Hello my dear readers. Welcome one and all to what I can officially say is the last chapter in this little 'S&S Corps' location.

Shall we see how our characters are going to escape?

Onward!


Chapter 39: To the Surface or Bust

It took a day for my plan to fully form in my mind.

I was honestly surprised that it was able to come together in that time. Or that Old Bones hadn't had us killed yet. Diana said that it was some sort of sentimental value or something. I don't know.

Either way, my plan was the combination of Diana and Silk's knowledge of the facility, our combined ability to fight, and of course, my trump card.

That card? Why, it was none other than my trusty blades.

Rather, the hidden ones.

Indeed, the skeletons hadn't even glanced twice at the metal things on my wrists, and to be honest, I'd almost completely forgotten about them.

The blades were still in perfect condition. Zach had helped keep them that way while I trained with them over the months before this craziness. I actually knew how to fight with these things now.

Or better yet… to use them to my advantage.

You see, in one of my books, one that I was finally happy I read, it told the story of a thief, and her quest to make riches, eventually ending with her dying because of her own greed. Go figure. In that book, she does a lot of clever tricks to get out of nearly everything. From setting up traps, to learning how to cover one's tracks, she learned it all. But the one thing that she learned that was the most useful?

Learning to pick a lock with a metal rod and a hairpin.

Of course, my hidden blades were a little more… wide than that rod, but I figured if I could work them right, they'd work just as well. All that was missing was a hairpin.

There was a good news/bad news situation to this. The good news was that Diana had exactly the hairpins that I needed, her hair was always put up in twintails after all. Bad news was that she only had two. Meaning that if I wanted to pick the locks, I'd only have two chances to get it right. Not to mention that I had never tried to pick one before.

But we knew the risks. Diana, Silk, and I spent hours quietly planning our escape (Snowy would've helped, but she was over in the other cell on the other side of Diana/Silk's cell from me). They gave me as much information as they could. The keys to all the cells would be in the keymasters room, our stuff would most likely be held in Storage Room 132, and they knew their way from the front door of the facility to the bathrooms, so they'd be able to get us out from there.

The hard part was how should we execute it. If I could get out, an already monumental task, that would give me many options on how to approach our escape.

I could try and break everyone else out.

I could try to get the keys to easily get everyone out.

I could try and get our stuff to make the going easier.

There was literally dozens of options for our escape, and all of them were dangerous. I was putting all my eggs into the basket. If a skeleton or spider found and reported me, then everything was over. We'd be done for. Literally.

We spent the greater part of the second day planning out the escape. We called it, 'Operation Surface Dwellers.'

Our signal to start was when the skeletons come by and start giving us food. Once they've slid all the underprepared food into our cells, we give them a minute to get some distance away from us.

Once that passed, I quickly took one of the hairpins Diana had given me. I cocked my left wrist and watched the hidden blade slide out carefully, noiselessly. I stuck that into the bottom of the lock and held it steady.

I then took the hairpin and carefully held it to the top of the lock. Now was the tricky part. I had to line up the tumblers with the hairpin in order to open the lock and the door.

It took me the greater part of five minutes to get it right. I nearly broke the hairpin twice. Heck, I was almost surprised that the blade itself didn't break.

Eventually, the door slowly creaked open. I was out.

(Why did this work, you may ask? Because plot convenience.)

I knew that I wasn't trying to pick any locks again anytime soon, what with how that first one went. So that left me with Plan B: Get the keys.

"Where's the keys to this place?" I whispered through Diana and Silk's door.

"Down the hall, take a right, and then the first left. It'll be the third door on the right." Diana whispered quickly to me. "Hurry. You don't have long."

"I'm on it." I whispered back, heading on my way.

Snowy was at her cell door. She looked at me balefully as I started to pass. "Master… please… hurry…" she whispered.

I clamped my hands on her shoulders and rubbed comfortingly. "Don't worry. I'll be back before you even know it. We'll be out of here."

Snowy looked like she wanted to come with, but that wasn't possible. I already gave the hairpins back to Diana when I unlocked the door.

Soon enough I was running for the keys. So far, so good.

Snowy POV…

I sighed. I was about this close to tearing up. Only Diana's soft words through the little hole in our walls kept me from breaking apart completely.

According to Diana, skeletons and spiders kept tabs on prisoners rather little. More or less, it would be at least twenty minutes between each check of the prisoners in the facility.

