Minecraft Story Mode Season 3, Episode 1: Powerless

Part 10: A Very Strange Encounter

Romeo peered through the gate's grating and saw that there were about ten people near the gate. Jesse pushed the gate open and the two of them began to stroll through Beacontown, but they were stopped dead in their tracks by the citizens. All ten of them crowded around Jesse.

"Jesse! Ohmigosh, high five me!" a girl with light brown hair squealed. She held her hand up and Jesse gave her a high five. "Best! Day! Ever!" the girl exclaimed. She turned around and ran.

"Jesse, can you help me plant my garden?" a light brown-haired man explained. A woman with blond hair pushed him out of the way.

"Jesse, my sword broke and I need iron ingots!" the woman said. The man managed to squeeze himself next to her.

"Jesse, I really need your help!" the man shouted.

"Jesse, you need to give me some iron ingots!" the woman stated. Jesse's breathing became shaky and her eyes widened. She was having a stress induced panic attack.

"Jesse, help plant my garden!" the man exclaimed. Jesse's heart began to beat so quickly and loudly that Romeo could hear it.

"No, help me! My problem is obviously more important than his!" the woman argued. Jesse's eyes welled with tears, then she gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes.

"Both of you, just stop! I'm sick and tired of doing everything for people! None of you even stop for a second to think about how I feel! I'm not your babysitter, so quit asking me to do things that you could easily do yourselves!" Jesse ranted. The crowd's eyes became the size of golf balls and their eyebrows rose... they seemed to be both startled and frightened. Jesse suddenly snapped out of her anger. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes slowly widened. "Oh my Notch..." Jesse gasped. Her shock melted into regret and she forced herself to make eye contact with the citizens. "I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to lash out at any of you," Jesse apologized.

The citizens began to whisper apprehensively amongst themselves. Romeo could only pick out bits and pieces of sentences.

"...not right..."

"...someone did something to her..."

"Maybe it's not even her..."

"...impersonated like last time..."

"...who's with her? I don't recognize him."

"I think I might have seen him before. He kind of looks like the Admin..."

"Oh yeah, sure. And I just talked to the White Pumpkin this morning."

"No, I'm serious!"

Romeo's insides twisted uncomfortably as he listened to the crowd's murmurs. But as he scanned the crowd, he noticed one girl wasn't joining the discussion.

The girl had long black hair, green eyes, and a rose scent that likely came from perfume. She wore black rectangular glasses, pink lipstick, blue jeans, black converse, and a white t-shirt with circular black glasses and a yellow lightning bolt printed on it. Romeo walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Why aren't you talking to them?" Romeo asked. The girl made eye contact with him and smiled sheepishly.

"I don't want to get into rumors or anything," the girl explained. Jesse turned towards her, then raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think I've seen you before. Are you new here?" Jesse questioned. The girl adjusted her glasses.

"Yep. My name's Erica Stirpe, and I just moved here a couple of days ago. I thought it was kind of weird that you were teleporting people to who-knows-where and doing other terrible things. But it turns out it wasn't really you and that it was someone impersonating you called... 'the Admin,' I think? Everyone's been talking about it," the girl- Erica- replied. Romeo's eyes widened in fear.

"Everyone?!" Romeo exclaimed. Erica nodded and her eyes moved to the floor.

"Yeah, and the topic has really been... ignited, if that's the right word for it, in the past couple of minutes. They think you're the Admin. Which is probably just crazy," Erica responded.

"Mmm-hm. Yeah. They're just crazy. That's what they are," Romeo babbled. Erica grinned, shook her head, and snickered.

"Oh my gosh. You're a terrible liar," Erica commented. Romeo let out an exasperated sigh.

"Okay. Fine. I'm the Admin. Well... I was," Romeo answered.

"What are you doing with Jesse then? Do Jesse and all of the villains get together for bingo every Saturday night?" Erica quipped. Jesse's expression became flat and she shrugged.

"Yeah... but the White Pumpkin, the Witherstorm, Maya, Aiden, Gill, PAMA, Hadrian, and Mevia usually can't make it," Jesse told her. Erica tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "I was joking. Romeo's my friend," Jesse explained. Erica stifled a laugh, then covered her mouth in a desperate attempt to completely silence it.

"'Romeo'? That's his real name? I'm not judging, I just didn't think... Nevermind," Erica stated. Jesse's eyes darted to the rest of the crowd... they had obviously overheard Romeo's conversation with Erica, but not hers. The crowd seemed to have expressions that were a combination of anger and fear, and they were staring at Romeo.

"Jesse, what are you doing near the Admin?! Did he brainwash you into working for him?!" the woman exclaimed. Romeo's mouth dropped open.

"Brainwash?! I can't even do that! Bloody heck, I've actually never been able to do that!" Romeo said in disbelief as he gestured wildly.

"I think the Admin is mind controlling her," the man announced. Romeo slapped a palm to his forehead.

"And I can't mind control people either!" Romeo added. The crowd began to surge towards him- but suddenly Erica seized Romeo's arm, which caused the crowd to stop in their tracks.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll make sure he pays for what he's done," Erica told the crowd. Her tone was cold and alarmingly calm. Romeo thought to himself that Erica and Xara would become instant BFFs and get along great. He tried to escape, but Erica tightened her grip. She dragged Romeo to Bad Luck Alley, an area of Beacontown that most of the citizens didn't know about. (By this point, he'd had enough of being dragged.) Erica stopped near Jack's map shop and let go of Romeo's arm. Romeo rubbed his arm and glared at her.

"Here comes the part where you're going to torture me or kill me," Romeo quipped. Erica gave him a wry smile. 

"I actually just saved you. I know it doesn't seem like that, but I only told the crowd I'd make you pay for what you'd done so they would leave you alone. They were going to lynch you if I didn't say I was going to," Erica explained. Romeo tilted his head slightly to his right and pressed his lips together.

"Why did you save me? Not that I'm not grateful, but you literally just met me," Romeo pointed out. Erica smiled knowingly and chuckled.

"I know what it's like. If Jesse asks, we never had this conversation. Just tell her I helped you... not harmed you," Erica said vaguely. Romeo's jaw dropped.

"You want me to lie to my only friend?" Romeo questioned. Erica waved her hand in dismissal.

"Not lie to her. Just hold back information," Erica assured. Romeo closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fits, then relaxed his hands and facial features. He crossed his arms and stared Erica down.

"Fine. But if Jesse asks me about it, I'm telling her exactly what happened," Romeo hissed.

"Wow. You're feisty," Erica snickered. She took an ender pearl out of her inventory and looked at her reflection in the shiny, dark aqua green sphere. "We might see each other again, but I personally think that's not gonna happen. Especially with all of the... projects... I've got going on," Erica continued. She threw the ender pearl, and a few seconds later she vanished-- leaving nothing but purple teleport particles behind. By the time Jesse arrived, the particles had completely faded.