Author's Note:
Dear gosh, has it really been like four months since I last posted? Man, I feel bad.
You can find some of the funniest synonyms for common words in a Thesaurus. I used a couple when trying to find a word besides 'confused'. I mean, befuddled, discombobulated, flummoxed? Who was in that naming committee?
Anyway, sorry for the wait. I have determined that taking all honors and AP courses is a prolonged form of torture. Combine that with all of the marching band practices this fall, and you pretty much kiss your social life goodbye (not that I had one to start with). Hopefully this eventful chapter will make up for it!
I have a few announcements to make. First, I have a poll going on my profile. It's pretty simple: who is your favorite character in these stories? If you want, drop by my page and let me know! I really do appreciate it! Second, you guys might have to wait a bit longer for the next chapter to appear, unfortunately, because of the before mentioned classes and things. Lastly, shoutout to Cassidy Deneau for making a 'camo' appearance! (I really need to stop with the puns. Ian has cursed me!)
Ch. 6
It was early dawn when Nicki, dressed in her usual green and brown general uniform, resumed her post outside the budder vault. It was an impressive structure, with heavy iron doors and multiple levels of vaults underground, all built into the side of a mountain. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Nicki slung her quiver over her shoulder and stood on the right side of the doors, bow in hand, with her partner Captain Sparkles on her left.
"Good morning General. Sleep well?" He greeted, his eyes shining behind his red-rimmed shades. Being the General's aide and assistant, he took his job very seriously, but still managed to maintain a bright and cheery attitude that was refreshing.
Nicki stretched and smiled back. "Alright I suppose, but I keep feeling more and more restless each day. Like some kind of insomnia curse."
"It might be the changing of the seasons." He suggested with a shrug.
"I guess so." Nicki nodded, though felt deep down that something was different, off in some way. A beeping then came from her headset. "What in the Aether..."
An automated voice chimed in their ears. "Vault 15 on B2 has been opened without authorization."
An intruder? "Stay here and keep watch!" She raced inside and down the stairs, her sturdy leather boots echoing down the long halls.
Nicki soon reached the floor where the alarm was sounding, and found a girl inside the open vault. Seeing Nicki storm in, she straightened up. It was one of her recruits, an inexperienced newbie named Jewel, dressed in her training gear, a brown shirt and green pants, though she was disobeying the dress code by wearing a pink hoodie.
Nicki sighed, relieved that it wasn't an actual emergency, but disappointed with her all the same. "Recruit, what are you doing in here?"
"Seeing what the walls would look like if they were painted in camo." Jewel replied casually, twirling a brush in one hand and holding a paint can in the other.
"Jewel, when are you going to learn to grow up? When you joined this division, did you think you could get away with slacking off?"
"I thought I could get a free ride to see Sky in person..." She replied in a smartalic tone.
"Well listen here, it is the duty of the Sky Army to govern and protect the citizens of Minecraft, and that includes keeping budder out of the squid's reach! Can you imagine what would happen if they got a hold of any of this?" Nicki asked sternly, pointing to the stacks of budder blocks around them.
Jewel rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Why do we even need to guard budder? Aren't diamonds more rare and expensive?"
Nicki was going to say something, but instead she pulled out her budder sword. As she held it in her hand, it began to glow and sparkle with energy. Concentrating hard, Nicki pointed it at the wall, and a small bolt of lightning shot out, causing the lights to flicker.
"Woah! How did you do that?" Jewel gasped in awe, looking at the dark spot on the wall where the bolt had struck.
Nicki put the sword back in its sheath and grinned. "Sky himself taught me. The squids don't even know about it. Maybe when you are more experienced, you can learn to wield budder to its full potential."
"Wow, I'll train really hard so you can teach me!" Giddy with excitement, Jewel scampered away.
Before she could feel satisfied with her work, her headset began to beep again, only it indicated that someone was trying to communicate. "Hello?"
"Nicki!" It was Cpt. Sparkles, who sounded out of breath and panicked. "Mayday! We're under attack!"
"What? Seriously? Okay, I'm on my way!" How could their location have been compromised in such a remote area? The vault was built in the depths of the mountains, in the same range where Kermit's pond was located. No one knew of the its whereabouts except for a select few, the members of Team Crafted. Had someone leaked the information? No. She shook her head. I refuse to believe that.
Regardless, Nicki made her way as fast as she could back up to the doors, but when she opened them, she couldn't believe her eyes. Flying squids filled the sky from all sides, and Sparkles was struggling to hold them back without getting blown away from their fireballs. Even with their combined efforts, they hardly made a difference in reducing their numbers; they just kept coming. Soon, the two were pressed against the doors, cornered, as the squids gathered around. But before they made their final blow, two squids floated down, carrying an individual. It was the blue-eyed girl, looking very confident, and when they set her down, Nicki exclaimed, "Whitney?!"