That gave us about twenty minutes for Master to get the keys and get back here, which was quite a bit of time, but not a lot in the long run. Thankfully, just in case they checked in a little more liberally… we had a backup.

If they did come, we needed a way to prove that Master had not left. Of course, that was a little easier said than done, which is why it took nearly a day for the whole plan to come together.

In Master's now empty cell, if one looked closely, there appeared to be a human shaped lump under the covers of the rotten bed he was given. But underneath that?

Nothing but a load of string, woven into a large human-esque shell. Unless the guards actually entered and pulled the covers away, then no one would be any wiser.

Silk provided the string, obviously, and had done a lot of weaving to get it all right. Frankly, I don't know how she had so much string, and I don't think I wanted to know.

Now Master just had to get the keys. If we were to get them, then it wouldn't matter if we had decoys or not. We'd be able to, hopefully, get out without raising alarms.

But like I said, all that we could do was wait on Master…

Cameron POV…

It took me several minutes, but I eventually made my way to the keymaster's room. I was being extra careful. I knew that this facility never really had skeletons or spiders walking the halls, but I didn't want to be so stupid as to let my guard down now of all times.

Once I entered the room, I was met with a few things. Two skeletons looking up at the walls, clipboards in hand, and the walls, every inch of them covered with a different key. I realized they had one for every cell in the entire place, all put away.

Reacting quickly, I silently pulled out my hidden blades and quickly took out both skeletons before they could even react. Diana said that she didn't care if I had to fight anyone: as far as we were concerned, we were on enemy territory.

I picked up the clipboards the two dropped, and quickly scoured each.

Eventually, I found our names all printed on the bottom of the second list. We needed keys 18 and 52. Why they were numbered like that, I'd never know.

I turned to find each of those keys…

But they weren't on their hooks. I triple-checked each wall. No dice.

My face paled. If I couldn't find the keys, this whole thing would be for naught.

Quickly, I double-checked the list.

I noticed a small sub-script on the bottom of the list. "Keys 18 and 52 have been temporarily taken. Will be returned soon by Keymaster, room 294."

"Well that's just perfect." I mumbled. "How the hell am I supposed to know who the Keymaster is?"

And then, the door opened.

Fear engulfed my entire heart. I turned around quickly and was met with a skeleton staring right at me.

For ten seconds, no one moves.

Then the skeleton reached behind them. For a weapon, I was sure.

I close my eyes. 'Game over.' I thought miserably. 'It's all over.'

I braced myself for the sound of a bow being pulled back…

Until I hear the sound of jangling keys.

I open my eyes. The skeleton… is holding the exact two keys I needed, on a little key ring. My eyes widen.

"Do you remember me?" the skeleton asked. It's voice instantly called back a memory.

"You… you're the skeleton who gave me the purple-ish bow…!" I slowly remembered, shaking a little.

"Correct." the skeleton agreed, looking behind it carefully. "Listen to me carefully. Old Bones is not an idiot. He knew that if you were to escape, you'd go try to find your things. But they are with them. The only way you are going to get all of your things back is to take them by force."

My eyes widened. "Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"Because I know that you rotting here would not do the world a favor." the skeleton replied. "And because Old Bones is a liar. He does not worship Notch anymore. He has changed faiths. He now believes in his 'Lord.' The instant he gets the crown, they, Old Bones and this 'Lord,' will try to destroy everything the world has ever made. They will create mass genocide. None shall be spared, not even us. The entire world would become meaningless."

The skeleton seemed to sigh. "I wish I didn't have to be the one. I wish that everything would have gone to plan. I wish we never found out about that crown in the first place."

The skeleton looked at me seriously. "Go. With Old Bones down, this organization will wither and fade. We will disperse. We will all be saved, even if most do not realize it. And you will get to be with the ones you care about again."

The skeleton turned. "Oh, and one more thing…"

The skeleton gave me one more thing. The shield I had taken from Blockington. "Use this if you need it. Arrows will be stopped by it, as long as you face them head on. Old Bones will not expect you to have this in your possession."

With that, the old skeleton finally walked away, leaving me to my very rapid and confused thoughts. Everything was happening so fast, I didn't know where to start.

But I knew one thing. If I ever wanted to see the light of day again, Old Bones needed to be taken down. Besides… if they lived, they knew where Susie lived. They could launch an attack on her.

