The Griefer's Revenge

by Winter Morgan

  “We’re going to find him together,” Noah reassured Nina.

  Violet was afraid to ask. “What happened to Samson?”

  “Daniel destroyed him; I barely escaped. I believe there’s a stronghold attached to this tunnel and that is where Daniel, Mac, and the sprinter are hiding.”

  Noah walked beside Nina, leading them down the tunnel toward the door that might lead to the stronghold. When they reached the door Nina pulled it open.

  “It is a stronghold!” she exclaimed, and the gang followed her inside.

  “This is very similar to the stronghold Daniel had in the frozen biome,” Violet noted as she made her way into the large room with a staircase.

  “We have to be very quiet,” Noah said, “and we can’t look for treasure.”

  “I’m sure everything has been looted,” said Hannah.

  “Watch out!” shouted Nina in terror.

  The gang raced out of the stronghold and into the hall as fast as they could. Someone had flooded the stronghold with lava. The lava wave inched closer to the gang as they quickly made their way to the exit.

  Noah was the last to climb out of the hole. “We made it,” he said in relief.

  “Yes, but we’re back where we started.” Violet was upset. She wanted to capture Daniel so the Olympics could go on without any incidents.

  “Guys!” Samson called to his friends, “You need to come with me!”

  The gang sprinted over to Samson who stood by the entrance to the stadium. “Look!” he cried.

  The Olympic square was filled with Endermen, and they began to attack the spectators and athletes. The Endermen’s high-pitched shrieks were piercing and painful to hear. Violet wanted to cover her ears, but she had to be prepared to battle.

  An Enderman shrieked and teleported to her side. She grabbed her diamond sword and struck it. Noah also struck the weakened Enderman, destroying it.

  “I have a plan,” Noah told Violet. “Get your pickaxe.”

  Noah and Violet banged their pickaxes into the ground, reaching a lava flow that lay right beneath the ground’s surface.

  “We need some buckets!” Noah called out to Hannah.

  The trio carefully gathered lava into the buckets, while their friends and the spectators battled the Endermen invasion with swords, arrows, and potions. Noah, Violet, and Hannah warned their friends and spectators to stand back. They dumped buckets of lava on the Endermen, destroying the entire crop of lanky beasts that attacked the Olympic spectators.

  Hannah accidentally got lava on herself.

  “Hannah!” Violet cried.

  It was too late—the lava destroyed Hannah. Violet was devastated, but she looked at the hotel. “Thankfully, the hotel hasn’t been destroyed, so Hannah will respawn.”

  “It’s just a matter of time before all of the buildings are destroyed,” Nina lamented. She stared at the rubble from the athletes’ housing. “I can’t believe I was working with Mac and he was actually one of Daniel’s minions. Why did I trust him?”

  “It’s not your fault. None of us had any idea that Mac was working with Daniel,” Violet consoled Nina.

  “We will make sure nothing else gets blown up,” declared Noah.

  Violet hoped that was the case, but she wasn’t sure. Now that she knew Daniel had so many people working for him, she was even more worried. She wondered what he was planning next. Violet walked to the prison where Nina and Mac had placed Trent. When she reached the prison cell, it was empty. Mac must have freed him. Now there were more people working with Daniel, she thought. Violet began to imagine all of the horrid things Daniel and his new group of griefers could stage at the Olympics. She thought about the archery competition. She wanted the game to go on, but she worried that it was too dangerous.

  Evening set in. Violet wasn’t even scared of the dark anymore. After battling Endermen in the daylight and having to fight both the Ender Dragon and the Wither, she felt like an expert fighter. Also, her best friend was the gold medal winner of the Battle of the Mobs. She knew that whatever crept her way in the dark of night, she would be able to conquer it. She hoped she could also conquer Daniel.

  “Violet,” Noah’s voice boomed through Olympic Village. “We need your help!”

  Violet rushed over to her friend. She wondered what was coming next.

  13

  GAME ON!

  “Nina wants the games to go on tomorrow. The archery competition is the final event at the Olympics. She also wants to make sure the stadium is secure,” Noah told Violet as they walked to the stadium.

