Author's note
@Pi0_Human got me with a song-chapter-tag thing. I got like the ONE ANGSTY ONE SKSKSK-

First time writing a droplet of angst? You bet. Am I gonna carry on writing angst? Lol nope... Even if I could, I'm going to make myself more upset than the readers if I do... I'm not even sure this is sad enough to be classified as 'angst'...

Original song: 'Sorry' by Halsey

A SMALL bit of backstory I guess... On our favourite bad guy, EX, and why he sometimes doesn't think about his consequences... (I'll... Say the actual reason, summary and info on the void/banning at the end because I'm... Bad at... Angst... I know I will be even though I've never written it before lol).

Just one headcannon at the start of chapter (cus spoilers), because it only kinda revolves around EX and someone y'all don't know. EX denies being able to love, or be asexual/ aromantic at the same time. He's went with 'I'm not asexual/ aromantic but everyone else is mostly useless to me' since this event happened.
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"That's it! I've had ENOUGH! Be. GONE!"

There it was.

EX let out a pained yell. Feeling his own body disintegrate in a bright flash was something he'd never get used to. It wasn't like anything else he'd ever experienced- even if it only lasted a second, it was tremendous jolt of harsh, agonising pain that couldn't be forgotten.

He was getting a little more used to it though, which was something he was proud of. After all, this wasn't exactly the first time X had snapped and finally brought the big ban hammer down upon him...

As EX felt himself... 'Come back together'... He discovered that he had now learned exactly when to open his eyes: too early and you'd be blinded. Too late and you'd be a little further away from the surface, which was why very dangerous hackers carried out their very long sentences- by being knocked unconscious until they fell to the right depth.

A little could mean a lot in here. EX made that mistake once.

It wasn't as if he was really bad though. From where he always landed he could always see the light, and it was always the size of a very large cloud (except for... His first time... When he had woken up too late).

Sure enough, light still was above him in that same large diameter. In every other direction, the emptiness of a black void still stretched out for eternity, and greenish strings of binary code still hovered around his hands, preventing him from using any powers.

As it became closer to the set amount of time Xisuma had banned him for, they'd slowly disappear until he was naturally pulled up into the light.

Now... To wait another week or so...

Alone.

With nothing to do...

EX sighed miserably, plopping down onto the floor. Like how the world barrier worked, the space he was on expanded until a bigger green circle of binary surrounded him. There really wasn't much to do here: no seriously, there literally was nothing to do. If you stared hard enough through the binary 'floor', you could occasionally make out an outline or two of other banned players, but... That was it...

...

As much as he hated to admit it, it was times like when he's banned that EX misses his brother the most. Yet he still doesn't listen when Xisuma asks if he wants to come back.

'I've missed your calls for months it seems,
Don't realize how mean I can be,
'Cause I can sometimes treat the people
That I love like jewelry...
'Cause I can change my mind each day,
I didn't mean to try you on...
But I still know your birthday
And our mother's favorite song...'

That's when he heard it.

Tap
Tap
Tap
Tap

The tapping. A steady rhythm of tapping. Brisk, steady tapping, a tapping sound on the 'floor', a tapping sound that he himself could make, a tapping sound...

Tap
Tap
Tap
Tap

... That signified another person...

EX scrambled to his feet, looking around fervidly until before long, he saw her... And just about stopped himself from gasping.

To put it frankly, she looked like someone who'd drowned. Gaunt and boney, with pasty white skin and seaweed clump of black hair. A tattered rag dress hung from her wiry frame- she wore no shoes. Her expression was one that seemed to always be annoyed: this permanent scowl was created by the combination of her snide, dark-circled eyes and thin, frowning lips.

As she drew near, EX felt himself instinctively reel back, until he saw binary restraints on her wrists too.

So. Drowned wretch was also banned, and nothing she could do would get her out of those restraints, meaning she didn't pose any threat to him... But that still left many important questions open...

How could he see her, and how could she see him?

