Preface: Hello, again! Sorry I wasn't able to upload over the weekend - without getting into detail, let's just say if the collage near where I live offers me a scholarship, I'm gonna give them a big "Fuggedaboutit!" Before we start, a quick update on the upload schedule: since the average length of the chapters are gonna be longer up until Chapter 43, expect only two chapters per week for the next few weeks. After that, I'm gonna try and get back on track to finish everything by June 25th. Anyway, onto the chapter!

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. So far, with the probably unneeded assistance from Woodsword student Jodi, they have acquired the first Glitch Key in the Breached Plains.

Now...the gang gets back together as Andy and Mark research their next destination...

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.

Woodsword Gang - Various Actors: Jodi, Morgan, Ash, Harper, and Po. The other loads.

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 40:
Into the Corruption!, Part Two -
Ignorance of Physics

[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: Andy]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Planet of the Gangermen, Royal Lair]

Andy scrolled through the website he found, looking at all of the strange stuff people were making online. It turned out, creating things that seemed 'cursed' were rather popular. Including this one photo of a player with an extremely muscular build!

"Bwahahahaha!" the gangerman laughed. "That's gotta be one of the best things I've ever seen!"

Mark walked into the room, somewhat annoyed. "Are you done yet, Andy?" he asked. "I need to research things we could use to power up the gangermen army for the Minecraft Maniacs' next destination."

"The Cursed Caverns?" asked Andy, turning around in the chair. "As a matter of fact, that's what I was just doing!" He choked back a laugh. "But all of this stuff is hilarious! Look at this!" He typed on the keyboard quickly, bringing up a photo of an odd creature. It had the physical build of a wither, but it looked like a bee.

Mark couldn't help himself. He burst into laughter. "Okay, that actually is ridiculous!" he said between giggles. "But I think I know how we can use these to our advantage…"

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

[BGM: Peter Hont - Infertile]

Joining the game was a bit more unpleasant than I intended it to be. Mostly because I wound up spawning in the exact same place Liam was standing. "Gah! What the heck did you turn into?" I heard Sonic shout.

"Oh, relax, he just came in where I was standing!" said Liam, stepping away from me. He cleared his throat. "Sorry, I was just doing some brewing."

I peeked at the brewing stand Liam was previously at and noticed some red potions in there. "Healing potions, good idea!" I said. "With a big party, we're gonna need lots of healing!"

Ms. Featherbon set herself onto the anvil next to the brewing stand, stuck a straw into one of the bottles, and took a sip. "Blech!" she said, sticking her tongue out. "It tastes like...like...molten salt!"

"(Well, unfortunately, it is the best we are going to get,)" said Spawnette. "(It is not that bad once you get used to it.)"

Sonic sneered, looking up from the comic book he was reading. "I'm still gonna keep a few rings on me, thanks." He put down the book and added it to his stack. "Are the rest coming soon? I'm getting a little bored!"

"Well, remember, we have to wait for those little ones," Knuckles reminded him. He was looking at what looked like a guide for a Commander Keen game. At that moment, Kevin popped into the game. "Well, at least he's here!" said the echidna.

I gave a stretch, a stab of regret in my chest. "Well, still, thanks to my dumb wording," I said, "we also have to wait for one of Jodi's friends."

"Do we even have to?" asked Kevin. "I mean, we could probably just-" Before he could finish, a black-haired boy popped into the game right next to him, dressed in a blue jacket, a yellow shirt, grey pants, and black shoes. "Oh, hey! We were just talking about you!" Kevin added sheepishly.

I cleared my throat, deciding that I should at least be amiable. "So, you're Jodi's brother Morgan, right?" I asked, recognizing the player.

"So she did talk about me," said Morgan. "She didn't actually mean it when she said Sonic the Hedgehog was here, right?"

"He's right there, actually!' interjected Unikitty. "If you wanna say hi, go ahead!"

"We're waiting on a few others," said Kirby, casually reading alongside Sonic. "You may as well get cozy until then."

Buzzer flew into the area, his body having turned a soft blue. "Actually, I just had a sense that Bluey and Bingo will be here any moment!" he said, alerting us. Suddenly, in a puff of smoke, Trixie appeared on her cloth, alongside the two puppies. "Ah, there they are now!"

"Hi, everyone!" said Bluey, she and Bingo re-greeting everyone. She noticed Morgan standing there, beholding everything. "Oh, hi! I'm Bluey!"

"Morgan Mercedo," said the boy, shaking the dog's hand. "So, what's this whole thing about?"

"See, we're in this alternate version of the Overworld," I explained. "Not everything makes sense here, and if I'm remembering correctly, the place we're going to right now, the Cursed Caverns, has a bunch of stuff that goes against natural Minecraft logic."

"I see. So things are going to confuse us," said Morgan, nodding his head. "Not to worry. I think I can tell when things are off!"

"Good! You can show us what's going to be different," said Pumpkin. I guess she must've not trusted us, but she probably just wasn't thinking straight.

Trixie was the third of us to clear her throat in the past few minutes. "Alright, everyone!" she announced. "I am now going to send all of you to the Cursed Caverns."

"Really, Aunt Trixie?" asked Bingo. "Do you have magic teleportation powers?"

"Well…" said Trixie, "it's more opening portals!" She closed her eyes, and I heard a small humming sound. Behind me, the portal entrance was now a gateway into a pretty ordinary-looking cavern.

