Prologue

Minecraft: population 60 million and rising, the computer's analysis said.

Minecraft: population 0. That's what the analysis could very well read in 2015, Notch thought.

Of course, he tried to stop it. How could he know that the one person he fired would go on to cause a possible shutdown? The community warned him.

The same community that caused him to quit.

The same community who worshipped him as a symbol, who created its own demons, who led him to quit his company, his pride and joy, and the same community that would have his enemy destroy everything.

The same community who predicted his shutdown in 2015. A matter of months.

But that was all behind him now. He left Minecraft, and Mojang, a couple of months ago. He could finally go back to small games.

And leave his greatest creation to crumble.

Markus Persson shunned the idea from his mind. The community created it, and now the community would fix it.

Or crash trying.

How could his greatest enemies come crashing on him like this? First Herobrine, everyone called him. His brother, they said.

His half-brother, actually. No one knew it though.

Then in December 2013 came Entity 303, a group of hackers, not unlike the employee he fired personally.

Threatening the shutdown of Minecraft in 2015.

And now, "Null", everyone was calling him. Who the hell was this?

Something fabricated, probably. A mod created by some douche with too many subscribers.

And yet it was all real, too real. His head began to spin.

This was what would destroy 60 million people's prides and joys.

Actually, the original PC version had over 100 million registered accounts. How many was that in total?

Too many. Far too many.

Again, Notch shoved the thought from his mind. There was nothing he could do now.

Minecraft would fall. It wasn't going to lose him money anyway. Maybe Microsoft would be humbled losing a few billion dollars.

But the players?

They would all crash.

Notch turned off his computer and walked away.

The end had begun.

1

Arthur was thinking about Minecraft. When was he not? He was always thinking about something.

Now, it was Minecraft.

More specifically, these so-called "myths".

Herobrine, Entity 303, Null. The big three.

Why was he always inexplicably drawn to these myths, these urban legends? He certainly had no idea. He always compiled some facts. Who they were, for example.

Herobrine. Some say he's a ghost. A bug. A virus.

Whatever he was, he was massively popular. Arthur himself had been Herobrine for Halloween a couple of days ago. Everyone knew who his costume was. Spent three hours making a cardboard head.

For whatever reason, Herobrine wasn't in vanilla Minecraft.

When questioned, Mojang would simply say,

"We're sorry, but we can't discuss anything regarding Herobrine."

Figures.

Still, despite seeing fake video after fake video, Arthur was compelled to believe he was real.

There was also the matter of Herobrine's possible inclusion in the official Minecraft soundtrack. In a haunting track, titled "11", some people said they could hear the word "HEROBR-" before just cutting to static at the end. This was big. If Herobrine was in an official track, that would indirectly lead to Mojang verifying Herobrine.

Arthur had heard nothing. Must've listened to it 10 times now. Still, nothing.

11 was the key.

Then there was Entity 303. Admittedly, Arthur saw the very PowerPoint that sparked 303, and it was probably a massive waste of time.

But Arthur had some thoughts. Namely, just because a source isn't real, who's to say that someone isn't doing what that source says right now? Essentially becoming the myth and making it true.

2015 was coming up, after all.

And, of course, Arthur had done his research. He wasn't some fool screaming to the world, "Entity 303 is real", but something was definitely wrong with this picture.

Notch couldn't shed any more light. Didn't want to.

Arthur would just have to keep looking.

And then there was Null, whoever he was. It was probably nothing to worry about. He would have to solve this for himself.

He turned on his Xbox 360 and put Minecraft in. The time was now.

He would find the truth.

2

Ann sat in her house, her dog Luna by her side. Sitting, thinking.

Arthur had called her for the first time in 3 weeks.

It had been three weeks since her uncle died.

Of, course she was positive in no time, but here she was just thinking.

How had time gone by so fast?

She was a junior in school now, which would be great had she not made the switch to online school, just as Arthur did not long ago.

She was in 6th grade when they met. They were the same age. Great times had by all.

At Arthur's indirect request, she had bought Minecraft. It was awesome, actually.

Until she searched for Minecraft myths.

The thought of what Herobrine could do threw her for a loop.

The phone rang. Who would call now? Caleb? Salem?

No, Salem was her neighbor. He would walk.

