Chapter 10: The End (for now)

Alex

Herobrine scowled at Notch, who had conveniently spawned right between me and him.

"We meet again, Brine," Notch said. He pulled out a diamond axe, shimmering with enchantments.

"I hate nicknames," Herobrine said with a sneer.

"It's not a nickname. It's your name." Notch's face fell.

"No it's not! My name is Herobrine!"

Notch sighed and his posture sank. "You really don't remember, do you?"

"Remember what?"

He shook his head and readied his axe. "It doesn't matter. You're dead, anyway."

Herobrine scoffed. "That's rather cocky, don't you think?"

"It's not cocky, it's the truth!"

I think Herobrine rolled his eyes, but it was impossible to tell. "Cocky or not, it's not true." Herobrine smirked and readied his sword. "Hope you set your respawn point, Notch."

Notch struck first. His axe swung down, aiming for Herobrine's face. Herobrine blocked it, then struck back. The two moved so fast. Their blades created sparks as they clashed, diamond on diamond. Hatred for the other burned in their eyes, and every move made was an attempt to end the other's life.

"You cant stop me, Notch! I'm too powerful for you!" Herobrine shouted. His eyes doubled in brightness, and a blast of electricity shot from his sword. Notch dodged it, but his beard was left slightly spiky. "The Glitches will take your game, then the internet! There's nothing you can do about it!"

"Not if I kill you first!" Notch shouted back. His axe left a long slice in Herobrine's shoulder. He hissed in pain. Had Herobrine not deflected the hit for the most part, he would now be decapitated. He didn't seem fazed by the injury, though. He managed to graze Notch's cheek, and he flashed red as he took damage.

"You're better than the last time we fought. You've been practicing on helpless players, I assume?" Notch and Herobrine's weapons locked for a brief second, sending a shower of sparks flying. I backed away as far as I could so I wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.

"Ha ha. So funny." Herobrine replied sarcastically. "You're worse than the last time we fought. You've been relaxing in an office chair, doing nothing, I assume?"

"No. I've been tracking you down and perfecting my deletion program."

Notch knocked Herobrine's sword out of his hand, but it went flying back. It left a deep gash in Notch's side before Herobrine grabbed it. "Loyalty III. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Your enchanting skills leave something to be desired, Herobrine." He tried to swipe at Notch's face again, but Notch deflected it and left a deep slice in Herobrine's jaw. He spit blood out on the stone and ran his tongue over his now blood-covered teeth. For some reason, Notch faltered at this.

"Brine," he whispered. Herobrine took advantage of Notch's brief weakness, and kicked him into the wall. Without hesitation, he shoved his sword into Notch's left eye, then took Notch's own sword and shoved it in his chest. I screamed at the sight, but he was only like that for a minute before his body disintegrated into white smoke as he respawned.

Herobrine turned to look at me. Blood was splattered all over his hands and face. He tried to wipe away the fluid from his jaw, but all that did was smear it across his face. He picked his sword up. "Where are you gonna run now, Alex?" He mocked me. Tears streamed down my face, and I didn't answer. "Any last words?"

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Steve screeched. He threw a handful of snowballs at the back of Herobrine's head.

I love him like a brother, but he's a moron.

Steve

Herobrine wiped the snow off the back of his head and turned around slowly. When I had finally broken through the door to my cell, I had found a chest of scrap items, including two stacks of snowballs and a damaged stone sword. I drew my weapon.

Herobrine started laughing. He was laughing so hard, I think he started crying. "Seriously?!" He wiped his eyes. "Is this some kind of joke."

"What are you doing here!? Run!" Alex yelled.

"I couldn't leave you!" I said. Also, when I broke out, I found Rashain and one of the pink player's friends. "Besides, this is just a diversion."

Before Herobrine could say anything, a hole was blown in the ceiling. Panther and a player named Rainbowpanda00054 jumped down, and Rashain flew in on an elytra that I don't believe belonged to him. Rashain and Rainbowpanda had diamond armor, but Panther only had iron. I think at one point he died and lost all his stuff. Notch reappeared, uninjured and with a new axe. "Give up, Herobrine. You're outnumbered six to one." He pointed his axe at Herobrine.

