Preface: Hello, again! This is where the adventure properly begins as we begin to see the true craziness of the Corruption. I do have to warn you: this may be where the story gets a bit too complicated, since there's gonna be a large amount of characters, plus some new faces that may not actually be necessary and a small increase in chapter length. Anyway, let's get this show on the road!
MINECRAFT MANIACS RPG
THE CORRUPTION SAGA:
GLITCH'ER THINGS
Previously...after Kevin finally stabilized the detotated wam, Buzzer gathered all sorts of heroes from across the multiverse to join Danny, Liam, and Kevin in their adventure across the Corruption.
Now...the party goes to search for the first Glitch Key, as a new face watches them...
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.
Spawny and Spawnette - Damien Laquet: The rabborg siblings. The heart.
Buzzer - Jim Cummings: Psychic fly from the future. The fairy.
Max - Max Brooks: Real-worlder trapped in Minecraft. The load.
Sonic the Hedgehog - Issac Ryan Brown: Fastest thing alive. Hero of Mobius.
Knuckles the Echidna - Asher Angel: Angel Island native. Master Emerald guardian.
Pumpkin - Bailey Gambertoglio: Princess Cinderella's puppy. A prim and proper pooch.
Treasure - Sanai Victoria: Princess Ariel's kitten. Courageous and loves water.
Ms. Featherbon - Anne Halli: Hummingbird fairy. Gatekeeper of Whisker Haven.
Kirby - Makiko Ohmoto: Super-tough pink puff. Can copy other's abilities.
Unikitty - Tara Strong: Princess of the Unikingdom. Near-eternally optomistic.
Puppycorn - Grey DeLise: Unikitty's brother. Not the brightest prince.
Bluey Heeler - Actress Name Withheld: Six-year-old blue heeler. Loves to play.
Bingo Heeler - Actress Name Withheld: Bluey's little sister. Slightly more sensitive.
Chapter 39:
Into the Corruption!, Part One:
The Village Where Everything Kept Changing
[Main Party Selected: Danny, Liam, Kevin, Buzzer, Unikitty, Treasure, Kirby, Sonic]
[Supporting Party Selected: Pork Chop, Spawny, Spawnette, Max, Puppycorn, Pumpkin, Knuckles, Ms. Featherbon, Bluey, Bingo]
[Character Selected: Danny]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Corruption, Breached Plains]
[BGM: The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go]
All throughout the walk towards where the first Glitch Key was hiding, Liam kept looking over his shoulder. I mean, we did have a pretty big party this time around, and the sights of the cows morphing into spiders with cow heads and whatnot was pretty distracting. But somehow, I thought he was looking over for a different reason. Eventually, I decided to ask, "Why do you keep looking back?"
"I swear, someone's following us," Liam responded. "I saw some kind of player looking at us before we set out, and I keep seeing it!"
"I've never known you to be the paranoid one," remarked Kevin. Suddenly, he stopped. "Hold up, everyone! Got a glitched Pork Chop here!"
Looking down, I saw what happened to my pig - he had literally turned into a raw porkchop, his beret and scarf still hanging on. I bent down to pick him up so I could carry him until he turned back, but suddenly, the meat zoomed away into someone else's hand. I looked up and saw that the culprit was...some kind of girl. She looked a little younger than me, with a turquoise long-sleeved shirt, jeans, red sneakers, a black cape around her neck, and cherry-red hair, probably dyed. "Um, excuse me?" I said. "That porkchop's kinda mine…"
"Oh, sorry," said the girl, placing it back down. "I haven't been here for too long, so I'm still kinda confused about what to do."
"Yeah, I can relate to that," beckoned Max, stepping forward. He and the girl looked at each other. "Say, you kinda seem familiar…"
"So do you…" said the girl, "...but I just can't put my finger on it."
Actually, now that she mentioned that, I found the girl a little familiar, too. "Say, what's your name?" I asked, a little nervously.
"Oh, I'm Jodi Mercado," responded the girl. My nervousness evolved into fear. I felt my throat closing a little when she said, "I go to Woodsword Middle School."
"Wa-woo-woodsword…" I babbled. I couldn't believe it. We were talking to a real-life character from a Minecraft novel.
"And how did you even get here?" Kevin chimed in.
"Well, our science teacher made these magic goggles that can let us go into Minecraft!" said Jodi, sounding excited. "I tried playing on them on my own just now, and for some reason, it took me here instead of my and my friends' world!"
"Hmm. Sounds kinda like our stuff," remarked Liam. He looked up at Buzzer and noticed that he seemed a little uneasy. "Everything okay, Buzz?"
The fly flew down so that only we could hear him. "That girl over there…" he whispered. "She saw me take Max into this world."
