Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with a LONG, LONG, LONG, LONG-AWAITED chapter from VOiD.

Okay, I must apologize for the huge delay. Please allow me to explain...

After I wrote chapter 28, I had some really bad writer's block. Just a few weeks later, when my birthday party came, I got Total Drama Island on DVD, and I was so excited; I just love the Total Drama series, and now I had season one. Since I didn't have YouTube (and still don't) I watched the entire first season. This made me inspired to write a story for it, and that's the major distraction that came my way. Finally, though, after seeing your reviews about how you miss the story, I decided that it was time to stop procrastinating and get back to my real favorite story: VOiD.

So, there you have it. That's my story, and I hope you forgive me for letting myself get distracted for so long.

How about we get on with things, eh? Here's some replies to your reviews.

Replies To Reviews...

Volcanic the hedgehog: Well... No... You find out about that later, though.

Dirt BlockZ: Yes, their powers are now combined.

expensivecorn9: No, she is THE boss! THE BOSS!

BfheadGamer: Many thanks to you, dear sir. (Or ma'am?)

Nwinds: 1. I agree! Let's steer ourselves clear of all that.

2. Good idea. "Witch" sounds evil.

3. "Smashing!" says Pastrinator64 in a Nigel Thornberry voice.

4. Candy all around! :D

Enderdude: That's okay, dude! I've been gone for a pretty long time, too. :/

Okay! Now that that's all finished, how about we get on with the story?

Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from VOiD. Last time on VOiD, we watched as the battle between Vanessa and Jeragarizarg came to an end. Using her and Rexum's combined magic, Vanessa took Jeragarizarg down to the grave with an array of impressive moves. During the aftermath of the battle, the five of them took Rexum's body and gave it the proper burial. Vanessa said some words on his behalf, and the moment of entering the Void Palace came closer than ever thought possible. Now we watch as the Ultra Hero and the four Great Heroes enter the Glitch's evil lair, preparing themselves for any horror that may come their way.

Now, let the story commence!

Chapter 29: Up Into Darkness

Mark and the others turned to face the Void Transport. It stood magnificently before them, the faces of the rulers carved by the gods themselves. Mark may have been nervous about their ascent into the Void Palace, but no longer; his mind was only filled with hatred for the Glitch. In his mind, he had every single bit of the plan thought out, and he knew that it would go by flawlessly... Hopefully... All they needed now was some help from the Spirits In Between.

A few intense moments later, Mark turned back around to face his team. They all held similar looks of either grief or anger.

"I think you all know what I'm going to say next, don't you?"

As expected, they all nodded. Mark felt a slight smile spread across his face, although he was unsure of where it was coming from.

"We are going to the top of the Void Transport immediately. Once we are inside the Void Palace, we will navigate our way through it and up into the throne room. Beneath the throne room should be a secret room with a tear of sadness from the Glitch that was once Salutem's. There's also a possible chance that Notch's Hammer is also there if the Glitch has already stolen it. I will be asking for some help from the Spirits In Between now; we'll need assistance to get past all of those other glitches up there."

Once they looked like they understood, Mark closed his eyes and concentrated hard on Farixz.

"Farixz, we really need something that'll help us get past the Glitch's army. Will you help us, please?" he thought silently, trying to direct his thoughts up to the elder spirit.

For a few seconds nothing happened. Mark opened his eyes again and looked at his friends, and they just looked back with apprehension.

"He's not gonna turn us inter little horned toads, is he?" suggested Adrian fearfully.

"I'd hope not." replied Mark, the thought sounding ridiculous in his mind.

All of a sudden, a strange tingling feeling came over him. Mark gasped and stared at his own skin, which began to turn black upon the spot and shift. His vision was turning all red and fuzzy, too. Merely ten seconds later, Mark lifted his arm again and stared at it, for it had become a long black wing. He stared at his friends next, noticing that they had all transformed into duplicates of the Glitch's virus thugs. He couldn't distinguish the difference between them, and he tried to talk to them, but all that came out from his gaping mouth was a high-pitched buzz.

He contemplated on a way to communicate with his friends and decided to just ad-lib. He extended a long wing and pointed it towards the Void Transport and moved towards it. His friends got the message and followed behind him. Mark felt very awkward without any legs, and felt himself going lopsided as he slithered with his unstable body of plasma. Sure, he looked convincing enough, but he had no idea how to work with the body. Since slithering wasn't very easy, Mark experimentally stretched his wings and flapped.

