Preface: Hello, again! I have to say - this chapter did not go as I anticipated - in fact, I think it turned out better than I thought it would! Though I didn't really take too much advantage of the premise I intended. Guess I'm better at executing random stuff instead of straight-up glitches. Oh, well. I think you'll still enjoy 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 students Jodi, Morgan, and Ash, they have acquired the first Glitch Key in the Breached Plains, the second one in the Cursed Caverns, and the third in Fuquatres' temple in Debug Woods.

Now...Danny rejoins the game as Kevin does some last-minute preparations...

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.

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.

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 42:
Into the Corruption!, Part Four -
The Lagoon From the Black Lagoon

[Main Party Selected: Danny, Liam, Kevin, Buzzer, Unikitty, Treasure, Kirby, Sonic]
[Supporting Party Selected: Pork Chop, Spawny, Spawnette, Max, Tails, Sultan, Ms. Featherbon, Bluey, Bingo]

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

The first thing I saw when I joined the game was Trixie and Buzzer grooving in place to some pretty catchy tune. Instinctively, I started to dance along. "Nice tunes, guys!" I said. "What artist is this?"

"Look to your right!" said Buzzer. I turned my head to the right and saw what he was talking about. Liam and many of our allies were just jamming along on note blocks, with Spawny and Spawnette on their usual trumpet and violin and Sonic using his fancy guitar.

"Wow! Where did this note block circle come from?" I asked, impressed at their skill.

"Kirby was so impressed with the ones we found yesterday," explained Treasure, making some nice flute sounds on her block, "so Liam made him one!"

"Next thing you know, we've got a full circle going!" Liam continued. He was using sticks to play his own note blocks, as if they were drums. "Wanna join in? Sonic could use a little more guitar!"

I thought about it for a second. "Yeah, I could kill some time!" Digging through the ender chest, I took out the guitar that I used during the band attack Kevin occasionally brought out, plugged it into Sonic's amp, and started doing a simple riff.

"Now we're talking!" shouted Sonic. He started to match my riff, creating a double-layered guitar track. Next thing we knew, we had a full band of xylophones, cowbells, didgeridoos, and even a bass line going on.

"Man! This is awesome!" shouted Max, playing his xylophone part. "If only Kevin was here!"

"Where is Kev, anyway?" I asked between guitar licks.

"He, Tails, Unikitty and Puppycorn took a quick trip to the Unikingdom," Liam explained. "We'll be going underwater today, so he decided he oughta do some modifications to the Twister."

"The Twister, huh?" I said. "Been a while since we used it!" Sonic began to do a final guitar solo, so I joined him in doing that. Spawny came in on his trumpet, followed by Bluey on her harmonica line. With that last solo, we all finished at the same time.

"Yes! Way past cool, everyone!" shouted Sonic. "We crushed it up to number 4-0!"

"It was just like the dream we had last night!" said Bluey. She looked at Bingo, expectantly. "Remember that, Bingo?"

Bingo blushed a little. "Uh, yeah, I do…" she said, a little apprehensively. At that moment, Kevin walked back through the portal, accompanied by Tails, Unikitty, and surprisingly, Dr. Fox. "Oh, hey! They're back!"

"Well, I've got good news and bad news," explained Kevin. "The bad news is that Puppycorn welded his arm to one of the robots in the lab."

"I'm still not quite sure how it happened!" said Dr. Fox, shrugging. "We weren't even using welding tools!"

"The good news, on the other hand," Kevin continued, "is that the Twister is now upgraded and ready for its new debut!"

Liam and I cheered. "Awesome!" shouted Liam. "I hope those upgrades aren't like those new iPhones every year!"

"Oh, trust me, this will trump that lousy capitalist stunt!" said Tails, making a sweeping motion with his hand. Suddenly, I felt the sensation of somebody appearing right next to me. Looking to my right, there was a dark-skinned girl with bluish-purplish hair, big black glasses, a denim jacket over a light blue shirt, whitish pants, and black flats. "Oh, you must be today's guest!"

"Well, if Ash was correct and I'm not in the wrong spot!" said the girl.

"Don't worry, you're in the right spot!" I said. I stuck my hand out for her to shake it. "I"m Danny! You must be Harper Houston!"

"That I am," said Harper, accepting the hand shake. She looked behind me. "Say, why do you have some rabbit-looking guys, Sonic the Hedgehog, Kirby, some lego creatures, and walking dogs here?"

"That is a bridge we shall cross when we get to it!" said Buzzer. Looking up, I noticed his skin was now the color red, like a Receiver of Memory's first splash of the value. "For now, you shall be joining us down in the Lake of Glitches!"

