Preface: Hello, again! This chapter marks the beginning of the next story arc: Bridge to Rabborgia. We'll be entering the rabborgs' domain this time around, and in the meantime, some strange occurrences will happen behind the scenes. Let's get right into it!

MINECRAFT MANIACS:
LIGHT AND DARK

Previously...sometime after their last adventure, Danny, Liam, Kevin, and their companions were summoned to obtain the first two Cubes of Balance. While they were successful both times, Danny and Liam were met with encounters from their new foe, the Manipulator. They were also met with encounters with Per and Don, two rogue gangermen who are currently prisoner to Andy and Mark.

Now...the Manipulator prepares to present an offer to the rogue gangermen...

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.

Per and Don - Jesus von Any: Rogue gangermen. Aim to revive Doppel.

Maniuplator - Andrew Stanton: Maniacal interdimensional being. Aims to rule the Chaosverse.

Chapter 19:
Bridge to Rabborgia, Part One -
Into the Fountain

[Character Selected: Per]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Planet of the Gangermen, Dungeon]

[BGM: Peter Hont - End.]

It had only been a day since he and Don got locked up, and Per felt as if he was already losing his sanity. Despite his best efforts, he really did find that there was no way to escape the cell. So this is how I die, he thought, slumping against the wall. In an inescapable prison.

Suddenly, a strange sensation occurred in the middle of the cell, catching both his and Don's attention. They watched as what appeared to be a blue vortex opened up, made of blue matter. The matter then reshaped itself into a strange form that neither gangerman could comprehend, only able to make out the vaguest shape of arms. "What the?" shouted Per, raising his fists in defense. "Who the heck are you?"

The being put its hands to what Per and Don could only guess was its chest. "I am the Manipulator. I believe we have a common enemy - the Minecraft Maniacs, by any chance?"

"Oh, yeah! It's their fault we're in this place!" shouted Don, angrily. "We should've been releasing those artificial Order Gadgets by now!"

"So I have heard," said the Manipulator. "I have an offer for you - I have the intention of conquering this multiverse to show my siblings that disorder cannot exist. If you agree to my terms, I will help you accomplish your aspirations of reviving your ruler, Doppel."

"Helping us revive Doppel, you say?" said Per, his interest piqued. "Wait, how did you even know about that?"

"I see all that occurs in this multiverse," the Manipulator responded. "I know that you have created an artificial set of Gadgets of Order and intend on giving them to a witch known as Magnivolent to spread her influence across the world of Rabborgia."

Don blinked in surprise. "That was our plan!" he said. "Alright, what do we have to do?"

"Simply stay here for now while I ensure your plan is accomplished for you," explained the Manipulator. "Then, when the time is right, I shall break you out of here. Once the Minecraft Maniacs are disposed of, I will allow you to revive Doppel and he shall be given the opportunity to aid me in multiversal control."

"Hmm…I dunno," said Per, thinking. "I kinda wanted to get out of here now…"

"Then I shall try to make your stay here somewhat more pleasurable," the Manipulator agreed. "Better food and entertainment than what you are being given."

"Yeah, that's the stuff!" cheered Don. "I can't wait to have me some MHOP! Their pork chops are the best!" But then a thought occurred to him. "Wait, what about Andy and Mark? Won't they get suspicious?"

The Manipulator seemed to smirk. "Don't worry about them. I already created a little distraction for them…"

[Character Selected: Liam]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Public World, Temporary Shelter]

[BGM: C418 - Danny]

Liam logged on before Danny and Kevin so that he could try to tell Balancia of his strange event without interrupting whatever they would next have to do. It was the following Friday and he was ready for another weekend of adventure, but after not seeing Balancia all week, he figured it was somewhat urgent that he saw her.

To his delight, the allay was in the shelter, playing with the rabborgs and Pork Chop. Riding on the piglet, she chased Spawny and Spawnette throughout the shelter, pretending to be a cowgirl trying to catch some cows. The sight made Liam chuckle, which caused Balancia to realize he had arrived. "Oh! Liam!" she said, embarrassed, as she flew off of Pork Chop and dusted herself off. "You're early!"