"Oh my Notch… maybe they already have…!" I murmured.

I shook my head hard. No, no… don't think like that. Susie… she would be alright. I'm sure.

With a noticeably less amount of stealth than I had before, I got back to the cells were Snowy and the other were held.

"Master! You're okay!" Snowy nearly shouted when she saw me.

"Shhh! Not so loud!" I whispered, putting a finger to my lips.

I quickly unlocked her cell. She scampered out of it faster than I would've guessed and quickly smothered herself into me, shaking badly. "I… I was so scared… I'm still scared…"

"Shh… everything will be fine." I cooed, gently rubbing her head to calm her down. "Just calm down. We're fine."

"Cameron! Come on!" Silk shouted in a whisper voice.

Snowy pulled away from me as I quickly unlocked Silk and Diana from their cell. They stepped out and instantly crushed me and Snowy into their own hug.

It was a good minute while everyone calmed down enough. Once we did, Diana quickly murmured, "Okay, now, let's get our stuff back!"

She, Silk and Snowy started heading for the storage room. But they saw that I wasn't moving.

"Cameron! What are you doing?" Diana asked.

"We need to find Old Bones." I answered back, my head bowed.

"What?! Do you suddenly have a death wish?!" Silk asked ludicrously.

"Old Bones has our stuff." I explained solemly. "They knew if we escaped, we'd try to get our things back. So the only way we can get our things back is if we defeat Old Bones, and destroy this facility for good."

The three of them looked at me with wide eyes. "How… how do you know of that?" Snowy asked me.

"Remember the one skeleton? That gave me the bow?" I asked. "They told me. Heck, they were the one that gave me the keys. They say that Old Bones is betraying the entire world, even the S&S. If we don't stop them… the world will be in danger."

It was dead quiet for nearly three minutes. Snowy, Silk, and Diana stared at me. I stared solemnly back.

"You guys wait here." I instructed, turning my back to the three. "I have the only weapon out of all of us. I'll defeat Old Bones. I'll get our stuff back. I'll… I'll…"

My voice trailed off. I knew what I was walking into. I knew the dangers. I knew the risks. But… if there was even a chance that we could escape… then I knew I had to take it.

Slowly, I took a step forward, trying to make myself get to the throne room.

"You're not going there alone." Silk suddenly stated, firmly.

As if she had teleported, she suddenly was by my side. "Look, I've been putting up with your stuff for about a week now. You've said some insane things. But nothing is more idiotic and senseless than you thinking that you can just go and take on Old Bones by yourself. I have plenty of silk wads I can use. I can throw them at people, stun them."

"I found an old bone under the bed while waiting for you to come back." Diana added, hefting said bone like a club. "It's not much, and I'm not very experienced with melee things, but it'll work as decent protection."

"You really think I want to just wait for you again, Master?" Snowy asked me like I was crazy. "You're forgetting that skeletons naturally fear me anyway. I can cause diversions. And I have claws."

Slowly, I looked at each of the three girls. They all had one look on their faces.

They weren't gonna take no as an answer. Even if I begged, they would still after follow me. They… they all trusted me.

Why… why wouldn't I trust them?

"*sigh*... right." I slowly agreed. "But… I don't want anyone getting hurt badly. If at ANY point you start to feel overwhelmed, run away. I don't want to have to think of any of you falling down in front of my eyes."

"That won't happen." Silk murmured fiercely.

"On my life." Diana promised.

Snowy nodded, her eyes shining at me.

I sighed, and turned back towards the way. "Well then…"

"Let's get our lives back."

Slowly, we all headed forward, towards the throne room.

The skeletons and spiders were far more numerous around here than I remembered. Twice we had to duck into a room to avoid being seen.

Of everyone that was traveling, the one I was most worried about was Snowy. She seemed awfully shaky, and her eyes seemed rather watery for some reason. She always seemed to have a firm grip on my arm. I hadn't seen her like this since… since ever.

Something must be ahead. Something bad. What else would unnerve Snowy like that?

Finally, Diana and Silk lead us to a side door, saying that it would loop right into the throne room. Secret room for quick escapes and all that.

We slowly, carefully, made our way down the one block hallway. It was pitch black inside. Sounds echoed around us, probably from the throne room ahead. I was in the lead, Snowy close behind. I had my hidden blades at the ready.

