Preface: Hello, again! First off, let me just say that one of my New Year's resolutions will definitely be to get back into the swing of things in terms of uploading, haha! Second of all, I will try to upload the rest of Act 2 by the end of the year, so don't worry about that. Anyway, without further delay, here's what Danny was up to during last chapter's events!

MINECRAFT MANIACS:
LIGHT AND DARK

Previously...following an ambush from the Manipulator, Danny set out on a trip to Bonegea with Liam, Kevin, and their companions. After some initial skepticism brought on by nightmares, Bluey showed much more willingness to go after transforming into her Chaos Princess state. The party then traveled to Mobius, where they and some of their allies there decided to split up to fill the next Key of Balance.

Now...Danny and his party adventure through the Jungle Zone while Liam and Kevin go into the desert...

Roll Call

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

Spawnette - Damien Laquet: One of the rabborg siblings. The heart.

Balancia - Marieve Herington: Guardian allay. The fairy.

Sonic the Hedgehog - Issac Ryan Brown: Fastest thing alive. Hero of Mobius.

Amy Rose - Jenna Ortega: Self-proclaimed girlfriend. Hammer-wielding ally.

Mighty the Armadillo - Issac Ryan Brown: Ray's big buddy. Bruising pacifist.

Bluey Heeler - Actress Name Withheld: Six-year-old blue heeler. Loves to play.

Chilli Heeler - Melanie Zanetti: Competent mum. Ready for adventure.

Chloe - Charlotte Stent: Soft-spoken dalmatian. Bluey's best friend.

Indy - Actress Name Withheld: Hippie afghan hound. Bluey's other best friend.

Chapter 13:
Chaotic Teamwork, Part Three -
Camaraderie in the Canopy

[Main Party Selected: Danny, Balancia, Sonic, Amy, Mighty, Bluey, Chilli]
[Supporting Party Selected: Spawnette, Pork Chop, Chloe, Indy]

[Character Selected: Danny]
[Current World: Mobius]
[Current Location: South Island, Jungle Zone]

[BGM: Yuzo Koshiro - Jungle Zone]

I felt the ring portal vanish behind me as my party and I took in our surroundings. Lush plants, large waterfalls, fallen logs serving as platforms… "Here we are! The Jungle Zone!" I said, taking it all in.

"It's so pretty," said Chloe, her tail wagging. "I've never been to a jungle before!"

"Doesn't seem like any of Eggman's robos are here," said Sonic, inspecting, "so all we gotta worry about are the natural dangers."

Bluey smirked. "Ha! I'll take down this scary jungle with only my two hands!" she said, making an action pose. Then she gave a battlecry and did a cartwheel…into a log. "Whoops!"

We all laughed and set out on our way. "No need to get yourself in unnecessary danger," said Balancia, helping Bluey up. "Now then, didn't one of you say you know where that image the Master Emerald showed us is?"

"Ah, right!" said Mighty as we hopped onto some green platforms. I placed down some dirt blocks to help Bluey and her companions across. "Picture this - I'm just lying in my hot spring, minding my own business, when…"

"Hold up - you have a hot spring?" Amy suddenly asked. "Is it a secret hot spring?"

"Why else would he not tell you?" said Chilli. "It's private to him. Although, a dip in it wouldn't be so bad…"

Mighty sighed and pinched his nose bridge. "Guess I owe all of you a dip," he said.

"Don't worry, I'm good," I told the armadillo as we left the green platform. "Anyway, you were saying?"

"Right, well, all of a sudden, the Chaos Emeralds appear from these portals, probably from another world," Mighty continued, "and then…whoosh! A whirlpool appears!"

"Oh, no!" said Indy, worried. "Did you survive?"

"Would he be here right now if he didn't?" said Sonic.

"Well, I may have had an extra life," Mighty sheepishly added. "But anyway, when I finally came to, I was in this weird cave. I think it might have been in the Labyrinth Zone. And that's when I saw it - that beacon!"

