Steve woke up in a pitch-black void, seeing nothing. No sky, no ground, no trees, nothing.
He shivers as he feels cold in his dream. As if he's in Snow Biome or something. Other than that, there is no biome in this place.
Until he sees the white glowing silhouette person, walking away from him.
"Hello?" he said to the silhouette, but no response as they kept walking. He decides to follow them. However, no matter how he walks, the silhouette walks away from him faster, even running doesn't help. He even called out the silhouette, but still no response. Until then they disappeared into the darkness.
He looks around the void, but nothing to see.
Until he sees something in the distance. Glowing white eyes appeared in the distance, shrouded into the darkness. He narrowed his eyes to see it clearly. Until he realized. He felt a bit scared, and without any weapon that he was carrying, he's helpless. He'd never seen any of this before.
And then, it happened. Their eyes drew closer towards him very fast and...
Steve woke up on his dreadful nightmare in a panic, he needs to take some breaths to calm himself down as he clutches his chest.
"Oh my god..." he frightens. "That...scares me..."
He looks around the surroundings, full of Nether Racks. Maybe he's in the room or Nether Cave or something, not knowing how he ended up inside the cave.
"Where am I?" he asked himself. He felt his back cold and noticed there are Packed Ices placed above him. Maybe that explains why he felt cold from his dream, he was lying down the whole time.
He gets out of the cave and finds himself at the Island, surrounded by the Lava Lake.
"Huh. Never knew that someone carried me here but," he looks around to look for his friends. "Where are they?"
He saw Zoe sitting there at the shore of the Lava Ocean, dipping her legs into the Lava. And he walked towards her and sat down. He is not dipping his legs into the lava because he's not fireproof or lava proof anymore.
"Hey Zoe," Steve called.
"Oh. Steve. You're up." Zoe said.
"Where am I? And what happened here? he questions.
"You passed out because you suffered a Heat Stroke," she answered.
"Heat Stroke?"
"A Heat Stroke is when a person is exposed to an extreme heat temperature for too long, which may cause problems on your body. Such as perspiration, dehydration, and headaches. It seems you dropped some of the Packed Ices of yours that your friend found. That is why you don't have anything to cool yourself down whilst fighting the hordes of the Nether mobs."
As Steve remembers he dropped the Packed Ices from his inventory after he blocked its fireball attack from Ghast.
Then he said something else to her. "I wanted to tell you something in my dream."
"..." she silenced for a moment, "never thought you shared your dream with me, go ahead."
Steve took a deep breath and explained about his frightful dream. After his story ended with a pause, not telling her how did it end.
Zoe was speechless about his dream. The glowing white eyes don't feel safe that way. "You were dead?"
"I thought I would, but it's just a dream." he sighed in relief. "Anyways, where are we? And where are my friends off to?" He asks.
"Don't know, and don't care," she responds in an insensitive way.
BOOM!
"What's happening here?" he asks.
"They are playing the game behind the mound."
Steve decides to go and check behind the mound as Zoe's saying.
As Steve went there, his friends were already playing. Charlotte readied her position, while Yaebi prepared his sword ready to hit a fireball. They are playing Baseball.
"Alright, play ball!" Shara began.
Yaebi positioned himself to hit Charlotte's fireball, while Steve stood there and watched them.
Charlotte readied her position and-
Fwoosh!
Her Fireball launched fast, Yaebi is about to hit it...
Klang!
Her Fireball got hit, flew from yards, and...
Boom!
Her Fireball hits the Glowstone clusters and falls into the Lava.
"Homerun!" Shara yelled.
Everybody cheered on him as he knew how to play a game.
"Phew! That's that. Let's take a break now."
After they are done playing a game, they decide to take a break. They ate some food where Cupa and Andr took and drank a bottle of cold water to refresh themselves. Steve noticed there is a Magma Cube sitting in between friends, while Paula is talking to it. Magma Cube looks similar like Slime, but has a reddish color, and has glowing orange eyes. He walks towards his friends, alongside the Magma Cube.
Cupa is happy to see him awake. "Good morning, Steve," Cupa said, waving her hand.
"You know there isn't a daytime and nighttime in this dimension, right?" Steve said.
"I know Steve," she giggles. "I just want to say things to you."