"Man, shadow lady just keeps getting more and more magical!" Sonic said, impressed. Suddenly, we noticed Knuckles bending his head. "You okay, Knux?" the hedgehog asked.

"It's just…" said Knuckles, "I feel something strange emanating from her." He shrugged. "It's probably nothing. Let's get this show on the road."

"See ya, Aunt Trixie!" said Bluey, waving. We all waved goodbye as well as we stepped into the portal, ready to face whatever weirdness we'd find this time.

[Character Selected: Liam]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Corruption, Cursed Caverns]

[BGM: Madonna - Material Girl]

The party stepped out of the tent into the cave. The current place that they were in was a simple tunnel, with a few patches of coal ore here and there. "Man, it's a little drafty in here…" remarked Puppycorn. "And dark."

"We'll be needing some tor-" Max began, but when he set down the torch, he noticed that it immediately ran out of fire. "Huh. That's never happened before. I thought torches burned forever in this world!"

"Maybe it's electrical?" suggested Unikitty. "Out of juice?"

"Nah, redstone torches don't give off much light," said Morgan. He heard some strange slapping sounds coming from down the hall. "They don't prevent mobs from spawning, either!"

"Not to worry, I'll light the way!" said Ms. Featherbon, flying in front of the gang. "Doobie-doobie-dright, please give us a light!" In an instant, a glowing ball of light began hovering in front of everyone, lighting the way.

"Well, that's certainly helpful!" said Liam. The group began walking down the tunnel. There was nothing but stone as far as the eye could see, despite a few ores here and there. "Y'know, for the cursed caverns," said Liam, facing Danny and Kevin, "these seem rather nor-" Suddenly, a ball of spit hit his face, causing him to stumble.

"Where'd that come from?" asked Knuckles, putting his fists up. The ball of light went down the tunnel, revealing the rather unusual source - hopping cubes with the faces and fur of llamas.

"Okay, that's not normal!" shouted Morgan. "Does anyone have a weapon?"

"Here! Take my backup sword!" said Danny, tossing their new ally an iron sword. Brandishng the one christened the Chicken Blade, Danny proceeded to leap forward, making a massive slash in the first llama-cube.

"Alright, guess we're fighting already!" said Liam, preparing his dispenser. He aimed at the nearest cube and launched a barrage of arrows at it. The llama face fell to the ground, flashing red, and split into several miniature versions of itself.

"Hmm, that's weird," said Morgan, getting spat in the face before slashing his own sword at a llama-cube. "It's almost like these things are just modded slimes!"

"I think that's pretty obvious!" said Kevin, inhaling a block of stone from the wall to spit in the cube's face.

"Well, it wasn't pretty obvious to us!" replied Sonic, performing a Super Sonic Spin Attack through a cube. In addition to the cube splitting, the hedgehog got covered in saliva. "Yuck! I'm not sure this is better than manure!"

"I don't really understand that reference!" said Knuckles, performing his own Spin Attack on some of the smaller ones. "These do feel pretty squishy, though."

"So these are slimes!" said Morgan. He looked down at the remains of the cube he just defeated, which were many tiny ones. "Well, at least these ones don't attack you."

Sure enough, when Bluey stepped into the field of llama-cubes, they just bounced off of her, tickling her. "Hahaha! They're like little pets!"

Max put down his sword and let the llama-cubes surround him. "Say, this isn't too bad!"

Unikitty bent down and picked up one of the cubes, which bounced in her hand. "His name shall be Squishy and he shall be mine!" she declared. The cube simply spat in her face. "Ew! Bad Squishy!"

In all of the enjoyment, Treasure's ear perked up, sensing the sound of more slapping. "Uh-oh! Here comes more!"

"Where are these things coming from, anyway?" asked Sonic. He looked at Danny and noticed that Pork Chop was sniffing the cubes. "Say, you think you can show us where these things are coming from, boy?" the hedgehog asked.

"Hey, why do you-" Danny began, but then, Pork Chop walked out of the group, sniffing the ground. "Wow. Since when are you a pig whisperer?" Danny asked.

"Since we took him with us to the Sonic world the first time," responded Kevin. The group began to follow Pork Chop around the cave, the pig sniffing the ground and air to see where the llama-cubes were coming from.

"Do you think Mum and Dad will let us have a pig like that?" Bingo asked Bluey as they maneuvered around some more llama-cubes that had spawned.

"I hope so!" said Bluey, her tail wagging. "Maybe we can use our pig to find where Dad is if he's hiding!"

"I'm not too sure there're many pigs in Minecraft that can act like that!" replied Morgan. "Is he a result of this alternate world?" he asked Danny.

"Nah, this guy's just special!" said Danny. The group came to a stop in front of a cubic area made out of both normal and mossy cobblestone, with a small cage with a spinning llama-cube in it. "Looks like they were coming from this dungeon!"

[BGM: End]

"Nice job, boy!" said Sonic, petting Pork Chop. "I think he can be a bloodhound or something!"

Liam took out a leftover pickaxe and brought it down onto the spawner. The only light coming from the room was Ms. Featherbon's magic ball. "Glad to see those still work!" he said. At that moment, he noticed a weird decoration on the wall. "Huh, what's that?"

