Preface: Hello, again! Quick note before we get into today's chapter: I'll be going away on Sunday and won't be back until next Saturday, so this'll be the last thing I post before then. Just a little heads-up! With that said, let's get started!
MINECRAFT MANIACS:
LIGHT AND DARK
Previously...following an adventure in the Blue's Clues world, Danny, Liam, Kevin, and their companions entered the Pikwik Planet, teaming up with the Pikiwk Pack to completely fill the first Key of Balance.
Now...the group presses on, unaware of the danger at hand...
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.
Suki the Hedgehog - Emma Ho: Pikwik Pack leader. Responsible boat driver.
Axel the Raccoon - Daniel Pathan: Blue-furred speedster. Driver of trucks.
Hazel the Kitten - Molly Lewis: Youngest Pikwik Pack member. Lover of tacos and helicopters.
Tibor the Hippo - Jacob Soley: Softy with a tough exterior. Train operator.
Chapter 6:
Parcels and Prizes, Part Two -
Underwater Ambush
[Main Party Selected: Danny, Liam, Kevin, Balancia, Suki, Axel, Hazel, Tibor]
[Supporting Party Selected: Spawny, Spawnette, Pork Chop]
[Character Selected: Liam]
[Current World: Pikwik Planet]
[Current Location: Pikwik Plains]
[BGM: Asher Lenz, Stephen Skratt - A Bright Idea BGM]
The train plowed ahead steadily like the mighty vehicle that it was. The sunniness in the sky, the fresh breeze on the passengers' faces…it was a perfect day for a delivery.
"Nothing like a good old-fashioned train ride, eh boys?" said Liam, holding onto a pole and hanging off of the platform.
"You said it," said Kevin, enjoying the breeze. "This'll be a nice relaxation period before we gotta do that first Code Challenge!"
"What are these Code Challenges, anyway?" Axel inquired.
Danny pondered the thought. "Y'know, we never really found out," he admitted. He peaked into his inventory. "Say, Balancia, mind telling us what these Code Challenges are?"
The allay flew out of his inventory and looked around. "Seems we have some time to kill," she said. "Very well! The Challenges of the Code are five challenges that test your skill in the ways of the Overworld! The first Key of Balance will lead to the first two challenges, and if you succeed, you must face the Keeper of Code, who will give you a harder test to deem you worthy of the Cube of Balance."
"Heh, that sounds a little like the Cave of Experts," said Liam. "Only a bit more high-staked."
"Well, if you want any more info, just holler!" said Balancia, and she flew back into Danny's inventory.
"Okay, Suki! We're approaching Windy Water Way!" said Tibor, alerting the group of their next destination. "Hey! The tracks lead into an underwater tunnel!" Noticing a gate in front of them, Tibor grabbed the brakes, and the train slid to a halt.
A beaver wearing a construction helmet waved to the group. "Hello, Pikwik Pack!" she said. "How do you like our new tunnel?"
"Hey, Beverly!" said Suki. "We're on our way to Grandpa Grok's birthday party! Mind if we use your tunnel?"
"Go right ahead!" said Beverly, and she blew on her whistle so that her beaver team would raise the gate.
"Thank you, Beverly!" Tibor called as he started the train again. As it entered the tunnel, he turned the front light on so that the group could see.
Inside the tunnel, the group was exposed to sights of several crystals. "(Oh, how beautiful!)" said Spawnette, mesmerized by the sight. "(It is like the crystals are glowing!)"
"Hey! It's just like the crystals we found while delivering a magic mirror to Grandpa Grok!" said Axel, remembering the nighttime delivery. "I wonder if they also refract light!"
"Well, let's see!" said Danny. He unsheathed his sword and fired a beam of light at one of the crystals. The light refracted off of it and shot to another crystal, then another, and another, and another. Before long, the entire tunnel was filled with beams of light.
"Oooooo!" said Hazel, enjoying the sight. "It's like a big night light!"
Danny took away the beam of light, leaving the light of the train as the only means of seeing. "Well, that was cool!" said Liam. Just then, he saw something terrifying: an arrow flying right towards Suki!" "Whoa!" Quickly, Liam stepped in front of the hedgehog and took the hit for Suki.
[BGM: End]
Suki gasped. "Liam! What happened?" she asked. "Tibor, stop the train!" The hippo obliged, and everyone ran to Liam to see what happened.
