Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter for Hourglass. I know I left off on THE WORST NOTE since Jeff's death back in Book 1, but...yeah. It's time to continue the story!
But first...reviews!
Replies To Reviews...
Badgerman: First off, can I just capitalize your name when I refer to you? Just for writing fluency, I mean. Also, this chapter was just really dark at first, but then I wanted to make everyone laugh with the zombie guy. You guys deserve some light for once.
Nwinds: 1. Did you have anyone to go with on homecoming?
2. Yeah. All I'm seeing on TV now is election campaigns for WI governor. Good Lord.
3. Good point. In The Glitch, almost everyone was a lovable, nice character. Then, Void came along and you got more of a balance between the two types. Now the tables are turned in Hourglass. So I guess you're right; it is fitting in some ways.
4. You do realize that Ben is the second most-powerful virus in existence? His power comes from the Glitch, so it's not likely that Adrian could've stood a chance against him.
5. Yeah, it's starting to pick up. It took me way too long to get the quest into motion. :/
6. I'll catch up with QAA today.
Mmtunlight: SORRY! I just wanted make this chapter cause you to laugh one minute and cry the next.
Nwinds: Pickpocket plug-in, hm? I'll definitely consider it.
HikariShonenCrafter1: Well, thanks! :D I can always use the support!
Volcanic the hedgehog: Tall glass of nope right there. 0_0
Volcanic the hedgehog: Just let it all out, man...
Badgerman: Whoa, whoa! Slow down, man! It won't be much fun for you if you think too hard about it.
Nwinds: Good Lord, I hate writer's block. It is the bane of my existence. -.-
Now then! NOW the story can continue! We're leading this one off with a bang! ...well, not like the one from last chapter, but you know what I mean.
Now, let the story commence!
Chapter 15: The Vegas-Style Brawl
As Farixz floated back and forth across the throne room, Serisdo came in through the great gate, seeing him instantly. Serisdo floated up to his friend with a look of concern and curiosity.
"What is wrong, Farixz?"
Farixz hovered up to the main throne and sat down heavily, putting his head in his wings.
"Have you been watching Norman Cobweb and the other heroes? One of the Discarded has been taken care of by the Glitch. It was the moment I hoped I wouldn't find myself witnessing, but I knew that it was my job to overlook the quest. For once, it is unfortunate that Fate guided me to write the final chapter like this..."
Serisdo flew closer to him, looking attentive.
"Wait...one of the Discarded is already gone? This early? Which of the five was it?"
Farixz paused for a moment before looking up at his spirit brother.
"The Glitch has decided that Liz Cobweb would be the first to die. I expected this much of beast; it always did know when things were most impactful. To start off Norman's quest with the biggest loss of his life...just disgusting. I will only sleep well at night when the Glitch is destroyed for good, but I feel that we have many more hardships to expect..."
The two of them hovered there in silence, barely moving, their spirits dampened by the unbearable despair cast over them by the Glitch. They pondered whether this nightmarish creature really could be stopped at this point. It seemed that they only had a sliver of hope left to grasp as, at the moment, their lives hung by a thread...
And then, after a few seconds of misery-choked silence, Thorvon came in through the northwest hallway and hovered up to them with a plate of corn chips, beef, cheese, veggies and sour cream.
"I bring thee nachos! Who wants some?" he declared happily, holding it before them.
They both just stared at him. Clearly, he wasn't aware of the epidemic quite yet.
"Nobody?"
Normally, the feeling Norman got when he exited the stuffy underground tunnels into cool, brightly lit nature would be relief, satisfaction and even some excitement. Now, after seeing Liz fall cold and dead to the ground, then having to listen to the Glitch taunt him horribly, he was left with a strange numbness. He didn't feel the pain or sorrow. He felt...nothing.
Kelsey sat behind him in the minecart line and just watched him. As she watched him plunge further and further into his depressed state, the more she wanted the Glitch to stop existing. It had killed Norman's son, his wife, and so many others. But why, WHY did it have to do this now? Now, not only was Norman's train of thought knocked completely off course, but everyone in the group was dead-silent after what had happened. It was a sickening feeling.
