I Meet A Certain Hero

Toni

I woke up in a comfortable bed.

I groaned and clutched my head—I had an awful headache. And then, I noticed.

The headache was the only pain I was going through.

I began patting down my body, but nothing hurt. Everything had been completely healed.

"What in the…?" I muttered.

"The medics here are great, huh?" My head snapped up, maybe a little too fast. I winced and rubbed my forehead. "Owen?"

My favorite blonde was sitting on a chair next to my bed, smiling a bit awkwardly.

"Hey, Toni." Owen scratched his head a little awkwardly. "I just came to visit…didn't think you'd wake up while I was here."

He's so cute.

I grinned, though my head still pounded. "How…how did I get here?"

Owen sighed. "Ask Sam and Calliope. They went through a lot to get you guys back to Valaither. Everyone in your group was either unconscious or badly wounded, so they had to fix a lot of people up before finally coming here."

"But…we journeyed all the way to Cratre." I was confused. "How'd we get to Valaither so fast?"

"Did you already forget about the portals all around the world that lead to Valaither?"

"Oh yeah," I said, remembering the portal me and Jax had gone through in that ravine. Good times.

"Apparently Jax woke up for a few minutes and told you guys where the nearest portal to Valaither was, and then passed out again." Owen told me.

I suddenly shot upright in my bed. How could I have forgotten the people that had gotten me this far just because a pretty boy was in front of me? "Jax! And the others! Are they alright? What about Sam? Cal! Is Cal—?"

"Calm down," Owen reassured me. "They're all fine. Like I said earlier, this place has a lot of great medics. Though you were out for several days."

I looked around. I realized I was in a sort of hospital ward, with several beds placed next to each other. Next to me was Jax, out cold on a bed.

"Jax!" I lowered my voice to a whisper. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Owen said. "And you don't need to worry—he sleeps like the dead." Owen cringed. "Bad analogy, but he's been out cold even longer than you."

"It makes sense," I said. "I actually think he did even more work than me. After all, he's the one that destroyed the Hellstorm."

"Jax?" Owen was astonished. "I thought it was you!"

"Me? Heck no, if Jax hadn't been there we wouldn't be talking like this!" I glanced over at Jax, who really did seem like he was out cold. "If anyone deserves to be admired, it's Jax."

"Wow," Owen said softly. "I guess I should have expected it—he's been here a while. Well, I guess that means the rumors aren't true."

"What rumors?"

Owen laughed. "Oh, there's a lot of them. You know, we felt the tremors when the Hellstorm exploded—we all thought we were going to die. It was kinda terrifying, to be honest. But after the tremors subsided and you guys came back, there were a ton of rumors. One person said that you tied Klith to a lightning rod and slapped him around like a tetherball. Another person said that you punched Klith through one side of the Earth and out the other."

"What?" I felt amused, surprised, and slightly dismayed at the same time. "Klith wiped the floor with me!"

"But you got out alive," Owen told me. "Not many people can say they've been in a fight with Klith and lived. There's been a lot of people that tried to visit you."

"Me? Why?" I asked, surprised.

Owen did a cute snort-laugh. "What do you mean, why? You saved the world!"

I suddenly felt a little sheepish. "Yeah, I guess…but it was really all Jax."

"Don't be so humble," Owen said. "I'm not discrediting Jax in any way—I'm really proud of him, but you did great too. Apparently you slayed a dragon?"

"Well, that was just—"

"And took on Fisherman?"

"Okay, that one's true, but—"

"And took on an entire army of pigmen all by yourself?"

"That one's just straight up incorrect." I said. "How do you even know all these things?"

"Sam told us," Owen said. "She might have sprinkled in a bit of embellishment here and there. I wouldn't know, I wasn't there with you. She told a lot of stories about how many Withers she killed."

"Well, okay, maybe I've done a lot of—wait, Withers?"

"There weren't any Withers, either?" Owen frowned.

"I'm going to have a talk with Sam later," I muttered.

