Madness in the Mine

by Winter Morgan

  “It’s ours now,” the woman with orange hair laughed.

  The masked criminal pulled out a bow and arrow and aimed at Grant. The arrow ripped into Grant’s stomach, and he cried out in pain.

  Brett, Joe, and Helen leaped at the two criminals, striking them with diamond swords. When they each had one heart left, the masked criminal cried out, “Stop! Don’t destroy us!”

  The woman with the orange hair asked weakly, “Before you destroy us, can you tell us where we are? It looks like the town we were in was destroyed, and I don’t see our boat. We fell down a hole, and we need to make our way back to the boat.”

  Brett felt bad for this woman. Even though she was trying to destroy them and probably spent most of her life traveling around the Overworld robbing people, he knew what it was like to fall through a portal for the first time. The first time he fell down the portal and wound up in the past, he was scared and worried that he’d never get back home. Even now, despite traveling to the past and the future, he was still nervous that he wouldn’t make it back home. He rarely enjoyed time travel, and he didn’t like that he lacked control over these journeys. He never knew when he’d slip down a portal. He also knew that wherever he landed, there was a reason for it. He was called on this trip to help people. He wondered what role these two criminals had in this time period. Brett didn’t say any of this or express these emotions. Instead he asked, “What are your names?”

  “I’m Bea,” the woman replied.

  The other criminal took off her mask. She had bright red eyes and striking silver hair. She said, “I’m Vera.”

  Bea said, “I’m sorry we have attacked you, but neither of us have any potions or milk in our inventories, and we only have one heart left each. We could be destroyed with another strike from your sword or an attack from a hostile mob. Is it possible you could give us something, even food, to help us replenish our health and hearts?”

  Vera added, “We worry if we are destroyed here, we won’t respawn.”

  “Is that because you put Meadow Mews on hardcore mode?” asked Brett.

  Grant screamed, “You put Meadow Mews on hardcore mode? And we’re supposed to help you?”

  “I don’t think it worked,” confessed Vera.

  “I know you guys destroyed most of the command blocks,” said Bea.

  “What was your plan? What did you want to do to Meadow Mews?” asked Brett.

  “We were just following orders,” said Vera.

  “From whom?” asked Brett.

  Vera was about to respond when a loud noise boomed and shook Grant’s small house. They sprinted out of the house to find smoke pouring out of the mine.

  “What happened?” asked Grant. “Did someone blow up the mine?”

  They bolted toward the mine when they saw the Wither flying above the mine’s entrance.

  “Is that what caused the explosion?” asked Vera.

  “What is that?” questioned Bea.

  The three-headed beast shot a succession of wither skulls at them. One of the skulls landed by Bea’s feet, nearly destroying her.

  Brett was surprised at himself when he handed both Bea and Vera bottles of milk and instructed them to drink. “You don’t want to get destroyed.”

  Joe shot an arrow at the Wither and told the Bea and Vera, “That’s the Wither, and it’s very powerful. We have to destroy it, or it will destroy us.”

  Brett added, “I can’t believe you’ve never seen a Wither.”

  “We don’t live in this biome,” said Bea as she followed closely behind Brett. She shot arrows and mimicked all of his actions while she tried to figure out how to destroy the Wither.

  “Where do you live?” asked Joe as he struck the side of the Wither, weakening the beast.

  “Under the water. We have a whole different slew of mobs. Have you guys ever had to destroy a Drowned?” Vera asked.

  “No,” said Joe, “but I’ve heard about them.”

  “I haven’t, and I didn’t even know you could live under the sea,” said Grant.

  “This is all in the future. You have a lot to look forward to,” said Helen as she battled the Wither.

  Brett watched Vera and Bea clumsily try to battle the Wither alongside them. He couldn’t stop thinking how strange it was to watch these two people, who were attacking them just a few moments ago, battle a mob with them. He wanted to know who sent them into the Overworld to loot and destroy towns. He wondered what their underwater life was like and how they were brought into this criminal world. He also hoped that they would be able to work together to destroy this Wither and to find their way back to their time period.