"Wow!" said Bluey, stars in her eyes. "You found it all on your own!"

"Yep! But getting out wasn't the easiest," Mighty continued. "Had to fight my way out of the traps and…" He suddenly trailed off when we reached a waterfall. Balancia floated up to the waterfall and inspected it. "Hey, Danny, what's your fairy friend doing?" he asked me.

"One, she's an allay," I corrected. "Two, Balancia, what are you doing?"

"I sense some kind of power emanating from this waterfall," the allay explained. She dipped her head into the waterfall and gasped. "Hey! It's a secret passageway!"

"Ooo! Just like in an adventure game!" said Amy. But then she noticed a problem. "But how are we gonna get in? There's no ground."

"We could use those falling logs," Chloe pointed out. "That's how it works in computer games!"

"Yeah, ironically enough, video game logic is kinda…iffy here," said Amy, rubbing her head.

"Oh! I got it!" I suddenly remembered. I took out the remaining dirt blocks in my hotbar, bent down near the ledge, and swung my arm upward. The dirt covered up the chasm, letting us walk through. "There we go!"

"(Ah, classic Danny,)" said Spawnette. "(Always so clever!)" With the added dirt platform, we were able to walk through the waterfall and into the secret passageway.

"Ah, now that's more like it!" said Sonic. "A nice, open trail!" We all began to walk, and as we did, we decided to discuss other matters. "Say, Bluey's mom, didn't you say something about Bluey being kinda…off?" the hedgehog asked.

"Yes," said Chilli. "But it's strange. Look at her!" We all watched as Bluey and her friends walked forward, pretending to fight each other kung fu-style. "All of a sudden she's hopping and skipping like nothing happened!"

"And it all started when she transformed," I pointed out. "Has anything like that happened before?"

Sonic thought for a moment. "Actually, yes…" he said. "Our first adventure in Whisker Haven, when Metal ambushed us with all those robotic dupes of me."

"It was when Pumpkin got that Chaos Emerald, right?" said Amy. "She was just sitting on the sidelines, then after she picked up the emerald, she became a fighting machine!"

"Yeah, the same thing happened when we went adventuring with her through the multiverse," I pointed out, and Pork Chop oinked in agreement. "What do you think that means?"

"Perhaps the power of the emeralds gives some kind of confidence boost to anyone who uses it," Sonic concluded. He turned towards Bluey and her friends and noticed them giggling. "Not that it's a substitute for therapy," he pointed out.

"Oh, of course not," said Chilli, and we all nodded. "But I don't know what I should do!"

"She's right," I said. "How can you tell a psychiatrist in her world the kinds of things we've faced without it being passed off as a story? That's what happened when I told my therapist!"

Sonic put his finger to his chin. "Y'know, I think I might have a solution," he began.

"Hey, Mum! Look at this!" Bluey suddenly shouted, cutting off our thoughts. We ran over to the three kids. "So, me, Chloe, and Indy were just running around," Bluey began.

"And Bluey started waving her hands around, oooo," added Chloe, waving her hands for effect.

"And then…Bluey! Do it!" Indy finished. Bluey waved her hands around, and blue-colored energy started forming. Suddenly, the energy went into her friends' hands and reshaped into the image of a xylophone and a guitar.

"It's a real magic xylophone, Mum!" said Bluey, her tail wagging. "Just like the one I got that one time!"

"And watch this!" said Indy. She waved her fingers across the guitar's strings, and despite the clumsy movements, they made an actual melody…that caused the wind to suddenly blow hard.

"Whoa!" I shouted, grabbing onto Pork Chop and Spawnette. "That's some powerful wind!"

"Yeah, whoo," said Mighty as the wind died down. "How about making your mom something?"

"Okay, I'll try…" said Bluey. She waved her hands once more, and Chilli started to glow with blue energy. Then, in her hands, the magic reformed into the image of a hockey stick. "I know you like hockey, Mum," said Bluey as Chilli admired the weapon.

