Thomas Feynmen was called by many names.

Gameknight999, Defender of Minecraft, the User-That-Is-Not-A-User, the Legendary Hero- the list went ever on. These names provided a kind of solace for him, a reminder that he had made it through hundreds of challenges and come out stronger on the other side. He repeated them like a mantra, clutching their significance like a lifeline.

And here he was now, seventeen years old, and confronting his biggest challenge yet. He could only hope he lived up to the titles he used to hold.
Gameknight slipped his netherite armor over his head, grateful for the update his server had received. The boost in protection came along with a boost in his own confidence. Even so, the user still held his trusty diamond sword in the sheath on his back along with the iron sword he carried with him all those years ago while he was masquerading as the great Smithy.

Names and weapons- those were the things he held onto as he stepped out of the wooden house and found his friends Stitcher and Crafter standing outside. The user nodded to them, plastering a determined expression to his face.

“I’m ready,” he said, laying a hand on his sword hilt. 
Stitcher and Crafter exchanged a glance that Gameknight couldn’t read, before Stitcher let out a sigh of discontent. 

“Gameknight, look,” she began quietly, gesturing lightly with her hands, “I don’t think you’re ready for this. Don’t you want to take someone with you? I mean- this is as if you’re facing a…” she hesitated, before letting out a quiet, “god,” for lack of a better word.

Gameknight narrowed his eyes, frustration beginning to build in him.

“Stitcher, I’ve done this before and succeeded each time. What’s one more?” he asked, giving her a pointed glare that she returned just as fiercely. Gameknight had found he hated to be lectured, especially if they were older than him. Just because Stitcher was now nearing 23 didn’t mean she had any more experience than him. After all, wasn’t it thanks to him she was still alive to see the day?

“What Stitcher is trying to say, Gameknight,” Crafter said, laying a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “is that it isn’t wise to go alone. Hunter and Monet have both volunteered to go with you. I suggest you accept their assistance.”

“No,” Gameknight snapped, stepping away. “This is between me and Herobrine, and no one else.”

The breeze began to pick up, ruffling his auburn-colored hair. It seemed almost to whine as it whistled through the village, letting out a song of warning. Gameknight ignored it as he turned his blue-green gaze back to the villagers in front of him.

“I’m going alone,” he declared, adjusting the backpack on his shoulder that held whatever supplies he would need for the coming confrontation. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

Sticher opened her mouth to say something, but Crafter’s hand on her shoulder caused her to stop, letting out a sigh as she shifted her eyes to the ground in defeat. Gameknight felt only a twinge of regret at this motion, and he found himself standing up a little taller in response.

“Good luck,” was all Crafter said as Gameknight gave a small nod, turning to make his way down the ancient cobblestone road that led out of the village and into the plains. The destruction around him was potent in the crumbling structures and rusted iron doors, all of which were courtesy of Herobrine himself.

Gameknight balled his hand into a fist as he surveyed the damage, gritting his teeth.

How had the NPCs survived this for so long without him? It had been almost five years since his recent return to the old Minecraft server. He had tried to forget. Herobrine was supposed to be dead anyway, why would Gameknight feel the need to come back? His friends would grow old and soon die at a faster rate than he could ever match.

Yet, he had found even if he wasn’t in it, the story of the villagers still lived on.

The woods began to swallow Gameknight up as he took a step onto the mossy ground of the jungle, taking one last look at the village behind him before he was fully engulfed in the greenery.

The jungle was deadly silent- no birds, no rustling of leaves- no, it was simply empty.
Gameknight tried his best not to shiver. He wished he had someone behind him to push him in instead of his own free will having to shove him forwards before his possible demise. Herobrine had been around here somewhere, the villagers had confirmed that.

The question was –

“Gameknight999!” a voice yelled, echoing around the jungle with a cackling laugh that made the user jump. “I never thought you’d show up! Honestly, I figured that my invitation would be perceived as a trap of some kind…”

Gameknight instinctively reached for the sword on his back, whipping around to confront the voice. Suddenly, seemingly out out of nowhere, a dark-clothed figure jumped from above, landing a mere foot from Gameknight’s face. This action causing the boy to stumble backwards as he found Herobrine’s famous white eyes staring straight into his, a maniacal smirk on the villain’s face.

