Minecraft: Ironsword Academy/EyesEndermen2CHP
Chapter 8: Maybe Endermen Love Being Looked at. They’re Screaming for Attention!
Po dashes after the enderman, with Eek, Jodi, and Ash following behind him, but the enderman quickly disappears. Everyone then puts their backs to each other before the enderman reappears in front of Po, with Eek staring at it and not moving to prevent it from attacking. The enderman is soon killed, but doesn’t drop an ender pearl, with Theo explaining that the drops are random. Eek realizes that they must keep going after endermen, and Theo quips that the pillager outpost he saw earlier gave him an idea.
Chapter 9: Lights! Camera! Run Away! Run Away!
Theo has Eek notice the pillager outpost off in the distance, reminding him to stay back, but Eek had already run off toward the outpost. Jodi attempts to warn Eek about how pillagers are dangerous just before some arrows land beside him. He wonders as to why the pillagers look like him, and Theo says that they are illagers, which are bad villagers. Eek then begins to wonder if he as an illager, which would classify him as a hostile mob, and the group soundly reject that notion, with Theo saying to Eek that he is deciding for himself, which makes him different. Ash concurs, adding that the important thing for Eek is what he does, not what he looks like. Eek says that he would have a lot to think about, but adds that he had memorized what the outpost looks like. A few minutes later, Eek rebuilds the pillager outpost in the center of the desert, allowing the group to search the desert in all directions for any endermen they come across. The group also decide to build a camera out of black wool, cobblestone for a base, and some glass for the lens so Po can practice his lines. Po then stands in front of the camera, and Eek calls out one word: "ACTION!".
Chapter 10: The Director Said Take Three? Well Okay, but I’m Not Sure I Can Carry More than One!
Po expects it to be easy knowing the camera wasn’t real, but just like in the real world, Po continues to freeze up and stutters his lines. Eek asks Po if he is OK, but when he doesn’t respond, Eek calls out "cut", and Po leaves the room quickly, feeling as if his emotions are tied up in a knot. He heads to the front doors and stops on the ramp as Will asks him as to what is wrong. Po shoots back, asking Will as to why he cares, and says that he should log into the server and ask Eek before telling Principal Ferris about it. Will understands Po’s frustration immediately and apologizes for not telling him that he logged into the Minecraft server, saying that he was asked by Principal Ferris to find out what Po and his group of friends were doing with the game. Will then says that he didn’t tell Principal Ferris about Eek, because he didn’t know what the principal would do if he found out that an actual artificial intelligence was in the computer. Po then asks Will if the principal would hate it, and Will believes that the principal would want it to be used as a science experiment of sorts. Will then once again apologizes for logging into the server because he wasn’t sure how to word it, and adds that he wants to be friends and help in any way he can.
Po then mentions about how he would freeze up and get scared whenever he gets in front of a camera, adding that he is a bit scared every time he comes to school, and that everything feels different to him. Will believes its because of him going to a new school, and Po believes it might be, but adds that it had never been a problem for him before will all the stuff that he is involved in at school besides the camera. Will suggests that the pressure of being in front of the camera is permanent, adding that people don’t just get to try again with being filmed. Po concurs, adding that he and the group can’t make any mistakes; otherwise, something bad could happen to Eek. Will then says that he wonders if Po is thinking it wrong, adding that it isn’t about how his life doesn’t matter, but the jokes he did, the basketball games and performances he played, and the Minecraft world he is a part of are permanent in everybody’s memory, and Po didn’t let them bother him. Will then pauses before saying to Po that he needs to realize that he had already been brave for a long time. The two apologize once more and reconcile just as Morgan shouts out to Po from a window at the corner of the school, saying that he needs help as they are cornered by four endermen. Po heads back inside and charges straight for the computer lab, with Will following him.
Chapter 11: If That Camera Was Real, This Would Be a Great Horror Movie to Watch Later.
In the computer lab, Jodi’s heart is pounding as she keeps her avatar facing the ground due to the enderman being only one block in front of her. She carefully turns to the left and notices that Eek is frozen once more, hovering in the air like he was lying in bed. Ash says to Jodi that everything will be okay, adding that they will be fine as long as they keep their avatars facing downward. Ash then starts to concoct a plan, but she ends up disconnecting as her avatar snaps to face forward. Jodi wonders if she can still wait, and Morgan concurs in part, warning her that if the endermen walk into the wrong spot, they would get angry and attack. Harper adds that if the endermen teleport away, that they would come back to look for them. Eventually, Po arrives at the computer lab with Will, and Morgan updates Po on everything that happened up to that point. Will brings up using the administrator password to join in, and Theo believes that Eek got access to the air conditioning system because of it. Po immediately believes that the administrator password may be the reason why Eek is disconnecting, and leaves the computer lab, saying to Morgan that he knows where Eek is and to keep the window open.
