Chapter 2 – Champion City
Disclaimer: If you have not read Fred: Admin in Exile and/or Fred: Into the Multiverse yet. I suggest you read those stories first before reading this one.
(Minecraft: Story Mode and its characters belong to Telltale Games, not me.)
(JESSE'S POV)
Jesse arrived in the mines, to find Petra nowhere in sight. All he could see were the miners doing their jobs.
"Petra?" Jesse called out.
No response.
"Huh. I swear she said to meet right here." Jesse said, confused. "PETRA! Where are you?"
A groaning sound startled Jesse. Looking to his right, he saw a bunch of zombies headed towards him.
"Ah! Stupid Zombie!"
He pulled out an iron sword.
"Ah, I missed this. Smell, not so much."
Jesse quickly dispatched the two zombies with ease.
"Well, you're late. But at least you still remember how to fight." Petra commented, getting Jesse's attention.
"Oh, hey!" Jesse greeted.
"Hey, I was worried you'd gotten rusty." Petra said. "I can't even imagine that life. Managing people. Signing papers. Bleh."
"I really do miss this. You know. Us. Adventuring together, facing the unknown." Jesse agreed. "I wish we could do this more often."
"Except, I'm gonna have a hard time being seen with someone wearing such dingy armor. What is that, Iron?" Petra teased, tapping the armor and making a clanking sound.
"I didn't want to dent the good stuff! So what?" Jesse reasoned. "And look who's talking with an iron sword, where's your fancy gold one with all the enchantments? Can't remember the last time I saw you without it."
Petra looked sheepish.
"I, uh…" She stammered.
Jesse's attention was grabbed again by more groaning.
"Ready for more?" Petra asked.
Jesse once again dispatched more zombies.
"Ha! Haven't lost my step yet." Jesse said.
"Well, you sure showed me." Petra agreed. "Glad you finally made it. Sometimes I worry you don't even have time for me- your friends anymore. I mean, I get that you like your job and everything, but jeez."
"Hey, I'm here now, aren't I?" Jesse pointed out. "I'll always make time for you."
"Yeah, I guess. But now that you mention it. Can't help but notice that we're missing one, two, three." Petra said.
"Axel has Boom Town duties, Olivia's grading something or another in Redstonia and Lukas-"
"-is writing." Petra finished. "I figured. Man, our friends have gotten lame. I swear, if our old fans saw what we're doing now. I'm just sayin', I don't care how look Lukas' next book is, it's not exactly slaying a Wither-Storm, y'know?"
"Hey, don't get bummed." Jesse said. "Even without them, we're having fun, right?"
"Yeah, that's a good point." Petra conceded. "At least we've got the cool people here. We'll worry about them later I guess. We gotta hurry."
"What exactly are we looking for down here?" Jesse questioned.
"I'll, tell you when we find it. Just trust me, it's important." Petra said.
A noise got their attention.
"What was that?" Jesse asked.
"Come on! Let's race!" Petra suggested, before taking off.
"Wait, what?"
"It's monster-huntin' time." Petra declared.
With a grin and a shake of his head, Jesse raced after her.
"Hey, It's Jesse!" A miner called out.
"What's up? Good to see ya!" Another miner called out as Jesse raced past.
A miner on a minecart came out of a side entrance, holding a cake.
"Oh, perfect. I'm starving." Jesse said as he nicked the cake and ate it.
"HEY! I was gonna eat that! Obviously." The miner complained.
"EVERYONE GET DOWN! IT'S GONNA BLOW!" A miner shouted, diving for cover. A TNT was flashing ready to explode. Jesse managed to jump over it just as it exploded, giving him a mini-boost.
Jesse and Petra reached the end of the tunnel.
"Ha! Wooo." Jesse panted as he came to a stop, but Petra wasn't listening. She was looking for something.
"Alright, where'd you go?" Petra said to herself.
"Where'd WHAT go?" Jesse inquired.
A silhouette got his attention. It was racing into another tunnel. This was apparently what Petra was looking for, since she pointed it out.
"HA! LOOK DOWN THERE!" Petra pointed.
