The unlikely heroes fell through the vortex, falling through space and time. Screaming and begging for it to be over, all they saw was the whirlwind of cosmic matter around them.
Then, all of a sudden, it ended. They fell out the tail end of the portal and were chucked out into the new environment, they all fell down in a pile.
They all groaned and cursed as they told one another to get off each other.
The portal above them closed, leaving the night as dark as ever.
The dark of the night was quiet, scarily quiet.
"Great, we're stuck in a foreign world with no way back AND our only source of light is gone! We are doomed!!! Just peachy!" Magnus yelled.
"We need to keep calm, we don't know what we could attract." Harper said, trying to ease the tension.
"Speaking of which, where are we?" Gabriel questioned.
"Well, wherever we are, things could not possibly get any worse." Magnus scoffed.
Just then, a creeper blew up behind him, sending him flying headfirst into the dirt.
"Creeper?!" he grumbled, "Aw man! How ironic. I got blown up by things I like to blow up. Turns out this day can get worse."
Harper's eyes widen with fear, "Does anyone have a torch?"
Soren searched his pockets and gave one to Harper.
Harper lifted it above her head to give light to the landscape.
Illuminated by the light, the group found out that they were surrounded by monsters on all sides.
"Everyone, run!" Harper screamed, lifting her sword.
The group ran through the dark valley. They evaded skeleton arrows and zombie bites.
Ivor and Harper cleared the path we while Gabriel and Soren carried an injured Magnus.
They eventually made it to a village. However, there was no one to help them as this village was long since abandoned and has become a ghost town.
The group hid in a house and tried to gather their bearings.
"We just can't catch a break," Harper panted, "we literally can't go 2 seconds without almost dying."
"I know," Ivor panted as well, "it's like we're not given any time to breathe."
"Regardless, we can't stay here." Gabriel said.
The monsters started breaking down the door, trying to get into the house.
"Well done, Gabriel, you are thinking smart for once," Magnus said sarcastically.
"Remind me again why you're here." Soren said.
"Don't look at me, I didn't want to be here in the first place. Also big attitude coming from you of all people, Soren."
"Enough," Ivor barked, "we are all getting out of here. Gabriel, Harper, you guys have the best eyes, get to the top of the tower and see if you can find anything to help us out."
They got up to the roof as Ivor tended to Magnus' wounds.
"Sorry I don't have my healing potions on me," he apologized, " I would have had you all spified up old friend."
Magnus looked at him wryly, "Why are you so determined for us all to be friends again? Why are you being so nice? What happened Ivor?"
Ivor didn't look at him, "Given what has happened to me recently, what with the admin taking over the world and all. I just fear that one day I will die without having tried anything to fix the toxicity among us. I would regret it when that day comes and I just want to try something. Even if I don't make a dent, I know I would have done my best."
Soren just sat in the corner quietly, thinking and contemplating about what Ivor said.
Just then Harper and Gabriel came down, they looked a bit more positive.
"We found something," Gabriel said.
"Past the mountains, we saw a light. Man-made ones, there could be people. There could be help."
Ivor sat with a dilemma. On the one hand, they could find sanctuary. On the other, they are in unfamiliar territory, so who knows what danger could be out there? Still, they were desperate, so he decided to chance it.
"Let's go," he said.
The group used some of my Magnus' TNT to blow through the monsters.
the group ran and ran to the mountains are climbed over the cliffs and ducked under the caves and they finally found themselves at the coast there was a village on the other side of the mountains, and there they could spot the light, so hopefully the group could find refuge.
They ran up to houses and started banging on the doors. The monsters slowly but surely advanced on them for every house they went to.
The reached a house on a hill top and banged begging for help. All the other houses were locked. Just as it seemed all hope was lost, the door did open and a figure commanded the heroes to enter.
The door was locked and the monsters were left growling, snarling and hissing outside.
The heroes turned to their mysterious savior. He was a boy, a young man to be more specific.
He had black hair and blue and orange eyes. He had a little scarf that could be doubled as a mask. His suit had a colour scheme of orange and blue, with a Phoenix symbol on his chest. One side was blue and the other orange. Like the symbol, his sleeves also had orange on one wrist and blue on the other.
"Who are you?" Ivor asked.
