Tommy looked at Jenny, then back to his dad. He couldn’t quite believe it. For the first time in a long time, he felt happy and relaxed. It was as though a terrible nightmare that had been lurking in the back of his mind was finally gone.
“I knew you could do it, Dad,” Tommy said.
“Me?” he replied incredulously. “I wouldn’t say I did much of anything. It doesn’t take much to smash a computer to bits. What you did, fighting for your friends and what you believe in, that was the hard part. I can’t imagine being faced with a decision like that. But you chose the way that didn’t involve your friends getting hurt, and that says a lot about how you’ve grown up recently.”
His dad walked over and put his hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “So, why don’t we call it a team effort? I knew we could do it,” he replied, gesturing to his children. “We wouldn’t have been successful if we hadn’t worked together.”
Tommy nodded his head in agreement. Jenny did the same but kept her eyes glued to the screen.
“Helloooo? What you guys did was great and all, but we could use a little help in the Nether,” Jenny said, her mouse clicking furiously. “They are still outnumbered and need help, fast!”
Glancing at a second computer that sat next to Jenny, Tommy could see that Minecraft was already started, waiting for a username and password. Moving to the chair, he placed his fingers on the keyboard and put on his headset. Before logging in, he started a few of his favorite hacks; tools he’d used when he was a griefer. Now he was going to use them to grief these monsters.
Logging in, the screen went blank for a moment, then the Nether appeared on his monitor. Scanning the area, he could see a large group of zombies pressing an attack against a group of users. Quadbamber was out in front, Farmerknight at his side, their diamond swords slashing at the monsters. Behind him, Shawny was firing an enchanted bow with Hunter nearby. Gameknight charged forward and dove into the middle of the monster formation. Gameknight knew that the zombie claws were likely raking across his armor, but with the Thorns enchantment on the diamond coating, the monsters were taking damage with every strike. Swinging his blade, he tore into the monsters, causing them to fly backward, the knockback enchantment doing what it was designed to do. He carved through the decaying green monsters, pushing his way back to the users. Suddenly, King _Creepkiller was there right to him, his sword blocking the attacking monsters so that Gameknight could concentrate on the attack. The duo ripped through the collection of zombies until only a few remained. With Shawny and Hunter firing on the stragglers, even those did not last long.
“Gameknight . . . help!” someone cried.
Turning to the sound, Gameknight saw Crafter, Stitcher, and Digger surrounded by a group of spiders. As he sprinted to their aid, Phaser_98 and SnoopieGirl ran with him, weapons ready.
“BigBacca, come help,” Phaser yelled as he swung his enchanted iron blade down onto the nearest spider.
A player with a bear’s head wearing a dark business suit and tie charged forward, his bow firing arrows one after another at the large, fuzzy monsters. He joined the battle, falling in right next to Phaser, the duo working together to maximize their damage.
The spiders, sensing that the balance of power had shifted, turned and fled, only to find a line of users blocking their escape. Wormican and Monet113 stood atop stacks of netherrack, both firing their enchanted arrows down upon the monsters, while a handful of swordsmen moved forward, their charge led by the brothers of destruction, Imparfa and Kuwagata498. None of the spiders survived.
With the users rallying behind Gameknight999 and his deadly arsenal of weapons, the remaining monsters chose to flee instead of fighting for a lost cause. In the distance, Gameknight could see the monster kings standing atop a tall hill of nether quartz, Feyd’s dark body in sharp contrast to the rusty red and white block on which he stood. The look on the enderman’s face showed an overwhelming hatred for his foe, but now that Gameknight was only a user and not really in the game, things had changed significantly. Stepping forward, Gameknight pointed his iridescent sword at his enemy, challenging the monster. He stared straight at the shadowy nightmare, hoping to enrage the king of the endermen, but Feyd was too smart for that. Instead, the enderman placed one hand on Xa-Tul and the other on Reaper, then disappeared in a cloud of purple mist. Another enderman appeared next to Shaivalak and disappeared with the queen of the spiders.
