Madness in the Mine

by Winter Morgan

  “Our prisoners have returned.”

  8

  TIME TRAVELERS

  “We know who you are,” said Bea.

  “And you’re our prisoners,” declared Vera as she swung her diamond sword, striking one of the green-haired men.

  “You don’t know who we are,” hollered the other green-haired man as he leaped toward Vera.

  “Leave my friend alone.” Bea lunged at the man, plunging her sword into his shoulder and destroying him.

  The remaining man pleaded, “Stop! Don’t attack me!”

  Vera put down her sword and pulled a bottle of potion from her inventory. She splashed the potion on him, weakening him and leaving him with one heart. He was frozen and could barely speak. Vera used this opportunity to question the man.

  “Why are you here?” she asked calmly.

  “I am here to find you,” he told Vera.

  “Me?” She questioned.

  “And Bea,” he added.

  “How do you know our names?” asked Vera.

  “I’m from the future, like you guys.” He introduced himself, “I’m Ivan. I also work for Mikayla.”

  “Who is Mikayla?” questioned Brett.

  Bea’s voice shook as she said, “That’s the person who is in charge of us.”

  “Mikayla is in charge of the entire undersea community,” explained Ivan.

  “She is the queen,” said Vera, “and she wants to be the queen of the Overworld.”

  “Wow, there are kings and queens in the future.” Grant was stunned.

  “No, there aren’t,” Brett said. “This person, Mikayla, must have declared herself a queen.”

  “We don’t need a queen in the Overworld,” said Joe.

  “I agree,” added Brett.

  Bea wasn’t focusing on everyone’s opinions about Mikayla. Instead she wanted to know how Ivan and his friend were able to travel back in time. Perhaps they knew about a portal where she could travel to the future. She didn’t like being in the Overworld, and she couldn’t go under the sea and live the life she was used to. The sea world was too primitive.

  “How did you get here?” she asked.

  “We were trailing behind you guys, and when we saw you fall into the mine, we just jumped in after you,” said Ivan.

  “So you have no idea how to get back to our time period?” asked Bea.

  “We know as much as you do.” Ivan sounded sad. “In fact, we even went back to the mine to see if we could find a way back home. My friend, Calvin, who you guys destroyed, attempted to blow a hole in the mine. We thought we’d be able to create a portal, but it didn’t work. We are stuck here, and we want to go back home and live under the sea.”

  “So do we,” said Bea.

  Brett realized Ivan and Calvin had caused the explosion in the mine. He reasoned with Ivan, “Since we all want to go back home, why don’t we work together instead of spending all of our time battling each other?”

  Ivan paused as he thought about this question. He wasn’t sure how to respond. He never had to answer a question before; he was usually the one asking questions. He just stared at Brett and tried to think of a response. He knew Mikayla wouldn’t want him working with a person who lived in the Overworld. She often told him that everyone who lived in the Overworld was an enemy.

  “Aren’t you going to answer me?” asked Brett.

  Still Ivan remained silent.

  Bea asked him, “What orders did Mikayla give you?”

  “Same as you, I bet.” He could answer this question. It was an easy one because it didn’t involve making a decision. “She told me to capture everyone who lived in the Overworld.”

  “But didn’t we look familiar?” asked Vera. “You must have seen us. We have orange hair. There are a bunch of us that Mikayla sent out in the wooden boat.”

  “She told us to capture you too. She wanted us to destroy you and everyone on the ship,” explained Ivan.

  “Why?” Bea was horrified.

  “Because she felt that you guys weren’t following orders. You spent too much time looking for buried treasure and following explorer maps.”

  As Ivan spoke, Calvin sprinted toward them. His green hair flopped in his face as he swung his sword at Vera.

  “Stop!” Ivan called out. He was surprised this came from his mouth. He had never ordered anyone to do anything in his life.

  “What?” Calvin was confused.

  “Stop attacking her!” demanded Ivan.

  Vera leaped at Calvin, piercing his arm with her diamond sword.

