Nether Hero

Once upon a time, a hero of Minecraft entered the world in survival. Day after day, night after night, he gathered resources and built to his heart's desire. He was the player of legends, and people often spoke of him in the highest regard. He defended many villages from evil zombies with the might of his enchanted diamond gear, and he soon made his way to the nether. The hellish dimension proved challenging to navigate, but through determination and bravery he slew the mobs and came back from his journey nearly unscathed. Not long after he accomplished these feats, he ventured into the end realm and killed the vicious dragon here and collected the egg. And after all of that, after the fame that he gained, he found himself back into the nether again. But for different reasons than before.

Multiple nether portals had popped up in many biomes, and adventurers warriors decided to enter them. After not a single one of them came back, it was decided that this hero would explore such mysterious occurrences. And so, there he stood in the nether. But it wasn't the same nether as had seen before. When first entered he saw that the entire sky was a purple hue, and the normal nether blocks that made up the landscape were replaced with a sickly brownish color. Still, the hero braved the new world, and for a while, the barren landscape bore no life.

After traveling the nether for what seemed like hours, the hero stumbled upon a steep cliff. He peered down into the abyss below, an inky black liquid visible several hundred feet down. But there was something wrong. Beneath the surface of the liquid, he could hear what sounded like screams. They were muffled by the black substance, but he knew for a fact that there were screams down below. Hesitantly, the warrior took some string out of his inventory and allowed it to unravel and descend down below. He placed a block on top of the string to ensure that it wouldn't budge, and with that, he slowly climbed down.

Upon touching the surface of the liquid he jumped back a little in surprise. Despite having a thick texture it was actually very thin, and he was easily able to slip down into it and swim. He yet again descended down below the darkness, holding his breath. He couldn't even see his hands in front of him. Suddenly, with a crash, he felt his body hit a cold surface below. He stood up and realized that he had only been in the water for a few seconds and was now on dry land. The hero looked up in bewilderment, as the black substance levitated in the air. A peculiar sight indeed, but his attention was soon brought to the screams down the end of a peculiarly long hallway. This time, however, they weren't muffled.

The hero methodically made his way down the eerie corridor, occasionally using his sword to mow down a wall of cobweb. He couldn't tell what color the walls were because they were covered with a thick vegetation. The plants, however, were dead, and the leaves and fruits they once bore were crippled and great, void of any color or sign of life. And as the hero approached the end of the hall he witnessed a light of such severe intensity that he was forced to make his way forward with his arms shielding his eyes, for even a mere glimpse at the bright light before he would be blinding. As he finally made his way out of the corridor he noticed that the temperature in the nether had grown significantly, even more than the lava covered land was prior. The hero reached into his satchel and withdrew a cup of water. He pressed it up against his parched lips and drank, for even for the tough warrior the heat was overwhelming. The light was now gone, but the heat remained. As he was allowed his vision once more, he uncovered his eyes, and what was ahead was revealed to him.

Despite the drastic heat there appeared to be a terrain of mostly ice and snow. And it was this room that the screams were at their loudest volume because in the boiling room covered in ice sat multiple cages, iron bars surrounding their perimeter. And in those cages sat men and women. Their stomachs were caved in because of their malnutrition, and they were covered in the stench and stains of their own bodily fluids. Crusted blood caked their skin, and the room, in general, gave off an aura of depression and hopelessness. The hero recognized those who dwelled in the cages. They were the lost explorers and warriors who had first embarked on the journey into the nether. Their curiosity leading them to their downfall. And it was in the center of the room that there sat the being responsible for such horrific deeds. A beast who's midnight black fur was coated in blood and brittle bone fragments. He sat on a throne of mangled arms and legs. The hero shuddered as the beast's bright yellow eyes stared deep into his soul. He must have been ten feet tall at least, because as he stood he proved to be far taller than the hero. Then, the hero raised his sword as he saw the beast raise a club of bones decorated with human skin. The beast charged.