He ROCKETED up into the air with great force and let out a scream, which just turned into a metallic screech. He flew up higher and higher, even past the clouds, and then plummeted back downward. Just before hitting the ground, Mark pulled up his wings and soared just above the ground, skimming it with his plasma tail. He was getting the hang of it, bit by bit.

Eventually, he was able to steady himself in midair and stay there. Mark looked behind him, seeing that the others were getting the same idea, trying out their new flying abilities. Once all of them were in the air and steadied, nodded upward towards the top of the Void Transport. The time had come.

In a V formation with Mark in front, the five of them flew up higher and higher, rising against the bedrock slopes of the pyramid formation. Soon they were above the clouds, and within another minute they were able to reach the very tip. When Mark landed, he saw a black platform made of Void fog that was just big enough to fit them all on. He lifted himself up, propping his shifting self onto the platform that appeared to be perfectly solid. The others followed suit, and now everyone was there. Immediately after, the fog platform rose slowly, ascending closer and closer to the darkness of The Void above. Mark could see the small black hole nearby, the one that linked their dimension to others, and a few seconds later, at the very moment their heads had crossed the boundary of The Void, they disappeared into thin air.

Moments later, they reappeared inside the main square of the Void Palace. It was a dark, evil place; the towers and foundations around them were made of black plasma only, and constantly pulsated and moved. All around them, lines upon lines of plasma blobs slithered, not one millimeter out of formation.

"This must be the Glitch's army." thought Mark, amazed at its monstrous size.

"Of course it is, you dimwit!"

Startled, Mark turned his head to see a virus creature staring directly at him.

"Um, sorry?"

"You must have been a virus from the leftovers of the batch. OF COURSE this is Lord Glitch's army! WE'RE part of it!"

Mark blinked a couple times, but then spoke aloud,

"Yes, of course! Sorry, sir! I shall get back to work!"

He saluted the virus, which rolled its eyes and then slithered away. Mark let out a sighing breath—from his mouth came a soft buzz, instead. Mark was glad that he had figured out how to talk, and so then he turned to look at his friends, nodded again, and then moved forward. Still unbalanced without a pair of legs, he stumbled into the army lines and found a spot to move. He bumped into several of the other viruses, who swore at him, shoved him back into place, or just ignored him completely. Finally, he was able to regain his full balance and continue walking. Then he looked behind him to see that his friends were with him. The only problem was, amidst the swarm of black and red, he couldn't tell them from the others.

He continued to slither on, keeping in step with the others to keep blended in. When he looked ahead, he could see that they were all towards the largest tower of the castle, which was a hundred blocks high, and sixty in width and length. He wasn't sure what it was for, but it must've been pretty important, because with his cool enhanced virus-vision, he could see over a couple thousand blocks away. This made it possible for him to notice that all around the rest of the kingdom were lines of viruses, all of them heading towards the same tower. After about two minutes, they had reached the giant black tower, which loomed over them, casting darker shadows than normal. Mark didn't know why, but he got a chill when he looked at it.

They filed inside, lining up along the walls and crowding inside in order to fit. The ceiling itself was very high up, exactly to the max height of the tower. Mark looked around him, seeing that the rest of the plasmatic creatures were just standing there, unblinking, and looking up at the ceiling. He did the same, following their lead. For a few minutes, that was all they did...

And then, without any warning, the Glitch appeared above them and screeched. The glitches around them screeched along with their master, and Mark's head rattled. The sounds ceased within seconds, and the Glitch hovered down closer to them. Suddenly, Mark noticed that the Glitch had changed form. It was twice as large as he had seen it last, towering at sixty blocks of height, and its wings went right through the walls on either end. Also, those two wicked, bone-chilling red eyes had turned into three, one on top with two below it.

"My loyal viruses..." began the Glitch, the smell of pure bereavement on its breath.

When it spoke, a long and ugly tongue came rolling out, the tip forked, its entirety glowing with blood-red light.

"In exactly ten minutes and forty-three seconds, the attack on the Aether will be launched. We must prepare, and so I advise you to charge your power until our flight. I will return in that time."