  “You stop too!” screamed Ivan. “Everyone stop fighting! Please!”

  The word please seemed to stick in the air, and everyone put their swords down.

  Ivan said, “Calvin, I just found out that nobody wants to be here. We are all stuck in a time period that we don’t want to be in, and we all have the same goal.”

  “I’m not,” Grant said. “I am from here. I want to stay here and settle my towns.”

  “You can stay,” said Ivan. “But will you help us get back?”

  “Yes,” said Grant.

  Vera pulled a bottle of milk from her inventory and handed it Ivan. “Drink this and get your energy back, my sea-loving friend.”

  Calvin was still a bit confused, but he said, “If everyone here is trying to get back home, I will join you guys.”

  As they talked and tried to come up with a plan to get back home, the sky turned dark and thunder boomed throughout the Overworld. A zombie ripped Grant’s door from its hinges, and the gang sprinted toward the smelly beast that reached for them with extended arms.

  Brett held his breath as he battled the undead beast. When they destroyed the zombie, they sprinted outside to find a never-ending sea of zombies fill the land that would one day become Meadow Mews.

  “We’re outnumbered,” said Ivan.

  9

  NIGHT BUILDING

  They battled the zombies on a soggy ground. Bea slipped in a puddle and brushed the water off, then got up and struck a zombie. The stench coupled with the rain made the battle more uncomfortable; however, Brett smiled as he struck a zombie.

  “Are you smiling?” Joe asked after he caught a glimpse of Brett.

  Brett confessed, “It’s because we are all working together. I was so worried we would be battling each other, but now we are all going to work together to make our way back home. Maybe once we are there, we can stop Mikayla.”

  “Stop Mikayla?” Ivan asked as he overheard Brett and Joe talk. He slammed his diamond sword into a vacant-eyed zombie.

  “Yes,” he said while leaping at two zombies and destroying both of them.

  Bea sprinted in between them. “You guys can’t talk! We have to stop this zombie invasion.”

  Brett agreed. He didn’t want to continue the conversation about Mikayla, but Ivan had other ideas.

  “He was just talking about stopping Mikayla,” said Ivan as he pointed at Brett with one hand and struck a zombie with another.

  “So?” Bea asked. “She is the reason we are stuck in this time period. She forced me to go on a boat and travel the world attacking villages. Then she wanted to capture or stop me because I enjoy looking for buried treasure. That isn’t fair. She shouldn’t have control over me. I realize now that I am not in her time period that I am free to make my own decisions, and I am enjoying it.”

  Ivan took in all of Bea’s words. He hadn’t thought about it that way, and he was beginning to see Bea’s point. He struck another zombie. Two zombies leaped at Ivan, and he swung his sword at them. As he destroyed the zombies, he could hear a voice call out behind him.

  “You have betrayed me,” the voice said.

  He turned around, but there was nobody there. He swung his sword at another zombie. He was growing tired. As flesh oozed from the zombie that stood inches from him, Ivan felt as if he was going to be sick.

  Bea lunged at the zombie next to Ivan, destroying it. As he uttered, “Thank you,” the sun began to shine, and the
zombies disappeared.

  The gang walked back to Grant’s house. Joe and Brett helped Grant repair his door, and everyone piled into Grant’s small living room. There were so many people in the living room that the weight from the guests made a hole in the living room floor, and Bea and Calvin fell into through the trapdoor on the floor.

  “Are you okay?” Grant rushed toward them. He helped Bea and Grant out of the small room underneath his living room.

  Calvin nodded his head.

  “Yeah,” Bea said as she took a sip from a potion to regain her strength. “What happened?”

  “I use that space to hide stuff. Now you know my secrets,” joked Grant. He apologized again for the incident and said, “As you guys can see, my place is way too small for everyone to stay here. Maybe we should build a home next to mine where everyone can stay.”

  Vera looked outside. It would be dark again soon. “We have to build something fast.”