  Violet saw someone rush past—a spider jockey was chasing them. Noah shot an arrow at the skeleton riding the spider.

  “Trent!” Violet shouted at the man who was rushing from the spider jockey.

  “I escaped!” he called out to Violet. “Mac was keeping me prisoner because I wanted to help destroy Daniel.”

  Violet shot an arrow at the spider jockey, but she wondered if she should trust Trent. She knew they had to destroy the spider jockey before questioning Trent. If not, it would be the end of them.

  Noah also shot an arrow at the skeleton, but it was bony and the strikes didn’t affect the skeleton.

  Violet bravely lunged forward, striking the red-eyed evil spider with her sword. Trent followed closely behind Violet, and he too delivered a blow to the spider. The spider was destroyed. It dropped a spider eye. Violet placed this valuable find in her inventory.

  Noah singlehandedly battled the skeleton. He struck it with his diamond sword. The skeleton fought back, but it was no match for one of Noah’s strong potions, which he splashed on the bony terror. The skeleton was destroyed and dropped an arrow, which Noah placed in his inventory.

  “I see Daniel!” Trent called to Noah and Violet.

  Daniel sprinted through the Olympic square carrying blocks of TNT. Violet, Noah, and Trent raced after him, shooting arrows.

  Daniel placed the blocks of TNT on the ground. As the group approached him, he ignited the bricks.

  Kaboom! A fiery explosion rocked the Olympic square, but Daniel didn’t destroy Noah, Violet, and Trent as he had hoped.

  “He went that way!” Noah called to his friends, and he watched Daniel dash out of the Olympic village and toward the grassy biome that was outside the village.

  “Daniel has a house right near here,” Trent told them. “He built it near the building where he stored the TNT.”

  “You mean the building we exploded?” asked Violet.

  “Yes,” replied Trent. “I bet he’s very upset about that. We destroyed a lot of TNT.”

  “It looks like he still has more blocks. I wonder where he’s getting all of these explosives?” Noah questioned as they hurried behind Daniel. They tried to catch up but he was quite fast.

  “You’ll never win!” Daniel looked back at them and let out a sinister laugh.

  “Don’t let him scare you. We will win. He’s an evil bully and we’ll stop him, and the Olympics will continue,” Trent said. He was furious with Daniel.

  Daniel ran farther away from Olympic Village, heading for the swampy biome.

  “I hate going to the swamp at night,” confessed Violet. “It really creeps me out.”

  “We just have to stick together,” Noah reassured her.

  “Look at Daniel,” Trent said, as he watched Daniel battle a witch that had spawned from a hut. She threw a potion at Daniel and rambled toward him.

  “We need to stop her. We don’t want Daniel to get destroyed. We want to capture him.” Violet charged at the witch and struck her with a diamond sword.

  Noah and Trent shot arrows at the witch. Daniel, who was weakened by the witch’s potion, stood motionless. He was confused. He didn’t understand why Violet, Noah, and Trent were helping him. He assumed they’d want him to be destroyed at the hand of the purple-robed swamp witch.

  The witch was destroyed and she dropped a potion of healing, which Noah placed in his inventory.

  Trent walked over to th
e weakened Daniel. He placed his diamond sword close to Daniel and said, “You are done terrorizing the Olympics. You are done hurting innocent people.”

  “Innocent?” Daniel defended himself. “These people aren’t innocent. Most of that town is filled with traitors. They were working for me. They were a part of my army, and they abandoned me to live with Violet and Noah.”

  “You are mean to people and force them to do bad things. How can you say bad things about Noah and Violet?” Trent lunged at Daniel with his diamond sword.

  Daniel shielded himself from the blow and took out a potion, which he splashed on Trent.

  “I feel so weak!” Trent cried.

  Daniel laughed, but stopped when he saw Noah and Violet charging at him with their diamond swords.

  “Game over!” Noah shouted at Daniel.

  “No, game on!” Daniel let out another sinister laugh. This one was even louder than the last laugh. He quickly took off his diamond armor and splashed a potion of slowness on Noah and Violet and then splashed a potion of invisibility on himself. In an instant, Daniel disappeared.