Slowly, a dim light started filtering in from somewhere. I nearly took another step, before I stopped suddenly, making everyone run into my back. If I took another step forward, I would've fallen down.

The hidden passageway we were traveling in ended off here. The hole was covered by a large painting, by the looks of it. Just past that, I could hear muffled voices. One sounded like Old Bones's. The other… what was that voice…?

Slowly, carefully, I pushed the painting forward slightly. The sound of the voices became much clearer.

"My Lord." Old Bones stated. "I'm sorry. I've failed you. The crown still belongs to the humans."

"You are even more worthless than I thought." the second voice berated. It was a deep voice. Almost… resonating. It chilled my bones a little bit, and made the hairs on my arms stand up. "I asked one simple thing of you, and you couldn't do that."

"W-with all due respect, Lord, it was mostly the fault of the half-human scum." Old Bones tried. "Merely their fault. We can find another group to get it. You will see."

"Idiot!" the second voice yelled. I shuddered. "Do you even know where it is? Only the half-humans and their 'friends' know. The other skeletons and spiders that went with them left to pay 'them' a visit."

My heart skipped a beat. Did… did that voice mean… Susie? Andr?

"I-I know my Lord! A-and I promise, we will get our information from them! I-I'll send for some guards to get them as soon as we finish-"

"There will be no need for that." the second voice interrupted. I heard footsteps, and then a side door opening.

Then the voice adds one more thing. "They're already here."

And the door closed.

Before I can even process anything else, I hear the painting in front of us getting ripped off the wall.

We were caught.

"YOU!" Old Bones yelled, reaching for their bow.

I jumped down in front of them and swung my arm forward. They dodge nimbly and ready the bow.

"Hey, Lockjaw!" Silk yelled angrily, jumping down after me and throwing silk at Old Bones's face. They ducked just in time.

"GUARDS!" they yelled. The large front doors burst open, and small platoon of twenty skeletons and ten spiders flooded the room.

"I got this!" Diana shouted, reading her bone club and charging. She took out two skeletons alright, though her form was awful. She wouldn't be able to really block many strikes if they came after her.

Thankfully, Snowy was there for the assist. "Stay away!" she yelled at the skeletons, striking fear through them. Some ran away, others held their ground. I trusted that she'd be able to hold out.

Old Bones charged up a shot and fired it at me. I barely dodged out of the way. I rushed in again and tried to strike. This time, my blades skimmed across their skull, leaving a sizable piece chipped off.

"Urk!" Old Bones gagged, backing up. "Human… you are fighting a pointless battle. Surrender now, and you will be given a painless end. Merciful, is it not?"

"Fat chance of that." I yelled back. "Give back our stuff, and I'll maybe consider keeping you alive, numbskull!"

Old Bones seemed to grin. "Very well. If that's what you think…"

They stood back and charged their bow. "Let's dance."

And fired before I could even react.

The arrow found its mark in my left shoulder. Thankfully it wasn't lethal, but when it hit, suddenly I got launched backwards several blocks, something that normal arrows shoulding be able to do.

"ARGH!" I yelled in pain, taking a knee. Thankfully it wasn't a very deep wound, but it still hurt. I looked up in time to see Old Bones readying another shot. I got up and dodged just in time to avoid it.

Meanwhile, Diana and Snowy were still trying to keep the others off, which… I'm not sure if it was going okay or bad. Diana was still swinging okay, but she had an arrow stuck in her hair and what looked like a bite mark on her thigh. Other than that she seemed okay, for now. Snowy, meanwhile, looked a lot better off. The skeletons were refusing to fire at her, instead choosing to run when she got close. The spiders had no such hesitation, but Snowy was fast enough to keep up with them and get a few blows of her own.

Old Bones pulled back another shot, but this time Silk got lucky and hit Old Bones right in the eye socket, causing them to drop their arrow and claw at the web. I took the opportunity and quickly ran forward, landing several blows on the old, fraile skeleton.

Old Bones looked like they were going down any second now. One of his fingers on each hand was missing, a chunk of his skull was chipped off, and at least one rib was broken, just to name a few injuries.

"You… you…!" Old Bones managed to get out.

"Give up now, or we'll-" I started to yell.

Snowy suddenly yelled in pain. I whipped my head over to her.

Snowy was on a knee, a spider that had gotten a lucky clip on her now circling her slowly. An large bite mark was clearly visible on her leg, forcing her to stop moving around. She still looked angry, but her face was streaked with pain.

