Preface: Hello, again! This chapter is one of the reasons why my uploading schedule's been a little troubled lately - it is by far the longest chapter in Minecraft Maniacs RPG, though it's mostly just filler content - think of it as two chapters combined into one. With all that said, let's get started!

4/30/21 update (original uploading 4/27/21): added next chapter preview

MINECRAFT MANIACS RPG

INTERLUDE 3

Previously...sometime after their most recent quest, Danny, Liam, and Kevin teamed up with some more of their friends, Danny's father, and the Palace Pets to finally defeat Exetior once and for all. A day after their battle, however, Kevin discovered an open code hole revealing the element detotated wam.

Now...Danny meets up with Kevin as he and Buzzer begin to fiddle with the detotated wam...

Roll Call

Danny - Alfred von Any: Hero with emotional issues. The leader.

Liam - Willy Blanq: Expert crafter. The maker.

Kevin - Nevile Napoleon: Part-gangerman redstonist. The brains.

Pork Chop - Dee Bradley Baker: Danny's companion. The pet.

Buzzer - Jim Cummings: Psychic fly from the future. The fairy.

Smith - Dan Lloyd: Blacksmith adventurer. Skilled at rescue missions.

Bruno and Molly - Erik Broes, Agnes Larsson: Interns at Mojang. Starting to see the real danger.

Chapter 36:
Spark of Error, Part One -
Overture of the Blue Heelers

[Main Party Selected: Danny, Liam, Kevin, Buzzer, Pork Chop]
[Supporting Party Selected: Bruno, Molly, Smith]

[Character Selected: Danny]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Private World, Kevin's Lab]

[BGM: Antimo & Welles - Automatic Chicken Farm]

I was not expecting to walk into Kevin's lab to see some kind of spark in the middle of his testing chamber. He and Buzzer were behind some kind of control panel, zapping the spark with some kind of energy. "Um, Kev?" I asked. "What the heck is going on here?"

Kevin removed the zombie mask he was wearing to protect his face. "Buzz and I were trying to open some kind of vortex to an alternate version of the Overworld using detotated wam."

Pork Chop gave a confused oink. "Detotated wam?" I repeated. "As in, that weird question that girl asked at MINECON?"

"Trust me, I was just as surprised as you were."

"Detotated wam is a very powerful substance," stated Buzzer. "It can perhaps be used to break the dimensional boundaries and open up gateways to worlds beyond our multiverse!"

"Worlds beyond our multiverse?" we suddenly heard Liam say. "That sounds interesting." Apparently, he'd entered the lab while we were talking. "Sorry I'm late, guys. Some pigeon wanted to steal my minecart."

"Wow. The rabborgs have a better excuse than you," Kevin said in disbelief. "You know pigeons don't exist in Minecraft."

"My hand slipped on the Capture button. I can show you the pic." My phone buzzed with a message from Liam, and I took a look at it.

"Nope, that's a pigeon alright," I said. There was definitely a pigeon attacking Liam wanting to take his minecart. "Did you remember to say no?"

"A thousand times," Liam said. "Wait, where are the rabborgs?"

[BGM: End]

"Off in their own little kingdom," Kevin responded. Suddenly, his control panel started to beep. "Uh-oh! The detotated wam's become unstable! It could cause the entire world to collapse!"

"What?" I shouted as Pork Chop oinked in fear.

"Hold on, everyone!" Buzzer shouted. "I shall try to contain the damage!" He closed his eye and the weird spark began to...condense? I'm not quite sure how to describe it. But anyway, it began to pulse and before long, my entire screen was filled with white. And this time, I wasn't sure what would happen as a result…

[World Change: ?]
[Location Change: ?]

When my screen returned to normal, my character was lying on the ground. Liam, Kevin, and Pork Chop had also teleported to this weird location. I picked myself up and looked at the grass. It looked a little too light green...and strangely cartoonish.

"Um, guys?" Liam said. "I think we're in another cartoon world." I looked around, and that's when it hit me. Out walking across the street was...an anthropomorphic dalmatian. Pushing a stroller. Under a jacaranda tree.

Quickly, I grabbed the others and pulled them behind the nearest house. "Alright, guys. I know where we are," I said. "We're in the world of an Australian kids' show that just so happens to be popular with people of all ages."

The others just stared at me blankly. "I'm sorry...what?" said Liam.

"Ugh, whatever!" I groaned, rolling my eyes. "We can't let ourselves be seen! Does anyone have any invisibility potions?"

Kevin gave Liam the side-eye. "Okay, I have a problem," Liam confessed, taking out the light-blue splash potion. He prepared to toss it on the ground, when suddenly, a strange figure swooshed past us. We fell to the ground alongside the potion, which covered us all in invisibility. "What the heck was that?" Liam shouted.

"I have no idea," said Buzzer, who was the only one that was still visible. "I wasn't able to get a good look at the figure."

"Oh, hold up! My hand slipped again!" Liam suddenly said. "I think I got the figure!" My phone buzzed again, with another message from Liam. It was the picture he took on his Switch when his hand slipped.

"Nope, you still didn't get it," I responded. The figure was just a black smear. But then I noticed that the figure wasn't alone. Alongside it were two Australian cattle dogs. "But I recognize who that guy's carrying…"

[Character Selected: Smith]
[Current World: Bonegea]
[Current Location: Dark Fortress]

[BGM: Peter Hont - Stuga]

Smith waited for the figure to leave. After so many times of his wood being stolen to lure him into being trapped, the villager decided to come on his own volition. And this time, he was going to perform a different type of rescue mission.

He heard the footsteps walking away from the prison cell get quieter and quieter, until he couldn't hear them anymore. "Finally," he said, relieved. He took out his iron pickaxe and walked up to the pitch-black blocks guarding the cell. Digging the pickaxe in, the blocks fell away and he got his first vision of the captives. "Hello! I'm here to rescue you!" Smith said cheerfully.

The two anthropomorphic heeler dogs backed up, in shock. "Wh-what are you?" the blue one said.

"Oh, relax, it's just a villager," responded the player with a Steve skin wearing a black shirt with the old Mojang logo. He walked up to Smith. "Hey, little guy. What are you doing here?"

"Um, I'm here to rescue you?" said Smith. "Come with me if you want to live? W-what else should I say? Am I doing this right?"