"Time for introductions and friendliness will come soon," the stranger said, "right now you need to heal and rest."
Within the hour, the group had eaten, healed, gathered their thoughts and went to bed, their dreams consisting of the events that happened to them.
***
Morning came and Harper sat on the roof of the house. The sun rose over the ocean gracefully.
The smell of burning flesh and bones reeked in the air as the monsters succumbed to the heat and light of the sun.
This world looked a lot like home, what with it's mobs and seas and homes, except it wasn't.
Thoughts raced across the old woman's head. How was she going to get herself out of this situation? Would she really have to face off against her horrifying creation again?
These thoughts were interrupted when Soren came to tell her that breakfast was ready.
After eating and freshening up, it was time for some explanations.
"While we thank you for saving our butts last night, we still want to know, who are you?"
"Oh sorry, where are my manners?" The stranger said, "my name is Phoenix, I am the supposed "protector of this realm" but I'm not the best."
"Why do you say that?" Gabriel asked.
"Well..." Phoenix said as he gave his story.
"A long time ago. I had a master. He taught me the ways of the Ninja. He told me that if I were to protect this world, I needed to learn martial arts to be a warrior. Things were going great until.... Until Mothma."
"Who is Mothma?" Soren asked curiously.
"Mothma was a giant moth," Phoenix continued, " she terrorised these land and everything that moved was destroyed. Every hero that went up to face her met a brutal end.
She wiped out an entire village, all by herself. I'm pretty sure you guys passed an abandoned village on your way here, within the mountains, yeah, that was her nest.
My master couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't stand by and watch innocent people suffer. So, both of us went to confront Mothma ourselves.
The battle was insane, her mandibles were as heavy as concrete and her wings caused winds like a hurricane.
At one point, we even got on her back as we flew through the mountains and cliffs, trying to avoid getting our heads chopped off by the jagged rocks.
In the end, my master landed the finishing blow but that victory came at a cost. During the fight, Mothma gave my master a good beating, usually he's strong he could walk it off but on that day, the big moth got the best of him. Shortly after Mothma died, I also lost my master. They day of my greatest victory was also the day of my greatest loss.
Enraged and ashamed, I took the carcass of the beast and skinned it. I took off its wings and crafted them to suit my needs. I made my own wings, I now have the ability to fly."
Phoenix got up, shaking with rage, went to his ender chest and took out a pair of hand-crafted elytras.
"I went to the nest of the beast. Some of the eggs had already hatched and were coming to attack me. I didn't care. I burned down the entire nest to the ground, destroying the entire Mothma blood line and ensuring the beast never returns.
All that's left now is dust and a destroyed village."
The group listened in amazement. They gave their condolences to his master but didn't know what to say.
"I still don't understand, why don't you think of yourself as a hero?"
"Even though I have protected the town since," Phoenix said "I am still hurt from Mothma. I failed to save my master and the village that fell to Mothma. I care for my people and nothing means more to me than their safety."
"There's more, isn't there?" Ivor asked.
Phoenix sighed, "I love my people, but I wish I could do more. I wish I could go out there into the world. I want to make my master's memory proud but I just don't know how to do it."
Ivor decided to speak up, "I am a ninja, perhaps I could help you."
Phoenix looked up in both surprise yet pleasure, some one who could relate to him.
Magnus laughed, "hey buddy, our boy is suffering from imposter syndrome not faker. He at least is a real hero, you only became one after everyone found out you lied."
Phoenix ignored Magnus and asked, "what about you guys? What's your story?"
The group gave all their backstories and adventures up to now.
"Wow, and what's your group name?" The boy asked.
The members of the team stared at each other, this was supposed to be a temporary job right? They weren't always going to be with each other.
"I don't know," Ivor said "but we could take a note from you. How about, the "Protectors of the realms"?"
Soren scoffed, "Protectors of the realms" we can't even protect ourselves."
Before another argument began, Harper stepped in.
"Look, we won't get anywhere if we are each other's throats. We have bigger issues to deal with any way.
Things have gone to crap super fast. The old builders have taken over UHC, Otto has been captured, the New order of the Stone are separated, Beacon Town and the other worlds are under threat and we're trapped in an unfamiliar world with no weapons and no supplies. Not to mention they want to resurrect PAMA."
