Preface: Hello, again! That's right - I'm sticking to the schedule I set for myself for once! Let's not waste another minute and get right into the action!

MINECRAFT MANIACS:
LIGHT AND DARK

Previously...after their quest for the second Cube of Balance and another ambush from the Manipulator, Danny, Liam, Kevin, and their companions set out to the rabborgs' kingdom of Rabborgia to fill the final Key of Balance. When they arrived, however, they quickly learned of the rabborgs' old foe Magnivolent returning, scattering three artificial Gadgets of Order across the land.

Now...the group approaches the location of the first gadget...

Roll Call

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

Liam - Willy Blanq: Expert crafter. The maker.

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

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

Spawny and Spawnette - Damien Laquet: The rabborg siblings. The heart.

Balancia - Marieve Herington: Guardian allay. The fairy.

Chapter 20:
Bridge to Rabborgia - Part Two:
Ocelot Tamers

[Main Party Selected: Danny, Liam, Kevin, Balancia]
[Supporting Party Selected: Pork Chop, Spawny, Spawnette]

[Character Selected: Danny]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Rabborgia, Path to Feroce's Jungle]

[BGM: Peter Hont - Dalarna]

We'd been wandering for quite some time now, following Kevin's lead. He only took his eyes off of his watch to check to make sure we were going the right way. "Kinda gives me flashbacks to when we searched for the first Order Gadgets," I said, walking through the meadow we were currently in.

Liam chuckled. "Kinda," he agreed. "I wonder if our first destination will be a small town again."

"(Uh…nope,)" said Spawny, peering ahead. "(Looks like we're going through a jungle.)" I looked in front of Kevin and saw the familiar tall, vine-covered trees. Spawny gripped his scepter tightly. "(I hope there aren't any monsters,)" he said.

"You never know, jungles can be rather dark," said Balancia. "But I'm sure you can do it with everyone all together."

We approached the entrance to the jungle, the tall trees marking the boundary between it and the plains. Kevin reached into the shulker box he brought and pulled out an orange-and-yellow feather. "Anyone else want power-ups?" he offered.

I thought about it for a moment and decided I probably wouldn't need them yet. "Nah, I'm good," I answered.

"Me too," said Liam. And so, Kevin put the shulker box away and absorbed the power of the Cape Feather he was holding. A yellow cape appeared on his back, and he tossed the feather away.

[BGM: Peter Hont - The Ancient Tree]

"Ready to go?" he asked us. We both nodded and began to walk through the jungle. I gripped my sword, making sure any mobs that ambushed us would be dealt with easily. It was still sunlight, so we'd probably only have to worry about mobs spawning under the trees.

It was five minutes of exploring or so before I heard noises. High-pitched screeching, to be specific. "Get ready to fight, guys," I whispered to the others. Liam took out his dispenser and the others got into fighting positions. We heard rustling coming from some leaves on the ground and turned to face it. I aimed the Chicken Blade at the leaves, hoping to get a first strike in…and then out popped a small, yellowish, cat-like mob.

[BGM: Johan Johnsin - arena2]

"Oh. False alarm," said Liam. "Just an ocelot." And then a spider jumped off a tree and onto Liam's body, scaring the ocelot off. "I knew I heard them," Liam muttered, quickly warding the spider off with his dispenser.

"Looks like there's more of them," I said, looking at the treetops. More spiders were dropping down to fight, some falling into the nearby river and others onto the ground. I jabbed my sword into the air, summoning illusionary duplicates of it that went flying into the spiders' abdomens, buying me time to take care of the spiders on the land.

Kevin teamed up with the rabborgs on the spiders. He twirled around with Spawnette, using his cape to knock the spiders on their backs for Spawny to finish off with his scepter's magic blasts and Liam to fire arrows at them. "Why do you think there're so many of them?" Kevin asked in between cape spins.

"Probably something relating to the gadget," I suggested as I shook off a spider biting down on my sword. "Must be the same reason why they're so hostile in this daylight without being attacked."