Herobrine’s breath was cold as it blew against the user’s face, making him wince again it.
“…and it looks like you fell for my bait,” Herobrine whispered, a smirk forming on his face.

Gameknight brought his sword up just in time for the clanging of iron against iron to echo around the clearing. He dug his feet into the ground to avoid his limbs to turn to noodles against the strain of Herobrine’s weapon against his.

“Herobrine,” Gameknight let out a breath laugh, trying to sound confident. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

The pair broke a few seconds later, dodging backwards to circle each other, sharp gazes meeting in a moment that almost left Gameknight frozen with the sheer hatred in his opponent’s eyes. He had almost forgotten what that felt like.

Without warning, Herobrine lunged, throwing out his sword in a way that slammed into Gameknight’s ribs, almost taking the breath out of him as the user scrambled to counter the crushing blow. He parried with a strike of his own, one that just glanced off of Herobrine’s left arm, causing him to teleport backwards as he gritted his teeth. Gameknight smiled triumphantly for a moment before using the weakness of his enemy as an opportunity to strike again, this time drawing blood. Blue liquid slipped down Herobrine’s arm, falling into the grass below.
Gameknight let out a breath, momentarily grateful for the fencing lessons he had taken in middle school, before he felt a hard blow to his chest, causing him to stumble, tripping over himself as he fell to the ground. He whipped around quickly, preparing to jump back up, but he was met by Herobrine’s glaring white eyes again, lit by a hidden flame.

“You’ve grown soft!” Herobrine laughed as he leaned over Gameknight, his blade mere inches from the throat of the boy beneath him. “Does five years really change so much?”

Gameknight let out a grunt, reaching for his sword, but Herobrine kicked it away, leaving the user grasping at thin air. The blade dug closer to his throat, causing Gameknight to let out a gasp of pain, and, for the first time, feel true fear running through him.

“In the end, it’s your fatal flaw that kills you. Isn’t that funny?” Herobrine mocked, raising an eyebrow as his eyes flickered with malicious intent. “You’ve always been so afraid of hurting other people that you end up hardly caring for yourself.”

Gameknight’s eyes widened at this comment. Desperately, he flicked his gaze around, straining for anyone to appear out of the woods. There was nothing, nothing except those light piano notes that always seemed to follow him around.

“Congratulations, Gameknight,” Herobrine declared, breaking into a huge grin.

The music… Gameknight thought to himself as he tensed up, faint echoes of his past seeming to drift out from the song. This song meant something- he knew that much- but what was it? 

“You’ve failed,” Herobrine began, preparing to launch his final attack, before he suddenly stopped, letting out a choked gasp. His hand moved to his back as he stumbled backwards, giving Gameknight the opportunity to push himself up from the ground, running to grab his sword.

“If it isn’t the village idiot!” a familiar voice yelled, causing Gameknight to whip his head around, finding an arrow lodged in Herobrine’s back along with a colorful splatter of paint. When Gameknight turned his gaze upwards, he was smiling. Monet sat in the trees next to Stitcher, a satisfied smile on her face.

“Thought you could do this on your own, huh?” Stitcher yelled down, her expression full of excitement.

Hunter appeared from around a corner, pulling her arrow back and letting it fly right into Herobrine’s shoulder. All the while, the music swells to a high level, filling Gameknight’s ears with the sheer power of the melody. He risked turning his gaze left, away from Herobrine, before it landed on an ancient stone building, vines crawling up it’s sullen frame. On the outside lay a broken statue of an old women, a hardened expression on her face.

In that moment, it all came back.

Gameknight turned to Herobrine, letting the music swell in his head and letting out a silent prayer to the one person who was strong enough to defeat this villain. It was only a moment before the user heard that familiar musical voice echo around his head.

Hello, Gameknight. Miss me? the voice asked, and he broke into a grin. The Oracle had returned. Gameknight grabbed his sword, clutching it so hard his knuckled turned white. Herobrine narrowed his eyes, agitated and confused.

