The Sky is Not the Limit

Prologue

Author's Note: This was written over a year ago, and since that time I have grown quite a bit, so this is embarassing to read, honestly. It was originally posted on fanfiction, but I figured I might as well post it here too, so here ya go!

        Sky gazed out at his expansive stone castle from a balcony. The enormous building jut into the sky, appropriately; it was all his, and he had built it himself. Off in the distance, he could just make out another structure; his trusted friend and ally Ty's mansion. And glancing up at the clear night sky, he could see the moon, with a large base on it. That was the home of his other close friend, the space explorer Jason. The three of them had gone through thick and thin together to protect the peace in this world they all lived in, called Minecraft.

           Sky fingered at the golden amulet around his neck. It shimmered when monsters appeared, like his arch-enemies, the squids. With their square, blue bodies and eight tentacles, what could be more menacing? The squids had been out to get him from the very beginning, but as to why, he didn't know. All he did know was that all squids were leagued against him and his friends, and it was his duty to lead them into battle.

           Sky typically wore the same thing; all black clothes, black shades, red shoes, and a blue cape. As an independent adult of 21, he felt that it would take too much work to plan out a different outfit every day, when he could be using his time for mining or practicing his parkour skills.

           A squeak from behind him made him jump. It was Jason's pet, a bat named Dillon, wearing a space helmet.

           "Hey little dude, got some mail for me?" Dillon handed him a letter, and promptly flew back into the starlit night. Sky ripped open the envelope.

      Sky,

           I've been watching your neck of the woods from my telescope, and I'll just come out and say it; you've got company. There's been a high amount of squid activity by the river near your castle, so you might want to check it out. I'll be heading down there soon for an oxygen refill, so call if you need any help!

                   -MU

       ‘MU’ stood for Minecraft Universe, Jason’s code name. All three of them had made fake names for themselves, like Tyler, who sometimes went by Deadlox. Sky’s real name was Adam, but they preferred to call him Sky anyway.

           Sky sighed, and turned to go into the vault. "I guess I'll call Ty in the meantime." As he sorted through his boxes, he dialed his phone.

           "What's up Sky?"

           "Squid situation. You willing to back me up on this?"

           "Yeah, I'll be right over!" The phone clicked, and Sky found the chest with his swords. He had made many weapons in the past, including multiple diamond swords, but one shined brightest as his most prized possession; his budder sword. He only took it with him if he knew he'd be fighting off a multitude of squids--budder is strong and powerful against squids but breaks easily--so he settled for an iron sword for now. He then quickly left his castle and waited for his friend to arrive in the forest. The only sounds that were heard were the moans of some wayward zombies, but that didn't concern him at the moment.

           "Dang squids, made me come out here in the middle of the night..." Sky grumbled, leaning against a tree.

           "What are you griping about this time?" Ty asked, emerging from the forest with his usual outfit; a white t-shirt, gray pants and black shoes. His brown hair hung down over one of his eyes, and his typical microphone headset was casually propped on his head. Ty was one of Sky's first and closest friends, and extremely talented at parkour.

           "Nothing. You ready? This will just be a quick scan of the water."

           "It'd better be. We need to meet Jason out by the spaceship landing pad in the morning. He says that he's got a situation to talk to us about."

           The two trudged along towards the river, identical swords gleaming in the moonlight. As they approached, Ty cringed.

           "Oh gross! Do you smell that?"

           "Definitely squid. Should be around here somewhere." Sky checked the river surface for signs of the slimy aquatic things. All seemed normal though.

           "Don't see any over here. Maybe they were here earlier and left?" Ty suggested.

           Sky shrugged. "No, they're definitely here. My amulet is glowing and everything-"

           "Ah!" Ty slipped in a puddle of ink and landed on all fours. "Ow. Stupid squids…"  Laughing, Sky offered to help him up, but Ty suddenly froze. "Behind you!"

           Sky quickly turned, pulling out his sword out just in time to meet a squid who had hurled itself out of the water at him. Many others followed suit, splashing onto the bank and jumping on them.

"Hey Sky, whatcha doin?"

"Hey, hey, I'ma squid!"

Various voices arose from the mass of squids, in low, annoying tones.

There’s so many of them! Sky struggled to think of a plan. He then remembered the small stick of TNT he had taken with him. Making eye contact with Ty, he pointed to it. Ty nodded, and slashed himself free. The two made a mad dash for the forest, throwing the TNT behind them. Sky and Ty were thrown to the ground as it exploded, completely blowing away the area. Everything was quiet. Looking back, there was a large crater by the river, now filling up to make a pond.

       "You ok dude?" Ty asked, heaving.

           "Hardly. I've never seen them try anything like that before! Even at night!" Sky was not used to the squids having plans or strategy; in the past, they had been very stupid. But apparently things had been changing.

           "They must be getting smarter..." Ty determined, shaken.

           Sky gulped. The fact that his worst enemies were not only growing in numbers, but getting smarter, was making him nervous. Dialing his phone, he called Jason.

           "Jason, I'm startled."