Chapter 12: Ellegaard The Redstone Engineer

(Meanwhile at Redstonia.)

[Jesse's POV]

(After going through the piston door, we're greeted with an astounding view of the inside of the dome.)

(There were, what do you call them? Item tube? Well, that word pretty much describes it.)

(And other redstone machines that I have too little redstone knowledge of to know what these things do.)

(But the point is: it was an amazing sight to see.)

Jesse: "That might be the most redstone... stuff... I've ever seen in my life."

Olivia: "You can say that again!"

(Olivia walks forward as she too is admiring the view.)

(Further down, we encounter another door thing of some kind, but it is weirdly open? I curiously stopped, but Olivia continued walking through it.)

(Nothing seemed to happen until it suddenly violently shut closed just as Olivia makes it across.)

(It then proceeded to open and close and open over and over again, making a heck of a lot of noise.)

Jesse: "What are these things even for?!?"

Olivia: "Maybe, I don't know... Breaking things up. Keeping intruders out. There are lots of possibilities."

(Argh... why does everything have to be so complicated? There was a repeater on the side of the machine.)

(Oh, I see how it is. I flick the repeater to the slowest setting and the rapidly shutting and opening piston door starts slowing down.)

Jesse: "Okay... just need to time it right."

Olivia: "Don't get crushed, okay? I'm going to watch ANOTHER person die today."

(I study the pattern for a few moments to determine the best time to run over.)

(It was a bit stressful, but I kept reminding myself that I wouldn't go anywhere.)

(if I kept staying here, so I waited for that moment and went for it.)

(I was scared I wouldn't make it, so I jumped at the step.)

(The door closed behind me.)

(It was not that close, but it was still a scary sight.)

Olivia: "Huff... Nicely done, Jesse. You're getting pretty good at this!"

Jesse: "I wouldn't say the same thing to myself."

Olivia: "C'mon. Your self-esteem is even lower than mine at the moment!"

(I mumble something, unsure what to say, but Olivia has already turned her attention to the 'Item Tube' thingys.)

Olivia: "She's moving a LOT of different ingredients around here. Man Look at all this, huh?"

(There were a lot of not only items, but blocks as well, going through these different tubes, some of which I don't even recognize!)

Jesse: "I'm not sure what I'm looking at exactly..."

Olivia: "Me neither. That's why I'm studying it."

(Moving forward, we encounter a lava curtain, a similar but larger one than that of the Disco- Weirdo.)

(As usual, another lever, which we turn, drops the lava down.)

Olivia: "Wow, that's awesome."

Jesse: "Man... how many entrances does this dome even have!?"

Olivia: "Redstone addiction?"

Jesse: "Why are you referring to Redstone like it's a drug?"

Olivia: "Oh, that was unintentional, but now that I'm thinking about it. I'm pretty sure some crazy person somewhere in the world has considered that possibility already."

Jesse: "Eh... Not gonna comment on that one..."

(After the lava curtain, we encounter what hopefully is the last machine, some kind of water elevator, blocked off by yet another piston door.)

(I spot a lever and flick it like with the other machines, but to my surprise, it just causes a bunch of bats to get set free.)

Olivia: "Umm... I think you mean this switch over here."

(Olivia presses it and the elevator opens.)

Jesse: "Ohh... Ellegaard really needs to mark these switches."

Olivia: "Well, it doesn't look like anyone comes this far anyway, and she already knows what does what, so I guess there's not really a need to."

(I guess she does have a point.)

(We travel up the water elevator.)

(Exiting it at the top, we FINALLY reach the last room, where Ellegaard was.)

Olivia: "Th-This is just like I dreamt it. Entering Ellegaard's laboratory. Seeing her... right there. She'll ask me to be her apprentice, and the next thing you know, we'll be changing the world together."

Jesse: "Let's just try to save the world first."

(Her laboratory is as redstone-ish as it gets.)

(On both sides were levers and dispensers marked with different stuff.)

(I'm guessing they dispense different items.)

(And in front, was some kind of contraption with 4 crafting tables.)

Ellegaard: "Ok. Time to pace back and forth, check the systems. Inventory request? Operational. Delivery latency? Speedy. Still talking to myself? Yep!"

(She checks every individual thing several times.)

Ellegaard: "Uh huh okay all right here we go!"

(Before she proceeds, she finally notices our presence and turns around.)

Ellegaard: "Whoa! Hi! Hey! Didn't see you sneaking up on me. Guess that's the point. Don't touch anything in here, okay? It's all SUPREMELY fragile and genius. Did Calvin send you? You my new assistants?"

(Olivia silently gasps.)

Olivia: "S-She thinks we're her new assistants."

Jesse: "Ellegaard-"

Ellegaard: "No time for specifics, I'm afraid. Hey you, Goggle Girl."