"Yeah, that raises the question, who is PAMA?" Magnus asked suspiciously.
Harper sighed, "PAMA was a computer. I made her so that she could calculate and spread knowledge throughout the world in an easy reliable way. However, she gained sentience and tried to control all living beings to do her biding. She got my village to hate me and terrorised everything for years. It wasn't until Jesse and Ivor and their friends came to help me, we flushed PAMA out and returned to normal. That experience was something traumatic. It was like I had made a child who wanted nothing but to enslave everyone.
I swore to never invent again. However, the old builders found the Redstone Heart and are planning to use it to bring PAMA back and use her to control everything."
Harper sat in the corner in shame as Magnus felt like he had all the ammunition he needed.
"I knew it," he jeered, "she was no good. We shouldn't trust her. She could be conspiring against it us as we speak."
Ivor placed his hand on Harper's shoulder and looked squarely at Magnus.
"Harper has done much more than any of you in this room. Unlike you, she fixed her mistake and tried to repair relations with her people. Not only that but she broke off any ties she had with the old builders and helped me and the New Order of the Stone survive against them. Harper is a good person and I do not doubt her, even for a second."
The room went quiet, like the sudden realisation of their vulnerability fell upon them.
Phoenix broke the ice, "That's not entirely true."
Phoenix took the heroes to his secret room. In this room was an elevator. It was powered by water and redstone.
The elevator slowly took them down to the lower levels as Phoenix gave his explanation.
"Ever since my master died, I wanted to be prepared for any threat that may come to my world.
I mined for days on end, even going to the Nether to find Netherite.
There is a portal that you can use to leave this world but if you are going to face this large threat, you will need some gear."
They reached the lower levels and Phoenix went to a chest and pulled out a strange object.
It was a diamond pickaxe, but not just a regular pickaxe. This one had the blade on both sides. The mining blade was on both ends and could even be pushed in and adjusted into a spear. It was a double diamond pickaxe.
"I made this myself, it became my main weapon of choice. I enchanted it with efficiency 10 and had been mining for days. All to reveal this."
He pulled on a lever and a hidden room was revealed.
In this room was armor. Not just any armor but Netherite armor. Weapons and treasures galore were in this room.
The Protectors went to town and started collecting and grabbing whatever goods they could get their hands on.
"Wow, I'm impressed Phoenix," Ivor said in awe, "you really are a hero in the making. I know what it feels to want to have a calling and do the right thing. So what if I have you join us. What if I invited you to become a hero."
Phoenix was exhilarated. This was the moment he had been waiting for all his life. "What about my people? I can't just leave them. Who will protect them?"
Just as the group was getting comfortable with their new gear, they heard a deep, rumbling growl.
The ground begun the shake and quake.
"What on earth is that?" Soren asked.
"I feared for this," Phoenix said wary, "when you guys arrived, you must have woken up the giant."
"The GIANT!?!" the group exclaimed.
"Yes," Phoenix replied, " the giants are literally giant zombies, and they are resistant to the sun."
The group made it to the surface to come face to face with a horror.
A giant loomed over the village, its green rotten flesh barely hanging onto its visible bones. It was picking up people and devouring them whole.
"We need to go now," Soren yelled.
"We can't, at least not without saving my people." Phoenix said.
Ivor thought for a minute, he knew that it would be risky if they stayed but he also knew it was the right thing to do.
"Get the villagers to safety, then we go."
Ivor, Phoenix and Gabriel helped the people get into the escape boats while Magnus, Harper and Soren distracted the giant.
"Phoenix, are you not coming with us?" One of the villagers asked.
"I'm sorry, but I need to live my own life and earn my hero title." He handed the villager a map, "follow this, it will take you to a safe place. Now GO!"
After the parting, the heroes followed Phoenix.
"Down the hole, quick." He yelled.
They all jumped down the hole as the giant punched down, barely missing them.
They all made it to the portal room, they all jumped in and Phoenix looked at his world one more time before jumping in.
***
The group fell out of the sky. This time they were really high.
Ivor looked around, "hey, I know where we are, this is sky city. There's my old lava fall."
He pointed toward a dirt bridge with lava cascading down it.
