Minecraft: Stonesword Saga/CrackCode1CHP

Prologue
Theo Grayson enters the world of Minecraft alone, using a set of VR goggles in the computer lab. He begins to look around and soon notices a butterfly in the sky. Theo exclaims out loud that he was able to create a new mob thanks to modifying the game, but the narrator mentions that Theo and his friends were forbidden from altering the code at all.

Chapter 1: The More Things Change, The More They…No. Wait. This Is Going to Be Totally Different.
Theo arrives early at Woodsword Middle School, eager to let his friends know about whatever big news he has related to Minecraft. He finds Jodi Mercado, who peers around a large oak tree. She says that Dr. Culpepper had recently moved some high-tech equipment into the public library across the street, and begins to theorize that she might end up replacing the librarians there with cyborgs. Theo thinks that Doc might just be donating old equipment to the public library or upgrading the air conditioning there. Just then, Jodi notices Doc leaving the library, leaving no choice but for her to follow Doc. Theo wonders as to where the other friends are, and Jodi says that Po might be in the gym. Indeed, Theo later finds Po Chen there, doing basketball practice. Theo tries to talk to him about something regarding the Evoker King, but Po says that it would need to wait til later. Theo asks as to where the others are, and Po says that Harper is doing something in the science lab.

Indeed, Theo finds Harper Houston there, who is in the middle of working on a science experiment for extra credit. Harper spots Theo out of the corner of her eye and says that she can’t talk as she’s too busy concentrating on the experiment. Theo then casually brings up that he has news about the AI in their Minecraft world (the Evoker King), making Harper’s eyes widen. Theo then apologizes for supposedly distracting her, saying that he’ll fill her in on the info later as he leaves to find Morgan. Harper says that he might be in the cafetorium. Indeed, Theo does find Morgan Mercado there, who is busy studying for a test. Theo then mentions that what he wants to talk about involves the Evoker King, which makes Morgan a bit peeved. Theo then mentions that he had been studying the code of the Minecraft game on the VR goggles as a way to make his own modifications for practice, knowing that the Evoker King was in the game thanks to a mod. Theo then says that he had been practicing by making his own mods.

Morgan thinks that adding mods to the game would be risky, thinking it would make the problem with the Evoker King much worse. As he gets back to studying, he says to Theo to not modify the game in any shape or form. Unbeknownst to Morgan, however, Theo had already created several mods and had altered some code without telling anyone. Theo decides not to say anything as he leaves for class. Later, after school, Theo, Morgan, Harper, Jodi, and Po, are ready to get back into the world of Minecraft. When they open the doors to the computer lab, however, they are shocked to find out that the computers are missing.

Chapter 2: Not in My Computer Lab, Butterfly…If That Is Your Real Name!
The computer lab is instead filled with numerous plants. Some of the plants also have cocoons on them, making Theo realize that they are soon going to turn into butterflies. Morgan wonders as to where the computers are, and Jodi mentions that Doc had moved them across the street to the public library, apparently including the Minecraft server and the VR goggles that are used to play on it. Everyone decides to head over there after calling their parents about the situation. The library is revealed to be known as Excalibur County Library and Media Center, but because of the statue out front that resembles the Excalibur legend of the sword in the stone, kids generally call it "Stonesword Library" instead. Morgan touches the statue for good luck as they head inside, finding Doc and Ms. Minerva there as well, who appear to once again be having an argument about technology. A man then approaches the students and tells them to sign in to be able to explore, revealing himself to be Mr. Malory, who calls himself a media specialist.

He takes the students on a tour of the library, showing them the numerous items available to rent like books, DVDs, and even video games! Mr. Malory also shows off a 3D printer that will be used for STEM projects, as well as a driver’s education room which housed a computer and a VR headset. Ms. Minerva and Doc continue to argue a bit about the changes to the library, such as making physical books go digital, but Mr. Malory mentions that the physical books will definitely not be leaving the library anytime soon. Ms. Minerva then pulls out a familiar pair of VR goggles from a duffle bag, mentioning to the students that Stonesword Library will host a few of Doc’s classes and after-school activities now that the computer lab at Woodsword is basically a butterfly sanctuary. Morgan then asks Mr. Malory if they are allowed to use the computers from Woodsword, and he says that they are, noting that everything is set up. Morgan breathes a sigh of relief, knowing that he and his friends will be able to enter the world of Minecraft once again.

Chapter 3: That Feeling When a Pretty Good Plan Goes Terribly, Terribly Wrong…
In Minecraft, the group (Harper, Morgan, Jodi, Po, and Theo) still see the Evoker King as nothing but stone. Po is using a butterfly skin in honor of the cocoons at Woodsword, and Harper notices a statue of a llama on top of a hill that was used to make a waterfall. Po wonders if the Evoker King will be able to change back to normal, and Harper says that more data will be needed regarding that situation. Everyone begins to realize that they’ve stayed in this particular area for far too long; only stone and dirt was mainly found in the caves underneath them, so they decide to pack up and gather resources somewhere else. Jodi wonders about the Evoker King, and Morgan realizes that they can use a tool enchanted with Silk Touch to move him, mentioning that Silk Touch basically removes an item without breaking it. Harper heads inside their shelter, dubbed "The Shack", to collect the necessary resources, smelts the iron ore into ingots, crafts an iron pickaxe and then enchants said pickaxe with Silk Touch, handing it to Theo. Theo begins to mine away at the stone Evoker King, but soon notices a crack in it and steps back as the crack begins to widen and glow.

