And then a roar sounded from high overhead. Gameknight could see the monsters all look up. Glancing to the sky, all he could see was a shadowy form moving above them, occasionally blotting out the stars and moon.
Herobrine . . . he was up there, somewhere.
The dragon roared again. Reluctantly, the monsters moved forward, sensing their commander’s wishes.
“Get ready,” Gameknight whispered.
“Xa-Tul can see the defenders are not moving,” the zombie king bellowed. “There is nothing here but armor stands and empty armor.”
“The Maker wants us to destroy this village, whether there are NPCs here or not,” Feyd said, his voice on edge.
“Very well,” Xa-Tul sighed. “Zombies, FORWARD!”
The green decaying creatures shuffled ahead, arms outstretched. Their dark claws sparkled in the moonlight, reminding all the defenders just how deadly they could be.
“Almost there,” Gameknight whispered.
Now the endermen moved forward as well, their dark bodies difficult to see, though the sparkling purple teleportation particles that surrounded them made much more manageable targets.
“Remember, don’t shoot the endermen, just aim for the zombies,” Gameknight said. “Pass the word.”
The NPCs nodded as they heard the instruction.
“Ready . . .”
The monsters moved cautiously closer, now well within bowshot, all of the decaying creatures reluctant to repeat the last battle.
Gameknight glanced down at an NPC who stood near a series of levers. Smiling, the User-that-is-not-a-user nodded his head, then stood and faced his attackers.
“FOR MINECRAFT!” he shouted.
Suddenly, the stationary statues came to life and pulled out their bows, firing at the approaching zombies. Instantly, the ground behind the green monsters exploded.
“Switch number 2,” Gameknight shouted. “NOW!”
The NPC below flipped the next lever. Underground, Gameknight knew a line of redstone had suddenly come to life, sending the signal through the shallow tunnel to the waiting block of TNT. The subterranean explosive cube started to blink, though no one could see the red and white block covered with a block of grass.
But it did not go unnoticed.
The TNT exploded under a group of zombies, throwing them into the air as their bodies flashed red.
“Do all the levers!” Gameknight shouted as he drew his bow.
More explosions rocked the ground as chaos erupted amidst the monster army.
“Hunter, Stitcher, shoot the TNT!” Gameknight shouted.
From the tall archer towers, the sisters shot at the blocks of TNT that had been buried in the ground. When their flaming arrows hit their targets, the blocks started blinking. The zombies closest tried to flee, but the crush of green bodies near them hindered their escape. The explosive blocks blossomed into large flowers of flame, wrapping their burning petals around those nearest, rending HP from the green bodies.
The NPCs cheered as the zombies scattered. The archers now stepped forward and lined the wall and multiple towers. Steel-pointed rain fell down upon the monsters, wreaking havoc. Moaning cries of pain echoed across the dry landscape as the zombies fell under the archers’ relentless attack. Many tried to flee, but the oncoming wave of arrows was too great, and few survived.
A group of gold clad zombies charged forward. Gameknight could see the arrows bouncing harmlessly off their armor as they advanced.
“They’ll reach the gates!” Hunter yelled. “Stop them or they’ll break through.”
Gameknight999 was consumed with the heat of battle, his body operating without thought. Streaking down the ladder, he ran to the wooden doors and opened one. Slipping out of the village, he closed the door behind him and stood in front of the attacking zombies. Drawing his other sword, Gameknight drew a line in the ground, then looked up at the gold-clad monsters. Thinking of his favorite movie, he yelled with all his might.
“YOU . . . SHALL NOT . . . PASS!”
This made the monsters charge forward, anxious to destroy this lone defender. But they were not facing just some NPC or user. No, they were facing the User-that-is-not-a-user.
Gripping his swords firmly in his boxy hands, Gameknight999 waited.
