>:D Next few chapters are LOOOOOOOOOOOONG so strap in fwends

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[Herobrine's POV]

I am the first to move, choosing myself as the distraction. I could feel the power I hold wearing down despite the pain and heartache only growing more and more with each second my mind is silent. How I long to hear her voice tell me when to duck as she watches my back.

Now I'm on my own.

I slash with my pickaxe, and Notch steps back to avoid the hit. Unfortunately for him, I wasn't aiming to land a blow, but to pin his sword to the stone. Notch drops his gaze in shock as he is pulled down from the action. I lock eyes with him and smirk.

"Boo."

I then teleport as I hear the chamber load in Alexa's rifle. The volley of bullets make Notch stumble backward and lose his grip on his blade. He makes a wall of obsidian appear before him, but now his back is exposed.

Reginald is the first to appear, raking a netherrite sword across Notch's back. The man yells and turns to attack but his fist meets air as Reginald quickly teleports away. Instead, Andrew jumps in with his own blade and starts attacking. Notch loses his balance, but disappears in a puff of white particles before appearing away from the field of battle.

Or so he thought.

I can't help but smirk as I see Justin stand from behind the hill of endstone he was hiding behind. He may not be full iron golem, but he still holds their strength. I move forward, keeping Notch's eyes on me. His gaze locks with my own, but I stop advancing and wave.

I see the confusion just before Justin launches him into the sky with a swift punch to Notch's back. I am quickly before him in the air, slamming Aria's blade against his gut. As much as I would love to see it slice him clean in two, I know it won't. He has enchanted himself with protection, but it will still hurt, which is what I want.

The island shakes from his impact, and I quickly dive down with the point of her sword aimed at his heart. Although he is moving slower, he is able to roll out of the way. Just as I begin to attack, I am suddenly locking blades with my duplicate. His eyes narrow as he shoves me backward, away from Notch. I growl but accept my new dance partner. Besides, Mobius is now launching plasma blasts and other ammunitions at Notch. They can hold their own together. 

'Steve' and I clash, nearly mimicking each other's moves. When I slash, he parries. When I dodge, he counters. If he advances, I backstep. My blood boils as I realize Notch has simply copied my coding once more from my original design. New anger rages within. 

He lied.

He held backups for me, but only if I decided to turn against him. It would revert me to my first form, all those years ago. Perhaps that is what he is trying to do now? If I lose this half of the command block, he will have access to my code once more and can tamper with it as he pleases. 

A fist slams against my nose and I reel backward. I let my guard down, and now another hit slams against my gut. I double over, straight into Steve's knee. My back slams against the endstone, but I am quick to roll as his netherrite sword plunges into the ground. 

"Stop this! He's not worth protecting!"

I push myself up from the ground, tightening my grip on Aria's sword. My pickaxe materializes in my open hand. I'll need to change things up a bit.

"He is my creator. That is all I need to know."

My eyes widen. He sounds just like me. Sudden hurt hits my chest. A minuscule part of me still held hope that maybe Notch could be redeemed, that we could end up friends again.

Now I know better.

I slightly turn to see the others fighting Notch easily. They are bouncing off each other fairly well. Andrew and his team are swiftly joining in Alexa, Joseph, and Mobius' fighting style. One attacks then retreats and lets another take the lead while Notch stumbles. If one gets hit, they are covered before Notch can deal a fatal blow.

Is there any chance of us winning? Not that I can see.

But this fight isn't about winning or losing.

It's payback.

My gaze returns to Steve. I don't doubt he can respawn, but I need to try and end this quickly. If we can force Notch to respawn, he will be outside of the End long enough for everyone to gather somewhere safer and plan out our next attack. However, I feel a sense of fear rise at the thought of him respawning. There's a chance he could-

Pain floods my side and I teleport on instinct. Once again I let myself get distracted, and Steve took his chance to land a hit on me. The wound stings, and I look down to see small flames licking at my clothes. I glance up, noting the new orange glow his blade holds.

Fire aspect.

