The Minecraft Story: The Beginning: Chapter 52
SPLASH!
The mutant zombie plunged into the river, submerging itself in the cool embrace of the waves. Marcus and Franz heard the fire on its body go out in an instant. Marcus knew it wouldn't take long for the burns to regenerate, just like the cut.
"That bastard can regenerate!" Marcus yelled.
"What!" Franz replied, "How is that possible?"
"I don't know, Herobrine did something to it though. And if the zombie can regenerate, then it's probably safe to say the creeper can too," said Marcus.
"Where is the creeper anyway?" Franz asked, "I thought it would've been here by now!"
…
Herobrine couldn't believe his eyes. The majority of his piglins had been slaughtered in just a few minutes.
Damnit. He thought. This is absurd. Did they know I was coming?!
Herobrine turned to the few piglins he kept with him, "Keep that creeper at bay for now. I want to see what else they have planned."
"Y-yes my lord," said a piglin.
What happened? He thought. Every attack I've committed so far has been met with almost no resistance. We always had the element of surprise, even in my unintended attack at the fort. So, what happened here?
Herobrine stared at his mutant zombie desperately jumping into the river.
Even my zombie was almost killed. Wait, could this be something else, something beyond these humans? Could this have been some divine intervention by him?
Suddenly, Herobrine remembered the man who was thrown.
That man who was tossed like a ragdoll. The way he jumped was extraordinary for a human. At first, I thought it was just an illusion caused by the distance. But now that I think about it, the only person who could jump that high could only be my brother. If that was him, then I wonder if he survived.
…
"What are we going to do against that thing?" asked Franz.
Marcus stared daggers at him, "You're not cowering away are you?"
"Of course not, those days are behind me," Franz angrily replied, "but what are we going to do? The other knights are either running, injured, or dead. It's just us."
Marcus looked back and Franz's words were confirmed. The other knights were in no position to fight.
There has to be some way. Marcus thought.
BOOM!
A red firework went off above the wall, signaling the troops to fall back to the wall.
"We've sustained heavy losses!" a captain yelled, "Fall back to the walls, we'll make a stand against the mutant zombie there!"
"No wait, we can't," Marcus murmured.
"What'd you say brother?" Franz asked while holding a hand to his ear.
"The gate is already smashed in and it's on fire," Marcus explained, "It'll take forever for all the troops to get around those flames." Marcus pointed to what used to be the gate. The flames danced above the wall. "We won't even get a quarter of the troops through before the mutant zombie charges the gates. And with that bottleneck, we'd lose them all in an instant; allowing the zombie and the creeper to wreak havoc on the town. Look! It's already crawling out!"
The mutant zombie slowly pulled itself out of the raging river. Water fell to the ground like a stormcloud. It looked up and stared at the brothers.
"Oh shit," said Franz, "Did you come up with anything?"
Marcus tried to think, until.
BOOM! Another firework.
Damn fireworks. He thought. I'm trying to…wait.
"Hey! Do you still have any fireworks left?" Marcus asked.
The question surprised Franz, "Huh? Yeah, I have plenty, but what do we-"
"Give me half of them," said Marcus, "We're going to blind the son of a bitch. I need a crossbow!"
"There's one on the ground over there!" Franz said whilst pointing to a dead soldier. Marcus sprinted and grabbed it as quick as he could and sprinted back to Franz.
"Load them up!" Marcus yelled.
"Are you sure you know how to use that?" Franz asked.
"Do you not remember any of your training?" Marcus replied, "They taught us how to use a variety of weapons, including crossbows."
RRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!
The mutant zombie was finally completely out of the river. It focused not on Redwater, but the brothers. It slammed its fists on the ground and charged.
"Fuuuck," said Franz.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
"When we blind him, take out the back of the knees and then go for the neck!" yelled Marcus.
"You sure are one crazy son of a bitch!" Franz replied.
"We both are! Now aim!" yelled Marcus.
Franz pulled back his bow and Marcus aimed the crossbow.
"Wait until he's close enough for us to move in!" Marcus ordered.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
The ground shook from beneath the brothers. The other knights took notice and watched in awe.
"He's almost there," yelled Marcus, "Just hold out a little longer!"
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
We've got you now. Marcus thought.
"FIRE!"
The arrows danced through the air almost in slow motion. In just one second, the mutant zombie would be on top of them. Its eyes fully fixated on slaughtering the brothers. Luckily, they were both stabbed into the back of its skull.
BOOM! BOOM!
The eyeballs exploded out of the mutant zombie in an eruption of blue and red fireworks.
RRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRR!
The mutant zombie stopped and covered its face with its giant hands, screaming in agony.
"GO!"
Marcus went right and Franz went left. The beast stood straight up, clutching its face, in perfect position for a strike. The back of the knee was completely exposed.
Slash!
Slash!
The diamond swords once again cut the flesh like butter. The monster fell to his knees causing a small tremor.
"GO FOR THE NECK!" screamed Marcus, "IT'S OUR ONLY CHANCE!"
It was a race against time. At any moment the mutant zombie could regenerate its wounds. Marcus and Franz sprinted with all the strength they had left toward the neck which now lay at perfect sword cutting height. They reached the neck and both raised their swords at the same time. Marcus could see his glisten as it reflected the fire behind him.
"DIE YOU NIGHTMARE!"
The swords planted deep into the neck. Blood shot out of the beast and onto the brothers. The blades reached halfway down the neck. Soon, the entire head would pop off.
Just a little further! Marcus thought. WE'RE DOING IT!
Suddenly, the giant arms of the mutant zombie stopped clutching the face and flew up in the air. The arms had no specific target, but they both managed to barely hit Marcus and Franz. Marcus was sent in the air, doing three flips before landing on the ground.
Marcus's vision was blurred. He stared up at the sky which had now been fully engulfed in the darkness of the night. Ow…ow. He thought. He hit us? This hurts…bad. I hope Franz didn't take…as bad hit. Franz. FRANZ!
Marcus shot his head up, gritting his teeth at the pain. He looked up and saw the mutant zombie had regenerated a single eye. An eye that had now turned to his brother laying helplessly on the ground.
The mutant zombie towered over Franz like a predator observing its prey. It gave a huff and then lifted a single into the sky, blocking the moon from Marcus's vision.
"F-Franz…get…up…run," Marcus tried to speak, but the wind had been completely knocked out of him, "Please."
The mutant zombie made a fist and then swung downward to Franz.
SLICE! BOOOOSH!
The mutant zombie's hand had been completely sliced off and the arm was set ablaze. Marcus looked down and saw the glowing golden sword of Notch. Notch jumped up and kicked the beast in the face, causing it to stagger backwards.
When Notch landed, he turned toward Marcus, "Good thing you had that armor! Come on, take it down!"
Suddenly, Marcus heard the battle cries of dozens of knights running straight for the mutant zombie.
Marcus quickly pulled his crossbow back out and reloaded it. As the Notch and the knights charged toward the mutant zombie, Marcus aimed at its newly regenerated eye.