The Alex-skinned player wearing the same shirt as the Steve chuckled. "You're doing just fine," she said, walking out of the open hole. "I can't believe you came all this way just to save us."

"Well, I have dealt with your captor before," responded Smith as the two heelers and the other players exited. "If we encounter their defenses, I'll help you defeat them."

The orange-furred heeler shook Smith's hand. "Thank you so much," she said, happily.

Smith smiled. "No problem. Just doing my job."

[Character Selected: Liam]
[Current World: Bonegea]
[Current Location: Brisbane, Heeler Household]

[BGM: Asu01 - Rondo Alla Turca]

Pork Chop peaked his head out of the bush to see if the coast was clear. When the pig gave an affirmative oink, the players rolled out of the bush as their invisibility wore off. "Well, good timing," said Liam, standing up. He looked at the house before the three. "Huh. An old Queenslander. Always wanted to check out one of these."

"So this is where those two dogs live?" asked Kevin. "Doesn't look like anyone is home."

"There should be two other puppies living in this house," responded Buzzer. "It is crucial that we make contact."

"Well, okay," said Liam, reluctantly walking up the steps to the front porch. "But Danny, you should do all the smooth-talking, since you seem to be familiar with this world."

"Yep. My thoughts exactly," Danny said with a nod. Liam walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. He could hear footsteps running up to it.

"Should we open the door?" the three heard a nasally-sounding voice say with an Australian accent. "Mum and Dad said never to open the door to strangers."

"But Mum and Dad are missing!" said another, older-sounding voice. "It could be the police! Maybe they found them!"

"Um...okay. Let's open it." The doorknob turned, and the door opened, revealing the voices to be coming from two Australian cattle dog puppies, one blue and one orange. Both of them began to collectively scream. Then the players screamed. Then the puppies screamed again. Then the players screamed again.

"Are we done?" asked Buzzer.

"Yeah, I think we got it out of us," said Danny.

"Wh-what are you?" asked the blue dog. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Liam gave Danny the side-eye. "That's you, man."

Realizing it was his cue, Danny cleared his throat. "Alright, look, you two. We are people from the real world communicating with you through a video game. We saw what happened to your parents and want to help you."

"You saw what happened to Mum and Dad?" asked the orange puppy. "Where are they?"

"Well…" Danny rubbed the back of his head. "We don't quite know where they are…"

"Wait, hold up!" said Kevin, looking at his watch. "I'm picking up Nether reactor signals, but I'm not quite sure where they are!"

"What's a...um...never reactor?" the orange puppy asked.

"Well, uh…" Danny tried to explain. But when he looked down, he noticed that Pork Chop had vanished. "Hey, where's Pork Chop?"

The three players began to look for Pork Chop inside the house, the pups following intently. Following the sound of his oinks, Danny eventually tracked Pork Chop to a room with a large kiwi rug and...a huge pile of toys. Pork Chop was sniffing the pile, digging his head in. "Did you find something, boy?" he asked.

The pig responded by reaching his head inside and pulling out a compass. "Hey, this compass is glowing!" said Liam, taking it from the pig's hand. "It must be a lodestone compass!"

"So should we follow it?" asked Kevin, shrugging. "I mean, I don't see any other options…"

"Why not?" said Danny. "At the very least, it'll bring us closer to where those parents are."

"Ooo! Ooo! Can we come, too?" asked the blue puppy. "Our parents saved us a while back, so now we want to save them!"

Before Danny could say no, Buzzer interrupted. "These two will be very integral to the future," he said. "We should allow them to come along."

Danny sighed, resigned to his fate. "Alright, you can come with us."

"For real life?" the puppies asked, their tails wagging.

"For real life," Danny responded, to which the puppies raised their hands and shouted "Hooray!"

Next thing the group knew, they were back outside the house. Liam was sorting through his inventory, having packed a few toys for the puppies. "So, how are we gonna get there?"

"We're gonna get there in style!" Danny declared. He typed "/summon horse ~ ~ ~ minecraft:make_white" into the chat, and a blocky, white horse appeared out of nowhere.

"Ooo! Now we're talking!" gleamed Kevin, hopping on. In a few seconds, hearts emerged from the horse, signifying that he had tamed it. "Yes! First try!" he shouted.

Danny helped Pork Chop climb on and placed a saddle onto the horse. "Coming, you two?" he asked the puppies.

"What? Oh, yeah!" said the blue puppy. She helped her sister climb onto the horse. "But you can make a horse appear!"

"Are you a wizard?" the orange puppy asked as Liam climbed on.

"In some cultures, yes," Liam responded. He gave Kevin the compass. "Alright, let's get craftin'!"

"Hi-ho, Mate-o!" cried Kevin, positioning the horse so that the compass's needle was facing upwards. The horse whinnied and set out on its way, the six bouncing up and down as it went.

[Character Selected: Danny]
[Current World: Bonegea]
[Current Location: Brisbane, Australia]

[BGM: Asu01 - Quest for a Companion]

The horse carried us far away, far from any point of civilization. Not a single house, store, or person...err, dog. Just trees and open air. "This is really far," Bluey commented. "How much longer?"

"I have no clue," said Kevin. He kept looking at the compass, turning the horse in the needle's direction. "I'm not even sure we're still in whatever weird version of Australia we were sent to anymore."

"We must be at the edge of the world!" Bingo shouted. She looked up in the sky. "And it's gonna get dark soon!"

The horse exited the woods and brought us to...sand. Just sand. A long strip of sand in front of the ocean. "Well, looks like we're here," said Kevin. Sure enough, the compass was pointing to the left, but otherwise, it didn't seem like we could go elsewhere.

"Wow. Whoever took their parents must've not wanted us to find them," I said, dismounting the horse with Pork Chop. We ran up to the ocean. "Unless the assailant is out across the ocean."

"Well, it's too late for that," said Liam, joining us on the beach. "Wait a minute. The sun is in exact synchronization with the real sun."

That kinda surprised me. Australia was supposed to be fourteen hours ahead of us. "I'll never understand dimensional logic."

"Either way, we should make some shelter for those two." Liam took out his shovel and began to dig up the sand. "I'll start stacking some sand blocks, you set up the beds."

