New Pets on the Block (Minecraft Stonesword Saga #3) Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  © 2022 Mojang AB. All Rights Reserved. Minecraft, the Minecraft logo, the Mojang Studios logo and the Creeper logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Medium form © 2022 Mojang AB. Minecraft, the Minecraft logo, the Mojang Studios logo and the Creeper logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

  Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019, and in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto. Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  rhcbooks.com

  minecraft.net

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 9781984850942 (trade)

  ISBN 9781984850959 (library binding) — ebook ISBN 9781984850966

  Cover design by Diane Choi

  ep_prh_6.0_140348895_c0_r0

  Contents

  Cover

  Copyright

  Title Page

  Meet the Players

  Prologue

  Chapter 1: Please Hold Your Questions Until the End of the Presentation! (But You Can Ooh and Ahh as Much as You Like.)

  Chapter 2: Animals of the Overworld! I’ll Never Get Over How Cute They Are.

  Chapter 3: Out of the Pit. Into the Swamp! (I’ll Take Any Other Option You’ve Got, Please.)

  Chapter 4: Welcome to the Zoo! Come for the Pandas. Stay Forever….

  Chapter 5: Suspicious Stew: Is the Cure Worse Than the Disease?

  Chapter 6: An Itsy-Bitsy Spider Caused a Great Big Problem!

  Chapter 7: Introducing: Michael G! Not to Be Confused with Michael C or Michael P.

  Chapter 8: Put Your Paws Together for Jodi’s All-Purpose Pet Service!

  Chapter 9: One Mob’s Rotten Flesh Is Another Mob’s Treasure. (But Seriously, I’d Rather Have the Emeralds!)

  Chapter 10: Small Business Ownership! It’s Like Putting the Whole World on a Leash and Having It Drag You Around.

  Chapter 11: Who Let the Dogs Out? And Could That Person Please Come Get Them?

  Chapter 12: Sweet of Cheeks. Strong of Spirit. Injured of Paw.

  Chapter 13: They Say Lightning Never Strikes Twice. But “They” Don’t Have a Trident of Channeling.

  Chapter 14: Which Witch Ordered the Mooshroom?

  Chapter 15: With Great Hamsters There Must Come…Great Responsibility!

  About Minecraft

  About the Authors

  Prologue

  The swamp was dark and full of menace. But that wouldn’t stop Jodi. It would take more than murky water, dark vines, and mucky clay to turn her away from her mission.

  It was a rescue mission. How could she turn her back on those who needed her?

  Her blocky hands reached for the first cage. The gate swung open, and the prisoner stepped out into the open air.

  “Get out of here,” Jodi said. “Hurry!”

  Jodi had to hurry, too. There were dozens of cages here. Each one held a different prisoner. Jodi had to free them before their captor realized what she was doing. Unless Morgan stopped her first.

  “Jodi, stop!” he cried. “We need to talk about this.”

  But as far as Jodi was concerned, there was nothing to talk about. She opened another cage, and another.

  That was as far as she got…before they were attacked.

  Their unseen enemy struck from the shadows, quick and merciless.

  Po was the first to fall.

  Theo and Harper were next.

  When Morgan was defeated, Jodi was all alone against their attacker.

  She knew she had to be brave. She knew everyone was counting on her. She wouldn’t back down!

  But in the end, it didn’t matter. This was a fight she couldn’t win.

  And as Jodi fell to her knees, cursed by some foul magic…their enemy laughed.

  Jodi wondered if it would be the last sound she ever heard.

  Chapter 1

  Please Hold Your Questions Until the End of the Presentation! (But You Can Ooh and AHH as Much as You Like.)

  Jodi Mercado knew how important it was to dress for battle.

  When fighting a boss mob, diamond armor was hard to beat.

  When dodging fireballs, a shield was quite useful.

  When confronting an Enderman, a pumpkin helmet was a smart accessory.

  But when it came to a war of words in the real world…Jodi chose to wear her very best dress.

  “As you can see, animals are adorable,” she said. She aimed a red laser pointer at the screen behind her, drawing everyone’s attention to the image of a cute, floppy-eared puppy. She clicked a button on the pointer—click!—and the image changed from the puppy to a kitten with a tiny pink nose. “I would like to hug every animal,” she said. “Except for spiders.” Click! Click! Click! The image changed from kitten to hedgehog to gerbil to gecko.

  “Just look at those faces!” Jodi squealed enthusiastically. For a moment, she forgot all about her presentation.

  Someone in the audience cleared their throat. It was a gentle reminder to Jodi that she should stay on topic. She looked down at her notecards, where she had her entire speech written down.

  “I love every kind of animal,” she read from the final card. “And isn’t love the greatest gift of all? Therefore, I think you will agree that I am ready for a pet of my own. Amen. The end. Thank you for listening!”

  The small audience broke into eager applause. Jodi grinned from ear to ear as she looked out at them.