CHAPTER 19
THE DESTRUCTION BEGINS
The monsters charged, the light from the overhead torches making their golden armor gleam. Growling with anger, the first zombie swung his golden sword. Gameknight spun, deflecting the attack with his iron sword, then brought his diamond sword down upon the monster. The creature flashed red as it howled in pain. Another zombie attacked, but Gameknight was like a whirlwind of destruction. Spinning from one zombie to the next, he chipped away at their HP.
His father charged out of the doors and smashed into the attacking zombies. With his iron sword swinging in a wide arc, he drove the zombies back with his ferocity. Quickly the monsters realized that the attack comprised only one additional person, and they closed in. They tried to circle around the pair, but Gameknight and Monkeypants stayed close to the walls.
One of the zombies lunged at Monkeypants, but before the golden sword could reach the iron armor, Gameknight blocked the attack, allowing his father to counter. He scored three quick hits before the monster disappeared, littering the ground with armor and XP.
The duo now charged forward, pushing the monsters back. But instead, the collection of monsters split in two, half focusing on Gameknight while the others focused on the monkey. A blade whistled past his head. Turning, the User-that-is-not-a-user saw that two of the zombies had gotten behind them. They were surrounding them.
“Dad, back to back!” Gameknight shouted.
Not pausing to respond, Monkeypants pressed his back to his son’s, then focused on the zombies before him. But before the monsters could run in and attack in force, the gate flung open. Hunter and Stitcher came running forward, their swords flashing like iron lightning. They smashed into the zombies, carving through their defenses and tearing HP from their decaying forms. And then more NPCs came forth, each with a sword in their stubby hands. In seconds, the zombies had become outnumbered, and in a minute, they no longer existed.
“Quickly, back inside the village,” Stitcher yelled. “Archers, keep firing!”
Gameknight waited by the gates until everyone was back inside, then he moved through the doors and closed them behind him.
“Did you enjoy that?” Hunter asked.
“What?”
“You know, going out there to face a dozen zombies,” she said. “Just you and your two swords.”
“I guess I wasn’t thinking,” Gameknight explained. “I knew that I couldn’t let those zombies reach the doors. . . . Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize; it was fantastic! The more I watch you fight, the more I think you’re just like Smithy of the Two Swords from ancient times,” Hunter said. “You did great! Maybe you should stop thinking more often.”
“ARCHERS, KEEP FIRING!” Stitcher’s voice rang out from atop one of the towers.
Gameknight ran to a ladder and climbed to the top of the wall. He found his father already there, his bow singing as he fired arrow after arrow at the intruders.
Looking out across the battlefield, Gameknight noticed that the monsters couldn’t get close enough to mount any kind of significant assault. There were just too many arrows coming down upon them.
Across the plains, the User-that-is-not-a-user could see Feyd glaring at him. The king of the endermen looked furious, as did Xa-Tul. Gameknight knew that the endermen could not join the fight unless one of them was attacked, and the defenders knew to fire far away from the dark nightmares. That left only the zombies and, without support, all the decaying green monsters would eventually be defeated.
Maybe we can do this, Gameknight thought.
A roar sounded high overhead. Gameknight saw the glowing eyes of Herobrine as he turned in a great arc and glared down at the village. Many of the NPCs
aimed their arrows high into the air, but the dragon was still too far away to hit. All they could do was wait.
And then in an instant, Herobrine swooped down toward the gates. But instead of smashing the walls with his body or tail, the dragon spat something onto the ground. It was a purple stream of liquid that seemed to sparkle with teleportation particles and something sickly yellow.
When the liquid hit the ground, it spread, flowing outward in all directions like a drop of ink placed in a glass of water. Behind the sparkling wave, Gameknight could see the ground had changed from the lush gray-green savannah grass to something lifeless and pale.
“It can’t be,” Gameknight mumbled.
The wave spread out farther and father, leaving more of the pale yellow blocks in its wake.
“What’s happening?” Monkeypants asked.
“Herobrine spat something on the ground and now everything’s changing,” Hunter said.
Drawing an arrow, she fired at the now-ascending dragon, but with its massive wings beating fast, it was already out of range.
