[Adam's POV]

I walked up to the white house and rapped on the door, readjusting the posterboard and markers under my arm so they wouldn't fall. Jason and Mitch's mom opened it, a huge smile on her face. "Hi Adam! Can I help you with something?"

"I'm here to see Mitch. We have a group project in history that we need to get working on," I told her.

She stepped out of the way and invited me in. "He's upstairs in his room. Jason's over at Ty's house at the moment, so it's just you two. I have some cookies baking right now, so do you want me to bring some up to you guys when they're ready?"

I nodded yes and then ran upstairs to Mitch's room. Today was important, not just because we need to get this project done since we put it off until this last week, but also because after almost a year and a half, I was going to confront Mitch about Herobrine. I'm not quite sure how this is going to go, honestly. How do you go up to a friend and say that he's technically the perfect version of yourself because this magicy person had to test your friend's powers on you first? You don't. Yet I have to. Can you see the dilemma I have here?

I barged into Mitch's room at the top of the stairs. "Mitch, I come bearing poster things!"

Mitch, who was lying on his bed playing on an old Gameboy, set it down and groaned. "Really? We have to do that now? But I'm in the middle of a gym battle!"

"Mitch, we've put it off for weeks. It's due on Monday, aka tomorrow. If we don't get it done now, we'll probably get another detention, and I can't handle three in one month."

Reluctantly, Mitch jumped off his bed and sat down on the floor. "Stupid seventh grade teachers and their projects. When are we ever gonna need to know about the Revolutionary War in our lives?"

I shrugged and set down the poster in front of us. "I don't know, man. I just want to get this done and over with. Pass me the blue?"

He tossed me the marker, then we worked silently on our project, making a few funny quips every once in awhile. During the times when we were quiet, I thought about how I would casually present the topic of Herobrine. I could just randomly ask something about his powers...nah. Too straightforward. Maybe I'll-

A pounding on the window interrupted my thoughts. "Miiiiiiiiitch!" The window was pushed open, then Jerome and Husky tumbled onto the floor. "Get off me, fish!" Jerome screamed.

"Amphibian!" Husky corrected, then stood up, helping Jerome also. I silently cursed in my mind. Did they have to come here now?

Mitch rolled his eyes. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We were bored," Jerome explained. "There isn't exactly much to do in that tiny forest, you know."

"Would you rather be locked in my closet all day?" Mitch asked.

"No," they responded simultaneously.

"Then the forest is your best bet."

"Yeah, but we want friends!" Jerome whined.

"Fine," Mitch sighed. "We can hang out for an hour or something. Then maybe you guys can work with us on our stupid history project."

"How are they going to help us with a history project?" I asked. "They're animals."

Jerome finally looked over at me. "Oh, hey Adam. When did you get here?"

A beep sounded from downstairs. "Mitch? Adam? I have cookies!" Mitch's mom called up the stairs in a singsong voice.

Mitch swore, then shoved Jerome and Husky towards the closet. "But I said I don't want to go in the closet!" Jerome whined.

"Too bad, do you want to get caught?!" Mitch whisper-yelled.

The closet door closed shut just in the nick of time. Mitch's mom came in half a second later, carrying a plate of cookies. "Everything alright in here, boys?" Mitch and I nodded automatically. She then smiled and handed us each a few cookies. "It sounded like there were other voices in here...oh well. If you need anything, feel free to ask. Though I can't say I'm too good at the history that took place on the ground." She chuckled at her own joke, and headed back down stairs.

"Okay, it's safe now," Mitch said to the animals in the closet.

Jerome flopped out, a huge smile etched on his face. "My bacca nose smells cookies!"

"Mudkip wants a cookie too!" Husky chimed in.

I tossed them both a cookie, then started to eat my own. "So, what do you guys wanna do, since you have now distracted us from what we're supposed to be doing?"

Husky shrugged. "Dunno. I just followed Jerome because I didn't want to be alone."

Jerome thought for a second, then smirked. "Let's play Survival Games!"

Husky and I gave each other a questioning look, but Mitch started laughing. "Yes! Like the good old days, Jerome! We're gonna have to teach these suckers how to play, though. We don't want them to get killed right away."

"Wait wait wait," I said. "Are you guys...threatening to kill us?"