  Joe was the one to deliver the final blow to the Wither, which earned him fifty experience points and a Nether star.

  “Good job.” Helen smiled.

  “Now that the Wither is destroyed, we have to find out who spawned it,” said Grant.

  “Have you encountered any enemies since you started developing Meadow Mews?” asked Brett.

  Helen almost replied for Grant. She almost said, “Connor,” but stopped when she remembered all of the issues Grant had with Connor wouldn’t happen until much later in the future. She wasn’t sure who the enemy was at this point in the past. This time period was never written about. It predated the library. It predated the history books. They were in a time period where they had no clues to help.

  Grant thought for a while and responded, “I don’t have any enemies that I know of.”

  The gang made their way toward the mine. As they entered, the smoke dissipated, and they looked at the burned ground.

  “This isn’t from the Wither,” Brett said as he inspected the ground. “It seems like someone must have used TNT.”

  “Do you see any TNT blocks?” asked Joe as he clutched his torch and walked farther into the mine.

  “Not yet,” replied Brett.

  “I do,” Helen called out. She had traveled deep within the mine, so her voice was very faint. “And they haven’t been used.”

  “What?” cried Grant. “Someone can ignite them. Watch out!”

  “Okay, but I found something else,” said Helen.

  They traveled toward the sound of Helen’s voice, but they couldn’t find her. They held onto their torches until they reached the end of the mine. Helen wasn’t there. The only thing they saw was an open door.

  6

  SURPRISES IN THE STRONGHOLD

  “Helen,” Brett called as they walked into a stronghold, but there was no response.

  The gang huddled together as they made their way through the dark and musty stronghold.

  “You know, I’ve been to this mine a million times, and I never noticed there was a stronghold,” said Grant.

  Vera cried out, “Look down!”

  The gang let out a collective gasp when they saw the floor of the stronghold was covered with silverfish. The insects bit their feet, and they used their diamond swords to destroy the pesky creatures. As they annihilated the bugs, they heard a noise in the distance.

  “Helen?” Brett called out. “We are at the entrance.”

  Joe added, “Helen, watch where you are walking. There are tons of silverfish.”

  Helen didn’t respond, but the noise grew louder. It sounded as though two people were talking.

  “Who’s there?” Grant raised his voice.

  Again, there was no reply.

  Vera and Bea destroyed the final silverfish and lunged deeper into the stronghold to find out where the noise was coming from. As Brett trailed behind them, he wondered if they should trust Vera and Bea. Just because they took off their masks and revealed their true identities didn’t mean they were his friends. They could be leading everyone into a trap.

  “I see something!” Bea yelled.

  “Is it Helen?” asked Brett.

  “No,” Vera replied.

  Brett, Joe, and Grant hurried toward the women, then heard an explosion. Joe turned around to see a creeper explode inches from his body. “I could
have been destroyed!”

  “And we don’t know where you’d respawn,” Grant suggested. “After we find Helen, we should all sleep in my house so we know where we will respawn if we’re destroyed.”

  “You mean if we’re not on hardcore mode,” said Brett.

  “We have to remain positive and not assume we are on hardcore mode,” said Joe.

  The group sprinted down the hall, but they couldn’t find Bea and Vera. “Perhaps they disappeared like Helen,” said Grant.

  “Vera! Bea! Helen!” Joe hollered, but there was no response.

  Brett spotted an open door. “I see a room.” He raced inside and found himself in a spacious library, with wood-paneled bookshelves covered in cobwebs. He noticed a chest in the corner of the room and opened it.

  “Are there gold bars?” asked Joe.

  Brett rummaged through the chest. “No, there are papers and books.” He inspected the books. “It looks like some of the books are enchanted.”

  “Wow,” said Joe, as Brett handed him a book.