"Haha, yeah," said Liam, nodding. "Don't worry - I once caught Danny playing some kind of tug-of-war with Pork Chop with a carrot on a stick." He walked closer to the allay. "Anyway, there's something I should tell you - remember that weird power that Danny described?" Balancia nodded. "Well last weekend, I think I got it - or at least some version of it. It felt more like a mix of light and dark, if you know what I mean."

"I see," said Balancia. "That's actually fantastic to hear! At this rate, Kevin will get his powers soon, and we should be right on our way to stop the Manipulator after that!"

Just then, Danny and Kevin logged on, seeing Liam converse with the allay. "Were you telling her what happened last week?" asked Danny.

Liam nodded. "Thought I would get it done with so it wouldn't interfere with today's adventure."

Kevin nodded. "Good foresight," he said. He clapped his hands together. "So, where are goin' in that Multiversal Gateway today?"

"Oh, actually, we aren't going there today," said Balancia. "Rather, we're going to be headed to the kingdom of Rabborgia!"

That caused Spawny's ears to perk up. "(Hey! Whaddya know? I did some foreshadowing!)"

Balancia giggled. "So you did, little one! Let's get a move on, then!"

"Just one sec, I wanna get something…" Kevin interrupted. He opened up the ender chest by the brewing station and pulled out a red shulker box with a familiar 'M' icon. "Figured I'd take some power-ups," Kevin explained, "since we haven't used them in a while."

Danny nodded. "I'll take it." Liam opened the door and everyone exited the shelter, walking back towards the town where the players usually called home. As they walked, however, Danny noticed a familiar UFO hovering over to them, and saw two gangermen wearing scarves beam down. "Oh! What brings you two here?" Danny asked.

"Well, we got this letter from a strange benefactor," explained Andy, holding up a book. "It tells us that we should head to Kevin's lab in your private world and guard this new technology you're working on."

Kevin rubbed his chin. "I mean, I guess it could be dangerous in the wrong hands…" he thought, "but don't you think this is just a little bit suspicious?"

Mark nodded. "Totally. That's why I installed a teleporter into my scarf." He lifted the dangling end of his scarf, revealing a button with the pattern of an ender pearl on it. "If this buzzes, I'll know if something went wrong back home and can teleport back quickly while Andy stays guarding."

"You guys think of everything, don't you?" said Liam, to which Andy and Mark nodded with a giggle. "Alright, good luck, you two." With a wave, Liam continued the walk back to town, followed by the others.

As soon as they saw Andy and Mark return to their UFO and blast off, Danny leaned towards Kevin and asked, "What's this new technology you're making?"

"Oh, it's this giant robot that's designed to use the Cubes of Balance's power," Kevin explained. "I think I have the basic foundation down, but I may need some detotated wam and probably Dr. Jagmon's help to finish it."

"Better finish it soon, then," said Liam. "If the Manipulator is attacking weekly, who knows what he could do next." The gates to town were in the players' sights now, so they eagerly ran up to the door and started walking through town.

As they greeted the players and villagers who were happy to see the three again after a few weeks, the six made their way to the fountain in the middle of town. The five fountain gems stayed shimmering in their places on the fountain, filling it with magic. "Alright, ready to go?" asked Danny.

"(Ready as I'll ever be,)" said Spawny. And with that, the six jumped into the fountain to start the next part of their journey.

[BGM: End]

[Character Selected: Danny]
[Current World: Minecraftia]
[Current Location: Rabborgia Palace]

Water quickly became space and time as the others and I tumbled our way to Rabborgia, the kingdom that Spawny and Spawnette ruled. They went there occasionally when we weren't adventuring, and while the people there could generally get by without them, they were always happy to see them. Now that I mention it, I don't quite remember the last time I went to Rabborgia, so I figured it was high time I paid a visit again.

We all popped back into existence in the throne room where Spawny and Spawnette rested their royal keisters. "(Ah, it is so lovely to be back,)" said Spawnette, stretching her arms. "(Quickly, let us go and see how everyone is doing!)"

