Ghastly Battle Read online

  “No!” screamed a weakened Pablo.

  Lily charged toward Pablo and Ronan with her diamond sword, striking both of them.

  Mr. Anarchy stood in the corner, destroying the command blocks. When he was finished, he sprinted toward Lily and joined her in battling the two griefers.

  “What are you doing?” Lily was shocked.

  “I’m on your side now. These guys made me do things I never wanted to do. I didn’t want to zap Blossom and Sunny on the server,” Mr. Anarchy told the gang.

  “He’s a liar!” Ronan could barely spit out these words. He was losing energy. He tried to get milk or a potion of healing from his inventory, but he was too weak.

  Michael slammed his sword against Pablo and destroyed him.

  “My friend!” Ronan cried out to Pablo as he was destroyed.

  “You’re next,” Simon stood next to weakened Ronan.

  Ronan looked over at Mr. Anarchy. “Help me!” he pleaded.

  “Never.” Mr. Anarchy delivered the final blow that destroyed Ronan.

  Lily looked at Mr. Anarchy. “This doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.”

  Robin, Ilana, Peter, Sunny, Michael, Simon, and Lily crowded around Mr. Anarchy.

  Robin said, “We were here the entire time. We heard you talking to Pablo and Ronan. We know you tried to sell yourself as a great griefer.”

  “Yes, we heard you talk about attacking Lisimi Village,” Ilana added.

  “But I was just trying to save myself. They were putting me on Hardcore mode. You saw the command blocks,” Mr. Anarchy defended himself.

  “We can’t trust you,” Lily told him.

  “I can help you defeat Pablo and Ronan. They have an awful plan for Lisimi Village and I can help you stop it,” confessed Mr. Anarchy.

  “Why should we believe you?” Simon held his sword against Mr. Anarchy’s chest.

  “Why would I lie? I am going back to the village. If we’re under attack, I will be helpless in the prison,” explained Mr. Anarchy.

  Lily paused. She didn’t know if they should work with Mr. Anarchy. She wanted to have a meeting with her friends, but they didn’t have any time, because six ghasts shot through the Nether fortress and the group was suddenly surrounded by a sea of fireballs.

  Lily used her remaining couple of arrows to destroy a ghast. The gang pooled together whatever snowballs they had to battle the fiery mobs. Mr. Anarchy had good aim and obliterated two ghasts with snowballs of his own.

  Lily looked over at Mr. Anarchy fighting alongside them. She was conflicted. As a group of magma cubes bounced toward them, she could hear cries coming from down the hall. Lily was too busy battling the cubes while dodging the blasts from the ghasts to find out who was whimpering down the hall.

  The gang used all of their resources in battle. Simon slammed his diamond sword into several magma cubes, destroying both the larger cubes and the smaller ones.

  When the final cube was annihilated, Lily left her friends and stalked down the hall toward the sound of the cries. As she reached the lava room, the cries grew louder. Lily walked into the room and spotted Blossom standing in the corner, weeping.

  “Lily! You’re alive!” Blossom called out.

  “What are you doing here? We thought you made it back to the real world.” Lily was shocked to see Blossom.

  “Ronan told me everyone was put on Hardcore mode and destroyed.” Blossom wiped the tears from her eyes.

  “How did you get here?” Lily asked.

  “When we emerged in the Nether, I was alone. I spotted Ronan and tried to run from him, but he was too fast and caught up to me,” Blossom blurted out. “He marched me into this fortress and told me to stay here until he called for me. He said he put Mr. Anarchy and everyone else on Hardcore mode and they were all destroyed. He claimed if I waited here, I’d be safe. I didn’t know what to do,” Blossom sobbed.

  “It’s going to be okay.” Lily tried to comfort her new friend, but she wasn’t sure she was telling the truth.

  7

  POOLS OF LAVA

  Michael rushed down the hall and called to the others, “Lily found Blossom.”

  “That’s impossible,” Sunny cried. “She’s back home, in the real world.”

  “No, I’m not,” Blossom replied. “I was trapped by Ronan.”

  “But Ronan and Pablo said you vanished.” Mr. Anarchy was confused.

  “They lied,” Lily stared at Mr. Anarchy. “Which is why I will never trust a griefer.”