"Don't worry, I'm okay…mostly," said Liam. Although the arrow was implanted in his knee, he looked like his adventuring days weren't quite over.
Danny inspected the arrow. "This isn't an arrow from this world," he said, getting a terrifying realization. "This is an arrow from Minecraft!"
"Minecraft?" repeated Hazel. "Isn't that a video game?"
"Are you from a video game?" Suki inquired. "Is that why you look so blocky?"
"Well, kinda," said Kevin. "We're people from the real world playing a video game."
"I don't understand," said Tibor, holding his head in confusion.
"Look, that doesn't matter," said Danny. "What matters is that…" He heard a very familiar groan and turned around with the others. A whole hoard of very familiar monsters were coming their way. Humans with green flesh, walking bones with bows, and glowing red eyes. "Zombies…" said Danny.
"Skeletons…" said Liam.
"And giant spiders…" said Kevin. "The terror trio," they then all said at once.
[Character Selected: Kevin]
[Current World: Pikwik Planet]
[Current Location: Underwater Tunnel]
[BGM: Antimo & Welles - Mob Grinder [Minecraft: Story Mode 103 OST]
The severity of the situation sends your brain into planning mode. "You four, stay on the train," you direct the Pikwik Pack. "We know these guys, and we'll take care of them!"
Reluctantly, the pack starts to huddle into the locomotive. "But what if you get hurt?" asks Suki.
"We'll just eat some pork or something," you respond, nonchalantly. With that, everyone springs into action. Focusing on the skeletons, you use your gangerman powers to inhale one of the walking boneheads and then spit out the bones at the spiders.
Yelling a battlecry, Danny jabs his sword into a zombie and then twirls around, whacking it against the mobs that Pork Chop tosses into the air. "(If you and I are ever in a battle together,)" Spawnette calls, "(we should come up with a battle-dance routine!)"
"Yeah, good idea!" Danny calls back. With much of the horde gone, he jabs the zombie into the ground and sniffs. "Man, that rotten flesh does not help the cave smells!"
"You can say that again," says Hazel. "Yucky!"
"Why are you talking normally, anyway?" calls Suki, ducking to dodge an arrow. "Aren't you in a battle?"
"Eh, we do this so much it's kinda normal," calls Liam. He starts to fire his dispenser in spurts, taking out the mobs in waves.
You inhale two zombies and spit them in a line of the undead, causing them to drop to the floor. "Y'know, I just realized something," you say to the others. "This is exactly the way our battle before the Deathlord happened!"
"(Y'know what? You're right!)" says Spawny, resting after using his scepter on the mobs. "(How about we finish them off the same way we did it back then?)"
"Well, I don't have any other ideas besides just doing this over and over," Liam admits, continuing to fire arrows at the spiders. "Why not?"
Danny eyes the crystals. "I think I know a way we can give it a little more oomph, actually!" Jabbing a skeleton in the face, he uses a spider as a trampoline to hop over to a crystal. But when he reaches into his inventory… "Crap! I don't have a pickaxe! But I do have wood!"
You spot a few iron ingots on the ground, dropped from zombies, no doubt. "Here! Have some iron!" you call, inhaling the ingots and spitting it Danny's way.
"And here! My crafting table!' Liam yells. He puts his trusty making block into his dispenser and shoots it out. It lands as a placed block in front of Danny. "Now do me proud!"
Danny nods and starts to craft. He puts a log in the middle to make planks, a couple of sticks from two of the four planks, then the sticks and iron to make an iron pickaxe. "Wow! That was some fast forging!" says Tibor, impressed.
Quickly, Danny mines up the crystal, and it goes flying into his inventory as an item. Then he runs in front of the train and places it right in front of the mighty engine. "Tibor! Turn the light on!"
"Huh? Okay…" says Tibor, unsure. He presses the button to turn the light on, and the massive light refracts across the tunnel, going from crystal to crystal until the entire cavern is filled with light. Since it isn't sunlight directly, the zombies and skeletons don't start to burn, but they do begin to shield their nonexistent eyes.
"How's that for a spot of light?" Liam sarcastically asks. "And now for a little extra heat!" He turns his eyes to you. "Kevin?"
