[Aria POV: an hour before]

Duck, slash, swing, repeat.

Step, strike, dodge, repeat.

'Mine, eat, build, repeat.'

A fist crashes against my face and I reel back. Holding my nose, I glare at the man before me with indignation in my eyes. "Ow! What the heck? I thought you said no hand to hand right now?!" Those glowing eyes seem to harden, but amusement was hidden behind them. "You need to stay focused and not let your mind wander. Don't think I didn't hear that." I can only growl before removing my hand from my nose. "Alright, fair. Start it over." Quickly, we go back into the routine we have been in constantly for the past few hours. It was helping build muscle memory... which is odd to think about since we were in my mind. Herobrine had explained it well, but it was still not fully sitting with me.

Duck.

Step.

Swing.

I keep up the rhythm, matching him almost perfectly. I was doing all this on my own power, having felt Reginald leave a while ago. I couldn't expect him to stay by my side forever, and I needed to be able to handle this on my own, just in case Entity decides to try and make an entrance like he did last time. However, I start to sense something off. It was beginning to look like Herobrine was just going through the motions as well now. A smirk plays on my lips, and I quickly change up my footwork. Sliding my foot forward, I feel his blocky ankle hit it, and he stumbles. Just as he regains his footing, I slam my fist into his face and force him to fall flat on his rear. Standing over him, I point the sword towards his neck. He looks up over it to me while holding his hand to his nose.

"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black."

He... actually smiles? Before I can comprehend what I just saw, he swings his legs around and slams them against mine. I slightly shout as I hit the ground. My sword falls from my grasp and I find myself perfectly pinned to the ground by Herobrine.

"I will say, that was impressive... but never let the enemy have a chance."

His voice dropped on the last part, and I only grimace... Then smirk. Swiftly, I bring my leg up and knee him in the crotch. I see his face contort in agony, and I use all my strength to throw him off. Standing once more, I grab my blade and face him fully. He struggles to get to his feet at first, and I slightly laugh.

"Who said you had the upper hand?"

Once again, I am shocked to see a genuine smile go across his face. It would seem what I told Reginald earlier was true. Him being stuck within my mind seems to be having a good effect on him... 'At least, I hope it is...' I feel the block in my mind stay up for a moment, not letting him read my thoughts. His eyes dull a bit, and I can tell he was trying to figure out what I was thinking.

Simply put, I don't trust him, and although he might already know that, I want him to think his little smiles and helpful tactics are making me grow soft and start to drop my guard around him a bit.

I'm not.

I never will.

He is helping me so he can survive, and I am using him to help myself and my friends.

The moment he's out of my mind, I will finish what I failed to do so long ago.

Shaking my head, I try to plaster a smile on my face as well. Herobrine surprisingly returns it before twirling a pickaxe in his hand. "Shall we continue?" I give a slight nod, and somehow he is already before me, ready to strike. I parry and kick out, missing him only by a centimeter. He twists and slices again, and I drop down to roll away. As I spring up, I land a hit to his chin and slice across his chest. As he stumbles, I raise my sword-

My heart skips, and I slightly falter in my footing.

My eye hums, paralyzing me for a moment in shock at the strength of the pull I was feeling from it. That split second is all it takes for Herobrine to gather himself and swiftly kick his foot into my gut. The power behind it makes me slide back, and I crumble to my hands and knees. I hold my head in slight pain as the pull radiates even stronger. It was nearly impossible to hear anything but the hum, though I could feel his footsteps nearing me. His hand grabs my shoulder, but I can't move. This feeling was familiar-

Then it's gone.

I gasp, sucking in air as if it was going out of style. Coughing, I barely can look up into Herobrine's eyes before he speaks. "Are you okay?" The worry in his voice nearly makes me gasp again, but I can barely breathe already. I nod my head, and when I can finally speak, I realize what that feeling was.

There was only one thing that had ever paralyzed me like that.