Suddenly, Gameknight remembered Herder. He frantically scanned the battlefield and found his crumpled form lying on the ground where the User-that-is-not-a-user had taken the Gateway of Light. He put away his sword, sprinted to his friend, and stood next to him. Carefully, he rolled the boy over onto his back, then stared down at him. Reaching up to the headphones he wore in his basement, he moved the microphone close to his mouth.
“Herder, are you alright?” Gameknight asked. “It’s me.”
He didn’t move.
“Herder, it’s Gameknight999, your friend. You need to wake up,” he said, almost pleaded. “Come on, you can’t be dead. Your body is still here. Did Herobrine take your mind with him?”
He felt like crying, but this blocky body in Minecraft was just a player’s avatar in a game now. In his basement, in the real world, Tommy could feel tears trickle down his cheeks.
“No . . . you can’t be gone,” Gameknight said, his words choked with emotion. “You have to be alright. I couldn’t bear the thought that you were gone.” His words became softer as Herder continued to remain still.
Suddenly, Crafter moved up onto his right, and looked at him, the stocky Digger on his left.
“Maybe Herobrine destroyed everything that was Herder, leaving this empty shell behind,” Crafter said.
“No!” Gameknight snapped. “I refuse to believe that. He has to be OK. I can’t fail Herder. He was my responsibility from the very beginning.” He turned and faced the boy on the ground. “I know I wasn’t very good at taking care of you at first and standing up for you. That was wrong, and there’s no good excuse. But I won’t let you go now, no matter what. I refuse to believe that we’ve come this far only to lose you now, at the end of the journey.”
There was still no movement from the body below.
“Gameknight, you did your best,” Hunter said as she moved up next to Crafter. She was just visible on the edge of his computer monitor. “I’m sure Herder would understand.”
“No . . . NO!” Gameknight shouted into his microphone, his voice echoing in their basement.
The music of Minecraft drifted slowly across the landscape, filling his headphones as the lyrical tones bathed them all in a symphony of harmonious sounds. Gameknight looked up at his friends and could see they all heard the music. Under other circumstances, the sound would have drawn a smile from everyone, but the terrible grief holding their hearts made that impossible now. He looked away and glanced up at the ceiling.
“I like this one,” a voice said. “Does anyone know what it’s called?”
“It’s called Haggstrom,” Gameknight answered without really thinking, still staring up at the rocky covering overhead..
Everyone else looked down at the ground and smiled. Herder was lying there, looking up at the circle of NPCs and users. He was confused, but then the lanky boy’s eyes found his friend.
“Oh, hi, Gameknight,” Herder said, a quirky smile on his blocky face.
Gameknight999 looked down at the boy, then jumped up and down cheering loudly.
“HERDER!!!!!”
The other users jumped up and down as well, all of the warriors celebrating. Gameknight looked at his NPC friends, their faces now appearing flat and lifeless as they appear to all users, but Gameknight knew they were all likely crying with joy.
They had not picked the best time to celebrate, though. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the landscape as a stray fireball fell nearby.
“I don’t want to ruin the party, but there is still a sky full of blazes and a wither,” Hunter said. “Maybe we should be leaving?
I don’t suppose Gameknight has a plan . . . does he?”
Tommy smiled as he made his character nod his head. Pulling out a stack of obsidian from his inventory, he quickly made a nether portal and lit the interior.
“Everyone through, before the wither spots us,” Gameknight said.
All the NPCs and users flowed through the portal, leaving Gameknight and Hunter to bring up the rear.
“Hunter, you need to go through. I’ll close the portal behind us.”
“And how are you going to do that?” she asked.
Gameknight quickly placed a long line of redstone powder. He then placed repeaters in the line, extending them to cause maximum delay. He ran the redstone to a series of TNT blocks that he put right next to the portal. Moving to the dark stone ring, he placed a redstone torch next to the contraption, lighting the glowing red fuse. As they moved into the purple undulating field, they saw the redstone signal finally reach the TNT. The red and white cubes started to flash just as the Nether disappeared from view.
