Preface: Hello, again! This chapter's a bit shorter than the last few, but it still has a pretty pivotal moment in the story! I hope you enjoy!
MINECRAFT MANIACS:
LIGHT AND DARK
Previously...through adventures in the Blue's Clues world and Pikwik Planet, Danny, Liam, Kevin, and their companions, alongside their new ally Balancia, filled up the first of the three Keys of Balance and faced the first two Trials of the Code.
Now...they head towards their final challenge before the first Cube of Balance is theirs...
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 8:
Parcels and Prizes, Part Four -
The Floor is Lava
[Main Party Selected: Danny, Liam, Kevin, Balancia]
[Supporting Party Selected Spawny, Spawnette, Pork Chop]
[Character Selected: Liam]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Minecraft Code, Hallway to Jarvis]
Plip, plop, plip, plop. The players' feet moved across the invisible floor as they watched the ones and zeros fly by. Slowly but surely, they approached the first Keeper of Code. "So…what do you guys think we'll face when we get to him?" asked Liam.
"Well, if it's a final exam," said Kevin, "we might have to do both of what we just did, maybe at the same time."
"And they might make it harder, too," added Danny. "Maybe even throw in stuff we didn't even cover!"
"That's for school, not Minecraft," said Liam. He looked ahead. "Are we getting closer, Balancia?"
"Yes, we should be," said the allay. "Though I've only been here once before, when I was inspecting the trials to know what would happen, but…oh! Here we are!" The group had come across a large stone face, resembling that of Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft.
"Huh, it's like the Temple of Notch," said Danny, thinking of the iconic creation that he only heard stories and watched videos about. But he wasn't exactly sure what to do here. "Um, hello?" he said. "We come in peace!"
The face's eyes suddenly opened, startling the group. "Hello, Danny, Liam, and Kevin…" the face said in a booming voice without moving its mouth.
"You know our names?" asked Kevin, surprised.
"I do," said the face. "I am Jarvis, one of the Keepers of Code. We see all that occurs in this world and its variants. The games, the constructions, the friendships and rivalries that occur in this world. The exploits of the Order of the Stone and those who fought against the Orb of Dominance in other worlds. And the triumphs and tribulations of your allies like Jodi and her friends."
"So you're aware of us stopping Doppel and all those other bad guys a couple of years ago?" said Liam. "Well, if you're in charge of Minecraft, why didn't you help us?"
"Hmph. Even with your experience, you are still naive," said Jarvis, a tinge of amusement in his voice. "Like the Multiversal Guardians, the other Keepers of Code and I cannot directly interfere with your exploits. We may only watch, and judge. And now you come in search of a Cube of Balance."
"Huh, you sure know a lot!" said Danny, nodding. "So, what's our final exam? What will we have to do to prove ourselves worthy?"
"I admire your courage," said Jarvis. "It will be needed very much for your final exam - you must gather resources to build a tower high enough to mine the block of emerald ore at the very top of the chamber."
"That's it?" said Kevin. "That doesn't sound too bad!"
"But…" added Jarvis, "lava will slowly rise from the floor. Should you fall in, you will be denied access to the Cube of Balance!" The ominousness of that last line struck everyone's minds as Jarvis closed his eyes, teleporting the group to their final exam.
[Character Selected: Danny]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Minecraft Code, Final Exam #1]
[BGM: Johan Johnson, Peter Hont - Cellar]
Before I had a second thought, we were all on a 5x5 dirt platform with four trees on each corner. A one-block gap separated the platform from the stone wall, no doubt allowing the lava to rise. Because of the direness of the situation, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Okay, now is not the time for a meltdown, I told myself. Focus on getting blocks to build a tower and try not to lose. "Sorry about that, I was giving myself a pep talk," I told the others once I opened my eyes. "I don't wanna beat myself up if we lose, y'know?"
"Hey, I'd call that an improvement from the last couple of years," said Liam. "Anyway, we checked our inventories, and they're empty again. But we do have saturation, so we won't have to worry about food."
My brain went into planning mode. "Okay, first things first, we should start getting some wood," I said. "And we should take a few dirt blocks so we can regrow the wood until we get stone."
"Good idea," said Kevin. We all ran to the trees and punched every last block of wood, plus the dirt the trees were on so we could plant the saplings we got from the leaves. "Alright, doesn't look like the lava's coming up too fast," Kevin added, looking down the gap. The lava was still pretty far below us, which should've given us plenty of time to build up.
Quickly, we all turned our logs into planks and started to build upward. We tried to keep the platform within the same dimensions as the dirt platform so that we would have a good amount of space to stand. After two more layers of the platform, however, we quickly hit a roadblock. "(Uh, guys?)" said Spawny. "(I don't wanna be the bearer of bad news, but…we're down to only thirty planks!)"
"Rats! He's right!" I said. "There were only five logs per tree!"
