Minecraft- Chapter 9: Over, Finished.

  We silently stood atop the great jungle tree, seemingly hundreds of blocks above the damp ground, soaked by cold, heavy, relentless rain, some of us solemn, others expectant. In the distance, there was a colossal form, its silhouette outlined by distant, infrequent strikes of lightning.

  The great beast that easily seemed to outclass distant green jungle tree-littered hills on the horizon, one that seemed it could crush a few buildings under its foot without effort, let out a deep, booming, angry roar. I could feel as its eyes, though clouded from view by the dark rain and the beast’s own shadow, pierced into us, its targets. Then, its massive body began to move from a slumped stance to a trudging march, beginning to down whatever trees were between it and its prey.

  Just then, I heard another sound, more shrill than the others, and much closer; it was the sound of an iron-plated hand colliding with the back of a soft, (and decidedly hollow) human head.

  “Ow…” LV whined at TF, “Was that really necessary..?”

  TF glared at him with his glowing robotic eye, a distinct look of uneasy apprehension appearing on his face. “Not only did you go out of your way to spur a beast larger than most buildings into a furious rage, but you also did so without reason, without tact, and without letting me finish my analysis of the creature; I should do no less than teach you a short, sharp lesson such as that!”

  “Fair enough…” LV said with an sigh of reluctant acceptance. “Anyone else want to slap me, or are we--”

  Without a word, Slenda let the palm of her hand fly at his face, as well as repeating the action with the back of her hand.
 
  "Really..?" He questioned, looking up at Slenda. "What?" She asked, trying to sound innocent, "You asked for it."

  After an attempt to shake the stinging sensation from his face, he asked a final time,

  “Okay.. are we--”

  San, seeming somewhat giddy, delivered a final, (and quite loud) slap to the boy’s face.

  LV looked up at San, a confused look on his face, “F-funny..” He stuttered, “I didn’t think.. You’d be angry at me.”

  “Oh, I’m not;” San said with a cheerful grin, “It just looked like fun~”

  “Good to know…” He said, rubbing his sore cheek with his hand.

  Though it seemed like it would be quite enjoyable to see how red I could make his cheeks, I was busy watching the giant, as I had been this whole time; it was still some distance away, but it was growing closer, and the once towering trees crashing down around it didn’t help to comfort me.

  “So, guys,” I began, interrupting their gleeful man-slapping, (I’d say it’s a fitting name) “Are we going to do anything about that mountain that’s coming to beat us up?”
The others began looking towards the giant as it drew closer, the undeniable gravity of the situation beginning to sink in.

  They all paused for a few seconds, leaving the sound of the rain and collapsing trees to take over.

  TF was the first to speak up. “I am beginning to formulate a plan of action for bringing the beast down to earth, but first I must know our collective assets.”

  “Sure,” LV agreed, “But what’s ear--” “What do you think you’re playing at?!” He interrupted, his robotic voice sounding somehow uneasy, “Cease the unnecessary questioning of my speech patterns and begin investigating your inventory!!”

  And we did, quickly emptying out the contents of our pockets.

  I, admittedly, had the least of the group; just an iron sword, dull and covered in dried zombie blood, though I fared almost as well as LV, whose inventory was mostly composed of decorative blocks, plants, and food, only besting mine by merit of an iron sword and a bow with a rather generous supply of ammunition, (if only he could use them in ways that didn’t cause us to fear for our lives).

  Slenda had a few bits of wood, dirt, some ore, (still implanted in smooth grey stone) and the hilt of what used to be her iron sword, shattered by TF.

  “I hope you intend on giving me a new sword before the giant gets here…” Slenda said to TF before looking towards the beast again.

  Another distant bolt of lightning struck, showing the beast’s silhouette once more; A silhouette that was growing closer.

  “Do not worry about your sword. The beast can be hurt, but not by such meager methods.” TF assured.

  “Okay then.. what methods are you suggesting?” Slenda asked, hearing the pattering of rain where she expected to hear a response.

  TF walked over to San, a wide, nearly ear-to-ear grin of pride written across her face. An expression that seemed to match the size and scale of the pile of materials she had just finished emptying from her pockets.
 