  Brett distributed everything from the chest, and when they were finished packing everything into their inventories, they rushed out of the library to find Helen, Bea, and Vera. As they searched the stronghold, they began to grow tired.

  “How big is this stronghold?” Brett asked as they walked down another flight of stairs, revealing a floor with a small jail cell.

  “Help!” Helen called out.

  Helen was trapped on the other side of the cell. Brett pulled at the bars on the cell, but they wouldn’t budge.

  “Who put you in here?” asked Joe.

  “I don’t know. I heard an explosion behind me, and as I raced from the smoke, someone pushed me in here. There was so much smoke, I couldn’t see them.”

  “We will get you out,” Joe said as he banged his pickaxe against the bars, but nothing seemed to work.

  “I can’t stay in here a minute longer.” Helen’s voice cracked. “I have one heart left, and there are so many cave spiders.” She slammed her sword into a cave spider that crawled next to her. “If I’m attacked, I will be destroyed.”

  Grant was finally able to open the door to the jail cell using his diamond sword. He swung his sword into the bars, and they opened.

  “Thank you,” Helen said.

  Before they could sprint out of the stronghold, a group of creepers silently crept down the dirt path and exploded, destroying Helen.

  “Helen!” Brett screamed.

  Brett, Joe, and Grant shot arrows at the creepers, but they were overwhelmed by the mobs. Three exploded next to Joe, destroying him. Brett and Grant tirelessly battled the remaining creepers, but more spawned when they were done.

  “We need help!” cried Grant.

  “Grant!” Bea called out.

  Bea and Vera sprinted down the hall and shot a barrage of arrows that destroyed the creatures.

  Vera said, “We have to get out of here. There’s a person who tried to trap us in a jail cell.”

  “Who?” asked Grant.

  “I don’t know. We couldn’t see them. They were hidden in smoke,” explained Bea.

  “That must be the same person who trapped Helen,” said Brett.

  Grant ordered, “Let’s go.” They sprinted down the narrow hallway and toward the exit. As they reached the exit from the mine, they realized it was nighttime.

  Brett pulled a bottle of milk from his inventory and passed it to his friends. “I want to make sure we have enough energy to battle whatever mobs we encounter on the way back to Grant’s house.”

  Bea was taking her final sip of milk when they heard two familiar voices call out to them.

  “Help us!” Helen wailed.

  Brett was upset to hear Helen’s cries, but he was also happy that she wasn’t destroyed. He had been devastated thinking his two friends were destroyed and was relieved to see they were alive.

  “Help! Quick!” cried Joe.

  Brett and the others sprinted toward them and saw two men with green hair holding diamonds swords at their backs.

  “You are our prisoners,” the green-haired men declared.

  7

  THE PRISONERS

  “What do you want?” asked Grant calmly.

  “We don’t answer questions. We ask the questions. Stop talking, you are our prisoner,” one of the green-haired men replied.

  “Lead us to your dwellings,” ordered the other man.

  Grant knew his friends would be surprised that he said yes, but he knew every inch of the house. He also knew that there was a trapdoor in his living room. He had to get the green-haired men into the living room and then trap them in the crawl space underneath his living room floor. Grant said, “I don’t live far from here. I will show you the way.”

  It was dark, an ideal environment for hostile mobs. As they walked toward Grant’s house, the sound of clanging bones was deafening. An army of skeletons marched toward them. Grant heard their attackers whisper to each other, “What are we going to do?”

  A barrage of arrows flew toward the gang, and Brett took out his bow and arrow to battle the skeletons. However, before he aimed at a skeleton, he shot an arrow at one of the green-haired men. Helen and Joe joined in, shooting arrows at the men, and one was destroyed after a few arrows pierced his arm. His friend called out for help, but there was nobody there to help him.

  “You can’t do mean things to people and not expect to have to pay for it,” said Helen as she aimed the final arrow, which destroyed the green-haired man.