Ms. Featherbon brought the ball up to the wall, revealing the strange decoration to be an engraving in the Standard Galactic Alphabet. "It looks like some sort of engraving," she said, "but I don't recognize this language."

"I've seen those runes before," said Morgan. "They're the ones on Doc's goggles and used on the enchanting table! Does anyone have anything we can translate it with?"

Sonic chuckled. "Knux, do you still have that 'magic tome' I gave you?"

Knuckles reached into his hammerspace area and pulled out a small, blue book with a lot of pages. "This isn't a tome," he said, a little annoyed, "this is just a computer game guidebook!" His eyes got wide. "Oh, wait! There's a translation for these runes in here…" He began to flip through the pages, translating the message in his head.

"Huh. Never knew these were used in another game," remarked Morgan. He then felt something behind him and turned around. He began to snicker. "Oh, man! Who designed that chest?"

Twirling around to see what he was talking about, Unikitty saw what was one of the most disturbingly funny things she ever saw. It was a long chest, but not only was the lock area on the short side instead of the long one, but the entire top was covered with a villager-like covering. "Oh, dude! That looks so wrong!' She reached to open it and saw that, apparently, opening the chest revealed the hole to be...a humongous mouth full of teeth. "I have got to get one of these for my room!"

Morgan noticed a small, brown object. "Huh. There's another book in here," he said, reaching inside. "Never saw that in a dungeon before."

"You haven't?" said Max. "I found all sorts of them on the island I was on. Maybe it's a guide left by whoever built this place."

Before Morgan could wonder further, Knuckles cleared his throat. "Alright, everyone," he announced. "I've cracked the code. The engraving reads, 'Whoever wishes to meet Cursana, the Glitch Lord of Cursed Things, must bring eight and twenty diamonds to the temple of...bruh."

"What?" said Bluey, in confusion.

"The temple of...bruh."

"What does that mean?"

"He must've saw something dumb while carving it," Liam suggested.

"Ugh, if he saw something dumb, he wouldn't bother to carve 'bruh,'" Danny argued. "He'd just say it!" Suddenly, everyone heard a strange sound. "What was that?"

Buzzer flew out of Kevin's inventory. "That growl sounded distinctly bee-like and with-like at the same time…" he said, fearfully. He turned to his right and exclaimed, "My god! It's the legendary yellow beest of…"

[BGM: Monty Python - The Run Away Song]

The creature emerged from the darkness, revealing itself to be...a wither. Only it had the big black eyes, antennae, yellow fur, and black stripes of a bee. "BRUH!" everyone collectively shouted. "Oh, now I get it!" said Kevin.

"Everyone, run!" exclaimed Buzzer. "It can spit honey!"

"Oh, that actually doesn't sound so…" Kirby began. He got cut off by a large glob of honey covering his body. "Wow! That's sticky!"

"I've got you!" Danny shouted. He slashed through the honey and pulled the puffball out of his sticky plight. Everyone ran out of the dungeon, fleeing from the yellow beest. Honey splattered everywhere, covering the entrance to an abandoned mineshaft and sticking some innocent creeper-like pigs to a wall. A small bit of honey got close to getting Spawny, but Kirby was able to inhale the glob and spit it back at the creature, sticking it to the wall.

"(Alright, that bought us some time!) said the rabborg, getting back to his feet. Out of the corner of his mechanical eye, he noticed a rather strange sight - a group of boats on ladders stuck to the ground, almost like a minecart and rails. "(Huh, that's not something you see everyday.)"

"Well, I think we should accept this gift!" said Pumpkin, jumping into the nearest boat with Treasure. "Everyone, get on!"

Sonic gave an annoyed glance. "You seriously don't think we can get this thing while it's-" At that moment, the yellow beest began to break free. "Alright, into the boats!"

Quickly, everyone hopped into the boats. When Danny hit the button nearby, the powered rail-like ladders glowed, and all of the boats began to move. "Alright, this oughta be a-woah!" Everyone began to go straight upwards, as if the ladders were normal ladders and not minecart rails.

"(And to think this couldn't get more unusual,)" Spawny remarked as everyone went up through the tunnel's ceiling. A rumble spread across the tunnel, and the yellow beest began to follow everyone once more.

"Oh, no! Bee creature, incoming!" shouted Bingo, holding on for dear life. As the yellow beest crashed through the ceiling, escape for the players and their allies seemed hopeless, when suddenly, Andy, who was controlling the beest from Perinton's lab, suffered a fatal heart attack. And the coded-in peril was no more.

"What the heck just happened?" said Puppycorn, his face sporting a confused look as the beest faded away.

[BGM: A-ha - Take on Me]

"I have no idea," said Morgan. "It kinda reminds me of this movie I saw once, though." The ladders turned straight once more, and the boats exited into a large expanse, aweing everyone with its beauty. Ore blocks floated in an empty space filled with nothing but minecart tracks and flowing water that strangely emitted heat.

"It's so beautiful!" said Bluey, wagging her tail. "So much treasure everywhere!"

"It's almost like the Special Zone!" said Sonic, his eyes darting back and forth. A light bulb went off in his head. "Say, I think we can get those eight and twenty diamonds here!"

"Oh, yeah! Good idea!" said Liam. "And I just got an amazing idea!" He instructed Danny to scooch over and placed his crafting table into the boat. String and sticks went down as a fishing rod was crafted, and the fisherman's pencil was placed back down alongside Liam's pickaxe. And in a moment...

