Minecraft (Masters of Minecraft Box Set Book 1)

by Terry Mayer

  Oh Notch, don't you realize the power that you created when Minecraft was born? I might have started out as a hoax but you know I am real.

  -But how is that possible?

  All things are possible if enough people believe. Millions of fans believe in your creation Notch.

  -What difference does that make? A computer game is still a game however many people play it.

  Really? With a creative game like Minecraft, people don't play, they craft, and the love they put into their creations has helped me to create also.

  -But what have you created?

  You.

  - What?

  You. Me. Notch. Herobrine. We're all the same. I am you Notch and you are me. I hoped you would join me in the game and we could have joined but you declined my offer.

  Staring at the blinking cursor Notch looks up at Steve. "Well?"

  "You got me. But Herobrine is just a character created by a fan, he's not you."

  "No he was supposed to be my dead brother."

  "You had a brother?"

  "No. That's what I mean, it's just made up. So what now?"

  "Ask it what it thinks it is?"

  -Herobrine, what are you?

  I am you Notch.

  -Not who are you but what are you.

  I am you.

  -But that does not make sense!

  Life is strange Notch. I am you, so then, you are me. Now it is time. Are you ready?

  "Oh oh Steve, I think we have a wacko!" exclaims Notch.

  "Yeah, but play along for now. He has our servers and mainframe, let's find out what he wants."

  "Ok, what should we ask?"

  "Here, let me," Steve says leaning over the keyboard and typing.

  -What do you...?

  Steve, you are a worthy player but you were not invited to the tournament. Please don't interact again.

  "Wow, it knows when I'm typing; there must be surveillance cameras here."

  "I don't know Steve, this is way beyond weird. I suggest we play along, you know, all those science fiction movies we have watched, let's just say this is real, just in case."

  "I'm with you there Notch, but all the movies suggest we just pack up and run."

  "Yeah, but I created Minecraft. I'm not up and running, just because some weird stuff starts happening."

  "Ok boss, just play it cool, don't upset it or anything. What are you going to type?"

  "Well, he asked me if I'm ready, so let's say yes."

  - Yes I'm ready, but for what?"

  Good, let the game commence.

  With that, the screen goes blank. Typing furiously Notch tries to re-establish contact but to no avail. Looking at Steve, he asks. "What was that all about?" Then the computer glows green and gives out a huge, blinding green flash.

  Holding his hand in front of his face Steve exclaims "Notch, what the heck was that?" Not receiving a reply he opens his eyes and looks towards Notch, but the chair is empty, just a laptop spewing green smoke.

  *****

  11 - Friendship

  Looking up at Jethro, who has his sword raised and ready to strike, Natasha asks. "So what happens now?"

  "What?" he stammers.

  "If you're going to kill me you might as well get on with it."

  Looking bewildered Jethro follows her gaze and sees his own arm raised, sword in hand. "Oh sorry," he mumbles, dropping his arm. "I only had that in case I came across some mobs."

  "So you're not going to kill me?"

  "Of course not, why would I want to do that?"

  "Uh, hello! Because it's the game!" retorts Natasha with total disbelief in her voice.

  "Well it may be your game young lady but that's not how I play."

  "Uh, good luck with that. Well, if you're not going to kill me you could at least help me up."

  "Sorry, of course," Jethro apologizes. Reaching out his hand, he pulls Natasha to her feet. "I'm Jethro Skybuilder and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

  "Natasha. So, is this it or did anyone else survive?"

  "As far as I can tell no one died but with the howling wind and rain there could have been an announcement that we missed."

  BOOM. The canon sound explodes in the air and then the thunderous voice announces...

  The second competitor has been eliminated. Captain Sparkles has not proven worthy. Ten competitors remain. Continue the tournament.

  "Speak of the devil," she smirks. "So, what happens now Jethro, we just throw in together, tag team with each other? Is that what you're looking for?"

  "Good heavens no, I was just looking for some dry land, I felt so sea sick I needed to get off my boat."

  Studying her new companion, Natasha senses that he is genuine. "Good, sorry I was a little rude but you never know what sort of person is going to turn up. You do look a little green around the edges, and seeing as you are all blocky that really is true," she laughs.

  Laughing with her, Jethro is relieved that the situation has been resolved. "Right, so two competitors' dead with ten to go. Have you any idea what this tournament is all about?"

  "No clue. One minute I was playing on my laptop the next I'm falling through space, then whammo, here I am. Just figured I'd do what I always do and started to build a castle when that wave hit."

  "Yes, I was doing the same, just playing on my laptop when something weird happened and the next thing I know I was here. Built a nice house and farm when Darknight attacked me, would have killed me too except that ...." stopping in mid sentence Jethro decides to keep the health point information to himself, "except that I got lucky and managed to take him out first."

  "You killed Darknight?" Natasha asks in awe. "He was one of the greatest grifters in minecraft. Not a nice person, for sure, but he certainly was talented."

  "Like I said, I got lucky. Darknight got the drop on me but was so sure he would win that he, umm, tripped and fell over a cliff."