My entire world became tunnel vision. I could only focus on Snowy's pain-filled face. My nightmare from before replayed in my head.

The one where Snowy…

She…

Suddenly, I didn't care about anything else.

I charged for her, determined to save her.

I don't know if any arrows fired at me. I don't know if any spiders bit me. I didn't care. I was running on pure adrenaline and rage. And that is a spicy mix.

The spider surrounding Snowy looked up just in time to see me jamming my blades down into its head. It didn't stand a chance. It dissolved to dust, but I barely even cared about that.

"Snowy, are you okay?" I pleaded, holding her up by the shoulders.

"I… I-I'll be fine…" she told me. "Look out!"

I turned just in time to get clubbed upside the face with a random skeleton's bow. I was knocked back into the wall behind us hard. Snowy screamed for me, and started growling dangerously at the attacker. It fled away fast, leaving Snowy to limply crawl towards me.

"Master! Are you okay?" she yelled, shaking me.

"Ugh… ye-yeah… I'm good." I managed, rubbing my head where it hit the stone hard. I was dazed, but otherwise uninjured. "W-we need to get you to a safer spot-"

"Human!" Old Bones yelled suddenly. I looked up.

Diana and Silk were up by the throne, restrained by two skeletons and spiders tying silk around their wrists and ankles. "Give up now! Or they will be the first to go!" the soon-to-be-king instructed.

"N-no… we got distracted…" Snowy mumbled fearfully to me. The rest of the skeletons and spiders that weren't injured were surrounding us slowly, their bows and fangs at the ready. Altogether a small group of about ten assorted spiders and skeletons, mostly skeletons.

Snowy feebly tried to get in front of me to protect me, but her leg didn't like that. She yelped in pain the moment she tried to move it.

I looked around frantically. Surely there was something around here that I could use…

I saw plenty of arrows and bows lying around from fallen skeletons, and plenty of string as well.

But if I made any sudden moves to get those things, Diana and Silk would bite the dust. Quite literally.

Was… was this it? Was it all over? Did we try to fight an impossible battle?

No! There has to be a way! I just need time!

But the skeletons in front of us were becoming impatient, and Snowy could only keep them at bay for so much longer.

Slowly, I tried to stand. I was shaky, but I rose to my feet.

Everyone watched me as I quietly rose to my feet.

Then, in that moment, I knew exactly what to do.

"I… I…" I got out, my voice soft. Everyone watched me carefully.

"I surrender." I managed, my head hanging. I quickly pulled off my hidden blades, dropping them behind me. They landed safely in Snowy's lap.

"Wise choice, human." Old Bones told me, signaling for the guards to surrounding to lower their weapons.

"Cameron! What are you doing?!" Silk yelled at me.

"This wasn't part of the plan!" Diana tagged on.

I ignored them. I slowly walked forward, away from a pale, scared Snowy, right back up to the base of the throne area.

Old Bones already had their bow at their side, and arrow in the other hand. The rest of the skeletons and spiders surrounded me to make sure I couldn't run anywhere.

My head stayed bowed as I stood in front of Old Bones. I forced a chuckle. "Heh… so this is how it ends, huh?"

Diana and Silk could only look at me. They were shocked at what I was doing. Snowy couldn't even look. With no guards around her, she tried to stand up, her hands in her face.

I solemnly looked up at Old Bones. They seemed to be smiling cruelly, or maybe that was always their face.

"Good-bye, filthy human." Old Bones parted, pulling up the bow. "Any last words?"

I thought about it for a second. Then, I replied simply.

"This will not go unpunished."

Old Bones seemed to scoff at my comment. They hefted up their bow and prepared to fire at me.

The entire room was quiet. The troops were looking at me, weapons at the ready. Snowy couldn't look at me. Diana and Silk stared at me in fear.

Time seemed to slow down.

The arrow flew threw the arrow towards me…

I saw Diana and Silk's faces contort into ones of pure terror…

My head was staring right at the arrow…

And suddenly, everything sped up.

As if by magic, I suddenly had my shield in my hands, easily blocking the arrow from Old Bones.

I used the shield to sweep the legs out from every skeleton surrounding me. They fell to the ground hard.

I threw myself, shield first, at Old Bones. We toppled to the ground.

Suddenly, I had Old Bones's bow in my hands, pointed right at their face.

