CHAPTER 24

REALIZATION

Gameknight999 hugged the smooth cavern wall, trying not to breathe. A skeleton was approaching below. The bony monster moved along the edge of the cobblestone platform, coming closer and closer. Walking up to the edge, the monster looked down into the seemingly endless darkness, then stepped away from the precipice. He hadn’t thought to look up at the wall, where the User-that-is-not-a-user stood flattened against the wall on a single block ledge.

Gameknight’s foot had slipped moments earlier, and the noise drew the attention of the guard. If the monster saw him, he was in serious trouble.

Staying perfectly still, the User-that-is-not-a-user tried to slow his heartbeat. The rhythmic pounding of his heart sounded incredibly loud within his chest and he was afraid maybe the skeleton would hear it.

The monster looked around, then glanced up at the large numbers at the far end of the cavern. The number 13 shone bright in the darkness, which made the skeleton smile. Turning back, the creature shuffled away, satisfied that there was nothing to see.

Gameknight999 slowly exhaled, then took a calming breath as his heartbeat slowed to a normal pace. He could feel tiny square beads of sweat forming on his forehead and running down his face. They stung as the little cubes made it into his eyes, but he ignored the discomfort and concentrated on the task at hand. Pulling out another cobblestone block, he placed it on the sheer wall and moved forward another step, slowly making his way around the perimeter of the huge cavern. His target, the lone command block, was still a few blocks out of reach, but he was getting closer.

On the other side of the cavern, he could barely see Hunter and Butch, but every now and then a glint of red light would reflect off someone’s armor, showing him their progress. They were almost to the far section of the cobblestone platform and would soon be moving to Phase II; he had to hurry up with his task.

Placing the blocks faster, Gameknight moved along the narrow ledge he was building. The ticking numbers on the other side of the gigantic cavern made him want to hurry, but he knew any misstep would mean his death; he had to be careful.

Placing more cobblestone, he was soon nearly in reach of the command block. For safety’s sake, he stuck two more blocks against the sheer wall and moved closer to the checkered orange cube. It was now within reach.

Crouching, Gameknight stretched out a hand and set it on the block. Closing his eyes, he imagined he was at his computer, as he had done many times while within the game. Focusing his mind on the mouse he liked to use, he imagined himself moving the cursor over the command block. With every fiber of his being, he tried to right click the command block with his mind. Instantly, a series of letters appeared in his mind, and Gameknight was shocked at what he saw. The command block, when activated, was programmed to make a hundred spiders and fifty cave spiders appear on the platform. If Shaivalak had flipped that lever, the NPCs would have been doomed.

He tried to erase the command, but for some reason, he couldn’t.

Well, if I can’t delete the command, then let’s see if I can change it, Gameknight thought.

Reaching out with his mind, Gameknight focused on his mouse and imagined part of the command highlighted, then replaced some of the item numbers with another that he knew well. But would this new command take effect? Gameknight999 wasn’t sure. All he could do was hope that he’d done it right.

Just then, the User-that-is-not-user heard a splashing sound on the other side of the chamber. All of the skeletons near the narrow bridge turned toward the sound, curious to see what it was. But none would venture too far into the darkness; bravery was not a skeleton’s strongest characteristic.

An iridescent purple glow formed on the opposite side of the cavern, revealing Hunter and Butch standing knee deep in water. Drawing an arrow, Hunter fired it straight up into the air. The projectile instantly burst aflame when it left her bow, streaking through the air like a feathery meteor.

“NPCs!” one of the skeletons yelled. “There are NPCs in the chamber!”

Hunter spun and fired an arrow at the outspoken skeleton, then followed the shot with two more, silencing the squad leader and leaving his bones scattered on the ground. But it was too late. Two skeletons were already running across the bridge to gather more forces, too far away to silence.

A loud splash sounded near Hunter. Gameknight watched as villagers jumped out of the opening high up on the cave wall. They plummeted at least thirty blocks until they landed in the water that Butch and Hunter had spread across the stone platform, the liquid cushioning their fall. Once they landed, the NPCs waded out and immediately began building fortifications out of stone and dirt. Leaning out from behind blocks of cobblestone, they fired on the skeletons that were rushing toward them, keeping the small squad of monsters from approaching.

