Minecraft (Masters of Minecraft Box Set Book 1)

by Terry Mayer

  "Sorry Jethro, I know that, it really was just a joke. Anyway, pigmen are cool and won't attack you unless you upset them somehow."

  "Right, so this pearl thingy comes from The Nether, is it worth anything?"

  "Absolutely! You can use it to build a teleporter, either to The Nether or just for teleportation. Here, let me show you," reaching out her hand she takes the Ender Pearl from Nathan and throws it across the room. As it rolls to a stop, she winks at him then immediately disappears and reappears standing over the Ender Pearl. Turning to look at Nathan, she smiles, "neat huh?"

  "Wow, let me try," squeals Nathan, running across the room to Natasha. Reaching out his hands to grab the Ender Pearl, she pulls it away from him and responds.

  "No, my precious!"

  "What?"

  "Just joking, but in all seriousness Nate, you really have to be careful. Wherever you throw this, when it stops moving, you will be teleported there. Just imagine if it rolls into the lava, before you can stop it you will be teleported with it and its hello crispy fried Nate."

  Gulping, imagining that scenario, he reaches for the Ender Pearl, "ok Natasha, I get it." Taking it from her outstretched hand, he gingerly tosses it 5 blocks along the edge of the room. The moment it stops rolling he is instantly teleported to its position. "Way cool, you can't even feel anything. One second you're here, the next there."

  "Yes Nathan, used carefully it's a great asset. Now I suggest we get out of this chamber before any other nasties appear."

  Looking at Nathan, Natasha mouths at him, 'Nasties! Where does this guy come from?'

  Smiling at Natasha over his shoulder, Nathan walks up to Jethro, throws his arm over his shoulders and replies. "Yeah J-Dog, let's clear out, now that all the treasure is safely in our possession."

  Putting his bucket of water back into his inventory, Jethro picks up his other bucket and bends over the pit, fills the bucket with lava and places it in his inventory. Turning, he finds both his friends staring at him with open mouths.

  "What?"

  "You just stuck a bucket of lava inside of you."

  "Yes, of course. I do it all the time in minecraft."

  "Yeah, but its one thing carrying water. What's the worst that can happen, wet pants, but lava?"

  "Oh, I see what you are saying. I must confess I did not even think about it, I just filled the bucket because I thought it could be useful later."

  "Big cahonies J-Dog. Way big cahonies," smiles Natasha.

  Smiling despite himself, Jethro replies, "why thank you Natasha. I don't think anyone has ever made that particular remark about me before."

  "Well I guess they don't really know you then. Ok people, let's move out."

  Walking out the door, they head back up the tunnel towards the anti-chamber where they had entered, followed by their trusty friends, Flumey and Fawkes.

  *****

  Settling in for the evening, Warlord stares out at the mass of zombies surrounding the temple, and wonders what will happen at daybreak. Obviously, they must have hidden during the day or there could never be that many of them here now, but will they hide again? Standing and stretching he spots the enderman standing at the edge of the tree line, looking at him hiding on the side of the temple. Immediately averting his eyes he is shocked to see another enderman on the other side of the clearing. Looking more carefully, he spots at least another three amongst the zombie hoards and is sure that there could be two or three more in the forest. Oh great, what have I gotten myself into now. Deciding that there is nothing he can do until daylight, he hunkers down in his temporary structure and prays that the endermen do not attack together, or he will have no blocks left to hide behind.

  *****

  Moving along the tunnel, Jay and Hailey find many open doors with empty rooms behind. After searching the tenth room, Jay turns to Hailey and asks."So, you want to keep going? Looks like this place was cleaned out a long time ago."

  "Yeah Jay, we may as well. There's nowhere we can go until morning anyway."

  "Fair enough, how about we search until we reach the end of this passage, then head back to the anti-chamber for the night."

  "Ok, sounds good."

  Continuing to follow the passage, they pass another twelve empty rooms before reaching a set of double doors at the end.

  "Right, let's take a quick look and then get the heck out of here."

  "Ok, you open the door Jay, I'll cover you with my bow."