"So that's why they seem familiar to each other!" I said back. "Well, I think it's better if we keep it a secret for now." Looking behind myself, I noticed a few of the others were becoming impatient, especially Sonic. He was making his "I'm waaaaitiiing!" pose. "Should we let her come with?"
Buzzer gave a resigned sigh. "I suppose it's too late." He flew up to Jodi. "Hello there. I am Buzzer, and I'll be your guide."
"Wow! A talking eye!" said Jodi, impressed. "And I thought those guys who look like Kirby and Sonic the Hedgehog were cool!"
"Yeah, yeah, it's pretty impressive," said Liam. I heard a small oink and looked down. Pork Chop had glitched back to his normal living form and was nudging Liam's leg, as if to say, "C'mon! Let's go!"
"Alright, let's keep going, then!" I said. I turned around and shouted, "Sorry for the holdup, everyone! We can keep going now!" And so, we all turned around and kept following Buzzer. Of course, Jodi stayed by us and started rambling about her different conspiracy theories about why all of this was happening, but I decided to let her ramble. Considering what she normally comes up with, based off of the books she was from, this was pretty normal.
[Character Selected: Liam]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Corruption, Breached Plains]
[BGM: Huey Lewis and The News - Hip to Be Square]
The party came to a stop in front of a village. It was a pretty ordinary-looking plains village, with houses made from oak wood and cobblestone, some farms with composter blocks, animal pens, lightposts, grass path streets, and a well with a bell on it. "Hmm, this does not look like where I'd hide a macguffin," said Sonic, taking in the view.
"Yeah, it just looks like an ordinary town," added Unikitty. "Of course, considering what we've seen here…" As if to answer the princess's question, the entire village suddenly glitched into a new form. The buildings were now made of either hay bales, logs, or brick blocks, echoing the iconic tale of the three little pigs.
Danny gave another nostalgic chuckle. "Whaddya know…" he said. "We started the first part of our journey at a village, and now we're starting the last part that way, too!" He turned around and noticed everyone's stunned reactions to the changes. "Y'know, with this large group, we could probably split up and look for clues."
"Well, that doesn't really seem to be our forte," said Liam, scratching his head, "but I guess it would speed things up. Alright, let's give it a shot, why not?"
In no time, the party was split up semi-evenly, scrounging the village for clues. Danny's group, consisting of Sonic, Unikitty, Treasure, Pork Chop, and Bluey looked over near the weaponsmith's shop. "Never thought this place would ever look more inviting," said Danny, seeing the structure made out of hay bales.
"I wonder if anyone's inside," said Bluey. She walked up to the front door and knocked on it. "Little pig, little pig, let me in!" she said, mimicking the big bad wolf.
"Oh, ha ha, very funny!" came a villager-like voice from the inside. "Just come in!"
"Wow, that is one cranky pig!" said Sonic, opening the door. Peeking inside, everyone saw an odd sight - player-like figures with pig skins. "Well, that's not something you see every day…" said the hedgehog.
"Oh, please don't stare," said the pigman with an eye patch. "This kind of stuff has been happening every day since Plarus showed up."
"Plarus?" said Treasure, confused. "Who's that?"
"Plarus is the Glitch Lord of Reality!" explained the pigman wearing a shepherd's cloak. "He is able to make everything glitch between different forms at will! We've been forced to turn into these forms every single day."
"Well, that's no good!" said Sonic. "But I think we can help."
Pork Chop walked up to the eyepatched pigman and began to sniff. "Oh, hello, little one!" said the anthropomorphic one. "What are you sniffing?"
"He has a weird ability to sniff out special objects," explained Danny. Before long, the piglet has pried a small, realistic clump of dirt from the villager's inventory. "Wait, that's it?"
"Oh, if you drop that into the fountain alongside a hidden diamond and a golden apple," said the pigman, "Plarus himself shall emerge from it. Perhaps if you duel him, our curse shall be broken!"
"Perfect, good to know!" said Sonic, wiping his hands. "C'mon, guys! Let's go find ourselves a diamond!" The hedgehog immediately ran out of the shop, heading towards Liam's group.
Meanwhile, Liam's group was walking out of a small log house. "So we have to find the diamond under these trees?" asked Bingo, pointing to the clearing nearby. "But how?"
"Like this!" demonstrated Jodi. She ran up to the nearest tree, hit her hand against the bottom trunk, and punched it until it broke. "Viola!"
"Is it really that easy?" asked Puppycorn. He bent down, aimed his horn into another trunk, and charged. Rather than comically getting stuck, the wood broke instantly. Wow! I can't believe I've been doing it all wrong!"
