CHAPTER ONE

 

Steve looked on the horizon. The blue sky with a yellow blocky sun. He was relieved it was day. To most of Minecraft players’ minds, a sunrise is simply a time of day. But Steve was no ordinary user. Steve was truly not even his real name. It all began when HSS1982 was playing Minecraft. HSS1982 is a user of Minecraft. He has the game on the Xbox One and the PC. One day though, as he was playing Minecraft, The screen began to flash. Thinking it was a glitch, he continued playing. His friends on the server also started glowing, as if they had been hit with spectral arrows. Suddenly, there was a trembling all over his PC. It began to rumble and shake. He immediately knew something wasn’t right. He bent down and tried to shut off the computer, but it was no use. The computer just trembled more. Not knowing what to do, he tried unplugging it. Then, as soon as he did, everything went black. When he awoke, he found himself laying face up on a dirt path. Except, as he looked closer, it was blocky! Fearing the worst, he looked down at his hands. They were also blocky! “What has happened to me?” Thought HSS1982. Then he looked around. He saw more blocky dirt paths to his left, a gravel path leading to a village on the right, and a waterfall straight ahead. He stood up carefully because of his blocky legs and looked behind him. He saw an obsidian portal. “Could it lead the nether?” He Thought. Seeing the sun was setting, and the fact that it was a perfect square, and everything around him was formed into blocks, made him worry. “Could it be… That I’m in Minecraft?” If he was in Minecraft, he knew what night bring. The thought of zombies, skeletons, and spiders in “Reality” Made him shudder. He noticed some trees a few yards away. He ran over to the nearest one and started punching. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt very much. He punched for about five seconds until the piece of wood fell into his inventory with a satisfying “Plunk.” He ran a few blocks away, waiting for the tree to fall. But surprisingly, it didn’t budge, floating helplessly. “ I really am in Minecraft!” He punched another piece of wood, again falling into his inventory. He knew he had to make a wooden sword, but he didn’t know how to open his inventory. He tried forcing his mind into opening his inventory. He tried blinking twice. He even tried drawing an E in the grass. He was just about to give up when he saw an inventory button at the bottom of his vision. He reached out and touched where he saw it. With a quick flash, his inventory popped up. HSS1982 selected the wood logs and put them in the crafting grid. After He crafted the wood logs into planks, he crafted a crafting table. He placed it down and began crafting a sword. Holding the sword tightly in his right hand, he struck a close by zombie. This did not look anything like the animated, blocky version of a Minecraft zombie. This hostile horror was a menacing creature with very real peeling skin, horrifying groans, and a thirst for death. When HSS1982 hit the zombie, its groans turned into screams that could make a creeper flinch. He began violently hitting the creature with his sword, it flashing at every hard blow. Soon the vile creature was dead, and nothing but rotten flesh that plunked into his inventory. HSS1982 threw the rotten flesh out in disgust. Seeing a group of zombies approaching, he hid behind a tree as the approaching horde turned and marched in the other direction. He noted that he needed to make a bed to sleep at night. Attacking a creeper that dared approach, it also looked like a horrifying creature, having 4 legs and no arms. HSS1982 realized his life was at stake. If he didn’t get out of Minecraft, he would either die in the game, which would be uncertainty if he re-spawned or died in real life, or forever be in a blocky world called Minecraft. As he thought about this, he pondered on how he even got here, in Minecraft. He remembered playing the game on his PC when the screen began to flash and the computer began to shake. He tried unplugging it, then he was pulled into the game. “If I unplugged the computer, I may not be able to return to the real world!” He thought. He used the remaining wood planks to build a small shelter, and then he lay down and slept.