She hadn't seen, much less talked, to Caleb in a while now. So that meant...

It was Arthur. Finally, when she was around to pick up the phone.

She picked up the phone. Put it to her ear.

An emergency. Since when? Arthur never called about anything like she was hearing.

She had to go. Now.

Of course, FaceTime would be preferable. She wouldn't drive 45 minutes just for a rumor.

Her phone immediately signaled with pictures. From Arthur.

Of Herobrine.

Heat spread down her neck. She knew he wasn't lying. He would never lie to her.

She knew he wasn't crazy, as this wasn't anything close to his depressive moods.

If he wasn't lying, and wasn't crazy…

He had to be telling the truth.

Herobrine was real?

She had to leave. To see him.

She did have a driver's permit, of course. What good was having it if you didn't use it? She longed to see him. To see Arthur.

To see Herobrine.

She took a deep breath and headed for the door. This was history in the making, even if no one else would know or care.

One of the greatest urban legends in video games was undoubtedly real.

This changed everything.

3 | One Hour Earlier

Arthur felt good again as the Minecraft main menu started up. He hadn't played it in months.

Minecraft was amazing. Everything was normal.

But then suddenly everything wasn't so normal.

His worlds were gone. Replaced by one, titled "hjalp".

Arthur immediately knew what this meant. "Help" in Swedish.

Either AlongCameJosh had hacked into a random offline Xbox for shits and giggles, or something was horribly wrong.

Luckily, he had his parent's phone at his side.

Waiting for this moment.

He picked up the phone and hit record.

He yelled for his brother, surely around here somewhere.

"Thomas! Get over here, man, you're gonna want to see this!"

He came running.

And then Arthur spawned in Herobrine's world, and he would never be the same.

He spawned normally, in a jungle biome, normally to the detest of the average Minecraft player. It was in Survival, so Arthur couldn't fly up and see his surroundings. He would have to get out.

What he saw shocked him immediately.

Everything was burning.

Except for the small normal jungle biome in which Arthur spawned, everything was burning. Animals, mobs, trees, caves, villagers…the land was burning. Dying.

And in the middle of it all was Herobrine.

With a sign that said "hjalp".

Good thing the camera is rolling. Hjalp. Help. Herobrine of all people needs my help? How will anyone think this is real? Where did Herobrine go?
What?!

Herobrine was gone, and the fires stopped. The game went back to normal just before autosaving.

This was big.

Everything changed now. Herobrine needed his help. Arthur and Thomas were the only souls alive aside from Mojang that saw Herobrine for real. And there was only one other person who would care.

Ann.

Arthur turned off the recording and went to talk to his parents. Enough games and pranks. He had the truth.

Time to wake up the world.

And Arthur was at the center of it all.

4

Markus Persson walked into his old offices in Stockholm, Sweden. Jeb, his friend and esteemed colleague, had called him urgently. His greatest fears were about to be realized.

"You wanted to see me?" asked Notch.

"Yes. It's important. Herobrine has been spotted." Jeb said.

"One of our employees wasn't testing it?"

"It wasn't being tested. The code wasn't even online."

Notch paused. Creating Herobrine was a gamble. It boosted sales, but at its worst would cause situations like this.

"The code just turned itself on?" Notch asked.

"You and I both know that can't happen, Markus."

Notch included an algorithm in Herobrine that only made his code visible to himself and Jeb. This was real.

Herobrine was real.

"Who spotted him?" inquired Notch.

"We don't know."

"He doesn't have a Mojang account?"

"He plays on Xbox doesn't even go on Xbox Live."

Scary real.

"Do we even know where he was spotted"? Notch asked.

"There's no online link for us to trace. And when he posts something, he does it anonymously. We have no idea where, or who."

"So how do we even know it happened at all?"

"The forums everywhere are going crazy. He calls himself Supernova. He said he's going to post an amazing start-to-finish video of the encounter, ETA one hour…that was twenty minutes ago. He said that Herobrine needed his help, but with what I'm not entirely sure." said Jeb.

Of course, Markus Persson knew. Something was threatening the Minecraft world, and Herobrine was trying to warn everyone. He wasn't watching you and stalking you, he was watching out for you. It appeared that Herobrine had found someone who could end this possibly before it even began. Herobrine was on the side of the angels.