"Well, let's get punching!" said Liam, cracking his knuckles. He began to punch out the bottom sections of some of the trees. "Any diamonds yet?" he asked after a few trees.
"(Nope! Nothing!)" shouted Spawny, preparing his hands for some more punching.
"My hands hurt!" Bingo whined after breaking a single block. "Can't we make an axe to chop these down?"
"Already on it!" said Jodi, who was currently converting some planks into a crafting table. After turning some more wood into planks and sticks, she easily made a small wooden axe.
"Good! We may need a few more of those!" said Liam. Sure enough, there were a lot of trees around, and it might take them a while to get them all. "I'll help out a little!
During the diamond hunt, Kevin's group was trying to figure out a 'fetch quest' of sorts. "Okay, so which one gets the big emerald?" asked Pumpkin, holding an emerald block.
"I think it was the stone mason guy," said Knuckles, holding a golden carrot. "No, wait, maybe it was the armorer?"
"Nope! The block goes to the leatherworker," said Max. "And this book goes to the priest or whatever he was!"
"Why would a priest need a book?" said Ms. Featherbon, carrying some cocoa beans with her talons. "I think that was the librarian."
Seeing the commotion, Danny and his group (sans Sonic) walked up to Kevin's group. "Everything alright here?" he asked.
"Well, we got sent into one of those fetch quests," explained Kevin, "and now we can't remember what goes where!"
"I knew we should've written them down…" remarked Kirby, staring at the salmon he was holding. "This fish looks a little tasty…"
"But Ms. Featherbon," Treasure suggested, "can't you use a spell to help you out?"
That sparked an idea in the fairy's head. "Oh, yes! How could I have forgotten!" she said, blowing a raspberry. She held her wings out, and all of the items began to hover in place. "Doobie-dobbie-doner, show us your proper owners," said Ms. Featherbon. Under each item, inscriptions of who each item was to be sent to appeared in midair.
Bluey gasped in awe. "Is she a fairy?" she asked, her tail wagging.
"As a matter of fact, she is," Danny answered. "I know, it's surprising."
The emerald went into Knuckles' hand. "Oh, so it does go to the stone mason!" he said.
"And this salmon goes to the fisherman!" said Kirby. "That makes so much sense!"
"Well, glad that's taken care of!" said Kevin as the members of his party began to deliver each item. "We're trying to get this realistic-looking golden apple to drop into the fountain to meet this Plarus guy."
Danny held out the clump of dirt. "I met this other guy who said to drop this in, too," he explained. "And Sonic's looking for a diamond…"
Speaking of the hedgehog, Sonic was currently running around the village and its perimeter, looking for any speck of a diamond. "C'mon, diamond, where are you?" he gritted, looking under the houses, in a nearby pond, even on top of trees. As he moved on to the last bit, he noticed Liam's party chopping down the trees with their axes. "Hey, why aren't these trees falling down?" Sonic called down.
"We're looking for some diamond," called Jodi, hefting her wooden axe in the air. "So far, nothing!"
So if the trees don't fall down here, thought Sonic, that means… Excited, he curled into a Super Sonic Spin Attack and began to plow through the trees' bottomsides, looking for the diamond that the others were looking for.
"Wow, forget a chainsaw," said Liam, watching the spectacle, "just put Sonic in a forest and the entire thing will be gone in a few minutes!"
Within the span of ten more seconds, Sonic came running back, holding a jewel with a realistic-looking cut. "This what we're looking for?" he asked.
Jodi took the jewel and inspected it. "Doesn't look like anything out of Minecraft," she said. "This might be it, actually!"
"Ooo, finally," groaned Bingo, dropping her axe. "My arms are tired." Suddenly, the entire landscape glitched, causing every building and tree in the area to look like something out of real life. And that meant…
"(Get outta the way!)" Spawny shouted, diving in Bingo's direction. The puppy was saved from sudden death right at the nick of time.
"Wow! That was a close one, little guy!" said Puppycorn, impressed. "Well, let's go meet up with the others!"
"Really? You're not gonna ask if Bingo's okay?" said Liam, annoyed.
"I'm...fine…" replied the red heeler, a little shaken. "This little rabbit saved me."
"Alright, I guess she's fine," Liam said, shrugging. Motioning the others to follow him, he ran towards the fountain in the middle of town, where the others were waiting for him. "Hey, guys! We gotta…"
"Drop a diamond, golden apple, and some dirt into this fountain?" finished Unikitty, a little slyly. "Yeah, we kinda know already."
"Wow. Splitting up actually did work," said Liam.
"Yep, guess I'm pretty smart after all…" said Danny, a little unsurely. Due to his self-doubt, thinking of himself as a smart guy was not something he was known for.
