The Prophecy of Escapecraft - Y u so new post?

[Iron_Fang]

The Collective is a group of filmmakers, photographers, and mountain bikers. lol

[Skunk_Giant]

Right now Sti, you're in Escapia. The last big story thing for you was returning from New Central.

[Sti_Jo_Lew]

Oh, I returned? Thought I was on a ship or something.

[aeroeng15]

I am in favor of finding the Armed Forces

[Skunk_Giant]

Oh, I returned? Thought I was on a ship or something.

Actually, come to think of it, you're in prison. After you arrived back and it was confirmed that you were at the Battle of Seahaven, you were arrested. The prison is one of the few places that's still controlled by Escapian loyalists. You could always try convincing the guards to let you out so you can help fight the rebels.
OR, you can try escaping.
Or you could just sit it out.

[random980]

Now things make sense
Probably could have used a point of view from someone who opposed CUT from the start to help show the negative influence of the empire's actions over time. Otherwise despite all the previous confusion the story is great and im excited for more updates!

[Skunk_Giant]

Iron and Inv, Escapia's greatest warriors had finally come together, and there was no way either of them would be beaten by this imposter. Nor would either of them let the other one be the hero.
The two Escapians held each other's paces, but it was only a matter of time before LS outran them. When they were finally sure they had lost him, they both stopped for a breath.
"That was your fault," Iron spat.
"MY FAULT? You're the one that had to follow me! You slowed me down."
"Oh, I'm sorry for trying to help you and make sure you don't get yourself killed!"
"Derek and I were ju-"
"Wait!" Iron whispered. He lifted his finger to his mouth in a 'Shh' manner.
"What?" Inv whispered back.
A large bush rustled.
Iron pointed his sword to the right of the bush, gesturing for Inv to go around and surround it. Inv nodded. He signalled with his fingers.
'3...'
'2...'
'1...'
The two rushed towards the bush, screaming, but their screams were joined by a third, more afraid one.
"DON'T KILL ME!" Derek yelled. "I didn't run away! I just... tripped. And fell. Over here."

After the majority of the fire had burnt out, Foxes led the group to Futuria's shores where - as hoped - a final, small boat awaited Glitch. They got in and began rowing in silence, nobody wanting to discuss what had just happened. They reached Spy's ship quickly and were given permission to board it, so long as they were ready to fight. The Escapian ships were still aiding Walker's ships against the Agents, and Foxes had no issues agreeing to help.
"Spy," Foxes called out as the Leader rushed across the deck.
"No time!" Spy yelled in response, rushing past her.
"Spy, give me an order. Tell me to board one of their ships or something. Anything."
"Here's a bloody order, find LS!" Spy yelled.
"LS... wait... he's missing?" Foxes asked. "Spy, I don't think LS was ever on this ship."

"Take Derek back to the ship," Inv ordered. "I'll keep looking for the imposter!"
"Yeah, nice try," replied Iron. "Why should I be the one to take him back?"
Inv turned and stood inches away from his ally. "Because I said so."
"Yeah? Well I say no."
"Uh, guys?" Derek finally spoke up. "We're not alone. Here I mean. There's a bunch of people over there," he said, pointing across the beach.
"Crap!" Inv grabbed Derek and leaped behind a rock, Iron doing the same.
"You think they're with the imposter?" Iron asked.
Inv peered around the rock. "They've got a damn big ship, and it's not being fired on by our guys or Walker's... I'd say they're with Walker."
"So they're allies?" Iron asked.
"Let's not jump to conclusions. What are they doing here in the first place?" Inv peered around again. "What the hell? They're luring a bunch of zombies onto their ship! And other Creatures too! Wait, there's another ship landing here!" He kept looking for a few minutes. "They're luring a bunch of creepers into the second ship! These guys are nuts! We've gotta tell Spy!"
"What about the imposter?"
"We've lost him now. We'll get him later. For now, the Escapian fleet's at risk."

Zin sighed, looking to the burning village in the distance. "Alright LS. We'll go. But be careful."
The two approached the village and watched from a safe distance. "Do you see anyone?" LS asked.
"Nope... You'd think they'd be rounding up prisoners..." Zin commented.
"Unless they don't take prisoners."
"Wait," Zin whispered after a while. "Two armed men, behind the markets. They're fighting Creatures."
LS and Zin watched quietly as the two men expertly dropped each of the Creatures. Finally, they each took some flint and steel and began lighting the markets up.
"What the hell? Griefers?" LS suggested.
"Griefers don't risk fighting Creatures. Not that many anyway."
"Why are there Creatures there anyway? You'd think the town walls would keep them out."
"I wouldn't be so sure... The walls seem to have eroded. Look, there are entries everywhere. It's like... the town's abandoned."
"Then what are Griefers doing there? Looting?"
"Maybe... but that doesn't explain burning the place down."
"Let's go closer."
"If the place is abandoned, there's no reason to intervene. There aren't any lives to save," said Zin.
"But maybe we can interrogate those guys about what they're doing."
"No, LS! Enough sidetracking our mission. I'm not going in there. If you want to, be my guest."