"Listen, it might have been a team effort, but that doesn't mean you haven't put in effort either." Owen said good-naturedly. "Take what you've done, and wear it like a trophy. You at least admit you've done some pretty cool stuff, right?"

"Yeah," I admitted. "I've done a lot."

"Well, if that isn't an understatement I don't know what is," Owen said as he stood. "Come on. Can you walk?"

I slowly got out of bed and tried to stand. Suddenly my legs buckled, and I staggered forwards into Owen's arms.

"Ow…" I groaned. "I guess I haven't used my legs for…too…long…" I flushed a little as I pulled away from Owen, who looked particularly embarrassed.

"You know what, let's leave." Owen blurted. "This place is pretty cramped."

"Yeah, you'd think for a fifty story hotel this place'd have better hospitals." I smoothly changed the subject as we walked towards the door.

"Well, it's mostly because of the bowling alley next door." Owen said offhandedly.

"The what?"

I grabbed the doorknob, and then Owen jumped. "Oh wait, I forgot to tell you—"

I opened the door, and a wave of sound nearly knocked me over. A mob of people cheered and waved at me in the hallway as nurses tried to keep them away from the door.

"Ah," Owen said. "Yeah. I forgot to tell you about that."

?-?-?

For the next few days, I felt like a real celebrity.

People high fived me and patted me on the back so often that my hands and back were practically numb from all the contact. People went out of their way to chat with me, mostly about the whole quest thing.

Here are some questions I got regularly, and some of my answers:

Q: What was it like?

A: It was terrifying.

Q: Was it scary?

A: See answer above.

Q: What was it like fighting all those Withers?

A: What? There were no Withers. Is Sam telling lies again?

Q: How did you manage to win against Klith?

A: Honestly, no idea.

Q: Why is everyone congratulating Toni when she didn't even contribute anything to destroying the Hellstorm?

A: Shut up, Jared.

Q: Is that scar from fighting the Withers?

A: Seriously, how many people did Sam tell about the Withers?

But honestly, the reactions that made me the most happy was that of my own Squad.

Rook constantly celebrated me, and breathlessly asked for Sam's autograph more than once. Bandit laughed maniacally and clapped me on the back, telling me how great of a hero I was going to grow up to be. Y grinned and told me in private he knew I could do it. Lago hugged me and squealed with joy, and Cacao constantly bragged about me being in his squad.

Not even Jared could bring me down. "Yeah, yeah, she got through the entire quest by either running or hiding from the danger. How's that an achievement? I bet the others did all the work, anyways."

Speaking of the others, Jax woke up soon after me, and was just as equally congratulated as me, though he looked much more exhausted and stayed in his room a lot.

On the contrary, Sam was living the life, making up great stories of the doings of Sam O'Quinn (and her sidekicks Toni and Jax) and getting adored for her brave feats, like riding a Wither like a cowboy. Her words, not mine. I would have talked to her, but I knew Trevor would keep her in check. (Probably.)

Cal also got some attention, considering she was my big sister. But surprisingly, she didn't seem to be as comfortable with the attention as I was, looking slightly awkward when people asked questions and talked to her. Cal and her group always seemed to be on their own. They'd talk if anyone talked to them, but they never initiated any conversations.

And then, a day after we'd gotten home, Cal talked to me.

I was talking with a group of people and we were laughing together when suddenly Cal appeared out of nowhere and smiled at me.

"Toni." Cal scratched her neck slightly. "Can we…talk?"

"Sure," I said, waving to the group of people and then walking with her.

We walked down a hallway, people running past us and laughing as they chased each other with swords and various deadly weapons.

"Don't run with those!" Cal called as someone ran past us, holding a sword. "You're going to trip and stab yourself! I've done it before," she muttered.

I stopped and looked at Cal. Like, really looked at her.

Her light brown hair, which used to be long and silky, was now tangled and messy. A thin scar ran across her face. I wondered who had gone through worse—me, or Cal?

That's when I noticed my arms. I should have had scar after scar. I'd been cut and bruised several times, yet there were no scars.