Beyond the bridge, they even saw a destroyed city overrun by monsters.
Phoenix used his wings to glide and saw water below them.
Everyone fell into the water safely except for Ivor who was about to face plant into the ground.
Phoenix raced after Ivor, nose diving as hard as he could. Ivor was flailing his arms, screaming at the top of his lungs.
Phoenix swooped in at the last second, catching the old man as they both rolled into the forest.
The group breathed a sigh of relief. They got out of the water to regroup but were met with stone swords pointed in their faces.
"Halt! In the name of the founder and freedom fighter, you are under arrest."
The group were taken to the palace where they had an audience before Isa the founder and Milo the freedom fighter the rulers of this realm.
"Who gave you permission to enter New LandFall without notice?"
Harper spoke up first, "we are sorry, you see we came from another world and we are trying to-"
"Other worlders," Milo said bewildered, "yo, this could be cool."
"No, Milo," Isa interrupted, "incase you forgot, an outsider burned most of the town."
"I am not taking any chances, send them to the dungeo-"
A smoke bombs set off in the room, making everyone cough and sputter.
The Ninja came out also coughing but he tried to do his best to his it.
"Now that's *cough* a dramatic entrance *cough*"
When the smoke cleared, Isa got a good look at the intruder, "I- Ivor?"
Aiden ran into the room "Hey babe, what happened? I saw some smoke and I came as fast as I could... Wait is that Soren and Gabriel and Magnus and... Ivor?"
"Hello Aiden," Ivor said drawing his blade.
"No, wait," Isa said before any blood was shed, "Aiden is free, infact, we are um... dating."
"What???" Ivor said incredulously.
"That's what I thought too," Milo jumped in saying, "turns out Isa has very low standards."
"I just don't understand why you would date the man who destroyed your entire civilization."
"But he helped us rebuild a new one. Aiden has more than redeemed himself for his past sins. I trust him with my life."
Ivor shook his head and said, "Look, we can talk later, right now I need you to let my friends go."
"Oh, my bad, I almost forgot, any friend of Ivor's is a friend of mine."
They spent the rest of the day chatting and getting together on the same page.
"So you see," Ivor said, "we need to use your portal so we can get to the hallway and find the portal we need to rescue our friend."
"You are allowed," Isa said, "anything for the person who saved us."
Aiden was getting a bit jealous and volunteered to join them.
"Thanks hon but we need you here. Who else will protect New LandFall incase of an attack?" Isa said
"My friends, the blaze rods, can." He said defensively, "you can trust me."
"I do trust you but-"
"Why don't you go as well, Isa?" Milo laughed, "I can take care of Benedict for you."
Isa got an idea, as if a light bulb flashed in her head. "Excuse us while we conduct a discussion."
Sometime had passed and Isa came out with her armor, "Who ready for an adventure?"
"What happened?" Magnus asked.
"We talked and decided that Aiden and I will help you on your quest while the Blaze rods and Milo protect the realm. Plus I know Milo has been wanting free control for a while so let me let him have this."
They all went to the portal and hopped through.
They ended up in the hallway and Harper guided them to the portal they needed to go to. It was a portal that had redstone as the frame. They stood in front of it for a good minute
"Is everyone ready?" Ivor asked the group.
"I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm ready for some action." Gabriel said.
"Ditto on that action part," Magnus agreed.
"It all ends here," Harper said, "if we can win this battle, we would have prevented a crisis before it became a crisis."
"Let's be heroes," Soren said, even he was getting a bit excited.
They all entered, ready for what was to come.
***
The Redstone dimension was a lot like the Nether, only that the netherrack blocks were replaced with redstone and the piglins were replaced with creepers.
"Creepers! Aw man!" Phoenix cried.
"I know this place," Harper said, "my power is strongest here."
"While I know we would all certainly love to hear this story," Magnus said sarcastically, "we have a mission at hand, can we focus on that please?"
"As much as I hate to say it, Magnus is right," Gabriel said.
The Protectors didn't have time for sight seeing though and rushed to where the slaves were mining redstone.
Hadrian watched from above in his control room. As if already expecting them, he ordered the UHC players to attack otherwise he would trap them in the Redstone realm.
Magnus was filled with glee as he noticed all the redstone around that he could use for his TNT.
