//------------------------------//
// Dawn of the Parasites 
// Story: Minecraft: A New Adventure 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Upon their return to the village there weren't a lot of things for Pinkie, Octavia, Steve, or Alex to do, rather they quickly made sure all of the Villagers were safe before Pinkie went to work outfitting the wall with all the Deepslate she had collected, or at least that would have been the case if she had been a normal Crafter. With her power to have an unlimited amount of each item that she collected, which was a lot at this point in time, and with her powerful pickaxe, Octavia knew that it wouldn't take her too long to update the outer edge of the wall. The Deepslate would help keep the Villagers safe from the monsters that prowled around on the ground, while Octavia's own additions ensured that flying enemies wouldn't be able to enter through the air, so this was purely to make sure their residence was safe from their enemies. The group waited for a time, watching Pinkie fly from place to place as she tore down the outermost portion of the wall before replacing it with the Deepslate she had gathered, while Steve and Alex told all of the Villagers what was going on, since they were interested in what she was doing.

Once that was done the group gathered their dragons, storing them away in their journals for now, before heading out for the portal area, where Pinkie quickly used the bed and disappeared, causing the others to join her as they warped over to the Lost Dimension, finding that no parasites were near their forest starting point.

"Well then, let's get this show on the road." Pinkie said, where she spread her wings for a moment, leaving the others to stay still as each one kept an eye out for any and all parasites that might come their way, since there was no telling whether or not the foul creatures would come bother them, "You'll know the signal when it happens."

Octavia nodded as Steve and Alex spread out, getting ready for what they were about to do, while she focused on the city for a time as she watched Pinkie fly around, carefully replacing certain blocks with the Catalysts she had experimented with not that long ago, all while the parasites didn't notice her yet.

My dear Octavia, it is so nice of you to come home. the Voice said, confirming that it must have been silent the entire time, observing them as they took down the Ender Dragon and all of the obstacles they discovered, or maybe it had simply gone away for a time and was only now coming back after feeling her return to this dimension, Tell me, have you finally decided to stop playing this game with us and fulfill your destiny? We'll even spare your friends, especially the annoying one whose currently messing up everything...

No, I'm not here to join you... it's like I said in the past, I'll never join you or call on your power, despite the accident that happened against the Wither. Octavia replied, finding that Pinkie was doing everything in her power to set up the trap she had come up with, which confirmed that the Voice must have been disconnected from her for some time, otherwise she was sure it would know what was coming it's way and would have prepared for it, Pinkie's just having a bit of fun, and then we'll be on our way.

If she's having 'fun', then why are you three here? the Voice asked, which was great that it's attention was on her and not on what blocks Pinkie was using right now, otherwise she had a feeling that it would have figured everything out within a few seconds, but she remained silent as the phantom parasite spoke to her, It would make sense if you were here to fight us, but if it's just to let the annoying one have 'fun' you could have remained in the Overworld, studying your tome while we spoke about many topics, not to mention the knowledge we could give you.

While that is interesting, I have other plans right now. Octavia replied, indicating that she had other things she wanted to do right now, mostly to confuse the Voice into thinking that they were here to support Pinkie by watching her, from what seemed like a safe distance, though as she thought about all of that she discovered their friend flying into the sky for a few seconds, meaning the first stage must have been completed.

As the Voice started to reply, to make a comment on things, Pinkie gathered her power and loosed a burst of flames down on one of the streets she had placed several of the Catalysts along, burning a good number of the small parasites in the process, before Octavia smiled as the Experience was absorbed by the new blocks and the Sculk started to spread around where the chosen Catalysts had been placed.

"That's the signal. Let's move." Steve said, where he and Alex called out their Morocks and took to the skies once more, as it allowed both of them to spread out and rain death upon the parasites that called this foul dimension home, while Octavia did the same thing with her own Morock.

Sure enough when the three of them separated from each other, to cover more ground so they could increase the spread of the Sculk, Steve and Alex rained arrows down on them, occasionally dropping low to swing at the flying parasites, while Octavia just gathered her magic for a moment and hurled larger fireballs down at her targets.

Wha... What is this material? the voice asked, confirming that it had no idea what was going on right now, which was a good thing since it would ruin the surprise and alert the Admins to what was going on, and Octavia could practically feel it's uneasy and worry, as if it knew something bad was happening in it's domain, Stop it! You fools are making it spread all over the place!