“Why don’t we try this again?” Gameknight asked, standing tall over the form of Herobrine who was still hunched on the ground. “But this time, one more thing,” he added, glancing around briefly at Monet with a wink before he stood up taller, white flames begining to lick up his hands. It was the power of Minecraft flowing through his body, granting him the final power he needed. “This time we dance on my playing field.”

Then, he thrust the sword into the ground and the fabric of Minecraft around the pair began to break. Gameknight found himself smiling as the great glitching began, a shattering of the world into small pieces as the jungle began to dissolve, replaced by nothing but the familiar grayness of the Starless Sea, or, as if was known to him, the Dream World.

Herobrine pixelated into life in front of him, the arrow wounds gone but he continued to clutch them with his hand. Once his eyes finally met Gameknight’s, they appeared almost scared. He seemed, dare Gameknight say, vulnerable. It made the user pause for a second, hand hovering over his sword.

The Dream World has funny effects of people. It has a tendency to reveal their true nature, the voice of the Oracle whispered in Gameknight’s brain as a breeze began to whistle through the empty land around them. You’ve seen this in action before, haven’t you? You know this better than anyone.

Gameknight took a step forward, reaching a hand out to the figure on the ground, before the white eyes shot up. This time, though, they were green, filled with an incredible sadness. Gameknight recognized these eyes; he recognized this tear-stained face. An instant later, though, they had morphed back into those hatred filled eyes of white and Gameknight stepped back just in time to counter the blow Herobrine had coming for him. Their blades met in a loud bang, but this time Gameknight had the edge..They fought for a while, each seeming to be on equal footing with the other as they danced the song of the blade, but Herobrine was beginning to tire.

“Herobrine!” Gameknight finally, throwing a hand aside. “This isn’t you!”
It was a risk to let go, but he had to take it. Herobrine was breathing heavily by now, his black hair a sweaty mess over his face, covering one eye. He stared at Gameknight with a burning hatred as he pushed himself up from the ground, sword at the ready as he began to charge the User-That-Is-Not-A-User. 

This time, though, Gameknight didn’t dodge.

Herobrine started at this, narrowing his eyes, but pushed on, sword poised right at Gameknight’s heart. It met with a soft fizz, before merely passing through the user. Herobrine stumbled to a halt, staring at his blade, before shoving it through Gameknight’s armor again. It was met with the same response.

“What is this trickery?” he spat, swiping again through Gameknight’s body.
The user let a smile fall onto his face as he turned to find the mangled villain behind him, still angry and confused. 

“Idiot- why are you smiling?” Herobrine growled, eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. 

“Because I know who you are,” Gameknight began, five years of memories flooding through him as all the pieces of the puzzle tumbled into place. “All this time,” he let out a light laugh, “I’ve been so afraid of you. You were all my insecurities, all my weaknesses, and all my mistakes.”

Herobrine shifted his sword from hand to hand but didn’t attack. He paused, as if waiting.

“Herobrine, have you ever wondered how you’ve never been able to attack me? How you’ve always been so close but never quite reach your goal?” Gameknight asked, tilting his head. “Why you always needed to have monsters to do your bidding? How you have so much power on this server?”

Herobrine’s eyes began to glitch, turning a soft green again, mirroring Gameknight’s own colored irises. They were no longer filled with anger, instead a deep curiosity and, almost, relief. He dropped his sword, letting it disappear into the shadows beneath them as the great song of Minecraft began to drift away.

“Because, in the end,” Gameknight murmured as the Dream World dissolved and they were back in the jungle again, surrounded by villagers who had come to defend their fearless leader. Monet was still in the tree, Hunter and Crafter still holding their weapons, and Digger holding his pickaxe with a bewildered smile on his face.

Gameknight999 let a smile fall over his face as he realized that the action-packed story of Minecraft was finally coming to a close.

He murmured one last sentence to Herobrine, laying a hand on the shoulder of the ghost.

“You’re all the lessons I had to learn.”
—
I hope you enjoyed this short story! In this alternate universe, Herobrine is like the alternate personality of Gameknight. He’s like a ghost of sorts, floating around as the manifestation of all the negative parts of him. Originally, he was supposed to be a kid stuck in the server, but as I started to get into it more, this “alternate Gameknight” was born!