"Steve, this is Megan," Paula said, showing it to Magma Cube. "She lived here on the island while she was away. Magma Cube and Slime are similar behavior. In other words, we are related."
"Related? You mean like your cousin?"
"Well I was about to say, then yes." she agreed. "Umm... Would you mind using your wand? It's already glowing." she pointed out his pocket that glows.
Steve immediately pulled out his wand from his pocket, and she's right. His wand is already glowing, meaning that is the one.
And so he used his want by tapping on it. And something is happening to it as it begins to glow brightly.
It began to transform into a woman, she wore just a bikini and a cap of Magma Cube on her head.
And after the transformation, her glow faded.
"Ahh. That's much better." the woman, who is called Megan, said. "Thank you. As you know about me, there is no need to greet me anymore."
"Zoe told us all Nether gals want to see the Overworld like you said," Withney said. "I wonder what the Overworld looks like?"
"Me too," Megan added. "I can't wait to get there. I mean, I haven't gone there ever since. I mean, I spent my life searching the portal all over this dimension, and I feel hopeless. I just want to go there and live here." she downed.
He already had a plan to go back to the portal where they entered here about an hour ago.
"Don't worry. We'll get you there." Steve said. "And all of us can go home right after this."
They seem too excited to go to the Overworld, and can't wait to go back home after this.
"Hold on. I just realized something." He thought of something. "How on earth did we get here on this island, but not on the Nether Fortress?" he asks.
"Well... Long story short, Steve." Cupa began to tell a story on how that happened.
---------
Moments ago after the onslaught of the Nether Fortress, Steve was passed out after he fought those monsters here on this bridge.
Cupa did her best to wake him up, but nothing happened.
Andr checked on him by using her power.
"Steve is okay, he's still breathing," Andr said.
Cupa sighed in relief that he's alive.
"But he's dehydrated from the heat. He's been severely exhausted because of the heat. We need some Packed Ices to cool him down."
"I found something, Guys." Yaebi picked up the Packed Ices where Steve dropped it minutes ago during the onslaught.
But suddenly, this building began to shake. The structure of the Fortress is failing because of the Zombified Piglins and Ghasts' damages, it will collapse the whole building soon.
They begin to run back inside, but the bridge has already collapsed and crashed into the ground and splashes nearby Lava shore. There is no way to get back in.
"Guys! Hop into me!" Charlotte cried, leaning her back against the ledge to hold. Giving an extra time before it starts falling apart.
Everybody climbs the ledge, embarks on top of her shoulder, and holds onto her as if she's about to launch.
"Hold on guys!" she continued. She flew away from the crumbling Fortress as fast as possible and Blazette followed her.
Afterward, the Fortress crumbles down to rubble and splashes into the nearby Lava.
"Phew! That was close." Charlotte said. "Is everyone all right?" she asks.
Everybody agreed that they are all right, minus Steve because he is already exhausted from the heat.
"Where are we going next?" Blazette asks.
Out of curiosity, Charlotte has nowhere to go next. So she'll probably find the safe spot to rest.
About a mile later, they are still in the Nether Waste, she found a mound with the entrance on the island, perfect to stay and rest for a while. She landed on the island and everybody got off from her.
Inside the cave, Yaebi placed his Packed Ices where Steve dropped it. Next, Cupa placed him down on top of it, and then she took out a cold Water bottle from her pocket.
"Drink it up, Steve." Cupa quietly said, putting his head up so that he will drink it.
Steve began to drink while he's resting.
"Rest well." she continued.
And so everybody began to rest inside the cave to replenish their energy after the hard day to fight hundreds of Nether monsters. But Charlotte has to stay outside because she's still too big to get in and rest here instead.
---------
"After we woke up, we got some unexpected guests here, which we didn't know that this mound is her home," Cupa explained.
"Yeah, I thought somebody invaded my home until Paula showed up. But it's alright. You are welcome here in my home as long as you want." Megan said with a pleasant smile.
"I never thought about you carrying me all the way here like the last time. Thanks, Cupa."
"Anytime, Steve." Cupa gleamed. She is content for carrying him.
"Ya know, I'm kinda bored here staying on this island and watching you playing for so long. I wanna spar with someone." Blazette said. "I mean, I got the special rod just for me and I can do what I want.
"So, who wants to fight me?"
