Minecraft Story Mode Season 3, Episode 3: Every Rose Has Its Thorns

Part 20: The Tides are Changing

"You remember Veeva from your party, right? It turns out that she's working for a maniac named Hit the Target. The New Order of the Stone, me, and some others have been trying to stop them from kidnapping people. I went to investigate a shattered window alone, which in hindsight probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had. When I arrived, I saw Veeva attempting to abduct some citizens. I fought Veeva... but I lost, she captured one of the citizens, and she threw me in a glass cell. I escaped by slamming a bookshelf into the cell to break the walls, but I hadn't factored in the possibility that pieces of glass could end up hitting me," Romeo explained.

"So... Veeva is a lackey for a crazy kidnapper? Didn't see that coming," Lizzie commented. She tilted her head. "Do you know where Veeva is keeping the rest of the... kidnapees?"

"Unfortunately, no. I didn't see any other cells in the building I was held in. We could head back to do a more thorough search, since my main focus was escaping and I wasn't looking for other cells at the time," Romeo answered.

Lizzie's eyes widened and she turned her head to the river.

"Hang on a moment. Another one of those voices is coming from the river. It's calling me," Lizzie said. Romeo was confused. The only voices he'd heard in the past few minutes were Lizzie's and his own.

"So you're the only person who can hear the voices. Fascinating," Romeo mused. Lizzie walked up to the river, inhaled deeply through her nose, and then exhaled.

"Okay, what do you want?" Lizzie asked as she looked down at the river. There was a moment of silence, then her mouth dropped open. "Uh... Romeo. Either I'm hallucinating or the fish can talk. I think they're... telepathically communicating with me or something? A cod in the river told me that you and a girl with a gold headpiece were the only people it saw entering the building," Lizzie stated.

"Are you sure that cod has reliable intel? It could've easily missed something while distracted," Romeo pointed out. Lizzie raised an eyebrow.

"What the... That's the question you're asking? Not 'Lizzie, are you sure you're not crazy?' Most people would doubt my sanity, but you're just like: 'oh, okay,'" Lizzie replied.

"I've witnessed a lot of seemingly impossible phenomena, so I no longer dismiss anything as hard to believe," Romeo explained. Lizzie shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, that makes sense. It's just... I thought everything was going to go back to normal after I escaped Cassie's murder mansion. But now I'm in a weird situation where I feel completely lost and confused again," Lizzie complained. Romeo knitted his eyebrows together in concentration, trying to piece together a possible explanation for Lizzie's aquatic connection.

"You've had no encounters with Veeva recently, right?" Romeo questioned.

"Nope. I haven't seen her in months. She hasn't even contacted me since the party. Which I initially thought was just her being extremely rude, but apparently it's because she's working with a supervillain and staying on the down low," Lizzie responded. Romeo let out a sigh.

"Well, there goes that theory. I'll let you know if I think of anything else," Romeo said. The shriek of a phantom pierced the air.

"That's... not good," Lizzie muttered. She tilted her head. "And also impossible. Don't phantoms burn in the daylight?" Lizzie added.

"This one doesn't. Kali is one of Veeva's experiments... she's half human and half phantom, so she's immune to the sun's rays. We'll have to brace ourselves for a difficult fight. I bet Kali has learned her lesson from fighting Xara," Romeo answered.

"Are you kidding me? You might be feeling better, but I literally pulled dozens of glass shards out of you less than fifteen minutes ago. Which means- I can't believe I have to spell this out for you- you're probably not in the best fighting shape," Lizzie retorted.

"Our only other options are to run or hide, both of which are most likely futile because Kali's extremely fast and she has an aerial view," Romeo pointed out. Lizzie pressed her lips together in concentration.

"Okay. I think I have a plan. I'll try to hold her off while you recover, and when you've got all of your energy back you can join the fight. I will notice if you help me before you're ready, don't think that I won't," Lizzie replied. She drew her iron sword.

"Be careful. Kali is extremely dangerous," Romeo warned.

"Oh my gosh, 'careful'?! You know that word?!" Lizzie gasped. Romeo couldn't help but chuckle.

"Contrary to popular belief, I do. I just strongly prefer not to use it," Romeo quipped. Lizzie stifled a laugh. She then looked up at the sky, glared at it, and began wildly flailing her sword around.

"Fly away, you... stupid creepy hybrid phantom thing. Don't make me sword stab you!" Lizzie yelled. She glanced at Romeo. "Does that sound intimidating?" Lizzie asked.

Romeo winced and shook his head.

"That was painful to watch and I honestly got second hand embarrassment," Romeo admitted. Lizzie let out a sigh.

"Well dang it. I was hoping I would scare her off," Lizzie muttered. She could see Kali diving down to grab her and her mouth dropped open.

Lizzie heard the river life's voices calling out to her with words of encouragement, calling her the Ocean Queen and praising her strength.

Lizzie's heart was pounding in her chest. There was a half human monster rapidly descending towards her. She stood in place, frozen with terror. At the last second, Lizzie snapped herself out of her trance and ducked to avoid Kali in time.

"'Ocean Queen'? I don't get it. I hate to disappoint you, but I'm probably not who you think I am," Lizzie said. She was caught off guard and knocked into the river by Kali.

"LIZZIE!" Romeo shouted.

Lizzie grabbed onto a rock and pulled herself up so she wouldn't sink into the river and drown. She felt a strange numbness in her feet and ears.

"I'm okay! Just a little sore," Lizzie reported.

"You can stall for a little while longer, right? I've almost completely recovered," Romeo told her. Lizzie climbed out of the river.

"Yep, I've got this," Lizzie replied. She gripped her sword and stood her ground.

Kali flew towards Lizzie, but Lizzie grabbed her outstretched hands and kicked her in the face. Kali fell to the ground, then lifted her head up and gritted her teeth.

"Initially, I just wanted to kill you for fun and because Hit the Target ordered me to kill anyone assisting the New Order of the Stone. But now it's personal... you'll pay for that, Lizzie Dwyer," Kali hissed. She slowly stood up, her joints contorting in unnatural positions and cracking.

Kali lunged at Lizzie and Lizzie jumped out of the way, but Kali was able to graze Lizzie's arm with her sharp nails.

Lizzie grimaced at the bleeding claw marks that had appeared on her arm.

"You're not a very nice abomination of nature," Lizzie retorted as she clutched her wound. A wide grin spread across Kali's face.

"That's only a small taste of the pain you'll experience. It'll be a pleasure to see you suffer," Kali giggled. Romeo walked over to her as red electricity crackled in his right hand.

"Really? You think you've won despite the fact that I'm still standing? I don't know if the sheer naïveté and idiocy of that conclusion is laughable or just annoying," Romeo commented. Romeo's scleras became a glowing red and his eyes became a glowing yellow as the amount of red electricity in his hand grew. He turned his head to Lizzie.

"You might want to stand back."