Minecraft:Minecraft: Ironsword Academy/ExitEnd1CHP

Prologue

It was the middle of the night. Ironsword Academy was completely empty, with the only sounds being the hum of the air conditioning and the snoring of Baron Sweetcheeks, Duchess Dimples and Prince Pellets in the library. Just then, every light in the school turned on, and then off, and then on again. Eek then speaks through the loudspeaker, causing the hamsters and the guinea pig to wake up in confusion. Eek then takes control of a security camera, pointing it directly at the hamster cage, but knowing that he cannot see them, Eek instead takes control of a TV, showing himself through the screen. Baron Sweetcheeks and Duchess Dimples are frightened by the sight of Eek and duck out of site, while Prince Pellet’s eyes are still closed. Eek then closes his eyes, causing the lights in the school to turn off, and he wishes the hamsters and guinea pig a good night. In Minecraft, Eek opens his eyes, exclaiming to Nameless that he connected to other machines and came back all by himself. As the moon rises above the house he is in, Eek feels as if the End portal deep below was calling to him, making him feel excited and scared at the same time. Eek then says that he should practice a little more, closing his eyes. The lights in the school again turn on, then off, and then on again.

Chapter 1: Elves, Dwarves, Little Siblings: Lend Me Your Ears!

Morgan is sitting on a stool in the bathroom in his home while his sister, Jodi, is opening a bottle of "sticky goop". Morgan asks Jodi if he needs to wear the ears for his costume, adding that the rest of the costume seems enough as is. Jodi says that the ears are the important part of the costume, adding that being an elf is what makes it fantasy. She adds that Ash is going to be an elf as well, as the text reads that, despite it being Saturday, Ironsword Academy is holding a renaissance fair. Jodi, Morgan, and their friends agreed to help run it so they could have access to the computer lab to save Eek before the server gets shut off that evening. However, they would also have to do whatever Principal Ferris asked them to do. Morgan is surprised that Ash is coming to the fair, and Jodi quips that she "ruined" the surprise, adding that Ash’s parents allowed her to take a train back to town. Morgan then decides to put on the ears after all as Jodi says that elves always travel in pairs. Jodi is dressed up like a fantasy rogue, complete with a cloak with a hood and a cape, as she and Morgan look in the mirror for a final check. With Jodi having to be in the computer lab the whole day, and Morgan being stuck with helping out with the fair, Jodi says to Morgan that she wishes that she could be at the fair with him as she is scared of going to the End, wondering what would happen if she messes up and becomes unable to save Eek. Morgan then says to Jodi that he wishes that he could be playing Minecraft with her and have her set up the fair instead of him, but adds that she will do great. Jodi says to Morgan that he’ll do great too, knowing that their situations were basically flipped as Morgan’s avatar was defeated early on in the server, which led him to coaching everyone outside of the game. Morgan then says to Jodi that once she and the others take down the Ender Dragon and save Eek, they’ll be able to play with less pressure, promising such. The two then engage in a hug before leaving for Ironsword Academy.

Chapter 2: Royalty Demands, Everybody Else Works. Talk about Renaissance Un-Fair!

Harper and Theo were the first to arrive at Ironsword Academy. Doctor Culpepper put them to work by having them pick up boxes from a truck at the gate and carried them to Doc’s booth. Theo complains about the boxes being heavy as he drops his box. Glass rattles around inside, but fortunately, none of the bottles were broken. Doc, dressed like a medieval doctor, says that she is running the apothecary booth and will have potions for attendees to try later, which is actually just fruit punch and root beer mixed with food coloring. Theo is dressed in a simple brown robe, meant to resemble a monk, while Harper is dressed in a wizard costume. She says that the renaissance fair is more for fun than learning just as Ms. Minerva shows up wearing giant butterfly wings and a long dress meant to resemble a fairy. Ms. Minerva proclaims herself as the queen of the fairies and says that others should come to her to pay respects for anything they need. Doc then waves her over to the apothecary booth to help set it up, offering her a "caffeine potion" in return, before saying something about Principal Ferris, which gets his attention. Principal Ferris is dressed up like a prince, while his son, Will, is wearing a suit of armor. Ms. Minerva then quips that Doc was going to say something about keeping Principal Ferris comfortable with how they are treating the school grounds. Principal Ferris then hands Theo the keys to the school and the computer lab, and Theo says that they will get the robots finished up today with Kameron and Cameron. Doc then pulls out a list of tasks wrapped in a scroll, giving it to Harper, and Principal Ferris comments on the outfit he is wearing, noting it was made by Wes Lionsdale, before he leaves. Harper then opens the scroll, and she and Theo laugh in relief as only a few lines of it were filled. Nonetheless, they would be tasked with serving refreshments, cleaning up trash, performing as squires in the jousting tournament, presenting to be gnomes, and sitting in the dunk tank. With the tasks split among the group, Harper feels confident that they’ll complete them with ease, and Doc gives her and Theo some fruit punch before they head off to the computer lab, wishing them well.