That's when I heard something sickening. A loud roar, coming from chunks away. The spiders must have been as startled as we were, because they booked it like shoppers on Black Friday. And it seems there were more of them than I thought, because a bunch more of them fell off of the trees and started to attack us.

Pork Chop hoisted a spider onto his back and kicked it onto another spider, damaging both of them. I could see he was deep in thought in the middle of the fight. That's when he looked over to the leaves and oinked. "(Oh! Do you really think that would work?)" asked Spawnette, somehow knowing his plan. Pork Chop nodded.

"(What's going on?)" asked Spawny, in the middle of zapping the spiders. Spawnette pointed at the leaves. "(Ohhh!)" The two hopped into the leaves.

"What are they doing, hiding?" asked Liam, watching them through arrow shots.

"No, I think they're gonna do something they haven't done in a good while," Kevin answered. Sure enough, when the two popped out, they did not look the same as they did before. Grass skirts and plant-themed crowns for both of them, plus a coconut top for Spawnette. They had transformed into their Grass forms.

"(Maybe this will soothe you, you creepy-crawlies,)" said Spawny, and he and Spawnette held out their hands and began to dance. The dance caused wind to start blowing through the trees, and while we managed to stay on the ground pretty easily, the spiders weren't so lucky, being thrown up into the air and carried all the way to the river.

"Aww, yeah! Nice one!" said Liam. He aimed his dispenser at the spiders and used his arrows to pick them off, one-by-one.

"And just to take care of any other ones remaining," said Kevin, rubbing his hands together. He jumped up and used his cape to fly high into the air, then grabbed its edges and used it to smash back into the ground. The earth shook, killing the few spiders that Liam didn't get.

[BGM: End]

"Alright, that's that," I said, wiping my hands. "But what was making that weird roar?"

Kevin checked his watch again. "Whatever it was, it must have the Order Gadget," he said. "I can see it moving somewhere towards…the northwest." And that's when I suddenly saw my health bar drop by half. "Uh…Danny?" said Kevin, startled.

I looked down to see what happened, and I was certainly surprised - a stone spear halfway through my stomach! "Oof, no wonder I took so much damage," I responded. I reached back and pulled the spear out before tossing some chicken and bread into my mouth to patch up the wound. "I wonder where that came from."

My question was answered by more rustling from a bush near the river. We all turned to face the bush and braced ourselves for whatever we would encounter next. What we did find kinda threw me off - a female rabborg, with red eyes and belly, a brown tied top, some kind of a dark green leather skirt, and a lack of any humanlike hair, unlike Spawnette. "(INTRUDERS!)" she shouted, running right up to me. "(Get out of my jungle!)"

"Your jungle?" said Liam, confused. "I'm pretty sure one little rabborg can't own a jungle like this."

The rabborg crossed her arms and humphed. "(Silly intruders,)" she said, shaking her head. "(I have been here all my life, with only my spear and my loyal ocelot Creeper Cranker!)"

Spawny walked up the rabborg. "(Sorry, we didn't mean to disturb you,)" he said, politely. "(We were just trying to find something that…well, wouldn't be good if it stayed in the wrong hands.)"

"(Yes, we are merely trying to help,)" Spawnette agreed. She pointed to herself. "(I am the princess of Rabborgia, and my brother here is the prince.)"

"(Hmmm…)" said the other rabborg, seemingly intrigued. "(I kind of always wanted to meet whoever ruled the parts outside of this jungle.)" She smiled. "(The name is Feroce. I am something of the princess of all that is within these trees.)"

"I'm guessing that's because no one else lives in the jungle," said Kevin. "But oh well. I guess there's no one stopping you."

Feroce giggled. "(Say, since you said you were here to help, do you mind helping me with something?)"

I thought it over, eyed the others, and nodded. "Yeah, I think we've got time," I answered. I picked up the spear and gave it back to Feroce.

"(Thank you,)" said Feroce. "(Sorry for throwing that spear at you.)" She stood up a little straighter. "(I think whatever you came for is related to my little predicament…)"

[Character Selected: Liam]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Rabborgia, Feroce's Jungle]

[BGM: Peter Hont - Dingy Jungle]

Carrying her spear high, Feroce led the players and their companions through the jungle. For such a small rabborg, she knew quite a bit about its landscape, from the rivers to the cocoa pods to some of the temples she already looted. Liam couldn't help but feel impressed by her.