"Lake of Glitches, huh?" said Harper. "I've gone on an adventure in Minecraft's oceans before. Guess I can be of assistance."

"I sure hope so," I said, shrugging. "Otherwise, what's the point of you being in this story? Because the author wanted to throw you in?"

"Isn't that why you did it?" Kevin asked.

I went stone-faced. "Yes. But let's not focus on that."

Trixie clapped her hands together, getting our attention. "Indeed. For now, you heroes must be ready to go down to the lake. We're getting close to the end, now."

[Character Selected: Kevin]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Corruption, Lake of Glitches]

[BGM: Ween - Ocean Man]

The portal now takes you to an ordinary-looking beach, almost like the ones creating a fork between the jungle and ocean in the Unikingdom and the first place you found the Tent of Rejuvenation in Bluey's world. In front of everyone is the lake where the fourth Glitch Key resides, which supposedly does not adhere to the many bug fixes Mojang has done over the years.

Dr. Fox inspects the water. "This sea doesn't seem too technological," she says. "I wonder why they call it the Lake of Glitches."

"I think it's more of the logic within the lake than the composition of it," explains Danny. He turns to face you. "So is she Puppycorn's replacement or something?"

"Well, yeah," you say, rubbing the back of your head. "But I think you'll be impressed by what she and Tails helped me do!" You press some buttons on your watch, and in a flash, your signature purple mouse-like vessel appears out of nowhere, currently in land mode.

"Mmm, doesn't look any different," says Liam, unimpressed.

"Whoa, I'm not done!" you say, donning your brown pilot's hat. Climbing inside your mech, you press the green button with a water droplet icon on it. The Twister starts to change shape, as the legs and arms return inside its body, a propeller appears in the back of the machine, and a bubble appears around the cockpit.

"Still not seeing anything."

You groan. "Seriously, you gotta be more patient…" With a press of a red button with a grouping of arrows on it, the entire vessel begins to transform, stretching and expanding into a mighty purple submarine.

"Yeah! Now we're talking!" shouts Liam, opening the door.

"I've always wanted to be in a submarine," says Treasure, helping Sultan inside. "Being able to be in the water while also being a captain sounds amazing!"

Bluey looks around at the furnishing. At the front is a window for the surroundings, as well as a sonar radar. In the middle is some kind of stage, with another camera above it. And in the back is some kind of door. "This looks a little like a rocket ship!" she says, excited.

"Yeah, it kinda does," Sonic agrees. "Now we can really get going!"

"Just one last thing!' says Tails, taking out his yellow tablet. With a press of a few buttons, a pair of blue eyes appears on the window. "Alright, NICK! You're on!"

Almost everyone screams. "What is that?" Max shouts.

"I don't know, but it looks cool!" says Sultan, walking up to the window. "Hello, mysterious eyes."

"Hello, tiny tiger!" says the AI. "I'm NICK! I'm your artificial intelligence auto-pilot! Everyone ready?"

Harper looks a little unsure. "Are you sure you wanna trust an artificial intelligence with piloting this submarine?" she asks. "My friends and I have seen what can happen when they go rogue." She pauses. "Well, technically it was more of a program…"

"Don't worry - NICK is as trustworthy as they come!" Sonic tries to reassure her. "Alright, NICK! Let's juice!"

"Dive! Dive! Dive!" shouts NICK. The Twister leaps into the air, crashing into the sea, before being automatically pulled across the ocean. The sights of fish, coral, and currents pass by the window, aweing everyone as they watch.

"I've never really seen this world's oceans before," says Max, gazing at a coral field. "These kinda remind me of aquariums back home."

"Actually, my school did a science project where we had to make our own coral preservation tanks," adds Harper. "It was pretty cool, though my partner wound up sabotaging it a little."

You overhear the conversation. "Y'know, I think Mojang actually did something like that in promotion of the Update Aquatic a few years ago," you say. "That was actually pretty cool!"

Bluey peers at the sonar. "What's that beepy thing?" she asks.

"That's called sonar," explains Dr. Fox. "It helps us detect things underwater. In this case, anomalies!"

Harper stares out the window. Her eyes get wide. "Is that an anomaly?" she asks, pointing forward. Looking ahead to see what she is talking about, you notice a terrifying sight - an enderman underwater. That should not be possible.

"Definitely," you say. "Well, at least we have an opportunity to test out the new defense system!"

"New defense system?" Danny asks, intrigued. "Tell us how it works!"