Everybody seems to be a bit coldfeet to fight her, even Kumo isn't too enthusiastic to fight her since her Fire Resistance wore off minutes ago.
"Umm... I will." Withney raised her hand, feeling confident to fight.
Everybody looked at her as Withney just wanted to fight her. But then Blazette simply smirks.
"Ah, Withney. I see you're confident to fight me, right?"
"Well of course. I'm kinda bored too since the monsters attack. So I'mma try to do something challenging here. I hope you're ready for this one." Withney felt determined just now.
"Alright, let the games begin!"
Everybody sat down on the ground to watch them in action.
"In this game, we are playing Fencing. Rules are simple: If the opponent touches or contacts with a sword, you win." Blazette explained.
"Huh? Is that easy?" Withney raised her eyebrow.
"Yep. But you can use your magic if you want. This is also a part of the game." Blazette added.
"So, are you ready for this, Withney?" Blazette summons her rod and transforms into Blaze Sword, and is ready to face her.
Withney readied her sword to face her too.
"Yeah. I'm ready." Withney nodded.
Skelly hoped for her to win a match. "Good luck, Withney." she thought.
So the fight begins.
Blazette took the first turn by rushing towards her, but Withney stood guard, waiting for her to attack.
Clang!
Withney parried her sword, and she countered by striking it back. However, Blazette blocks her attack with her sword. They clashed their swords, parrying, waiting for an opening. When Withney saw an opening in her stomach, she had a chance to strike. Suddenly, Blazette then flew back a few meters away from her, and missed her a chance to strike. She sticks the landing and swings her sword just to show off, and prepares her next move.
"Hm. Not bad. Not bad at all." Blazette said. "But, can you endure this?"
She summons dozens of her rods and points at her.
Withney is surprised that she used her magic, and some of her friends are in shock to see this.
"No way!" Withney cried.
Dozens of her rods launched towards her. She dodges each and every rod that she launched. Her rods are sticking into a Netherrack and disappear.
"As I said, you can use your magic if you want to," Blazette said.
Withney is running out of the air to dodge. Luckily for her instinct, she uses her sword to parry those rods away.
Blazette is amused for how she moves fast and dodges her attacks.
After a barrage of rods flew, she panted. She needs her breath to recover her stamina a bit.
"Wow, you got some magic on you," Withney said. "But too bad you never see this." She raised her sword upwards, and the Black Aura surrounded her sword and ready to cast magic against her.
"Wither Wave!"
She slashes her sword downwards to create a black wave, that it is heading towards her.
But to Blazette, she simply smirks. "Predictable..." She summons her rods and forms a shield. She blocks the Wither Wave off.
Withney is in shock to see that she thought her magic phases through a shield, but she was wrong.
Her friends are surprised that the Wither Wave blocks against her shield.
After her move, her rods simply disappeared and Blazette charged towards her.
Withney had to do it again.
"Wither Wave! Wither Wave!"
She swings her sword creating a bunch of black waves towards her. Blazette simply dodges and grazes through the Wither Wave, even her sword can repel her magic.
As she gets closer, she jumps high and prepares to strike her. Withney moved out of her way before she got struck by her. Withney is near the Lava Shore, which she's out of balance. And fortunately, she recovers her balance.
"Careful, Withney," Blazette warned. "If you fell into the lava, you're out of the match."
Withney is panting, trying to do something to strike her.
"And consider that a warning: using too much magic makes your stamina exhaust. So you don't want to use it, won't you?" she pointed her sword towards Withney.
She might be right. Withney can't use too much magic like the last time she fought back at the Fortress where she uses too much. Now she can use her magic only when necessary.
"No way. But I won't give in." Withney said. And she began to rush towards her, Blazette readied her sword too.
Kshing! Kshing! Kshing!
They clashed their swords over and over until an opening spot for Withney's waist. Blazette had a chance to strike her, but she needs to parry off of her sword first. She then strikes her sword to disarm her. Withney's sword sticks inside the ground, now she is completely unarmed.
Her friends could not believe that her sword got disarmed by her.
"Oh no!" Mindy cried.
"Her sword!" Shara added.
"Come on, Withney! You can do this!" Skelly thought.
