Steve questioned Eliot, “What has happened since I left? We just heard an explosion. Do you know what exploded? Has a man wearing a cape terrorized the people and the villagers? Are there random attacks from hostile mobs?”
“Slow down, Steve.” Eliot smiled. “That was too many questions. We’ve been lucky. Things have been quiet since you left. The explosion you just heard came from Kyra’s house. She has been constructing and testing different booby traps to help protect us from the evil griefer who is attacking the Overworld.”
“You know about the caped griefer?” asked Steve.
“We didn’t know he wore a cape. But we know the Overworld is under attack and it’s the work of a griefer. We’ve been through this before. Kyra was trying to help protect us.”
“We need to see Kyra,” Steve told Eliot, and the gang rushed to Kyra’s house.
Steve let out a sigh of relief when he passed his wheat farm and saw that the farmhouse was still intact. They knocked on the door of his neighbor, Kyra’s, home.
“Steve! Lucy! Adam!” Kyra exclaimed, coming around the house from the backyard. “I’m so glad you’re here!”
Lucy introduced Kyra to her new friends.
“This is fantastic,” said Kyra. “We are going to need all the help we can get.”
“Great. We want to help.” Phoebe smiled at Kyra.
“Follow me.” Kyra waved for the friends to follow her and led them into her large backyard, which was strewn with booby traps.
As they walked around the yard, Steve remarked, “Eliot said things have been quiet here.”
“Yes, but I know we’re about to be attacked. People from various towns have been arriving here each day. They are refugees. They had to leave their towns and villages because they were destroyed or are currently under attack from the griefer army.”
“How do you know the village is about to be attacked?” asked Jane.
“If everyone else’s village was destroyed, ours has to be next.”
Lucy blurted out, “We met the griefer. He wears a green hat, a purple cape, and a shield.”
Lucy was thinking about other traits she could describe that would help Kyra identify the griefer, but then they heard another explosion.
“Oh no!” Kyra cried. “That definitely didn’t come from me. We are under attack!”
The gang ran out of Kyra’s house, but they didn’t get past the front garden. A sea of arrows flew at them. Lucy tried to dodge one of the arrows, but it hit her unarmored leg.
“Ouch!” she cried as she looked up at the caped man and his army of men dressed in jeans, grey T-shirts, and wings. Some of the soldiers were flying above them.
The caped griefer laughed. “We’re going to destroy your town.”
Kyra screamed, “Never!” She called to her friends, “Follow me!”
The group followed Kyra back to her house, swerving and dodging to avoid the many arrows the griefers were shooting at them.
“I can’t believe these griefers can fly.” Jane stared at a winged man who flew above them.
“It looks like they are gliding,” remarked Maya.
“It looks like they are going to be really hard to fight,” added Jane.
Adam shot an arrow at one of the winged griefers and the griefer fell to the ground. But another glided down and flung an arrow at Lucy’s head.
“Oh no!” Lucy cried out as the arrow hit her.
“Lucy!” Phoebe called, sprinting to her side. “Take this milk.”
Lucy sipped milk as she followed Kyra, who raced toward her home “We have to lead them into my house,” she called. “I’m going to blow it up with TNT.”
“But we’ll be in the house with them!” Lucy was confused.
“No, we won’t. I built a stronghold underneath my house.” Kyra opened the door and led them to the stronghold.
The caped griefer ran toward the house and hollered, “You can’t hide in there.” He ordered his soldiers to break down the door.
“They aren’t here!” one of the soldiers called to the caped man, searching the house.
“What? That’s impossible.” He went inside to investigate.
Kaboom!
Chapter 7
MYSTERY IN THE MINE
Kyra led the group down a dimly lit tunnel made of dirt. Phoebe grabbed a torch from her inventory and placed it on the wall.
“This is quite a large stronghold,” Phoebe said and then asked, “You built this place yourself?”
“Most of it was constructed by another griefer. I just dug a tunnel from my house and opened it up,” Kyra said. “It had been closed for years.”