I huff. Of course Notch will equipt Steve with something like that. I feel Aria's sword hum in my grasp. Without her energy flowing into it, the weapon was losing power.

Wait a minute.

I tighten my grip. I need to dispatch this copy in front of me. If this works, it may be a 'one-shot wonder'. I advance first, hacking at Steve with my pickaxe. Of course, he blocks it with his sword and tries to punch me in the face. I lean back and kick my leg out, successfully catching his on my foot. He falls forward, and I am swift to remove his head from his shoulders. His body dissipates in white particles

Just like-

A shout drags me back to reality, and I turn to see Notch standing above Alexa. The others are rushing over, but a wall of obsidian is blocking all of Joseph's bullets. Said person is severely beaten and bruised, blood trailing down his head. Notch lifts his sword, and I can see he's speaking. I can't hesitate. I put away my pickaxe and pour every ounce of power I have left into Aria's blade. I feel the sword thrum in response as if it was giddy to fight again. I have never done this before, but I have seen Aria do it numerous times.

I rush forward with a shout. "Alexa!" This gains everyone's attention, and I can see Mobius spotting the glow first. The last thing I see him do is gesture to everyone to move back. I spin on my heel twice, gripping the hilt of the blade in both hands. I slice outward as I face Notch once more. The wave that is released is the brightest I have ever seen. It is pure white and radiates warmth as it surges over the landscape. I feel the island shaking from it's wake. I can barely see Notch look up in shock and the purple particles of Reginald quickly grabbing Alexa and bringing her to safety. A faint red glow can be seen as the wave hits its mark. I can hear him yelling in pain, but the wave continues.

Suddenly, it splits in two and each half careens to the side. They shatter the stone as they make contact with the ground, slicing off massive chunks of the island we are on. They crumble to the void below. Standing in the center is Notch, blood running from his arms and forehead. One eye is shut in pain and he is gasping for air. I huff as well, feeling my own strength drain. This fight won't last much longer for either party. Notch is struggling to heal himself due to the bullets that are no doubt stuck in his avatar. As long as they are there, his regeneration will be halved.

Unless..

"I'll admit, I wasn't expecting this much of a fight." He stands a little taller, and I can see his eyes forming a plan as he looks between us all. Something's off, and I only notice it a moment too late. Notch locks his eyes with my own and smirks.

"Then again, we already know how this will end."

With that, he steps backward off the edge of the island.

No!

My fear earlier returns and I find myself teleporting to the edge. Hands grab my arms just as I'm about to launch myself over. I turn to glare at Reginald, but he pulls me back anyways. "It's no use! You of all people should know it's not easy teleporting from the void as well." I can't hold back my growl, but I turn to see white particles slowly disappearing.

Notch was dead, and now he was respawning safe within his base.

With access to the code.

"We need to get everyone together, now!"

I grab his arm and teleport to the group. I motion for them to get closer. "Listen, we need to move, and fast. Use every potion you have right now."

Alexa pipes in. "All of them?"

"Yes! All of them! You guys don't understand, Notch can respawn, and now he's safe in his base with access to the code." I pause for a minute, looking over their faces. It would seem only Andrew and Mobius understand what that implies. They both quickly open their inventories and bring out splash potions of strength and regeneration. Joseph looks between all three of us. "I don't understand, why does that matter?"

"Your code isn't concealed like mine. It's vulnerable."

I can feel his fear as his eyes widen, but its nothing compared to the cold dread that hits when Justin drops a potion. The contents leak out onto the endstone, not being absorbed by anyone around. He looks up to us, his eyes suddenly droopy and his face full of weariness.

"Guys... Something's wrong."

Reginald drops next, collapsing onto his hands and knees. I drop down, making sure he's okay, but one by one everyone begins joining him. There were only two effects I know of that would cause something this severe.

Weakness and Mining Fatigue.

I turn to look at Joseph, who is faking strength while keeping Alexa's head from hitting the ground. Her eyes are barely open, but her worry is tangible. All of us knew we wouldn't get out of this alive. We all knew this was a fruitless battle.