Chapter 3: I’m Not Late! I’m Right on Time for the End!

Ash and Po were late to arrive as Ash’s train was delayed and Po was set to pick her up. Upon arriving at Ironsword Academy, a huge crowd had already lined up by the school gates. Ash herself had never been to a renaissance fair before, but notices visitors dressed up as a cardboard robot, a superhero, and some kids dressed up as creepers and endermen. Po himself was dressed up as a pirate with, while Ash was dressed up as an elf ranger. Po jokes about lives being at stake while speaking like a pirate, causing the others to turn and look at him, acting surprised and scared, but Ash knows deep down that Eek’s life is on the line today. After apologizing to the crowd, Ash and Po head up to the school doors, where Mo is waiting for them and holding the door open with his foot. Ash apologizes for the train being late as a tree fell onto the tracks, and as she and Po head inside, Eek greets them over the school intercom. Po asks Eek as to how he is able to talk to them, and Eek says that he was practicing his ability to connect to other systems, adding that he is connected to Ironsword’s security cameras, speaker system, and calendar. He also says that he moved Principal Ferris’ tasks to Monday to make him more efficient, and Po, Ash, and Morgan soon meet up with Harper, Theo, Jodi, and Will in the computer lab. Eek had already turned on the computers and opened Minecraft, so everyone takes their seats and logs in as the world comes into focus: an end portal in a re-creation of the basement of Ash’s house. Eek makes his tamed wolf, Nameless, sit to avoid being teleported, and then everyone holds out their eyes of ender and places them in the frames before jumping into the portal.

Chapter 4: Never Interrupt an Enderman Ball Unless You Can Dance with Your Eyes Closed!

Jodi and the others lift torches to inspect the room they jumped into, quickly realizing that this wasn’t the End that Morgan had talked to Jodi about. Instead of appearing on an island of end stone, they instead appeared in a hallway lined with end stone bricks and purpur blocks. Morgan warns the group that the Evoker King said that whatever they faced here was going to be more than any player could handle. A green double door was at the end of the hallway, and Ash opens it to reveal a huge circular room at least one hundred block across with a chandelier of purpur blocks lit with soul torches and a checkerboard pattern of end stone and obsidian. Jodi exclaims that the room resembles a ballroom, but Morgan immediately tells everyone to look down at the ground as the ballroom has ten endermen in it. Eek says to the group to go after them one at a time, soon killing one endermen. Another one teleports right where the previous one stood, which locks onto Jodi as she looked into its eyes. Everyone then gets distracted as Cameron and Kameron knock on the window, offering some funnel cake to the group. Theo says that he’ll open the door in a moment as the others work to take down the rest of the endermen. Jodi and Ash take down two, followed by Will and Po taking down one, and Eek takes down one, leaving five endermen remaining. Eek, Po, and Will then take down another one, followed by Ash and Jodi taking down one, and then everyone taking down one. Theo then opens the door, and Cameron sets down the funnel cakes on a table nearby. Ash feels ready for a breather, but Jodi soon realizes that there was one enderman left, and it teleported in front of Ash. Everyone goes after it and kills it, but by then, it was too late. Ash’s avatar had already succumbed from too much damage, and its inventory was scattered across the ballroom floor.

Chapter 5: Why Are Jousts Always in the Dark? Because They Last until the End of the Knight!

