Minecraft: Stonesword Saga/NewPets1CHP

=== Prologue ===
Jodi, along with her group of friends (Po, Theo, Harper, Morgan, and Ash) are in a swamp, on a supposed rescue mission. Jodi begins opening several cages that house supposed prisoners. Morgan attempts to stop her, but an "unseen enemy" quickly attacks Jo’s friends, leaving the enemy and Jo all by themselves. Jodi falls to her knees as the enemy laughs, wondering if it’ll be the last sound she ever hears.
=== Chapter 1: Please Hold Your Questions Until the End of the Presentation! (But You Can Ooh and Ahh as Much as You Like.) ===
In the real world, Jodi is giving a presentation to her friends at the Stonesword Library on how she can convince her parents to get her a pet. Everyone else applauds Jodi for the presentation, saying that she had definitely done so, except for Morgan, who feels hesitant, which in turn makes Jodi a bit worried.
=== Chapter 2: Animals of the Overworld! I’ll Never Get Over How Cute They Are. ===
The next day, everyone returns to the library, checks in the VR goggles at the front desk, and then head to a room with computers. Of course, they are being transported into the world of Minecraft. Everyone spawns inside a house that had been built specifically for them, before heading outside to inspect "The Fault". Harper says that they need to figure out what it actually is, and thinks that it’s getting bigger. Morgan attempts to speak about finding the next piece of the Evoker King, but he is interrupted by Jodi going after a rabbit and blabbering about wanting a pet animal; she herself still feels confident about getting one as her parents supposedly said that they’ll think about it. As Jodi starts looking around a lake, Po and Harper wonder as to why Morgan feels negative toward the idea of Jodi having a pet. Morgan starts mentioning about how his parent’s faces didn’t really look convincing, and Harper and Po suggest that perhaps he could help convince them that Jodi is ready to have a pet. Morgan says that he’ll think about it as he is interrupted by Jodi who asks for a bone to help tame a wolf. Harper gives her a bone, and then Jodi runs off to tame the wolf in a nearby forest. Although the bone fails to tame the wolf, she decides to call it "Lobo Joe" anyway, hoping that she’ll find more bones to eventually tame it. Lobo Joe begins to walk away before disappearing from view. Everyone runs in the direction that Lobo Joe had gone before stumbling upon a large hole full of various animals, and Morgan believes that the large hole had been built on purpose. Po pulls out his pickaxe to make a small path to free the animals.
=== Chapter 3: Out of the Pit. Into the Swamp! (I’ll Take Any Other Option You’ve Got, Please.) ===
Jodi then questions Morgan as to why the large hole was made on purpose. Morgan says that hole didn’t look natural, while Theo suggest that it might have been a creeper explosion. The suggestion is all but forgotten when everyone sees the butterfly, and, despite Jodi insisting on freeing the animals first, they all decide to follow it. The butterfly leads the group through a swamp biome, soon noticing a witch hut off in the distance. Morgan notices that the butterfly had landed on top of it, as well as a figure moving inside the hut. He begins to explain to everyone that they would need to be quiet and careful, but quickly realizes that Jodi is missing. Po points toward the witch hut, and soon everyone sees that Jodi is running toward it.
=== Chapter 4: Welcome to the Zoo! Come for the Pandas. Stay Forever… ===
In actuality, however, Jodi is heading for the area behind the witch hut, which is housing several animals such as pandas, turtles, and fish in small cages made out of fences. A baby panda sneezes in one of them, dropping a slimeball. Harper decides to pick it up for later. Morgan thinks that the area is set up like a zoo, but Jodi thinks that the area is set up like a prison and insists on freeing the animals. Before Morgan can explain himself, Jodi starts freeing the animals, but stops when she hears a parrot that she had just freed imitate a mob sound, with Morgan confirming that the sound was of a witch. Just then, a witch appears at the door of its hut and starts attacking the group with splash potions of weakness. Everyone eventually falls to their knees and are unable to stand. The witch then says that she’ll remove the weakness effect from them if they are able to return with a brown mooshroom. Jodi refuses, thinking that the witch will hurt the mooshroom, but the witch says that it needs the brown mooshroom to make suspicious stew. The witch then shows the group a cage full of beds and asks for them to rest.
=== Chapter 5: Suspicious Stew: Is the Cure Worse Than the Disease? ===
Back in the real world, everyone feels chills down their spines as they remove their pair of VR goggles, realizing that this witch is much more different than a regular one (and possibly one of the fragments of the Evoker King). Theo and Po feel that they can only solve the issue by doing what the witch told them to do, while Jodi feels like that there is another way to solve the issue without giving the witch the brown mooshroom. After a light argument between Jodi and Morgan, Morgan realizes that the effect of the suspicious stew depends on what the brown mooshroom had last eaten. Theo also adds that brown mooshrooms are extremely rare to find, even through breeding. As the group leave the library for the day, Theo and Jodi have a discussion about animals in Minecraft, with differing viewpoints on them supposedly having feelings. Mr. Mallory then mentions that despite virtual animals and NPCs not having feelings, that compassion should be shown to all creatures whether it is appreciated or not. Mr. Mallory also says that positivity, kindness, and patience are crucial skills for development as they positively effect everyone. Theo sighs to himself, wondering if he and his friends will ever be free from the potion’s effects in Minecraft.
=== Chapter 6: An Itsy-Bitsy Spider Caused a Great Big Problem! ===
Several days later, back in Minecraft, the group (Jodi, Harper, Theo, Po, and Morgan) spawn back at the beds, which had been moved to the edge of the swamp. A chest nearby contained a map, marked with the location of an island. The group knew immediately that the island must be home to a mushroom biome, which is the only biome in which mooshrooms can spawn. They begin heading toward it, but are attacked by hostile mobs along the way. The mobs take longer to kill thanks to the group being under the effect of weakness, but the group push on, not even hesitating to rest when phantoms appear in the night sky. The group also avoided going near a pillager outpost as to not be attacked by the mobs that spawn there. Eventually, the group see the mushroom biome off in the distance, but they have no reason to celebrate just yet. Theo plants some seeds for wheat as everyone else crafts a boat, and not long after, the group set shore on the island. Po realizes that the mooshrooms are all red, and Morgan explains that a brown mooshroom spawns when a red mooshroom is struck by lightning. As Jodi goes off to choose which mooshroom to bring back, the others wonder as to how they’ll get the mooshroom into the boat. Harper pulls out the slimeball that she had gotten earlier, knowing that it would be useful in a situation like this.
=== Chapter 7: Introducing: Michael G! Not to Be Confused with Michael C or Michael P ===
Eventually, Jodi finds a mooshroom and decides to name it "Michael G" as a pun on mycology, which is the term for studying mushrooms. Harper then shows off a lead that she had crafted from string and the slimeball, saying that it can be used to bring Michael G wherever they wanted. Theo starts to wonder if they should bring back another mooshroom just in case something happens to Michael G, but Harper says that they are better off just bringing one so everyone can focus on protecting it. Astonishingly, Theo agrees, and not long after, the group start heading back toward the main land, but are attacked by a drowned. Morgan falls off his boat as he is hit by a trident, with Po diving in to save him. Jodi brings up her shield just in time to avoid being attacked by the drowned, but fortunately, the sun begins to rise, causing the drowned to burn up and eventually die, leaving behind rotten flesh and a trident. Harper asks for Jodi to hold on to the trident, which she does, and also says that she has an idea for using the rotten flesh, asking everyone if they are willing to take a detour.