Mission to the Moon Read online

  “That was fun,” Hunter said. “Nothing like fighting against an unknown adversary in the dark. Great plan, Gameknight999.”

  Stitcher punched her older sister in the arm.

  “Ouch,” Hunter said, rubbing her shoulder.

  “Well, what do you expect?” Stitcher asked, shaking her head.

  Hunter just shrugged.

  Gameknight reached into his inventory and pulled out another torch. He placed it on the ground, and like the others, it instantly went dark.

  “No oxygen,” Crafter confirmed.

  “What do we do?” Gameknight asked. “We can’t go blundering around through this dungeon without any light.”

  “Hmmm … Forpech has something to help,” the dark-eyed gnome said.

  He set his huge backpack on the ground and rummaged through it for a moment, then pulled out a stack of things that resembled torches, but their ends glowed as if yellow lightbulbs were mounted to the tip. He took one from the stack and placed it on the wall. Instantly, the light source filled the room with illumination, pushing back the shadows to reveal even the cobwebs high up on the walls.

  “Glowstone torches, yes, yes,” Empech said.

  Forpech nodded his oversized head and smiled.

  “Glowstone torches … I’ve never heard of them,” Crafter said in wonder.

  Gameknight took a handful from the pech and stuffed them into his inventory. The rest of the party did the same.

  “OK, let’s find us this Moon Boss,” Gameknight said as he put away his iron sword and pulled out his steeleaf shield. “I want to know what he discussed with Entity303, and what our enemy wanted from that treasure room.”

  “Hopefully, we can just talk with him and not fight,” Crafter said.

  “Unlikely,” Hunter said.

  Stitcher gave her sister a warning glare.

  “Weaver, come up here with me,” Gameknight said. “I want you to help me by placing torches while I hold my shield and cover you, ready for arrows or anything else.” The boy moved to his side and smiled, his bright blue eyes seeming brighter than usual. “Come on, everyone, let’s find us a Moon Boss.”

  And into the dark, terrifying dungeon they ran.

  CHAPTER 6

  MARTIAN MOBS

  Entity303 stepped out of the strange craft that had deposited him onto the surface of Mars. He didn’t enjoy the rolling and tumbling necessary to land on the red planet, but he didn’t have a choice.

  “Whoever programmed that landing sequence should be shot,” he growled to the empty landscape.

  Turning to inspect his craft, the user wondered why anyone thought this would be a good way to land on Mars … strange. Reaching into the cargo compartment, Entity303 took out his rocket and landing pad. Without that rocket, he’d be stranded on the planet forever, so it was always critical to collect those supplies and keep them safe. The idea of living out his life on Mars was not very attractive, though he knew of an easy way to get back to the Overworld. Only a master of modded Minecraft would realize how easy it would be to get back, rocket or no rocket. But he doubted that fool Gameknight999 had any idea what to do.

  Sprinting across the red planet, the user found a nice flat place atop a large hill for his base.

  This will give me a good view of the surroundings, he thought. I’ll be able to see monsters coming … as well as my enemies.

  Quickly, Entity303 pulled out leaves and the other equipment necessary for him to survive for a while. Placing the green leafy blocks in the shape of a wall, he knocked a block out of the center and placed the oxygen collector right into the middle. Using glass pipes, he ran the oxygen to the bubble distributor, then placed a magmatic engine near each. After connecting the engines with gold piping, he poured a bucket of lava into each. Instantly, boiling stone powered the magmatic engines and started pumping, generating electricity for the oxygen generator and bubble distributor. A blue hemisphere of air slowly expanded outward, encompassing the leaves and engines. It spread in size until it reached a radius of ten blocks, then stabilized.

  Entity303 took off his helmet and took a clean breath of air.

  “Ahhh … that’s some good-tasting air,” he said to himself.

  He pulled an oxygen compressor out of his inventory and hooked it up to the system, then filled his air tanks, which were getting low. Reaching into his inventory one last time, he produced a piece of meef he had left over from the Twilight Forest mod and ate it quickly, reducing his hunger to zero.