“I don’t like this one bit,” Stitcher yelled from her tower.
She fired an arrow at the spreading wave. It stuck in the ground right before it, but had no effect. The lavender wave and insipid yellow sparks just flowed right through the arrow, doing nothing to the feathered shaft as it passed. In seconds, the wave had reached the fortified cobblestone wall. Shimmering sparks passed through the wall, turning the cobblestone into something pallid and lifeless, though the pattern in the texture remained the same.
Gameknight knew what it was.
“The wave is turning everything into End Stone,” Gameknight shouted. “Herobrine is bringing The End to the Overworld!”
The NPCs gasped.
As the wave moved into the village, those on the wall just stood and watched in horror.
“Don’t just stand there, RUN!” Gameknight screamed.
But the NPCs were unable to move; they were horrified and in shock. When the transformation wave reached the nearest villager, the NPC cried out in pain as the wave flowed over him, then grew silent. When the sparkling purple field moved past the villager, all that remained was a pale yellow statue where the NPC had stood, his weapons lying on the ground at his stony feet.
“He’s completely turned into End Stone,” Gameknight exclaimed. “Everyone fall back, FALL BACK!”
The villagers moved off the fortified wall and away from the oncoming wave. Some were not fast enough and were trapped as the wave engulfed stairways and ladders. Without any other option, the NPCs surrendered to their fate and knelt down in defeat as the purple particles enveloped them. Wrapped in a sickly yellow glow, the NPCs transformed, leaving more cold and lifeless End Stone sculptures as the wave moved past them.
Cries of grief rose up from the NPC defenders. Many fired arrows at the approaching wave, but they did nothing. The wave just continued to advance, changing everything with its poisonous touch.
“Everyone evacuate the village!” Gameknight shouted. “To the minecarts!”
Sprinting with all his speed, the User-that-is-not-a-user darted to the watchtower. If they had to all use the secret ladder, they would be doomed, but Gameknight had planned for this eventuality. Multiple holes could be found in the floor of the watchtower, each one going straight down to a pool of water. When he reached the cobblestone structure, Gameknight saw NPCs leaping into the holes. Far below, he could hear splashes as they landed safely in the water, then followed tunnels to the crafting chamber.
Streaking down out of the sky, Herobrine crashed through the stone wall surrounding the village, obliterating a huge portion and creating an entrance for his monsters.
The dragon glared at Gameknight999, then flapped his wings as he took to the air. Charging through the gaping hole in the fortified wall was Xa-Tul and Feyd, a sea of monsters following close behind.
More villagers were still running to the safety of the tunnels, but the transformation wave was catching too many, turning them into sad, motionless statues. Those who escaped the transformation wave found reenergized zombies and endermen waiting for them in the village courtyard.
“Come on, Gameknight, we gotta go,” Hunter said as she grabbed his arm.
“Wait, I have to help the others,” the User-that-is-not-a-user yelled.
But Hunter did not listen. She dragged him from the scene and shoved him into one of the many holes that had been dug for their escape. He fell down the long shaft and landed with a splash in a shallow pool of water. Standing, he moved into the tunnel as if he were in a trance. He could hear the screams of the villagers above who were unable to escape the End Stone wave. Their cries of terror hammered into his soul.
“Come on, son, we can’t help anyone up there,” his father said.
Snapping out of the stupor, Gameknight found Monkeypants looking at him, his comical monkey face not looking so funny at the moment.
More screams echoed down the tunnel, followed by zombie moans and the chuckles of endermen. After a few moments, Gameknight heard only monsters.
“Quickly, cover the water before the zombies get down here,” Hunter ordered.
Gameknight was unable to speak or function. The lives he’d seen lost up there in the village had stunned him.
“He changed them . . . to . . . End Stone,” the User-that-is-not-a-user mumbled. “How can anyone be so . . . cruel?”
