Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with a brand new chapter from Hourglass!
Hi, I'm back again! Like I said with the previous chapter, this was originally just going to be the second half to Chapter 41, but it ended up being WAYYYYY too long, so I split it in half. It would've been, like, 7.5k words. So, yeah! Here I am and HERE WE GO!
Replies to Reviews...
Marshman101: When you're blindsided by such sheer power, it's pretty hard to recognize some of the simplest of truths, even...that's not a quote, I just came up with it. I'd format it way different if I wanted it to be one! XD
This chapter's a doozy, just to let you all know! ;D
Now, let the story commence!
Chapter 42: Puppet vs Puppeteer
Amidst the struggle of plasma vs magnet, Astrid came to on a street just outside of downtown New Pork. The first thing she recognized was the awful burning sensation in her back. The second was a sharp pain spreading through her entire left arm. The third and final item on her mind was the fact that her diamond sword was missing from her grip.
"Ugh…what the Nether…?"
Gradually, Astrid was able to get herself to at least a kneeling position; from her one spot, she shot a full glance around her in search for her weapon, though no such luck came to her. When her head returned to a straight position, her eyesight cleared up a little and revealed Baal Reincarnate to be roughly eighty blocks away—still trekking onward, still maintaining a good 90% of its health.
"Good Lord, this thing isAH!"
Astrid had made an attempt to straighten up, but the fiery pain in her back surged with warning and made her gasp. With a careful hand, she felt her tender backside; from the sheer level of heat radiating from the area, she assumed that that explosion had burned a hole right through her chestplate. As long as the Unforgiven Spawn was safe distance away, she was able to slowly remove the armor piece and throw it to the ground. The heat was still pretty intense, so she removed her iron cap and wiped the sweat off her forehead with her uninjured arm.
"No more weapon, no more chest piece…no more chance against this spawn of Hell, it sounds like!"
Only a few seconds into feeling helpless, Astrid's head perked up as a brilliant idea hatched in her brain.
"Wait a sec," she started, excitement building. "I got one more thing I can try against Balls Reincarnate here!"
Astrid broke into a run abruptly, speedily finishing off a pair of cooked chickens in addition. With a brand new pocket of energy to take from, Astrid cracked her fingers noisily and prepared to attack as she got closer. When she was a mere ten steps from the behemoth, she lifted her right hand skyward and declared,
"GO! SILVERFISH STORM TO THE FACE!"
The moment she was finished, a 16x16 wall of Astrid's stones materialized right in front of Baal Reincarnate. Astrid dove out of the way as the wall of flesh steamrolled by and watched with glee as it collided headfirst with the rocky structure. Her grin only broadened as a torrent of silverfish showered over the amalgamate, all of them biting, crawling, and hissing at once.
"HA! Take that, you…youuuuu…?"
Astrid's joy was snuffed the moment she took a closer look at the layer of grayish insects on top of her massive victim; ten by ten, the silverfish sank below the slimy surface of its skin, every one of them eventually wriggling out of view. As soon as the last of the bugs had disappeared, something caught Astrid's eye and made her look up; a small symbol had just popped up over Baal Reincarnate's boss tag: +256.
"Wha…?" she began, definitely confused.
"It was at this moment that the boss tag itself gave a great jolt in midair and instantaneously restored the small chunk missing from its end. Astrid's mouth fell open as she watched Baal Reincarnate crawl right past her, now with full health. She took a slow, pained breath and murmured,
"That's not good…"
Her head fell to face the fleshy road underneath her; for a moment, she felt one of the rarest emotions possible for her: regret. Usually, she could just get right back to fixing her stupid mistakes, but her lack of an arsenal was seriously holding her back. When she raised her head again a half minute later, something entirely different caught her attention and immediately broke her out of her slump.
"Just a little more before I CRUSH your precious little pal, Cobweb!" whispered Ben, his words fueled by pure malice. "And by my calculations, there's a 100% chance your own survival instincts will save you at the last second, even if it means having to abandon Ms. Ice! Oh, the shame you will feel! Mmhmhmhahahahahaaaaa!"
Norman was pressed down on his knees at this point. By now, he was absolutely sure that the tower's incredible resistance against him was the Glitch's doing. Of course, this gave him an even bigger drive to keep on fighting.
"I'm not…letting you…NGAH!" he cried out, his grip on Shatter's handle continuing to loosen as it threatened to shoot back and skewer him.
