Herobrine was expecting two different things when he woke up. He assumed that either everything would be as it was prior to his nap or back in his cell. When he woke, he was in a different room, lying on a metal sheet. To his surprise, no one was in the room with him. The white-eyed man stood up, and looked around the room for anything other than stone walls. All he found was a single torch lighting the room and a wooden door. Finding no other course of action, Herobrine opened the door and walked through the gateway.

The room he found himself in was luxurious in nature. Wool couches were arranged in living room patterns. Tables surrounded a fountain, food of all cuisines served on their wooden surfaces.. A large chandelier illuminated the lounge, the light stopping by each of the entrances. Despite all this, Herobrine was interested to those occupying it.

When the white-eyed man was defeated all those years ago, many of his lieutenants went into hiding. In the course of the next centuries, they had tried to finish what their master could not. Herobrine recognized the first zombie he had resurrected, the one that had become his general, sat on one of the couches. Decay, he had named him. He was in conversation with the first Creeper. Herobrine struggled to remember the name he had given him.

"Blitz, you had named him," a female voice said, "Of course you would forget about Blitz. Did you forget me?"

Looking up, Herobrine recognized another of his subordinates. Only one of them he had tolerated for disrespect.

"Sometimes, I wish I did, Flare," Herobrine replied.

The Queen of the Blazes descended to meet Herobrine. Her bright gold face glowed, her red eyes intense. The fallen brother had seen many a foe tremble under her glare. Not him though.

"I take it your brother is with you?"

"Tusks is having his fill of the banquet Hypixel gave us. I suppose it is in his nature. Pigs need food. Pigmen need feasts."

"Who else was released?"

"I didn't keep tabs on the rest of them. If they were released, we'll see them."

Herobrine closed his eyes, focusing for any other energy signatures. It was a trait he had used often in the past, using it to see the world outside his cell. He could tell the slight differences between twins by looking into their auras. After a few minutes meditating, a familiar aura entered the room. An aura with a story, a story Herobrine had heard from the guards.

"Flare, you might want to leave. Arachne keeps chilly company."

As Herobrine watched the Queen of the Spiders enter, his mind grabbed at the information the guards had told him. Arachne had incorporated into a human society fifty years after Herobrine's defeat. The king of an isolated country in the south took pity on her, and since then Arachne had felt attraction to him. They had gotten married and started a family when the rest of Minecraftia invaded their land. Minecraftia had disagreed with the way the Southern Icelands worked, and decided to dethrone its 'tyrant'. There was no doubt in Herobrine's mind what Hypixel had offered to them.

As Arachne looked around trying to find her husband, Herobrine sensed a type of aura he hadn't predicted to encounter in a prison. Turning around, the fallen brother saw two black eyes glaring at him. Above them, covering the newcomer's forehead, a furry hood resembling a wolf's head sat. The newcomer's glare cooled into a simple gaze.

"It would seem you are not as dark as I thought," he said.

"If we had met two and a half century ago, you may have found what you were looking for," Herobrine replied, "Why would a noble Shaman such as yourself be captured and thrown into a maximum security prison?"

The nature defender replied, "Defending the land I swore to protect, as well as the creatures inside it. As far as I know, all that remains of it is a barren wasteland."

The white-eyed man's eyes lit up, realizing who this man was, "You were the one who defended Tusks?"

The shaman looked to the pigman with a smile on his face, "I am. Where others saw a bloodthirsty monster, I saw a damaged creature. A creature I could fix."

"And fix you did. He is far more tame than he was under my control."

The mage looked back at the fallen brother, "I don't think I've introduced myself. I am Kaeton. And you are a lost soul by the name of Herobrine. If we survive this, perhaps I can help you."

Herobrine was about to thank him, but his reply changed as he sensed a dark aura behind him, "You will not need your help."

The fallen brother turned to meet the newcomer, "All I need is your death, Null."

The being in front of him wore a light purple cloak. It was carried on two legs of thick bone. A pair of skeleton arms protruded past the cloak's sleeves, crossed over a revealed ribcage instead of a chest. A skull replaced the being's head.

A rasping noise like laughter came out of the skull, "Hehe, Null is gone. I go by Dreadlord now, Herobrine. Hypixel told me that if I were to survive, the name would hide my identity, as well as intimidate others. Can't have the murderer of Notch walking around, after all."

Herobrine roared, grabbing the spinal cord-neck of Null and pulled the dark entity up. The darkness that Null radiated chilled Herobrine's hand, but the white-eyed brother couldn't feel it. The rage within him, boiling reason and destroying rationality.

White eyes glared into darkness, "My brother was mine to kill. Mine alone!"

Herobrine flung Null across the room, interrupting a reunion on the other side. An armored man dived out of the way, saving himself and Arachne from the bone-cannonball that was the Dreadlord. The bulky automaton, the armored man's guard, wasn't as lucky. The golem was smashed into the wall with Dreadlord, a dust cloud flying out. Red eyes looked to see Herobrine striding to meet his enemy, energy radiating out of him. While Arachne felt fear, in the corner of her vision she saw someone who wasn't. That was what terrified her.

"Watch it!" the Arcanist yelled, "You think you can throw a bomb of dark magic at my wife, my prized golem, and myself and not pay for it?!"

Herobrine growled as he summoned a diamond blade to his side, "Step aside, mortal. Do not interfere, lest you pay the price."

"You arrogant-"

"Stop!"

Both warriors turned to Arachne, who had steeled her face to confront both her husband and her old master. The fallen brother and the sorcerer took a final glare at each other, then calmed themselves. When she saw they had both dropped hostility, The queen of the spiders pulled away her husband from the white-eyed man.