"Why don't I have any scars?" I asked Cal, like she would know.

She actually did. "The doctors and nurses here can actually heal scars. Crazy, right?"

I frowned. "But then, why…" I gestured to her face.

Cal smiled, but it was a sort of sad smile. "I kept it. As a reminder."

"What do you mean, a reminder?" I started to get concerned for Cal. This wasn't her usual happy go lucky behavior.

"My mom." Cal touched her scar. "I…we still need to save her."

"Oh…right." I clenched my fists a little. I'd been trying hard not to think about it. I was sure that if I'd thought too much about my mom or my…dad…then I definitely would have burst into tears.

My coping mechanism was…denial. It's hard to admit it, but I dealt with things by pushing them away. Once we had a dog named Bruno. It lived with us for five years. And then one day he strayed too far from home.

We found him with an arrow in him—a skeleton had got him.

Cal had cried, Mom had cried, Dad didn't cry but looked sad.

I…didn't react.

As soon as I saw Bruno's body, I turned away. I didn't look at Bruno's body, even when we buried him in the woods. Mom asked me why I didn't cry—Cal asked me why I didn't care about Bruno. That was one of the rare times we'd actually fought.

Thing was, I did care. I did feel like crying. But by not acknowledging that Bruno had died, I wasn't acknowledging my grief, either. Which isn't healthy, obviously. You should always go and have a nice cry once in a while. To let out the emotions, you know.

It was the same with Mom…and Dad. If I thought too hard about them, I'd be filled with despair and end up curling up into a ball and stay in my room.

I didn't think Cal had the same problem. Cal dealt with her grief with anger. Once Cal saw a skeleton after Bruno's death, and she ran up to it and smashed it to pieces with a stone axe. She got shot in the leg, but she hadn't felt anything. Only after killing the skeleton did she feel the pain.

I assumed it would be the same with my mom and dad.

"Cal," I said, and my voice broke. "You know…Dad…"

"I know." Cal's voice shook ever so slightly. I could tell she was trying to push away her feelings like I was. She wasn't doing as good a job, though.

""As long as my mom's still in that prison…" Cal said lowly, "I'm keeping this scar. As a reminder. And once I save my mom, I'll get rid of this scar. But until then…I'm keeping this scar."

"But…what if…" I trailed off, but we both know what I meant to say.

What if she didn't make it?

"Then I'm not losing this scar," Cal said.

We were silent for a moment.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," I said.

"Yeah," Cal replied, and sighed. "I'm leaving today."

I was taken aback. "What?"

"I can't stay here," Cal said quietly. "Every second spent here is another second Mom's spent in that hell of a prison."

Maybe it was a little selfish of me. But I wanted her to stay. I wanted her to stay with me forever, and we could dominate in Skywars and laugh as we ate plentifully in the dining hall. We'd just got back together. I didn't want to lose her again.

But then again…I understood. I understood why Cal wanted to leave. To go and find our mom.

"You don't have to come," Cal said. "I know you've had an exhausting time, you know, saving the world and all that." She smiled a little.

"You've had a worse time," I said. "You got stabbed several times and…died."

I realized that, yes, Cal had definitely had a worse time than me.

"Hey, Toni." She ruffled my hair. "You're getting all grown up. But don't grow up too fast, okay? You still need time to be a kid."

I felt my eyes get wet, and wiped away at them. "You're coming back…right?"

"Come on," Cal said, sounding amused. "I wouldn't die so easily. After all, I've already died and come back." Cal took my hand. "I'll come back for you. I promise."

I smiled. "Thank you."

We stood there, holding hands for a while, until Cal finally let go. She then gave a start. "Oh, right. I almost forgot." She rummaged around in her pockets for a moment before pulling out a flip phone. "For you."

I took it, staring at it. I flipped it open, and a green screen glowed.

"It was a gift from Orca." Cal told me. "Whenever you're feeling down, or just wanna talk…call me."

I stared at the phone for a moment before clutching it tightly and smiling up at Cal. "You got it."