  Brett thought about Poppy. She was probably wondering where he was and wondering why he wasn’t on Helen’s farm or getting ready to plan her rooftop farm. He wished she could be there to help them build the house, because she could build the best structures in no time. As they walked outside, they gathered all of their supplies from their inventories.

  They all discussed plans for the house until a voice called out. “Brett!”

  Brett couldn’t believe it. It was Poppy. Her braids swayed as she hurtled through the meadow.

  “How did you get here?”

  “There’s a new portal,” she said breathlessly.

  “Where?”

  “The Nether,” she said.

  “What’s the Nether?” asked Calvin.

  “It’s hard to explain,” said Joe.

  “What’s going on in Meadow Mews?” asked Brett. He pointed to Vera and Bea. “Are their friends still attacking the town?”

  “Yes,” she said. “It’s awful.”

  Joe and Calvin had started to build the side of the house when two block-carrying Endermen walked past them. Ivan tried not to lock eyes with the lanky Endermen, but it was too late. One of the Endermen unleashed a deafening high-pitched shriek, and Joe called out, “Sprint toward the water!”

  Ivan did, and when he jumped into the water, he felt as if he was back at home. He missed the feeling of being immersed in water. He watched the Enderman jump in after him and be destroyed.

  Ivan sipped a potion of Water Breathing and went deeper into the ocean. As he swam underneath the ocean, he saw fish swim past, and he felt at peace. In the distance he spotted a guardian, and he swam to the surface. Right before he reached the surface, he heard the same voice call out, “You have betrayed me.”

  When he reached the land, he sprinted in the darkness back to the area near Grant’s house. The new house was almost complete. He heard Bea and Vera talking as they placed the windows on the house.

  “I heard someone call out, ‘You have betrayed me,’ and when I turned around, they were gone,” said Bea.

  “I had that happen to me too,” said Vera.

  “That just happened when I was in the ocean,” Ivan added, “and it happened once before too.”

  “Do you think it could be Mikayla?”

  “I don’t know,” said Ivan. “The voice was faint, and I couldn’t make out who was speaking.”

  Joe exclaimed, “We have a door! I think the house is complete.”

  They gathered inside and crafted beds. Joe looked at the bed and yawned. “It’s been days. I can’t believe I am finally going to sleep.” He was he first person to climb into bed. He pulled the wool covers over himself and drifted off to sleep.

  As Bea climbed into her bed, she heard a voice call out, “You betrayed me.”

  “Who said that?” she called out, but everyone was asleep.

  10

  NETHER REPEAT THIS

  The sun was shining in their eyes, and everyone awoke. Brett was excited to wake up and see Poppy standing above him. He actually wondered if he had dreamed her return, but as she handed him an apple for breakfast, he knew it was real.

  “Thanks.” Brett smiled and took a bite of the apple. He chewed and then said, “Tell me again how you got here. What happened in the Nether?”

  Everyone crowded around Poppy as she spoke. “Meadow Mews was under attack.”

  Bea interrupted, “It was being attacked by the other orange-haired people, right?”

  “Yes,” Poppy clarified, “and they were attacking me. I saw Nancy. She was building a portal to the Nether with a few other people. They were low on potions and they were tired of battle, so they were making their escape to the Nether.”

  Joe remarked, “You know its bad when you have to escape to the Nether.”

  “I know,” said Poppy. “It’s awful there.”

  “We have to get back to Meadow Mews,” said Brett.

  “Yes,” said Poppy, “and I think we can get back there if we build a portal to the Nether.”

  “How?” asked Helen.

  “When I was with Nancy, I found a fortress that had a portal. I think we can use that to get back to our time period,” explained Poppy.

  “We once came upon a portal in a Nether fortress that brought us to the past. How can we be sure that this portal will bring us to the future?” asked Brett.

  “We have to try. It’s our only hope,” said Helen.

  Ivan agreed, “We thought we could get back to our time period by blowing up a portion of the mine, but that didn’t work. We should try this, because we have to try every option, even if it’s a place I’ve never been.”

