Minecraft: Ironsword Academy/WardenCalls1CHP

Eek is seen in a biome covered in pale oak trees, tossing another eye of ender into the air, as he had done many times before. This time, however, the eye doesn’t come down immediately; instead, it peers down at something in the distance, drifting back to Eek’s eye level. The eye then shifts toward an opening in the middle of the pale forest, dropping into a deep, dark pit. Eek mines a safe path down the pit, eventually stumbling across a gateway to a giant, empty room. Eek takes a few steps, only to be greeted with a scream. He then takes a few more steps, being greeted with another scream. Eek then notices a block with tendrils on it, noticing it reacts to his footsteps. Another scream is heard, and Eek soon finds a chest on a block of deepslate. He opens it, making the ground rumble as if a mob was emerging from it. The mob emerges with a loud groan as Darkness consumes Eek’s vision. The mob sniffs and searches for the intruder, locking onto Eek quickly before running after him.

Theo has his parents drop him off at Ironsword Academy early in the morning, as he does every school day. He would tell his friends that it was because he liked the school the most in the morning, when the hallways were pretty much empty. In actuality, however, it was because he would take a peek at whatever the robotics team was up too. Theo doesn’t consider it as "spying", but instead, "observing by accident". Today, Theo is finishing up his morning tasks in the computer lab when he notices the captains of the robotics team testing an aquatic robot in the school’s fishpond. The narrator then mentions to the reader about why Theo is in the computer lab, mainly because of the Minecraft server that is hosted on a cube-shaped computer, which is home to Eek, a part of the Evoker King’s code that they had befriended. Today was Friday, meaning that it was their last chance to save Eek before the server would be thrown out for good.

Theo then looks out the window at the captains of the robotics team as they test the aquatic robot. One captain is a tall girl with her dark hair in a bun, and the other is a short boy with dark frame glasses. The tall girl then notices Theo looking at them from the computer lab window, thinking that he is laughing at them, but Theo says that what they are doing is amazing, and the short boy motions for Theo to come take a look. The robotics team captains then introduce themselves to Theo, with the tall girl named Kameron, and the short boy named Cameron. Kameron then says that she and Cameron are working together to try to fix the bugs with the aquatic robot before the robotics competition next week, as a majority of their teammates are out sick. Theo’s heartbeat speeds up as he asks the two if they need help, mentioning that he had done some coding before, adding that it was for a program that can play Minecraft by itself. Both Kameron and Cameron are astonished at his ability, though Theo admits that he couldn’t come to Ironsword in time to join the robotics team. Theo then excuses himself to prepare for class, apologizing to the two that he can’t be of more help.

Ash frowns as her dad parks the moving van, asking her dad as to what they are doing here. Her dad says that they are at their new house, which is a giant two-story cabin nestled in a forest. The cabin also has a basement, a huge fireplace, and giant windows to let in light. Ash’s mom then says to her that they plan to be here for a long time while they do wildlife observation, adding that Ash can bike to school if she wants. Ash then gathers her computer boxes and sets them down in her room on the second floor. Her room has a giant window overlooking a river, making it feel like it was everything she could have wanted. A few hours later, Ash’s dad had the Wi-Fi installed, and after Ash put some of her furniture back together, she boots up her laptop and logs back into Minecraft, connecting to the Ironsword school’s server. Ash spawns in the statue that Eek had made of her, but Eek was nowhere to be found. Exiting the statue, Ash notices several signs left by Eek, and soon finds him at the border of a dark forest as he explains that he has written many songs.

