(Minecraft: Story Mode and its characters belong to Telltale Games, not me.)
(FRED'S POV)
To say that Fred was concerned would be an understatement. In fact, he would not be exaggerating when he said that Romeo's current attitude and behaviour was starting to scare him. He and Romeo have been getting into an alarmingly large amount of arguments and Romeo was starting to become cold and distant.
In most of their recent arguments, Romeo did say something about how Xara and Fred didn't seem to have time to hang out with him anymore, since they are too busy wasting their lives with their towns, namely Fred's Keep and The Oasis. Fred didn't think much of it at the time, but he was starting to think that maybe Romeo's cold behaviour was for a reason.
This was part of the reason why he was taking the time to visit Romeoburg to plant a book inside their old cabin, which was intended for Xara to find should anything go wrong. In the book, he had scribbled down a word of passage; #POTATO451. This was the password that Fred created to guard the Golden Gauntlet which had the ability to strip one of them of their Admin powers. This was something that he did not share with Romeo or Xara.
Instead of going to retrieve the golden gauntlet directly, he had decided on an alternate course of action, which was to write the password down in a book, hide it in their old cabin and go to terminal space to add a hologram recording of himself which would be triggered if someone had put in the password. He was hoping that if he were to speak to Romeo and reassure him that he still considered him a friend, maybe Romeo would snap out of his cold attitude and become his old self again.
Right now, he was on his way to the Oasis to speak to Xara about his plan regarding Romeo. He wasn't 100% sure whether it would work or not, so he had to have a backup plan. He didn't want to resort to using the Golden Gauntlet, however if his plan to talk some sense into Romeo went south, he needed to make sure Romeo did not do anything rash, and the only way to do that would be to take his Admin powers away. This is where Xara comes in.
With all this in mind, Fred arrived at the main gates to the Oasis, where he saw the citizens of Xara's town going about their usual business. Sometimes he wished his life was that simple, but with his status as an Admin, life would never be that simple for him.
"Fred!" A voice called out, pulling him out of his thoughts. It was Xara. "What brings you here?"
"Hey, Xara! Mind if we go inside, I'd rather discuss this in private." Fred greeted.
They both stepped inside.
"Listen, Xara. This is about Romeo. I'm worried about him. He's started acting all cold and distant and…..just really freaking me out. You must have noticed." Fred explained.
"Now that you talk about it, he has been a bit off recently. I was just thinking that it was a phase he was going through." Xara admitted.
"I wish it was. Unfortunately, I've known him for far too long to know that this isn't normal. Whatever must be happening, it's really getting to him." Fred responded. He looked outside towards the tower just over the hill in the distance, his Admin powers helping his eyesight. Romeo seemed to be doing most of his pacing in that tower lately. Fred stifled a sigh.
"Normally, I'd just try and calm him down. But with these Admin powers, he could really hurt someone if he got mad. Therefore, I've been really worried about his attitude recently." Fred added. "I'm still going to go and talk to him, perhaps I might be able to snap him out of it." He turned to Xara. "But I would be foolish if I was going to try and confront him without a backup plan. This is where you come in."
"Me?" Xara asked.
"Yes. If it goes south and Romeo does something rash, I can't continue to let him run around with those powers. He could cause some real devastation. This is your part." He paused. "I have a weapon. It has the power to take away Romeo's Admin powers. I've had it for years, but I only wanted it to be used as a last resort. I've hidden it at home."
"But he was our friend, surely you wouldn't need to go as far as to use it." Xara protested.
"That's what I used to think too. But like I said, he's gotten very aggressive lately. In my opinion, maybe those powers are starting to get to his head." Fred insisted. "From what I understand, Romeo's been spending a lot of time in that tower over there. I've pretty much gotten everything ready. It's now time for me to attempt to talk some sense into Romeo."
"Well I'm coming with you." Xara said.
"No. It's too dangerous." Fred reasoned. "What if Romeo snaps and does something rash?"
"I don't care. I'm not letting you do this alone." Xara insisted.