  14

  BULL’S-EYE

  “Noah!” Nina called out.

  “Violet!” Hannah shouted.

  “We’re over here by the swampy water. Daniel splashed a potion of slowness on us, and we are moving very slowly,” Violet replied.

  “Where is Daniel?” asked Nina as she approached them.

  “He used that potion of invisibility again. We have no idea where he went. He can’t be far though,” explained Noah.

  “Here, take this.” Nina offered them milk, which they both drank and regained their strength.

  Bounce! Squish!

  “Oh no!” Violet called out. “Look at the slimes!”

  A group of green, cubed slimes with large black eyes bounced toward the group.

  “There’s no time to fight slimes, we have to find Daniel!” Nina advised.

  A boxy slime bounced at Noah. “I don’t think we have a choice. If we don’t battle the slimes, we’ll be destroyed.”

  Noah and Violet lunged at the slimes. They struck the globs with their diamond swords. The cubes broke into smaller slimes that then bounced toward Nina, Trent, and Hannah.

  With their diamond swords out, the gang fought the slimes. As more slimes bounced toward them, Nina exclaimed, “How are we ever going to find Daniel?”

  “Just concentrate on battling the slimes now,” Noah said as he used all of his energy to destroy the slimy swamp creatures.

  A bat flew overhead. Nina felt a potion splash on her back.

  “Another witch spawned!” cried Hannah.

  Nina had been splashed with a potion of weakness. Hannah raced to her side and handed her some milk. Hannah threw a potion on the witch and then struck her with her diamond sword.

  “Hannah!” a voice called out.

  Hannah couldn’t see who it was. She was too busy trying to fight the evil witch that stood inches from her face, ready to throw a potion on her.

  “Hannah! It’s Ben!” Ben rushed toward Hannah, surprising the witch with a fatal blow. He was with Samson and Angela.

  “How did you find us in the swamp?” asked Hannah.

  “I saw you guys head in this direction,” replied Ben.

  “There’s no time for small talk!” cried Noah. “Help us battle the slimes. And we still need to find Daniel.”

  Ben and Hannah joined the others in the battle against the never-ending slime invasion.

  “No matter how many we destroy, more slimes seem to reappear!” Nina was exhausted and she wanted to find Daniel soon.

  “Oh no!” Hannah cried, as two new witches spawned by the witch hut. The purple-robed swamp witches hobbled toward Hannah and Ben.

  Ben struck one witch, but it drank a potion and regained its strength. Noah shot arrows at the witches.

  Nina destroyed a large slime and the smaller slimes that were formed from the large slime. She was beginning to feel hopeful, when five more slimes bounced toward them.

  “Where are these slimes coming from?” Nina wailed.

  “I’ll bet Daniel is spawning them!” cried Violet.

  “Should we try and find the spawner?” asked Noah.

  “I think we should just battle these slimes and witches. We can’t afford to lose anyone here,” Ben said as the witch threw a potion at him, and he stood frozen in the dark swamp.

  The sun began to rise. The gang destroyed the slimes, but the witches remained. With a burst of determination, the group shot a barrage of arrows at the witches until they were destroyed.

  “Daniel is probably miles from here by now.” Nina was disappointed. She wanted him caught.

  “I wouldn’t bet on it,” added Trent. “Daniel isn’t going to lose out on the opportunity to destroy the final Olympic games.”

  “You’re right.” Nina replied. “The archery competition starts soon. I don’t want Daniel ruining the event. Now that we know Mac is working for Daniel, I’m even more worried. This means Daniel knows all the details about the competition. He can really plan a serious attack.”

  The gang drank potions of healing to regain their strength after the nighttime swamp battle, and then ran toward Olympic Village. They had to protect the spectators and they had to ensure the archery competition was going to take place that morning.

  As they reached Olympic Village, they saw people entering the archery stadium. Violet and her friends weaved through the crowd to enter. Violet examined the stadium floor to check for endermites and silverfish. She went over to the hole Daniel had filled with lava. The hole was gone! She became suspicious and wondered who had filled it in.

