Project Power Mode X
By ThunderBolt832

Note From The Author:

This short story is half minecraft, and half not minecraft, so I don’t really know what to call it. I guess you can just call it a short story by ThunderBolt832.

I hope you enjoy this, and if you want to read more of my stories, check out my website at diamondquill.com, where you can give me feedback about this (or in the comments, whatever).

Part 1 – Where Am I?

ThunderBolt832 slowly awoke, his mind quickly clearing of the fog that had filled it for the last several years.

Looking around, he saw that he was in a green testing container, with hundreds more surrounding it, each one holding a silent, sleeping body.

Why am I here? He wondered as his mind began to clear. Where am I? What even happened?

Hundreds of questions flooded through his mind, but he didn’t even try to answer them.

Whatever he was in, wherever he was, he could somehow sense it was bad.

He had to get out.

Pulling his hands and legs away from the restraints that held them, he lifted his fist and slammed it against the glass wall of his test tube.

Crack! Several tiny fissures spread across the glass where he had hit it.

Pulling his fist back again, he smashed it against the wall again, causing more cracks to form.

Switching to his other hand, he hammered away at the glass until it broke, dropping him down into a white, lab-like area.

Above him was hundreds of test tubes, all exactly like the one he had been standing in for…well, he had no idea how long he’d been in there, but he could tell it had been a long time.

Looking around, he spotted an iron-armoured guard coming down the passage towards him.

Searching the large hallway, he spotted another passageway leading off to the right, and quickly darted down it, out of sight of the guard.

I need a weapon. He thought, grasping the air as if he was used to having a weapon there. I won’t survive without a weapon. Wait, how do I know that?

He was confused. It was as if part of him knew exactly what to do, while the other part had no idea, and was acting upon that part’s knowledge.

Turning a corner, he came to a staircase that descended a few metres, and then ended in another corner.

Blocking his path was another green test tube, a still,  body contained inside.

“I can free these people,” he said out loud as the thought popped into his head. “They deserve to be free.”

Stepping forward, he began to hammer away at the side of the glass container, quickly breaking it as the glass shattered under the strain.

Instantly the person inside opened his eyes and looked around.

“What happened?” He asked as his mind slowly cleared. “Where am I?”

ThunderBolt helped him to his feet. “I freed you. For where we are, I have no idea. I only just broke out myself.”

“I’m Epicraft426,” he answered. “Who are you?”

ThunderBolt answered instantly. “I’m ThunderBolt832. Now come on, we’ve got to get out of here.”

As they climbed over the broken remains of the test tube, a thought suddenly came to his mind. How did I know my name? I don’t remember anything before now, so how could I?

Peering around the corner, he saw a guard standing with his back to them, a stone sword held in his  hand.

“Do you think we could take him down?” ThunderBolt whispered, turning around to speak to Epicraft who was creeping forward behind him.

“Well, if we want to get out of here, I suppose we’ll have to!” Epicraft replied.

Creeping forward, the two companions slowly moved closer to the guard, who was still completely unaware of their presence.

Crouching silently behind the guard, ThunderBolt counted down noiselessly on his fingers, holding them up for Epicraft to see.

Simultaneously reaching forward, ThunderBolt grabbed the guard around the waist, pinning his arms to his sides as Epicraft began to punch him as hard as he could.

Struggling in the grasp of his enemies, the guard kicked out at ThunderBolt, who released his grip as he was sent flying backwards.

Leaping backwards, the guard drew his sword and slashed at Epicraft, taking half of his health in an instant.

Epicraft fell to the ground, helpless as the guard raised his sword into the air.

“No!” Shouted ThunderBolt, reaching forward with his hand as if he could somehow stop him.

Suddenly a large orange ball of fire began to form in ThunderBolt’s hand, then launched itself towards the guard.

It hit him in the back of his head, sending him flying across the passageway to land against the wall, stunned.