  They were relieved their enemies were gone, but they still had to battle the skeletons. It seemed as if every time they destroyed one set, another crop of skeletons would spawn.

  “This battle is pointless,” said Joe. He was exhausted. He hadn’t slept in days, and he wondered if a Phantom would spawn because of his insomnia. He was happy when he realized that they were in a time period when Phantoms didn’t exist. However, he sighed because skeletons existed in this world, and he would have to battle them until the sun came and lose another night of sleep.

  The skeletons surrounded them, and the gang used all the arrows they had to destroy them. Any break they had, they passed around bottles of milk to replenish their energy. They were almost out of milk and energy when the sun came up.

  “Is it okay to sleep all day?” Joe yawned as the sun shined on Meadow Mews.

  “No,” said Brett. “We have to figure out who those people were and why they wanted to trap us.”

  “They must have something to do with the mine,” said Helen.

  Bea surprised them when she said, “Those two men looked very familiar.”

  “What?” questioned Grant.

  “I’ve seen them before. I just can’t remember where,” Bea said.

  “Me too,” added Vera. “I have seen them. Do they live under the sea?”

  “Yes,” replied Bea, “they do!”

  “Aren’t they friends with—” Vera stopped speaking.

  “Friends with whom?” Brett demanded.

  Bea warned her friend, “Don’t tell him.”

  “You better tell us,” said Helen. “We are all in this together. Those people were going to make you a prisoner.”

  “If we tell you who our leader is, we will be destroyed. He wants to remain anonymous,” explained Vera.

  “You are working for a criminal, and he is probably friends with these two men who are destroying a vital resource in the Overworld. We’ve always wondered what happened to this mine and why it was destroyed,” said Helen.

  Grant said, “I don’t want to live in a world where this is destroyed.”

  “We have the opportunity to change history,” said Helen. “That’s rare.”

  Bea said, “We work for a person who is terrorizing the underwater community. He has been around forever. I think if we go under the sea now, we might be able to stop him before he becomes too powerful.”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” said Brett.

  Grant confes
sed, “I don’t know how to swim.”

  “Have you never been under the sea?” asked Helen.

  “No. I’ve been fishing a few times, but I’ve heard stories about elder guardians, and I never wanted to go underneath the water. I like being on blocky ground.”

  Joe understood. He wasn’t a fan of underwater life. He knew things progressed in his time period, and there were lots of great ocean monuments that were teeming with treasure, but he also liked to remain on ground. He said, “You guys can dive into the sea, and I can stay here with Grant. We can watch Meadow Mews.”

  Brett chuckled. “There’s nothing here. Meadow Mews doesn’t exist yet. But if there is an undersea world that is developing, and if that world could have people who might be responsible for destroying this mine as well as for attacking us in our time period, we have to figure out who is behind it and stop them before they take over.”

  “What else is going to happen in the future?” Grant’s voice cracked as he asked this question. He was nervous.

  Brett didn’t want to tell him that by the next time they would see him, the mine would already be destroyed. He didn’t want to tell Grant about the battle with Connor and how Grant wasn’t living in Meadow Mews anymore. He just said, “There have been a lot of advancements, but there are also issues. There is a chance that we will see you again in the near future.”

  Joe said, “Are you telling Grant about the other time we went back in time?”

  “You guys have time traveled before?” Bea was surprised.

  “Yes,” said Brett. “To the past and the future.”

  “That doesn’t matter,” explained Joe, “because there is also a chance that we will be stuck in this time period forever.”

  “Do you think we’ll be stuck?” Vera was anxious.

  “I don’t know, but I do know that we could wind up changing history, and if that happens we might never make that first trip back in time,” explained Joe.

  Brett looked at everyone. “It will be okay. I mean, we are all together, and we all have the same goal. We want to take care of one another and stop the person who is trying to cause harm to others. As long as we have that in common, we will be okay.”

  Everyone agreed. As they reached Grant’s house, they saw the door was open, and the green-haired men were standing in the doorway.