"You know her?" Cpt. Sparkles gasped.
Nicki nodded, devastated. "She's my sister."
Adam, Jason, Ian, and Tyler crept silently along through the halls, sneaking past security cameras as they went.
"The crew quarters are on the second floor." Ian whispered to them. But when they found the stairs, a tall wall stood before them. A sign was posted on the wall, stating, 'Permission to use stairs needed from warden's office.'
"Oh great..." Adam groaned. This would be harder than he thought. They soon found the office, a short walk down the hall, and peeked through the window, where Derp Ssundee was boredly spinning in his chair, looking at the necklace he had around his neck. My amulet… Adam decided that getting it back wasn't important now, and that their first priority was escaping with their lives. On the wall beside Derp was a button that read: STAIR ACCESS.
"We'll need to create a distraction to get him out of the office." Jason said to them.
"Leave that to me." Tyler said, pulling out another potato. Turning it over, it was revealed to have a pull string on it, and when he pulled it off, he chucked it across the hallway towards the library. "You guys might want to hide."
They retreated towards the kitchen, and heard an explosion go off. Sure enough, this got the attention of Derp, and he left to investigate the library, giving them the chance to run in and push the button. It began to tick, however, and Ian realized, "It's on a timer! Go go go!" When they went back to the stairs, the steps had risen from the floor and up to the next level. "We've only got a few seconds. Hurry!" Ian ushered them forward, and they scaled the stairs as fast as their legs could carry them. But just as Ian was on the last steps, the stairs retracted. The others were not fast enough to grab him, and could only watch as Ian fell back down to the floor.
"Ian!" Adam called. "Are you okay?"
He got up slowly, and nodded, looking up at them. "Yeah, go on ahead. I'll catch up!" Reluctantly, they continued on. Ian turned to hurry back to the office.
The three started to search the various vacant rooms. Eventually, they found one with a single glass case labelled 'Fish'. A blue pokeball was sitting inside it, shaking this way and that as if agitated.
"That's him alright." Jason confirmed, shivering slightly. "Let's just take him inside the pokeball for now. You know, until we can fix him." Adam nodded and put the ball in his pocket. Don't worry Quentin, we'll find a way to change you back.
"All hands on deck! We're coming in for landing!" Lancey called from behind the steering wheel. Bash, Ryan, Steven, and Tyler were roughly awakened as the ship jerked down in descent.
Tyler gulped, looking through the clouds at the approaching prison. "It...seems bigger than it did on the blueprints." The spotlights on the watch towers lit up the courtyards and walls surrounding the facility, but the darkness around them hid the ship as it came smoothly down on the roof.
Lancey left the wheel and turned to the group. "So, what's the plan?" They all looked at Ryan expectantly.
"Oh, um, well...I'm honestly kind of surprised we made it this far. But, I think we'd better lay low and not draw a lot of attention until we find out where the guys are. Then, we bust them out and run like a bat out of the Nether."
"Roger that." Lancey agreed. "And I'll stay here and watch the ship." He handed Ryan a diamond pickaxe and added, "You might need this."
"Thanks." Ryan faced the three of them and ordered, "Okay, let's move out!"
After Tyler's potato grenade went off, squid guards from all corners of the prison gathered in the main hallway. With Ty, Mitch, and Jerome still in the cell room, they tried to find any possible escape, preferably before they would be discovered. They scaled the stairs that led to the second level of cells, but didn't find any tell-tale signs.
"You know, they really should put some exit signs in this place. You can get fines for this kind of stuff." Ty sighed. Suddenly, the ceiling blocks above them began to crack. Getting out of the way, they saw the cracks get bigger rhythmically, as if they were being struck by something. Eventually, they finally crumbled and fell to the ground. Confused, they looked up at the now revealed night sky. A man in a batman mask popped out, and smiled.
"Sweet! We found them!" Three other people poked their heads in as well. "And they already escaped!"
"Who are you guys?" Ty asked, not sure if he should be relieved or cautious.
"That doesn't matter right now. What does, is that we're here to rescue you! Where are the others?" Ryan answered, looking around.
"They went to go find Quentin." Mitch answered, flustered. Who were these guys? Could they be trusted?
"Okay, well let's get you guys out of here then. But how to do that…?"
Bashur's expression lit up. "Oh! I got it! Just give me a sec." He went away from them for a moment, and held out his hands towards the ground. A purple energy began to form around them, and a rope ladder suddenly materialized in front of him.
"...what...how?" Ryan stammered. He just kept learning more and more about this strange melon.