  “You can trust me,” Mr. Anarchy told them.

  “You’re joking.” Michael chuckled.

  Mr. Anarchy was irritated. “If I was really working with Pablo and Ronan, I’d know that they had trapped Blossom, right?”

  Lily understood Mr. Anarchy’s logic, but she still didn’t trust him. “You zapped us on this server and ruined our lives. When we arrived here, you imprisoned us and attacked our peaceful village, and now that you’ve been abandoned by your griefer friends, you think we will instantly forgive you?”

  “Um,” Mr. Anarchy stammered. “I guess—”

  But Mr. Anarchy couldn’t finish his sentence, because there was a loud roar from outside the Nether fortress.

  “It’s the Ender Dragon!” Ilana screamed.

  “I bet Ronan and Pablo are back in the Nether. They probably summoned it,” Michael called out as he ran out of the Nether fortress, clutching his bow and arrow.

  The gang followed Michael out of the Nether fortress. Ilana passed a patch of netherrack and was upset that she didn’t have any time to pick it. This was a vital ingredient for her potions, and she was running low on all of her potions. But she gathered the strength to pass up the valuable resource and sprinted toward the sound of the Ender Dragon instead.

  The muscular beast’s wing slammed into the Nether fortress, and the gang shielded themselves from the rubble.

  Simon and Lily shot arrows that pierced the side of the dragon, and it roared in pain.

  “The dragon is losing hearts,” Robin pointed out as she struck the dragon with her diamond sword.

  The powerful beast lunged at Robin, crushing her with its powerful tail. Robin had one heart left, and used her last bit of energy to strike the dragon, but it was pointless. The dragon roared and struck Robin with its scaly wing, destroying her.

  “Robin!” Lily cried out.

  “It’s okay. She’ll respawn in Lisimi Village,” Simon reassured his friend.

  Lily was infuriated, and she grabbed her sword and pounded it into the flying menace. The dragon tried to wipe Lily out with its tail, but she was a skilled fighter and redoubled her attacks, annihilating the dragon. It dropped an egg, and a portal to the End spawned in front of Lily.

  “Good job,” a voice called out.

  Lily looked up and saw Ronan and Pablo standing in front of her.

  “I don’t need any compliments from you.” She glared at the two griefers.

  Pablo looked over at Blossom. “How did you respawn? I thought you were in the real world.”

  “Ask your friend Ronan,” Blossom replied.

  “What are you talking about?” Pablo was confused.

  Ronan fumbled with words. “At first I thought she was missing, but then I found her in the Nether, and I didn’t know what to do.”

  “That’s right, I was never in the real world. Your friend tricked you,” declared Blossom.

  “I didn’t trick you. I was going to tell you,” Ronan explained.

  Pablo grabbed his sword and held it against Ronan’s chest, but he noticed everyone staring at them. He knew that he must forgive Ronan in order to maintain their power and control. Pablo put the sword back in his inventory and said, “I believe you.”

  Lily didn’t want to stand around and watch two evil griefers bicker. “I guess you can sort out your problems when we bring you back to Lisimi Village and place you in the bedrock prison,” she said.

  Pablo took a potion of harming from his inventory and yelled, “We wil
l never be one of your prisoners.” He splashed the potion on the gang.

  Lily was weak, but she was still able to grab some milk from her inventory, and she took a sip, then passed the milk to her friends.

  With renewed energy, Lily lunged at Pablo and struck him with her diamond sword.

  Ronan tried to help his friend, but he was distracted when four ghasts shot through the sky. Two of the ghasts shot fireballs in Ronan’s direction. He tried to deflect the first fireball with his fist, but he couldn’t. Ronan was destroyed.

  “Ronan!” Pablo called out.

  Lily didn’t want to destroy Pablo; she wanted to capture him and place him in the bedrock prison. When Michael struck Pablo with his diamond sword, she told him to stop.

  Lily stared into Pablo’s eyes. “You’re coming back to Lisimi Village with us.”

  “Never!” He could barely spit the word out as he turned away from Lily. Rather than be captured, Pablo walked right toward the ghast’s fireball and was destroyed.

  The whole gang gasped, but they couldn’t spend long thinking about Pablo and Ronan—the ghasts were still attacking.

  “Where are they respawning?” Lily questioned Mr. Anarchy.