For now.

Then Notch had a sudden growing thought that what Herobrine needed help with was none other than Entity 303. The Minecraft apocalypse. Notch had to tell Jeb. His face turned white. Jeb, of course, noticed.

"What's wrong?"

"I know what he needs help with."

"Yeah, Supernova should get Xbox Live."

"Not him, Herobrine."

"What is it?"

"Ever heard of Entity 303?"

"The Minecraft ghost of the guy we fired?"

"He'll bring about the Minecraft shutdown in 2015."

"Bullshit."

"Think about it."

Then Jeb did think about it. If Herobrine was real, asking for help, wouldn't that mean what he needed help with was also real? An actual danger to the over 60 million people playing Minecraft? Jeb's head swam with panic.

"It's all real." Jeb uttered with astonishment.

"Undeniably."

"Damn."

They both had the realization that when "Supernova's" video was unleashed, havoc would spread to millions. Telling millions of people that Herobrine was real and an apocalypse in Minecraft was about to happen meant chaos. They had to stop him, whoever he was.

"Then Supernova can't release that video." Notch said.

"Can't we just block it when it's released?"

"A prescence on YouTube is the only one we don't have."

"And we can't contact him?"

"We can't."

The magnitude of their situation began to settle in.

"So we can't stop it." said Notch.

"Correct."

"How much time until the forums go batshit?"

"Now 35 minutes."

"Get everyone back here. We need to regroup. It's begun." declared Notch.

Both Jeb and Notch's phones rang with a news update.

Microsoft had closed their deal and accepted their offer of $2.5 billion. And, as part of the deal, Notch, Jeb and a few other members would leave Mojang and Microsoft.

There was absolutely nothing they could do now.

There was no one to regroup, and no office to go back to. Notch and Jeb were on their own.

They were doomed.

"Holy shit." they both said simultaneously.

"When that video releases, trace it" said Notch. "Find out everything you can about it and the person behind it. How much time now?"

"Just over 30 minutes."

"Then it's begun."

"And the community's only hope is Supernova."

"Shut down all Minecraft forums. Wikis, gameFAQs, everything. You can't block YouTube?"

"That's the poster's decision."

Notch took a deep breath. This was even worse than he thought.

All they could do was wait.

And brace.

There was no escape. Because really, most definitely, they were already doomed.

5

One hour was more than enough time, Arthur thought. It was enough to make a channel and make the various preparations. It would be his first Minecraft video.

It also, he knew, could very well be his last.

He'd shown Thomas, Ann, and even his parents. They all believed.

What's more, the usual critics and naysayers would be caught mute trying to find anything wrong, because there was nothing wrong to be found. This was the truth.

Now was the time to unleash that truth.

Twenty minutes left, and the channel was in place. He would shock the world.

Right after he made an intro.

6

Ann sped along to Arthur's house. She was making good time. She also wasn't killing anyone.

That was good.

She, too, had gotten Arthur's video ETA. She hadn't actually seen it, of course, but that's probably what he was going to do once she got there.

Fifteen minutes left.

She would make it.

Ever since she heard about Herobrine, a part of her wanted him. To see him. She didn't know why.

And, quite frankly, it was starting to scare her.

She would find out.

She would join them soon enough.

7

Ten minutes left, and Arthur had already made and added an intro. His finding of Herobrine had struck a nerve.

He would strike millions more before the day was over.

He had the one thing that gave him notoriety. Fame. A legacy. Herobrine had chosen him. This was it.

He'd done what he'd set out to do.

Proved Herobrine's existence.

Null and Entity 303 would have to wait. Everything came down to this.

Less than ten minutes.

When Suddenly he heard a knock at the door. Ann. She'd made it.

His heart skipped a beat. He ran to the door and opened it.

Ann embraced him. She, too, knew what'd he'd done. Herobrine was real.

Ann drew him closer. She would help him, even if she hadn't played Minecraft a lot, because that's what he would do for her.

Arthur was, at this moment, the greatest person in her life. Her greatest friend. He'd been with her for years, and she would do more than return the favor.

They'd never leave each other.

Five minutes left.

Arthur, at the moment, couldn't care less. Neither could Ann. They'd given each other the world, and they both felt something was long overdue.