"Or we could go into that tent," Bluey said. She was pointing to her right, and sure enough, sitting there was an ordinary blue tent. Well, almost ordinary - the doorway was made out of glowstone blocks, and the inside was a swirling blue vortex. It was the only light provided along the dark beach.

I walked up to the tent, slowly. "That...that portal looks familiar," I gasped. And then, I was ambushed. A small purple puppy came running towards me and shoved me to the ground, barking in my face. In retaliation, Pork Chop began to oink right in front of the puppy.

"Socks! Don't attack him!" came a new voice. A small, gray puppy wearing a blue sweater suddenly picked the purple one off of me. "Sowwy. She gets excited," she said.

"I've seen that before," I said, picking myself up. "You're Bluey's cousin Muffin, right?"

Muffin nodded. "Mum's waiting for you thwee! Come on!" Eagerly, she ran inside the portal, acting totally cool about this.

"Ooo! A magic doorway!" said Bluey, her tail wagging. "I wonder where it goes!" Right away, she and Bingo ran right into the vortex, leaving not a trace behind.

"Well, that was...unusual," said Kevin. "He didn't even react to us!"

"Muffin's a girl," I corrected. I kept staring right into that portal. It was familiar...too familiar. It was totally gonna bother me all night.

"C'mon, dude. We're wasting time," Liam said, snapping me back to reality.

I sighed. "Okay. Let's go see what's what." We walked right into the portal one-by-one, wondering where we'd be taken this time around. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if it took us to something out of a mod or something.

[World Change: ?]
[Location Change: Rest Stop]

[BGM: Asu01 - The Wise Wolfhound]

Needless to say, the portal did not take us where I thought it would. Rather, it seemed to just take us to the inside of the tent - and boy was it big! "Gotta say, this place is pretty well-furnished," said Liam, examining the work desk in the corner. "I can get a good amount of crafting done here," he said, dusting off the crafting table in the middle.

Bluey and Muffin were currently checking out the ender chest in the corner. "So there's nothing in here?" asked Bluey.

"Not when we open it," said Muffin, "but sometimes Mum opens it and takes out aww sowts of stuff!"

"Not just your mom," said Liam, opening it himself. "I recall packing some of your toys in here…"

Bluey and Bingo squealed in delight at Liam pulling out that weird purple owl-thingy that instantly turned on. "Chattermax!" they shouted, happily.

I, on the other hand, wasn't having it. "Put that thing right back where it came from, or so help me-" Before I could finish, Liam got the message and put Chattermax back into the ender chest.

Buzzer flew out of Kevin's inventory. "I'm glad you're enjoying the refreshments, everyone," he said. "They were set up by another associate of mine."

I looked at Buzzer straight in the eye. "It's not who I think it is, is it?" I asked.

As if to answer my question, there was a puff of smoke in the tent. And sitting right there was a gray dog. And she was wearing a flower braid and some sort of costume made of towels. "Aunt Trixie!" shouted Bluey and Bingo, rushing in for a hug.

Liam, Kevin, Pork Chop, and I just started simultaneously going "Homina homina homina homina homina homina homina…"

"Hello, Minecraft Maniacs," said Trixie, releasing the hug. "I see you've met my family. Welcome to my Tent of Rejuvenation. Inside you'll find more supplies…" She pointed to a chest, and Kevin looked inside, finding a bunch of wood, iron, flint, and other crafting materials. "...renewable food sources…" Behind her, Pork Chop sniffed around, and right there was a crop farm. A huge one, in fact! How big was this thing? "...and an easy way to get both." We looked at the last thing Trixie pointed at, and right there was a tiny waterfall. With a tripwire hook and a hopper.

"A fishing farm on Bedrock?" I shouted. Grabbing some wood and string from the chest, I quickly whipped up a fishing rod and cast it into the waterfall. Within seconds, I had a bunch of raw cod, salmon, and even a few enchanted books. "An AFK fishing farm on Bedrock?" Let's just say I felt extremely happy at that very moment…

"Wow, Aunt Trixie! You're gonna make a good nana someday!" Bingo said, sweetly. Suddenly, we heard a moo. "Wait, did I just hear a cow?"

And that was when Muffin came back into the room, riding on top of a red furred cow with mushrooms growing on it. "And she even has a mooshroom," said Kevin. "'Cause why not?"

"I am the queen of the mushwoom cows!" Muffin shouted, standing on top of the mooshroom. "Onward, Tobin!"

[BGM: C418 - Danny]

We wound up spending the rest of the night enjoying the luxuries of the tent. "I have to admit, this place would make an epic base if we can find a way to make a TARDIS!" I said, shining up my sword. Bluey was snuggled up next to me, eating her dinner of bread, steak, and mushroom stew.

"Well, we did have to go through quite a bit of training," said Buzzer, eyeing Trixie. "She adapted quite well to this sudden supernaturality."

"Welcome to our world," said Liam. "Say, for dogs, you guys are pretty blocky!" He was giving Socks a nice scratch on the head.

"We're heelers! We're a little stubby!" said Bingo. She eyed her last steak. "I'm going to eat you!" she said, before stuffing the whole thing into her mouth.

"How old are you?" Bluey abruptly asked me.

"14, but I'll be 15 in a few weeks," I responded, patting Pork Chop as he slept next to me. "Why ask?"

Bluey giggled. "What do you know about romance?" That question made me gag a little.

"Why are you wondering about romance?" Trixie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Bluey blushed. "I was just...thinking about our last camping trip…"

My mind began to race. Was Bluey talking about what I thought she was talking about? Did Bluey actually have feelings for Jean-Luc? Calm down, man! I told myself. Answer her question! I took a deep breath and said, "I tend to stay out of it. Just not for me."

Bluey frowned. "Oh. Why not?"

I shrugged. "I just don't, okay?" I wasn't exactly trying to shut her up - I genuinely have no clue.

Bingo looked at Pork Chop. "Then what do you know about having a pet?"

"Well, even though he uses the pet label," said Liam, "I think Danny sees Pork Chop as more of a sidekick." He turned and looked at me. "Didn't you get a dog recently, though?"

That caught Bluey's attention. "You can have a dog as a pet?" As she looked right at me and wagged her tail, something inside of me changed a little. I recognized that look - it was the look of childhood innocence. She was so naive, and eager to learn more about the world. She and Bingo saw me as a role model. Somebody to look up to.