“Wow!” Gasped Epicraft as ThunderBolt helped him to his feet. “How did you do that?”

ThunderBolt shrugged, for he was as surprised as his friend. “I don’t know,” he replied. “I’ve never done it before. It just…happened.”

Epicraft walked over to the guard and picked up the stone sword that lay beside the guard.

“Well, however you did it, it saved my life. I am forever grateful.”

***
Several hours later, ThunderBolt sunk down into a sitting position beside Epicraft.

“There’s just no way out of this place!” he said with a sigh, pulling out the sword that they had retrieved from the guard as he spoke.

Epicraft nodded silently, then stretched out his arms in a yawn.

Suddenly a green forcefield of energy formed around the group, causing them to jump to their feet in astonishment.

“Did I do that?” Epicraft asked, cautiously sticking out his hand to feel the green, transparent wall.

As soon as his fingers came into contact with it, it disappeared, leaving no trace that it had ever existed.

“I think there is much more to us than it seems.” ThunderBolt said, looking at his hands in amazement. “I think we were test subjects, and they were testing us with these new abilities. But whatever they were trying to do to us, it was not for a good purpose.”

Epicraft nodded again, then reached forward and opened his hand.

Instantly a green beam of energy shot out from his hand and hit the wall, causing green sparks to fly into the air as the spot began to glow red.

“Cool!” Epicraft whispered. “Maybe we can use our powers to get out of here!”

Reaching forward with his hand opened, ThunderBolt formed a fireball in his right hand and flung it towards the wall.

As it hit, it exploded in a shockwave of fire, destroying part of the wall around it to reveal another room.

Walking quickly forward, they peered curiously into the small room.

It was extremely different to any of the other rooms they had seen, for the floor, and walls were made of mythanium. Also, there was a large, orange cube that glowed brightly in the dark room, a wooden button attached to it’s side.

Reaching forward, ThunderBolt pushed the button in, then stepped back, waiting for something to happen.

Suddenly an alarm began to sound loudly nearby, and a panicking voice called out from a noteblock on the ceiling above. “Alert! Alert! Area 57 has been breached! Protect Experiment 303! Security, stop the intruders!”
The two friends stood beside each other uncertainly, unsure what to do.

Before they could move, a cage of iron bars rose out of the ground around them, trapping them in a small space with the orange, glowing block.

ThunderBolt stepped forward and began to hammer at the iron bars, frantically trying to get out.

Quickly their vision began to blur as they started to lose consciousness, and just before he passed out, ThunderBolt saw a mysterious figure appear in front of him, his eyes glowing a bright white…

Part 2 – We Were Teleported

ThunderBolt slowly awoke to the voice of Epicraft calling in his ear.  “ThunderBolt, wake up! ThunderBolt! THUNDERBOLT!!!”

ThunderBolt sat up. “What?” He asked

Epicraft helped him to his feet. “Where are we?”

ThunderBolt looked around. They were in a large, green forest, with enormous trees extending upwards into the leafy canopy above them.

Suddenly a robotic female voice spoke seemingly from right beside them, but there was nothing there. “Teleportation complete!” It said.

The two companions jumped violently.

“What was that?” Epicraft asked, a slight quiver of fear running through his voice.

“I don’t know.” ThunderBolt replied. “And I don’t know how we got here either, but we are. And we’re not where we were before, so that’s good. Come on, let’s go and explore a bit.”

Lifting their fists, they began to punch a large tree beside them, watching the cracks spread across the block they were punching until it broke.

When they had destroyed as much of the tree as they could, they sat down on the grassy floor and began to craft.

First they made a crafting table, then some sticks, then a pickaxe, axe, and a spade.

They both already had swords, and so they didn’t need to craft them.

“Come on,” ThunderBolt called. “Let’s go and get out of this jungle. We’ll try and find a settlement, if there are any.”

Pushing through the undergrowth, they began to slowly force their way through the thick jungle.

