The Return of the Rainbow Griefers Page 4

  “We need to hide,” Violet instructed the group, as she snuck behind a building.

  “I think we should change into rainbow skins,” advised Noah. He didn’t want to do this, but he knew it was a good strategy.

  “I can’t do it,” Marco replied defiantly.

  “If we are going to get into that town and destroy Daniel, you need to pick a rainbow skin,” coaxed Noah.

  “You should use your old skin,” suggested Hannah.

  Everyone was surprised to see that Violet was the first to put on a pink skin. “I actually think I look good.”

  “Your name is Violet. I assumed you would have picked purple,” Trent joked.

  “I like pink,” Violet replied with a smile.

  “Don’t have too much fun as a pink griefer,” Noah told Violet as he put on an orange skin.

  Marco was the last person to put on a skin. He went back to his original green skin.

  Violet took a deep breath as they approached the checkpoint.

  “Who are you?” the red griefer standing guard at the checkpoint asked them.

  “I’m Greengriefer81.” Marco was shaking.

  “Okay,” the red griefer said, “you can go.”

  The others followed Marco, but the guard said, “Stop. I didn’t say you could all go. I just said he could enter the town.”

  “I’m Pinkgriefer55,” Violet blurted out.

  The guard paused. Violet’s heart skipped a beat.

  “I’m sorry, but can you repeat your name?” The guard stared at Violet.

  “Pinkgriefer55,” she replied slowly.

  “We don’t use numbers under sixty. Are you sure you didn’t forget your number?” the red griefer questioned.

  “Yes!” Violet smiled. “I meant Pinkgriefer65.”

  “That’s better,” said the red griefer. “You can go ahead. But make sure you remember your number. I also had a hard time remembering mine at first. One day I was Joe, and the next day I’m Redgriefer89.”

  “Joe?” Marco stood next to Violet. “Were you a cactus farmer?”

  “Yes, I am. I mean I was. Who are you?” The red griefer was surprised that anyone knew him.

  “I am Marco.” Marco hastily corrected himself, “I mean—I was Marco. Now I am Greengriefer81.”

  “Marco!” The red griefer exclaimed, “Er . . . Greengriefer81, it’s so nice to see you again. I remember you lived down the road from me.”

  “I miss those days.” Marco immediately regretted saying those words. He was afraid the red griefer would get mad at him. Daniel was in charge now and the griefer had to respect him. Marco knew if they didn’t play along, they wouldn’t be able to overthrow Daniel.

  Everyone was shocked when the red griefer said, “I miss my farm.”

  Marco wanted to tell Joe the red griefer how they planned to take over the desert village, and how Joe would be able to produce cacti again, but he knew that wasn’t a good idea. He wasn’t sure he could trust Joe.

  The gang entered the desert village. Noah pointed to a desert temple. “Is that where Daniel has his headquarters?” he asked Marco.

  “Yes, that’s it.” Marco stared at the desert temple. “How are we ever going to get inside that temple and overthrow Daniel? It seems impossible.”

  “We need a good plan,” Violet said, as various ideas raced through her head.

  Before they could come up with a plan, an arrow struck Hannah’s unarmored yellow skin.

  “Ouch,” she called out.

  “Stop!” Joe shouted. A group of a dozen rainbow griefers stood by him. “They are traitors!”

  The gang ran as they tried to dodge the arrows that flew in their direction.

  “How are we going to escape?” Ben questioned.

  “We’re not!” Noah replied as he headed toward the desert temple, and the others followed closely behind.

  10

  STRUGGLE IN THE SAND

  “This way!” Noah directed the others as they stormed the desert temple.

  “Intruders!” screamed a blue and red griefer stationed by the door.

  “But they’re rainbow,” cried a red and white griefer. “They’re like us! We are being attacked by our own people!”

  “Don’t be fooled by their rainbow skins. They are in disguise,” Joe called out when he reached the desert temple. He shot arrows at the gang as they made their way into the temple.

  Noah and Violet ducked to avoid strikes from the numerous arrows flying at them.