Spy was shocked. "So the whole time he was on this ship... He was a Griefer? An imposter? It wasn't the real LS?"
"I don't believe so, Sir," Foxes said sadly.
"And Glitch is dead?"
"Killed by that thing..."
"Sounds like what Sti dealt with in New Central. Reports all around Craftmine are referring to it as the Collective."
"Whatever it is, it's dangerous."
"And Daemon?"
Foxes nodded solemnly.
"SIR!" Iron and Inv yelled in unison, boarding the ship. The two spoke madly over the top of each other before Spy finally quietened both of them.
"I didn't get a word of that, and since I don't think either of you will let the other speak, I'm going to ask Derek to tell me whatever it is you need to tell me."
Derek took a step back, horrified that the attention was on him. "I uh. Um. Inv did it."
Inv pushed Derek aside. "Walker, he's dangerous, just like I said. His guys are down their collecting Creatures. They're getting ships filled with them."
"Creatures? Why?"
"Why don't you ask him?"
Spy sat down and thought. "We can't tell him we know this. We don't want to make him an enemy. Not yet anyway. The storm's so powerful and we're cut off from home. We're just too vulnerable to fight both fleets now. Inv, Iron, come with me. We're telling Walker we just can't keep up the fight. If he tries anything, I want the two of you next to me. Foxes, you too."
Foxes nodded as Spy signalled for Walker to give the four permission to board.

Back in Escapia, Aero awoke to a low groaning. Groggily, he looked around. It was still dark, probably early in the morning. The homeless around him slept soundly, but the groaning wasn't snoring.
Suddenly, something rough grabbed the back of his neck. "AAH!" he yelled, throwing his arm back. He rolled forward and turned to see a zombie trudging after him. With no weapon, Aero reached down to the ground and picked up a stick, which he stabbed through the zombie's eye.
"Was that... a zombie?" Tyrese asked, now awake.
"You're damn right it was! A zombie! In our residential areas! These rebels don't know how to keep us safe!"
By now, the entire camp had woken up. "Well maybe it was just a one-off," Robi suggested.
"You don't get one-offs. There's some sort of entrance that the rebels aren't guarding. There could be hundreds of these thins in the empire!" Tyrese yelled. "I think it's settled. We need to get the army and navy back here. We need Spy to lead them against the rebels!"
"And risk the storm?" Random asked. "I'll stay behind, thanks."
"We wait until the storm passes, then we get them back," Tyrese suggested.
"Wait until it passes? Those seas are always rough around this time of year. It could be months before they can come back with no risk," said Aero.
"So what? We do nothing?"
"No, we accept the risks. I say we go tomorrow. They can make it through the storm-"
"But we can't guarantee there won't be any losses!" said Robi.
"We have to accept losses!" Aero yelled. "The Empire has fallen! Every man and woman that fights for Escapia is willing to sacrifice everything for their Empire. They have to be."
"I'm sorry guys, but I can't do this. I've got my own problems to deal with. You go if you want, and good luck, but you can count me out."
"Tyrese? Robi?"
"I'm in," said Robi. "Whatever the rebels thought they were fighting for is over now. Sneaky's leading them down the wrong path."
"Tyrese?"

"Walker, I'm afraid I can no longer commit by fleet to this fight," Spy said.
Walker thought for a moment, hand gripping his sword. "And why is that, Sir?"
"We came to Futuria in search of a man named SuperGlitch. My sources tell me he has been killed."
Walker's crew erupted with cheers, while Walker himself remained quiet. "So you're just going to leave now?"
"There's no reason for us to stay."
"These Agents, Glitch's men, they are a threat to your empire! Your em-"
"Yes, MY empire. Not yours. Which makes me wonder, Walker, why exactly you care so much about stopping these Agents."
"We have our own business here," Walker said. "But we share the same enemy, I can promise you that."
"Your own business?" Inv asked. "So like-"
"Invun..." Spy said quietly, warning the soldier to stop.
"Like collecting Creatures?" Inv asked.
"Collecting Creatures?" Walker laughed. "That sounds rather stupid to me."
"Then why the hell are you doing it?" Iron demanded.
"What you think you saw means nothing!" Walker yelled. He turned to Spy. "We are in a battle, Spy, and I would advise you to see it to the finish. These Agents are dangerous."
"He's right," said Foxes. "They're dangerous people. They held me prisoner. They're the ones who burnt down Futuria."
"I'm not debating their threat," Spy said calmly. "I'm just debating Walker's."
"You think I'm a threat to you? Well, maybe I am, Spy. But you wont know unless you cross me, will you?"
"I'm done here," said Spy. He turned around and left, Foxes, Inv and Iron following him. "Foxes, fly around our ships. Make sure each captain knows we're leaving."
"While the Agents are still out there?" she asked.
"Now!" Foxes immediately flew off the ship. "Iron, Inv, get back to your ships. Be prepared to fight the Agents. And anyone else that tries to stop us." Iron and Inv nodded and made their ways to the boarding boat. "And you," Spy turned back to Walker. "I don't know what you want. I don't know who you're working for. But if I see you near my empire. If I see you near my ships, or my men. If I see you near my soil, you will find out how I deal with threats. First hand."
"Was that itself not a threat, Spy?"
"Goodbye, Walker."

