*heelies into view* it is I
Heather let out a yelp as a figure appeared out of nowhere, right next to her.
"Heather!" She gasped as she was snatched up in a hug, and threw her arms around the figure's neck.
"Steve!"
"Are you okay?" Steve pulled away to look her in the eyes, scanning her face for any sign of injury. "Where's Herobrine? And 303?"
"Um, I think Herobrine's locked up, and Theo's trying to hack Notch."
"He's succeeding." The miner's jaw clenched, and he lowered her to her feet. "We have to stop him. Come on." He turned to face the door..
"Whoa whoa whoa, hang on a sec." Heather grabbed his wrist, causing him to stop short. "Sit down. Notch'll survive a few more minutes, we need to talk before we run off into danger."
"I- yeah. Okay." His tense body relaxing a bit, Steve met her gaze again, sinking down to sit cross-legged on the floor. "How are you doing? You didn't answer my question."
"Oh- I'm okay." The blonde sat down next to him, leaning back on her hands. She could already feel the buzz of adrenaline in her head, and her heart was thumping. Something was going to happen. "Herobrine and I chilled for a while, then Theo kidnapped us a few days ago. What do you mean he's succeeding?"
"I was in Notch's chamber while he was out hunting for 303, and I saw his code being rewritten." The miner's face was grim. "We have to stop him."
"We can't!" Heather protested. "He can beat both of us, easily! I mean, I don't think he'll hurt me, but he will hurt you!"
"What about Herobrine?" She could see the desperation in his eyes. "He could stop him."
"Probably." She considered it for a moment. "Yeah. At least stall him. C'mon, let's go find him."
"Great." The miner shot to his feet, giving the girl a hand up before drawing a pickaxe and heading for the iron door. She watched as he made short work of it, then grabbed his hand, holding onto him tight as the two of them hurried off down the dark hall.
The base was unfamiliar, probably an entirely different location than the one in the End. Or were they still in the End? She wasn't sure, and didn't really want to find out. For now, they just needed to get to Herobrine.
After wandering around for about 20 minutes, the pair ran across another dungeon-like hallway, lined with iron doors on either side. Letting go of Steve's hand, Heather began to check out one side, peering through the windows in the doors in search of glowing eyes while he checked the others. She got to the end of the hall without spotting him, but a moment after she passed the last door a quiet voice called out her name.
"Heather?" She stopped short, Steve crossing the hallway to join her as she retreated to the door the voice had come from.
"Herobrine?" A second look through the window revealed the outline of a body against the wall. His eyes were closed, but she knew her husband's voice.
Steve nudged her aside, then tore down the door with his pick. As it fell out of the way, Heather got a better view of Herobrine, and her face fell into a deep frown. He wasn't in cobwebs, or even chained. Why was he still in there…?
"Herobrine." She repeated, slipping through the doorway and sinking to the ground beside him. "Are you okay? Are you still drugged?"
"I'm alright. Help me up." His statement set off alarm bells in her head, but she obeyed, taking his arm and standing as Steve came to assist. Between the two of them, they helped the Nether King upright, and he wavered on his feet before catching his balance. Something was definitely not right.
Heather kept a hand on his arm as he moved out into the hall, ready to assist if he needed it, but he seemed comfortable on his feet. The moment the torchlight hit his face, though, her free hand flew to her mouth. His eyes weren't closed, they just didn't glow, and his face was pale. He looked sickly, his body trembling with the exertion of just standing upright.
"You're not okay." His wife exclaimed. "What happened to you?"
"303." Herobrine responded bitterly, his voice scratchy. "He did something to me. Broke me. He couldn't change me, who I am, so he destroyed my form. I can't teleport. I can hardly walk."
"Are you- how?!" Nervously, Heather tugged at her hair, heart thudding in her chest as she scanned the hallway for any sign of Theo. "And- and why?"
"He's wanted to be rid of me for a long time now. This was his solution, since he doesn't know he can just…" Herobrine trailed off, but she knew what he meant.
"Let's get away from here." Steve's voice was hushed, and Heather looked over to see his eyes trained on the other end of the hallway. "As far away from him as we can get. When Notch finds us-"
"No." Herobrine interrupted. "You go. Take her to Notch." He addressed Steve.
"What? Why?" The blonde's hand tightened on his arm. "Just come with us!"
"I will buy you some time. There's no guarantee when Notch will come for you - and I doubt he would help me anyway."
"Yes he would!" Steve protested. "He got over his hatred of you a long time ago. If-"
"I doubt that."
"It's true!"
"Regardless, he would not fix me. I'm useless to you now." He didn't look at Heather, stubbornly meeting Steve's eyes. "Take her to Notch. He's the only one who can protect her now."
"Herobrine!" She protested. "Theo won't hurt me, he likes me! Just come with us!"
"Heather." Finally, he met her gaze. "He won't kill me. Right now all I would do is slow you down. Get back to Notch, warn him of what 303 is doing. When he gets rid of him, you can release me. Alright?" She hesitated. Theo still thought he was survival, as far as she knew, so…
"Okay." She relented. "Stay safe."
"I will try." He bent down to kiss her forehead. "Steve, I need a weapon." The miner offered him the pick in his hand. Herobrine took it, and his wife winced as he visibly struggled with the weight. "Go." He urged them away, and Steve took her hand, leading her back down the hall in the direction they had come from.