What did she do to get here?

Where did she come from?

Why did she look like... That?

What were her powers?

... Who was she?

"Come with me..." She said, holding out a hand delicately. "And I will help make you great."

And as soon as she spoke, EX found that he simply couldn't disagree... And he didn't care what he was agreeing to anymore either...

'So I'm sorry to my better brother,
Sorry that I can't believe
That anybody ever really
Would never tell me to leave.
Sorry to my better brother,
Sorry I could be so blind,
Didn't mean to leave you
And all of the things that we had behind.'

Loralei.

(Author's note: Pronounced 'Lore-ah-lie')

That was her name.

He found out just a few minutes after she first spoke, and that had been just about all he'd remembered. That, and the plan she had to break out early of this place...

Oh. She'd been banned too, right? She was evil yes, that fact had been clear since he first caught sight of her, but...

Could someone evil possibly speak so sweetly?

Her voice... Her voice was honey, liquid, sweeter than anything EX had ever heard before. Mesmerising, articulate, sonorous in pitch and captivating in tone. Beautiful...

And...

So was... She...

The few days they had spent together were the most interesting that he'd ever spent in this banished land. With Loralei, they developed the plan to escape early, and all that was left to do was wait.

For once, he was actually looking forward to it.

'I run away when things are good,
And never really understood...
The way you laid your eyes on me
In ways that no one ever could.
And so it seems I broke your heart,
My ignorance has struck again.
I failed to see it from the start
And tore you open 'til the end.'

He asked her once why she was here. Here, in a land for the banished, for the despicable, for the despised. The ones like him, not a wonderful being such as herself.

Loralei usually drove him away from the topic: using that gorgeous voice of hers, of course she had the power. He was completely enamoured with her.

But a few days later, she finally answered him.

"Why are you here?" EX reiterated. His helmet was placed carefully in his lap as they both sat on the 'ground'. For a second, he could have sworn Loralei had glared, but the thought was lost as soon as she spoke.

"They don't like me." She shrugged. Nonchalance bordering on the edge of venom laced her words. "None of them do."

"Who doesn't? Who wouldn't like you?" EX asked, turning to her in concern. Again shrugging, Loralei hummed in thought.

"Everyone. They don't like me, and they're right to feel that way. I certainly don't like them."

"... Well..." As Loralei glanced at him, EX hesitated with his next words. "W-Well... I-I understand what it means to be unliked... And for what it's worth... I like you."

And to that, she didn't respond.

'And I'm sorry to my kinder brother,
Sorry that I can't believe
That anybody ever really
Would ever hope for me.
Sorry to my unknown lover,
Sorry I could be so blind,
Didn't mean to leave you
And all of the things that we had behind.'

EX followed Loralei's words like a lost puppy, making mental notes and tips of how he himself could improve for her. Before either of them knew it though, it was time. The exit was now reachable... Even though both still had a good deal of binary numbers left on their wrists.

It was obvious that there had to be some sort of defence here, otherwise every banned player would've walked out a few days early... Maybe extra stuff was on the actual exit... That's what Loralei speculated anyway.

Therefore, the plan was for EX to aid Loralei as she figured out how to unlock it. To escape together. To escape... Now.

With a nod at Loralei, EX immediately went up to the light, touching it to see if he could already pass through it not... He couldn't.

"You were right, as always... It's locked, I think... Maybe we can pick-" EX was cut off when an almighty pulse of light knocked him away from the exit.

As if it were being sucked into itself, the light was pulled into its centre, whirling around before expanding with a similar pulse of whiteness. The two banned players winced from the brightness, until it lowered, finally becoming visible.

There, in front of them, was a beautiful spindly beast. It was white and luminous, made of pure energy, with a body like a deer-bird hybrid. Its eyes were tear-shaped.

Briefly, EX wondered how this thing was supposed to be guarding the door... When all of a sudden, six long, winding strands of green binary code burst out like snakes from its midsection. With a echoing screech, it began to charge at them, with its ribbony... Things... Moving as perfectly as arms.