CHAPTER 26
GOING HOME
Gameknight and Hunter stepped out of the portal and onto rolling hills of grass and flowers. The green seemed so vibrant compared to all the dark reds and oranges of the Nether that the scene was almost shocking. Bright flowers dotted the landscape. A cow mooed off to their left, while a nearby sheep bleated in blissful contentment.
The Overworld seemed to be at peace in a way Gameknight had never seen before. Somehow, Minecraft could sense the absence of Herobrine and reveled in the peace and tranquility that rippled in the wake of his destruction. Gameknight just wanted to stand there forever, listening to the beautiful sounds and taking in all the joyous colors that surrounded him.
Suddenly, someone punched him in the arm.
“You just gonna stand there with that silly look on your face or what?” Hunter asked.
Gameknight turned and looked at his friend. Her beautiful, flowing red curls were now plastered to the side of her head, appearing only as something drawn on the side of the cube that made up her head. Since he was no longer really in the game, he couldn’t see all the high-resolution detail the NPCs saw. Now, he saw what users saw, boxy creatures and flat detail. It was nothing like the real Minecraft, but the only users that had seen it with their own eyes were the three that had went through the digitizer: himself, Monkeypants271, and Monet113. Hopefully it would stay that way.
He turned and broke the obsidian ring that led back to the Nether. Instantly, the purple teleportation field disappeared, severing the link between the Overworld and that land of smoke and fire. When he’d removed all the obsidian blocks, he turned and followed Hunter to the top of the grassy hill. When he reached the summit, Gameknight instantly recognized where he was. Below was Crafter’s village, his own castle standing guard next to the collection of wooden houses.
Down the hill, Gameknight saw his friends running toward the village, the collection of users still surrounding the NPCs and protecting them. He looked at Hunter, then, sprinted down the hill after them, his friend right on his heels. In minutes, he caught up with the army of users. As he approached the village, Gameknight noticed the damage to the defenses had all been repaired, as well as the craters that had riddled the landscape after the battle with the Herobrine-dragon. Apparently, once the terrible whine from Herobrine’s XP had been removed, the villagers had been able to work together once again, fixing everything that needed repair and leaving behind a patched wall and pristine landscape.
All was as it should be, though he was careful not to say that out loud. Minecraft had a way of making you regret those kinds of comments, and old habits die hard.
When they passed over the wooden bridge that spanned the moat and entered the village, the NPCs cheered. Some saw the users and instantly folded their hands across their chests, but most ignored the decree of the Council of Crafters that said users could not see villagers using their hands and talking. Instead, they held their weapons high over their heads and cheered as loud as they could.
From across the courtyard, two small NPCs ran forward. They were just children, twins by the looks of them. They ran straight for Digger and jumped into his arms; it was Topper and Filler, his children. They hugged their father with all their strength, making the stocky NPC’s face fill with happiness and joy. Topper turned to Gameknight and smiled, then ran to him, Filler just two steps behind. They jumped into his arms and squeezed him hard, smiles on their square faces. Of course, Gameknight felt nothing as he was not in the game, but he still sensed the joy through the computer monitor and was happy. Once the twins felt they’d hugged Gameknight as hard as they could, they ran off, doing whatever children do in Minecraft.
Monet113 then moved into his field of view and stood next to Stitcher. The young NPC had a smile on her face, as did the rest of the villagers.
“Thank you all for your help,” Gameknight said to the users that milled about. “Herobrine is now destroyed and cannot hurt anyone ever again.”
They cheered once more, but something was still nagging at Gameknight999. As the users disconnected and disappeared, he sought out his best friend, Crafter. He found him speaking with Morgana the witch.
“Crafter, something worries me,” Gameknight said.
“We saved Herder, we defeated the monster army in the Nether, and we destroyed Herobrine, and still something worries you?” Crafter said. “I think this is a time for celebration, not concern.”
