The Underneath

                                    

                                          
Chapter 8 - The Underneath
                          
(Minecraft: Story Mode and its characters belong to Telltale Games, not me.)
                          


                          
"Haha, don't worry, everyone. This is just like the time I jumped from the cliffs of Na'pow, only..."
                          
Nurm voiced his disagreement, cutting Jack off.
                          
"Ah, who am I kidding? This is nothing like that." Jack admitted.
                          
Romeo sighed, before approaching Jesse and Jack.
                          
"Look, I know we may have gotten off the wrong foot back there, but I'm not like Xara. I'm not your enemy. I want Xara defeated just as much as you guys do." Romeo said.
                          
Jack raised an eyebrow.
                          
"In fact, my reasons are more personal than yours. She betrayed us and killed Fred. And then she did something extremely bad, she bedrocked over our world."
                          
"What?"
                          
Romeo gestured for them to follow before walking towards an opening of the dark room they were in. Looking out, Jesse saw what Romeo meant. There was a whole world down here, with a layer of bedrock covering the entirety of it. Thunder was roaring in the background as Jesse saw distant flashes of lightning.
                          
"Wow, you were right." Jesse remarked. "There's a whole world down here."
                          
"The very first world." Romeo said. "Established by us. Xara, Fred and me. This is the first time I've seen it since Xara bedrocked over it all."
                          
"You, made this?" Radar questioned.
                          
"Yes." Romeo answered. "Or, what's left of it, at least. The view used to be marvelous up here."
                          
"It must be hard to see your world like this." Jesse said. "How... long have you been gone exactly?"
                          
"There's no telling how accurate my estimation is, but I'd say it would be at least 50 years." Romeo answered. "It's hard to tell how much time has passed when you're locked in a room twenty-four seven without any sunlight to keep track of."
                          
Romeo continued on.
                          
"Before I was imprisoned, Xara forced me to watch the bedrocking. But even then, seeing the world like this..."
                          
"Xara?" Radar whispered into Jesse's ear.
                          
"The Admin." Jesse said.
                          
"Oh."
                          
"It's much worse than I expected." Romeo finished, before jumping down.
                          
Jesse followed him down, to see him standing still in shock. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears.
                          
"This is the room where it happened." Romeo whispered. "I witnessed it. Fred and I were in an argument, when Xara came in and just..."
                          
Romeo started sobbing. Jesse tapped him on the back, in a comforting way.
                          
"She needs to be stopped. That's why we're here. She hurt you, and she'll hurt more people." Jesse said.
                          
"I wonder if she ever considered me and Fred her friends at all, or if she was manipulating us right from the very beginning." Romeo said.
                          
They walked through a doorway.
                          
"Now, we're looking for a white colored gauntlet." Romeo said. "I don't exactly know where it might be, but I do know that Fred was the last person to have it, and I didn't see it in his inventory when he died. I know of two possible locations."
                          
"And what are they?" Jesse asked.
                          
"Fred's Keep, which is that way. Or our old cabin, which is back behind us." Romeo said. "We'll go to Fred's keep first."