"When Master Seto created me, he gave me most of his powers. How do you think I got all of these sweet hats?" He likewise created a fedora and put it on, crossing his arms with swagger.
"What? So we could have technically just teleported here?"
"I said most, not all, ya dingus. Now don't we have a rescue mission to finish?"
"Oh, right." Ryan took the ladder and went back to the hole, where the three team members still stood, befuddled. "Here you go! Climb on up!" The three made no move towards it though.
"We can't get out of here yet. What about the others?" Ty countered. Plus, how do we know they aren't squid spies? He added silently.
Before they could respond, Ian came running into the cell room, and seeing the others on the stairs, went to join them. "Hey doods! I got separated from the other three back there, but they should be getting here soon...wait...who are you guys?"
Bashur sighed in frustration. "Once everyone's here, we'll be happy to explain our full life stories in detail, but for now can we just focus on getting the freak out?"
"Well said." Ian nodded. "Well, you heard the talking watermelon; let's go!"
Adam, Jason, and Tyler, with Quentin in tow, made their way through the hall towards what they assumed to be the way to the exit. To their right, there was a door that led to an outdoor basketball court, but in front of them was a raised staircase leading to a door, with a sign next to it that said: 'Totally Not the Way Out'.
"Squids are so stupid." Jason laughed, hopping up and opening the iron door. Since Tyler was short, Adam had to give him a boost before climbing up himself.
Going through, it appeared that they were back in the cell room, but this time on a long passage, almost like a catwalk, that stretched above everything. At the end of it was a door.
"Hey, check it out." Adam noticed a gaping hole in the ceiling with a rope ladder hanging out of it. "Well, that's convenient." Climbing up, coincidentally, there was the rest of the team, talking with an odd-looking group.
"Finally, what took you three so long?" Ryan said impatiently. "Oh well, doesn't matter. To the flying boat!" Seeing as they had no other choice, the group followed them to where Lancey was waving at them from the wheel.
"What's up my homie?" Lancey greeted, patting Ian on the back as he climbed on. Once everyone had boarded, he fired up the ship once again, and they were now officially escaped without a scratch (well, some with more than scratches). It took them a few moments to comprehend what had just occurred, but they soon were jolted back to the reality of this new war they faced.
Ryan sighed, ready to now explain how they had gotten to this point. "Okay, so it all started when…"
A long time of repeating backstory later…
"So let me get this straight." Ty summarized. "Batman, Robin in a miner's cap, a dude that never talks who has two mobs stalking him all the time, and a talking watermelon get chased by a ninja pig, stuck in a mansion with freakin' Pewdiepie, and finally find a castle made of meat that apparently Lancey and Ian built back when they hijacked villages, and you guys flew out to the prison and picked us up on a flying boat."
"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds pretty ridiculous." Ryan commented. "It did take a great deal of power moves though."
"Wait, you know about power moves?" Mitch interrupted, him and the bacca suddenly intrigued.
"Know about them? Please, I'm like the Godfather of power moves!"
Mitch and Jerome were baffled. "Shoot, I'm the Pope, and Mitch is the Duke! We could be like the Power Move Squad or something!" The three laughed like it was the most hysterical thing in the world.
"Okay, wait." Mitch stopped. "Do you play Hunger Games?"
"Are you kidding? You're looking at the reigning champion of my village's annual HG tournament." Ryan stated with a bit of pride.
"GG son! Welcome to the club!" From that point on, Ryan hung out with them as if they had been friends all along.
Later that night...
Lancey had parked the non-sea farring vessel in a secluded valley that was, for the most part, out of sight. The reason for the location was because they did not trust going back to any of their bases anymore, seeing how that was how they were captured in the first place. There was too much of a risk for an attack.
Outside, under the low light of a campfire, Jason was kneeling over a small circular metal object on the ground. Jerome looked over his shoulder and asked him, "What're you doing?"
"Trying to hook up a call with Einshine." Jason pushed a button that was on the side. "It should be ringing now on his end. Hopefully he's still at Ian's lab."
"What is that thing?"
"It's kind of like...well...you've seen Star Wars right?"
"Yeah? Is that even a question?"
"You know those little blue flashy things they used to talk to each other?"
"Oh, the graham crackers?"
"Holograms. I duplicated the projector technology, and they work pretty much the same way." The light blinked, indicating an incoming call. "Oh, oh! It's working!" Jason cheered. "Hey everyone! Come over here!"
They all crowded around the little device. The light in the center flickered on, and a small blue hologram in the shape of Einshine appeared.
"Woah! Guys?! Thank goodness you're okay!" Shine's voice came through. "When that clone went away with Ian, I went to find help, but everyone was gone, and I just didn't know what to do..." He trailed off, sniffling.