"Ooo! Ooo! Can I do it?" Tails asks, excitedly.

You chuckle at the fox. "Yeah, go ahead."

Pumping his fist, Tails presses a button on the wall. The door in the back opens, revealing an entire closet of instruments. "You see, the stage in the middle of the sub is designed to read our movements when I press that button," he explains, picking up a guitar from the shelf. He stands in the middle of the stage. "And if I do this…" He does a brief strum of his guitar.

"Oh yeah!" NICK shouts in response. Waves appear out of the submarine, attacking the enderman. As a result, the water now starts to affect it, and it teleports out of the lake.

"Wow! Jammin'!" Sonic shouts. "Say, any more instruments in there?"

Liam walks over to the closet. "There's a whole cavalcade of them in here!" he shouts. "Ooo! I call drums!"

"Bingo, look!" says Bluey, pulling out what looks to be a keyboard with a nozzle on it. "A melodica!"

Danny looks through the closet, noticing more instruments. "So...were you a Little Einsteins fan back in the day or something?" he asks.

"Well, a little…" you say. "I may have taken inspiration from it here and there." Suddenly, an alarm starts blaring. "Uh-oh! We're under attack!" Sure enough, on the outside, more endermen are starting to dismantle the Twister, block by block.

"I'll keep us going straight, guys!" shouts NICK. "Just get these things off of me!"

"I'll keep watch of the sonar," says Dr. Fox, watching the screen.

Ms. Featherbon is the last to fly out of the closet, holding a kazoo. "Miss Harper, do you mind conducting us?" she asks.

"Um...okay…" Harper says, unsure. "I've never thought about conducting before."

You take your place at your keyboard. "Don't worry about it," you say. "Just fling your wand, and we'll do all of the work."

Harper smiles. "Well, there is one song I've been wanting to try." She lifts up the conductor's wand and hums, letting Ms. Featherbon start on kazoo. Then Unikitty starts the bass. Bluey starts playing her melodica, and Bingo's bongo drumming leads to Liam's drums.

"Psst...does anybody know what song we're doing?" Max asks.

[BGM: Beethoven - Ode to Joy]

"I dunno," says Tails, strumming his guitar a little. As Harper starts to conduct and the other instruments come in, he thinks he recognizes it. "Wait, I think it's Ode to Joy!"

"Ah, Ode to Joy!" Danny remarks. "Always wondered what that would sound like as a rock orchestra." He starts playing his own guitar, and Sonic comes in. The waves start to emerge from the Twister, and the endermen start to fly off of it.

"Hey, guys! It's working!" NICK calls. "Uh-oh! More guys are coming!"

Turning around, Harper recognizes the green faces coming your way. "It's creepers, everyone!" she says. "They could blow this whole thing up!"

"In that case, don't hold back!" shouts Sultan, preparing his triangles. "Go all-out!"

Harper takes a breath. "Alright, I can do this," you hear her whisper. She raises her wand...and in an instant, a beautiful arrangement of Ode to Joy begins. Waves fire everywhere, killing the creepers just as they start to blow up, almost like the cannons fired during the 1812 Overture. And you just keep going, losing yourselves in the instruments as guardians, skeletons, and even flying squids dropping milk bombs fail to attack the mighty vessel. It's a wonder Dr. Fox can concentrate on the sonar during all of this.

[BGM: End]

Finally, the music dies down, and you all breathe heavily. "Amazing…" Kirby finally says. "Who would've thought making that speaker thingy could lead to this?"

"Yeah, that was better than that note block circle we did earlier…" adds Max.

"I don't know why, but now I want to go for a bike ride," says Bluey. Everyone looks at the heeler, confused. "What?"

"Well, either way," says Tails. "We owe it to our amazing conductor!"

Harper blushes. "Why, thank you," she says, pleased by the fox's words. "Y'know, for a supposed Lake of Glitches, this lake doesn't seem very...glitchy."

"I think this chapter was more improvised than usual," you suggest. "I mean, if you go back to the last chapter and read the preview…"

Suddenly, the sonar starts blaring constantly. "Um, guys?" asks NICK. "I think I picked up something strange."

You all run over to the sonar screen. A strange power source was picked up by the system. "I've never seen anything quite like this before," says Dr. Fox. "Do you think it could be one of the glitches down here?"

You look through the window. "No...I think it's something a little more...natural." Another Update Aquatic feature is in the distance: a grey, shell-like cube surrounded by shiny prismarine blocks. Normally, an arrangement like this would mean the cube would be spinning around, revealing its blue core and giving all of your increased water power. But it's not doing that. And things like these aren't generated naturally.

