The Sky is Not the Limit

Chapter 3

       Jason turned to her. “This is Nicki. She is Sky’s recruit.”

       “Ah, ok.” The mudkip nodded, acknowledging her. “Well, I’m Quentin, formally (do-dodo!) HuskyMudkipz. Nice to meet you!” Nicki shook hands with him (as well as a human and a mudkip could shake hands).

       “I’m BajanCanadian, but you can call me Mitch.” The boy in red followed.

       “And I’m Jerome, but you can call me Fluffy, and give me a belly rub.” The furry creature smiled and patted her head.

       Quentin examined the tracker in his tiny blue paws and frowned. “Not enough TNT.” He had almost an unhealthy habit of blowing things up with explosives in his free time.

       Jason sighed. “Quentin, not everything has to have TNT in it.”

       “No, really, if you put some gunpowder in with the inside machinery, you’d get a much larger scanning range.” Quentin hopped into Mitch’s bag and came out with a stick of TNT. Breaking off a piece, he sprinkled the inside of the tracker with the powder. Almost instantly, the tracker zoomed out and showed the entire region on the screen.

       “Oh, I’d have never thought of that…” Jason muttered, impressed.

       “Hey, TNT isn’t just for wrecking stuff.”

       Ty jumped excitedly as he watched the screen. “There! In the jungle biome! That’s where Herobrine is!”

       With that, the group took off in the direction of the jungle, the three others joining them.

......

What’s caused Herobrine to join the squids? Sky wondered. He’s independent, and doesn’t hold grudges often. Normally he’d just grief people’s houses and move on.

Sky muttered angrily, "The squids must have done something to him."

"Quite right." Sky turned suddenly and saw a squid, in human form. It had arms and legs, but also tentacles as extra appendages, and the same derpy eyes. Sky didn't have to ask to know that this was the squid who had arranged all this. “Hello SkyDoesMinecraft.”

"What do you want from me?" Sky snapped. "Why did you drag me out here?"

"Information. You'll tell me all about your kingdom; secret passages, weaknesses in the foundation and outer walls; everything. And if you cooperate, we’ll let you go so you can see the true power of the Squid Army as we destroy your kingdom and its people."

"You can never destroy us! The Sky Army will always live on, and I would never stoop so low as to betray them." Sky challenged.

"You speak nobly, but what about at the cost of someone you know?" He clapped his hands, and Herobrine spawned a cage next to his.

“...what?” Sky gasped as he recognized who was in it. The boy was a younger than Sky, around 16, wearing glasses, a red and white striped shirt and blue shorts, and a blue cape that matched his. “Einshine!”

“Sky!” Einshine lunged forward and gripped the bars of his cage. Einshine had been a good friend of Sky's for a while, and was practically Sky's apprentice as far as experience goes. He had a bubbly personality was almost contagious, and an equally strong love of pumpkin pie.

Like Herobrine, Einshine’s eyes lacked pupils and were fully white, and this similarity sometimes caused Herobrine and him to become allies and almost friends in certain situations. But now, it did not seem so.

Herobrine grabbed Einshine by the collar and held him high above the water.

"Aaaah! Sky! Help!"

"Stop! Don't hurt him!" Sky cried desperately.

"So, you see finally see the situation we have here.” The squid grinned. “Are you now willing to comply?"

Sky groaned, his head down, and nodded slowly.

"Very good. Bring down the boy." Herobrine hovered over to Sky's cage, and dropped him down.

"Sky! What are you doing?" Einshine said.

"I'm sorry," Sky reached out and touched his shoulder. "but I can't let something happen to you on my part."

"But what about your kingdom? What about their lives that are at stake now?"

"Just don't worry," Sky replied in a whisper and a wink, "I'm gonna get you out of here. I've got a plan."

"Oh Sky, I hope you know what you're doing here..."

"But," The squid added, "just so you don't have any trickery planned..." He nodded at Herobrine, who suddenly sucker-punched Einshine to the ground, KOing him in an instant.

"EINSHINE!" Sky shouted, staring at his limp body. "Einshine, say something!"

"He's been knocked unconscious by a special move of Herobrine's; a poison jab. Painful, yes. But curable, only if you do as I ask and comply. Are we clear?"

Sky glared at the squid with a hate he had never felt before. You can capture me, attack me, and even steal my butter, but nobody messes with my friends.