It dematerialized before their very eyes, and all around him, Mark could feel the intensity in the room increase; each of the thousands of viruses were taut and unmoving, only their eyes flickering and shifting. If the Aether were going down, that meant Notch would as well. It was then that Mark realized why the Glitch kept changing each time he met the thing. It was the reason that he could hear the cries of all those Endermen that night many weeks ago, then the cries of all the other mobs just days before. Nobody needed to tell him, but he knew; Queen Enderdragon and Herobrine were dead, and that definitely meant that Notch was the next to go.

He only had ten minutes to sneak away, grab a teardrop of sadness, AND get him and his friends through the portal in the throne room to get into the Aether and warn Notch. That just wasn't enough time.

Mark closed his eyes and thought of the first thing that popped into his head.

"Vanessa, Kelsey, Adrian, and Astrid, can you guys hear me?"

He remembered that moment when the other virus read his mind after he entered the Void Palace, so perhaps he could contact his friends telepathically. All of a sudden, four different voices started blasting into his head at once in a jumble, startling him. Yep, it worked!

"Guys, stop talking all at once!" he thought nervously, looking around at the charging viruses; it was a good thing they remained unaware during their stage of energizing, otherwise they'd totally get caught.

There was a pause, but then Astrid replied,

"Okay, so what's the plan, huh?"

"Yeah," added Vanessa, "how do you think we'll actually be able to get up into that throne room? We'll get caught by the Glitch if we're seen leaving this tower, so that's not an option."

"I have an idea, just hold on a moment..." thought Mark.

They stayed silent as Mark added this to his thoughts: /tp VoidPalacethroneroom. Suddenly, Mark opened his eyes and was in another place. Instead of the gigantic tower with the high ceiling, he was inside a demolished room of black with the actual throne in the back. He moved over to the edge and looked out through a large hole that had been blasted in the side. He could see the largest tower from a couple hundred blocks away. His idea was a success!

"Everyone just think "tp VoidPalacethroneroom" and you'll teleport up here. It's as simple as that!"

They followed his example, and within seconds, all five of them were up inside the throne room. Luckily, the Glitch was nowhere to be found. Mark looked around for a trapdoor or hole of some kind, something that would lead him into the secret room below...

"Hey, Mark! Watch this!"

Mark turned around to see Kelsey (or at least that's who he thought it was) sinking down into the black ground until she was completely gone.

"Come down here, there's a secret room under the floor."

Mark looked at his comrades, attempted to shrug in this strange body, and then tried pushing down into the ground. It worked, and in a matter of seconds, he had dropped down into the secret room below. It was rather small and empty, but on the other end was a whole blob of black teardrops that were thick like jello. Mark slithered forward and lifted a wing, unsticking one of the teardrops and holding it in his hand. It was different from the tear of happiness that Salutem had given him, for it was cold and slimy.

"Well," said Mark, turning around to face Kelsey and the others that had slid down into the chamber. "that was pretty easy."

"Almost too easy, I might add."

Mark froze in place and watched his friend's horrified eyes go over him.

"It's right behind me, isn't it?"

He slowly turned around, and in a mixture of sickening fear and shock, he saw the Glitch, towering over him as the massive figure it was.

"Oh! Was I interrupting something important, by chance?" taunted the Glitch, its eyes curled up along with its smile.

That's when Mark turned back around and flew into the air, plunging himself upward through the ceiling. He was about to make a break for the portal room behind the throne when the Glitch materialized in front of him, blocking his path.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Mark whirled around and zoomed towards the massive hole in the tower head, but the Glitch appeared there as well. He tried the east wall, but the Glitch was already there. When he looked around him, the three Glitches were laughing at him, closing him inside of a tight circle.

"How does it feel to be trapped?" they chorused, grinning at him wickedly. "Do you feel weak? Frightened? HOPELESS? Well, that's exactly how I felt when I was sealed inside The Void for 400 years and then another twenty inside that E.S.C. supercomputer. Now it's YOUR turn to feel the wrath of eternal imprisonment!"

The next black and white vision that Mark received was so bizarre that he could hardly believe it would really happen. All of a sudden, he could see his mother and father; they were sneaking through the Void Palace. With all of the viruses meditating in the main tower, they could go undetected through the streets. Then his vision shifted, and he saw them climbing the long stairs up one of the towers, though he couldn't tell what specific one.

