Martian Invasion Read online

“I’ve never been to a jungle temple, but it sounds like the traps are worse than the enemies.” Miles told them how they need to avoid stepping on the pressure plates once they find them, and about the Lihzahrd mobs, who would come at them in a large pack but should be easy to take out.

  “How will we know where the traps are?” Owen asked, sounding nervous.

  “We’ll send you in first and once you get hit, we’ll know!” Asher laughed.

  Owen’s face turned an angry shade of red. “We tried that once and it all went horribly wrong!”

  “I’m sorry. I was just kidding,” Asher said. It seemed to Miles that the two of them were acting more like brothers than fellow travelers and he felt a pang of jealousy. “But seriously, how DO we trigger the traps to find them before they find us?”

  “Unfortunately, Owen, Asher’s plan is the only way I know how without summoning minions,” Miles said. “But we don’t need to send you in as bait. We’re the Three Amigos, right? We’ll walk in slowly . . . together.” Owen looked at Asher who nodded in agreement.

  “Thanks, guys,” Owen sounded relieved. “Let’s go. I feel ready!”

  The moment they entered the first corridor, the floor creaked and a spiky ball bounded toward them. Miles jumped just in time to avoid the ball. Owen spun around and hit the trap with an arrow on his first shot. “Easy peasy!”

  Asher took the lead next, but a few steps in, Miles grabbed his arm to stop him. “Spike,” he cautioned Asher, who walked carefully around the wooden spike in front of him. It was Miles who spotted the first Lihzahrds, marching toward them on two feet. Miles threw a bomb into the middle of the crowd and took out five at once. One of the mobs was thrown clear by the blast, landing on a pressure plate which shot a jet of fire through four more Lihzarhds. “Boo yah!” Miles shouted gleefully. “That’s how it’s done!”

  Asher nudged Owen with a smile. “Think he’s having fun now?” he asked playfully.

  This isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, Miles thought as he stepped forward confidently. Unfortunately, that step could have been his last. High speed poisonous darts shot out from either wall, straight at Miles. He ducked, letting one fly over his head, but moved into the line of fire of another dart. Pain seared through his side and he suddenly felt lightheaded and dizzy. Asher rushed toward him and he heard him speak as if he was. very far away. “Owen, take out those traps. I’ll take care of Miles.” Miles assumed Asher would catch him as he fell, but instead Asher grabbed his inventory and started rifling through it.

  “So, that was your plan all along, huh?” Miles said with a weak laugh. “Lure me to the Lihzhard’s Temple and steal my stuff?”

  “Save your strength and quiet down while I set up this heart statue, will you?” Asher said gently.

  Miles lay still and listened to the sounds of the temple. The ground hummed with an electric pulse and Miles felt the beat of it run through him. He bolted upright, ignoring the pain and nausea. “Electricity!” he shouted. “The traps are all wired. Use a wire cutter to find all the wires, then take out all the wires to stop the traps.”

  “That poison went to your head. Lie back,” Asher scolded him. “I’m almost finished with this heart sculpture . . . There!” A heart bounded out and landed on Miles’s chest. He instantly felt a little better. Three more hearts rained down on his head and legs and he was able to stand upright. Miles triggered the heart a few more times to restore his health while Asher shot at a handful of flying snakes with his Megashark. “Take that you slithery, slimy monsters!”

  “Miles is right!” Owen shouted from far away. He had made it most of the way down the corridor. He reappeared holding up a wire cutter and a handful of wires. “That takes care of the traps from here to the next turn.”

  “Nice work disabling the traps!” Asher said with admiration. “Both of you. I knew you were worth bringing along,” he added, looking at Miles. Miles winced, feeling like he had a long way to go before he felt truly useful.

  Once they knew how to navigate the traps and the mobs, Miles had to admit that it was smooth sailing to get to the Lihzahrd Altar. Owen was happy to dart ahead now that the traps were gone, gleefully taking out the Lihzahrds and flying snakes. Suddenly, he shouted. Miles and Asher ran up to see what he found. “A chest! I found a chest! Can I open it?” He looked like a little kid who finds a present the day before his birthday. “Please?”