Pulling out his sword, Thunderbolt began to hack at the vines and bushes that blocked their path, making it a bit easier for Epicraft who was following close behind.

After five or six minutes of slow progress, ThunderBolt stopped.

“This is no good!” He said in exasperation without turning around. “We’ll never get anywhere by doing this!”

Epicraft nodded. “Should we try and climb these trees or somethi-”

His voice cut out suddenly and did not continue.

ThunderBolt turned around. There was no one there.

“Hello?” He shouted. “Epicraft? Are you there? Where are you?”

A faint sound came from behind him. He turned around, drawing his stone sword as he did so.

Something suddenly hit him in the face, and a shockwave of pain flew through his body as he fell to the ground.

Then he knew no more.

Part 3 – The Jungle Tribe

ThunderBolt’s mind slowly cleared, but his vision was blurred and he could not see anything.

His head hurt, and he could feel that some kind restraints were holding him. Of course, this would not be a problem.

Drawing a field of energy around him, he slowly built it up until it was barely containable, then let it go in a powerful, destructive blast of energy that threw off the chains that had been holding him.

Looking around, he realised that Epicraft was not there.

“Epicraft?” He called softly. “Epicraft? Are you there?”

There was no answer. In fact, there was no sound at all. Nothing but silence.

Suddenly the silence was broken by a loud sound of cheering that came from his left, but he could not tell what.

Gathering a small amount of fire in his left hand, he looked around.

He was in a small, dark room with no windows or objects except for the pillar in the centre that he had been chained to.

At the back of the room was a small door, with a rusty lock chained to it, keeping it closed.

Drawing back the hand that contained the small amount of fire, he slammed it into the rusty padlock, blasting the useless object into oblivion.

Cautiously opening the door, he looked out to see two brown guards dressed in brightly coloured clothes, standing side by side in front of the door, sharp spears held in their brown hands.

Taking a deep breath, he began to charge another ball of fire in his hand.

Leaping suddenly forward, he blasted both of the guards before they had time to react, vaporizing them both instantly, their long spears dropping uselessly to the ground.

Picking up one of the sharp weapons, he watched in amazement as the tip began to glow a bright red, then a magical wave flowed over the entire spear, changing the handle to a dark red metal, the tip a deep black, a small flame still burning at its end.

Bending down, he picked up the other spear, which did not change at all however, so he kept it on his back, in case Epicraft needed a weapon.

“Epicraft?” He called softly again. “Where are you?”

Looking around, he saw that he was on a long, narrow balcony that stretched around the sides of the bamboo building he had been contained inside. There were several more rooms like the one he had been locked inside, but they were all empty.

Peering over the edge of the balcony, he saw a large stadium-like arena below him, with hundreds of colourfully dressed natives cheering loudly.

At the centre of the stadium was a post, and ThunderBolt stared as he recognised Epicraft tied to it, a group of angry warriors dancing around him, with sharpened spears held in their hands.

Suddenly a sharp voice cut through the cheering, shouting something in an unknown language. It did not come from down in the arena, but from the balcony he was standing on.

Spinning around, ThunderBolt ducked to avoid a wooden spear that flew over his head, then turned to see a dark-skinned native standing at the end of the balcony, pointing at him half in panic, and half in anger.

“Ai ka ikur! Marrë atë!” The guard called again, then turned to run back the way he had came.

Lifting the fiery spear he held in his hand, ThunderBolt threw it with all his might toward the escaping guard.

It struck him in the back, causing him to disappear with a shout of fear as the ThunderBolt’s magical abilities vaporized him.

Lifting his hand, ThunderBolt watched in amazement as the spear lifted itself off the ground where it had fallen, and flew back to its place in his hand.

Running forward, he smashed through the bamboo thatching that acted as window shading and fell into the middle of the arena, raising a shout of surprise from the watching audience.

Ducking under the sharp spear of one of the warriors, he stabbed at one, vaporizing him instantly, then leaped forward and freed the struggling Epicraft.

