“Lucy,” Avery called out, “there are zombies in the library. Watch out!”
Four vacant-eyed zombies were knocking down bookshelves. Lucy hid behind a shelf and aimed her bow and arrow at the zombies, striking two of them, but the zombies spotted her. She grabbed a potion of invisibility and splashed it on herself. Once she was invisible, she traded her bow and arrow for a sword and rushed over to the zombies.
“I got them!” she told Avery.
“Where are you?” Avery asked.
“I’m over here. Listen to the sound of my voice and you’ll find me,” Lucy told her friend.
As Avery listened for Lucy’s voice, the side of the library began to crumble.
“The library has been struck by the Ender Dragon,” Lucy cried. “Avery, be careful.”
The dragon’s tail was stuck in the wall, and Lucy took the opportunity to hit the tail with an arrow. The dragon lost a heart, and an instant later there was a loud explosion.
Phoebe and Jane fled into the library. “Lucy!” Jane called out. “The Ender Dragon has been destroyed!”
“Were you the one who defeated the Ender Dragon?” asked Phoebe.
Phoebe and Jane couldn’t spot Lucy in the library.
“Lucy!” Jane called out. “Where are you?”
“I’m here.” Lucy began to reappear, and she asked, “Was I the one who defeated the Ender Dragon? I just struck the tail. It must have been very weak.”
“But the griefers took out its wings,” said Jane.
Adam opened the door to the library. Lucy could see sunlight coming through the door. “Has the rain ended?” she asked.
“Yes,” Adam replied, “and the soldiers are gone. We destroyed them all.”
Lucy raced outside. A portal to the End had spawned in the center of town.
“Don’t even think about going to the End, Lucy.” Maya stood next to her. “We need you here. We have to find out who was behind that hostile mob attack, and who spawned the Ender Dragon.”
“I think we are fight two enemies,” Lucy said grimly. She couldn’t believe there were two sets of griefers terrorizing the Overworld.
Lucy didn’t travel to the End, but stayed in the village and inspected the damage done by the Ender Dragon and the griefers serving the caped man. She spotted Steve standing in front of Valentino’s shop.
“I can’t believe I let them force me to destroy Valentino’s shop,” Steve said.
Lucy reassured her friend. “This wasn’t your fault. We are going to destroy those griefers and find out who is behind the other attack.”
Valentino and Eliot approached Steve. “We’re so sorry that we blamed you for this damage.”
The townspeople and villagers joined Valentino and Eliot and apologized to Steve. A townsperson said, “We will always believe you from now on, Steve.”
“It’s okay,” Steve replied. “But we need all the townspeople to help us battle this enemy.”
Lucy announced, “We need to assemble everyone. There are two enemies that need to be destroyed: the caped griefer and his winged hooligans, and an unknown enemy who spawned this hostile Ender Dragon invasion.”
Lucy stopped talking when she saw Victoria and Stefan walk into town.
“Stefan! Victoria! What are you doing here?” Phoebe raced toward the folks from Minecrafters Academy.
“We need your help,” Victoria said weakly.
“What happened?” asked Maya.
“The attacks on the academy have gotten worse in the last few days. There are hardly any buildings left,” explained Victoria.
“And it gets worse,” Stefan said. He looked distraught.
“Liam and Dylan have escaped,” Victoria confessed.
“That’s probably who is behind this last attack!” Lucy exclaimed.
“Now we know our other enemy!” Phoebe nodded and then asked, “What about Isaac?”
“Isaac is still on campus. He is trying to help protect the school,” said Victoria.
“What do you want us to do?” asked Lucy.
Victoria replied, “We’ve heard from some of our students that Liam and Dylan have taken over the cold taiga biome. They built a headquarters on the side of a snow-covered mountain, and they are planning all sorts of attacks.”
“That’s awful.” Lucy shook her head.
“We need you guys to destroy the headquarters,” Victoria said matter-of-factly.