[BGM: Yuzo Koshiro - Special Stage (Sonic 1 GG)]

"I love it! Thank you, Bluey!" cried Chilli. She swung the hockey stick, and a magic ball appeared out of nowhere. And then we all started running as she got into the game, pretending she was in a real hockey game.

"Playing for the Brisbane Blue Heelers, Chilli makes her way across the field," I narrated, running along.

"But facing her on the other side is the most fearsome goalie from Westside Island, Amy Rose!" added Sonic. Amy took out her Piko Piko Hammer and faced Chilli.

"You can do it, Bluey's mum!" cheered Chloe. "Hit it right into the goal!" Chilli eyed the ball, swung her stick high, and…

"Wow! Right through my legs!" cried Amy, her hammer swing fruitless.

"She did it! She won the championship!" I yelled. "Ludo Studio better make room for another award, folks!" And then suddenly we all tripped, fell on the ground, and started laughing. The magic weapons Bluey had created vanished into thin air.

[BGM: End]

"That was so much fun!" Bluey cheered, picking herself up.

"Yeah, it was like a nice, good old-fashioned trip with my buds," said Sonic. And then he faced the stone wall in front of us. "Oh, what's this? Hieroglyphics?"

We all took a step back and looked at the engraving in front of us. Familiar glyphs carved into the rock. "It's some kind of message," said Balancia, "written in the enchantment language."

"The Standard Galactic Alphabet," I said, showing my immense Minecraft knowledge. "I'm gonna try something…" I took out my sword and waved it near the glyphs, and in front of them sprouted their English translation. "Aha! There we go!" I said, and then read the message aloud:

"SEVEN YOUNG GIRLS, IMBUED WITH CHAOS

THREE BOYS BLESSED WITH THE POWER OF BALANCE

BROUGHT TOGETHER, THEY SHALL BRING UNITY

BUT APART, THEY SHALL BRING DISAPPEARANCE"

"Gee, that rhyme was a bit of a stretch," said Mighty, scrunching up his nose. "But what do you think that means?"

"It's a prophecy," explained Balancia. "It must speak of the Chaos Princesses and the Heroes of Balance!"

"I better screenshot this, then," I said, and I quickly picked up my phone to take a picture of the translated message. "Brought together, they shall bring unity…" I repeated. "I wonder when that will come in…"

"Well, if you decide to stay out of my way, such a feat shall never come to pass," came a new voice. We all turned around to find the source of that voice. A gangerman wearing a dragon helmet.

My eyes got wide as I realized the identity of this new figure. "No way…" I said. "Don?"

[Character Selected: Bluey]
[Current World: Mobius]
[Current Location: South Island, Jungle Zone]

Bluey trembled, nervously, as she eyed the strange new figure. He looks like those scary creatures from my dream, she thought. Defensively, she walked in front of Chloe and Indy and put her arms in front of them.

"Surprised to see me, eh, Danny?" said the figure that Danny identified as Don. "I'm sure you had a lovely stroll here in the jungle."

"I actually was, thank you very much," said Danny, gripping his magic sword. "But what do you want?"

"Oh, I'm sure you know what I want," said Don. "But I won't answer that question. I'll let my friends do it instead…" And he pressed a button on a remote, causing a tractor beam to teleport him into the sky.

"What does he mean by that?" Indy asked. And then they heard it. The groan.

[BGM: Yuzo Koshiro - Boss (Sonic 1 GG)]

"Hey, I recognize that groan…" said Sonic, getting ready to fight. "Isn't that one of the creatures from your world, Danny?"

"Yes, yes it is," Danny said, grimly. Then they came trudging in. The zombies. Their glowing green auras, outstretched arms, coming right towards the heroes…

It was then that Bluey cracked. "No…stay back…" she fearfully said, closing her eyes and holding her arms out. Slowly, she started glowing blue again.