Ash asks Eek if he can sing one as she chops some red mushroom blocks off a giant mushroom. Eek does so with a simple "Byoop", followed by a "Byoop-whoop", and then a "Byoop-byoop-byoop! Whoop-whoop!". Ash then asks him as to what he was doing in the dark forest, and Eek says that he was "recovering from a near-death experience", adding that he was following the eyes of ender until he reached an area that wasn’t a stronghold, despite Ash’s belief that it was. Eek has Ash follow him to the chasm, and she asks him if that chasm was that deep when he found it, adding that it doesn’t seem that it generated naturally. Ash then insists that they should wait for the others to join as Eek describes that the path led down to a large cavern "with deepslate roads and structures" along with a block that "listened" to him. Ash immediately believes that Eek is referring to a warden, which is found in an ancient city. Eek then shows Ash the item he found in the chest: a disc fragment with "EK" in parentheses. He considers going back down to find more fragments, but Ash says that it is too dangerous to go alone. She then distracts Eek by talking about her new house and having him help build it in Minecraft by describing it to him. Ash then sends to text to Morgan, reminding him to log back into Minecraft as soon as possible.

Just before lunch break, Morgan is with Jodi, Po, Theo, and Harper in Ms. Minerva’s room, using the time to catch up on their book reports, as well as on what is going on in Minecraft. Morgan says that Ash said that the eyes didn’t lead to a stronghold, but an ancient city, which is very dangerous. Harper concurs, saying that even with the best armor they have, they would be better off avoiding trouble with the warden as they don’t have enough players to fight it directly. The narrator mentions to the reader that Morgan, Harper, and Theo could no longer play the game directly after their avatars had died from being attacked by hostile mobs. Theo thinks that this is a plan concocted by the Evoker King, but Morgan disagrees, saying that it couldn’t predict the storm or them going to Ironsword Academy as a few examples. Jodi seems excited to see a pale garden, hoping to make something amazing for Eek, and Po jokingly suggests that they use skins that resemble wardens.

Just then, someone knocks at the classroom door, and Ms. Minerva opens it to reveal Will, informing Theo that Principal Ferris wants to see him before lunch. As Theo follows Will down the hall, Will thinks that what is going on is his own fault, mentioning the glitches that had occurred throughout the school, adding that the principal wanted to claim the code as property of Ironsword Academy. Will then says to Theo that he told the principal that Theo made a virus and fixed it, which makes Theo believe that he could be expelled. Upon arriving at the principal’s office, Theo notices the two people that he met earlier: Kameron and Cameron. Principal Ferris then says to Theo that instead of punishing him, that he would give him a chance to use his skills productively, with Cameron saying that he asked permission for Theo to be invited to the robotics team. Theo attempts to dismiss the praise by saying he isn’t that great with coding, but the principal says that the so-called virus made it past Ironsword’s "top-of-the-line" digital security, adding that the robotics team will be working out of the computer lab today. With his heart pounding, Theo responds positively to the arrangement, adding that he’ll leave it to himself, forcing a smile and trying to sound confident.

Back in Minecraft, Eek is finished with building the replica of Ash’s new house just before the school day ends. Po, Jodi, and Will join soon after, with Ash preparing to attack Po at first as he was using a warden skin. Morgan asks Ash over voice chat is this building is her house, and Ash says that it is, adding that she can show it to the group over video call later. Harper then starts drawing on the whiteboard regarding the plan: the eyes of ender brought the group to the pale garden / ancient city on purpose, and the only clue is the disc fragments collected by Eek, who now has three of them. Harper believes that collecting the disc fragments will help Eek leave the server, though she agrees that they don’t have a plan for where to send him. Theo concurs, noting that the air conditioning and the camera only connected parts of him, being his sense of temperature and his sight and movement, respectively. Jodi then asks if Eek can connect to things on purpose, and Harper believes that they should test it out. Theo doesn’t mind about spending time with Eek, but just then, the computer lab doors open, and Kameron and Cameron enter with a cart of computers, cables, metal parts, and gadgets on its shelves.

