Notch, mighty King of the Aether (and all other places ), sat on his magnificent golden throne, tugging at his fine beard and-

Was completely bored out of his mind.

Everything seemed to have quieted down. All the supervillains (and the less super villains) of the world was at this minute being deal with by his Elites. All the other Gods were somewhere else doing their own divine business, leaving him on the Aether because someone needed to be on the Aether at all times in case the universe managed to mess itself up (again) and some God or another had to fix it before things got too hazardous (and Jeb doesn't count because he'd rather keep both his eyes on his inventions than the universe). It was so peaceful that Jeb had even stopped blowing the Aether Labs up. Or down. It usually depended on which direction his experiment was facing.

The one other person in the Aether was Steve, a human. One of the people from Notch's main strike force (his only strike force) whom he liked to call the Elites, just to feel like his warriors were better than anyone else's. Or so Aurorion, the God of ice claimed when he got drunk, which was the majority of the time. Out of embarrassment, Notch had resorted to calling then the Rangers instead. It didn't really work, as the previous name had gotten stuck long ago and didn't seem to be willing to come out.

All the other Elites had been sent out after a villain, or a Mob congregation, or some idiot claiming to be the Devil. There was, of course, the occasional homicidal rabbit, which were also known as the fearsome Killer Bunny.

Steve, though, stayed at the Aether because he was on a break. The Aether was the only place he could take a break safely. The last three times Steve had taken his holiday in the Overworld he had stumbled upon a nest of bandits, discovered a giant zombie, and walked right into the lair of a wannabe mass murderer. So therefore, for the peace of his mind and everyone else's, he had to spend all his holidays in the Aether.

Talking about his Elites...

Oh yeah, there's still one missing from a few years ago. Katara, was it? She'd gone missing on the way to kill a giant zombie. Which was, frankly, more bark than bite. Anyone could kill one with the right weapon. Or just set it on fire. There'd been search parties, of course, though they still haven't got an inkling of where she could've gone. Maybe she'd just run away. If that was the case, Notch really couldn't blame her.

"I'm bored." Notch said aloud. "I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm bored." It didn't help in the slightest. He almost wished Jeb would blow something up.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. There was a spare Ranger. There was also a missing Ranger. A years-old cold case, mystery and intrigue galore... huh. Steve had an almost uncanny knack for running into trouble when you least expect it, and perhaps Katara was hiding all that time. Search parties are big, and easy to spot for someone who wants to hide. One person, though... Knowing Steve, he'd trip over her and not realize it.

Notch snapped his fingers and a flash of golden light lit up the room, then faded away to reveal a dizzy man who promptly fell on his face. He had messy chocolate brown hair down to the nape of his neck that curled slightly at the ends, bright violet eyes, and olive skin. He was actually in his early forties, but due to the Crafter's slower ageing, and the immortality that came with his job, he looked (and acted) like he was eighteen.

"Ah!" Notch said cheerily. "I was just looking for you!"

Steve got up and did some more stumbling around. He rolled his eyes at an area above Notch's left ear and finally regained his balance after tripping over a flowerpot and greeting a pillar very intimately with his face.

"So, I've found a new place where you can take your holiday, instead of rotting away in the Aether." Notch grinned. "Sylder's quite a nice place, and all you need to do is a little check up, just to make sure the Royal family hasn't started worshipping the Devil and that sort of thing"

Steve groaned. "But I'm absolutely useless at political discussions! Remember last time-"

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Notch said in a tone of adamantine cheerfulness. "Anyhow, I'll get Jeb to transport you to the Overworld-"

BOOM!

An explosion rocked the palace. Steve lost his footing and tumbled to the ground, yelling something unintelligible.

A few minutes later, a coughing Valkyrie appeared in the doorway, trailing smoke. "My Lord, Jeb has requested that you do not send for him at the moment. He is busy rebuilding the Labs" the Valkyrie paused, coughing some more, smoke rising from his nostrils. "He also told me to say... 'It wasn't my fault'."

"... It seems like Jeb won't be joining us today. Very well, you are free to go" Notch dismissed the Valkyrie with a wave of his hand.

"Looks like I will have to teleport you, Steve" Notch said happily.

Steve felt a sudden sense of impending doom.

He gulped. The reason Jeb did the transportation most of the time was because Notch was useless at navigation. On good days, he'd accidentally teleport you to the Nether when you wanted to go home. Yes, this was the guy who built the universe from scratch. You'd think he wouldn't get lost as soon as he stepped out of his house.

"Oh, and take a horse with you as well."

Steve appeared in a flash of golden light- smack dab in the middle of a forest. "Hello, Your Highness" he said sarcastically to a nearby tree. "How are you doing today?"

It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was obviously not in Sylder City (Which was quite fortunate since Steve couldn't outsmart a cookie jar). What was he saying about Notch's amazing navigational skills again?

His horse snorted, and pranced around. Steve scowled. "The only reason I took you along was because you were the last horse in the stables. And the reason for that is because no one wanted you. So you'd better behave yourself, Swift"

He could swear he felt Swift rolling his eyes in the dark, even though he couldn't see him.

Wait... It was night time?

Oh Nether, that meant-

Urrnngh.

Steve whipped around on the horse, trying to pinpoint the groan. Swift refused to budge. Steve cursed, spotting the green undead creature shuffling closer and closer to him just before the stench of rotting flesh hit his nose. He waited for the zombie to come within striking distance.

Closer and closer. Just before it could come close enough to touch the horse, Steve reached inside his Inventory for his weapon and-

Smacked the zombie on the head with a diamond shovel.

...He may have forgotten to tidy up his Inventory after the latest adventure.

The zombie stumbled back, disorientated. Steve put the shovel back into his Inventory and reached for his actual weapon.

He ended up with a flint and steel.

Ah well, this would have to do. Steve clicked the flint and steel together a few times and proceeded to set the rotting monstrosity on fire. It did the job quite nicely.

After some bribery, Steve persuaded Swift to gallop towards the brightly lit place that Steve spotted while standing up on the horse's back. He hoped it was Sylder City. If it wasn't, then to hell with Notch's stupid idea.

The guards at the gates frowned, watching a figure covered in rotten flesh and bone dust ride haphazardly out of the Sylder Forest on a prancing horse that would do better in a dance club.

"...State your name and business" one of them spoke with his hand on his iron sword. He was very obviously trying to keep his face straight.

"Steve. And Notch sent me" the stranger said, dismounting. The guards tensed as he pulled out his sword, showing them the insignia carved on the hilt. The guards relaxed, bowing as they flicked a lever, opening the gates.

"Welcome to Sylder, sir!" They chorused.

Steve sighed. At least he was in the right place now.