"Take care of that thing. I'll be unlocking the door." Loralei commanded. He didn't have enough time to disagree.

'And someone will guide you,
Someone will help you,
Someone will stay with you,
But 'someone' isn't me.
Someone will praise you,
Someone will protect you,
Someone will care for you,
But 'someone' won't be me.'

Over and over, the beast charged at him.

Over and over, he dodged it.

What else could he do? He had no weapon, and only the armour he always wore on him. The beast was relentless as well, swerving and diving, whipping at him furiously with code.

But he had to... For Loralei... She had to get through, she just had to...

... But she was taking an awfully long time to unlock that door...

"UM... LORALEI? A-ARE YOU ALMOST-"

Exactly when he was distracted, the beast charged again, knocking him over. His helmet got knocked away in the process, so when the beast lashed out at his face...

It was pure agony.

'Sorry to my little brother,
Sorry that I can't believe
That anybody ever really
Would keep believing in me.
Sorry to my little brother,
Sorry I could be so blind,
Didn't mean to leave you
And all of the things that we had behind.'

Head injuries always caused the most blood. As he lay screaming in pain in the ground, sight obscured by his own blood and face still feeling like it'd been burned...

As he lay helpless, he knew there was only one thing to do. The beast had stopped, staring at him... Like it was waiting to see if he could get back up again, and if he did...

So he called out desperately for help, from the one person he could count on.

"LORALEI! LORALEI, HELP!" He yelled, slowly turning his head to the side. And what he saw stunned him to silence.

There she stood, lazily with one hand keeping the door open. Like she'd been watching an interesting show that had just ended. A sadistic smile was all he received.

"... No... No... But... I trusted- I loved you..." Was all he could manage to whimper out.
He heard her final remark as she walked out, away from him and away from his broken heart.

"And that was your pathetic mistake."

The beast could feel the slowly increasing wave of both anger and agony from him. Betrayal. Hurt. Brokenness. Humiliation. Spite.

Never. Again.

EX let out a cry, forcing his helmet back on and leaping blinding to the exit, wrenching to open. Caught off guard, the beast screeched in retaliation, whipping at him one last time before he managed to escaped.

But his pain still resonated within the beast... And made the beast wonder...

What would EX do now?

'And someone will guide you,
Someone will help you,
Someone will stay with you,
But 'someone' can't be me.
And someone will praise you,
Someone will protect you,
Someone will be there you,
I wish 'someone' was me.'

With a thump, EX fell to the floor. The disintegration-feeling was still the same though, and as he yanked his helmet off to try and see where he was...

Those thoughts kept spiking up in his brain. Hate for Loralei. Never trusting anyone again. Never falling in love again... Never showing the slightest sign of weakness like that...

Never... Being able to... Care for his brother again?... A bit like a song he heard... How did it go again...?

... He blacked out, with a new line of wrath surrounding his heart.
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Author's notes
EX doesn't want to be betrayed, or manipulated, or hurt like that ever again. It's broken him before he could see that he was breaking. It was technically X that embarrassed him most before (by banning him so many times etc.), and X could usually handle it, but now...

... A certain little girl keeps coming a little too close.

Basically, in this chapter, we saw EX get banned, manipulated, betrayed and left to die by a person he thought he could trust. And that broke him: now he'll do anything to make sure that that won't ever happen again. First step, eradicating his enemies.

The song points to how... Deep inside... He's not... All... That evil... Just misunderstood. And yes, the song was EX 'singing' (not exactly, but thinking, I guess) it to X at the end, and how his thought process changes when he goes through the events of his recent banning in his head.

Now some void/ banning info!

Both the true void and the banned void are devoid. That wasn't an intentional joke.

To start with the true void, it's just blackness all around. You die almost instantly when you fall in too deep, and respawn normally (without your items though, unless it's a special sort of item). You can only go to the end for the void to kill you on Hermitcraft... Unless something happens.