Kelsey studied him for a moment before looking behind her at Adrian, who was still indeed being taken over by Ben. To her, he seemed to be the only one who didn't look all too concerned. It was odd, though, because the Adrian she knew was caring and sensitive. This one just looked bored.
"Adrian? You look bored." she even commented, a little suspicious.
Ben looked up at her suddenly and cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Sorry, ah was jus' real deep in thought about what jus' happened. I can' believe Liz's gone! An' so quick? Tha' Glitch!" he grumbled, sounding genuinely angry.
Kelsey sighed through her nose and looked down at her feet while she huddled up like that inside the moving minecart. Ben looked away from her and instantly started feeling bored. As long as he was in charge, he might as well make use of his time—cause some trouble.
Behind him sat Alexander, who looked just as if not more bored. He slapped a hand down on his knees and grumbled,
"Man! We almost to Blocks Vegas, or what?
Up front, Darcy zipped open his Blockpack and pulled out a clock, observing the hands for a moment. Then he looked up, ready to shout that they were almost there when he saw the city itself coming into his render distance. A wide grin spread across his face and he raised a fist, giving a holler.
"Alright, mates! We made it!" he shouted, trying to grab everyone's attention.
Astrid looked up suddenly and she too noticed the city getting closer and closer. She sat up quickly in her seat out of sheer joy, face beaming.
"Oh, man! There it is! Blocks Vegas! I never thought I'd get a chance to come to this place!"
It seemed that only Astrid and Darcy were excited at the moment. Liz's death had happened only a few hours ago; most of them just sat there in the lowest possible spirit. Normally, they would be ecstatic about all this, but not now.
And then there was Norman. He just sat there with a blank expression on his face. Countless flashbacks were being played over and over in his mind, but for some reason it didn't bring him to tears or even give him an upset stomach. He was just...dead.
The minecarts kept moving along the tracks for another thirty seconds; once they were about fifty from the city edge, a block of dirt came up fast and stopped their movement. Astrid and Darcy hopped out right away, eager to enter the city and see all that there was to see. Everyone else...well, you could guess.
Auconi stood up out of the caboose cart and cracked his back and neck, moaning.
"Holy crap! You wouldn't believe how bumpy it gets back there!"
Alexander got out and glanced off towards the looming city ahead. He paused for a moment, crossing his arms.
"Hm. So, explain the goal to me again."
Without warning, Norman, who was still sitting in his minecart, spoke aloud before anyone else could get a word out.
"We're going to find Froace the Fourth here. After we complete this task, we'll be one step closer to making the viral bastard suffer for all it's done." he muttered, almost like he was talking to himself.
The others just stood there awkwardly, mildly afraid of Norman at the moment. They weren't sure what would set him off, but they didn't want to take any chances. Finally, Kelsey sighed and walked up to Norman, extending a hand. He barely glanced at her.
"C'mon, Norman. Let's go."
She grabbed his hand and pulled him up. She expected him to just walk off towards the city, but instead he leaned right on her weakly, still in a daze. Kelsey did her best to support him as she helped him keep moving forward. Everyone else followed suit in a horribly awkward silence.
Was this how it was going to be? Would they be stuck in this rut for the rest of the quest, unable to talk to each other? It wasn't how Kelsey remembered it, or even Astrid for that matter. They always talked and joked around as they travelled to make the experience more bearable. But now Mark AND Liz have died, so all of them are trapped in gloom.
Especially Norman.
After a little bit of walking, Norman realized that he was just like his late buddy Jeff now. For all Norman knew, Liz would end up coming back as a zombie just so the Glitch could kill her again. Now he understood what the guy had been going through all that time. Now he knew just how badly Jeff wanted revenge against the Glitch. Now it was his turn.
It was this thought in mind that kept his legs moving as they made their way towards Blocks Vegas.
Jeff pushed Evan through the trees, getting him to move faster. Evan glared at him and quickly brushed his shoulders off.
"Hey, wait a second! Could we slow down, or what?"
