Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from Hourglass!
First of all, MERRY CHRISTMAS! :D I hope you all had a great Christmas and that you're enjoying Christmas vacation. I mean, if you don't actually celebrate Christmas, then I still would like to wish you a merry...day. I dunno.
Christmas times are busy, obviously, so that's why I'm delayed this time. I made a goal for myself to make sure I brought you all a chapter before 2015, so...wow! Can you believe that it's almost 2015?! I remember when I joined Fanfiction way back in 2012! The time sure does fly, right?
And I would do some replies to reviews, but I didn't get a single one. If you've got any thoughts, I'd love to hear them, so feel free to drop a comment! Now it's time for the real story to begin once more!
Now, let the story commence!
Chapter 17: Return of the Gentlemobs
Norman stared intensely at the Magic Hourglass's timer. His fears were growing as their time frame got smaller and smaller; they had only nine days, twelve hours and six minutes. It was almost noon and Auconi still hadn't come out of the Chromium Cube. Norman grunted out of frustration and shoved it back in his Blockpack.
"We're wasting time just standing here!" he growled, looking up at the shiny surface of the gambling death machine.
Nicholas bent down on top of the table so that he was at his eyelevel.
"Come now, Mr. Cobweb! Your friend Mr. Diamondore is perfectly fine! He's nearly done with killing off the last monsters, in fact. Once he takes down the last Ghast, he will be greeted by a swarm of one of every mob as the final round. IF he manages to survive, you'll all be able to head on your way to wherever it is that you're going!"
Norman sighed and looked back at his group. Kelsey and Bailey did seem as wary as he was, keeping in mind that they had only so much time. Finally, Norman turned back to Nicholas and snapped his fingers, saying,
"Got a piece of paper I can borrow?"
Nicholas plucked one out of the hotbar on his left arm as well as a feather pen, scribbling a little on the paper to make sure it was working.
"Need me to take a note?" he said, almost as though he'd read Norman's mind.
Norman was a bit surprised that he already knew what Norman wanted, but shook the idea out of his head and continued. If they were going to find Froace the Fourth, they'd have to get to the place with the most precious gemstones in one place; they were definitely not getting anywhere anytime soon with Auconi stuck inside that giant silver mechanism.
"Yeah, can you tell Auconi that we're heading to the Diggy Diggy Hole a quarter of a mile north through the complex? We've got some urgent business there that we just can't be late for, so he'll have to meet up with us later."
"Man, we're losing people fast!" blurted Astrid, a little louder than necessary. "If this goes on, we might be screwed by the time we have to fight that monster from Hell!"
Bailey looked down at Astrid with both confusion and surprise; she and Alexander were the only ones who had not been informed about that part of the quest.
"What? Do we have to fight some Blaze or something?"
Astrid's eyes widened and she shook her head, a-near grin on her face as she went into full detail.
"The Unforgiveable Spawn! Oh, you know, the creatures from the depths of the 66th Dimension that the Spirits had to lock up so they wouldn't destroy pretty much everything in a raging storm of blood and fire?"
Bailey looked like she'd just seen a ghost, her face as white as one.
"Oh...well then! I kind of regret letting Alexander walk off like that. We're going to need as many fighters as we can."
"Sure, but didn't Alexander jus' carry 'round that goldarn stick as a weapon? He'd be as much use as a pair o' mittens in midsummer!" pointed out Ben, raising a finger.
Darcy's grimace turned into a grin and he even laughed. When everyone stared at him, he looked up at them and said,
"Too bad we didn't get to see the bloke in that brawl back there! It'd be ripper to watch 'im swing his stick around as a weapon!"
"Sure...maybe..." murmured Bailey, still looking a little apprehensive.
Norman cleared his throat loudly, getting them to turn their attention back to him.
"Point is, we have barely any time to complete this quest! Only nine and a half days as of right now, actually. We'll just have to hope we can sneak past it, grab Froace, and get the fudge out of here. I think I remember Farixz saying that once the Unforgiveable Spawn are put inside Minecraft, the same rules apply to them, so it might be possible to ninja our way around it."
Kelsey walked forward from the cluster and stood next to Norman, an equally serious look on her face.
"Norman's right. Auconi's not helpless, he can find us! Besides, the Diggy Diggy Hole is PRETTY huge from what I've heard, so it won't be that hard to find."
