more water came spilling out, pushing him back onto the ground in a soaking mess. Mark took out a stone axe and plowed his way through the wooden pressure plates, careful not to step on any. When he reached Lucas, he found the kid with a huge lump on his forehead.
"Ow."
Mark helped Lucas to his feet and said,
"Are you okay?"
Lucas closed his eyes painfully and grimaced, leaning on Mark. He sounded like he was holding back tears when he muttered,
"J-just get me to the infirmary..."
Mark took Lucas down the next hallway, and soon they found themselves facing a large set of doors. Above the doors was a sign that said, "STORAGE ROOM: DO NOT ENTER". Mark wrenched the sign off and flipped it on its other side, and on that side there was other writing: "YOUR CLOTHES ARE HERE". Over his shoulder Josh spoke in a surprisingly convincing voice.
"Hey, the jerk that's been pranking you put your clothes in the storage room!"
Adrian stepped in too and added,
"Why would he put it up here?"
Lucas grumbled and opened his eyes, which looked slightly glazed with extreme anger and embarrassment. He shook Mark's hand off and opened one of the doors.
"I don't give a crap, I just want my clothes back." he muttered, shivering as he walked through the door.
Mark turned around and exchanged amused glances with everyone, and silently laughed as well. As they followed Lucas inside the room he bent over and whispered once again into his walkie-talkie.
"Zomburglar, we're entering the upper storage room now."
The inside of the storage room was very dark. Only a few redstone torches along the walls lit the room. There were chests everywhere, all covered with cobwebs. It seemed as though nobody had used the room in a long time. Mark took one glance back at his friends, nodded to them, and they nodded back. Lucas stopped in the middle of the room, arms clasped together, shivering like crazy.
"Where are my clothes?" he said weakly, shaking his head slightly.
"Let's look in all the chests!" declared Astrid, raising a fist.
And so they did. Everyone went to a chest, and as Mark looked at them all for confirmation, they nodded again. That was their cue, and together they opened the chests. Suddenly, a zombie rose out of each. Lucas whirled around just in time to see six zombies sluggishly sauntering towards him; their drooling mouths open as if to expect food.
Lucas grimaced and raised C.H.O. to strike, but being much taller than him, a zombie came in and grabbed the handle, wrenching it from his grip. Lucas screamed and backed up into the wall, cowering. Mark quickly whispered into his into his walkie-talkie.
"Dropdown, now!"
As the zombies were bearing down on Lucas, the block beneath his feet opened up, and the pajama-donning boy plummeted downward, his girly scream echoing as he went down. Mark, Adrian, Astrid, Josh, Barry and Jack quickly killed the zombies and then looked down into the hole. Lucas could be heard screaming still. He screamed, he screamed, he screamed, and then it ended with an abrupt grunt. Mark laughed hard and he too jumped down into the hole, his friends following close behind.
Mark plummeted for roughly sixty-some blocks, but then something dark gray appeared underneath his feet, and he felt himself hit something very stretchy. He bounced back upward again and guided himself forward through the air, landing on solid wood floor the next moment. The others landed moments later, and Mark turned towards the trampoline that had just saved their lives. Lucas lay flat on his back next to the trampoline, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his eyes frozen in fear to stare at the high ceiling. They were back in the massive common room of the school, and all the students who went to Diamond University were there. They were surrounded by a swarm of people, all watching the frozen figure of Lucas.
Suddenly, Lucas sat up and looked around frantically, seeing that he was surrounded by people. Mark walked next to Lucas. He paused, savoring the moment, and then gestured with both his hands down at Lucas.
"Ladies and gentleman... I give you Lucas!"
The crowd around them erupted with boos and hisses.
"This is the kid you've been told about, the one who sacrificed all the good things in my life for his amusement. He is the one who ripped from me the person who mattered most in my life..." he paused, taking the time to look down at Lucas, who stared back up at him with confused and terrified eyes.
As the crowd jeered at Lucas louder and louder yet, Lucas's eyes widened. His cheeks turned extremely red, and he grimaced, his teeth clenched.
"Mark..." he murmured, staring at him hurtfully.