As they walked, Feroce explained her issue to them. "(You see, this witch came flying over here, saying something about ruling the world or whatever,)" she said, using her spear to clear some leaves. "(I tried to attack her, but she tossed this weird white object that Creeper Cranker went after, and then…)" She trailed off.

"Witch? White object?" Liam repeated, building a dirt bridge over the river the group was now crossing. "That's gotta be Magnivolent and the gadget." He then turned his attention to Feroce trailing off. "But what happened to your ocelot?"

"(He…)" Feroce gulped. "(...became a monster. He suddenly became a giant ocelot with a fierce growl, and he ran too far for me to catch up. So I have been following him, trying to get him to calm down…)"

Spawnette nodded, understandingly. "(I am so sorry that happened,)" she said. "(I promise, we will help you save your ocelot.)"

"(I appreciate it,)" said Feroce. "(Though at least his big size scared all the creepers here off to the desert!)"

"The desert?" Danny, Liam, and Kevin said all at once. They looked at each other. "Please don't say we gotta deal with him again…" Kevin growled. He eyed his watch once more. "Hmm…looks like we're getting close to where the gadget is."

"Really?" asked Danny. He peered ahead. "All I can see is the clearing past these trees." Sure enough, upon walking through the border of trees in front of them, the group had arrived at a clearing, with nothing but dirt for a few blocks all in a circle.

Pork Chop sniffed the air, sensing a rather strong smell. As soon as he could pinpoint what it was, he let out a single oink. "Fish?" said Liam, knowing what the pig meant. "Creeper Crawler must be close."

[BGM: Peter Hont - Evoker]

The stomping footsteps that started at that moment confirmed Liam's suspicion. Everyone uncontrollably bounced into the air as the footsteps became louder and louder. Feroce gripped her spear. "(Here we go,)" she said, determined. "(No turning back.)"

Danny and Liam held out their hands to Kevin. "Power-up us," said Danny. Quickly, Kevin reached into his shulker box and tossed a brown Super Leaf into Liam's hands and a Carrot power-up into Danny's. White rabbit ears sprouted on the latter's hat, and the former gained brown raccoon ears and a tail. Kevin figured that they shouldn't directly damage Creeper Cranker, so he gave them ones that would allow for greater defense than offense.

And that's when the ocelot came from its hiding place in the shadows. A big, yellow, lightly-spotted foot brought everyone's attention to the big creature, surrounded by a smoky red aura, that antagonized them now. Creeper Cranker let out a mighty roar and eyed the heroes like a red dot. "(It's me, Creeper Cranker,)" said Feroce. "(You've been a bad boy.)"

The two sides attacked. Creeper Cranker charged up to the heroes, who prepared their weapons. As a single foot came down, Feroce went for a direct jab of her spear, while Danny and Liam used their power ups to hover away. They then began to distract the ocelot to attempt to overwhelm him - Danny used his sword to summon several duplicates of himself, while Liam took the arrow out of his dispenser to only fire in blanks.

As Creeper Cranker tried to work past the sound of a dispenser firing with chomping and stomping on the Danny clones, Kevin ran alongside the rabborgs and Pork Chop, his cape fluttering in the wind. Something's not quite right here, he thought. Creeper Cranker swung his tail around to knock the Danny clones away, and Kevin responded by twirling around, his cape making contact with the tail and sending it right into Creeper Cranker's face. The ocelot fell down in a daze.

"(Now is our chance!)" cried Feroce. "(Attack!)" Pork Chop ran up to bite the ocelot's tail, Danny and Liam stood back-to-back to fight simultaneously, and Kevin, Spawny, and Spawnette ran to the distance so Kevin could get readings on Creeper Cranker.