"A pickaxe rod!" Danny exclaimed as the pickaxe head on a fishing rod was created. "Now that's cursed!" He picked it up from the table, aimed it at the nearest diamond ore block, and cast it out at the block. The ore broke apart and the pickaxe head returned to give Danny a nice, shiny… "Coal!? I thought I was good this year!"

"So the ores are all mixed up?" shouted Max. "How are we gonna get this stuff, then?"

Thinking back to the book he found, Morgan reached into his inventory and opened it up. Inside, there was some kind of color-coding chart. Black went to red, light blue went to black, yellow went to green, red went to dark blue, green went to yellow, and dark blue went to light blue. "Guys! I think this is telling us what ore gives what!" he said. "So based off of this, it's lapis lazuli ore that gives diamonds!"

"Par for the course, I guess," said Liam. Taking the pickaxe rod, his eyes darted around for some lapis. "Hmm, not a lot of…" Suddenly, his eyes met with a pair of purple eyes. On a player-like body. That had bat wings. "Uh-oh."

Within seconds, the shrill screech of the gangerman echoed across the expanse, revealing an entire army of the alien foes...but of all shapes and sizes, including burly, muscular bodies, spider legs instead of normal legs, and even sheep bodies. "Oh, we are in great ganger doo-doo," Unikitty sighed. "Never thought we'd go out like this…"

[Character Selected: Kevin]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Corruption, Cursed Caverns]

[BGM: Continued]

A mutated gangerman jumps onto the tracks and uses its big body to block your way. The boats line up one after another, stopping at the gangerman. "Well, this cannot be good…" you say, looking at the other gangermen approaching everyone.

"What is wrong with these endermen?" Morgan asks, reaching for his sword. "Their faces are messed up, some of them have the body of a player…"

"They're aliens!" says Danny, jabbing his sword into a gangerman with bat wings. "That's why they're all weird! But they usually aren't like…" Suddenly, a burly gangerman yanks his sword out of his hands and holds it high. "Oh, eggs."

"Guys, we don't have anything to worry about!" says Treasure, standing in front of Pumpkin. "There's water at the bottom of this canyon!" With a mighty scratch, she kicks the gangerman with a chicken butt off of the track, sending it falling into the water...where it catches flames and burns to death.

"Nope! That's retextured lava!" you correct the kitten. "We're dead!"

"Oh, no we're not!" says Sonic, climbing out of his boat. He jumps into the air, curls into a ball, and hits the gangerman blocking the way. In an instant, the boats start moving again, going on their way across the canyon.

"Say, we could totally try and get the diamonds this way!" says Danny, looking at the ore blocks. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a patch of dark blue. "Down there!"

"On it!" Liam shouts. He swings the pickaxe rod down at the lapis lore, and when the pickaxe head returns, there are two shining jewels in his hand. "Two diamonds down, twenty-six to go!"

"I see some!" Pumpkin shouts, pointing to the east, to which Liam shoots his pickaxe head once more. "That's five!"

"But what are gonna do about these gangermen?" you ask. You inhale a nearby redstone ore block and spit it at a gangermen armed with vex-like wings. "I mean, they're so gonna block our way!"

"And that big one's still got my sword!" Danny adds. "We're kinda defenseless!"

"Oh, no we're not!" Liam says. Tossing the pickaxe rod to Morgan, he reaches into his inventory. "Remember that Item Bag Kirby gave me a few months ago?" He takes out the aforementioned blue bag with a mushroom icon. "I had it in my ender chest this whole time! I think I'll go for a classic…" Reaching inside, Liam thinks of the power-up he wants, and when he pulls his hand out, he is holding the ever familiar red-and-yellow flower with eyes.

"Diamonds!" Morgan shouts, flinging the pickaxe rod in the direction of more lapis. "Okay, now that's...seven!" He turns to see Liam pull the Fire Flower from the Item Bag. "Hey, is that one of the power-ups from the Mario games?"

"It sure is!" says Danny. He puts his hand on the flower, as do you and the rabborgs. The power absorbs into all of your bodies, and your fire forms all return.

"(Nice! Now that we can fly,)" says Spawny, leaping out of his boat, "(we can be on even ground!)" His and Spawnette's tiny demon wings flutter in the air, allowing them to scout out another gangerman nearby.

"Alright, we'll take care of the mobs," you say, "you guys bring us home!" Turning around, a gangerman with the hovering rods of a blaze hover upward. "Time to fight fire with fire!" you say, breathing a fireball in its direction.

"Okay, let's see here…" Morgan looks for more lapis, but as his eyes dart around, he fails to notice the sheep-bodied gangerman infiltrating his boat. With a ram in his back, the pickaxe rod goes flying into the air, waiting for somebody to catch it.

"No way!" shouts Knuckles, watching the rod fly. He hops out of his boat, stretches out his arms, and glides towards it. Catching the rod in midair, the echidna aims at a nearby patch of lapis and shoots it out, bringing the total number of diamonds up to ten.

"Alright, Knux!" Sonic whoops. Suddenly, the boats go up along the wall, and in an instant, everyone is riding along the canyon's ceiling. "Wow! Now we're kicking it into high gear!"

