Wicked Warrior

by Morgan, Winter;

  Sarah cut Owen’s hair while Miles set up the crafting station in the corner of his house. As he placed each on the crafting table, he teemed with excitement. Owen’s haircut was finished and Miles gave him a thumbs up.

  “I think we’re almost done with the megashark.” Owen looked at the crafting station.

  “Now we have to craft the most important item,” said Miles. “The mechanical eye.”

  Without the mechanical eye, the duo wouldn’t be able to summon The Twins. As evening approached, Miles looked through his inventory, hoping they had all of the necessary items.

  Chapter 6:

  I’VE GOT MY EYES ON YOU

  “Do you have a lens?” asked Owen.

  It was the final item needed to craft the mechanical eye. Miles searched through his inventory. “I know I have it somewhere. I picked one up after destroying a demon eye.” Yet no matter how hard he searched he couldn’t find it.

  “You must have it your inventory. Just slow down and you’ll find it.”

  Miles hoped Owen was right. He would be very upset if he had misplaced this essential component. “Okay, but I don’t see it.”

  “We have to find it soon,” Owen said, looking out the window. The sky was getting dark, and they wanted to travel far outside of the village before summoning this vicious mob. Owen didn’t realize how close he was to the village when he summoned The Destroyer. It wasn’t until after the battle was over that he understood the devastation The Destroyer could have caused upon the village. They were lucky that Katie’s half-constructed home was the only thing to be ruined. Lives could have been lost. Owen was glad it ended well, and knew that in the future, he’d conjure up the mobs far from the village.

  “I’m looking, but I’m telling you it’s not there,” Miles said, panicked.

  “Can I look?” asked Owen.

  “Be my guest,” said Miles.

  Owen searched through Miles’s inventory. “I found it!” Owen exclaimed.

  “Really? How?”

  “I guess you kept passing over it.” Owen pointed to the lens. Miles extracted it from his inventory, and within minutes they were holding the mechanical eye.

  “I think you should carry it in your inventory,” said Miles.

  “Good idea,” Owen agreed.

  “Are we ready?” asked Miles.

  “Think so,” Owen said, and smiled.

  “I’m not going to lie. I am really nervous,” confessed Miles.

  “Me too,” said Owen, clarifying, “in a good way. I’m excited for this adventure, but it’s normal to be nervous.”

  The duo emerged from Miles’s house, greeted by all of their friends. Autumn the mechanic rushed over with Isaac the tinkerer. She wished them well. “I just want to say that Isaac and I are so excited to hear all about your adventures when you come back.”

  Miles looked back at his house. He didn’t want to disappoint his friends, and he hoped he wouldn’t come back to tell them that he was destroyed and simply respawned in his bed. He wanted to come back a hero.

  Owen said, “We will come back victorious, or at least we will try to come back as heroes.”

  The friends waved goodbye as they trekked into the forest and the sky grew dark. After they walked a few miles, Owen asked, “Do you think we’re far enough away from the village?”

  Miles was very protective of his friends. “I don’t think so. I want to be really far away.”

  “But we have to summon The Twins before the sun comes up,” said Owen.

  “I know,” Miles said, “we will, but I just want to travel a bit further from the village.”

  The duo walked for another few miles, Owen was worried the sun would come up in the middle of their battle. “I think we are far enough. Let’s summon The Twins,” he said, pulling the mechanical eye from his inventory.

  Miles was shaking as Owen summoned The Twins. Suddenly a message appeared telling them it was going to be a terrible night.

  “Oh no!” Miles cried, as the two incredibly gross eyes spawned in front of them. “They’re right! This is a terrible night.”

  “Don’t focus on how gruesome the eyes are, just take out your megashark and shoot!” instructed Owen.

  With sweaty hands Miles grasped the mega-shark and shot, but it didn’t hit either of the two eyes. “Help!” Miles screamed, as purple lasers shot from the Retinazer.

  “Don’t forget, we have to destroy the Retinazer first,” Owen shouted as he grabbed the megashark and aimed it at the Retinazer.

  “The other eye,” Miles cried, “it’s also a mouth!”