Lucy’s jaw dropped. She wasn’t sure how they would destroy the headquarters, and she was shocked that Victoria had such faith in them. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to travel to the cold taiga biome, especially when Steve’s village was in jeopardy of being destroyed.
“We will do it,” Maya told Victoria.
“Do we all have to go?” Lucy asked. She looked at her group of friends.
“I’m afraid so,” Stefan answered. “This is a big job, and we need a lot of help.”
“Will you be joining us?” Jane asked Victoria and Stefan.
“Yes, we will,” said Victoria. “And we have to leave right now.”
Chapter 10
COLD JOURNEY
“Who will protect our village if the flying griefers come back?” one of the townspeople asked. The others crowded around her, looking worried.
“You will,” Steve explained, putting a reassuring hand on the townsperson’s shoulder. “But everyone has to stick together and trust each other.”
Lucy added, “We must go to the cold biome and stop Liam and Dylan. They were the ones that who spawned the Ender Dragon.”
Kyra suggested, “Why don’t Henry, Max, and I stay to help protect the village?”
Lucy knew that was a great plan, but she was heartbroken to leave her good friends just after having been reunited. Still, she smiled at them. “We’ll see you soon.”
While Kyra, Henry, Max, and the townspeople held a meeting and set up teams to protect different sections of the village, the rest of the gang started their journey to the cold taiga biome.
Victoria held a map in her hands. “This will lead us to Liam and Dylan. We have to travel along the shoreline. Once we spot a large mountain, the cold biome is on the other side.”
“At least we can stock up on snowballs, in case we have to battle any Nether mobs or we are attacked by the Ender Dragon again.” Phoebe tried to see the bright side of things.
“I guess so.” Lucy paused. “I’m not a fan of the cold biome. And I don’t want to battle Liam and Dylan again. They are ruthless fighters.”
The battle with Liam and Dylan was still fresh on everyone’s mind. As they walked along the shoreline, Stefan warned them, “I see something up ahead. It looks like caped man.”
“I see him, too,” Steve whispered.
“Get your weapons out,” Maya informed her friends. “We have to be prepared.”
The group doused themselves in their potions of invisibility and crept toward the caped man and his army of winged and shield-carrying soldiers.
The caped man with the shield was on the ground. As they watched, he placed soul sand in a T shape. The gang knew that he was summoning the Wither. The caped leader placed Wither skulls on the soul sand and, within seconds, there was an explosion. The blue Wither spawned and knocked down a small house that stood next to a tree. The caped man stood and turned to look for the friends he planned to attack.
A winged soldier called out, “They’re gone!”
“What do you mean, they’re gone?” The caped criminal was annoyed.
“They must have stopped and turned around.” The winged soldier glided higher, but he couldn’t see the gang.
“That’s impossible,” the man replied.
“What are we going to do about the Wither?” a soldier asked as he dodged Wither skulls.
The Wither flew toward the caped leader. He leapt at the Wither with his diamond sword and struck the flying beast.
“We have to build a bedrock structure to trap him,” the man called out as he struck the With
er again.
The Wither spotted the gang. This incredibly powerful hostile mob could see people who were invisible to the naked eye.
Lucy’s heart raced. “I think the Wither saw us,” she whispered.
“That’s fine,” Phoebe said. “As long as the winged soldiers can’t see us, we might be able to defeat this flying devil.”
Wither skulls flew in their direction, and the gang narrowly avoided being hit. The caped man noticed the Wither flying away.
“I think we’re not alone,” he said with a laugh. He sounded relieved. He didn’t want the Wither to destroy his people. He wanted it to annihilate Lucy and her friends.
Lucy sprinted toward the Wither and struck it with her diamond sword. The Wither was losing hearts.
“It’s weakened,” she called to her friends. “We have to keep hitting it.”
As the gang repeatedly struck the Wither, the caped man ordered his soldiers to stop crafting a bedrock trap. “Although I can’t see our real enemy, I can see that the Wither is attacking them.” He let out a boisterous laugh.