Wokka sat silently in his locked room. He was ready.
He had thought for quite a long time, but now it was time. Mountbatten chose to surrender, to go along with Sneaky's game. Wokka refused to.
Yes, it was time.
With that final thought, Wokka used a small amount of power to blast a hole in the roof. Then, using all his power, he flew out at full speed and began flying across oceans.
To nowhere in particular.

LS
a) Go question the strangers
b) Continue to Mojang HQ

Tyrese (and anyone else that wants to)
a) Prepare to leave tomorrow
b) Stay in Escapia

[TyrasEngineer]

Prepare to move!

[RobipodSupreme]

I stand with the Trays!!!!

[Sti_Jo_Lew]

I shall sit in jail, and play poker with the guards.

[Invunarble]

Derek! This is all your fault!

[random980]

If anyone chooses to stay behind and are questionable of the recent turn of events, i could use your help, i rather think the solution to our empire problem lies at home amongst us, rather than in a fleet who are trapped in Futuria, with Walker, Derek and by a massive storm and raging seas...

[Victini998]

I won't stand for what Sneaky is making me do! :l And who says I'm not good at PvP?

[Skunk_Giant]

I won't stand for what Sneaky is making me do! :l And who says I'm not good at PvP?

You don't know that Sneaky has betrayed the others. As far as you know, Sneaky is just taking his power back.
And who DID say you weren't good at PvP?

[Sti_Jo_Lew]

< most useless character in all of Escapia. So far I've managed to get knocked out, captured, broken out, then captured again.

Sti_Jo_Lew, Master of Jailhouse Cards.

[Invunarble]

< most useless character in all of Escapia

Hey, c'mon now, who would be there to buy Leprosyville if you weren't around?

[LS13]

I'll continue on to mojang

[Skunk_Giant]

< most useless character in all of Escapia. So far I've managed to get knocked out, captured, broken out, then captured again.

Sti_Jo_Lew, Master of Jailhouse Cards.

I dunno about most useless.
I mean, YOU were the one that made first recorded contact with... the guy... that nobody knows anything about yet... Yeah, alright, maybe that doesn't count for anything. But you DID fight for Seahaven... which got promptly burnt to the ground by a Griefer in the form of Zin and the Escapian army... But you WERE at New Central when it got bombarded by a bunch of Agents... who we still know next to nothing about...
Well...
It's never too late!
But seriously, do you wanna do anything?


This goes to everyone, not just you Sti. Just because you don't have a choice to make in the post, doesn't mean you can't choose what your character does. If your character is just sitting around in Escapia, or you think your character would be on one of the ships at Futuria or something, you can say "I would like to do ____."
In your case Sti, you could for example try and break out. Or, since the prison guards are still loyal to Mountbatten and Wokka, you could try and convince them to let you help fight the rebels.
Then, if you get out, you could aid either side, or you could investigate (like what Random's doing), or aid those heading for Spy's soldiers at Futuria, or simply draw circles in the dirt over and over for absolutely no reason.
The possibilities are endless (to an extent)!

[Spyboticsguy]

We must go home to make sure the plan is proceeding correctly.

Then, deploy brilliant theory #2.

[Sti_Jo_Lew]

Yeah sure, I'll go ahead and have chat with the guards. All Hail Wokka/Mountbatten and such.

[Skunk_Giant]

Time passed, and life at Escapia became near routine.
The Escapians would wake up at the same time each morning to the sound of rebel yells and would then move to their jobs. Some would smelt weapons, others would reinforce the Empire's walls. They worked for money, and the rebels explained that this was a good thing. Employment was rising and the Escapians could get back to normal life.
But many knew. If you refused to work, if you threw your hammer down, you would disappear. The rebels weren't in favour of executions, but banishment was always open. Rumour had spread that Wokka himself was banished, while others claimed he had been executed or escaped. The rebels denied everything.
And so, with the full knowledge that they may never be allowed back into their Empire, a small band of Escapians made the decision to stop this.
They had been gone for weeks now, and any hope their silent supporters had was dwindling. As for the rebels, they knew, but saw no threat.
"Any news, Vic?" Demonnaruto asked, watching as his military trained.
"The harbour walls have been reinforced. We've set up watch towers all along the ocean. If the fleet ever DOES return, we'll be ready," Victini replied.
"Excellent. I'll alert Sneaky."