"Go for it." said Ann, as her embrace tightened.

He loved her body, and she his.

Suddenly they could both hear Arthur's name being called. Even Ann knew he would have to go. This would have to wait.

Three minutes left.

Arthur and Ann resorted to holding hands as they walked toward the computers.

It was time for truth.

It was time for the reveal.

All that stood between Arthur and video game legend was a mental singing of his favorite song, "Warriors" by Imagine Dragons.

We are the warriors that built this town.

"Good to have you back, Isis." Arthur said with a smile. It was her nickname. Her alter-ego. It was for both nostalgia and endearment.

"Good to see you too," she replied. Then, for added love, "Nowe".

They both knew what that meant. Nowe was the match for Isis. He was her favorite video game character. He had even suspected she had loved Nowe, if her stories were of any indication.

They both liked each other. Were meant for each other.

Two minutes left.

And Isis and Nowe would face it together.

Arthur got to the computer, went to YouTube, and did everything except for press the submit button.

His mental radio suddenly switched to "What About Now" by Daughtrey.

Perfect.

Arthur spun Ann around and quickly kissed her on the cheek. With his parents in front of him. Stupid, but bold.

They only became surprised when she returned the kiss with full-on passion.

Isis and Nowe were back.

Thirty seconds left.

They withdrew and waited. Of course his parents had been quick to capture everything on camera.

Perfect.

It was like New Year's Eve. Everyone was waiting for history to be made.

Unbeknownst to everyone, the fallout of which would only ignite the ensuing chaos.

Fifteen.

His workouts with his personal trainer were briefly referenced in his mind due to the countdown. He chuckled.

Ten.

Everyone knew the immediate significance of this event. Even Arthur's parents.

In a short span he had discovered that Herobrine was not only real, but needed his help.

Shouldn't I worry about helping Herobrine?

In time, he convinced himself.

Let it begin.

Three.

He moved his mouse over to the upload button.

Two.

Took a breath.

One.

Pressed the button.

The video successfully uploaded. History had just been made. He'd both given everyone the world and a world of trouble.

Of course, nothing of his had ever gained traction. He would simply have to wait and-

The views number began to rise. Already?

Then it skyrocketed.

Then it froze at 300. 300+1. 300+2.

He was about to become a hit on a fairly phenomenal scale.

Thomas stood by Arthur and high-fived him. Ann hugged him.

His parents watched and continued filming. This, possibly more than anything Arthur had done in recent memory, was worth filming.

He'd both saved the world and doomed it.

He was a legend.

It would only get worse from here.

8

The video saw an influx of 15 million views in its first week. The fact that Herobrine was real stunned everyone. A few comments, however, began to pop up everywhere:
"What does Herobrine need help with?"

Arthur didn't know, and didn't bother hiding it. Some said he should find out, others just kept sharing the video. The concept of Herobrine being real was everywhere.

Arthur, also known as Supernova, was not famous. Everyone knew him.

No one knew the repercussions.

No one even considered that Entity 303 or maybe even Null was real. No one even was fully sure of who Null was.

That would change.

Of course, the Entity 303 diehards were pouting a few pieces together, saying that Herobrine is warning us of the 2015 Minecraft apocalypse brought on by Entity 303.

No one knew it was real.

That would change. Everything would.

The year 2015 would unite, divide, conquer and destroy. No one would be prepared.

Minecraft would fall.

Only God can save you now.

9

They know of us, yet they pretend to not see.

They are blind to the truth.

For years we have been here, waiting to strike. They should know better then to wait for their doom.

They need to see the Light.

They are afraid of the unknown in a world of information. Soon they will know us.

They will all know who we are.

If they try to stop us, they will fail. You can't split an Entity apart, it is one sovereign body. They are destined to fall.

They have seen traces of us, yet they still do not believe.

That will change. Everything will.

The humans will cower in the face of opposition, and they will be forced to see the Light. They will cower before us.

Soon they will truly see who we are, and that we are here, and then they will see the Light, and cower underneath it.

We are coming.

We will rise...

…and shadows still conceal our Light.

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THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES IN s/11201838/1/The-Ablockalypse-The-Fall-of-Minecraft-Part-2