'Skizz?'

'Shut up.'

'I know you're upset about Tango and Impulse.' 

'Yes. Shut up.'

'Talk to me. Please. We're alone in here. I'm just bored.'

'Good for you.'

'Skizz! Please!'

'Tango was my friend! Impulse was basically my brother. And now neither's here.'

'Tango only did it because Herobrine forced him to.'

'You weren't there! You didn't see any of it!'

'I saw all of it, and I know why you feel upset, but this isn't Tango's fault.'

'I still can't talk to him.'

'You can talk to me. I'm here.'

'Maybe I want to be left alone.'

'Fine.' 

Grian shut up, staring at the vague shape of Skizz in front of him. The torch was slowly burning away to nothing, the embers slowly dying. Soon they'd both be left in darkness forever.

 Unless someone rescued them.  

Which wasn't going to happen very easily.

'I'll leave you alone.' Grian sighed, resigning himself to silence again. 

There was a moment of horrified silence as Herobrine stood there. Etho smiled, unscathed. 

'Oh dear...' He shook his head mockingly. 'Looks like you're in trouble...'

Before he could annoy them further, Jevin shoved Etho back against the wall with a sickening crack. Blood spilled down, the ninja unconscious. Remorseless, Jevin glared back at Herobrine. 

'He deserved that. He F*****G deserved that.'

'Language, Slime-Boi. It seems that you don't really need Gem's help to be a FREAK.'

'See if you can call me a freak when my sword's in your neck.' Cub held out an arm to stop Jevin from doing anything stupid. False still had an arrow trained on the glitch. 

'Well? What's going on in here? Cub?'

'It's not his fault.' Jevin pushed his way in front of his friend. 'I'm the one that wanted to come here.'

'Jevin, I know you want to help, but shut up. Now. Herobrine. If you want to talk about this, i'm sure we can do it in private.'

'Cub, no!'

Tango Held back Jevin as he tried to grab Cub's hand, stop him from putting himself in danger. The vexling gave one glance back at the group, before following Herobrine out. 

They entered the blatant mimic of the Vexling Cathedral, doors closed behind. Joel the dog was snoozing next to the throne, and Herobrine quickly shooed him away, leaving him and Cub alone. 

'Explain.' 

'I was tricking them. Like I tricked the third lifers. They think I'm going to help them stop you.'

'Really?'

'Yes. I promise.'

'A promise from a traitor means nothing to me.'

'R...really? But I'm not a traitor.' 

'I heard enough there to know that you are. You've gone against my will too many times, Cubfan.'

'If you get rid of me, who will you have to do your dirty work?'

'Phantom's still around.'

'Bdubs killed himself.'

'What?!' Herobrine turned to face Cub, a look of genuine horror and surprise on his face. The vexling tried to keep his voice neutral.

'He killed himself. Tango found his body. He's dead.'

'Why would he do this?!'

'Too much death? I dunno.'

Herobrine paced the room, hands clenched at his side. The look of pure sorrow in what used to be Scar's eyes tugged at Cub's heart. He wanted to help, as he always had before. No. It's not Scar. It's Herobrine. You'd know if it was Scar. 

'Should... should I go?'