A noise that sounded like a million sticks clattering together echoed through the chamber. Reaper, the king of the skeletons, ran across the narrow bridge with at least a hundred skeletons following close behind. Gameknight had to get to the other end of the bridge to stop that mob!

Removing his iron armor, he quickly replaced it with his enchanted diamond armor. There was no sense in staying hidden any longer. Then he drew his diamond sword with his right hand and his shield with his left. Sprinting with all his speed, Gameknight charged at the skeletons, his battle cry echoing through the chamber.

“FOR MINECRAFT!”

The echo made it sound as if he had fifty warriors behind him, which caused the bony creatures to pause in fear for just a moment, which was all Gameknight needed. Charging into the small group of skeletons on their side of the bridge, he smashed into one with his shield, then landed three quick hits. The creature disappeared with a pop. He hoped the NPCs would take care of the other skeletons while Gameknight faced the bridge.

CLANK!

An arrow bounced off his shield. Turning toward the sound, Gameknight found the skeleton king drawing another arrow, the razor-sharp point aimed directly at his head. The User-that-is-not-a-user brought up his shield just in time to deflect the projectile harmlessly away.

“You are a fool for coming here, User-that-is-not-a-user,” the skeleton king rasped.

“We’ll see who the fool really is,” Gameknight replied.

He moved toward the end of the bridge, but before he could reach it, pain exploded across his back. Spinning quickly, he found two skeletons facing him, their bows empty. They each drew another arrow, but before they could fire, Gameknight charged, his shield held out in front of him. Another arrow stuck him in his back, causing more pain to radiate through his body like fire. Hacking laughter came from the bridge. Gameknight knew it was Reaper.

I can’t stay here. There are too many skeletons nearby, Gameknight thought.

“Gameknight, get back here, NOW!” Hunter yelled from the newly-constructed fortification.

Spinning around, the User-that-is-not-a-user steadily walked backward, careful not to trip and fall, while deadly missiles struck his shield. Hunter and Stitcher stepped to his side and fired at the nearest of the skeletons, driving them back, allowing Gameknight to turn and run. In seconds, they were all safely behind the barricade.

“What were you thinking?” Hunter asked as she pulled the many arrows out of his shield.

“Ahh … well … I was …”

“You weren’t thinking, that was the problem,” she said.

“The timer, look!” Crafter exclaimed.

All the NPCs turned and looked up at the glowing display on the far side of the cavern. The number clicked from 11 to 10. The redstone lamp that sat near the spewing lava beat relentlessly, pulsing out the cadence to its inevitable end.

“We must hurry,” Butch said. “I can see there is another narrow bridge leading to the dark section of the cavern. There are blocks all across the floor; those must be the command blocks.”

“Let’s get over there and break up all the redstone,” Digger said.

There are too many of them,” Gameknight said. “We’ll never get them all.”

“But at least we can save some of the villages,” Crafter said.

“Oh no … it’s too late,” Stitcher said. “Look!”

Another fifty skeletons emerged from the shadows and crossed the bridge that led to the command blocks. Now all of the skeletons had crossed over onto the cobblestone platform. They were surrounded.

“This is turning out to be a really great plan,” Hunter said to Gameknight as she fired an arrow at a skeleton.

Gameknight sighed.

Then a clicking sound echoed off the cavern walls. Near the lone command block, a dark shape climbed around the edge of the platform from underneath it and moved out into the light. Multiple bright purple eyes shone in the darkness, each filled with hatred and a desire to destroy.

“You sssshould not have come here, Gameknght999,” Shaivalak said. “You are a fool for tempting my patience.”

“I will stop at nothing to protect the NPCs of Minecraft,” Gameknight shouted back, trying to sound assertive. But his voice cracked with fear.

The skeletons laughed.

“You sound really confident,” Reaper said as he moved across the platform and stood at the spider queen’s side.

“Thissss isss Herobrine’ssss chamber, and you have no place here,” Shaivalak said. “But at leasssst you will get to watch hisss revenge happen in persssson.”

“We will stop you, somehow, spider,” Gameknight said. His voice sounded even weaker.

The spider queen laughed.

“By defying Herobrine, you caussssed thissss fate for the villagerssss of Minecraft,” the spider queen said. “You and you alone will be ressssponsible for their deathssss.”

“No,” Gameknight pleaded. “This can’t be happening.”