  “Okay, now I’m ready to find me a Boss.”

  Replacing his air tanks and helmet, Entity303 then pulled out his jet pack and put it on.

  “It’s time to fly,” he said with a smile, pleased with himself. His arrogance was just as strong on any planet.

  The jetpack lifted him high into the air and across the red surface of Mars.

  “First,” he said to himself, “I need to find some monsters to question.”

  He scanned the landscape until he found a group of skeletons shuffling across the Martian surface. Soaring high overhead, he positioned himself directly over the group, then allowed the weak gravity to bring him to the ground. Just before he landed, Entity303 used the jetpack to slow his fall, landing lightly on the rusty soil without taking any damage.

  Before the monsters could even react, he pulled out his yellow-glowing infused-sword and slashed at the creatures. He slew one after another, their pleas for mercy summarily ignored, until there was only one skeleton and a bony child left. The skeleton child held up his bow, pointing a tiny arrow at his armored chest.

  Entity303 glared at the monsters, then gestured to the child.

  “You, little skeleton, you can leave.”

  The young monster just stared up at the user with terror in its dark eyes.

  “I have no need to destroy you, but if you stay here, you will fall victim to my blade.”

  The child looked up at the wounded skeleton adult. The older monster nodded his bony head.

  “Go back to your parents,” the skeleton said. “Tell them you fought bravely.”

  “I will not abandon a fellow skeleton,” the child said.

  “It’s better you live to fight another day,” the elder said, shaking its head.

  “Listen to your bony friend,” Entity303 said. “He is wise and knows what’s what.”

  The pale child glanced one more time to the skeleton adult, then turned and ran for home somewhere across the Martian surface.

  “Thank you for letting the little one go free,” the monster said.

  “I don’t have an argument with children,” the user said. “The adults who make Minecraft are the ones who wronged me. I have nothing against kids; that one I will allow to live the rest of their life, though it will be brief.”

  “What about me?” The skeleton glanced at his bow on the ground, it was cracked and chipped from Entity303’s attack, but still looked functional. He casually leaned toward it.

  Entity303 kicked the monster in the chest, knocking him to the ground, and held his sword to the skeleton’s neck. Then he brought his heavy-booted foot down upon the skeleton’s bow, shattering it to pieces.

  “You’re gonna tell me where I can find the Martian Boss,” Entity303 said.

  “Why should I tell you anything?” the skeleton snarled.

  The user smacked the hilt of his sword on the monster’s space helmet. A small crack formed on the front.

  “How much do you enjoy breathing?”

  “You won’t get anything out of me,” the skeleton said, its voice filled with confidence.

  Entity303 laughed; he could see the fear in the creature’s dark eyes. Banging the hilt on the helmet again, the user cracked the glass cube even more. Hitting it again and again, the cracks spread across the front and crept up the sides like deadly spider webs. A faint hissing sound came from the helmet as the air from the skeleton’s oxygen gear leaked out.

  “That’s not a good sound,” Entity303 said with a smile. “I have a
nother helmet here.” He reached into his inventory, pulled out a spare space helmet, and placed it on the ground, just out of reach from the skeleton. “You tell me what I want to know, and I’ll give you the helmet. If you don’t, then you’ll slowly suffer until your HP is gone.” The user moved the hilt of his sword closer to the monster’s helmet. “What’s it gonna be … life or death?”

  The skeleton glanced at the space helmet on the ground, then up at his attacker.

  “OK, I’ll tell, just give me the helmet,” the monster said.

  “Information first … helmet second,” Entity303 said as he banged on the skeleton’s helmet again. The hissing grew louder.

  “Alright! The entrance to the Martian Boss’ dungeon is to the north, just over the line of hills.” The skeleton pointed to a collection of red mounds that stood up tall against the red landscape. “You’ll find it behind the mountain on the right. Now give me the helmet, quick.”