"Then we better use what we have left so we can do things better," said Liam. Using the planks he had left, he made a crafting table and used that to make a couple of wooden pickaxes.
"We'll get the stone, you keep an eye on the lava," said Kevin, grabbing one of the pickaxes. I nodded and let him and Liam jump to the stone wall and start to gather some rabborgs, Pork Chop, and I carefully watched the lava as it inched closer and closer to us.
For a little while, it seemed like we would be safe, but then, it happened. The wooden part of the platform caught fire. "Uh-oh! Tick-tock, guys!" I said. "The lava's getting close!"
"Gotcha!" said Liam and Kevin at the same time. They hopped back onto the platform. They managed to mine a whole ring around the area, three blocks in every part. "We might have to make the platform smaller to get more bang for our buck," Liam pointed out. I didn't want to sacrifice the luxury of a big platform, but I decided we had no choice. And so, we decreased the platform to 3x3 as we began to build upwards once more. It was a little more cramped, but we were able to add about seven or eight more layers to the platform when we were done.
"Alright, that should do it for a while," I said, wiping my hands. "How close are we to the emerald ore?" We all craned our necks to see how much closer we were, and…we promptly all groaned. We still had quite a ways to go.
"Well, we better get some more materials," said Liam, taking his crafting table out again to make a couple of stone pickaxes. "I'll watch the lava this time."
I nodded and built a small bridge with my leftover wood to join Kevin in gathering some more stone. Using the sneak function to make sure I didn't fall off, I did what Liam and Kevin did, mining out three blocks in front of me. Since the stone pickaxes were more durable than the wooden ones, we also managed to pile up two blocks to get two more layers above us, then piling back down to regather the stone we used.
It took us about five minutes, then we used the bridges we made to get back to the platform. "How we doing on the lava?" I asked, putting my nearly-broken pickaxe into my inventory.
"Just in time," said Liam. "The lava's almost here!" Sure enough, the lava was getting close to scorching us. Quickly, we began to pile up more, this time leaving the middle block open until we made it up about ten more layers. "Whew! Close one!"
That's when a small glimmer of tan flecks caught my eye. "Hey! Iron ore!" I said. "We're gonna need an iron pickaxe to get the emerald!"
"Well, we do have to restock, anyway," said Kevin. He looked down to see the lava. "Oh, boy…"
"What is it?" Liam asked, concerned.
"I think the lava's filling up faster!" he said. "We're gonna have to get more blocks fast!"
"(Ooo! Ooo! I have an idea!)" said Spawny, raising his hand. "(Sis stands on Pork Chop's shoulders, and then I stand on hers!)"
"(And we both spin while you hold the pickaxe!)" added Spawnette. "(Very smart!)"
"Would that really work, though?" said Liam. "I don't think I've ever seen Pork Chop do any spinning stuff without Danny!"
"Well, it's worth a shot," I said, and Pork Chop nodded. He stood on his hind legs to let Spawnette climb on, and then Spawny climbed on top of the tower, a newly-crafted stone pickaxe in his hands. "Alright, give it a try," I said. With that, both Pork Chop and Spawnette began to spin, and the tower began to hover in the air.
"Whoa!" we all shouted. The tower flew into the walls, swiping up every bit of stone from the next ten layers above us before flying back to us. "Man, we should've just done that from the start!" said Liam, smacking his forehead. "Nice job!"
"(Why, thank you,)" said Spawnette, curtsying. "(Now, we must build up more, should we not?)"
"Oh, yes!" I said. We all began to pile up more, this time leaving the three middle blocks of our platform empty until we finished. Because of the large amount of stone we now had, we managed to pile up a whopping twenty layers! Despite that, although we were pretty high up now, it was getting harder to keep our footing. "Okay, guys, we better not look down now!" I said, kinda more to myself than the others. The others would probably be fine, but I was nervous about chickening out!
Liam looked upward to see how much more we had to go. "Well, I've got some good news for you!" he said. "I think after we restock one more time, we should have enough stone to get to the emerald!"
"Huh, we didn't need that extra wood after all!" said Kevin. "Well, I guess we can always use the saplings as fuel for the furnace!"
"Why would we need a…" Liam began, but then he remembered. "Oh, right! The iron!" Laying his crafting table down one last time, he prepared to make one last stone pickaxe, but then he realized something. "Uh-oh! I'm out of sticks…and planks!"
[BGM: Peter Hont - The Arch-Illager]
"Oh! I have a couple planks!" I said, tossing them to Liam. Sure hope that setback isn't too severe. After Liam finished his pickaxe and gave it to our buddies, he made a furnace to smelt the iron. "Alright, who has the iron?"
"I do!" said Kevin, reaching into his own inventory. He put the raw iron our buddies gathered into the furnace's top slot and the saplings into the bottom slot. The saplings burned quickly, so I had to put in some of my own so that the last bit of raw iron would become an ingot.