He chuckled. "You sorely underestimated my planning abilities." He whistled, and in a poof of red smoke, two Glitches appeared. One had bright red skin, long strangely shaped legs, and long claws. The other was a skeleton in a purple cloak, wielding a stone sword.

The battle that ensued was, according to Rashain, "the awesomest thing that ever happened to me". I tossed Alex an iron sword I found, and she lunged at the skeleton. It blocked her attack, and pulled out a matching blade for a dual wield. It managed to fend off both of us at the same time, and even left a long gash in Alex's leg. Veins of black spread off of it, and the edges turned black and crumbled. Alex grunted in pain. The red thing was fighting Rashain and Panther, who made an excellent team. They probably were just button mashing, but one was on either side of the red thing and managed to get several hits in. Even though the red thing didn't have a weapon, it's claws were pretty formidable. It raked Rashain's chest and face, then kicked him off the edge of the crater.

Rashain tried to swim in lava

Notch and Herobrine we're in the fiercest conflict, however. Herobrine's eyes shone like torches in the dark, and electricity crackled in his hair. The two moved so fast that it was hard to see anything but their blades swinging and clashing. Rainbowpanda tried to get involved, but that didn't end well for her. She ran at Herobrine, sword in hand, yelling, "YOU KILLED MY DOG, SO IM GONNA GO ALL JOHN WICK ON YOUR ASS!"

Rainbowpanda00054 was struck by lightning

The red thing leaped at Panther, dug his claws into his ribs, and ripped out.

BlackPanther76 was slain by Nightmare

The skeleton kicked me to the ground then attempted to shove it's sword into Alex's chest. The red thing pounced on me and tried to claw at my stomach and chest. I shoved it off and stood up. It ran it's claws across my cheek, leaving four deep scratches. I responded by leaving a deep slice in it's chest. It screeched in pain as black blood seeped from the wound. It snarled, showing off it'd long fangs.

Notch hooked Herobrine's sword and threw it into the crater, then kicked him to the ground. He moaned in pain and didn't get back up. He was covered in wounds from both times they fought and his clothes were soiled with blood. He was on all fours, staring at the ground and panting. Notch loomed over him, pointing his axe at his head. All fighting ceased as we watched.

"Do it," Herobrine panted. He spit blood out on the stone. Notch didn't move. "Come on, I know you want to. Finally get rid of that horrible virus plaguing your game." A tear rolled down Notch's cheek. He stared at Herobrine, who was beginning to form a puddle of red. A mixture of blood and saliva ran down Herobrine's chin when he looked up at the admin. "You cant do it, can you?" Herobrine chuckled, but his laughter quickly turned to coughing. "Coughing, that can't be good," he muttered. "For whatever reason, you cant do it. That's why you sent your little minions after me. It doesn't matter, anyway. Either way, your characters are going to die."

"STEVE, LOOK OUT!" Alex screamed. Herobrine had summoned a block of tnt right at my feet. Alex shoved me out of the way just as it blew.

Several years ago…

I stared down at the meaningless squiggled and marks on the page on my lap. Jeb pointed to one cluster. "What does this one say?"

"Uh…" I stared blankly at it. English was such a confusing language. When they learned I couldn't read, the admins have been taking turns trying to teach me. Let's see… the first mark looked like an s… what the nether was the second one?

"Sound it out," Jeb suggested.

"I don't know this one," I admitted. I ran my fingers through my hair.

"It's alright."

"Hey, Steve." I looked up and saw Notch walk inside my poorly-built shack. The top of his head brushed the dirt ceiling.

"Yeah?"

"I have someone I'd like you to meet." Notch beckoned me to follow him. I stood up and walked outside with him.

A woman was waiting outside. She had orange hair that was draped over her shoulder, fair skin, and bright emerald green eyes. She wore an olive green shirt and brown pants. She smiled shyly at me, and I smiled back. "Hey, I'm Alex."

"I-I'm Steve."

She noticed the book in my hands. "Oh my gosh is that a copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe!?"

I glanced down at it. I… think that's what the cover says. I have no clue, though. "Uh… I think so? Wait." I looked up at her. "You can read?"

