“HEY, THAT’S MY SISTER!” Gameknight yelled, stepping forward.
“Oh, the great User-that-is-not-a-user finally shows some courage,” Charybdis wheezed. “Well, let’s see if you’re as pathetic as monsters tell me.”
“You want some?” Gameknight replied, an angry scowl on his face. “Come on, blaze. Let’s dance!”
CHAPTER 23
GAMEKNIGHT999 VERSUS CHARYBDIS
The monstrous blaze grew bright orange in color as its internal flame blossomed, then exploded in a wreath of fire as it shot its fiery projectiles toward Gameknight999. The User-that-is-not-a-user rolled to his right, narrowly avoiding three deadly fireballs. Lunging out of his crouched position and charging forward, he attacked with his two swords, just barely landing a hit as the blaze king rose into the air.
“Make him suffer, Charybdis,” Herobrine yelled, “but if you kill him, you’ll have to answer to me. He’s going to be taking me on a little trip out of this puny server, so keep him alive—even if it’s just barely.”
Herobrine laughed as he backed away and gave the two combatants room to fight.
More fireballs streaked down from the sky, but Gameknight moved to the right again, just before they struck. Blazes always flare bright just before they launch a volley of fireballs, so Gameknight had a bit of an advance warning before an attack was launched. The only thing he didn’t know was where Charybdis was aiming. The fireballs spat out of the blaze moving so quickly that the best anyone could do from this distance was make a wild guess as to which direction to roll and pray that it was the right one.
The blaze flared bright again. This time, Gameknight rolled to the left, but the blaze king tricked him, sending three balls of fire to the right and three to the left. One of the fireballs struck a glancing blow on his leg, causing pain to erupt through Gameknight’s body. Looking down, he could see a long scorch mark that wrapped around his leg and up to his hip, the diamond armor glowing slightly from the heat.
That could have been a lot worse. I have to be more careful, Gameknight thought.
The User-that-is-not-a-user put his swords away and drew his enchanted bow. Pulling back on the string, he aimed an arrow at the monster and loosed. The arrow instantly lit aflame as it streaked through the air. Gameknight watched as it arced through the air, just barely missing its target.
Herobrine’s laughter echoed across the Nether.
“You’ll have to do better than that, Loser-that-is-a-loser,” the evil virus shouted from Herder’s possessed body.
I need to get Charybdis closer to me somehow, Gameknight thought, or my plan won’t work.
And then he remembered something that Shawny had once said to him: “Bats are hard to shoot with bows because they keep moving around unpredictably. An inexperienced hunter aims where the bat is, while an experienced one knows the bat will be somewhere else and aims where it isn’t.”
That’s what I need to do, move like a bat so that Charybdis will have to come closer, Gameknight thought as a smile came to his face.
Putting away his weapons, he moved out into the open, waiting for Charybdis to fire again. As usual, the monster flared bright as flames enveloped the creature just before launching its glowing spheres of death. Gameknight zigged and zagged across the netherrack plain, avoiding the fireballs. The monster flared again as it shot another trio of fireballs, and again Gameknight focused on evasion rather than counterattack.
The fireballs landed harmlessly off to the side. Gameknight looked up at Charybdis and laughed, pausing to take off his chest plate, taunting the merciless beast. The blaze screamed out in rage as its mechanical wheezing grew faster.
Moving a little closer, it fired again and again, and every time the fireballs passed harmlessly over Gameknight’s head or far to the side. With every miss, the blaze king grew angrier and angrier, frustrated at how easily Gameknight was evading him.
“What’s wrong, Charybdis, you forget how to aim?” Gameknight mocked.
The monster growled as it came closer to the ground, launching more fireballs, hoping that if he got close enough, it would be much harder to miss. Just to be safe, Gameknight put his diamond chest plate back on, but his plan was working. Now he just needed to wait for his chance.
He’s not close enough, Gameknight thought. Not yet.
Sprinting across the landscape, he moved closer to the blaze, keeping his hands empty and visible the whole time. It was a delicate act, staying far enough away to not get hurt, but close enough to keep the blaze king interested and close the ground. Everything depended on the blaze staying low and close to him.