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

“HSS1982 woke up. He saw the sky was dark. Suddenly, a weird shape approached him. After looking closer, he recognized the shape. It was a wither. Knowing how dangerous withers are, he instinctively drew his sword. As the wither came nearer, he saw it was no ordinary wither. Instead of a blackish gray color, its torso was crystal! Looking through the beast’s mirror-like body, he saw an army of mobs behind him! Turning around, sword at the ready, he was surprised to see nothing there! The wither spoke: “I am the legendary crystal wither. What you have seen through my torso is a vision from the future. You, Steve, will be challenged by my army of mobs.” “When will this happen?” Steve asked. “Before the new moon,” The creature replied. “Why did you call me Steve?” Steve asked. “Look into my torso. What do you see?” The beast replied. “A player with “Steve” Written above his head,” Steve said. “That is how the non-players see you,” The wither said. “Here in the land of dreams, everything changes. Even your name.” Steve woke up. Looking around, he realized it was only a dream. His small hut of wood planks was still there, and the blocky sun was rising above the clouds. He was thankful that it was day, but he was disappointed that he wasn’t back in the physical world. A stray creeper wandered toward his base. He quickly eliminated the creature. Steve remembered the dream. “Is this crystal wither real?” He said to himself a little louder than he wanted. Suddenly, a voice spoke back to him! “Yes it is, Steve,” The voice said. “Where are you?” Steve replied, drawing his sword cautiously. There was no response. “Did I imagine that voice?” Steve said aloud again. He heard some rustling behind him. Turning around, he saw it was his Minecraft friend, Jacob! “To answer your first question, I’m right here. Your second, no,” Jacob said. As the two friends sat and talked, the sun began to set. “How did you get here?” Steve asked. “I was playing with you when my screen began to flash. I tried to unplug the computer, and when I did, I woke up here,” Jacob replied. “That’s exactly what happened to me!” Steve said. Steve asked Jacob: “I had a dream about a crystal wither, and it said my name is Steve. Do I have a gamertag?” “Yes, And it says Steve!” Jacob answered. “Do I have one?” “No,” Steve said. “Strange, you do and I don’t,” Jacob said. Steve saw the sky was getting darker. “We should sleep.” But as Steve and Jacob slept, someone watched them… ————————————————————————————————————

“Do you have the mobs ready, Imps?” “Yes, Malace. The mobs are in place.” Malace is a wither. But, he has a different childhood than normal withers. He grew up in a family of 3. He was an only child, and he is a crystal wither. Crystal withers only spawn one in one-thousand of every wither born. They are special, being able to use their torsos to tell the future, with one exception. They can only tell about bad things that will happen. Imps is a blaze, getting his name from his previous master, which didn’t like him. He finds different bosses across the overworld looking for loot to earn or steal. He had been banned from the nether by Deplacious, his previous master. “Do you have your sights on Steve?” “Of course, you ox-brain! I didn’t get an army ready to battle my shadow!” Imps shrinks into the corner. Malace ordered: “Get the mobs positioned. We will remove this minor bug in our program tonight.” Imps floated over to the army. It contained fifty zombies, twenty-five skeletons, fifteen spiders, and ten enderman. Tonight they would destroy Steve and finally be player-free.

 

CHAPTER THREE

 