"So, you're really not gonna tell me what we're chasing?"
"Nope. The mystery's what makes it fun! C'mon!" Petra responded before continuing to chase after it.
With a roll of his eyes, Jesse continued to follow. Jumping down, he caught up with Petra. Petra pointed out a bunch of zombies behind Jesse, before speeding off. Jesse pursued.
"Look out! Wall spiders!" Petra exclaimed.
"I see 'em!"
Pulling out his sword, Jesse dispatched some of the spiders while continuing to run. The rest were eventually stopped by a pool of lava that Jesse had jumped over.
"There! It went into that cave!" Petra pointed out.
"On it!" Jesse responded, sheathing his sword. Petra gave him an evil smirk before jumping down to the floor below.
"'Annnd Petra's in the home stretch!'" Petra announced, pretending to be an announcer. She was immediately blocked by a bunch of spiders. "Ah, jeez! More of these guys!"
Jesse responded with an evil smirk of his own as he continued on ahead, intending to win the race.
"WHAT?!" Petra exclaimed, scandalized. "But you- Ugh!"
"'And Jesse takes the lead!'" Jesse announced, pretending to be an announcer.
"Ha, let's see how long that lasts!" Petra taunted.
Jesse jumped onto stone platforms, jumping over lava before reaching the other side. Seeing Petra catching up with him, he immediately jumped inside the hole at the end of the track, therefore winning the race.
"Man, you're faster than I remember! Ha!" Petra remarked. "You were SO supposed to lose. Everybody knows I'm faster than you."
"Hey, I'm as surprised as you are, I'm just glad I've still got it!" Jesse admitted.
"Guess I didn't have anything to worry about after all!"
"Okay, this mystery better live up to all the hype." Jesse said. "Here I come, mystery monster."
The two of them continued down the rest of the cave. Jesse reached the edge of the cave to discover… a llama?
"A llama? A LLAMA?!" Jesse questioned.
"AWESOME, WE FOUND IT!" Petra exclaimed. "Oh, your owner is going to be so happy to see you."
"Wait, lemme get this straight. This quest was just to track down a stupid LLAMA?" Jesse questioned, scandalized.
The llama poked his sword in offense.
"It's not just a stupid llama. It's, uh, it's important. Okay?" Petra tried to explain. Jesse can't help but notice that she is acting very shady at the moment. What was up? "It's apparently, like, a 'treasure-sniffing llama' or, ugh. It's important, okay?"
Jesse shook his head in response.
"Please, just trust me." Petra pleaded. "We just need to bring her back to her owner."
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry." Jesse apologized. "If you say it's important, then I trust you."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Now, how about we get you outta here, huh?" Petra suggested.
Jesse began to slowly approach the llama, making various smoochy noises to try and gain it's attention. It responded by kicking it's back legs at Jesse, destroying the Iron Chest-plate he was wearing.
"That's what you get for wearing that dork armor." Petra stated.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll just have to craft a new set. Dang." Jesse responded.
"Let's get this thing. Don't let it get away." Petra whispered as she and Jesse jumped onto the llama, trying to grab it. It responded by kicking the two of them off. As Jesse opened his eyes, he saw the llama standing over him. It spat in his face. Disgusting. The llama took off while Jesse was distracted rubbing the spit out of his face.
"Ugh! Gross! Come on, let's get after that armor wrecking thing." Jesse said.
"Hang on, it's super dark down there. We should make a torch." Petra suggested. She handed Jesse a stick and a piece of coal. Jesse crafted a torch using the items.
"After you, 'Mayor Jesse'." Petra gestured.
"I've told you, I'm not the 'mayor.'" Jesse corrected. "I'm the-"
"'Leader and Hero in Residence.' I know, I know." Petra snapped. "It's just that, you do a lot of paperwork and like, 'town running' things. Call a shovel a shovel, am I right?"
They reached the end of the tunnel to find the llama sitting on top of a pile of gravel.
"How the heck did you get up there?" Petra questioned.