Fireballs streaked down from the glowing creature, one of them shooting right past his shoulder. Gameknight could feel the heat of the flames as it passed, singeing his hair.
That was a little too close.
The User-that-is-not-a-user wanted to draw his sword or bow, but he knew that would only drive his prey away. He needed him close—extremely close.
The wheezing from the blaze king was growing louder as it moved in, fireballs flying in all directions. Gameknight rolled and jumped, moving as unpredictably as possible as the flaming projectiles whizzed by all around him. As he stood up after the last volley, Gameknight could hear Charybdis’s breathing loud now. The blaze king was closing in, and soon Gameknight would not be able to evade his shots. The User-that-is-not-a-user could see the monster’s hateful eyes in vivid detail and knew it was time.
Spinning around, he rolled to the left. When he stood, he pulled out the stack of snowballs Gameknight had taken from Monet when she’d been destroyed the first time. With all his strength, Gameknight launched a stream of freezing projectiles at the blaze. The first one missed, but the second landed square on the creature’s head. Instantly, the monster flared red as it took damage, its internal flame growing cold for just a moment.
The blaze was shocked and quickly tried to rise into the air, but it wasn’t fast enough. Gameknight continued with his assault, throwing the snowballs as fast as he could. In his confusion, the blaze king was moving erratically in the air, causing the snowballs to miss their target. He only had sixteen frozen balls left, and it would take another seven hits to completely extinguish the blaze’s internal fire. He didn’t have many left to spare.
Another snowball hit the flaming monster, and then another, but now, Charybdis was firing back, forcing Gameknight to run around while firing, making it harder to aim. The two combatants were now locked in a deadly battle of catch, each firing as fast as they could while trying to not get hit.
Gameknight landed another hit, but before he could celebrate, a fireball smashed into his shoulder, enveloping him in fire and pain. Dropping to the ground, he rolled across the netherrack, hoping it would help put out the flames and extinguish the pain. Jumping to his feet, the User-that-is-not-a-user continued to fire, throwing the snowballs where he thought the blaze might be.
Firing quickly, Gameknight launched a ball to the left, paused, then threw another to the right of the blaze’s position. The monster guessed wrong and moved to the left, getting hit squarely by the snowball. In response, it moved to the right and was hit by the second.
Only one more hit and the monster would be destroyed. Looking down in his inventory, Gameknight realized he had only one snowball left. If he missed, he was in real trouble.
Sprinting forward, Gameknight closed the distance, leaping to the left and right as he ran. When he was close enough, he launched his last snowball slightly to the right of the blaze king. Luckily, Charybdis moved in that direction, but when he saw the snowball closing, the monster dropped quickly downward, allowing the snowball to pass over his head.
He’d missed!
Gameknight was now in trouble. Drawing his enchanted bow, he notched an arrow and took careful aim, hoping this shot would hit the monster before his fireballs consumed the last of his health. But before he could loose the arrow and destroy the king of the blazes, someone yelled, “GAMEKNIGHT. . .LOOK OUT!”
>
Suddenly, a razor-sharp stone sword sliced into his diamond armor, smashing into his arm and knocking the bow from his hands. The enchanted bow tumbled to the ground, then skidded across the scorched netherrack. Instinctively, he drew his swords, then looked up from his discarded weapon and found Herobrine’s terrible gaze staring at him from Herder’s square face.
“I’ve let the king of the blazes toy with you long enough,” Herobrine said. “Now you must face me, and none of your tricks are going to help. You will either use the Gateway of Light . . . or die.”
CHAPTER 24
FRIEND VERSUS FRIEND
Herobrine charged forward, his hideous eyes glowing bright white. His stone sword swung wildly about, aiming for his opponent’s head. Gameknight, running on pure adrenaline now, deflected the blow with his iron sword and, acting upon reflex, swung his diamond blade at the monster’s exposed side. But before he could make contact, Gameknight pulled the sword back, realizing that if he hit Herobrine, he would be hurting his friend as well.
Stepping away, the User-that-is-not-a-user was confused. He couldn’t hit his friend, but he had to stop Herobrine somehow. How am I supposed to fight like this? he wondered nervously.