And that's when Chloe, Indy, and Chilli's weapons returned. "Stay away from our friends, you baddies!" cried Chloe, smacking the dinger against her xylophone. The zombies froze in an instant, their auras fading slightly.

"Get them!" Danny shouted. And everyone attacked. Mighty grabbed Sonic and tossed him through the horde in a Super Sonic Spin Attack. Amy smacked her hammer against a zombie as Spawnette followed up with a twirl attack. And Danny and Chilli used their own melee weapons to hack and slash the zombies to bits.

When Bluey finally opened her eyes, she saw the others, standing in a pile of floating rotten flesh. "I'm…I'm okay?" she said, looking at her hands. "You're okay?"

"We're alright, Bluey," said Sonic. "But are you okay?"

Oh, no! They're gonna find out! the blue heeler thought. No, they can't know yet. She got up, dusted herself off, and said, "Yes, I'm okay."

"She's stalling," Danny whispered into Chilli's hearing spots (not her ears, those were on the top of her head), and the red heeler nodded. "Anyway, I know what happened there - the zombies were superpowered!"

"That explains their auras," said Amy. "But when Chloe used that xylophone thingy, the auras got dimmer!"

"It's like when Knuckles was able to disable the power," Danny pointed out. "Chaos Emerald power must be what disables the empowerment!"

"So we just have to keep playing our instruments as you fight those baddies!" said Indy, holding up her guitar.

"And those zombies are coming from…" Balancia closed her eyes and spun around. "Thataway!" She pointed to the northeast.

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Sonic. "Let's do it to it!" And the group started walking towards that direction to find…thousands of zombies.

Even with the zombie's enhanced power, they went down rather easily thanks to the tactic the group had created. Chloe and Indy would lead one side, Chloe using her xylophone to stun the zombies, Indy using her guitar to blow them into a large herd, then the others would attack. The challenge in facing them was really more the large number.

Danny, Pork Chop, and Spawnette performed a combo attack, forming a totem pole and then spinning around, sword outstretched. "Y'know, doing this is much easier once you have a good tactic in mind!" said Danny, setting down from the pole. Suddenly, a zombie smacked him in the face. "Whoops!"

"I'll get that for ya!" said Sonic. He curled up into a Super Spin Dash Attack and drilled through the zombies one-by-one.

Meanwhile, Bluey kept her fears to herself. She put on a brave face, like she said she would, and used her enhanced strength to fight the zombies with her martial arts skills. In fact, being able to fight the baddies that she dreamed she lost to was rather empowering. It felt like she was taking a stand against her own fears.

After a few minutes of zombie-bashing, Amy put down her hammer and wiped her forehead. "Whew! How many more of these guys are there?"

Balancia flew into the air to look ahead. "Only one more horde for now," said the fairy-like being, "then we have a chance to stop any more from coming."

"My arms are tired from swinging, though," Chloe complained. "Why can't we take a break?"

"Breaks aren't a good idea when you're fighting literal zombies!" said Mighty. As the zombies approached, Chloe dinged her xylophone, Indy strummed her guitar, and Mighty took out a good number with one punch.

"And…this should be the last of them!" said Chilli. She swung her hockey stick one last time, slashing through the last few zombies.

"Come on! Now's our chance to stop more from spawning!" cried Danny, pointing ahead. The group ran to the end of the trail, arriving at an isolated pool of water with steam coming out. Floating above the pool of water was a small, white object, glowing green with an electric spark coming from it. "Okay, I think I know how to deal with this," said Danny. "Everyone! Shout happy things!"

"What?" cried Chilli. "Why?"

"Just trust me!"

"Oh! Um…okay…" The red heeler searched through her mind for happy things. "A nice, relaxing afternoon with my family…"

"Going for a run in the Green Hill Zone!" shouted Sonic.

"Going for a nature walk!" added Mighty.

"Playing Minecraft with my friends!" Danny chimed in.

