The Player

Chapter 7

"Why did you do that?" I ask, "Now we have no proof that the players exist!"

Jerry holds up a piece of Steve's shirt. I gasp and grab it. I smile at him and begin running excitedly back to the portal. "Jerry, you are a genius!" I shout happily. Jerry seems happy, but then a thought stops both of us in our tracks. The man with the diamond sword may still be waiting for us out there, and even in he isn't, the three days have already passed so quickly, meaning the moment we go back, we'll barely have any time to run before he takes control permanently. That scary thought sends a shiver down my spine, but we'll have to ignore it if we're going to make it to the End again. If we do at all, anyway. Jerry shivers behind me, so I take a moment to reassure him.

"Jerry, don't be afraid, okay?" I say, "even if he does take control of us, the monsters will be able to roam free on the earth again!"

Jerry doesn't seem convinced. "Yeah, but under his command. I don't want to be ruled by a creep like him."

I look to the portal nervously, then back to Jerry. "I'm afraid we don't really have a choice in the matter, Jerry."

"That's what I thought," he says, and we are off to lose our own will.

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Once we leave the portal, I can already feel it. The control of my body is slipping away every second. I even lose myself for mere seconds and begin walking in different directions. There are echoes of voices I don't even recognize, and images sometimes pop into my head. This is probably the most unpleasant time of my life. All the while, Jerry keeps breaking down behind me, slowing down the process even more. When we approach a cave far from the one we were in, it has a familiar feel. I look over and see the squid pond, and a spark of joy enters my body. We had retraced our steps, meaning an end portal must be nearby.

That's when Jerry collapses behind me.

My heart stops as he moans weakly, and then goes silent, and even though there are echoes and images swarming my head, I can still see those bright white piercing eyes Jerry has when he stands up. I break into a run. Jerry breaks into a run, but because he no longer has these distractions of voices and images, he is faster, and much more focused. I run through the trees, ignoring the branches and twigs that are jabbed into my legs. My thoughts are silent for a brief moment while I run for my life, but above all, I have to get to the cave. If I get there, the End can protect me from whatever my brain has in store for me. Jerry comes up behind me, and I barely have any time to breathe before I have to jump up into a tree. I wait for him to look for a new target, but there is none. No animals are here for miles. Maybe Alex was right, this world is corrupted.

Almost like Jerry heard my thoughts, I look down and see the trunk is losing its texture, and

brown pixelated cubes replace it. If this keeps up, monsters will be living in a sea of white as a world. I quickly jump from the tree when he isn't looking and begin running for the cave. He follows, now faster since he knows where I'm going. I try to run with all my might, but I trip on a branch vine, and he dives for my legs. I sit up while he grabs onto my legs, and I can see, to my horror, that he is taking the texture from my legs. I punch Jerry on instinct and quickly get up, then run towards the cave again. When my feet touch the stone, I know I hit something. Jerry is still behind me.

"You can't run forever, Zombie," Jerry taunts, "just like you can't hide."

I ignore him and run into a rock room. There, in the centre, emits a warm glow of the End portal. I slowly walk over, the voices seeming almost dismal now, and touch the base.

Then I stop.

No.

Nononononono.

Icantleave.

I want to stay, but I don't. What is he doing to my head?

Why

Whywhywhywhywhy

I'm losing myself.

I'm losing him.

It's right here.

WhycantItouchit

Why can't I feel it?

The familiarity...

Jerry is behind me.

That...man...

He's...also behind me.

The diamond sword scraping.

So loud.

Soloudsoloudsoloudsoloud.

It makes a ringing.

It rings in my bones and my skin; it rings in my ears, in my head. I slip away.

I walk away from the portal; I take that man's hand, but then.

Butthenbutthenbutthen

Lord Enderdragon comes out of the portal and roars a massive roar, making all of us come to a halt, including him. I am then grabbed from that man's grip and my will flows back into me. He sits me on the portal rim. He also attempts to grab Jerry, but winces and turns away when he has the white eyes. The man still smiles. It all is happening too fast, so it takes me a moment to realize that Lord Enderdragon just saved me.

"Herobrine," Lord Enderdragon announces, "these minions are mine, not yours."

Herobrine?

"Oh please, Enderdragon, I don't have any minions. It would be great if I could borrow some," the man strides over to me, "besides...this one intrigues me more than the rest."

"That is exactly why I intend to keep him. He will not become one of your monster slaves," Lord Enderdragon hisses.

"Well, I hope you don't mind a fight, then," Herobrine scoffs.

Lord Enderdragon sits up straight from the portal and reveals a large scar on the side of his skin underneath his wing.

"We already have," he snaps.

Lord Enderdragon looks down to me, then to the portal. He smiles. "You ready to leave this world, Zombie number 56? We got what we came for."
"Yes, my lord, but what about Jerry?" I ask nervously.

He huffs. "He's too far gone I'm afraid. Keeping him in the End would be too dangerous."

"But..." I sigh, "Okay, let's go."

Then, just as we're about to go into the portal, Jerry lunges at us, but Lord Enderdragon scratches him back. His scratches are an instant kill to anyone who isn't a player, so when Jerry hits the ground, from my last bit of vision from the rim, I see him disappear into dust.