“What’s wrong, Gameknight999—having trouble with your attack?” Herobrine asked, a vile laugh on his lips. “Oh . . . wait, I have someone in here who wants to talk to you.”
Herobrine’s eyes grew dim until the normal two-color eyes shown in their place.
“G . . . G . . . G . . . Gameknight, I’m afraid.”
It was Herder’s voice!
“I’m sorry . . . sorry that I took the . . . the chest,” Herder stammered, his voice filled with terror. “I don’t know why I . . . I did that. I trust you, I . . . I really do. What should . . . should I do now?”
“Don’t worry, Herder, I’ll think of something,” Gameknight replied, trying to sound as confident as possible.
Suddenly, Herder’s eyes glowed bright again.
“‘What . . . what . . . what should I do?’” Herobrine mimicked. “How pathetic!”
“Be quiet!” Gameknight shouted. “Herder’s my friend!”
“What was it the soldiers used to call him?” Herobrine said. “Animal-boy? No, that’s not it. Let me probe around in these useless memories and—oh, here it is . . . Pig-boy! That’s right, they used to call him pig-boy. To think you just stood there when they called him that and this weakling still thought that you were his friend.”
“He is my friend,” Gameknight said confidently. “You have no idea what that means, because no one cares about you. You’re completely alone.”
“Boo hoo,” Herobrine said with a scowl, putting his hands to his eyes and pretending to cry. “You remember when the warriors put all his stuff up in a tree, then walled him in with stone? Herder told those bullies to stop or they’d be in trouble with Gameknight999. You know what the bullies did?”
“Be quiet!” Gameknight yelled.
“The bullies laughed,” Herobrine said with a malicious smile. “They said that the great User-that-is-not-a-user was too afraid to do anything about it. You were a coward back then and let your friend, Herder, suffer for it. And I can see that you’re still a coward. Look at yourself: you’re afraid to fight me, and I’m just a pathetic little pig-boy.”
Gameknight growled, but felt helpless to do anything.
Herobrine took a step toward his enemy and pointed with his stone sword.
“You know, I’ve possessed hundreds of NPCs over the years, and I’ve learned one really interesting thing. I can separate myself from the body just enough to not feel anything.” Herobrine moved his sword close to his chest, then brought the sharp edge up to his arm. “I won’t be able to feel anything, but pig-boy inside here feels everything.” He gave Gameknight999 an evil grin. “I wonder if this hurts.”
He drew the stone sword across the exposed arm, causing Herder’s body to flash red with damage.
“Stop it . . . STOP IT!”
He couldn’t contain his rage anymore. Gameknight charged forward, his diamond sword streaking through the air. Herobrine blocked the attack then lowered his sword, ignoring the counterattack from the iron blade. It struck Herder’s shoulder, making him flash red with damage.
“Oh no!” Gameknight exclaimed as he moved back, a look of horror on his face. “I’m so sorry, Herder. I’m so sorry.”
Herobrine laughed.
“You’re both pathetic,” the monster growled, “and although this is much more fun than I expected, I’m done playing with you.”
Moving incredibly fast, Herobrine charged forward, the stone sword just a blur in the air as it sliced toward Gameknight999. The blade struck his diamond armor with the force of a sledge hammer, causing it to vibrate like a mighty gong. Before the User-that-is-not-a-user could respond, Herobrine was already attacking his other side. Gameknight was able to bring up his diamond blade just in time to deflect the blow, but it was followed with a quick thrust that struck home, producing a deep crack in his leggings.
Swinging his diamond sword with as much speed as possible, Gameknight’s blade crashed against the stone sword, causing sparks to leap into the air. He then swung his iron sword up from underneath, trying to hit Herobrine’s sword again and shatter the stone weapon. Herobrine, sensing Gameknight’s plan, extended his crafting powers into the sword, causing it to glow a sickly yellow, reinforcing it so that it was as hard as obsidian.
“Nice try, Fool,” Herobrine growled. “But I am getting impatient. It’s time for this game to end.”
Flicking the glowing sword with incredible speed, Herobrine knocked the iron sword from Gameknight’s left hand, then swung at his head. The reinforced blade smashed into his diamond helmet, cracking it nearly in half and making his head ring. Gameknight staggered back for a moment, then brought his diamond sword up, ready for the next attack.