But let's face it: when you take away the fact that I've been saving the multiverse on a regular basis recently, I'm one of the worst people to ever qualify as a role model. Remember the first thing I ever told you? That I hate myself? Suddenly, I didn't want that to happen to them. I didn't want those two to end up like me. And so, I said, "It ain't worth it."

I've never seen a happy face rocket off of somebody so quickly. "What? Why?" Bluey shouted.

"It's what your dad said. They're a lot of work, they leave a mess everywhere, and they can totally inconvenience you." I noticed Trixie was giving me a dirty look. I really should've just stopped completely, but instead, I made the situation fun. "Basically, it's Shaun all the time."

"Who's Shaun?" Kevin asked, turning away from the AFK fishing farm.

I held my hand up and pointed my fingers out. "This is Shaun!" I said. I began to make a bunch of "meep meep"'s. Bluey and Bingo began to giggle.

Liam gave me another dirty look. "What are you doing?" he asked me, unapprovingly.

I aimed Shaun right at Liam. "I'm giving these girls a good time!" I shouted a big "MEEEEP!" and ran right at him, poking him and sending him falling to the ground.

Bluey ran up to me and grabbed my arm. "No! Bad Shaun! Don't attack the guests!"

A little bit later, we prepared to log off. As Kevin was talking with Trixie, Liam pulled me over to the side. "Look, dude," he said. "When I asked you what you were doing, I meant why are you giving them bad advice?"

I rubbed the back of my head and looked down. "It's just...they're so young. I don't want them to end up like me."

Liam put his hand on my shoulder. "You're a good guy, Danny," he reassured me. "And those two really seem to look up to us. So try not to tell them sucky advice."

I smiled, but quickly frowned again. "Thanks, but if I can at least prevent them from becoming me somewhat, then I'd be glad." I took his hand off of my shoulder. I noticed that Kevin was done talking with Trixie. Noticing a piece of asparagus in front of Trixie, I decided to try something out.

Bluey and Bingo exited another section of the tent, holding toothbrushes. "We cleaned our teeth!" they said.

That was when I jumped out, holding the asparagus, and shouted "Humans!" Bluey and Bingo did nothing. "I said, humans!"

Buzzer floated up to me. "What are you doing?" he asked me.

"Trying to get them to turn into something else," I responded. I tossed the asparagus into my mouth. "Not that it worked." As I prepared to log off, I could've sworn I heard Buzzer whisper, "Hmm...interesting…"

[Character Selected: Bruno]
[Current World: Bonegea]
[Current Location: Dark Fortress]

[BGM: Antimo & Welles - Map Room]

"Okay, it looks like nobody's here!"

At Smith's signal, Bruno, Molly, and the two dogs crept down the dark hallway. The only things that stood out from the overall darkness were the dispensers placed into the walls. "Isn't it weird how they textured dispensers to look like spooky little faces?" Bruno whispered to Molly.

"I'm not bothered by it too much," Molly responded, "but the way they placed them really makes me nervous…"

"Well, I'm sure they're just here for-waaah!" The blue dog suddenly tripped as the five reached a point where there were no dispensers. Looking behind, they could see that he fell over a thin line of string. "A tripwire! This hallway is rigged!"

At that moment, everyone heard whooshing coming from both sides of the hallways. The dispensers had activated, firing arrows at rapid speeds. If the party had kept going, they would've been impaled. "Don't worry. I'll handle this," said Smith, taking out a bow. Carefully aiming at a wooden pressure plate on the other end of the hallway, the villager shot an arrow of his own across the ones firing from the walls. The instant it made contact with the plate, the arrows stopped firing, the ones stuck to the walls being the only evidence.

"Whew! That was close!" breathed the orange dog. She looked around. "You don't think we can stop for the night, do you?"

"I don't see why not," said Bruno, setting down a crafting table. "Does anyone have any string?"

Smith searched his inventory. "I have enough for a few beds," he said. He took out the silky substance and handed it to Molly.

"Y'know, you're pretty competent for a villager," Molly complimented, handing the string over to her partner.

"Thank you," responded Smith. "I'm glad somebody appreciates it…"

That caught the others' attention. Looking up from the freshly-made wool, Bruno faced the villager. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Smith sighed. "When I was born, it was before villager trading was introduced to Pocket Edition…"

"Bedrock edition," Molly suddenly corrected. "Sorry. Studio policy."

"Anyway, when they did add trading, I was a weaponsmith villager. But I always wanted to try trading all sorts of items from other blacksmith careers," Smith continued. "And so, I kept trading armor and tools, not just weapons."

The blue dog scratched his head. "I don't get it, mate," he said, unsure. "What was keeping you?"

"I'm not too sure," Molly answered for Smith, "but I think it's the coding. But when the Village & Pillage update was released last year, villagers were given a massive reworking, one of which meant they could now change professions."

"Wait a minute," said the orange dog. "Did you say 'update'? I thought our world was a TV show, not a video game!"

Bruno shrugged. "I've never even heard of a show featuring you, but it's Molly, Smith, and I who are from a video game."

"Anyway, when that change was made," Smith continued, "I began to change my profession at will. It was definitely helpful because, for some reason, everyone wants to steal my wood. So I've been to all sorts of places across the world in order to get it back. I've seen the mineshafts in the badlands, survived illagers in a woodland mansion...I've even got a dragon head from an End city!"

The dogs nodded. They obviously couldn't understand half of what Smith was saying, but they were impressed by his prowess nonetheless. "You seem pretty well-rounded, mate," said the blue dog. "I don't really see what the problem is."

Smith looked down. "The problem is that everyone in my village teases me for how different I am. They think I'm weird...they've even said that I want to become a wandering trader someday!"

Bruno sadly nodded. He had finished making some beds and was now sitting on one of them. "Wow. That must be pretty hard," he said, understandingly. "Even though Molly and I haven't been through what you have, we've also kinda felt like we never belong."

That caught Smith's attention. "Would you care to clarify?" he asked.

"Well, you see," began Molly, "we never really got a real job after university, unlike our other friends. And anyway, we were always just playing Minecraft together instead of doing more active stuff like everyone else."

"I'm pretty glad we got an internship at Mojang Studios," continued Bruno. "Playing Minecraft as a job has made this lockdown a lot easier."

