Minecraft Story Mode Season 3, Episode 3: Every Rose Has Its Thorns

Part 25: Epilogue

After laying out the final details of the plan, the two groups split up and made their way to Hit the Target's lair. The distraction group decided they'd make a detour to pick up Maya and Gill for extra help. Aiden knocked on the door of the Blaze Rods' home and Maya greeted him with a smile.

"Oh my Notch, Aiden! I legit thought you died!" Maya exclaimed. Gill beamed at her.

"You know what that means, right Maya?" Gill asked. He held out his hand and Maya rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, fine," Maya grumbled. She took a gold nugget out of her inventory and flicked it over to Gill, accidentally hitting him in the eye.

"OW!" Gill shouted. Maya touched a palm to her forehead in exasperation.

"You were supposed to catch that, stupid," Maya muttered.

"Nuh-uh, you hit me in the eye on purpose!" Gill retorted. Maya put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"Why would I-"

"Uh... I dunno. Maybe you thought it would be funny if you poked my eye out?" Gill guessed. His eyes widened when he noticed Jesse, Jack, Nurm, and Stella. "Hey look Maya, there's other people here!" Gill announced.

"You just now noticed that?" Maya sighed. Gill grinned at Jack.

"Aw man, look at this guy with the eyepatch! Are you a pirate or did Maya flick a gold nugget into your eye?" Gill asked. Jack chuckled at his comment.

"Neither. My eye was slashed by the axe of a living prismarine statue," Jack responded.

"Dude, that is so cool!" Gill exclaimed.

"Heh, I have been on a lot of adventures. Don't know if I'd call losing my eye 'cool,' though," Jack replied. Gill shook his head.

"Nah. Still cool. You got it poked out in a cool way," Gill said. Jack let out an exasperated sigh, and Aiden narrowed his eyes at Gill.

"Shut up, Gill," Aiden hissed.

"Sorry boss," Gill apologized.

"Were you guys seriously placing bets on if I died or not?" Aiden questioned. Maya awkwardly laughed and forced a smile.

"What? Noooooo!" Maya assured.

"But Maya, that was what we were doing! And I won 'cause I thought Aiden would still be alive," Gill corrected. Maya glared daggers at him.

"Thanks for telling our bestie that I thought he'd die, Gill!" Maya said sarcastically. Gill's eyes lit up and he beamed at her.

"You're welcome!" Gill responded. Maya rolled her eyes, then turned to Aiden.

"Like, Aiden... Seriously though. In my defense, you legit just left and didn't tell us where you were going. We asked a ton of people where you went, but literally no one knew. We were totally freaked out and made a stupid bet to lighten the mood. Like, where the heck were you?" Maya explained.

"I was trying to help the New Order of the Stone in the End. Sorry I made you guys worried," Aiden apologized.

"YOU WENT TO THE END?!" Maya shrieked.

"Aiden, I thought we said 'no doing stupid life-risking stuff without us'! Blaze Rods forever, dude. We're a team," Gill said.

"Yeah!" Maya agreed. Aiden shook his head and sighed.

"Look, I don't want you getting killed because you followed me into something," Aiden responded.

"Aiden, ever think that we'd want to be there so you wouldn't die? We care about you a lot, dummy!" Maya retorted. The corners of Aiden's mouth turned upwards.

"You guys are the best," Aiden replied. Maya, Aiden, and Gill huddled together to form a group hug.

Jesse stared at Maya, Aiden, and Gill. Her mouth opened slightly and confusion was written all over her face. Stella turned to Jesse with a look of clear concern.

"Are you alright, darling?" Stella asked.

"Not really. Mind if I pull you aside to talk for a second?" Jesse admitted. Stella grinned and touched a hand to her heart.

"Oh, you want advice! From me? You sure know how to flatter a girl," Stella realized. Stella and Jesse walked away from the rest of the group.

"I... I just don't get it. Aiden ordered Maya and Gill around during his takeover of Sky City, but they're still his close friends. Wouldn't that sort of behavior push people away?" Jesse said.

"Hmmm, good question. It's really a matter of perspective. If the good experiences outweigh the bad in their opinion, people tend to still like someone. I'll give you a personal example. When my citizens were upset with me, I did this little thing I liked to call damage control. I helped out a lot of people, gave citizens some of what they wanted, and gave them compliments to cool down any anger they had against me. Managing public reputation is essential to being a mayor," Stella explained.

"You're honestly brilliant," Jesse responded. Stella tossed her hair.

"Oh, I know I am! But thank you anyway, sweetie," Stella chirped.

"Is everyone ready?" Jesse called out. Maya raised an eyebrow.

"Uh... ready for what?" Maya asked.

"Oh, I guess I didn't tell you yet. We're raiding Hit the Target's base," Aiden stated. Wide grins were on Maya and Gill's faces.

"Aw yeah! This is gonna be epic!" Gill exclaimed.

"Time to have some fun storming the castle," Maya chimed in. Jesse smiled at them and chuckled.

"Glad both of you are so enthusiastic," Jesse commented.

"All right, let's do this," Jack said. Jesse, Aiden, Maya, Gill, Jack, Nurm, and Stella continued their walk to Hit the Target's lair, ready to face whatever dangers lay ahead.