Down into the Nether Read online

  “But that ‘feared being’ is just a boy from another world named Yancy,” Alex protested. “And we were all working together to fight Herobrine!”

  As soon as Alex said it, I knew it was useless. Like my dad, Aunt Alexandra couldn’t hear the prophecies on the music discs, and she thought we were making up all the Herobrine stuff.

  As I expected, Aunt Alexandra looked even angrier when she heard the name “Herobrine.” “I’m tired of your lies,” she snapped. “You all know that Herobrine is just an old ghost story, nothing more. Now, where is the feared being?”

  “He’s not here,” I said. “He’s back in his own world, so there’s no reason to arrest us.”

  “He’s supposed to be in the dungeon,” Aunt Alexandra said. “And why should I believe you?”

  “Because we’re telling the truth!” I burst out. “Herobrine is in the other world, the world where Yancy and my friend Maison live. I tried to destroy the portal there to stop Herobrine, but he’d already gotten there, so Alex and I had to go to the Nether and get the stones for a new portal. We went into this big Nether fortress—”

  “Now I know you’re lying,” Aunt Alexandra said. “Two eleven-year-olds could not survive a Nether fortress. It’s too dangerous.”

  “We did!” I said. “And Alex saved me when I almost fell off a cliff.”

  “Stevie saved me when I didn’t see a blaze come out to attack us,” Alex said. “And we got out together, even though we saw a blaze and a magma cube and wither skeletons and hostile zombie pigmen and even a Wither at the end. We did it as a team, Mom. We need you to join our team because we have to make this new portal and stop Herobrine.”

  “I’ve heard enough,” Aunt Alexandra said. “Arrest them.”

  The guards began to move in on us, and Alex and I pulled close, not knowing what to do. That’s when I heard Maison’s voice call, “Stevie! Stevie, can you hear me?”

  CHAPTER 21

  AUNT ALEXANDRA DREW BACK IN SHOCK. “THAT music disc!” she said. “It talks!”

  My music disc was glowing and spinning as Maison called out again, “Stevie!”

  “Maison,” I cried in relief. “You’re still there. I was so scared Herobrine had gotten you!”

  “No,” Maison said. “The music disc here just stopped letting us talk. The technology is going haywire out here. The computers are turning on and off and—What’s that, Yancy? Yancy wants to talk to you.”

  Aunt Alexandra covered her mouth in shock, her face had gone very white. “What sorcery is this?”

  “Stevie!” Yancy said, getting on. “Hey, have you guys been to the Nether yet? I wanted to remind you: don’t mess with the zombie pigmen. I mean, I know we all get a laugh at how funny-looking they are, but they really do cause serious damage, and they can follow you out of the portal into the Overworld.”

  “Uh, Yancy,” I said.

  “Those blazes are annoying, too,” he continued. “And those magma cubes, ugh, I hate how they break apart. But if you run into any wither skeletons, make sure you pick up anything they drop. Sometimes they even leave their own heads, which is pretty cool. I’ve got a whole collection. You can even use those heads to make a Wither, which is like the baddest kind of mob in the Nether, and one I’d never want to run into—”

  “Yancy,” I said, more strained now.

  “What?” he said, finally realizing I was upset about something.

  “We just got out of the Nether, and we got the stones,” I said. “Now we’re surrounded by guards who are going to arrest us for breaking you out of the dungeon.”

  “What!” Yancy said. “By whose orders?”

  “My mom’s,” Alex said softly.

  Aunt Alexandra marched over to us and snatched the music disc out of my hands. “You there,” she said loudly. “Who are you? What kind of trick is this?”

  “Uh, hey, who is this?” Yancy asked.

  “You’re speaking to Mayor Alexandra,” she said stiffly. “I demand to know what’s going on here.”

  “Oh, uh, hey,” Yancy said, on the spot. “So, um, Ms. Mayor, I am what you people might call ‘the feared being.’”

  The guards gasped and raised their arrows and swords toward the music disc, as if they expected to attack it.

  “You’re not the feared being,” Aunt Alexandra said dryly. “You’re a music disc.”

  The guards lowered their swords and arrows, looking a little embarrassed.