The two of them hurried back towards Heather's room, footsteps echoing in the empty corridors. She heard voices echoing down the halls towards them, but they were too garbled for her to understand. All she could do was hope Theo took him out quickly.
They hid out in the cell, Steve mining a few blocks from the ceiling and using them to block the door. Against Theo, it meant basically nothing, but maybe it made him feel better. All Heather could feel was growing anxiety as the minutes ticked by.
She knew he wouldn't hurt her, but she wasn't afraid of that. She was afraid of him finding out Herobrine was hardcore and finishing him off, and locking up Steve again forever. Even Notch, who, despite their… previous interactions, she was worried for. She was afraid of being trapped here for eternity. Theo liked her, she knew that for sure, but he had stated already that he planned to have her keep him company. If Notch didn't beat him, she would never be able to leave. Never see her family again.
It was at this moment that Heather realized that, for the first time since she had met him, she was truly afraid of Theo.
A flash of light caught her gaze, and she looked up as Notch appeared beside her.
"Notch!" Steve shot to his feet. "The hacker- 303's gotten into your code, you have to stop him before-"
"I'm aware." Notch interrupted. "You two need to get back to safety. I will take care of him." He extended a hand towards them, and Heather was overwhelmed by a sense of unbalance as they were transported to a stone-brick hallway.
"Come on." Steve caught her hand as she stumbled, pulling her along with him as he hurried down the corridor. "Let's find Alex. Safety in numbers, right?"
"Alex?" Heather blinked, stumbling over her own feet as she processed this, before she remembered. "Oh. Right." They still hadn't met. A tiny smile played at her mouth as she allowed herself to think about that, rather than the impending doom of everyone else in the world.
Steve dragged her into a slightly more homely area that resembled a basic starter house, where she spotted a redheaded woman sharpening an axe where she sat by the fire. She glanced up as they approached, raising one eyebrow.
"I assume this is your kid?"
"Not mine." Steve's voice held a note of defensiveness, and the blonde blinked as she wondered what exactly Alex knew about her. "But yes, this is Heather. Heather, Alex."
"A pleasure. What's going on?" Alex gave the girl a curt nod before looking away, and Steve let go of her hand as he stepped closer to fill her in. She glanced around the room, taking stock of her surroundings, before sinking down on top of a block of wool and hugging her arms to her chest. She couldn't believe she was saying (thinking?) this, but she really hoped that Notch won.
Her hopes were dashed as Theo stepped into the doorway, a bloodied pickaxe clutched in one hand.
"Heather." Steve shouted, and she scrambled upright, running to his side. The miner drew a sword, and Alex got to her feet, brandishing the gleaming axe with cold determination in her eyes.
"Heather, just make this easier on yourself and come here." Theo ambled into the room, glancing idly at his surroundings as he swung the pick back and forth in his hand. "Make it a lot less painful for all of us."
"No!" Heather glared at him from behind her guardians. "You can still stop this! Just leave them alone!"
"It's too late." The hacker's voice was clipped. "Notch, and Herobrine, are gone. These two are just loose ends that need tied up."
"What?" Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. "They're- what?"
"Well, they're not gone." Theo amended. "Just in stasis, I suppose. Shut down for the time being. The only way they could come back is if I allowed them to - and I don't plan to." He gestured vaguely towards Steve and Alex, still ready for a fight. "These two are about to follow them."
"No!" Heather cried, grabbing onto Steve's free arm with both hands. "You don't- why?! They can't even do anything to you! Just let them go!"
"I can't leave them running around free." Theo blinked at her, as though that should be obvious. "They're smart. Steve here figured out how to track me down and teleport to my base. They're not brainless mobs, I know better than to underestimate them."
"Please don't. You beat Notch, what do you have to worry about from them?"
"When they have eternity to figure out how to beat me? Everything." Theo extended a hand towards them, and Heather cringed away. "Don't worry. They won't feel a thing."
In her grasp, Steve stiffened, then his eyes rolled back in his head as he fell. The blonde opened her mouth to cry out, but before the sound could even escape he pixelated and disappeared.
A firm hand landed on her shoulder as she gaped, silent, and she whirled around to see Alex standing behind her with her face curled into a sneer.
"You're a coward." She snapped, her axe primed to strike. "Pathetic. Using your techno-magic to take us out without even allowing us a fair fight. What makes you think you're qualified to rule this world?" Theo smirked, opening his mouth to respond, but the only sound that came from him was a startled cry as Alex hurled her axe across the room and it sank into his shoulder, sending him crashing to the ground as red blossomed on the white of his clothing.
Growling a string of curses, Theo yanked the axe from his flesh, teleporting upright as his form reset. Heather's eyes flitted upwards to see another axe materialize in Alex's hand, but, before she could throw it, her grip slackened and her eyes opened wide, her body freezing in place.
"If I'm so pathetic," Theo's voice was a snarl, and Heather tore her eyes away from her guardian's motionless form to see his red eyes narrowed into slits. "Then why did I win?" Alex collapsed, and the blonde stumbled back as she disappeared in a cloud of shimmering pixels.
Heather sunk to the floor, pressing her hands to her face against the tears welling up in her eyes. The room was silent for a moment, then footsteps began to cross the room towards her. She let a sob wrench itself from her throat, and heard a shuffle as he stumbled, but he kept approaching. After a moment, a hand rested on her shoulder.
"Sorry." He told her quietly. "But you knew it had to be done."
His grip tightened, and he whisked the two of them away, leaving the overworld silent and still.