Even if the beast was quite hefty it proved itself to be fast. Within seconds it was after the hero, club above its head. Before it was able to bring the club down, however, the hero evaded the blow and rolled behind the beast. He used his sword to slice the heel of its leg, and for a second the beast stumbled. Regaining its composure, the beast kicked the hero and launched him across the room into a pile of skulls. The hero got up and charged at the beast. The beast swung the club at the hero but for a second time, he evaded the attack. He used the sharpness of the diamond sword and all of his might to slice the handle of the club. Angered, the beast pounded the ground and charged with his shoulder. The hero was barely able to move out of the way this time. The beasts speed had increased further now, and as it punched the ground bits and pieces of the ceiling crumbled. Despite still having the speed and agility advantage, the sweltering heat was catching up with him again. He could see the air beginning to evaporate, and he noticed that the ice around the room was starting to melt.

Quickly the hero splashed the water on his face. As he looked up he saw the beast in front of him. He didn't even have time to blink before the creature picked him up and threw him against the opposite wall. Again he stood, back aching from the beast's abuse. Yet again he was unable to react as the beast punched him hard in the stomach, effortlessly flinging him farther and farther back with each blow. The hero knew that he couldn't take much more damage, and so he opened his inventory once more. One golden apple sat, and so he took it out and prepared to eat it. The beast must have been more intelligent than it appeared, because once again it charged and connected a direct blow to the hero, launching him into one of the many cages around the room. He looked up at the man inside. Even though the dead stare in his eyes and the decolored face he had, the hero new that the man was desperate and hopeful to survive. The hero knew that he was the only hope these people had left, and so he got back to his face once more.

Bloody spittle dripped from the hero's mouth and he tried to focus his vision. The room was overwhelmingly hot at that moment, and he could almost feel his flesh singing. He wiped the pool of sweat that had accumulated on his brow and scanned the area. His golden apple was on the other side of the room, and between the hero and the apple sat the beast. The beast smiled a toothy grin as he realized that the hero was completely overwhelmed, and he drove his foot into the ice in preparation for one more charge. Within seconds the beast launched in the direction of the hero. But the hero smiled too, for he felt nothing but utter determination to finish the beast off. He drank the last bit of water and fixed his sight on the beast, who was now running at full speed. Realizing that the beast wouldn't be able to stop or shift movements, the hero put his last bit of strength to use and evaded the attack last second. The beast crashed into the wall. Momentarily stunned, it collapsed to the ground in a daze. The hero used this time to stumble over to his golden apple. As he picked it up, the beast's eyes widened. It knew what that meant.

The hero bit into the apple and charged without hesitation towards the beast. He no longer felt the intense heat or the previous injuries he had acquired. No, all he had felt was the rush of adrenaline and healing. The beast swung at the hero with his arm, but in one swift motion the hero sliced the arm off and it polled down to the floor. The beast cried out in pain as it stumbled backward, blood gushing out of its open wound. The hero laughed hysterically as he admired his blood-soaked diamond sword. He had never found such pleasure in a fight, not even against the ender dragon. Again he charged at the beast, and again it swung. The hero launched himself into the air and stabbed the sword into the beast's eyes. The beast fell to its knees, dumbstruck by the rejuvenated hero before it. The hero kicked the beast in the nose and then, with the swish of his sword, slit its throat. The beast's eyes rolled into the back of its head as it fell over into a pool of blood. It was at that moment that a black mist similar to that of the liquid from before escaped its mouth, covering the entire room in its haze.

A loud, booming sound erupted in the room and spread throughout the entire area. The hero covered his ears and stared in awe as the mist went back into the mouth of the beast as fast as it had come. The hero opened each cage and let his people out, and everyone there stood amazed as they saw the nether had returned to its former state. As they made their way back up the surface, they saw that the sky had returned to a normal color. The dead vegetation adorning the walls had bloomed once more, bringing life back to the nether. The normal nether mobs returned too, and as the hero returned with the people to the regular overworld they saw that the nether portals had begun to disappear. Eventually, they had all vanished, and the people who the hero had saved from the nether returned to their families and soon overcame their trauma. And a massive feast was held in the hero's name, for all was right with the world once again.

For now