  “I’m talking through the music disc,” Yancy said. “I’m in my world, and I have a music disc here that lets me talk to you guys.”

  Maison got on. “Please, Mayor Alexandra!” she said. “You have to listen to us. I’m Stevie’s friend, and I was the human from the other world who helped him stop the zombie takeover in the Overworld.”

  Aunt Alexandra inhaled sharply. “I heard there was a strange-looking girl who helped Stevie.”

  “Yeah, that’s me,” Maison said, though I could tell from her voice she didn’t like being called “strange-looking.” “What’s going on now is the biggest threat the Overworld—and my world—have ever faced. Yancy, the feared being, accidentally made Herobrine real. The reason you don’t believe us is because Herobrine is making you not believe us. Think about it! Do you really think your daughter would lie to you?”

  Aunt Alexandra’s mouth trembled, though she tried to hide it. “Alex had said that a music disc was telling her a prophecy about the Overworld being destroyed, but I saw no evidence of this.”

  “That’s because only the people involved in the prophecy can hear it,” Maison said. “We’re the ones who are supposed to defeat Herobrine, but we can’t do it if we’re in different worlds!”

  “And I know what I did before was wrong,” Yancy said, chiming in. “Stevie, can you hear me? Stevie, I don’t take it personally that you thought I was going to be the traitor. You had every reason to believe it after what I did. But I want to own up to my responsibility and I will fight Herobrine till the end.”

  “There’s something else you should know,” Destiny suggested. I could tell from her hesitant voice it wasn’t something she wanted me to know.

  My heart pounded. Dad?

  “Herobrine has sent us more messages,” Destiny said. “It’s him with … with….”

  I took a deep breath. She was trying to think of a way to say it, but her dragging it out was agonizing!

  “Stevie, he showed us videos of your dad,” Maison said, cutting to the chase. “So now we know for sure that Herobrine has him and isn’t bluffing. The good news is that your dad doesn’t look hurt or anything.”

  If that was the good news, what was the bad news?

  “Remember when Herobrine was talking about making me second-in-command,” Yancy said, “and I wouldn’t have it because I’d changed? Well, he made your dad second-in-command instead. Your dad is totally under his spell now and he’s going to help Herobrine take over our world.”

  I saw Aunt Alexandra’s eyes widen. “What!” she roared. “No overgrown mob is going to hurt my brother!”

  CHAPTER 22

  “THEN YOU BELIEVE US?” ALEX ASKED IN AMAZEMENT.

  Before Aunt Alexandra could answer, one of the guards said angrily, “Don’t be fooled, Mayor Alexandra. These kids are full of tricks, but none of them have come up with any proof of what they’re saying.”

  Aunt Alexandra hesitated, weighing these words.

  “But Mom,” Alex begged. “You noticed all the weird things going on. Do you really think we’d be able to destroy all the property that’s been destroyed and take all the leaves off the trees in the Overworld?”

  Aunt Alexandra weighed this as well.

  “I think I know how we can fix this once and for all,” I said, and everyone looked at me. I felt a rush of courage, knowing what we had to do. “Please, Aunt Alexandra, let us build the new portal. Then you can go through it with us and see the other world.”

  Maison, Yancy, and Destiny all chorused their agreements to this id
ea.

  “That’s ridiculous!” the guard said. “Portals can only take us to the Nether or the End. Everyone knows that!”

  Aunt Alexandra raised her hand in a way that let us know she had made her decision. “Build me the portal,” she declared. “I want to see for myself.”

  Alex and I cheered and whooped, then got to work. We put the stones together, then over the music disc Maison told us to use flint and steel in the middle, just like making a Nether portal. After we did what she said, the middle of the portal began to glow in alternating reds, blues, and greens.

  “That’s not a portal to the Nether or the End!” protested the guard who really didn’t like us. I recognized him—he’d been one of the guards to arrest Yancy before, and he was the one who tried to lock us up at Alex’s place, but we’d escaped and rescued Yancy. No wonder he had it in for us. “This looks like more of a trick to me,” the guard went on.

  Aunt Alexandra examined the portal all over. “Or maybe it’s more evidence they’re telling the truth,” she said.