Quickly, Hunter and Stitcher filled in the watery pools with stone, just as the zombies started arriving. One of the monsters managed to land in the water before Stitcher sealed it up, but it was quickly destroyed by NPCs waiting nearby. More zombies fell down the shafts, but with the water covered, the monsters just disappeared as their HP was suddenly brought to zero via their stony impact.
“They’re End Stone,” Gameknight mumbled, still in shock. “How could any creature do that to another living thing?”
Someone grabbed him by the arm and led him through the passages to the crafting chamber. Multiple hands tried to pick up Gameknight and place him in a minecart, but he pushed them away. The horror and shock that had overwhelmed him earlier now gave way to rage.
“How could any creature do that to another?!” Gameknight shouted. “I’m tired of this! I’m tired of Herobrine pushing us around and making us terrified all the time!”
Up near the top of the chamber, a sparkling purple line appeared. As it moved downward and forward, the walls of the crafting chamber slowly changed to End Stone as the transformation wave continued forward, unrelenting.
“How do we stop it?” someone asked, but Gameknight could not tell who it was.
He was consumed with rage.
“HOW COULD SOMEONE DO THAT!” he screamed as he drew his swords. “I WON’T ALLOW IT! I REFUSE!”
“Son, we have to go,” his father whispered directly in his ear. “We can’t fight this thing right now. Our only course of action is to flee.”
Gameknight’s vision finally cleared. He looked into his father’s eyes and recognized fear. As Monkeypants glanced at the approaching transformation wave, Gameknight realized the fear was not for himself, but for his son.
“I’m done doing things that Herobrine expects,” Gameknight shouted at the approaching wave.
Gameknight stood next to the minecart tracks and waited for the last few people to jump into a carts and speed down the tracks.
“Come on, son,” Monkeypants said.
“I’m right behind you. Go!”
Monkeypants nodded his head, then shot down the tracks and disappeared into the dark tunnel. Gameknight climbed into a minecart and moved it next to the powered rail. Reaching out, he pushed on a lever that activated the TNT that had been spread all throughout the chamber. It would detonate in seconds.
Glaring up at the approaching purple transformation wave, Gameknight let out an animal-like growl.
“It’s time to change the game, Herobrine!” he shouted. “You may know a lot about Minecraft, but I know a lot about
griefing! It’s time we did things my way. Prepare yourself, dragon, for the king of the griefers is about to descend upon you, and I will show no mercy.”
Pushing his minecart forward, he sped down the tracks and into the darkness just before a series of explosions tore apart the minecart rails and tunnels. The enemy would not be able to follow them.
“Get ready, Herobrine. I’m coming for you!” the User-that-is-not-a-user shouted.
And in that moment, the music of Minecraft swelled.
CHAPTER 20
HP FOUNTAINS
Herobrine roared with laughter as his transformation wave moved through the village and out into the savannah plain. The dragon was just as surprised by what had happened as the villagers had been. Changing the Overworld into The End had been an unexpected development, and he was very pleased with his new power.
As the wave spread out in all directions, Herobrine noticed dark patches of purplish-black forming on the ground. As he watched, wide pillars slowly sprouted up out of the pale surface like budding plants. Obsidian pillars! Likely when they reached full height, an Ender Crystal would materialize at the top, bathed in flame.
Good, I’ll need the healing powers of my Crystals, Herobrine thought.
Soaring high up into the air, the Ender Dragon looked down at his troops. His endermen were teleporting across the newly formed End Stone, each one collecting HP from the teleportation particles that surrounded their dark bodies. Normally, the purple particles would not have nourished the endermen while in the Overworld, but this was no longer the land of the NPCs. Herobrine had turned the dimensions of Minecraft upside down, bringing complete chaos to the server.
Spotting his dark red general below, the dragon gracefully arced to the ground and settled before the king of the endermen.
“Feyd, that battle did not go well,” Herobrine said.
“We won, Maker. How much better could it be?” Feyd asked.
Herobrine’s eyes glowed bright white with annoyance as he gave the enderman an angry glare.
“Where is that fool, Xa-Tul?” Herobrine growled.
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