Above and Beyond/Plot

"Above and Beyond" is the fifth and final episode of Minecraft: Story Mode - Season Two.

Plot[]

Chapter 1[]

"I know it seems hopeless, but we can't give up now. There are people up there counting on us, and we are not going to let them down. Hear me?"

—Jesse motivating their friends as they approach Beacontown. ^src

Jesse's Gang, along with Radar/Binta (whoever was brought back to the surface in the last episode), attempt to sneak back into Beacontown via a cave underneath the town. Hopelessness falls onto the group as they all discuss the current situations the other people they met in The Underneath, such as Xara (and Fred's people if they were left behind) dealing with the mobs below or running to face her former ally. While the majority of the group stress out about Romeo changing Beacontown, Jesse reassures them that they truly can defeat Romeo, which boosts up their spirits and empower them to keep walking.

Chapter 2[]

"It's just so easy for something bad to happen to a town. Like Champion City, for example..."

—Romeo disguised as Jesse, after opening the gate to Beacontown. ^src

Upon arriving at Beacontown, everyone (especially Jesse) becomes horrified at the town's state. Posters of Jesse adorn the buildings, and patrols which appear to be giant, red Prison Golems can be seen patrolling the streets. Jesse finds a floating building with little apparent way up amidst their city, which they assume is the "Primary Terminal" Fred's weapon had talked about. The group plans to head to Jack & Nurm's Adventure Emporium in order to get more supplies to fight Romeo, but their path is blocked by Romeo himself. Following him are Stella, and to everyone's surprise, Axel and Olivia. The two friends appear oblivious to the fact that "Jesse" was actually Romeo, as they keep interrogating "them" with questions, and "they" respond harshly, much to the duo's discomfort.

"Jesse" opens the gate of Beacon town to reveal Champion City, planning to destroy it. However, depending on Xara's status, one of the two scenarios may happen:

If Jesse gave Xara her bed back in The Underneath, "Jesse" will destroy Champion City with one clap. Stella becomes devastated upon seeing the ruins of her city, while "Jesse" ruthlessly orders her to set up the fireworks for the next show.
If Xara does not have her bed, "Jesse" will not destroy Champion City. Instead, just as "they" are about to, Stella questions Romeo, then Xara fires some arrows and charges towards "them". Unfortunately, just she she strikes contact with "Jesse," "they" lift her up into the air and strangle her to death with "their" powers. "Jesse" then scolds the guards for not protecting the gate and letting her in in the process.

While "Jesse" becomes distracted, the real Jesse grabs Axel and Olivia (who are both relieved to find the real Jesse) and takes them to the shop with the rest of the group. Having explained all the details to Axel and Olivia, everyone enjoys a bittersweet reunion, before searching the shop for any useful items. Eventually, Jesse finds a lever, which opens up a crevice with Elytra wings inside.

Suddenly, the group hears a strange sound, and they follow it, to find Lluna/Nurm (whoever Jesse left behind in the Sunshine Institute in "Jailhouse Block") hiding behind some bookshelves. Ivor (who had apparently freed Lluna/Nurm from Xara's cellblock a few days ago) also appears out of nowhere, surprising Jack. This leaves Jack starstruck (as he knows Ivor was part of The Old Order of the Stone), so Jesse tells him to either play it cool around Ivor or just be himself. (Whichever option they chose will cause an awkward start to Jack and Ivor's relationship.) Happily, Ivor tells everyone the good news: Romeo fell for the decoy story Jesse/Radar told Ivor last episode, buying them more time to find the "Primary Terminal." Because of this, Ivor was able to overhear "Jesse's" conversations and confirm that the floating tower was the "Primary Terminal."

With the Elytra wings, Jesse formulates a plan to get to the tower. Since one of "Jesse's" shows would start tonight, Stella would be backstage, working on the specifics (such as organizing fireworks and hiring employees). Jesse, Petra, and Jack would sneak backstage and follow Stella to retrieve some Fireworks Guild uniforms (the ones that have backstage passes; they need those to not get busted by "Jesse"). Now with backstage passes, the trio finds the fireworks and hands them to Jesse. Radar/Binta will find a bucket of water, which they give to Jesse.

Because Axel and Olivia are supposed to be in the show, they will need to distract "Jesse" so the plan can work perfectly. Meanwhile, the actual Jesse will fly with the wings and fireworks to reach the top of the tower. To get everyone else above, Jesse will pour water down to them, and they will swim up to the tower and get inside to defeat Romeo. However, Jesse would have to change clothes first since nobody else in Beacontown knows their friends are here, and Romeo's disguised as Jesse anyway.