''̸̧̢̤̺͙̓̆̄̈́̾͂̀́͋̄͜S̴̡̠̮̻̭͈̙̦̗̰̣̝̳̬̪̲̔t̴̛̲̮͉̥̩͇̲̀̀́̄̿́̾́̚ͅa̴͎̺͚̥̼͍̣̹̳͖̝̦̯̰̒̋͗̓͠ͅẏ̴̠̜̰͍̼̠̯̱̜̹̝̹̻̟̗̈́͋̐̇̐̈́͋̀̍́͗̕͜͜͠͠͠ ̷̧̧̛͚̯̗͉̖̖͈̗̲̗̱̞͖͔͎̈͛͊̈́̍̋̿͝ͅŵ̸͇̥̊́̋̋̽̾͝ḩ̷̧͈̰̖̬̔̿͆̄́̎́̍̾̐͆̂̈́͌́͐̈́̚ͅȩ̵̢̺̙̺̹͓̠̣̱̣̍ṛ̸͉̠̟̙͉͓͒͋͛̽̚ȩ̵̛̩̦̺̦̹̙͎͔̬̫̦͔͔̖̹̬̐̈́͐̾̕ ̷̧̢̨̙͕̠̗̠̲͕̥̃̍̇̆̄̆͐͂̔̈́̈́̀̈́͑̈́͠͝y̷̩̤̼̝̫͕̝̜̻͍̳̳̼̯͚̹̓̃̆̀͊ͅo̸̜͈̬̦͈͈̔̍̔͜ṷ̶̡͈̩́̏̆̌̈́͛͠ ̵̰̔̊̓͠å̷͔͔̠͙̤̱̙͕̓́̂̓̋̐̅̎̊͂͐̇͌͆̉̚͠r̷̨̻͈̪̤͉͖̯̦͙̥͚͍̪͍͓͛̋͒̽́͊͘e̸̢̟͗͠.̶̢̡̢̭̱̙̱͕̗͇͒̃͛͌̂̆̄̈͊͑̑̕͝͠'̸̨̜͈̏̑̓͛͝ ̷̜̙̲̹̰̻͇̼͕̓̃̈̆͂̓̉̈́͑̆̌̓̇͘͝ͅ

The glitched-out voice of Herobrine paralysed Cub, forcing him to stay. He wanted to run away. Get out. Be safe. Notch protect me. He thought to himself. 

'You're still a traitor, Cubfan. I can't trust you.'

'Then why do you still keep me around?' He snapped back. 'Why did you take me out of that pit when you didn't even trust me?'

'Because I needed your help.'

'And now I'm useless?'

'Oh, no. Not useless.'

'If you're only keeping me around because you know I'm not a threat, then you're a coward.'

'What?'

Wait...

Did he even know?

That he couldn't...?

Oh s***

'Hold on...' Herobrine smiled with the same smile Scar had always done when he'd figured something out. The same twinkle in the eyes. No. It's not Scar. It's Herobrine. 'You can't hurt me, can you? The High Evoker before made you unable to hurt Scar, didn't they?'

'It doesn't matter. I can still be a threat.' 

'The secret's out, Cub. You can't hurt me. Which means I can make you do whatever I want, and stay completely safe. And you can do nothing to stop me.' 

It may've been a trick of the light, but Cub swore he caught a flash of utter panic flash in Herobrine's eyes as Scar realised the situation his best friend was in. But it was gone a moment later, and Herobrine laughed. 

'You're trapped, Cubfan. What're you going to do about it?'

Cub ran at him.

His sword was out before he could think, eyes narrow, and slashed at Herobrine. Blood splattered, red slowly spreading across what used to be Scar's tycoon outfit. It was shallow, and wouldn't kill. 

But to Cub it felt like it would. 

 If you hurt him, you will receive the same pain he feels. 

Agony burnt through Cub's nerves. Herobrine watched with interest, hiding his own pain. 

'Well... looks like I was slightly wrong. But you won't try that again. The glitch turned away. Cub grabbed the collar of his top before he could and Herobrine turned. 

Then everything happened in slow-motion. 

Scar appeared again for a split second, determined, forcing something into Cub's hand. Then it was gone, and Herobrine shoved the vexling away, stumbling back himself. 