Jerome rubbed his paws together. "Ooh, this is gonna be fun."

It was about a two mile walk to the forest where we have Jerome and Husky live, and as the only unathletic one in our little group, I fell severely behind after the very first quarter mile of running. It also doesn't help that the forest is at the top of this huge hill. I got to the top five minutes later than my friends, who stood and laughed as I sat down and wheezed.

"Man, Adam," Jerome said when he finished laughing at my pain, "what do you do in your free time that you can't run up a hill?"

"Shut *wheeze* up you *wheeze* animal."

They chuckled again, then Husky helped me up. "C'mon. We don't want to keep these two maniacs waiting. I'm hoping that if we go nicely, they'll give us a decent funeral."

"Nah, sorry boys," Mitch said. "The Survival Games insurance doesn't cover funerals. Or dead bodies, for that matter. But you may survive, that is if you learn the strategy." He and Jerome gestured for us to come into the woods, picking up random sticks as we walked.

I had never been in the forest before, mainly because I figured that it was just another forest. Which it kinda is, but there was also a peaceful element to it. We walked among the tall oak trees, alongside a little bubbling creek. Birds tweeted around us, and every once in there would be a crunch of a stick or a leaf. At least when my friends kill me, I'll die in a peaceful place.

We arrived at a little shack made out of scrap wood we gave Jerome and Husky when we had all decided that we had to keep them hidden last year. That had been quite an interesting conversation. Since then, they mainly do their own thing, but they sometimes will randomly show up at one of our houses, usually when they're bored.

Jerome slipped inside the shack, then returned a few seconds later with a box of protein bars, some string, and a rubber ball. Placing the items in front of our little group along with the pile of sticks, he smiled. "Alright, everyone back up and get into a circle. Or, square rather. Mitch and I are going to explain the rules."

We each backed up about five feet from the items, then Mitch started talking. "Alright, so basically all those things in the middle are your weapons. Except the protein bars. Those are just food. You see, everyone has twenty hearts, and whenever you get hit by someone's weapon, aka a stick, rock, ball, whatever, you lose one heart. When you're out of hearts, you're dead. You just come back to the shack and spectate until the game is over."

"But if you eat some food," Jerome continued, "You get one heart back. And for weapons, you can use anything you can find. Well, within reason. Stuff like sticks, or a ball, a slingshot, that sort of thing. You can't attack someone with a leaf. Also, try not to actually kill anyone. That may put a bit of a damper on things. Any questions?"

Husky raised his flipper. "So, we're not gonna die?"

"Nope," Mitch responded. "We'll probably get a bit beat up, but we shouldn't actually be like, dead dead."

"Yes, cause getting beat up by my friends is so much better," Husky mumbled.

"Aw...It'll be okay, fish." Jerome said, making Husky cringe at the 'fish' comment. "You'll be fine. Now let's just get this game started already!"

"The forest is our limits," Mitch quickly added. "No going beyond it, or you're automatically dead. On my mark. Ready," We all prepared to run to the middle. "Go!"

The four of us ran and scrambled to grab stuff. I ended up getting the ball, a protein bar, and a stick before running in the opposite direction. I was a bit mad that I had to postpone my serious conversation, but I'm also a very competitive person. If you put me into a competition, I'm gonna try to win.

The first few minutes were uneventful. Mostly just wandering the forest, looking for someone to fight. Later I had a little run-in with Jerome. I had to run away from that fight, as he got me down to only ten hearts, but I hit him a good few times too. We were both gonna have a bunch of bruises tomorrow.

Ten more minutes passed. I hadn't seen a soul since Jerome, and I had to eat my one protein bar to get back a heart, just in case. While I was walking around the trees, I felt something hit me in the back of my head. "Agh! What?" I turned and looked around, spotting Mitch perched in a small tree.

"Minus one heart, Adam," he called, preparing to launch another stick at me. Before he could, I threw the ball and hit him in the chest. It was enough to knock him off balance and send him falling towards the ground. I ran over to attack him now that he was one heart down, but he's quick. He pulled out a stick and parried my strike. Pushing himself off the ground, he jabbed me in the stomach. I hit him in the shoulder. He swung and I blocked. It went on for a bit, swinging, blocking, and trading blows every once in awhile. Even though it wasn't a real battle per se, it felt like Mitch and I were really fighting for our lives with real swords, both waiting for the other to fumble with our "sword" so we could deliver another strike.

