Nick Eliopulos - Minecraft - Night of the Bats (Minecraft Woodsword Chronicles #2)

Ms Minerva looked like she didn’t wholly believe the science teacher. “At least it’s nice outside,” she said. “Class, head to the sports ground. I’ll be there as soon as I’ve updated the principal.”

“What about Baron Sweetcheeks?” asked Morgan.

“Your hamster can stay with me,” said Doc. “It’s the

least I can do.” She snapped her fingers as if remembering something. “In fact, I wanted to speak to

a few of your students anyway, Minerva. May I borrow Ash here, and Harper, Po, and the Mercado siblings?”

Ash and Morgan shared a look. Doc had just named their entire Minecraft team. That couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?

Ash wondered if their secret was out. Did Doc know the truth about the game? Or about the message the kids had found while playing it?

There was a high-pitched squeaking sound, and Ash looked over to see a small bat perched over Ms Minerva’s head. The teacher didn’t seem to notice.

Ash sighed wearily. Whatever Doc had in mind for them, it couldn’t be any more of a disaster than homeroom had been. She hoped.

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Chapter 2

It’s All Fun and Games

Until Someone Steals

Your Super-Secret

VR Portal Technology.

M

organ grinned as he and his friends entered the computer lab. This place, he thought, is where the magic happens.

Maybe literally. He still wasn’t clear on the magic-or-super-science thing. All he knew was that Doc had built several pairs of virtual reality goggles. The goggles were decorated with strange, glowing symbols that almost looked like words in an unfamiliar alphabet. He and his friends had discovered that the goggles allowed them to actually enter the game Minecraft. It wasn’t like real. It was real. And it was so cool!

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But his smile fell away when he saw where

Doc Culpepper was leading them – straight to the VR goggles hanging from pegs on the wall.

There were five headsets. There were supposed to be six.

“Wasn’t there another one of these?” she asked, seemingly talking to herself. “I could have sworn . . . Anyway, there’s plenty of room for your hamster here.”

Morgan and the others traded a look. After their first few adventures in the game, they had realised that someone had taken that sixth pair. But they didn’t know who!

He and Ash slid the hamster cage onto the table.

“Thanks for giving Baron Sweetcheeks a home, Doc,” said Harper. Morgan knew that she admired Doc a great deal.

“It’s a temporary solution,” said Doc. “We’ll have to address this bat problem. The vents give them access to every room in the school.”

Jodi covered her neck. “They’re not going to bite us and drink our blood, are they?”

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“That’s a common misconception,” said Doc. “Believe me, those bats are more afraid of us than we are of them. They certainly won’t attack you.” She tapped her chin. “But still, they’re wild animals. They don’t belong in a school.”

“Aw, they just want an education,” joked Po.

“The adults will handle the bats,” Doc said. She leaned against a table and crossed her arms, finally standing still. “I asked you here to learn how your after-school project is going. Tell me: Have you noticed anything strange as you’ve been playing Minecraft? Any sign that the goggles aren’t working correctly?”

Morgan bit his lip. Where to begin? Whether Doc knew it or not, the goggles went far beyond any sort of virtual reality tech they’d ever seen. It was amazing – but it could be scary, too. So far, they’d managed to steer clear of any hostile mobs, but Morgan knew that their luck wouldn’t last.

And then there was the mysterious message they’d found. “Beware the Evoker King” had been written out in huge letters like the famous

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Hollywood sign. The letters were built out of obsidian stolen from one of their own chests during their first big adventure in Minecraft.

Someone else was in the game. And they had no idea who it was. But it had to be the culprit who was behind the theft of the sixth headset. So obviously someone else in their school knew about the goggles’ power.

Morgan simply shrugged. “We have noticed some . . . weird stuff,” he said. “But we want to put a full list together for you. We’ve barely done anything with them yet. You know, we’ve just been playing Minecraft.”

Doc smiled. “Very good. I will look forward to your report. And in the meantime, I’ll see what I

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can do about clearing those bats from your homeroom.”

“Thanks, Dr Culpepper,” said Ash. “Let us know if we can help in some way.”

“Of course,” said the teacher. “Oh, and Ash? Call me Doc, would you? ‘Dr Culpepper’ was my father. And my mother. Also one of my grandmothers.”

Doc began rummaging through her boxes of electronic equipment. The kids waved farewell, but their teacher’s mind was already somewhere else entirely. Doc was funny like that. She was somehow super attentive one minute and easily distracted the next.

But Morgan had faith that the bat problem was as good as solved, now that Doc was on the case. On their way to the sports ground, he said, “So we’re going back to the computer lab after school today, right?”

Po sighed. “I’ll be late. I have basketball practice.”

“We won’t do anything too amazing without you,” Jodi promised.

“To be honest, I’m not sure we should do

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anything at all,” Po said. “Is anyone else worried about the bats?”

“Aw, they’re harmless,” Morgan said. “Just picture them as Baron Sweetcheeks with wings.”

Now that he had said it, he couldn’t stop picturing Baron Sweetcheeks with fluffy little wings. And a top hat and a bow tie.

“Uh, Morgan?” said Jodi, bringing her brother back from the world of flying hamsters in formal wear. “Why are you giggling?”

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“No reason,” said Morgan, snapping out of his daydream.

“There’s a point I’m trying to make,” said Po. “Bats are one of the most common mobs in Minecraft.”

“Sure,” said Morgan. “We’ve heard them squeaking when we’re down in our mineshaft. But they aren’t scary or anything.”

“Don’t you think it’s strange that bats showed up here just after we started playing the game?” Po asked.

Morgan was confused. “You think . . . bats . . . came out of the video game and into our school?”

“It’s a statistically improbable coincidence,” Harper said. “And it’s weird.”

“But this whole thing is improbable, isn’t it?” said Po. “We can go into Minecraft. Who’s to say something else can’t come out?”

Harper tutted. “That hypothesis completely ignores the law of conservation of mass.”

“Now you’re just making stuff up,” said Po.

“You’re the one who’s making stuff up!”

While they argued, Morgan let his mind

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drift. He thought about Po’s theory. He didn’t think it was very likely that the bats had somehow come to life because of the game. But he had to admit it was possible. And that was a troubling thought.

Bats were one thing. It was crazy, but what if something else followed them out? Like a zombie. Or a wither.

Or an Evoker King. Whatever that was, it did not sound friendly.

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Chapter 3

When Adventure

Calls, Answer!

Adventure Won’t Leave

You a Voice Mail.

A

fter school, Jodi donned her headset and immediately found herself in the game. She stretched her cube-y arms and then walked a short distance from the castle she and her friends had built. While they waited for Po

to finish practice and join them, Jodi had time to start on a new sculpture.