Gameknight999 vs. Herobrine

by Mark Cheverton

“Digger, attack it from the side!” Gameknight shouted, but he could see the stocky NPC waiting for another monster to approach.

  Rolling to the side, the User-that-is-not-a-user dodged another claw, then slashed at the monster, making it flash red. He blocked, then counterattacked again and again until the dark creature disappeared with a pop! But there were more spiders arriving at the shattered entrance every minute—more than just the four of them could handle—and rather than surrounding the scant defenders, the spiders flowed past the warriors at the wall and entered the village. Gameknight could hear the sounds of fighting behind him, but he could not spare a look. Instead, he finished off another spider in front of him, then turned and attacked his father’s target. The two of them quickly destroyed that monster, then split apart so Gameknight could help Digger while Monkeypants helped Baker.

  Digger’s dual pickaxes smashed into the furry monsters like a deadly scythe felling wheat, doing serious damage with each stroke. The left pick mostly defended while the right attacked, but it was a deadly combination. With Digger’s picks and Gameknight’s blades, the spiders didn’t last more than a few seconds before their HP was exhausted. After they defeated the monsters before them, Gameknight turned back toward the village and charged forward, attacking the closest spider. As he reached the fuzzy creature, he saw the NPC it was fighting flash red one last time, then disappear with a pop!, a pile of items floating on the ground where the villager had stood just a moment before.

  “NO!” Gameknight shouted.

  Leaping high into the air, Gameknight landed on the monster’s back, his swords making the creature flash red again and again until its HP was gone. He leapt away just as the monster disappeared. He didn’t waste a second before charging back into the battle. Gameknight found Baker battling a spider far larger than the rest. As Gameknight ran toward it, he saw the monster knock Baker’s sword from his hand. Defenseless, the NPC took a step back. The spider charged forward, thinking it had its enemy within reach. But instead, Baker pulled out an enchanted diamond pickaxe and swung with all his strength. The monster’s HP plummeted until it disappeared, just as Gameknight reached his side.

  “That’s some pickaxe,” Gameknight said.

  Baker shrugged. Suddenly, a flaming arrow streaked through the air and struck a spider. The monster caught fire as it charged toward Gameknight999. He expected more arrows to rain down on the terrible creature, but none came. Swinging his swords, he struck the monster over and over again, leaving behind glowing balls of XP and some white string. Glancing up at the top of the fortified wall, Gameknight could see Hunter and Stitcher firing down with their arrows. But they weren’t shooting at the same monster, which would have maximized their damage. Rather, they were firing in opposite directions, aiming at different targets.

  What’s wrong with them? Gameknight thought. Can’t they see that if they work together, their arrows will be much more effective?

  Surveying the battlefield, Gameknight could see multiple piles of NPC items intermingled with the glowing balls of XP and string. Too many villagers had perished in this battle, all because they hadn’t worked together—how foolish!

  “They still need help over there,” Gameknight said, rushing to Digger’s side to help defeat a spider and pointing to his father and Baker.

  “I took care of my monster. That one is their problem,” Digger said, a scowl on his face.

  “What are you talking about?” Gameknight replied, before sprinting past him toward Monkeypants.

  Fighting momentarily as one, the three warriors all attacked at the same time. The spider turned and faced Gameknight999, giving him a snarling glare as the other weapons finished off the last of the monster’s HP. With its red eyes blazing with hatred, the monster muttered a single word.

  “Sssshaivalak . . .” it said. Then it disappeared with a pop!

  Gameknight stepped back and looked around at the village. They had stopped all the spiders, but at a terrible cost. He could see at least eight piles of armor and weapons floating just off the ground, intermixed with glowing balls of XP.

  “We faced only a dozen spiders, and look what it has cost us!” Gameknight shouted.

  The surviving NPCs glanced at the discarded items and then looked back at The User-that-is-not-a-user. They seemed completely indifferent to the loss, as though all they cared about was themselves. Gameknight shook his head, and then noticed Crafter atop the fortified wall with a bow in his boxy hands. Moving up the steps, he stood next to his friend.

