Gameknight glanced at the Oracle, confused.
“Just some friends showing up to the party,” the old woman said with a huge grin.
“Friends?” Gameknight asked. And then he understood. “Friends! Herder, I wish you were here right now!”
Suddenly, a wave of furry white creatures flooded onto the battlefield, streaming across the netherrack like bolts of lightning. Hundreds and hundreds of wolves ran toward the monster army, their eyes bright red with rage.
Wolfbrin howled again, then charged forward with hands outstretched, sharp nails glistening in the yellow light from the overhead glow stones.
“Everyone, ATTACK!” Gameknight shouted.
“Smithy be crazy!” many replied as they ran forward.
Gripping his swords firmly in his hands, the User-that-is-not-a-user charged at the enemy, finding himself alongside the tall, white-haired light-crafter. They crashed into the zombies, Gameknight slashing with his swords while Wolfbrin carved away with his sharp, claw-like nails. Treebrin then joined them, his big, woody fists smashing into zombies and skeletons, doing terrible damage.
The other villagers now ran forward to join the fight, but many of the vile creatures didn’t even notice them approach; they had their backs turned, more afraid of the wolves than they were of the NPCs. The battle was savage and terrible; Minecraft itself seemed to shake at the ferocity, glitching ever so slightly. Many villagers lost their lives, but that was nothing compared to the destruction being brought down upon the monsters.
Wolfbrin laughed as he fought, slashing at a spider here and kicking a skeleton into piles of loose bones there. Gameknight smiled as he battled at the light-crafter’s side. Soon, Baker was there as well, doing her graceful dance of death, her sword flashing through the air so fast it was difficult to see. Carver swung his massive axe, tearing into multiple monsters with a single stroke.
The monsters now could see they would soon be defeated and stopped fighting in order to flee. Because of their numbers, the villagers and the wolves could not destroy them all; many escaped out onto the planes of the Nether.
“Follow them,” Gameknight yelled. “We must catch Herobrine so we can stop the infection of Minecraft by the ghasts.”
The villagers stormed across the battlefield and ran out onto the shores of the great lava ocean. Archers fired on the escaping monsters as the wolves sprinted across the rusty plain, bringing their strong jaws down upon decaying bony legs.
It was chaos across the Nether. Monsters were fleeing in all directions. Herobrine was nowhere to be seen. A huge group of ghasts were descending toward them from the direction of the Nether portal. Archers moved into groups of three as fireballs rained down upon the landscape.
“Everything’s out of … out of … out of control,” Gameknight shouted.
The server is glitching, he thought.
“Where’s Herobrine?”
“There!” the Oracle said, pointing with her crooked wooden cane.
Far from the battle, Herobrine looked down upon his failed battle, eyes glowing bright white with rage.
“We’ll never get him,” Gameknight said. “The ghasts will cover the Overworld. We’ve lost.”
What do I do? he thought, hoping from some answer to appear in his head. What do I do?
Suddenly, the loudest blast of thunder ever heard in Minecraft boomed through the Nether, followed by an insanely bright crack of lightning that caused everyone to look away and shudder in fear. When they looked back, they saw a single person standing where the lightning had struck, with letters floating in the air, a long silvery threat extending up from their head. Gameknight took a step closer, then another one, until he could read the letters. He gasped in shock. The letters formed the name N O T C H.
CHAPTER 30
NOTCH
Notch glared at the monsters around him, then noticed the villagers in full armor and frowned, clearly confused. He took a step toward one of the zombies. The ghasts and skeletons, unsure what to make of this new arrival, opened fire, launching fireballs and arrows at the stranger. Zombies charged at the newcomer, unsure who he was.
One of the zombies spotted Wilbur and charged at the small pig from behind, striking the pink animal with his claws. Gameknight moved to protect his little friend, slashing at the monster and causing it to disappear as the decaying creature’s HP was consumed.