  Pushing open the door and jumping back out of the way, Jay stumbles and falls to the floor. Desperately trying to pull his sword, while backpedaling, he is starting to panic when Hailey says, "cool it Jay, it's empty, just calm down."

  Looking up, he sees Hailey with her hand outstretched, ready to help him up. Sheepishly he grabs her offered hand and pulls himself to his feet.

  "Sorry Hailey, I guess all the excitement has gotten to me. When I could not get my sword free, I imagined mobs attacking and started to panic."

  "No need to apologies Jay, now, let's take a look and see what we have inside."

  Walking into the room, with her bow drawn ready, Hailey checks behind the doors, and moves around the large room. Finding it empty, she lowers her bow.

  "Nothing, I really thought we would find something in the old temple."

  "Nah. Like I said, looks like it has been cleaned out a long time ago. Let's get out of here," Jay replies walking from the room, heading back up the corridor, as they had agreed. Looking over his shoulder, Jay finds he is alone, and backtracks to the room where he finds Hailey studying the ceiling, "hello, earth to Hailey, come in Hailey."

  "Uh, what?"

  "You coming girl, I thought we had finished here?"

  "Take a look at the ceiling Jay, see how the wall reaches 6 blocks up to the beams over there but only 5 blocks here."

  "Yeah, so?"

  "So, that means whoever built this room is either a very bad architect or..."

  "Yeah, or what?"

  "Or...there is something blocked off behind this wall," she replies tapping on the higher wall.

  "Ok, so let's find out," replies Jay removing his pickaxe from his inventory. "You watch my back, ok?"

  "Of course Jay, anything comes out of the hole in the wall will be wearing arrows in its head."

  "Nice image Hailey, real nice."

  Breaking a 2 x 2 opening Jay stands back, lights a torch and throws it through the hole. It bounces off the back wall and comes to rest on the floor, lighting a narrow chamber, only 2 blocks wide, running the width of the room. As Jay is peering inside, Hailey asks. "Come on Jay, what's in there?"

  Turning with a huge smile on his face he replies, "Dragon Eggs!"

  *****

  Walking into the anti-chamber, Jethro, Natasha and Nathan sit in the lit room and Natasha removes three pieces of cooked pork from her inventory.

  "Look's like that's all I have left. You guys got any more food?"

  Looking, Jethro replies, "two pieces of pork and three loaves of bread, that is all. How about you Nathan?"

  "I have two pieces of pork, that's it."

  "Ok people, looks like we are going to have to do some shopping tomorrow."

  "Yeah, just nip down to Wal-Mart will you Natasha, and grab some supplies," laughs Nathan.

  Smiling, she replies, "Oh that would be so nice, I'd start with a huge burger and fries and finish with a whole gallon of ice cream."

  "Yeah, but don't forget to grab some Mexican for me, burritos would hit the mark. How about you Jethro? Hey Jethro, you still with us?"

  Looking up, Jethro smiles, and gets to his feet, "yes Nathan, some food would be lovely but I think we may have visitors."

  "What?" shouts Natasha as she and Nathan both jump to their feet, drawing their swords, looking around the room, all is quite except for a faint snoring from Flumey and Fawkes, who are asleep already.

  "You sure Jethro, I don't see anything and surely the ocelots would have warned us if there was anyone close."

 
; "Hm, maybe, but I heard voices. I think we should be ready, just in case."

  "Ok, which direction did they come from?"

  "From the main tunnel over there," he points.

  "Jethro, didn't we block that before we went down the other tunnel?"

  "Yes, I think we did."

  "Ok people, defensive positions," instructs Natasha as a blood-curdling war cries scream out of the tunnel. Immediately preparing for attack they wait, and wait. Looking at each other, Natasha shrugs, and hefts her sword, ready for whoever is moving along the tunnel.

  "Sounds like two of them, both players, and they are obviously hunting us," states Jethro. "Maybe we should move out, rather than confronting them as we can't win anyway."

  "Speak for yourself Jethro, I'm more than capable of defending myself," snaps Natasha.