In Escapia, it was hard to say whether life was better or worse. It all depended on who you asked. On the one hand, nobody was left unemployed. On the other, political freedoms and choices were at an all time low.
For the Escapian fleets, however, there was no question. Life was worse. And dwindling.
Over the past week alone, Spy had lost twelve Escapians alone to Creature attacks. They were tired from the battle of Futuria. The storm was showing no signs of stopping, and the ocean was still to rough to head back to Escapia without risk.
After leaving Walker's fleet, they sailed for a day or two past Futuria. Spy didn't think Walker would try anything, but he didn't want to have his soldiers rest within firing distance of the other ships. They finally came to a halt on a small island with nothing but sand a few trees, where they had stayed ever since.
"What's going to happen to us, Spy?" Stalke asked, standing with the commander on the beach.
"Well, I like to think we'll make it home soon. I know we will. And when we return, we'll be greeted with cheers. We didn't find Glitch, but I suppose Foxes will be able to testify he existed."
"I meant us, specifically. Skunk and I... and Minner to an extent. Considering the whole criminal thing."
"I don't really know, Stalke. We'll fight for your innocence. We'll explain that you fought alongside Foxes. Maybe that'll be enough."
"Alright, sun's down!" Inv yelled out. "All Escapians to your quarters! Night shift watchers to your positions!"

Tyrese observed the large ship. "I don't see an Escapian flag," he noted.
"Doesn't look Escapian either," Robi added.
"I do see cannons though," Aero said. "Y'know, the type that could blow this tiny three-man ship out of the water."
"It's a risk, but these guys might know what happened to Spy's fleet," Tyrese pointed out.
"Yeah, I bet they know!" said Aero. "Look at the wreckage around them. Ship wreckage, Tyrese! Look at Futuria, its been burnt to a resourceless land. The fleet was going in search of some guy named Glitch. I bet he did this, and I bet those are his ships."
"What's the harm in talking to them?" Robi asked. "Worst case scenario-"
"-they kill us!" yelled Aero.
"Maybe so, but the reward is greater than the risk. If we turn back now, this is all for nothing. If we approach them, sure, our lives are at risk, but maybe we can save the Escapian Empire!"
"He's right," Tyrese said. "We haven't really got a choice."

"You know this is wrong, Sneaky."
"Collin, this Empire started from us. Now you made the choice to leave, and I appreciate that. But I was denied that choice. I needed to leave because Mountbatten went behind my back and tried to steal the VCLB."
"To appease Proz and find out where Milo was!"
"And look at us now. All this time later, and we've only just found a list of POSSIBLE Griefer bases that Milo's in!" Sneaky yelled.
"If you hadn't followed Proz's tip that someone was going to steal the-"
"It was anonymous, Collin! There's no way I could know Proz was behind all this!"
"Regardless, you made a decision that day! You made the decision to step down. You made the decision to trust Wokka and Mountbatten to lead Escapia out of this mess."
"And we're in it more than ever! The entire army and navy is off searching for some guy who may not exist so that we can prove the innocence of a Leader who may or may not be hiding nuclear weapons. The only reason he's hiding weapons is because we burnt an entire Escapian city to the ground! You tell me how Mountbatten and Wokka got us out of any mess!"
The door opened. A childish looking fellow with the nametag 'Sodabub' scrawled on entered. "Sneaky, uh, Sir, there's a guy here to see you. His name is..." Soda shut the door and a whispering could be heard. The door opened again. "His name's Random."
"What does he want?"
"I wanted to ask you a few questions, Sneaky," said Random, entering the room.
Sneaky sighed. "Fair enough. Collin, we'll continue this later."
Collin nodded and went to leave the room. "Sneaky, I'm your brother, so I'll stand by you through hell. But I don't agree with this."
Collin and Soda left, leaving Random and Sneaky in the office. "What do you want Random?"
"Answers. None of this adds up."
"What do you mean?" Sneaky asked.
"I want to know everything that happened. No more secrets. The day you stepped down, you said it was voluntarily. And yet, now you've taken power back with force. Explain that."
"I don't need to explain a thing to you, Random. Stop being a journalist wanna-be and go home."
"Sure... Oh wait, I have no home. You rebels are using it. From the first time I set foot in Escapia, I've been nothing more than a pawn to this Empire. CUT, Mountbatten, everyone. They've all used me as a pawn in their quests for power. Be the one that doesn't, Sneaky. Tell me the truth. For once."
"I'm sorry Random. There's nothing to tell."