Bluey and Bingo hold on for dear life. "I'm scared!" Bluey shouts. "We're gonna fall out!"

"Do you see us falling out?" Danny asks. He lobs a fireball in the direction of a gangerman with a creeper's body on top of a redstone ore block. The cursed creature explodes, causing the ore to drop their mismatched spoils as the boats return to their normal direction.

Spawnette swoops over your head and grabs more of the diamonds. "(I believe our total is now sixteen!)" she declares, breathing fire onto another burly gangerman.

"Make that eighteen!" says Max, taking the pickaxe rod and grabbing a couple of more diamonds.

"Great teamwork, everyone!" Morgan says, watching everyone's impressive work. He looks over his shoulder and gasps. "Um, dog people? There's one of those deformed endermen behind you!"

Bluey and Bingo turn around and scream. Danny looks to see which one is about to attack them and gasps as well. "It's the guy who stole my sword!" he shouts, enraged.

"Not so fast, bub!" shouts Unikitty. She hops out of the boat she was sharing with Puppycorn and flies over to the pups' boat. "If you wanna get these cutie-petooties, you're gonna have to get through me!"

"And me, too!" adds Sonic. He runs along the tracks and joins Unikitty in defending Bluey and Bingo. "Go ahead, do your worst!" With a mighty grunt, the creature with superstrength brings the sword down, intending to hit Sonic, but the hedgehog zooms out of the way, and Unikitty grabs the sword with her horn.

"Hey! Be careful not to scratch it!" Danny shouts, tossing a fireball in the burly gangerman's way, causing it to collapse onto the track.

"You really think I would?" Unikitty asks, plucking the sword from her horn. Sonic hops onto the gangerman's body and begins to spin his feet, dealing massive amounts of damage, followed by Unikitty bashing the creature in the head with the sword, sending it into the molten water.

"You saved us…" says Bingo, crying from terror. "Thank you!"

[BGM: Peter Hont - Enderman]

"Hey, it's just what we do best!" Sonic responds, high-fiving Unikitty. He then notices a terrible sight at Pumpkin and Treasure's boat. "Uh, Ms. Featherbon?" he says. "Black guy, 12:00!"

"Oh, dearest me!" shouts Ms. Featherbon, flying to the Palace Pets' aid. Bursting out of the water, an enormous gangerman with long, skinny limbs and huge fingers emerges and gives a massive roar.

You turn around and look at the terrifying sight. "Oh. My. Notch." you say.

"You can say that again Kevin," says Treasure, staring up at the creature. "This baddie looks pretty tough."

Pumpkin cowers in fear. "P-P-Please help us…" she says, teeth chattering.

"Oh, yes!" declares the fairy. She clears her throat and holds her wings out. "Give my pets the strength of ten, for-" She is suddenly cut off by the gangerman grabbing her body and hoisting it into the air.

"Ms. Featherbon!" Treasure shouts. You watch as the kitten climbs up the gangerman's body, trying to free the fairy. "You let her go, you meanie, or-" She gets interrupted by the gangerman grabbing her as well, chuckling as it watches her struggle.

"Alright, guys, that's it!" shouts Danny. "Group attack!" The three of you, alongside the rabborgs all start to shoot fireballs into the huge gangerman's direction. It barely flinches at the flames, which in retrospect makes sense, considering it's standing in molten water.

"Fire ain't gonna work!" says Sonic. "You'll need a little more oomph!"

"Agreed," says Max, taking out his bow. He fires arrows in the gangerman's face, and with the creature distracted, Sonic and Knuckles hop onto the beast and each perform their own Spin Attacks. "Alright, now that's doing something!" Max says, watching their handiwork.

"Yeah, if that something was making him angrier!" says Unikitty. The gangerman lets out a mighty roar, and the boats come to a screeching halt.

"Ooo! More diamonds!" shouts Puppycorn, unaware of the predicament. Grabbing the pickaxe rod, he flicks the tool at a piece of lapis he sees. "And how many is that?" he asks once the diamonds go into his hands.

"Twenty-six," says Kirby. "But that's not important right now." Suddenly, the boats, the ladders, the leftover gangermen...everything begins to be sucked into the gangerman's open mouth. Kirby is the first to go, falling into the creature's stomach. "Hey! I'm not a mashrmallooooooo-"

Unikitty and Puppycorn are the next to go. "Hey! I just saw some more diamooooooon-" screeches the pup as the pickaxe rod is sent flying out of his hands.

"Say, this may be a good time for a Mega-Piston, right?" Liam suggests, looking around. "This seems pretty hopeless, after all."

You snap your fingers. "Of course!" You reach into your inventory and pull out the one invention of yours that always seems to show up at the most convenient of times. "Now I just gotta-" But before you can even place the piston on the ground, the boats containing you, Danny, Liam, Pork Chop, and the rabborgs all begin to be sucked up by the large gangerman. "Oh, come ooooooo-" The last thing you see is the gangerman's mouth closing. All seems lost for everyone and you resign yourself to your fate as you fall into the creature's stomach…

[Character Selected: Pumpkin]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Corruption, Cursed Caverns]

[BGM: Continues]

Bluey and Bingo were sucked up next. And then came Sonic and Knuckles. As he and Max began to be sucked up, Morgan tossed the pickaxe rod in Pumpkin's direction. "Please, little doggy!" he called, desperately. "You're our last hoooooooo-"

The small contraption that Kevin pulled out landed on Pumpkin's boat and the puppy picked it up. She was the only one left. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Okay, Pumpkin. You're the only one left. You can do this. She thought of an incident that happened the preceding July, when Metal Sonic took over Whisker Haven using time travel. Besides, you already managed to disable a bunch of robots using only Ms. Featherbon's flying and your natural skills.