Chapter 12: Endermen Have a Face That Just Screams "Empty and Menacing."
Po rushes out the front doors and meets up with Wes, who is working on the camera. Po asks for Wes to point the camera at him, adding that he’ll explain everything in a minute. Wes asks Po as to who Eek is just as a red light on top of the camera blinks rapidly three times. Po asks for Eek if he is in there to do it again, and the camera once more blinks rapidly three times, furthering Po’s belief that Eek got access to the outside world through the camera, which was connected to the school’s network with the administrator password. Po then tells Eek to not wake up before asking Wes if he can fix the camera. To Po’s surprise, Wes gives him full permission to do so, and Po grabs the handles of the camera to tilt it around. Looking at the monitor, Po notices that the feed has some static low resolution, as well as cubes, swirls, and strange textures, knowing that is has to be Minecraft, as the POV was set inside the watchtower. Po then focuses the camera on an enderman to distract it, and it is soon killed, dropping an ender pearl. The second one is soon killed, dropping another ender pearl. Po then focuses on the third one, but Ash reconnects, startling both the third and fourth endermen. Will attempts to fight back, but he is forced to back away as he is only down to half-a-heart. Nameless, Eek’s snowy wolf, starts attacking one of the endermen by itself, and Will decides to risk it by charging at both endermen. Suddenly, Eek jolts awake, pulls out an iron sword, and slashes at both endermen, killing them, and the endermen also drop ender pearls, as he exclaims that he must protect his friends.
Chapter 13: Never Feel Embarrassed about Accidentally Calling the Principal "Dad."
Later, Principal Ferris has Po, Jodi, Morgan, Harper, Theo, and Will all in the principal’s office, berating the group for disrupting everything and "making a scene", believing that it has something to do with Minecraft. Will answers before anyone else can, saying that it isn’t the group’s fault, but instead the fault of the principal, with Will adding that he himself logged into their computer with the administrator password because the principal told him to, which caused glitches with the air conditioning system and Wes' camera, and the group were attempting to fix it. Will adds that if he wasn’t told to spy on them, then none of these glitches would have happened. Principal Ferris attempts to sound confident by saying that it is the job of student government to be aware of what other students are up to, but the others notice that his cheeks are turning red out of embarrassment. Principal Ferris then excuses the group, saying that he will have a talk with Will, confirming him to be his son, and that the conversation may be brought up again tomorrow if need be. The group then head outside, with Po apologizing for being wrapped up in his feelings. Jodi understands this, and says that she feels braver for facing her fears of fighting endermen. The rest of the group feels a little worried about Eek, but Morgan quips that he saved both Nameless and Will, feeling glad that Eek is their friend. Wes then notices Po, saying to him that he has time for one more audition, and his friends give him a thumbs-up. Wes then says to Po that he had an idea from the mistake that occurred earlier, and looked back at some of the footage of Po talking to Eek, hoping that Po can keep his nerves down. Po hopes that he can do so, and Wes has him put on a mashup of different costumes, becoming a vampire astronaut. As he gets set up in front of the camera, he begins to freeze up again, but the red light on the camera blinks rapidly three times, realizing that Eek was still connected. Po reads his lines perfectly, and Wes says that he’ll call back Po in a few weeks to record for the real commercial. Po puts on a giant smile and leaves, feeling triumphant that he overcame his fear, whispering a thank you to Eek before the red light on the camera blinks rapidly again three times, and then turns off completely.
Epilogue
Back in Minecraft, Eek is once again alone, but he feels glad, wanting some time with his thoughts now that he was able to see the outside world through the camera. Eek then builds four endermen heads as a statue of the four endermen that were killed, and then collects the remaining ender pearls to set out on a long journey with Nameless. With seventeen ender pearls in hand, more than enough to open an end portal, Eek crafts them with blaze rods to make eyes of ender. Eek remembers that Harper had told him not to throw the eyes of ender by himself, but tomorrow was Friday, and the server would be thrown out by the end of the day, so he decides to plan ahead, leaving a path of tilled dirt to show the others where he went. Eek then tosses one eye into the sky, going up around a dozen blocks away toward the horizon before landing back on the ground unbroken. He knew it would be a long trip as he starts walking with Nameless, exclaiming to himself that he is going to the real world.