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SIGGY!
Like a piggy, but different.
Put this code snippet into your Sig box:

[url=http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/show-your-creation/fan-art/literature/1580618-rise-of-the-ender-realm-its-different-i-swear][img]http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/2403/riseoftheender.png[/img][/url]

If you want to know what it looks like, check out my own signature below.
Avatars!
If you're a fan of avatars, then I have a couple for you!
#1 Is an iCloud Logo Enderman, made by WadupMan.

The other is the one made by Dezolord.

To install, drag onto your desktop and find the file in your profile section.

I sat at my computer desk, slowly typing in some work stuff. As an architect, it was important not only to draw, but also to keep records of every customer. Out of the blue, an advertisement for a came called �Minecraft� Popped up. I attempted to click the close button on the window, but it didn�t do anything. Mildly frustrated, I clicked 4 more times, then realized it must be a virus. Knowing that it could infect my computer, I immediately shut it off, and then the strangest thing happened. My computer started to vibrate. It then proceeded to levitate and glow a bright yellow. I stepped away, but then saw a bright flash of white, that blinded my vision. When I woke up, my computer had exploded. Metal debris lay around my office, and as for the desk - it had caught fire. I tried to put it out, but unfortunately I failed. The fire spread, slowly tearing away at my house. I tried to open the door but it was locked. I managed to kick it down, onto the second floor of my house. The second floor was actually a massive indoor balcony that bordered around a curved staircase, and now that design took a huge toll on me. The second floor smashed except for the small piece I stood on. I shrieked with horror and barged inside the room again, this time attempting to escape via window. I smashed the glass, and leapt out onto the front lawn. I was safe, but I had to call 9-1-1. I checked my pockets. My iPhone was in the house.
�Damnit.� I ran to the neighbor�s house. I knew that telling them that my computer levitated and imploded would be a story best left for folktale, so I simply yelled at them as soon as they answered the door, �MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE!� They seemed to understand the urgency of the situation, and called 9-1-1, but it was too late. My house had burnt to the ground.

All because of a stupid �Minecraft� ad.

I sat there, staring at the ruins of my once-beautiful house, weeping at the walls as the last of the paper peeled off and the oven exploded. I heard a sound of footsteps approach me from behind. Before I had time to react, a surge of pain went down and up my spine.
And then everything went black.

I woke in a prison. A small 3x3x3 cell seemed to be my location. On the walls, there were dim torches hidden behind iron bars. In front of me, there was an iron door. It seemed the room I was in was impenetrable. I only remember my name; Ben. Ben Glockson. I�m trying to remember more... My friends always called me �Son of a gun.� That�s all I can remember. I decide that remembering can come later, escaping can come now. I examined the room carefully. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of a stony brick material, and the dim torch lights were located at the exact center of each wall, except for 1 wall which contained an iron door. I noticed something that seemed to be even more strange then the situation I was in now; everything seemed to be made of blocks that were exactly 1x1x1 meters in length. At least, any solid blocks. It seemed rather interesting to call them, Blocks. It felt like it belonged, unlike I. I (Note: Italicize) didn�t belong here. I (Note: Italicize) knew I had to do something. I decided to take a closer look at the dim torches; when I look at them closely, it appears they are actually made of a red powder. I tried to reach through the iron bars, but they were too close together. I examined my body. Pockets, socks, everything. I usually kept a knife in my pocket for emergencies like this, but it had been removed mysteriously. I realized that bits and pieces of my mind, not to mention my memory, were coming together, just very slowly. At the beginning, just after I woke up, I heard these weird whispering noises and my head hurt like hell. Now, I felt better. Not healed, yet being healed seemed like a cookie jar to me. �Simply unreachable. �Being slightly healed was good enough to work,� (Note: Italicize) I thought. I looked behind me. Yes! One of the iron bars was bent so that a hand could fit through. I saw a trail of blood slowly flowing from this location to the door and out the hallway, however. I wondered if the same unfortunate fate would happen to me if I stuck my hand through there. Luckily, It appeared that I could get through without any problems. I grabbed the torch, and noticed that the Red dust on the tip was extremely hot. I then took a very close look at the door. It�s frame was solid iron - no way this torch could melt through it. Then I noticed the hinges. They were made of wood. I did a silent dance, then placed the torch under one of the door�s hinges, hoping for a good result. After 5 minutes, I knew that this wasn�t working. I looked for another flammable object; The bed! I grabbed the blanket and wrapped it carefully around both hinges.
I placed the torch beside the blanket, and it lit up like a bonfire. The result was more then I expected - Being mostly a city boy, I didn�t light nor witness very many fires, and the heat and light amazed and spooked me. If there was blood from when whoever opened the iron bars, then I knew there were guards. I probably has just screwed myself over, however unlike the scenario over by the bars, no guards seemed to instantly come and do whatever horrible thing they did to the previous prisoner. After about 5 minutes, the blanket had burned away completely. A memory came back to me. A memory of me sitting, sitting in front of a burning house, weeping. I was stricken with irony. I felt a bond with this memory, as if it had locked me away. �Fire locks me away, fire helps me escape,� (Note: Italicize) I thought. The hinges had almost given way. I ran at the door and it came off with ease, clattering to the ground with a large BANG! I snuck through it, despite the knowledge that if there were any guards whatsoever they would of seen the flames or at least heard the loud clank of the door. From this, I assumed there were no guards here. I observed a long hallway of prison cells, each Identical to mine. It appeared that the cells were much better maintained then the halls. Dirt and gravel was scattered across the floor, as well as drops of blood and, which disgusted me most - Body parts. As i looked to my left, I noticed a staircase. I appeared to be on the bottom floor of this place. After three floors of prison cells, I reached the top floor - where the exit stood. Nobody else was here, however the blood and body parts appeared to be almost a tradition here. After tripping on a mangled foot and 2 severed heads, I managed to escape out the door, into freedom. The night was eerie, and I heard noises of ... silence. Absolute silence. Not a single night sound was heard, not a car or a train, nothing. If the block thing bothered me now, it certainly did out here. Everything appeared to be a block that was exactly 1x1x1 meters in length. I observed my surroundings; nothing. Just mountains. �Who builds a prison in the middle of nowhere?� I thought. I saw a tall figure appear a bit far away in my peripheral vision. I looked at him.
And it was the biggest mistake I�ve ever made in my life.
(Teaser)