"Hey, of course you are!" said Liam. "If it wasn't for you, we probably would be taking a bit longer to get where we are!"
[BGM: End]
"Alright, c'mon, guys!" said Jodi, excitedly. "Let's dump this stuff in and meet that Plarus guy!" Nodding in agreement, Danny, Liam, and Kevin walked up to the fountain. One by one, the clump of dirt, diamond, and apple covered in gold was dumped into the water. Everyone waited a second, and then...nothing happened.
"(Um...did we not do it right?)" said Spawnette, confused.
"Oh, I was also given this incantation to say," said Ms. Featherbon, holding up a slip of paper. She cleared her throat and read it aloud. "Mighty Plarus, we offer you these sacrifices in exchange for your greeting. If you wish to accept, please emerge from this fountain!"
The ground began to rumble, causing everyone to lose their balance. As they fell to the ground, a purple cloud of smoke emerged from the fountain, and when the cloud vanished, the fountain was surrounded by...skeletons. Realistic skeletons that were just lying there as lifeless heaps. "Well, that was anti-climactic…" said Knuckles, putting down his defenses.
"Yeah, it's almost like-" Liam began, before suddenly, the skeletons transformed into their usual, blocky Minecraft selves and stood up, unsheathing their bows.
[BGM: Johan Johnson - arena1]
"Well, guess we're gonna have a fight scene after all," said Danny, pointing his sword at the skeletons.
"And me without my wicked cool sword from last time," lamented Unikitty. That was when the arrows started firing, hitting Unikitty right in the face.
"Okay, it's on, skellingtons!" shouted Sonic. He jumped off of one of the houses and curled into a Super Sonic Spin Attack, plowing through a group of skeletons.
Danny and Pork Chop jumped off of the skeleton heads, dodging the arrows and thrusting down onto their heads. "Take that, boneheads!" he said, plucking a skull off of his sword. Turning around, he saw Kevin and Kirby were combining their inhaling powers, but he also noticed that Pumpkin was cowering behind them instead of joining the fight. Well, that's unusual, he thought, but he didn't have much time to help.
On top of a dirt tower, Liam was hastily making some weapons for Jodi and Puppycorn to defend themselves. Down went some stone and sticks as meager swords were made, followed by a barrage of arrows from Liam's dispenser so that he was still part of the battle. "How did you even make that dispenser-thingy do that?" asked Jodi, in awe.
"It involved a lot of command blocks," said Liam, giving his new ally a fresh stone sword. "Now c'mon, let's go fight!"
Jumping off of the dirt pillar, Puppycorn gave a battle cry and thrust his sword onto a skeleton about to shoot his sister. "Hey sis, why aren't you fighting?" he asked, confused.
"Because I've got a bit of an idea," responded Unikitty. "I'm happy to see you saved me…" she said, pointing to the sparkle matter emanating from her head. As the happy faces began to form, she grabbed them and hurled them right at the skeletons. "Eat cupcakes and kittens!" she shouted, tossing hearts in the faces of the foes.
Kevin spat another mouthful of bones in the way of a skeleton's arrows, giving Knuckles and Max the opportunity to attack safely. "This was quite a turnout, don't you think?" Kevin asked Danny.
"Pretty much," responded Danny, hopping over Knuckles and firing a sword beam at more skeletons. "By the time we're done, we'll have enough bones to…"
"Build a dinosaur skeleton?" suggested Treasure, scratching a skeleton in the face.
"I was gonna go for 'make enough bone meal to make a forest', actually," said Danny. He paused. "Say, did you see Pumpkin cowering in fear earlier?" he asked the kitten.
Treasure rubbed her ear. "Yeah. She looked sadder than a seasick sailor!" She peeked behind Danny's shoulder. "Even those doggies over there are helping out!"
Sure enough, despite their young age and inexperience, Bluey was doing a rather nice job at protecting her sister. "I am Bluey, destroyer of moving bones!" declared the blue heeler, using her martial arts skills to dodge the arrows coming her way and kick the skeletons to the ground.
Bingo giggled. "I'm gonna tell Mr. Joe to move you up from a yellow belt!" she said. Suddenly, she had a funny feeling in her tail. Turning around, she saw a pixelated arrow implanted in it. "Hey! That didn't hurt at all!"
"Wait, we couldn't-" Treasure began, but then she looked up and saw Ms. Featherbon wipe her forehead. "Oh. Nevermind. She must have made them immune."
As he was shooting his magic balls from his scepter, Spawny couldn't help but feel as if they were being overflowed by skeletons. Looking over his shoulder, the rabborg prince could even see some stragglers start to attack the villagers. "(Um, guys? I think we need a mass attack to get rid of these!)"
"What does that even mean?" asked Liam, circling around some of the skeletons as he fired his dispenser.