  Before her was what could best be described as a ‘mountain’ of miniaturized blocks, all of the same variety. Every block appeared to be constructed of a set of red sticks, all with fine black strings that went from the tops of the sticks to a single point where they all tied together, and all with a white band that kept the sticks together, (and somehow in a cubical formation) the same letters written on every single one in a bold black font; T-N-T.

  TF plunged his hand into the thick pile, pulling out a single miniaturized block and turning it over in his hand, thoroughly examining it. “Trinitrotoluene… a very powerful explosive…” He muttered to himself as he continued to analyze every square inch of the small square bundle, San’s face becoming more proud and more exited with each passing second. “Blue-haired female,” He began, San jumping to her feet enthusiastically, “Do you have tools sufficient for triggering detonation?” He asked, San instantly pulling out a small piece of wood with a strange red stone on the end, a devious smirk appearing on her face. “What’s your plan?” Slenda questioned, “It’s not as if we have any way of launching it.. what do you plan on doing, blowing up its toes?”

  TF looked towards the giant, growing ever nearer, a plan seemingly found. “No.” He said calmly, “But, using that dynamite and blue-haired female, we’re going to give it the worst case of indigestion it’s ever had.”

  “Still,” Slenda persisted, “How do you plan on getting her close to the giant without getting her hurt?”

  “Through the air, of course.” TF said, his robotic voice sounding as if it had a bit of smug confidence to it.

  “The.. air…?” Slenda repeated, a look of worry growing on her face, “In the middle of a storm?”

  “This may indeed be a tempest, and that giant as if a great hurricane, but…” TF began, pausing for what seemed to be intentional dramatic effect, “We’re going to reap the whirlwind.”

  Slenda stopped for a moment, taking it in.

  “A- alright…” She resigned, exhaling loudly and readily, “But what do the rest of us do..?”

  TF stopped for a second to check on the giant’s position, now twice as close as the last time he checked, its footfalls noticeably shaking the ground around us. “You three will be the distraction that, if done well, will allow the blue-haired female to carry out her mission successfully… of course if you don’t, she’ll die screaming, but there’s only a very small chance of that happening.” TF said, attempting to reassure us in his own special way.

  “San… what if… what if I.. can’t…” Slenda stopped, taking off her glasses to wipe off what could have been rain just as easily as it could have been tears with her wet sleeve.

  San walked over to her, her ever-optimistic look shining through her drenched face. “C’mon Slenda, I know you couldn’t let me down, not even if you tried.” San pulled Slenda in for an ever-reassuring hug, seeming as if she was nearly crushing her. “You got this, I’m sure of it.” Slenda hugged San back, using what appeared to be even more force. “When you beat that giant, and this storm ends… you wanna slap LV around some more?” Slenda asked, happiness beginning to show in her voice.

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” San replied.

  I swear I saw LV tearing up at the scene (though, whether it was for the adorableness of the scene or for the sake of his cheek, I’m not sure).

  I heard TF utter another hoarse metallic groan. “While this may well and truly be a beautiful display, I don’t believe the giant is very fond of waiting.”

  We all looked in the direction of the giant, (except for Slenda, who was quite content where she was) who was now the distance of a single jungle tree away, and getting closer.

  TF simply looked to us with his glaring green eye, more efficient that any words at saying “GO NOW BEFORE I PUT YOU SMACK-DAB IN A WORLD OF PAIN.” (at least I assume he’d say something like that).

  I hastily began climbing down the vines on the side of the tree, and LV followed shortly after, an angry Slenda on his shoulders.

  “You could’ve let me be there for at least fifteen more seconds…” Slenda grumbled as we continued our descent down the slippery ropelike vines, quickly reaching the ground.

  As the rain continued to pelt us from above, the cold, black sky showing no signs of relenting, we took our positions… well, more like we got to different parts of the same wide open area and took battle-ready poses, (I’d say we looked pretty cool though).
As we waited for the right time to come, we could feel a rhythmatic quake beneath our feet.

  “So…” LV began as we heard a tree collapse to the ground not too far away, “What exactly is the signal we’re waiting for..?”

  Slenda and I left our cool battle-stances and looked at each other.

  “I thought you would know.” Slenda said to LV.