"Six Fire Flowers coming right up!" you say. Tapping your watch, you input a command to give each of the group one of the familiar red-and-yellow flowers with eyes on them. You grab them and let their power enter your bodies. Danny's usual blue-on-red attire becomes red-on-white, Liam's body sets on fire entirely, you gain a crown resembling a flame, and Spawny and Spawnette become demon-like, their regalia changing to resemble flames as well. "Now for our second biannual undead barbecue!"
Danny uses about 50% of his sword's power to put a golden glowing barrier around the train ("To keep you safe," he explains), and then you all go all out. Danny tosses fireballs, Liam touches the mobs straight-up, and you and the rabborgs spew fire from your mouths at the creatures. Before long, a large bonfire has started in the tunnel.
[BGM: End]
You watch as the mobs slowly burn away, picking up the supplies you might like to have as you do. "Ah, ze perfect victory feast!" you say in a French accent as you pick up a potato dropped by a zombie. Getting curious, you spit a small bit of fire onto the potato, making it baked. "Hah! That's good to know!"
Balancia flies out of Danny's inventory as he munches on some chicken, which she did not touch this time around. "May I have one of those potatoes?" she asks. Obliging, you bake another potato and toss it up to the allay, he uses her special powers to make several baked potatoes. "Yummy!" she says, flying back into Danny's inventory.
"Hmm. I suppose gluttony is the evil within her kindness," says Liam, chuckling.
Danny takes away the barrier around the train, and the Pikwik Pack emerges from the locomotive. "Wow! That was Axel-lent!" cries Axel, pumping his fist. "I've never seen so much fire!"
"Thanks for protecting us," says Suki, gratefully. "I just wish we could help out next time…"
"Well, this wasn't what we usually find on our deliveries, Suki," Hazel points out. "I think it was smart trying to protect ourselves."
The hedgehog smiles. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Just then, the tag on the package glows and makes a small noise. "To stay on track, the tag will chime when it's Pikwik check-in time!" the pack says all at once, and Suki checks the tag. An image of a clock with balloons tied to it ringing plays on the tag. "Right! Grandpa Grok's birthday is starting soon! We better get a move on!"
"Not so fast!" a new voice suddenly announces. Turning around quickly, you watch two black figures, both resembling yourself, enter the area. One wears a helmet resembling the head of the Ender Dragon, while the other wears a familiar purple bowtie. "Well, well, well, we meet at last, Minecraft Maniacs," says the dragon-helmet one.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" asks Danny.
"My name is Per, and this is Don," introduces the bowtie-wearing figure. "We are the Order of Doppel!"
"Order of…" says Liam, connecting the dots. "You're the rogue gangermen! You're a Doppel-worshiping cult!'
"Hmm…you're a wise one," says Per. "You've also proved that your fighting skills haven't gotten worse."
"You're the one who sent those monsters after us!" cried Tibor. "Why would you do that?"
"As a warning," explains Don. "We may not have what we want right now, but we know how to get it. And we're not alone…" With that, the two vanish in a puff of smoke.
"What did he mean by that?" Suki asks. Your question is answered by a familiar screech. More creatures resembling yourself, but slightly more endermen-ish emerge from the shadows.
"More rogue gangermen…" you answer, knowing how dire the situation is.
[Character Selected: Danny]
[Current World: Pikwik Planet]
[Current Location: Underwater Tunnel]
[BGM: Johan & Johnson - arena1]
My first thought was that our fire powers wouldn't be much help - it would just give the gangermen something to use against us. But my second thought was how the Pikwik Pack could help out more thoroughly. "You four, stay there while we think of a plan!" I directed, and my friends and I sprung into action.
Whacking myself and the others with my sword to take away our fire forms, I immediately charged towards a gangerman. It prepared to inhale my sword, and I just held on and swung around, managing to attack it. "Hah! Nice try!'
Liam was careful with his arrow shooting, since he didn't want the gangermen to get the Archer ability. Something that caught our attention was how the light of the crystals seemed to be distracting the gangermen, since Liam was able to pummel one of the easily, while with the other he had more difficulty. "Alright, guys, attack the ones facing the light!" Liam called to us.
"(Gotcha!)" said Spawny, saluting. He kicked a gangermen towards the crystals, and Spawnette twirled through them easily. But another wasn't distracted and tried to inhale her. "(Whoa, no!)" cried Spawny, shooting his magic blasts to save his sister.
"Hmm…so if those doppelganger guys are distracted by the light," I heard Suki think.