Lucy remembered when Henry had been trapped in this stronghold and they had spent days searching for him. Now they were using the same tunnels that had trapped their friend to escape a new enemy. Lucy wondered where in the Overworld her treasure-hunting friends, Max and Henry, were. She hoped they weren’t being destroyed by this griefer invasion.
“Watch out!” Maya shrieked.
Cave spiders emerged from a room in the stronghold and crawled toward them.
Lucy struck one of them with her sword. “At least it’s not silverfish.”
Everyone agreed.
“Is there a way out of here?” asked Debbie.
“Yes, follow me. If we walk down this tunnel. …” Kyra paused and pointed out a light peeking through a long tunnel. “We can crawl through a hole that leads into Valentino’s butcher shop.”
The gang walked down the long hall, watching the ground for cave spiders and silverfish. Lucy was surprised when she heard voices coming from the opposite direction. She stopped.
“Does anyone hear those voices?” she asked.
Steve replied, “Yes. Do you think the griefers made it down here?”
“I’m not sure, but we should see who is down here with us,” suggested Lucy.
Jane’s voice shook.“Let’s just get out of here.”
Kyra announced, “It sounds like the voices are coming from the mine.”
“The mine?” Steve asked.
Lucy and Kyra walked toward the mine. The voices grew louder. Lucy said, “There’s definitely someone in the mine.”
Everyone took out their diamond swords, ready for battle.
Lucy peeked in the room and saw two people mining. They looked familiar. “Henry? Max?”
Henry’s hands were filled with diamonds. “Lucy! It’s so great seeing you here. We just arrived in town. We went to Steve’s house, but he wasn’t there.”
“We tried to hide in Kyra’s house but it had exploded,” Max interrupted. “There was a hole in the center of the ground where her house once stood, and it took us to this incredible, treasure-filled mine. Do you see the diamonds?” Max showed Lucy his diamonds.
Henry placed his diamonds in his inventory. “Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be at Minecrafters Academy? Max and I are all set to go to your graduation next week.”
“I’m looking forward to hearing your speech,” said Max enthusiastically as he placed the rest of his diamonds in his inventory.
“There is no graduation,” Lucy said with a frown. “It was cancelled. The Overworld is under attack, and most of our campus has been destroyed.” Lucy’s eyes welled with tears.
“Oh, Lucy, that’s awful,” said Max. “I knew a griefer was attacking the Overworld, but I didn’t know it was that bad.”
“It is,” Lucy cried. “And it looks like they’re back!”
“Ugh!” Steve screamed as two arrows struck his arm.
A laugh boomed throughout the enclosed space. Then a voice yelled, “Game over!”
Lucy fled toward the entrance to the mine and gasped. There were hundreds of winged griefers in the stronghold. The ones who didn’t have wings carried shields. Lucy could barely move. All of the soldiers aimed their bow and arrows at her. Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Lucy was actually relieved to respawn in the small house outside the swamp. She sat u
p in the bed and grabbed an apple from her inventory, waiting for the others to respawn. As she chewed her apple, she grew impatient.
“How could they survive that battle?” she asked herself.
Lucy paced around the small house. She walked outside. The sky was growing dark. Two bats flew in the distance, and in the sky the moon was full. She decided to TP to her friends.
But before she TPed, she heard someone call out her name, and Maya walked out of the house.
Lucy smiled and raced toward Maya. “I’m so glad you’re here. How are the others?”
“Not good. The caped man took everyone prisoner,” Maya explained. “I was accidently destroyed when a silverfish bit me.”
Lucy gave Maya an apple. “Take this. You’re still weak.”
“Thanks,” said Maya. “You can’t believe what this evil griefer is making our friends do for him. He forced them all to place bricks of TNT around Eliot’s blacksmith shop and Valentino’s butcher shop, and he is making them blow up the shops.”
“How could he do that? Those shops are vital to the town’s survival, and Eliot and Valentino are my good friends. I don’t want to see those shops destroyed.”
