And so it continued for days that led to weeks, weeks that led to months, months that led to years. Steve and I grew to become close friends, almost like brothers, and completed every task Notch threw at us, then one day, Steve and I were sitting in our, as I call it, 'cage' when Notch and Jeb came in. Jeb didn't look directly at us, and Notch seemed a lot happier than normal. I gave Steve a look that told him to be prepared for what is about to come.

"Steve, Brine, it's time to attempt to complete your final task. This will be the hardest of all the others, but if you complete it, you can be released into the world of Minecraft." Notch declared.

"Final test? Well, what is it?" Steve asked a little bit too nervously. I stayed quiet and watched as Jeb fiddled with the clipboard he always had with him. He seemed like he wanted out of whatever Notch had in mind for us. So far, the tasks haven't been even remotely easy, they had been mostly life threatening.

I looked back at Notch who had a big toothy smile on his face. "You'll see when we get their Steve, don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine." He turned away and muttered something only Jeb and I herd, "Hopefully anyway."

I clenched my fists at the thought of him sending Steve and I to our deaths, but stood and followed after him with Steve hesitantly following soon after. We had walked down these halls many times before, yet they all seem to lead to some were different. This time, before we got to the end of the hall like we normally do Notch stopped abruptly. I almost walked right into him, Steve ran into me, and hit the ground. I turned to help Steve to his feet, and Notch just watched us offering no help.

"Here we are! Your final test." I looked at the door Notch was gesturing to and my heart sank. In big red letters it said: The Death Battle. I looked at Notch he still had a big grin on his face like we were about to go play with ocelots and not whatever was behind this door, waiting to kill us. Looking at Steve I could see fear start to show on his face, but he did his best to hide it. "Now, I have some good news, and some bad news. The good news is that only one of you has to enter and complete this task, the bad news, they may not live to tell the tale. So, you may choose who will go in and who will be spectating the, um, task. You have two minutes."

Notch and Jeb walked into the room and left Steve and I alone. "Who's gonna fight? I don't want ether of us to die just to leave this bloody place." Steve said. He seemed surprisingly calm.

I thought for a moment or two, still staring at the door Notch and Jeb had just walked through, and said, "Steve if I don't make it out alive, fight, do what you need to do to live, even if you have to kill, just survive." I turned to him, "And remember, remember what we've been through, all the challenges that Notch has put us through, all the tasks we completed, don't forget that."

"Brine, you sound like your gonna go in and fight." Steve said forcing a nervous laugh. I stared at him and he realized I was serious. "But, you can't. You've already fought and risked your life so many times."

"And so have you. Steve, please, you are an amazing fighter, but I think I'm gonna take on this one. I can't sit by and watch you fight, unable to help." I said trying to convince him.

"YOU THINK I CAN? DO YOU REALLY THINK I CAN SIT BY AND WATCH MY ONLY FRIEND FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE, FOR MY LIFE. BRINE, YOU HAVE TREATED ME LIKE FAMILY EVEN IF I HAVEN'T. YOU CANT DO THIS, NOT NOW." He shouted.

I remained calm not letting him change my mind. "Steve, you have been a good friend to me, but I have to do this. I need to for our freedom, the one thing we both have been dreaming about for who knows how long, please, Steve."

Steve took a moment to calm down before speaking again. "Then tell me, tell me that you'll see me right after the task. Please, I don't think I could move on without you Brine. You've been with me since the start I don't think I could survive on my own." Steve said, his voice strained from holding back tears.

I looked at him and saw true concern. I knew I had a true friend that would be there for me, and I him. "Steve, I promise, just like I did the first test, I promise that I'll see you after. You can count on me." I said putting my hands on his sholders.

Steve looked at me like a sad dog, I dropped my hands, and we walked into the room, with my head held high. Notch stood waiting for us. "So who is the lucky fellow who gets to fight for your freedom?" Notch looked directly at Steve.

"I am." I said keeping my voice steady. I wanted to punch him in the face for forcing us to choose witch one of us has to die so the other can be free.

Notch looked at me, I saw surprise fill his expression. "Why the hell are your eyes glowing?"

I looked at Steve and he had the same expression I did, confusion and curiosity. "Wow they really are glowing, that's amazing!"

I looked back at Notch who was shaking his head. "Anyway, Brine, you said that you're the one who is gonna complete the task?"

I nodded. "Yes."

Notch smiled. "Alright, then let's get started." He clapped his hands together and looked to Jeb. "Take Steve to the observation room, so that he may watch as Brine attempts the task."

"I won't attempt, Notch, I will succeed at whatever you have to throw at me." I kept a look of determination on my face. "I have for years, you can try your hardest, but you wont be able to keep me down. I will succeed and we will leave this place, Steve and I, together. I will live and I will prove you wrong." Steve looked at me and smiled.

"I think this one got a bit too much bravery, Notch he seems to think he can withstand anything. he's only human, isn't he?" Jeb asked. Notch didn't respond.

"I'm sure you will, Brine, I'm sure will." Notch said calmly. he walked away and started talking to Jeb, "If he does survive the task, send him to the lab, I want to know why his eyes are glowing, and why they turned white in the first place."

Steve heard that and started to protest. "But you promised to let us go after this! Are you really gonna go back on your word?"

"Oh, don't worry about freedom Steve, we'll let you go, we just need to preform a few more tests on Brine. We need more answers."

"I'm not going anywhere without Brine, we've been together since the start, and I'm not changing that now!"

I stood in total shock, I have stood up for him many times before, but he has never defended me like this. Notch was in just as much shock as I was, he stood their with his mouth partially open, staring at Steve like he just grew three heads. "Steve, I don't think you understand, we can't keep you here if Brine completes the task. Its against the regulations, We just can't."