"Then…" Axel sat down and I heard him mutter "Think, think, think!" He must've done exactly what I thought he was doing, tracing through the information, because almost immediately after, I heard him yell "Brain blast!"
I looked over from my duel with a gangermen towards the light. "What is it?" I called over.
"If you get those crystals and give them to us, we can distract these monsters so you can defeat them!"
"Good thinking!" called Liam. He kicked a gangerman in the face and did a backflip to get out of danger. "Danny, crafting table, please!"
"On it!" I yelled, placing the crafting table down and tossing him some wood. Working quickly now, Liam used whatever iron he had left over from the zombies to make two more pickaxes, tossing one to Kevin.
"Alright, keep these guys busy while we get some crystals!" Kevin instructed the rabborgs and Pork Chop. We then ran over to the crystals and mined up four of them, one for each Pikwik Pack member.
Once we had all four, we hopped onto the train and handed one to each member. "There you go!" I said as I handed one to Suki. "Now go out there and don't die!"
"We weren't planning on it!" said Tibor as he and the others hopped out of the train. Sure enough, the light continued to refract from the big crystal into the smaller crystals. Mesmerized by the light, the gangermen stopped attacking us and started to walk towards the Pikwik Pack.
"Ooo, yeah, nice pretty light, right?" said Suki, trying not to be scared. Taking the opportunity, Pork Chop dove into the gangermen's legs, and it fell to the ground, allowing me to finish it off.
"So now that we have a plan to distract them," said Kevin between inhales and spits, "let's try to get rid of them quickly!"
I saw Hazel look up towards the ceiling of the tunnel. "Maybe we can wash these meanies out?" she suggested.
"Of course! If gangermen are just like endermen, they must hate water!" said Liam. The idea was so clever, I can't believe none of us thought of it! "Wait, but Kevin's fine underwater!"
"Probably because I'm part-player," Kevin suggested. "But anyway, let's see if it'll work!" Taking a desperate gamble, Kevin aimed his pickaxe at the ceiling and tossed it straight up. A crack appeared, and water began to trickle out. "Uh-oh! We better block off the rest of the tunnel!"
"Good point!" I called. Using part of my sword's power, I summoned walls of cobblestone to block off the rest of the tunnel, then motioned for everyone to return to the train. As soon as everyone was on, I created another barrier around the train to protect us all from what was going to happen. "Alright, here it comes!" I cried.
And just like that, Kevin's pickaxe fell away as water began to pour into the tunnel. As the area we were in became more and more flooded, we watched as all of the gangermen began to drown quickly, due to their weakness in water. "Ah-hah! So the rabid gangermen hate water just like endermen!" said Kevin, nodding. "Good to know!"
"Um…how are we going to block off the water?" Suki asked, pointing to the hole in the ceiling.
"Uh…" I thought for a moment. "Liam! Do you still have that pawprint from yesterday?"
Liam pulled the blue print out of his inventory. "Here it is! But do you really think it'll block off the water?"
I eyed Pork Chop and handed him the pawprint. "Only one way to find out." With a nod, Pork Chop swam towards the edge of the barrier, and I used part of my sword's power to let him pass through. Kicking his little legs, Pork Chop swam up to the crack and placed the pawprint over it. The water stopped flooding the tunnel, and Pork Chop swam back into the barrier.
"Huh. It's surprisingly effective," said Kevin, nodding. "I guess Blue's more powerful than we think."
"And now for our one-way ticket to the birthday party!" I declared. With a swing of my sword, the cobblestone walls vanished, and the force of the water pushed us all the way to other end at incredible speed.
"Whoa! It's like a rollercoaster!" cried Tibor, obviously enjoying the ride.
[BGM: Asher Lenz, Stephen Skratt - Hazel's Birthday BGM]
Before long, we reached the end of the tunnel, washing up on the beach of an island. Waving my sword again, I made the barrier disappear. "Well, here we are! The birthday party!"
"And we're just in time! Look!" Suki pointed to the crowd of people in the middle. "Grandpa Grok's opening his presents!"
"Oh! We better get this to him, then!" said Hazel, picking up the package.
"You go on ahead! We'll watch!" I said, waving my hand. And so, we watched the Pikwik Pack climb up to the middle to give their package.
"Happy birthday, Grandpa Grok!" cried the pack as they approached the toad.