Cal turned and began to walk away before stopping, considering something, and running back to me. She enveloped me in a tight hug.

"Don't fight too many bad guys while I'm away," Cal said. "And if you have to…kick their butts."

"Can't…breathe…" I gasped, and then Cal let go. "My bad," she said.

I stared at her, and then said, "I love you."

Cal grinned at me and fondly ruffled my hair. "I love you too, Toni."

?-?-?

Saying my goodbyes with Sam and Trevor was just as bittersweet, but it was more sweet than my goodbyes with Cal.

Me, Jax, Trevor, and Sam stood outside Valaither, looking up at the mansion.

"Feels like home," Sam sighed. "No, actually, it is home."

"Home sweet home," Jax agreed.

"Do we really have to leave?" Trevor sighed. "I love it here."

"Trevor was a big fan of the pool with the jacuzzi," Sam informed me. "And the indoors beach. And the casino."

"Th-wh-huh?" I spluttered. "Do we really have all of those?"

"Anyways," Sam said, "we'd better go. As the world's best archer, I've never got a free day."

"Didn't you go questing with us for like, a week?" Jax asked.

"Sam pushed aside his schedule," Trevor said. "I got quite a lot of angry letters In Valither after I sent out an apology to everyone we had meetings and/or conferences with."

Sam let out a mock sigh. "It's tough being so cool."

I snickered, and Jax snorted. "Nice to see your ego is back to the way it was."

"Oh, it's bigger, believe me." Sam told Jax. "After saving the world? I'm going to get so many interviews after this."

"Don't take all the credit," I said. "We did a lot of work, too."

"Most of the work," Jax corrected.

"Ah, don't worry, I'll tell all the interviewers about Toni and Zeke." Sam waved a hand into the air dramatically. "My partners in…non-crime, I guess."

Jax didn't even bother to correct Sam.

"But seriously…" Sam dropped her arm and smiled at us. "It was an honor to save the world with you guys."

Jax grinned back. "It was my pleasure."

"Mine, too." I piped in.

Sam shook hands with Jax and hugged me before backing away.

"Well, I'd better get going. Like I said, as the world's best archer, I've never got a free day." Sam grinned. "If you want to watch me participate in a tournament, or need me to save the world again, you can contact me at my mailbox, which I never use. Don't worry, I'll visit often."

"I hope we meet again," Trevor said.

"Well, I guess this is farewell then." Jax smiled. "I hope to see you again."

"Visit often," I told her.

Sam winked. "Oh, I will. And don't be so dramatic, Jordan. I'll only be gone a week."

?-?-?

I groaned slightly as I dived into my bed. I'd just come back to my room after attending a 'Congratulations For Saving The World' party, and I was exhausted. My social skills had improved somewhat, but all that socializing and talking really tired me out.

I smiled as I pulled the covers over myself and shut my eyes. I deserved this.

Which was why I was so annoyed when I opened my eyes to find I was lying on a dirt path.

Seriously? I thought. Can't a girl have one night of sleep without having cryptic dreams?

But this dream didn't have the same vibe as the ones Klith had given me. It felt a lot more…calm.

I slowly stood, brushing off my clothes. I looked around—I was in an oak forest with lots of plants around me. I turned around—behind me, there was a hedge wall blocking my way.

"Guess there's nowhere to go but forwards," I grumbled as I turned and began walking down the dirt path.

It didn't take me long to come to a small wooden house with smoke drifting out of a brick chimney and small flowerbeds at the front.

I walked up to the door, and tentatively knocked.

There was no answer.

I knocked again, but there was no response again. So I reached for the doorknob and twisted.

And who I found, reading a book in a red armchair, shocked me to my core.

He had on a teal shirt, with one of the edges of his shirt untucked. He wore blue jeans, and black shoes. His skin was slightly tanned, and his hair was short and ruffled. He had a thin beard around his mouth.

But the part that stood out the most…were his eyes.

Whiter than quartz.

