The Creeper Invasion

by Winter Morgan

  Kaboom! A loud explosion ripped through the tree house, knocking Nancy and Brett to the ground.

  Nancy looked through the rubble. “Where is the real Brett?” she hollered.

  “I’m the real Brett,” Brett reassured her as he took off the thick black coat and placed it in his inventory. The heat from the explosion made him overheat, and he had to take it off. Once he removed the jacket, he looked like the Brett that Nancy had always known.

  “If you’re the real Brett, who was the person who looked just like you in the tree house?” asked Nancy.

  “It’s complicated,” said Brett, “but we’re the same person, and I have to find him.”

  “Are you trying to tell me that you’re some kind of time traveler?” questioned Nancy.

  “Yes,” said Brett, but he didn’t have time to explain because, within seconds, the streets of Meadow Mews were flooded with creepers.

  “What’s going on?” asked Nancy.

  “I don’t know,” Brett’s voice shook. He had never seen this many creepers in his life, and as he pulled a bow and arrow from his inventory and tried to shoot the explosive green mobs, the sky grew dark, and lightning struck the area around the creepers. A blue aura surrounded the creepers.

  “Oh no!” hollered Nancy. “Now they are charged creepers.”

  Nancy tried to battle the creepers, but she had only two hearts when a charged creeper detonated next to her, and she was destroyed.

  Brett grabbed a potion of strength and sipped it as he shot arrows at the creepers. Rain fell on the ground, and Brett’s feet were drenched in the puddles that filled the grassy ground. He wondered what had happened to the Brett from his future. Brett looked back at the debris from the tree house, but he didn’t see his future self.

  “Brett!” he called out. It felt strange calling out his name. There was no response. Brett shot more arrows at the creepers, and when the final creeper was destroyed, the rain had stopped. Brett dashed into town. He spotted Nancy in the distance.

  “Nancy,” Brett called out.

  Nancy stopped. “I don’t trust you,” she confessed. “I don’t believe your tale of time travel. I think you’ve destroyed Brett and stolen his skin.”

  “I promise,” said Brett, “I would never do such a thing.”

  As they spoke, Helen and Franklin walked down the street, and Brett called out to them. He told Nancy, “They will believe me. They know that I traveled to the past, so they understand that I have the ability to travel through time.”

  Nancy said, “Well, you did know that I was once a treasure hunter. Not many people know that about me.” She was beginning to believe Brett.

  Franklin and Helen walked over to them, but before they could talk, the sky grew dark, and more creepers spawned in the streets.

  “What is happening?” asked Helen as she pulled a bow and arrow from her inventory and shot the creepers.

  Thunder shook the town, and lightning struck a crop of creepers. “More charged creepers,” screamed Nancy. “How can we get this to stop?”

  “I think we’re being attacked,” said Franklin as he splashed potions on the creepers.

  As the rain soaked the ground, Brett tried not to slip as he fought the creepers. While shooting an arrow, he felt a pain radiate down his arm and turned around to see a skeleton aiming another arrow in his direction.

  Nancy called out, “Zombies! I see zombies!”

  The village streets were filled with charged creepers, zombies, and skeletons, and Brett wondered where he’d respawn if he was destroyed. He hoped that he’d wind up in the cold biome. He decided to let this collection of beasts destroy him. As he put down his bow and arrow, Nancy looked over at him. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you helping us?”

  Brett fumbled with his words. “Because I …”

  Nancy screamed, “Pick up your bow and arrow and fight.”

  The rain stopped, the last creeper was destroyed, and Brett stood face-to-face with Nancy, who wanted to know why he wasn’t battling the hostile mobs like the rest of them.

  “I wanted to be destroyed,” confessed Brett. “I thought I might respawn in the past, where I belong.”

  “Were you only thinking about yourself?” asked Nancy. “What about Meadow Mews? It was being destroyed by mobs.”

  Helen and Franklin stood by and listened. Helen asked, “Brett, are you not in the right time period?”