"I am sorry, master. Darius is just protective of me. He didn't mean to offend you," she reasoned.

"I am no longer your master," Herobrine replied calmly, before turning to 'Darius', "You should thank your wife, sorcerer. Had she not interfered, you would've joined Null in that wall."

"Dreadlord!"

Herobrine took a combat stance again, turning to his foe. Null had pulled himself out of the wall , his assistants at his side. Darius' golem was still in the concrete, but didn't seem bothered by it. A tall dark humanoid and a skeleton in chain armor glared at the fallen brother, as if they weren't his creations. At seeing them, an animalistic growl escaped Herobrine's throat.

"Traitors."

"Not really. They were the most loyal of your lieutenants," Null said back, "Shade and Fracture followed your final orders, to avenge you and kill any human they met. That is what led them to me."

Herobrine rushed Null again, yelling out a battle cry. The shadow lord jumped out of the way, and landed behind Herobrine. The white-eyed man threw his sword on the ground, blowing back everyone nearby and cracking the ground. Null jumped back again, the rasping laughter he made echoing in the room.

"Why do you hate me, Herobrine? Your brother threw you in here. I killed him. What does it matter to you?"

"He wronged me, and I was to pay him in kind. You killed him, now you will take the punishment in his place."

"Enough!"

The familiar voice reverberated through the walls. Everyone looked to the entrances for their addresser. Herobrine attempted to find his aura, but could not.

"You will have your fight. But not now," The voice assured.

"Show yourself, Hypixel!" Darius demanded to the walls.

A loud whizzing sound filled the room before Hypixel replied, "Here."

All eyes followed the voice to the center of the room. The fountain at the center had been drained of water, and a blue hologram of Hypixel was being projected from an iron podium. The fountain's stone borders sunk into the ground, the floor of the fountain turning into a cyan lantern. The food tables descended into the floor and were replaced by iron blocks. The empty space inside the iron borders were then filled with a diamond-blue light.

Those in the room surrounded the table. Some looked upon Hypixel's image with hate, some with curiosity, and some with impatience. Herobrine figured that this was the briefing for whatever mission, job or simulation they had in front of them.

"I know all of you have a lot of questions," Hypixel said, "The following briefing will hopefully answer those questions."

"Then get on with it," was Darius' reply.

Hypixel sighed, then did as he was told, "Every single one of you has the potential to be Minecraftia's hero. We are currently facing a threat the likes of which have never been seen before. Unfortunately, only three of you can be released, lest the main population be brought more panic than they already have."

"We have picked each of you because you because of your skill, and your ability to work with two others in this room. A few of you have already figured out who works with who, and pinpointed those you know you can work with."

A blue screen appeared at Hypixel's right, displaying the teams. The groups were divided by color. Team Red was composed of Null, Shade and Fracture, the former most nodding in approval. Team Blue, to no one's surprise, was made up of Darius, his Golem bodyguard, and Arachne. Team Yellow was the least connected, Tusks being the only one with connections with both other members. The team was formed by Kaeton, Tusks and Flare. Herobrine's team, Green, had him partnered with Blitz and Decay. He hoped they were as skilled as he remembered.

The light below Hypixel's hologram shifted into a three-dimensional model of a castle. Two staircases led to its entrance, a large gateway. Directly in front of it was a large patch of grown wheat, ready for harvest. A cave to its right was barely supported by thin wooden stilts. To the wheat patch's left was a large oak tree. The whole compound was sealed by walls on one side, and mountains on the rest.

"Each team will receive a castle like this one as a home base. Food is supplied in the form of wheat, and mineral resources can be obtained from the mine to the castle's right. Wood for any additional structures you may want to construct can be harvested from the oak tree to the castle's left," Hypixel explained.

The view point of the hologram shifted, entering through the gateway and into the castle. Inside was a large room. At the center was a staircase leading downwards. At the right corner was a staircase leading up to the second floor, in front of it was a free space with decayed flooring. A flashing blue hologram flashed on top of the taint, and stopped blinking to reveal a hologram of a Wither.

"Each team has a hologram of a Wither to defend. The simulation will compute when the Wither has taken enough damage to die. When a team's Wither falls, they are vulnerable to dying for good. If you die in the simulation, you will die in real life."

The view point shifted again, showing the view if one were to look from the gateway of the castle to the walls. A red barrier loomed pass the smaller castle walls.

"These barriers will stop your team from leaving and from other teams to enter during the start of the game. When the barriers fall, be ready," Hypixel explained, "The other teams will come for your Wither, and you should be prepared to defend it."

A green hand rose up from the crowd.

"Null and Master Herobrine are much stronger than us. How can the rest of us hope to survive?" asked Decay.

"In the spirit of fairness, each competitor will be restricted to only certain set of abilities. In accordance with the power and rate of use of each ability, competitors will also be given different sets of equipment."

"Once the simulation begins, you have will have ten hours before the barriers fall to take any resources you need and construct defenses. When all Withers have fallen, Deathmatch will begin. Those not in the center will begin to starve. Unless they return to the surface of the center, they will eventually die. This will force the remaining survivors into contact, and thus, combat. The survivors of the last remaining team will be given all that was promised to them, as well as freedom and a job as a General in the Minecraftian army," Hypixel concluded.

"Are you ready to begin?"

All the competitors looked to each other, "Yes."

Simulation helms warped onto each of the competitor's heads in a flash of purple. Their lights glowed the color of each of the warrior's respective teams. A loud humming sound filled all of their ears.

"Good luck," Hypixel said, before they all sunk into the simulation.