Steve woke up. He heard a horrible sound. An army of mobs was approaching! Steve quickly woke Jacob. “Wake up! We must run!” “Where will we run?” Jacob asked. Steve remembered something. “This way!” Steve said. He remembered the nether portal where he first spawned. They ran to the portal. “Its our only chance,” Steve said. They jumped in. When they spawned in the nether, they seen a nether fortress. “Should we check it out?” Steve asked. Jacob nodded. They approached the fortress. It was massive, with spawn rooms and long hallways stretched beyond how far they could see. Blazes accompanied the spawn rooms, while wither skeletons patrolled the bridges. “We should loot swords from the wither skeletons,” Jacob said. “Armor would be nice too,” Steve added. Stone swords would be sufficient for offense, but armor is almost a must in this cave-like dimension. As ghasts came near, Steve and Jacob hid behind netherrack pillars from these floating creatures. Carefully making their way to the fortress’s walkways, they eventually made it onto the long bridges of the massive structure. They seen a group of wither skeletons and cautiously came close to the bony figures. “Wait!” Steve called to Jacob, who was running towards one of the skeletons. Jacob didn’t hear him. A ghast hiding behind a lava pillar spotted Jacob. The beast began to form a fireball in its mouth. The nine tentacles under its body swayed chronically. Jacob jumped just as the fireball flew towards him. It missed and landed on the unlucky wither skeleton behind him. Jacob quickly grabbed the bony Creatures sword just before it fell into the fire. Jacob used it to destroy the remaining wither skeletons and then turned his attention back to the ghast. Steve ran to where one of the wither skeletons dropped its sword. He picked it up, also turning to the ghast. The two watched the ghast, holding their swords tight. The beast formed another fireball. Releasing it with great speed, Jacob hit the fireball with his sword, deflecting it back at the creature. With an ear-piercing scream, the ghast fell into the lava below, burning it. “Should we escape now? I’m hungry,” Steve said. “Yes,” Jacob said, “but we can’t go through the same portal. We’ll build a new one. The mobs will be waiting for us there.” Steve nodded, then asked: “But how will we make a new one? We don’t have any obsidian or a flint and steel.” “We will search the nether fortress and hopefully find diamonds in the loot chests. We’ll build a diamond pickaxe and destroy the old one.” They went inside the fortress. The huge hallways were incredible to look at. Steve noticed a loot chest in the corner. There was a diamond in it! Steve and Jacob searched the fortress for what seemed like a long time. They eventually had enough resources to make a diamond pickaxe. Steve made a crafting table and put the items on the grid. After the diamond pickaxe was made, they journeyed back to the old portal. When they found it, Jacob quickly destroyed a block of it, disabling it, just in case the mobs were still lurking around. Soon, the old portal was destroyed and they began traveling to a new spot. They crossed lava pools and avoided ghasts along the way. Eventually, they found a spot that seemed sufficient, and Jacob began to build a new portal. Steve was hungry. He began to feel fatigued. He needed to get food. Jacob completed the portal. Collecting flint from gravel nearby and using an iron ingot he had collected in the fortress, he made a flint and steel, and then lighted the portal. The two friends jumped through the portal. They tumbled onto a grassy plain. Steve saw some pigs, and went after them. Jacob set up a furnace and waited for Steve. When he returned, Jacob cooked the food and they sat down to eat. After they had eaten, Steve said: “I’m going to bed. I’m tired.” “I agree,” Jacob said. As Steve lay down to sleep, another dream began to enter his thoughts… Then he was fast asleep. —————————————————————————————————————————– Malace was furious. “I thought you would destroy Steve! You idiot! You have only made him aware of our presence!” “I’m sorry, Malace, he heard the army and fled,” Imps said. “Excuses! Your foolishness has weakened us!” Malace yelled. “Where did he go? Or did you wimp out and not follow him?” “We tried to pursue, but he and his friend fled to the nether. They destroyed the portal before we could follow,” Imps said. “He has a friend?” Malace asked. “Yes, but they are both weak. They don’t have armor,” Imps replied. “I will visit Steve in the land of dreams tonight.” Malace said. “He will think twice about his bravery.” —————————————————————————————————————————– “Steve woke up. He saw Jacob was gone, and a dark sky brought gloom to the terrain. “Wait, this seems familiar,” Steve thought. Suddenly, a wither appeared. Steve recognized it as the one in his previous dream. It spoke: “Steve, we meet again.” “What is this place?” Steve asked. “Why, the land of dreams of course!” The wither said. “Ha! Then I’ll just wake up! You can’t hurt me!” Steve exclaimed. “Ah, but you’re in my control now! I can keep you here as long as I like!” The wither said.”Even as we speak, a mob army is approaching you and Jacob. You will be destroyed.” Steve thought. He still had his sword. He charged at the crystal wither, striking it hard. The beast groaned and hurled an explosive at Steve. He jumped out of the way, but not in time. The explosive exploded and hit him hard. He fell to the ground, unable to move. The wither cackled at the sight of Steve. Steve’s leg throbbed. He was too weak to move. He thought about his simple life, wondering why it would have to end this way. His family wouldn’t know what happened to him. He didn’t deserve this! As he lay there awaiting his fate, with the wither’s cackling echoing in his mind, but then, he began to feel fuzzy…

 

CHAPTER FOUR

 

