Minecraft: Mob Squad: Never Say Nether: An Official Minecraft

It’s dark by the time we climb up out of Mal’s tunnel and into a room with a giant chicken statue, and the woodland mansion is quiet. We’re ready, weapons out, but no foes appear. Mal fits in a stone block, and you can’t even tell there was ever a hole there. I yawn so big that my jaw cracks, and that makes Lenna and Mal and Jarro yawn, too.

“We have to sleep,” Mal whispers. She jerks her head toward the stairwell, which has a nifty hidden spot behind it. We slept there last time with no trouble, so it looks like we’re going to do that again.

“But Tok,” I protest, and she’s already shaking her head.

“When we don’t sleep, we get stupid and clumsy, and when we get stupid and clumsy, we get hurt. If they’re here, they’re sleeping, too. If they’re not here, we’ll be ready when they arrive.”

I know she’s right, but I hate that she’s right. “Can we at least visit the room full of food?”

Mal shakes her head sadly. “We’re too beat. If we walked into a room filled with enemies, they’d destroy us.” She looks to Jarro. “How many of them did you see, back when they kidnapped you?”

He thinks back. “Six or seven? I don’t really know. It was dark. Between five and ten.”

“Four of us against five to ten adults is not great odds.” She doesn’t say it, but her eyes shoot to Jarro. He was pretty good with the horses, but otherwise, he hasn’t proven to be a real asset. He barely managed to take down a zombie, and if he had to face an actual human, I know he’d freeze up. If we got in a fight right now, we’d probably be better off if he just hid behind the stairs.

They put out their beds, all in a row because there’s not much room, and I curl against the wall, resigned to discomfort. There might be beds somewhere in the mansion, although we took several during our last visit, but we’re just too tired to fight. As I toss and turn, wishing for a blanket or anything other than cold, hard stone, Mal stands up and roots through her pockets. She saved a lot of the stone she found mining earlier, and she uses a few blocks to wall us off. I sigh in relief. It’s funny how when you’re constantly in danger, you forget how exhausting it is to be constantly in danger. I hang my torch on the wall, and the light is back to what I think of as Cornucopia Normal. I never knew true darkness until we ventured beyond our town’s walls. There are so many torches in Cornucopia that no mobs can ever spawn. It’s more comfy like this, with the torchlight flickering.

Jarro is the first one asleep, and I’m forced to stare at him, which is not something I would choose. He looks different out here. Smaller. It’s almost like he’s a different person, and even if I have a lifetime of grudges against him, I don’t feel that familiar tightening in my chest I get every time I see him back home, my jaw grinding, my hands in fists. Out here, he’s just another kid, and even if he isn’t one of us, a member of our Mob Squad, he’s still on our side. I need to work on seeing him differently and stop wasting my energy on hating him. In my mind, he’s this towering monster, but out here, he’s just a tall but frightened child. It’s easier to think kindly of him when he’s asleep and drooling a little.

Which makes me think of Tok, because the last time I saw him, he was asleep. There at bedtime, gone by dawn. My poor little brother must be so scared. Whoever grabbed him must have pulled him right out of bed, a hand over his mouth to keep him from calling out. They dragged him out and forced him to leave his home, to leave me. I know he didn’t want to. He didn’t have a choice. I wish I weren’t such a heavy sleeper. If only I’d heard them, I would’ve been there to protect him, to save him. I’m usually glad that I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, and that I can sleep through a rooster fighting a cow, but this time…well, I failed my brother.

“Don’t worry,” Lenna whispers. She looks smaller now, too, probably because Poppy’s not with her. “We’ll get him back.”

It’s what I needed to hear. “Yeah, we will,” I whisper back. And then, satisfied, reassured, I fall sleep.

—

“Chug, wake up,” Mal says, shaking my shoulder, and I open my eyes to…well, not daylight, because we’re in the shadowy area behind some stairs in a woodland mansion. But I can tell it’s morning because I have eye boogers and my mouth tastes like dead fish. I keep my mouth closed for Mal’s benefit and sit up.

Lenna is already up—they all are—and she hands everyone a cookie. “We’re almost out of cookies,” she warns us. “And after that, we’ve got nothing but chicken.”

“Look at the bright side.” I grin. “If we find any mobs, we’re bound to get some potatoes.”