"(I believe he means an attack that does a massive amount of damage!)" Spawnette clarified over her own attacks.
Unikitty looked around, continuing to throw her sparkle matter. "What about the trees?" she suggested. "They're obviously out of commission!"
"That might work!" said Kirby. Quickly, he leapt into the air, took in a massive breath to inflate himself, and hovered over the skeletons. Nearby, one of the trees was still laying there, lifeless. "Out of the way, everyone!" he shouted, before inhaling the nearest tree right into his mouth.
The group began to run out of the way to dodge the attack. "Um, a little help?" shouted Pumpkin, struggling to find her way out without getting hurt.
"I've gotcha, Pumpkin!" shouted Treasure. Bravely, she ran under a skeleton, scooped her friend up with her paws, and jumped out of the way. Once he made sure the kitten was out of the way, Kirby spat the tree out as a massive star bullet. The entire skeleton army was obliterated instantly.
[BGM: End]
"Man, that was some serious teamwork, everyone!" Sonic whooped, clapping his hands. He looked down and noticed that an arrow was sticking out of Treasure's leg. "Oh, hold on, Treas!" The hedgehog bent down and carefully pulled the arrow out of the kitten's leg.
"Thanks, Sonic!" said Treasure, happily. "I got a little hurt there!"
"Yeah, we oughta heal up!" Danny agreed. Right away, he started munching on some cooked chicken, sharing some with Jodi, while Kevin, Liam, and Max all shared some bread.
"Say, Pumpkin, why didn't you help out?" Knuckles asked, confused at the puppy's sudden incompetence.
Pumpkin blushed in embarrassment and covered her face with her ears. "I got scared, okay?" she admitted. "I didn't have my Chaos Emerald to help me."
Ms. Featherbon fluttered down to the puppy. "Oh, Pumpkin, you don't need that emerald to fight!" she insisted.
"But I'm not good at fighting!" Pumpkin continued, her tail drooping. "I haven't done anything like this before Sonic first came to Whisker Haven.
Seeing the puppy's sad state, Bluey walked up to her and comforted her. "Do you want to know what I did?" she asked. "I took a deep breath and told myself, 'It's alright. You've done worse. You have someone…'" She giggled. "'...or something, watching over you.'"
Before Pumpkin could thank the heeler, Danny realzied something. "Wait! If Plarus didn't come out of the fountain, then-" Before he could finish, more purple smoke emerged from the water hole. And this time...not a single bone came out with it…
[Character Selected: Kevin]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Corruption, Breached Plains]
[BGM: Peter Hont - Evoker]
A figure emerges from the smoke, resembling a player. It appears to have dark skin, a green toga, long, white hair, and a green, glowing staff. You have no doubt that this is Plarus himself. "Hey, wise guy! You're a little-" Sonic begins.
Sheepishly, Jodi throws her hand over his mouth. "Just don't, okay?"
"So, you're the imbeciles who summoned me?" says Plarus, unimpressed. "Well, I suppose we should settle this like mortals." He eyes the characters from other franchises. "But first, I have some outliers to eliminate…" He points his staff at the others, one-by-one, and they begin to glitch into new forms.
It all starts with Sonic, who transforms into a human boy with a black mohawk, a blue tank top, fingerless gloves, jeans, and red shoes. "Gah! I'm a hume!" he shouts in shock. He looks over to what was once Knuckles. "And now Knux really is an enchilada!"
"Ooo! Enchilada? Where?" says Puppycorn, looking around. Suddenly, he and Unikitty both turn into lifeless Lego figures and collapse onto the ground.
"He turned them into toys!" shouts Bingo. "What's gonna happen to-" Before the pup could finish, she, Bluey, the Palace Pets, Ms. Featherbon, and your main companions turn into how they would be in real life, leaving them as almost-mindless creatures.
"Well, at least I'm-" Kirby begins, but in a single poof, he turns into...a pink toaster. Slices of toast pop out, and when you pick them up, they read "GUESS NOT!"
"Hey, that was a cheap move!" you shout, tossing the toast slices onto the ground.
"Perhaps," says Plarus, touching the ground. "Now, let's see if you can work with what you have!" He transforms his scepter into a green colored sword and points it at your bare chest.
"If that's what you want!" shouts Jodi. She shoots an arrow at the Glitch Lord, knocking him away from your presence. "I got a bunch of arrows from those skeletons!"
"Nice play," you say, quickly picking up Puppycorn's stone sword. You charge right at Plarus just as he turns around and clashes his sword with yours. "I have him in position!" you shout, getting the others' attention.
"I'll take it!" says Danny, charging behind Plarus. He is about to slash right at the Glitch Lord, when suddenly, a shield appears out of nowhere, knocking Danny to the ground.