Fred gave in.
"Okay. I… okay. But under one condition. If Romeo does anything rash at all, leave immediately and get the weapon." Fred instructed. "Do you understand?"
"Yes." Xara answered.
"Okay. Here we go." Fred said, mainly to himself.
And with a clap of his hands, both friends disappeared in purple particles.
The two friends reappeared at the foot of the tower. With a sigh, Fred walked in and climbed the staircase, Xara behind him.
"Remember our agreement, Xara." Fred reminded. "If anything happens, leave immediately and get that weapon."
Xara nodded.
"Just up here." Fred directed.
They approached a door.
"Stay outside." Fred whispered. "And get ready to flee should anything go wrong."
And with that, Fred entered the room.
"Romeo." Fred said, getting the Admin in question's attention.
"What do you want?" Romeo deadpanned.
"Listen, Romeo. This recent attitude of yours, it's gotta stop." Fred reasoned. "I'm really starting to worry here."
"Oh, are you now?" Romeo answered rudely in the same tone.
"Yes. All this arguing. Don't think I haven't noticed what's going on in Romeoburg. That challenge you created, it's nothing but a death trap. Nobody's been able to get out of it alive. What is going on with it? What's your problem?"
"What's going on? WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Romeo's voice raised in volume as he finally turned around to look at Fred. "I'll tell you what's going on! I'm trying to find a worthy candidate to become my champion!"
Romeo turned away again.
"Nothing you'd ever understand of course." Romeo bitterly stated.
"What are you talking about?" Fred asked. He had not heard any footsteps from outside the door, which was starting to alarm him.
"You never did get it, didn't you, Fred?!" Romeo snapped. "I'm trying to find a promising friend here. One that will always stick by me no matter what!"
"What do you mean? We're still your friends!" Fred protested.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Romeo retorted. He stifled a sigh.
"Ever since you and Xara ran off to create your own towns, you've never had time to hang out with me anymore. I'm just trying to keep us together for old time's sake, but when I show up day after day after day and just hearing 'Sorry, I've got a meeting to go to!' or 'Oh, I'm sorry! I'm busy looking after my town!'. It gets really tiring and tedious. That's why I'm trying to look for a champion. Someone who actually understands how to be a true friend!" Romeo ranted.
Fred was starting to feel guilty. Was Romeo really feeling left out? Was it really their fault Romeo didn't seem so happy anymore?
"Well. I'm sorry. I really am. But you should have said something sooner, we had no idea that you felt this way." Fred reasoned.
"You know what? Maybe you should have continued to schedule adventures with your friends, instead of just abandoning that life entirely in favour of running a community." Romeo said quietly, tears threatening to fall. He gasped, as if he realized something, before turning to glare at Fred.
"You've been playing me the whole time, both of you." Romeo said, accusingly. "You never cared for me at all! You just invited me along so that you could use me to benefit yourself."
"What gave you that-" Fred started.
"I get what's going on here. Find a guy to pretend to be friends with. Invite him along on some stupid adventures just to make him think that we are bonding. " Romeo seemed to glow in anger.
"BUT THE PART THAT REALLY MAKES ME MAD?! WHEN YOU, KNOWING FULL WELL THAT I HAVE NO EXPERIENCE OF BEING AN ADMIN, DECIDE TO RUN OFF TOGETHER AND DESERT ME! JUST WHEN I NEEDED YOU THE MOST!" Romeo shouted.
"How can you say that?" Fred protested.
"I BET YOU NEVER WANTED ME TO BE AN ADMIN IN THE FIRST PLACE! I BET YOU WERE PLANNING TO FIND THAT ADMIN GAUNTLET YOURSELF AND STAB ME IN THE BACK ONCE YOU AND XARA FOUND IT!" Romeo almost screamed. To Fred's horror, he took on an evil grin. Xara better not still be in that doorway.
