The Modded Invasion

Chapter 2: The First Strike

                                                                              ~13 Years Later~

   The brother had been named Dan, and the sister Sadie. As usual, the small but bustling village had had yet another successful day. As the sun began to settle onto the horizon, the NPCs headed home to show off their newly acquired goods to their families. 

   As lights went dark around the village, a peculiar sound filled the air. It was a howl filled simultaneously with sorrow and hatred for all things living. 

   The terrible noise echoed off of houses, causing the curious NPCs to poke their boxy heads out of their doors. The NPCs all knew this dreaded sound. 

   It was a zombie.

   Rotten green skin covered their bodies. They wore tattered, faded light blue shirts and torn blue pants. They had empty black eyes that stared deep into your very being. Their arms were outstretched, permanently reaching for the sunlight that they knew they were banished from. Everybody knew that if I zombie was in the sunlight without headgear, it would burst into flames. These attributes were all the users, people in the real world playing Minecraft, could see. But the NPCs could see their terribly realistic features. Each zombie had a different collection of scars and scratches. But worst of all were their claws. Razor sharp claws protruded from their blocky fingers.

   Villagers' eyes filled with terror as they saw the approaching mob. There were maybe twenty of the green-headed beasts, their pitch black eyes showing their hatred and malice toward the NPCs. Screams of terror began to sound as parents rushed off to go get their children. 

   Meanwhile, in a large cobblestone house, Dan and Sadie were talking about what they would do in the village tomorrow. The villagers had taken to the glitched NPCs as sons and daughters. They were very well respected and due to the fact that their hands were free, they were able to hold any item. They'd become skilled fighters over the years. 

   "Hey, Sadie, shush for a sec." Dan squinted as he listened. He looked over at Sadie with grim determination in his eyes. 

   "Zombies. Lots of them" Dan confirmed. "We can take 'em!" Sadie beamed, "We've trained years for this kind of stuff!" she exclaimed, her voice resonating with courage. Dan had become a skilled swordsman and Sadie was an excellent shot with a bow. They had secretly crafted stone tools and bows and arrows.

   Dan rushed upstairs to go fetch their weapons. A moment later, he returned with two stone swords, two bows, a couple stacks of cobblestone, and a fistful of arrows. He handed Sadie one of each. Dan rushed back upstairs and retrieved more arrows, just to be sure. He gave Sadie a subtle nod and together they strode toward the door and opened it.

   Their courage instantly melted into fear. 

   The scene playing out before them had frozen them in place. They stared in horror as the green-headed monsters hammered against frail wooden doors, longing to gain access to the inhabitants inside.

   Dan and Sadie snapped into action. Dan sprinted to one of the hideous creatures clawing at a door. The NPC crashed into the zombie and they both tumbled to the ground. Dan rolled to the side and hacked away at the monstrosity. In four quick hits, the zombie disappeared with a POP!  Leaving behind some zombie flesh and 3 glowing balls of XP. He let the XP flow into him, making the NPC feel slightly stronger, but stayed away from the zombie flesh.

   Sadie grabbed some cobblestone from her inventory and built up four blocks using the jump place method. She then expanded out 1 block in each direction, making a 3x3 platform. Putting away the cobblestone and grabbing her bow, Sadie notched an arrow, drew back the string, and fired. A faint thrumm sounded as the NPC released the string. The arrow flew through the air and struck a zombie in the chest. It flashed red and grimaced from the sudden strike. The monster turned to see its attacker. Arms outstretched, it shuffled toward the cobblestone structure. When the zombie reached the base, it glared up at Sadie with a look of unbridled hatred in its cold, black eyes. It then walked under the small skybase, shielded from the rain of pointed destruction.

   "Dan!" she called. The swift NPC spun around and sprinted toward the sound of his sister's voice. He crashed into the zombie with brute force. With three quick blows, he destroyed the zombie before it even knew what was happening. 3 glowing balls of XP replaced the creature, accompanied by zombie flesh. He gave a subtle nod to Sadie, not seeing if it was returned. The two NPCs fought off the hoard with grim determination painted onto their blocky faces. After a while, the zombies retreated and formed up on the outskirts of the small village. Dan could've sworn he'd seen a flash of gold in the middle of the formation....

   Seeing the zombies keeping their distance gave the twins time to regroup. Dan quickly walked to the small skybase and looked up. Sadie smiled and disappeared from the edge... then returned with a stack of ladder. Dan placed blocks of dirt to make supports for the ladders. He placed the dirt, followed by the ladders that he eagerly climbed.

   "Hungry?" Sadie asked with a grin. She handed Dan a handful of apples. "Thanksh." he said with a mouthful of the delicious fruit. After their quick meal, the duo examined each others' weapons.

   Sadie carefully grabbed an anvil and placed it down. Dan put his sword on it first. The dull blade was cracked and weakened. Dan added some cobblestone to it, strengthening the blade and erasing the cracks. He equipped his newly repaired sword and swung it just for good measure. The gray blade sliced through the air with a slight whistle.

   "This'll work." he said with a smile.

   Sadie's bow was in considerably better condition. Just to be sure, she replaced the string. The NPC tested it a couple times. Satisfied that her weapon was sturdy, she turned back toward Dan. "So what do we do now?" Sadie asked, glancing at the now small force of zombies. "I dunno, they seem to be keeping their distance.." Dan thought he saw the zombies nodding. That's impossible. He thought. Stop distracting yourself! "We have to do something!" Sadie said. Dan thought for a minute, then turned to Sadie with a gleam in his eyes.

   "Ok. I have a plan."