“I told you, this is a very serious battle.” Maya finished the apple.
“We need to TP back to our friends, right now!” Lucy exclaimed.
Lucy and Maya TPed, but they arrived in the center of the village too late. The minute they arrived, there was a loud explosion.
Kaboom!
“No!” Valentino’s cries rang throughout the village.
Lucy hurried over to Valentino’s side to comfort him. “I’m so sorry about your shop.”
Valentino was devastated. “How can Steve do this to me? He’s my friend. Steve is always in my shop.”
Eliot ran to Valentino’s side. “Steve also destroyed my blacksmith shop! I thought he was one of my best friends.”
“It’s not his fault,” Lucy said.
But Eliot the blacksmith and Valentino the butcher didn’t believe her.
“Lucy,” Valentino explained, “I saw it with my own eyes. Steve is a griefer.”
A townsperson walking past them overheard Valentino. She stopped. “Did I hear you say that Steve is the griefer?”
“Yes,” Eliot nodded his head.
The townsperson raced through town screaming, “We found the griefer. It’s Steve!”
Townspeople ran from their homes, shouting in unison, “Steve is a griefer!”
Lucy was terrified. Maya called out, “It’s not Steve!”
Nobody listened. A gang of villagers and townspeople sprinted into the center of town, enraged.
Just at that moment, Steve stumbled into town, looking disoriented. The villagers immediately charged.
“Help!” Steve yelled.
All Lucy could hear was the roar of the angry crowd that surrounded Steve, as one of the townspeople aimed his bow and arrow and screamed, “You’re going to pay for this!” The crowd drowned out Steve’s cries for help.
“He’s innocent!” Lucy called to the angry mob, but nobody listened.
Jane walked into town and stood next to Steve, her bow and arrow at the ready. She shot an arrow at a townsperson. “Listen up! Steve isn’t the griefer.”
When the arrow pierced the townsperson, the crowd directed their attention to Jane.
“Why are you attacking us?” the townsperson asked.
“Because I’m trying to tell you that Steve is innocent.”
“Then why did he blow up Valentino’s butcher shop and Eliot’s blacksmith shop?” questioned the crowd.
“The real griefers forced him to do it,” Jane told them.
“Who are the real griefers?” asked a townsperson.
“There’s a man wearing a purple cape and a green hat,” she stammered. “He has an army of winged men.”
“Where are they?” demanded the townsperson.
“They’ve disappeared,” she replied. “They took us prisoner, but then they let us go.”
“We don’t believe you!” a villager cried out.
“Attack Steve!” cried another.
Steve was helpless as a large, angry crowd sprinted toward him.
Chapter 8
TNT
Lucy felt helpless. She had to save Steve, but she didn’t know how to do it. She grabbed a brick of TNT and placed it where it wouldn’t hurt anyone. Then, she ignited it.
Kaboom!
The explosion rocked the village.
“Another griefer!” one of the townspeople cried.
“No, I’m not,” Lucy defended herself. “I just wanted to get your attention. You are focusing on the wrong people. There is an evil, caped man, and he is taking over the Overworld. You have to help us stop him.”
“Nonsense!” a townsperson cried.
A group of townspeople sprinted toward Lucy. “Get her!” one of them shouted.
Lucy’s heart was beating fast. “Help!” she cried to her friends.
“You have the wrong people,” a voice called out from the entrance to town.
Everyone stopped and stared at the caped man. He stood by the iron golem. “I’m going to destroy this golem, and then I will spawn zombies to attack your town. As I told your friend Steve, the game is over. I am in control of the Overworld.”
A townsperson gasped. “Steve was telling the truth.”
Another townsperson exclaimed, “There really is caped criminal.”
“Yes,” the man in the cape announced. “I am your worst enemy. I can’t believe you thought Steve was behind this attack. You don’t trust your own friend? Hasn’t Steve been protecting your village?”
The caped man walked over to Steve. “How can you ever befriend these villagers and townspeople? Look how quickly they turned against you?”
