Chapter 18: Ominous Summoning
It was official: Pickaxe didn't miss the Nether one bit.
Parker was waiting for them when they entered the fortress. He was at the entrance, with Jewel and Rosetta tied to a fence post made of Nether brick. "Finally," Parker hissed, his eyes glimmering with malicious intent. "You've fallen right into my trap," he continued, rubbing his hands together evilly. "YOU'RE INSANE!" Jewel yelled at Parker, cleary done with his schemes. Parker twitched his head at this statement. He slowly walked up to Jewel...
...and gave her a hard SMACK! to the face.
Before Rosetta could complain, Parker smacked her, too. Both girls were immediately silenced, unable to say anything under the pain's influence. "You know I don't like to hurt you, Jewel…" Parker began, a twinge of sympathy in his voice, "but sometimes, you can be quite stupid." "YoU'rE dEaD, pArKeR!" Endre roared in rage, throwing himself upon the miner. Parker simply grabbed his arm, throwing him to the edge of the portal. Endre fell forward, grasping his back in pain. Parker scoffed at this; "Moron…" he grumbled.
"Now where was I?" he asked, "Never mind, I remember."
He began to place four pieces of soul sand into a t-shape. He pulled out three wither skulls, placing one on the left and another on the right. The third remained in his hand, as he basked in the glory of this moment. "PARKER, STOP!" Rosetta begged, "IF YOU PLACE DOWN THAT SKULL, YOU'LL KILL US ALL!" Parker briefly glanced at her with indifference. "Silence," he commanded, "this creature will obey all of my commands…" "NOO!" Rosetta cried.
Parker placed the last wither skull in the center.
The structure began to shake, and then it started to glow and spin. Parker took in this sight with open arms, while the rest of the group was petrified. As time went on, the creatures light began to dim, and Pickaxe began to make it out. It looked like a skeleton, without legs, but its neck branched off into three necks, resulting in three heads. It was pitch black, and its eyes were as white as a stray's. Pickaxe felt like something bad was about to happen… "EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" he yelled, running from the monstrosity Parker had unleashed.
BOOOOOOOOM!
Pickaxe looked behind him. The creature was no longer glowing, having created an explosion that destroyed the Nether portal's glow. While his friends had gotten out of the way safely, Parker appeared to have been within the blast radius. Sadly, he was still alive, bring himself to his feet. He pulled out a golden sword. "Now… creature…" he began, still recovering from the explosion, "...attack my adversaries… justify your existence!" The creature slowly hovered towards Parker, looking at him dead in the eyes.
It shot a black skull at him, effectively slamming him into the wall.
"W...w-what!?" he gasped in shock, hitting the ground. He clutched his chest, which was wreathing in pain. "Why...doesn't it… obey… me…?" he questioned, unable to comprehend the creature's disobedience. "You fool!" Rosetta screamed, "That creature lives on no one's rules but its own! It will kill anything that isn't undead!" Parker turned to face her, his face weak and horrified. His vision began to dim, the pain getting more and more unbearable. "Why… me…?" he tried to ask.
Those were his last words, as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
The creature turned its attention to the girls, now that Parker was dead. They struggled against their bindings, cursing the fact Parker had tied them really tight. It looked as though it was about to fire ammunition when… an arrow clunked to the side of its head. Pickaxe leaped above the creature, using his pickaxe to cut away the fence post. "Scatter!" he commanded the girls, the three of them running in different directions as the creature fired off several blue skulls. What was this thing!?
Wither.
"Oh, crud," Pickaxe muttered. Just hearing the name was enough to make him shiver, even in the Nether. "Rosetta, now might be a good time to fill us in on WHAT THE HECK PARKER SUMMONED!?" Texik screamed, as the creature began hovering towards him. Instinctively, he threw a fire charge at the monstrosity. That did squat. "That creature is known as a Wither," Rosetta began, notching a few arrows, "Technically speaking, it's a Nether mob, so fire won't do a thing. It's also undead, meaning that potions of harming will heal it, and vice versa-"
"Dang it!" grunted Texik, sheepishly putting his harming potion down.
"Undead, you say?" questioned Endre, suddenly carrying a familiar shovel. "HAVE AT THEE!" he cried out, charging toward the Wither. He managed to get a few hits in a first, pushing it out of the fortress. He continued to deliver blow after blow on the unholy creation… until it began shooting skulls. Endre was blown back, his body emanating an ominous black aura. Jewel's eyes widened in fear. She began running towards Endre.
"HE NEEDS SOME MILK!" she screamed.
Pickaxe instinctively pulled out a bow, and started shooting at the Wither, while Jewel dragged Endre to cover. Rosetta followed suit, but she carried… splash potions of healing? She ran towards the Wither's flank, and began throwing them in the Wither's direction. "Don't let up!" she commanded, as the Wither sustained damage, "If it hits you, it automatically regains health!" "Say that again!?" yelled Texik from the other side. Surprisingly enough, one of the Wither's blue skulls hit him. The explosion sent him flying into a netherrack crater.
Madison was ticked to say the least; "SHUT UP AND FOCUS!"
Pickaxe continued to volley arrows, circling the Wither, attempting to get closer. Every now and then, he'd have to retreat when the brute shot its skulls. While Jewel was nursing Endre and, now, Texik, from behind the fortress, Madison attempted to charge with her battle axes, while Sarah followed Rosetta's lead with the healing potions. If they kept this up, the Wither would be done for in a matter of moments. Maybe it knew that, too…
...halfway through, it gained this weird glow.
"What the heck!?" Pickaxe exclaimed, noticing his arrows no longer put a dent in the Wither. "It's wither armor!" Rosetta explained, "The good news is it'll stop flying. The bad news: ARROWS NO LONGER WORK!" Great, of course it isn't that easy, thought Pickaxe. It began shooting more skulls, causing the group to be pushed back. They took cover behind the fortress, where Endre and Texik had just finished recovering. Jewel, wondering what was going on, peeked her head from their hiding spot. She saw the Wither and its wither armor for a brief moment, before it suddenly stopped.
No longer seeing the group, the Wither decided to hover away, further into the Nether's dangerous landscape.
Pickaxe and company were worn down, bad. They all had scratches and bruises. Some had acquired the Wither effect, having to use potions to stall it, and later milk to cure it. Everyone was breathing hard. Pickaxe looked at his bow. It only had a bit more life in it before it gave out. Even then, they'd still have to confront the Wither when it would regain its armor. "What now?" asked Texik, looking past the fortress, the Wither now gone. Pickaxe knew what to do. He equipped his pumpkin and shield. He stood up, drinking a potion of swiftness and night vision.
Let's finish this.