"Oh! I have a good one!" said Bluey. "Playing games with everyone!" Suddenly, the white object flashed, and the electric spark vanished.

[BGM: End]

"A-ha!" cried Balancia, seeing the plan Danny had. She flew up to the object and picked it up. "Good thinking, Danny!" She then inspected the object in her hands. "Oh, dear! This isn't one of the Gadgets of Order - it's another artificial one that Per and Don made!"

"So that makes two of those they made now," said Danny. "They must be making a whole set of them!" He frowned. "Too bad this one isn't corrupted, we could've used that for the key."

"Well, don't you frown," said Mighty, "cos this is it! My hot spring!"

Amy and Chilli looked into the spring. "Ooo, it looks so refreshing…" said the hedgehog.

"I'd like that dip we were promised," said Chilli, "but we have to focus. How are we going to make that whirlpool appear?"

Bluey's brain started to work. "Mighty, did you say the whirlpool appeared from that emerald thingy?" The armadillo nodded. "I think that's what's on my head, so…"

"So Bluey can use her crown as the Chaos Emerald!" finished Sonic. "Brilliant! And that just leaves making sure we can't drown…"

"Oh, don't worry about that!" said Danny. He reached behind himself and pulled out a glowing bottle with a strange blue liquid inside. "Splash potion of water breathing," he said. "All of the breath-underwater magic without the weird pufferfish taste! And we can all get it at once!"

"Man, your world is crazy!" said Sonic, jokingly shaking his head. "But if I can breathe underwater, I'll take it." Everyone gathered around Danny to ensure they could get hit by the potion. As the bottle broke apart and the bubbles from the potion spread around, everyone felt their lungs gain a special coating, allowing them to take the oxygen from the water.

"Alright, this will last us eight minutes, so we have a bit of wiggle room," said Danny. "But still, we better do this sooner rather than later. So everyone into the hot spring!"

"Good luck! I'll be right here in your inventory!" said Balancia, and she flew behind Danny to where he kept his things. Everyone else walked up to the hot spring and hopped in.

"Ahhhh…" Bluey, Chilli, Chloe, and Indy said all at once. "That feels really nice…" the dalmatian added.

"Tell me about it," said Amy. "So refreshing…"

That's when Danny remembered something. "Oh, wait! There's probably still a spawner underwater!" Everyone watched as he dipped underwater, swam to the cube located at the bottom of the lake, and used a pickaxe to destroy it.

As soon as the hole the spawner was covering was unblocked, the lake started to react to Bluey's powers. It began to glow blue, and everyone felt a strange pressure coming from beneath. "Uh, oh…" Bluey said, terrified. And then…whoosh! Just like Mighty described, a whirlpool suddenly appeared. Everyone was knocked out almost instantly by the shock as they vanished into the hole…

[Character Selected: Sonic]
[Current World: Mobius]
[Current Location: South Island, Labyrinth Zone]

Hmm…I feel wet.

I'm underwater. Great.

But I'm breathing. How am I breathing?

Oh, right! The potion.

"Hey!" Sonic suddenly shouted, waking up everyone who was still unconscious. "The potion's probably running out!"

"Cripes!" cried Mighty. "Everyone out!" Not needing to be told twice, everyone started to make their way out of the water onto the stone floor. All except for one.

"Hey!" Indy looked down at her leg. Tangled around it was a green piece of kelp. With her lug stuck, she was unable to make it out of the water. "Help!" she yelled to the others.

[BGM: Sega Sound Team - Drowning]

"Ah, for crying out loud!" said Sonic. Without a second thought, he hopped back into the water to help Indy out. Hmm…the kelp stretches down for a while… He grabbed the piece and followed it down to the deep part of the water where it was growing. Found it! he thought.

Up on the surface, Bluey had taken charge in helping Indy out. "Everyone, pull!" she directed, grabbing onto her friend's hand. The others lined up behind Bluey and pulled behind her, attempting to force Indy out of the water.