  “Yes,” said Brett. “Remember when this happened to me before? I was in the middle of the clash of the Withers.”

  “I do remember that, but you stayed with us and helped us battle the Withers. The way you acted just now doesn’t seem like the Brett that we know at all,” said Helen.

  “Yes, the Brett that we know would have battled alongside of us,” added Franklin.

  “I don’t trust you,” said Nancy. “Ever since you arrived, we have been under attack.”

  “Is that true?” asked Franklin.

  “Yes,” Nancy confirmed. “He showed up in Meadow Mews, and now we are in a battle.”

  Brett defended himself. “I’m sorry. I did help you in the other attack earlier, but I am tired, and I wanted to go back home. You guys recall how I stood by you in the Wither battle? But this time, I don’t think I can. I want to go home.”

  Brett hoped his speech would convince them that he was actually who he said he was, but it didn’t work. Nancy pulled out her enchanted diamond sword and pressed it against Brett’s unarmored arm.

  “Prove to us that you are really Brett,” she said as she pressed the sword deeper into the flesh of his arm. He was overwhelmed with pain, and he lost a heart.

  7

  TRUTH OR DARE

  “I’m telling you the truth,” Brett cried. “I’m really Brett. What do you want me to say to convince you? I can tell you about going back in the past and helping Helen and Franklin defeat Withers and the story of Grant’s disappearance.”

  “Don’t hurt him,” said Helen. “I think he’s telling the truth.”

  Nancy backed away and handed Brett a potion to regenerate his strength. He was weak from the sword depleting his heart. Brett thanked her as he took a sip.

  “I am telling the truth,” said Brett as he finished the potion. “And I want you guys to know that I don’t want to be here. I went through this before, and I stuck around to help Meadow Mews, but now I just want to go back home. I’m not supposed to know my future.”

  “We understand how you feel. In fact, if I remember correctly, you felt the same way when you went back in time and helped us settle Meadow Mews.”

  “I know, but this time is different.” Brett paused and asked, “Where’s Poppy? I want to see her.”

  “Poppy is—” Nancy said and then stopped. “She doesn’t live here anymore.”

  “Where is she?” questioned Brett.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Helen said. “You want to go back home, and we’re apparently under attack. This is not the time to track down an old friend.”

  “But Poppy’s my best friend,” said Brett.

  Franklin asked, “Where is your future self?”

  “He’s missing,” explained Nancy. “We haven’t seen him since someone blew up his tree house with TNT.”

  “Who would do that?” asked Helen.

  “I don’t know who my enemies are in the future. Do I have any?” asked Brett. “Would Poppy know?”

  “We told you,” said Helen. “Poppy doesn’t live here anymore. You haven’t seen her in a while.”

  Brett couldn’t imagine not seeing Poppy. She had been his best friend for as long as he could remember. He wondered what happened to their friendship in the future, but he didn’t have the time to ask questions, because a loud explosion was heard in the distance.

  Kaboom! Smoke rose in the town. Franklin shouted, “Oh no! The castle! Poppy’s castle.”

  The gang sprinted into town. Brett spotted familiar faces in the distance. He saw Lou the Blacksmith and Heather the Librarian as they ra
ced toward the smoke.

  Heather stood by the castle and cried, “Someone is destroying the town. This castle was a piece of our history.”

  “And they also blew up Brett’s tree house,” said Nancy.

  Lou looked at Brett. “You must be so upset. Poppy built that for you before she left. You always talk about the tree house.”

  Brett wanted to ask where Poppy was living, but before he could speak, the sky grew dark again, and creepers flooded the narrow village streets. Brett knew someone must have been using command blocks to create these storms and the creepers, and they were also using TNT to blow up the buildings in Meadow Mews. He wondered who would want to destroy this flourishing town.