Chapter 3[]

"What the--? There's no fireworks. Just...stuff."

—Petra discovering there's no fireworks backstage. ^src

Alone, Jesse starts to move forward with the plan. Along the way, they can do the following:

Throughout the town, Jesse can spot black posters with an Ocelot face on them. When they wonder what the posters are for, they can hear people running out of eyeshot.
If Jesse looks at the additional Jesse banners and red beacons, it prompts them to find Stella faster.
If Jesse spots a pressure plate, a piston will punch them in the face.
If Jesse spots Wink, they will be astonished at his fully grown appearance. To calm Wink down, they can give him rotten flesh they found back in "Jailhouse Block." Not having the rotten flesh will cause Wink to be zapped to the Primary Terminal as a prisoner.
Jesse spots Stella, and to their dismay, another person who looks like Stella. If Jesse follows that person, it is revealed to be a man under the name Lawrence. He admits that he doesn't know where Stella is when Jesse asks, but he does suggest the Order Hall.
Jesse can encounter a guard leading some patrols, which appear to have volunteered for the show (the guard reveals it to be "JesseCon"). They can tell him to have the volunteers focus or rest. As soon as Jesse leaves, however, "Jesse" (Romeo) arrives out of the blue, forcing every citizen to hide. "Jesse" then checks if the guards are in shape before leaving.
Jesse meets Nell, who had just uncovered a new statue next to her house. If Jesse tells her to take it down, the fake "Jesse" will arrive and zap her away as a prisoner. Otherwise, Nell will not be zapped there, and she remains cool with "Jesse."
Jesse can find a pig stand, where the same citizen who readied his pigs (Esteban, Smushy Cutecheecks, or Lord von Thunderpork VI) for his parade float has now prepared them as cooked porckchops. Jesse can tell him to stop making porkchops or eat one of their own. If Jesse remains silent at first, the citizen will get zapped away as a prisoner.

Eventually, Jesse finds a stage prepped for JesseCon next to the Order Hall and Stella nearby. Unfortunately, just as Jesse can grab the Fireworks Union uniforms, "Jesse" poofs next to Stella and ridicules her of her duties for a short while. As soon as Stella is left alone, the real Jesse attempts to grab them, but Stella busts them anyway. They have a quick chat about what they're currently doing before Stella leaves, leaving Jesse able to sneak the uniforms back.

JesseCon finally arrives, with "Jesse", Axel, and Olivia on stage, with the latter two playing along with the show. While that happens, the real Jesse, along with Petra, Jack, and Radar/Binta make it backstage. Radar/Binta splits off from the group to find a bucket of water, while the rest try to find fireworks in the chests provided. Alas, it turns out there were no fireworks in the chests at all - just random materials and objects. Jesse would have to craft some fireworks, which they successfully do. Nonetheless, a guard spots them, and before he can blow everyone's cover, Radar/Binta knocks them out. They put the guard away and split off from the group again, allowing Jesse to climb on top of the building and blast off to the Primary Terminal.

Chapter 4[]

"Looks like the tables have finally turned, huh Jesse? We can't let you keep doing what you're doing."

—Lukas confronting Jesse, Petra, and Jack. ^src

Now airborne, Jesse lands on the Primary Terminal and executes the rest of the plan (while fighting a patrol). Once Petra and Jack climbs the waterfall, they enter the Terminal into a hallway and stop in a dark room. While inside, they are startled when someone enters the room, wearing a leather jacket. That person turns out to be Nell (or a man in suspenders, if Nell isn't a prisoner.) They call out other people wearing the same jacket from their hiding places. Among those are Stampy Cat, Stacy Plays, and Lukas, who comes to confront Jesse and their comrades.

Lukas share his side of the story. After he heard "Jesse" returned from the Icy Palace of Despair, he immediately took note of "Jesse's" strange, brutal actions. Taking the matter into his own hands, Lukas freed "Jesse's" prisoners to reform his old group, The Ocelots. However, the purpose of the group Lukas made it was to rebel against "Jesse's" dictatorship. To calm the Ocelots down, Jesse manages to convince Lukas that they're the real Jesse, and explains what the truth really is. With that being settled, Jesse, Petra, and Jack uncover the situation they're currently trying to face. This leads to Lukas and the Ocelots joining them on fighting "Jesse", but not before Jesse's trio suits up in armor in the next room.

Chapter 5[]

"Why...hello there. Wasn't expecting you."