But, by now, Notch was taking serious damage from the ghasts and skeletons, flashing red with damage until he too disappeared, his items falling to the ground.
How could that be? Gameknight thought. How could a few zombies and skeletons defeat the mighty Notch, the creator of Minecraft? It didn’t make any sense.
“Who was that?” one of the villagers asked.
But before the User-that-is-not-a-user could answer, Notch reappeared. But instead of just standing there on the ground, opening himself up for further attacks, he floated up into the air. Gameknight realized that the programmer of Minecraft was now in creative mode, and he looked mad.
“You like shooting at people, do you?” he yelled, his voice echoing off the netherrack walls.
He paused for a moment as if he were doing something else, then suddenly bolts of lightning came down from the rocky ceiling, striking the ghasts and skeletons. Gameknight could see the jagged, white-hot energy tearing into the ghasts’ skin, leaving deep scars. The skeletons that were hit seemed to almost catch fire, as if barely visible flames were licking at their bones. Quickly, the bony monsters charred, their pale, white extremities now an ashen black.
“Minecraft is supposed to be a place of creativity and discovery, not battles and violence,” Notch yelled. “I made Minecraft for people to come together, not attack one another. This is all wrong.”
One of the ghasts gave off an evil feline cry. It drew Notch’s attention.
“If you ghasts love your fireballs so much, then I’ll make sure that you forever stay down here in the Nether. I have scarred your faces so that all will know your vile nature, and tears of regret for your misdeeds will be dropped to the ground upon your death.”
He turned to the skeletons that lay strewn on the ground, some of them making an effort to stand again.
“The skeletons before me will also be sentenced to an eternity in the Nether. May your charred bones remind you, forever, of your violent actions.”
“Oink,” Wilbur said as he rubbed against Gameknight’s leg.
One of the zombies growled and reached out to the harmless pink animal. Before the monster could grasp Wilbur with its claws, bolts of lightning stabbed down at it. Howls of pain and fear came from all the zombies as sheets of lightning struck the decaying monsters. But then, the strangest thing of all happened; their moans and growls developed a squeal-like sound to them. As the bright-white light faded, the zombies now had a new, pink side to them, and their shirts were shredded, revealing bony ribs sticking out from one side.
“You want to kill an innocent pig? I don’t think so,” Notch said. “As punishment, you zombies will forever be half-monster and half-pig. You’ll be zombie pigmen, and will always search the Nether for that which will change you back into a zombie, though you’ll never find it. Now BEGONE!”
The newly formed zombie pigmen, complete with gold swords and shining golden armor, began to shuffle off, walking aimlessly, oblivious of everyone around them as they sought the cure to their existence that would never be found.
Notch then floated toward Gameknight and the villagers. As he approached, Gameknight searched the sea of faces, looking for Weaver.
“Weaver, where are you?” Gameknight asked. “Fencer, where is Weaver?”
The villager shook his head. “I saw him on the edge of the battle, but then I lost sight of him.”
Gameknight scanned the villagers frantically, looking for the young boy. Then he noticed something near the edge of the Great Lava Ocean. It was clearly a portal, but instead of obsidian, it was made of diamond blocks, a shimmering silvery film und
ulating across the center.
What kind of portal is that? Gameknight thought.
Suddenly, Notch spoke again.
“You NPCs shouldn’t be here,” he said.
The villagers just stood there in shock, unsure of who this person was or what to say, until finally Fencer broke the silence.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I am Notch, the creator of Minecraft.”
Instantly, all the villagers knelt and lowered their heads, except for Gameknight999. Notch glanced at the villagers before him, their weapons and armor shining in the orange light of the Nether.
“Why are all my villagers armed?” Notch asked. “Minecraft is supposed to be peaceful. I did not program wars to be fought between villagers and monsters.”
None of the villagers spoke. They were all clearly terrified by the user floating in the air before them.
“Excuse me, but Notch, this has all happened because of Herobrine,” Gameknight said. “He is the virus that has infected Minecraft, and he escaped our attempts to catch and destroy him.”