  LV simply shrugged. “Ah, whatever… I’m sure we’ll know when we--”

  At that moment, a jungle tree, one that was directly in front of us, came crashing to the ground just beside us, shaking the ground tremendously.

  Almost simultaneously, the three of us looked up, whether it be in realization, shock, or expectance, we looked up, all seeing the great giant that once stood out on the horizon breaking through the thicket of jungle trees, revealing itself in full form.

  The giant’s skin was very thick and seemingly rough, though it also seemed to still be affected by the elements; some parts of the face appearing rotted or melty, (I know ‘melty’ isn’t exactly a proper word, but it seemed to fit rather adequately) even melting somewhat over its mouth, though doing nothing to quell its thundering roar.

  It seemed to be wearing torn-up clothes resembling that of a zombie, even with a similar color, but to scale with a mountain rather than a person.

  Finally, there were its eyes; one eye wasn’t there at all, leaving only a black, empty void. The other was just as black as the other, but seemingly due more to rot than shadow, with a tiny white dot in the center; a tiny white dot that pointed towards us the moment the trees were gone.

  The behemoth let out another ground-trembling cry as his massive arm grabbed a tree, effortlessly tearing it out of the ground.

  “It.. IT CAN DO THAT?!” LV questioned as the giant began to direct its attack towards him.

  Suddenly, a high-pitched noise ripped through the air, something like, “YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

  Which, I learned that day, was the sound of San Powder flying through the air towards a giant.

  San hooked her sword into the shoulder of the giant, using it to cling to her defenseless prey. The giant let out what sounded like a cry of aggravation as it tossed the tree aside, freeing a hand to reach for San.

  I looked expectantly towards Slenda, who seemed paralyzed with fear, her eyes wide.

  Knowing what the giant was prepared to do, I sprang into action, immediately running towards the beast, shouting, “OI, COME AT ME, I’M A NICE PIECE OF FRESH MEAT, YOU GREAT BIG MOUND OF ROTTING FILTH!!!”

  As if it was offended, the giant retracted his hand away from San, who was then able to climb onto the beast’s neck, up close to its giant square head.

  I watched as San leapt at the giant’s face, her hood down, her sword flying. In an instant, she dug a wide gash into the giant’s cheek, which the giant didn’t seem to like very much. Once again, his attention was redirected, moving from attacking me back to ridding himself of San, an open palm heading directly for her. That’s when I heard an arrow fly past my head.

  I watched as an arrow, followed by many others sailed over me and directly into the giant's legs, deeply embedding themselves in its flesh.

  Once again, the giant, (who I swear had some kind of attention deficiency) switched its focus back to stomping us into the ground, which seemed that it would remain firm in its mind given the growing amount of arrows implanting themselves in its legs.

  It began towards me, its heavy foot colliding with such force against the ground, it seemed to cause the ground to tilt.

  It stomped the ground again, the force of its collision knocking me off of my feet.

  As I tried to get back to my feet, I looked up to the giant, who I was now in the shadow of, as it began raising its house-sized foot above me.

  As it began bringing its foot down, I heard San cry out, “SIR JOLLY JOHN JOHNSON THE FOURTH, NOOOOOOO!!!”

  I couldn’t get to my feet in time… But I didn’t need to.

  At the same second that the foot was to come down and crush me, I felt another body collide with mine, but not the giant’s; it was Slenda.

  In what I thought would be the very last second of my life, Slenda had shoved me out of the way.

  I watched with wide, terrified eyes as Slenda shielded herself, hoping to guard from the impact, attempting a final scream before being cut off by the Giant.

  LV and I simply stared, unable to say anything as the beast continued to grind its foot into the ground, a grotesque squishing, crunching noise sounding out as it worked its foot deeper into the splintered wood and soggy ground.

  For the first time, I heard San cry out in anger. Fiery, vengeful, anger. “YOU ARE DEAD. YOU ARE VERY, VERY DEAD!!!”

  Almost instantly, San began shredding the monster’s flesh with her sword, but it wasn’t like before, now she wasn’t just doing it for fun; she was angry and ready to avenge her best friend.