"Now, to end this!" Blazette said, preparing her final blow. But, Withney dodged her attack, ruining her chance. Blazette had to do it again because Withney can't let her win like this. She kept dodging her attack as she stepped back. Until she reaches her sword where it sticks it in, she pulls it out and blocks her attack. Afterward, she parried away from her a few meters away.
So the fight continues.
Blazette summons dozens of her rods again, pointing at her. But this time, Withney was not hesitant for her actions and ran towards her.
"Oh? You look serious now." Blazette said. "But, can you survive this?"
Her rods immediately launched at her. This time, Withney dodges her rods while running and reflecting the rods off. Blazette is surprised to see that, and she summons more rods and forms as a shield again. But then, when Withney strikes her rod shield, it clashes.
She keeps striking at her shield until Blazette counters her by pushing her, flying a few meters away from her. Withney barely sticks the landing as she sticks her sword to the ground to stop moving.
Withney pant after a fight, and so Blazette did too. She does not give in as her shield disappears. She's still holding her sword and walks towards her.
"You know," Blazette began, "I've always known about a worthy opponent like you. But to you, you're nothing but a lowly Skeleton. Nothing but a crumble of black bone dust from you."
This is the first time she said that to be insulting her.
Suddenly, Withney started laughing. And Blazette is confused not knowing what is going on with her.
"You're right, Blazette," Withney laughs hysterically. "I've always been a lowly Skeleton. But as a Wither Skeleton, I'll never give in no matter what. But to you, you're just ash of charcoal, waiting to be lit up in flames." She stood up and prepared her sword. "I thought this game would be so easy for me, but I was wrong. This is challenging, and I'm okay with that. I can take it that is suitable for me, and so do you. We both know that as a swordswoman, we can fight with our swords without holding back."
Everybody felt speechless about Withney's speech.
But to Blazette, she smirks again as she understands. "That would be enough for you, Withney?"
"Only one way to find out." She scoffs, readies her sword upwards, and casts out her magic.
"Wither Wave!"
She slams her sword downwards to create a black wave towards her.
Blazette summons her rods and forms a shield again. Her black wave blocks off her shield. And to her surprise, Withney is already above her, ready to strike her.
"What!?" Blazette thought. To her surprise, Withney must've used her Wither Wave as a decoy, and then rushed towards her without knowing it because she can't see where she is going. She faces her shield upward to prevent her from striking.
As Withney sticks the landing after it fails, she strikes her front shield over and over again until her sword emitting dark aura around its sword and-
Kssssshhhhsshhhhshhhhshh.....
Her shield is broken into pieces. She prepares her sword to block, but Withney strikes her sword, disarming her Blaze Sword away.
She falls down to the ground as she trips herself backward, not knowing what to do without her sword.
She pointed her sword at her, ready for her to give in. However, it's far from over for Withney. She simply pokes at her chest with her sword.
"There. I win." Withney says.
Withney then withdrew her sword.
Blazette cannot believe she has been defeated by her.
But then, Withney reached her arm at her, assisting her to stand up. "We're putting up a good fight, Blazette. It was fun fighting with you."
Blazette could not believe she did that to help her up. But the rule is a rule, she admits defeat.
"Yeah. At least it's fun." Blazette said with a smile, and she pulls her up to stand.
Everybody cheered at Withney for winning a match against her.
"Way to go, Withney! I know I can count on you!" Skelly cheered.
"Aww, thank you, guys," Withney said.
"Ya know, it's kinda strange if we started games, what other games do we play?" Kumo wonders.
"Don't worry, I got more than we came from, once we are done resting," Blazette said.
And so, the game continues.
At Swimming, only Nether Girls except Charlotte can swim across the lava shore to the other end, then back to the island.
At Flying Race, only Charlotte and Blazette can fly around the island.
At Long Jump, everybody can participate in this game, determining how long they will jump.
At the 100 meter race, everybody went to the other side of the island where Charlotte carried them all. They ran at the end of the shore to determine who ran the fastest, but apparently, Kumo won the race.
Everybody enjoyed playing Nether Games with each other, and Steve enjoys it too.
After the game is over, everybody is exhausted from the games they played. They went inside the mound, ate some food, and drank plenty of cold Water bottles to refresh their bodies and talk to each other on how they experienced it. Soon after, they begin to sleep inside the mound, but Charlotte has to stay outside again to rest.