Her eyes opened from the feeling of being the last one to be sucked up. There was no time to waste. She grabbed the pickaxe rod, yanked the pickaxe head off, and cast out the line of the now-normal fishing rod. The hook grabbed onto an ore containing a green gem and stretched out as much as it could, preventing the puppy from being sucked up. Okay, now to activate this doohickey, she thought, holding the small contraption in her paw.

But then, something terrible happened. The big creature stopped inhaling...and then it began to do it again, but even harder! Pumpkin held on for dear life, until she was down to her free hand. She was holding on for so long, she eventually felt a surprising surge of pain coming from her elbow. "Owie!" she screamed. In her pain, she didn't realize she had let go of the fishing rod until it was too late. "Oh, drat!"

The mouth of the creature was getting closer now. There was no time to waste. Pumpkin threw the contraption in front of herself. It grew to an incredible size, almost as big as the creature itself, and activated. The head of the contraption extended forward, konking the strange monster in the head and opening a vortex in the middle of nowhere. As Pumpkin was sucked in along with the beast that took her friends, she rubbed her arm, hoping that whatever happened to it wasn't too extreme.

[World Change: Trio Attack Dimension]
[Location Change: Trio Snowball Arena]

[BGM: Antimo & Welles - Training Montage]

Pumpkin's surroundings changed into a deck covered by a roof made of nothing but snow, held up by brown fences. The cold landscape was covered by a flurry of snowflakes, with a sun made of wool to the west. But, most importantly, everyone that got sucked up was out on the deck alongside the puppy.

"Pumpkin! You did it!" shouted Danny, happily jumping up and down. "You activated the Mega-Piston!"

"Mega-Piston?" asked Morgan. "What is that thing?" He looked around at their new surroundings. "And how did we end up here?"

"The Mega-Piston is…" Kevin began, but then he noticed large snowflakes, with bits of the gigantic creature on it, slowly floating down. "No time! It's time for a snowball fight!"

"Snowball fight?" repeated Sonic. "Ooo, yeah! Bring it on!"

"I've always wanted to be in a snowball fight!" exclaimed Bluey, her tail wagging so hard her rear end was wagging with it. Snowballs began to fall into the group's hands, arming them to attack the monster. "Let's go!" Bluey shouted, experiencing snow for the first time in her life as she tossed snowballs at the snowflakes.

"Yeah! This is awesome!" shouted Liam. Snowballs flew from left and right as the monster felt pain through its petrified state. Pumpkin watched from the sidelines and saw everyone enjoying themselves. She really wished she could join in; her arm hurt so much, though!

"Hahaha!" Knuckles laughed, tossing snowball after snowball. "Take that, you giant punk!"

"Wow, guys! I think the world is ending!" shouted Kevin, chuckling at the echidna's antics.

Ms. Featherbon froze like the snow. "What makes you say that?" she asked, in fear.

"Obviously, because Knuckles is having fun!" shouted Danny, pointing at the echidna.

"Oh, no! Nintendo won! We're all gonna die!" Sonic shouted, in an exaggerated manner. Annoyed, Knuckles punched the hedgehog in the arm. "Ah, there's the knucklehead we know and love!"

Suddenly, the snowballs stopped falling. "What now?' Morgan asked, looking around. He looked up and saw a massive snowball fall in his direction. Quickly, he raised his hands to hold it up.

"Aw, yeah! Final attack time!" Danny shouted. He and the others climbed on top of the massive snowball, Pork Chop looking in front. "Go ahead, Morgan! Do it as the guest of honor!"

Morgan looked forward. The snowflakes from earlier were falling again. He waited for the right moment, bent his arms back, and, "Hi-ya!" The snowball went flying through the snowflakes, causing them to dissipate, before slamming right into the sun.

"Whoo! Way past cool!" Sonic shouted as everyone smacked against the wool recreation of the Earth's closest star. "Let's do it again!"

"Maybe some other time," Kevin responded. "We're gonna have to go back now." The entire landscape began to turn as white as the snow, and everything seemed to fall apart.

[BGM: End]

[World Change: Minecraftia]
[Location Change: Corruption, Cursed Caverns]

When the white faded, everyone was back on the tracks, in the now-stationary boats, as if the gangerman was never there in the first place. "Wow, Pumpkin! That was so brave of you!" said Treasure. "And you did it without that emerald!"

"Yeah, Pump! You've got a real hero heart in ya!" added Sonic. He noticed she was rubbing her arm. "Hey, what'd ya do to your arm?"

"I don't know," responded the puppy. "It feels like I left it out for longer than I was supposed to."

Danny nodded. "Sounds like you hyperextended it," he said. "I've been there."

"As soon as we get back to the tent, I'm going to send you back home to rest," said Ms. Featherbon. "But for now, I believe we only need two more diamonds, is that correct?"

"Yeah, I think so," said Liam. "Now who has that pickaxe rod?"