Pulling the spear off his back, ThunderBolt handed it swiftly to Epicraft, who took it in his hand and watched as it too, began to change form into a weapon that suited his powers.

Dodging to the side to avoid another jab from a spear, Epicraft watched, dumbfounded, as his spear began to glow a bright green, then changed altogether into a metallic weapon that emanated a viridescent light, the tip a glowing mass of green energy.

Forming a forcefield to block another attack from some spears, he backed away to the other side of the arena where ThunderBolt was desperately fighting for his life.

Gathering a ball of energy in his hand, he blasted the angry warriors, sending them fleeing back to the other side of the arena.

“Quick!” Shouted ThunderBolt. “Get up into the crowd! Escape from there!”

Leaping up into the group of spectators that were watching in amazement, the two friends dodged through the crowd and leaped back into the jungle.

“Come on!” ThunderBolt shouted. “Now let’s get out of here!”

Suddenly a field of golden power began to surround them, lifting them off their feet and into the air, helpless.

“Stop!” A voice suddenly shouted, one full of command and order.

The warriors that had been rushing forward to attack the two friends instantly stopped in their tracks and bowed deeply to the ground in submission.

Struggling to escape the golden field of power that defied gravity by holding them of the ground, ThunderBolt looked around to see a tall figure walking towards them through the jungle, a glow of golden light emerging from his right hand.

“Calm yourselves, my warriors!” The tall man commanded, then continued to walk forward while addressing ThunderBolt and Epicraft at the same time.

“Finally, after all these years, I have finally found you!” He cried, a slight tingle of excitement leaking from his powerful voice.

“What?” Asked ThunderBolt, confused.

“Come, come. I will explain in time.” He replied.

“Um,” asked Epicraft, “Could you please let us back down to the ground please? I’m getting kinda dizzy, and I don’t like heights.”

Nodding, the figure released his magical grip on the two companions, who were instantly onto the green forest floor with a thump.

“Now come,” he commanded. “There is much to discuss. And,” he said cautiously, eyeing the threatening guards with disapproval, “They will not harm you. Nobody will.”

Despite the reprimands of the man, the guards still held their spears at the ready.

“I don’t like this,” Whispered ThunderBolt to his friend. “But the only thing to do is follow that guy and listen to what he has to say.”

Nodding, Epicraft began to walk forward down the path the man had taken, with ThunderBolt cautiously following behind.

Part 4 – Explanations

After traversing past hundreds of bamboo huts filled with curious natives, they came to a large, stone palace that stretched up into the tree tops.

ThunderBolt looked up at it in awe, with his friend Epicraft equally amazed, standing beside him.

“Come on, hurry up and get inside!” A voice called. It was the man they had met earlier, the one who had powers equal to their own.

He turned and walked into the large building and disappeared, no longer visible.

ThunderBolt nodded to his friend and began to walk forward. “Come on!” He called, “Let’s find out what’s going on!”

Epicraft nodded, then ran forward until he was side-by-side with his friend, ready for any dangers that might appear at any moment.

Quickly climbing up the huge stone steps that led up into the palace, they walked into the stone building and gasped.

Huge stone pillars held up the enormous ceiling, covered in carvings and symbols. The walls were decorated in equally amazing drawings, and were decorated with all sorts of gems and jewels that glittered in the light of the flaming torches, which were held by countless numbers of dark-skinned guards who marched throughout the palace, looking for intruders.

At the centre of the room that they looked into was a large, stone throne, which the tall man they had met before sat upon, looking down upon them as they walked forward towards him.

“I’m sorry about the incidents before on our way of getting you here,” he said in an apologetic voice. “For I was not informed of your coming until you had already escaped and, well…you know what happened.”

ThunderBolt nodded impatiently, waiting for him to get to the important details of his explanation. “Yes, but who are you, and why do you have powers? Why do we have powers? Does anyone else have powers? And why are you all, like hiding in this jungle, and kidnapping anyone who comes near you?”