Jeff breathed heavily through his nose and then replied,
"No, we can't. We need to find my friends Morgan Ironbars and Johnny Bed. I sort of abandoned them when I chased after you, but since I'm kind of part of this huge quest with them, I really do need to find them."
Evan looked at him for a moment before turning his head forward. He sighed.
"Okay, but when the Mistress finds out I'm a traitor, she'll re-kill me again!"
Jeff paused and glanced down at the zombie teen, raising an eyebrow.
"Re-kill you again? Isn't that a bit redundant?"
As they passed through a wall of vines, Evan cleared his throat and explained.
"Yeah, it is, but it happens. Whenever we don't do what she says when she says it, or if we don't do it right, she'll kill us. I'm already undead, but she has us feel the pain of death again and then reanimate us later so we can keep doing our job. It's all paradoxy and stuff, but I just know that I've died twice already."
"Jeez..." muttered Jeff, getting a nasty image in his mind. "You zombies sure have it rough. You slaves to her, or something?"
Evan just shrugged and said,
"Pretty much...so, if I could NOT get caught, that would be just awesome."
Jeff sensed that Evan was getting the temptation to run off again, so he clutched the grimy fabric of his tattered blue shirt extra hard. This kid wasn't going anywhere. Then, without warning, they heard a zombie grumble nearby and Evan struggled in Jeff's grasp, breaking loose and suddenly pinning his arms behind his back.
"Roll with it!" he muttered hurriedly, looking left and right frantically.
Jeff considered fighting back but quickly realized what was happening and gave into his tight grip. Moments later, another zombie carrying a bow came out from behind a tree and stared at the two of them for a second. Then he glared at Evan and said,
"Hello Evan," his voice was dripping with smugness, "I see you actually caught someone this time."
Evan sighed and gave his zombie brother the tiniest of glares.
"Don't say it like that, Brock. I've gotten people before!"
Brock the zombie snorted and crossed his arms, looking even more self-righteous.
"Are you referring to that four-year-old kid you found wandering through the woods that one time? I wouldn't count THAT one."
The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Evan was used to backing down from the rest of the zombies considering he was always a major underdog, but he didn't need any more reminders. The criticism he got back at the base was enough; so, he gave Jeff and shake and then started walking forward.
"Well, I'd love to chat, but I've gotta take this guy to home base! See ya!"
Brock watched them walk off before turning in the other direction to continue on his patrol route. When they were out of sight, Jeff shrugged Evan off and wiped dirt off his wrists.
"You're not very popular around here, are you?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
Evan shrugged, trying to look neutral and failing.
"Eh, yeah. I'm used to it, though. Besides, those guys don't recognize my true talent! I'm stronger, faster and smarter than all of them! ...okay, maybe not faster or stronger, but I'm definitely smarter. Most of the other zombies in Mistress's armada are brainwashed like normal zombies, just a whole lot more bloodthirsty. She didn't want too many of us to turn out smart because she was afraid of rebellion happening or something."
Jeff paused for a moment, trying to get a picture of this witch lady Maria, but coming up with nothing.
"So, what exactly does she do, magic-wise?"
"She specializes in necromancing. See, she can bring anyone back from the dead, even if they've been deleted by the Glitch, but only as zombies, plus they'd have no memories or anything."
He had felt a spark of hope for a mere two seconds before hearing about the no-memories deal breaker. He thought for a moment that he could bring back his family, but the idea of them being like real zombies squashed the hope out of him real quick. He sighed and then was silent for a moment.
If there was any hope for his family, it was the possibility of them coming back after the Glitch was finally gone. Still, the goal felt so far away to Jeff, so he just pushed it out of his mind and kept moving forward.
Despite it being daytime, the heroes couldn't divert their attention away from all the flashing lights and signs that covered the countless buildings that surrounded them. Just as Kelsey had remembered back when she lived in Invacuo City, Blocks Vegas was full of real Minecraftians rather than a bunch of NPC's. Most of them seemed a little young to be going off into different casinos and hotels along the way, but considering this was Minecraft, she supposed there weren't the same laws.