The tall black figure stared directly back at me. He enveloped in a cloud of opaque black smoke, and another tower appeared directly in front of me. Both towers faded away, but instead of the black figure appearing where he was, he appeared directly in front of me. I stared at him directly, observing his features although quite nervous. He was approximately 1.5 times my size. He seemed to pick up lots of blocks, placing them as if he had another form of existence before this. His eyes glowed a bright purple, and he had 4 extremely skinny, tall legs. He did not look happy. He walked towards me extremely fast. I punched him, and to my surprise, it did a lot more damage then what was intended. The creature fell back in horror. I decided to count how many punches it would take to kill one of these beasts. After 19 punches, this beast looked ready to retire. I gave it 1 last concussive fist, and it fell to the ground, dead. It�s body practically exploded into a pie of black dust, and a mysterious spherical object. I decided it must be used for something, so I examined it, tried to break it, wiped it with my shirt to see if a genie or something would come out - but nothing happened. In my anger at the effort I went through to get nothing, I threw the pearl-like object into the air. I saw it soar into the air, up, up.. Down. But then the strangest thing happened. Again.
My body enveloped in a cloud of smoke. �What�s going on?� (Note: Italicize) I thought. The cloud of smoke seemed to put me in a daze for about 2 seconds, and then I appeared; 10 feet above the ground. Where I had thrown the pearl. I fell and hit the ground hard, on a rock plateau, over a small hill. on the other side, I guessed, was where I was before. The sea was laid out before me, except for 1 direction other then the small grassy hill: Where a vast expanding desert lay. I knew It wasn�t smart to just �waltz� into a desert, but it was nighttime and I knew I could spare an hour or two. When walking onto the desert I noticed there were a very large amount of cacti. I had to dodge, VERY often, in order to avoid getting pricked by a cactus� long needle. I travelled over sand dunes, under mysterious blood-covered bridges, and over flat plains, when something struck me as quite odd.
�I�ve only seen one of those black things out there.� And right I was. There was only blood and gore and alien things. I looked at the moon. �Oh crap.� The moon had almost lowered, giving dominance to the sun�s powerful UV rays. And I was in the middle of the desert. I scanned my surroundings; all I could see were cacti and the sand dunes as they endlessly rolled in each direction. I decided to keep forward, hoping that something good was going to happen. After about half an hour, I noticed what looked like a small house in the distance. Excited, I ran towards the location. As I came closer, I saw it was a small town that I approached. With a small well at the center, the town branched off in 4 streets, filled with houses and stands, etc. I saw multiple wheat farms, encased in a beautiful log frame. I wondered how on earth these people had gotten logs in the middle of a vast desert, but then I saw, that behind one of the gravel roads, there was a small Oasis. Sitting beside it were lush trees and beautiful sugar cane. The houses were usually made of cobblestone and wood, and were designed in different ways to accommodate farms, other houses, etc. Some houses were small, made about 3x2x3 meters in length, whilst others, although still significantly smaller then my house, were quite large, about 10 times the size of these smaller houses. It was quite odd. At the center, the well appeared to be almost a sacred location, covered in beautiful plants and vines. After 5 minutes of staring at the village from afar, I finally reached it. I stepped onto the gravel pathway and shouted with glee. As I walked along I noticed something that made me simply want to scream out and hug the hot sand; another human. He stood just in front of what looked like his house. It was one of the large ones, and I noticed inside looked very fell-furnished. The man turned away from where his current gaze was focused; on a pig that I hadn�t noticed before. He appeared to have randomly appeared. This was interesting. The man had started to walk towards me while I pondered the pig�s random appearance. He walked up to me and said, �Welcome, traveler. We need to talk.�

I was seated inside the man?s house, where I got a much closer look at the furnishings. There was a pair of wooden benches, which looked like stairs. The bench was exactly 1 metre tall and 1 metre wide, which annoyed me. The 2 benches seemed quite identical. Behind the bench he sat on, I noticed some furnaces and a.. Workbench? Interesting. There was a staircase which appeared to lead downstairs. To the left of me was a block of dirt, with a flower on top. I turned back to him. He spoke words with a slightly deep voice, and he spoke so seriously it was like somebody was going to kill him unless he spoke to me. Little did I know, this was almost the case.

?Do you know where you are?? He asked.
?No, I don?t remember much,? I replied.
?That?s OK. You?re in a village, that may soon be overrun by the beasts,? He said.
?The beasts?? I asked.
?The tall black figures,? He said.
?Can you tell be about these? I?m quite confused.?
?The beasts came from a mysterious portal located a very long distance away from here. They... They came out, ransacked multiple towns, and then it got worse. They started to destroy whole towns, dropping any survivors into a huge pit of lava. It was terrible. Hundreds among thousands died. They call their dimension, ?The Ender.? They recently destroyed our neighbor, only they didn?t destroy anything. They just had armies, waves of them.. They came out of nowhere, killed everybody.?
?Wow, that?s terrible,? I said. ?Any way I can help??
?Probably not. If the beasts come here, get out of here as fast as possible, you hear? Our village is old, and we may not make it, but you.. You are young. Try your best to escape.?
?Just a question, can we call them something other then ?Beasts?? it seems to vague. They came from the ender.. So, Enderbeasts?? I asked.
?Is this really the time to discuss this?? he replied.
?Probably not, but I am a bit crazy about these things. Enderbeasts sounds weird... How about Endermen?? I asked.??Sounds good enough to me. Anyways, you can buy food from the local stalls. Here.? He passed me a couple of golden coins,
?And watch out for those.. Endermen. When night falls, come right back here, I?ll be sure to accommodate you for the night.?
?Thanks!? I called as I got out of my seat and opened the door, walked outside onto the long gravel walkway, and closed it behind me. I walked to a nearby stall, and the man said, ?Hello traveler. Need a bucket to collect water??
?Sure, I?m parched,? I said.
?That?ll be 1 gold coin,? He said. I gave him one of my 5 golden coins, knowing that if everything was this expensive I would run our of cash in a couple minutes.

I went to another stall that sold bread for 25 silver - apparently that was a quarter of a gold one - and I bought 2 loaves. I tore into one ravenously, then saved the other. I noticed something, though; in this realm, my pockets were endless. I placed the loaf of bread in and it seemed to fall through my pants onto the ground, yet there was no bread to be found. I reached into my pocket and, sure enough, the bread was still there, yet somehow it fit in a pocket that usually couldn?t carry more then a wallet and an iPhone. My wallet. Did I have it? Nope. Must of been taken somehow. Or left at the charred ruins of my house. Either way, I wouldn?t have it here. I traveled around the general area until the night slowly set, and traveled back along the gravel roads back to the man?s house. He welcomed me, and told me where I was sleeping. That?s when everything changed.

It was a normal moment until the ground started to shake. it started out just as a light tremor, then slowly turned into what felt like a scale 4 earthquake. It slowly increased, until both of us started tumbling to the ground, being pulled to the shaking force.
?GO!? He yelled. I tumbled out the door, and a terrifying sight laid out in front of me. A spire made of pure obsidian came from the well, destroying it entirely. The man spoke to me, still inside the house, fallen over. ?The endermen, they?re coming! Save yourself!? I wanted to save him, but the odds went from difficult to near-impossible as the roof of the house collapsed. I ran out of the village, and watched the obsidian spire slowly devour buildings as it rose fully out of the sand. Endermen started spewing out of the top of the spire. Anyone alive, they slaughtered. It was a complete mess. After about 2 minutes of complete annihilation, earthquakes, and mysterious churning noises, the spire started to suck in the ender pearls inside the endermen. The endermen?s chest exploded as the ender pearl was ripped out of their bodies and thrown back into the spire. When all the endermen?s pearls were taken back to wherever they came from, the most terrible and weird thing happened. The village started to churn into a small circular-like hole surrounding the spire. It all fell in and disappeared. When I looked over the edge, there was a large pool of lava at the bottom of the circular ravine created by the mysterious force. I observed the damages. The entire village, and everyone except me, had died.

I was the only survivor of the endermen?s destructive rage.
And I wanted revenge.

For some unknown reason, I felt just like the endermen; my very heart and soul had been torn out of me. It made no sense. I get attached to people easily, but he felt like.. like a family to me. It was so strange, how much rage filled me. I felt like I needed to punch something. Quite an odd feeling, if you ask me. I ran into the nearby forest, making haste as I dashed over the golden dunes.

My rage slowly started to take over me. Confusion seemed to battle it in my brain, wondering why on earth I was filled with so much rage. My fist had to punch something. My fist aimed forward, and unfortunately my reflexes kicked in before my brain could. My fist, which started to ache, had smashed into a blocky tree. Just as it did however, the most interesting thing happened.

A small block of the tree completely disappeared. In it?s place was a small block, which rotated continuously. It was a mini version of the block - a Miniblock. I went near the miniblock, and it soared into my endless pockets. I picked it up, and wondered what would happen if I fiddled with it for a bit. I stomped on it, threw it, placed the wood block and broke it again. I then decided to chop it up. When my hand splintered into the wood, the strangest thing happened. It turned into four pieced of wooden planks. When I placed one, it turned into a block, like everything else, much to my annoyance. I grabbed these new miniblocks and fiddled with them as well. When I placed them vertically, I found they made 4 sticks. I also found I could deny the crafting - which was quite interesting. I put the 4 pieces in a square formation, and watched with wonder as it made a workbench. I placed the workbench down, and noticed a 3x3 grid on the top. I went over to the tree and noticed something strange. The tree was floating. The part that I had punched had disappeared, yet the other parts of the tree remained suspended in midair. I decided to ignore this fault in physics, and punched down the tree, and then experimented for god-knows-how-long. When I was done, I had a crapload of sticks, some tools, and one helpful workbench. I was walking along when I heard a sobbing noise coming from around a corner.