Lucy struck the Wither again. The three-headed beast cried out in pain and then exploded, dropping a Nether star. Lucy picked up the Nether star and placed it in her inventory.
“I can see you!” Jane called out to her friend.
“Good job destroying the Wither!” Phoebe exclaimed.
“Yes, good job,” the caped man cried as he ran toward Lucy, clutching a potion of harming.
Steve aimed his bow and arrow at the caped man and it struck his arm. The man called out, “You’re not going to stop me.”
Lucy tried to shield herself from the potion of harming, but it was too late; the caped man had splashed the potion on her body. She was weak and was losing hearts.
Phoebe struck the caped villain with her diamond sword, but he grabbed another bottle of potion from his inventory and splashed it on her.
“Stop!” Steve hollered, and he leapt at the caped criminal. With one blow from his diamond sword, he destroyed the caped man.
Two winged soldiers flew high above the gang. Everyone took out their bows and shot arrows at the winged soldiers.
“They keep moving,” Maya complained as she shot another arrow. “I keep missing them.”
Debbie had great aim. She shot two arrows and destroyed the winged soldiers.
Victoria held the map and said, “The stronghold is right over this mountain. We’re almost there.”
The gang climbed up the side of the mountain. When they reached the other side, the white snow blinded them.
“Everything is white,” said Phoebe.
“I think it’s pretty. I wish we could build a snowman,” said Jane playfully.
“This is no time for games,” Victoria reminded them. “We have to stop Liam and Dylan.”
As Victoria uttered those words, Liam and Dylan emerged from a cave in the side of the mountain and raced toward the group.
“How do you plan on stopping us?” Liam taunted them.
“We control this biome,” Dylan said smugly.
“This is where it ends.” Liam smiled.
“No.” Lucy pointed her diamond sword at Liam. “This is where it ends for you.”
Adam splashed a potion of weakness on the two griefers. They called out, “Army! Assemble!”
A horde of men wearing blue jackets burst out of the cave.
“We’re outnumbered!” Lucy took a deep breath.
“I have a plan,” Jane called out.
Chapter 11
POTIONS AND PORTALS
Jane splashed a potion of invisibility on her friends. “It’s my last bit of potion, so let’s make it work.”
The invisible gang ran toward the griefer group and attacked the men in blue jackets. They had to work fast, since the potion’s potency would wear off quickly. Lucy struck three men with her diamond sword and destroyed them, but the number of soldiers wasn’t diminishing.
“They’re respawning in the cave!” Phoebe cried out.
Maya was battling four soldiers when Debbie swiftly swept in and annihilated the jacketed griefers. Debbie said, “Maya, do you have TNT in your inventory?”
“Yes,” Maya said as her sword pierced the arm of a soldier.
“Great. Come with me,” ordered Debbie.
“Where are you going?” asked Maya. “You know I can’t see you.”
“To the cave,” whispered Debbie. “We have to blow it up. It’s our only chance for survival.”
Maya hoped she was following Debbie as she entered the cave. She stopped when she heard a familiar voice nearby. The voice cried out in pain. “Lucy?” Maya asked. “Is that you?”
“Yes,” Lucy replied. “I’ve been weakened from the battle and I don’t have any more potions of healing, or any milk, in my inventory. I think this is the end.”
“Listen to the sound of my voice. I have potions. I can help you,” Maya said to her friend.
Lucy followed the sound of Maya’s voice. When she reached her, Lucy began to reappear.
“We’re visible,” Maya announced. “You need to drink this potion very quickly. We have to work fast.”
Lucy gulped the potion. “What are we doing near the cave?””
Maya and Lucy looked at their friends, who were still immersed in battle. Maya replied, “We’re going to blow the cave up.”
“I have a bunch of TNT in my inventory,” Lucy told Maya.
“Great,” Maya exclaimed. “So do I.”
“Maya!” Debbie’s voice boomed through the airy cave. “Where are you? I need your help!”
“Oh no, Debbie’s in trouble!” Maya sprinted into the cave, and Lucy followed.