  Her best friends were all there, gathered in a meeting room in Excalibur County Public Library. (They called it Stonesword Library, which was less of a mouthful.)

  Harper Houston cheered from her seat. A whiz with math and science, Harper had helped Jodi with the technological parts of her presentation. She had even created Jodi’s one-of-a-kind laser pointer. It looked like something right out of Minecraft!

  Po Chen whooped and hollered. He could be a goofball, but he was always supportive of his friends. During Jodi’s presentation, he had laughed the loudest at her jokes.

  Theo Grayson clapped politely. Theo was good with computers, but Jodi wasn’t sure he liked animals very much. Even so, he had helped Jodi download all the pictures for her slideshow.

  Ash Kapoor waved her hands in silent applause. Although Ash lived in a different city and couldn’t be there in person, she had used video software to watch the presentation through Theo’s laptop. Her smile lit up the screen.

  Even the class hamster, Baron Sweetcheeks, had his eyes on Jodi. He couldn’t cheer for her, but Jodi felt that he was providing excellent emotional support.

  Morgan Mercado was another story. Although he clapped, too, he seemed uncertain. Hesitant. Jodi knew her big brother well, and she could tell he was less excited than everybody else.

  What was that about? After all, any pet Jodi brought into their home was a pet Morgan could hug, too.

  He was probably thinking about Minecraft, Jodi decided. He usually was!

  “So?” said Jodi. “What did everybody think? Is this enough to convince my parents that I’m rea
dy to take care of a pet?”

  “Absolutely,” Ash said from the laptop’s speakers. “You made a very smart argument.”

  Harper added, “The part about using eco-friendly poop bags was a nice touch.”

  “Gross, Harper!” said Po, wrinkling his nose. “Don’t say poop and touch in the same sentence.” He and Harper both laughed.

  Theo raised his hand. “I wonder if you should say vertebrates instead of animals,” he suggested. “All the images you used were of animals with a backbone. And I assume you don’t want a pet cricket or earthworm.” Harper elbowed him. “Oh, but other than that—good job,” he added quickly.

  Jodi could feel her heart swell with cheerfulness…and hope. She had wanted a pet for years, and her parents had never agreed to it. They always said no. They said it wasn’t the right time for a pet. They told her to wait until she was older.

  Well, Jodi had made up her mind: now, at last, was the right time. She was old enough. She was responsible enough! And when her parents heard her presentation after dinner tonight, she was sure they would agree with her.

  She was pretty sure, at least.

  But when she snuck a glance at Morgan, she saw that he was frowning. And a dark cloud of worry passed over Jodi’s heart.

  Chapter 2

  Animals of the Overworld! I’ll Never Get Over How Cute They Are.

  The next day, Morgan, Jodi, and their friends returned to the library. This time, they weren’t there for a meeting room. Instead, they collected a set of special VR headsets from the front desk. The goggles felt electric in Morgan’s hands. He gripped his set tightly as he led Jodi, Po, Harper, and Theo to a row of networked computers in the back.

  The computers would allow them to play Minecraft together.

  And the VR goggles would allow them to live Minecraft together.

  Morgan had given up on ever understanding how the goggles were able to transport them into the world of their favorite game. Their science teacher, Doc Culpepper, had done…something to the goggles, supercharging them somehow. Her experiments were known mostly for going wrong in spectacular ways, but in this case, she had gotten something very right. In the end, he didn’t really care how they worked. So long as they worked.

  He took a seat, booted up the game, and slipped the goggles over his eyes.

  * * *

  The next thing Morgan knew, he was standing in a simple rectangular house. It was just big enough for five beds, a crafting table, a furnace, and a chest of supplies. There was a single iron door, operated by a button, and there were two torches set into one of the house’s stone walls.

  This build didn’t have any of the comforts of home. But that was because they wouldn’t be staying here for long. They were constantly exploring, going deeper into Minecraft. And right now, they had a mission.

  “All right, let’s get started,” said Morgan. He clicked the button on the wall. The door swung open, and he stepped outside. It was a clear, sunny day in the Overworld. Morgan smiled…and then he looked up, and he frowned. The Fault was plainly visible high above him. It looked like someone had taken the bright blue sky and just…ripped it.

  “We really need to figure out what that Fault is,” said Harper as she stepped outside the house. “I’m sure it’s getting bigger.”

  Theo was giving the rip a long look. He turned and nodded to Harper in agreement with her assessment. “It is getting bigger.”

  “One problem at a time,” said Morgan. “First we need to find the next piece of—”

  Suddenly, Jodi came bursting out of the house, running at top speed and shouting at the top of her lungs. “Look at that bunny!” she yelled.

  “I want to pet the bunny!”

  The bunny, it seemed, did not want to be petted. It bounded away, disappearing over a hill.

  Jodi didn’t follow. She was immediately distracted by a cow. Then a sheep. Then a pig. She ran back and forth across the plain, petting them all. She was definitely not “on mission” at the moment.