"You mean that nasty pandemic I've heard delayed our stage show?" asked the orange dog.

Molly nodded. "But the most we've been doing is go after these three kids from America called Danny, Liam, and Kevin. They keep trying to pass off some of their modded stuff as actual events, so recently, we were sent to spy on them."

"But then we got trapped by Bowser from the Super Mario Bros. games," Bruno finished, "so we decided to secretly call a truce with them, now that we know more of their stuff may actually be happening than we thought." He frowned. "But I'm really nervous what might happen if Jens finds out."

The orange dog nodded, sitting down on the bed she was impressed Bruno made so quickly. "Well, listen," she said. "I'm better at helping little kids and parents like myself, but I think this is what you should do: Smith, you should try and show your village that being different is not something to be judged for."

"That's...actually a good idea!" responded Smith. "I have befriended some villagers from another village that are pretty odd themselves…"

"And you two," the orange dog told the Mojang interns, "if your boss finds out about your little secret and fires you, then maybe it wasn't meant to be."

Bruno and Molly smiled. "Thanks, umm…" Bruno began.

"Chilli," said the orange dog. "And this is my husband, Bandit."

"Ah, good to know your names," said Molly, shaking the dogs' hands. "I'm Molly, and this is my partner, Bruno."

[Character Selected: Kevin]
[Current World: ?]
[Current Location: Tent of Rejuvenation]

[BGM: Asu01 - Bumpy's Life]

The first thing you notice when you join the game the next day is that there are toys all over the ground. Toy bricks, cars, dominoes, that weird owl thing Danny objected to…it's kind of like a minefield. "Don't these kids know how to pick up after themselves?" you mumble, placing the toys into the ender chest. Then you think about your own question. "Nah, they probably don't." Nobody else seems to be here, besides Pork Chop, of course. You were told to rejoin in the afternoon, but now you're wondering if you got the time wrong…

All of sudden, Trixie reappears in a magic puff of smoke, her eyes closed. Bluey and Bingo are standing next to her, eyes open in awe. "Wow!" they both say. "Are you a wizard now, Aunt Trixie?" Bluey asks, sweetly.

"If she were, I bet she'd make all of the toys disappear," you remark. Right beside you, Danny and Liam join the game, to which Bluey and Bingo scream in terror. "What's wrong?" you ask.

"Oh, they just aren't used to your friends coming and going like that," Trixie responds. She claps her hands together. "Now then, while you were gone, Buzzer went ahead to see where the person you're after is."

"It appears that they have set up an underwater fortress," Buzzer continues on her behalf. "And the Nether reactor signals Kevin was picking up are in there!"

"An underwater fortress, huh?" says Danny. "I've seen that before!" He turns towards the ender chest and begins to search through it. "That's why I've come prepared this time!" He pulls out the turtle shell helmet enchanted with Respiration that he had previously used while fighting the Ancient Guardian.

Bluey runs up and grabs the helmet from his hands. "Ooo, a magic diving helmet!" she says, caressing it and admiring the enchanted glow. She puts the helmet on her head. "And I feel magical wearing it!"

Danny sighs, a little exasperated. "Well, she probably needs it more anyway."

"Oh, quit your pouting!" you say, opening the ender chest yourself. "I stocked up on power ups a while back!" You pull out a Frog Suit power-up as well as a tiny, blue penguin costume with the same properties of the Frog Suit, a blue turtle shell, and a Power Badge with no power-ups in it.

"Dibs on the Koopa Shell!" says Liam, snatching it from your hands. He allows the power to absorb into his body, and a giant version of the shell appears on it.

Bingo eagerly wags her tail. "Ooo! Ooo! Can I have the frog costume?" she asks. Begrudgingly, you place the Frog Suit into the Power Badge and pin it to her body. The power siphons around her, creating the illusion of her being dressed in the suit. "Yay! I'm a frog! Ribbit! Ribbit!"

"Guess that leaves me with the Penguin Suit," says Danny, taking the last power-up from your hands. He turns towards his pig. "You think you can be a good mini-sub for Kevin, Porky?" he asks. The pig salutes and gives an oink of approval. "Attaboy!" responds Danny as the suit appears on his body alongside a pair of red overalls.

There is one more power-up inside the ender chest, which is a small, grayscale flower. "Well, I guess a Superball Flower wouldn't hurt…" you decide, absorbing its power. Your entire body turns into a more sepia-esque color scheme rather than your skin's usual dark black look. "So, everyone ready to go?"

"Ribbit," is all Bingo says.

"Oh, Bluey!" Trixie beckons. "Before you go…" You watch as the grown-up dog pins another Power Badge to Bluey's body. "It's a special good luck charm!"

Bluey gives her aunt one last hug. "Thanks, Aunt Trixie!" she says, her tail wagging. "You were a good hostess!"

"No problem, Bluey," says Trixie. "Now, go save your parents!"

The entire party turns towards the portal. "Nice job on the tent again, Trix!" Liam compliments the hostess as you begin to return to Bluey's world. "I hope we can come back sometime!"

Trixie gives a smug smile. "Oh, don't worry. This is only the first of many visits…"

[World Change: Bonegea]
[Location Change: Brisbane, Australia]

You walk out of the portal and feel the sunlight on your face. The waves are splashing a little, which is a sight you wouldn't expect in Minecraft. "Well, are we gonna do this thing, or what?" you ask the others.

Pork Chop hops into your arms and faces forward, ready to dive. "It looks like he's ready!" Bluey says with a chuckle. She runs towards the sea. "Cannonball!" With a splash, she dives right into the water.

"Wait for us!" Liam shouts as he, Danny, and Bingo run towards the water and jump in. "Coming, Kev?"

"Alright, alright!" you respond. Pork Chop charges forward in your hands, and you feel yourself being dragged towards the water. With a loud splash, you join the others in the cold water.

"Hey, look at this!" shouts Bluey, excitedly. "We can breathe!"

"And talk, too!" adds Bingo, happily swimming about in her Frog Suit. "This is the greatest day of my life, ever!"

Looking at your watch, you see that the signal of the Nether reactor has returned, coming from the north. Looking up, you see a large, black shadow in the distance. "So...we're going in?" you ask.