"It's okay Shine; we're all fine." Ty laughed.
"I wouldn't say that." Shine composed himself and picked up a newspaper. "Things have been pretty crazy around here since you've been gone. The squids raided the budder vault and took the Sky Army captive!"
Adam was speechless. Nicki, Jordan, and the others...? What could be happening to them now?
"Uh oh...this is bad, this is bad, this is really really bad!" The younger Tyler panicked.
"Calm down Tyler; we can figure this out." Adam said, but doubted himself as he said it. "So our problem is this: Derp Ssundee. The squids have him convinced that he's working for the right side, so persuading him to join us would be nonsense at this point." Ian shook his head in agreement. "What do we already know about him?"
"He has the mental capacity of a eight-year-old." Ty put in.
"He has an incredible amount of psychic powers, kind of like Herobrine." Jason stated. "And we certainly can't take him on. We're just not that powerful."
"Then what should we do about it?" The older Tyler thought out loud. "If we don't stop him, who knows how much damage he will cause."
"Do you think we could get Herobrine to help us?" Jerome suggested, looking towards tiny Einshine.
Shine shook his head. "I don't think so. He doesn't like getting involved with mortal problems."
"Well, that's a bummer." Mitch muttered.
"I think our first move should be rescuing the Sky Army members." Adam said. "But we don't have any leads on that either..."
"Oh! I remember finding something when I was in the warden's office." Ian suggested, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. It read the following:
Alendport Prison STATUS REPORT: All prisoners successfully secured. Some appear rebellious and uncooperative, but proper consequences have been administered to keep order. Interrogations have been without result, but will continue as planned. Requesting permission to begin the Last Measure. The rest of the paper had been torn off.
"'Last Measure'?" Ryan repeated. "What's that?"
"Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good…" The older Tyler gulped.
"W-what're we going to do?' The younger added worriedly.
"I think I may be able to help." Emerging slowly from the shadows was a purple cloaked figure, who was none other than Setosorcerer. His eyes were down, as if he was ashamed. He flipped down his hood and looked at them with a burdened expression. "If you'll have me."
There was a silence for a long time, until Adam stepped out of their circle and went to him.
Seto stammered, "I-I'm so sor-"
Adam stopped him. "Don't even say it. You don't need to apologize. It's great to have you back." Adam pulled him in for a hug, and Seto tearfully returned it.
"Master!" Bashur exclaimed, making his way to the sorcerer. "Did I do good?"
Seto smiled and nodded. "Yes, great job Bashur."
"Do I get a present? Hmmm?" The melon begged.
"I suppose..." Seto thought for a moment, then summoned a small gray dog with a magenta collar.
"A PUPPY? You're the greatest master ever!" Bash picked it up and cradled it. "I think I'll name it Pewface."
Getting back to business, they began to brainstorm what they could do. Alendport Prison seemed to be a topic of interest, but none of them had ever heard of such a place.
"Wait, what if we're thinking about this the wrong way?" Ryan mused, going into the ship and coming back with a pen and paper. "What if the name itself is a clue?" He wrote out 'ALENDPORT', then tore the paper so that each letter was a separate piece. Thinking, Ryan proceeded to drag the first two letters, AL, to the end of the word. He was left with this: ENDPORTAL. "Coincidence? I don't think so."
Ian smirked a little, nodding. "That's pretty smart."
"But, if that's the location of this other prison, then..." Adam trailed off, his face growing pale. There was only one known location of the End Portal, and that was the infamous underground stronghold. The same stronghold where AntVenom had died long ago. Shaking off the memory, he turned to his sorcerer friend. "Seto, we're going to need a lot of invisibility potions."
"Right away!" Seto walked off briskly and began setting up brewing stations. "Bashur, come."
"Yay! C'mon Pewface, we're gonna make inviso-juice!"
"Adam? What are you planning?" Ty asked, marveling in that look of determination in his friend's eyes.
"The squids think that they can get away with capturing us and our friends. Let's take back what they stole, and raid their base!" At the word 'raid' the PMS trio cheered. With everyone together working towards this goal, it seemed that they were unstoppable.
But, what they didn't know, was that a squid/human hybrid stood watching them from behind a tree, and chuckled to himself as he slipped quietly into a pool of water. Silly Team Crafted. They think it's that easy. They think they have it all figured out. He pulled out a phone (water-proof, of course) and made a call using one of his tentacle appendages.
"Yes?" A deep voice answered.
"It's me, Lord Derpington, your lowly servant Fawkes. They have found our location. Do I have permission to proceed?"
"Yes...keep following them, and report any details immediately."
"Will do." Fawkes hung up, and smiled to himself. They have no idea that a spy is just under their noses.