That's the point! Octavia replied, in fact she almost shouted it as she loosed a volley of bolts made of fire down on the group of parasites she happened to be targeting, watching them burn to death as the Sculk sucked in their Experience to spread even further, covering more of the city as the seconds ticked by.

My Queen, I don't understand... why would you want this? the Voice asked, though at the same time Octavia found a number of small Beckons, the small black flower trees, growing all over the ruined city, while those that had been left by her and Pinkie, during their previous visits, grew taller and thicker, likely going up a stage as they produced more toxic air that allowed the pollution of the parasites to spread.

Octavia started to reply when something caught her eye, some of the Sculk blocks started to transform, some of them becoming the sensory types that reacted to whenever someone or something moved nearby, while others were twisted into the block that summoned the Warden. Such a thing was followed by what she was expecting to happen, the shrieking blocks let out a harrowing cry that caused even the parasites to stop in their tracks, as they seemed confused as to what in the world was going on, before Octavia smiled as she watched the ground shudder. Not a few moments later she watched as the Warden pulled itself from the ground and entered the Lost Dimension, something that caused the parasite to pause for a moment, no doubt taken aback by it's appearance and the fact that it was tied to the new material Octavia and the others brought to this realm. When one of the parasites made a sound, over, that was when things got started as Pinkie, Octavia, Steve, and Alex watched as the Warden rushed at the poor creature and crushed it with a single swing of it's fist, just like what happened when they first discovered it, which forced the other parasites into action.

As Octavia and the others gathered on one of the roofs, to observe their handiwork, the unknown aspect of her plan, as in an aspect of the Sculk she didn't understand with her limited testing, became known to everyone, the Sculk realized that there were more enemies in the surrounding area and more Wardens erupted to fight the parasites.

"No way... more than one of those things can appear from the Sculk?!" Alex remarked, as she was surprised by this piece of information, mostly because none of them had seen it happen during their time in the Ancient City, plus Octavia hadn't seen in during her own investigations.

"It would seem so." Steve stated, though he couldn't believe his eyes either, that they were seeing multiple Wardens in the same location, though he guessed that all of the Experience that had been absorbed by the Sculk must have allowed such a thing to happen in the first place, how he had no idea and he wasn't about to question it.

"You have to admit that this is a good thing: against one Warden the parasites might, eventually, win," Octavia said, as she had been considering things while they were observing the battle that was taking place before their eyes, where it was far too easy to see that the parasites were starting to lose this encounter, before a grin appeared on her face as she thought about what was going on, "against an army of Wardens, however, this dimension doesn't stand a chance... and that's not counting whatever else might be connected to the Sculk."

"I hope the Warden's the only thing that's linked to this material." Alex commented, all while noting that Pinkie didn't seem all too worried about this development, rather she was accepting it and the consequences of their actions, especially since this seemed to be the place they would have to fight one of the Admins toys in at some point.

Once the discussion was over the group resumed harassing the parasites, only now they had to deal with the Wardens, as a single sonic blast would wipe out their Morocks or knock Pinkie out of the air, so everyone had to be careful in how each of them attacked their targets. While they did that Pinkie noticed something interesting, the Beckons were moving, as the larger ones seemed to retreat from the front lines and moved deeper in the city, while all of the smaller ones stayed near the Sculk and summoned more foot soldiers to deal with the Wardens. Octavia studied that development as well, all while loosing shards of ice at her targets to slow down or wipe out some of the parasites, though she was more interested in the evolution that the parasites were going through, as one of the Beckons grew even larger, gaining a green bulb inside what could be the head. She had a feeling that the Beckons were connected to something far larger than they realized, based on what she and the others were seeing right now, especially since she could see that the parasites were gathering in one spot, likely to create something terrifying to even the odds against the Sculk.

Sure enough she found that a new Beckon emerged as several lower class Beckons were torn down, suffering death at the hands of the sonic blast from one of the Wardens, the newcomer being massive in size, like ten blocks tall, and it had four tendrils attached to the green head, allowing it to corrupt more as lightning flashed in the darkening sky and parts of the ground around it turned dark, not Sculk like at all.