[BGM: Peter Hont - Town Bell]

"Okay, okay!" said Kevin. We all ran down the stairs and out the palace gates…but what we saw wasn't what we expected. Rather than the players, villagers, and other rabborgs running around, doing their usual hustle and bustle, they seemed to be…rebuilding? Houses, shops, and market stalls had holes that the townsfolk were desperately trying to patch up, as if the town had been attacked.

I looked around, confused and scared. "What happened here?" I wondered aloud.

"(Magnivolent is what happened,)" came a new, rabborgish-voice, if somewhat more haggard. A green-speckled rabborg, hunched over with a long gray beard and a walking stick, trudged over to us. "(The witch attacked us with her newfound powers! Three white objects that allowed her to cause destruction like never before! We were able to fend her off, but she still did quite some damage.)"

"(Wait…Magnivolent is back?)" said Spawny. "(And white objects…that sounds like…)"

"(The Gadgets of Order!)" cried Spawnette. "(How did she get them? They have been in hiding since we defeated Doppel!)"

I closed my eyes, thinking I had the answer. "They're not the gadgets," I responded, grimly. "They're artificial duplicates made by Don and Per. And it looks like they have about the same power as the real deals."

"But this guy said this Magnivolent lady had three of them," said Liam. "Aren't there supposed to be five?"

"Correct," said Balancia. "But…I have one of them, and another is the key that Andy and Mark have!"

"Well, that simplifies things a little," I remarked, "but we still have to get those gadgets!"

"(I believe she scattered them around the outskirts of the kingdom,)" continued the old rabborg. "(Said something about making sure nobody finds them.)"

"Then we just gotta find them before she can be proven right…" Liam trailed off. "...without Buzzer's special tracking abilities."

"Wait, we may have a workaround…" I said. My eyes pointed to Kevin. "Still have that gadget, Balancia?"

"I do, but I don't know how it'll help," said the allay, taking the green-glowing object out from her invisible inventory. Luckily, Kevin understood what I was talking about and scanned it with his watch.

[BGM: Peter Hont - What You Came For]

"Okay, let's see here…" he said, examining the screen. "Okay, it's a little foggy, but I'm picking up signals in the jungle, desert, and ocean. Something tells me these gadgets have been corrupted like the ones from Whisker Haven when they got sent around the multiverse." He reached into his inventory and pulled out the third of the three Keys of Balance. "Which means we could probably absorb that dark energy into this!"

"Brilliant!" said Balancia. "Then it's settled. Kevin, you and Spawny lead the way!"

"(Good luck, you six!)" said the old rabborg. "(I hope you do us well!)"

"(I'll try, Grandpappy,)" said Spawny, reluctantly. "(I know I faced Magnivolent before, but I'm still nervous…)"

Spawnette reassuringly took Spawny's hand. "(But you did not do it alone. And you are not alone now. We shall do it together.)"

Spawny's nervous frown turned into a slightly less nervous smile. "(Right!)" He turned to me, expectantly. "(Can I say it?)"

"Go right ahead," I responded, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"(No player left behind!)" declared Spawny. We all repeated after him and followed both him and Kevin to the jungle, ready to get the three artificial Order Gadgets and stop Magnivolent.

"Oh, actually, I have one question," Liam abruptly said. "Who the heck is Magnivolent?"

To be continued...and next time: ocelot attack!

Next chapter: In order to get the first of the three artifical Gadgets of Order, the Maniacs will have to become "Ocelot Tamers". Within a vast jungle lives a young rabborg named Feroce, and her pet ocelot Creeper Cranker has become the first artificial gadget's victim, No matter, the Maniacs should be able to handle this...

Postface: Chapter complete! Now we got the ball rolling for Act 3!

Trivia time! Some of you may recall Rabborgia and Magnivolent from some of my side stories, particularly Spawny and Spawnette's Little Kingdom. I realized I never properly focused upon the world it's in, however, so I decided to remedy that by having this arc be set within it. A few other references to my first batch of stories can be spotted here and there, too. Similarly, I realized the Mario power-ups haven't gotten that much attention so far, so I decided to include them here. Combine that with the artificial Gadgets of Order, and you can consider this arc to be a throwback to Minecraft Maniacs RPG.

Hmm...what could the Manipulator be planning that made him distract Andy and Mark? Only time will tell...

That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for the jungle excursion! 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.~