Chapter 6

Chapter 6 GETTING OVER THE UNDERGROUND IS HARD TO DO. SURVIVING THE UNDERGROUND MIGHT BE EVEN HARDER! With everyone working together, Harper knew the after-school cleanup wouldn't take too long. Jodi complained that the job was "icky," Po was upset that his ice cream event had been so chaotic, and Morgan and Theo were clearly impatient to get back to Minecraft. But Harper took recycling very seriously, and she made sure that everybody stayed focused on their shared task. It was a reminder that they made a great team, both in and out of Minecraft. "Nicely done, kids," said Mr. Malory. He nudged a recycling bin with his foot, checking that everything had been sorted correctly. "You still have time to use the computers before your parents arrive, if you want. I set aside the VR goggles, just in case."

"Thanks, Mr. Malory," said Harper, and Morgan and the others whooped with excitement and hurried into the library. Mr. Malory shushed them, but he was laughing as he did it. As soon as the kids spawned in Minecraft, Po twirled around to show off his new avatar skin. "I'M READY FOR ADVENTURE…AND DRESSED FOR SUCCESS!" he said. He looked like a politician, with a suit and tie and slicked-back hair. "Nice!" said Jodi. "Maybe we should build a replica White House for you. Ooh! Except we'll make it out of wool!"

"That sounds…interesting. And highly flammable," said Theo. "BUT LET'S NOT FORGET THERE COULD BE A GIANT CAVE SPIDER PROWLING AROUND DOWN HERE." Harper nodded. "Morgan and Po said they saw that green mist before the spider appeared last time," she said. "That information could help us avoid the spider while we find a way back to the surface." "We could do that," said Morgan. "But I think we want to do the opposite. I THINK WE WANT TO FIND THE SPIDER." Jodi put her cube hand to his head, as if checking his temperature. "Are you feeling all right, big brother? Because you are not making sense." "Hear me out," said Morgan. "We were all excited to explore these caves, so we got distracted. But we're supposed to be looking for strange mobs. The mobs that used to be the Evoker King." "YOU THINK THAT TERROR-ANTULA IS ONE OF THOSE MOBS?" asked Po. "We are not calling it that," said Theo. Morgan nodded. "Whatever we call it, it has to be what we're looking for," he said. "We've all seen dozens of cave spiders, but we've never encountered one like that. And it didn't just look UNIQUE…IT HAD

SOME KIND OF SPECIAL POWER. I'm pretty sure it was the reason those axolotls attacked Po." "I've already forgiven the sweet little things," said Po, pretending to wipe away a tear. "So my big brother isn't as fevered as we thought," Jodi said. "But what do we do next?" "We need a plan," Theo agreed. "I think we need more information first," said Harper. "Let's try to find this spider. If we're quiet enough, maybe we can observe it from a safe distance. Then we can learn whether it really is doing things a normal spider can't do." "That works for me," said Morgan. "We'll know if we're getting close when we see the green mist, so it shouldn't be able to catch us by surprise." "And we can explore the caves in the meantime!" said Po. "SCORE!" Harper had to hand it to Po: he was right to be excited about the caves. There was more to see underground than she had ever expected. "Wow," said Po as they stepped out of a tunnel and entered another large cavern. "LOOK OUT FOR

SPIKES!" "Those aren't spikes," said Harper. She looked at the icicle-like cones of stone that filled the cavern. "That's dripstone. The spiky shapes it makes are called stalactites and stalagmites," she said. "I always forget which is which," said Morgan. "I have a trick for remembering," said Harper. "Stalactites hang down from the ceiling—like a capital letter T. Stalagmites, on the other hand, jut out from the ground—like a capital M."

Theo grinned. "THAT'S A REALLY CLEVER TRICK, HARPER," he said. Harper was glad her avatar couldn't blush. "Thanks," she said. "DOES ANYBODY ELSE HEAR THAT SOUND?" asked Po. "It's almost like music…." Harper listened intently. Po was right. There was a faint tinkling noise nearby. "I think it's coming from the other side of this wall," she said, pressing her ear to a wall of dark gray stone. Theo examined the wall. "That looks like basalt," he said. "But I've only ever seen basalt in the Nether before now." "NOT QUITE!" said Morgan, and his eyes went wide. "If that's smooth basalt, then I know exactly what's making that sound." He pulled a pickaxe from his inventory. "Stand back!"