"It's all so cool, it reminds me of," he sighed, "of Ellegard..."
He quickly turned to Harper.
"You, old builder," he pointed, "Me and the group will cover you, go save your friend and stop that death machine from being reborn."
Harper, glad that he was now warming up to her agreed and went with Ivor and Isa and Soren to rescue Otto.
Phoenix, Magnus and Aiden all went to fight the UHC players and were doing well.
Obviously, they knew that the players were not fighting out of free will and refrained from killing them.
The first party made it to the control room. There they came across Mevia, who was armed to the teeth.
Isa volunteered to fight her and told the other three to save Otto.
They made it to the main room. They all split up to find the computer hopefully she wasn't operational yet. Harper came across what she was looking for. The parts of her child PAMA.
"It's time to end this," she said raising her pickaxe.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Hadrian said walking out of the shadows, " I had sent you to another world to die but I'm glad you didn't. We need you for the final steps, take a look at PAMA." He pointed his chin to the computer skeleton.
Harper examined the computer, he was right. The parts were actually stitched back together and everything was in its place, including the Redstone Heart.
"What do you need me for?" she said.
"Well as you can see, we have rebuilt PAMA but we need the creator to power her heart. Then we will use her to control the minds of every single person in the multiverse. Making it all part of my wonderful game. Everything that has led up to this moment, including your dumb team has all been part of my game. Spoiler alert, I will in the end. My game my rules. So, do it for me and I promise your friend won't die."
A bruised and beaten Otto was revealed to be tied in chains, mumbling to Harper not to do it.
Harper was left out of choices. She knew that if all her friends were to make it out alive, she would have to recreate her worst mistake.
As she was powering it up, Ivor and Soren burst in.
"Harper," Ivor said in shock, "what are you-"
Hadrian came in and tackled Ivor. Soren came in to protect him until he noticed Hadrian.
"What?" he said incredulously.
"Oh, hello Soren, old pal." Hadrian grinned.
Harper stopped powering the heart and leapt up to help Otto.
"Wait, Soren, you know this freak?" Ivor asked.
"Of course he knows me, he knows all of us, even Harper, ain't that right Harper?" he pointed to Harper as she was picking up an injured Otto.
"Harper?" Ivor asked betrayal in his eyes, "first your powering PAMA, now he's saying you knew Soren before you knew me?"
Harper's throat was clogged, as if she didn't know what to say, she looked at Soren then at the ground.
Soren spoke up, "we were going to tell you. Tell you that I was a- I was a- a-"
"He was an OLD BUILDER" Hadrian laughed at the top of his lungs.
Ivor felt dizzy and lightheaded. The world was spinning. It couldn't be true. His old friend, an old builder?
Looking at the horror on his face, Hadrian cackled, knowing he had won.
In the blink of an eye, Otto pushed back the mad man with his gold blocks and built a wall to blast everyone out of the window.
He created a gold boat and begun to sail out of the building with the Protectors on it.
Isa saw what was going on and left her fight with Mevia to retreat.
The rest of the group saw Otto's gold boat and hopped on as it went through the nearest portal. Barely escaping.
Mevia was about to race in after them when Hadrian grabbed hold of her.
"It's okay, we got what we need. Their group is already done for any way, some "protectors".
***
The two villains walked up to the computer, even though Harper stopped powering it, it was just enough to boot it up.
"He-he-hello," the computer said as it chirped to life, "I am here to serve."
"Hello PAMA," Hadrian said in a kind tone, "what is the last thing you remember?"
The computer trilled and loaded as it formed an angry face.
"My mother, Harper and her friend Jesse, betrayed and destroyed me, preventing me from making everything useful."
"But that's the thing PAMA. We want to make everything useful too. We want to be your friend, your family. We will support you. What do you say? Will we have a beautiful friendship? Do you want to help us make everything the way it's supposed to be?"
"We can get started on business right away if you want," Mevia added.
"Or we can spend as much time with you as you want. It's your call, your time to shine."
PAMA trilled and looked at Hadrian and Mevia. If they would spend enough time with her and they genuinely wanted to be her friend, then she was all for it. Her programming would be completed and satisfied.
"Yes, I *beep* very much want to make everything *beep* USEFUL."