The lone tower was almost touching Norman now. Ben had to give his fist just one more scrunch before the dark deed was done, and so he smiled oh-so cruelly and murmured,
"Say goodbye to your friend, Norman! It really is the end of th—"
But before Ben could finish his last sentence, five white knuckles came out of nowhere and collided with his cheek, sending him flying four blocks to the left. He landed rather roughly, the wind being knocked out of his Minecraftian lungs upon impact. It was only when those same fingers curled around the checkered collar beneath his armor and lifted him up off the ground did he see who'd just assaulted him.
It was none other than Astrid herself.
"Get out of my best friend's body, Glitch! You took Lucas last time, but I especially can't let you take Adrian!" she growled, teeth gnashed and eyes on fire with determination.
Ben slapped on a surprised look—with a dash of fear—and raised both his hands in defense.
"Astrid, what in Notch's name're ya tryin' to do to me?! Ah ain't possessed!"
Astrid gave him a good shake and replied,
"Then what the hell was that Jedi Force-push bullcrap you were just doing? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were literally just trying to crush Norman and Kelsey!" she pulled him closer and grumbled, "Like I just said, you did this during our last quest, too. Don't think for a SECOND I'm dumb enough to believe you're the real Adrian I know...I mean, we know and love!"
She dropped him to the floor and swiftly delivered another powerful hit to the face. Ben gasped, actually caught off guard at the sheer force behind it. The punches continued for several seconds more, each one making Ben more and more frustrated. But he had to keep his cool no matter how persistent she was!
No.
M-matter.
WHAT!
The ninth punch was the one to knock him out of his concentration. The act of playing a protective, freaked-out, sickly-innocent southerner was wiped from his mind for a split second and his own hand rose up without a second thought, stopping the tenth punch in its path. Angrily, he started to crush Astrid's fingers in his hand and pushed her down to the ground. Now SHE was the one who got to suffer!
"If you don't s-stop beatin' me d-down, Astrid," he snapped, his voice suddenly switching in and out of Adrian's accent. "I'm going to…ah-ah'm gonna have ter…ter get N-Norman over here and…and t-t-tell him to…T-TO WIPE YOU OFF THE FACE OF THIS PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A DIMENSION!"
Astrid had already been tipped off by the several unusual signs he was putting out, but her suspicions were truly confirmed when she saw Adrian's eyes flash from a soft brown to blood-red.
"Just DIE, you worthless blot of code!"
Ben opened his mouth unnaturally wide, revealing the black hole hidden deep inside his throat. Just as he was about to delete Astrid forever, a blinding flash of light enveloped him without warning and blasted him off his feet. Astrid disappeared from his grasp as the floor beneath him dissolved unexpectedly, dropping him into an infinite silvery void…
"aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Ben hit the ground hard, the air being knocked out of him yet again. He coughed, wheezing for breath as he stared up at the grey, never-ending sky above. Before his very eyes, it swirled and change colors, shifting from its blank metallic hue to sunny blue skies. He blinked, suddenly confused, and sat up in place. Rubbing his back, he gritted his teeth and muttered,
"What in the Lord Glitch's name just happened to me…?"
He looked around a little more, taking in his new surroundings. In the middle of a field he sat, hundreds of thousands of golden flowers covering the ground around him. When he scooted around where he sat, he noticed the old house that stood only a handful of yards away. Almost instantly, he recognized where he was and got to his feet, brushing the yellow petals off the front of his chestplate.
"How did I end up here?" he wondered, squinting up at the sky and shaking his head.
He huffed angrily through his nose and added,
"Well, I've gone and done it; made yet another witness! I suppose I'll have to go back and kill that ungodly annoying girl Astrid before I get back to business."
He cracked his neck and closed his eyes slowly, concentrating hard and preparing to leave his host's mind. He stood there in silence for a just a few seconds, waiting to feel that familiar rush of wind around him to signify his movement. After feeling nothing but the light breeze of the fake world around him, he reopened his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows together.
"What the hell?"
He tried again to teleport to the outside world, but something seemed to be blocking him in. Three more times he conjured up enough power to transport himself out, but every one of his attempts was fruitless. He balled up his hands into trembling fists, his right gripping the frying pan's handle painfully tight.
"Alright, what's going on?!" he shouted, eyes wide with fury.
"It won't work, y'know."
Ben froze in place, holding his position; he hadn't detected another presence around him since he fell in, had he? Who in all the known dimensions could possibly sneak up on him like that? To answer his question, he turned around slowly and came face to face with the person who had just spoken to him. It was his prisoner, Adrian Grass. Or as he was known on Earth, Adrian Stevenson.