Mark sighed and said,
"Lucas, now that you understand the pain that I had go to through—and the pain I still have to go through—you must realize what you put me through. You must realize that your disgusting and selfish actions caused my life to fall to pieces. And now everyone knows it." he leaned down and looked seriously at Lucas this time. "Lucas, what do you have to say for yourself?"
Lucas just stared at Mark for a few seconds, horrorstruck. When Mark didn't get an answer he pulled off his Blockpack and searched around inside. Finally, he pulled out something and held it in front of Lucas. It was the Balance Core, which was still swirling restlessly inside its unbreakable glass bottle.
"You see this? This is the reason I've been brought here. I received dreams from both Farixz the First—the elder of the Spirits In Between—and Notch. In those dreams I was told many things, and one thing I was told was that I needed to destroy all distractions and continue with my quest. If I couldn't get rid of the problems that surrounded me I would never be able to fulfill my destiny properly, and the universe would only fall into further depths of darkness. So, not only by ruining my life have you upset me almost beyond the point of return, but you have prevented me from moving forward in life. You would have been willing to sacrifice the existence of the universe for your own pleasure." he waved the Balance Core in front of Lucas's face once more. "I will ask you this one more time... WHAT have you got to say for yourself?"
Lucas was staring hard at the Balance Core, a look of malice on his face. Mark hadn't ever seen it before, and it slightly shook him. All of a sudden, a chill swept the room, making Mark shiver. Without any warning, Lucas growled angrily and leapt forward and latched his hands onto the glass bottle that held the Balance Core. Mark yelled in surprise and wrenched it back, trying to take it away. His eyes widened as he watched the glass beneath Lucas's fingers start to melt away.
As if on cue, Gabe leapt from the crowd and linked his arms around Lucas's throat, lifting him up into the air.
"RUN!" he shouted to Mark.
The crowd around them was screaming and running amok in fear. Lucas was twitching and shuddering, clutching at Gabe's beefy hands, digging his fingernails into Gabe's skin. Mark suddenly became aware of how hot the bottle around his hands was getting, and he dropped it in surprise, seeing that it was half-melted and glowing red. Mark looked back up at Gabe, who was struggling to keep Lucas from launching himself at the Balance Core, and he looked at his friend with a determined and equally angry face.
"I SAID RUN! GET OUT OF—" he screamed, clenching his teeth.
But before he could say another word, Gabe screamed out in immense pain and fell backwards, letting Lucas go. Gabe's hands had melted into a disfigured lump of flesh and blood, just like how the glass had liquefied. Lucas hissed, his eyes glowing red, and whirled around to face Gabe, who lay weeping on the ground, his ruined hands outstretched before him. Lucas bent down and clasped a clawed hand around Gabe's throat, lifting HIM into the air effortlessly. Then he spoke, but his voice was metallic and alien.
"I cannot bring myself to remain in this pitiful body any longer!"
Lucas threw Gabe onto the ground harshly and then howled, throwing back his head. He opened his mouth and continued to howl, and as he did, black plasma began to flow from out of his throat, bursting up like a geyser and landed all around him. The plasma shifted, forming one gigantic blob that was roughly fifty feet tall. It also formed wings; massive, gigantic drooping wings became outstretched from either end of the blob's body. Then two slits appeared near the top, both glowing a fierce red. A mouth appeared in the middle, a monstrous gaping hole that contained an ever-consuming black hole. The Glitch had materialized before their very eyes.
Mark had never wanted to be somewhere else in his life, but his knees buckled and he couldn't find the will to run any more. So he stood there, staring at the monster that was the Glitch—who he had only seen once before, a time that seemed ages ago—and watched as the Glitch stretched its wings and smiled wickedly. Lucas's body lay next to the monster, his eyes cold and dead. Suddenly, a green mist began to flow from him, and Mark immediately recognized it as the same kind of mist that had come from little Amelia when she died. The Glitch saw the mist for only one moment, but then grinned ever so evilly and opened its mouth, sucking up Lucas's aura as a quick snack.
The Glitch let out a metallic screech, breaking every window in the common room, and glass rained down upon the screaming crowd of students that ran in a state of pure chaos. It then turned back around and leaned downward, staring down at Gabe.