My foot was over their broken ribs, pushing hard. They couldn't move even if they tried.

"I said so, didn't I?" I reminded Old Bones. "You're reign of terror ends here, traitor."

If Old Bones could spit in my face, I'm sure they would've. As it was, they still looked furious at my ability to get away.

Right up until the arrow broke their skull.

In moments, the old, broken skeleton dissolved into dust, leaving behind only a simple bone.

The skeletons quickly dropped Diana and Silk's bonds in fear. Their leader was gone.

They, and the other skeletons and spiders, ran as fast as they could from us. We were alone.

We… we did it.

For a moment, all was completely calm.

Then suddenly, I get tackled to the ground.

"Master!" Snowy yelled, looking half relieved, half angry. But mostly relieved. "You had me so worried! What were you thinking?!"

"A way to get the upper hand." I answered. "Are you hurt?"

She glanced down at her leg. It still looked rather fresh. "I'll… I'll be fine." she managed.

"I got first-aid." Diana announced, a random first-aid kit in her hands. "I've dealt with spider bites before. Let me see it…"

As Diana started mending Snowy's leg, Silk quickly got my attention. "Hey. Found your stuff."

She held out my bag and tool belt. I was about to ask where she found it, until I looked past her and saw the double chest just underneath the throne Old Bones once had. "So, they really did have our things then." I started, throwing my stuff back on.

"Yep. That was some quick thinking, Cameron." Silk praised, looking down at my discarded shield. "Where'd you get that thing, anyway?"

"Had it when I left the keymasters room. Remember that old skeleton that gave me the bow…?" I asked.

Silk's eyes widened. "Well… at least we have ONE person we can still trust…"

"Yeah, but… now we need to get out of here." I mumbled. I looked at Snowy, who now had a sizable amount of gauze around her leg. "And Snowy's kinda out of commision for the moment…"

"Well… there's always the slow route." Diana called out. "We could just dig up in a staircase until we hit the surface."

"Yeah, but… is that a good plan? I mean, we wouldn't know exactly where we are in comparison to the entrance…" I asked.

"Well… we can't just sit here and twiddle our thumbs." Silk berated.

So we came up with a compromise. We would carefully run through the facility, looking out for enemies that would hinder us, and once we reached the general area of the exit, if there was any indication of an enemy we would dig out in a staircase to the surface, blocking the path we came from with cobble.

The plan worked pretty well. It was very stressful for a while, as skeletons and spiders alike were running around the place, and once or twice we were nearly caught, but eventually we made it to the exit.

There wasn't anyone even guarding it, which made me suspicious. "Is it possible they ran out there ahead of time to intercept us?" I asked.

"Well… we have our things now, so we should be able to hold them off long enough to get away." Diana offered, holding up her bow again. "But… something tells me there's no one out there."

As we headed out, we were greeted a bright, afternoon sun. Not a cloud in the sky.

I held out my bow, looking left and right for any trouble. Nothing.

"All clear." I called back. The three followed after me.

It… it was over.

We… we were free.

Then, suddenly…

"Susie." I muttered, my eyes widening. "They… Old Bones and that person said he sent a party to deal with 'them.'"

"You mean the people you were living with?" Silk asked.

Snowy's eyes grew big. "We… we have to get back… now!"

"That's a good plan."

I almost started to agree, until…

"Who… who said that?" I asked, turning around.

"Oh, no special person. Just the humble and simple person to your left." the voice asked again.

I knew that voice. Or at least, I've heard it before.

It was the same voice that had spoken to Old Bones just before we were found.

I turned to this left to see… a person…? I would say that, but I couldn't make out anything, really. This man wore a black hooded cape that covered everything about him. Even his legs were lost into its dark folds. He was sitting on a nearby tree stump, from a tree that recently fell over from the looks of things.

"Who… who are you?" I asked, a hand on my sword hilt.

"You should not be so quick to judge." the man stated, standing up. "Assuming I'm dangerous just because you don't know who I am."

"Wha… what's going on?!" I demanded. "I-"

"You care about your friends, yes?" the man interrupted.

I blinked. "Wha-?"

"Answer me. Do you care about your friends?" the man asked again, this time with a much more demanding undertone.

"I-... y-yes?" I responded, unsure of why he was asking that to me.

"Then you can still make it in time." the man instructed. A hand came from the folds, pointing directly behind me. "If you travel in that direction, you will eventually reach your home. If you are fast, you will beat the group heading there already."