  Helen explained that there were many hostile mobs in the Nether and that they had to constantly look up for ghasts and blazes. She also told them to be mindful of the lava.

  “I don’t care how dangerous the Nether is,” said Calvin, “I just want to find my way back home.”

  The gang followed Poppy outside as she pulled obsidian from her inventory and began to craft the portal. “I don’t have enough supplies,” she said, “Does anybody have obsidian?”

  Brett and Joe were the only ones who had some, and they helped Poppy complete the portal. Everyone huddled together on the portal as the purple mist surrounded them. They emerged in the Nether, right next to a large lava waterfall.

  Ivan, Calvin, Bea, and Vera stuck together. They stood inches from one another as they explored the Nether.

  “This place is so hot,” Ivan remarked as sweat formed on his forehead.

  “This is nothing like our world under the sea,” said Bea.

  A group of ghasts flew toward them, and Poppy told everyone to take out their bow and arrows. “I can’t believe I am instructing people on how to battle in the Nether. This is my least favorite place in the world, and I am not a fighter at all—I’m a builder.”

  “That gives me lots of hope,” said Ivan as he awkwardly shot an arrow at the ghast and missed it. The ghast’s fireball landed next to his feet and he jumped back to avoid getting singed.

  “You can do it,” said Poppy as she shot an arrow at the ghast, destroying it and grabbing the ghast tear.

  Ivan didn’t believe Poppy. He shot another arrow and missed again. A fireball fell at his feet, burning his toes. “Ouch!” he cried out in pain as he lost a heart.

  “Try again,” Poppy said.

  Ivan took a deep breath and aimed at the ghast. He shot the arrow and it pierced the ghast, destroying it.

  “Grab the ghast tear!” Poppy exclaimed.

  Ivan picked up the ghast tear and placed it in his inventory.

  “You earned that.” She smiled as the gang annihilated the remaining ghasts.

  As they walked through the Nether, Poppy asked Bea and Vera, “So you’re on our side now?”

  Bea and Vera looked at each other. Bea didn’t feel like she was on any side. She knew that she didn’t want to be controlled by Mikayla, but she also didn’t feel as if she belonged to their community. She just wanted to be free. She said, “If you mean, am
I going to break free of Mikayla, then yes. I just want to live my life without her ordering me around or punishing me for stopping to look for buried treasure.”

  “I get it,” said Poppy. “Nobody wants to be bossed around.”

  Vera agreed. She was still in shock that Ivan and Calvin were sent to capture them and they were going to be punished for their mild treasure-hunting activities. It didn’t make sense. They had provided Mikayla with riches from across the Overworld, and now she was upset because they wanted to do something on their own.

  Calvin and Ivan both agreed they’d had enough of Mikayla. Ivan said, “When I get back to my time period. I will work to stop Mikayla so everyone who lives under the sea can live without fear.”

  As Ivan said these words, he heard a faint voice call out, “You have betrayed me.”

  He looked around the Nether, but nobody was there. “Did you hear that?” he asked the others.

  “Hear what?” asked Poppy.

  Before anyone could respond, Helen called out, “A Nether fortress.”

  The gang sprinted toward the fortress, but as they made their way there, they saw a group of people wearing masks.

  “It’s Mikayla’s army,” gasped Bea.

  “They will destroy us for taking off our masks,” said Bea.

  “And for betraying Mikayla,” added Vera.

  “Don’t worry,” Ivan comforted them. “We have new friends now, and we will work together to stop them.”

  “I hope so,” said Bea.

  “You’ll see,” Calvin remarked as he charged toward the masked soldiers. “We will defeat them.”

  The gang clutched their diamond swords and swung at the masked army. With two hits, one of the soldiers was destroyed.

  “We got this,” said Ivan.

  Everyone hoped this was true.

  11

  FIERY ESCAPES

  The four soldiers that guarded the fortress were destroyed and the group could finally enter the fortress, but they were stopped when three blazes rose up from the ground and shot fireballs at the gang.

  “Should I use my bow and arrow?” Ivan asked Poppy.