As they walked down the street, though, there were a handful of creeps wandering around. In fact, while they made their way along the side of the road, they were approached by two girls in their earlier twenties, definitely prostitutes. One of them approached Alexander, who looked like he was practically their age, and started acting all seductive.
"You want a good time, stud?" said one of them, moving her tongue along her teeth.
Alexander grinned for a second, liking what he was seeing. He put his arms around two of them and just walked right off with them. Bailey pushed past the crowds and raised a hand at him, shouting for his attention.
"Hey! Alexander, where do you think you're going?"
He looked back at her and winked.
"I'll see you losers later! Just meet me inside the MGM Grand in a few hours and I'll be there!" he called back, then turning away from them and disappearing through the crowd.
Everyone stared off in the direction where he'd gone for a moment. Finally, Bailey continued forward toward the massive MGM Grand that loomed in the distance, grumbling,
"We don't need him, guys! He wasn't exactly an asset to our group, anyway."
They followed behind Bailey sluggishly, definitely still ripped of all enthusiasm from Liz's death. Norman followed at the very back, staring at everyone's backs with no expression. He bumped shoulders with countless Minecraftians, many of them grumbling at him to watch where he was going; he heard nothing.
After a half hour of walking, their party crossed the street to the MGM Grand property. The main building was absolutely massive, standing at 293feet tall, 30 floors in total. Bright green streaks across the dark surface made it look like one giant neon sign, attracting the eye of any wandering eyes. Just this minor description here doesn't do justice to the awesomeness of the MGM Grand. Go on. Look it up. Wikipedia's just fine.
Anyway, as they approached the monstrous Vegas resort and casino, they found themselves pushing their way past even more people than before. Thankfully, they didn't run into any more prostitutes on their way, so that was one semi-positive thing. It took them a full ten minutes just to reach the main front doors, which were just decked with welcome signs and lights that were so flashy they were nearly strobe lights.
"MY EYYYYYYYYES!" cried Astrid, laughing a moment later, trying to cheer them up; no one cracked even the tiniest of smiles.
The flow of the crowd pushed them inside the extravagant lobby. The entire floor was covered in weighted pressure plate tiles, a wide line of red carpet leading up the middle and branching off to either side every fifteen blocks. Unlike the outside of the building, the lobby had a warm, welcoming golden glow to it, with softer lighting. The only flashy displays in the room were the two impressive diamond chandeliers that hung low from the ceiling.
Minecraftians of all appearances roamed around the places, walking up to many of the birch wood desks positioned around the room where snappily-dressed men and women were handing out room keys, casino tickets and passes of sorts. Despite the situation, many of them found themselves gawking.
"Crikey..." muttered Darcy, staring around at all the gloriousness going on. "All the dimes I'd give for a night in this rich man's world..."
They walked up the red carpet to the main desk across the room where a stern-looking old woman sat, scratching out something in a book. The scratching sound of her quill was surprisingly loud over every other noise the room. Bailey cleared her throat, getting the woman's attention.
"Hello, um, we're here to reserve some rooms—" she began.
The woman at the desk looked at everyone in their group, observing them for an uncomfortably long time. Then, when her eyes reached Norman, her eyes widened. Then she covered it up quickly and looked back up at Bailey.
"Reservations for...?"
"Bailey, Adrian, Norman," the woman's cheek gave a sudden twitch, "Kelsey and Astrid."
Behind her, Auconi cleared his throat unnecessarily loud.
"Oh! And Auconi."
The woman swallowed hard, glancing over at Norman and then back to Bailey.
"Reservations for six, then? Do you have any membership cards?"
Bailey shook her head and said,
"Nope. So, can we go into the main casino now?"
The woman squinted at her suspiciously, glanced over at Norman AGAIN, then turned around.
"Just one moment, please."
At first, Norman had ignored the woman completely and was letting himself run around in his head, but then he noticed her as she talked with another fancy businessperson standing at the next desk; they repeatedly gestured at him from a distance, which sparked his interest. Then he noticed the younger man taking something from out of his desk: an enchanted bow.