  Brett shot arrows at the green silent killers, but no matter how many creepers he was able to obliterate, more spawned. The rain was pounding down, and zombies lumbered through the town, ripping doors off hinges and transforming innocent villagers into the living dead. Everyone in the town was battling the mobs, and Brett saw a slew of familiar faces. As he destroyed a creeper that exploded inches from his feet, he smiled. He was happy that most of the people he knew had stayed in Meadow Mews and that they all seemed to still get along. Of course, he wondered what had happened to Poppy, and resolved to unmask that mystery. He knew that knowing a lot about his future had the potential to disrupt the time period he was living in, but if there was information that would help him stay in contact with Poppy, he had to use it.

  “Help!” Franklin hollered as three creepers and a zombie surrounded him. Brett rushed to Franklin, trading in his bow and arrow for a diamond sword and a bottle of potion. He splashed potion to weaken the zombie and creepers and then slammed his sword into the zombie, destroying the horrid-smelling beast. The creepers were harder to battle, and he jumped back as he struck them with a sword.

  “Thanks,” Franklin said as he destroyed the final creeper.

  The rain stopped as quickly as it had started, and the hostile mobs vanished. When the sun shone down on them, the townspeople walked over to see what had happened to the castle.

  “Who would do something like this?” Nancy asked the crowd.

  “Are there any suspects?” a man in a blue hat called out.

  “No,” said Helen. “This has just begun.”

  “I find it strange that this person is targeting Poppy’s work,” said Brett. “They blew up the tree house and now the castle. We should try to protect Poppy’s other buildings before they’re destroyed.”

  The crowd turned to Brett with a collective perplexed look.

  “What other buildings?” asked Heather the Librarian.

  Brett looked out past the castle where Poppy had built a skyscraper, but it was missing. “Where’s the skyscraper?”

  Lou the Blacksmith questioned, “Are you feeling okay? That’s been gone for years.”

  Heather said, “Those were the only two buildings left after the …” She stopped talking as she started to cry.

  Brett knew he had to learn about the past to save the future.

  8

  THE NITWIT

  The sun was setting, and Nancy offered Brett a room in her house. Brett followed Nancy back to her stone house in a lush area of Meadow Mews. They had to walk through a path of leaves to enter the door. When they were in the living room, Brett got up the courage to ask about Poppy. “I know that I’m not supposed to know too much about the future because it might impact the way things turn out, but I have to know what happened to Poppy.”

  “Do I really have to tell you? Obviously, you will go back in time, because there were two of you when I found you, and I think it’s probably best for you to know what is happening now, but not what came between your time period and this one.”

  “Okay, but can you answer this question? Did Poppy have any enemies? Is there someone who might have wanted to erase her existence from Meadow Mews? That might be why they targeted her last two structures,” said Brett.

  “I will tell you that Poppy hasn’t been in Meadow Mews in a long time, so I don’t know why someone would even think about erasing her memory here. She was a great person and everyone liked her, but… .” Nancy censored herself.

  “I don’t think I can help you guys if I don’t know the entire story,” Brett complained.

  “Maybe you aren’t here to solve the problem. Maybe you’re simply a soldier, and you will help us battle these creepers,” said Nancy.

  Brett understood what Nancy was saying, but he knew there had to be a reason that he was chosen to travel through time. He felt he was brought into the future to save the past. If Nancy wasn’t going to tell him about the history between his time period and hers, he would go to the library in the morning and talk to Heather the Librarian.

  “I’m going to bed,” he yawned.

  Nancy led Brett down a long hall and opened the door to a small room with a chest and a bed. He thanked her and climbed into bed. As he pulled the wool covers over himself, he hoped he’d awake and this would all be a dream.

  In the morning, when the sun shone through the tiny window, he knew that it wasn’t a dream. He was stuck in the future. He jumped out of bed, sipped milk, ate a cookie that was in Nancy’s kitchen, and headed to the village to go to the library.

  Brett was outside of the village when a villager with striking green eyes, a bald head, and a green robe approached him.