The Oracle walked up next to Gameknight and stared up at the programmer.
“I am the anti-virus program you created to stop the virus,” the old woman said in a scratchy voice. “Herobrine has done something both wonderful and terrible. He’s altered Minecraft forever, causing these villagers and myself to become alive.”
“Alive?” Notch said. “How can that be?”
“He was programmed with artificial intelligence software,” Gameknight explained. “And when he—”
“Of course, he interacted with my own artificial intelligence code,” Notch said as he put the pieces of the puzzle together in his head. “So all of you are alive?”
Gameknight nodded, remembering that he couldn’t reveal himself as the User-that-is-not-a-user, but the rest of the villagers stayed on their knees, looking to the ground.
“Stand up, all of you,” Notch demanded. “You look foolish.”
The villagers stood and faced their programmer, reverent awe covering all of their square faces, all except for Gameknight999. He knew Notch was just a man, a user like himself.
“You villagers should not be here in the Nether,” Notch said. “You should not be using weapons and should not be fighting monsters. This was not what I intended. I saw fortifications around many of your villages, and some of them were even completely destroyed. I don’t like this. Everything needs to be reset back the way it was, with your hands linked across your chests. You’ll have no need for weapons and armor. Whatever damage this Herobrine has caused will be undone.”
Bolts of lightning began stabbing down from the rocky ceiling.
“Fencer, you have to find Weaver,” Gameknight said quickly. “He was right next to me, then he disappeared.”
More lightning fell down upon the villagers, and one by one it carried them each away, back to their villages with their status reset and arms linked across their chests.
“I saw him by that diamond portal down there,” Fencer said, “but now I don’t see him….”
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck Fencer, transporting him back to his village, back home. Eventually, all of the villagers had vanished from the Nether, leaving only the Oracle, her light-crafters, and Gameknight999 behind. A bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck the User-that-is-not-a-user, but when the harsh light faded, he was still standing there.
Notch drifted closer.
“Why didn’t you disappear?” Notch asked.
Gameknight reached up and removed his helmet.
“You aren’t a villager—you’re a user!”
The User-that-is-not-a-user nodded his head.
“You need to know,” Gameknight explained, “Herobrine is planning on covering the Overworld with his ghasts. He’s infecting the clouds so they all spawn the evil creatures. If they….”
“Don’t worry, I’ve reset the clouds. The Overworld has been reset. All is as it should be. The zombies and skeletons will fear the sun forever. I was considering altering their code to let them move freely about the land, but I can see the destruction they are capable of. So, I have created zombie-towns and skeleton-towns for them, complete with HP fountains. They’ll not wander far from their underground prisons, and they’ll never see the clear blue sky again. That will be their punishment for their transgressions.”
“What of the Endermen?” the Oracle asked.
Notch laughed.
“Yes, the Endermen …that was a clever creation by the virus. I’ll allow them to live, but they’ll be banished to a new land that I just added to Minecraft, called The End. It’ll be a desolate place that will remind them to be a source of good rather than evil. There they’ll find a little pet of mine that will watch over them on their floating island. These dark creatures will never again know the joy of cleansing themselves in water. Instead, I have made water to be like acid to them. It will burn their skin and remind them of the evil deeds that led them to this end.”
He smiled, then turned to Gameknight999.
“As for you, how did you get here? I haven’t even opened up Minecraft to users yet.”
“It’s a long story,” Gameknight replied with a shrug.
“First that virus got in, and now you,” Notch growled. “Did my anti-virus program even work at all?”
“Of course she did,” Gameknight replied quickly, defending his friend, the Oracle.
Notch raised a hand, silencing him.
“I can see that the spiders hunt you,” the Minecraft programmer said to the Oracle. “You must hide from them for a while, for I cannot protect you unless I am in Minecraft.”