After leaving the village to burn, LS and Zin had continued on, and finally, they were almost there. A large mountain rage stood between them and Mojang HQ. It would be dangerous, but they had no other choice. They had come too far to turn back.
"You ready?" Zin asked.
"Ready as ever."
Three days on, neither were very hopeful. They had reached the halfway point, and both were freezing. They slept in a small cave in the side of the mountain, their sleep disturbed constantly throughout the night by threatening avalanches. Early in the morning, however, something else disturbed it.
"Zin, wake up!" LS whispered. "Zin!"
Zin opened his eyes and leaped up, sword in hand. "What, where?"
"Listen!"
The two stood in silence for a moment, listening. Something big was passing overhead. Accompanying the sound was a large shadow outside the cave. A ladder dropped down, and a man in a suit climbed down.
"Is that..." Zin began.
"Jeb..." LS concluded.
Jeb reached the bottom of the ladder and carefully put his foot down on a slippery-looking rock. Zin and LS took cover in the shadows of their cave and watched as he called to someone they couldn't see. "Gentlemen," he yelled, "you should have notified us you were coming!"
"Who's he talking to?" LS whispered. Zin shrugged.
"We can't have our partners making such a treacherous journey to reach us! This airship will take all of us back to Mojang HQ."
Two men sharing the weight of a large coffin-like box climbed up onto the rock Jeb stood on and shook his hand. "Thanks, Jeb."
"We received your letter a few weeks ago," Jeb said. "We too would like to work together for a brighter future for Craftmine. Did you not receive our reply?"
"We did, and seeing it, we believe now is the time for compromise. We're here to inspect the Beta and give our official approval of us, so it can be released and we can still be allies," one of the men explained.
Jeb seemed surprised. "Oh... well... brilliant! SuperGlitch didn't want to make the journey?"
The two other men shuffled nervously in their places. "I'm afraid SuperGlitch has been killed."
"Killed?" Jeb asked, horrified. "How?"
"We don't really know. Though we think it might have been the Collective."
"I see... Well, let's get you out of the cold. Notch will want to speak to you personally." He gestured to the ladder. "After you."
The three tied the large box to the ladder and climbed up before pulling the ladder and box up after them. With that, the airship left.
"Who do you think they were?" Zin asked.
"I dunno, but Jeb seemed eager to please them..." said LS.
"Wait... He said something about SuperGlitch, didn't he? I know that name... Before we left, Spy was preparing to lead a bunch of ships to Futuria to find him. He was the one that supposedly blew up the Seahaven Base in Tekland."
"What the hell does he have to do with all this?" LS asked. "And what was that Beta thing they mentioned? And the Collective?"
"What I'm wondering is - what was in that box?"

Notch walked with the two men through the HQ. "So, now that you've seen the Beta, what do you think?"
The first man cleared his throat. "Well, I think I can say on behalf of Mr Ne-"
"We like it," the second man interrupted. "And if you're sure that Craftmine needs it and that it can be controlled, we're willing to approve it."
"I'm very sure. Griefing's at an all time high and we're losing people because of it. From the reports I've heard of this Collective, I believe the Beta may be our only hope at stopping it."
"Well then Notch, it sounds like there's just one thing left to do. Mr N has asked that we describe the Beta's effect and how it works. If you're sure you can control it, we'd like to do so now."
"Well, the thing is, we'd need some sort of human testing subject," Notch began. "I'm not sure it will have the same effect on animals as people."
The two men nodded and walked over to where the box lay. They opened it up and lifted a man out of it. The first man spoke. "We found this man in an abandoned town by the Escapian Empire called New Central during one of our missions. He called himself Itchy."

[Invunarble]

lol, sodabub

I'm surprised he didn't say something like "this empire sucks even lord-mountbatten becuz u only get 8 people in ur empire so suck it" when he approached Sneaky.

[Skunk_Giant]

XD
Don't worry, I get the feeling we haven't seen the last of Sneaky's new secretary.

[RobipodSupreme]

Who is/was sodabub?

EDIT: http://www.escapecraft.net/banlist/?col ... ch=sodabub
D:

[LS13]

Why do they have itchy D:

[Skunk_Giant]

"I DIDN'T DO IT! WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN TO ME?"
Sti sighed. Every night, the prisoner in the cell next door would yell about how he didn't do whatever it is he was accused of doing. And every night, the guards would come in and shut him up. The same routine.
"I said, shut up!" Sgt Wisky yelled. "One more peep out of you, and it's solitary for the night!"
"But it wasn't my fault!" the prisoner yelled. "My friend used a hackbot! HE IMPERSONATED ME! I SWEAR IT!"
Across the block, another prisoner yelled out. "SHUDDUP BRADLEY! WE ALL KNOW YOU DID IT!"
Within seconds, the entire block had erupted into prisoners yelling across at each other. Sti sighed and buried his head into his pillow. He rolled over to face the stone wall, with had a message scratched into it. 'xXxMLGMinecraftzPROZxXx wuz here'. He hated seeing that message, but he saw it every night. It always reminded him that he was in the same room that lunatic had once occupied.
After finally settling the prisoners with threats of confinement in the Blackadder Block (a block which none had returned from completely sane), Sgt Wisky pulled a stool up outside Sti's cell. "You up for a game?" he asked, pulling out a deck of cards.
"Sure. What are we playing?"
"It'll have to be something two-player, the other guys are in the watch towers," Wisky explained.
"You're in charge of this entire block? Why just you?"
"Rebellion's getting worse. Got confirmation this morning that the majority of the Empire's now rebel controlled. We need to keep an eye out in case they try to storm the prison."
"Any other resistances like this?" Sti asked.
"I wouldn't know for sure. We had some messengers going back and forth between a few of the more distant towns, but its been a while since we've heard from any of them. Problem is, the whole Empire's split. Other Leaders and Mentors have joined the rebellion, and they're a huge asset. Mountbatten didn't want to fight back, because he knows that it'd end with the rebels winning and the Empire being crippled even more. Wokka's been AWOL for a while now too."
"Well, I could help," Sti mumbled.
"What?"
"I'm a Leader after all. If you guys let me out and classify me as a free man, I'll have my Leader Powers back and I can help defend the prison."
"I dunno Sti, I-"
"You trust me. You just need to convince the others."
"And that's not gonna be easy..."
"All the other Leaders are out there fighting. You need at least one here, to help defend if an army of rebels storm the prison."
Wisky sighed. "Maybe you're right." He stood up. "I'm not really in the mood for cards right now. See you in the morning."

