Minecraft Story Mode: The Unknown Tales

Chapter 14: Doom

"Hold on, man!," hollered Ben, trying to catch up with his friend. "Slow down! You're going too fast!" Stephen stopped climbing and looked down at Ben, who looked like he was about to collapse any moment. "Hurry up, slowpoke!," he yelled impatiently. "Do you wanna get to the top or not?" "I do!," said Ben. "Just...*huff*...let me catch my breath."

Stephen huffed angrily but decided to let Ben rest, just because it was better than putting up with his whining. They stopped on a small ledge on the side of the mountain and sat there for a few minutes. Stephen took out a bucket of water and greedily drank from it. "You want some?," he asked, holding it out to Ben, who gratefully took it and drank his fill. Once they were done drinking, Stephen said, "Alright, you've had your water. Let's keep going."

"Just a sec," said Ben, leaning against the wall of the mountain and panting. "Just let me rest my legs." "Are you serious?," Stephen groaned, even though he was pretty tired himself. "Fine, but make it quick." As the two rested for a while, Ben asked Stephen why they were climbing the mountain in the first place. "I just told you five minutes ago," Stephen groaned. Ben had a terrible memory and needed to be constantly reminded of something in order for it to stick. "Look, this is the Mountain of Mojang, alright? And the stories say that some hermit lives up there and can grant people's wishes. We could both wish ourselves to get out of here and live ABOVE the bedrock for a change. Got it?" "Yeah," said Ben, nodding. "But...I thought nobody ever came back down." At least you can remember THAT, thought Stephen. "I know," he said, grinning. "That's why we're gonna be the first. Now come on."

They continued climbing the mountain, taking a few breaks here and there, until they finally reached the top. "We...*huff*...made it!," Stephen panted, sweat pouring down his face. Ben looked up at the massive storm cloud, which always hovered above the mountain, and felt a shiver crawl up his spine. "I don't know, Stephen," he said nervously. "I got a bad feeling about this place..." "You're having second thoughts NOW?," Stephen snapped. "Look, we've come too far to back out now. This is what we always dreamed about, remember? A chance to get out of this dump and live with the people above the bedrock! Besides, it's not like anything happened to us when we were climbing this mountain. There's nothing to be scared of, so stop being such a wuss!" Ben remained quiet, still looking unsure about continuing on.

Stephen rolled his eyes. "Fine! You can climb back down if you want. I'm getting my wish granted, with or without you." He headed towards the crumbling temple in front of them, not once looking back. Ben shifted his feet nervously, then ran after Stephen.

The two of them entered the temple, which had strange murals on the walls, writings that made no sense to the human eye, and statues strewn all over the place. "Geez, whoever lives here sure doesn't wanna clean up after himself," Stephen snarked. As they wandered deeper into the temple, Ben's anxiety began to skyrocket. The statues around them were each in different poses, but they all had the same terrified expressions on their faces. Not only that, they looked far too realistic to be crafted by human hands. "Stephen, we should turn back," he whispered, his voice beginning to quiver. "It's not too late to--" "Hold that thought," said Stephen, holding up his hand and staring straight ahead of him. "Looks like we got company."

Sitting in front of them was a bald man wearing a brown shirt and gray pants. He appeared to be meditating and mumbling alien words under his breath. "Hey!," said Stephen. "You...uh...you the Old Man of the Sky?" "I am," said the old man, turning to look at them. He had a black beard and eyes that twinkled. He also had a warm smile on his face that immediately put the two at ease. "You may call me by my real name, Notch."

Stephen and Ben stared at the old man in shock. "Notch?," asked Stephen. "Like, Notch Notch? Like, guy-who-everyone-worships-as-a-god Notch?" Notch chuckled warmly. "Yes, that's me," he said. "Have you both come here to have your wishes granted?"