  Entity303 bent over and lifted the helmet off the ground. He held it out to the skeleton, but when the bony monster reached out to take it, the user turned on the jetpack and soared high up into the sky, leaving the skeleton with a look of shocked despair on his bony face.

  “Ha ha ha … thanks for the info,” Entity303 mocked the doomed creature. “Enjoy the time you have left, skeleton.”

  Leaning toward the north, he accelerated, soaring through the red Martian sky, slowly settling to the ground. He shoved the spare helmet back into his inventory and ran across the red sands, scanning the rusty planet below, searching for any sign of his enemy, Gameknight999.

  “I hope the Moon Boss prepared a nice welcome for my old friend,” he said with a laugh.

  The evil user ran up the side of the mountain that blocked his view of the dungeon entrance. At its peak, he descended in great leaping bounds. On the way down, a huge crater came into view, likely the impact point of some massive meteor the thin Martian atmosphere could not burn up as it fell. At the bottom of the crater was a shadowy recession.

  “That’s probably it,” Entity303 mused to himself. He really loved the sound of his own voice. “But I want to be cautious and make sure nothing is hiding around the crater, waiting to catch any unsuspecting visitors.”

  He ran closer to his goal, the many enchantments on the furry armor lighting the surroundings with a blue iridescent glow. He approached the edge of the crater and crouched behind a small hill of sand. There were holes and tunnels all throughout the crater, many opening into spaces underground. Likely, a fall through one of those holes would not be fatal, but it would probably trap the victim in a cave with some kind of ravenous creature. At the very bottom of the recession, a dark passage yawned like the gaping maw of a gigantic beast. The user knew that was the entrance to the Mars dungeon.

  “I need to be careful here,” Entity303 said to himself. “Getting surprised by a bunch of idiotic monsters would not be acceptable. I’ll just take my time, and maybe destroy some mobs on the way to the bottom of this crater.”

  Gripping his glowing sword firmly in his hand, the evil user moved around the edge of the crater, looking for monsters to destroy as he planned his path down to the dungeon entrance.

  CHAPTER 7

  MOON BOSS

  Gameknight and his companions moved through the dark passages with care. Blocks of spider webs were everywhere, foreshadowing the presence of the fuzzy monsters. The gray brick walls reflected sounds of monsters, making it seem as if there were an army waiting for them … which might be true, for all they knew. Weaver ran along next to Gameknight, placing glowstone torches on the walls as they moved forward and Gameknight held his shield in front of them.

  Thump … thump … thump!

  Three arrows thudded against Gameknight’s shield.

  “Skeletons ahead,” Gameknight said in a hushed voice.

  More arrows struck his shield, one of the sharp projectiles going all the way through and sticking out the other side. Gameknight broke the shaft off with the hilt of his sword.

  “Another room coming up,” Weaver whispered.

  The growls of zombies echoed off the ancient walls, the clicking of spiders adding to the sounds.

  “I’m pretty sure they know we’re coming,” Crafter said from behind Gameknight.

  “Then let’s do something to surprise them,” Gameknight said. “Crafter, you and Digger should search for spawners. Hunter and Stitcher, your job is to get the skeletons. Herder, have your wolves run around, barking and causing a distraction. I know they can’t really bite any of the monsters with their helmets on, but they can confuse them while we fight. Empech, Forpech, you two stay back and protect Tux.” He glanced over his shoulder just as another arrow struck his shield. “Everyone ready?”

  They nodded their heads.

  “What are you gonna do?” Crafter asked.

  “I’m the snow plow,” Gameknight said. “Come on … FOR MINECRAFT!”

  Then he charged ahead, hoping the others were following. The sound of their boots echoing off the cold passage walls was reassuring. When he reached the next chamber, he barreled straight through the room, using the shield as a battering ram. He smashed into skeletons and zombies, pushing them back with his shield until they were pinned against the opposite wall. Gameknight considered just holding them there, keeping the monsters out of the battle, but a hissing sound filled his hears. He’d heard that noise a thousand times in Minecraft and knew exactly what caused it.