I slowly crept into the clearing, being sure not to disturb any creatures. When I came in, the only thing I saw was a girl, however. She looked about the same age as me, which was 20 (Yes, I know I have a professional career so early in my life, but still.) She had beautiful brown hair, perfectly long and smooth looking. I couldn?t see her eyes yet, but I think they would be red, because she appeared to be crying. I rushed over to her.

?What?s wrong?? I asked. Her mouth seemed to have better trained reflexes then herself.

?GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU ALIEN SON OF A-? She turned around, and, noticing I was human, apologized. ?Oh, I?m sorry,? She said. ?It?s just that... There are just so many of them. So many, cruel, alien things...?

?Everything is going to be okay,? I told her.

?Okay? How can this be Okay? I woke up here and these figures are constantly trying to tear me apart. It?s - Just so scary. I?ve ran across this entire forest, and I think if I have to run through 1 more kilometer of this bullcrap I?m going to lie down and die!? Her voice seemed to escalate in anger the more she spoke.

?It?s okay. Just tell me your story,? I said, assuming she was from my realm. It turns out she was.

?I was at home, and it was just after my 11th birthday,? She said.

?Eleven?? I said. ?You look like you?re over 18.?

?Listen.? She said, ?It was after my 11th birthday, and I was playing on my computer. Like any kid my age would do, when an ad for this minecraft popped up. I tried to close it so I could play my game, but it wasn?t working, so I clicked it. It took me to a page, but when it did the colours seemed to constantly change. Like the site was giving me a seizure. I knew I had to do something, But I felt entranced in the computer?s activity. I started to fall asleep. When I woke up, I was in a floating void, for what felt like an absolute eternity. After what I guess was 9 years, I woke up here.?

?Weird,? I said. ?I woke up instantly.?

?Well, I?m 9 years older. So, perhaps, how long you stay there is how long you age? I don?t know. I need shelter.?

?Well, I do know of a place,? I said. ?But, since it?s pitch black outside, I recommend we stay here. Just for now.? We started to talk about various things, such as our previous lives, things we encountered here, and other things I couldn?t remember.

?So, what?s your name?? She asked.

?It?s Ben. No real way to shorten that, is there??

?Ah, it?s fine. My name is Emily,? She replied.

?Cool,? I said.

When it was dawn, I got up and told her where we could go. I still remember then the villager told me about the other villages, how they were ravaged, but not destroyed. I figured this would be the most ideal place to go. We walked through the tangling trees until we reached the desert, where we crossed over the dunes for about an hour.

?I wish we had a car,? said Emily.

?I do too,? I said. When I said this, I noticed a village up ahead. It looked intact... Maybe it was just ravaged? Maybe, it is still alive? Heh. Probably not. Which is quite unfortunate. But, at least, it can house human beings. When we reached it, I knew for a certainty that It was deserted - Body parts lay everywhere. Parts of arms, legs, even full hearts, lay on the ground. I knew we had to get somewhere. I walked along the gravel roads, being careful not to step on any parts. Not like it would be possible, seeing as how it was hard to discern the pebbles from the pieces, but I made do trying to step on as little body parts as possible. I reached a small hut that appeared pretty clean, and invited Emily in. There was nothing inside, so I broke my loaf of bread in half. I gave 1 piece to me, and one to Emily. Easy as that.

?You can call me Em, by the way,? She said.

The day was quite average, yet abnormal at the same time. Since the village wasn?t destroyed there was still supplies and food left over at the market - enough to allow us to survive for weeks. Apparently, as I noticed on a map on a wall in one of the buildings, there was an oasis a little ways away from here, that was much larger then the one seen at the other village. When me and Em had gathered our supplies, we set out for a 20-minute walk. Enough for me to think. I remembered a lot more now - my military career, which house I lived at, and 1 more thing. A gun. Oh my; I carried a Glock 19 with me at all times.

?Trying to remember things is so goddamn awkward,? I said.

?I know, right?? Em replied. I?m guessing she was trying to comfort me. It seemed natural for her to. I was concerned; I didn?t know how to truly love somebody, yet here was a girl who seemed, so nice, so calm, despite her ?episode? in the woods. It made it so especially awkward to know she technically was 11. Or was she? That thought always confused me. I decided to focus on something other then Em.

?We need to go back to the jail,? I said.

?What?? Em asked. I remembered that I had not told her what the jail was, nor any of my experiences.

?When I woke up, I was in a jail. You, you were in a forest, but I think they had stripped me of my belongings. Perhaps I can get them back?? I said. Just as I did, I noticed the oasis a little ways ahead. It was beautiful; lush trees of all sorts were spread along the shoreline of a beautiful, clear lake, and assorted plants and things like sugar cane were also scattered around. It seemed like somebody had placed it there, built it, meter by meter block by meter by meter block. I had noticed, in the forest, that is possible to place the miniblocks after you broke them. Perhaps somebody did that here? I didn?t know. I really didn?t know anything in this foreign world. It scared me to think about it.

I pushed myself to snap out of it and sat down in front of the small lake. I was tired; so was Em; she sat down about 3 metres away. I watched as the current lapped up against the shore, threatening to dampen my feet with it?s soft touch, and then watched it recede down the shoreline, as if I had intimidated it. I was bored, yet at the same time excited. I had plans that I hadn?t fully planned out yet, and at the same time I felt there was nothing to do. I trotted over to a large apple tree and, feeling like a young child again, stuck one of my feet into a small crack on the tree?s blocky surface. I leapt up and snatched an apple, quickly jumping off. However, I had disturbed the tree much to it?s disliking and I, like Isaac Newton, was pummeled by apples. Em laughed.

?Fail,? She said.

?Fail,? I said. We laughed again. We were friends, just not in love. That was perfect. Friends were going to be necessary if I were to wipe these enderman off the face of the planet that we were on. What planet were we on, anyways? It was like earth, except blocky.. Blockia? Lame. I?d lave to think more if I was going to name the place. You mined the blocks... And crafted with them. I?d have to keep that in mind. Minethencraft? Minecraft? Minecraftia? Minecraftia sounded nice.

I noticed Em gesturing for me to come over to where she was. She appeared to have found a fishing rod - A crudely-crafted stick with a string and a bobber attached. She cast it out onto the water, and it somehow flew in 1 exact direction, landing near the opposite coastline, where it settled.

?Are you a professional?? I asked her.

?No, the line just seemed to fly out,? She responded.

?Interesting,? I said. A second later I watched her pull back the pole. I saw the string majestically fly back, out of the water, right back to her, and it bounced off the end of the pole and landed on the ground. What happened after was surprising.

A fish, dead, but still flopping, flew out of the water and, like the string, it flew directly at her. It missed her by an inch, but her endless pockets snatched it up like it was candy. She did a minor freakout, then realized nothing was happening and then settled down.

?Well, that was something,? She said.

?I couldn?t agree more,? I replied. I did a little trick of mine: I was able to make a deviant, smart plan in milliseconds. I came up with an idea for how I could get some of my items back from the jail. We?d have to prepare, first.

? ? ?

We had set up a camp, just a little ways out from the oasis. We had set up a small house, a mineshaft, and a wall. I had learned that trees dropped saplings, allowing them to be replanted. When mining, which we discovered was very easy in this world, I had found pieces of coal and iron. I had constructed a furnace and a chest, after experimenting with the crafting table, as well as torches. I we had everything. I had noticed that there weren?t just humans and endermen. There were zombies and skeletons, giant spiders, and these little green things that crept up onto me at the worst moments, exploding and giving me a near-death experience. I had certainly grown more used to the landscape as well as all the critters that inhabit it. I noticed that there is an abundance of Sheep, Pigs, Cows, and Chickens. These, like the endermen, will fall to the ground and explode in a cloud of black dust, leaving something behind. I noticed some beasts drop meat, while others drop things like wool. I crafted some beds for me and Em, and had experimented and explored so I could know everything about this realm. I didn?t think there could be guns in this realm, and I found that was true after experimenting for 2 hours on how to craft both bullets and pistols. One thing I knew is that I was pretty well prepared for kicking some endermen butt, but I also knew I needed that Pistol. Today was the day that I?d head back to the jail and retrieve my trusty Glock 19. Hopefully. I didn?t know what happened to it; I?m assuming it was placed in a chest. I?m praying the endermen didn?t loot the place when they killed everybody. I started to pack our stuff up - Simply by shoving it all into my pockets. I had started to tear the home down when Em came back from her fishing trip at the oasis.