"Who knows, but it's coming down now." Jesse said as he placed the torch down. As he broke the gravel and got the llama down, light flashed into the tunnel. Looking through the gap that the gravel was blocking, Jesse saw some glowing green object sitting on top of a mini-mountain.
"What the-?" Jesse began.
Jesse decided to take a closer look. As he looked closely, the llama got in his view.
"Ugh, get out of the way, I was looking at that." Jesse snapped as he pushed the llama aside.
"What's that?" Petra asked.
"Only one way to find out." Jesse said as he approached whatever the thing was on top of the mini-mountain. As he moved to climb the mountain, he heard a whisper.
"JEEEEEEEESSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"What was that creepy whisper?" Jesse asked.
"I didn't hear anything." Petra responded, confused.
"Slayer of the Wither-Storm." The whispering voice continued. Jesse climbed up to the top of the mountain. Looking closely, Jesse saw that the floating item was a glowing prismarine type gauntlet. Weird, Jesse had never heard of prismarine-type armor before.
"Whoa girl, what is it?" Petra inquired.
"Some sort of glove? Or, uh. Gauntlet? Looks like it's made out of Prismarine." Jesse described.
"Prismarine? But you only find that at the bottom of the ocean." Petra responded.
Jesse moved his hand towards it, intending to pick it up and study it more closely, when his hand found itself frozen in mid-air.
Gravel had covered the entrance way that they had just entered through, and the Gauntlet attached itself to Jesse's right hand.
"Ah! How did? Where?" Jesse stammered. "What. Is this. Thing?"
"JEEEEEEEESSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" It whispered again.
"I dunno. I dunno. It seems like it's not hurting you, and that's good." Petra said. "It looks kinda… okay, actually it looks really cool. Which I know might not be what you want to hear right now."
"Maybe it has, I dunno? Like, powers or something?" Jesse suggested.
"If it does, it's too bad it didn't come with an instruction manual." Petra replied. "Well, here, I'll help you take it off."
Petra grabbed the gauntlet and tugged it. It did not budge. All it was doing was hurting Jesse's arm.
"JEEEEEEEESSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"Okay, ow. Wow, stop." Jesse panted.
"That thing is really stuck." Petra remarked. "I just can't shake this feeling that, maybe you were meant to find that gauntlet. Like, maybe it was your destiny or something."
"I hope it's not, like, a curse. That's usually what leaves things stuck to you, right?" Jesse asked, nervously.
"Yeah, until you die." Petra responded. "Which, isn't what's happening here! I hope!"
A rumbling sound caught their attention. The pyramid was shaking.
"Uh oh. Get off the pyramid, quick!" Jesse ordered as Petra jumped off. Jesse did the same but could not get off in time before it opened. He managed to catch himself on the ledge. Petra immediately helped him up.
"Okay, now what the heck is THAT thing?" Jesse asked, panicking. "It's like a huge… mouth… in the ground?"
"Some sort of, Heckmouth?" Petra named.
"Sure, yeah. 'Heckmouth.'" Jesse agreed.
"I, I don't think I can see the bottom." Petra observed. "Ugh, gives me the willies. And what's that sound coming from down there?"
"I don't care whether we can see the bottom or not. We need to cover it up. NOW!" Jesse instructed.
"Right!"
Scooping up some dirt, Jesse and Petra covered the Heckmouth up.
"What is that?" Petra asked, pointing towards a receptacle in the ground.
"Not sure, but I'm getting a bad feeling that it's the actual way we're going to fix this." Jesse responded.
The cave rumbled.
"On second thought; Let's talk about it anywhere but here." Jesse decided.
"Not getting out the way we came though!" Petra pointed out.
Looking up, Jesse saw a hole in the ceiling of the cave.
"There! Come on!"
The two of them, plus the llama managed to make their way out of the cave. Jesse noticed just how close it was to the town.
"It's so close to Beacontown." Jesse stated.
Petra pulled out a sign.
"Here, maybe you could… leave a warning or something?" Petra suggested.
Jesse took the sign and scribbled the following onto it.
KEEP OFF THE GRASS
"Sure, yeah, that works." Petra commented.