It seemed like we had been fighting forever. I had only two hearts left, which meant Mitch was probably low too. If I was going to make a move, I needed to do it now. Mitch struck towards my legs, and instead of parrying or dodging it, I took the one heart loss and kicked it out of his hand, sending it flying. I then pushed him against a tree, holding the stick right by his chest.

Mitch looked terrified for a second, then laughed. "Jeez. I forget how intense this game can get. How many hearts?"

"One," I replied, not loosening my grip.

"Same here," he said, eyes trailing to the "weapon" pointed at his chest. "I don't suppose you'd consider letting me go, would you?"

I almost immediately said no, I wouldn't spare him. Why would I? This is a game, and I wanna win. But then I started thinking about it. What had I wanted to accomplish today? Talk to Mitch about Herobrine without getting one of my friends killed because they were within earshot. Now we were in the woods alone, and he was probably willing to listen to me if I bargained for his life in the game. "Actually, I may let you go on one condition."

He gave me a shocked look, but then nodded. "Well, okay then. I wasn't expecting that. What do I have to do?"

"I just need to talk to you about something. It's important. And while I'm talking, you won't attack me, and I won't attack you. Deal?"

He agreeded, then I let him go. "So," he said, "what's so important?"

I glanced around again, making sure that a spying Jerome or Husky wasn't around. "It's about Herobrine."

His body immediately tensed up as soon as I said the name. "How do you know about him?" He asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"I figured it out that day a couple years ago, when those giant spiders attacked and you...uh...you know what I'm talking about."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Mitch exclaimed. "You might've seen me turn into BajanBrine, but that doesn't explain how you actually know about Herobrine. Or what you were doing there that day."

"I have an explanation for that too," I told him, rubbing the back of my neck. "I forgot why exactly I was following you, but, see, I've met Herobrine before." Mitch's eyes went wide, and I continued the story. "When I was a baby, he apparently needed to test out giving powers or something to humans, so he tried it on me. It failed, but he forgot to kill me before moving on to the next test subject, so I just grew up. One day, after I accidentally...killed my dad, I met him in an alleyway, and he explained this to me. He also told me that the reason he tested his abilities on me was because he had to give them to someone else, and that time it couldn't fail. He also slipped up and told me that that person's name is Mitch. I figured that whoever that Mitch person was, he was vital to some sort of plan of Herobrine's, and now that Herobrine knew of my existence, we were both going to become pawns of something."

I paused for a second, thinking about how to say the next part. "Ever since I met you, I've been suspicious, and that's why I'd...stare sometimes. I was trying to figure it all out. When I saw you that day, fighting the spiders with that sword, and your eyes glowing, I knew that you were the guy. I needed to talk to you as soon as possible, because," I sighed, "I don't want to be a pawn, Mitch. I just want to make sure we're on the same page, because if you refuse to work with Herobrine, then I'm sure I won't end up working with him either. I also guess I wanted to see if you knew anything more about what he might be doing."

Mitch looked completely shell-shocked. "I... wow…that's crazy. I mean...wow." He sat down and leaned against the tree, rubbing his face. "I'm sorry Adam, but Herobrine's kept me in the dark more than he has you. I just knew about my own powers, and that I didn't want to comply with him." I breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he doesn't know anymore about Herobrine, at least now I don't have to piece it all together on my own.

I opened my mouth to say something, but then a voice from out of nowhere boomed, "Finally!" The world dissolved around Mitch and me, leaving us alone in a black void sort of thing. A figure appeared in front of us, a smile etched across his face. "It took you two long enough to talk!" Herobrine said, white eyes glowing with happiness. "I was starting to think it would never happen."

I glanced over at Mitch, who had now transformed into his "BajanBrine" form. "What do you want now?!"

Herobrine chucked. "Ah, Mitchell. Temper as short as ever, I see. There's no need to be cross. I'm just here to talk."

"We don't care, Herobrine!" I shouted. "We're not going to comply with whatever you want us to do!"

"Whatever you say, Adam," Herobrine said, smiling. "But didn't I say you two would get along great? Both have the same temper, both have a great hatred of me, you're practically made to be a team. Now, about that talk…" He clapped his hands, and three chairs appeared. "Have a seat, boys. I do believe we have a bit to talk about."