"I love to read! It's really all I have to do, since I used to have no one to talk to. But now I have you!" She could read. And she was clearly good at it, if she loved it so much. Alex noticed my discomfort. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just… I cant read very well."

"Oh, that's fine. I can teach you! It's really not that hard once you get the hang of it."

Notch and Jeb watched us talk. "This is one of the best ideas you've ever had, Markus," Jeb said.

Notch nodded. "Thanks.

I rubbed the back of my head, which throbbed badly. All I could hear was a loud ringing in my ears. I couldn't even hear myself when I screamed Alex's name. Herobrine, the red thing, and the skeleton were gone, and Notch was using his computer to furiously search for them. Alex was on her back, tears streaming down her face. Her torso was covered in serious burns. Any skin that remained was blackened, and everything else was very out shades of blistered red.

The world stopped turning when I saw her. Time froze, and nothing else existed but the two of us.

"Alex," I whispered. She clenched and unclenched her fists, her face distorted in agony. "No no no no NO!" I grabbed her hand.

"St…eve." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"I'm right here, Alex." I brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Tears left long streaks down my face as they cut though the dirt and blood. "It's ok."

"It's bad, isnt it?"

I quietly nodded. "But's it's ok. You'll respawn, and everything will be ok." My voice cracked. She had never actually died before.

"No. It wont." Alex looked me in the eye. Her eyes were slightly glazed over from the pain. "I should've told you this a long time ago, but Notch told me not to. I shouldn't have listened."

"What are you talking about?"

"Steve." She squeezed my hand. "I'm not going to respawn. I'm going to die, and it's going to be permanent."

"What? That… that's not possible." I was becoming very sick to my stomach. No. Alex couldn't die. She would respawn, like I would. She couldn't die. I wouldn't let her.

"Ask… Notch…" she closed her eyes.

"NO WAIT ALEX! DON'T LEAVE ME!" I shook her shoulder as if that would wake her up, but she didn't move. I waited for her to vanish into white smoke and respawn, but it didn't happen.

She was gone. Alex was dead.

And I never got to tell her I loved her.

"Alex?" Rashain and Panther walked up behind me. They gasped when they saw her.

"Holy shit," Rashain said.

"What the hell happened!? This shouldn't even be possible! When you take damage, you don't actually see it!" Panther yelled.

"That's because we're not players," I whispered. "That's why Herobrine wants us dead. I'm the real Steve, and this… was… the real Alex. Now she's…" I couldn't bear to say it. It would just make the whole situation a whole lot worse.

For a full minute, no one said anything. "I'm so sorry, Steve." Panther put a hand on my shoulder. Tears streamed down my face, and I didn't wipe them away. I rested my head on her chest and closed my eyes.

Wait.

I sat up. "She has a heartbeat. She's still alive, but barely."

"Could we save her!?" Rashain asked.

"I don't know… her burns are so bad…." I clutched her hand. "Don't leave me, Alex. Don't you even dare."

"Wait, what's that in her hand?" Panther asked. He picked it up. "What's this?"

He gave it to me. "The wristband," I breathed. I turned it over and examined it.

"What?"

"Notch gave it to us. It's how we got here in the first place." I wiped some dirt off the green button Notch told us not to touch. In doing so, some of the paint on it rubbed off, exposing some writing. "Earth," it read.

"Earth?" Rashain repeated. "Don't tell me you could actually use that to go to earth."

"You could take Alex to a hospital! Doctors could save her!" Panther exclaimed.

They could save her.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Notch asked. He had apparently failed in locating Herobrine, so he was now concerned with what we were doing. I ignored him and held Alex's limp hand. "No, don't you dare press that button, Steve!"

Alex's life meant more to me than what Notch had to say. I pressed the forbidden button, and our surroundings destabilized into bright colors.

Yeah, I'm not incredibly good at writing insanely long stories. Ten chapters isn't too short, but it's definitely not the longest story on this site lol. This is going to be a series, so look out for the next one, "An Error in the Code." I'll try to post next Monday, but I still have to finish, edit, and upload it, so the wait could be a little longer. See y'all later!

Storm out!