  "Oh my God. That is so cool. Darknight falling to his death is such a rooky mistake. If we ever get out of here, that is being posted on the forum, Darknight the Noob. Love it!" she laughs slapping Jethro on the back.

  "Yes, well, let's see if we get out of here alive, shall we?"

  "Do you always talk like that?"

  "Like what?"

  "Like you're old. How old are you anyway?"

  "None of your business. Now, staying alive, any ideas?"

  "Yeah, first off, don't fall off any cliffs!"

  "Oh yes, very droll, now seriously, what are your ideas?"

  "Chill man, you need to lighten up. As you may have noticed this is not your normal Minecraft, so we have to be prepared, expect the unexpected. We also need to watch each other's backs. Never really thought a grifter would be a problem but after your experience with Darknight, we have to expect the worst as there could be more of them here. Talking of them, have you seen anyone else?"

  "Darknight obviously, but I also ran into a chap called Nathan who seems to have ended up here by mistake."

  "How so?"

  "Well, he is here with Jay Lightningbuilder and his ...."

  "Jay's here? Cool, he's solid, we need to find him and work together."

  "Something to consider, but as I was saying, Nathan is here with Jay and his brother Jack. It seems when Jay was brought through, Jack and Nathan got dragged in by mistake."

  "So does that mean they are playing or are just sort of extras?"

  "From the names floating above their heads I guess they are playing."

  "And can they?"

  "Uh, can they what?"

  "Play Jethro, come on, keep up. Can they play Minecraft?"

  "Uh sorry, uh no. Jack is just a noob and Nathan had never even heard of it before he arrived here."

  "Man, bet it sucks to be them right now."

  "Yes, quite. Now you mentioned teaming up, is that still your plan?"

  "You have a better one?"

  "No, I guess not." Sticking out his hand Jethro smiles. "Nice to make your acquaintance
partner."

  "Man Jethro, if we're going to be hanging out then you really need to start talking like a normal person."

  *****

  12 - The Infection

  "You ok Nate?" asks Jack, standing over his friend who has been sick over the side of the boat for the last few hours.

  Looking up with tear streaked eyes he croaks. "Yeah, thanks Jack."

  Laughing hysterically Jack replies. "Good, because you look terrible, if only you could see yourself."

  "What do you mean?"

  "You're bright green Nate. Kermit green. Feeling a little green around the edges?" and he bursts into laughter again.

  BOOM. The canon sound explodes in the air and then the thunderous voice announces...

  Mod pack - The Infection.

  Stumbling to the back of the boat where Jay is steering, Nathan shouts. "Infection, what's that?

  "It's a mod pack for a zombie plague."

  "Ok, what's a mod pack?"

  "Back in the real world, it's just an extra program you can add to the game to get more features, in this case it brings a zombie virus into the game."

  "So there are zombies here?"

  "There are now, but chill Nate, last I checked, zombies can't swim, so as long as we stay on this boat we should be ok."

  "Good, but if zombies can't swim, what was the point of the mod pack?"

  "Don't know, maybe everyone else found high ground and are under attack by zombies even as we speak."

  "I don't know Jay; we haven't seen any high ground since we got here."

  "Yeah, but you need to remember this world has no boundaries. It's as big as it needs to be, so there could be plenty of places with dry land that we just have not found yet."

  "Ok, I suppose."

  "Uh Jay, what's that?" asks Jack, pointing out to sea.

  "What's up Jack, you looking for some attention?"

  "Seriously Jay, what is it?" he asks again with some concern in his voice.

  Turning in the direction that Jack is pointing, Jay gasps, and shouts, "grab your poles guys. Come on, move it."

  Jumping up and grabbing the poles, the lads both start clamoring at Jay, looking for answers.

  "It's some sort of giant whirlpool, we have to paddle away from it or we'll be dragged under," he screams.

  Paddling furiously, they all work in silence, it feels like hours, but in reality, only a few minutes have past. Checking his bearings Jay shouts, "It's not working, we're being dragged in. Paddle harder."

  "No!" shouts Nathan, "there's no point, we're already in its grip, we'll never be able to pull away."

  "What, so we just give up?"

  "I didn't say that Jay, we need to work with it. Come on Jack, we did this in school last week."

  "We did?" replies Jack with a confused look.

  "Yeah, don't you remember? Anyway, we need to paddle along the edge of the whirlpool, using the spinning to build up speed then just before it pulls us down we need to paddle flat out and hopefully we will punch out the side of the whirlpool."

  "Sounds a little risqué."

  "What other choice do we have?"

  "You're right, ok Nate you're in charge, shout your orders and we'll do our best. What first?"

  "Ok guys, we need to row as fast as possible along the edge of the whirlpool, it's spinning motion will increase our speed and when we're going fast enough we need to paddle forty five degrees away from the centre, ok?"

  "Right, let's give it a shot," smiles Jay. "Hey Nate, good luck man, let's hope this works."

  Smiling, Nate picks up his paddle and shouts. "Ok paddle forward."

  They paddle forward and the boat begins to move, picking up speed just like Nate said it would.

  "Hey this is working, look how fast we're already moving," shouts Jack over the constant rushing roar of the whirlpool.