Nicholas bent down and put his face in between Kelsey and Norman, glancing over at each of them with that beaming smile of his shining brighter than ever.
"So, you kiddies need directions to the Diggy Diggy Hole, huh? I think I've got a spare map somewhere..."
Nicholas stepped back and knelt down in front of a chest that sat next to the Chromium Cube, which was still unnervingly silent. As he scavenged around inside, he took out a watermelon slice, then chucked it behind him, smacking the back of Darcy's head. He lifted up a bottle of water next, sighed, and also chucked that behind him, shattering on Darcy's shoes. He finally whirled around and snapped,
"Oi! Watch where you're tossing your junk, Nick!"
Nicholas ignored him and continued to take out one random thing after another.
"Shears...no...watermelon...no...cobwebs...no...more watermelon...again, no...Herobrine's electric shaver...what the...Ark of the Covenant...oh, for Notch's sake! Where the Nether is that thing?!"
Finally, he grasped the dry sheet of parchment that he'd been looking for and took it out. As he examined it, he noticed that the finishing coat was wearing out and that there was a noticeably long tear near the top right corner. He grinned nervously and turned back around, slowly handing it to Norman.
"It's a bit worn out, but it'll do. Just mind that tear, alright?"
Norman took a look at the map for a few seconds, taking in just how massive of a place the MGM Grand really was. They had a lot of ground to cover to get to the Diggy Diggy Hole, which was set in the heart of the complex on a nice grassy area, completely surrounded by a square of towering black and green buildings. Norman looked back up at Nicholas and nodded, saying,
"Thanks, Mr. Withers."
Nicholas waved a hand at him and replied,
"Just call me Nick, kid."
"Hmm...it's not right!" muttered the Glitch, its blood-red plasma fangs bared at the image before it.
The Glitch dwelled deep in its new corrupted palace in the sky, now able to properly sit with this new body of its. The Satanic look was rather complementing in its opinion.
But those details aside, the Glitch was watching the heroes' progress in their quest. So far, they had wasted nearly two days trying to just get to Blocks Vegas. Just now they were starting to make their way to the Diggy Diggy Hole where the first—technically fourth—Spirit resided. Still, there was one thing that the Glitch seemed to be bothered by...
Jacque the virus, who was the Glitch's left-hand man in case you forgot, slithered up to his master and stopped once he was at a comfortable distance. Having a new master who loomed several stories taller than him wasn't exactly the most relaxing experience.
"Lord Glitch? Is there something the matter?" he inquired carefully.
The Glitch did not look down at his assistant, continuing to stare at the image being projected in front of it of Norman and his party. Not only was it shocked by the turn of events, but it was beginning to become rather annoyed.
"Cobweb isn't cracking like I thought he would. I killed off so many of his friends before now, but that failed to deter him well enough. Then, I swallowed his only son like an afternoon snack, but nevertheless he managed to keep it together. And NOW, after brutally murdering Liz, his own wife, his grief lasted for a measly twenty-four hours before his shell hardened once more and his nerves became intensely strong! It's as if I'm only making him stronger! It's as if he's accepted that all his friends will die only to put his focus more on destroying ME!"
Jacque paused for a second, letting it sink in. Finally, he said sheepishly,
"So, your plan backfired?"
The Glitch lowered its eyes to give Jacque a stare of utmost malice, making his nonexistent blood run cold.
"No need to point out the obvious, maggot!" it then turned its gaze back to the projection and continued, "As I was saying, whatever I do to try and destroy Norman has a reverse effect. I've tortured him too many times for it to have the same impact as the first or second time I did this...so, I think to myself, WHAT can I do?! I've already made plans to kill off four other companions of his, two of which haven't even joined his group yet, but will it be enough?"
Jacque paused for a moment, thinking about it himself. Then he realized the one big thing that was wrong with all this...
"But...Lord Glitch, isn't this all still just part of the game?"
"But It's MY game, Jacque! MINE! I want to enjoy it as much as possible! So, you can see why I am so frustrated with Norman's unwavering mental endurance. It's utterly sickening."
The Glitch stood up from its throne suddenly, footsteps vibrating the entire Plasma Palace as it walked over to the massive open window to look over the army of plasma beings slithering around, preparing for war. It stood there in silence for a little while. Then...