"Nice try, but so long as I have power, nothing can-oof!" Plarus is knocked to the ground by a sudden slash of Max's sword. The human is about to finish the job, when a sudden push from the Glitch Lord sends him flying away. "I'll admit, you're at least rather clever with your tactics! But still, I feel this may be a hopeless battle for you!"
That seems to give Liam an idea. A message in the chat appears from him, saying, "Follow my lead!" "You are right, O Glitch Lord," he says phonily. "In fact, Danny. Why not put us out of our misery?"
Danny eyes you and waves his hands around. You aren't sure what code he's doing, but you decide to go along. "Very well. Prepare for being smitten, Kevin!" he says. After that, he shoots his sword up into the air. A bolt of lightning comes out of nowhere, aimed right at you, and you inhale it on instinct. When you swallow, a patch of blue fire appears on your head, which quickly transforms into a crown with a patch of sparks on it.
"Nice phony performance there," says Plarus, sarcastically applauding. "But if you thought that would distract-" Before he can get another word in, you hold your hands up, creating a spark field around your body. As the Glitch Lord writhes in pain, everyone that was transformed briefly glitches back into their normal states.
Sonic looks at his body, switching between his human and hedgehog forms. "Hey! I think that did something!" he says.
Jodi begins to think. "My brother told me of this thing called a…" Plarus recuperates from the attack and slashes in Jodi's direction, so she jumps out of the way, quickly. "...command block. Maybe that's the source of his power!'
"It's plausible," Liam agrees, shooting another barrage of arrows on Plarus. "Kev, do that thing again!"
"You really think that will work again?" Plarus taunts, pulling his hand away from Liam, causing his dispenser to slip from his hands.
"Yes!" says Jodi, shooting an arrow into Plarus's direction. The arrow merely goes into the dispenser, but just before Plarus shoots it, you activate another spark field, and sure enough, everyone starts to glitch back into their regular forms. As this happens, you look at your watch, seeing if you can pick up any nearby signals.
"Guys! I think Jodi's right!" you say, seeing your watch pick up command block signals from inside the fountain. "Someone has to go into the fountain and disable the command block!"
Despite being in his human form, Sonic volunteers to do it. "What does that command block thingy look like?" he asks, picking up Kirby in his toaster form.
"It's orange with blinking lights," Danny explains, his sword clashing with Plarus's. "But be careful!"
Sonic gives a salute and runs toward the fountain. "I'll be right back!" he says, leaping right in with a cannonball. Due to being right in the splash's way, Plarus takes the full hit.
"Gah! I'm soaking wet!" grits the Glitch Lord. "My powers are deactivated!"
"That's all the excuse I need!" says Max. He charges right into Plarus, sticking his sword right into the deity's body.
"Yep! Don't need nothing else!" agrees Liam. He towers behind Plarus and delivers a massive amount of arrows into his body.
"Enough!" cries Plarus, emerging from the wet heap he was in. "I have worked too hard to make sure this village respects me! I will not let it be ruined by mere mortals and-" Suddenly, he starts to spasm and glitch around, as the others begin to revert to their normal forms. The landscape starts to glitch between its different forms as well, going from a normal Minecraft village, the hay, wood, and brick strructures, and the realistic buildings and fallen-down trees.
"It looks like Sonic did it," you remark, watching your party revert to their normal forms.
Danny cracks his knuckles. "But I'm gonna do one last thing." He aims his sword at Plarus, charges it up, and with a mighty slash, the Glitch Lord is sent flying into the air, vanishing into a puff of ones and zeroes.
[BGM: End]
Knuckles returns from being a tasty Mexican dish and becomes an echidna again. "What just happened?" he asks, confused.
Bluey stands up, returning to her anthropomorphic form. "I feel all weird," she says, uncomfortable. "Hey! Where's Sonic?"
As if summoned, the hedgehog climbs out of the fountain, back to normal and out of breath. "Well, I almost ran out of breath," he gasps, "but jamming Kirby into the command doohickey did the trick!"
"I still have a little burn mark back here," remarks Kirby, climbing out of the fountain and pointing to his back. At that moment, the village finally stops glitching out and settles on its normal, Minecraft-like form. The villagers, overjoyed, run out of hiding and happily cheer. "Wow. Guess I almost missed a party."
Eagerly, the villagers start to shake your hands. "Thank you all, so much!" says the cleric, shaking Danny's hand. "You freed our village from being forced into a cycle of terror!"
"So, what happens now?" Danny asks, confused.
"Now, we'll just glitch around as if it were mere weather!" explains a stone mason villager. "How may we ever repay you?"