  Miles stood in front of it. “Better not, Owen. It could be a trap.” Miles had found more traps that were boobytrapped with mimics and worse in his explorations. He didn’t want to admit that the poison darts had weakened him, but he really wasn’t up for another fight so soon.

  “What’s wrong with you, Miles?” Owen said angrily. “You used to be fearless. You may be more book-smart now, but you’re afraid of everything too.”

  Asher nodded in agreement. “When you stop second-guessing yourself, you increase the fun. You’ve said so yourself whenever we’ve doubted ourselves before. Besides, what’s the worst that can happen? You get hurt and wake up at home in your own bed.” Asher’s words felt like a dare and Miles felt compelled to open the chest just to prove to himself and to the guys that he wasn’t afraid. Miles had never been one to take a dare, but somehow whenever Asher challenged him, he always rose to the challenge. It drove him crazy, but it also made him feel good when he proved himself.

  Then again, Miles thought, was it really worth it? Whatever was in that chest wasn’t going to change his life a whole lot if it was a good thing, and if it was a bad thing . . . well, he’d had enough of bad things come his way in the past few hours. In fact, he had been bad-thing-free for days on end before these two showed up. “Leave it be, Owen. It’s not worth it.” Miles said, placing his hand firmly on the trunk. Miles breathed a satisfied sigh. He knew in his heart he had made the right decision.

  Chapter 5:

  IN THE TEMPLE

  “Go ahead. Open it,” Asher said.

  “I wouldn’t if I were you,” Miles countered.

  Owen looked from Miles to Asher and then down at the chest. “I’m doing it,” he said with uncertainty, waiting for them to stop him. When no one made a move, Owen opened the chest. The other two stepped back cautiously. Owen smiled broadly and pulled out a Lihzhard power cell. “Ta daa!” They all breathed a sigh of relief. Asher looked coolly at Miles.

  “What, no ‘I told you so’?” Miles asked.

  Asher shook his head. “You’ve been out of the game too long, man.”

  Miles didn’t know how to respond, but he didn’t have to. A horde of flying snakes flew at them from all directions. “Is it me, or do those snakes have tiny demon wings?” Miles observed, ducking under the cover of a nearby overhang.

  “Definitely demon wings,” Asher said, standing over a flying snake that had fallen to his sword. “Owen, make a barrier so we can go lower and keep the snakes out,” Asher called to him, then turned to Miles. “Can you take some out, or are you too scared to fight now?”

  In answer to his challenge, Miles whipped out his flamethrower and barbecued three snakes above his head, then grinned at Asher. “I’m good.”

  “Welcome back, brother,” Asher said. They fought back to back and descended lower into the temple as Owen constructed a wall above their heads. Once they were sealed off, they had a little time to breathe a sigh of relief. Miles was able to plant the heart statue and activate it with a pressure plate, thanks to the wires Owen had collected. They had a quick snack and refreshed their health as they looked around the chamber. It was quiet. Too quiet, after all they had just been through.

  “Where’s the boss?” Owen whispered.

  “The Golem?” Miles asked. “You have to activate it with the power cell you just picked up. I’ll tell you how to defeat it if you want, but remember my promise—I’m not fighting any more hard bosses for you guys.”

  “Like you’ve been such a big help in battle already . . .” Asher said sarcastically. “Come on, Miles. You love this stuff. All
kidding aside, we need you.”

  Miles looked at the altar, remembering all the hardmode bosses they had already fought. He suddenly felt like he was back at school and had just taken a test he had studied really hard for. The next day in school he’d come back to start an even harder unit, and all he’d see for the next nine months ahead is more studying and more tests. Only with hardmode bosses, you don’t get a grade . . . bosses are pass/fail. Either you defeat the boss or you get sent back and have to do it all over again.

  “No thanks,” Miles said. “I really just want to go home. Just hide behind a barrier and shoot the head and avoid the missiles after level one,” he added. “I haven’t read the chapter on defeating the Golem yet, so I can’t tell you anything you don’t already know.”

  “Three heads are better than one,” Owen said hopefully.

  “Better than two, you mean,” Asher corrected him. “And three sets of weapons are definitely better than two.”

  Miles shook his head and started climbing back up toward the exit. “I’ve failed you more than I’ve helped so far. You’re the ones who were second-guessing yourselves thinking you needed me. The Three Amigos will be just fine as the Debonair Duo again. You guys will do great on your own.”