Then his eyes returned to normal and he found himself still surrounded by the trio of virus abominations. He could feel their horrible aura coming over him, and he began to grow weak. Just as he felt he would pass out from it all, there came a surprised screech from the Glitch clone in front of him. It suddenly disappeared in a shower of black plasma; it seemed Astrid had done some quick thinking, because she experimented with her virus powers, making her wings form into black grenade launchers.

Explosions tore through the room, destroying the top of the tower and sending all of them in different directions. The Glitch had transformed back into its singular self, and was looking about the room wildly. They could be seen darting towards the back of the throne, making a beeline for the portal room. The Glitch launched forward and tackled Mark, sending them both flying out of the tower and into open air.

There was a struggle, and Mark figured out how to trigger his transformation powers. His entire body shifted, the plasma forming into the first thing that popped into his head. A few seconds later, the Glitch could be seen wrestling a giant black grizzly bear in midair, the two clawing at each other angrily. Vanessa, Adrian, Kelsey, and Astrid all took off through the air to help, turning themselves into war weapons.

Finally, Mark and the Glitch crashed into the ground, ending their fall. The Glitch lifted a wing and brought it back down to smash Mark, who stopped him with a swipe from his claw. He pushed upward with his hind legs, launching it off of him some twenty blocks away. The Glitch slid to stop itself, grinned at Mark the plasma bear, and then raised its wings, preparing to rocket itself back to the fight.

"HEY! DICKWEED!"

The Glitch turned around at the shout and found itself facing the other four. Vanessa had transformed her wings into double-edged swords, Adrian had two massive frying pans, Kelsey with duo whips, and Astrid still had her grenade launchers in place.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you!" declared Astrid, waving her lethal war machines. "Get a taste of this!"

All four of them zoomed forward, their weapons raised. Vanessa came in with her sword, swung both of them in repeated patterns, but missed and was knocked away by the Glitch's massive sweeping wings. Adrian rose into the air, his two frying pans ready to give the creature a deadly concussion, but was slammed back to the ground by its horns. Kelsey's plasma whips wrapped the Glitch's wings together, binding them impossible tight, and were still snapped apart, sending her flying backwards. Astrid set her grenade launchers on rapid-fire, sending a neverending torrent of black death-gunk bombs onto the Glitch's eyeballs. This blinded it a fair amount, and it screeched, flailing its limbs out of anger and pain. Astrid was smacked in the face, and her blob-like head came clean off, landing at least fifty blocks away. Luckily, being made of plasma, this didn't kill her; it dazed her, though.

"I'm okay!" shouted her head.

Then the rest of the body came flying down on top of her, burying her deep into the black floor with a painful crunch.

"Less okay..." came her muffled voice.

Mark changed from a bear back into the original virus form and took flight, quickly seeking out his friends. He only had a few precious seconds before the Glitch would recover from the terrible power of its own creations. Flying like a rocket, he outstretched his wings and flew around the Glitch, scooping up his comrades where they laid. Once he had them all, he quickly used that one /tp command, landing them back inside the demolished throne room.

He carried them through the back door and entered the portal room just as he heard the Glitch's close screech told him that he was being chased. The Aether portal was still active, and he hastily plunged himself towards it. They came through to the other side in an instant; Mark looked over his shoulder while on the ground at the Aether portal that stood there. The Glitch's ugly, red-black face filled the portal space, and he swiped at it with his wing, destroying the connection. The Glitch's bone-chilling scream of abhorrence resonated through the cool air of the heavenly dimension.

They only had five more minutes until the Glitch would launch its attack upon the Aether, which meant that they had no time to waste. For a moment, though, he took some time to look around and observe the Aether. Despite the stress of the situation, he couldn't help but admire its beauty. The skies were blue, the grass a lush green, and a light breeze blew through. There were trees, hills, and mountains in every direction, and below were the fluffy white clouds that separated the Overworld from this world. A few seconds later, he looked up into the sky and thought,

"Farixz, we don't need the disguises anymore, so would you please return us to our normal forms?"

In a matter of seconds, Mark watched as both he and his friends returned to normal. When Astrid sat up from the ground, she looked at Mark and said,

"Why don't we just stay like that? It'd be so much easier in battle!"

"Yeah," said Mark, looking around quickly, "but then if we were to be seen by anyone from the Aether Palace, we'd be blown to pieces by their weapons; they'd totally get the wrong idea."

"Hey, didn't you get yourself hurt earlier? I even heard your chest crack." added Kelsey.

