The first thing that the audience could hear was this insistent, faintly irritating ringing sound.

The screen came back on to show Jesse flat on her back, almost sleepily blinking up at the sky. She slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position, blinking slowly again. It switched to show Axel, Olivia, and Lukas kneeling in front of her with concerned looks. Axel's mouth was moving as he asked something, but the only thing that was audible was that ringing sound.

Behind them, a black tentacle hit the ground with this muffled thud that could be heard faintly through the ringing, Lukas turning to look at Axel as his mouth moved in response. Another thud, and the top part of the Witherstorm hit the ground. The head bounced up and down for a moment, the indigo eye completely dark and mouth hanging open slightly.

"We did it," Jesse said slowly, before a relieved grin came over her face. "We did it!"

Cheers went through the room. Axel and Lukas high-fived, and Petra literally flung her arms around Jace, knocking the both of them to the floor in her excitement. Not that Jace seemed to care; he seemed just as excited as she was.

"Is that it?" Axel's voice slowly came into focus, the ringing coming to a stop. "Is it over?"

Jesse got to her feet, all of her friends following her lead, as she pulled off the chest plate. Her lower arms all relaxed from where they'd been wrapped around her midriff, giving a slow, almost luxurious stretch. She looked around at the wreckage surrounding them. A few trees were on fire, but Jesse's attention was focused on the Witherstorm's ginormous corpse. A part of its rib cage was showing, purple guts splattered over the ground, as it sat in the middle of a huge crater.

"I can't believe it," Olivia gasped, staring at the thing in a sort of muted shock. "I can't believe it's actually dead."

Lukas let out this relieved laugh, whirling back around to face Jesse again, ears flicking a bit. "You did it, Jesse! You actually did it!"

Magnus laughed himself, more boisterously. "Handled like a champ!"

"About time we got a real win," Axel's grin was practically splitting his face open. Reuben came running up to Jesse and butted his head against her legs insistently. Jesse grinned and set the chestplate down, which Magnus picked up and went to go return to the redstone engineer, and rubbed the pig's head.

She looked up at them a moment later, a big grin spreading over her face. "Thank you all for- for saving my life back there."

"You would've done the same for us," Lukas replied, grinning at her.

Ellegaard smiled at Jesse from where she was standing nearby. "Good... good... work, Jesse..." She suddenly winced and staggered sideways, Olivia quickly moving to the redstone engineer's side and easing her to the ground.

Real-Ellegaard's smile faded a bit in worry.

Jesse's eyes widened, and her smile fell right off her face. She leaned forward to look at Ellegaard, concern crossing her face at the sight of Ellegaard's hands clamped resolutely over her side, and her left leg that was twisted at a slightly odd angle. "What's wrong?" she asked, brow furrowing in concern.

Olivia grimaced. "I don't know... I mean, I knew that she hurt her leg, but..." The Enderman hybrid trailed off, staring at Ellegaard so intently that the redstone engineer actually dropped her eyes from the girl's intense gaze. "Move your arm."

"What?" Ellegaard asked evasively, hand still remaining clamped over her side.

"Move your arm. You've been holding your side for like five minutes now. Off. Shoo. Move," Olivia replied, making a vague shooing motion at Ellegaard's arm.

Ellegaard slowly obliged, easing her hand off of where it was firmly clutching her side. Immediately, Jesse gasped and her hands went straight to her mouth.

The audience's eyes all widened in shock.

A dark stain was starting to spread on Ellegaard's side, staining the brown suit she was wearing. Ellegaard's hand dropped to her side, slack as she stared at the red blood that was staining it.

"Oh Notch," Olivia's hand went to her own mouth, the spider and Enderman hybrids exchanging a worried look. "The Witherstorm must've done more damage than we realized..."

"At- at least she's still alive, right?" Lizzie said bracingly, sounding as if she was scrambling to find something positive to say. "If she'd hit that tree, she could've died."

"It's a good thing Olivia caught her, then," Milo said, glancing at the dark-skinned girl.