But Gameknight was not ready for what Herobrine had in store for him next. Crouching with one leg extended, Herobrine spun in a tight circle, allowing his extended leg to sweep in a wide arc. It caught Gameknight’s diamond-coated legs with the force of a giant’s fist, pulling them out from under him. The User-that-is-not-a-user toppled over backward, slamming hard into the netherrack. Before he could move, Herobrine was on top of him, knocking his diamond sword from his hand.
Gameknight was defenseless.
“Now, it is time to decide,” Herobrine growled, his eyes blazing so bright they lit the Nether as if the sun were high overhead. “You either take the Gateway of Light . . . or you die. And make no mistake—once I kill you, I’ll kill all of your friends and, finally, I think we’ll do a little test to see if pig-boy here can swim in lava.”
“But you’ll die, too, if you do that,” Gameknight said, trying to sound confident. To his surprise, Herobrine just smiled.
“You are truly a fool,” Herobrine spat. “With all my XP infecting the lava, the next blaze or ghast that goes down to feed off the molten stone will become mine, and I will be reborn again. Without you to help them, the NPCs will be doomed to destruction. All these digital creatures will be killed because of your cowardice. So now it’s time for you to choose.”
Gameknight turned his head and glanced at his friends. High overhead, the wither and blazes were still in a pitched battle, balls of fire being traded for flaming skulls. On the ground, he could see the users were still in a pitched battle with the monsters, the creatures of the Overworld outnumbering the defenders by at least two-to-one. Crafter slashed at a spider, making it disappear, then stared back at him, a look of terror on his face. The young NPC shook his head, signaling him not to sacrifice himself, or perhaps for him not to sacrifice the NPCs—it wasn’t clear. All Gameknight knew was that these were his friends, his family, and he couldn’t let them down.
With a sigh, he turned and looked up at Herobrine, then nodded, a square tear tumbling down his face. Herobrine smiled an evil smile.
“Do it!” the monster snapped. “Do it NOW
!”
Gameknight nodded, then sent his thoughts up through the chat.
Dad . . . Bring me back.
As he was enveloped in a sphere of blinding white light, the User-that-is-not-a-user wept.
CHAPTER 25
HEROBRINE’S FATE
Gameknight999, Tommy, in the real world, woke to the sound of hammering, metal crunching on metal. His head was lying on some kind of pillow, a string of drool making his cheek wet. Slowly, he opened his eyes and blinked twice. Right in front of him was his sister. She was sitting at a computer, clicking the mouse furiously, her favorite pink headphones over her ears. Glancing at the computer screen, he saw zombies and spiders fill the monitor, her diamond sword smashing into the monstrous bodies, making them flash red; she was still fighting in the Nether. As she turned to find another monster to attack, Tommy saw the image of his NPC friends shoot across the screen.
My friends! he thought, then sat up quickly.
His head spun for a moment, then cleared as he stood up. The sound of metal crunching metal was still filling the basement; the titanic hammer blows echoing off the cluttered walls. Turning, he found his father smashing the large computer that ran the digitizer. Suddenly the cover of the computer fell off, exposing the internal components. Setting it on its side, his father smashed the memory chips, causing them to shatter into a hundred pieces. He then grabbed a screwdriver and placed the sharp point on the CPU. Driving it like a spike, he hammered the tool into the main computer chip, splitting it into two. Not satisfied, his father placed the screwdriver on the hard disk and repeated the process, driving the tool through the hard metal case until the drive was impaled.
“This computer is officially dead,” his dad said as he turned and smiled at his children.
“What are you doing?” Tommy asked. “Did Herobrine get into the Internet?”
His father shook his head.
“As soon as my software detected you’d completed the transfer, the electronic switch disconnected the computer from the network.” His father put the hammer and screwdriver on a workbench and walked toward him. “Herobrine was trapped inside that computer there.” He pointed to the pile of high tech rubble on the basement floor. “That’s why I destroy the memory chips, CPU, and hard drive. Every digital line of code that made up Herobrine is now gone as well, forever.”
Gameknight999 vs. Herobrine Page 15