?Hey, Whatcha doin??? She asked.

?Oh, just getting ready to get going,? I said.

?Oh, Okay. Here?s some fish,? She added, tossing me some cooked trout. I made no attempt to pick the fish up; My pockets, yet again, sucked it up. I wondered some things about how the pocket grabbing thing worked, and if I tried to catch it, would it let me, and lots of other questions sort of floating there in my mind. I grabbed the last of our stuff, and tossed an iron sword to Em.

?Catch,? I said. I saw the sword go straight into her hands when she tried to catch it; I thought of that as interesting. We set out.

After about an hour, we had reached the first village - or what was left of it. We continued on through the large dunes and the sandstorms until we reached dirt ground. I instantly recognized the jail, halfway dug into the hill. I walked inside. The feeling I originally had here was the same - the feeling of major discomfort and fear. I walked through the iron doors, Em in close pursuit. I looked around, and noticed a Gallows, which seemed oddly out of place, as well as an office, executioner?s office, and a room with a sign that read STORAGE. I raced towards it, keeping careful mind not to trip on any heads. I noticed that the door had a key.

?Damnit,? I said.

?What?? Em replied.

?I need a key,? I said.

?Oh, I think I found them!? Em replied, looking over at a scattered body. In the midst there lay a ring of keys, but only one stood out - obviously the one we needed. We walked over to the door, and I stuck the one key in the lock; no luck. I noticed there were 2 other unique keys. I took one of them, and stuck it through the lock. It worked, and the door opened with a mournful squeak. I stepped inside, and searched the chests, looking for my Glock 19. In one chest, I found my belt, which I was also missing, equipped with my Glock and a magazine for ammo. I took the Glock from it?s resting place.

?Oh, hell yeah,? I said, Putting the gun back. ?We?re gonna have some fun.?

After grabbing my pistol, I noticed something odd had happened. A feel of mystery had grabbed over me. It felt like I was trapped inside the jail; an odd feeling indeed. Mysteriously, the sun suddenly decided to spin around in circles rapidly, soaring over the planet and through the sky like a comet. In a matter of seconds, night had befallen the land. Just as mysteriously as that, a sudden urge to sleep fell over me. Em felt the same way. We found 2 separate rooms with beds and everything we?d need in them. We both closed our doors and went to bed.

When I woke up, I was, strangely, outside the room again. I was located just outside. It was still midnight outside, and I could hear strange wind-like noises. I looked in Em?s room. To my surprise, I noticed she wasn?t there.

?Em?? I called. No answer. I called her again. Suddenly, the floor rose up, until I was trapped in a room with five walls around me. I merely sat in this stone prison for ten seconds until I hears a mechanical whirring sound come from below me and the floor started to lower. sat for about a minute, and then the floor stopped. I was in a room that was pitch black; I couldn?t even see my own 2 hands in front of my face. There seemed to be no source of light, until a spotlight from a random location. The spotlight started to come towards me. I noticed a figure standing in the spotlight; he was approaching me. I took a deep breath as the man slowly stumbled up to me.

?Heed, young one,? He said.

?What?? I replied.

?Ah, silly boy. Welcome, Mr. Glockson,? He said. I felt rather intimidated on how he knew my name but I had never seen somebody like him before. He has a large grey beard similar to the ones you see on wizards in the movies. In fact, he looked almost exactly like one. He had wrinkles spread about his cheeks, and grey hair that drooped down to his shoulders. He wore a cloak of leather, and his lips were cracked from age.

?I am the Wise One,? He said.

?The who?? I asked, not sure what he was saying.

?The Wise Old Man,? He said. ?I know the answers to any question you could think of.?

?So... Where?s Em?? I asked. He let out a small chuckle, realizing how vulnerable I was in this unfamiliar place.

?This is a dream,? He said. ?I will not answer your questions here, but I will meet you at my hut not to far away from here, on a hill. Farewell,? He said, leaving abruptly. His body churned into smoke, similar to the Endermen?s teleportation tactics, and before I had realized it he was gone. In his place, however, lied a trail of smoke, that resembled an arrow shape. It pointed in one direction. Suddenly, the floor lifted up to the ground level with blistering speed, and the arrow of smoke managed to survive until we reached the top. I had a split second to watch where the arrow was pointing; directly out the front door.

Everything faded into black rapidly, and a pain soared through my body, as if somebody was shooting me. Then I saw it. a copy of me - But with a helmet of a dark material. Where the eyes should of been, there lay two small fireballs. It was me - but corrupted. I stared in horror at the body as it shot me with my prized possession. Hurting all over, I began to slip from consciousness.

I awoke in my bed again. It was a dream; that was good. Of course, I needed to get to this man?s house. I could learn a lot of information about what is going on if I came to him; it would be a good opportunity. I left my room, ignorant of my usual hobbies of changing my clothes, brushing my teeth, etc. The good news is, the sleep was the last step to remembering everything, and I knew what had happened before I came here. I remembered everything - the minecraft ad, the house that burnt down - There goes all my clothes and toothbrushes - and the sharp pain before I went unconscious. I truly wondered how it had happened. As usual, however, in my life right now, there was no time to wonder. I went over to Em?s room and knocked on the wooden doors. She was up already - just tired, I guessed. Upon seeing me, she got up and pulled out the drawer of the bedside table that was beside her - Actually, it was a bedside chest, but that didn?t matter. She opened it, and then, surprised that it was empty, realized that there weren?t any clothes. She reluctantly stepped over to the doors and opened them.

?Good morning,? I said.

?Good morning to you, too,? She said. Her voice was a little hoarse.

?So, I found something quite interesting,? I said. ?Apparently there?s a man who lives on a hut nearby. He told me he can answer all our questions,? I said.

?And how did you find this out?? Em said, intrigued by my discovery.

?In a dream,? I said. ?But it didn?t feel like a dream. I could feel pain. I could feel fear. I could control myself. It was weird,? I said.

?Ah well, I guess there?s nothing better for us to do,? She said. I pulled out my glock, it?s metal surfaces gliding smoothly along the tops of my fingers. My index finger touched the trigger, and the two stuck together like best friends. I placed the pistol back in it?s holder, and set out the two wooden doors that were the prison?s front entrance with 1 thought; to find this man. If I could have all my questions answered, then there would be no more wondering. I would be in the clear. I was glad to have had the wise man come and notify me of his living presence.
The wise man wasn?t very far away - just another hour?s travel. His hut resided on top of a small hill, and it was surrounded by a purple aura that was extremely faint. Behind the hut, there lay a steep cliff that rocketed up, scraping the skyline. behind it, there was a large ocean that seemed to go on forever. Me and em wee at the bottom of the hill, ready to make our long trek up.

?Ready?? She asked me.

?Ready,? I replied. We held hands in order to assist ourselves up the steep parts, but mostly it was a 45? angle; nothing we couldn?t handle. When we reached the top, our jeans mildly stained by the grass, we walked in through the leather flap that guarded the old man from unwanted beings.

?Hello!? the man greeted us as we walked in. He gestured us to some large leather seats as I inspected the hut. it was small on the outside, but bigger on the inside - at least it felt like it. Assorted charms and notes of predictions hung on the walls. Strange numbers were painted along the leathery outside. The man turned to us.

?Hello,? I greeted back after realizing I hadn?t responded to his original welcome.

?Hello again, Ben,? He said.

?So, I heard you could answer our questions,? I said.

?That is my only reason to exist now,? He replied.

?Well, that?s depressing. Do I owe you anything?? I asked.

?Oh no, it?s fine. Ask me anything.?

?Okay. How did I get here?? I asked. His answer was a long, detailed explanation over how exactly I was transported here and how different things were visions and mirages and so much stuff I couldn?t take it all in.