Grok gasped. "The Pikwik Pack! You made it!" he said, delighted. "And is this your present for me?"
"Yep! It's a super-special Pikwik delivery!" said Suki.
"Together we travel," said Tibor.
"By land, sea, and air," said Hazel.
"To bring you this package," said Axel.
"Delivered with care," finished Suki, handing the package to Grok.
"A package for me?" said Grok. "What could it be?"
"Just tug on the magical tag and see!' said the Pikwik Pack all at once. Grok did just that, and in a burst of rhombuses, the package revealed itself to be…
"A card!" cried Grok as the heart-shaped card floated into his hands. "It's got a photo of everyone in Pikwik…and I'm in the middle!" he said, delighted. "I love it! Thank you, Pikwik Pack!"
"Well, we couldn't have done it without our new friends," said Suki. Suddenly, panic set in as everyone turned to look at us.
"What do we do?" Kevin hissed into my ear.
"Just smile and wave!" I answered, and we all awkwardly smiled and waved to the party guests.
Grandpa Grok hopped our way. "Well, I give an extra-special thank you to you!" he said.
"Eh, don't mention it," I said, waving my hand. "It's just what we do, keeping the multiverse a great place!"
The Pikwik Pack came our way. "Thanks again for helping us back there," said Suki. "We probably would have been cooked meat if it wasn't for you."
"Eh, no problem!" I said, nodding. Just then, Balancia flew out of my inventory, carrying the Key of Balance…which was filled up all the way! "Hey, guys! We did it!"
"Yep! The first Key of Balance is ready to be used!" said Balancia, nodding. "You all did fantastic!"
"In that case, thank you guys for helping us fill this key up!" said Liam. "Now, I don't want to be rude, but I think we have somewhere else to be!"
"Oh! You have to go do that first Code Challenge!" said Axel, nodding. "Alright! Good luck!" He then walked up to me. "By the way, Danny, your sword's awesome!"
"Thanks! It's called the Chicken Blade!" I explained, and we chuckled a little. "Well, enjoy the party!" I called, and with that, Liam quickly used some planks and sticks to make us a few boats to get back to the mainland. We all waved goodbye to the party guests as we set sail, our sights set on back home.
[BGM: End]
[Character Selected: Andy]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Planet of the Gangermen, Royal Lair]
Down in the lair, Andy and Mark inspected the new evidence they obtained. "Alright, so it looks like these rogue gangermen went to…the Pikwik Planet," said Andy, pointing to the computer. "And they seem to have stolen our flying saucer and used the Multiversal Gateway the Minecraft Maniacs used to get there."
"And it seems they attacked the Maniacs, too," added Mark. "And they're after the souls of Doppel and Perinton."
"Well, I trust the players will be able to deal with them," said Andy. "But until we either make a new flying saucer or get the old one back, we should keep the defenses up. One slip in the gaps, and they could easily have what they want…"
To be coninued: and next time: into the code!
Next chapter: "The First Two Trials" The Key of Balance is all filled up, and the Maniacs are ready to face whatever the first two Code Challenges have to offer! Only...it seems easy! The first night and mining aren't too tricky, right? Well, usually, but the code has other plans...
Postface: Chapter complete! Yes! The first Key of Balance is ready to be used! But now the players have new foes to take care of...
Trivia time! This chapter was partially influenced by the Pikwik Pack episode "A Bright Idea", which partially concerns the pack entering a cave with large crystals that can refract light. Good thing those came in handy with the gangermen, huh? I originally intended the large mob horde to happen in Chapter 3, but I moved it here to prevent Chapter 3 from getting too long. Besides, it provided a nice intro to...the Order of Doppel! These will be the secondary foes of Minecraft Maniacs: Light and Dark, and while The Manipulator is still the primary antagonist, these two rogue gangermen shouldn't be deemed as a minor annoyance... Oh, and in case you didn't read the first story, Mario power-ups will be popping up here and there! As part of the call-back to the original's Chapter 2, it was the good old Fire Flower! I'm not sure how many more times the power-ups will pop up, but rest assured a certain froggy one will be appearing...
That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for the first two Challenges of the Code! Stay diamond, everyone!
-Alfred
~Minecraft and everything related to it are properties of Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios. The Pikwik Pack and everything related to them are properties of Guru Animation Studio, LTD. 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.~