Herobrine looked up and saw me standing in the doorway. He shut his book and stood. "Sorry for not opening the door. I was a little too invested in this book." Herobrine smiled. "Never managed to finish it when I was alive, you know."

I slowly walked up to him. A tornado of emotions swirled around inside me. Shock, relief, giddiness, anger, and shock.

I reared back and punched Herobrine in the stomach.

"Oof!" Herobrine wheezed as he staggered back a little, running into a bookshelf behind him. A thick book fell from the bookshelf and would have hit his head if he hadn't caught it with lightning fast speed.

"I probably deserved that." Herobrine coughed.

"You…" my voice shook. "After all this time, you…you show up now?" Shock was overtaken by anger, and I felt the need to punch him again.

Herobrine winced. "I…you're right. I…haven't exactly been the best person as of lately."

"You got that right," I snarled. "Do you know what I had to suffer through? Do you?"

Herobrine had an expression like I'd just kicked his puppy. "Of course I know. We share the same body. I feel everything you feel. The pain, the grief, the fear…I felt all of it."

"Don't act like you know me," I snapped, turning away.

"I do know you," Herobrine said earnestly. "I am you."

"YOU SHUT IT!" I yelled, and Herobrine looked at me sadly as I paced around the room, forcing down too many emotions to count. I stopped and looked at a framed picture on the wall.

In the photo, three people stood together. One had long, silky looking dark hair, and she was laughing like she'd just heard the funniest joke ever. Another one had messy auburn hair and a slight beard, and he grinned like he'd heard the same joke the girl had.

And at the center was Herobrine, smiling at me like the happiest man in the world.

"Why?" I said, my voice so soft I wasn't sure if Herobrine could hear it. "Why did it have to be me?"

Herobrine sighed. "Reincarnation is complicated business. I couldn't tell you how it works. Nessa could've told you…if she were still here." I heard an odd choking noise, and turned around.

I was taken aback upon seeing tears streaming down Herobrine's face. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry that I put you through all of this. I wish it could have been anyone else. I wish none of this had ever happened. I wish I'd done better when I was alive." Herobrine looked down. "Please. I might not deserve your forgiveness, but I just want you to know how sorry I am."

The man I'd wanted to punch just moments ago was crying, and I had no idea how to handle it. Conflicting emotions clashed inside me, giving me a headache.

'I wish I'd done better when I was alive.'

I remembered the anguish I'd felt when I saw my father die at Klith's hands. Remembered how I'd pushed it away because I'd had a quest to complete.

I remembered the guilt of not being able to save him like I'd saved my sister in that ravine.

Maybe. Maybe we are the same…

Herobrine looked up with a watery smile. I realized he'd heard what I'd just thought.

Doesn't seem fair that he gets to read my mind, but I can't read his.

Herobrine laughed a little, and I saw a little bit of the man I'd seen in the picture. "I agree. Don't you?"

"Yeah," I said.

There was an awkward silence.

"Alright," I said. "Listen. I get to ask you as much questions as I want? Okay?"

Herobrine nodded. "Understandable."

"First," I said as I plopped down into a couch facing Herobrine. "Why have you only just showed up now?"

Herobrine hesitated for a moment, and then spoke. "Jax."

I raised an eyebrow. "What does Jax have to do with this?"

"I saw what happened with Jax," Herobrine frowned. "Long story short, Nessa spoke to Jax too early, when he was just a child. It inflated his ego a bit too much, and as a result, something…not so pleasant happened."

"Nessa spoke…wait, who's Nes…" Realization dawned on me. "Is that…is that Null's real name?"

"Right," Herobrine said. "I don't know if you knew this, but Null was a girl."

I blinked. "Wait, really? But…what do you mean, Jax's ego inflated? That doesn't feel like the Jax I know."

"I can't talk about it," Herobrine said as he shifted uneasily. "I don't think talking about Jax's backstory without his permission would please him very much. You'll have to ask him for the details, but…yes, he got a little bit too pretentious and…let's just say something happened that gave Jax a reality check. Basically, I didn't want to reveal myself too early for fear of making you too confident. And your powers hadn't fully awakened yet before coming to Valaither, so I couldn't have shown myself to you anyways. Not entirely, at least."