"I suppose that I have been rushing into this, haven't I? My lack of patience made me waste Liz without even thinking! I think what I must do is wait for Norman to be at a high in his journey. I must wait for the one time when he feels so happy, so naïve, that nothing in the Minecraft Dimension could stop him. THAT'S when I will strike! OH YES, IT'S A PERFECT PLAN!"
Meanwhile, Jacque simply rolled his eyes and watched the Glitch laugh uncontrollably. His master was always coming up with a billion "plans" to amuse itself, anyway.
Norman's ears were beginning to ring from all the shouting, cheering and jeering of the Minecraftians around him. They were only about a third of the way through their half of the building, so that meant they had a whopping two thirds of casino left to cross.
"Kay, guys, we're almost halfway through here!" Norman called to them, trying to get his voice over all the others around them; he turned around for a second so he could address them all and continued. "Once we get to the Diggy Diggy Hole, we can head down to the deepest level possible and find Froace the Fourth! And...uh...wait, where are Astrid and Darcy?"
They all turned their heads, looking around at the people sitting in front of machines. None of them had skins that looked anything like Darcy's and Astrid's, however.
"Oh, crud!" said Kelsey, scratching her head underneath her golden locks. "I knew they'd run off sometime!"
It was only a few more seconds before somebody actually did see one of them. Bailey turned her head to the right one moment and saw Astrid sitting at a table six blocks away, just past a row of slot blocks. She quick grabbed everyone's attention and pointed her out.
"There she is!"
Norman walked forward and squeezed his way in between two of the machines, bumping a couple people as he went. Instantaneously, the two Minecraftian guys raised their hands in the air and let out a cry as joy as they both hit the jackpot.
Ben tried squeezing through them as well, but got nicked in the nose by their high-five. Just because he could, he inserted a little bug into both their machines as he went through; three coals appeared on each of their machines, replacing the diamonds. Norman ignored the two angry cries behind him and kept walking, thinking he saw Adrian smirk, though he was probably just imagining things.
As he approached the table, Astrid looked up from her deck at the other end and grinned toothily at him.
"Hey, Norman! We just started, you want me to deal you in?"
Norman shook his head quickly and then pointed in the other direction, replying,
"Astrid, we don't have time for this! You're aware that we only have nine days, eleven hours—"
Suddenly, the person who sat next to her piped up from behind his large deck.
"Come now, Norman Cobweb! Is there no time to put formalities on momentary pause so as to indulge in harmless amusement?
All of a sudden, every other voice in the entire casino seemed to be ten times quieter as that voice echoed in his ears. He knew that voice.
Looking to his right, Norman saw a small person wearing a cream-colored top hat, their face covered by the cards in their...hands? No, those weren't hands! Those were claws! Before Norman put two and two together, the unknown individual lowered their hand and looked up at him.
"Professor Chickenson?!"
There was no mistaking it! Professor Chickenson, lead scientist of the Society of Splendidly Knowledgeable Gentlemobs (SOSKG for short), sat there in front of a game of poker, his spot covered in a mountain of chips. Norman stared at him for a full five seconds in silence.
"Professor Chickenson?!" he repeated.
The super-genius chicken looked at Norman over his monocle and tried to make a smile out of his beak. Though he failed, it was warm nevertheless.
"I am here as well, my boy!" sounded a voice to his left.
Norman turned his head and his eyes widened even more. On Astrid's other side was Professor Cowson, his big, brown eyes twinkling, his top hat gleaming and a spotless shine on the glass of his monocle. Norman looked from one to the other in disbelief. It'd been so long he could hardly believe he was seeing them again!
Quickly, Norman pulled out the chair in front of him and sat down heavily, ready to let his newfound questions burst out of him, when a squeak issued from underneath him. He jumped back up suddenly, stepping back to see a bat sitting low in the chair. It too donned a cream-colored top hat and monocle.
"Oh, I'm dreadfully sorry for not announcing myself! My name is Professor Batson!" he declared in a voice surprisingly hearty for such a little thing. "We were just engaging in a friendly fixture of poker! There shan't be any jeering at this table, I do say! Mere iron ingots is all we bet against one another. We mustn't start any quarrels."