Mark felt his chest and realized that he no longer felt the sting from his cracked ribs; the Spirits In Between must've helped him out a bit extra.

"Golly, what do we do now?" asked Adrian, cracking his back and standing up.

"Well, we've only got minutes before the Glitch begins the invasion on the Aether. I don't know if you guys already know this, but Queen Enderdragon and Herobrine were already killed by the Glitch, and that definitely means Notch is next in line. We've got to warn him before our time runs out. Maybe he'll be able to launch a counter-attack to protect himself, or something, but we've got to move now. C'mon!"

They were just about to take off running when Mark heard someone speak from behind.

"Mark?"

He turned around and couldn't believe his eyes. He felt tears well up in his eyes, and his gut became all twisted. There, standing next to a golden oak tree, were his parents, Norman and Liz Cobweb.

Oh, FINALLY! Both generations have united! How fantasmalastical!

Now then, how about some QAA?

To Rexum: *waits for him to answer telepathic call while listening to elevator like music*

Rexum: *does not answer*

To Jeragarizarg: You've tried to kill the heroes multiple times, killed Rexum, and DIED! You really think you can defeat me? You're a lackey of The Glitch. Want me to show you my true form!?

Jeragarizarg: Oh, really? Fine then! It'll be your true form against ours!

To Mark: What if the Glitch is bad just because of something that happened in his past?

Mark: I dunno, maybe I'll ask my dad about it.

To Gabe: Dear sir, I would never dream of mimicking one of the heroic and noble Knights of the Blocky Table, I assure you. Merely trying to start a merry singalong to brighten up these dark and fear filled times. But if you would rather not participate, I would be most understanding. P.S., it was an honor.

Gabe: Well then, thank you for clarifying, chap.

To the Grief Squad: What did you do during the, erm, first glitch war?

The Grief Squad: *their voicemail answers* I am sorry, but the Grief Squad is not currently available to answer your call. Please leave a message after the beep or press 1 for more options. *beep*

To the silverfish who attacked glitched Lucas: Did you know that you've tried to kill the most evil being in the universe besides Justin Bieber? Good job. Go for Bieber next.

The silverfish who attack glitched Lucas: Great idea! Hooray for the Internet! *stops for a moment* Wait, but he's already dead.

To Norman: How did the evil entity known as Justin Bieber die around 400 to 300 years ago?

Norman: Justin Bieber? Hold on, I'm trying to think; that was a LONG time ago, hundreds of years before I was born, so... Wasn't he that singer who became a pro wrestler in 2020?

To the Glitch: You want Mark dead? Easy, here's how:
Kelsey in her sleep
Adrian when he is in a bathroom (cuz who would check there?)
Vanessa by pretending to be Rexum's spirit
Sure Mark is overly Deppressed
His head with a shotgun

Hope this helps, from your fellow evildoer. :D

The Glitch: I will formulate my own evil plans, you peasant!

To Glitch: I hate you, you hate me!
We are spiteful enemies!
With a shotgun, *bang* *bang*.
Glitch is on the floor!
Evil virus is no more!

The Glitch: *stares at you with widened eyes* Well, that escalated quickly.

To the fourth wall repairman: After the shards of the shards of the shards of the fourth wall shattered, I think the pieces are too tiny to put back together. I think you're out of a job now. The only place you could get a replacement would be from China, and I don't think they ship to fictional characters in between dimensions.

Fourth wall repairman: GAAAAHHHH! STOP, YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE! *the shards of the shards of the shards of the fourth wall shatter*

To the Glitch: The secret to defeating Mark is...
RUB SOME BACON ON IT! What I would advise is to call the bacon hotline, tell them your problem, and follow their simple advice. The number is (402)-882-BACON (402)-882-2266.

The Glitch: Great, now you're just making me hungry!

To everyone in the Aether: Yo! Who's ready for some funny? *cheesy grin*

Everyone: *shouts at the same time,* HIP HIP HOORAY!

Alright, then! For next time, how will Mark be able to alert Notch of the Glitch's army before it's too late? Will Norman and Liz be able to help out now that they're finally together again? How will Notch be able to survive once the Glitch's surprise attack is in place? Find out next chapter in VOiD! But for now, this is Pastrinator64, and I'll see you later with chapter numbah twenty-nine!

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

Byyyyyeeeeee...

~Pastrinator64 [~]