None of us knew it would be over so fast.

I clench my fists, tightening my hold on Aria's sword as I summon my pickaxe in my other hand. Entity's sword reappears and chains itself to my left arm. I could feel his presence before he even appears floating behind me. Everyone's eyes looks towards him, and I suck in a deep breath and stand.

"None of this had to happen, Hero."

I turn to face him completely. He is emitting a yellow light, hovering a good ten blocks above the ground. His health is restored, regeneration most likely running at max, and he no doubt already created a firewall against my weapons. Any chance at an upper hand was now lost. I lock my eyes with his even still. I won't stand down, I won't back out.

I can't.

"Their blood is on your hands, not mine." Notch says, but I give no reply. He wants me to attack first. I know better. I need to gather as much strength as I can. We have been fighting constantly for well over an hour, and I am feeling the fatigue set in. That last attack was draining, but I still held enough for a few more good hits.

At least, I hope I do.

"Give up! You already know you'll never win. You've lost, Hero."

I step forward, and then again. And again and again until I am just a few blocks from Notch. He lowers himself to the ground before me, watching me carefully. All of my weapons are out, but he shows no fear. He has something up his sleeve, I can tell.

But so do I.

"I already told you once. Don't call me that."

Swiftly, I swing Entity's blade in a wide arc. Notch watches the weapon, and I take that chance to charge forward. Aria's sword is raised, and he turns to parry it. My pickaxe drops low and takes out his legs. Notch, instead of falling, places his hands on the ground and backflips over Entity's blade and narrowly dodges my attack with Aria's sword. His sword appears, and I frown as it holds a different glow to it now. Notch smiles, and that sends a shiver down my spine. I need to be careful.

Don't get cocky.

I charge forward first, trying to keep Notch on his toes. I jab with Aria's sword, then slice with Entity's. Notch parries each with ease, then attacks. My pickaxe catches his blade, but the force behind it sends my pick flying. I see it stab into the endstone near the others. When I look back, a fist collides with my face. The power behind it makes me stumble back in shock. I throw my hand out, Entity's blade reacting and trying to land a hit, but Notch slices the chain and kicks the sword away. It clatters to the ground behind him. My shock leaves me open, and he lands a hit to my gut. I feel the air get pushed from my lungs and my feet leave the ground for a moment. The next hit sends me flying backward. I tumble along the ground. I don't know how, but I'm somehow able to slam Aria's blade into the endstone and flip myself over onto one knee.

This pain is familiar, but nothing to the ache that was still there in my chest. No amount of revenge will satisfy it.

But I had hoped to get a bit more in before the end.

I look up to find myself only a few feet from Notch and his sword. In instinct, I lift Aria's blade to block the attack. The sudden urge to not die hits me. I feel what little power I have left fill the blade to strengthen it. The blades meet..

And Aria's sword shatters on contact.

The power that was left within it emits a shockwave, sending both myself and Notch flying. I crash against the ground, flat on my back. I struggle to push myself up. When my gaze lands on the hilt a few blocks away, I nearly drop back against the stone in defeat.

Only a sliver of the blade remains. Pieces of it are scattered on the cold stone. I can see the glow from it slowly die and the eye of ender at the end of it dulls. My heart plummets, my blood runs cold.

No. No, no, please! That's all I had left.

I open my hand, screaming at the sword to move, shiver, do something!

The handle lays still, unmoving, powerless.

It was gone.

A foot slams against my chest, pressing down and pinning me to the freezing stone below. Has it always been this cold in the end? Or is this what it feels like when you know there is no way out? I look into the eyes of the one who will win this battle. 

The same one who created me.

"No one had to die, Herobrine. You could have stopped all of this."

Notch's voice is sad? It doesn't matter. He's raising his sword. It's obvious he believes there is no other way now. This is how this ends. I can hear the others shouting, but they can't do anything. No one can save me now.

I'm sorry, Aria. I couldn't keep them safe.

"Hold on, Hero."