The man nodded again then continued to talk. “Firstly, as to what my name is, I never really had a name, but my people call me The Golden Wielder as the prophecy states so that’s what I go by. I have the powers of the sun, but also can overrule all other powers. As for you…”

The Golden Wielder paused for a few seconds, then spoke again. “There is an ancient prophecy spread throughout the depths of this land about 5 powerful warriors that would rise up, each with their own unique abilities that could control the people of this world.”

“I was the first warrior to rise with such power, and for many years after that. But one day another rose, who desired to use his power for evil. He is the Wielder Of Evil, but calls himself Rathkul. Then, you two came along. I believe it was Rathkul himself who developed you, and desired to use you for evil. Thankfully, you both managed to escape, and do not seem to have a desire for evil, despite what he had done to you. There is still another warrior out there somewhere, but whether he is evil or not depends on who finds him first.”

“We have been hiding in this jungle for many years, but did not actually build this civilization, for me and my followers found it a long time ago. We hide here because of the constant spies and scouts that Rathkul sends, searching for me. That is also why we are so cautious about people who come near our settlement.”

Suddenly a huge explosion shook the palace, causing all the guards to bolt out of the palace and into the bright sunlight outside.

“What’s happening?” Epicraft and ThunderBolt asked simultaneously, turning towards The Golden Wielder for an answer.

The leader of the natives had gotten out of his chair and was standing there, listening. Then he charged down the steps and began to walk swiftly towards the door, with Epicraft and ThunderBolt close behind him.

“Yeah, but what’s happening?” Epicraft asked impatiently.

He ran down the steps and looked up into the sky, watching something as it flew overhead. “It’s Rathkul,” he spat, “It looks like he’s found our settlement. And he’s attacking!”

Part 5 – Rathkul Attacks

ThunderBolt ducked under a hail of bullets that came from an enemy helicopter, then formed a ball of fire and blasted the flying vehicle, bringing it crashing to the ground in a mass of flames.

Not bothering to watch the destruction of the machine, he ran on forward, with Epicraft behind, The Golden Wielder in front.

Suddenly several helicopters landed to their left, and a group of armed soldiers leaped out and tried to attack them.

With one flick of his hand, The Golden Wielder sent the helicopter and its inhabitants flying far away into the distance, completely out of control.

The soldiers that had jumped out looked at them in fear, then held up their guns and fired a volley of bullets towards the three companions.

Spreading his arms out wide, Epicraft quickly gathered a field of energy around them and formed a forcefield around them, then blasted the soldiers with a viridescent beam of power.

Pulling out his magical spear, ThunderBolt quickly, and without knowing how he did it, transformed it into a flaming sword.

Running forward, he blasted himself hundreds of metres into the air, then came down in a resounding shockwave in a group of enemy soldiers, destroying them in an instant.

Blocking another volley of bullets, he ran quickly forward, leaving a trail of blazing fire where he had passed.

Within a few seconds, he had trapped several groups of enemies with his fiery path, causing them to huddle together as they realised they had no option of escape.

Leaping through the burning flames, Epicraft formed a beam of energy in his hands and blasted a group of terrified soldiers, transforming them within moments into a few small piles of ash.

Suddenly a powerful presence of evil could be felt in all their minds and bodies; Rathkul had arrived.

Peering through the clouds of smoke and flame, ThunderBolt saw a pair of glowing white eyes staring towards him. Malicious, evil eyes, full of deceit and trickery.

Running forward, he again blasted himself into the air, and landed in a cloud of smoke and flame beside the evil villain.

Drawing his flaming sword, he threw it towards Rathkul, who ducked and drew his own, shadowy scythe to block it.

Rathkul retreated a few steps, then dropped his shadowy scythe and lifted his hands as if he were about to pull something from his opponent.