“It’s alright,” the old woman replied. “I’ve created wolves to hunt Herobrine, and I can watch his movements through the leaves of the trees. I’ll continue the fight to stop the virus, though I fear it’ll take more time.”
“Understood. I have prepared a jungle temple for you,” Notch said, “where there will be room for your wolves and light-crafters as well. The spiders will not be able to enter; you’ll be safe there.”
“Thank you, my programmer,” she replied.
“Good hunting,” Notch said.
More bolts of lightning struck the ground, hitting the Oracle and all of her light-crafters and wolves, causing them to disappear, leaving the two users alone.
“Now for you,” Notch said as he turned to face Gameknight999. “I need to understand how you hacked into my server, and I want to know your name, right now.”
Suddenly, a stream of words began to flow through his mind. Someone from the physical world was typing to him in the chat.
Tommy, I told you not to use the digitizer in the storm, his father typed in chat. It’s time to leave. Say good-bye to Crafter and all your friends.
He glanced up at Notch and spoke quickly. “My name is—”
But before he could complete the sentence, a circle of light enveloped Gameknight999. Fingers of heat and freezing cold kneaded his body as the Gateway of Light pulled him from the digital realm and back into the real world. And as the sphere of light became brighter and brighter, the last thing Gameknight saw was the confused look on Notch’s face … and then everything went black.
CHAPTER 31
THE PROPHECY
Tommy woke with a splitting headache. Usually it was because when the Digitizer knocked him out, he had a tendency to hit his head on the desk. But this time it was different. The trip from the distant past in Minecraft to the physical world had taken a larger toll on him; the hots hotter and the colds even colder. It was as if the Digitizer had difficulty bringing him back, maybe because he was farther away in time. Maybe adding a time warp to the trip from the digital to the physical was a strain on the electronics.
“Son,” a stern voice said from behind him.
Tommy sat up, wiped the drool from his chin, and turned to face his father.
“Hi, Dad,” Tommy said with a smile.
“I told you not to use the Dig
itizer in the storm and you did it anyway.” A scowl crossed his father’s bearded face. “Next time, when I say….”
His dad stopped speaking and pointed at the computer screen. Usually, when they came back into the physical world, the image on the screen was frozen, but this time, they could see villagers moving about. Baker, Carver, Fencer, and all the other villagers all in Smithy’s village were walking across the grassy plains. They looked so peaceful with their arms linked across their chests, hands buried in opposite sleeves.
But then Tommy realized that he was still logged in, somehow.
“Wait, I have to do one more thing.”
“Tommy, don’t you think you’ve done enough? It’s time to stop.”
“I will in just a minute.”
Tommy pulled his wireless keyboard closer and grabbed his mouse. He typed /gamemode 1 and put himself in creative mode. Opening his inventory, he quickly pulled out two books and placed them in his hot bar, then opened the first book and typed as fast as he could:
A time will come in the distant future when a stranger from a strange land will come to Minecraft. The appearance of the User-that-is-not-a-user will signify the beginning of the final battle for the Source and for all life. If the User-that-is-not-a-user fails in his quest, then all life will be extinguished on these electronic worlds. The Gateway of Light will then allow the mobs, with their hatred and malice toward all living things, to enter into the physical world, where they will bathe themselves in death and destruction, until all life is exterminated.
He signed the book with the words The Prophecy. When he looked at it in his inventory, he found the title, but the author’s name was blank … perfect. Opening the second book, he typed:
Creatures of the Nether will try to form a ring of diamond-crafting benches. If they are allowed to do this, then they will create a portal that will take these evil monsters directly to the Source. These diamond-crafting benches can only be made by full-fledged crafters. When a circle of twelve is formed with a thirteenth at their center, the portal will activate. It will give the monsters of the Overworld and the creatures of the Nether access to the Source. This must not be allowed, for all life will hang by the thinnest of threads, and only strength, courage, and faith in your friends will prevent the violent monsters from destroying everything.
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