  “Maybe I’ll get a piglet in real life,” she said.

  Po laughed. His avatar was especially detailed today. Even though he was as blocky as the rest of them, the carefully placed pixels of his outfit made him look almost fluffy. Morgan thought he must be a cloud. Or a sheep? She wasn’t sure. Po never stuck with one look for long. He had a huge collection of skins, and he was constantly changing them.

  “Or maybe I should get a pet chicken!” said Jodi. She patted a hen, which flapped and clucked at the attention.

  “I guess the presentation went well,” Po said.

  Jodi flashed a grin. Even in avatar form, it was easy to see how happy she was. “It went so well!” she cried.

  “So your parents said yes?” asked Theo.

  “They said ‘we’ll see,’ ” answered Jodi as she ran circles around a nearby horse. “Which is basically the same thing as yes.”

  Morgan kept his expression neutral, and he tried to keep his voice neutral, too. “I don’t think you should get your hopes up yet,” he told his sister.

  “Too late!” She cackled, then started poking around at the edge of a lake. Morgan thought she was probably hoping for a glimpse of an axolotl—even though she should know by now that those mobs are only found way underground. Morgan rolled his eyes.

  “Morgan!” Po whispered. “What gives? You’re being so negative.”

  “Po’s right,” Harper said gently. “You could be a little more supportive.”

  Before answering, Morgan made sure his sister wasn’t listening. “You don’t understand,” he said. “You didn’t see my parents’ faces during that presentation. They did not think getting a pet was a good idea.” He shook his head. “Besides, when has ‘we’ll see’ ever meant ‘yes’?”

  “He’s got a point,” said Theo. “In my experience, parents say ‘we’ll see’ when they really mean ‘not in a million years.’ ”

  “Exactly,” Morgan said.

  “But she’s so happy,” said Po. “Isn’t there something you can do?”

  “Me?” said Morgan.

  “Maybe you could change your parents’ minds,” said Harper. “If she can’t convince them…maybe you could convince them that she’s ready for a pet.”

  “Maybe…,” said Morgan.

  Theo rubbed his blocky chin and gave Morgan a long look. “Morgan…you do think she’s ready for a pet, don’t you?”

  Morgan hesitated. He wasn’t sure how to answer that question.

  “You guys!” said Jodi, and Morgan was happy for the interruption. “Does anybody have a bone? There’s a wolf by the trees, and I want to give him a treat.”

  “What a coincidence,” said Po. He did a little twirl. “My avatar skin is a wolf today.”

  Theo frowned. “Are you sure? I thought you were a sheep.”

  “Aha! That’s what I was going for,” said Po. “See, I’m actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

  “So you’re Po…dressed as a wolf…dressed as a sheep,” said Theo.

  Po laughed. “Baaah-sically, yeah.”

  “Let me check my inventory for a bone,” Harper said. “I’m pretty sure I have one.”

  Morgan looked over Jodi’s shoulder, and he saw the wolf in the distance. It was standing at the edge of a nearby forest. His sister obviously hoped to tame the wolf by giving it a bone.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Morgan asked her. “Even digital wolves are a lot of responsibility. You’ll have to feed it and keep it away from lava.”

  Jodi waved around the bone that Harper had given her. “Sure I’m sure,” she said. “Keeping away from lava is one of my favorite things!”

  Morgan and the others followed as Jodi ran up to the wolf. She offered the bone to the animal, and the wolf took it, but no little red hearts appeared around its head. That meant it hadn’t been tame
d.

  “Sometimes one bone isn’t enough,” said Theo. “But you could try again.”

  Harper shook her head. “I don’t have any more bones,” she said. “Sorry, Jodi.”

  “Aw. It’s okay,” said Jodi. “Lobo Joe here just wants to be free!”

  Lobo Joe that was the wolf’s name now, Morgan figured turned to go. It walked across the plain and disappeared from view.

  It disappeared from view very suddenly, in fact.

  “Where did it go?” asked Harper, startled.

  “Lobo Joe?” said Jodi. “What happened to you?”

  The kids all ran in the direction the wolf had gone.

  They didn’t see the pit until it was almost too late.

  Morgan called, “Stop!” And he threw his arms out to the side. The others skidded to a stop just behind him, at the edge of a large hole.

  The hole was full of animals. Not just Lobo Joe, but ocelots and chickens and more. Several of the animals looked at the wolf with worry in their eyes. But maybe because of the strange situation they found themselves in, the animals mobs were staying calm…at least for the moment.

  “They fell into a hole, the poor things,” Jodi said. “We should help them.”

  “We can dig some steps out of the dirt,” offered Harper. “Then they can climb back up.”

  “This reminds me of that time we trapped a bunch of angry bunnies in a pit,” Po said, pulling a pickaxe from his inventory. “Good times!”

  Morgan nodded slowly. Po was right—perhaps more so than he realized.