  “You see all the people we lost?” Gameknight said, pointing to the ground below. “We’ve battled twice this number before without losing a single soul, but now look at us.”

  “We should punish everyone for not fighting hard enough,” Crafter said bitterly.

  “No, it’s not that they weren’t fighting hard enough. It was the lack of cooperation that did them in.” Gameknight frowned up at his friend. “Our strength is our ability to help one another and work together, remember? None of that happened today.”

  Crafter looked down at Gameknight999 and shrugged.

  “What do you want me to do about it?” Crafter said.

  “Be their leader—that’s what they need!”

  Crafter waved him off as he walked down the steps to collect the items that lay strewn across the courtyard, unconcerned with what Gameknight had just said.

  “What is going on here?” Gameknight said to himself as he looked to the western sky. The sun was setting behind the horizon, causing the sky to blush with a hundred shades of red and orange.

  It’s going to be nighttime soon, and the villager defenses are still not repaired, Gameknight thought. The NPCs are not taking this seriously. Why is everyone acting so selfishly?

  Glancing nervously at the grassy plain that stretched out in front of the village, Gameknight trembled as he remembered the great battle that had occurred only a day earlier. Hundreds of monsters had charged at the village and had been repelled, but that was back when villagers helped other villagers. Now, if a large attack came, he knew the NPCs would not work together to hold them off, and the User-that-is-not-a-user feared the worst for his friends.

  CHAPTER 4

  ZOMBIES ATTACK

  Xa-Tul urged his mighty zombie-horse forward, the massive beast carelessly shoving aside the zombie warriors. One of the monsters growled, but the king of the zombies instantly silenced the soldier with a hateful glare.

  The mighty zombie king sat tall and proud on his decaying green steed, his golden helmet of claws resting proudly on his head. He was leading a company of zombies toward the village to inspect the new defenses erected around the village after the destruction of the Maker, Herobrine. He wanted to probe for weaknesses to see where they were vulnerable. They must be punished.

  Xa-Tul could see the stars start to emerge as the cursed sun slowly set behind the horizon.

  “Good, the sun is going down,” the zombie muttered. He turned and looked at his company of green warriors. “We won’t need caps to protect us from the burning rays of the sun. It will be night soon. We will wait on the edge of the forest, then charge forward when it is dark.”

  The zombies growled quietly in excitement. Xa-Tul removed his golden crown and held it before him. A single shaft of sunlight pierced through the tangle of branches and leaves and shone on the golden helm of claws, making the crown appear to glow for just an instant before the sun set and they were cast in darkness. The zombie king breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Look, the foolish villagers have still not repaired the wall that protects their village,” Xa-Tul growled as he came to the edge of the forest and glared at his prey. “This is our chance. Quickly, charge forward before the moon rises. The darkness will hide your advance. When you get across the bridge, do not waste your time with the iron doors. Go to the shattered section of the wall. You will gain entrance to the village and can attack them from within. Reinforcements will be here soon and will join you.”

  The zom
bie warriors around him moaned in excitement.

  “These zombies will make their king proud,” the company commander, an expendable zombie named Je-Zir, replied.

  “Go quickly now, before the moon rises. Xa-Tul has faith in the success of this mission,” the king of the zombies said from atop his massive, decaying horse.

  The monsters shuffled forward and were soon lost amidst the darkness that blanketed the landscape. As the last of the creatures disappeared, Xa-Tul laughed. There were no reinforcements on their way to help these doomed fools. He was here only to see what new defenses the NPCs had built around their village, but, looking at the incomplete wall, nothing had been done . . . yet. Xa-Tul knew that Gameknight999 was not a fool. He would add new defenses quickly to keep the monsters at bay. Perhaps the time to strike was now.