"Oh crud."

"What's the move here, Jesse?"

—Jesse's group and the new Ocelots confronting "Jesse." ^src

Everyone rushes inside the office of the Primary Terminal, only to find "Jesse" inside. Jesse can either tell the people to charge at "Jesse" or wait as the two Jesses try to reason it out. Whatever option they choose will cause "Jesse" to blip the majority of the people back to the hallways, leaving the two Jesses alone. After much reasoning with one another, "Jesse" transforms back into his Admin form, becoming Romeo again. He confesses to Jesse that pretending to be them was easy at first - he could show off his powers to the Beacontown citizens', and his own, delight. However, when they began to run out of resources, they started begging Romeo for more resources, overwhelming him and making him desire to be himself again. The overwheming feelings caused him to plan to bedrock over Jesse's world so he could make a brand-new world for himself, with a building called "Terminal Space" as the center. Romeo disappears to head there before Jesse could stop him.

Shortly afterwards, Petra, Lukas, and Jack reenter the office while Romeo bedrocks the Overworld, frightening everyone else in Beacontown. When Jesse confides to Lukas that they must reach Terminal Space, Lukas replies that on the roof is the portal to the building. The four sprint to the portal before the bedrock closes above them, but Lukas gets knocked back and the bedrock closes up above him. The remainder of the group are left to enter the portal.

With Lukas gone, they all enter Terminal Space and find an item frame next to a three-column grid. To the right is a jukebox above a chest, which is filled up with nothing. When the jukebox asks for a "password", Jack assumes the password was the writing Fred's weapon contained (#potato451). With #potato451, Jesse completes the grid (the columns are filled with four, five, and one blocks(s)). Meanwhile, Jesse surprisingly finds two potatoes (one normal and the other poisoned) upon their vocal request in front of the jukebox.

Putting the normal potato in will result in a parrot party called "Parrot Protocol," while putting the poisoned potato in will make a hologram of Fred appear, emmitting out an old recording of himself. Directing the audience to Xara, he tells Jesse's trio to put on Fred's Gauntlet and punch Romeo a few times to remove his powers forever. Then, Fred summons a small structure while putting a golden gauntlet inside its crevice. Before Jesse can put the gauntlet on, though, Romeo unexpectly arrives and summons four Prismarine Colossi in an attempt to stop Jesse. Despite this, Jesse is able to put the gauntlet on, stopping the Colossi in the process. When Romeo looks shocked upon seeing Jesse decipher Fred's weapon, Jesse, Petra, and Jack charge at Romeo.

Chapter 6[]

"Why'd you have to go and make everything so... difficult? Everyone likes you... and you're nothing!"

—Romeo after being defeated by Jesse. ^src

Jesse lands the first punch on Romeo. To Romeo's horror, part of his powers have disappeared, preventing him from controlling the Prismarine Colossi. Fully enraged, he teleports Jesse through many memories in the past, with Jesse taking away portions of Romeo's powers in each memory. The places Romeo teleported Jesse to go in this order:

The Sea Temple from "Hero in Residence," with Jesse fighting Romeo in an enlarged Vos form.
The Icy Palace of Despair from "Giant Consequences," with Jesse facing Romeo in his snowball-throwing snowman form.
The battle arena Romeo had conjured in the Sunshine Institute from "Jailhouse Block," with Romeo disguised as Petra/Jack (Romeo's champion in the past) as the boss.
Fred's cabin nearby Romeo's challenge from "Below the Bedrock," with Jesse seeing Romeo in a glitched Fred form.

The pair soon teleport back to Terminal Space, with Romeo now glitching through a number of his disguises. This allows Jesse easier entryways to hit Romeo a few more times. In the heat of battle, Jesse drops the Gauntlet, prompting Romeo to pursue it. Although he is restrained by Jack, he flies out of his grip. Unfortunately for Romeo, Jesse reaches the gauntlet first and delivers a final blow with the gauntlet exploding, sending Romeo flying through the air and permanently losing all power.

Romeo lands at the top of the stairs, going through regretful emotions. While that happens, Terminal Space begins to crumble on account of Romeo not having power to hold it up. Jesse can either take him with the group to escape or leave him inside to be trapped. However, a glitchy Prismarine Colossus arrives to block the way out, leaving Jesse, Petra, and Jack trapped.