  Dropping his shield, Gameknight spun around and swung his blade at a creeper that was about to detonate. The mottled-green monster was glowing white. His diamond sword struck the monster, stopping the ignition process. The creeper staggered backward, its glow diminishing. The monster tried to detonate again, but Gameknight kept hitting the monster, tearing away at its HP until it disappeared with a pop.

  He turned to face the monsters he’d pinned against the wall, only to find them battling Herder and Weaver. Gameknight scanned the rest of the chamber. The pechs were placing glowstone torches throughout the chamber, Tux following and squawking excitedly. Digger had destroyed the last of the spawners, eliminating the threat of reinforcements.

  “Spawners are gone!” Digger boomed.

  “Good,” Gameknight answered as he charged toward a spider.

  The fuzzy monster was hiding in the corner, likely waiting to jump out of the shadows and surprise the unwary, but the creature’s green-glowing eyes gave her away. Gameknight leapt into the air and landed directly on the monster, striking her with his sword. The spider tried to knock him off with a claw, the sharp point scraping across one of his boots. Suddenly, a pair of arrows sprouted out of her side, and then another set of shafts streaked through the room and hit the monster, taking the last of her HP. She disappeared, leaving only Gameknight and his companions.

  “Anyone hurt?” Gameknight asked, looking around at his companions.

  “Nothing serious,” Crafter replied. “Let’s keep going.”

  They used this strategy again in the next room, Gameknight storming through the chamber with his shield held out before him while the rest of them flowed into the room after. They cleared room after room as they moved slowly through the dungeon. One thing that helped their progress was the fact that there were only two spawners in each room; if there had been more, then it would likely have been difficult to fight all the monsters and destroy the spawners at the same time.

  After traversing four more rooms, they finally reached the boss chamber. Gameknight edged forward and peered inside. Tall columns of lava spilled down the corners, filling the chamber with an orange glow. A row of metal bars ran along the perimeter of the room at a height of four blocks, then another row at eight blocks, and the third row near the ceiling. Gameknight noticed the bars did not completely cover the lava. If someone climbing on the metallic ledge were not careful, they could fall into the flowing lava … and that would not be good.

  “Okay Gameknight, what do we do?” Crafter asked.

  “We
ll, the Moon Boss will spawn when we go into the room,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said.

  “And how do we beat it?” Hunter asked.

  “Well … I don’t know. I never really did this legit,” Gameknight admitted.

  “What do you mean, ‘Never really did this legit?’” Hunter took a step closer to him and stared straight into his eyes. “Are you telling me you’ve never fought this boss before?”

  “Well … no, not really. When I did this, I was just playing the game, so I went into creative mode and destroyed him.” Gameknight looked down, ashamed. “That was a long time ago, when I didn’t know about things being … you know … alive.”

  “Great!” Hunter exclaimed.

  “Be nice,” Stitcher said, then pushed her older sister out of the way and stood before Gameknight999. “So, what do you know about this boss?”

  “Well, I know it’s a skeleton with dual bows,” Gameknight explained.

  “Dual bows?” Hunter asked. “This is great.”

  “Oh yeah, and the Moon Boss is also really, really big,” he added. “Like, twice as tall as any of us, if not taller.”

  “It just gets better and better,” Hunter groaned.

  “Hunterrrr,” Stitcher chided.

  “So, do you have a plan?” Crafter asked.

  Gameknight could feel all their eyes focused on him, every pair expecting him to come up with some kind of trick to make winning easy. But he knew from things he’d seen on the Internet that there was nothing easy about this battle. It would be dangerous and there was no way around it.

  But then, an idea surfaced from the foggy uncertainty in his mind; Gameknight knew what he had to do.

  “Yeah, I have a plan,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said. “All of you stay here and let me take care of this.”

  “What?” Crafter asked, shocked.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Hunter said, shaking her head in disbelief.

  “I don’t think so,” Weaver added, sounding concerned.