  Paddling together, the three lads are amazed at the speed they are now travelling, covering hundreds of blocks a minute. "Right, just a little bit faster then we need to try and break out," shouts Nate signaling that the other's need to keep paddling. "How far have we travelled Jay?"

  "No idea Nate, the speed we're moving it must be half way across this biome."

  "Ok Jay, on my count of three, turn us away from the whirlpool, not too sharp, we need to keep up as much speed as possible. Jack, you and me need to paddle with everything we've got if we're ever going to get out of this thing's pull, ok?"

  "Got it Nate."

  "Right, one, two, three. Now Jay, turn, turn, turn."

  Pulling on the pole for all he is worth, Jay feels the boat starting to turn away from the whirlpool. "It's working guys, keep paddling," he screams, laughing and punching the air at the same time. "Come on we can do this, paddle, paddle."

  However, even in his excitement Jay can feel the boat starting to slow, the power of the whirlpool pulling relentlessly trying to drag it back to its watery centre.

  "Nate, it's not working, we're slowing down," shouts Jay over the roar.

  "Paddle harder guys, come on."

  However hard the three lads paddle, they are simply no match for the power of the giant whirlpool and as it overcomes the forward momentum of the boat they start drifting backwards, towards the centre of the whirlpool.

  "Right, turn us around Jay, we need to try again," shouts Nate.

  "Hold on everyone, this is going to be rough," bellows Jay, the noise of the whirlpool now almost unbearable." Pulling the pole hard over the boat turns towards to centre and immediately begins to pick up speed again.

  "Right Jay, try to steer us away from the centre but maintain as much speed as you can. When we're moving fast enough we can try it again."

  "Ok Nate, but I don't see how it's going to work, it's just too big."

  "Maybe, but we have to try."

  "Guys what's that," shouts Jack, pointing into the distance.

  "Looks like some sort of tower. Ok everyone, paddle for the tower. If we can get there we may be able to beat this whirlpool yet."

  Paddling furiously, the three lads start making headway towards the tower, but it is slow going and block by precious block, their speed decreases until they are hardly moving at all.

  "Come on guys, just 20 more blocks, keep paddling," yells Jay. We're so close, please let us make it, he begs silently, but the boat comes to a complete stop. Even as they paddle, the boat very slowly starts to slip backwards. "No!"

  Just then, a rope falls on the deck, looking up Jack sees two figures waving at him from the tower platform. Taking a chance, he dives forward, grabs the rope, and hurriedly ties it onto the front of the boat. Immediately their backward momentum halts and they can stop paddling for the first time in what seems like hours.

  *****

  Watching the rope land on the deck of the small boat, Jethro and Natasha stand, hardly able to breathe as someone runs forward and ties the rope to the front of the boat. Immediately the line goes taught and the boat stops moving backwards. "Good throw Jethro," squeals Natasha, slapping him on the back. "It was just a well you spotted it when you did or they would have been goners by now."

  "Well yes, a little luck is always a good thing. Can you see who is on the boat?"

  "No, it's moving too much to make out their names. So what now?"

  "No idea, I guess we just wait for that whirlpool to stop then they can come over to the tower and introduce themselves."

  "You think it will stop?" she shouts above the noise.

  "Well it started suddenly, no reason to think it won't stop once it has achieved its goal."

  "Yeah, but what is the goal?"

  "That's the question now, isn't it?"

  Watching the boat straining on the end of the rope the whirlpool in the background seems to be pulsating, throbbing with life, ready to jump forward and grab them all at any minute.

  "Oh dear, I rather think we may have another problem," states Jethro pointing at the boat.

  "What? What do you see?"

  "Look at the bo
at in relation to the tower, the water level's dropping."

  "Great, so we can get off this tower shortly."

  "Yes maybe, but look at the boat," shouts Jethro, pointing at the boat as it slips below the bottom of the tower platform.

  "Oh no!"

  *****

  "Well done Jack. I didn't even see that tower," shouts Jay, grabbing his brother in a bear hug.

  "Thanks Jay. So what do we do now?"

  "Now little brother, we sit back and wait for that thing," he says pointing at the whirlpool, "to stop, then we can see who saved us."

  "Uh guys, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think that's going to happen."

  Rushing over the where Nate is leaning over the side of the boat, the brother's look but can only see the tower.

  "What's the problem Nate?"

  The water level is dropping, look," he says pointing at the tower. "When we tied onto the tower only a minute ago we were level with the platform, we're like 10 clocks below it now."

  "He's right. What should we do?"

  The brother's both look to Nate for their answer.

  "Well, we can't stay on here. Another couple of minutes and we'll be hanging upside down."

  "But how the heck do we get off. We'll never climb up that rope, it's too slippery."

  "Look at the tower Jay, as the water level drops the boat is being pulled towards it. Eventually it should touch against the side and we can jump off."

  "Yeah, but we'll have to be quick or we'll be hanging from the end of the rope. Ok everyone, grab your stuff, anything you can carry and get over to the front of the boat."

  "Franticly they all rush below; grabbing whatever comes to hand, filling their inventories. Meeting back on deck the ship is only 4 blocks from the tower steps but is already starting to tilt upwards.