  “You can’t let them off like this,” the guard continued heatedly. “You said it yourself: you can’t give your daughter special treatment just because she’s your daughter—”

  Aunt Alexandra cut in, “I also can’t let myself not look at all available evidence. As a mayor, I need to keep an open mind.” She turned and looked ruefully at the guard. “And if there is a Herobrine and he has my brother, I can’t stand idly by.”

  “It works just like any other portal!” Alex said, eager to show her. “Watch!”

  She leapt through and didn’t come out the other end. Did we make the portal totally right and she was at Maison’s house now?

  There was no time like the present to find out. I plunged in, and Ossie followed me. Everything turned red, blue, and green, and then I tumbled out of Maison’s computer screen and onto her carpet, Ossie landing beside me.

  Maison screamed when she saw me. Before I could stand, she’d jumped on me and threw her arms around me. “You’re here! You’re safe! I never thought I’d see you again!”

  And before I could even fully comprehend what she was saying, Yancy and Destiny were jumping up and hugging me, too.

  Alex was standing by Maison’s bed and grinning. “The new portal worked!” she crowed.

  “How hard was it getting the stones out of the Nether?” Yancy asked.

  Alex gave a brisk wave of her hand. “Oh, it was easy,” she said. I don’t think she saw me glaring at her because my head was mostly shoved into Maison’s shoulder.

  We all turned our heads when Aunt Alexandra tumbled out of the computer screen and on to the floor. Aunt Alexandra took in her surroundings. She was shocked.

  “Alex,” she said. “You were telling the truth the whole time. There is another world!”

  “Welcome to Earth, the land of three dimensions, social media, and selfies,” Yancy said cheerfully. “What do you think of it so far?”

  “It’s ugly and overwhelming,” Aunt Alexandra said, putting her hand to her forehead.

  “Well, aren’t you full of compliments?” Yancy teased her. Destiny elbowed him and gave him a quit-that look.

  Maison went to stand in front of Aunt Alexandra and introduced herself.

  “You’re the one who helped save the Overworld,” Aunt Alexandra said.

  “Yes,” Maison said. “And now we need you to help save our world from Herobrine.”

  “Did someone call my name?” Herobrine asked.

  CHAPTER 23

  HEROBRINE’S IMAGE WAS ON THE COMPUTER screen, smirking at us with his blank-eyed creepiness. In the background I could see Dad standing at attention like a soldier, holding his diamond sword.

  “Steve!” Aunt Alexandra exclaimed. She tried to reach into the computer screen and grab Herobrine, but her hand went through and Herobrine’s image continued to be there, unhurt. Baffled that she couldn’t touch him, Aunt Alexandra took her hand back. “Where are you?” she demanded.

  “Oh, now, telling you that would ruin the surprises I have in store for you,” Herobrine said. “So, I see you’ve finally wised up and listened to your daughter Alex. Unfortunately for you, it’s too late now.”

  “Give me back my brother!” Aunt Alexandra shouted at him.

  Herobrine chuckled. “Oh, I imagine you’ll be seeing him soon enough, but it will be when we’re all in battle and he’ll be attacking you, his own family. He’s on my side now.”

  “That’s not possible,” Aunt Alexandra said. “My brother is a good, noble man who always stands up for others.”

  “Everyone has fear and anger in them,” Herobrine said, his eyes glowing eerily white. “Look at you, Mayor Alexandra. You’ve never lost a single election since you’ve been mayor. There haven’t been any mob attacks in your village since you came into power, and everyone around knows you as a beloved village leader. So why do you stay up at night, thinking about your failures? As a little girl, you dreamed of saving the world. Now you help end squabbles over chickens getting loose. Is that why you knock your daughter’s dreams for being an explorer? Hmm?”

  When I saw Aunt Alexandra’s face, it had gone as white as Herobrine’s eyes and she was sweating.

  “Ooh, I hit it on the head, didn’t I?” Herobrine said. “You’re just a minor mayor of a little backwater village. You’ve never accomplished anything all that impressive in life, and it tortures you. You try to groom your daughter into being mayor someday, but it’s all so that you can feel some sense of accomplishment.”

  Herobrine leaned forward. “I can look inside and see the worst of you,” he said.