  “We have to fight hard!” Ben shouted to his friends, and he struck two rainbow griefers with his sword.

  “Yes, there’s no time to think,” Hannah replied. She was using all of her energy simply striking the rainbow griefers that surrounded her.

  Noah, Violet, Marco, Trent, and Will were battling Joe and his small group of colorful creeps, when they heard a loud voice boom throughout the desert temple.

  “Welcome to my home!” Daniel laughed.

  The gang was shocked when Daniel and Mac appeared before them. The armor-clad villains held a diamond sword and a bottle of potion. Daniel splashed a potion on Violet, Will, Marco, and Trent.

  Noah dodged the splash and struck Daniel’s arm with his diamond sword.

  Hannah also escaped the potent potion that weakened Violet and the others. She threw a splash potion on Mac and Daniel.

  Violet’s energy returned quickly. She joined Hannah and struck Daniel with her sword. This is too easy, she thought.

  Violet worried that this was a staged attack. She wondered if Daniel and Mac wanted to be destroyed so they would respawn someplace where they could plan an even more sinister attack. Violet stopped hitting Mac and Daniel with her sword.

  “What are you doing?” Daniel was confused. “Don’t you want to destroy me?”

  “Yes, but this just doesn’t feel right.” Violet couldn’t believe she said those words.

  “What are you talking about?” Noah asked. He didn’t understand why Violet was giving up.

  Mac’s diamond sword pierced Violet’s leg.

  “Ouch!” she called out.

  The sun began to set. “Now you won’t have to fight only us, you’ll have to battle the hostile mobs too!” Daniel laughed.

  “Unless we destroy you first.” Mac struck Violet again.

  Noah, Trent, and Will used all of their energy and destroyed Daniel and Mac. Violet just stood and watched. She couldn’t help but wonder why Daniel and Mac would let themselves be exposed. They had an army to protect them. Why would they bother risking a battle?

  Violet got her answer when she saw Daniel and Mac storm through the desert temple with a new batch of fully energized rainbow griefers. She realized that the desert temple wasn’t Daniel’s headquarters. He must sleep somewhere else.

  “Get them!” Daniel ordered his band of rainbow griefers.

  Those were the last words Violet remembered. Within seconds she had respawned in the tree house in her pink rainbow skin. She changed back into her old skin. There was no point in remaining pink when Daniel already knew what she looked like in disguise.

  Violet looked around for the others, but nobody else had respawned. It was nighttime. She peered out the window. Violet wanted to head back to the desert and help her friends, but she knew it was much too dangerous to travel at night, especially when she was alone.

  A pair of red eyes stared back at her.

  “A spider!” Violet called out, but there was nobody there to hear or help her. She struck the spider with her diamond sword and crawled back into bed. She knew it was important to get some rest.

  As Violet pulled the blue wool blanket over her body and closed her eyes, she caught a glimpse of Noah respawning on his bed.

  “Noah?” Violet got out of her bed. “Are you okay?”

  A groggy Noah looked at his friend. “You’re right. Daniel was staging something else. He wanted us to destroy him so he could respawn in the other location. The new batch of rainbow griefers was ruthless.”
r />   “How? Didn’t they destroy the others?”

  “They have taken everyone prisoner. They accidentally destroyed me,” replied Noah. “Wait, Violet . . . you’re not pink anymore?”

  “No, and you should change back to your old skin too,” suggested Violet.

  Noah changed his skin. “I feel so much better now.”

  Violet was concerned with the fate of their friends. “What are they planning on doing to the others?”

  “I’m not sure, but we have to save them,” Noah said. He got up from the bed, grabbed some potatoes from his inventory, and began to eat one. He offered a potato to Violet and she thanked him.

  Violet took a bite of the potato. She wanted to be strong so she could save her friends.

  As they sat on their beds and ate, they heard someone on the ladder.

  “Who’s there?” Violet was nervous.

  “It’s Katie and Leo,” Katie called out.

  Leo sounded exhausted when he said, “Someone blew up our home with TNT. We barely escaped.”