Looking around in the crowd, you see a small, silver key on the ground with a green covering on the top. Picking it up, you hear a few static sounds come from it. "I think this is all the repayment we need!" you say, holding the key up for everyone to see.
Buzzer flies out of your inventory, elated. "That's the first Glitch Key!" he says, excitedly. "Fantastic work, everyone! We're one step closer to getting to the Far Lands!"
"Hooray!" Bluey shouts happily, which transitions into a yawn. "But I'm feeling sleepy."
"Ah, yes. I feel it is time to make our exit for the day," says Buzzer. "Thank you for your gratitude, everyone,' he says to the villagers, "but we must get going now!"
The villagers all begin to cheer you all goodbye as you begin to walk away from the village where everything kept changing. "Well, that was a bit exhausting," you say, stretching. "Where are we gonna go now?"
Buzzer holds out a small ring of glowstone blocks. "We're going to revisit a familiar place…" He drops the ring onto the ground, and it expands into a fully-sized portal with a blue inside.
"Whoo! Talk about four-stars!" says Sonic, impressed. You have a feeling you know where the portal will take you as you all step inside…
[Character Selected: Danny]
[Current World: ?]
[Current Location: Tent of Rejuvenation]
[BGM: Asu01 - The Wise Wolfhound]
The 'generating world' screen vanished, and I found myself in a place I recognized somewhat - a blue tent with some crafting stuff, an indoor farm, and...oh, yeah! A working AFK fishing farm on Bedrock! "Wow! Glad to be back here!" I said, looking around.
Bluey and Bingo squealed. "It's Aunt Trixie's magic tent!" the pups shouted, running around like shnauzers.
As everyone began to get acquainted with their new surroundings, I decided to give Jodi a brief talk. "Look, Jodi - I bet you're glad you could come with us today."
"Yeah! This isn't anything like what normally happens in Minecraft!" Jodi said, excitedly. "Well, besides what I've seen in my and my friends' world!"
"See, here's the thing…" I had no clue what to say. I wanted to explain she was probably better off staying out of our adventure, but I also didn't want to hurt her feelings. Eventually, I decided on, "Okay, let's just say I think we're better off having someone else accompany us on our adventure."
"Oh, okay. I understand," said Jodi, calmly nodding. "You want me to get one of my friends to come tomorrow! Totally! Anyway, I have to go now! Nice playing with you!"
"Wait, no! That's not what I-" Before I could finish, Jodi vanished from the game, which really surprised Sonic. The stack of wood he was holding toppled all over the ground. I sighed and smacked myself in the face, hard.
"Hey, what's up, dude?" Sonic asked me.
"I was trying to tell her she couldn't play with us anymore," I said, "but now we're just gonna get a new guy tomorrow!"
"You think she should stay out of this?" asked Liam. "I mean, I guess she does seem a little forced…"
"But that's sad!" said Bingo, having seen the whole thing. "Why would you want to leave anyone out on the fun?"
I was at a loss for words. Sonic even gave me a "She-has-a-point" look. "Well, she might not be qualified…" I said.
"Oh," said Bluey. That sparked another thought. "Are we qualified?"
"Well, uh…" I wondered what to say. Looking at their needy eyes, I was taken back to the other day, when I first saw that little look and tried to avoid it from being spoiled. "Look, I think you should always think of yourself as qualified for everything," I decided to say. "If you think you're qualified, you might have a bit of confidence to try and do something."
Sonic nodded in approval. "That's actually some good advice, dude!" he said, giving me a thumbs-up.
"Maybe, but I don't think the circumstances are the best…" I heard Liam say. Suddenly, we all heard some kind of poof. Turning around, we saw that Aunt Trixie was back, sitting in the same place she was last time.
"Shadow lady!" said Sonic, getting defensive.
"A good witch!" shouted Ms. Featherbon, poking her head out of a chest.
"Oatmeal!" Puppycorn randomly shouted. We all looked at him and said, "Oatmeal?"
"Aunt Trixie!" shouted Bluey and Bingo, happily running in for a hug.
I smiled. "Good to see you again, Trix!" I said, shaking her hand. "You got things going around here, because I was thinking about heading out now!"
Trixie nodded. "Yes, I think I can handle it," she said. "Just remember: Bluey and Bingo have school tomorrow, so you should join at the same time."
"So we can't do two in one day?" said Kevin.
"Afraid not. But you can join at any time beforehand to replenish your supplies."
"Well, good thing we have a full week this time around," said Liam. "Oh, well. Wanna start leaving?"
"Yeah, sure," I said. As I began to say goodbye to everyone, I thought about Liam's snide comment. Was he really still thinking about why I was doing this? Should I actually stop it entirely? That would be the right thing to do… Nah, I doubt Bluey and Bingo will tell anyone...right?