Steve woke up. His leg throbbed. He remembered the dream. He was relieved. Then, just as the wither said, he heard another mob army coming. How could he run with his leg? He woke Jacob. They quickly built a small wall out of some planks from a nearby tree. Jacob seen a spider still lurking around from the previous night. Slaying it, he used the string and some sticks to make bows. Steve began quickly crafting make-shift arrows. When the mob army came into view, the duo pulled out their bows and rained arrows on the front-line zombies. Their groans were menacing, but they were harmless from a distance. One by one, the zombies fell to the ground. Once they had been defeated, the second line, skeletons, stepped forward. They shot back their own arrows, only for them to hit the plank wall. One skeleton managed to hit Steve with an arrow. It startled him and he accidentally shot the third line, enderman. They shrieked in anger as their comrade perished. They pushed themselves forward, as the skeletons were still shooting arrows. The skeleton arrows hit the enderman as they pursued their friend’s killer. This caused them to retaliate at the skeletons, starting a battle between the two. As the skeletons and enderman fought, There was a brief moment of rest. Steve began crafting more make-shift arrows from rocks and twigs, tied together with string. Then, the fourth line came forward, spiders. Their speed and agility quickly overcame Steve and Jacob, and the friends were forced to attack melee. With their swords piercing the thin flesh of the spiders, the team soon destroyed the vile creatures. Panting, they watched as the fifth and final line came closer. Withers. Steve froze with fear as the beasts emerged. His leg reminded him of how dangerous these creatures are. An explosive shot from one of the withers’, aimed straight at Steve. Suddenly everything went into slow-motion. Too scared to defend himself, he watched in terror as the explosive came closer. Then, Jacob lunged at him. Jacob pushed Steve out of the way just as the explosive hit the ground, putting a crater in it. Steve realized time seemed to return to normal. “Are you nuts?!” Jacob shouted above the booming of the battlefield. Steve realized his foolishness. Before he had time to respond, another explosive was hurled at him. Gathering all his courage, he bolted at the wither, ignoring the stabbing pain in his leg. Fiercely piercing the beast, it shrieked as it perished. The remaining withers retreated at the loss of their friend. By this time, the battle between the enderman and the skeletons had resolved. The enderman had won. The remaining enderman were to weak to continue. Steve and Jacob had won. —————————————————————————————————————————– Malace was steaming. “How could those boneheads defeat my army?!” Imps cowered in the corner. “Sir, I…” “There is no excuses for your foolishness!” Malace screamed. Imps crouched in the corner. “They forced even our withers to retreat, erm, your wither-y-ness.” Malace hurled an explosive at Imps, who was now shuddering in the corner. He shot a fireball at the explosive, deflecting it. “I want every mob in the surrounding 100,000 blocks from this palace to form an army,” Malace said. They had constructed a palace for Malace, to show he was in control. Imps, now coming out of the corner, said: “Yes sire.” Malace eased back on his throne. Steve and his friend were sure to perish now. ——————————————————————————————————————– Steve was amazed that they had conquered the army. There was an eerie silence over the battlefield. Jacob groaned. His blocky muscles were stiff. “We need to be more prepared next time,” Steve said. “We need to mine for iron or diamonds.” “I’m too tired,” Jacob said. “I agree,” Steve said. The next morning, Steve got up. Jacob was still asleep. Steve saw some nearby trees and chopped them down, making two pickaxes out of the wood. “Jacob, wake up!” Steve called. There was no response. Steve shook him. Jacob wouldn’t wake up! Steve tried to pull him up. He was limp. Steve was shocked. What had happened to Jacob? Sadly, he knew he had to move on. He built a small shelter to protect him from zombies. Steve was sad. Then he remembered the land of dreams. Could Jacob be trapped in the land of dreams? He walked on, looking back at Jacob every few minutes. Steve hoped he would wake up. A while later, he came across a cabin. He knocked on the door. No one was home. Steve knew stealing was wrong, but he needed resources, and it was probably abandoned. He crept inside. Two chests sat in the center of the room. But just when he started to open one…

 

CHAPTER FIVE

 