Ellegaard's eyes widened, and she looked at Olivia with a grateful look, eyes sparkling with tears. "I... thank you, Olivia. I owe you my life."

Olivia returned the smile, although it faded a moment later as she turned back to the screen anxiously.

Jesse's brow furrowed and she muttered something under her breath darkly. Everyone in the audience would've been perfectly willing to bet that it was some sort of swear word. "It must've been strong enough to do some real damage to Ellegaard..."

"I'm... fine," Ellegaard managed, "r-really." She swayed unsteadily a moment later, breath hitching in pain.

"Like hell you are!" Dan exclaimed as he turned to look at her, "you're bleeding! And we don't know how heavy the internal damage is."

Gabriel shook his head at Dan. "If there's anyone more stubborn than Magnus, it's Ellegaard. She'd say she was fine if someone had just stabbed her in the heart."

Ivor huffed slightly and shook his head. "You have no idea. One time, she got a fever, and refused to bother any of us because of it?" He raised a hand and put his fingers so close together that they were nearly touching. "We were that close to losing her."

"Ivor nearly had a heart attack, he got into such a panic," Soren contributed.

Onscreen, Soren quickly set a hand on her shoulder, keeping her from simply falling over. "Y-you're just going to have to hang on for a bit," he said bracingly as he tried to keep Ellegaard from swaying or falling over. "We'll get you to a potion stand or something as soon as possible, and you'll be as good as new."

"Yes, that sounds good," Ellegaard replied, but the audience got the feeling that she was simply saying that to appease him.

"You're going to be fine," Jesse said firmly, everyone looking at the black-haired girl from where she was now glaring at the screen. Her voice wavered when she spoke again. "You are going to be-" Her breath caught, and for a moment, she gasped silently, trying to keep herself from breaking down in tears. "You are going to be perfectly fine."

For a moment, nobody said anything. Finally, Ellegaard sighed and stared at the screen, hands tightening into fists on her lap. "I hope so."

There was a moment's silence, where everyone was staring at Ellegaard in concern and seemingly unsure about what to do.

Suddenly, there was a gasp.

Everyone turned to see Petra, who was sitting on the ground only a few feet away, gaping at something behind the group. Jesse turned to see what it was herself, her eyes widening.

The screen switched to show people wandering away from the Witherstorm's violently demolished corpse. They staggered, some crawled, some looked as if they were confused, some looked totally lost, a few looked as if they were shell-shocked. But they were alive.

They were all alive.

"They're alive?" Stampy gasped. "That means that Gabriel could still be alive!"

Jesse's eyes lit up. "And Aiden, Maya, and Gill!" she exclaimed, sounding excited. "Everyone- they could still be alive!"

"All those people... they're alive!" Jesse let out a relieved sort of laugh, turning back to everyone. "We've got to go help them!" She gave her friends a quick look. "I'll go help the people who might be trapped- you just help whoever comes over here!"

Everyone nodded, Olivia carefully easing Ellegaard back so that she was leaning against a tree, before Jesse turned around and dashed towards the carcass, Reuben galloping after her at full speed. The two of them dodged around a giant tentacle that draped over the ground limply. Running over, she heaved a tentacle off a man who was trapped beneath it, and helped him to his feet. "Get to safety. There're people over there that can help you," she said earnestly, pointing back in the direction she'd come from.

The survivor's eyes roved over her six arms and red eye, but he slowly nodded. "Thank... thank you. Thank you," and he began to limp after everyone else.

Hopping down into the crater, Reuben let out a snort and galloped off. Jesse jogged after him, coming over to another survivor and helping him up as well. "You're going to be okay. I promise," she said, giving him an encouraging smile.

The man looked over her extra arms, but he nodded shakily. "I... thank you."

Jesse nodded again and moved through the maze of the carcass of the Witherstorm, before coming to a halt, eyes widening in surprise.

The screen switched to show Gill struggling to push a tentacle off of him.

"He's alive!" Maya nearly shrieked, jumping to her feet in excitement. Gill let out a relieved sigh, slumping back into the seat.

Jesse raced over to him and shoved the tentacle right off, before helping him up to his feet. "Don't worry, Gill. It's all over now. My friends and I are going to help you."

