Mcsm Season 3 - Battered and Bruised

Chapter 4 - Petra's visit

I approached the gates of Beacontown. It had been a long time since I'd seen these gates, but it was good to finally be back. I couldn't wait to see everyone! Lukas, Jack, Nurm, and well, Jesse!

The gates opened and I walked through them. I was greeted by a familiar face.

"Hey, Petra! Long time no see!" Nell shouted,  running up to me. She had her hair down with two hairclips pinning in away from her face. She still had her team uniform from the games but as just a shirt. She had jean shorts with a light green belt holding them above her waist.

"Hey, Nell! Yeah, it's been a while," I replied. She beamed at me.

"Well I assume you're probably looking for Jesse, so I won't keep you for long. But I'm gonna warn you now... he's with that admin dude," Nell said. My eyes widened.

"What!? What is he doing in Beacontown!?" I yelled.

"He was kinda dumped off by some random kids from who knows where and Jesse took him somewhere and we all thought that he like, tossed him into a river but no! Jesse helped him get better from all the stuff he went through getting here," Nell explained, "Jesse and the Admin are over that-a-way!" Nell said, directing two finger guns to them.

"Well I know he's harmless, but I'll watch my back. Thanks for the heads-up, Nell!" I said, walking in the direction she pointed to.

I walked over to them. Jesse had his back turned, so I put my index finger to my lips to Romeo as we locked eyes and quietly came up behind Jesse. I tackled him and he yelped when he went down to the ground.

"Petra! Oh my goodness, I missed you!" Jesse said, wrapping his arms around me. I hugged him back.

"Yeah, I missed you too," I said. We stood up and Jesse locked eyes with Romeo for a moment.

"Oh, I didn't tell you but uh-" Jesse began.

"Nell filled me in when I got here, don't worry," I said cutting him off.

"What?" Romeo muttered.

"She filled me in about YOU," I said, crossing my arms. Romeo looked at the ground, embarrassed.

Romeo looked different since the last time I saw him. He had a black and red hoodie on with cuffed jeans and high-top red converse. He had bandages on his right hand and over his right eye. There were other bandages all over but those were the most notable ones.

"Man, what on earth did they do to you?" I said to Romeo.

"Uh, stuff, to put it lightly..." Romeo mumbled.

"Wow. Stuff. Very informative, Mr.Admin," I joked. Romeo laughed nervously. He put his hand over the back of his neck rubbing it.

There were two other people there; Stampy and Stacy. I turned my focus to them. Stacy was around my height and had brown hair. She wore a white a blue striped shirt with a messenger bag slung over her shoulder. She had jeans tucked into brown laced up boots. Stampy had an orange hoodie with cat ears on it with a green shirt on underneath. He also wore jeans but had green converse shoes.

"Oh, I didn't even say hi to you guys! It's been a while," I said to them.

"Yes, too long!" Stampy said excitedly. Stacy nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Romeo and I were just talking with them, you know, catching up on things," Jesse said. Stacy nodded again.

"Oh, well, anything new?" I asked.

"Well, Stampy here has been awfully excited about something, maybe he should tell you guys," Stacy said, nudging Stampy in his ribs. He beamed at us and took a deep breath.

"My wife is finally moving to Beacontown with me!" Stampy shouted, ecstatic.

"Oh, that's awesome!" Jesse exclaimed, "What's her name?"

"Her name is Squaishey, they're the best! You'll love her, I just know it!" Stampy said, still bouncing around like a little kid.

"You're a very interesting character, Stampy," Romeo said. Stampy's smile dropped when Romeo spoke. He laughed nervously. Romeo tensed up a bit, clearly embarrassed. Stacy squinted slightly at him when he spoke.

"I-I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable! I didn't mean to, I just-" Romeo said, being cut off by Stampy.

"Oh no, it's not that! You just have a super deep voice and it makes me insecure," Stampy said, getting quiet at the last part. He fidgeted with his hoodie strings. A look of sadness came up over Romeo's face.

"Why? My voice is only like this because I used to smoke, and you don't want that," Romeo said.

"You used to SMOKE!?" I said, shocked. My eyes were practically bulging out of my sockets.

"Yeah, you really did that!?" Jesse asked. Romeo nodded, clearly embarrassed.

"Yeah, I did. I still struggle with staying away from it, and back when people said that vaping was a healthier alternative, I did try it, but now we all know that it's just- worse for you than smoking you know? It took a lot of strength to finally get rid of my vape, and I still have thoughts about doing it again," Romeo explained.

"Man, that sucks. I'm really glad I avoided it, no offense," Stacy said.

"None taken," Romeo muttered.

"Well um, I was gonna head over to Jack's shop, so I'll see you all around I guess?" I said, heading over to Bad Luck Alley. Jesse, Stacy, and Stampy waved goodbye to me. Romeo smiled at me as I left.

As I walked I took in the familiar sights and smell of Bad Luck Alley. It was so good to be home! It was still as dimly lit as before, just how I remembered it. I made my way to Jack's shop, practically sprinting to the door. I prepared myself to go in, and then pushed open the door.

The shop was in much better shape than when I left, which was great! I ran up to the counter and rang the bell on the counter. Jack came out in his usual fashion, but beamed when he saw who I was.

"Petra! Oh my god, it's so good to see you!" Jack exclaimed, pulling me into a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around him.

"It's good to see you too, Jack. I missed you," I said as Jack pulled out of the hug.

It was so good to be back. Jack and I talked for a while before I left and headed to my old house on the edge of Beacontown. I threw all of my adventure crap into a couple of chests I had in my small house. I ran back out to talk to Jesse, but I couldn't see him anywhere. After looking around for a bit, I found him and Romeo sitting on the bridge that hangs in front of the beacons. I didn't want to disturb them, so I left them alone.