Our buddies returned just as the last piece of iron smelted. "(Alright, come on! Let's get that emerald!)" Spawny said as the cobblestone flew into our inventories. Just then, we heard a noise. It sounded like...squeaking. "(Uh-oh...)" From the gaps made in the walls, we all saw a small, gray creature wiggling about. A silverfish...which then fell into the lava.
"Well, that was a timely distraction," I remarked, and we all quickly started piling up once more. By this point, the lava was rising very quickly, and it made things pretty hot!
At last, just as we ran out of stone, the emerald was right above us. "I sure hope if only one of us falls in we don't all get disqualified," said Liam, placing his crafting table back down. Three iron ingots and two sticks later, and he had an iron pickaxe. "Danny, care to do the honors?"
"Sure thing!" I said, taking the pickaxe from Liam's hands…but just then, something terrible happened - the silverfish we saw just before had managed to survive the lava and climb all the way up the platform! "What the-?" Liam said, but before any of us could deal with it, the silverfish hit him...right off the platform!
"No!" cried Kevin. He reached down and grabbed Liam's hand, but the added weight made it hard for him to hang on, not to mention the threat of the silverfish. "Danny, mine the ore!"
Ever heard of the fight-or-flight response? If you don't, it's when you're super-stressed and not exactly sure what to do. At least I think so - it's been a while since I took health class. But in this case, I knew I had to choose fight. And so, I looked up at the emerald ore, swung my pickaxe, and hoped for the best.
[BGM: End]
[Character Selected: Kevin]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Minecraft Code, Final Exam #1]
The lava should've consumed you and Liam when the silverfish knocked you off. You should've fallen in because of that pesky little creature. But then comes a miracle - just before you fall in, you find yourself back in the small chamber where you first encountered Jarvis. That could only mean one thing… "Did you do it?" you ask Danny.
"Yeah…" he says, sheepishly. "I did it." That's when you all gather around him and cheer. "Well, this isn't an overreaction at all," he says, overwhelmed.
"We were this close to losing, dude," says Liam. "But you pulled through!"
Balancia flies out of Danny's inventory, just as glad. "That was quite a show, boys!" she says, nodding. "Sorry I didn't help - this was something I thought you needed to do on your own."
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter now," you say. "The point is, we did it! Victory screech!"
Just as you begin to screech in victory, Jarvis appears before you again, causing you all to yelp. "Congratulations, Minecraft Maniacs," he says, sounding genuinely pleased. "You did come close to losing it all at the last second, but you have proven yourself to be just as grand as you were two years ago. The first Cube of Balance is yours."
[BGM: Peter Hont - Finally]
From a hole in the ceiling, you watch as a white cube floats down and rests in Danny's hands. "Whoa…" he says, amazed. "It's really ours!"
"This cube collects all of the pure energies of the multiverse," explains Jarvis. "With it, the powers of the Gadgets of Order can be multiplied, but only the ones you found here in this world."
"Wait wait wait, back up," you say. "You're saying we can make the Gadgets of Order more powerful than they already are?"
"Indeed," says Jarvis, "but you must wait until you have all three if you want maximum amplification." He closes his eyes. "I trust that you will use this power wisely and wish you luck in gathering the other two Cubes of Balance. Goodbye." With that, a flash of white engulfs your screen, signifying the end of your time in the Minecraft code.
To be continued...and next time: back home for a break!
Next chapter: "Whatever Comes Next" Now that the first Cube of Balance is within the players' grasp, it's time for a break! But there are some dark things happening behind the scenes, especially with the Manipulator...don't miss the conclusion to Act 1 of our story!
Postface: Chapter complete! And with that, the first Cube of Balance has been collected! But it's not quite the end of our tale just yet...
Trivia time! The idea for the Keepers of Code was sort of based off of the Glitchlords from the first story, but of course, the Keepers are much more benevolent. Jarvis himself was, design-wise, based off of the temple of Notch build created by fvdisco (I hope you're doing alright if you're reading this story), while I named him after Minecraft: Java Edition, since he's an omnipotent being within the game's code (even though the players are using Bedrock Edition, but that'll be accounted for, too). As for the specifics of the challenge, that was mainly based off of this one game I played in Spanish class this year in school - it's a mode on the digital game Quizziz where you have to answer questions to earn money, then spend the money to build up a tower slowly being devoured by lava. I incorporated it here because it felt like a good way to combine the aspects of the two trials the players faced without having them go through them altogether again. Also, fun fact - the bit with the silverfish was added in as I uploaded this because it felt like a wasted opportunity to leave it out! After all, silverfish spawn from monster eggs, which are disguised as stone, so...
That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for the conclusion to Act 1! Stay diamond, everyone!
-Alfred
~Minecraft and everything related to it are properties of Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios. 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.~