  "No Natasha, you don't understand, when a player attacks another player, they both lose an equal number of health points on each attack, so if you are both on full points you will both die. The only way to win is to start with more health points than your opponent."

  "Or, all attack the same person," jumps in Nathan.

  "What? And you are only telling me this now. Don't you think this is information that I should have had earlier?"

  "Yes, of course, same excuse as earlier, no time now. I think we should make a hasty retreat while we still can."

  "But there are three of us and you said two of them, I say let's stand and fight."

  "Too risky. If they both gang up on one of us then that person is dead, no two ways about it. Come on Natasha, we can fight another time, on our own terms."

  Looking at Jethro, then at Nathan, she nods and walks to the blocked up entrance to the temple, "ok, you win this time Jethro, but you two," she points at each in turn, "are going to sit down with me and have a very serious conversation when we get out of here."

  Looking sheepishly at each other, both Jethro and Nathan nod and move to the temple entrance wall.

  Removing his pickaxe, Jethro knocks a 2 x 2 hole in the wall just as PowerGlide and Munster come charging into the room, screaming their war cries with swords raised above their heads.

  Looking at each other, Jethro, Natasha, and Nathan back out through the hole with swords raised in front of them. Calling for Fawkes and Flumey to follow, Nathan leans in through the hole and smiles at PowerGlide and Munster, then shouts, "later guys. Just stay here and you won't get hurt."

  Lowering his sword, PowerGlide looks at Munster and chuckles. "Well well, that was easier than I thought."

  "Yeah boss, let's just sit this one out," laughs Munster.

  Backing all the way through the hole, Jethro quickly blocks it with cobblestone, turns to Natasha, and says, "that went rather well, I never really expected them to give up so easily."

  Turning, Nathan stutters, "uh guys, you may want to take a look at this."

  Turning together, Natasha and Jethro look out over the temple clearing and gasp in shock at the sight of thousands of creepers stood silently before them.

  *****

  12 - Notch vs. Herobrine

  Waking in darkness, Notch is momentarily confused. Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands, he looks around the cell and his recent memories flood his all ready overloaded brain. Jumping to his feet he grabs the cell doors, and finds them unlocked. Moving swiftly into the next room, he surveys his surroundings. It is a large chamber with six cells running off it and a heavy wooden door. No sign of Herobrine. Quickly checking the other cells, he finds them empty and moves to the heavy door. Opening it, he peers into the corridor beyond, which is also empty. Strange, why bother putting me in a cell if it is not locked. Cautiously moving along the corridor, he comes to a junction with passages going either direction. A sign hangs on the wall with arrows pointing each way. To the left is the Armory, to the right the Dining room. Choosing to go left, he edges along the corridor until he reaches a heavy, ironclad wooden door. Lifting the handle and pushing hard the door slowly swings inward to reveal a room full of weapons. Smiling to himself, he advances into the room and closes the door behind him.

  Moving over to a display of swords, he grabs the closest one and ties the scabbard to his belt. He next grabs some knives, a bow, and a deadly looking axe. Moving further into the room, he finds himself in the armor section and admires a beautiful suit of diamond armor. What the heck, might as well have the best. Grabbing the diamond suit, he spots his reflection and stops dead.

  - Finally, you take a long time to catch on Notch.

  Hearing Herobrine's voice, he swings around and draws the sword, ready to fight for his freedom, but the room is empty.

  - Behind you Notch.

  Swinging around, he brings his sword down on a suit of armor, knocking it to the ground.

  - Come now Notch, seeing that you designed this game you really are a little slow.

  Spinning around he hunts wildly for his opponent, but is unable to locate him.

  -So Notch, are you ready to talk?

  "I will if you show yourself."

  - Walk over to the mirror.

  "What trick is this?"

  - No trick Notch, just walk over to the mirror and all will be revealed.

  Cautiously moving across the room, looking for traps, Notch arrives at the mirror, and asks. "So, now what?"

  - Look Notch.

  Turning, he looks in the mirror and is shocked to see his reflection. Staring back is a blocky character that slightly resembles himself, apart from the glowing white eyes.

  - As I said Notch, we are one. Now let the games begin.