"Hell yeah, we have!," Stephen exclaimed excitedly. His whole life led up to this moment. "Trust me, you have no idea how stoked we are right now! This is unbelievable! I mean...we're gonna have our wishes granted!" Ben, however, was far from excited. Something about this wasn't right. "Stephen...," he said nervously. "What?!," Stephen snapped, turning towards Ben. "Geez, is whining the only thing you can do?" "Stephen, this isn't right!," Ben hissed under his breath. "Look at the statues!" Stephen only gave the statues a passing glance. "So what?," he asked. "I can't just judge someone based on how they decorate their houses." "But Stephen!," Ben pleaded. "No!," Stephen yelled. "You know what? I'm not letting you ruin this for me! Here, I'll have my wish granted first, and you'll see that there's nothing to worry about!"

He turned back to Notch. "Alright, so how do we do this?," he asked. "Do we have to tell you our wishes first or do you already know them?" "I'm a wish granter, not a mind reader," said Notch, still smiling warmly. "What is your wish? Today just might be your lucky day."

Something about that last sentence made Ben even more anxious, but whatever it was, Stephen didn't seem to notice. "I wanna get out of here!," he declared. "I'm sick and tired of living under the bedrock. I wanna live up there, ABOVE the bedrock, where I could meet new people, see the oceans, and feel the sunlight on my skin!" Notch nodded in understanding. "That is a very easy wish to grant," he said. Suddenly, his eyes turned dark and serious, but his smile remained. It was one of the most unnerving things Ben had ever seen.

"Now I have one more question for you, and it's very important." He leaned in towards Stephen, looking him straight in the eye. "Is your reason for this wish a selfish or an unselfish one?" Stephen looked understandably confused by that question. "What do you mean?," he asked. "Your reason," Notch repeated. "What is your reason for wanting to live above the bedrock?" "...well, it's like I said," Stephen said unsurely. "I want to get out of this hellhole and live in a better place. That's really it." Notch nodded, pondering his answer. "And what about the people who are still trapped in the Underneath?," he asked.

Stephen snorted. "What about them?," he asked rhetorically. "This wish is for me and me alone. Everyone else can rot here for all I care." Ben, who had been silently listening this whole time, couldn't help but feel hurt by his friend's words. Stephen was usually impulsive with his words and didn't mean half the things he said, but did he really have to sound so harsh? "I understand," said Notch. "In other words...you want me to grant a SELFISH wish."

"I...guess?," said Stephen, not really liking how Notch worded that. "So...you're gonna grant it or not?" To his surprise, Notch shook his head. "I'll do something even better," he said. "I'll make you one with the mountain." Before Stephen or Ben could ask what he meant, Notch suddenly lunged forward with inhuman speed and grabbed onto Stephen's wrists. He must have had a very strong grip, because Stephen was suddenly screaming in pain and desperately trying to escape. Not only that, a layer of stone was creeping up Stephen's arms. Ben, paralyzed with fear, could only watch the spectacle in fear and awe.

The stone crept up to Stephen's shoulders, then his face and torso, then his legs and feet, covering every inch of his body. Finally, Notch let go of Stephen and stepped back to admire his handiwork. Now Stephen was just like all the other statues, an expression of pure horror on his face. Then, the mad god turned his attention to Ben.

Ben stood completely still, sweat pouring down his face. He felt like he was in the presence of an ancient and dangerous predator, searching for any weakness that he could exploit. "What about you?," Notch asked. "What's your wish?" Instead of responding, Ben cried out in fear and fled out of the temple. Notch sighed and shook his head goodnaturedly, then held out his hands to the thunderstorm above him...and the storm answered.

Just when Ben was preparing to climb back down the mountain, a single bolt of lightning, more powerful than anything in nature, shot out from above and struck him directly in the chest. The bolt was enough to completely incinerate him, leaving behind nothing but a few items and a smoking pile of ash. Notch chuckled to himself and sat down to meditate again.

"You've still got it, Notch," he murmured proudly. "You've still got it."