Mitch and I, though very unwilling, sat down in the seats, staring at Herobrine. "Now Mitch," he started, "You're probably wondering about Adam's powers, here. Yes, just like he said, I used him as an experiment. Kind of like you, version one. I killed all the rest of the test subjects, but I guess I forgot about him. A little slip up, but it works out for the better. Now I have the upper hand here."

"The upper hand in what?" Mitch snapped. "If we're going to be part of this "oh so mighty plan", why don't you tell us what it is?"

Herobrine smirked. "I was going to get to that, Mitchell. Patience." Mitch opened his mouth, but no words came out. "There," Herobrine said. "So much quieter. Now, as I was saying…" He turned to look at me, a fake smile on his face. "Adam, if this is going to work, you're going to need to know your powers as well as Mitchell knows his."

I just crossed my arms. "I'm not gonna do anything you ask me to."

"You don't have to, Adam. I'm just here to tell you what you can do." He reached over and took off my glasses, keeping me still with his powers in the process. "I can't say I know everything about what your eyes can do, but I do know quite a bit. It all depends on your emotions.

"When you're angry and someone looks into your eyes, then burn from the inside out. That's the one you have encountered before." I cringed, but Herobrine didn't seem to notice or care. "When you are scared, a person will see their worst fear, driving them insane. When you're sad, any life looking at you freezes forever. You're annoyed, they spontaneously combust. You're tired, they fall asleep. You're happy, they act drunk. Though I think the most useful ability is when you're calm and focused. Then you can hypnotize someone to do your bidding. These powers are unpredictable, but great if you can learn how to use them correctly."

Mitch looked at me, still unable to talk, but stunned. I was pretty stunned as well. Some of them I had figured out, like someone seeing their worst fear from the Darren incident all those years ago, and of course the… burning from the inside out. The others were completely unknown to me. I mean, making someone drunk? Hypnotising someone? Since when can I do that?

Herobrine seemed to realize my amazement, because he smiled at me. "Yes, pretty amazing. I can't wait to see them in action, along with Mitchell's powers. As for my plan, I'll make this short and simple. I'm not allowed to tell much, anyways. Mitchell, you're going to be a king, and Adam, you're going to help him get there. Well boys, I best be off." He stood up out of his chair, and looked at both of us. "I've already interfered too much, so don't be expecting to directly see much of me for awhile. Maybe a little check in or two here and there. Until then!"

The world again contorted around me, and when it steadied, we were back in the woods, standing in the same spot as before. I had my glasses back on, and Mitch looked normal again. It was almost like nothing had happened. Though you could tell from both of our expressions that we were a bit shaken from the experience.

"Well...that was...interesting," Mitch commented. "I didn't...that's a lot to take in."

"Tell me about it," I mumble. "I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page about Herobrine. I didn't think that he'd actually show up."

Before we had a chance to talk anymore, Jerome ran over, screaming. "Mitch! Adam! What happened to you guys?"

Husky followed him, trying to catch his breath. "We *pant* were looking *pant* everywhere for *pant* you guys. You've been gone for three *pant* hours."

I looked at Mitch, and he just shrugged. "We just found each other just a minute ago too. We got caught up in the game is all."

"Wait, three hours? What time is it?" I asked.

Jerome looked up at the sky, which had now become a shade of orange. "I dunno. Seven o'clock or so?"

"Crap!" I exclaimed. "We still have to do our project! Mitch, we gotta go!" He nodded, then we both said goodbye to our animal friends.

The walk back to Mitch's house was quiet for the most part. We were probably both thinking about Herobrine. At least I know I was.

"Hey," Mitch suddenly said, "don't worry about that whole thing, alright? Herobrine does that to me all the time too. As long as we don't obey him, we can't be used, right?" I just nodded in reply. "Good. Then let's just get this stupid project done. I still suck at spelling, so you're gonna have to check everything I write." He then sprinted off to his house, which was now just down the road. I trailed behind him, trying to believe what he said about Herobrine. That he needed us to comply with him to complete his plan, and we weren't going to. Problem solved. Though I still had the sinking feeling inside of me that that wouldn't exactly be how it worked.