Hours later after sleeping...
Charlotte flew to the Portal where she found, and everybody got off from her.
Just to be sure if this is the right portal where Steve created a beacon. As he went away from the portal a few meters, this beacon that he made, is it.
"This is it, a portal to Overworld, our home dimension," Steve said.
Everybody is excited to come back home, however, Charlotte feels sad for something.
Steve notices that she's sad, and asks her right away. "Huh? What's wrong Charlotte?"
"I just thought of something, Steve," Charlotte frowned. She groped her dress, and tried to tell him something, but she's hesitant to say something. But then, she can't take it much longer.
"You see, guys," she sniffles. "I... I want to stay with you, and I like the size of it. The problem is, I'm too big to get through. Even your house is too small for me. At the point of this I..."
She gropes harder and then she bursts into tears and covers her eyes.
"I don't want to shrink myself down!" she sobs.
He is uncertain to say something because she likes her size. But he will try to convince her to be like one of the human sizes like him and his friends and be a part of his quest.
"Charlotte," Steve says, "I know your size is just for you and you seem to like it. But, isn't there a way to convince yourself to stay at the human size like us? You can always be yourself no matter how big or small you are. And don't worry about it, we can assist you depending your size is."
Charlotte never thought about what he said, she just cried. She grabbed him and hugs him on her chest. He felt her giant hand warm around his body. And now Steve hugs her back and comforts her to calm down.
Something is happening while both of them are hugging. The Bond Heart is in effect because they hugged each other for comfort.
The orb went out of her body and disappeared. And something else is happening to Charlotte. Her body is glowing and began to shrink down into human size. She is not a Ghast-size anymore.
After that, Charlotte let him go. And realized her size is shrunk down to human size, she sighed down.
Steve tried his best to cheer her up. "Look on a bright side, Charlotte," he began. "At least you can fit anything that's coming from us. You can fit through the doorway, places, caves, and much more. You can accompany us from my quest and help us here."
Charlotte sniffles and hugs him once again. "Thank you, Steve." Charlotte sobs. "That really means a lot."
And so, everybody went through the portal, but not outside yet because they are in the cave where they went before. They are heading out of this cave and look at the horizon. It is already night time.
His friends are happy to see this world again
"Ahhh! Home sweet home!" Kumo sighed.
"Yeah, we're back," Skelly added.
The Nether girls felt the gentle breeze in the air as the wind blew gently. Some of them are curiously looking at the trees, and one of them touches the grass to feel it.
"So... This is the Overworld that I was expecting," Megan said, seeing everywhere in this world. As if there is a new adventure for them. "It's like a brand new life for me."
"Steve," Zoe called.
"Huh? What?" Steve responds.
Zoe and Nether girls are showing his gratitude and adventure he had.
"Thank you for bringing us to the Overworld, now we can do what we want for you and your quest now," she said, showing her gratitude for him.
And the Nether girls agreed with her.
"Anytime, guys," he said.
And for the unexpected surprise, Zoe got closer to him and started to kiss him. Steve is in shock that it's not what he expected, but nothing he can do.
As the Bond Heart effect kicks in, the orb goes out of her body and disappears just like Charlotte, and the others who are fully bonded with.
Everybody is watching in front of them, feeling delighted for both of them.
She let him go after a kiss. "This. is my reward for you, for going here along with the others." Zoe said, hiding her smile from him.
"Oh. Uh... Thanks, I guess." Steve blushes, scratching his head from behind.
"So, now what?" Cupa asks.
In no time, he responds. "We head home. I still got the Compass with me and told me where my house is. Maybe I can make a bigger house for all of you."
"I can help, Steve." Withney raised her hand.
"Me too. I'll be glad to help you out." Megan added.
His friends wanted to help him to build his house, as Cupa told everyone his story moments ago.
Steve is happy for them for helping him to build his house bigger.
"You guys." he chuckles.
And so Steve used his Compass to know where his house should be as everybody followed him.
---------
Meanwhile, in the unknown dimension...
The man with white eyes sitting on the throne, sensing him that he survived the onslaught and he made it back to the Overworld after he found the new friends.
"So. You found all of the mobs that you recently turned into, and make yourself a new friend."
Then, he finally stands up.
"You better be ready for this, cause I'm coming for you, Steve."