"Okay then." Jesse cleared his throat. "WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT ALL THIS?!"
"Well, it's all made of Prismarine, right? And you only find that in, like, monuments and stuff at the bottom of the ocean." Petra said.
"Well, let's talk to Fred. He could use his powers to help us take the thing off." Jesse suggested.
"Yeah, that's not a bad ide-" Petra froze, suddenly going very pale. "Actually, no. We can't."
"Why not?" Jesse asked.
"Remember, not long after we defeated the Wither-Storm, Fred warned us about a gauntlet that could whisper and told us not to touch it." Petra reminded.
Jesse's eyes widened in realization. He had forgotten all about that conversation, and now he's just gone and picked up something Fred warned him not to touch. Jesse inwardly berated himself.
"Well, Fred's a no go." Petra said. "But, there's a treasure hunter in Beacontown named Jack. Kind of a legend. He knows everything about Prismarine, exploring the ocean."
Petra pointed to the sign.
"Because, we definitely can't have that happening again. That was, that was really bad."
"That sounds perfect! I can't wait to meet this guy." Jesse agreed.
"Knew you'd be excited! Yes!" Petra said. "And I'll take you to Jack's shop as soon as I'm back. But first, I really need to deal with this llama."
Petra began to walk away with the llama, who didn't seem to want to move. Jesse didn't say anything.
"Um, Jesse? I'm really kind of in a hurry here." Petra pointed out.
Jesse shook his head.
Petra sighed.
"You know my sword? Gold one? With all the enchantments?"
"'Miss Butter?'" Jesse named.
"Yeah. I-I… kinda got tricked, by this person named Stella." Petra admitted. "Said she 'just wanted to put it on display for a little while.' And now she won't give it back until I do dumb quests like this for her."
"Petra, why didn't you tell me about this?" Jesse asked.
"You haven't exactly been around much. Didn't wanna 'bother' you with it." Petra pointed out. "So yeah, her name's Stella and she's kinda obsessed with treasure. She says this is her 'treasure-sniffing llama' or…"
Petra turned towards the adjacent city.
"She runs a place called Champion City."
"Wait, like Champion City right over there? I had no idea their leader was like that." Jesse remarked.
"Yeah, she's ambitious. And she's willing to do anything to get her way. Bullying, lying, cheating." Petra agreed. "Without my sword. I just really need to get it back. Just hope Stella actually gives it back this time."
"We're the Order of the Stone, Petra." Jesse reminded. "Looking out for each other is what we do."
"That's fair." Petra agreed. "Thanks Jesse."
"C'mon, I can't wait to meet this 'Stella' myself."
"Yeah, okay. Let's do it."
"Then, freshly re-armed, we'll come back, sort out that 'Heckmouth' and get this thing off my hand."
Petra led Jesse into Champion City. There, Jesse could see that it seemed to be filled with various skyscrapers, all looking identical. That was one reason why Jesse liked Beacontown, the variety of builds that you could encounter here. This town, however. No variety whatsoever.
"This is it. Champion City." Petra announced. "Every single one of those apartments up there is exactly the same. Stella is, strict about how things look here."
"If it's really 'Champion City' then where are all the Champions, huh? More like Llama City." Jesse commented, stammering a little bit.
The llama looked offended at Jesse's statement.
"Uh, yeah. Good one." Petra deadpanned. She tried to pull the llama along with her, but the llama stubbornly refused to move. "What? Come on. We're almost there. It's like she doesn't want to go see Stella. I kinda know how she feels. I just, really need this to go well. And with Stella, well. It doesn't, most times."
"Hey, that's why you've got me, remember? We're a team, and we will take care of this no problem." Jesse assured.
"Sure hope you're right." Petra said. "Anyway, Stella usually has her 'office hours' in the center of the courtyard."
"Well, I hope she's ready for an 'appointment' with Jesse and Petra." Jesse answered.
They entered the middle courtyard to find a whole group of people crowding together.
"Ugh! There's Stella." Petra pointed out.
