Hey ya'll, it's Ender! I hope you're having a great day, and I hope to make it even better with this new chapter! This chapter has 1,345 words. NOTE: I do NOT own Mianite, Minecraft, any YouTubers mentioned and really, I only own this story.

Chapter 2

Matt trudged through the tall, thick weeds, staring down at his feet. It was a miserable day; the steel grey clouds were hanging low in the sky, waiting to drop their rain, and the wind was chilly, piercing through Matt's thin jacket.

Matt flinched as a pebble struck him square in the back, sending him stumbling. He turned around and glanced fearfully at his attackers: a gang of kids who were much older than him, much bigger than him, and much stronger than him. They also hated him with a passion.

The leader, a girl named Heska, stepped forwards, her mouth twisted into a sneer and her eyes narrowed in a cold anger.

"Well, look at what we have here," She jeered, tossing her long blond hair over her shoulder. "A stupid boy who can't get anything right. Tell me, idiot, why should we have to put up with you?"

"If you leave me alone, you won't have to do anything," Matt suggested half-hopefully. Heska snarled, striking out with her fist and knocking Matt to the ground.

Matt gasped as he collided with the hard earth, then slowly tried to stand up. One of the boys in the group kicked him in the stomach and Matt cried out, falling back to the ground.

"Beat him," Heska ordered and just like that, the gang was punching and kicking Matt with a fury he couldn't understand.

Matt covered his head with his arms to shield himself from the worst of the blows, crying out as stones occasionally smashed into him. Several hard kicks were delivered and Matt's eyes flew open as a flash of pain burst in his chest. He gasped, eyes shrouded in a cloud of pain, feeling as though one of his ribs may be fractured or possibly broken.

"Stop!" Matt cried, flinching as a large stone struck his cheek. He coughed, a warm, wet liquid trickling from the corner of his mouth. Matt whimpered, squeezing his eyes tightly shut as though he could make himself disappear if he tried hard enough.

"Back," Heska told the gang, her voice firm. They backed off, falling silent as they waited to see what their leader would do.

"Look at me," Heska growled, nudging Matt with her foot. Matt cautiously opened his eyes, his face twisted into an expression of pure pain. "You're a little shit, you know that? No one wants you around. So why don't you just die?" Heska spat, watching with the light of a cold satisfaction when Matt sobbed a little harder.

Heska smiled cruelly and before Matt realized what was happening, she had kicked him in the head with her full strength.

Matt gasped, his vision blurring. He tried to breathe, but somehow just couldn't get his lungs to function properly. The world swam in and out of focus and so did the pain. One second, he felt every single injury and the next, he was shrouded in a numbing haze.

Laughter rang loudly in Matt's ears and he whimpered, unable to escape the voices of his tormentors. He could barely see anything anymore, but felt pain blossom again as he was pelted with more stones.

"Hey!" A new voice yelled. "What are you doing? Leave him alone!"

The pain and laughter stopped abruptly and heard feet pounding on the ground, becoming fainter as the gang ran off. One pair of footsteps drew closer and Matt swallowed, tasting more thick blood.

"Matt!" He heard the voice cry. "Oh Notch, what did they do to you?"

Matt coughed again but screamed in pain as someone laid a hand over his chest. The hand was quickly withdrawn but the voice sounded more panicked when it next spoke.

"Matt? Matt, look at me! Come on, don't give in," The voice begged. Matt struggled to focus on the blurred shape crouched in front of him, but failed miserably. He just couldn't think straight anymore.

"Just hold on Matt. I'll get you to someone who can help," The voice whispered, clearly scared for him. Matt yelped as he was picked up, but couldn't struggle against it. He felt himself being carried along but couldn't see who was holding him.

"Mr. Seft!" The voice called and Matt felt him stop walking. "Please, open the door! It's an emergency!"