Theo explains the whole situation to his friends, reminding them that they should stick to the belief that he designed a virus and that Eek was a program that would allow him to play Minecraft on its own, adding that he’s going to help Kameron and Cameron get their robots ready for competition. Morgan believes that the two are a distraction, but Harper says to him that Theo can handle it, hoping to keep Principal Ferris happy. As Morgan and the others get back to work, Theo is on the other side of the computer lab, looking over the robots with Kameron and Cameron. Kameron explains that the competition is a triathlon; the first robot is made to swim and pick up rings in the water. It was made out of a PVC pipe, a claw, and a motor and a chip from an old smart blender. The second robot resembles a car with no seats, and is painted with an eye wreathed in flames on its roof; Kameron says that it is finished mechanically, but needs help with it figuring out how to read camera inputs, as it has to follow a line without it being driven manually. Cameron shows off the last robot, resembling a drone, and says that it’s for a flying obstacle course. Kameron then plugs the second robot into her laptop, opening a file to show lines upon lines of code, making Theo feel like he is about to throw up. He says some things to remain confident, and decides to look through it, even through he doesn’t have any ideas on how to fix it at all.

On the other side of the computer lab, Will is excited to play with everyone else as Po explains to him about how Eek built an entire city in less than a day. Ash then quips about needing to go into the Nether to get nether wart to brew potions, and Will and Eek decide to head to their Nether base. Morgan thinks that what Eek is doing is dangerous, but Eek says that he is not scared, reassuring the others that he will be fine. The two then starting running toward the base, with Eek mentioning that his view of the illagers had changed from a few days ago, noting that they look like him, which made him realize that he was from Minecraft, adding that he can se things that others cannot see, and that he was made to be the best by the Evoker King, which Will believes to be his father. As the two arrive at the Nether portal and go through it, Will mentions that his father, Principal Ferris, wants him to be the best as well, using the word "exceptional" to describe it. Eek asks Will as to why he would want to be anything other than exceptional, noting that he himself has focused all his time on becoming a better player.

Just then, with nether wart in hand, Eek finds his strider named Horsefish and uses it to cross a lava river to grab more nether wart. Will goes through a chest to collect some golden carrots, and the two soon collect enough materials to return to the Overworld. Theo then asks Will as to what Eek is doing, and Will says that Eek is rowing back to their base, asking as to why he needs that information. Theo sheepishly says that he has no reason for needing it, and Will turns his attention back to Minecraft, explaining to Eek that he needs to brew the nether wart to make awkward potions, and then brew the golden carrots to make potions of Night Vision. Will notes that the awkward potions don’t do anything, but this step cannot be skipped, adding that the potion has to be an awkward one before it can be an exceptional one. Eek insists that he was made to be exceptional, but Will says to Eek that he doesn’t know what he was made for, or what the Evoker King wanted for him, and insists that the group keep helping him. Eek, already calm now that he was back in the Overworld, thanks Will for saying what he needed to say, and Theo concurs with Will. He then asks Will if he can borrow Eek for a moment.

Theo felt like he was about to give up until he noticed that the robots that Kameron had plugged into the computer would sometimes move on their own. He asks for Jodi and Eek to explore the pale garden a bit, and they both agree to do so as Theo plugs all three robots into Jodi’s computer, saying to Eek to do whatever he wishes. As he swaps tools, the claw on the first robot opens and closes. Eek then jumps, making the third robot lift a few inches off the ground. As Theo continues his tests, Eek quips about crushed ice as his voice sounds "faraway and blank". Theo asks for the ice to be crushed like a soup, and the propeller on the first robot spins rapidly for several seconds. As the sun sets in the pale garden, Jodi suggests that they head back to the base, but just then, a creaking rapidly approaches them, and Eek slashes it with his diamond sword. The two know that it can’t move if they are watching them, but they decide to run anyway. Eek’s running causes the wheels on the second robot to spin forward at full speed, causing it to fall off the table and disconnect from the computer. Kameron catches the robot before it smashes into the wall, asking as to what is going on, but Theo says that it is nothing and to not worry about it. Jodi then notices that the creaking had stopped going after them, realizing that it couldn’t get far from its tree. Morgan says that they don’t need to mess with it anymore and asks Theo to fix Eek so they can get to the ancient city. Theo believes that he is already fixed thanks to the robot being disconnected, hoping that his belief rang true.