"Tryin' to leave, ah mean." he continued, his face scarily serious. "Thanks to one of ma friends outside, yer stuck in here with me! Good ol' Adrian!"
Ben realized that he wasn't quite registering what the hick was saying, and so he put on the nastiest of scowls and replied,
"What do you mean, exactly?! You can't be strong enough to keep me captive in here, Grass! I'm the Lord Glitch's head VIRUS, if you recall!"
While Ben stood there, positively livid at the lack of fear in Adrian's eyes, the southerner crossed his arms and smiled lightly. He dangled his weapon of delicious destruction underneath his folded limbs and said,
"Sure I do! But ain't viruses weak to magnets?"
The whites of Ben's eyes grew more visible as he was processing this statement in particular. While he stayed quiet, Adrian went on with,
"As I recall, an oversized magnet was just what killed off yer master the first AND second time it tried to take over the universe! S'that right, Ben?"
Ben's head jerked up to let him refocus on Adrian again. While the two identical figures stood in an intense staring contest, both daring the either to blink even once, one of them started to lose their composure. All four of Ben's limbs were shaking as his inner anger started to take full control of him; his fingers fiddled with the tool in his hand, just itching to come forward and smack that smug, confident grin off the fool's face.
"If YOU'RE not out there and I'M not out there, then you're really just a dead body on the floor! One of us has to go back up and take charge, otherwise all your precious friends will think you really are dead! It'll be the end of the line for you!"
Adrian unfolded his arms, the smile gradually fading from his face. Then, without an ounce of dread in his eyes, he took a step forward and held his frying pan at the ready. It looked like he was preparing himself for a FIGHT with the plasmatic monster; Ben couldn't believe what he was seeing! Suddenly, he leaned back and let out a cackle that shook the walls of the house next to them. When he was finished with said cackle, he said,
"Adrian, come now! I'm an all-powerful viral being with a knack for toppling skyscrapers; you are a mere Minecraftian whose life lies on a small pocket of health points! And you expect to beat me to the ground, take your body for your own?! HA! YOU COULDN'T HARM THE SMALLEST OF VIRUSES IN MY LORD'S RANKS!
Out of the blue, Adrian rushed forward with blinding speed and smashed Ben directly in the face with the unforgiving metal of his pan, shooting him a couple hundred feet across the field onto his stomach, shocking him more than anything he'd seen before in his life. Before he'd even gotten to his feet, Adrian was already in front of him and had his weapon raised. Ben scrambled backwards and spat,
"How did you do that?! You don't have powers! You're nothing; just an average, boring, everyday Minecraftian boy with unextraordinary abilities!"
Suddenly, Ben heard an explosive crackle come from behind and immediately felt a potent heat sweat over his backside. He yelped and jumped to his feet, spinning around to see a wall of metallic flames had erupted uncomfortably close to him. When the fires crawled forward, inching nearer like prowling animals, he backed up with clumsy feet to avoid being burned alive. He bumped into Adrian a few seconds later and once again whirled around in place, getting caught in a staring contest with him. For once, his eyes showed less confidence than his prisoner's.
"That may be so," he replied, his face still unwaveringly grave, "but in my mind, I can do whatever I want! Super speed? Done! Super strength? Got it! Super big desire to give you a bit o' erasing? Easy…"
Ben tried to access his own powers and propel himself out of Adrian's reach, but this too failed; instead, he found himself face to face with the head of the teen's deadly frying pan and, not a second later, rocketing through the air towards another part of the field. He crash-landed and tore through the ground violently, billowing up massive clouds of roots, dirt, and dust as he went. The second he came to a stop, Adrian flew up above him and grabbed him by the head, chucking him into the air and smacking him in the chest on the downfall.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, his true viral voice finally breaking through.
Just as he was about to hit the ground again, he smashed right through the left wall of Adrian's home and scattered its contents up his explosive impact. He groaned, every part of him in pain after the powerful beating he'd endured, and shakily gripped the splintered boards on either side of him in an attempt to pull himself out of the hole.
As the agonizing aches and burns began to fill his entire body, his body began to transition slowly back into his original form. His armor sizzled off his body in a mess of code as his skin turned to charcoal, his physical features becoming less prominent as they all blurred together. He dropped his own frying pan, which dissolved into the mounds of broken floorboards around him shortly after touching the ground, and somehow managed to get himself up into a sitting position.