  Chunks of giant, huge, slimy, rotten flesh flew in all directions as she did all she could to completely dismantle its very being rending wide gouges into its skin and connective tissue, even digging her sword into its great black eye. Blood, flesh, and what I can most accurately call ‘eye jelly’ flew in all directions, providing an even thicker, heavier shower than the rain. Every part of the giant’s face, every feature, line, and contour was reduced to hanging ribbons of flesh and meat, even its lower jaw seemed to be ready to fall away.

  Then, San put her sword away and pulled her hood down over her face. She shoved both of her hands deep into her pockets, pulling out giant clumps of TNT.

  “OPEN WIDE YOU SAD EXCUSE FOR AN OVERSIZED ZOMBIE!!!” She screamed, shoving both giant handfuls into what could now barely be called a mouth. She repeated this, shoving stack upon stack of TNT down the monster’s throat until it seemed she was completely out.

  The mangled behemoth struggled to move its limbs in coordination as it attempted to reach for San, who was now pulling out the small torch she had presented earlier.

  San pulled out her now dulled and thoroughly used-up sword and dragged the torch across it, producing a bright red, glowing spark.

  San stared down the Giant’s esophagus as she offered it its final eulogy; “YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIEND, SAY HELLO TO THE NETHER!!!!!”

  San tossed the red light down the Giant’s throat and leapt off. I attempted to run over to her and catch her, but I couldn’t get to her fast enough and she plummeted to the ground, taking the fall damage in full force.

  I looked up at the giant, and heard a loud hissing sound, growing steadily louder until it reached a staggering climax with a great big, resounding, satisfying; ‘BOOOOOOOOBABABAOASDSJOFSMAOMOSJOFAJOSDNOIFOOOOOSPASPASPASPOOOOOOOOOOOMPHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!!!!!’ (or something to that effect) Sending many more chunks of greenish-bluish Giant flesh in every direction, coating the landscape and darkening the lakes around us.

  We were showered with the Giant’s insides, no one was safe, especially not the Giant, whose head I saw just in time to avoid, crashing to the ground just in front of me. The head, still marred and shredded, began to twitch. Once more, life seemed to be returning to its mostly dead eye, the lacerated black flesh beginning to turn in its socket.

  I scurried backwards on my hands, trying to inch away as what was left of the head, mandible excluded, tried to drag itself towards me.

  Just then, swooping in from the sky like some predatory bird, TF came down from above, his gun pointed downwards into the monster’s brains. “NO!” He ordered, firing off a single shot into the creature’s head, ending its motion. “YOU’RE DEAD.”

  Letting out a deep exhale, I looked around at my surroundings. To my front there was TF, wiping remnants of the Giant’s brains off of his rifle, then to my left there was San, attempting to get to her feet through what appeared to be excruciating pain, LV soon running over to help her.

  I looked around once more, turning my head as far as it would turn, looking over both shoulders at least twice, as if I was looking for someone, but I didn’t know who.
Then it hit me; Slenda was gone.

  I knew why she was gone, I’d seen it with my own eyes, but I still couldn’t believe it. I quickly jumped to my feet and ran over to where the Giant once stood, and where it had firmly planted its foot.

  There, in place of the small, feisty girl in black was scattered purple dust, getting kicked up into the air by rain and wind.

  TF, San, and LV soon joined me, overlooking the crater in the shape of the Giant’s square foot, San beginning to weep, burying her head in LV’s chest.

  TF looked at her, tilting his head in a somewhat curious fashion. “Why are you crying?” He asked, catching everyone’s attention.

  “Wh.. Whadda you mean?” San questioned, sniveling.

  “What are you playing at?” TF questioned back, gesturing towards the purple dust, “Do you not see what I see?”

  LV looked down into the hole, “No, I don’t, but what do you see?”

  TF’s eye glinted brightly, “I see the same powder-like material that is often left after a creature such as the Enderman teleports.

  I was still confused, but San’s reaction told me all I needed to know.

  “You mean..” San began, hurriedly drying her tears with her sleeve, “You mean Slenda’s still alive?!" She inquired excitedly, practically bouncing where she stood.

  TF looked back down into the pit and the purple dust collecting at its bottom. “Just as I had said to her before, it never ends.

                                    --To Be Continued--