Special secret, when you die, you go to the void briefly before you 'suddenly appear' back at your spawn point. This is where death tolls get applied to you, and how it locates your latest spawn point. No one is supposed to know about this, because they're 'dead' when this happens. Again unless... Something happens, that is...

The banned void is pretty different. It's made of several 'layers'- the further down you go, the longer it takes to get to the top, where the exit/entrance is (it glows white, and even at the bottom you can see it as the only tiny 'star' in the 'sky').

These layers (so... The ceiling and floor exist because they) act a little like world borders- the closer you go to them when you're not supposed to, the more green binary numbers appear to block you off. Yes, this creates a pretty much impenetrable barrier blocking whichever part of you is closest (especially the hands for the reason stated below).

The said green binary numbers also form a sort of string/ ring around your wrists/ sources of power to prevent you from using any powers. As your banning time runs down, the numbers will slowly decrease and you'll automatically be teleported closer and closer to the surface each time. You don't feel it when it happens, but you can tell by how the big glowing thing gets closer.

As it is separated in 'layers', it is completely possible to be able on the layer with the exit without being able to leave. Actually, this is what will happen eventually. However, you can't leave until all of your binary-number-restraints disappear.

Once they do, you'll be able to jump through the glowing thing to freedom.

If all of your binary has come off, you can still chill in the banned void until you choose to leave, but you can't return after you do (unless you get banned again). You also can't use your powers to break anyone else out- the floor binary barrier will stop you.

To be fair, you still can't use any powers in the banned void anyway because nothing will really work there. Stuff like extra appendages/ mutant powers are an exception. So if you were to be banned with your... Um... Mermaid powers and fish tail... Once the binary disappears, your water powers still won't work, but you'll be able to move around your fish tail again and stuff.

You don't want to try leaving before all of your binary has disappeared. The glowing thing will turn into a binary-glowing beast that'll fight you until you're forced to drop down a level and gain back some binary restraints.

If you look hard enough, you can occasionally see the outlines of other banned player below you. You can't see anyone on your layer, interact with anyone on a different layer and can't skip layers though.

It's very boring to be banned and difficult to get out, basically, so don't be naughty.

(PICS OF ALL THIS STUFF)

A quick evil spidder, demonstrating how the binary numbers work. As you can see, that's how the 'floor' works like the world barrier. Binary restraints are supposed to stop you from using any powers- with normal players, just their hands/wrists will be covered in them. As our lovely spidder here has extra leggies, there are binary restraints on them too. Not on his fangs/eyes because that's just OTT.

A view of the glowing light thing, from a banned player who wasn't banned for very long. I'd say about a week, a little less than what EX used to get.

The glowing-light-bird-doe-code-beast, beautiful, spindly and code-y as she should be. Yes, I don't care that she's a beast and people may find her creepy. I mean... I love her! I'm actually pretty happy with how she turned out too...

Y'know what... She's now called Sylvianna
(Sil-vee-a-nah).

I'm also now gonna headcannon that she's...

- Automatically very affectionate towards authors (LIKE ALL YOU SENPAIS!) and admins.
- Apathetic to normal players (but I'll make sure she becomes nicer!).
- Very much dislikes banned/ previously banned players. Oh, and she definitely loathes Loralei... EX she also hates... But something seems to be trying to make her feel otherwise.

Loralei. She brings a whole new meaning to 'erasing your past'. But she shouldn't have, and EX shouldn't try to; one day, it's going to lead her to her downfall.

He's still got some good in him... I... Know he does...

Also, fun fact, I'd written this idea a couple days ago, so the basic plot was still in my head. Turns out, my teacher's new homework for us to do was to create a tragic hero. Naturally I did EX's backstory (this), with a few changes to make it more 'school homework' appropriate.

She liked it. I'm still never telling her why I wrote it in the first place.