The door burst open! Steve jumped at the sound. A dark figure held a bow, aimed at Steve. Steve froze. Suddenly, the figure laughed. “Is that you Steve?” The figure took his hood off. Steve recognized him as his Minecraft friend, Jeremy! “Jeremy, so you got pulled in too?” “Yes. It’s been cool but scary,” Jeremy replied. “What are you doing in my cabin though?” “I thought it was abandoned,” Steve replied. After the two friends chatted for a while, Steve said: “We should mine.” Jeremy nodded. They found a cave and went inside. Steve had told Jeremy about the crystal wither, the armies of mobs, and Jacob. “I’m sure the wither won’t give up now,” Jeremy said. Steve noticed a small piece of paper in a crack in the stone. Carefully pulling it out, It read, “When the new moon comes, a villain will arise, it will destroy, obstruct, and be unkind, but not long after, a hero will come, he will make the villain’s reign be done.” Steve wondered if the crystal wither was the villain, but who could be the hero? Later that night, Steve decided not to sleep. If Jacob was trapped in the land of dreams, he didn’t want to be also. Steve’s leg still hurt. Jeremy made him some crutches out of sticks. Steve wondered how a dream could hurt him, even when he woke up. Even with crutches, he began mining. Jeremy slept on the cave floor. After a while, Steve struck Iron. The next morning, Steve was very tired. Jeremy mined while Steve rested. At the end of the day, he had 12 iron ores, 15 coal, and even four diamonds. They each crafted diamond swords. The weapons were strong and durable. Steve was so tired he decided to sleep that night. As he lay down to sleep, yet another dream formed in his mind… —————————————————————————————————————————– Malace was pleased. He had never seen a finer army. Imps had finally come through. He had more mobs than he thought he even needed. “My army, tonight we destroy Steve!” The army cheered. They headed out of the palace with a choir of groans, moans, and rattling bones. They were sure to rid Malace of Steve and his friend now. —————————————————————————————————————————– “HSS1982 was sitting in front of his computer. “Wait, this seems familiar,” HSS1982 thought. “I must be back in the real world!” But then, something strange happened. A portal appeared next to his desk. Then, a Minecraft zombie popped out! HSS1982 dove under his desk, piling an assortment of candy wrappers and other trash around him for protection. More zombies came out of the portal. HSS1982 doesn’t dare breathe. Every mob in Minecraft comes out of the portal. Each one goes single file down the hallway. Their groans echo through the house. Finally, the last mob comes out of the portal. The crystal wither. HSS1982 doesn’t dare even blink. The creature waits, then bursts through HSS1982’s hiding place! “There you are, HSS1982!” The creature cackled. “You’re mine!” HSS1982 hears the screams of his parents as the monsters find them. His parents are going to perish. His world is going to perish. HSS1982 himself is going to perish. “It’s all your fault, HSS1982!” The beast said. HSS1982 was a failure. He had failed his quest. It’s all his fault. It’s all his… Steve woke up. It was just a dream! Looking outside the cave, to his horror, he saw an army of mobs waiting. Jeremy was quickly crafting bows, arrows, and TNT. He threw a bow and some arrows at Steve, and they prepared for the fight of their lives. As the army surged forward, Jeremy quickly put some TNT blocks at the entrance to the cave. “Get ready!” Jeremy said. Steve aimed his bow. He waited until the front line was about fifty blocks away, then let the arrows fly. A few zombies fell to the ground. This army was much bigger than the previous one. Jeremy rushed forward and ignited the TNT. When the angry army came to the cave, the TNT blew up quite a few zombies. They were only about fifteen blocks away. Then, Jeremy pulled out his sword and rushed to the front line. Steve did the same. Slashing and slicing their way through the lurching army, the front line was eliminated. Next were skeletons. Their ranged attacks were deadly. Deflecting their shots with their swords, Steve and Jeremy sliced through the bony bunch. When the second line was eliminated, the third line, enderman, came forward. With the endermen’s teleportation, it was clear Steve and Jeremy were losing. Then, Jacob ran out of a passage in the cave! “Here to serve!” Jacob shouted. Pulling out his own diamond sword, the trio pushed the army back. “No time to chat! Withers are next!” Steve shouted. The evil beasts came forward. Steve, Jacob, and Jeremy pulled out their bows and fired at the creatures. The ever-decreasing army was pushed back farther. Then, something unexpected happened. The withers split their army in half. The second half went around to the other side of the cave, Then burst through the back of it! The trio was cornered. Steve pulled out his sword and swung it harshly at the withers attacking from behind. Jacob and Jeremy shot the other half with their arrows. When the withers attacking from behind were eliminated, Steve resumed shooting arrows at the other side. Steve was running out of arrows. He hoped the battle was almost over.

 

CHAPTER SIX

 

The final line approached. Spiders. A few of them had skeleton riders. Steve used the last of his arrows to destroy the skeletons, then pulled out his sword for close combat. Jacob and Jeremy did the same. They stabbed spider after spider, until a group of them cornered Jacob. Steve rushed over to help. When Jacob was free, they returned to the battle. Finally, after vigorous fighting, the Spiders were eliminated. A brief silence swept over the battlefield. Then, the crystal wither from Steve’s dreams emerged! “We meet again, Steve.” Steve remembered his last dream. He wouldn’t let that happen. He gripped his sword tightly and rushed at the wither. The creature dodged, and shot explosives at Jacob and Jeremy. They dodged, but the explosion caused a rockslide, burying Jacob and Jeremy. “Just me and you, Steve!” The beast cackled. The wither shot an explosive at Steve. Steve deflected it with his sword. The impact broke the sword in two. Steve threw the blade at the wither. It landed, and the wither groaned. The monster charged at Steve, hitting him hard. Even though his leg had felt better in the mob fight, the blow hurt it again. He couldn’t move. The wither charged again. When the crystal wither’s stomach was right above him, he picked up the handle of the broken sword, ramming the jagged edge where it had broke into the withers stomach. The beast screeched, then fell over, unable to fight. Steve had won. Suddenly, a faintness washed over him. He closed his eyes. Was he returning home? Only time will tell…

 

                                             THE END