Ash stared at her computer, stunned as the game kicked her off the server. She puts her head down on the keyboard in defeat, and Jodi quickly apologizes to her for messing up. Eek also apologizes for failing to protect her, but Ash says that it was her fault as she shouldn’t have let her guard down. In the game, a wall at the far end of the ballroom splits open to reveal a doorway. Theo comments that it can only be opened with a switch, making the others realize that someone is watching them. They then go through the door and come across an end crystal, and Po fires an arrow at the crystal to make it blow up. As the group go onto the next challenge, Morgan has Ash help with the renaissance fair, and Harper and Theo leave for cleanup duty and helping with the robotics team, respectively. Morgan and Ash are then seen setting up the fence for the jousting competition, with a boy dressed up as the Yellow Knight going up against a newcomer known as the Violet Warrior after the other knights drew straws to determine their opponents. The knights take their positions at the opposite ends of the fence, and then skip alongside it. The Violet Warrior uses their small stature to their advantage to duck out of the way of the Yellow Knight’s weapon and push their own weapon into the Yellow Knight’s chest armor with a thump. The Yellow Knight crumpled to the ground, said to be his first defeat in three straight years, and after the Violet Warrior helps him up, the others celebrate with the Violet Warrior before preparing for the next round.

Chapter 6: Sombody Here Loves End-Terior Decorating.

Back in the computer lab, it feels a lot quieter with Morgan, Ash, and Harper gone. Everyone in the room feels a little gloomy, and Jodi herself is in a bundle of nerves. Nonetheless, the group press on, with Will being the first to go into the next room, which was built entirely out of mangrove planks and shaped like a cottage, complete with a dining room, kitchen, and living area. A staircase along a wall led up to a bedroom loft and a reading nook with bookshelves. Minecarts resembled chair seats, and flower pots resembled cups. Eek says that it almost feels like Ash’s house, and Po wonders as to what to do, as the resemblance is nearly perfect. Jodi realizes that the resemblance isn’t 100% perfect and starts correcting the imperfections. She puts a minecart one block to the right of where it originally was, used shears to collect a leaf block and place it just on the barrel, put a lantern back on the ceiling, and fixed the orientation of a wood block. Then, after Jodi scrapes at four wood blocks to make them stripped, another set of doors unlock to reveal another end crystal, which Po destroys with another arrow. Eek asks Jodi if she is feeling OK, and Jodi says she was thinking about how the cottage is everything she wanted from Minecraft: to make something beautiful and to build a place where she can spend time with her friends. Eek feels like he understands, saying that he wants to stay here, but Jodi wonders as to what would happen if he leaves and is never seen again. The two then sit together at the table, and Eek asks Jodi as to what people normally do at tables. She says that people mostly eat, but some people also do their homework, or draw, or play Minecraft on a laptop. Eek then promises Jodi that he will come back and build a house just like this one. This makes Jodi feel like she might’ve seen this exact cottage somewhere else, but thanks Eek nonetheless before they move on to the next room.

Chapter 7: Thinking about My Brain Gives Me a Double Headache!

Meanwhile, Harper has finished her chore and has met up with Theo, Cameron, and Kameron in the computer lab. Kameron had connected a remote viewer so they would be able to see Minecraft from Eek’s perspective. As Eek crosses through the door to the next room, the camera stutters for five seconds before moving on like normal. Cameron feels sick watching the stutter, and Kameron explains that Eek is looking at everything he can to put it directly in his center view, and then stares as at object if there is nothing moving in the room. Eek says that he likes to look at things, wondering if his way of seeing them is strange. Harper says that his way of seeing things is not different from humans, as when they see something new, they try to take it all in, but barely look around after knowing the place for a while as the brain remembers where everything is. Cameron adds that how Eek looks at things is a way to save energy so he can react faster when something changes. Theo exclaims that this is why the car keeps stopping on the track, as it keeps checking the camera constantly, so Kameron starts changing the code to tell the car to keep its camera pointed on the line in front of it. She then suggests Harper to join the robotics team, but Harper sheepishly admits that she doesn’t know any code, however is interested in figuring things out. Kameron says they need all the help they can get to win the state championship, as they would move on to the nationals, and suggests that Harper can skip tryouts. Cameron argues that she can’t skip tryouts, but plans on giving her bonus points anyway. Theo feels excited about Harper joining the team, but Harper is already worrying about what she would do after they saved Eek. Theo then tells her that she doesn’t have to join if she doesn’t want to, but Harper corrects herself and says the joining the team would be a good idea as it would be something that she and Theo would spend time doing together. Eek then appears on the computer screen beside them, saying that he needs help as he has no idea where to go next. Theo and Harper then put on their headsets and ask the others as to what the problem is.