(She points to Olivia.)

Ellegaard: "Switch on that T-Flop circuit to activate the delivery chutes. And you, Non-Goggle Guy."

(She points to me.)

Ellegaard: "Grab me a blaze rod and an iron block."

Jesse: "Wait-"

(Before I was able to speak, she was already back on her experiment.)

(Olivia, meanwhile, was having a mental breakdown.)

Olivia: "S-She wants me to do something for her. What if I screw it up? What if I-Oh... I feel... light...headed..."

(She suddenly collapses.)

Ellegaard: "Oh wow. Now I need an assistant to help with my assistant!"

(Ellegaard says, from across the room.)

(I help Olivia stand up again.)

Jesse: "Olivia? You alright?"

Olivia: "I don't think that I've ever fainted before. Ugh, embarrassing. I was just so excited to meet Ellegaard and-"

Ellegaard: "Everything working over- Oh. Hm."

(She glares at us suspiciously,)

Ellegaard: "Your friend here... does she fall over frequently? Is this going to be a regular occurrence?"

Olivia: "I... No. I'm sorry. I was just so excited to-"

Ellegaard: "Fine. I'll just get the materials myself."

(Ellegaard goes to the ingredient machine.)

(Olivia shakes her head in embarrassment.)

(Ellegaard pulls the lever, and the contraption activates.)

(The crafting tables all get pushed to the center of the contraption, and a barely visible block starts forming there.)

Ellegaard: "Come on come on... Big winner big winner...!"

Olivia: "Wait a minute. This block... it can't be..."

(It looked familiar, like I'd seen it before.)

(But I couldn't put my finger on it.)

(Before I take a closer look, however, it disappears and the contraption retracts.)

Ellegaard: "LOSER. ugh. Trial #6,451... another bust..."

(Olivia snaps out of her daze.)

Olivia: "That block! It was the exact same one that Ivor used to build that Creature!"

(Oh shit, I just realized that myself.)

(Ellegaard jumps up from Olivia's sudden outburst.)

Ellegaard: "What did you say? Ivor?"

(Ellegaard's attention seems to have finally switched to us. I jumped in.)

Jesse: "That's what we've been trying to tell you. We're not your assistants; we're actually here to get your help. There's a giant Wither Storm creature thing and it's attacking the entire world."

Ellegaard: "A Witherwhat...? What are you talking about? Who... who sent you?"

Jesse: "Gabriel. Your old friend?"

(I take out the red glowing amulet as evidence.)

Ellegaard: "Ok, look, you both seem like very pleasant people who are prone to fainting, but I simply don't have the brainpower for this. I'm in the middle of my greatest project to date, a powerful block capable of altering reality itself! The command block!"

(So this weird looking machine that Ivor used to create this storm is called a 'command block'.)

Ellegaard: "I'm so close I can practically taste it!"

Jesse: "Ellegaard, the world is in danger. We can't waste time on your project! The world needs The Order of the Stone! That's why we're here!"

(Ellegaard ponders for a bit.)

Ellegaard: "This does sound serious. Indeed, all the more reason why I need to finish my Command Block! I can use it to fight this Witherstorm... monster... thing... or whatever!"

Olivia: "Wait, hold up. Isn't that block really dangerous???"

Ellegaard: "The command block is actually just a machine where you can type things in. It will do that said thing. It's not like it has a mind of its own."

Olivia: "Are you serious? THAT creature definitely had a mind of it OWN."

Ellegaard: "Hmm... I don't remember that happening. Perhaps it had something to do with that wither thing? Last time I saw it, it had no record of artificial intelligence."

Jesse: "Hmm... I don't know. We could definitely try to fight it with a Command Block of our own, but... can we really guarantee that it's safe?"

Ellegaard: "The Command Block only does what you make it do. As long as you do it carefully, I'm sure it can't harm us. Your 'Wither Storm' was created by a Command Block, yes? That means a Command Block could be the perfect way of beating it!"

(I and Olivia look at each other, thinking whether or not we should try this.)

(Now that I think about it, we didn't really have a plan after reuniting the order.)

(Well, the plan was to let them handle it.)

(If that's the plan she's going with, then might as well go along.)

Jesse: "Fine. It's the first elaborate plan we have; we might as well try it."

Ellegaard: "Fantastic."

(And with that, we go to work.)

(We start by getting the necessary supplies from the dispensers.)

(Diamonds... Lapis... Emeralds... and more Redstone...)

(We snatch the ingredients and carefully place them on the 4 crafting tables.)

(After everything's done, we press the final button and watch the contraption activate.)

(The Command Block reappears, sometimes flickering, glowing to its final orange-brown color and turning less transparent.)