"Yup," says Danny. "Let's go face the music!" With a snap of his fingers, Pork Chop dives forward, and you grasp on tightly as the pig diligently starts to swim, almost like a torpedo.

The others start swimming alongside you, following you intently thanks to their enhanced swimming abilities. "Don't worry, Mum and Dad," you hear Bluey whisper. "We're coming to save you."

[Character Selected: Smith]
[Current World: Bonegea]
[Current Location: Dark Fortress]

As soon as Smith woke up that morning, he spent his time waiting for Bruno and Molly to rejoin finding the safest path out of the fortress. He could feel that they were getting close, but he didn't want to leave anyone behind.

When the villager returned, Bandit and Chilli were sitting there, somewhat impatient. "So, mate, did you find a way out of here?" Bandit asked, looking at his hand.

"Yes, but we cannot leave before-" Smith was cut off by the sudden sight of Bruno and Molly popping back into existence. "Oh, there they are !"

"W-where did you come from?" said Chilli, disturbed by the sudden sight.

"Our bedrooms," responded Bruno. "We have to work from home."

Once the confusion was cleared up, the group set back out on their way, following Smith through the safe path he found. It was rather dark, so Bruno held up a torch to light their way. The only sounds they could hear were the plink plink plink of their feet as they walked along the corridor. It was a rather terrifying feeling, but Bandit and Chilli held each other's hands as they walked, telling themselves Gotta be done. Gotta be done. Gotta be done.

As they began to enter a more expansive part of the fortress, Smith suddenly put his arms out, and everyone stopped. "Hey, what's the holdup?" asked Molly.

"I heard voices," answered Smith. He pointed to his left. "I think they're coming from that way." Listening intently, the villager noticed that one of the voices sounded familiar...and seemed to be having a conversation with others.

"You haven't seen the new Mojang logo?"

"Nope! What's so odd about it?"

"See, they rebranded to Mojang Studios, but that's beside the point! The logo looks exactly like the Gadgets of Order!"

"Wait, what? I have to see this as soon as we get out of-" The unfamiliar voice stopped as the figures came into view. Despite their slightly altered appearances, Bruno and Molly recognized the faces of the three blocky figures.

"You three?" Bruno said in shock.

"Bruno? Molly? Smith?" said Danny, pointing his torch in their faces. "What are you doing here?"

[BGM: Asu01 - Reunited Again]

"Oh, they got kidnapped along with these two dogs," explained Smith, "so I was just trying to get them out of here." He looked down and noticed two more dogs that seemed to be Bandit and Chilli's offspring, although he was wondering why one was dressed like a frog. "Oh, I see you've found a couple more of these dogs."

"Mum! Dad!" the two puppies shouted as they ran up to their parents and hugged them in relief. "We came to save you."

"Oh, Bluey," said Chilli, hugging her daughter. "You didn't have to do that!"

"You're right," said Liam, abruptly. "A certain fly made us do it."

Buzzer flew out from Kevin's inventory, annoyed. "Did you already forget the reason why I instructed you to do it?" he said, defensively.

Bandit released the hug he was receiving. "Say, Bingo, why are you wearing a frog costume?" he asked, chuckling.

[BGM: Johan Johnson - arena2]

"It's a magic frog costume," explained the orange puppy. "It lets me breathe underwater!" Suddenly, a rumble came from the back of the hallway. "What was that?"

Danny, Liam, Kevin, and Pork Chop turned around. Coming down the hallway were small, shadowy figures with purple eyes and...an uncanny resemblance to Bluey and Bingo. "Oh, great, these guys again!" said Danny. "At least this time, I'm prepared."

"Stay back, you four!" Smith motioned to the dogs. "We'll take care of this." With that, the villager unleashed his dual iron axes and sprung into action, swinging them into the face of one tossing balloons into the air.

Danny dropped onto his stomach and slid through a group of figures who reminded Bingo of her granny persona Rita, with their grabber-canes being used as weapons. "Say, this is actually pretty easy!" he said as he got up and inexplicably tossed an ice ball at another shadow figure.

"I recall you saying that you and Unikitty were unarmed when you first encountered these!" reminded Kevin, tossing a grey ball that bounced around and weakened some of the figures who were wielding xylophones.

Liam ducked into the shell around his body and Pork Chop hopped on, beginning to surf on it. As he watched the spectacle, Bandit couldn't help but be reminded of the old Super Mario games he used to play when he was a kid. "Say, I think I know where Bingo's frog costume is from," he said, in a small bit of realization.

As he brought his axe down on a shadow figure with what looked like a piece of asparagus, Smith suddenly felt two more figures stick their fingers on him. And it felt like...they were tickling him! "Hahahahahaha!" Smith laughed at the silly sensation. In his hysterical state, his axes were sent flying through the air.

Liam popped out of his shell, knocking Pork Chop off in the process. "Um, is someone gonna catch those?" he shouted.

Bruno and Molly eyed the axes and reached their arms out to catch them. Noticing that they were out of reach, Kevin jumped off of a toy car that two of the figures were piloting and tossed a ball at the two axes before stomping on top of one of the cane-wielding figures. "Alright, now it's in your reach!" he called.

The axes flew into Bruno and Molly's hands, and they charged into the fray, starting with the figures tormenting Smith. "Take that! And that!" the two interns shouted, slashing their axes in the figures' faces.

"Alright, Bruno and Moll!" Danny shouted, eagerly. He tossed a few ice balls on the floor, and Pork Chop gracefully skated across the ice, tripping a few more figures who were wielding balloons.

"And one more ought to do it!" said Kevin tossing one last ball at the ceiling. The ball bounced off and hit the last few figures, reducing them to nothingness.

Danny wiped his hands and began to munch on a loaf of bread. "Well, that was more successful than the last time!" he said through bites.

"I'll say," said Liam, chomping on a baked potato. "But wait, these figures first showed up in that underwater fortress that you and Unikitty were trapped in back in March, right?"

After Danny nodded, Kevin added, "So that means whoever kidnapped you then is here now!"

[BGM: End]

"good brain, sherlock," came a rather...familiar-sounding voice. Floating in midair was a white stuffed dog with a heart-shaped snout, a big, goofy smile, a blue jacket, a black shirt and pants, and pink feet.

Bluey gasped, covering her mouth. "It's our Sans doll…" she said, quivering.