As we eat our cookies, the mood is solemn and quiet. Everyone is getting ready for what has to be a fight, because whoever took Tok isn’t just going to say, Oh, you wanted him? Sorry, my bad, you can have him. No one goes to this much trouble—infiltrating a town, stealing, kidnapping—just to give in to some angry kids.

I reach into my pockets and pull out all the armor and weapons I have. It’s a mishmash of pieces, styles, and material. I’m the only one who wears armor most of the time because let’s face it—armor is pinchy and clunky and uncomfortable. I’ve gotten used to it because I’m the most likely to do something stupid and take damage, but the others will just have to join me in discomfort as we run headfirst into danger.

Mal’s lips twitch, and then she goes around assigning us pieces. I keep the diamond helmet, because, let’s be honest, I’m the most likely to end up with a concussion, but we have enough helmets for everyone. Jarro gets the diamond chest plate—again, because he’s the most likely to get hurt in a vital place. We’re short a chest plate, so Lenna goes without, since she’s able to fight from far off. Everyone gets something gold, and it’s pretty, how it shines, even if it’s pretty useless. We’re mostly covered. Lenna is glad to take the arrows in my stash, and I offer Mal a sword, in case her pickaxe is out of commission. Jarro looks pretty lost, standing there in calico armor, holding his axe, so I offer him my only shield. His face scrunches up, but he accepts it without a fight. I wish I’d brought more. I just need more magic pockets, I guess.

“We ready?” Mal asks.

She meets my eyes, then Lenna’s, then Jarro’s. Everyone nods. Looking determined, Mal mines the stone blocks she used to barricade us in last night and stores the stones back in her pockets for later. She leads us down the exact same path we followed the last time we were here, and I notice a bunch of horses milling around outside the front door in a small paddock.

“Looks like Tok’s kidnappers are already here,” I say softly, pointing at them.

Jarro stops in the open doors. “They’re still wearing their saddles.”

“So? Maybe they don’t like being naked,” I say.

“But if we take the saddles…then they can’t use the horses to escape.”

My jaw drops. Did Jarro just…say something useful?

“Good call,” Mal agrees. She and Jarro hurry outside and divest the horses of their saddles while Lenna keeps watch for threats outside and I guard our backs from the inside.

Mal and Jarro rejoin us, and we go through the woodland mansion room by room, taking everything useful we can find. Like last time, the chests contain random loot, some of which we can use—like apples and one lone golden apple—as well as stuff we don’t need, like flowerpots. In the third room, a zombie lunges at us, and Mal and I take it down easily without absorbing any damage.

“Nice,” Jarro murmurs. He stayed out of the fight, which might have once given me reason to call him a coward, but honestly, it’s just smart. Mal and I work best as a team, and we’re definitely getting back in sync.

We clear the first floor, finding only a few skeletons, a zombie, and a spider. There are no illagers, which is great, but we haven’t seen any sign of Tok or his captors. In one room, we find the open trapdoor to the fortress below, its rug rumpled to the side. I don’t remember exactly what it looked like, the last time we were here. Maybe we left it that way, or maybe the kidnappers did. Maybe they’re down in the basement, or maybe they’re just around the corner. We know they’re here because the horses are here, but that’s all we know.

On the second floor, I pick up the pace, headed for the room I remember best. Last time, it held a feast, big bowls of food heaped and waiting for our nemesis, Krog, to stuff himself. This time, there’s far less food, but we’re able to load our pockets with apples, potatoes, mutton, and bread.

“No cookies,” I mumble through a mouthful of meat.

“I’ll be sure to complain to the chef,” Jarro shoots back, and I grin.

We clear the second floor, disposing of a few skeletons and zombies like they’re old hat. With each room, I grow more and more anxious. We’ve been through every part of the mansion I remember from last time, but there’s no sign of Tok or his captors. I’m disappointed as we head back downstairs to stare at the horses outside.

“They have to be here,” Mal says, reading my mind. “Maybe down in the cavern?”

“We didn’t hear them, though.” Lenna frowns. “I wish Poppy was here.”

“And Tok,” I add. “He always knows what to do.”

With a shrug, Lenna says, “Then just think like Tok.”

Huh.

That’s an interesting idea. If I know Tok super well, then I should know what Tok would do right now.

I consider where we’re standing and what we know about this place. “They could be in the cavern, but…it was just so quiet. Maybe…they’re on the roof?”

I can’t tell if it’s a stupid idea or not. Compared to my friends and especially my brother, I always feel like the least intelligent one, but maybe spending so much time around Tok has had an effect. If not…well, I guess we’ll get some sunshine.