  Violet gave food to her weary friends and then said, “I think we should all sleep here. In the morning you can come with us to the desert. We have to stop Daniel and Mac. They have trapped our friends.”

  “Tomorrow?” Noah seemed upset. “We have to go now. There isn’t a minute to lose.”

  “We can’t travel at night. It’s too dangerous,” replied Violet.

  “I am afraid that by morning our friends might be destroyed.” Noah’s voice shook as he said these words.

  “We will go with you,” Leo told Noah. “We can travel at night. We’re not afraid of hostile mobs.”

  Violet reluctantly agreed to go and the gang climbed down the ladder into the dark night.

  As soon as Violet’s feet touched the ground, an arrow hit her arm.

  “A spider jockey!” cried Leo.

  Noah shot an arrow at the skeleton. Leo struck it with his sword while Violet and Katie focused on destroying the evil spider.

  Despite being attacked by Noah and Leo, the skeleton was able to shoot arrows. One arrow hit Noah.

  “I got it!” Leo called out as he hit the skeleton with his sword. The skeleton was destroyed. It dropped an arrow, which Leo picked up and placed in his inventory.

  Violet was the one to destroy the spider. She used her sword and, with one hard smack, annihilated the spider. The spider dropped a spider eye, and Violet grabbed it for her inventory. She knew a spider eye was helpful when brewing potions.

  Noah handed the group a potion to help them regain their energy. “We need to be strong. I know this isn’t a long trip, but there are many hostile mobs lurking around these parts of the Overworld. We also need to be smart if we are going to survive.”

  The group took sips from the potion bottle. They were ready for anything that came their way. That is, until a silent killer crept up behind Noah.

  Kaboom!

  A creeper destroyed Noah as the gang watched.

  Violet cried, “Oh no!” and she made her way back to the tree house. She wanted to be there when Noah respawned.

  11

  YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND

  “Violet,” Noah called out as Violet stepped into the tree house.

  Katie and Leo climbed up the ladder next. “There are a bunch of zombies approaching. What should we do?”

  “Fight!” Noah led the gang down the ladder.

  The zombies shuffled in the distance, and before long they approached the tree house.

  Noah shot an arrow, which hit a zombie. This angered the beast and he lumbered toward Noah.

  With their swords and bows and arrows out, Noah, Violet, Katie, and Leo battled the undead mob.

  “Do you have any potions?” Violet asked the others. She was dismayed to see her inventory was empty.

  “Yes,” Katie took out a splash potion that was harmful to zombies and splashed them.

  More zombies descended upon the group. Noah looked at the mob of zombies and expressed his fear, “I hope this battle doesn’t destroy us.”

  “Even if it doesn’t destroy us, it’s going to set us back. We need to act fast. We have to save our friends.” Violet was worried about the others, and what Daniel and Mac might be doing to them. She hoped they weren’t on Hardcore mode.

  “Violet!” a voice called out from the tree house.

  Violet thought she was imagining it. She turned around and saw Hannah climbing down the ladder. Hannah was still wearing her rainbow skin.

  “It’s a rainbow griefer!” Katie shouted and aimed her arrow at Hannah.

  “No—stop!” Noah ordered Katie. “It’s Hannah!”

  Violet questioned her, “How did you escape?”

  “When they captured us, I had very little energy left. One yellow griefer threatened me and hit me with his diamond sword and I respawned in the tree house,” explained Hannah.

  “You need to change your skin,” suggested Katie. “When the sun rises, the townspeople will attack you. We aren’t fans of rainbow griefers here.”

  Hannah changed her skin while the others continued to battle the zombies. A couple of townspeople came out from their homes. They wore armor and helped the gang fight off the zombies.

  One of the townspeople stood out from the others. He was an extremely skilled fighter and destroyed multiple zombies while the others were still battling a single zombie. When the battle was over, Noah introduced himself to the expert warrior.

  “Who are you?” asked Noah.

  “I’m Dash,” the warrior replied.

  “I’m Noah, and I want you to know I think you’re an amazing fighter. I’ve never seen anyone battle zombies with that much skill.”

