Minecraft Story Mode: Gods Don't Die

Chapter 10: Bargain

"Excuse me," Soren said in annoyance. "Who are you people and why did you just barge into our meeting uninvited?" The man barked out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, forgive me," he said insincerely. "My name is Hadrian, and this is Mevia. I'm sure you've heard of us before." "Uh... no, we don't," said Magnus, shaking his head. Hadrian's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Well," he huffed. "Perhaps I should jog your memory a little. Me and Mevia...are Old Builders." Ivor suddenly began choking on thin air, his face turning purple and his eyes bulging out of his head. "...is he okay?," asked Mevia, pointing towards Ivor with a confused expression on her face. Gabriel sighed, got up from his chair, and began thumping Ivor on the back. "Come one, get it out of your system," he said. Finally, Ivor managed to start breathing again and stared at Hadrian and Mevia with wide eyes. "Y-you're...Old Builders?," he asked, scarcely believing what he was hearing. Hadrian's nose wrinkled. "We don't really like being called that," he said, "but that's what you know us by, so... yeah." Soren also knew who the Old Builders were, but unlike Ivor, he was not at all pleased that two of them had decided to barge into their meeting unannounced. "And what is the meaning of this intrusion?," he asked irritatedly.

"Oh Soren, you wound me!," gasped Hadrian, pretending to be hurt by holding a hand to where his heart was. "We came here to help, of course." Everyone else in the room except for Soren widened their eyes in surprise. "Soren, maybe we should hear them out," said Ellegaard. However, Soren was still not convinced. "If you're so interested in helping us, then where were you for so long?," he demanded angrily. "Where were you when thousands of men, women, and children were starving on the streets? Where were you when families and loved ones were torn apart by horrific diseases? Where were you when so much death has occured to the point where people had to step over dozens of rotting corpses to reach their destinations?" Maya seemed visibly disturbed by what she was hearing, but Hadrian was completely unaffected. "We had a few problems of our own that we needed to solve," he said. "You see, the Old Builders are no longer what they used to be. Some of us have become demented, power hungry thieves who were willing to do anything for power, namely Otto and Harper, two of our fellow Old Builders. They thought it would be a good idea to overthrow me and Mevia, and enforce their own brand of tyranny onto the world. Fortunately, we found out their plot just in time and were able to have them...permanently done away with, if you know what I mean." Soren nodded to show that he indeed knew what Hadrian was talking about. "But it was a long and bloody battle," Hadrian continued, shaking his head in "sorrow". "And in the end, it took us literal decades to put those traitors down. I assure you, if it wasn't for Harper and Otto, we would've come to help you much sooner." Now even though Hadrian put up a somewhat convincing performance, Soren was not born yesterday. He knew that Hadrian must've embellished some parts of his story, or was just straight up lying. Still, there was one thing stopping him from outright kicking them out.

As much as he hated to admit it, Ellegaard was right. They were not going to be able to fix this problem on their own. They needed outside help. "Alright, fine," Soren sighed, leaning back in his chair. "You obviously already know what the issue is, so let's get to the point. How do you plan to solve this overpopulation problem once and for all?" Hadrian and Mevia gave each other toothy, sneaky grins. "We're glad you asked," said Mevia, sounding almost like a sports announcer. "Now we heard that you're all the world leaders of this world, and by god, you all must be doing a pretty terrible job if THIS is the result!" Soren, Magnus, Ellegaard, and Gabriel's eyes twitched, but they said nothing. "And sure, it's easy to blame the people who are supposed to be the great leaders of this world, but when you really come down to it, what's REALLY the cause behind all of this?" She paused for a moment, as if expecting them to start making random guesses like they were on a game show. "Correct!," said Hadrian. "Chaos! Pure, unadulterated chaos! There's nothing else that will bring down a civilization faster."