So, you were capable of twisting the land as well. Octavia remarked, though as she conversed with the Voice she did find something that was slightly worrying, the parasites that were struck by lightning evolved into more monstrous forms and, more importantly, a two armed monster that was capable of wrecking all sorts of blocks with it's arms, which served to induce an increase in the Sculk's production.

Yes... not that it matters, as we are fighting a losing battle. the Voice replied, where Octavia found that it was odd that it would say this, as she expected it to offer something, anything, in the hopes of her being able to call off the Wardens she and the others had brought to this domain, Even with Oronco and Terla, I don't know if we can win.

Octavia had no idea who the Voice was talking about, since she wasn't well versed in the parasite's leaders, but before she could say anything she felt the air shudder, which was followed by a tear in reality appearing as a massive parasite slowly emerged from it, a four legged being, whose legs ended in hooves, who looked more equine than everything else. It also possessed six large tendrils, located near it's front shoulders, though it had no head and no tail to speak of, though at the same time Octavia knew it was dangerous, being an ancient being that had to be one of the two the Voice talked about, as in the Overlord. In addition to that part of the sky opened and a floating parasite appeared in the air above them, one who had six tendrils as well as a massive mouth, split into four sections, though while it was a few blocks smaller than the first one she knew that it was equally as dangerous. This beast had to be a Dreadnaut of some kind, an imposing beast like the Overlord, though in the following moment a humanoid figure emerged from the rift, possessing six tendrils coming out of it's back like the other two, though it seemed to be wearing a hood to cover it's body.

Despite that fact Octavia knew what was going on, the Voice had decided to manifest himself and his comrades, likely the first of the parasites since they were the ancient ones, and while it seemed like things were tipping in the parasite's favor she knew that such a thing wouldn't be the case for too long.

The Sculk responded to the danger as every block of it vibrated before their eyes, as if the material realized that something far stronger than the parasites they were currently fighting had appeared, though that didn't stop the Wardens from using their sonic blasts to wipe out the weaker enemies. A few seconds later a new monster emerged from some of the Sculk, as in a worm like creature, three blocks wide by Octavia's count, that burst out of the material and quickly wrapped around the body of the Overlord without wasting time. In that moment she understood what was going on, there was more to the Sculk than what she and the others realized, and the worm was currently engaged with the Overlord as it smashed into a building for a moment, showing that it had to be a powerful monster as well. As that happened another serpent creature emerged from another patch of Sculk, flour blocks in width while having a coiled body that was different than the worm, in fact she was sure that the material had made black scales, a serpent dragon, which wrapped around the Dreadnaut and tore into it with it's sharpened teeth, causing the parasite to moan in pain.

Octavia tracked down the Voice as it landed on one of the buildings, where she did so as well and found that it seemed to be watching the scene unfold before it's eyes, if it had eyes since it was impossible to tell, where the Wardens laid waste to the ground parasites, the Sculk absorbed the other corrupted land, the worm crushed the Overlord, and the serpent tore the Dreadnaut out of the air.

It didn't have to be this way... we could have changed the dimensions and, more importantly, we could have taken care of Pandora, before she made her move. the Voice said, sounding resigned as it watched the Sculk tear into the parasites like they were nothing, in fact the Wardens blasted some of the weaker ones apart with their sonic blasts, especially when it took into consideration the other monsters that had appeared, before it turned it's head towards Octavia, Instead, you came back with this madness... we never stood a chance.

The Voice sighed as it's magical energy escaped from it's body, condensing into a black staff in front of Octavia, which had a silver tendril wrapped around the handle and a golden eye at the top, before the figure shrunk as a red slit appeared in the eye, where the Voice turned back to the scene in front of it.

We have failed Herobrine... and soon this dimension will be covered by the Sculk. the Voice continued, where she found that it was far weaker than she originally thought, in fact it sounded exhausted after everything it went through before this point, and she could see that it's tendrils were breaking apart before her eyes, Take my magic... you'll need it if you stay on this dark path.

Octavia said nothing as she grasped the staff, finding that it was powerful indeed, causing the Voice to drop down into the battlefield, where she and the others watched as it, the Overlord, and the Dreadnaut were crushed by the Sculk's forces, in no time at all, and with that done the group decided to leave for the time being, to rest and turn their attention on the foe that was still wandering around the Overworld.