It'd been quite a while since Norman had needed to translate Gentle-speech, but he got the gist. Norman slapped his hands down on the table and leaned forward, looking straight into Professor Chickenson's beady little eyes.
"Where are professors Pigson and Sheepson? Do you know if they...survived?" he asked.
Norman still remembered that day up in the Aether Palace when the final battle was coming to an end. He could once again see Professor Pigson throwing himself in front of Professor Sheepson's staff and dying right there in his arms, then coming back to life, only to watch his colleague die and not return. Either way, Norman feared that Professor Pigson had perished in the Glitch's taking over of the Aether. Professor Sheepson, however...well, he was probably still burning for his sins in the Nether somewhere.
To his disappointment, Professor Chickenson shook his head and replied,
"I'm sorry, Mr. Cobweb. I know how close you were to Professor Pigson and I offer you my deepest condolences. I fear that he too was consumed during the overthrowing of the Aether Dimension. He is part of the terrible Glitch, now..."
Even in the middle of all the noise, they all fell quiet. Even Kelsey and Astrid, who had never even met the two Gentlemobs before, felt grief wash over them. Of course, Ben just rolled his eyes on the inside.
Norman cleared his throat after a bit and let out a breath. He looked over at Astrid and muttered,
"Well, Astrid, we really do have to go."
Astrid snapped back to her animated self and gave him a pleading look.
"Come on, Cobweb! Can't I just finish this game, or what? I mean, every other game I tried to join was full, so..."
Bailey put a hand on Norman's shoulder and gripped it, getting his attention. When he turned around to face her and the others, they gave him a collective expression.
"We aren't seriously gonna have to leave Astrid, too?" she questioned, looking serious again.
Ben stepped forward and added,
"And don't forget 'bout that horned toad Darcy! He's trouble, partner."
Norman ran his fingers roughly through his head of black hair, letting out an exasperated breath. They had already been ditched by Alexander and Auconi, but now they were facing the possibility of losing both Darcy and Astrid.
"Does nobody understand the importance of this quest?!" he thought angrily, breathing heavily through his nose. "We should've just snuck in underground or something. Maybe then we wouldn't have so many distractions!"
A few steamed seconds later, there was a deep clearing of throats behind him.
"Mr. Cobweb, is it?"
He turned back around for the umpteenth time and looked over the head of the nearest chair at the little professor. Batson looked up at him and blinked, pausing to take a breath.
"You seem to be in quite the hurry, are you not?" he inquired, and Norman nodded. "Well, I may be able to assist you in locating your Australian companion. Although, in order to do so, I implore that you allow me to finish this game."
This caught them all off guard, honestly. Bailey tilted her head like a confused puppy and looked down at him.
"How did you know that Darcy was Australian?"
The intelligent bat set down his hand and flapped its tiny wings, flying up into the air above them, continuing.
"You see," he began, fluttering this way and that as he explained, "my eyes came upon your friend as I was making my way to this very table. My impeccable hearing abilities enabled me to hear his style of tongue and I concluded that he was from Australian heritage. Tell me, does your friend have a deep tan, golden brown hair, a ridiculously shiny grin and irises the color of coffee?"
Norman's eyes widened for a second as he thought about it. His answer came within seconds.
"You're right! Wait, so you got a good look at him, too?"
Ben crossed his muscly arms as if out of disbelief. He was starting to get annoyed with the little flying idiot anyway, so might as well express SOME negativity.
"What a bunch o' hogwash! Bats 'er blind as...well, bats!"
Norman found himself a bit surprised by the irritation in Adrian's tone. He looked over his shoulder at their favorite cowdude and switched into his old nerd-phase.
"Technically speaking, bats are not blind. It's just that they prefer to use echolocation in their environment as means of locking onto their prey." he explained, almost tempted to say it in a fake nasally voice.
Ben huffed, now equally annoyed with the black-haired prick. He was considering letting the obnoxious cowboy kid take control again so he could get a break from all this; it wasn't like he would blab anytime soon, after all. But for now, Ben merely composed himself and fought the temptation to hurt someone. Instead, while Norman and the Gentlemobs talked, he started messing with more machines. Coals for everyone!
"We're on our way to the Diggy Diggy Hole." explained Norman, gesturing in its general direction. "Think you can get Darcy over here and then lead us through this crowd?"
