Chapter 4

Chapter 4 IT'S STILL MINECRAFT! JUST WITHOUT THE MINING. OR THE CRAFTING. WHO ARE HE KIDDING? IT'S BROKEN. Harper didn't like this one bit. It was as if the Evoker King had locked everything in place. "IT'S ALMOST LIKE HE FROZE THE GAME," she said. "I've never heard of anything like this!" "I have. Sort of," said Morgan. Harper tried to pick up one of the wither skulls. But now that she'd put it down, it felt glued in place. "I'm all ears," she said. "I used to hang out with a guy named Dante," Morgan said. "HE'S ACTUALLY THE ONE WHO FIRST SHOWED ME MINECRAFT." "I remember him," said Jodi, taking another

useless swing with her pickaxe. "He was nice!" "Yeah," said Morgan. "And he was an incredible builder. He liked to re-create famous buildings in Minecraft. He made the Empire State Building, the Shanghai Tower, the Shard…you name it." Harper felt a sudden chill. It had to be her imagination, since they didn't actually get hot or cold here. But she couldn't shake the feeling that the Evoker King was watching them. Then the sky rumbled with thunder, and she shuddered. Rain was coming. It wouldn't hurt

them, but it would make everything feel a little creepier. "Let's walk while we talk, Morgan," she suggested. "Our old starter castle is nearby, remember? We can head that way." "WHAT ABOUT THE WITHER?" asked Po. Harper shrugged. "It's not going anywhere." "Neither are our beds, unfortunately," said Ash. Her ax bounced harmlessly off her bed. "They're stuck, too." "WE HAVE BACKUP BEDS AT THE CASTLE!" said Jodi. "Remember? We each had our own bedroom set up. Mine was very pink." "So was mine!" Po said happily. "It's as good a plan as any," said Morgan. "And maybe the Librarian will find us there, since the beacon idea is a bust." Morgan pulled the compass they had constructed during an earlier adventure from his inventory. He held it out for everyone to see, but the needle stayed in place. "It's useless," he said. They all looked automatically to Ash, who had

the best sense of direction. At least the sun still seemed to be moving in the sky, so Ash used it to get her bearings. She pointed over Jodi's head. "IT'S THAT WAY." As they headed in the direction Ash had indicated, Harper said, "Morgan, you were telling us about Dante?" "Right," Morgan grumbled as he returned the compass to his inventory. "So one day after school, DANTE SENT ME A MESSAGE AND ASKED ME TO SIGN IN TO HIS GAME SO I COULD SEE HIS LATEST CREATION. I was expecting something familiar, like the Chrysler Building. But this time,

he'd created something totally new! He'd designed his own skyscraper for the first time. It was super tall, with tons of glass and these awesome gargoyles. WE WERE IN CREATIVE MODE, SO I was able to fly up and see all the details." Harper closed her eyes and tried to imagine what sort of structure she'd make if she had time to build anything. Lately, all their game time had involved life-and-death struggles. It would be nice just to build again! "When I was flying," Morgan continued, "I noticed that one of the gargoyles didn't match the others. IT HAD A GRAVEL BRICK WHERE A COBBLESTONE BRICK SHOULD HAVE BEEN. An easy mistake to make, and just as easy to fix! So I took out my pickaxe and tried to remove the gravel. And guess what?" "You couldn't do it," Harper guessed. "Right," said Morgan. "I SWUNG MY PICKAXE, AND NOTHING HAPPENED!" "Sounds familiar," Jodi said glumly. "I asked Dante what had happened," said Morgan. "And he explained that he'd changed the

game's settings so that only he could 'edit' blocks. In other words, I couldn't take anything apart or change anything. Because I was playing on his server, that was something he had control over." "BUT WHY?" asked Po. "To protect his creation, of course," said Jodi. "HE HAD CREATED A GREAT WORK OF ART! He didn't want anyone else coming in and putting TNT on it." "Like a museum," said Harper. "Or my grandma's house. Look, but don't touch." "Exactly," said Morgan. "It was just like what's happening to us now. WHICH AT LEAST GIVES US A CLUE AS TO WHAT THE EVOKER KING IS DOING. I think the Foundation Stone gives him ownership of the server, so to speak. It gives him the power to decide who can edit blocks. At least we can still place blocks, for now, but that doesn't leave us with many options." "We're here," said Ash, and Harper looked past the next hill. There stood their castle—or what was left of it. It had definitely seen better days.