After a minute of attempting to cut the kelp with one of his quills, Sonic concluded that such a tactic wouldn't work and shot back up to the surface. "Cutting's no good! We're gonna have to try to untie her!" he said.

"Untie her?" said Amy. "But how?"

Pork Chop gave a determined oink. Without direction, he dove into the water, swam up to Indy's leg, and proceeded to pull on the kelp, attempting to free the afghan hound from her prison.

"Hurry, little guy!" shouted Sonic. "I think the water breathing thing's almost gone!" Sure enough, Indy was finding it hard to keep her breath.

"Come on, come on…" Bluey gritted, not wanting to lose her friend. She watched Pork Chop maneuver the kelp this way and that. Until finally, he got Indy's leg free, signified by the pup flying out of the water into Bluey's arms. "Indy!" the blue heeler gasped, giving her a big hug.

Sonic pulled himself and Pork Chop out of the cold water and shook himself off. "That'll do, pig. That'll do," said the hedgehog, giving an approving nod.

As Bluey continued to hug her friend, Chloe and Chilli joined her, noticing she was crying. "I'm sorry…" Bluey suddenly said. "I'm sorry I got you in danger."

"It's alright," said Indy. "I was scared, but you all helped me get out of the water." She stood up and helped Bluey up as well.

"I was scared, too, Bluey," Chloe confessed. "Were you scared when you were doing this on your own?"

Bluey rubbed her eyes and sniffed. "Yes," she admitted. "I promise, I will never put you in danger ever again."

"And I think after this, we won't go on crazy adventures like this for a while," added Chilli. "How does that sound?"

Bluey smiled. "Yes, Mum." The two heelers hugged each other.

Sonic smiled as well. "She's a good kid, that Bluey," he told the heeler's friends. "You're lucky to have a pal like her."

"Yes, Sonic," said Chloe, nodding. And then the dalmatian noticed something she hadn't before. "Hey, that thing over there looks familiar…"

[BGM: Yuzo Koshiro - Labyrinth Zone (Sonic 1 GG)]

The others turned to see where Chloe was pointing. "Hey! The shrine!" said Mighty. "We made it!"

"Whew!" said Danny. "I was wondering if we would have to dodge a bunch of traps or something." As he approached the shrine, he looked it all over to figure out how it worked. It seemed to simply be a box with a keyhole in it, standing on a table. "Guess all I have to do is this," he decided, taking out the clear half of the Key of Balance he had brought with him. Sticking it into the keyhole, the box suddenly started to emit a dark aura.

"I think it's working," said Amy, watching the key slowly become black.

"Indeed it is," said Danny, watching the key himself. When the dark glow faded, he reached to take out the key half…and then, the tractor beam from before reappeared. "Huh?"

"Rats! Two for two!" said Sonic. He ran up to Danny and grabbed onto the key half, trying to help him wrestle it from the beam. Bluey followed him, followed by Mighty.

Alas, the tugging was no use. The key half vanished through the stone walls, into the grasp of whoever activated it…

[BGM: End]

[Character Selected: Danny]
[Current World: Mobius]
[Current Location: South island, Labyrinth Zone]

The key half was gone. I didn't know how, but it was. "No no no no no no no no…FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDDDGGGGGEEEEE!" Only the last one wasn't 'fudge'. It was the word. The big one. The mother of all bad words. The F-dash-dash-dash word. Admittedly not my finest moment, but it felt good to get that anger out.

"Enjoyed your little tantrum, did you?" I heard the mocking voice of the assailant say. Don.

"You…" I gritted, looking up at the ceiling. "I guess your little gambit worked perfectly."

"Precisely," said Don. "And I very much appreciate you bringing the Key of Balance half to me. I'll be sure to thank you when I…" Then, static.

"Huh?" said Mighty, raising an eyebrow. "Did he lose signal or something?"

"Nope, even better," came a new, more ease-inducing voice. "But he did get shot down."