Norman gulped and pushed past his friends, joining in the center of the group. None of them were really paying attention much, so they continued to stand there, bored as heck. Through a crack in between Darcy and Auconi, Norman could see the woman and the man walking briskly towards them. Even after witnessing his wife's death, Norman's instincts took rule over his body and mind. He stood behind Adrian (Ben)...
Alright, alright! I've been trying to figure out how to refer to Adrian properly whenever Ben is in control, so this is what I'll do. When Adrian is in control, I'll refer to him as Adrian. When Ben is in control, I'll refer to him as Ben. Is that okay with you guys? Thank you! Now, on with the story!
...to keep hidden from view and tapped on Bailey's arm. She turned to look at him and gained a sympathetic look.
"Yes, Norman?"
Norman didn't speak; he lifted a finger to his throat and slid it across, then pointed behind him. Bailey looked up, staring off in the direction where he'd pointed and not seeing anything. Norman breathed heavily through his nose and stood up, pointing over Kelsey's head at the two.
"They're. Here. To. Kill. Me." he muttered.
But before he could get another word out, he let out a cry of pain as an arrow grazed his ear. Everyone around him scattered once more arrows came flying by, hitting several people besides Norman. All at once, the receptionists around the room leapt out of their seats, brandishing swords and bows. One guy looked like he'd missed the memo and was waving a piece of string instead.
The battle ensued...
Norman jumped to his left as the older woman charged him with a diamond sword, narrowly missing his head. She thrust in his direction again and Norman ducked, kicking at her feet to trip her to the ground. Normally, he'd expect her to just lie there in pain with a broken back, but this old lady suddenly became Jedi Betty White and jumped back onto her feet, not hesitating as she pummeled Norman with her blade.
"Whoawhoawhoawhoawhoawhoa!" screamed Norman, who was just barely keeping up.
While he and the old hag were exchanging blows, Astrid shoved her opponent, sending the guy tripping into the old lady. They both fell to the ground and Norman quickly shot her a "thank you" look. She grinned and nodded, jerking out of the way of an oncoming arrow.
Norman turned too late to see a young man with startlingly green eyes tackle him to the ground, pushing down with his blade hard. Norman struggled against him as he tried to keep the blade away from his throat. Finally, he lifted his legs and kicked underneath the guy, knocking him off. He hopped up to his feet, avoiding a swipe at the legs, then stepped on the college kid as he went forward to fight another snappily-dressed woman. In seconds, another person came forward and the two of them tag-teamed Norman.
"There's way too many of them!" thought Norman as he ducked, letting the two's fists collide with each other's faces; as they fell to the ground, he ducked underneath their falling bodies, looking around quickly for his next adversary."There're six of us and twenty-one of them! There's no way we can...oh crud."
Norman caught sight of Kelsey being strangled by the seedy-looking guy who had the string, him choking her with it from behind. An odd sight came upon Norman as a sudden image of Liz appeared in her place. He felt a fire burn in his heart that he hadn't felt since the last time he'd come to the world of Minecraft and bolted forward.
"Kelsey!" he shouted as he ran.
After flattening his foe's head, Ben turned to see Norman running towards Kelsey to aid her. He grinned as a wicked idea came to his mind and moved forward ever so slightly. Without Norman even noticing, he poked his foot out and tripped him as he ran, sending him flat on his face. By the time Norman looked up, Ben was already back to fighting the tall, bearded guy he'd been facing off against seconds ago.
Suddenly, Norman felt something sharp stab into his arm. He screamed in pain and looked to see an arrow lodged there, just under his shoulder. Then a second arrow whizzed past, jamming into the ground right next to him. He hopped to his feet and looked around at the balcony above them, instantly seeing the archer that stood there, aiming rather poorly.