“But it’s just that some of Herobrine’s XP fell into the lava,” Gameknight explained. “I know it was just one or two spheres and they would contain just the smallest amount of his being, but can it cause any trouble?”
“I don’t know,” Crafter said.
“The XP will become diluted in the great lava ocean,” Morgana said with a scratchy voice. She reached up and adjusted her pointed hat for a moment, then continued. “Likely, the XP would have been destroyed by the lava anyway. There’s nothing to worry about. Herobrine is gone from Minecraft and we can all feel it. That’s what matters now.”
She stared at Gameknight with her ancient eyes, as if she were trying to drill her words into his mind. After a minute, she turned and moved off, mumbling something about going back to her lab to brew some more potions for the village.
“She’s right,” Crafter added. “We never realized the tension that was always present within the fabric of Minecraft, and now with it gone, everyone feels a little lighter and happier. We’d all felt Herobrine’s evil presence our entire lives. For generations, he’d been amongst us . . . since the Great Zombie Invasion. And now that he’s gone, happiness and joy is spreading across the server planes. All of Minecraft owes you and your family a great debt.”
“That’s right, we all owe you a lot,” Herder said as he approached. “But me more than anyone else.” The lanky boy placed a hand on Gameknight’s shoulder, his long, black hair now plastered to the side of his head. “You taught me to be myself, the real Herder, and not try to change just to fit in. You also taught me that friends will always be there for you, even if you’re possessed by an evil virus.” He smiled. “I remember all of the battle, and I saw the look on your face when you would hit me. That must have been really difficult for you.”
“Herder, I’m so sorry if I hurt you,” Gameknight said, looking to the ground. “I tried to protect you and I failed.”
“What are you talking about? Have you looked around yet? We won! We defeated Herobrine and brought peace to Minecraft,” Herder said.
“And if that isn’t enough for you, maybe your standards are a little too high,” a voice said from behind.
Turning, he found Hunter and Stitcher approaching with Digger right on their heels. The six companions—Gameknight999, Crafter, Hunter, Stitcher, Herder, and Digger—moved into a tight circle and looked at one another. Tommy could feel tears running down his cheeks in the basement, and he knew that his NPC friends were likely feeling the same.
“I hope this is not the last
journey of our little band of companions,” Gameknight said.
“I’m up for another adventure,” Hunter said, “But not right now, and preferably not one that involves mortal danger and hundreds of monsters seeking our destruction. Maybe we could tone it down a little next time?” She smiled as the rest of them laughed.
“It’s time for me to go,” Gameknight said. “I’ll be back soon, though.”
“Farewell, my friend,” Crafter said, a solemn tone to his voice.
“We’ll always have space for you in our home,” Digger added.
“And me and my wolves will look forward to your return,” Herder said, a huge smile on his face.
“Don’t forget—we still have that archery contest to finish,” Stitcher said.
Gameknight turned to Hunter, but she said nothing. Then, in a quick motion, she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug. In that moment, Gameknight was disappointed that he wasn’t in the game. All he saw was her face up close on the monitor. But in the real world, tears rolled down his cheeks. When she stepped back, she gave him a smile, then punched him in the arm.
“Be sure you come back soon,” she said. “And don’t be an idiot.”
Tommy smiled, then disconnected from Minecraft.
MINECRAFT SEEDS
I’ve put warps on Gameknight’s server to all the biomes and structures that are in Gameknight999 vs. Herobrine. The IP address can be found at www.gameknight999.com. Go to the Survival world when you are in the server’s lobby. You’ll spawn inside the great cathedral. Type “/warp oldspawn” to get to the original spawn. You’ll find the Book Warps nearby and you can see the warps for all the books. I have Crafter’s village and Gameknight’s castle, complete with obsidian walls on the server for you to see. There are warps to different biomes, and seeds, as well, for you to use in a single-player world. Sorry, no seeds for the spider cave or Crafter’s village or the Nether—you’ll have to build those in a single-player world yourself, or maybe build them on Gameknight999’s server.
Gameknight999 vs. Herobrine Page 16