'G̸̢̺̣̫̹̮̤̮̩̞̥̭̖̍̿̅̊̏̊̀̒̇͗̎̕̚͠ȅ̴̛͙͇̈́͑̆̎͂̌͑̂̚̕͝ţ̸̛̞̙̰̥̙͍̟̣͉̊̀͛͊̉̈́̒͂̉́͋̚ͅ ̴͈͖͇̗͒̈̋̚ͅơ̷̡̡͔̦͚̜͎͖̝̘̦͕̭̒̃͗̍̀̚͜͝͝u̷̢̨͇̬̘̼̠̥̳̝̝̘̍̃̐̈́́̾͐͆͋̀͒͜ͅt̶͎̊ ̷̦̹͈͕̼͈͈̻̥̥́͊͌̽͐͆̾̅̔̓̀͘ͅo̷̫̪͋̋̾̿͆̔̈́͘͜͝f̸̧̟̮̳̭̞̖̻͔̦͈̱̣̳͂̓̓̅̓̃̕͜͜ ̸̧̢̡̘̤̖̥̙͓̳̰͈̭̙͔̞͑̍͂̑́̋m̴̢̪͇̤͓̰͓͋̈́͗̾͂̏y̸̨̢̢̞͓̞̞̖̥̪͐́̏͊̀̂͋̑̎̉͋̆̚͜͝ ̴͙̬͔̝̭͖̼͖͎̮͉̫͍̯̍̃̄̀͐̎ş̵̧̛̤̯̬͉͖̘̞̳̅̌́̈́́̽̓͆̇͘i̷̧̪̺̟͉̞͈̘̻͗͆̕ġ̸̙̭̗͇h̵͕̖͉̫̟̩̗͙͍̺̮̓̑̈͗̆͗̏̕ͅt̸̨̨̨̥̟̫̦͎̬̙͉̅̔ͅ.' The glitch snarled. Cub didn't move for a moment. ''̴̡̧̧̮͔̯͉̙̪͙͕̩̈̽́̀̃̀͐́̈́͠Į̵̧̨̢̛̭̮̘̩̟̬̳͈̖͎̘̪̭̥̦͕̟̰̊̀́̚̕ͅ ̵̧̧̡̛̖͍͚̬̥̰̲͓͎̼̣͖̰̩̖̞͍̞̲̍̄͌̀͋̌S̶̳̟̱̀̉́̊͗̋̈͑͂̎͆́̐̚̚͝͠Ą̶̜͎͚̱͍͚̩͉͕̗͍̎̊̈̓͑̃͊͊̈̍̂̑̊͘͘Í̷̢͖̻̗͇̱̳̗̫̫̀͒́͋̆̀̾̃̎̈́͌͂́͜͝D̴͔͓͕̹̜̞̟̳̀̆ͅ ̴̧͕̰̻̥̤͓̟̪̎̂̃͂̕Ĝ̵͉̳̼͉̹͍̹̜̝̯͙̌̐̈́̅̃̇̃̓͊͜E̴̢̢̺̼̬̙̋̎̃̀̍̑̓̀͐́̉̎͆͒͛́̈̕͘͝T̷̛̩̩̭͔̈́̌͒̓͐̅̿͂̎̎ ̷̡̳̥̫̬̠̗̳͓̯̹͖͖͎̩̻̞̱͙̲̫̉̀̃̈́̚͜͜Ȍ̸̡̧̼̬̙̼̹̘̟͕̬̖̺̭̲̘̤̜̪̑̋̔̔̌̋̔̈́̕͝͝͝Ư̸̡̜̠̯͈̇̒̊̓͆̈́͐̇̌͌̃̇͜͠͝T̸̛̲͈͇͕̖̟̓͑̏̂̆̀̌̇̐̄̈́̎̍̉͂̈̿̚͝͝͝ͅ!̸̪͉̲̔͒͋̏̅́́̃͗̃̚̚'̷̢̲̹̙̦̗̣̳̯͚̖̠̗͕̥͐̓̒̄̎̋͛́̒͘

He ran. 

Straight out the door, heart racing, barely knowing how he'd escaped with his life. Then another thought appeared in his mind.

What did Scar give me?

He opened his hand. At first it seemed a complete anticlimax, since all that was there was a simple silver necklace with a pair of bat-like wings and smiling face as a decoration. The symbol of the Vexlings. 

Then he realised. 

The second punishment.

You will receive a necklace that removes your respawn abilities when you take it off.

No. 

This couldn't be. 

It was all he needed to know exactly what Scar had wanted to say. 

He was ready to die.