  “I don’t know,” Mr. Anarchy said as he destroyed a ghast with an arrow.

  “We don’t have any more snowballs left,” Sunny announced as he destroyed another ghast with an arrow.

  “There’s only one ghast left,” Simon remarked. “We can destroy it.”

  Ilana punched a fireball and redirected it to destroy the final ghast.

  “We have to get back to Lisimi Village,” Lily suggested.

  Before anyone had a chance to respond, Ronan and Pablo appeared in front of them.

  “You’re back,” Lily screamed. “Now we will take you prisoner.”

  “Funny, we came back to destroy you,” Ronan snickered.

  “You’ll never succeed,” declared Peter.

  “Maybe, but we’re going to try.” Pablo smiled.

  Ronan walked over to Mr. Anarchy. “We’ve also come back for you.”

  Mr. Anarchy was stunned. “You want me back?”

  8

  FIRE RESISTANT

  Lily stared at Mr. Anarchy. She wanted him to make the right decision, and she wanted to believe that he had changed.

  Mr. Anarchy looked at Pablo and Ronan. “But why? You said you didn’t need me anymore.”

  “We were wrong,” Pablo admitted.

  “We need you,” Ronan confessed.

  Mr. Anarchy stood silently. He also feared that they might have him on Hardcore mode, and if he stayed with Lily and her friends, he might be destroyed. He looked at the gang from Lisimi Village. They had so much to offer him and were the nicest people he’d ever met. He felt this overwhelming guilt for trapping them on the server and wanted to redeem himself by helping them escape the server.

  Lily didn’t give Mr. Anarchy a chance to choose between the paths of good and evil. She quickly leapt at Ronan, striking him with great force.

  The gang joined her in battling the two griefers. Mr. Anarchy just stood and watched. When Ronan and Pablo each had one heart left, Lily rushed over to Mr. Anarchy. “Make a portal to the Overworld,” she said.

  “I can’t,” he whispered to Lily. “I’m sorry. They might have me on Hardcore mode, and if they destroy me, I’ll be gone forever. I have to go.”

  “Mr. Anarchy!” Lily cried as Mr. Anarchy splashed a potion on himself and disappeared.

  Ilana called out, “Mr. Anarchy is gone!”

  “Where did he go?” Peter asked.

  “Did anyone see him use a potion of invisibility?” asked Ilana.

  “I wasn’t watching him,” said Michael, and the others said the same. Everyone was busy battling Ronan and Pablo to pay attention to Mr. Anarchy.

  Lily didn’t say anything about what she’d seen. She didn’t want to focus on Mr. Anarchy’s disappearance, because she understood why he left. She wanted to get the two griefers into the bedrock prison in Lisimi Village. “I’m out of obsidian,” she said, changing the subject. “Does anyone have some?”

  Peter and Michael grabbed obsidian from their inventories and crafted a portal.

  Ronan and Pablo reluctantly stepped aboard, but before the gang ignited the portal they heard Sunny scream, “Oh no!”

  “Stop,” Lily ordered. “Don’t ignite the portal.”

  The group hopped off and ran toward Sunny. Lily and Michael held their swords against Ronan and Pablo’s backs so they wouldn’t escape.

  Sunny was frantic. “Blossom fell in the lava river!”

  “How?” cried Ilana.

  “Are you sure?” asked Michael.

  Lily remained calm. “Thankfully you both slept in Lisimi Village, so we know that she’ll respawn there.”

  Sunny noticed a bunch of command blocks near a lava waterfall and, pointing at them, he screamed at Ronan and Pablo, “Did you put Blossom on Hardcore mode?”

  “No,” Pablo replied.

  “We promise, we didn’t,” said Ronan.

  “Then how did those command blocks get there?” Lily was angry. She knew someone wasn’t telling truth. She was also scared that they could all be on Hardcore mode.

  “Maybe Mr. Anarchy did this. Maybe he’s trying to get back at us,” suggested Pablo.

  Sunny grabbed his sword and destroyed the blocks. “I don’t care who left them here. Now they’re gone.”

  Lily marched Ronan and Pablo back to the portal and called for Michael to ignite it, but he didn’t. “Do you hear that?” he asked.

  Everyone was silent.