  The landscape grew brighter as the moon rose over the horizon, casting a silver light over the plains. His zombies were almost to the wooden bridge, yet none of the villagers had fired on them. He could see them on the battlements and archer towers, so what were they waiting for? They looked like they were arguing with each other.

  Just as Xa-Tul began to ponder this strange and unexpected development, the most wonderful and beautiful sound the king of the zombies had ever heard reached his ears. It was a high-pitched whine, and Xa-Tul could instantly tell it was the Maker calling out to them, his XP sensing the presence of his servants. Xa-Tul smiled as the sound filled him with a sense of peace and contentment. But even better, and to the zombie king’s surprise, the sound was having the opposite effect on the NPCs. The archers atop the towers all dropped their bows and cupped their hands over their ears.

  Not waiting for a formal invitation, the zombies charged across the wooden bridge, then followed along the edge of the fortified wall until they reached the section that was still damaged with large holes that would be easy to climb through.

  Xa-Tul was shocked. Even now, no villagers came out to meet them, and no arrows fell down on the zombie horde. They were met with no resistance at all. It was as though the Maker’s evil sounds were distracting the villagers from even defending their own village. What a convenient turn of events! the zombie king thought to himself.

  But the zombies standing outside the wall were so surprised not to have to fight their way inside the village that they all stood around just outside the damaged wall, not sure what to do, afraid it was some kind of trick.

  “Go in,” growled Xa-Tul. “Charge forward!”

  He should have sent a more experienced commander, but he’d expected the villagers would fight back and all of these zombies would be destroyed. It would have been foolish to waste anyone valuable on such a suicide mission. These zombies had just come through the portal from another server plane, and Xa-Tul didn’t care what happened to them. But now, he wished he did have reinforcements coming. A hundred zombies, under his command, could easily destroy this village and retrieve the Maker’s XP.

  Suddenly, there was commotion by the broken wall. A lone defender stepped out to face the twenty zombies gathered there. The individual was dressed in diamond armor and held a diamond sword. White glowing letters floated above his head as if he were a user, but no server thread stretched up into the sky. The warrior slowly drew a second sword and faced the zombies. Xa-Tul instantly knew it was the User-that-is-not-a-user. Before his zombies could advance, another defender moved up next to that annoying Gameknight999. This one was dressed like a monkey, wore blue tights and a long red cape, and had a red “S” painted on his chest. The monkey quickly put on a set of iron armor and drew his own sword.

  The zombies attacked, but Gameknight was already in motion. He charged at the dimwitted horde and smashed into them, his swords attacking multiple targets at once. He was a spinning whirlwind of destruction. With his two swords, the User-that-is-not-a-user shredded the zombie formation, tearing HP from green decaying bodies, the caped monkey at his side. Some of the zombies flowed past the two defenders, but then a stocky NPC with two large pickaxes appeared, knocking them all aside. Two red-headed villagers shot arrows from the archer towers, but their shafts were not as effective as usual. Some of the zombies were able to slip past the scant defenders.

  More NPCs arrived to help, but they fought differently than what Xa-Tul had seen in the past. The fools no longer fought in pairs, one defending the other when they could. In one-on-one combat, his zombies were strong, but they were too stupid to work together—a major disadvantage when facing a foe working collectively. With the village’s new inferior fighting tactics, Xa-Tul’s zombies were finding it easier to wreak havoc amongst the defenders.

  The zombie king’s warriors destroyed many villagers, but eventually the defenders’ numbers were just too great and all his zombies were defeated. Looking at the victorious Gameknight999, Xa-Tul could see balls of XP and zombie flesh surrounding him. The User-that-is-not-a-user had probably destroyed half of the attacking monsters himself. If that annoying user hadn’t been at the front of the defenses, his zombies may have made it inside the village. Xa-Tul growled in frustration, having been much closer than he’d expected to victory.

  The whining sound from the Maker now subsided to just a trickle of what it had been during the attack. Xa-Tul could see the NPCs ease a little with the decreased volume.

  How interesting, he thought, smiling. This was not a defeat after all, but a great victory. With a small number of troops, he had almost made it into the village.