"W… why are you telling me this? Who ARE you, even?" I demanded.

"Why? Because I feel like it. You disposed of someone I was going to anyway. As such, I feel… generous enough to help you once." the man responded.

"But know this." the man suddenly added, his voice suddenly beyond deep. "You will not get any more generosity from me. You are a pawn to me. You are the last hurdle to fulfilling my dreams. Know that I will not stop trying to break you until you are discarded from the universe forever. There is hell, and then there is me. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

I nodded without even realizing it.

"Good." the man agreed, returning to his normal voice. "Now, our time grows short. I'll must send you on your way. Return to your friends, lest you wish to lose them forever. Goodbye, Cameron."

I was stunned, until I remembered something. "W-wait, you never told me-"

"My name?" the man asked, as if it amused him. "That is the question, is it not? Well… you will not live long enough to fully remember it, so… I will tell you."

The man turned his back to me. "I have been called many names. The Devil. Rage. The Abyss. Notch's partner. Notch's friend. Notch's best man. Notch's rival. Notch's… equal. But you, a human named Cameron… you will know my true name."

The man slowly pulled back his hood a bit. "My name… my name, one that strikes fear into whomever hears it. It is… called."

Suddenly, he turned to face me. "Herobrine. The Destroyer of Worlds."

I… I could see his eyes… but… they… they weren't eyes… they were just… just… white, blank, empty spots. I took one look at them, and suddenly, my blood became ice. I felt as small as a mouse, and wanted to run away as such. My legs became like water, almost impossible to hold me up.

Then, I blinked…

And he was gone.

"Right, where's the house at, Cam-" Silk started to ask, before looking at me.

I… I was shaking. My face was pale. I was staring right where that man's eyes had been. I… I could barely stand.

"Cameron? What's wrong?" Diana asked, looking where I was.

"D-did… didn't you see him?" I asked, pointing a shaky finger. "R-right there…"

"Umm… no. No one was there." Snowy answered, looking at me.

"Th-there… there was a person… right there." I stammered.

"No… no one was there. I was looking at you the whole time." Silk explained, looking rather concerned. "Are… are you alright Cameron?"

"I-I swear there was a person just there… he talked to me, and… and…" I tried to convince them.

But suddenly, I remembered his words.

"If you travel in that direction, you will eventually reach your home. If you are fast, you will beat the group heading there already."

"We… we need to move. NOW." I stated.

I didn't give them other words. I started to quickly jog in the direction that… that person told me to.

I didn't even notice if Snowy and the others were following me. All I cared about was getting home. I needed to save Susie… I needed to save Andr.

What felt like a five minute trip actually took nearly fifty minutes, with me just dashing ahead. I needed to get home… I needed to get home.

Finally, I climbed over a large hill, and I finally saw it. Home.

But unfortunately, I saw something I didn't else I didn't like.

There was two skeletons, fully armored on top of it, and three spiders. They were heading directly for the house.

"*pant* *pant* *pant*" I heard someone behind me. "Ma… Master… slow… slow down…"

Snowy crawled next to me, looking very winded. Diana and Silk were right behind her, looking little better.

"Do you see that?" I angrily asked. "They're going to attack our friends."

Snowy quickly picked herself up as best as she could. "We… we have to… we have to stop them…!" she managed to say.

"Let's go!" I shouted, running with renewed strength. My sword was in my hand, my grip on it so tightly my knuckles were pale.

As reached the door, I heard a loud scream come from inside.

Susie's scream.

I kicked the door open and charged in. Andr was right in the living room, two spiders guarding her. She seemed afraid to attack them.

I quickly slashed right at them, an arrow from Diana serving as a follow up, and a combo of silk to the face and Snowy's nails finished off the last one.

"C-Cameron?!" Andr shouted, her face pale. "Y-you-!"

"Details later! Where's Susie?!" I yelled.

"AHHHHHH!" a scream came from upstairs.

"Susie!" I yelled, running up the stairs. Snowy ran after me.

Another scream came from upstairs in Andr's room. I burst through the door and pulled out my glowing bow, fully extended.

Susie was against the wall, held by the two skeletons and a spider behind them.

"Let me go, you brutes!" Susie yelled, but it was for naught. She couldn't shake them off.

"You heard the lady! Let my friend go!" I added on, pointing right at a skeleton's head.

