Okay, this will be the last pig, I promise.

Rubbing his head, Wels looked up from where he had landed. Well, landed was an overstatement. More like fell very ungracefully. 

The world Wels had plopped down in was unfamiliar, even though it was where he used to live. A flattened island stretched for a few yards before it hit an expanse of ocean, for which there seemed to be no end. The only object of interest was the glowing purple portal in the center of the island. 

How am I supposed to find the other stones if I can't even find one person? Wels glanced back at where he had came from, wishing he had had the wits to bring himself an elytra. Shrugging his shoulders, Wels stepped through the portal.

The portal was an interdimensional gateway, to get from one point to the other quickly. When a portal was created, it created a tiny path through the actual dimension, leaving the rest of it untouched. This was a nether portal, which meant that it only scraped the tiniest bit off of the expanse of the hellish Nether. The same went for the End, though no one knew why there was always a dragon there.

Is this it? A tiny room surrounded the Nether portal, the walls made of the warm netherack. A single pathway went as far as the eye could see, the red mist clouding the distance. Had everyone deserted this world?

A man of his word, Wels started the long trek through the suffocating heat of the Nether, pausing once to stay hydrated. He didn't know how long this tunnel was, but it was of the most importance that he find the end of it. Otherwise, he didn't know what would happen.

Sweat trickled down his forehead, making him wish that he had brought ice. The Nether was very unforgiving to those who didn't live there, or those without a heat tolerance. Tango, Wels' old friend, was from the Nether and could live without water or cool weather. In fact, Tango had to build a base with tons of heat because the cooler weather of the Overworld dimension hurt him.

The walls started to swim together as Wels continued to lose moisture. There looked like there was water on the floor, but Wels knew better. He was hallucinating, and he wasn't going to race to find that there was no water at all. However, the water continued to get closer and closer, a very rich blue. Hallucinations didn't get closer or deeper in color.

Wels tossed aside all common sense, water couldn't be in the Nether, and ran towards it. Sadly, no water greeted him, but a sign of civilization did. A massive map lay in front of him, each block corresponding with its dimensional counterpart, but on a smaller scale. Various portals were scattered across the area, labeled respectively.

Where was the best place to start? One of the Hermit's bases, or one of the main areas? Wels deduced that the most activity would be in the shopping district, and at the very least he could get an elytra. 

The shopping district portal was slightly larger than the others, and it had strange engravings in it. Protection engravings. Clearly they were trying to keep something out. Or someone. The engravings weren't meant to keep Wels out, because a moment later he was back in the cool Overworld.

A small stream trickled past and Wels leaped to it, splashing himself and drinking the precious liquid. He had forgotten how deadly Nether travel was when one was unequipped.

"Well, I haven't seen you in a while."

Wels look up suddenly to see False standing before him. She hadn't changed much, still preferring the function over fashion look. Her goggles lay on her head, waiting to be used. As Wels remembered the days back when he lived here, he noticed False's look of impatience, reminding him that patience wasn't her deal.

"I've been busy." He smoothed back his shaggy hair as he stood up to his full height, about five inches taller than False.

"I can tell."

It certainly wasn't the greeting Wels was hoping for, but it would have to suffice in the time of need. "Where is Xisuma?" Wels decided that the admin would be the best shot for finding the stones. All he knew was that only the Hermits owned the stones.

"So you just barge in here, after being gone for two years and not telling us, and you just want to see Xisuma?" False looked at him, wondering how much he had changed.

"There is trouble."

"There is always trouble. Are you only going to come here when there is trouble? Are you Wels Trouble Knight now?" Hurt edged every single one of False's words, making the meaning sink into Wels skin.

"I'm sorry." Wels jumped back a little as False gave him a hug. She was crying a little, and when she let go, she had sniffles.

"It's not just you...." False dried her eyes. "Grian is gone, and so are all the spectators."

Wels gasped when he heard that Grian was gone. "What happened?"

False pointed south, towards the ocean. "Xisuma and Mumbo are the best people to tell you that. They are at Mumbo's base. It's a giant white orb, you can't miss it."

Wels nodded and started to walk there when he was stopped by a hand on his arm. When he looked back, False was holding an elytra and some rockets. He got the meaning and put the wings on, relishing the feeling of the electricity spreading across the feathers as neuron connections were made.

Tinted gold, and now fully under Wels' control, the wings spread and let Wels fly towards Mumbo base.

(<_-=+=-_>)

The sun was setting, letting its dying rays cascade across the concrete and glass of Mumbo's orb. Seven people stood on one of the outstretched branches that made a platform. Serious discussion was being produced as no one cracked a smile or a joke. Not even Jabbar, who was usually full of life and jokes, broke the seriousness of the mood. The one wearing an oxygen mask and a visor was talking, and everyone was paying very close attention to him.

"We will need to go the other dimensions to find the stones, and that won't be easy."

Mumbo didn't really want to ask why, but everyone else seemed to know why, and Mumbo really wanted to know. So he cleared his throat and asked the question hammering at his brain.

"Don't we already go through the dimensions on a day to day basis?"

"Sort of..." Xisuma glanced back at Cassisus before he continued. "We only scratch the surface of the dimension when we travel across the Nether or the End. In order to get to the actual dimension, we will need a dimensional stone for each respective dimension, Aether, Nether, Cavern, and End. The Master Coder will be in the End Dimension."

Mumbo nodded, though he didn't quite get the explanation and judging by the expression of befuddlement on Iskall's face, he didn't quite get it either.

"Why does everything have to rely on some sort of stone?" Jabbar tilted his head.

Cassius responded when Xisuma nudged his more muscular brother. "The stones are what make the dimensions stay together. Otherwise they would implode on themselves, making us non-existent."

A firework could be heard off in the distance and Xequla turned his head towards the sound. "Right on time."

Iskall raised his eyebrow. "Were you expecting someone?"

Everyone turned to look as Wels flew in, looking very different from the last time they saw him. A scar traced its way down from his jaw to his chest, vanishing into the shirt he was wearing. He looked like a war hardened man to Mumbo, and when he compared Wels to Xequla, they had that same feeling.

"I heard that you needed a dimensional stone?" Wels looked directly at Xisuma, but had to lower his head a tiny bit. Without Grian being the shortest person, Xisuma ended up pretty small compared to everyone else. He also had as much muscle as Mumbo, which wasn't saying much.

"Yes?" Xisuma didn't seem to mind the height difference. "I don't suppose you could help?"

Wels nodded and pulled out a ruby, the sign of a Nether Dimensional stone. "But first, you need to tell me what's happened."

Mumbo closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, trying not to think about it. He would let Iskall fill Wels in. There was no way he could take this, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out. Already he felt any emotion he had before being slowly drained away from his body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wels lowered his head in respect after hearing the story. He was surprised Mumbo was still here. This was the second person he had lost, and it was surely weighing down on him.

"So we have to find Tango now, right?"

Xequla nodded, eyes dropping to the stone. "I sense that there will be someone else there that one of us needs to see."

No one said anything, but they were all wondering who that person could be. Wels held out his hand with the stone in it and instructed everyone to lay a hand on it. Once that was done, the stone dissipated and shot red beams everywhere. It created a small black hole sucking everyone inside. After they had disappeared, it popped out of existence, leaving them to find their way through the Nether.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, that was interesting to write. It is currently 39 degrees outside and its freezing inside. For some reason, my blood won't completely go to my hands, making the muscles very weak. So that took longer to write than I expected.

Anyway, I'm sure you have tons of questions, so I probably should get my fingers typing a frenzy so that I can answer them.

Love you all!

-Buurn