(However, it, like the previous one, vanishes unexpectedly.)

(We start the process all over again. Glowstone... Prismarine... Iron... Blaze rods...)

(We turn on the contraption again.)

(The Command Block reappears once again, doing the exact same thing as before.)

(Unfortunately, it disappears again. Well, time to do it again!)

(Bricks! Gold! Obsidian! Whatever these things are supposed to be! We're bringing EVERYTHING.)

(We activate the contraption yet again, and it does the same thing again.)

(So far, it seems to be lasting longer than all of the other tries we've made so far.)

(The transparency is going away, the color is right, and it seems to almost even look like a normal block.)

Ellegaard: "Okay! Okay! Excellent! Good! This is so exciting, terribly exciting!"

Olivia: "Has it gotten this far before?"

Ellegaard: "No! NEVER!"

(Unfortunately, it looks like its starting to slowly disappear again.)

Ellegaard: "Is it... destablilizing...?"

(We suddenly feel a breeze.)

(It felt like the roof of the dome was opening.)

(No. Something was opening it, and what we feared the worst was right there as well.)

(The Wither Storm was already floating above us.)

(The Wither Storm swings its arms at us again, the same play all over again.)

(We run for the exit, only to realize Ellegaard was still standing in the open,

paralyzed in fear.)

Olivia: "Ellegaard! Come on!"

(We snatch her before the Wither Storm can get closer.)

(As we exit the dome, we can see our contraption failing, as it is slowly eaten by the creature.)

Ellegaard: "We need to go! We need to get to the portal!"

(We make our way through the doors again, but this time, in the opposite direction.)

(Thankfully, they were still in the open position, and the redstone power must've already been cut off.)

(as the rapidly closing and opening one wasn't moving anymore.)

Ellegaard: "I'm so sorry. So... so sorry."

(Ellegaard laments her failed plan.)

(We make it out of the dome, just to see Redstonia in chaos.)

(Some of the contraptions straight up exploded, and others were destroyed.)

(What a terrible sight.)

(This is just great. We make our way down to the staircase going down the wall.)

(I was walking down last, and a wither skull shoots right in front of me, destroying part of the stairs.)

(while Olivia and Ellegaard are flung down to the ground.)

(We were already halfway down, so the fall wasn't fatal.)

(I jump across the pit the explosion created while I still have my momentum.)

(I land on the lower part of the stairs before falling down to Olivia and Ellegaard as well.)

(We couldn't waste time to realize the pain; we just stood up and continued running.)

Ellegaard: "The portal hurry!"

(While we were in the dome, the Wither Storm practically ate everyone who was outside.)

(And the still alive were running away hysterically.)

(They didn't even get a chance to get to the portal, as the Wither Storm had destroyed it.)

Olivia: "Oh no! What do we do?!"

Ellegaard: "I have some left over Obsidian. We can quickly rebuild it. You have flint and steel, right?!"

Jesse: "Yeah, just focus on getting to it first!"

(At that point in time, something trips me and I'm being lifted into the air.)

(This freaking creature! I pull out my sword and hysterically stab its arm to free myself.)

(After a few tries, it eventually gives up and I fall to the ground once more.)

(This is already the second time I've fallen on my face today.)

(Ugh... just a little bit further.)

Ellegaard: "Over here!"

(Olivia and Ellegaard were already at the portal; the portal frame was already completed.)

(all I needed to do now was cross the bridge to get to it, and we'll get through this.)

(A purple-ish beam suddenly appears and breaks apart the bridge.)

(Of course, it can't be that easy.)

(I jump over to the part that wasn't getting pulled up.)

(I'm almost there, but there was a gap between me and the others.)

(That part of the bridge was already gone.)

(There was no way around it.)

(I brace myself and jump across.)

(It looked like I would make it, but I didn't manage to perfectly touch the ground on the other side like I hoped too.)

(I almost fell down, If I wasn't able to barely grab the ledge in time.)

(Thankfully, the others were able to quickly pull me up.)

(I quickly light the portal and we go through it.)

(The last thing I saw before entering it was a wither skull flying straight towards us.)

(We finally reach the Nether, and just after I make it through, the portal suddenly breaks.)

(I'm guessing the Wither Storm destroyed it again.)

(It really wanted to make sure no more people would make it.)

Ellegaard: "M-My People... My... Redstonia."

Jesse: "There's no helping it. Everyone else is already gone. Just like what happened to EnderCon..."

(Ellegaard takes a moment to breath in.)

Jesse: "I didn't mean to sound harsh. It was just that... there's no way we could safely get everyone out now."

Ellegaard: "No... I don't blame you. The best we can do now is to stop this Wither Storm."

Olivia: "The others are back at the Order's temple; let's not waste time!"

(We nod.)

[To be continued...]