"Come on, pick up," he groaned, sticking his watch out at Creeper Cranker. His watch dinged, signifying that it managed to catch a reading, but what he saw took his breath away. "Guys, stop!" he cried, but it was too late. One tail bite, spear toss, sword swipe, and arrow-firing later, and Creeper Cranker was sent into an even bigger rage than before. "Aw, crap…" Kevin mumbled.

The ocelot stood up again and let out another roar, and this time, regular-sized ocelots rose from the ground, their eyes glowing red. It didn't take long for the group to figure out that these ocelots were hostile, though Danny did not appreciate one of them biting his nose. "Get offa me!" he gritted, yanking the mob off of him.

Due to the more overwhelming numbers, Feroce turned her attention to the smaller ocelots. They went down in only a few stabs, but the sheer number of them made it tricky to keep up. "(I should have figured,)" the rabborg remarked, wiping her forehead. "(Fighting angry creatures just makes them madder.)"

"It's not that, I don't think," said Kevin. "Turns out I was right - we're dealing with a corrupted gadget after all."

"Like the ones we found on that Whisker Haven adventure?" asked Liam as he bashed against the ocelots. Kevin nodded. "So that must be why Creeper Cranker got so big and bad when he…" He paused, realizing the implications. "Oh, no…"

"He ate it, didn't he?" said Danny.

"Yep."

Kevin took a deep breath and took out the empty Key of Balance in his inventory. "Alright, I have an idea. I don't know if it'll work, but it's worth a shot."

The others nodded. "(What do you propose?)" asked Spawnette.

"Danny, Liam, Feroce, and Pork Chop," said Kevin, pointing to the four, "take care of the smaller ocelots and distract Creeper Cranker. Spawny and Spawnette, you might be able to use your powers to soothe him, so give it a try."

Spawny nodded. "(You're right. It is worth a shot, I guess.)"

"Alright, let's move!" cried Danny, and the others split up. Picking up Pork Chop, Danny hopped into the air and used his rabbit ears to glide through the air. "Come and get us, Creeper Cranker!" he shouted, attracting the ocelot's attention. When he went to swipe a claw at Danny, however, Danny just hovered out of the way. Pork Chop blew a raspberry at Creeper Cranker as the two touched ground briefly.

On the other side, Feroce and Liam took care of the smaller ocelots. While Feroce continued to use her spear, Liam used his raccoon tail to fly above her, shooting at the ocelots from the sky with his dispenser. The flying also allowed him to get out of the way of Creeper Cranker if he ever tried to retaliate. "(You know, those ears and tail make you look a little funny,)" said Feroce between stabs. "(But now I wonder how I could get one so I can fly!)"

"Don't hold your breath," said Liam. "Super Leaves are not native to our world." Just then, he felt a light breeze brush across the landscape. "Looks like the sibs are at it!" said Liam, and he looked down to see Spawny and Spawnette doing their grass dance.

Kevin's theory proved true, as while Creeper Cranker wasn't pushed around by the wind, he was definitely soothed. He opened his mouth and gave a satisfied meow as he slowly but surely calmed down. Feroce smiled at the sight. "(Aww…almost like he's a little kitty again,)" she said.

Now's my chance! thought Kevin. He took a running start and flew into the air, then his cape inflated and he used it to glide closer to Creeper Cranker's mouth. Holding the key in his hands, he carefully aimed into the open hole. Steady…steady…now! He tossed the key into the ocelot's mouth. Either through good aim, a blessing, or just incredible luck, the key successfully traveled into Creeper Cranker's stomach, where it made contact with the purple-orb-covered white object.

[BGM: Peter Hont - Finally]

As soon as the gadget and key hit each other, Creeper Cranker let out another roar as the red smoke began to dissipate and he began to shrink back to his usual size. Everyone braced themselves, for his shrinking caused the ground to shake violently. And when the smoke cleared, the ocelot was back to normal. Carefully, Feroce approached her companion. "(C-Creeper Cranker…)" she began, but the ocelot suddenly spit up both the gadget, now returned to its usual state, and the key, now partially filled up with dark energy. After that, the ocelot trotted up to Feroce and rubbed his head against her knee. "(Creeper Cranker!)" she cried, pulling her friend in for a hug.