  “Mom,” Alex whispered, staring at her mother. “Is that … true? Do you really feel that way?”

  “I….” Aunt Alexandra said, unable to take her eyes off the computer screen.

  “Some mayor,” Herobrine went on. “You want to save the world, but you couldn’t even save your own brother. Or your own world when your daughter kept telling you that I was coming to destroy it. You had all the warnings in the world and yet you did nothing.”

  “Don’t listen to him!” Maison said. “He’s just messing with your head, like how he messed with your head before to keep you from believing Alex. That’s probably how he got Stevie’s dad.”

  The mention of my dad brought Aunt Alexandra out of her daze. She slammed her hand fiercely against Maison’s desk.

  “I will bring together all the armies of the Overworld to fight against you!” she said.

  Herobrine laughed in delight. “Wonderful!” he said. “I love battles! The more people hurt by them, the better. And you know this is leading up to the biggest battle any of the worlds has ever seen.”

  The earth began to shake!

  Out the window, I could see all the leaves fall from the trees immediately. That was the sign Herobrine was coming.

  “Earthquake!” Yancy yelled, grabbing on to one of the bedposts. I didn’t know it was possible for the ground to shake like that. I fell on the floor.

  “Ow!” I said.

  Suddenly, the earth stopped shaking.

  “My powers grow stronger,” Herobrine said. “How did you enjoy that display?”

  Yancy let go of the bedpost and walked to the computer. “You’re a coward!” he said. “You fight from a distance and play cheap tricks like that.”

  “It’s only what I learned from you,” Herobrine said in a rumbly voice.

  “Come out and fight us for real!” Yancy said.

  “Oh, I will,” Herobrine threatened. “I promise you, we will be seeing each other face-to-face very soon.”

  Even though he had no pupils, I could feel when his eyes zeroed in on me. “And when I do, I’ll be sure to bring your father with me, Stevie,” he said. “Just so I can watch him take you all out.”

  Aunt Alexandra tried again to grab him through the computer screen. Herobrine let out a delighted laugh and vanished. Even after he was gone, the terrible laugh still seemed to echo in my mind.

&
nbsp; CHAPTER 24

  AUNT ALEXANDRA PULLED HER HAND OUT OF the computer screen and looked down at it. “Alex, Stevie,” she said, turning toward us. “I owe you both an apology. I should have believed you. And Alex, I shouldn’t have let my insecurities cause me to try to make you the mayor someday. If you want to be an explorer, you should be an explorer. We can all do whatever we put our minds to and work hard toward, whether it’s being an explorer or a mayor. And together, we’re going to save the worlds.”

  She gave Alex a long hug.

  “Yeah, family bonding can come later,” Yancy said, not amused. “Right now we have a crisis on our hands. Do we have any ideas?”

  “Yes,” I said loudly.

  Everyone turned and looked at me. I was even surprised by how certain my own voice sounded.

  “Aunt Alexandra,” I said. “We need you to go back to the Overworld and get the armies ready.”

  Aunt Alexandra nodded. “Yes, whatever you need,” she said.

  “And find out whatever you can about Herobrine,” I said. “I know he’s an old ghost story, but maybe there’s an old story about him that can give us clues on how to fight him.”

  “Do you really think we can defeat him?” Destiny asked.

  I looked around the room. At Maison, who had helped me defeat a zombie takeover. At Alex, who’d saved my life. At Aunt Alexandra, who was ready to move an army for us. At Destiny, who’d saved Maison and me in the past. And at Yancy, who didn’t blame me for calling him the traitor even when it turned out I was the traitor and he could have rubbed that in my face. He was on our side now, I was sure of it.

  “Yes,” I said. “The prophecies made it sound as if it wouldn’t be easy to defeat Herobrine, but they also made it clear that he could be defeated. And that if anyone could defeat him, it would be us!”

  Ossie purred as if agreeing.

  “I will go get the armies now,” Aunt Alexandra said. “But how will you all defeat Herobrine?”

  “The rest of us will stay in this world and find out everything we can about Herobrine and prepare,” I said. “We’re not going to let him have my dad, and we’re not going to let him have this world.”