Matt heard hinges creak slightly and assumed it was the aforementioned door opening. "Phil?" A different, deeper voice asked. "What happened? Why is Matt -"

"Please, just help him! I'll explain later!" The first voice, who Matt guessed to be Phil's, sounded frantic now. Matt blinked, still unable to see anything clearly.

"Of course. Bring him in and lay him on my couch," Mr. Seft ordered calmly. Matt felt Phil start walking again, then stop shortly after, lowering Matt down onto a soft surface.

"Where is he injured the most?" Mr. Seft's voice sounded distant, as though he were in another room. There was a slight clinking of jars and bottles as he moved around, most likely gathering supplies for treating Matt's injuries.

"One or more of his ribs may be broken and when I arrived, he had just been kicked in the head," Phil answered. "He – he wasn't able to focus on me."

"Same gang, I'm guessing?" Mr. Seft muttered darkly. Matt swallowed down more blood, crying out as another wave of agony shook him.

"Yes. But I've never seen them so brutal before," Phil murmured. "Will you be able to help him?"

"I'll do my best," Mr. Seft promised determinedly, his voice growing louder as he walked over. "Though he may have suffered irreparable damage to his brain that could limit, if not completely destroy, any way of movement or thought. Of course, there's always the slim chance that that didn't happen and that he was just stunned. In that case, he'll have to deal with major headaches for the next few weeks."

Matt felt Mr. Seft gently rest his hand on his chest and he flinched, trying to get away from the stinging pain.

"Matt?" Mr. Seft asked. "Can you hear me?"

Matt tried to say 'yes' but his voice failed him. He made a weak choking noise, but managed to nod his head slightly.

"Good," Mr. Seft sighed in relief. "If he can hear us, then there's a good chance he was only stunned. He'll recover, just not very quickly."

Matt blinked as a cool feeling spread through his body, emanating from the points of pain. He smiled faintly and sighed, relaxing as relief from the medicine eased the pain his screaming muscles.

"Matt? Can you look at me?" Mr. Seft's calm voice interrupted Matt's thoughts and he blinked. His vision was less blurry than before and he was able to see Mr. Seft peering down at him through wire-rimmed glasses, his grey-blue eyes filled with worry.

Matt smiled weakly, blinking again. He still couldn't summon up the strength to speak so he nodded yes.

"He'll be fine in a few hours but I'd like for him to stay here overnight. Just to make sure he doesn't have any serious internal injuries," Mr. Seft turned his head away from Matt and glanced at Phil, who was standing just off to the side.

"Thank you," Phil smiled, but he had tears glistening in his bright red eyes. "I'll try to pay you back as soon as possible."

"Oh, that's not necessary," Mr. Seft turned back to Matt. "You know I don't want you to pay. I never will demand anything of you. However, I am going to have a harsh word with the parents of those kids," Mr. Seft's voice grew darker and he narrowed his eyes. "Enough is enough. Matt could have been killed today had you not come along when you did, Phil."

Matt swallowed again, feeling dizzy. He didn't understand why people hated him so much. He didn't think anything was different about him or Phil that made the village feel the need to hate them.

But whatever the reason, Matt knew that deep inside, it was all going to end in death.

Yay! Flashbacks!

Random Observation: I wrote most of this while watching Matt livestream and I found out that he's also a bit of a writer as well! I looked up one of his short stories and... dang. It was just... stunning.

FyreUK Video of the Day: Minecraft Timelapse - Fallen Kingdom Set (Captain Sparklez) or watch?v=PuEezbQ-oyM&list=PL6C732E31C70607EF

RusYRP: Wizardly food fights ARE SO FUN TO WRITE! XD And motherly User is so funny too!

Redpikmanred: Good to see you back!

ironhideandratchet4ever: And guess what? Ima gonna posting a Mianite one-shot on January 31st to celebrate! (Matt and Phil are iFirez and BruteAlmighty - the main coordinators of the FyreUK Youtube channel)

DiamondScribe: What, you mean Mianite coming back in just three days hasn't kept you happy? ;) I had to explain to my dad last night at about 11:30 why I kept squealing with excitement!