Chapter 14

Chapter 14 HOW CAN YOU TELL SPIDERS HATE TO BE TRAPPED? BECAUSE THEY'RE ALWAYS CLIMBING THE WALLS! Po selected a sword from his inventory. The spider was big and scary. Its fangs were sharp, and its skin looked hairy. But it was also alone, without its army of mobs to protect it. This finally felt like a fight they could win. The real question was did they want to fight it?

"LET'S TRY TALKING FIRST," Theo insisted. "The Evoker King is inside that spider somewhere. Or at least, a part of him is…" "What if it's the part of him that wanted to destroy us?" asked Po. "I think I'll hold on to my sword, just in case." The spider looked at Po's sword and hissed. It skittered onto the wall. "Wait!" said Ash. "WE COME IN PEACE." "Don't you recognize us?" asked Jodi, hoping to appeal to some part of her friend the Evoker King. Theo said quickly, "What do you know about the Fault? Can you tell us more about it?" Morgan raised an eyebrow at Theo's question, but any discussion about that would have to come later. The spider didn't speak. But it didn't attack, either. It skittered along the wall, retreating into the mist and shadows at the far corner of the cavern. "Don't let it get away," warned Morgan. "It can't get far," said Harper. "Well, let's keep our eyes on it anyway," said Ash, peering into the darkness. They all moved forward together. And none of them saw the spider's trap in time to avoid it.

"Hey!" said Jodi. "I'M SINKING!" Po realized she was right. They were all sinking. What had happened to the floor? "It's the pit!" said Theo. "The one we dug for our first plan. It's full of cobwebs!" "Then…we're helpless!" said Morgan, pulling against the sticky stuff. "It will take forever to get out of this." Po had his sword out, but his arm was caught up in the sticky web. He couldn't quite get enough movement out of his arm to effectively swing the weapon.

Everyone was in the same predicament. Only Morgan seemed to have any real mobility. "I can move one hand. Do we have shears to cut through it?" said Ash. "Harper?" "We left our shears in a chest aboveground," Harper said. "We didn't think we'd need them…." And then Po saw the red eyes shining above them. "Our original trap worked after all," he said. "I mean, it worked out great for the spider!" "WE DON'T HAVE ANY CHOICE," said Morgan. He took a bow from his inventory. "We're sitting ducks. We have to destroy the spider before it destroys us." As if responding to Morgan's threat, the spider showed its fangs and hissed. Soupy green mist rolled down into the pit, making everything hazy. "THAT WON'T SAVE YOU," said Morgan. He took aim with his bow. "And none of your friends can help you now, either." Friends. The word triggered something in Po. Visions of mobs danced through his head: villagers and bunnies, llamas and sheep. "Wait!" he cried. "MORGAN, DON'T HURT IT." Morgan gave Po a strange look. But he lowered his bow. "Why not?" he asked.

"I think…I think I know what it wants," said Po. "It isn't attacking us. See? We're helpless, and it's only spitting that gas at us." "Which is pretty rude!" said Jodi. "Maybe." Po shrugged. "But the gas doesn't work on us. It only works on mobs. And it doesn't hurt mobs, right?" "Right," said Ash. She smiled with understanding. "The gas makes mobs into its friends!" "You mean…" Theo rubbed his blocky chin. "The spider is trying to befriend us right now?" "IT'S A GOOD THEORY," said Harper. "BUT HOW DO WE TEST IT?" "By extending our hands in friendship," said Po, trying to sound like the politicians he'd heard on TV. He turned his face up toward the spider. "Um, hello? Terror-antula? Is it okay if I call you that?"

The spider hissed. "Yeah, okay, bad idea," said Po. "I just wanted to let you know that I understand where you're coming from. It feels nice to surround yourself with friends. It feels really good to be popular." The spider tilted its head. It seemed to be listening. "ME? I LOVE BEING POPULAR," Po continued. "Being the center of attention is the best. But…I would never mind-zap anybody into following me around or