Lucy gasped as she entered the dark cave. It was filled with endless rows of beds. “How many soldiers do Liam and Dylan have working with them?”
“Help!” Debbie cried.
Lucy couldn’t see Debbie, and neither could Maya. Lucy called out, “Maya, where are you?”
“Liam has me!”
Liam laughed. “And I’m going to destroy her!”
Lucy and Maya ran deeper into the cave, but there were still no signs of Debbie.
“Where could she be?” asked Maya.
“I see her!” Lucy sprinted toward a door in the cave. She had spotted Debbie’s foot.
The duo rushed toward the door. Lucy called, “Liam, you better let our friend go.”
“Never!”
Lucy slammed her diamond sword into Liam’s unarmored chest, destroying him.
“Thanks!” Debbie let out a loud sigh. “That was scary.”
“How come he wasn’t wearing any armor?” Maya mused.
“He’s very confident, which is his downfall,” Debbie said.
“Or he wanted to be destroyed, so he could respawn somewhere else,” said Lucy.
They all paused.
Maya said, “We have to destroy these evil griefers. We will show them they are weak.”
Debbie grabbed bricks of TNT and placed them throughout the cave. As Lucy placed a brick of TNT near a row of beds, she thought she saw Liam respawning in a bed by the door.
“We have to ignite the TNT now!” Lucy shouted to her friends.
The three girls placed as many bricks of TNT as they could around the cave, and ignited them. They barely made it out of the cave without being destroyed by the explosion.
Kaboom!
Smoke filled the cave. As Lucy and her friends fled the cave, they saw Dylan standing in front of them with a diamond sword. He was wearing armor.
“You destroyed my friend. This is unforgivable.”
“We don’t want to be forgiven,” Lucy called out. “We want you to stop terrorizing the Overworld.”
As Lucy spoke, Maya and Debbie grabbed potions of harming and splashed them on Dylan.
“Stop!” he cried out. “I’m weak!”
“And you have no place to respawn,” Lucy said as she plowed into Dylan with her diamond sword, destroying the griefer.
The others were still battling Liam and Dylan’s griefer army. The trio joined their friends in battle.
Lucy spotted a purple cape in the distance. While destroying a griefer with her diamond sword, she called out, “I see the caped criminal.”
The others caught a glimpse of the man.
“We have to follow him,” said Lucy.
“How?” Adam asked breathlessly. Everyone was battling the remaining griefer army. How could they abandon the battle they were in to fight another, more powerful, criminal?
Lucy splashed potions of weakness on the griefers, struck them with her diamond sword, and battled the army until the end.
“We’re letting him get away!” Lucy was upset. Two griefers struck Lucy with their diamond swords, and she grew weaker. The man in the cape had distracted her, and it was taking a toll on her fighting skills.
“Just concentrate on our battle,” Phoebe told her friend, aiming her bow and arrow at the caped man.
“We’re too far away,” said Lucy. “Don’t waste your arrow.”
Phoebe knew her friend was right. She kept fighting the soldiers and tried to forget about the caped man.
When the last soldier was destroyed, Lucy led her friends to the spot where she had last seen the villain.
As they trudged through the snow, Jane suggested, “We have to make some snowballs before we leave this biome.”
Lucy called out, “I see the caped criminal. He’s building a portal to the Nether.”
Maya nodded. “Then we definitely need to collect snowballs.”
Chapter 12
NOT THE NETHER
While Phoebe gathered snowballs, Lucy crafted a portal to the Nether. Purple smoke rose from the portal.
“Hop on!” Lucy called to her friends.
Phoebe fumbled as she placed a snowball in her inventory. “Wait for me,” she called out, but it was too late. She was left behind.
When the group emerged in the Nether, Lucy looked around. “Where’s Phoebe?”
Jane replied, “I’m afraid she’s still in the cold biome.”
“But we can’t just leave her!” Lucy was upset.
“Should we go back?” asked Jane.
“Yes,” Lucy said, and she looked at the others, hoping they would agree.
Battle in the Overworld Page 4