"A.. Wither?" Petra gaped at the skulls, then back at Jesse. "But... that's-"
"One of the worst monsters there is!" Lukas burst out.
Jesse stared down uncomfortably at the skulls. "Well, we came here to find a skull. We found it. Maybe we should just- grab it, and go. While we still can."
Even as she spoke, the sound of someone descending down the stairs could be heard. "Scatter!" Petra hissed.
Jesse reacted immediately, even as her smart little pig hit the lever and everyone fanned out into the shelves. She practically launched herself into a small niche, crouching down as far as she could.
She peeked over the edge and spotted Petra ducking behind a shelf, and Olivia behind her own little niche. Lukas had dived into a chest, and Axel was pressing himself up against a wall. Reuben had somehow managed to jump onto the shelf holding the potions and was hiding on the shelf.
"Don't you recognize me?!" Ivor's voice spat, and for a single, terrifying moment, Jesse thought he'd spotted her. Until he continued, "Or, no, how about... surprised TO SEE ME?!" And he kept walking, Jesse pressing her back against the shelves as he passed only feet in front of her. "Or, no, that's... 'Didn't expect to see me, now did you?!'"
Great. She and Petra had traded that Wither Skull to a crazy wannabe villain who was trying to create a Wither. What wonderful judgement.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Olivia poking her head over the edge of the shelf, but as she put her hands down to help herself up, her hand bumped a potion bottle and toppled it to the ground, making it tinkle gently as it fell to the ground.
Ivor, who'd started looking through a chest, whipped around with narrowed eyes. "Who's there?" he asked.
Olivia whipped back down out of sight, but Ivor was walking towards her and Petra's hiding spot.
Jesse practically vaulted out of her own hiding spot, shouting, "Hey, you!"
Ivor whirled back around. "What are you doing here?!" he demanded, before a look of horror dawned on his face, and he said, more quietly, "What did you see?"
"Leave her alone!" And Petra rushed out from behind the shelf.
"Yeah, back off pal," Axel said sharply, stepping out and crossing his arms. Jesse sent both of them a grateful look.
Ivor looked from Petra to Jesse, anger dawning on his features, sharp and angry. "You two! Did you FOLLOW me here?"
"You thought you could just screw us over and get away with it, didn't you?!" Petra demanded, gold eyes practically on fire with anger.
"We're here to prove you wrong," Jesse finished, glaring at Ivor.
Ivor sneered at the two of them. "What are you going to do about it? I got my skull and you two got what you earned!"
"We're not stupid, Ivor!" Jesse snapped at him, fists clenching. "Soul Sand, and three Wither Skulls- you're building a frickin' Wither!"
Ivor's eyes widened, but he tried to recover his composure. "Huh. Smarter than you look."
"Hey," and Axel stepped forward, crossing his arms. He fairly towered over Ivor, and Jesse had to appreciate once more how strong Axel really was. "Nobody talks about my friends like that, and I mean nobody. Now shut your mouth, or else."
Ivor grumbled and threw his hands in the air. "Enough! You've wasted enough of my time already." And he turned on his heel and sprinted off, Jesse quick to follow him.
They reached the spot near the stairs, looking around. "Where'd he go?" Petra asked, looking around.
"If you won't leave of your own volition," and Jesse's head snapped to where she could hear Ivor, and her eyes widened in horror, a gasp tearing out of her throat as Ivor tipped a pumpkin onto an iron T, "I'll happily remove you myself!"
The blocks shivered together and compacted into a heavy, huge, iron golem.
"Oh snapcrackers," Olivia whispered, her dark skin having gone several shades paler in fear.
"Show our friends the door, will you?" Ivor sneered at them, and the golem swung one of it's massive arms at them.
Screaming, all of them ducked, the air ruffling up their hair and clothing as the heavy iron arm whipped over their heads. Jesse dove to the side as the golem swung again, the arm making contact violently with Olivia-
Olivia appeared to bleep out of sight, reappearing in a spray of purple sparks a couple of feet out of reach of the swing. She looked incredibly bewildered- just for a second- before she had to dive away again as the golem swung again, bellyflopping rather painfully on the stone floor.
Axel backpedaled as the iron golem advanced on him, making an odd hissing sound in fear, eyes the size of dinner plates, before he started flashing white.
"What in the-" Olivia's comment was never finished, because a white hot explosion hit them, knocking them all back.
Jesse slammed full force into the wall and groaned in pain, rubbing her throbbing head. Olivia's belly flop had kept her from getting blasted away, and Reuben had landed in Jesse's lap. Petra was at the foot of the stairs, groaning in pain. Axel was tense and just standing there with shock, staring at the iron golem against the opposite wall, wisps of smoke curling off his body.
Petra was the first to react- she shoved herself to her feet, and then ran up the stairs, Olivia rushing after her. Axel followed after a moment, and Jesse scooped up her pig and ran after them.
They burst into the back of the crowd at the keynote, and Jesse set down her pig, panting, fear and adrenaline still coursing through her. "Is- is everyone okay?" she asked, gasping for breath.
"I-I think so," Petra agreed, but Olivia had straightened up and was looking around, alarm registering in her eyes. "Um... guys?" she sounded scared, and Jesse managed to lift her head to look at her friend.
The next two words that Olivia spoke made a shock of fear shoot through Jesse.
"Where's Lukas?"
A/N: Thank you to the Guest who corrected me; you get sponge instead of pink wool if you do nothing. My bad!
And... another cliffhanger. xD It's 'cause I love you guys.
TheRealRedGaming: I haven't decided yet, but I think that the extent of my planning for this story is that only these 5 are hybrids, yes.
Toni42: I can't wait either. I didn't plan this story out at all whatsoever xD
NinjaCat: Glad to see you like it! And yes the gif is hilarious. I'm so tempted to make that my phone wallpaper xD And yep, though how it is you'll have to see later :)
NoIt'sBecky: In chapter 3, I said it was mostly just hints- you can take it either shippy, or just as overly chummy friendship. So, in a way, it contains Lukesse, yes.
x.X. A.L. X.x.