The first thing that went through Itchy's head was a blast of pain. It was only afterwards that the cold water that had been splashed of his face was acknowledged by his brain.
"He's waking up," a voice said. "Is it ready?"
"Ready to release," a voice replied. "What are we going for?"
"I'd say twenty minutes," a third voice answered. "It'll find him too quickly otherwise. You won't be able to get a full grasp on its tracking ability."
"Setting the timer to twenty minutes," the second voice responded.
Itchy's eyes flashed open. He was strapped to a stool which stood on the edge of an airship. In front of him were two men he didn't recognise and one other who seemed familiar... Was that Jeb?
"Focus!" the first unidentified man yelled. "This backpack," he held up a pack, "has everything you'll need for the next twenty to twenty five minutes. In it is a diamond sword, a bow and arrows, food and other basic survival things. When you hit the water, you'll need to get the sword out of the bag quickly and cut yourself loose, This doesn't work if you drown."
"What? What doesn't- Hit the water?"
"Shut up!" The man yelled. "You'll have a twenty minute head-start."
"Head-start?"
"Start the timer!" he yelled. He turned back to Itchy. "Good luck."
With that, he pushed the backpack into Itchy's hands and kicked his foot forward, knocking the stool, the bag and Itchy plummeting over the edge.

Walker pushed his hand forward with a smile on his face. "Tyrese, did you say your name was?"
"Yes," Tyrese responded, shaking the man's hands. "These are my assistants, Robipod and Aero. And you are?"
"Call me Walker. I must apologise for the sorry state of my fleet. We've just finished defending ourselves from a bloodthirsty fleet. We fought back, but most of them escaped, unfortunately. But enough about me. My assistant says you asked to board our ship. May I ask why?"
Tyrese nervously looked to Aero and Robi. "The bloodthirsty fleet you fought off, were they by any chance Escapians? The three of us have had some rather nasty run-ins with them as well."
"What the hell's he doing?" Robi whispered to Aero.
"Go with it..."
"Actually," began Walker, "they were a group of Agents led by a man named SuperGlitch. We managed to capture Glitch, but the rest escaped. We did meet with the Escapians though. They seemed to be working with Glitch."
Tyrese nodded. "That sounds like them. They're a dangerous group. Do you know where they were heading? The Escapians? It's just that during our last battle with them, they kidnapped one of our party. We want to find him."
Walker smiled. "They split from Glitch's Agents as they left, probably so we couldn't follow them. I think they went around that island," he said, pointing to the burnt Futuria. "Somewhere in that direction."
"Thanks, I guess. Well, good luck in... whatever you're doing," said Tyrese. "We'll be on our way."
"Wait!" Walker called out as they left. "Before you go, could I offer you some weapons? We want nothing more than justice to come to those Escapians, and if you're an enemy of theirs, you're a friend of ours. We can't spare the men to go after them right now, but we can spare resources... The one condition would be that when you do in fact find these Griefing lunatics, you let us know."
Tyrese grinned. "Deal."

Robi was in awe of his new weapon. The bow had been modified in countless ways, not to mention enchanted beautifully. "Well, that didn't end so badly," he said happily.
"Not bad at all," Aero admitted.
"See? We've got weapons and a direction to head in," Tyrese beamed. "Now let's find Spy and his fleet."

Victini greeted Demonnaruto with a salute.
"At ease, Victini. We're rebels, not the Royal Escapian Army," said Demon.
"I thought I should warn you Sir, that Random fellow that spoke to Sneaky earlier. I listened in on the conversation. He seems to be asking questions."
"So let him ask them. We've nothing to hide."
"I just thought perhaps we should keep an eye on him."
Demon thought for a moment. "I suppose so. Fine, follow him around a bit. I doubt you'll come back with much though."
"Shall I inform Sneaky?"
"Vic, this doesn't seem like a big deal to me. I doubt Sneaky will care. Don't bother."