Chapter 4: Don’t Build Walls Between You and Your Friends. Do Build Walls Between You and Hostile Mobs of Unknown Origin.
Po steps out of The Shack as the stone Evoker King begins to crack. He rushes over to it to try to hold it together, but it explodes, sending Po backwards into his friends, who tumble to the ground. As Po gets up, he strains his eyes as he looks toward the crater left behind, which is engulfed in smoke. Po notices butterflies as well as the sound of growling and orders everyone to build a wall. They do and hide behind it as the noises now become grunts and growls and several wet snorts, along with the sound of wings flapping and feet trudging along the ground. Silence follows after a bit, and everyone looks out toward the crater when the stone Evoker King once stood. Po wonders if the King is gone forever, but Jodi notices footprints leading away from the crater. Po thinks that Doc had a mod installed that allows for footprints to appear, but Theo confesses that he had installed it. Morgan then has a discussion with Theo about adding mods to this version of Minecraft, saying that whatever is installed will affect everything in the game. Po begins to wonder as to what other mods that Theo had installed.

Chapter 5: Join the Defensive Circle Today! You’ll Be Glad You Did.
Harper leads the way, following the footprints into a forest. She soon notices that some blocks were misplaced, such as a spruce log on an oak tree, or a dirt block missing from the ground. Harper also notices a butterfly, realizing that they aren’t in the vanilla game. Coming to a clearing, the group notice a figure that "was tall and blocky", stacking blocks on top of one another. The figure then hears Harper’s voice shouting at it and turns its head toward her. Morgan then suddenly realizes the figure is that of an enderman, telling Harper to not look at it. His warning came too late, however, as the enderman emits a low shrieking sound before teleporting toward the group. Morgan and Jodi are hit by the enderman’s arms. Po tries to attack it with his sword, but it quickly teleports away. Morgan is then hit again as the enderman teleports behind him and attacks. Harper, Morgan, Jodi, and Po then decide to clump together with their backs to one another, while Theo decides to attack the enderman alone.

Just then, the enderman teleports in front of Harper. She swings a sword at it, but the enderman ends up teleporting away with the sword as it’s eyes flash red. Theo then lobs a splash potion at the enderman, making it teleport away while everyone else heals. Just then, it starts to rain, and the enderman is heard shrieking in pain off in the distance. Theo then gives Morgan a potion of healing as his health runs low. Harper begins to wonder if there was something different about that enderman, noting that it was faster, and its eyes were red instead of purple, making her believe that the enderman was part of the artificial intelligence of the game.

Chapter 6: Frazzled Teachers, Mad Scientists, Unwanted Apparel…and That’s All Before the End of Lunch!
The next day, on the way to school in the real world, Morgan talks with Jodi about the enderman that they had encountered yesterday, noting its red eyes in particular as well as Harper’s sword teleporting away when she attacked it. He begins to refer to the enderman as an Endermonster because of its characteristics, while Jodi wonders as to what the other mobs were that were behind the thick smoke from the crater. Morgan begins to think that Theo is to blame, noting that he installed mods to the game without the others knowing about it. Jodi says to Morgan that he isn’t really welcoming of others, noting what he did with Ash when she moved to Excalibur County, and asks for him to be a little more welcoming toward Theo. Morgan scoffs and says that he’ll make an effort to do so. Later, in homeroom, Ms. Minerva isn’t much better. She announces a pop quiz despite no such thing happening and calls Morgan "Mulligan". The school announcements are done by Doc instead of the robot AI, mentioning that the faculty lounge’s coffee maker is out of order and that repairs to it aren’t expected until someone apologizes for insulting it.

Morgan hoped that Ms. Minerva would apologize to Doc in-between classes, but the narrator says that no apology had been made by lunchtime. Doc stops by the table of Harper, Morgan, Jodi, Po, and Theo, asking if some of them could help with measurements in the butterfly sanctuary after school. Po says that he can’t because of drama club, which makes Jodi say that they won’t be able to play Minecraft after school, either. Theo brings up the idea of just playing without Po, but Jodi says to Theo that, although it’s an unwritten rule, whenever one person isn’t available for Minecraft, they decide to not play it after school. Morgan, Jodi, and Harper decide to help Doc with the measurements. Theo then says that he has a surprise for everyone, deciding to show it off now instead of after school. He pulls out a cardboard box with some T-shirts that were green with the word "BLOCK HEADZ" in blocky letters on the front. As he passes them out to everyone, he mentions that the wording on the shirt is supposed to be a team name, hence "BLOCK HEADZ". Everyone compliments Theo for the gesture, despite Morgan, who hesitates at first, but then says that they look cool. Just then, the bell rings for afternoon classes, and the narrator mentions that from Morgan’s point of view, Theo made it hard to be nice to him.