  Asher shook his head wordlessly. Owen looked disappointed. “Thanks for everything you’ve done. We couldn’t have gotten here without you, for what it’s worth,” Owen said as Miles mined through the barrier to leave them.

  “Come find me and tell me all about it when you’re done,” Miles called back to them. “I’ll have Bunny throw one heck of a victory party for you!”

  Miles heard them place the power cell into the barrier and heard the Golem roar to life. He pulled himself up to the next level and was about to close the gap behind him when he heard a piercing scream and a cry for help.

  Chapter 6:

  STONE-HEADED GOLEM

  Miles scrambled back down, quickly replacing the block that sealed out the flying snakes and Lihzhards. One Lihzhard got through and Miles quickly pierced it three times with his broadsword and grabbed its power cell drop before jumping down into the pit with his friends. The Golem was huge. Much bigger than Miles had imagined. The Golem was moving slowly, but because the room was small, it didn’t need to be fast—it just had to be deadly. Fire balls shot from the Golem, along with large projectiles that looked heavy and harmful. Owen and Asher had their shields up, but they hadn’t heeded his warning to put up a barrier they could shoot through.

  “You guys never listen!” Miles called out as he quickly threw up a barrier between his friends and the Golem. “Now shoot through the wall . . .”

  “Are you crazy?” Asher shouted. “We can’t shoot through a wall. To do that we’d need a Vilethorn. Wait—do you have one?”

  “No,” Miles said impatiently grabbing Asher’s inventory. “Use the Nettle Burst we picked up from Plantera. It’s not just a trophy. It shoots through walls.”

  Asher’s eyes opened wide. “No way! That’s totally cool!” He grabbed the Nettle Burst and started shooting at the Golem’s body.

  Miles grabbed the weapon from him. “You seriously never listen to anything I tell you. Hit the head. Take out the head and you take out the Golem.”

  Asher grabbed the weapon back and aimed at the Golem’s head, rapidly taking down the boss’s health points. “What do we do?” Owen asked impatiently. “Just stand around doing nothing? Sounds like a Dynamic Solo, not a Duo or a bunch of Amigos.”

  “We protect the shooter,” Miles replied. “And when Asher’s Mana runs out, it’s your turn to shoot. That’s why we need three people, so we can build up Mana to run the magical weapons.” Miles held up his shield in front of Asher to protect him from an incoming fireball that snuck through a hole in their defense. “Better patch up that hole, Owen.”

  “Yes, sir.” Owen replied sarcastically, but he obediently placed a block to seal the hole.

  The Golem’s health points fell lower and Asher was almost gleeful as he continued to shoot until his Mana was almost empty. “We need a star statue . . . I’m almost out of Mana.”

  “Sorry, fresh out of statues,” Miles replied. “But now Owen can have a turn.” Miles took the Nettle Burst from Asher and handed it to Owen. “You’re up!”

  Suddenly, the Golem regained strength. It had entered the next phase and started shooting energy bolts at them. “Shields up!” Asher called out, raising two shields—one for himself and one for Owen.

  Miles raised his own shield and realized the energy bolts were coming through the barrier. “The barrier isn’t holding in this next stage, anyone have ideas?”

  “Let’s use our jetpacks to dodge the attacks while Owen holds him off with the Nettle Burst,” Asher suggested, shooting up into the air and weaving to avoid the projectiles. Miles did the same, realizing they were drawing the Golem’s fire away from Owen, making it easier for him to aim and shoot.

  “Hey guys?” Owen called out. “My Mana is running low.” Miles flew over to relieve him. “I don’t think I did much damage,” he said sadly.

  Miles took the Nettle Burst from him and told him he did a great job. He weighed the Nettle Burst in his hand and was suddenly filled with confidence. A confidence he hadn’t felt since he held the Pwnhammer in his hands after beating the Wall of Flesh to enter hardmode. I can do this. He thought to himself. I was born to do this. He raised the Nettle Burst and with all his might shot it at the Golem’s head with a rapid burst. The Golem shook from the blow. It shuddered, shot out three balls of fire, then collapsed as its head flew straight up to the ceiling and stuck there.