I know immediately what is going on, and I could feel the fear starting to sink in even as my words stutter from my lips.

"S-Someone.... Entered the End... I think they are in trouble."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Mobius POV: Present]

*Message sent*

Yes!

Despite having seen Anthony and Anastasia barely make it to the portal, I feel the joy in my heart rise when the notification pops up that the plan worked. The message had slipped through with them as they arrived back home. Now, we have a chance.

Red eyes turn to face me, and I feel my blood run cold. I see Reginald laying wounded to the side after Entity had sliced through Anthony and Anastasia's bodyguards as if they were butter. He was still alive, just struggling to get up. The others weren't moving.

I slightly gulp as Entity fully faces me, a smile shining beneath that hood.

Son of a motherless goat...

He is suddenly before me, and I narrowly dodge by diving to the side. I slice upward, and he blocks it. Then he attacks, and I parry before letting loose a volley of rockets from my shoulder once again. One hits and launches him back, but he recovers as if it was just a tap. I dodge to the side and slice once more.

Slice, parry, shoot, dodge. Just keep this dance up, Mobius, and you'll be fine. As much as I keep telling myself that, I could feel the energy boost I had received from Aria a few days before starting to finally deplete. I had stored it where I could just in case something like this was to happen, but I didn't expect to be fighting Entity on my own. He was tiring as well, possibly not expecting me to be so in tune with my avatar.

You don't even know half of what I can do.

As he rushes forward, Reginald suddenly appears and tries to slam him to the side. Entity dodges and strikes Reginald on his side. The enderman hisses but slams his blocky fist on the side of Entity's head. This sends the white-cloaked mob towards me, and I shift my cybernetic arm into a large wrecking ball. I put a good amount of power into an uppercut, sending this demon into the air.

For a moment, I turn to the enderman and he gives me the faintest of nods.

I let out a sigh. At least that's still going to according to plan... I just hope they get here soon. Looking back up, I growl when I see Entity was gone. My ears twitch, and I swiftly drop just as my eye alerts me to movement directly behind me. Thrusting out my leg, I feel it connect with something. I take that chance to twist and kick out my other leg with the movement. It connects with what I assume is his face.

Quickly, I stand straight with my fists up. I needed to save my energy for now, and use hand to hand to outlast him. My eyes widen when I see his scythe in his hands. He hadn't pulled that out yet, and the last time he did, it almost killed Aria. I try to keep my fear in check. I didn't need to beat him, just outlast his attacks and stay alive.

Easier said than done...

The minute he regains himself, he turns on me with a growl. I lean back, narrowly missing the blade of his scythe. My eye alerts me to it swiftly coming back, so I drop. With each reading of his moves, I compile a simple move set to counter it. I just needed to keep dodging. I roll across the ground as he slices down, then back step when he starts to try hand to hand. Come on, keep trying to hit me... Just a little more-

*ding!*

I smirk as an opening is spotted in his offense, and I swiftly take advantage of it. My left fist collides with his face. I feel the gears shift and extra power flow into the appendage, forcing Entity back with so much force that he is thrown across the island. I regain my footing and drop to the ground in an instant. I feel his scythe fly over my head after him.

However, when I stand up, I quickly bring out the energy sword on my arm once more and raise it behind me, successfully parrying a strike from behind. An arrow points to my right, so I drop again and dodge his kick. I throw my own leg out again, but he jumps over it. Now we were face to face again, and he was swinging his scythe at me. Rage was in his eyes, and I knew I needed to not get cocky...

It's difficult when my cybernetics reads every movement...

I feel the energy draining once again, and I focus all remaining reserves on simply keeping up with this creature. He was wearing out as well, having not fully recuperated from the last battle I guess. I start getting the advantage, and I struggle to not go overboard as hit after hit starts landing on him.

This... seems too easy.