  Here ends the second book in the Masters of Minecraft Series.

  Book #3 - The Final Challenge

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 - And So The Story Continues

  Chapter 2 - Don't Touch Me You Creeper

  Chapter 3 - Into The Dark

  Chapter 4 - Herobrine vs Notch

  Chapter 5 - Hey Goons!

  Chapter 6 - Skeletons

  Chapter 7 - Fly Girl

  Chapter 8 - Explain It To Me Again

  Chapter 9 - Don't Get Jethro'd

  Chapter 10 - I Told You So

  Chapter 11 - Explain One More Time

  Chapter 12 - Let The Finals Begin

  Chapter 13 - What Have I Done?

  Epilogue

  More Great Books by Terry Mayer

  Players

  1. Jay Lightningbuilder

  2. Jack the Dweeb

  3. Nathan the Noob

  4. Jethro Skybuilder

  5. Natasha

  6. Darknight

  7. Captain Sparkles

  8. Sky

  9. PowerGlide

  10. PowerMad

  11. Munster

  12. Warlord999

  1 - And So The Story Continues

  Standing on the temple steps, Nathan, Natasha and Jethro stare out at a sea of Creepers, thousands upon thousands of them. The Creepers start to shuffle and push forward then stop and start to run on the spot. Their four little legs raising a cloud of dust all around them.

  "Uh, guys, what now?" stammers Nathan.

  "No idea Nate, there's nowhere left to go."

  "How about up?" asks Jethro.

  "No point, with that many Creepers they'll just destroy the whole temple."

  "Well we can't give up."

  "Guys. Why aren't they attacking?"

  Looking from the Creepers back at themselves, Jethro realizes that Nathan is right. The Creepers are all running, but none are moving forward. As more and more Creepers push their way to the front, those closest to the temple move back into the crowd.

  "It's the ocelots! Look at the Creepers, they are just dying to attack but they won't come near us with Fawkes and Flumey sticking close by."

  "Here's right, here Flumey, over here boy."

  Looking over at Nathan, Flumey gives an ear splitting roar, and stalks over to his side. Immediately, Fawkes also lets out a ground shaking roar, which is answered from the jun
gle by one, and then another roar.

  Looking over at Jethro, Nathan smiles. "I think the cavalry has just arrived."

  Laughing, Jethro replies. "You know what Nathan my boy, I think you're right."

  As more roars and growls answer from the jungle the Creepers become more and more nervous. Whereas before they were running in excitement, ready for battle to commence, now it is obvious that more and more of them are pushing backwards, away from the temple and the two ocelots confronting them. Suddenly, from the jungle, three huge, striped Ocelot's leap into the clearing, roaring their challenge at the creeper army, which immediately pushes away from them in fear.

  Prowling in front of the Creepers, roaring in defiance, the Ocelots make quite a sight, then three more leap from the jungle and stalk their way through the Creepers towards the temple. As they move forward the Creepers push and shove in terror, desperately trying to avoid the ocelots, and as some start to fizz, the Creepers surrounding the fizzing time bombs push away, not wanting to join in with their fellow Creepers in an explosion party. As the first creeper detonates, standing on it's own, pandemonium erupts through the creeper army and they all start dashing back into the jungle to avoid not only the Ocelots but also their fellow detonating Creepers.

  Standing on the temple steps, Nathan, Natasha and Jethro can't believe what they are witnessing. The whole creeper army is in flight, pushing and shoving, desperately trying to avoid contact with the six Ocelots, that are moving through their midst towards the temple. As they reach the steps, Flumey gives a huge roar and jumps down to his friends who purr and rub against him in welcome. Fawkes grabs hold of Jethro's sleeve, and with a slight tug, pulls him down the steps towards the other Ocelots, who turn and growl as he approaches. Looking over his shoulder, Jethro shouts to the others, "come on guy's, I think it's time we left."

  Running down the steps, Nathan and Natasha join Jethro, and they start to move cautiously towards the edge of the clearing, surrounded by the Ocelots. As they move away from the temple, the Creepers crowd back in behind them, leaving them surrounded.