  “I don’t hear anything.” Lily was annoyed. “Just light the portal.”

  “I hear something,” Michael protested.

  This time everyone could hear a loud, high-pitched shriek, which grew more powerful by the second. They also heard someone cry for help.

  “That sounds like Mr. Anarchy,” exclaimed Peter.

  “We need to find him,” Lily called out.

  She hopped off the portal, instructing Ilana and Peter to watch Ronan and Pablo. “Don’t let them escape.”

  “We won’t,” Peter promised.

  The gang ran toward the sound of Mr. Anarchy’s cries.

  “Oh no!” Simon gasped, when he saw Mr. Anarchy trying to battle a horde of blazes and ghasts on his own.

  “I need help!” he cried out.

  The gang shot arrows at the flying, fiery beasts. They were able to destroy a few, but there were so many flying through the sky that the battle seemed almost impossible.

  Sunny aimed his arrow at a ghast, destroying it. Lily used her fists to deflect the fireballs. Mr. Anarchy used his bow and arrow to shoot at the mobs.

  “Do you think Pablo and Ronan summoned this crop of blazes and ghasts?” questioned Lily.

  “I’m not sure how they could have done that when they were with us the entire time,” said Michael.

  “And what about those command blocks?” asked Simon.

  “Do you think there’s another griefer lurking about?” asked Lily.

  “I hope not,” Simon replied as he destroyed another ghast with its own fireball.

  “We have to get to the bottom of this,” said Sunny. “I want to get back home. And I want to go to the Overworld and find Blossom. She must be terrified that she’s in Lisimi Village on her own.”

  “I’m sure she’s with Robin,” Lily reassured Sunny as she destroyed another blaze.

  The battle was intense, even though there were just a handful of blazes and ghasts left floating in the sky. The gang annihilated the ghasts. Mr. Anarchy destroyed a blaze. “We’re almost done with this battle,” he called out as he destroyed another.

  When the final blaze was destroyed, Lily asked Mr. Anarchy, “Where did you go? How did you disappear?”

  He stood silently. He had no response.

  Sunny questioned him, “Did you leave those command blocks by the lava waterfall?”

  Again, he had no
response.

  “How can you expect us to trust you when you are keeping secrets?” Lily walked over to Mr. Anarchy and held her diamond sword against his chest.

  “I don’t want to lie to you,” he told them.

  “Then what are you hiding from us? Tell me!” Lily demanded as she clutched the sword, threatening to strike Mr. Anarchy.

  “I didn’t disappear,” he confessed. “I saw someone the distance and I wanted to see who it was.”

  “Who was it?” Lily was angry.

  A voice called out, “Remember us?”

  Lily felt an arrow strike her back. She turned around and saw Emma, Otto, and Matthew aiming their bows and arrows at the group.

  9

  NETHER SURRENDER

  “Emma!” Lily screamed. “Stop!”

  Emma shot two arrows at Lily, piercing her skin making her lose hearts. Emma laughed. “Never!”

  “How did you escape?” questioned Simon.

  “You haven’t been back to Lisimi Village in a long time. You have no idea what is going on there.” Matthew smirked.

  Lily’s heart raced. What could be going on in Lisimi Village? Lily imagined the town under attack. She hoped Robin and Blossom were okay when they respawned. She hoped her small cottage was still standing. She hoped that Juan the Butcher still had his shop, and his friends Emily the Fisherwoman and Fred the Farmer were okay.

  Lily screamed, “What did you do to Lisimi Village?”

  “Surrender to us and you’ll find out,” ordered Otto.

  “We’re not going to surrender to you.” Lily clutched her sword.

  Michael leapt at Otto and struck him with his sword. Emma attacked Michael, splashing a potion of harming on him. Michael only had one heart left. Lily tried to give Michael a potion of healing, but it was too late. Emma struck him with her diamond sword and he was destroyed.

  Emma smiled. “He’s going to be in for a surprise when he respawns in the village.”

  “What did you do to the village?” Lily demanded. She struck Emma with her diamond sword.

  While he skillfully battled them with his diamond sword, Simon shouted, “Tell us. You’re monsters!”

  Peter and Ilana ran toward the gang.

  “Where are Ronan and Pablo?” Lily questioned while she battled Emma.