ThunderBolt suddenly fell to his knees as his power began to drain out from him. Unable to fight, he just lay there as he grew weaker and weaker, watching as Rathkul’s malicious smile grew wider and more victorious.

Epicraft spun through the smoky haze of the battlefield, destroying countless soldiers with his magical weapon, and blasting the ones that were too far away with his powerful energy.

Turning, he saw ThunderBolt kneeling on the ground, and a shadowy figure with glowing white eyes standing beside him, getting ready to strike.

“Noooooo!!” Shouted Epicraft, and took off at a run towards them, his energetic powers allowing him to cover the distance within a few seconds.

Ducking under Rathkul’s scythe, he formed a ball of energy and slammed it into his opponent, sending him flying backwards into the trunk of a tall oak.

“Are you okay?” Epicraft asked, helping his friend to his feet as he spoke.

ThunderBolt looked up weakly. “I’m no match for him,” he said, struggling to hold himself up with his sword. “But together…”

Nodding, Epicraft pulled out his magical spear and quickly transformed it into a green, shining axe.

Lifting the heavy weapon into the air, he watched in satisfaction as a magical, green wave of energy flowed across its surface.

“We can try,” Epicraft finished, turning around in a circle to look for the glowing eyes of Rathkul in the smoky haze of the battlefield.

Running and jumping over flaming pits of fire, the two friends sped across the battlefield, destroying any of the enemies that remained.

Suddenly a pair of glowing eyes appeared to their left, and they veered off towards it, holding their weapons perhaps a little tighter.

Running forward, ThunderBolt came running out of the smoke, and saw that Rathkul had been waiting for them.

Jumping high into the air to avoid a vicious swing from his enemies scythe, he formed a fireball in his hand and blasted Rathkul with it, sending him back a few steps.

Lifting up his heavy energy axe, Epicraft swung it viciously at his opponent, then quickly formed a green shield of energy to block another attack from Rathkul.

Ducking under a dark black stream of pure evil, ThunderBolt spun around and kicked his enemy in the face, exerting all his force into the move.

Screaming with rage, Rathkul formed two small tendrils of darkness and began to drain the power from both his enemies.

At once they were defenceless, their faces a picture of utter agony as they lay on the ground, not possessing the strength or ability to even lift their weapons.

Laughing with malicious contempt, the evil villain drew his scythe, and, lifting it high into the air, brought it down in a vicious blow that could and would destroy his enemies.

Suddenly a powerful presence appeared beside him and blocked his attempt to kill ThunderBolt and Epicraft.

It was The Golden Wielder.

“Well, well,” cried Rathkul in a malicious tone, stepping backwards as his nemesis unsheathed another golden, glowing sword from his back. “Look who finally decided to show up. ”

Without responding, The Golden Wielder stepped forward and slashed at him, using one glowing sword to block, while the other to attack, driving Rathkul back with each swing.

“You are no match for me, Rathkul!” Spat The Golden Wielder, swinging both his blades as he drove his opponent back even further. “And you will never be!”

Rathkul laughed, then backflipped several metres away and held his scythe at the ready. “Once I find the final warrior, and harvest his powers, nothing will stop me, not even you.” He laughed, then began to form a black field of darkness beside him.

The Golden Wielder stepped back as the sphere of evil grew larger and larger, then disappeared, taking Rathkul with it.

ThunderBolt and Epicraft ran up behind him, their weapons still held in their hands.

“He escaped, didn’t he?” Asked ThunderBolt.

The Golden Wielder nodded. “But it will not be long before he returns. With even more power than before.”

Epicraft slung his heavy axe back over his shoulder. “What did he say about finding the final warrior?”

The Golden Wielder sighed and turned around, looking at all the death and destruction that had happened in the past two hours. “If he finds the last warrior with powers like us before we do, then he will drain his power and give it to himself, which is what he planned to do with you. And if he get’s that, then there will be no stopping him.”

To be continued…