  “Hi.” Brett had never seen a villager who dressed in a green robe. He wondered what the newcomer had to trade. “What’s your name?”

  “Bob,” said the man in the green robe. “What, you don’t recognize me, Brett?”

  “What do you trade?” asked Brett.

  “Nothing. I have no interest in trading. You know that, Brett. We hang out all the time,” replied Bob.

  “Don’t you want emeralds?” questioned Brett.

  “Why?” asked Bob.

  “All of the villagers want emeralds. That is why we trade with them all the time,” explained Brett, who was annoyed. He didn’t want to waste time trying to explain something to this nitwit when he had to get to the library. He needed to get any book he could on the history of Meadow Mews.

  “You know me. I don’t like emeralds. I just like walking around and talking to people,” said Bob the Nitwit.

  “Well, if you don’t have anything to trade, I’m afraid I have to go,” Brett told him.

  “Why? We can hang out. Since I don’t trade anything, I don’t have a job. This means I have loads of free time. I love just hanging out with people and spending the day chatting. We’ve spent mornings talking.”

  Brett wished he could live a life of leisure, but he had to find a way to get back home, and he also had to help the town with the creeper invasion. He was shocked that his future self was so friendly with someone who seemed to lack motivation. Brett loved to talk to people who had different ambitions about how they carried out their jobs. This reminded him that he wanted to find out what happened to Joe. Brett knew Joe didn’t live in Meadow Mews, but maybe there was something in the history books about Joe’s farming in Farmer’s Bay.

  “So can we hang out this morning?” asked Bob.

  Brett excused himself and bolted to the library. He could hear Bob question, “Why do you want to read?”

  Bob was a Nitwit. He didn’t read. He didn’t work. He just existed. Brett told himself that he would be bored of that existence in a day. It seemed rather pointless. As he hurried into the library, Heather the Librarian greeted him.

  “I met the strangest man on the way here,” said Brett. “He said we’re friends. His name is Bob.”

  “You hang out with Bob all the time. He loves to watch you farm, and you feed him apples,” said Heather. “Why didn’t you recognize him?”

  Brett knew that Heather, a person who spent her life surrounded by books and stories, would be someone who would understand his story about his ability to time travel. She might even have a few books about time travel that might offer him suggestions on how to get back home
. He told Heather how he fell down a hole in the cold biome and how he arrived in the future.

  “I’ve heard stories about how you once traveled back in time during the clash of the Withers,” said Heather.

  “Really?” asked Brett.

  “Joe told me about it a long time ago. Before he went back to Farmer’s Bay,” she replied.

  “Do you still see Joe?” asked Brett.

  “He comes by sometimes. He helped you expand the farm last year,” she said.

  Brett was happy that Joe was still around. He was about to ask her about Poppy when she handed him a stack of books.

  “You’ve missed out on a huge chunk of time,” she explained as she handed him the books. “I don’t know if you reading these books is the best idea. I’m sure it will impact the future, but I think the more you know, the better off you are, so feel free to stay here all day and read.”

  Brett flipped through the books and opened a chapter about architecture and building. The first name he saw was Poppy’s. His jaw dropped as he read about Poppy.

  9

  CAUGHT UP WITH THE CREEPERS

  “I have to find her,” Brett said, but there was nobody around to hear him. He read the rest of the entry to see if there were any clues to where she might be hiding.

  Poppy, one of the most renowned builders in the Overworld, was hired to build an amusement park on Mushroom Island. She left Meadow Mews but never arrived on the island and was reported missing. There was a large-scale search for Poppy, but the boat she traveled on and her companions Callie and Laura were never heard from again. After a six-month search, it was declared they were gone from the Overworld.

  Brett reread the entry several times. He couldn’t believe it. He had to go back in time and warn them. He couldn’t believe this had happened years ago. How could he have ever stopped looking for Poppy? What type of friend was he? He jogged to Nancy’s house. She was standing outside picking apples from a tree.