Outside, I back away from the mansion to get some perspective. I can’t really see the roof from here, so I pull the ladder out of my pocket and stare at it for a moment before pulling out my crafting table, grabbing some sticks from the forest, and crafting a bunch of ladders.

“What’s he doing?” Jarro asks.

“Building ladders.” Mal grins. “So we can get to the roof.”

“Shouldn’t there be stairs inside or something?”

“If so, then they’ll be guarded,” Mal reminds him. “Just trust Chug.”

I practically glow at that compliment.

Once I’m done crafting, I attach my first ladder to the mansion’s outer wall and start climbing. Maybe I should be scared, but all I can think about is that Tok is nearby and might be in more trouble with every passing moment. Up and up I climb, adding ladders as I go, grateful to know that the creaking of the ladder below me is Mal, always at my side—or a few feet below me. Lenna will be on the ground with her bow in hand, ready to protect us, and Jarro will be just standing there, I guess, hopefully with his axe out.

We reach the roof, and I step out onto the flat surface and immediately have a sword in hand. But…

Well, the roof is empty. It’s just a big, flat area with nothing on it.

“So that was a bust,” I mutter.

“Now we know they’re not on the roof. That’s valuable knowledge,” Mal says.

“I just wish Tok was here!” I wail, taking advantage of the fact that we’re alone and away from Jarro. “He would know what to do. He’s so smart, and he would figure this out, and then he’d…uh…find himself. Ugh!”Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

Mal pats my shoulder. “As smart as Tok is, he’d still have five wrong answers before he found the right one. I mean, how often does he set something on fire or cause an explosion? Every success starts as a bunch of failures.”

“Whoa.” I shake my head. “That’s deep.”

“So let’s keep failing until we find him.”

We stand there for just a moment, looking out.

“This is the first time someone from our village has seen a view like this,” I say. “So high up. It’s kind of pretty, for a dark forest.” We can see so far in every direction, and on the far side, the opposite one from our home, very far away, something twinkles on the horizon like a ribbon of light.

“What’s that?” I ask.

Mal shields her eyes and looks. “I can’t tell. It’s shiny. And bright.”

“Maybe it’s gold?”

“Maybe. But I don’t think that’s how gold works.”

“We’ll have to ask Nan.”

Mal grins. “If anyone knows, she will. And if she doesn’t, we’ll have to go find out for ourselves.”

I head for the ladder and motion for Mal to go first on the way back down. I note that Jarro is on the ground looking up with his hands held out, like maybe he would catch her if she fell. My estimation of him goes up just a smidge. Considering it was bedrock level before this adventure, it’s risen quite a bit.

As I’m climbing down past the second floor, something catches my eye. The ladder is near a window, and what I’m seeing inside doesn’t match any of the rooms I’ve seen before. I stop and lean in. The room is dominated by a mass of black stone—the blackest stone I’ve ever seen. And there’s something purple…

“Hey, Lenna,” I call. “Come check this out. There’s a new kind of stone.”

Mal hops off the ladder and Lenna clambers up. I move up a few rungs to give her room.

“This room doesn’t exist.” She touches the window. “We’ve been through the entire woodland mansion twice, and we’ve never seen it.”

“So it must be a secret room. I don’t see a door, do you?”

“Nope. No door.” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a pickaxe. With a few hits, the window shatters, and she carefully steps inside.

“Wait for me!” I shout, hurrying to join her. She’s a great fighter, but she shouldn’t be in a new room alone without someone to help her fight any mobs that might show up.

Soon I’m standing in a small, square room with no doors. At least there are no mobs. The floor is lighter than the walls, and a block of diamond sits in the corner like someone accidentally left it behind. I grab it and stash it in my pocket for later as Lenna calls down for Mal and Jarro to join us.

“So what is that?” Jarro says with appropriate awe.

In the center of the room is something I’ve never seen before. It’s a big rectangle of the odd black stone blocks, and the space in between them is…weird. It’s not window glass, but it’s purple and shimmery, waving almost like water.

“I think it’s a—” Lenna starts.

But she doesn’t get to finish, because someone pops out of a trapdoor in the floor that I didn’t notice before.

It’s an adult, and he looks vaguely familiar.

“Get away from the portal!” he barks, whipping out a sword.

Mal and I lock eyes, but we don’t get away from the portal.

We take our own weapons in hand and prepare to fight.