The third arrow came flying towards him and Norman merely deflected it with Shatter's spade. As he ran, arrows zipped past him from behind, right on his tail. Thankfully, she must not have had the best of aim after all, because most of her arrows ending up hitting her allies rather than her enemies. By the time she'd accidently taken down eleven of them, someone up above shoved her aside and grabbed her bow, aiming with precision at Norman. The arrow was released seconds later, flying in a perfect line towards its target. One split second later, the arrow connected with Norman's knee, sending him sprawling to the ground in extreme pain.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Bailey, who stood not ten blocks away, saw that Norman was down and grimaced. The sight of seeing his best friend take an arrow to the knee was not something that put her in the best of moods; the sound of her diamond arrows flying through the air became more rapid, more high-pitched. The painful cries of the businesspeople all over the place increased as she knocked them off the list, one by one.
By this time, almost all of the tourists who'd come to the lobby had fled out the doors; some, though, were stuck hiding underneath desks in hopes that they wouldn't die that day. Slowly, though, the battle inside the room slowed as the angry mob of ties and suits thinned. Soon, Norman and the gang were all left standing there in a room full of collapsed people, panting like dogs as their hearts pounded with adrenaline.
They all looked at each other from around the room and just stared. Nothing but shock filled their gazes as they all thought the same exact thing.
What.
The.
Fudge?
Minutes later, the six of them found themselves on the other side of the main casino doors, leaning up against slot machines as they caught their breath even still. There was definitely some explanation in order.
Well then! It looks like they were expected, apparently. It was like a flash mob from Norman's nightmares, or something along those lines. Well, I definitely feel a little better after writing this chapter. I still don't know what I was thinking before, but...
QAA TIME! Also, I'll do all the QAA I missed from last time since I skipped it.
To the Glitch: I know he's weaker than you so you should feed his ego and then kill him.
The Glitch: I plan to not spend so much time meddling with Satan. He shall be just another bug to squish when I plow through every dimension in my path! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
To Salutem: So, what are you doing while a group of children try and fix the mess your evil counterpart caused? You really should help them or at least distract the Glitch for them. Maybe you could get Ben out of Adrian.
Salutem: I too play a part in this story, but not now. I cannot tell you exactly why I stay where I am and I apologize.
To Adrian: Sooooo, when you going to blow up Liz? Maybe you could stop the minecarts and sneak off to create a trap.
Ben: *laughs* Sorry, but Adrian isn't available right now. I can take a message...
To Jeff: Actually Esmeralda is in the Plasma Realm and so not completely deleted. Matilda could probably bring her back from there or if not you could create one of those dimension portals from The Glitch.
What's the Plasma Realm?
To Raven: Shut up and go away.
Raven: *hisses at you*
To Phil: I thought you agreed to hold out until the end of the book. Get back to work.
Phil: *grimaces, trying to ignore you*
To All: Okay, now that we have a pet name, for you we only need to slip a collar and leash on you and fit you in a handbag. And possibly a shock collar as well. So, who wants to carry the Glitchy around first?
All: *scramble out of the way, not wanting to be the unlucky soul who gets to carry the puppy of death around in some frilly handbag*
To Notch: About the booze; I suspect it was like the 1920's, a quick blast and then hangover when everyone forgot.
Notch: I don't even know myself. This is something I will not say out of pride, but I partook in the, er, festivities at the time. Not even I remember. I was intoxicated enough where I now can't even read my own written accounts about it.
To the Glitch: Go in a corner, face the wall and think about your life. Then go die in a radioactive hole in the middle of Area 51.
The Glitch: Ah, screw you. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAACCCCKGGGGKK! *cough* HACCCCCKKKKKKK! HmmmmMMMMM! ...sore throat. Still, screw you.
Aaaaaaaaaaaand...done! Also, Nwinds, I apologize if I didn't reply with every character to your "to all" question, but my family's literally just about to start dinner and I'm in a little bit of a hurry. I just didn't want to wait and post tomorrow instead of today. Thanks!
Well, that's all for now! I hope you enjoyed chapter lucky number sixteen, and I'll see you all LATER!
This is Pastrinator64, your fellow writer and reader, signing out!
*throws sugar bomb and disappears behind its cloud of fine white sugar*
...Goodbye for now...
~Pastrinator64 [~]