  “I will come back with a massive army,” Xa-Tul growled. “We will see if the User-that-is-not-a-user can hold off five hundred zombies . . . or, better yet, a thousand. Soon, I will free the Maker’s XP and we will have him back with us again. With Herobrine leading us, we will exterminate the NPCs and destroy Gameknight999.”

  He let out a bellowing, growling laugh that echoed across the landscape. Then he pulled his zombie horse around and headed back to zombie-town, his red eyes bright with evil thoughts.

  CHAPTER 5

  GAMEKNIGHT’S PLAN

  Did any of you notice how close the zombies came to getting inside the village?!” Gameknight shouted. He turned and faced a collection of warriors, swords still in their hands. “Where was the cavalry? They should have been on horseback, galloping out onto the plains to break up their charge. But instead, all of you fought for yourselves, not thinking of your fellow villagers, each of you working on your own instead of like a team.”

  Gameknight put away his swords and rubbed the back of his head. That whining sound, though diminished now that the zombies had been destroyed, was still an irritable murmur in the back of his mind. It made his skull hurt.

  “We all saw you out there with your two swords,” one of the NPCs said. “We didn’t see you helping anyone else.”

  “That’s because none of you were doing anything!” the User-that-is-not-a-user exclaimed in frustration. “I was out there on my own until my dad showed up. I watched his back while he watched mine. We probably finished off a dozen zombies between the two of us.”

  “Oh, so you think you’re better than us now?” accused another NPC.

  Gameknight, what’s going on down there? Monet typed. Is everything OK?

  Not now, Gameknight snapped into the chat.

  Gameknight growled. His patience had worn thin. He wanted to yell at every NPC in the village, but before he could, a hand settled on his shoulder.

  “Be calm,” his father said softly in his ear.

  “Hey, what are they whispering about?” someone said, but Gameknight ignored them.

  “You know you’re stressed because of Herobrine’s XP,” Monkeypants said to his son. “You must not react emotionally at times like these. You need to be rational and thoughtful. Count slowly to five before answering, so that you can think about your response and not add to all this anger.”

  Gameknight looked up at his father and smiled. He was right; the shrill noise from Herobrine’s XP was like a needle stabbing into his brain, but he still had to be careful.


  “What we need is a plan,” Gameknight said in a slow and deliberate voice.

  “A plan? I thought this was our plan,” Hunter said. “You stand out there with your two swords and take all the glory, and then we clean up after you. That’s all we are to you, a clean-up crew.”

  The other NPCs growled their agreement.

  One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five, he thought, then spoke.

  “We can’t stay here and keep battling the monsters this way,” Gameknight said, turning to look through the crowd. “Our defenses will not hold while that whining sound is drilling away in our heads. Even in XP form, Herobrine is a bully, constantly jabbing at us with a rusty nail.”

  “So what’s your big idea?” Digger asked. “You gonna grief him again? He’s just XP; there’s no way you can hurt him anymore. Your old tricks won’t work, and that’s all you seem to be good at . . . griefing. We both know what that did to my family. Are you going to do it to the others as well?”

  Gameknight was shocked at the ferocity of Digger’s words. He looked at his friend and saw an angry scowl on his blocky face, his green eyes dark with rage.

  One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five.

  “No, we don’t grief. It’s a bully we’re dealing with, and with all my experience of being bullied, I’ve learned one thing.”

  “What’s that? How to bully someone else?” one of the NPCs shouted.

  One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five.

  “No—when you’re being bullied, you need to change the situation,” Gameknight said. “When I was being bullied at the back of the bus, I moved to the front. When I was bullied right after lunch, I left a little early. When I was bullied on the basketball courts, I joined one of the teams so that I wasn’t alone. It’s the same here. We can’t let Herobrine bully us here in the village so that the monsters can destroy everything you’ve built.”

  “So what’s your plan, Gameknight?” his father asked before another NPC could speak.