[BGM: Peter Hont - What You Came For]

"Yes! The gadget!" cried Danny, running over to pick them up. But then he gagged. "Yuck! They still smell like his insides!"

Balancia flew out of Kevin's inventory. "Well done, all of you!" she said, flying up to the gadget and key. "Since this is an artificial Gadget of Order, it doesn't exactly have the power of the real ones, but as you probably saw, it can be just as dangerous!"

"We better hold onto it tightly, then," said Liam, to which Balancia nodded. He looked over to Feroce and Creeper Cranker. "You're welcome, by the way."

"(Thank you so much,)" said Feroce. "(Creeper Cranker has been with me for so long, probably ever since I was born. I can't bare to be without him.)"

The others looked at her, almost sorrily. "You really don't have anyone looking out for you, do you?"

Feroce shook her head. "(No, it has just been me and him,)" she said. "(You can never know who to trust in the jungle.)" She smiled. "(But now I know I can trust you.)"

[BGM: End]

The rabborg and the ocelot accompanied the players and their companions to the edge of the jungle. "You sure you don't wanna come with us?" Kevin asked again. "The more, the merrier."

"(No, I am fine,)" said Feroce. "(But if you ever need my assistance, I will not hesitate to help.)"

Spawny shook Feroce's hand. "(I hope we don't, but I also hope we'll see you again.)" Feroce nodded in agreement. "(Take care!)" said Spawny, and he and the others walked out of the jungle to continue their journey.

Creeper Cranker meowed at the heroes as they left, and Feroce happily pet him. "(That is right, Creeper Cranker,)" she said. "(They are our friends.)"

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

Using their UFO's technology, Andy and Mark managed to make it to the players' private world and were currently poking around Kevin's lab in search of the technology they were told to guard. After about ten minutes of searching, Andy threw his arms up in frustration. "We can't find it!" he said, exasperated. "We were duped, Mark! I knew it!"

"Hang on, I think I've found something here," Mark interjected. He motioned Andy over to a sign hanging on the wall and read the message:

"Over iN the Youth center, an OrangUtan ripped up a Radical amount of bRown crayons. the chIldren were so anGry, they called the zoo to Hoist the primaTe over a tall pile of bananas."

Andy glared. "What the heck? What kinda of a story is that?" he said.

"Come on, look closer," said Mark. Andy did so, and that's when he realized - there were several capital letters. He read only the capitals, and then…

"On your right," he said. "That's clever." He looked to the right, and on the opposite wall… "A button!" He walked over and pressed the button, and the floor opened up below him. Since he was rather used to surprises like these, he took the dropping in stride.

He climbed out of the water that was placed to break his fall, then allowed Mark to follow him. "Gee, it's dark in here," said Mark. He turned to the lever next to the hole. "Sure hope this isn't a self-destruct switch," he said, flipping it. Thankfully, the lever was a mere light switch, but what the two saw took their breath away…

To be continued...and next time: an archaeological discovery!

Next chapter: "Ruined Mysteries" The next Gadget of Order is located within the Withered Desert, hidden within the ruins of an ancient civilization. Luckily, there's one rabborg who knows his ins and outs of ruins - Argento the traveling archaeologist. With his help, finding the next gadget and dealing with whatever monstrous consequences it brings should be a snap!

Postface: Chapter complete! That is one Gadget of Order down, two to go!

Trivia time! Since this arc is set within Rabborgia, I decided it was right to feature some more rabborg characters to help out the players. And in this chaptger, we have a young jungle native rabborg named Feroce, who I named based on the word "ferocious" since she has a very fiery personality! A few previous elements have also returned - Spawny and Spawnette's elemental forms make another appearance, specifically their Grass forms. And a few Mario power-ups make an appearance - the Cape Feather from Super Mario World, the Super Leaf from Super Mario Bros. 3, and the Carrot from Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.

That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for the trip through the ruins! Stay diamond, everyone!

-Alfred

~Minecraft and everything related to it are properties of Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios. Objects, ideas, etc. from the Mario franchise are properties of Nintendo Co., 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.~