?Ah... you see, when your race invented the internet and the computer, we had developed a link with your world. The link was made so we could transport your data over into out realm, via the power of air waves created by the internet. We displayed an advertisement that knocked you unconscious, and then we slowly transferred bits of your body into our realm. It?s simple, really.?

?So, how did my house burn down? You didn?t mention anything about houses burning down.?

?Ah yes, that was a hallucination. If you deny the ad, it will get into your brain and play tricks on you. You only imagined your house had burnt down. Really, you were sitting at your computer the entire time.?

?Are you serious?? I asked.

?Quite,? He replied.

?Well,? I said. ?That helps. Em jumped into the conversation, after being quiet for so long.

?How do we get back?? She asked.

?Ah, all you have to do is wish,? He said.

?Like a fairytale?? Em asked.

?No, but if you imagine your hardest, it is possible to transfer your soul back into your world. But, I assume you?re clearly more kind-hearted then to leave our nation to die,? He said.

?True,? Em replied, feeling stupid that she didn?t try that before.

?Any more questions?? He asked.
?Yes,? I said. ?What are these Endermen??

?That, I cannot truly answer,? He said. ?But I will try. From what I know, the endermen were a race created a long time from now, in the future. They discovered how to make a portal to our time, however, and now they are wreaking havoc upon our land. They have the ability to do what any other monster can?t; they pick up blocks, and they can teleport.?

?They can pick up blocks?? I asked.

?Quite,? He said.

?That?s interesting,? I replied.

?Any more questions?? He asked, turning to Em.

?What are those green things?? She asked.

?Ah, which ones?? He asked.

?The exploding ones,? She said.

?Ah, the creepers,? He said, his words hanging in the air like a spider draped upon a piece of silk. ?The god Notch created them in order to defend the planet?s precious materials. Apparently, Notch originally designed them to look like pigs, and then attack you with their full wrath, but he failed and created him. In Notch?s excitement at this creation, creating a deadly enemy that?s face was torn in a look of misery and woe, so those who saw it would be fooled by it?s appearance and would be subject to it?s powers. Eventually, the creepers went rogue, killing anybody they saw, even if they were in the middle of a desert where there were no useful resources for kilometers.?

?Interesting,? I said. So, anything else you would like to tell us?? I asked. As soon as I said that, however, a massive tremor rattled our position, knocking Em and the wise man over. I assisted both of them up.

?What was that?? I asked.

?I think the Endermen are approaching,? The wise man said.

? ? ?

A tall black figure sat at rest on a throne made of a pure diamond material. Three black orbs quickly rotated around his head, each one emanating a minor glow, each at a different luminance, and each one let out a small hum, each at a different pitch. The black figure raised his hand, and the orbs rotating around him ceased their hum and their glow, retracting to his palm. He placed them in a small pocket on his chair. Just as he did this, another figure stepped in.

?Sir, we?ve detected unprotected humans!? He announced.

?Good job, Gahiji,? The tall black figure croaked. He adjusted a golden crown that lay on top of his head.

?Thank you, sir,? Gahiji replied in a nervous tone. ?They?re located in a hut in the south, near the jailhouse we ravaged.?

?Are there any other villages?? The figure asked.

?Yes,? Gahiji said. ?But we?re not ready to face them yet. They?ve got lots of protection against both a ground or militia attack.?

?But we will have enough defenses soon, right?? The figure asked in a tone that caused Gahiji to recoil in fear.

?Yes, sir,? He said.

?Good,? The figure stated. He sat back down on his diamond chair as Gahiji left the chamber. He reached into the small chair on his pocket, pulled out the three orbs, and let them loose to float around his head again.

? ? ?

?I?m sure they won?t right now,? The Wise Man said. ?So here?s your objective. You have to go to a town known as Sentwali, located over there,? He said,gesturing to the side of the hut opposite to the entrance. ?There, you can prepare. Then, you must head to the deeps and collect as much diamond as possible, as well as some obsidian. Then, go to the Snowlands. There is a stronghold there that contains a portal to the end. After you defeat the beats of the end, Come back to our land in order to fight off some that are located in a camp called Hakizimana, Located on the Obsali mountain.?

?Can I have a map?? I asked.

?There will be one at Sentwali,? He said.

?So we?ll be on our way then?? I asked.

?Yes, take care, and have fun,? He said. Me and Em walked out of the hut and crossed the side, now heading for the city of Sentwali, our hearts - and hopes - positive that we could win this war.

As we began our descent down the other side of the hill, the strange tremor returned, slightly rocking our position. It stopped as mysteriously as it started, but then continued after a short period of time, it?s rumbles slowly gaining frequency and power.
I attempted to ignore the strange rumbling, but it persisted until neither I nor Em could resist its thundering voice.

?This is really weird,? Em said.

?I know. It reminds me of something,? I said. I called back to the day, just a little bit ago, that I saw the village fall before my eyes.

And that?s when I remembered the last time this happened.

?Oh crap,? I said. ?ENDERMEN!? The tremor had become to powerful it knocked both of us onto the ground and flailed us around like ragdolls. The familiar obsidian spire rose from the ground?s clutches, and finally rested, it?s summit sticking over 20 metres into the air. The familiar black beasts began to spurt out of the portal. I grabbed my Glock 19 instinctively, pulling it out of my holder on my belt and clutching it in both hands. I aimed it at an enderman, and for the first time I used it defensively, I pulled the trigger.

The loud sound of the pistol hurling the bullet at lightning-fast speeds towards the enderman, temporarily stunning me. As I looked up, my hands now covering my ears, my pistol back safely in its holder, I saw the cloud of smoke that indicated the endermen had been butchered. A single ender pearl lingered where he used to. I aimed my sights down at another enderman, and I used some leather I had found from slaughtering a cow back at camp to cover my ears. I pulled again. The same thing happened, but instead the shock I received from the noise wasn?t as powerful, and so I was able to watch the enderman?s body turn red and fall to the ground. The endermen were coming in a large force now, heading for me. I decided to continue shooting. The large bursts of sound came 5 times more, then... a clicking noise. I was out of ammunition. I quickly took the cartridge out of my pistol and switched it for my spare. I slid it in and fired 8 more rounds. By now 16 endermen had fallen by my hand. Em was on a rampage, slaughtering as any as she could with her stone sword, but it wasn?t much, unfortunately. I assisted her in combat until we had finished off the force. I scanned the area.

Ender pearls lie everywhere, scattered across areas, some in small clusters, others lay apart from the other ones. I started to develop an idea.

?Hey, what if we used these ender pearls to get there?? I asked. Em tilted her head at a light angle, as if questioning my statement.

?They can teleport us,? I said. She seemed to ponder this
statement for a moment, wondering how these devices could teleport us. I, slightly impatient, threw one about ten feet away. I felt the smoke encompass my body, and then fade away, depositing me a couple metres above the space I threw my ender pearl. I dropped down, an a small shock of pain ran through my body. I stood up.

?Is it a good idea?? I asked her.

?Yeah, sounds fun,? She told me. I handed about 5 ender pearls over to her, showing her how to get the best and longest throws. She threw one over another small hill and I watched her become enveloped in smoke and disappear. I did the same thing, and I too, was enveloped in smoke for the third time. I reappeared about fifteen feet away from Em, who took much longer then I did to recover. I walked up to her.

?You fine?? I asked.

?Yeah, just a fall,? she said. She picked herself off of the ground. The only sign of any injury was a grass stain on her left knee. She took no notice of it, however, because the moment she stood up she threw another ender pearl. It soared through the sky in a rainbow-like arc, then landed at a location somewhere over another small hill. She disappeared again, and I followed her, tossing another pearl. The same cloud enveloped me. On the other side of this hill, however, was the city of Sentwali, located just a little ways away. We walked the rest of the distance.

The city of Sentwali was a beautiful land, its buildings scattered on the slope of a large mountain. The mountain rose its peak high into the sky, its tip brushing the clouds above. The city itself expended long out down the mountainside, however, expanding to cover part of a large plain. I set foot in front of an unguarded gate that was the only entrance into the city. There were guards that stood post, however none of them dared move as I entered the city. A man approached me from the left side. He was slightly chubby, his posture leaning over to his right slightly. He wore a large sash across his cheat that read ?LEADER.? His blue eyes fixed onto mine as he said, ?Welcome to Sentwali! What?s your name??

