The Griefer's Revenge Read online

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  Copyright © 2015 by Hollan Publishing, Inc.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

  Cover photo by Megan Miller

  Print ISBN: 978-1-63450-597-0

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63450-598-7

  Printed in Canada

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: Chosen

  Chapter 2: Explosions

  Chapter 3: Too Good to Be True

  Chapter 4: Stadiums

  Chapter 5: Let the Games Begin

  Chapter 6: Fireworks and Fiery Beasts

  Chapter 7: Player vs. Player

  Chapter 8: Sprinting to the Finish

  Chapter 9: Play by the Rules

  Chapter 10: Battle of the Mobs

  Chapter 11: Revenge Isn’t Sweet

  Chapter 12: Down the Hole

  Chapter 13: Game On!

  Chapter 14: Bull’s-Eye

  Chapter 15: Sneak Attack

  Chapter 16: Awards

  Chapter 17: The Real Winners

  Chapter 18: End Game

  1

  CHOSEN

  A man and woman wearing matching red jackets approached Violet as she placed the final wooden plank on a small house she was building.

  “Are you Violet?” asked the woman.

  “Yes,” Violet answered. She immediately noticed the official-looking patches on both of their jackets and wondered what they wanted from her. “Why do you ask?”

  “We’ve heard you are the best builder in the Overworld,” stated the man in the red jacket.

  Violet blushed. She disliked attention and simply loved building. “Thanks,” she replied.

  Violet saw her friend Noah approaching. “I see they found you,” he called out.

  Noah stood next to Violet as the woman in the red jacket spoke: “We are from the Minecraft Olympic Committee. Your town was chosen to host the Olympic games, and we want you to build the stadiums for the games.”

  “Stadiums?” Violet questioned. She couldn’t imagine how many stadiums they wanted her to build.

  The man answered, “We need you to build four stadiums. People will be traveling from all around the Overworld both to participate and to watch these games. The construction is a very high profile job. Many people will see your work.”

  Violet was excited, but also a bit nervous. She had never worked on a project that was this important. She worried they might not like the stadiums she would build. “Four? Are there specific designs that I have to use?”

  “The Minecraft Olympics will consist of four major events. We will need a stadium for each event,” the woman replied.

  The man in the red jacket clarified, “The first game is a player versus player game. This means you need to construct a stadium where two players can battle. That stadium also needs a small room with two beds where the players can respawn.”

  Many building ideas swirled through Violet’s head and she answered enthusiastically, “I think I can do that. It sounds like fun!”

  “The other three games involve different stadiums. We need one for a sprinting competition. So you’ll need to construct a track,” the woman in the red jacket explained, and she went into various details about the stadium.

  The man told Violet about the final two Olympic games and their specialized stadiums. “One of the major events that will attract the most attention is the Battle of the Mobs. You’ll need to create various mob spawners and a stage where skilled players show off their skills by battling hostile mobs.”

  Violet had never created a mob spawner—that was something Daniel and his evil rainbow griefer army were experts at crafting. Violet thought about Daniel and how he might affect the Olympic games. The town hadn’t heard from Daniel since they convinced his rainbow griefer army to change skins and live peacefully in their town. She wondered if he knew the town was hosting the Olympics, and whether he might cause trouble. But she knew she couldn’t get distracted. She had to focus on her job. She had just been asked to build Olympic stadiums! This was a dream come true.

  “I’ll admit, I have never built a mob spawner before, but I have great plans for the stage and the stadium. And I’m sure I can find someone to assist me in crafting the mob spawners,” replied Violet.

  “You can hire assistants for the project. It’s a very large building job and you’ll need lots of help,” added the woman.

  “The final stadium is for our archery competition,” the man explained to Violet.

  Noah asked, “Do you use commands in the archery competition?”

  “Yes,” the man replied, “if you hit the bull’s-eye, a redstone lamp lights up.”

  “These games sound incredible,” remarked Noah. “Can anybody participate, or do you have to be invited?”

  The man addressed Noah, “We have singled out the strongest players in the Overworld. But we will also host local tryouts for people in your town who might want to participate, too.”

  “I’d love to try out!” Noah couldn’t contain his excitement.

  Violet was surprised. She didn’t think Noah was very competitive, but he was a skilled fighter and sprinter and would definitely make it into one of the games.

  “I just realized we never introduced ourselves,” the woman in the red jacket laughed. “We were so excited about asking you to build the stadiums that we forgot our manners. I’m Nina.”

  “I’m Mac. We’re from the Minecraft Olympic Committee, as we said.” The man in the red jacket smiled at Violet and Noah. “And we’re very excited to have you build these stadiums. I think the Olympic games are going to be great fun. You have such a peaceful, scenic village; it’s the perfect spot for the games.”