"Okay," I said. "That raises more questions, but I guess I'll have to ask Jax myself. What about the dreams?"

"Ah," Herobrine said. "Most of those dreams…the ones with the world ending? That was all Klith's doing. But some of the other dreams were my doing. Do you recall the dream of Klith getting the last remaining ingredients for the Hellstorm? And the vision of the obsidian cell?"

"Clear as day," I said. "I could have figured out that much. But how did you show me those things? I'd never been to that cavern beforehand."

"Well, that's easy to explain." Herobrine tapped his knee. "There are three types of people. The survivors, the spectators, and…ah…another type I will abstain from naming. I am a spectator. I can witness all sorts of events from all over the world all at once, but I can never interact with the physical world."

"So…like a ghost?" I said.

"Precisely." Herobrine nodded. "Spectators are essentially omnipresent ghosts. You can only become a spectator if you are dead, and if you had enough power while you are living. Technically you can become a spectator while living, but it takes an enormous amount of power. Power not even I have."

"So…you saw everything?" I said slowly. "Doesn't that mean you could have told me about the dragon, or the bomb not being in Cratre, or—"

"Projecting the things I see into dreams takes a lot of energy," Herobrine sighed. "Energy that takes time to recharge. And let me tell you, it takes a lot more time to recharge when you're dead."

"Then how did Klith project those things into my dreams?" I said. "He seemed to have shown me a lot more than you have. And...Klith isn't dead. Neither is he a spectator. So how'd he project those dreams into my mind?"

"Well for starters, Klith is alive and therefore charges a lot quicker than me." Herobrine frowned. "And also, I'm sure that Klith has an XP grinder."

"A what grinder?" I asked.

"An XP grinder," Herobrine explained, "is a contraption that you can use to get yourself tons more XP. But only inherently magical monsters drop XP, like blazes, or withers, or…dragons." Herobrine winked at me. "Thing is, XP grinders were outlawed a while ago for being too inhumane."

"Doesn't surprise me that Klith would use something like that," I said.

"Right," Herobrine said. "And as for him projecting dreams, it's surprisingly easy to do if you have enough experience. When you're alive, that is. Like I said earlier."

"Also, just curious...what do you mean by 'recharge'?" I asked.

"Every living thing has a natural amount of XP, even rabbits and pigs. Humans also have a natural source of XP inside them. Not enough to be considered magical, but not so little that we can't use magic at all." Herobrine said. "As you know, XP is the fuel for magic. The reason why your powers were so unpredictable at the beginning was because you were drawing from your body's natural XP reserves to use magic. Your XP needs time to recharge by itself--if you use all of the XP in your body, you literally die. Your body automatically stops you from using the last parts of your XP to stop you killing yourself."

"And now I have a headache again," I muttered.

"Don't worry, it's not that hard to understand." Herobrine reassured me.

Awkward silence. Again.

"Well, do you have any more questions?" Herobrine asked.

"I…" I shook my head. "I'll come up with more."

Herobrine smiled. "I owe you some answers. I'll gladly tell you as much as I can."

"Good." I said.

"Yes," Herobrine said.

Awkward silence times three.

"We'll get better at this," Herobrine chuckled.

"We will," I said with a slight smile.

Now there was another silence, but it wasn't too awkward this time.

"Klith lives," Herobrine said.

I stood. "What?"

Herobrine rubbed his forehead. "I said…Klith still lives."

"No. No, Klith can't be alive." I insisted. "I saw the cavern collapse on him. I saw a wave of magma crash down onto his head. He even said the heat from the lava could kill a pigman."

Herobrine sighed. "I wish it were that easy to get rid of Klith, Toni. But he's definitely still alive. I can feel it."

I went silent. But for some reason…I wasn't as shocked as I should have been. I should have figured Klith wouldn't go down so easy.

"But you really did a number on his plans," Herobrine said. "I have a feeling he won't be bothering you for a little bit."