  The spectators took their seats. A man wearing a red Olympic jacket stepped onto the stage and announced the start of the archery competition.

  Violet asked Nina, “Is he really an Olympic official?”

  “Yes, but as we now know, that means nothing. Mac was also an Olympic official. And Daniel has the sprinter working for him. I don’t trust anyone who is involved with these Olympic games.”

  The man in the red jacket shot an arrow into the sky, signifying the start of the archery competition. The spectators watched in awe as the skilled athletes tried to hit the bull’s-eye that hung on the stadium wall. The first athlete missed the bull’s-eye, and the spectators let out a disappointed sigh.

  The second athlete jumped onto the stage and aimed his arrow. He wasn’t trying to strike the bull’s-eye though. He aimed straight for Violet.

  “Watch out!” Nina shouted to Violet as the arrow flew through the air and struck Violet’s arm.

  “Gotcha!” the athlete laughed.

  The spectators watched in horror. They couldn’t believe an athlete was shooting at a member of the audience.

  Daniel leapt onto the stage and instructed his team of evil minions, “Come on guys! Attack!”

  The frightened spectators rushed for the exit.

  Kaboom!

  An explosion rocked the ground by the stadium’s exit. Dozens of spectators were destroyed.

  Violet could hear Daniel’s sinister laugh through the chaos. She also heard him utter, “Bull’s-eye!”

  15

  SNEAK ATTACK

  “Everyone, please remain calm.” Nina stood in the center of Olympic Village, delivering a speech to the worried spectators. “The games will go on. Daniel, an evil griefer, is trying to destroy these games. We won’t let him. Will we?”

  The spectators cheered and shouted in unison, “No, we won’t!”

  “We need to stop Daniel!” Nina called to the crowd. “And we also have to stop the people working with him!”

  One spectator, wearing an Olympic hat he had purchased at one of the kiosks filled with Olympic merchandise, called out, “How do we do that?”

  Nina stood silently. The spectator was asking her to come up with a plan. Nina knew she wanted Daniel destroyed, but she wasn’t sure how to accomplish it. Nina just stared at the crowd. She had no resp
onse.

  Violet walked up to Nina and stood beside her. “I have a plan!” Violet announced and the crowd cheered.

  “We need to capture Daniel,” Violet told them. “We outnumber him, so we will win. All you have to do is follow me!”

  The enormous group of spectators trailed behind Violet as she led them back into the archery stadium. Violet felt a bit overwhelmed by this power. But she believed having all of these people backing her up would ensure a victory. Or at least she hoped this was true. Violet could see Daniel sneaking to the back of the archery stadium. She raced toward him and the spectators followed.

  Daniel was cornered. His hole had been closed up and he had nowhere to run; within minutes, Violet and the numerous spectators crowded the small room behind the archery arena.

  “The game is over now, Daniel!” Violet shouted.

  “You think your makeshift army can stop my plans. Even if you destroy me, the game isn’t over, because I’m not the only one playing,” Daniel laughed.

  Violet aimed an arrow at Daniel and shot it. The arrow struck Daniel’s unarmored chest. “Bull’s-eye!” Violet called out.

  “One hit isn’t going to destroy me,” Daniel laughed again.

  Kaboom!

  A large TNT explosion rocked the stadium.

  The stadium exploded, destroying the spectators, Violet, and Daniel.

  Violet respawned in the hotel room. She looked out the window of the room to see Olympic Village in ruins. The archery stadium was destroyed. She had led the spectators to their destruction. Violet grabbed some milk from her inventory and took a drink. She dashed out of the hotel to search for her friends and to put an end to Daniel’s attacks.

  “Violet!” Noah yelled.

  “Were you destroyed in the stadium attack?” Violet asked.

  “No, I was outside the stadium,” explained Noah. “But I saw Daniel. He must have respawned close to Olympic Village.”

  “Where is he?” Violet asked.

  The spectators rushed from the hotel and raced to Violet’s side.

  Violet was shocked. “I led you to your destruction. I put you in harm’s way. How can you still want to follow me?”