Bubbles SMP: Retold - Chapter One

Five - Baited

Jack approached the nether portal. He had a full set of enchanted netherite armour on, ready for any incoming ambush Bubbles could have for him. He nervously held his sword with both of his wings, as he looked into the deep, purple vortex.

The last time he came in here, he had retrieved his perfect pigstep disc. It was no fun place, and Jack wasn't happy about having to go back through it to save the same disc.

As he took a step forward towards it, someone quickly grabbed him by the shoulder. It made him jump slightly.

"Jesus, Jack. Are you that much of a pussy?" Aaron laughed.

Aaron was a classy businessman, always dressed up in a suit and tie. He owned a drug farm, which should be illegal, but nobody really cared enough to stop him. The drugs he made were good, which meant expensive. This made him tons of money. It was him who joined and funded the Diamond Isles' beacons.

He also owned a real estate on the Main Island, which unfortunately was caught up in the blast. Only half of it remained intact on the shore, with the rest completely destroyed. As a person, he was pretty cool. Positive, with a short fuse.

"Fuck off, Aaron." Jack sighed, recovering from the scare.

"Sorry, bro." Aaron grinned. "Anyway, mind telling me what the hell happened to this place?"

He pointed behind him, at the large pit that was now the Main Island. He wasn't present at the event. In fact, he didn't even know it was happening. Most of his drug farms were on mainland far away, so he wasn't around all the time.

Jack sighed. It would look suspicious if he didn't tell him, so he leaned against one of the fences outside Bubbles' empty house and began to explain the situation.

Far from them, Bubbles quickly shoved his stuff in chests outside of his new home in exile. The second nether portal took you to mainland. A massive spruce forest that went on for miles. Fortunately, the portal was on the outside of it, on a tiny island near the beaches.

Bubbles' house would take a little bit of effort to find. Instead of following the extremely long wooden path you are first greeted with when entering, go the opposite way. After following the beach for a minute or so, you'll see a fairly large grassy island. That's where he was living.

His new house was far from finished, but if all things today were to go right, he wouldn't have to build it alone.

He had his own large potato farm, and a pet cow too. He was called 'Mr MooMoo', and lived in the small pen near the unfinished house.

"Jukebox... jukebox..." Bubbles frantically searched through the temporary storage chests.

He pulled out a jukebox and pocketed it for later. He did the same with some cobblestone and enchanted golden apples. Then he grabbed some weakness potions from his brewing stands and looked around.

No sign of Jack at all yet. But he still needed to set up his trap. He grasped the music disc to ensure that he had it, and then quickly ran off. Between the nether portal and his island sat a miniature sandy island. Bubbles had his eyes on this spot in particular...

"Damn, what did he do all that for?" Aaron asked, after Jack had told him the story.

"Literally no reason. I kinda want to find out..." Jack scratched his head.

He had to try and make Aaron leave him alone so that he could go to Bubbles alone. He had the feeling that Bubbles wasn't going to give the disc up if Jack had backup.

"I wouldn't bother going near him. Seems like a weirdo. Must be because he's ginger..." Aaron laughed, walking off.

Jack, alone, finally stepped towards the portal, fairly prepared for anything that could face him...

An arrow suddenly thunked into the wall of the portal. Either the person who shot it was just really bad at aiming, or they were trying to stop Jack from entering.

"JACK!" Taylor barked at him.

Jack froze in place, he had never heard Taylor shout like that before. It was scary. Taylor jumped up infront of him, and blocked his path to the portal.

"You know about Bubbles being somewhere in there, don't you?" he asked, folding his arms.

"Yeah..." Jack mumbled, not able to look Taylor in the eyes.

"Look, lad. I hate him as much as everyone else does, but don't try to get revenge on him."

"I wasn't going to-"

Taylor grabbed him by the head and raised it up, so that they stared eachother down. Jack could feel Taylor's powerful eyes looking through his soul.

"I can tell when people lie, you know." Taylor mysteriously mumbled.

He let him go, and Jack stayed silent, unsure of what to say next.

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid, yeah?" Taylor asked, stepping out of his way.

Jack nodded, looking at his wary eyes. It felt as though he could see through his very being. He shivered at the thought and stepped through the portal.

"I'll probably just go and find him if he doesn't get back soon..." Taylor mumbled to himself.

Taylor looked out onto the ruined island and shook his head. It would have been wiser for him to stop Jack in his tracks completely. He prayed for his safety, and that nothing bad would happen to him.

"Good luck, Jack..."