"Mark!" I said, delighted to hear the gangerman. "What are you doing here?"

"Just making sure those rogues don't get away with their scheme," said Mark. "Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the key, but I managed to shoot Don over to my rendezvous point with Andy. It's some place called…" I assume he checked a GPS or something. "...Speedster Island."

"Ah, Speedster Island," said Sonic, nostalgically. "Stopped Eggman from building property on there once. Nice place to go for a beach run or just catch some fish."

"Sure sounds like it!" said Mark. "Anyway, gonna go check in with Andy now. Good luck, you guys!"

We all shouted cheers of thanks to the gangermen as he hung up. "Alright, guess everything's almost settled," I said, wiping my hands. "Gonna check in with Liam and the others." And so, I grabbed my phone in the real world, right next to me, and dialed Liam's number. "Hey, Liam!" I said when he picked up. "Alright, I've got some good news and some bad news. Good news, I filled up my half of the key. But the bad news is, well…I lost it."

[Character Selected: Per]
[Current World: Mobius]
[Current Location: Andy's Spaceship]

As soon as Per made sure Andy couldn't see him, Per crouched down and took out his walkie-talkie. He was cuffed to the ground with a chain and couldn't move, but it seemed he could at least still talk. "Hey, Commander," he said to the strange figure on the other end. "Listen, I wasn't able to get the key half that Tails and Knuckles had, but Don managed to get the one Sonic had."

The mysterious commander sighed. "Drat, we'll have to go back for your half," he said. "Where is Don?"

Per listened to the conversation that Andy was having. "Well, if I'm hearing correctly, he got shot down."

"What?" cried the commander. "You dolts! And after you acquired the Chaos Emeralds for me!"

"I know, I know, we screwed up," said Per with a sigh. That's when his brain started to work. "Look, just give us one more chance. I have an idea on how to get the advantage back…"

To be continued...and next time: who's the commander?

Next chapter: "Yin Yang No!" Now that the Key of Balance has been fully recharged, they have to reunite and find the missing half that was stolen out of Danny's hands! Unfortunately, Per and Don's mysterious commander isn't going to make things easy, and meanwhile, one false move for Bluey could spill disaster for her...

Postface: Chapter complete! Well, that message was kinda cryptic, don't you think? All will be revealed in time...

Trivia time! The setting of this chapter is the Jungle Zone from the 8-bit version of Sonic 1, mainly because I wanted there to be a more obscure zone featured as a locale. Mighty's interest in hot springs is actually a real fact about him, but what about the Chaos Emeralds coming out of nowhere? Those are meant to be them returning to the Sonic world after the events of my last story, Freedom Pack. Also, Bluey and Bingo's mysterious new powers are shown off some more, and the new gear that Indy, Chloe, and Chilli get are based off of different aspects of the Bluey world - Chloe's new weapon is obviously the magic xylophone, Indy's guitar is loosely inspired by the one Busker uses in Markets, and Chilli's hockey stick is no doubt because she plays field hockey in her downtime. Additionally, I decided to bring in some more references to Minecraft Maniacs RPG - you may recall the Gadget of Order-charged monster spawner from the Of Players & Palace Pets & Knuckles arc. But the ones there were powered by a real Order Gadget, and this one was powered by an artificial one! And didn't Per and Don's gateway key have an artificial gadget, too? Hmm... Lastly, the climax of this chapter originally involved Amy, Chloe, and Indy becoming mermaids and helping the others dodge traps while making it to the shrine, but I decided that would've made things too complicated and cut it down to just saving Indy from drowning, since I felt that was the most dramatic moment of it all.

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

-Alfred

~Minecraft and everything related to it are properties of Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios. Bluey and everything related to her are properties/licensees of Ludo Studio PTY., LTD., the Australian Broadcasting Corp., and BBC Studios Dist., LTD. Sonic the Hedgehog and everything related to him are properties of Sega Corp. 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.~