  Dash thanked him. He was blushing. Dash wasn’t used to attention and replied, “I’ve had to battle a lot of zombies, so I’ve picked up some tricks.”

  “Why did you have to battle a lot of zombies?” asked Violet.

  “They were always spawning on my farm,” Dash told them. He explained that he was a wheat farmer and had lived in the town a long time, even when Daniel became the self-proclaimed leader of the town.

  “You know Daniel has destroyed Supersonic, the new amusement park, right?” asked Katie.

  “Yes, it’s horrible. I wanted to ride the Dashing Coaster, but it was destroyed before I had the chance.”

  “We are going to rebuild the amusement park. You’ll have a chance to ride the Dashing Coaster,” Leo said quite passionately.

  “But we need your help,” Noah told Dash.

  The sun began to rise as Dash asked, “How?”

  “I’ve never seen anyone fight like you. We need you to help us beat Daniel. He has taken over a desert village,” explained Noah. “We’d like you to come to the village and help us battle Daniel.”

  “He has also trapped our friends. He is planning something terrible—I just know it!” added Violet.

  “Daniel destroyed my wheat farm. He made the rainbow griefers harvest my wheat and he kept me a prisoner. I would be more than happy to help you battle that evil guy,” Dash told the group.

  “Great!” Noah was happy Dash agreed to join them on their trip to the desert village.

  “Should we go too?” asked Katie. She wasn’t sure if she and Leo should stay behind and work on rebuilding the amusement park or battle Daniel.

  “Yes, you should come too!” Violet told Katie. “When we defeat Daniel, we will all come back and rebuild Supersonic together.”

  “That’s fantastic!” exclaimed Katie.

  “Sounds like a plan!” added Leo.

  “It’s going to bigger and better than before,” Violet reassured them. “Supersonic will be the most amazing amusement park in the Overworld.”

  “If we defeat Daniel, that is,” Noah said. He knew Daniel was extremely powerful and defeating him wasn’t going to be easy.

  “We will defeat Daniel!” Violet corrected her friend Noah. She hoped what she said was true. She’d never admit her doubts about winning the battle
, but she reminded herself they had defeated him in the past. Violet followed the others as they set out for the desert village. She imagined herself riding the Dashing Coaster and how it felt when the roller coaster went superfast. When she was on the coaster, her heart beat faster and she felt invincible. She wanted to ride on the coaster again.

  12

  GREEDY GRIEFERS

  The desert village was in sight when the gang was suddenly blasted with arrows.

  “Where are they coming from?” Noah looked around but couldn’t find anyone.

  “It’s too light out for skeletons to attack us.” Violet also looked around. She could feel arrows strike her skin, but had no idea who was shooting at them.

  “I think it’s coming from behind that tree,” Dash said as he ran through the dry grass in the Savanna Biome toward an acacia tree.

  He found a horde of purple griefers clustered behind the tree. Dash splashed a potion on them and began to skillfully destroy the griefers. The others rushed to Dash’s side, but he had already annihilated the majority of griefers. Noah struck the final griefer, just as a herd of white horses galloped across the savanna.

  “We should tame them,” suggested an excited Dash. “It’s the fastest way to travel.”

  The group tamed the horses with Dash’s help. They hopped on the horses and each rode one until they were able to access their horse’s inventory. When the wild horses were calmed down, the gang each placed a saddle on their horse. Then they rode the tame animals toward the desert village.

  “Get your bows and arrows out,” ordered Noah as the gang approached the checkpoint.

  Noah spotted Joe, who was also known as Redgriefer89.

  “Aim and shoot!” Noah instructed. He took out his arrow and shot at Joe. Joe was surprised by the attack.

  “Horses!” Joe shouted before he was destroyed.

  Katie’s arrow obliterated the orange griefer that stood next to Joe at the checkpoint. “Bull’s-eye!”

  The gang rode their white horses through the desert village filled with rainbow griefers, but nobody noticed these strangers on horseback. The sun was beginning to set, and the town was too busy heading into their homes for the night.