?Ben, and this is Em,? I said.

?Ah, welcome to Sentwali. Do you need any services? Smelting? Shelter??

I thought about what he said for a second. I thought about my possessions, my tools, and my pistol. A realization struck me. ?My pistol!?

?I?d like some iron ingots. I need to craft something,? I said.

?Ah, you wish to go to the blacksmith? I will take you,? he said.

?Yes,? I said. We started on a large road made of cobblestone and dirt. small houses dotted the sides of the road as well as back alleyways that stretched out, forming a labyrinth behind the main street. I heard a conversation emerge from behind, in a back alley.

?Oi, you still owe me that sugar,? a man said in a deep, intimidating voice.

?I never owed you anything,? came the reply. This voice was higher pitched, but sounded more intelligent.

?That?s bullcrap!? I noted that the gruff voice also had a scottish accent, or at the same time it sounded like a cockney accent. I was unsure.

?Never!? the other voice shouted again. I was listening intently now.

?Oh, you shouldn?t have said that,? came the Scottish voice again. heard the sound of a punch.

?Ow! What the hell?? the higher-pitched voice replied again. Another punch, followed by a flurry of punches. I gestured to Em and the leader to stop for a moment, and I turned around and stole a small glance at the alley. Blood suddenly spilt out of it, splashing onto the street and causing nearby civilians to back away.

?Teaches you to not give me my sugar,? The gruff voice came again. I saw a large brute of a man walk out of the alley. He was pouring some sugar into a bag. The sugar was partially covered in blood.

?I?ll be sure to call the militia,? the Leader told me. We continued on, only for just a little bit before an object flew past my face. A small child ran past me. At least, he looked like a small child, but he looked old enough to be twenty. His voice was still that of a 7-year-old?s, though. He ran past me and ran to grab a chick that had come out of the object he threw at me; which I now knew was an egg.

?Here we are,? the Leader said. He gestured to the left, where a burly man stood in front of a forge constructed of lava as well as some fire. Furnaces were stacked upon the walls, all the way up to the cobblestone roof. There was a wooden door which obviously led into the living quarters of the blacksmith.

?Hello, Blacksmith,? said the Leader.

?G?day, Sir,? The blacksmith replied with an Australian accent.

?So, this boy asked of your services... Can you assist him?? The leader asked.

?Sure thing mate, be there in a moment,? He replied. He stepped back into his house for a moment, then came out, some coal in his hands.

?Whaddya need?? He asked me.

?I need a bullet, that looks like this,? I said, reaching onto my belt to pull out a magazine, only realizing I had used all my bullets to kill endermen.

?Crap,? I muttered. I quickly scrambled my pockets to find another bullet to use. I felt the tip of pure steel brush against my fingers as I took out a shiny bullet.

?I need you to make as many of these as possible,? I said. He inspected the small iron object I held in my hand very closely.

?Looks like somethin? I can craft,? He said.

?Thank you,? I said. The blacksmith went back inside his quarters and returned with a large batch of raw iron ore, which he stuffed into a furnace. He placed some coal in a smaller hole on the bottom. He lit the coal and it began a large blaze inside the small confines of the furnace hole.

?It?ll be ready in a little bit, mate,? He said. He shoved his large hand into another furnace, fearless of what lay inside, and pulled out some red-hot clusters of iron. He brought it over to a table and began to shape into an iron ingot. I was in awe on how he operated this burning metal with his bare hands when the Leader pulled me back.

?Be quiet,? He said. ?Do you hear it?

? ? ?

The tall figure had only sat at his throne for a mere 15 minutes before Gahiji stood before him.

?Yes, Gahiji?? The figure asked.

?S-sir, our forces were wiped out on an attempt to kill the humans. Our scout reported that one human was carrying a small object that wiped out our squad.?

?What?? The tone of the tall figure was angered. Gahiji immediately stepped back for sake of his life.

?I don?t know s-sir. Nobody knows. We?re trying to figure it out.?

?Listen, Gahiji,? The figure said. ?I NEED you to figure this out. Unless...? He gestured towards a large diamond scimitar that shined viscously, as if enjoying it?s moment in the spotlight. Instantly Gahiji took multiple steps backwards.

?Figure it out,? The figure said, ?Or you?re brain?s going to be slashed to bits. Understand??

Gahiji let out a small whimper, then let out a squeaky ?Yes, sir.?
? ? ?

?I think it?s the endermen,? the Leader said. I listened in and heard a small rumble coming from the ground. The rumble slowly grew louder until it shook my ears with its force. Looking far onto the horizon, I saw armies of endermen marching towards us. Endermen were climbing the walls, flanking us. The obsidian spires rose from the ground again. I saw the blacksmith running towards me, carrying a small bag of bullets.

?Thanks,? I said.

?I work quickly, mate,? He said. He, to, noticed the endermen, and a look of fear spread over his face. He retreated back to his quarters. The leader retreated to a large building with a silver dome on top of it. Passerby retreated into nearby homes. That?s when it occurred to me.

I was in the streets with nowhere to go and thousands of endermen attacking.

There was only one option.

I grabbed my pistol and bullets, loading them in in a spare magazine cartridge.

?Time to shine,? I said.

Bringing out my pistol at that time was a regretful option. The endermen overpowered me. I was outnumbered. Luckily, the leader who had run off to the large building, now returned with a large squad of men dressed in armor made of iron. Although clanky, the armor didn?t slow down the supersoldiers who looked intimidating enough to scare a polar bear. They had powerful swords and large bows, some of which were drawn back. The endermen slowly approached and I rushed over to the leader, who had retreated to the back of the squad.

?Can I have an iron helmet?? I asked.

?Sure,? He said, handing me a beautiful helmet. It was beautiful, although simply an average helmet with a silver tint, it looked like more. When I looked closely, I noticed a blueish aura that seemed to emanate from it, mesmerizing me. I placed it on my head and fired my glock 19 again. People covered their ears as my pistol shot iron bullets at lightning-fast speeds. Endermen toppled as eight bullets ended eight lives. The soldiers had quickly recovered, although still shocked by my device, and continued to fire arrows and strike with powerful swords. The endermen had started to teleport to multiple locations spread across the area. They were now flanking us, their forces slowly closing in. I reloaded my pistol - which took much longer considering I had to load the bullets into the magazine - and let eight more bullets and killed eight more endermen. I continued to quickly distribute bullets across the battlefield, down every corridor and down the main street. I had developed a system, without communicating, with the squad so I would watch their backs while they marched forward to the front gate, which was crawling with endermen. The men fought fearlessly, shooting with their bows and destroying everything in their path. I noticed that the endermen were coming more frequently in from the back. I was starting to run out of ammo.

?Switch back!? I yelled. ?I?ll cover the entrance!? They looked at me as if I was crazy, then looked astonished and frightened at the sight of the hundreds of endermen behind me. They obliged, switching backwards to fight off the approaching forces. I ran out of ammo again, and went to reload the crude bullets out of my bag - only to realize I had none left. In panic I started to beat endermen with my fists rapidly as if I actually could help out. The soldiers were oblivious to the current events. I noticed an endermen approaching the blacksmith?s house. The blacksmith ran out with a large bag filled with what appeared to be bullets. The endermen stalked him close behind.

?Blacksmith, look out!? I yelled. I reached for him so he would understand that there was something behind him, but my efforts were in vain and he was grabbed by the endermen. I watched in horror as he reached for his throat. The blacksmith?s irises slowly raised into his head and he collapsed to the ground. His eyes, I noticed, flashed purple briefly, then returned to their normal colour.

I was shocked. I understood the endermen?s motive to kill those who opposed them, but the blacksmith was innocent. The endermen were ruthless terrorists committing acts of war crimes.

Just then, I understood why I was sent here. It wasn't to destroy the endermen by killing them all - such an act would of corrupted my soul as much as the endermen's. I was sent to stop the terrible things the endermen were committing in whatever means necessary. I knew that I didn't have to kill them - I could just make them fear us or compromise.

