Veil of Shadows

Chapter 1. And There Were Five

"Attention Hero Squad! Report to Notch's Private Quarters in one hour!" A voice blasted over the intercom. Ranger looked up at it and yelled back "You're right next to us, Dan! It's not necessary to use that eardrum-destroyer!"

The voice replied "Sorry. I just never get to use this thing." Then there was the sound of frustrated muttering as the dejected Youtuber walked out of the room.

Toxic glanced at Wolf and asked "So, what do you think Notch wants now?" Wolf thought a moment, then began to speak.

"Maybe a new villain has arisen, and he probably wants us to get rid of them." She said. Ranger asked "Who do you think it is? Certainly not Herobrine. It must be somebody else." Toxic nodded.

"Why not make a list of all possible villains while we wait for an hour to pass?" Dave suggested. Ranger agreed "Sounds like a reasonable idea. How about Steel?" Dave quickly scribbled down the name.

Steel was pretty much insane. They had recently dealt with him, as he captured Minecraftian officials and locked them in iron cages, claiming they were evil chickens in disguise.

"Spike?" Wolf suggested. Spike was a thief they had dealt with long ago. He used spikes to injure travelers and their horses along important trade routes, then steal anything of value.

This system worked well...until Wolf went undercover as a gold trader.

Then it did not work well.

At all.

He did not have a fun day.

Dave scribbled the name down on the sheet. Then Toxic said "What about Israphel?" At the name, several people shivered almost imperceptibly. Israphel was a dark lord, a monster, a thief, and a griefer all combined into one.

He looked like a white creeper with red eyes, dressed in a black-grey suit and pants He performed evil deeds for the sake of doing evil. He had no ulterior motive other than to cause destruction.

He would not be fun to fight.

Dave scribbled down his name nonetheless. This continued on until they had fifteen names written. Then, Ranger shouted "We have to get to Notch's quarters in two minutes!"

Wolf said "Don't worry, I can teleport us there." Then she flicked her wrist, and they were gone. They reappeared in Notch's room. "I could have teleported us." Ranger grumbled.

Notch greeted each of them by name. "Toxic. Wolf. Ranger. Blaze. Pro. Dave. Steph." Each of them flipped back the cowls of their black cloaks and lowered their heads respectfully.

At first, Toxic had an issue with this, but eventually she agreed to it. Wolf stepped forward and asked "Why have you summoned us?" Notch glanced at her, then gave an amused grin. "So are you the unofficial leader now?"

Wolf shrugged. "I guess I'm more powerful." There were simultaneous protests from everyone. "Oh, be quiet. I'm just messing with you." She said.

Notch cleared his throat and the eight cloaked figures brought their attention back to him. "Thank you." He said. "Now, if you may allow me to continue-" He paused, waiting for somebody to interrupt.

Nobody did, and he continued on "-I have an important announcement to make." The Hero Squad edged forward, eager to hear the news he was about to share.

"An unknown rebel King has been spotted massing an army in the northeast portion of Minecraftia. I fear their numbers may be too great for even you to handle. And so, accordingly, I have assigned each of you an apprentice to train as a Hero Squad member.