"Ah, how I have been waiting for this moment." declared the Glitch, spreading its wings high into the air, sending Gabe into a complete shadow.
Mark didn't know what made him do it, but he ran forward as fast as he could force himself to go. He crouched down at Gabe's side and shielded him from the Glitch.
"What is this?" said the Glitch, suddenly bringing down one of its wings and curling it around Mark painfully. Mark shouted out desperately as a burning pain spread through his body. "Little Cobweb Jr. wants to protect his friend? Well, I've got bad news for you, kid, because YOU are going to be my appetizer!"
Mark new that it was the end of his life at that moment. As searing pain tore through his mind he thought about all the things he wanted to do in life. He was too young to die! He thought he had a great life ahead of him, but... This couldn't be how he died, could it?
For Mark's sake it wasn't. At that exact moment about a hundred staff members came streaming into the room with guns—maybe they got special mod privileges, Mark wondered. Bullets filled the air as they all fired at the Glitch's body. The bullets didn't do anything but disintegrate upon contact, and all that did was make the Glitch turn and face them.
"Insolent mortals!"
The Glitch took its other wing and swept it around the room rapidly, killing each and every one of the surrounding men and women instantly. As a rainbow of mists filled the air, the Glitch opened its mouth once again and sucked every drop of the substance. It let out a deep grumbling noise and smiled widened, its red mouth curled and twisted.
"What a delicious bite!" the Glitch's lifted to stare back at Mark. "I suppose one more appetizer won't hurt!"
The Glitch opened its massive gaping mouth, exposing the black hole within. Just as Mark was about to be spaghettified and eaten by the virus, there was a blinding flash of white light and Gabe appeared in the air; he lifted his zombie-sword and swung downward, sending a flying cutter of white plasma into the Glitch's wing, slicing it right off. Mark fell screaming to the ground and landed with a thud, knocking the breath out of him. When his vision returned he could see Gabe flying this way and that, slicing away at the Glitch's body, a white aura surrounding him. But the next moment he was swatted from the sky by the Glitch's wing, and he met with the ground like a plummeting meteor.
Mark forced himself to roll onto his side, and through his slightly blurred vision he could see the Balance Core sitting ten blocks from where he was. He summoned the strength from every muscle in his body and dragged himself forward, determined to reach the Balance Core. He even had to remove his Blockpack in order to keep moving.
The Glitch transformed its wing into a massive black claw-like hand. The hand moved freely, and crawled along the ground, stopping above Gabe. The sharp pinky finger outstretched and pressed itself against Gabe's chest, pushing down and puncturing his chest. He screamed out in pain, his eyes rolling back into his head, his body twitching madly.
"Come on out, Salutem!"
Gabe's aura, which was a navy blue, rose from out of the puncture hole in chest, and it too was consumed by the Glitch's consuming maw. Then, coming out the next moment were streams of pure white plasma, which shifted around just as the Glitch's black body had done. The plasma formed together into a smaller blob half the Glitch's size and grew its own wings. Two calming blue slits that were eyes appeared near the top, and then a larger slit appeared in the middle, which was the mouth of the creature. Salutem had been brought before them.
"Glitch, you foul being!" it shouted, raising its snow-white wings in anger, its normally calming blue eyes icy cold.
The Glitch leaned back and cackled, its metallic buzz echoing through the whole of Diamond University, shaking it violently. The walls began to crack along with the ceiling, and it was clear that the entire building would collapse within minutes. Suddenly, the Glitch shifted its eyes back around to the other side of its massive body to look down at Mark, who was still crawling desperately towards the Balance Core.
It smirked maliciously and narrowed its eyes, slithering forward to snatch up the Balance Core. Mark was only three blocks away from his goal, he couldn't be stopped... Just as the Glitch bore down upon him with its wings, Salutem launched itself in the way and smashed headlong into the Glitch, sending them both fly into the wall, shattering it completely. The Glitch screeched with anger, and as Mark looked up he could see that everything Salutem was touching of the Glitch was turning white, but at a price of its own plasma darkening. While pinning the Glitch to the ground, Salutem turned partially towards Mark and shouted,
"MARK, TAKE THE BALANCE CORE AND ESCAPE FROM HERE!"