  Kaboom! An explosion was heard in the distance.

  “What was that?” Violet looked for smoke.

  “I’m not sure. It doesn’t sound like a creeper.” Noah was nervous. He hoped it wasn’t Daniel.

  Violet noticed her friend Angela running toward them. “Someone blew up my farm with blocks of TNT!” she called to her friends.

  Violet introduced Angela to Nina and Mac, explaining that the Minecraft Olympics were to be held in their town.

  Mac interrupted, “We thought this was a peaceful town … that it was free of griefers.”

  Nina frowned and said, “I think we may have to consider another town.”

  “Oh no!” Violet blurted out. She had just been offered the best job of her life and now it might be taken a
way. The Olympic games would also be great for their town. They would bring a lot of business to the small village shops and increase their opportunity for trading.

  “We will figure out who blew up our friend Angela’s farm and will make sure the town is ready for the Olympics,” Noah said confidently.

  “Yes, we have fought griefers in the past and won. We can do it again,” added Violet.

  “I’m sure that’s the case,” Mac said, but Nina interrupted him.

  “We need to discuss this, Mac. If you could please excuse us for a moment,” Nina said as she glanced at Violet.

  Violet saw them talking together quietly. She worried the games now wouldn’t be held in the town because of the destruction of Angela’s farm. And she hoped Daniel wasn’t behind the explosion. If it was just a random griefer in the town, the battle might be won easily, but Daniel was a sophisticated criminal mastermind. He could devastate the games.

  After a few minutes, Nina and Mac stopped talking. They walked toward Violet. Her heart was racing as she eagerly awaited their decision.

  2

  EXPLOSIONS

  “We have decided to go ahead and hold the Olympic games in your village. But you must promise us that you can keep the town secure from griefers and explosions,” Nina told Violet.

  “Yes, we will do that. And now I will begin building your stadiums,” Violet promised the duo from the Minecraft Olympic Committee.

  Mac spoke up. “We will drop off the supplies for building the stadiums tomorrow. We need to head back to the Olympic headquarters before dark tonight.”

  Nina and Mac left the town as the sun began to set. Violet touched Angela on the arm and offered, “You can stay with us at the treehouse tonight.”

  “Thanks,” Angela replied. She was grateful for her good friends, but she was also upset because someone had targeted her farm.

  “We’ll find out who destroyed your farm in the morning,” Noah reassured Angela.

  Night had set in. Noah and Violet were about to climb the ladder when Angela cried out, “Ouch!”

  “Angela’s been hit by an arrow!” Noah shouted as a band of skeletons shot arrows at the trio.

  Noah took out his bow and arrow and fired back at the skeletons, striking one and destroying it. Violet grabbed her diamond sword and struck the skeleton that stood behind Angela.

  Angela joined Violet in battle, and also struck the skeleton with her diamond sword, destroying the bony beast.

  Noah put his bow and arrow back in his inventory and rushed toward the skeletons with his diamond sword. He didn’t see the creeper that silently crept up behind him.

  “Watch out!” Violet screamed, but it was too late.

  Kaboom!

  Noah was destroyed by the creeper’s self-destructive explosion.

  Kaboom!

  Another explosion echoed from a distance.

  “That doesn’t sound like a creeper!” Violet called to Angela as the two attempted to fight off the group of skeletons that surrounded them.

  Noah respawned in his bed, and swiftly made it down the ladder from the tree house, shooting arrows at the skeletons.

  Violet and Angela lunged at the bony skeletons. Click. Clack. Clang. They struck the hostile mobs with their enchanted diamond swords and destroyed the rest of the group.

  “Let’s go back to the tree house and get some rest,” Noah suggested.

  “There was an explosion while you were respawning. We have to go find out where it came from,” Violet said as she looked off in the distance, trying to figure out what had exploded.

  “In the middle of the night? Can’t we wait until morning? Trying to find a griefer in the dark is a complete death trap,” Noah warned, and he headed for the ladder. “I don’t think we’re going to solve any mysteries now. We need to sleep.”

  “Noah, I can’t sleep knowing there is trouble brewing in this town. I want the Olympic games to be held here. I promised Nina and Mac this town would be secure,” Violet defended her plan.

  “But Violet, I think we’ll have a better chance of finding the culprit in the daylight,” pleaded a weary Noah.

  “Noah has a point,” Angela said to Violet. “We might encounter zombies, Endermen, and many other hostile mobs on our journey to find out what exploded. By the time we reach the potential griefer, we’ll have no energy to fight them. We need to do it in the morning.”

  Violet was outnumbered. She reluctantly climbed the ladder, pausing when she reached the middle to look out at the town. She eyed the dark landscape for smoke and signs of griefers. There was nothing, until she heard a shout.

  “Violet, help!” Ben called out.