Pumpkin remembered what happened to it. "Oh, I broke the pick head off of the fishing rod," she said, taking out the scraps of the tool. "We can reattach it, right?"

"Hmm, I don't know," said Morgan, shrugging. "That kind of stuff doesn't usually happen."

"Here, let me see," said Liam. He reached over and grabbed the pickaxe head and fishing rod from Pumpkin, put the pieces on the crafting grid in his left hand, and the pickaxe rod was complete again. "There we go, good as new!"

"Nice! Let's get those last few gems!" said Puppycorn, grabbing the pickaxe rod. He looked under the boat he and Unikitty were in and saw that it was sitting on a familiar blue block. "Hey! There's one right under us!"

"No! Never dig straight down, you fool!" Danny, Liam, Kevin, and Morgan simultaneously shouted (well, Morgan left out the 'you fool' part), shaking their hands. But it was too late. Puppycorn flicked the rod, the pickaxe head made impact, and the last two diamonds flew into his hand. And then the entire railline collapsed and everyone began to fall into the molten water.

"Who would've guessed that ignoring Minecraft's number one rule would be how we go out," Liam said with a sigh. "Well, it was nice knowing all of you."

"Don't count on it!" Danny protested, taking out his sword. The enchanted weapon increased to 50% power and was swung around. The entire group was now covered in a glowing yellow shield just before they crashed into the molten water.

"Wow! A magic shield!" said Bluey. "We can swim through the water this way!"

"Not so fast," said Max. The water was being blocked by a large grouping of wooden signs, and the group fell through. "Thank you, rules of this world!"

Danny deactivated the shield. "Hey, whaddya know?" he said, pointing at the stone brick opening up ahead. "That must be the temple!"

Everyone gave their diamonds to Knuckles, who walked up to the entrance. "Huh, it really is called the Temple of Bruh," he said, reading the sign. Looking down, he saw a black hole in the ground with an arrow pointing into it. All twenty-eight diamonds were dropped into it, and the door slowly opened.

"Well, that was easy," said Sonic, "but who knows how long it will last?" The group braced themselves and carefully trekked into the open door. The interior of the tunnel was pitch-black, so Ms. Featherbon brought her glowing ball back out, illuminating a sculpture of a stone brick throne with a female figure sitting on it.

[BGM: Antimo & Welles - Sea Temple Treasure Room]

"So, that's Cursana?" said Morgan. "She's just a-" He was abruptly cut off by the statue coming to life, the dress on her tan body turning blue, her hair turning black with a bronze tiara, and the staff glowing with energy.

"Welcome, mortals,' she said in a delicate voice. "I am Cursana, the Glitch Lord of Cursed Things."

Liam's hand went to his dispenser. "We're not gonna have to fight you, are we?" he asked, defensively.

Cursana giggled and shook her head. "No, no. I'm not much of a fighter when on my own." She reached behind her body and handed Danny a key with a blue holder, which made a strange noise when he took it. "You may have my Glitch Key, but be warned: when I am with my fellow Glitch Lords, I can be quite a formidable foe."

Buzzer flew out from Kevin's inventory. "Thank you, O Cursana," he said, graciously. He took out the portal back to the Tent of Rejuvenation and placed it onto the ground, returning it to its original size. "Now if you'll excuse us, we must be going!"

"Yeah, this chapter is getting way too long!" Danny agreed. "C'mon, guys! Let's get outta here!"

"Farewell, mortals!" said Cursana. "May the rest of your journey be filled with luck!" As she heard that greeting and walked through the portal with the others, Pumpkin felt empowered. Even if she hurt her arm, she proved to herself that fighting, even without a magical jewel, was possible.

[Character Selected: Danny]
[Current World: ?]
[Current Location: Tent of Rejuventation]

[BGM: Asu01 - The Wise Wolfhound]

Trixie was sitting on her cloth, waiting for us as we walked back into the tent. "Ah, hello, everyone!" she said. "Did you get the next key?"

I presented the key to her. "We sure did!" I looked down at Pumpkin. "We did have a bit of an injury, though."

Ms. Featherbon set herself down in front of Trixie. "Pumpkin hyperextended her arm saving us from a massive creature," she explained. "If it's alright, I wish to send her home to rest."

"That would be fine," Trixie said, smiling. She noticed Knuckles was looking at her strangely. "Can I help you?"

"I feel a strange power coming from you," responded Knuckles. "You don't have any seven magical gems, have you?"

Trixie chuckled. "You mean the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Huh, so she did have them all along!" said Sonic, snapping his fingers. Suddenly, Knuckles dropped to the ground, groaning in pain. "Whoa, easy now, Knux! This has happened before!" Sonic comforted.

"The Master Emerald," the echidna groaned. "Something has happened to the Master Emerald! I have to get back to my home world, too!"

"Okay, okay! I can do this!" exclaimed Trixie, clapping her hands. She closed her eyes for a second, and I felt a glow behind me. The portal was now simply a white glow.

"Amazing," said Buzzer. "You managed to make it so that the portal would lead to two different places at once!"

Trixie opened her eyes and smirked. "I guess the student has become the master!" she said. "Now, go on back home, you two!"

"Thank you, Ms. Trixie!" said Pumpkin. She and Knuckles turned around and walked into the glowing portal, which quickly reverted to its usual blue vortex.