"Say, what is that thing?" Sonic asks. "It looks like some kind of power source."

"It's called a conduit," you tell the hedgehog. "Not that it's acting correctly."

"I've seen something like this before," Harper says, grimly. "There was a conduit in front of an ocean monument, and the monument had zombie pigmen and…" She gulps."...ghasts in it." At that moment, the conduit suddenly opens up. Blue streaks begin to spin around the construction, creating a whirlpool that begins to suck everything up.

"I think we should enter it," says Dr. Fox.

"What?" shouts Unikitty, incredulous. "Are you crazy?" She pauses. "Wait, of course you are! This seems like something you'd do, Doc!"

"Just trust me," insists the fox. "NICK, send us in."

"Uh...okay…" says NICK, unsure. "But this whirlpool looks pretty…" As the Twister approaches, the inevitable happens and you begin to be sucked right into the middle.

"HEEEEEELLLLLP! WE'RE BEING SUCKED IIIIIIINNN!" shouts Dr. Fox as the Twister loses control and you are all thrown around the vessel.

"We told you!" shouts Tails, rolling his eyes. "But nooooooooooo…"

[Character Selected: Liam]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Lake of Glitches, Inside of Conduit]

[BGM: Antimo & Welles - Prismarine Mobs]

The Twister set down inside of the core of the conduit, which had the appearance of a turquoise room. Everyone fell to the ground as the Twister stopped spinning. "Well, still not very glitchy," remarked Liam, getting to his feet, "but I was kinda expecting this."

Kirby dusted himself off. "What horrible creature will we have to face here?" he thought aloud, looking around.

"I think she's right in front of us…" said NICK. Everyone turned their heads to the window. Staring back at them was the latest Glitch Lord. This one had a mermaid-like appearance, with flowing red hair, a circlet made of red coral around her forehead, a seashell bra, and a long, red-scaled tail. In her hand was a trident colored as red as everything else.

"Greetings, land creatures," the Gitch Lord boomed. "I am Mistakuse, the Glitch Lord of Bugs. And as the queen of this lake, I hereby accuse you of trespassing!"

Buzzer flew out of Kevin's inventory, pressed a button with a speaker icon that turned on the microphone, and flew up to the window. "Please, great Mistakuse, we have only come for the Glitch Key and nothing more. We meant no harm to your domain."

"Mmm, too bad," said Mistakuse, her trident glowing more. "I shall give you two choices for your punishment: one, you can be trapped in this conduit forever, or two, you will become merfolk and be one with my domain forever. I will give you time to decide."

That seemed to pique Bluey's interest. "She can turn us into mermaids?" she asked, her tail wagging. "I would like that!"

Sonic turned off the microphone. "And abandon your life as-is?" he argued. "No way! Besides, there's so much more freedom on land!"

"King Triton turned me into a mercat once," said Treasure. "It was fun, but I didn't think it was right for me."

"And at least Meratee can change me from being a mermaid and a normal kitty," said Unikitty. She blushed. "If only she was here. She could probably help us trick this meanie by turning a few of us into merfolk…"

That gave the rabborgs an idea. "(That's it!)" said Spawny. "(Me and my sis can go out, activate our merrabborg forms to make it seem like she transformed us, and meanwhile you guys try to figure a way to beat her!)"

Harper stared in confusion. "How could I understand that rabbit guy?" she asked.

"Don't question it," said Danny. "But that's an amazing idea!"

"I don't quite understand it, but I think that'll work!" said NICK. He cleared his throat. "Alright, I think these guys have made their decision."

"Well, what shall it be?" asked Mistakuse. "Prison, or merfolk?"

"(We have decided to become one with your domain,)" Spawnette spoke into the microphone. "(However, we do not want to do it all at once. We wish to go a few at a time.)"

Mistakuse raised an eyebrow, but she mostly ignored it. "Very well. The first few may swim out."

"(Okay, it worked!)" said Spawny, giving a thumbs-up. He and Spawnette took off their amulets so that they wouldn't transform the instant they hit water. "(Now c'mon! Go and find a way out of here!)"

"Good luck, you two!" said Liam as the rabborgs jumped out of the Twister and into the clear liquid around them. "Okay, guy! We probably have a minute or so to come up with a plan!"

Harper looked at the microphone system. "Maybe if we manage to hook it up to the music attack system, we can amplify our power and stun her."

"But how can we hook it up?" Tails asked. "There isn't any way to wire it!"

