Blackness. That was all Steve saw.

Nothingness. That was all Steve felt.

Blood. That was all Steve could smell and taste.

But he could hear.

A crowd roared. Something huge thudded into the ground somewhere close. A voice spoke.

"Steve has won Combat Battle 156! But is he still alive? Servants! Go see if he's alive!" Steve felt like he recognized the voice.

Suddenly, Steve could feel again. His entire body hurt like the Nether. He could feel cracked diamonds beneath his body.

He knew he was alive. The diamond armor saved his life. He had half a heart left. But why couldn't he see?

Oh. His eyes were closed.

He opened his eyes. They felt like the heaviest things ever. The same two men that led him into the arena leaned over him. The crowd had fallen silent.

One of the men noticed his eyes open and shouted, "He's alive!"

The crowd cheered the loudest they had ever been before. Notch yelled, "Steve is victorious!"

"Can you get up?" One of the men asked Steve quietly.

Steve shook his head. He couldn't even speak.

The men picked Steve up, and when they did, Steve caught a glimpse of The Iron Destroyer, smashed into the ground in pieces. Its eyes were no longer red.

Steve had succeeded. He had defeated Mojang's strongest warrior in battle, and now he would get to go back to Sector 29. He could continue on his way to, well, here.

The crowd kept cheering.

Steve blacked out.

When he came back into consciousness, he was laying a grassy field. A very familiar grassy field.

He was back in Sector 29.

He didn't remember anything after the battle with Iron Destroyer. But he knew he must've won, since he was back here and not dead.

In fact, he felt great. His stomach was full, and he had all his hearts back. Mojang must've fixed him up before bringing him back here.

He checked his inventory. The diamond sword he had used against The Iron Destroyer was gone, and so was all the armor and the bow and arrow. Now he didn't have a diamond sword, since Notch had snapped it in half. Steve hadn't known Notch was strong enough to do that.

So, in a way, Good Spider died for no reason, since the two diamonds Steve had gotten from the jungle temple ended up turning into a diamond sword he barely got to use.

Now that was two pets who sacrificed themselves for nothing.

Steve stood up and looked around. The grassland looked exactly like it did before he had jumped into that portal. Well, except that there was no portal anymore.

And there was a giant Slime with a gold helmet sitting a few blocks away from Steve.

It was staring at him. At least, Steve thought he was staring at him. He couldn't really tell, since it had no eyes.

"Hello, Steve," it said in a slimy voice.

"Oh hey, Delta," Steve said. The Slime seemed surprised that Steve knew its name. "Where's your slimy army?"

"I'm not really sure," Delta replied. "I came through the portal, and no one was here and no one followed me. Then the portal disappeared. I waited here for a few hours, then the portal reappeared and you were thrown out. Then it disappeared. I have no idea what's going on."

Steve couldn't help but feel pity for the little guy. He was just trying to do his job, but no one told him what happened.

"Well, I jumped through the portal and fought Mojang's Iron Destroyer. I won, and they sent me back here," Steve explained. "So you don't have to kill me."

"Really?" the Slime asked. "Aw man, I was looking forward to a bloody battle."

"Sorry buddy, but I've had enough of those to last me a lifetime," Steve said. He felt a little awkward having a conversation with a monster that would be trying to kill him.

"Alright," Delta said in his slimy voice. "I guess I'll get going now."

"Alright, bye," Steve said. He started walking north.

"Wait!" Delta called. Steve turned around. "How am I supposed to get back?"

"Uh..." Steve thought for a moment. "Mojang must have cameras in every Sector. How else would they know where I am all the time? So try jumping up and down and calling to them. Maybe they'll make a portal for you."

Delta tried that. Nothing happened after a minute.

The Slime hopped over to Steve. "Say, can I join you?" he asked. "You are headed to Mojang right?"

"Uh yeah," Steve replied uncertainly. "But--"

"Wait a minute!" Delta exclaimed. "Mojang is my master! And you're going to destroy it! I can't let you do that!" He jumped in front of Steve.

"Woah, wait, you said you were gonna let me go!" Steve said.

"I never said that," Delta said. "Now, prepare to die!" He jumped closer to Steve, who backed up.

"Hey, I just got back from a battle at Mojang Headquarters. They let me go because I beat The Iron Destroyer. So don't try to kill me," Steve said desperately, trying to think of a way out of this.

"Here's the thing, Steve," Delta's slimy voice said. "I don't believe you."

He tried jumping on Steve to suffocate him, but Steve drew his iron sword and plunged it into the Slime's body.

Delta jumped back. He tried squishing Steve again, but he rolled out of the way. When he did, he stabbed the Slime.

Unfortunately, he lost his grip on the sword, and it slid farther into the slimy body.

Now he didn't have a sword.

"What will you do now, Steve?" Delta asked, jumping towards him again.

Steve thought for a moment.

Then he turned and ran north.

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

This chapter was shorter than normal, I know. Sorry. Next chapter will be good!

Thanks for reading, and remember to vote, comment, and follow!

~Radishologist