Steve stood silently, looking between the griefer and the friends who had just attacked him.
Valentino rushed over and tried to explain. “But, we saw you with the TNT, Steve. We thought you were the griefer.”
“I knew if I forced Steve to destroy your little shop, you’d believe he was evil. You’re so easy to manipulate.” The man in the green hat and purple cape laughed loudly. “This is why I don’t have any friends, just people who work for me.”
The man summoned his army. One of the soldiers asked, “What do you want me to do, boss?”
“Destroy that iron golem,” he ordered.
The soldiers rushed to the iron golem and destroyed it.
“Good job!” the man commended his minions.
“What next?” asked another soldier.
“I want you to destroy this town with TNT. Obliterate it. I want nothing left of it.” He laughed again.
But as the evil man laughed, the sound was drowned out by thunder, and rain began to pour down. Lucy noticed that the caped criminal looked confused.
“Look, boss. There are zombies,” a soldier pointed out.
The sky grew darker, as if someone was manipulating the weather and the time. Endermen walked past them as skeletons spawned.
“Endermen!” a soldier called out. “How?”
“Don’t stare at them!” the caped man informed his soldiers.
An Enderman shrieked and teleported to the soldier. Lucy’s first instinct was to help the soldier and lead him to the large body of water that was right outside the village, but she knew that he was the enemy and she shouldn’t help him.
Skeletons shot arrows at the townspeople and the soldiers. The caped man demanded, “Everyone, fight. Use your skills!”
Lucy looked around and noticed that she and her friends were fighting this battle alongside the griefers. This could only mean one thing: someone else attacking the Overworld.
The caped man was angry as he battled a zombie and an Enderman. “Help me,” he called out.
Lucy was battling skeletons. Jane and Phoebe joined Lucy in battle. Jane pointed out, “This appears to be the work of another griefer.”
“I know,”
Lucy agreed. “I think we have a bigger battle on our hands than we imagined.”
Zombies lumbered through the town, ripping doors off their hinges and turning villagers into zombie villagers.
Steve ran to Lucy. “I hope you have a lot of golden apples in your inventory. We’re going to need them to help these villagers.”
Phoebe was shocked. “You’re going to help the villagers? After they were so quick to try to destroy you?”
“They didn’t believe you, Steve,” Jane added.
“I know, but I can’t let them be destroyed by zombies. They are helpless. And you can’t blame them. They saw me blow up Valentino and Eliot’s shops.”
Eliot and Valentino ran over to Steve, fending off their enemies long enough to apologize.
“This is no time for apologies,” declared Steve. “We have to defeat the real enemy.”
Two block-carrying Endermen walked toward the Steve and his friends.
Lucy accidently made eye contact with one of the lanky mobs. “It’s going to attack me!” she cried out.
She dashed to the water. She didn’t want to look back at the battle. Lucy jumped into the water. She was relieved to see the Endermen follow her into the ocean and get destroyed.
The water was refreshing, and Lucy wanted to escape into the deep blue ocean, but she knew she couldn’t abandon her friends. She had to drag herself out of the water and into the battle.
She rushed toward the village, but stopped and looked up when she heard a loud roar. It was the Ender Dragon.
Chapter 9
IS THIS THE END?
“The Ender Dragon!” the man in the purple cape screamed as the dragon lunged at him. Its scaly wing struck him.
Lucy saw the caped villain was growing weaker, and she sprinted toward him with her diamond sword. She slammed her sword against the side of the dragon and then struck the man in the cape.
“Stop!” he cried out, but Lucy didn’t listen. With a last blow from hersword, she destroyed the man.
His soldiers were horrified and ran toward Lucy, ready to attack. Before they could reach her, the Ender Dragon flew into the group of soldiers, destroying them.
Lucy could see the dragon flying right toward her. She tried to avoid being struck by the dragon by running into the library. Avery the Librarian was hiding behind a stack of books.
Battle in the Overworld Page 3