His voice weakened as his legs began to shake. He looked around at all the skeletons that surrounded them, and he knew they were completely outnumbered. They had no avenue of escape and no hope of surviving this battle.

Glancing up at the timer, he watched the display click to 9. Time was running out.

“Herobrine alwayssss told ussss you were a coward,” the spider queen said, her eyes glowing bright with hatred. “The Maker’ssss device here and hissss actionssss in the passsst have proven it. He hassss defined you to be a coward, and now hissss prediction hassss come true.”

“No …” Gameknight pleaded, but then something in the Shaivalak’s words struck a nerve.

His actions do not define me, he thought. Only I can define myself. His actions defined the kind of monster he truly was, not me.

Gameknight drew his diamond sword and stepped over the barricade to stand out in the open.

“No. That monster does not define the kind of person I am,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said. “Only my actions and choices define me.”

He stood a little taller.

Crafter was right. This is not my fault; it’s Herobrine’s, Gameknight thought. I did everything I could, and we ended up destroying that monster in our basement … at least I think I did? But I know one thing for sure: I didn’t build this command block contraption, and I didn’t start the timer; he did. And I refuse to let it continue!

But what if Herobrine is still alive in Minecraft? A stray thought, one of his many fears, spoke up in the back of his mind.

“No, I saw the computer destroyed,” he whispered softly to himself. “I saw the hard drive and computer chips shattered into a million pieces. If Herobrine were still in Minecraft, he would have shown his gloating face by now. That evil virus would have tried to amplify my guilt and would want to revel in my despair. No … Herobrine must be gone.”

It sounded like a plea. He tried to push away his fears, but the uncertainty of Herobrine’s fate still hid in the shadowy corners of his mind like a persistent nightmare.

“No,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said in a strong voice. “I am in command of my own destiny, and I say NO MORE!”

Bravery flowed through his body as he thought of all the things he’d done and all the NPCs he’d helped. He always chose the path that would help the most people, and the User-that-is-not-a-user realized he was proud of that fact.

As the courage pushed away the feelings of guilt and uncertainty, Gameknight glared at the spider queen, then drew his iron sword and took another step closer. The skeletons wanted to attack, but the spider queen held up a claw, holding back the bony creatures.

“I am the User-that-is-not-a-user, protector of Minecraft, and my fate is my own to define, not your pathetic Maker's," Gameknight said, his voice filled with confidence. It echoed off the stone walls and sounded as if it were coming at them from all sides.

“You wordsss are weak, jusssst like Herobrine alwayssss ssssaid,” spat Shaivalak. “My only wissssh issss that the Maker were here to witnessss your desssstruction.”

"Oh, really?” Gameknight replied. “You miss your precious Maker?”

The echoes of uncertainty that still bounced around in his mind all vaporized as the truth surfaced within his head. Herobrine was gone! He glanced at Crafter behind him. The young NPC’s unibrow was raised with curiosity as revelation showed on his face.

“If he were here, he would desssstroy you himsssself,” the spider queen hissed. “But he issss taking hissss revenge on the physsssical world.”

Gameknight laughed.

“Your precious Maker never made it to the Internet. We trapped him in a puny little computer, then destroyed it with an old, rusty hammer.” He paused for a moment, then gave the spider queen a smile. “Do you think I could come back into Minecraft if Herobrine were destroying the physical world? Would I have time to come play a computer game?”

“No!” she cried. “He issss desssstroying the physsssical world assss we sssspeak. He ssssaid he would, and then he wassss going to bring ussss into that world with him.”

“Now look who is being the fool,” Gameknight said with a smile. “I deleted Herobrine like an old, useless program that served no purpose. Everything about him is gone, as if he never existed.”

Shaivalak’s eyes glowed bright purple, filled with hate. They lit the chamber with a lavender hue that allowed Gameknight to see the massive field of command blocks on the next platform.

“You think everything about Herobrine is gone?” the spider queen asked. “Well then, let me sssshow you what he left for you … a sssspecial pressssent dedicated to this moment; our meeting again.”

Reaching up, she placed one of her wicked curved claws on the lever next to the command block and pushed. It moved slowly at first, then clicked in place, activating the redstone around the orange-checkered cube.

The air between Gameknight999 and Shaivalak began to shimmer and sparkle. Then a hundred creatures appeared … and the User-that-is-not-a-user gasped as hundreds of red eyes stared up at him.