Dreamscape Hero

Previous part is Nether Hero

A week had passed since the hero had killed the beast in the nether and returned peace to Minecraft. His body lay sprawled out on his bed, eyes closed, mind deep in contemplation. Even after the events that had transpired he still thought about them. The memories flooded into his mind as the haunting vision of the beast kept him awake for hours. It wasn't until he had gotten himself a warm bucket of milk and a cookie that he was able to fall asleep. And as his eyes slowly closed, he was unaware of what would come.

As soon as he looked around he realized that he was inside of a dream. Stone and gravel blocks floated in the void. Yes, the void. That which lies below the layer of unbreakable bedrock. Purple and black particles swarmed in all directions before a platform accumulated beneath the hero's feet. He allowed his feet to fall to the surface below and followed the path forward. Blocks continued to levitate around him as a roaring sound echoed throughout the void. The roar was so loud in fact, that it flung the hero back a few feet. Still, he continued forward until he got to the end of the path. And there at the end stood a cave. Torches illuminated the entrance and the hero proceeded into the entrance.

As soon as he entered the cave he discovered a wide-open clearing filled with a pool of lava. And above that pool stood a cliff with 12 people standing on the edge. One of the jumped off the ledge and fell. Before his body reached the lava, a hole opened in the center of the lava pool and swallowed the person. It then closed, waiting for the next person to jump. The hero made his way up the cliff and attempted to speak with one of the people at the top, but then stopped. Each one had their eyes, mouth, nose, and ears sewn shut. And even if they could speak or hear they didn't seem to be aware of the hero. The hero peeked his head over the ledge and peered down into the lava. One of the people threw themselves off of the cliff. The hero hardly flinched. He knew that it wasn't real, it was just a dream. As the hole opened once more the hero could see what appeared to be a large snake at the bottom. Its scaly skin was broken down and decomposed, bones protruding through its skin. Its bright blue eyes glowed fiercely, and it lunged up and caught the body mid-air. Its sharp teeth munched and crunched the person's bones and tore through their flesh. Sickening crunches could be heard from down below, and then the lava pit closed once more.

The hero then readied his body, for when the next person jumped, he would too. He unsheathed his diamond sword and prepared to dive down below.

As the next person dove so did the hero, but to his surprise, the snake had vanished. The hero landed on the ground with a thud and checked the perimeter. A tunnel burrowed deep within a wall was the first thing the hero saw, and so the brave man followed its path. Within a short period of time, he found himself on a moving platform surrounded by obsidian. The platform ascended towards the impossibly high ceiling of the new room, and the hero stepped off of it as he found himself in a new, more familiar setting. He was in the end, but it was wrong. It was all wrong.

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The pillars were worn down and rubble was scattered all across the land. There were no enderman present, and even the dragon was missing. But it was a familiar growl that grabbed the hero's attention most. It was the sound from earlier. Suddenly, the giant snake unearthed itself from below the ground, bursting through the spongy substance plastered on the floor. The reptiles enormous black tongue poked out of its mouth and launched at the hero. The tongue struck him hard, launching him into one of the pillars scattered across the landscape.

The hero looked up at the pillars and saw a staircase leading upward. He climbed it and found himself at the top of the pillar. The snake followed him up and hissed. Out of pure anger, the hero launched himself off the platform and cut off the snake's tongue. It screamed in pain and smacked the hero off of the pillar with its head, sending him tumbling downward. The hero withdrew his diamond sword once more and dug it into the obsidian pillar, allowing it to slowly drag him down to the surface. Although he didn't get damaged by the fall, the snake's rough head had shattered his ribs almost completely. The hero clutched his sides and winced, his breath exasperated and heavy.

The snake slid over to the hero, its eyes creased out of frustration. It was pissed. The hero couldn't blame it of course. He did cut off its tongue after all. He lunged at the gargantuan snake with all the anger he had. The sword hardly damaged the creature, and it effortlessly turned around with unmatched speed and whipped the hero with its enormous snake. The snake struck with enough force to cut through the diamond armor adorning the hero, causing a section of his chest cavity to open and bleed. His face went pale as massive amounts of blood escaped from his injury. The thick red substance collected beneath him, and he clutched his chest and looked up at the snake in fear. Yes, fear.

It was an emotion he hadn't felt in a long time. He had never been so outmatched... so helpless. His eyes widened as he saw the snake rushing towards him. A tear fell from his eye as he realized that his fate had most certainly been sealed. He had thought it was a dream until he felt the pain from his wounds. No nightmare had ever felt so real, and that feeling of real pain and fear confirmed to him that this was as real as it got. As the snake closed in on him, he threw his hands in front of his face and closed his eyes, praying that the snake would stop.

Seconds passed, and the hero looked up at the snake in confusion. There it was, a few feet in front of him. And yet, it did not strike him down. The snake looked equally as confused. Again, it threw itself and the hero. But the hero then saw the snake flung back right before it would have connected its devastating blow. The hero looked at his hands in disbelief. Had he been the one to stop the snake? Once more the snake made an attempt to slam its body against the hero. Once more the hero threw his arms in front of him and prayed the snake wouldn't harm him, and once more the snake was flung back.

Now he knew for certain that it was he with such power as to launch such a powerful enemy back. But how? Then he realized that even if the events around him posed a serious threat, it was still a dream.

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And most importantly it was his dream, where he had total control. A smirk aligned on the hero's lips as he wished to be brought back to full health. Sure, enough, his injuries were removed without much trouble. He then wished for his size to be increased, and within seconds his body was on par with the snake's height. He gripped his now giant diamond sword by its hilt, steadying it and taking aim at the snake.

The snake then uncorked its entire body and morphed. Spider legs ripped their way through the snake's underbelly and scuttled about, and bat wings outstretched from the snake's back. Undeterred, the hero charged full speed at his adversary and swung his sword. With a single blow, his sliced through the legs and cut off the snake's tail. The snake screeched and flapped its wings, launching itself into the air. The hero jumped up into the air and wrapped his arm around the snake's body, dragging it back down and plunging his sword through the wings, ripping them to shreds. The hero elbowed the snake in the head and sent it crashing down to the ground. As the hero descended he kicked the snake so hard that blood was flung from its nose. Enraged, the snake opened its mouth to reveal its many razor-sharp fangs. With lightning quick agility, it lunged at the hero's neck. The hero shielded his throat with the diamond sword. Upon contact with the blade, the snake's teeth shattered, leaving only its gums behind.

The hero knew that he had to finish the fight quickly. So, with one arm he held the snake, and with the other, he readied his sword. The snake wriggled and squirmed, but the hero was too strong. With one final strike, the hero punctured the snake's head with his sword, decapitating it. The snake's boy fell to the ground in a heap of skin. As this happened, the hero around the world began collapsing. The sky and ground fell apart, and the hero fell below into the void. As he closed his eyes the world went black.

The hero sat up in his bed. He was drenched in his own sweat and breathing heavily. As he reached over and turned his glowstone lamp on, he wondered about the nightmare. He had never experienced something like that before. Had it been connected to the nether incident? He couldn't be sure, but he had a hunch that it was. Perhaps someone or something was after him. Perhaps something was behind these incidents. A strong odor filled the room, particularly around him. He smelled of endstone and gravel. The hero didn't know when and where the being behind these events would strike next, but as he got out of bed and looked out the window he saw something peculiar. As he saw a storm cloud covering the sky, glowing a fluorescent orange and purple, he had a pretty good idea of where his new enemy would strike next.