"How would you know?" I said.

Herobrine tapped his forehead with a grin. "I know things. And in the time Klith is recovering, you need to improve as well. You need a better grip over your powers. Better sword fighting skills. You need to do whatever it takes to improve. Because it's going to take a lot to permanently kill Klith."

"I'm still twelve years old," I reminded him. "And you expect me to defeat Klith?"

Herobrine smiled. "I don't expect you to defeat Klith. That's impossible."

"Glad to see how much faith you have in me," I grumbled.

Herobrine chuckled. "I expect you and your friends to defeat Klith."

And then, there was a sound like falling sand. I turned, and saw that the forest outside was blowing away like a sandcastle in the wind.

"Looks like our time is up," Herobrine said.

I turned to him. "One last question."

"Shoot."

"Null's real name is Nessa. What's your name?" I asked.

Herobrine smiled. The house around us dissolved.

"My name is Brian."

?-?-?

I woke up.

No 'I woke up in a cold sweat' or 'I jolted awake'. I...just woke up normally.

I slowly sat up. I felt...surprisingly refreshed. I hadn't had such a good sleep in a while.

I came out of my room.

All was calm.

I shut the door behind me, and noticed a sticky note.

Come to the arena for some training. For old time's sake. -Jax

I grinned and walked over to the elevator.

I hit a button, and ascended while bland elevator music rang in my ears.

The elevator doors slid open, and I was standing in front of the door marked 'Arena' in no time.

I stepped in without hesitation.

I found Jax in the center of the arena, talking to a large group of people. I noticed the crowd was a lot more bigger than when I'd first come to Valaither. Nobody had even noticed me yet.

Jax spotted me, and then grinned. "Toni. You're late."

I grinned back. "Well, am I not allowed to rest after almost dying several times?"

Everyone looked at me in awe as I stepped through the crowd. I was about to sit down in the front when suddenly Jax said, "Toni's going to help me with this demonstration."

I blinked. "What?"

"You wanted some training, no?" Jax smirked.

"Way to put me on the spot," I grumbled as I walked up to Jax.

He withdrew several cyan eggs with green spots from his inventory. I stepped back, ready.

He hurled them all into the air, and they all shattered on the ground, summoning a bunch of zombies.

They all charged at once, hatred in their undead eyes.

I grinned as I readied myself.

I dodged one's blow easily and cleaved it in half, then spun around and slashed off two zombie's heads with a single slice. One leapt onto my back, and I grabbed it and swung it into the air. I cut through another zombie before spearing the zombie I'd thrown mid air with my sword.

The remaining five zombies charged me.

I stomped my foot, and electricity burst from my feet, into the ground, and through the zombies. There was a bright white flash as all of them disintegrated.

There was a moment of silence, and then everyone cheered. I brushed hair out of my face and grinned.

Klith doesn't know what's coming to him.

WOO!!! *sets off party poppers* And this officially marks the end of Part One, AKA Blast Radius! It's almost been three years since I actually first started this story, can you believe it?

Honestly, I'm really not even sure what I should say here except that I'm so excited for Part Two. Seriously, it's been way overdue.

Although, I will have to not upload for a month to get my upload schedule back under control. Think of it as a temporary hiatus.

BUT WORRY NOT, I WILL BE WRITING THAT ENTIRE MONTH I'M GONE. (Hopefully.)

I really hope you enjoyed the first part of my series. If you reached this chapter, please! Please, I'm begging you! Leave a review! I've sunken more hours into this fanfic than you need to know. So please, just leave a review of what you thought of the story up until this point. I'd really appreciate it, and it lights up my day whenever I see one of those sweet, sweet reviews. If there are enough, I might actually start responding!

(Wait, I should have been doing that from the start, huh.)

Well, REGARDLESS! Even if there is only ONE review in the whole month I'm gone, (which I really hope doesn't happen) I will still respond to that review!

Okay, I'm done begging for reviews.

Well then. Until we meet again, readers!

Krios