Of course, at this time, I felt that I couldn't do either. My mind was racing a million miles a minute. All this planning had been done in a millisecond. I still had time to act as a minor vengeance for a helper. Unfortunately, though, as I lunged for him he teleported. A fissure of black smoke rose from where he once was.

I knew my friend's vengeance would have to come in the form of mass destruction. I picked up the bag of bullets. It was the right thing to do. I loaded another clip in just as a terrifying thought struck my mind;

Where's Em?

At this I was completely diverted from the thought of revenge. I raced into the government building to find her. No luck. The smooth sandstone walls around me were coated in banners and paintings. Strange men huddled in corners. None of them were by any chance Emily. I rushed outside, looking for her. An idea came to mind that she may have gone into the blacksmith's house to hide. I busted open the door, forgetting that an endermen had teleported into here to ill the blacksmith making it unlikely that there would be another life form inside. Sure enough Em wasn't there. Going outside I checked every single house nearby, examining visitors carefully. On the fourth house, I found her.

"Oh, thank goodness you're safe," I said.

"Yeah, you too?" She asked.

"If blasting endermen to high hell counts, then yes."
She smiled. I closed the door. Now that that thought had been driven out of my mind, I knew I had to continue fighting. The first squad member had died, weakening their defenses greatly. I joined them, shooting rapidly and occasionally saving certain people's lives. This bag of bullets didn't run out as quickly, and the armies of the endermen were weakening when I still had a quarter of my bag left. Our forces had lost two more men, but we were able to change the pattern as if they weren't ever there, and I was able to watch their backs again. After what felt like ages, the final endermen fell to the ground.

?Hell yeah!? Yelled a squad member. ?We showed those endermen who?s boss!?

?Couldn?t agree more,? said another. A low rumbling sound followed by a tremor stopped our celebrations short. Suddenly, obsidian spires smashed out of the ground in large numbers. Endermen flowed out of them like fountains as we stared in terror. I realized in shock: That was only the beginning. We will have to keep on fighting for a long time.

That?s when something crazy happened.

I was lifted into the air by a mysterious force. Smoke clutched around my legs a small child looking for his parent. A small explosion of wood came from nearby, and Em was now also soaring through the air. Strangely, however, another person was also levitated into the air. He had pale skin and red hair. He looked childish, but he had some small stubble on his chin. He was relatively skinny. We all stood beside each other, powerless to our movement in our legs. Just then, I knew what to do.

We held hands.

The world stopped for a moment. Everything had paused in movement except for us and the cloud of smoke above us. I noticed the smoke was rising over us, but it wasn?t smoke now. It was a shining blue light, encompassing us all. Blinding lights and dazzling patterns shone from the orb, and before we knew it, we had disappeared.

? ? ?

?Did you remove the threats?? The tall figure asked Gahiji.

?Yes, sir. They?ve been placed far away.? Gahiji gulped. His previous near-death experience had scared him out of his wits. He was not taking any chances.

?Good,? The figure said. ?hopefully those bastards will starve. Then we can have peace.? He laughed a small chuckle, then dismissed Gahiji with a flick of his wrist.
?Go,? he said. ?I currently do not require your assistance.?

When I woke up, I was laying beside Em and the other man, both of which were still unconscious. I could just barely make out their faces from a faint glowing that seemed to be coming from a source far away. I examined my surroundings. I was in a cave with a ceiling about ten feet high. To my left, I noticed the cave seemed to go upwards. To the right, the cave continued to descend right into a pool of lava.

Em and the other man woke up. The man was groggy, with small bags under his eyes.

?I feel like ­,? He said.

?Welcome to the club,? I replied. They both sat up.

?Where the hell are we?? Em asked.

?I think we are actually in hell,? I said.

?No, this is just Baoza Mountain,? The man said.

?Bowser what?? Em asked.

?Baoza Mountain,? He repeated.. ?It?s home to our world?s largest cave system and Mine. We?re probably in an unexplored section.?

Em was confused. Her face had an odd expression, her head tilted like a dog.

?Where?s Baoza mountain?? She asked.

?It?s beside the Bloxus Republic Prison,? He said. When Em repeated her head gesture, he replied, ?The place where you were kept.?

?How do you know where we were kept?? I asked. His faced turned to shock, as if he was going to ruin a secret he wanted to keep.

?I talked to the wise man,? He said.

?Oh, I see,? I replied. ?Say, Are you from the real world??

?No,? he said suspiciously.

?I don?t believe you.? I said.

?Neither do I,? Em joined in.

?If you?re are from here, then why are you with us Real-worlders?? I replied. His face relaxed.

?Okay, I am,? He said. ?There are just some people out there that despise real-worlders. Including endermen,? He said.

?So, is that why we?re here?? I asked.

?Probably. They?re going to town on Sentwali,? he replied.

?Unfortunate,? I said. ?But if we?re to save this planet, our death would be much more unfortunate.?

?Indeed.? He reached into his pocket and juggled out a torch. He grabbed a piece of flint and lit it, placing it down Beside him.

?First things first,? He said. ?Priorities. What?s you?re name, sir?? He asked me.

?Ben,? I said. ?And this is Em. Yours??

?I?m Robert, or Rob,? He said. ?Ben. You will be our Fighter.? He tossed me a gleaming metal sword, crafted of what looked like iron. Stay right behind me. I?ll light the place up and Em will make sure nothing comes from behind us.?

We walked in silence for a while, then Em and Rob sparked up conversation. It was a simple talk about our world and this world.
?We come through internet, as odd as it sounds,? Rob said.

?How is that?? Em asked in reply.

?Simple. Our bodies are transmitted into virtual data, then we?re streamed along through the network into this world. Unfortunately, the time spent while transmitting causes hallucinations and dreams.?

At this I wondered if the fire was a hallucination.

?If my house catches on fire and my computer explodes, is that a hallucination?? I asked.

?Likely,? He said. I made a silent sigh of relief.

?But not certain,? He said. ?Some minor malfunctions may have occurred during the process.

The room fell silent for the next 10 minutes as we trekked upwards, until our journey took us to a large wall made of cobblestone.

?Crap,? He said. ?This path was blocked off for two reasons. One being this place was cleared of resources, and we saw some on the way here. Two being this place was too dangerous to dwell in.?

A chill rode down my spine. I heard footsteps.

?Em, what?s that?? I asked. She ventured ten feet into the cave and came rushing back.

?Creepers,? She said, panting from fright. ?five of them!?

Rob took immediate action. ?Ben, Mine out of here, through that wall. Me and em will hold off.? He tossed me an iron pickaxe and a sword to Em. He unsheathed his own sword. It had a glow, similar to the glow on the iron helmet I had. It was gone now, but it had taken a couple of fatal blows, so I?m assuming it fell off someplace.

I started to mine out, listening to the hissing sounds of the creepers as they hit him. I looked back, and noticed that every time Rob hit a creeper, the unfortunate green beast was thrown back into the cave some bit. I rushed back and started to work on the large wall. Finally, I broke into the next cave section. I heard ominous noises coming from further up. Rob ushered Em into the cave, placing some cobblestone behind him. I rushed up the cave system, hearing a strange buzz. I realized what that noise was: Endermen!

The buzzing grew louder. I caught the trace of smoke nearby. The endermen marched into the cave like soldiers. Rob stepped up and bashed them with his sword. I found the bag of bullets. Very few were left. I loaded them in, and shot at whatever endermen he didn?t hit. In a matter of minutes, the assault was over. We continued up the mine.

It was hours before we made it to an old minecart station. There were redstone torches placed along walls and near the minecart track. There was a button in the wall. There was one minecart.

?Who?s going?? I asked.

?There?s enough for all of us. I?ll see you at the base camp a while up,? He said. He got into the cart and pressed the button. He rode off into the dark. I heard mechanisms whirring as a piston retracted and a minecart fell out of the ceiling and landed with a CLANG!

?Well, I guess he?s right,? I said. ?See you.? I pressed the button and rocketed off. Darkness encompassed my vision, quick as a bullet, as I rode. I heard, a couple seconds later, a loud CLANG! once more.

10 Minutes later I came to main base. I nearly fell out of the cart as I came to an abrupt start. I heard below me a dramatic OOF! which I assumed was Em braking behind me.