Iron took a position next to Inv on the watch tower. "Hey."
"Hey," Inv responded, still watching the ocean.
"It wasn't your fault... Or mine. Daemon I mean. Nobody could have changed that."
"Not true," said Inv. "We both messed up. We shouldn't have gone after the Collective. We should have helped the others."
"If we'd done anything differently, the Collective would have killed all of us."
The two stood in silence for a while before Inv spoke again. "Wait, look!"
"What?"
"A ship!" he yelled. "Ship coming up!" He turned to Iron. "Go assemble everyone. Make sure we're all prepared to fight and move or a moment's notice!"
As it turned out, the alarm was a false one. Tyrese stepped onto the shores red-faced. "You actually thought we were a threat? Look at that ship. It's like... big enough for 5 blocks of TNT."
"No chances," said Spy. "What are you doing here anyway? You're lucky you made it through the storm alive."
"It's Escapia," said Robi. "We're under attack."
"What?" Spy turned to Inv and Iron. "Inv, prep everyone to leave for Escapia within the hour. Iron, get Foxes and Haxx and tell them to see me, then get your ship ready." He turned back to Robi, Aero and Tyrese. "Griefers or Creatures?"
"ReCUT."
"What? But... how? They can't pose a threat to-"
"They can when the army and navy's gone," said Aero. "Not to mention, they've got quite a bit of support. Leaders as well."
"Leaders are supporting them? Why?" asked Spy.
"Guess who's leading the rebels," said Tyrese. "Former King Sneaky."

Dandres sighed. "I dunno..."
"We can trust him!" Wisky cried. "Of course we can trust him! This is Sti_Jo_Lew we're talking about!"
"Yeah, the guy associated with the Seahaven Army... You know, that army we fought! Where people died!" Dandres replied.
"We only fought them because it was needed to prepare to fight the Griefers. Not to mention, it would have been a lot smoother if the Griefers hadn't impersonated Zin and ordered the whole place to the ground," said Sgt Wisky.
Elcquid stepped out of the shadows shaking his head. "We're Mentors. We're guards of the Escapian Prison. We were given these positions because we were trustworthy. We can't break the law."
"We were given these positions for more than that, Elcquid. You, Dandres, I, we were given these positions because we can think. We know when to do the right or wrong thing. The three of us and a few guards are all that's left standing between the rebels and this prison, and if they storm this prison, countless Griefers walk free. I think right now, we need all the help we can get."

Tulonsae peered out the window. She saw Random, standing in the rain, dressed in a trench coat with the collars up. "What the hell?" She opened the door. "Random?"
"Actually, no, I have a reason for visiting."
*Cue Laugh Track*
Random chuckled to himself and pulled out a small device. "Your own personal laugh track. Greatest thing ever."
"What do you want, Random?"
"I want to talk to you about everything. From the beginning."
"And why would I talk to you?" Tulon asked.
"Depends. Are you pro-Sneaky or anti-Sneaky?"
"I'm pro-Escapia."
"So you're anti-Rebels?"
"Let's just say I'm neutral."
Random sighed. "Well crap. I was kinda planning on saying I was working for whichever side you ch- Never mind. Look, if you talk to me, I'll... uh... owe you one."
Tulon sighed. "You mean you'll go away? I don't want to attract attention to myself. Looters are dangerous now that the Escapian Guard's gone, and I'd rather nobody looked in the direction of my house."
"Fine, I'll go away if you talk."
"Fire your questions then."
Random pulled out a notebook. "Where's Milo?"
"Excuse me?"
"Milo went missing months ago. Where did he go?"
"What are you talking about?" Tulon asked.
"Well, obviously CUT was behind his disappearance. Is it for some sort of undercover mission that never happened?"
"No! Milo was kidnapped by the Griefers," Tulon explained. "That's why CUT was working so hard to-"
"Kidnapped? You expect me to believe that? A Leader kidnapped by some Griefers?"
Tulon took a seat. "Actually, that's a good point... I never thought about it that way."
"So CUT was behind it, right?" Random asked, scribbling in his book.
"No, no. I mean, not to my knowledge. And I would have known. I think."
"Then how do you explain the kidnapping?"
"If I tell you this, you can't tell anyone else, understand?"
"No promises," said Random. "But I'll consult you before I say anything. Maybe."
"If you tell anyone, panic will rise, and this whole situation will get a lot worse. The Griefers are more powerful than we thought."
"What do you mean?"
"Before Spy led the soldiers to Futuria, Zin was interrogating two Griefers that we caught in Operation Diamond Key, that op where 697 went undercover. The two key Griefers we caught were Towler and Proz. They told Zin that the Griefers were using Hackbots. That's how they impersonated Notch and the others."
"Wait... Hackbots? I thought they didn't exist anymo-"
"So did we. But we were wrong. It's possible that the Griefers used Hackbots to give themselves powers similar to those of a Leader's and then kidnap Milo..."
"Hang on," Random looked up from his book. "You mentioned Proz... Wasn't he the one that escaped from prison a while ago?"
"That was on purpose. 697 went in as an undercover CUT Agent and broke him out so he would lead us to Towler as well. That, and Mountbatten just wanted to capture him once more. He hated Proz."
"Well, I suppose Mountbatten hates all Griefers, right?"
"Yeah, but he hated Proz more than any others. I'm not so sure why. He questioned Proz for a while and then around the time Sneaky stepped down, Mountbatten stop speaking to Proz."
Random scribbled a note in his book. 'Why did Mountbatten hate Proz?' "OK, so long story short, you don't know where Milo is."
"Nope. Well, Mountbatten has a few possible locations from Zin's interrogations, but we can't act on them while the Escapian Army and Navy are away and ReCUT's in control of the Empire."
"What about 697. Where did he disappear to after Operation Diamond Key?" Random asked.
"Why does that even matter?"
"I'm just trying to piece some information together. Anything that might be linked to the rebellion. This whole 'Sneaky wanting his power back' thing doesn't make any sense. He stepped down on his own accord."
"Alright, well to tell you the truth, I haven't got a clue where 697 went after Diamond Key. If anyone knows, it'd probably be Mountbatten. Of course, the odds of the rebels letting you speak to him are pretty low."
"And this Proz guy... How would I go about finding him?"
"After Diamond Key he was interrogated by Zin, then thrown back in prison. Getting out there might be a bit difficult, considering that it's still under loyalist control, so they might take you as a rebel spy or something."
Random stood up and dusted himself off. "Well Tulonsae. Good luck. These are hard times. Stay safe."
"And you," Tulon said as Random left her house. When the door shut, she muttered, "Weirdo."