  “That’s the Spazmatism,” Owen screamed. “Just avoid it. We have to destroy the Retinazer first.”

  Miles couldn’t avoid the Spazmatism—it was chasing after him. Every few seconds the bulbous eye opened and shot green flaming balls at him. He was struck by one and quickly drank a potion of healing. He didn’t want to admit this, but he wished they had brought Katie with them on this adventure. Miles was inches from the Retinazer, when Owen screamed, “Shoot!”

  Miles aimed the megashark at the Retinazer and blasted the eye until it disappeared. Miles was thrilled at his achievement, but the joy was short lived when he looked over and spotted his friend Owen having a hard time battling the Spazmatism. Miles put on his wings and flew toward the Spazmatism, shooting at the mouth-like eye. He skillfully destroyed it. Miles lowered himself to the ground and picked up the Soul of Sight, which The Twins had dropped.

  Owen let out a deep breath. “Thank you. You did it, you defeated The Twins.”

  Miles handed some of the Soul of Sight to Owen. “We did this together.”

  “But really, you were the one who destroyed The Twins.”

  “You’re the one who told me what to do,” Miles replied, smiling.

  As the sun rose Owen said, “We just made it. If we didn’t destroy The Twins a minute ago, the battle would have been over because of the sun.”

  “I’m just relieved we don’t have to summon The Twins again. That was intense,” said Miles as he drank a potion to regain the energy he lost during battle.

  “I think we should head back to the village,” suggested Owen. “We need to replenish our supplies if we want to battle Skeletron Prime tonight.We’re going to have to craft a mechanical skull.”

  Miles was energized from the defeat, and said, “You’re right. Let’s battle Skeletron Prime tonight, and by tomorrow, we’ll have the Buckets of Bolts achievement and will be noted warriors.”

  “Wow, I thought for sure I was going to have to convince you to battle Skeletron Prime.”

  “No, you’re right. We make a really good team. I’m ready for the next battle.”

  “That’s awesome!” said Owen.

  As they made their way back to town, Miles suggested, “Why don’t we put our wings on and fly back to town?”

  The two started to soar up into the sky, when a voice called from below, “I like your gear.”

  Chapter 7:

  THERE’S NO STOPPING US

  Miles lowered himself to the ground and took off his wings, “Who are you?”

  “I like your wings, but I have something way cooler,” said a woman wearing a hat.

  “Really? What?” questioned Owen.

  “Who are you?” asked Miles.

  “So many questions!” she said and laughed.

  “Well, are you going to answer them?” Miles was annoyed.

  “I’m Hope,” she said, smiling. “I’m a steampunker and I have lots of cool items I can sell you, but first you have to do one thing for me.”

  “Is that to build you a house?” asked Miles.

  “That’s right!” Hope exclaimed. “I bet you’ve done this before, right?”

  “A lot,” replied Miles. “There is a village, where a bunch of NPCs live.”

  Owen added, “You’d like it there.”

  “I’m sure I would. Can you lead me there?” asked Hope.

  “Yes,” replied Miles.

&nbs
p; “On the way, I’ll tell you about what I can sell you. I see you guys like to fly, and I have a jetpack I could sell you guys,” said Hope.

  Owen exclaimed, “What? Seriously? I want to buy it right now.” He grabbed a bunch of coins from his inventory. “How much does it cost?”

  “I want one too. I hope you have two,” added Miles.

  “Yes, I do.” Hope took the two jetpacks from her inventory and they both handed her coins for their new jetpacks.

  Owen slipped the jetpack on. “This is like the coolest thing ever.”

  Hope said, “It’s also very useful when you’re in battle.”

  Miles put his jetpack on and flew next to Owen. “This is awesome!”

  As they flew an orange glow spewed from the jetpack, and Miles pointed at the orange fumes.“What’s that, Hope?” he asked.

  “Don’t worry, that’s normal. However, I think you guys should come down. Didn’t you promise to build me a house?”

  Owen and Miles landed next to Hope. Miles smiled. “That was intense. What other cool things do you have?”

  “I’m not showing you anything until we get to your village,” Hope declared.