"Am I being too vague? Well, to put it simply! I despise you! I loathe you! You arrogant, cunning, awfully manipulative MONSTER OF AN ADMIN! You and your female friend behind that door! This world would have been a triumph if it wasn't for you!" Romeo accused
"That power has gone to your head!" Fred almost shouted back.
"Oh, going to take away my powers, are you? Sorry to throw a diamond pickaxe into your plans, but you failed. Let me remind you that I found that admin gauntlet first. Technically speaking, you should've been thankful to me that you have those powers right now. Let me tell you something, Fred. I don't stand for ingratitude. So, I'm going to give you a choice here. Either you join me, and we build a new world together, or else!" Romeo's tone sounded threatening.
"Are you kidding? I'm not going to join you! You're insane!" Fred accused.
"Hmm. Well, I guess that's just too bad. Guess I'll just have to remove you from the equation then."
Fred knew what the threat was before it happened, Romeo was going to kill him and Xara. He found himself getting lifted into the air.
"I really wish I didn't have to do this, but I must!" Romeo said. And Fred found himself choking. He looked towards the door and found Xara standing there, dumbfounded. Acting on auto-pilot, he dropped his entire inventory and used the strength he had left to teleport out of the building, disguising his particles as white smoke to try and fool Romeo. He had to do anything to stop himself from choking to death. He found himself hitting ground before he blacked out.
(XARA'S POV)
It happened. She could not believe that Romeo had gone and done it. He had just gone and killed Fred. Her blood began to boil and all she could see was red. She was going to kill Romeo for what he has done. She lifted herself into the air and charged towards Romeo, who dodged.
"Xara. Don't sink to Fred's level. Think about it and join me." Romeo threatened.
Xara didn't answer. She just screamed as she did another charge and managed to punch Romeo in the face.
"Okay, I'll take that as a no, then. Fine. Well. May the best Admin win." Romeo challenged.
(ROMEO'S POV)
The fight that happened lasted for several hours. Romeo wasn't going to give in, no matter how long it took. He was going to make sure Xara learned her lesson for ever going against him. She seemed to get the upper hand at first, but she was starting to become predictable. Romeo managed to out-smart her and get the upper hand. After finally managing to sub-due her, he lifted her into the air, ready to strangle her. But for some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to commit murder again.
Fred's items continued to lay across the ground. He had gotten carried away and acted on impulse when he killed Fred. He was not going to do the same to Xara. He had recently managed to find out how to strip an Admin of their powers, so instead of killing her, he turned Xara back into a human again. Taking one final glance outside the window. He knew that he couldn't stay in this world. So, he did the only thing he could think of. He raised his hands and clapped them. The entire tower began to rumble, and bedrock began to block the sky.
"You're coming with me." Romeo said coldly to Xara, before they both disappeared in purple particles.
(FRED'S POV)
He wasn't sure how long he was out but rumbling somehow managed to get him awake. He was at the foot of the tower and that's when memories began to rush back into him. He was trying to talk sense into Romeo, but Romeo didn't listen. He glanced up, and to his horror, he saw bedrock filling the sky. He hoped Xara managed to get away.
"You're coming with me." He heard Romeo's voice say. And that's when he knew that Xara didn't get away. So much for his plan. At least he was still an Admin. But then a new idea appeared in his head. He had fooled Romeo into thinking he was dead.
He really didn't want to make everyone at his keep think he was dead, but if there was a slight chance of defeating Romeo, he had to take it. He was going to use his powers to infiltrate Romeo's new world. It struck him just how fast he and Romeo went from being friends to being full-blown enemies.
However, he was treading on dangerous ground here. So, he had to be careful. If Romeo caught wind of his presence in his new world, he would find himself dead before you could say 'Oh crap!'.
Putting his plan into motion, he turned invisible and teleported above the bedrock.
Author's Notes: Not sure about you guys, but to me, Romeo's voice sounds very similar to Wheatley from Portal 2, namely the accent and his backstory also seems to go in a very similar direction, namely with the whole gaining power thing and becoming corrupt. So, some of his dialogue here was inspired from Wheatley's dialogue from the end of the game.
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More to follow.