Notch smiled. "Well gentlemen, I must say, after that Collective business, I didn't think we'd see this day, but here it is. The Beta's Release."
Jeb smiled. "It has now been 20 minutes since the timer was set. My prediction is the Beta will have succeeded within the next ten."
The two Agents nodded happily. "Well, Mojang has certainly impressed us. My only question is how you managed to create this Beta. I mean, on top of everything else."
"Well," Notch began, "it really wasn't any extra work. Here at Mojang, we've been working on a completely new project. Something the as big as founding Craftmine. We announced it a while ago, but you gentlemen will be the first to really see what this project is. Jeb, would you care to reveal it?"
Jeb stepped forward. "Scrolls. You might have heard of it."
The first Agent nodded. "Yeah, yeah. The thing that caused that trouble with the Bethesdians, right?"
"Yes, that's it" said Jeb. "What we're doing with Scrolls, is creating an entirely new Magic system. Leader Powers will pale in comparison to this Magic. While we created the Beta with the purpose of bettering Craftmine, we're able to use the exact same methods for Scrolls. One day, gentlemen, we'll have a group of Creatures that surpass our current Creatures in every way. Zombies, skeletons, creepers. They're things of the past. These Creatures, controlled by scrolls, they will guard Craftmine, and eventually, they will become the guardians of the world."
"And they will all be under my control," said Notch. "The Beta is the first of this new wave of Creatures, and I'm only too happy that you two could represent your boss at its release."
The two Agents looked to each other. "This new wave of Creatures, I'm not sure how our boss would think of that. We're against the current Creatures. They're a threat to Craftmine's population. There are too many of them to be controlled. That's why we trust the Beta. You can control it."
"Gentlemen," Notch said in a soothing voice, "Trust me. Mojang will not put Craftmine at risk. This new wave of Creatures will not be fully released until we've perfected a control system. Only when the Scrolls are perfected, will we release the rest of these Creatures."
The two Agents nodded. "And when will that be?"
"Who knows? It could be next year. It could be tomorrow. Now let's check on the progress of the Beta."

Neither LS nor Zin could shake off the feeling that they were being watched as they continued their ascent up the mountain. They had reached a generally flat area and needed to pass through a cliff-side snowy forest before reaching the next ascending part of the mountain. With nothing but a torch to guide them through the darkness, it was eerie at best.
"This doesn't feel right," LS whispered. "We're being followed, I'm sure of it."
"Followed?"
"Hunted."
At that moment, a scream pierced the silence from behind the two. LS spun to see a silhouette a few hundred metres away hanging from the side of the mountain, a steep drop below him. He was losing his grip on the cold rock he held onto. The figure yelled again, calling for help. LS was about to run after the figure and help him up when Zin yelled out. "What the hell is that thing?!?"

Random
a) Attempt to question Mountbatten
b) Attempt to question Proz
c) Attempt to question other (state who)
Also, feel free to give me a list of questions you want to ask whoever you question.

LS
a) Turn to see what Zin's looking at
b) Rush to help the figure who may otherwise fall to their death

All the people with Spy and the Navy/Army (eg. Spy, Inv, Iron, Foxes, Minner etc.) and anyone who would like to enter the story as a sailor/soldier there
I need you to tell me which side you'd support. The rebels or the loyalists. You can decide to be neutral for now as well. If you're not with this group, but your character's position on the matter still isn't clear, feel free to also state who you'd support.

On a different note,
I've been going back through the posts and looking at some of the stuff you guys have posted in terms of theories etc on who's doing what or what's going to happen next. It's interesting and amusing, especially when you get things completely right or completely wrong.
So if you've got a theory, post it! I'm interested to see what people think's going on.

[RobipodSupreme]

woo. I am teh gre47est 4rCh3r

[Iron_Fang]

Side? I am on nobody's side, because nobody is on my side, little Orc.

[TyrasEngineer]

I think we should support the loyalists, considering that was the reason we grabbed the boats and set sail to start with...

[Invunarble]

Yeah, I as well am too rebellious to... support the rebels.

So, I'm siding with the loyalists. We should nuke the rebels