Chapter 6

Chapter 6 FRAZZLED TEACHERS, MAD SCIENTISTS, UNWANTED APPAREL... AND THAT'S ALL BEFORE THE END OF LUNCH! Those red eyes haunted Morgan, too. Morgan was known throughout Woodsword Middle School as a walking encyclopedia of Minecraft —especially Survival Mode. He knew which mobs could be tamed. He knew the exact elevations to find specific gems. He knew strategies for fighting every hostile mob…and he knew that the enderman they had fought was not normal. On their walk to school the next day, he told Jodi all about it. "Endermen are supposed to have purple eyes," he said. "That thing's eyes were red. And I've never heard of any mob being able to disarm a player like it did Harper. We never did find her sword…."

Jodi nodded along as he spoke. She looked lost in thought. Morgan continued, "It wasn't like any enderman I've seen. It was like some kind of… Endermonster." "I'm more worried about the Evoker King," said Jodi. "Did the Endermonster destroy him? And what were those icky mobs we saw in the smoke? There was definitely more than one, right?" "I'll bet it's Theo's fault," Morgan grumbled. "Morgan!" said Jodi. "Be nice." "What? You heard him," said Morgan, waving his arms in the air. "He's been installing mods behind

our backs. And he was a total mess during the Endermonster fight. It's like he's never even heard of teamwork before!" Jodi frowned at him. "Maybe he'd be better at teamwork if you treated him like part of the team." "You think it's my fault?" Morgan asked. "You can't blame me for his mistakes." Jodi shook her head. "I'm not blaming you. I'm just pointing out that you aren't always very welcoming to new people. Remember when Ash moved here? You didn't want to include her in anything. But when you started being nice, she became one of your best friends."

"Well, that's the whole problem," said Morgan. "Theo is no Ash." "Just promise me you'll make an effort," said Jodi. "Be a little more welcoming. Please?" Morgan crossed his arms. "Yeah. Okay. Fine," he said. "I'll make an effort." Morgan knew he wouldn't have a chance to talk to Theo until lunch. He hoped for an easy, quiet morning in the meantime. But homeroom got off to a weird start. "Pop quiz time," said Ms. Minerva. "Everyone ready?" The students shared a confused look. Finally, Morgan raised his hand. "Um, Ms. Minerva?" he said. "This is homeroom. We don't actually have quizzes or grades in homeroom, right?" Ms. Minerva straightened her glasses. They were smudged, and her hair was in disarray. "Oh, yes," she said. "What was I thinking? You're right, Mulligan." Mulligan? Now Morgan was really worried. "Uh, my name is—"

Morgan was interrupted by the squeal of the loudspeaker coming to life. "Today's morning announcement is as follows," said a voice. It wasn't the usual robotic voice of the school's announcement AI. This voice sounded human—but weird. Like someone was trying to disguise their voice. "The faculty lounge's exquisite combo coffee maker and weather prediction device is out of order. Do not expect repairs until somebody apologizes for insulting it." Morgan turned to Jodi. "Is that…Doc?" he whispered. "This concludes the morning announcements," said the voice. "Good luck out there!" Morgan turned back to get a better look at Ms. Minerva. She looked rough. Was this what happened she missed her morning coffee?

"I'm fine!" Ms. Minerva said. She rummaged through the lost-and-found box beneath her desk and pulled out a juice box. She squinted at the ingredients. "Water…kiwi and pineapple extract (Pineapple? That's weird)…monodextrosomething concentrate…Why don't they make these things with coffee?" "Those two need to make up," Jodi whispered into Morgan's ear. Morgan agreed. He spent the rest of homeroom hoping Ms. Minerva would hurry to apologize to Doc between classes.