  The duo led the way. “I will build you a big house,” Miles said as they approached the town. “You just have to promise to sell us something as cool as that jetpack.”

  “We’re almost there,” Owen said. He could see the rooftops of the homes. Owen had only just met Miles’s friends and settled in the village, but he already felt like he was returning home.

  Sarah was the first person to greet them. “What happened?”

  “We destroyed The Twins,” said Owen. “And tonight we will defeat Skeletron Prime.”

  “Wow, you’re busy guys,” remarked Hope.

  Hope introduced herself to everyone as Miles and Owen worked on her home. Katie watched them, commenting that Hope had an extra window and even had room for a throne.

  “The sun is going to set soon.” Owen looked up. “We have to craft the mechanical skull.”

  Miles looked through the list of items. “Bones, Soul of Light, Soul of Night, and lead bars.”

  Standing by the Orichalcum Anvil in the corner of Miles’s home. Owen searched through his inventoryand reported, “I think we have everything.”

  The duo crafted the skull. Once they were done Miles held the skull. “Is there anything we can’t do together? Honestly I feel invincible.”

  “Me too,” said Owen. “Together we’re unstoppable.”

  Miles said, “I can’t wait to defeat Skeletron Prime. Do you have any strategies?”

  “I know we can defeat it by just killing its head. That sounds easy, but it isn’t. I think with the jetpacks or the wings, we have a shot at destroying it. I’m feeling very good about this battle.”

  “Me too. Is it almost nighttime?” asked Miles.

  Owen walked to the window to see if the sun was setting. He stood by the window transfixed at what he saw and didn’t reply.

  “What’s wrong? Do you want to put on the jetpack and go for a quick ride before we leave?”

  “No,” Owen replied in a monotone voice as he stared out the window.

  “Is there a problem? Two seconds ago you were so excited to battle Skeletron Prime. What changed?”

  “Come over here,” Owen replied.

  Miles walked over to the window, and stood next to Owen. He was speechless as he looked out at red sky.

  Chapter 8:

  UNDER A BLOOD MOON

  “I guess we can’t summon Skeletron Prime tonight.” Owen looked up at the blood moon, which illuminated the sky with a rose-colored tint.

  Blood-curdling screams echoed outside Miles’s door. “Oh no! We have to help our friends!” Miles bolted from his house, clutching his bow.

  Outside of Miles’s door, standing in front of his friends, was a red nosed clown carrying an item with a smiling face.

  “It’s just a clown,” Miles said as he looked for the usual suspects that spawned during a blood moon, like the zombie bride and groom, those eternally wed destructive creatures of the night. Miles eyed the clown. “It’s just carrying a balloon, I think.”

  “That’s not a balloon!” cried Owen.

  The clown laughed maniacally as it tossed the yellow-smiling-face ball into the air and it exploded steps from Katie.

  “This clown is going down,” Katie hollered as she grabbed a handful of poison needles and aimed it at the clown. One of the needles landed on the clown’s arm, but he brushed it off.

  Miles shot an arrow at the clown, as the green-haired jester aimed another smiling bomb at them.

  “Use the jetpack,” Hope called out. “It will give you an advantage.”

  Miles jumped back, avoiding the bomb that exploded in front of him, and pulled the jetpack from his inventory. He pressed a button and lifted off. Hovering above the clown, he was able to shoot two flaming arrows that struck the strong clown. Miles wondered what they needed to do to destroy this laughing clown, as he pounded it with two more flaming arrows. He spotted two corrupt bunnies hopping toward Autumn and Isaac. Miles called out to them, but they couldn’t hear them. He looked down at the clown. It stood directly below him, and Miles knew this was the ideal spot to attack the clown, but he had to fly over to Autumn and Isaac and stop the lethal bunnies.

  Owen fumbled with his jetpack; he finally lifted off into the air towards Miles.

  Miles pointed as he passed Owen.“C’mon, fly over there. See the bunnies?” Miles flew as fast as he could, calling out to Autumn and Isaac, “There are bunnies behind you.”