Jesse saw a blonde-haired woman in a purple striped business suit, handing out puppies to people. She was wearing an ear-piece.
"Yes, that's right!" She announced. "Puppies for everyone! No shoving now! We're not Beacontowners!"
"You've probably put this together right now, but Stella's pretty fond of herself. I would play to her ego." Petra suggested.
"Oh! Well, that is a cute one. And he could be all yours." Stella's voice announced again as Jesse and Petra pushed past people to get to the front. "Provided you have the right payment, of course."
They reached the front, where Stella spotted the llama.
"Oh, Lluna, my darling! You came home! You came back!" She cried. "Uh, Rodrigo? Could you bring Lluna home please?"
A beefy security guard grabbed Lluna and led her away.
"There's a good girl." Stella commented.
"Stella?" Jesse asked, grabbing her attention.
"Oh, look who it is; Jesse! Leader of Beacontown! And my sworn rival!" She announced.
What?
"I've never met her before, right?" He whispered.
"No." Petra answered.
"Our rivalry? Beacontown vs Champion City?" Stella continued. "Surely you think about it as much as I do."
"Sorry, but you? Are not my rival." Jesse corrected. "Even my B-List villains are way scarier than you."
"I do not know what kind of mind games you are trying to bring into our rivalry, but I'll tell you right now that they are not going to work on me." Stella snapped.
The gauntlet glowed green again and whispered.
"I love the glove by the way. Absolutely darling." Stella commented. "You wouldn't be interested in trading, would you? Got some fine puppies here."
"Just a puppy for this?" Jesse questioned, scandalized. "That's a terrible trade."
"Rude. I just thought I'd offer." Stella responded. "Heard you need a new pet."
"Okay, hold it!" Petra said, stepping in.
"Oh, Petra! You're here too, I almost thought Lluna just came back on her own." Stella greeted in a sickly-sweet voice. "What do I owe you? A puppy?"
"No. That wasn't-"
"-A diamond, maybe?" Stella suggested.
"NO! I-"
"An emerald? Don't push TOO hard now."
"Don't make me get tough here, Stella." Jesse threatened. "You know what Petra wants. We're not leaving without that sword."
"Wait, is this about? Oh Petra. Oh, sweetie no." Stella responded, in that same sickly-sweet tone. Jesse's dislike for this woman raised by the second. "I was very clear. I make trades for treasures. I think I'm all done here."
"You said you just wanted to 'display it!' I thought I could still use it!" Petra pleaded.
"Oh no, honey. No." Stella replied, once again in that voice that Jesse found really irritating. "You wanted to become my champion. You came to ME, remember? In exchange, you got to live HERE instead of Beacontown. Isn't that nice?"
What?
"Oh, no. Was that supposed to be a secret?" Stella mocked.
"Oh, we are going to talk about this later, Petra." Jesse said in a deadly quiet voice.
"I know." Petra responded, looking incredibly guilty.
"Well, I think it's about time I go back to my treasure hall, Jesse. By the way? Way nicer than yours." Stella compared.
Stella began to walk off.
"Do you two know the way out? What am I saying, of course Petra does! If you ever want a place in Champion City, just ask!"
"Like I said, she's the worst." Petra commented.
"I'm not letting her get away with this, we're getting even." Jesse said.
"Hey, I'll just settle for getting my sword back." Petra said. "I just don't know how we're gonna do that."
Petra pointed out the entrance on the right.
"Stella's 'treasure room' is right there, but I've got a bad feeling about those bodyguards of hers." Petra commented. "Could probably sneak in through the puppy kennel, but that's a lot of barking puppies."
"There's got to be a way." Jesse hummed as he thought about it. He came to an answer. "We'll roll in, fight the bodyguards, snag the sword, get out again. Piece of cake."
"I like the sound of that." Petra agreed.
They followed the body guards in. A body guard noticed them.
"Hey, you can't be in here."
They drew their swords.
"And you definitely can't have those! Get 'em!"
"Let's fire it up!" Petra grinned.
"I don't like you." A guard said as he swung his sword at Jesse.
"Not a fan of yours either!" Jesse responded as he blocked the swing with his own sword.