"I dunno, but we're running outta time!" Sonic shouted. Sure enough, looking outside the window, the group saw Mistakuse point her trident at Spawny and Spawnette. The rabborgs donned their amulets just before the beam of light shot at them made contact, transforming them into merrabborgs and renderng them immune to the beam's effects.

"Hello, my new children," said Mistakuse, witnessing what she thought was her handiwork. "Now then, who's next?"

Danny took out his sword. "Okay, I'm not sure this'll work, but…" He raised his sword, charging it to 65% power, and slammed it on the ground. Meticulously, a block with a frowny face appeared in front of the microphone, a line of redstone connecting it to the stage. "Okay, that observer will connect to the stage as soon as someone speaks into it. That might amplify it!"

"Well, it's our best shot!" said Sonic. He quickly picked his guitar up. "Alright, you sea goddess," he said.

"Let's see if you're tough as nails," said Tails walking up to the microphone.

"Vibe check by…"

"SONIC AND TAILS!" As soon as the fox shouted the names, the observer activated, turning on the redstone signal. At that split second, Sonic strummed his guitar. Like Emmet Brown's massive guitar amp, the sound waves that rocketed out of the Twister rang in Mistakuse's ears, but it also rocketed everyone into the window. The Twister flew right into the Glitch Lord's body, sending her into the wall.

Sultan emerged from the impact. "Wow," he said, impressed. "Rock and roar…" Sirens blared, signifying critical damage.

"Wuh-oh!" shouted Kevin. "Sorry, guys! Prepare for emergency ejection!" He pressed a big red "EJECT" button, causing blue splash potions to rain down from the roof. A hatch opened on the top of the vessel, and everyone was flung out of it, flying into the open. As soon as Kevin was the only one left, he pressed the arrow button once more. The Twister began to condense back into its initial one-man only form, beginning to automatically repair from its damages.

Bluey opened her eyes. "Hey! I can breathe!" she said, happily. "But what about our auto-pilot?"

"Don't worry, everyone! I'm fine!" NICK shouted from Tails' hammerspace area. "I managed to transfer back here! But you guys won't be fine if you don't do anything!"

Mistakuse emerged from the wall, gripping her trident. "That's it!" she growled. "If you won't accept either choice, I have no choice but to force you from this world!" With a bang of her trident, several majestic dolphins spawned out of nowhere.

"Oh, dolphins!" said Kirby. "That's not so…" Suddenly, the dolphins charged at the puffball and took a bite out of him. "Ouch! These dolphins are rabid!"

"Well, this is crap," said Liam, arming his dispenser. He aimed at the Glitch Lord and fired a barrage of arrows at her body. The arrows simply bounced off of her invincible body, harmlessly.

"Fool," she said. "I cannot be hurt within this majestic orb of mine. Your attempts to harm me are futile."

That made Tails think. "Then why did that submarine seem to hurt you?"

That made Mistakuse freeze figuratively. "Well...you see…" And then she froze, literally.

"Froze you!" shouted Bingo, still having her xylophone. "We can attack her now!"

Thinking about Tails' point, Liam got an idea. "Kev! Ram your sub into Mistakuse!"

Shrugging, Kevin obliged. He aimed the Twister at the Glitch Lord, activated the propeller, and charged forward. Mistakuse bounced off of the nose tip and stuck to the wall, flashing red. "Well, that seemed to do something…" he analyzed. "Kinda like the endermen earlier..."

"(Well, let's take the opportunity!)" shouted Spawny. "(Everyone attack!)" He and Spawnette spun around, charging forward, and rammed into Mistakuse's body. Treasure and Sultan followed with a dual scratch attack, and then Danny got a few lasers from his sword in. Lastly, Bluey swung her asparagus at the dolphins, turning them into sharks that bit the Glitch Lord's head. Before Max could get a sword slash in, however, Mistakuse emerged from the wall, having broken free from her frozenness.

"Did you really think that I would be fazed by that?" she taunted. With a swing of her trident, everyone starts to slowly advance forward, almost like a rather notorious sprint glitch from a few years ago.

"I was wondering where the bugs were," Liam mused, slowly pushing forward inch-by-inch. "But I think I figured out how to get this lady!"

"I think I did, too!" Harper agreed. "Someone charges into her to weaken her, and then we all attack at once!"

"Well, good luck with that," Misatkuse taunted with a chuckle. "For now, enjoy being trapped in-gah!" She was suddenly cut off by both Spawny and Spawnette swimming right past her, causing her to lose her grip on her trident.