"Well, that was…" said Morgan. "Well, this whole game was pretty cool, actually!"

Liam nodded. "Well, there's never a dull moment around us!" he said. "But really, we don't need any help with this!"

"Yeah, I can kinda see that," responded Morgan, rubbing the back of his head. "But you guys are cool! We should play again sometime, but I gotta get home now. It's tacos tonight."

"See ya, Morgan!" I said, waving goodbye. As he vanished into thin air, to everyone jumping back in shock, I gave a quick sigh. "I think we oughta go home too, guys!" I said.

"Leaving so soon?" asked Unikitty. "Well, I guess it is getting a little late…"

Bluey tugged on my arm. "Before you go, though, I just want to say you've been an amazing friend," she said, sweetly. "Thanks for helping us back there."

I gave her a quick pat on the head. "Well, I say you should try to stay close to your friends back home as you grow up." I pointed my thumb at Liam and Kevin. "Our schedules are so complicated, we barely get to see each other outside of Minecraft." I felt a small sinking in my gut. "Not that we can see each other in person right now."

Bluey hugged my legs. "Thanks, Danny," she said. "I wouldn't mind a little more of your advice."

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

"Dear Mum and Dad,

Today was scary! We explored a cave that had hopping llama cubes, a bee monster, a rollercoaster made of ladders and boats, and this big black monster that ate us alive! Thankfully, our new friend Pumpkin saved us! Speaking of friends, Danny told us to not lose our friends as we grow up. He, Liam, and Kevin are great adventuring buddies! I hope they can come visit us when we come back home.

XXXOOO,

Bluey and Bingo"

Bandit looked over the letter as he sat in the house alone. "This Danny fellow doesn't sound that good anymore," he thought aloud. "Looks like he's leading them into danger." He stared off into space, questioning his next move. Eventually, he decided to leave the letter in the kitchen so Chilli could read it when she got home from the airport. It seemed like something they had to discuss.

[Character Selected: Andy]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Planet of the Gangermen, Royal Lair]

Andy walked back into the computer room, feeling slightly disoriented. "Wow, those respawn anchors sure are a little iffy," he said, seeing his partner still watching the heroes. "Sorry it took so long. What did I miss?"

"Not much," responded Mark, shrugging. At that moment, Perinton walked into the room, returning from his most recent journey through the multiverse. "Oh, hello, Lord Perinton! You're back early!"

The pig fiddled with the red-and-white striped rod with a star on it. "In order to bring back the next evil, I am going to need that respawn anchor we recently installed." He looked at the computer screen, noticing the Minecraft Maniacs' allies sitting quietly. "How are the heroes doing?"

The green-scarfed gangerman sighed. "They've already found the first two Glitch Keys," he reported, "but thankfully, they're down by two party members."

"Well, I suppose that's hopeful." Perinton then heard a strange buzzing from behind the nearby curtain. Peeking behind, he saw a dispenser-like contraption with a WiFi icon, with the two bars illuminated. "Who turned on the Connectiviator?" he asked.

"Uhh...it just turned on on its own!" said Mark. "I know, really weird, right?"

Perinton found the explanation a little suspicious, but he simply shrugged it off. "As long as it doesn't run out of power," he said. "For now, I need to find a little more glowstone. The respawn anchor seems a little low on power."

"Sorry about that," said Andy, rubbing the back of his head. "I had a heart attack out of nowhere!"

The gangermen waited for their boss to leave the room and collectively breathed sighs of relief. "That was close!" said Mark. "We can't let him know that we deliberately turned it on to let those kids using those special goggles join!"

"Of course," said Andy. "But from the looks of things, Lord Perinton's plan is also advancing greatly. We may have to take more desperate measures if we want to succeed…"

To be continued...and next time: a haunted adventure!

Next chapter: "The Temple in the Jungle" For their next stop in the Corruption, our heroes have to venture through a temple in Debug Woods - commands are normally more powerful there, but around the temple, Adventure mode is the only option. But for the supporting cast and Woodsword member Ash, their few wits may be their only option...especially when the Maniacs are captured!

Postface: Chapter complete! I'll tell you - this definitely wound up longer than I anticipated! I think this may actually be my favorite of this saga, too!

Trivia time! This chapter's Woodsword Chronicles guest was Morgan Mercado, the older brother of Jodi. I decided to incorporate him here because of how he is the one who's the most knowledgeable about Minecraft - being in a place where the game's logic is ignored certainly puts you to the test! As for the Cursed Caverns themselves, I based them off of the kinds of stuff you'd get if you searched up "cursed Minecraft" online. The exact features are a little different - I'm not sure anyone has thought of llama slimes, and while I've seen ladders being placed as rails, I doubt there's been anything about boats being used as minecarts. And the pickaxe rod probably hasn't been invented yet. However, I certainly have seen the bee wither before, not to mention ores giving the wrong material (admit it - you thought lapis was diamonds at first or tricked someone into thinking they had diamonds using lapis before!). The one I'm most proud of is the never dig straight down reference - the context is different than the original version, but I think the new one is funnier!

That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for the supporting cast's starring role! Stay diamond, everyone!

-Alfred

~Minecraft and everything related to it are properties of Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios. Characters, ideas, etc. from the Mario and Kirby franchises are properties of Nintendo Co., LTD and HAL Laboratory, Inc. 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. 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.~