“Sky…” Nicki whimpered, staring at the spot on the ground.
“Ok, calm down. Let’s try not to panic.” Jason tried to soothe, but failed, as he was shaking.
“Are you nuts? Sky’s been taken! Captured!” Ty shouted, briskly pacing. Tears were forming in his eyes. “They’ll probably torture him. Who knows what all they could be doing to him now?”
“Sky wouldn’t have wanted us to lose our heads, so let’s try and think." Jason took out the tracker. "Herobrine isn’t one to act without a practical goal in mind, so they must have taken him to interrogate him or some such thing. Sky’s a tough nut to crack, so that might give us some time to find him.” He sighed. “He’s out of range. We’ll need to walk around to get a signal.”
Ty pulled himself together and grabbed his sword. “Ok. Let’s move out!”
…...
Sky groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. What happened last night? Blinking, he saw that he was in a metal cage. Typical. Beyond there, he could see he was in a large room, dimly lit by torches. Surrounding him on all sides was water, squids and all. This doesn't look good. Herobrine spawned in front of him, floating.
"Oh! What do you want?" Sky jumped, irritated. Herobrine stood motionless, not speaking. His turquoise shirt and dark blue pants were the typical outfit for a miner, but what set him apart was his eyes. They were completely white; no pupils. He was a creepy sight to see. The horrifying stories told about him had been commonly dismissed as rumors, but he was obviously real, floating before Sky in the flesh- er, spirit.
......
Meanwhile, Jason, Ty, and Nicki were wandering around, not making much progress in their search. Ty was trying everything; climbing up trees, under logs, anything; but 'twas all in vain because they couldn't get a reading.
If only we had some help doing this… Nicki thought sadly. At this rate, we’ll find Sky in ashes. A rustle in the trees above caught her attention. She froze, and got out her sword quietly. She looked up and saw a small shadow in the branches. In one fluid motion, she threw her sword up at it, causing the branch to snap and send the figure down to the ground.
It was a mudkip, a tiny blue creature with orange fins on its cheeks, from another land called Pokemon. This species of Pokemon had the power of water to control at will.
Quickly picking up her sword, Nicki pointed it at the mudkip. “Why are you following us? Answer now!” She snapped. The mudkip squeaked and looked around, speechless and panicked. Two other figures then dropped down from the trees, one a boy in a red plaid hoodie and jeans, and the other a hairy creature resembling Chewbacca wearing a black tuxedo. They both wielded axes and stood before the mudkip defensively.
“Nicki! Stop!” Jason and Ty called, noticing what was happening and running over. “They’re our friends!”
“They are?” Nicki put away her sword and looked at them questioningly. Ty and Jason went to the three and greeted them happily.
“It’s great to see you all!” Ty smiled, “It looks like the squids haven’t gotten to you guys yet.”
“What do you mean? What’s happened?” The boy asked.
Jason shook his head. “Herobrine has joined with the squids and captured Sky.”
“What?” The bacca gasped, “How?”
“No time for details now; we’re trying to find Herobrine with this.” Ty held up the tracker.
“Ok, so who’s the chick?” The boy asked again.
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.