"We still really need to talk about this, Petra." Jesse said.
"You really wanna discuss it NOW?" Petra replied, disbelievingly.
"Yes! I do!" Jesse responded.
"It does seem like weird timing." The guard added.
"Shush!" Jesse ordered.
"Hey! Shush YOU!" The guard growled as he lunged again. Jesse blocked it with his sword. "I'm trying, to have a conversation here!"
Jesse knocked the sword out of the guard's hands. Petra did the same. The guards ran off.
"This whole Champion City thing is kind of a big deal, don't you think?" Jesse asked.
"Is it though? So I have a house here, so what?" Petra questioned.
"HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON OUT HERE!?" A guard shouted as he and another guard came racing towards them.
"Ugh!" Petra groaned.
"'So what?''" Jesse repeated, while fighting the bodyguard. "I feel like you're deflecting the issue!"
"Uh, me?" The guard asked, confused.
"No, not you!" Jesse snapped.
"Yipes!" The guard panicked.
"What about not wanting to be tied down? What about your friends?" Jesse reminded.
"You mean the friends who are never around anymore?" Petra corrected as she dealt with the body guard.
"What did you say?" Jesse questioned as he gave a third body guard a punch in the face with his gauntlet.
"No matter what happens, no matter how much I do. You're the big hero. You probably don't even remember what it's like adventuring out there, scrounging for resources." Petra argued. "Just look at today! We were supposed to go on one adventure, and you were late. I can't even get my 'friends' to spend time with me. Do you know how it feels to show up for quest and quest and just hearing; 'Aw man. I'm sorry. Next time! Next time!'"
"Yeah. You're right. Of course you're right." Jesse admitted. "I know I haven't exactly been the best friend lately."
Jesse turned around.
"This is Stella's 'treasure room?'"
"Yeah." Petra confirmed.
"Trophy heads, gold pants, sponge blocks, a diamond hoe?" Jesse named out the items.
"Yep, all bought from other people." Petra replied. "Half of them still have the nametags of other people on them!"
"Wow, that actually makes me kinda sad." Jesse remarked. "She thinks that all it takes is having a room full of treasure. Even if you got it from other people."
"I know one treasure she doesn't get to keep though, should be…"
Petra led them to a treasure podium, to see that it was empty.
"NO! WHERE'D IT GO? WHERE'D SHE PUT IT?" Petra panicked.
"You're sure it was here?" Jesse questioned.
A throat clearing sound from behind got their attention.
"So, our rivalry escalates again." Stella announced, leaning on Petra's sword.
"You're not my rival!" Jesse reminded.
"Says the person breaking into my treasure room!" Stella responded. "Classic rival move!"
Stella raised Petra's sword.
"You shouldn't be here."
Jesse unsheathed his sword.
"Well, you shouldn't be such a jerk. Guess we're ALL disappointed." Jesse spat. He inched towards Stella, which prompted her to drop the sword.
"Okay! Okay fine, just take it! Take the stupid sword!" Stella surrendered. "I've got better treasure than that anyway. Who needs it?"
"Your 'deal' with Petra is over, Stella." Jesse ensured. "No negotiations."
"Sure, fine. She was a lousy 'Hero in Residence' anyway." Stella commented.
Jesse and Petra went towards the exit of the Treasure Room.
"I won't forget this, Jesse!" Stella assured. "History will remember this as an important day in our rivalry! A day you will rue 'til-"
"STILL NOT MY RIVAL!"
"Aw, man."
Author's Notes: Okay, in my opinion, I might have dragged this chapter out a little bit. In the next chapter, we will meet Jack.
I was originally going to have Fred burst in just as Jesse picked up the gauntlet, obviously due to sensing Romeo's Admin Residue. But I feel like the story wouldn't really work out as good as it did in canon if that were the case, since Fred doesn't have any reason to think right now that this particular residue was important, so I had Fred ignore the residue for now, and pushed Fred's inevitable discovery of the gauntlet back a chapter.
Like it? Review. Don't like it, look up another story.
More to follow.
