Destruction: The Hacker and the Spirit

14: "Too cliché." Jerome, seriously?

When we all woke up the next morning (well, midday but never mind), we talked about battle strategy while eating a late breakfast. 

"So, first order of business: when do we attack?" Bajan asked.

"Not at dawn, obviously. It's way too cliché," Jerome said.

"Agreed. However, we don't want to leave it too late. Entity and Null both become stronger at night," Herobrine told us.

"Don't you also become stronger?" I asked.

"Yes, but you guys don't."

"True. So should we attack at midday?" I suggested.

"Na, that seems cliché to me," Jerome repeated.

"Oh my goodness Jerome, seriously?," Sky sighed. "What about morning? Say, I don't know, 10:00? It'll be hotter in the afternoon and I don't particularly want my butter sword to melt." Sky stroked the golden sword that he had on his lap.

"Sky don't be stupid. Your sword won't melt. However, I think it's a good idea to attack at 10:00," Bajan said. We nodded in agreement.

"So when shall we sneak up?" Jerome asked. "We're going to go by the ruins right?"

Sub waved to get our attention and scribbled down words on his notebook. He handed it to Sky who was beside him and Sky read it out loud.

"Sub says that we should go to the ruins just before the sun comes up. Then we can hide until 10:00." Sky looked up from the notebook. "That's actually a good idea. We won't be seen until we start attacking, and we can hide in the shadow of the ruins. They're on the west of the stadium right?"

"Right. That'll work, cause the sun rises in the east," Bajan agreed as Sky handed Sub his notebook. "Next thing: the battle itself."

For the next several hours, we talked about what we would do, how we would do it, when we would do it and who could do it best. Bajan was the best at coming up with the plan, but Herobrine and Jerome had a lot of input. Sky, Sub and I just sat quietly and nodded every now and then. Bajan and Herobrine combined everyone's gifts to make what Sky called 'Super moves'. For example, one of them was for Jerome and Sub. Sub would take a run up to Jerome and Jerome would boost him into the air. Sub would use his agility to flip over Entity/Null and gain a new position to fight in. The hardest Super Moves to make were the ones where I was involved, because I had no special gift. I was normal, ordinary. When no one could come up with a Super Move for me (one that doesn't use me as a distraction), Herobrine said that he would team with me. He also gave us some background information on Entity and Null.

"So I've told you a bit about Entity, but not a lot about Null. Null is, basically, the absence of matter. When you get close to him, your vision get blurry and you feel dizzy. So when you attack him, either attack from far away or come in at short, sharp jabs," he said.

"How close can we go without being affected?" Sky asked.

Herobrine thought about it for a second. "Probably about two metres. Three if he's concentrating."

Bajan nodded slowly. "I can work with that."

"How about this," Jerome said, leaning forward. "We take turns to attack Entity and Null. Sub and I can attack Null first while Herobrine, Sky, Bajan and Riley attack Entity."

Herobrine  and Bajan shook their heads. "That's not going to work. If the same people attack the same person, then we'll be easily defeated," Herobrine explained.

"We would switch around."

"It's still not going to work. Sorry Jerome. But we should have at least four people attacking Entity at any given time, preferably five. The others can take on Null."

We nodded and Bajan stood up and stretched. "Okay. It's almost night, so we'll have a quick dinner then go and scout again. This time, Riley and Sky, you guys come with me and I'll show you the ruins. Herobrine, you take Jerome and Sub and go the same way you did last night. We'll only spend an hour at most this time, just so we can get some sleep and go to the ruins before sunrise."

Sky quickly cooked some beef in a well-covered temporary oven he had made in the ground. Sub and I helped by cutting some carrots, cooked potatoes and lettuce and serving them in 6 bowls. Sky added the steak and dinner was served. We ate, then got our weapons strapped on, ready to scout. Bajan, Sky and I headed out first, Bajan saying that it would take about 20 minutes to reach the ruins. We stuck to the trees, being careful to stay in the shadows and treading softly. We came to the ruins and Bajan crouched, motioning for us to do the same.

"Take a look," he whispered.

The ruins were indeed three or four columns that had fallen down. There were lots of small pieces that wouldn't provide cover for a mouse and some big pieces that could hide three people easily. It was hard to see in the dark but I managed to make out several good spots that would be easy to get to and provide good cover. 

"You guys got it?" Bajan whispered. Sky and I nodded and he led us back to the camp. None of us noticed two red spots in the distance.