The moment he tried to go beyond this and stand, Adrian appeared in front of him blurrily fast, his weapon raised to strike him deep into the earth. Ben instinctively threw up his arms to protect himself and shouted,
"NO MORE, I BEG YOU! HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL, PLEASE!"
He made a short choking sound as a strong hand came around his throat and hoisted him up out of the floor, dangling him several feet off the ground. Adrian tightened his grip, very little forgiveness left in his eyes.
"Have mercy on ma parents, ya son of a bitch…" he muttered, pure resentment in his gaze. "YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A SOUL!"
With a great cry, Adrian whirled around in place and hurled Ben's weakened figure out the opposite wall of the room. He ripped through the kitchen and the hobby room before reentering the outdoors, where he skidded across the flowery grounds with enough force to break all the bones in a normal person's body. When he stopped tumbling over the landscape, he flopped down on his back and instantly found himself facing the wall of flames yet again. He gasped and hurriedly got to his feet, sprinting half-broken in the other direction; their crackle was deafening to his ears. Halfway back to the house, he breezed past Adrian, who amplified his own voice with the power of the mind and declared,
"THERE'S NOWHERE T'GO, BEN! THESE FIRES WON'T STOP NOW!"
Ben skidded to a stop just after going beyond the replica home, horrified to see a second wall of silver flames spreading towards him from the east. He turned so fast that he dug up a couple flowers and made a beeline back to the house. He ignored Adrian's distant figure and bolted inside, desperately scaling the nearby stairs in a panicked attempt to escape the hungry blaze. He made it to the attic in a matter of seconds, where he ran to a tiny, cobweb-laden window on the wall to peer out at the field. Adrian was still watching him from a great distance, though soon the fires engulfed him and continued to seek Ben out instead; they seemed dead set on finding him.
"Can't run, Ben. Ah'm tellin' ya!"
He yelped and glanced over his shoulder, unnerved to see Adrian now standing right behind him. He freaked out for a moment and shattered the window with a fist of plasma, squeezing through the miniscule space and climbing through to the outside. He feverishly gripped every crevice and corner of the roof above until he could pull himself onto it, leaping up into a standing position and gazing out over the fiery countryside. His own prison…and now it was trapping him in.
"Hey, Ben!"
Ben jumped again and spun around on his heel, gritting his teeth as he was met with Adrian's confident stare. Even with the intense fires surrounding him on all sides, this boy's gaze left him more disturbed than anything else. He backed up a step, blackened fingers curled defensively.
"W-what?!" he snapped, his frustration and fear churning rapidly inside of him.
Adrian started to twirl his frying pan around on his pointer finger, observing it with a mildly amused expression. Then he continued, not even looking at Ben as he continued to speak.
"There's something I need to tell ya!" he said, a small smile beginning to form on his face. "All this: my powers, the fire, all of it! It ain't me that's causing it!"
Ben's eyes darted from side to side, nervously spying on the silver torrents of fire that were getting closer and closer as they wasted time up on this stupid roof. He tensed up and refocused on Adrian, actually meeting his eyes when he said,
"Well, who's doing this, then?! Have you got outside help from one of the Spirits?! A traitor virus?! The Mastermind?! WHO?!"
Adrian lifted his head a little more, allowing him to better stare into Ben's twitching red eyes. He raised an open palm, causing the virus to flinch slightly, and muttered,
"Just see for yourself."
A small replica of the screen from earlier materialized between him and Ben, showing a scene that had gone on just minutes earlier. There was Astrid, punching him over and over while he was down on the road. Ben watched himself leap up and grab her fist, pushing her to her knees in a delicious moment of revenge, and slowly started to break out of his persona amidst his anger. And then, just as he was about to suck the life right out of the nuisance, he saw a dark-haired figure appear in the corner of the screen. As the entire space went blank with a bright silver, it finally registered with Ben.
Norman Cobweb.
"Like ah said," Adrian piped, waving the screen away so he could meet Ben's fearful gaze again. "viruses are weak to magnets, yeah? Ya might be able t'push Norman down with a couple glitches, but have y'ever been hit with the stuff yourself? Last I checked, yer almighty lord is the only one who's immune!"
As soon as Adrian had finished speaking, Ben felt all fear inside get swallowed up as pure rage took its place. His plasma-bound body began to twitch and shift, gradually distancing its look from that of a humanoid. As he switched in and out of his doppelganger figure, he growled,
"You…you DARE call me weak?! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A COLLECTION OF NUMBERS AND LETTERS STRUNG TOGETHER BY A FALSE GOD!"