The four suddenly looked right at me. The skeletons and spider looked very fearful but… Susie…

Susie looked like she couldn't believe her eyes. "C-C… Cam… Cameron…?" she breathed.

"I'm not gonna say it again! Let her go!" I roared one more time.

The standoff was held for a moment longer. Finally, the skeletons slowly raised their arms up in surrender. The spider backed off.

"Good. Now, get out of here and forget you ever saw this happen." I instructed, gesturing with my bow for them to leave. "Make sure they leave, Snowy." I added.

Snowy nodded, and herded the intruders away and out the door.

Everything suddenly… became calm again.

I… I was home.

Home… I missed saying that word.

Susie looked like she was about to faint, cry, and fall over, all at once. And she… she looked awful. Bags were clearly visible under her eyes, her eyes looked slightly darker, and everything about her just screamed 'drained.'

"Ca… Cameron… you… you came back…" Susie breathed, her eyes watering hard.

"Of course I did. I swore my life on it." I told her, closing the door behind me.

That was all she could take before throwing herself at me, sobbing hard into my chest. "Cameron…! Cameron…! I… I… I… I'm so sorry…! I'm so sorry…!"

"Shhh… it's okay… it's okay…" I cooed, patting her back comfortingly. To show that this wasn't a dream. That this was real. I was back. We were back. Everything was fine.

Susie must've stayed pushed up against me like that, crying her eyes out, for nearly ten minutes. And I didn't mind any second of them. I was about to start crying myself. Words can't describe how much my heart pined for her. It was as if a piece of me had been suddenly taken away, and now I was finally reclaiming it as my own.

After ten minutes of crying, she slowly pried herself off of me. By now I had sat us down on Andr's bed, rubbing her head and back gently to calm her down.

"Are you convinced I'm real yet?" I asked, a smile playing on my lips.

Susie, though thoroughly beaten, managed a small laugh. "Oh, Cameron… when you and Snowy disappeared, I… I…"

"Shhh… no no… don't talk about that." I instructed lightly. "Don't focus on that stuff. You'll get sick if you do."

She started to breath normally. "I'm… I'm just… so, so happy… you're back… I never want you to leave me again…"

"And I won't." I promised. "And if I truly have to, you can bet that I'll be right back, no matter the cost."

Susie looked up into my eyes. I stared back into hers. "Come on." I encouraged. "Show me that smile I missed so much."

Susie giggled softly. She wrapped her arms around my neck. I wrapped mine around her torso.

She smiled softly. It was a fraction of her true smile, but I still loved it all the same. She looked so… worn out. I needed to get her back to normal. Soon.

"That's more like it." I praised, pulling her closer to me.

It was just us in our own little world once more. The way we always wanted it to be.

Without saying anything more, we kissed.

It's short. It's soft. It's everything I remembered.

And I could never truly describe the happiness coursing through me.

I felt myself falling in love all over again.

When we parted, Susie looked so relieved, so satisfied… she literally passed out in my arms. She gently snored in my chest, finally achieving peace of mind.

"Heh… silly woman." I joked, rubbing her head lovingly.

I gently turned her around so that I was carrying her princess-style, and I slowly headed out the door and downstairs.

I soon entered our bedroom, still a light, silly smile on my lips. Carefully, I tucked her into the bed, listening to her gentle breathing all the way.

"Sleep well, my sweet." I whispered to her, kissing her one more time on the cheek. I could see the corners of her mouth turn up just a little as I did that.

That made me smile brighter too. These past few days had been pretty rough on all of us.

But now, everyone seems to be okay. Susie is safe. Andr is safe. Snowy is home. I'm home. Diana and Silk are away from their cruel organization.

Everyone… everyone was finally safe.

Hopefully.


Yayyy! Reunion!

How's that for a fitting way to wrap up the 'S&S Corps' chapters? I hope I did a decent job on the fight scene.

Also, FINALLY started posing 'the man' as a real threat. Now I can finally say 'Herobrine' for crying out loud. It was driving me insane.

*takes a half glance out the window to the outside world* Yeah… insane.

*cough* Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Question of the day: Do you think Susie's reaction was overdramatic, or perfectly valid?

If you guys ever want to play Minecraft with me, PM me with your in-game username, what server, and when. Until next time guys, this is ButterHunter, and I'll see you all again, next time. Stay awesome.