A/N: Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! (Woah, hyper much?) I really shouldn't set deadlines, because it seems all I do is completely ignore them. :| Hopefully I can write another chapter tomorrow as an apology. Anyway, for this chapter, I've actually got two POVs, because I got my final OC and was inspired to write them. Hopefully that doesn't destroy the story XD. Neither of them have much to do with Mike, but I thought, "why not show the other perspectives on the Game, and on him?" Next chapter will probably be his POV, but I don't know for sure. On another note: this is chapter 8?! 0.0 whoa. And 23 reviews?! Double whoa! And over 400 VIEWS?! Notch, that's a lot! Triple-mega-whoa! Ok, I'll stop now. :P Big shout out to all! Thank you!
SoulErrorArwitch: Thanks for being so cool about it. You're probably going to regret ever saying anything. I was supposed to update 3 days ago. :(
SylentDoom: I'm glad you think so! Hopefully I got Jag ok. I feel like I didn't fully capture her, but oh well. This isn't my best chapter, so I don't know.
Polar33: *facepalms* I forgot to change my keyboard to French. A THOUSAND CURSES ON AUTOCORRECT! *coughs*
Curcle: I hope you like how I wrote him. *wince*
xEnderAwesomex: Why thank you. :P
Jag's POV
I swung my chain at the skeleton, maneuvering out of shooting range. I hit it again, and it collapsed into a pile of bones, with one straggling arrow. I swung my weapon over my shoulder, starting out again. It was the only one of its kind, a true original. It had also saved my life many times throughout the games. I had joined because, to be honest, it interested me, if only slightly. Your average village mother would probably be horrified that I'd chosen this path. But to me it made sense. Pylos had always been peaceful, and that was the reason why I was alone. I gritted my teeth against the memories. I wouldn't slip into the past. Chances are, if I did, it would end my future.
I sighed, glancing around the forest. I was in a Taiga of sorts, with snow-capped hills. A few chests lay around. I'd looted them all, except for one that lay on a poorly disguised piece of TNT. All was quiet, too quiet. I slowly scanned the ground. 20 yards away from me lay a snapped piece of wood. On closer examination, I realized it was a sword. That wasn't unusual, especially here. The problem was the large amount of scattered items and still burning fire surrounding the damaged items. I ran my hand over the place, closing my eyes.
Echo41 was slain by Ecuholden_Assasin. This wasn't a mob attack. I'd heard of Echo. She was a warrior from, ironically, the Land of Love, ruled by Queen Amy, one of the many Minecraftian ambassadors. She had saved our land from the threat even Notch himself supposedly feared, being conquered by the strange force known as Terraria. If someone had managed to overpower her... I knew that the victor wasn't famous in the same way that Echo was, but their name still tugged at my mind.
"Ah, clearly you've found my last victim." I cursed silently. I was so absorbed I hadn't heard someone come up. Strange, normally my senses were keener than most. I turned to glare at him, but when I did, I was faced with the most horrifying sight I'd ever seen. I was starring at Ecuholden_Assasin himself. He was a good looking boy about 17, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a near-complete suit of iron, free of dents or scratches. He was grinning crookedly, and his expression was so cruel it would have terrified most, but that wasn't the reason I was so horrified. In his hand was a gleaming axe, one I knew all too well. The last time I'd seen it, I was 10 years old. The last time I'd seen it was the night it killed my brother.
"You!" I hissed. He smiled coldly.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"You and your brother killed Pylos! You helped him kill an innocent boy!"
"That's life. Unfortunately, you won't get to experience that for much longer." He swung the axe down towards my shoulder. I ducked, blocking with my chain. I rolled to my feet striking out.
"Your fighting has improved." In response, I kicked him square in the chest, sending him backwards. I raised my chain, preparing to bring it down, but he grabbed the end, using its momentum to pull himself up while lurching me forward. "Not good enough, I'm afraid." I hit the ground, tucking into a shoulder roll. I lashed out again, snagging his boot. He managed to jump the chain, though he tripped slightly. I took advantage of this, and pressed him harder, until he was forced to focus on blocking my strikes. I feinted left, and then leapt to the right. It was a risky move, but it paid off. I knocked the axe out of his hand, pinning him against a tree. His eyes darted around nervously. I picked up the fallen weapon, raising it above my head. I was about to bring it down, but something hit me on the back of the head. I made the mistake of turning around. Ecuholden kicked free and grabbed his weapon, slipping into the gloom of the forest. A boy in a Steve skin stumbled away. I looked down. The idiotic noob had thrown a dirt block at me. I assumed he was in league with my former captive. Realization hit me, and I sat down. Of all the people to meet!
"Leave the girl, Ecuholden. I have a feeling you'll get your chance to kill her...properly."
"Yes, brother."
I closed my eyes, shutting out the memories. I slammed my chain into the grass. Yelling my frustration. I wanted to scream everything I'd been holding in for 9 years out into the forest. But I wouldn't. I learned long ago that talking isn't the way to get what you need. Action was always more effective. I glared off into the woods. And Ecuholden was going to learn exactly what happened when you got on the wrong side of Jag Newman.
Ecuholden's POV
I stood in the center of a bloodbath, smiling to myself. At my feet were the items of the two players I had just killed. It was easy enough, all I had to do was ask: lik team :D, and then slice them with my weapon when they weren't looking. I ground my axe into a piece of smooth stone to sharpen it. I was interrupted by a yelp, and the smack! of someone taking damage. I rolled my eyes and glanced over my shoulder. My ally, Curcle, jumped out of the way of a spider, waving his fist wildly in an attempt to hit it. He was several years younger than me, and far more of a noob than I had ever been. I killed the spider with a swift swipe of my axe, glaring at Curcle as I kicked the beast's string off my shoe.
"Noob. Come on!" He stumbled after me, banging into trees and opening his inventory at random, as if he couldn't control anything. Why did I keep him around?
"Ecuholden!" I bit back a curse.
"What, Curcle?"
"More players!" I grabed my axe and hurried to the bluff. Four humanoid players walked under us, 3 boys and a girl.
"Look! We're out of the jungle!" One of the boys was talking to the girl. He had blonde hair, like mine, but much darker. The girl he was talking to was dressed casually, though a strange purple aura seemed to surround her. In contrast, one of the other boys wore a long, dark cloak that hid them from any observation. He was chatting with the final boy, who wore a pilot's uniform. I grinned. Perfect.
"Curcle!" I turned to look at the noob. "I've got a job for you."
A/N: There you go! I feel like I had an awkward rhythm of sentences. It was sort of short, short, short, ridiculously long, ridiculously long, short, short. Sigh. Lot of references in this chapter. The Terraria thing comes from some of my friends being temporarily obsessed with it and abandoning Minecraft. TRAITORS! They're over it now. Anyways, I don't know what else to say. MINECRAFT! Keep on being awesome!