Liam started to snicker. Kevin started to giggle. Pork Chop started to snort. By the time Danny joined in, it had become an absolute laughing fit. "I can't b-believe I w-was kidnapped b-by a bootleg Sans!" Danny shouted, trying to control his laughter.

"alright, now you're in for a bad time," said the Sans doll. It waved its arm around, and Danny, Liam, Kevin, and Pork Chop were tossed around the room. The players lost their powered-up forms as they were tossed around, before crashing down onto the ground.

"Oh, dear!" shouted Smith. "I shall avenge the-" Before he could finish, the Sans doll reached out its hand again, turning the villager, Bruno, and Molly into lifeless stone statues.

Bingo gasped at the plight. "Y-you baddie!" she shouted. She began to hop forward, preparing to charge at the doll, when suddenly, Bluey grabbed her foot.

"No, Bingo," the blue heeler said. "Don't do it. Big sisters are supposed to protect their little sisters."

"well, can you protect your new friends?' the Sans doll taunted. The unconscious bodies of Danny, Liam, Kevin, and Pork Chop were suddenly surrounded by several white dragon head-like weapons. The right eyes of each began to glow as the mouths filled with blue energy.

At first, Bluey could only reach out her hand in terror, but suddenly, she felt an odd sensation enter her body. She looked at the badge Aunt Trixie gave her. The icon of a white-and-yellow leaf with eyes on it began to glow. The puppy had the feeling that she was going to be safe. "Of course I will!" she shouted, running in front of the blasters.

"Bluey, no!" shouted the two parents. The puppy hopped in front of the players just as the blasters fired. Everyone screamed in horror at her sacrificial demise...but their fear was replaced with confusion as the blasts vanished...and Bluey was standing there, looking no worse for wear. Well, she was suddenly wearing a white, glowing raccoon suit, but she was fine.

[BGM: Asu01 - The Great Chase]

"you sure have a lot of determination," said the Sans doll, impressed. "guess i won't be needing this disguise anymore." The stuffed animal began to unravel itself, slowly turning into its true form.

Bluey gasped at the figure before her - a replica of her best friend Chloe, but wearing a dastardly black dress, a crown and cape that appeared to be made of leaves, and a stick-like scepter with an orange jewel. "The Greedy Queen?" she said. "You're real?"

"Of course I'm real, my pretty," said the Greedy Queen. "And now that I've finished my job here, I'll take care of you!" She pointed her scepter at Bluey, attempting to transform her into a statue, but the heeler just stood there, as full of life as ever. "What?"

Bluey looked at herself. She wasn't powerful, but she was invincible. And something inside of her told her she could fight. "You bring my friends back to life or else!" she shouted, pointing her finger at the Greedy Queen.

"Or else what?" teased the dalmatian. Bluey stuck her tail in the queen's face. "Oh, I'm so scar-" The tail whipped across the Greedy Queen's face, causing her to lose her grip on her scepter, which fell into Bluey's waiting hands. "Um, whoops!"

Bluey smiled and pointed the scepter at the Greedy Queen. In an instant, the dalmatian transformed into a statue, left screaming in the same pose as the real Chloe was. Right away, Bruno, Molly, and Smith returned to normal, surprised at what happened. "She did it," said Bruno. "I don't know how, but she did it."

Danny opened his eyes and picked himself up. "B-Bluey?' he mumbled. "Where'd you find an Invincibility Leaf?"

"I don't know," she said, "but I defeated the Greedy Queen!" She stepped aside, revealing the queen's defeated state. "She was disguised as the doll!"

Liam helped Kevin stand up. "Well, that's some fine disguising," he said. "So, now that that's over, wanna get out of here?"

Danny glared and looked at Pork Chop. "Nah, not quite yet!" He pointed at the statue, and right away, Pork Chop charged at the Greedy Queen, tossing her up into the air before Danny gave a massive slash of his sword, sending a harmful shockwave. Realizing Danny called an impromptu combo, Liam dove to the side, took out his dispenser, and shot a barrage of arrows in the Greedy Queen's face, before Kevin followed up by taking out a leftover iron pickaxe and slamming it into the statue. Bluey finished the job by leaping through and giving a roundhouse kick, smashing the statue to smithereens.

[BGM: End]

"Well, I'd say that was one of the best combos we've done," remarked Liam. He looked at Bluey. "Say, thanks for saving us, dude!"

Bluey giggled. "I'm a girl, silly!" Her raccoon suit suddenly stopped glowing and turned into a more natural brown color. "Oh, well. Guess this is over."

Liam went stone-faced. "You're a girl? How did it not hit me?"

"I recommend punching yourself in the face a bunch of times," Danny said, jokingly. Liam glared at him. "Not funny? Okay, not funny."

Bandit walked up to Danny. "Look, mate, I know we just met," he said, "but thanks for looking after the kids for us."

Danny shook the blue heeler's hand. "My pleasure," he said. "Your daughters are amazing kids. And if they need any advice, they just have to ask!"

"Thanks, but I think we're good!" Chilli said, chuckling.

"Hey, guys! I think I found the Nether reactor!" Kevin shouted. Everyone turned to look, and the player had mined a hole in the wall. Peeking through, they saw a small structure made of cobblestone and gold blocks, with a strange blue core.

"I've always wanted to see one of these," remarked Molly, walking into the chamber. "These have been removed for a while now!"

Buzzer flew out of Kevin's inventory. "It seems that this reactor is holding up the entire fortress," he remarked. "I may have to teleport all of you out of the fortress."

"No problemo! Just start spinning when I hit this!" shouted Liam. And then he grabbed the pickaxe out of Kevin's hand and jammed it into the Nether reactor core.

[Character Selected: Bluey]
[Current World: Bonegea]
[Current Location: Calypso's School]

[BGM: Asu01 - Calypso]

"And after that, the entire fortress started to fall apart," Bluey told her class. It was the day after the adventure, and she was eager to share her story with her friends. "So then, Buzzer spun around us all, and then we were back in our house! Then, we said goodbye to our new friends, and we settled in for the night. The end."

The entire class applauded as her story finished. "Well, Bluey, I believe that was a very creative story you made up," said her teacher Calypso. "I wonder if you'll see your new friends again anytime soon."