  He hurried up the ladder. “Someone blew up my house. Luckily, I heard a noise outside and went out to investigate so I wasn’t in the house when it exploded.”

  Ben, Violet, Angela, and Noah sat in the living room of the tree house. “Your house was destroyed?” Violet questioned.

  “Yes, somebody blew it up with TNT,” Ben said. He was very upset.

  “The same thing happened to my farm. Someone blew it up today,” Angela told Ben.

  “Why did someone destroy our homes?” Ben wondered as he looked out the large window of the tree house.

  “I think I know who it is,” Violet mused, with a pensive expression.

  “Who?” Ben and Angela asked in unison.

  Noah also suspected someone. “I think I know who you’re talking about, Violet.”

  “I think it’s someone who wants revenge on us for destroying his rainbow griefer army,” Violet said as she paced nervously.

  “That’s who I thought it was, too,” Noah admitted. He stood next to Violet.

  “Daniel!” Ben and Angela uttered his name in horror.

  “Yes,” Violet agreed, and she walked to the window. “I don’t feel safe here. We might be next on his list. He seems to have targeted all the people who were involved in the attack.”

  “Not everyone,” added Ben, “we weren’t the only ones who were battling him.”

  Suddenly, they heard a noise coming from outside.

  “Oh no! I bet Daniel is about to blow this place up!” Violet shouted and dashed toward the ladder.

  As they reached the ladder, they saw Hannah and Jack approaching.

  “We thought you were Daniel,” said Violet in relief.

  “Have you seen Daniel?” Jack’s voice was shaky. He was terrified.

  Hannah and Jack stood in the living room; they were both visibly upset.

  “Our homes were destroyed,” Hannah told them.

  “We didn’t hear any explosions,” Noah said, with a puzzled look.

  “Our homes were flooded with lava,” Jack informed them. “But have you seen Daniel?”

  “No, but I’m pretty sure this is his work.” Violet paced the length of her living room. She knew her house must be next on Daniel’s list. She also knew they needed to get some sleep. If they all slept in the tree house, and if it wasn’t destroyed, they would all respawn in this same location if something happened to them later on, which would be vital in their fight against Daniel.

  Violet calmly directed the group, “We have to go to bed.”

  “Now?” Hannah was shocked. She was ready to battle Daniel.

  “But the house could explode while we’re asleep!” Angela was worried.

  “It’s a chance we’ll have to take. If it doesn’t explode and we sleep here, we will all respawn in the same place.” Violet looked at her friends.

  They each walked silently to their beds. Violet pulled the covers over her and hoped that she would awake in the morning. She didn’t want the house to explode. Violet closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

  3

  TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

  The sun shone through the large window of the tree house. Violet jumped out of bed. “Wow, the tree house didn’t explode!”

  “I know. But it’s a time bomb,” Noah said, as he led the group into the kitchen and offered his guests
some cake. “It’s just a matter of time before Daniel strikes the house.”

  “We need to find Daniel,” Violet declared before she swallowed a bite of cake.“If we don’t, he’ll destroy the tree house and stop the Olympic games.”

  “Where do we start?” asked Hannah.

  “We have to suit up and grab our most powerful weapons. Then we have to stick together as we explore the town,” instructed Noah.

  The gang made their way down the ladder and into town. They walked through the village streets searching for any clues. Valentino the Butcher came out of his shop. “I heard some explosions yesterday. Is that evil griefer back?”

  “We’re searching for him. We need to make sure this town is secure before we start preparing for the Olympics,” Violet told him.

  “The Olympics? Are they coming to our town? How wonderful!” Valentino was excited.

  The gang continued searching for any rainbow griefers that might be working for Daniel.

  “I don’t see anything,” Jack said, as they checked every street in town.

  The gang agreed. There wasn’t anything suspicious. They made their way back to the village as Nina and Mac approached them. A group trailed behind the pair, carrying supplies for the stadium.

  Nina asked, “Is the town secure?”

  Mac questioned further, “Have there been any more explosions?”

  Violet stuttered, afraid her response might be the end of the Olympics. She looked at the many people carrying the supplies for the stadiums. She thought of people filling the seats in the stadium, gleefully watching the Olympic games in her town. She wanted to tell Nina and Mac that the town was secure, but she would be lying.

  “There was one more explosion and two homes were flooded with lava,” confessed Violet. “But I think those were isolated attacks. Someone who wants revenge. I’m not sure they will destroy the games. In fact, I doubt they have that much power.”

  “Another explosion? And homes flooded with lava? The person behind these attacks seems to have a lot of resources. How can you be so sure they won’t attack the games?” Nina questioned Violet.

  “I’m sorry, the truth is I’m not sure they won’t try to destroy the games. But we promise to work as hard as we can to stop them,” replied Violet.