Professor Batson did what looked like a bow and said,
"It would be my honor to abet the heroes of the Divination of Dimensions on their righteous quest to defeat the viral terror of the Minecraft Dimension!"
After his epic shout was done, he flew up into the air and zoomed away from them, squeaking high-pitched. Kelsey watched as he flew out of sight, eyebrows lowered.
"Are we sure this, er, bat is trustworthy?"
Norman looked back at her and noticed that she and Adrian shared the same look. He almost forgot that they hadn't ever met any of the professors before.
"Well, I might not know this new professor well, but I've known the SOSKG for a long time, so I'm confident. Isn't that right, Bailey?"
Bailey was the only other with them who had met the SOSKG as well. She grinned and nodded, saying,
"Of course! Although, I will admit that we were all kinda weirded out when we first met them." she quickly turned to meet both of the other professors' gazes. "No offense, profs."
Professor Cowson waved a hoof at her and replied,
"None taken, Mrs. Creeperwhisperer! It is not as if the majority of the population in accustomed to talking mobs, anyway."
As Norman's frown turned back into a smile, he looked around at the table and noticed something. It seemed the ol' Doctor Squidson was absent at the moment.
"Hey, where's Doctor Squidson? Isn't he usually with you guys?"
Professor Chickenson shuffled through his deck of cards, absentmindedly adjusting his monocle.
"On the contrary! Unfortunately, due to his lack of survival skills on land, Professor Squidson has limited mobility when it comes to leaving our property. He may travel with us if we are going somewhere by sea, but that is all. It would be splendid if he could have joined us on this magnificent day!"
Just then, they heard some familiar shouts coming towards them from the direction that Professor Batson had flown.
"Oi! Gerrof me, you flying pest! I'll fry you up and put'cha on a stick if I have to!"
Darcy suddenly let out an unusually loud scream and burst through the crowd, flopping onto the poker table and scattering chips everywhere. A moment later, Professor Batson flew into view and then perched himself on the back of his chair.
"Is this the Australian you were looking for?" he asked, gesturing at Darcy with his wing.
Darcy stood up from the table with a groan and quickly spit out a mouthful of poker chips. He composed himself once more, brushing off his clothes as if there were dirt on them, and then glared up at the professor.
"I was sure I'd be able to escape the bats once I ended up in this game! But there I was, being attacked by a black flying fox right in the middle of a game of Five-O poker! Can't I have any fun, mates? We're in Blocks goddamn Vegas, for crying out loud!"
Norman gritted his teeth, his ears starting to ring again. Despite Darcy being taller and more intimidating than he was, Norman reached out with his hand and gripped the idiot's shoulder, leading him away from the table.
"We're leaving, Lava Boy. Got it?" he muttered, then turned once to look at Astrid. "Astrid, you too!"
Astrid rolled her eyes and stood up from the table, walking forward to join them. As they were leaving the professors to their game, she snapped her fingers at them and grinned.
"See you animals later!"
Norman let go of Darcy, then turned to who he thought was still Adrian and said,
"Adrian, could you keep an eye on Darcy for me?"
Ben grinned nicely on the outside, but grimaced horribly on the inside. The charm of pretending to be Adrian was wearing off pretty quick.
"Sho' thing, partner!" he replied, trying to keep the indifference out of his voice.
It was settled. As soon as they reached the Diggy Diggy Hole, Ben was retreating. The enjoyment of causing mayhem with all the gambling machines was pretty short-lived, honestly. Plus, he was sick and tired of having to talk like a redneck.
"Why can't Lord Glitch just give me another wicked assignment instead of having me do petty crimes?" he thought, eyes squinting down at Darcy as they walked along. "It promised me a position in the big game, didn't it?"
It looks like there's been quite a few mentions of some kind of game that's going on...any thoughts? It's a bit mysterious, if you ask me!
Well, considering I didn't get any reviews, that means there isn't any QAA for today. Oh yeah, and one other thing! I just realized that I've been forgetting to make those Sugar Lords snippets that I promised! I'm really sorry about that, by the way! I don't have anything planned right now, but I can make one for the next chapter if you guys want one!
Even so, with all the confusion that's happening, I'd like to once again wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Well, that's all for now! I hope you enjoyed chapter numbah seventeen, 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 [~]