Jesse and Romeo's diamond swords were interlocked. The two of them were fighting in a small battle arena while Petra and Lukas sat on the sidelines.
Romeo moved his sword away from Jesse's sword, ducked to avoid Jesse's attack, and swung his sword at her- which she managed to dodge.
Jesse attempted to stab Romeo, but he blocked her sword with his sword. Romeo then disarmed her, caught her sword with his empty hand, knocked her down by hitting her with the flat end of his sword, and pointed his sword at her chest.
"Ouch. Maybe try not to kill me next time? We're sparring, not having a duel to the death," Jesse quipped. Romeo put down the two diamond swords, grabbed her hand, and helped her get off the floor.
"I'll try to tone down the intensity next time. I'm just incredibly excited about my new armor, so I accidentally put a bit too much energy into the fight," Romeo answered.
Romeo wore black and red battle armor that covered everything except his head.
Jesse wore a yellow hairclip, dusty red lipstick, and Swordbreaker- a blue, white, and yellow armor set that covered everything except her head.
Lukas' outfit consisted of light gray and black armor, brown shoes, and light gray goggles with black lenses.
Petra wore a striped turquoise bandana, a gold and blue short-sleeved armor dress- missing a sleeve on the right side, a black fingerless glove on her right hand, black boots, and a black long-sleeved shirt with her right sleeve rolled up.
"We've waited three weeks and there's still no letter from our anonymous clue creator," Petra groaned.
"Well... yeah. But it's not like things have been completely boring. You searched for a treasure chest with Sammy, Willow, and Unknown. I've gotten to practice my fighting skills. Jesse got to work on a fireworks show for Founding Day. And Lukas..." Romeo tilted his head and knitted his eyebrows together as he thought for a moment, then let out a sigh. "Yeah, sorry Lukas. I really can't think of anything exciting that you've done in the past three weeks," Romeo apologized. Lukas' expression became one of annoyance.
"Uh, some offense taken," Lukas muttered. Romeo looked slightly embarrassed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"I'm still working on my social skills," Romeo admitted. Radar ran into the battle arena with a letter in his hand.
"Jesse, I've been looking for you everywhere! I got your mail for you and I found this letter. Someone wrote 'urgent message' on the envelope, so I knew I had to give you it right away!" Radar exclaimed.
Radar had black eyes and gelled black hair. He wore black glasses, blue jeans, a green hoodie jacket that was unzipped, brown shoes with black bottoms, a blue tie, and a golden yellow cardigan with a white shirt under it.
Jesse took the letter from him, opened the envelope, and unfolded the letter. Radar quickly exited the battle arena to head back to his office and get more paperwork done.
"It says 'your next clue is ready. Please hurry,'" Jesse stated. Lukas raised an eyebrow.
"What's with the urgency?" Lukas commented. Romeo's eyes widened.
"Maybe the person who's writing these clues for us is in trouble," Romeo realized.
"Or maybe our anonymous clue writer is screaming 'hurry up and stand on the red X so I can drop my cage on you,'" Petra quipped. Jesse slipped the letter into her inventory.
"Petra, we've already decided that this probably isn't a trap," Jesse replied.
"Actually, Petra has a point. I'm honestly not completely sure that this isn't a trap. Sure, I said that the person writing the clues might be in trouble, but the reason they might be in trouble could be because Hit the Target is threatening to punish them if they don't speed up the process of imprisoning us," Romeo piped up.
"I guess everyone is against me today," Jesse grumbled. Romeo flinched and then hugged his arm. Lukas looked shocked and nervous.
"Holy crud. Did someone do something to you? You've been so overly touchy and defensive," Petra responded.
"Well, there's a madman on the loose who's been kidnapping my citizens. I have no clue where he is or even what he's planning. Cassie Rose is back for revenge and I have no idea where she is and what she's planning either. On top of that, we're going on this scavenger hunt that may or may not be a trap. So yeah. I'm sort of stressed out right now," Jesse fumed. Her expression changed from anger and frustration to a combination of sadness and exhaustion. "I've been working late to try and find any leads I can on Hit the Target or Cassie Rose, but somehow they've all been dead ends so far. I end up going to bed at two AM and waking up at seven AM. I think sleep loss might also be one of the causes of my bad moods," Jesse added.
"It's not healthy to overwork yourself and get only five hours of sleep a night," Lukas told her.
"LUKAS, PEOPLE COULD DIE AND I FEEL LIKE I'M RUNNING OUT OF TIME! I HAVE TO SPEND EVERY WAKING MOMENT LOOKING FOR A WAY TO KEEP EVERYONE SAFE!" Jesse screamed. She began to cry, and gradually the tears ran faster and the sobs got louder. She let out horrible wails of grief and buried her face in her hands.
Lukas, Romeo, and Petra looked very concerned.
"Bloody heck... she's a mess. I- I've never seen her like this," Romeo stammered. Lukas put an arm around Jesse.
"Jesse, you need your rest. Nothing bad will happen while you're asleep... we'll make sure," Lukas said gently. He wiped away her tears with his thumb.
"I'll get a healthy amount of sleep tonight, but I can't go to bed right now. The clues-" Jesse pleaded.
"-can wait. Your mental health is important too," Romeo insisted.
"We already have a sleep deprived crazy lady, we don't need a second one," Petra joked. Jesse let out a sigh.
"Okay, fine. I'll sleep for three hours and then meet you here," Jesse agreed. Petra, Lukas, and Romeo gave her a group hug. "You guys are the best," Jesse gushed. The group hug ended. Jesse waved goodbye to Romeo, Lukas, and Petra. She then picked up her diamond sword, put it in her inventory, exited the battle arena, and began to walk to her bedroom.
"Okay, who's up for a sparring match?" Petra asked. Romeo excitedly raised his hand.
"Me! Do you want me to go easy on you?" Romeo questioned.
"Are you kidding? I wouldn't consider beating you a real win if you didn't give it your best shot," Petra replied. Petra took her golden sword- Miss Butter- out of her inventory and Romeo picked up his diamond sword.
"Exactly what I hoped you were going to say. Trust me, I won't hold back," Romeo answered. Petra and Romeo's swords clashed... the sparring match had begun.
YOU ARE READING
Minecraft Story Mode Season 3, Episode 3: Every Rose Has Its Thorns
FanficHit the Target has been staying under the radar lately, but a mysterious informant has been sending clues to Jesse. Not only that, but Cassie Rose is back for revenge. Jesse and her friends will be tested more than ever as they have to tackle two th...