  Asher flew in a victory lap, whooping with joy, thinking that was the end of the boss. Unfortunately, there was more to come. Now the Golem was smaller and more powerful, and they still had the head to deal with. Detached from the body, the Golem’s giant head shot out lasers while its body shot fireballs. With attacks now coming from two locations, the trio was on even higher alert. “Shields up!” Miles called, reminding them to keep protecting themselves. “Owen and Asher, aim at the head. I’ll keep at the rest of it!” Miles was on fire—not literally, of course—but he felt powerful and alert, even sensing when fireballs and spikes were rebounding off the walls behind him. He batted them away with Nettle Burst then resumed firing at the body to keep weakening the boss.

  Owen and Asher met up at the heart statue to recover while Miles continued his amazing display of battle skills. “He’s unstoppable,” Owen observed.

  Asher nodded. “He’s always been this good, he just forgot how to fight for a minute. It’s like riding a bicycle. You never forget once you learn.”

  “What’s a bicycle?” Owen asked.

  “Never mind,” Asher said, shooting up to draw the Golem’s fire away from Miles and aiming at the head with his Megashark.

  “Hey guys?” Miles said. “I think my Mana is running out. Just a heads up.”

  “Whack it with everything you’ve got, Miles,” Asher replied. “Pick a weapon and have at it!”

  Miles threw a bomb, then grabbed his Palladium Repeater from his inventory. “This should do the trick.” He fired a load of ammunition that rained down on the Golem for a full minute, rapidly bringing the Golem’s health down to zero before it suddenly winked out of existence in a puff of smoke.

  Quiet fell once again on the chamber as the three companions looked around in wonder. “Did we really do it?” Owen asked.

  Asher flew off the cliff where he had been perched and circled the room with a loud Whoop. “Victory lap! We really did it!” he shouted.

  “We really did it,” Miles echoed quietly in disbelief.

  They all met up at the statue to refresh their health and stared over at the altar. “Nice job, guys,” Miles said. “You’re really great warriors.”

  “We couldn’t have done it without you,” Owen said. “Right Asher?”

  Asher nodded. “It’s true. You and your plans keep saving the day.”

  Miles just shook h
is head. He was an extra body in the fight, that’s all. Anyone with Mana could have manned that staff.

  “Let’s grab that altar and get out of here,” Asher said, using a pickaxe to remove the altar. “I recall someone saying something about throwing us a celebration party when we returned to the village.”

  Miles laughed, but suddenly his laugh stuck in his throat. He felt an eerie prickle at the back of his neck. They were not alone. He turned around slowly and was frozen with fear. “Oh, no. I think that party will have to wait.”

  Chapter 7:

  ATTACK OF THE CULTISTS

  Asher and Owen saw the look on Miles’s face before they saw the four quiet, blue-robed figures standing menacingly before them—two with bows and arrows and two bowing and waving their arms around. “What in the world?” Asher said in disbelief. “Are these guys for real?”

  “I think they’re cultists,” Miles said quietly, afraid to disturb them. They stood in front of the three warriors. One was holding a mysterious tablet.

  Owen cocked his head sideways to get a better look at the tablet. “Whatcha got there? I can’t seem to read what it is.”

  “Don’t touch them. You’ll start a fight,” Miles warned.

  “What?” Owen asked mischievously reaching out his finger to touch one of the blue robes. “You mean I can’t do this?”

  The quiet figures immediately sprang to life. One of the archers began shooting arrows at the group. Fortunately, Miles was still wearing his protective armor and had his shield ready. The arrow bounced off his shield to a ledge, which knocked a rock free. The rock rolled down the ledge, took a high bounce and landed on the blue cultist archer, instantly defeating him. Miles looked around in surprise to make sure he hadn’t imagined it. “Did that really just happen?”

  Asher and Owen nodded enthusiastically. “Best deflection ever!” Owen said.

  “Watch out, there’s another one!” Asher called. He grabbed for his broadsword but it got caught in his pack. The archer aimed his weapon directly at Asher, ready to fire, as Asher struggled with his weapon. Just then, Miles crept up behind the archer and took him out with his broadsword. The archer fell, unleashing his arrow into the sky.