Mark nodded silently and then turned back to his target, dragging himself forward just enough for him to reach it. He reached out with his righty and touched the melted glass around the Balance Core, but again it burned his hand immensely. Suddenly, as Mark stared at his left hand, which he had been using to drag himself forward a moment later, and watched as something amazing happened. All of a sudden, Mark's left hand glowed, and a watery substance colored pure white formed around it, fitting like a glove. It was the Glove of Glad! He had totally forgot about it; maybe it just disappeared when he didn't use it...
But Mark stopped thinking about it and reached out with his left hand, and with the protection of the Glove of Glad he was able to touch the glass without burning his hand. He pulled the Balance Core close to him and then pondered how he was going to get out of there. Meanwhile, Salutem was doing its best to fight off the Glitch. It had taken out its massive white plasma-bludgeon and the Glitch has brought out its slender double-ended black scythe, and they were having a full-out duel. Salutem was fighting a losing battle, and Mark knew it. But what could he do to get out of there?!
Suddenly, realization dawned upon Mark as he remembered something important and looked down at the hotbar on his left arm. In it was the ten blocks of obsidian and the flint and steel that Astrid had given him not that long ago. With every bit of strength left in him he hoisted himself to his feet and balanced, keeping himself as rigid as possible. He feebly lifted an arm and began to build his portal frame. In about a minute he had finally finished it, and he quickly took a glance back at Salutem and the Glitch. Salutem was now fleeing; it zoomed through the air on a trail of white plasma, and the Glitch followed in pursuit, its mouth open to suck its twin up as the main course.
Mark shuffled forward and struck the steel upon the flint right on top of the obsidian frame, and almost instantly a mass of swirling purple panels filled the inside. Mark didn't take any last looks, and dragged himself through the portal blocks. As soon as he had reached the other side he used his nearly-finished diamond pick and broke the portal's connection; the last thing he heard was the Glitch's furious screech, and then all was quiet.
Oh... Well then! So, did anybody else expect that? Any guesses for what "Gabe's" secret crafting recipe was for? Hint: it has something to do with Salutem staying completely disguised in Gabe's body.
While you're thinking about it, let's get on with some QAA!
To the Glitch: You forget a lot don't you? You've lost two times already and now there is a whole new generation to TAKE YOU DOWN! *lets the blast hit him full on* And you fell for my trap too! *the energy starts getting lighter and he fires it back.* IMMA FIRIN' MAH LAZER! BLAAAAAAHHH!
The Glitch: You do not understand one bit, do you?! *swallows energy and restores itself* I CORRUPT ANYTHING THAT TOUCHES ME! UNLESS YOUR ENERGY BEAMS CAN MANIPULATE TIME AND SPACE ITSELF, I DO NOT BELIEVE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DEFEAT ME! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
To Mark: *Lucus* is the Kid you and trying to embarrass!
Mark: I'm pretty sure it's *Lucas* and *kid*. Unless you did that on purpose for some reason, then I don't get what you mean. I KNOW he's the one I'm trying to embarrass!
To Mark: Just give Gabe the bedrock spear, cause then he can ride Felix and look like a boss.
To Mark: Ah... And WHERE would I get a bedrock spear? Mods are hard to come by, you know.
To the Glitch: I suggest hacking into Happy Wheels next, or Grand Theft Auto IV.
The Glitch: Nope! The first place I'm going after the Minecraft Dimension is Cookie Clicker! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
To the Glitch: Your gloating attitude will be the end of you. Your numerous 'bah ah' and 'hahaha' just elongate your death. It is common sense. But wait, you don't have any.
The Glitch: FFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU...
Well, for next time, what will Mark do now that he's completely alone in the Nether with no supplies except the shards of a diamond pickaxe, a flint and steel, plus some obsidian? Will Herobrine spare his soul? And what will become of Salutem and everybody else who fled Diamond University? Find out next chapter in VOiD! But for now, this is Pastrinator64, and I'll see you later with chapter numbah twenty-five!
*throws sugar bomb, disappears in a cloud of fine white sugar*
Byyyyyeeeeee...
~Pastrinator64 [~]