As I hit him again, he stumbles back, dropping his scythe. I eye it warily and keep back. I refuse to advance as red flags pop up in my mind. We had been fighting for nearly half an hour now, and it seemed too easy. He was planning something, and when he looks over to see me still standing away from him, I feel my suspicions get confirmed.

He grins.

"I see you are not as dull as most others like you are." I withhold my urge to snarl at him, and he chuckles. I feel a growl rise in me as he stands straighter. His hands go to his hips, and I keep myself alert.

"Tell me, Mobius, were you trying to wear me out?"

I give no reply.

"I thought you might be. It is the same tactic I was trying to use against you, but it seems like I had underestimated you." He mockingly bows. "I do apologize for doing so." This time, I do speak, trying to hold back the animalistic urge to tear into this creature. "You're stalling now. Is it because you are, in fact, growing tired and need to rest?"

His gaze returns to me, cold and hard. He straightens up, clasping his hands behind his back. His eyes never leave mine, and I could feel his anger rising a bit at my remark. Closing his eyes, he shakes his head and gives a soft, dark chuckle.

"You may believe me to tire easily... but that is not the case." Movement behind his back. I can see his hand shifting. "At least, not against you." He must be messing with the code. His scythe hasn't moved. I keep my blades out and ready, shifting into a defensive stance. A red warning appears on my display, and I swiftly duck as something flashes over my head.

I turn to attack and come to a sudden stop within inches of a very familiar blue-eyed enderman.

"Reginald?!"

I can see his eyes struggling, but no words are formed. His movements aren't fluid, and he was visibly enraged at not being able to control his actions. He lets off a growl before slamming his hands down towards my skull. I narrowly dodge it before another alert appears and sends me tumbling to the side. I feel the blade of his scythe relieve the back of my head of a few feathers. Once I regain my footing, I can only lift my hands to block Reginald's attack. He stifles a scream of pain and teleports away to a safe distance.

I feel my breath coming out a bit more ragged. I was running on my own power now, and it was starting to get difficult to keep up. Before I can fully regain my senses, 303 is on top of me in an instance. His scythe barely skims my gut, and I feel the trembling sensation of a past wound act up. I carefully slice down with my blade, then follow it up with an upward slice. He blocks both, then disappears and I don't have enough energy to react in time to the blocky fist that collides with the back of my head.

Slamming against the ground, I barely roll away as a scythe slams into the ground next to my head. Before I can stand, weight is against my chest and my cybernetic arm suddenly screams as a smaller blade is pierced into it and pins it to the endstone. I let out a cry as electricity is sent through my body for a moment. My eyes open and I glare into the red gaze of Entity 303. He was slightly huffing for air, but it was obvious that he had won this fight.

Sorry guys... I couldn't make it this time...

The creature smirks. He brings out another sword with his free hand and raises it. "I will let Aria know how valiantly you fought... only to fail her again." The anger that rises in me seems to make the mob's smile widen. The sword starts to drop...

*brrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaahh*

Entity releases an ear-piercing shriek before being interrupted by an RPG to the chest. It sends him flying backward off of my chest, and I swiftly pull the smaller blade from my arm and flip over. I can't contain my smile as a blonde-haired avatar in a penguin hoodie with blue eyes steps forward from a group of enderman. An M16 is in her hand and she raises the muzzle to the sky. Behind her is a male avatar sporting green eyes. He sports jeans, a black hoodie with red decals on the chest and back. He was loading another RPG with a grim look on his face.

The woman looks at me and gives me a small smile. "Why do I always end up saving your feathered butt?" She says, and the man behind her slightly chuckles. "Be nice, Alexa." I can only huff before struggling to stand.

"Perfect timing you guys. Now can one of you please give me a hand?" I slightly wave my sparking cybernetic, and Alexa's face grows grim. "Joseph, help up the bird brain. I'll handle the crazed maniac." The man behind her nods, and I watch her run ahead of us. Joseph is kneeling beside me in a moment, and he looks me over. "You look terrible." I only give him a slight growl before my reply.

"I look better than you at least."