  Autumn threw a wrench at the bunnies, hitting one of the corrupt ones, but it still hopped in their direction. Isaac lovingly and sacrificially shielded Autumn from the bunnies, as he quickly threw a succession of spiky balls at the cute but seriously corrupt bunnies. The spiky balls destroyed one of the bunnies, but the other bunny hopped faster and lunged toward Isaac. Autumn pushed Isaac away as she aimed two wrenches at the bunny, destroying it.

  Isaac sighed. “Those bunnies were hard to destroy.”

  “I know,” cried Autumn as she stared off in the distance.“It looks like they have lots of friends.”

  Isabella and Sarah noticed the cluster of bunnies hopping toward the village, and joined Autumn and Isaac in the battle. Sarah leapt at the bunnies with her scissors, while Isabella crafted a leaf barrier around three bunnies, trapping them as she zapped them of their energy.

  “Look at the new bunch of bunnies,” Owen called out to Miles as they battled the clown alongside Cedric, John, and Katie.

  “That’s their challenge. We have to destroy this tricky clown, because his bombs are extremely deadly,” Miles called out as he shot what felt like the millionth flaming arrow at this indestructible clown, but still couldn’t destroy it.

  Miles and Owen were both on the ground, and the clown was inches from them, taunting them with the smiling-faced bomb.

  “I have no idea which direction he is going to throw that bomb,” Miles whispered to Owen.

  No matter how many poison shots Katie threw or knives John unleashed or fireballs Cedric aimed at the festively dressed fatal joker, it only weakened him, but didn’t destroy him.

  The clown laughed even louder than before as he tossed two smiling face bombs in opposite directions. Miles closed his eyes as he shot a flaming arrow, and then heard two loud explosions. When he opened his eyes, the clown was gone. “Did I destroy it?”

  There was no response. Miles looked for his friends, John, Cedric, and Owen, but he didn’t see them. He told himself that it was nighttime and it was harder to see people. Miles rushed through the village, looking for his friends and hoping they weren’t destroyed by the clown’s bomb or even worse, from its flaming arrow. Miles frantically called out to his friends who had helped battle the clown with him.

  Then finally he heard Sarah cry for help. “Miles! We need you! There are too many bunnies! Come here!”

  Miles didn’t know which direct
ion he should go—all of his friends needed help. If only the blood moon hadn’t occurred, Miles thought to himself. We’d be summoning Skeletron Prime right now, instead of being in big trouble.

  Chapter 9:

  TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART

  “Miles,” Owen called out. “Over here!”

  Miles let out a sigh of relief when he spotted his three other missing friends. “What happened?”

  “We were hiding from the clown,” said John.

  “I think you destroyed it,” added Owen.

  “Yes,” Miles said, “it’s gone. But my eyes were closed, so I have no idea what happened.”

  “You shouldn’t aim with your eyes closed,” Owen reprimanded him.

  “I know,” Miles confessed, “but I was just scared.”

  “Well, closing your eyes isn’t going to work,” said Owen.

  “It looked like it did,” Katie said.

  John looked off in the distance at the others. “They need our help with the bunnies!”

  Sarah’s voice was louder and tinged with fear as she cried, “Help!”

  Isabella was slowly weakening the trapped bunnies within her leaf barrier, but there were scores of other bunnies hopping around the village. Miles destroyed two with flaming arrows, but every time someone destroyed a bunny, it seemed like more instantly spawned in front of them.

  “These bunnies multiply fast!” Isaac said as he threw two more spiky balls at group of bunnies. One of the balls landed on a bunny’s back. Miles shot a flaming arrow at that weakened bunny, destroying it, before it could lunge at him.

  Owen looked up at the sky. “Don’t worry guys, it’s almost morning, and the bunnies will all disappear. We don’t have too much longer to battle them. Let’s try to stay alive.”

  “I’m trying!” Miles said as he leapt from the bunnies that surrounded him.

  The sun rose, and one by one the bunnies disappeared.

  “It’s over,” Owen announced and everyone cheered, until Miles called out, “Not quite.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Owen as the sky turned dark. He didn’t need an answer.“A solar eclipse!”