The minecart slowly headed forward and stopped. I got out and stepped on a pressure plate, sending the minecart on a trail behind me. Em slowly emerged out of the blackness. I took a moment to comprehend my surroundings, and I couldn?t believe what I saw.

The cave I was in was massive, with what seemed like hundreds of mineshafts going off in multiple directions. All of them were filled with bustling miners who were heading down into these mineshafts. A large office sat at the front, torches lined upon walls, with large glass windows overlooking the massive cavern.

The entrance was to the right of the office, a 10-metre wide circular hole that only revealed the sky. Once Em hopped out of the cart, we started to head for the entrance. Just then, a person at the centre of the cavern shouted, ?DRAGON! DRAGON! I SAW A DRAGON!?

The whole room burst into shouting, with two different types of phrases echoing through the room:

?What should we do??
?Bah. Dragons? Idiots.?
?Help me!?

The office iron doors flipped open. A mass of men, armed with diamond swords, stepped out.

?Everybody calm down. There are no dragons! Dragons are a legend, and there is no need to worry.?

The crowd died down unexpectedly quickly. They must be under very strict orders.

However, none of that mattered to me as we climbed out of the cavern hole and into daylight once more.

A week had passed since the Mountain Cave Incident. Me, Rob, and Em were at the Wise Man?s hut, as we had been for the past five days. We were preparing to go to a place called the Obsidian Lava Springs, which was a very dangerous place, home to monsters and such. We required an Eye of Ender in order to destroy the Endermen, so the Wise Man had told us. There was, apparently, a portal in the Lava springs that could get us the eye of ender. From there, we?d need to prepare, and delve into the Snowlands to find the Portal to the Future and destroy the Endermen?s leader. At least, that was the information they?d gathered. Nobody had been to the end and survived. The wise man had heard of this in one of his dreams, however it was unclear on wether this was 100% true of not. However, this was our only lead. If we abandoned this, there would be no tracks to trace, and we needed to get on a path and trek.

We hadn't been to Sentwali since the endermen raid. We were concerned about survivors - in this world, hunger quickly consumed a person. It was likely that if somebody hadn't eaten any food, they would be dead by now.

Today, however, we were ready to make our hike onto the small stretch of land where Sentwali rested. The wise man had some food he offered us, and we ate it quickly, feeling more energized than before. I stopped my planning just in time to notice Rob lift the flap of the small hut and walk outside. Me and Em quickly joined. W walked the amount of hours it took to reach Sentwali - however many that could be - and came expecting the worst.

But the worst was more then we expected.

Sentwali had been turned into a giant hole in the ground. It fell down deeper then the deepest of holes until it came to a stop. Thick fog protruded from what appeared to be and endless gaping void.

"The void," Rob said unenthusiastically.

"What's that?" Em asked, a tone of fright in her voice.

"An endless pit. They say who falls in will receive a terrible, painful death."

"Oh." Em took a farther peek over the edge. I noticed a person on the other side of the hole.

"Hey, look!" I shouted. We watched at the man got up, confused. Then, as unfortunate as it is, he fell straight past the rim and into the blackness.

"Ouch," I said. I could hear his screams as if he were beside me.
We stood in silence for a moment, observing the lava streams far below as their contents spilled into the dark.
"What do we do now?" I asked.

"Now we need to go to the springs, but with preparation." Without warning, he pulled a shovel out of his backpack and started to dig down into the dirt.

"Come on down!" He yelled. I jumped in after him.

"Ben, you still have that pick?" He asked me.

"I sure do," I said. I pulled it out of my pocket. I started digging a em joined us. It took a couple minutes, but we made it to an old room filled with chests and other cabinetry. A cauldron stood in the corner, surrounded by furnaces. A wooden door I didn't see creaked behind me, startling me.
A young women stepped out. She like most people, in her twenties. She held a glass bottle in her hand.

"Hello," she said calmly. "How pleasant to have company. I haven't had any in a week. Been hearing godawful racket too. You folks know anything?"

"Yeah," I piped up. "Sentwali's been destroyed!"

She looked shocked. "Well I'll be a sparkling melon! That is the most absurd of things!" She paused for a second. "I'm sorry. Where are my formalities. I'm Sarah, Sarah Gellar. I'm the apothecary for the city.?

?My name?s Ben,? I said, shaking her hand.

?So, what do you folks need?? She asked. Rob replied with a list of words.

?We need five potions of health, tier two, three potions of regeneration, also tier two-?

?Everything tier two?? Sarah interrupted.

?Yes,? Rob replied. ? As well as some speed potions, long lasting, and some splash potions of poison, damage, and weakening.
three each.?

?Well, Sentwali may be gone, but that order comes up to two diamonds,? She said.

?Will gold cut it?? Rob asked, Pouring a whopping ten golden ingots onto the table.

?Sure thing, Hon,? She said, grabbing the ingots and placing them in a chest. She went into the back room and came out a couple of minutes later with the potions.

?Now, I?ll give you 50% off if you help me bring everything upstairs,? She said.

?Sorry, we need to go,? Rob said. ?It?s worth the five ingots.?

?Fine then.? We headed up a small dark staircase.

?Why didn?t we take this route in the first place?? I asked.

?It?s covered in debris. We couldn?t of found it, but I knew that the apothecary?s house is just outside city boundaries. She was pretty lucky.?

Soon enough we came to a large pile of gravel blocking our way. Rob mined it out with a shovel and we came upon a large patch of dirt. Craters scattered the landscape.

?Alright,? Rob said. We are going to head this way,? He said, pulling out a compass.

?A compass?? Em asked, speaking up for the longest time.? Wouldn?t that not work here??

It points to where most people appear,? Rob said. ?Oddly enough.?
We trekked for what seemed like hours until Rob passed me a potion. It looked like water, but a little bit more white.

?Drink it,? He said. ?It?ll speed you up.?

I drank the potion. A strange feeling circulated through my bloodstream; my concentration diverted to the task at hand; my legs, which were sore from all the walking, instantly felt revived. I ran ahead faster then I ever had in my life. Rob and Em followed close behind. We ran, without any feelings of hunger or fatigue. It was the most wonderful feeling in my life.

Finally, the potion wore off. We all slowed down. The feeling of fatigue rested back into my calves. We walked for only minutes more before we reached an end to the desert.

Ahead of us stood giant obsidian towers. Small deposits of lava dotted the cursed land. Creepers, Endermen, and other atrocities roamed freely.

?This will be hell,? I said.

?Agreed? Was the only word Rob could manage. We kept on walking, attempting to avoid direct contact with any of the creatures. Obviously, our efforts were in vain as some mobs noticed us, racing towards us. They thought of us as food. We thought of them as distractions. We picked up speed, avoiding skeleton arrows and spider legs until we scrambled up a mountain, where none of them could get us. We kept on climbing.

To our shock, the mountain we were on was hollow, but not only that, but there was a platform in the middle. A pool of water stood in the middle of this platform. We had no other choice. We jumped down.

We landed in the pool of water. To our left was a frame constructed of obsidian. It looked as if purple water dripped from the top of the frame and disappeared into the bottom, only to come back again. The purple wall almost seemed to draw me in, a temptation I was having trouble resisting. Luckily, Rob gave us the instruction to jump in. I leapt out of the pool and stepped into the wall of purple water, which felt more like stepping into a wall of Jell-o.

?No, WAIT!? Rob yelled. I stepped out immediately. ?I remembered something important.?

He pulled out a piece of paper and quickly scribbled some words in charcoal. He walked over to a chest I didn?t notice, hidden in a cache on the other side of the platform.

?What?s that for?? I asked.

?It?s a ritual. Nobody?s gone into that gate and lived, so we leave names and other information in case.?

?Sounds like bull to me,? I replied. ?If we die, nobody will read the message, because the endermen will take over.?

?Well..? Rob looked like he was searching for something to say in his defense. At last, He shrugged his shoulders. ?Why not.?

I hate to say he was right. He already wrote the message down. He wasn?t doing anything wrong.

Silently, we walked into the portal, and the Jell-o feeling took over me once more.