[Character Selected: Bandit]
[Current World: Bonegea]
[Current Location: Brisbane, Australia]
[BGM: Asu01 - Relaxing Afternoon]
Bandit and Chilli sat on the couch in the living room, enjoying their morning. "So, second day without the kids," said the blue heeler, sipping his coffee. "What do you want to do once we're back from work?"
"I honestly don't even know," Chilli said, chuckling. "They do take up a lot of our time, and I do miss them…" Suddenly, they heard the zooming of a motorcycle coming from the outside. "I think the postman just left."
"I'll get it," said Bandit, setting down his coffee and getting up. After a few stretches, he walked outside, opened up the mailbox, and walked back inside with the mail. "Huh. Looks like Trix sent us a letter." Setting the rest of the mail down on the counter, he opened up the envelope and took out the letter. "Oh, it's from Bluey and Bingo!"
"Oh, how cute!" said Chilli. She got up to join her husband in reading it.
"Dear Mum and Dad,
Today, we went into a scary world called the Corruption. In there, things can turn into other things because of some guy named even had to fight against living skeletons! But we got to meet Sonic the Hedgehog, a real-life princess, and our old friends Danny, Liam, and Kevin! Danny also told us a lesson: always think you're qualified for something, and you'll never fail!
We miss you so much! Can't wait to see you again!
XXXOOO,
Bluey and Bingo"
The letter warmed their hearts. "Guess they're doing okay without us," said Bandit, his tail wagging. But there was something about that little bit about this Danny character that didn't sit right with him…
[Character Selected: Perinton]
[Current World: ?]
[Character Selected: ?]
"Hmm, this sounds rather risky," said the figure on the throne. "I know those weirdos kicked my tail last time, but I'm not sure if this is worth it."
Perinton nodded. "Well, I understand where you're coming from. There is a lot of risk involved." He smirked, getting an idea. "But think of how much more land you'll have to conquer!"
"Well...alright, I'll think about it," said the figure. "But give me a few days. I once almost destroyed the entire universe, so if there's anything like that involved, I'm out!"
Despite that last answer, Perinton was proud of himself as he left the castle he was in. Just as the heroes were one step closer to stopping his plan, the pig was one step closer to executing it...
To be continued...and next time: cursedness galore!
Next chapter: In order to get the next Glitch Key, the gang's gonna have to endure some "Ignorance of Physics" in the Cursed Caverns! down there, the limitations of Minecraft are bent to their fullest - llama slimes, villager chests, ores giving wrong materials...not to worry! Now that they have the Woodsword gang on their side, the Maniacs have a bit more firepower to get through, right?
Postface: Chapter complete! As you can see, the chapters are gonna get a little bit longer now, so they might be a little more quicker-paced so they don't drag on too much. Also, there's gonna be a lot of 80s music in the BGM squares. Just a little Stranger Things nod!
Anyway, a new party member is here: Jodi Mercado from the Minecraft: Woodsword Chronicles chapter books! My reason for including her was the same reason why I included Max - I thought it would be fun. All in all, she's not really here for a reason, so it's probably good she vanished at the end, right? Well, not exactly - each chapter will rotate the Woodsword kids, usually chosen by how their talents fits with the area of the Corruption the chapter is set in. I actually originally had Max turn out to be her long-lost uncle, but now that his connection to the protagonist of Minecraft: The Island is more ambiguous, I decided to exclude that detail here. But there's some more new faces, too: the Glitch Lords! These guys are kind of the 'gods' of the Corruption, and their names and powers will be suited to what bit of it they rule over. Some of them won't give up their Glitch Keys without a fight, others prefer pacifism when on their own and will challenge the heroes in other ways instead. I hope you find them interesting enough! Besides the new faces, Danny's character arc continues as he keeps giving Bluey and Bingo questionable advice. But it looks like it might spill a little doom for him, since Bandit and Chilli are gonna get letters on them. And it looks like whatever Perinton's planning is going swimmingly...
That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for the next location in the Corruption: the Cursed Caverns! Stay diamond, everyone!
-Alfred
~Minecraft and everything related to it are properties of Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios. Sonic the Hedgehog and everything related to him are properties of Sega Corp. Unikitty and everything related to her are properties/licensees of Lego System A/S (The Lego Group) and WarnerMedia, LLC. The Palace Pets and everything related to them are properties of The Walt Disney Co. Kirby and everything related to him are properties of Nintendo Co., LTD and HAL Laboratory, Inc. Bluey and everything related to her are properties of Ludo Studio PTY., LTD., the Australian Broadcasting Corp., and BBC Studios Dist., LTD. 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.~