Suddenly, Ben's body gave a great lurch and he transformed into a different silhouette; this time, he resembled a pitch-black version of Astrid! Adrian didn't let the transformation faze him, however, and he kept his poise. Remarkably, Ben himself started to make his way towards him, every step shaking the weathered structure beneath their feet.
"I AM THE NEXT IN COMMAND FOR THE ALL-POWERFUL UNIVERSAL DESTROYER THAT IS OUR LORD GLITCH! IT IS A BEING SO POWERFUL THAT IT CAN CORRUPT THE MINDS OF EVEN THE IMMORTAL SPIRITS IN BETWEEN!"
Ben's body shifted a second time, resembling that of a tall, strong male figure with short hair: Gabe Noteblock! He lifted both his hands, which grew in size and sharpened into gnarled claws. His entire being began to twitch and shift rapidly as though he was having a hard time maintaining one form. Seconds later, he changed again and showed features similar to Vanessa.
"I COULD ELIMINATE YOU FROM EXISTENCE WITH A SINGLE SWIPE! I COULD KILL YOUR PARENTS WITH THE SNAP OF MY FINGERS!" he screeched, his voice full of menacing static. "IF I WANTED, YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD THE VERY FIRST TIME WE MET!"
His transformations increased in frequency, his body changing shape every few seconds now; it was clear the magnetic fires closing in on them really were too much for him. Adrian slowly set his iron frying pan on the slight slope of the roof, abandoning his weapon completely. He cracked his knuckles, readying himself for the moment Ben got too close. As the virus changed forms yet again, this time into Raven Soulsand, he said,
"Then why didn'tcha, huh Ben? Ya let me live, but why?"
Vanessa Bookshelf, Lucas Creeperwhisperer, Kelsey Ice, Mark Cobweb, Rexum the Fortuneteller, the Mastermind…
"I DESIRED A TASTE OF LORD GLITCH'S TRUE MOTIVATIONS, OF COURSE! A CHANCE TO EXPERIENCE THE REAL MEANING OF ITS GAME!" Ben declared, a crooked red grin on his face. "THESE ARE FEELINGS YOUR PRIMITIVE MINECRAFTIAN MIND COULD NOT DREAM TO UNDERSTAND AND YET YOU MOCK ME! YOU MOCK MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Mason Mushroom, Hilary Sponge, Jeff Ironblock, Narcissa Cauldron, Calista Cactus, Quinn Dragonegg…
"Oh yeah?" Adrian replied, raising one eyebrow. "Well, there's this one feelin' that ah'm sure that mind'a yours—that twisted, sadistic, black mass of goo—will NEVER be able to comprehend! Not even you—Ben, right-hand virus to the glorious Lord Glitch—could understand it! …and yet dumb ol' Adrian Grass sure as hell can."
Joe Camera, Danny Bedrock, Bailey Creeperwhisperer, Liz Cake, Norman Cobweb…
"WHAT FEELING IN THE ENTIRE MULTIVERSE COULD I POSSIBLY BE UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND?! GO AHEAD, SAY IT! I DARE YOU, WHATEVER IT IS!"
Ben's body was changing at such a rapid pace that he was a mere blur of shapes now, only his two furious, blood-red eyes remaining stuck in place. Adrian smiled, thinking of all the faces he'd seen the monster just put on in the last minute in a desperate attempt to keep himself alive. He pulled back with his empty hand, eyes on fire with sheer determination, and snarled,
"Friendship, ya dead bastard..."
Ben's eyes widened suddenly and his fury took control completely, causing him to lunge forward in the form of his prisoner himself; this, however was the last form he would ever take.
"ADRIAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN!"
Adrian let his fist fly with every ounce of energy within him, hitting Ben square in between his two glowing eyes. The virus's body went flying off the roof at great speeds, careening in a shrieking, flailing mess until it collided with the wall of silver flames and was dissolved completely. After all this time, all the torment Adrian had endured was over.
The virus Ben was no more.
Ben was slain by [player: Cobweb] whilst fighting [player: Grass]
Finally, finally, finally! Ben's GONE! After a whopping 33 chapters of unyielding torture for Adrian, it all comes to an end!
What will Adrian do now that he has control of his body again? Will each of our heroes be able to still defeat Baal Reincarnate even though Astrid accidentally restored all of its health? And how do you suppose the Glitch will feel when it finds out that Ben was legitimately defeated by mere Minecraftians? ...likely super pissed. Find out on the next thrilling installment of Hourglass!
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 [~]