"Alright, rabborgs!" Liam shouted. "Wait, how did you go so quickly?"

"(Our swimming boost maneuver!)" explained Spawnette. "(We can still perform it!)"

That got Danny's brain turning. "If that's the case…" Right next to him was Pork Chop, who was slowly squirming along. Danny picked the pig up and aimed at Liam. "Get me that Item Bag, boy!" he instructed, tossing Pork Chop at Liam. The piglet sniffed Liam's inventory, looking for the bag, and within a few seconds, he had found it and tossed it over to Danny. "And now for our final power-up…" Danny thought of the power-up he wanted to obtain, and when he pulled his hand out of the bag, he was holding a mushroom with a rock-like head. With a single poof, the Item Bag deflated, now just an ordinary sack.

Harper looked over. "Say, isn't that…?"

"A power-up from the Mario games?" Danny finished. "Yes, yes it is!" He absorbed the Rock Mushroom's power, which turned his hat, overalls, and shoes into a more gray, rock-like appearance. "Hey, Sonic! Mind if I borrow one of your moves?"

The hedgehog looked over. "Which one?"

"This!" Danny curled up, several rocks appearing around his body, forming a boulder around him. "Super Sonic Spin Attack!" He launched forward at Mistakuse, who was struggling to get her trident back from the rabborgs. For the third time in this chapter, the Glitch Lord flew back against the wall, and Danny emerged from the boulder. "Yes! That's how we do it on the land!"

"Alright, I can't let you have all the fun!" said Sonic. From his place, he curled up into a ball, charged up a Spin Dash, and ran right into Mistakuse's vulnerable body.

"Yes! Go Son-" Unikitty began. However, at that moment, the potions everyone was splashed with before being ejected from the Twister wore off, causing everyone to start to drown.

"Uh, dude?" Kevin shouted. "The water breathing's gone! We gotta get outta here!"

Danny turned around. "Buzzer, get the portal out," he instructed. "Kevin, you and the rabborgs stay here and finish the job!"

Buzzer flew out from Kevin's inventory. "I'm on it!" Within a second, the portal back to the Tent of Rejuvenation was at the bottom of the sphere, ready to be used.

Mistakuse recovered from her stunned state. "Oh, no you don't!" she shouted, swimming over to the portal. "The only way you make it out of here alive is if you-" She was cut off again by Danny slamming into her body once more.

"Alright, I got this from here!" Danny shouted. He was beginning to take damage from drowning. "See you back at the field!" With one last roll around, he picked almost everyone up in his boulder form and vanished into the portal, leaving Sonic, Kevin, and the rabborgs all alone with the Glitch Lord.

"Hey, Sonic! Why didn't you go with them?" Kevin asked the hedgehog. Turning over, he saw that Spawny was giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, so he quickly looked away.

Sonic pulled away, his mouth refreshed with air. "There's no way I'm letting this gal go without a fight!"

Kevin nodded and turned the Twister around. "Alright, Mistakuse!" he shouted. "Let's finish this!"

Mistakuse grabbed her trident once more. "Very well. Let's." She began to charge up one final blast from her trident. This last blast would permanently turn the four into merfolk, even completely rewriting their memories and personality to match.

There wasn't much time to think. Kevin looked at his control panel. What could be useful to him? What other upgrades could he use? As a last resort, he pressed the button with an icon of a burst of speed. By means of a strange magnetic force, Spawny, Spawnette, and Sonic began to twirl around the Twister in a clockwise direction, just as the Twister itself twirled in a counterclockwise direction. "Hmm, Tails really tricked this thing out," Kevin mused.

Sonic saw the Twister glow and the propeller begin to spin rapidly. "Hey! I think our rotation's powering this thing up!" he said. "How about we give it some more oomph?"

"(Of course!)" exclaimed Spawnette. She and Spawny began to perform their boost maneuver as Sonic began to charge another Spin Dash. The power levels of the Twister began to increase just as Mistakuse's trident began to glow.

"Alright, hang on!" Kevin shouted, grabbing the controls. "I'm going iiiiiiii-" He launched forward just as the trident's beam fired. The effects of the beam began to affect his character somewhat. Looking down, Kevin saw scales begin to form on his legs. Thankfully, they were going at a slow pace, and they seemed to be receding a little. Besides, his memory remained as intact as ever.

Sonic, meanwhile, was having a bit more trouble. Gills were starting to form on his neck as his legs became a tail. His memories were beginning to change. Why was he thinking about fighting a human on an island? That never happened. And what was with this worry over something called a Phantom Ruby? All Son...no, Tsunami remembered was swimming through the ocean at top speed all of his life.