"I was told I would," Bluey answered. "Thanks for letting me share!" After that, the class broke for playtime as Calypso walked to the corner, ready to observe the classroom.

"Hey, Bluey," Chloe said. "I believe you."

Bluey stopped, stunned. "You do?" she asked. "I wasn't expecting anyone to believe me!"

"It's like what you told me back in February," said Chloe, referencing a dream she had, "as your best friend, I can know what you're thinking."

Bluey smiled and gave Chloe a hug. "Thanks, Chloe," she said, her tail wagging. After that, however, her mind turned to Danny. She was a little worried about him - he was older than her, and he seemed disillusioned with the idea of having a pet. Was she gonna be like him when she was a teenager? Would she also be disillusioned with other stuff? I'll ask him for more advice next time, she decided. I should know what else I need to watch out for when I'm growing up.

[Character Selected: Buzzer]
[Current World: Mobius]
[Current Location: Angel Island, Hidden Palace Zone]

Knuckles sat on the Master Emerald, prepared for the final ritual. "So this is the last world we're studying, correct?" the echidna asked. He wanted to make sure he had his facts straight.

"Correct," responded Buzzer. "It's been mighty fine working with you, Knuckles, but it's time to put a close to this." The echidna closed his eyes and began to chant his activation spell as Buzzer created holographic images of the Heeler family on top of the smaller emeralds. Curiously, both Bluey and Bingo's emeralds glowed, not just one or the other.

"Hmm, so you were right," said Knuckles, witnessing the results. "They really are the final Chosen Ones." As the holograms vanished, the echidna took his 'Chosen Ones and Their Vessels' scroll out one last time, circling Bluey and Bingo's faces and X'ing out Bandit and Chilli's. "So, we're done here?"

"Indeed," answered Buzzer. "I just have one last request: you will have to team up with my allies one last time in order to finally execute the data we've been collecting. Then we can finally put this nightmare to rest…"

The third interlude is over! Next time: The Corruption Saga!

Interlude 3 Credits

Voices:
Anne Halli - Ms. Featherbon
Alfred von Any - Danny
Dee Bradley Baker - Various Creature SFX
Willy Blanq - Liam
Neville Napoleon - Kevin
Fanfiction Ambassadors - Alex, Liz, Greg
Bailey Gambertoglio - Pumpkin
Damien Laquet - Spawny, Spawnette
Chuck Curls - Chachi
Jesus von Any - Various Voices
Jim Cummings - Buzzer
Sanai Victoria - Treasure
Grace Kaufman - Berry
Natalie Coughlin - Petite
Myla Beau - Dreamy
Henry Kaufman - Sultan
Asher Angel - Knuckles
Dan Lloyd - Smith
Dave McCormack - Bandit
Erik Broes - Bruno
Agnes Larsson - Molly
Melanie Zanneti - Chilli
Names Withheld by Request - Bluey, Bingo, Socks, Muffin
Myf Warhurst - Aunt Trixie
Toby Fox - "Sans"
Charlotte Stent - Greedy Queen, Chloe
Meghan Washington - Calypso

Music:
Antimo & Welles
Minecraft Dungeons Soundteam
Tee Lopes
Jun Senoue
Asu01

Asu01's contributions to the soundtrack were based on compositions by Joff Bush

Additional Music:
Twenty One Pilots - Stressed Out (Trailer Music #1)
Weezer - Mr. Blue Sky (Trailer Music #2)
Foreigner - Blue Morning, Blue Day (Credits Music)

Written by: Alfred von Any

Edits by: Jesus von Any

Next chapter: "Some Assembly Required" The Corruption Saga is in full swing! As the newest part of the Maniacs' quest nears, Buzzer is going all-out - he's getting at least one hero from every single dimension we've encountered so far, because with a grand finale approaching, you'll need as much epicness as you can! But...will it be enough to stop the impending doom?

Postface: Chapter complete! I'm so sorry this is so long - I know I could've split this one into two, but I just wanted to keep my limit of sixty chapters for this story (including the prologue and epilogue).

Regardless, this chapter's got some pretty good developments gong for it! I called this arc 'Spark of Error' because the detotated wam (the 'spark') will be used to enter a strange new world (the 'error') at the start of the next saga. In terms of character development, however, Danny's character arc returns after being neglected last saga, and this is where I feel it reaches it's climax - since he's supposed to be my self-insert, I kinda based his little interactions with Bluey and Bingo in the Tent of Rejuvenation off of my own feelings about my capabilities as a role model. If you were six or four, I would definitely be saying the same kinds of stuff I was telling them here. Why? Because I wouldn't want you to end up like me. We also get a little background on Bruno, Molly, and Smith - I hope I made them seem sympathetic enough, especially after what we've seen of the former two previously…

Of course, since this is Bluey's first foray into Minecraft Maniacs RPG, I squeezed in some references to the show - the reason for Aunt Trixie being the hostess of the Tent of Rejuvenation is partially based on her semi-tutilar role in the episode Bumpy and the Wise Old Wolfhound, and Bingo using a Frog Suit is an homage to her acting like a frog throughout the episode Work. As for the Greedy Queen, she was one of the roles Bluey and Chloe switched between in the episode The Adventure, though her Sans doll disguise is from the episode The Sleepover (the storyboard artist for that one is a huge Undertale fan!). I'm pretty sure the rest of the references will be obvious if you watch Bluey! I originally had it be the real Sans, but in retrospect I think it was dumb. I'm also pretty proud of the power-up selection here - there's the Blue Koopa Shell from the original New Super Mario Bros., which I feel is a pretty obscure power-up, the Penguin Suit from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and the Superball Flower from Super Mario Land on the Game Boy, mostly included because of its cameo in Super Mario Maker 2.

That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for the beginning of the penultimate saga! Stay diamond, everyone!

-Alfred

~Minecraft and everything related to it are properties of Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios. Bluey and everything related to her are properties/licensees of Ludo Studio PTY., LTD., the Australian Broadcasting Corp., and BBC Studios Dist., LTD. Objects, ideas, etc. from the Mario franchise are properties of Nintendo Co., LTD. Characters, ideas, etc. from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise are properties of Sega Corp. No copyright infringement with any of these companies nor financial gain was intended in the making of this story. Any resemblance to real-world people or events are either coincidental or done fictitiously.~