Part of me is missing

Chapter 6 - Broken Chains

"Again!?" Romeo blurted.

"You're saying that like she doesn't have the most trauma out of any living person," Petra quipped. Jesse walked up to the woman who was just speaking and hugged her. Petra laughed in confusion.

"What was it about? I-if you feel comfortable telling, that is," Jack asked. Jesse backed away from Petra and took a deep breath.

"It was about Lukas. Like, I don't know, something... bad happened? I'm already starting to forget, but I feel like it's a bad sign," Jesse said.

"Well, we'll have to see when we get back," Romeo said.

"Says the guy who can just get us all home with the wave of his hand," Petra joked, waving her hand dramatically. Romeo scoffed, mildly offended. The group laughed at the taller man and he groaned.

The group continued walking and Romeo drifted next to them, talking with Harper and Ivor. Jesse got closer to Petra unknowingly, but Petra didn't mind. They reached the exit portal after a bit and finally went home.

Jesse was practically sprinting towards Beacontown, almost ten yards ahead of the group. Romeo went to make sure she was safe. He was hovering above the ground still, trying to keep up with Jesse's unreasonably fast pace.

"I think I see the town up there!" Jesse yelled, running excitedly. Romeo had to teleport just to keep up with her.

When they reached the gates, everyone was panting. Jesse was jumping up on the balls of her feet, excited. They reached her, heaving and coughing.

The gates reeled open and Jesse walked into town. A few townspeople came up to her, ecstatic to see her. She was just as happy to see all of them, if not more. Jesse was smiling brighter than ever, her eyes lit up like the sun. Somehow, none of them paid mind to Romeo. Jesse looked back and noticed that his appearance had changed. He looked like his normal, human self.

"Romeo, did you-" Jesse asked.

"Don't wanna freak anyone out," Romeo replied. Jesse nodded.

"Jesse, didn't you want to go see Lukas?" Petra asked.

"Oh, right!" Jesse replied, grabbing Petra's hand. The two started walking to Lukas's house.

When they reached it, Jesse knocked on the door rather loudly, probably out of the adrenaline pumping through her. Lukas leaned out an open window on the second story and smiled.

"I'll be right down you guys!" Lukas yelled. Jesse and Petra smiled.

It took a few minutes, which was odd for Lukas. He was very fast when answering the door. Maybe he wanted to look presentable? Ideas raced through Jesse's head, but when he finally opened the door, she got her answer. Lukas had a loose shirt on, showing a large bandaged section of his chest.

"Hey guy, you're back!" Lukas said, looking to Petra with a look of horror, "Petra, what happened to your eyes?"

"Cassie," Jesse and Petra said in unison.

"Oh," Lukas muttered, "She kinda got me too, but not as bad as either of you guys."

"What did she do?" Petra asked.

"She hit my chest," Lukas said, "Almost punctured a lung from what the doctors told me."

"Whoah! She's crazy, I knew it," Petra said.

"Well, we are the ones who trapped her in a pit of endermites for eight years, so..." Jesse mumbled.

"I think it's fair, but why is she being so... damaging?" Lukas asked.

"That other admin was mad about Jesse depowering me," Romeo said from behind them. The three friends jumped and Lukas started coughing.

"Oh my god, Lukas!" Jesse said, rushing to her friend, "Are you okay?"

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you all," Romeo stammered. Lukas cleared his throat.

"It's all good," He replied, "Looks like admin habits die hard, huh?"

"Um, about that..." Romeo mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

Romeo took a deep breath and transformed back to his admin form. He looked down at the floor, rather embarrassed.

"Wh-wha-? How!?" Lukas stuttered.

"It was that other admin, Lukas. He didn't do anything," Jesse said. Lukas nodded.

"I understand. But if we need to, we'll hit him with the gauntlet again," Lukas said.

"Of course. I think that it may even be the key to stopping that other admin you know," Romeo began, "Not just with the depowering bit, but a way to fix the mess we all caused with the other admins in the other worlds-"

"There's more of you people!?" Petra gasped.

"Well yeah. Did you really think that me, Xara, and Fred created an unfathomable amount of worlds on our own?" Romeo quipped. Petra huffed.

"Anyways, continue," Lukas said. Romeo nodded.

"Right," Romeo began, "Depowering an admin won't fix this problem, but if the other admins are aware of the gauntlet's power, it could solve a much greater problem that none of you even know about. It's very complicated and hard to explain, though."

"Admin drama must be interesting," Jesse quipped, "Do tell!"

"Fine," Romeo grumbled, "It began a long while ago, long before I existed. Xara and Fred filled me in on what happened when I was created, but I'm honestly glad I didn't see it first hand."

"Must've been bad if someone like you didn't want to see it," Petra joked.

"Ha. Very funny, Petra," Romeo groaned, "Anyways, moving on. If you noticed, when you first met me, I had two viles of strange liquids around my neck. Do any of you remember those?"

"Yeah, I think so," Lukas answered. Romeo nodded.

"Those viles contained the admin abilities of Fred and Xara," Romeo explained, "Another admin found five of those viles and went mad. She destroyed a third of the existing worlds. That portal network would be almost 500 portals longer if she hadn't found those viles. If the first gauntlet was never created, this world would have been wiped out as well."

The group gasped. Lukas looked at Jesse, then back at Romeo. Romeo had a look of worry on his face. Lukas looked away.

"Needless to say, it was bad," Romeo mumbled, "But when she was depowered, all of the admins feared for the day that it might happen again... and it did."

"With who!?" Jesse asked, worried. Romeo let out a shaky breath.

"Me," He mumbled, almost crying, "I didn't listen to any of them when they said that those power viles were dangerous, I didn't listen when they said that they could drive me insane after only a few drinks, they didn't even bother trying after a certain point-! And- and-"

Romeo broke down sobbing. Jesse ran to his side, comforting the taller man as much as she could. He jammed his palms into his temples.

"I can't believe that this whole mess involving all the worlds started with me!" Romeo sobbed, "How could I be so stupid!?"

"Yeah, Romeo, you messed up," Petra said, "and sure, there's probably not a way to fix most of it! But you know what you can do? Stop what could happen. So go on, tell us what Fred's gauntlet has to do with this."