Realizing what was happening, Sonic began to push more. "C'mon, I am not becoming a merhog!" he shouted. "But I've always been...No! I am not Tsunami the Merhog! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog! Hero of Mobius, fastest thing alive, and lover of chili dogs!"

"That's what I'm talking about!" Kevin shouted. With a mighty push, Sonic unleashed his Spin Dash. The Twister lunged forward, right through the beam, as well as Mistakuse's vulnerable body. In a mighty flash, the Glitch Lord vanished in a grouping of magic particles.

[BGM: End]

Spawny took a few deep breaths. "(I can't believe it!)" he shouted. "(We did it!)" He looked up, noticing a key with a red holder. "(And the fourth Glitch Key is ours!)"

Eagerly, Kevin tapped some buttons on his watch, sending the Twister back to his lab in a flash. He swam towards the Glitch Key and grabbed it, causing a small buzzing sound. "That was some mighty fine speed-using there, Sonic!" he shouted. No response. "Sonic?"

Spawnette gulped, holding the hedgehog's limp body in her arms. "(I feel a pulse,)" she said, "(but it is fading.)"

"Oh, dang it!" Kevin shouted. At that moment, his oxygen bar ran out, and he began to take damage. "No time to waste! Into the portal!" And with that, the three swam right through the glowing portal, which vanished shortly afterward, leaving the conduit as the only thing floating in the lake.

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

[BGM: C418 - Mice on Venus]

I paced the floor, anxiously awaiting Kevin's return. How long has he been there? Was he defeated? Did Mistakuse win? "I just gotta know!" I shouted, my thoughts taking over my speech.

"Danny, calm down!" said Unikitty, putting her hands on my shoulders. "I'm worried, too. But stressing about it isn't gonna solve anything."

I sighed. "I know. But we nearly all drowned! Who knows what could've happened?" At that moment, Kevin fell through the portal face-first. Spawny and Spawnette followed, their tails reverting back to their legs and Spawnette's seashell bra vanishing, but Sonic looked pretty worse for wear.

"We were so worried!" shouted Harper, helping Kevin up. "Is Sonic okay?"

"I think he got close to drowning!" explained Kevin. "He's barely breathing! Can anybody fix him?"

Ms. Featherbon seemed to get an idea. "Miss Trixie," she asked, "do you still have the Chaos Emeralds from the other day? I would like to borrow them."

Unsure, Trixie reached behind herself and pulled out the seven multicolored jewels. Ms. Featherbon grabbed each one of them with her talons and placed them one-by-one around Sonic's body. "If one of you guys kisses him, I'm gonna vomit," Liam said abruptly.

"Why would anybody do that?" Trixie asked, confused. The last emerald was set down, and they all began to glow.

Sonic opened his eyes and bolted awake. "Gottajuicebro!" he shouted before running around the tent a bunch of times. From the after-images, we could see him rummaging through the chests, playing at the fishing farm, telling himself to get up, and even dangling off of a shelf. Eventually, he regathered himself and set down in the middle of the tent. "Where am I? What year is it? Did Archie win the lawsuit?"

"Dude, calm down!" I said. "You're fine! We're back in the tent, and we got the fourth key. I think."

"Well, that's good," said Sonic, collapsing on the ground. "That Mistakuse lady tried to rewrite my brain and turn me into a merhog. My head and legs hurt so much."

Tails walked over to Sonic. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Totally, keed," said Sonic, smiling. "Just gotta get some rest. Not getting enough sleep can ruin your whole day, after all! We all laughed at his statement.

Ms. Featherbon coughed. "I believe I should get some rest, too," she said, her voice sounding clogged. "I'm not feeling too well from being in the water."

"Well, if that's everything, I think I oughta be heading out!" said Harper. "It was cool being the conductor for you guys! Ash was right - you guys make an excellent team!"

"Well, a team is only as good as its leader," said Bluey, giving me the eye. "Especially when that leader gives good advice!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Alright, this one I've been holding in for a while," I said. "A few years ago, I got a stomach ache so bad, it basically left me with feelings of fullness in my stomach."

Bingo looked confused. "So you don't feel as hungry anymore?"

"Basically, yeah," I said. "I guess that's it for this evening. Watch out for stomach aches."

Harper smiled. "Giving them advice. I like that."

I nodded. "Well, I'm not what you would call a good role model," I said. "All I'm trying to do is steer them away from being me, y'know?"