"After all that you've put us through, do you really think that I care about your stupid regulations?" Steve spat at him.

"Steve please," I turned to Notch and Jeb, "If you make sure that Steve is safe, then I'll stay, if I find out that he got hurt or killed, I swear that I will hunt you down, and kill you all before you can say Minecraft." I said giving Notch a death look.

"What?!? Brine, no i can't just leave you here, who knows what they'll do to you."

"They can't possibly do anything worse to me then they've already done to us."

"Oh, i can think of a few things." Notch muttered. I shot him a dirty look and he stayed quiet.

"I'm not leaving you here Brine! I-I can't. I know you would've stayed to help me."

"you're right I would've, but I," I started to say before Notch cut me off.

"Enough chit-chat. You need to complete the final task, Brine. Jeb, take Steve to the observation room, NOW!"

Jeb obediently took Steve away and Notch led me to the battle arena where I would decide both mine, and Steve's fate. the arena was a large room with steel walls and a huge steel door. I could see my refection in the wall, and Notch was right, my eyes were glowing. They gave off a smoky look like I just pored water over a hot furnace. I shivered even though the room was warm and looked round. In the middle of the room was a table with four tools spread across it. It had a iron sword, pick, axe, and shovel. I swallowed my fear that was starting to build in my chest, and continued walking forward.

"Before you begin, I have to give you something to fight with, using your fists wont be helpful here. You may choose ONE tool to help you fight. After you choose, the battles will begin and you will decide your fate as well as his." Notch said pointing to a small glass window, where Steve, Jeb, Ben, and I'm guessing Notch were going to be standing, watching me as I chose my weapon. I walked over to the small table as Notch walked away to the room. I looked at the weapons for a while and picked out the iron pickaxe. If I was gonna end this, I was gonna end this like it started, making the impossible, possible. "Good luck Brine, I'm sure you'll need it." I heard Notch's voice echo through the room as the table went down into the floor.

"No, Notch, I wont." So it began. The doors in front of me opened to reveal what seemed like hundreds of monsters. some zombies, a few skeletons, and some new monster that I had never seen before. It was tall and black with purple eyes. the monster saw me and started to move forward but was stopped by the door. from what I could see, their was only one of them, and over ten skeletons. The rest were zombies, but their were still too many to count. I knew I was in for a challenge, and I was ready to accept it head on.

"I know that you have seen the zombie and the skeleton, but have you met my newest creation? May I introduce you to the Enderman. when I am done developing him, he will be twice as strong as the zombie and will be able to teleport around to be almost impossible to kill."

"Yah, great idea, make a monster that no one can kill. Genius." I muttered.

"Don't worry Brine, all he can do is attack about as hard as you can with your fist."

"Great." And so it began. The first wave was the easiest. All the zombies took one shot to the head and they were down. I got a few cuts from the ones holding weapons, but nothing major. The second wave was a lot harder. The skeletons all shot at different times so it was hard to judge where or when they were gonna shoot, so I jumped into battle and attacked as many as I could while dodging arrows. Some hit me, but i ignored the pain and continued fighting. Adrenaline was pumping through my body, so the pain didn't bother me much. I got down to the last two skeletons and waited. Just like in the maze, they shot together and I attacked the first one as they were reloading. After getting the first one to the ground, I turned to face the last skeleton who had his bow drawn. We stood for a while waiting for each other to make a move. I could feel my blood dripping down my face and back. The cuts on my arms and legs were oozing with the dark red substance and pain was spreading all over my body, but I ignored it. The monster shot, missed, and I made my move. I attacked it with force I never thought I could possibly muster and it fell to the ground, dead, just like all the others that chose to fight me. Then it was just me and the Enderman. The final wave of monsters. I was breathing heavily and struggled to stand straight. I looked right into the beasts eyes and it charged. Before I could react to how fast it was coming at me, it hit me with such strength that it knocked me to the ground. I got back up and attacked. We went at it for a while, hitting and wounding each other. I finally gave the final blow and it fell to the ground. I stood panting for a moment, standing in triumph at what I had just accomplished, before falling on my hands and knees trying to even out my breaths. My vision started to go dark as I felt someone's hand touch my sholder. I jumped up and grabbed whoever it was by the throat. I soon relized that the one who came to meet me was Ben with Steve right behind him. I let go of him and almost fell to the ground in pain and exhaustion. Ben cought me before I fell on my face and helped me regain my balance.

"Brine that was, well, Amazing. You took on all those monsters with a pickaxe!" Ben exclaimed.

"You really are special aren't you?" Jeb asked walking over to meet me.

"Yes, yes he is. He fights like it will be his last battle and goes into battle with his mind set on determination. He really is the true protector of Minecraft. Him and Steve both. They have both proven that they can fight, survive, and work together in order to pass any test that we throw at them." Notch said as he came over with a look of pride. "I know what I said before this began, but I honestly thought that he wouldn't have survived all those mobs. I thought he would have been killed by the zombies. So, instead of keeping you here, I will grant both of you prmission to leave. But I'm sure that Brine will want to rest for a while won't you?" Notch asked me his voice softer than normal, it almost makes me regret wanting to punch him in the face, almost.

I nodded and winced at the pain of the sudden movement. Now that the adrenaline rush is over, all the pain is starting to gather and spread with force. I grabbed my side and fell to my knees. Ben tried to help me up and Notch, Steve, and Jeb tried to help as well, but I could hardly move without pain shooting through me. I looked up to see that Steve had a look of relief, consern, and fear on his face. I smiled and tried to tell him that I was gonna be fine, but once I finished my scentince, my vision slowly went black and I slowly lost conchesness.

Just before I was fully out cold I heard someone say, "He will one day be a great man, but he will face many trials and fight many battles to complete this goal." And with that I passed out.