The trio does make it out, alive though. They also reunite with Lukas, who was waiting for them all this time. These next few scenarios may be slightly altered depending on previous choices:

If Radar was brought to the surface, Romeo sacrifices himself by luring the Colossus straight to him. When Jesse asks what he's doing, he replies that he is doing penance by saving their lives. Before entering the portal, Jesse catches a glimpse of Romeo still fighting the Colossus. When Lukas arrives and asks where Romeo is, Jesse answers that Romeo saved all of them by sacrificing himself. Although Lukas thinks it was odd for Romeo to do that (having seen his previous actions), Jesse repeats Romeo's words of penance.
If Radar was brought to the surface and Romeo is left behind, the same events as the latter happen except Romeo stays where they chose to left him at.
If Fred's people were brought to the surface, Radar arrives with the Giant Enderman pursuing him. Radar explains that Xara helped fix the portal to the surface and ran to Terminal Space with the Giant Enderman. It kills the Colossus by wrenching the Colossus' head off, buying time for everyone to flee through the portal.
- If Romeo was left behind while this scenario happened, Lukas will ask where he is, and Jack replies that Jesse left him there. Even though Lukas feels that to be a bit harsh on Romeo, Jesse recalls Romeo's past choices to Lukas.
- If Romeo was brought with the group, Romeo thanks Jesse for saving him, claiming that he did not deserve to stay alive. He plans to fix The Underneath, paying for his actions by helping the people below. When Lukas arrives, he immediately spots Romeo and becomes freaked out, but Jesse reassures him by stating what Romeo plans to do. Either reunite or sorrow about Xara.

Beacontown returns back to normal, with Jesse catching up on their friend's plans. Ivor is going to visit his friends from the Old Order of the Stone, Radar is working on a new project concerning the Primary Terminal, Lukas is settling back to writing books, Axel and Olivia are returning back to their homes, and Petra is leaving for an adventure on her own. Plus, Jesse meets Stella and Lluna again, and their conversations are different based on relationships in the past:

If Jesse kept a friendly relationship with Stella, their rivalry ends. She confides to them that she is staying in Beacontown for a while to work on Radar's project. She is also building a house of Lluna, but she wants to know if Jesse is going to take care of Lluna or not. Jesse can either accept or decline Stella's offer; whichever they choose will still keep strong bonds between the three. Stella thanks Jesse for everything (including seeing through her worst) before leaving.
If Jesse kept Stella on bad terms, their rivalry still continues. Stells scolds Lluna for leading them into Jesse. Depending on Jesse's choice between leaving Lluna in Xara's cell or taking her, Lluna will either spit on Stella and stay with Jesse, or leave with Stella. While leaving, Stella starts bragging about how she'll make Champion City better than before.

Petra extends the invitation of her adventure to Jesse, having found her true passion of adventure at last. Before she leaves, though, she is immersed in a very tight group hug with Jesse's friends. While they all wonder when they'll ever meet together again, Jesse reassures them that they will - they just don’t know when. A big decision awaits then: they can choose to leave with Petra or stay and govern Beacontown. This results in two different endings:

If Jesse leaves with Petra, Radar freaks out about who would run Beacontown in Jesse's absence. They can either promote Radar to lead the town or let him earn the people's trust. Afterwards, they wave goodbye to Beacontown, find Petra, and challenge her to a race. She accepts, and the two run off together on a high note. If Lluna is with Jesse, she also leaves Beacontown to stick with Jesse.
If Jesse stays in Beacontown, they wave goodbye to Petra, who ventures off alone. Lukas becomes surprised that Radar does not have a promotion yet, which Jesse can give to Radar if they desire. Radar then informs the group that he found some mail for Jesse, two of them letters. The first was sent by someone named Aiden (absent since "Order Up!"), who wrote that he wants to redeem himself. The second letter was addressed from a person under the initials "WP," threatening to harm them with the words “Watch out.” Nonetheless, everyone heads to the center of Beacontown, settling in.

Impacts[]

There are certain choices in this episode that can be affected by previous choices.

Either Radar or Binta will accompany Jesse and their group, depending on who Jesse brought to the surface.
Some of the player's creations from previous episodes will be present here.
- The statue the player built for Nell for Founding Day will be under the statue Romeo built.
- Reuben's Memorial that the player had rebuilt will be left untouched.
Romeo can avenge Xara's death or reconcile with her, depending on her status.
Stella and Lluna's relationships with Jesse will vary considerably.

Choices[]

What advice did you tell Jack when he met Ivor?
Did you destroy the Admin's statue near Nell's house?
How did you confront the Admin in the Primary Terminal?
Did you leave Romeo behind in the Terminal Space or take him with you?
Did you remain in Beacontown or leave with Petra?

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