Harper shrugged. "Well, I'm no good at psychology, so I'm gonna leave now. Bye!" And with that, she waved goodbye and vanished from the game.

"Alright, y'know what?" said Liam. "That wasn't bad advice right there."

"Yeah, I guess it wasn't," I responded. "I mean, how can that blow up in our faces, right?"

Oh how I wish I could take that back. But I'm gonna stop before I get ahead of myself again. I've been working on that, sight unseen.

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

[BGM: Asu01 - The Great Chase]

Bandit walked into the house after coming home from work, finding Chilli sitting on the couch in anger. Oh, biscuits, he thought. "Did another letter come in?" he asked, dropping his bag at the door.

"Yes it did," responded Chilli, handing him a sheet of paper. "Look at what it says." Obediently, Bandit read the letter:

"Dear Mum and Dad,

Today, we got to take a ride in a submarine! And it was a special submarine, too! This one allowed us to attack meanies around us by playing in a band!"

Bandit paused. "This seems alright," he said. "I have to keep reading, don't I?" Before Chilli even nodded, he kept reading the letter:

"But then, this big lady named Meestakoos almost drowned us! But we made it back alive! And Danny told us to never get a tummy ache!

XXXOOO,

Bluey and Bingo"

Suddenly, the blue heeler knew why his wife was mad. "They almost got them killed!" he said, angrily squeezing the letter. "And that Danny guy told them something about their stomachs, but that's beside the point!"

"I know," Chilli said, sternly. "So what should we do?"

Bandit thought for a moment. "We're going to Stripe's," he said. "Right now."

[Character Selected: Perinton]
[Current World: ?]
[Current Location: ?]

The figure looked at the pig in front of her. "So, we meet again, my dear," she said. "I suppose you want me to help you again?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," stated Perinton. "But you won't be going up against those players alone anymore. You'll be accompanied by many other villains across the multiverse. And when I take over the multiverse, I'll give you your very own share to rule over."

The figure smiled, sinisterly. "Well, I suppose that wouldn't be too bad, love. When do we start?"

To be continued...and next time: out of the tent and into the Aether!

Next chapter: Our heroes' last test in order to get all of the Glitch Keys is a little bit of "Aether Aerobics." That's right - the classic Minecraft mod returns as the last Glitch Lord offers up his challenges! It's the finale of the Into the Corruption arc, and the teamwork everyone's been building up so far will be integral to making it through this last challenge! But...will it all go to waste?

Postface: Chapter complete! Honestly, I do wish I could've done more with the 'glitch' portion of it. It was really more aquatic than glitchy. Still, it was a definite improvement over last time.

Trivia time! Our guest for this chapter was Harper Houston! She's kind of the 'smart one' of the Woodsowrd gang, being the most passionate about science. I decided to include her here because of the focus on her in book three of the Woodsword Chronicles series, titled "Deep Dive!" I included a few references to that book's events, actually. And, after so long, the Twister finally returns! I originally didn't include it here, but looking back, I realized it was a waste not to include it. And the upgrades it got gave me an excuse to replace Puppycorn with Dr. Fox for the rest of this arc, not to mention a reason to bring NICK back from Chapter 23. As you can see, I was somewhat inspired by Little Einstiens in this chapter. It could be because I had it on my mind while I was writing it, but either way, the little note block drum circle at the beginning wasn't intended as a lead-in to it, nor was the upcoming chapter of my current Bluey-themed sub-story, Blue Dreams. It was just a happy coincidence! As for the battle with Mistakuse, I thought since we were underwater, it would be a cool idea to incorporate mermaid themes one last time. Recently, I've been looking at mermaid-related stuff on DeviantArt, which was partially the inspiration for some of the stuff featured in the battle, notably the last-ditch transformation Mistakuse tried to do, which at least affected Sonic briefly. Last but not least, another new Mario power-up appears: the Rock Mushroom! This power-up first appeared in Super Mario Galaxy 2, but has scarcely appeared since. I featured it here because of how Azurixx featured it in an early chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite! I just can't stop finding ways to do a shout-out to that guy, can I? With that, the Item Bag Liam got back in Chapter 31 is finally used up!

So, there's only one more Glitch Key to find, and even with Ms. Featherbon's sudden cold, the heroes should at least have a moderate time getting it, right? Well, maybe, but it looks like Bandit and Chilli have finally had it with Danny and his unintentional leading of Bluey and Bingo towards danger! But don't worry - that shouldn't interfere with the heroes' quest...right? Right?

That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for what's outside the Tent of Rejuvenation! 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.~