Gill looked up at her. His eyes were an odd color as they narrowed at her for a moment, before squinting his eyes shut and putting a hand to his head. "I... I hope you're right. Thanks." Without another word, he moved off in the direction she'd come from.

Jesse watched him go for a moment, before making her way even deeper into the carcass, covering her nose with a wince at the smell. Her head looked around as she looked around for survivors, before she turned a corner. She stopped in her tracks, eyes widening. "No."

"No?" Isa's brow furrowed. "What's wrong? What do you mean?"

The screen switched to show, sitting on a lump of flesh and bone as if it were a sort of pedestal, was the Command Block. It wasn't sporting a single crack. Not even a scratch. It looked perfectly immaculate.

The audience all gasped in horror.

"What?" Stacy gasped. "But- the Formidi-Bomb- was supposed to destroy the Command Block!"

Soren's brow was furrowing as he stared at the screen. "I don't understand," he said hollowly.

"No," Jesse repeated, stumbling backwards and hugging her elbows, "No! Th-the Command Block- that's impossible!"

Reuben let out a squeal of agreement, tilting his head at the block.

"I don't... understand," Jesse said, gaping at the block and unknowingly echoing Soren, "Soren said the Formidi-Bomb would destroy it, but it looks... fine."

The Command Block suddenly flickered to life, sparkles of pink, green, yellow, purple, every color of the rainbow lighting up the block. "Guys!" Jesse yelled, whirling around, "over he-!"

She was suddenly jerked off of her feet by an invisible force, lifting into the air, the sparkles that had surrounded the Command Block now surrounding her, circling her, pulling her closer and closer to the Command Block, as if they were some sort of tractor beam. Reuben let out a loud, panicked squeal.

"No!" Lukas's arm tightened around Jesse, Reuben hopping into the girl's lap with a squeal and Jace throwing his arms around the girl, Petra joining into the group hug by accident as she toppled against Lukas. Axel's fists tightened as he scooted closer to the group, making Olivia scoot aside herself and reach out blindly, grabbing ahold of Jesse's forearm and tightening her grip around it.

"No!" Jesse screamed, thrashing to break free desperately but to no avail. She fired a string as the sparks made their way into her vision. A sort of dizzying, miasmic swirl began to come over her vision, making the screen dizzying and almost... hypnotizing.

The string skidded off the ground.

"No," Jesse repeated, but more dreamily this time. Her eyes dulled carelessly as she tried again, the string flopping limply to the ground this time. It was as if she'd stopped caring. "No... somebody... help..." Her entire body went completely limp as she stared blankly.

"No no no no no no," Lukas practically chanted, wrapping his arms around her chest and nearly making her gasp in pain. "Not Jesse, not Jesse-!"

Onscreen, a hand shot out of nowhere and closed on Jesse's wrist.

Jesse jolted back out of it, thrashing her head in a furious shaking motion to clear it, before looking up in confusion. Her eyes widened as she realized who it was. The screen changed to show Gabriel hauling back on her arm, slightly oddly-colored eyes narrowed in determination as he hauled her backwards.

Gabriel.

Gabriel!

"He's alive!" Sparklez shouted, sitting forward in excitement and almost knocking Cassie and Winslow to the floor in his excitement.

A moment later, Jesse had thrashed her way free of the sparkles, and knocked them both to the ground. Jesse scrabbled to her hands and knees, gaping in pure shock at the warrior. "I thought you were dead!" she blurted, staring at him, "I- I saw you-!"

Gabriel put a hand to his head, Jesse scrambling to get a handhold to help him up. His eyes drifted aimlessly over Jesse's extra arms, over her worried face. "I... what... what happened here?"

The ground rumbled, a strange sound beginning to emit from the Command Block. "I'll explain anything you want, everything you want, just not right now!" Jesse nearly screamed, panic rising into her voice and making it an octave higher. A second later, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

The head moved.

Impossibly, the head of the Witherstorm moved, the ribs shifting and moving to fix itself again, the sky darkening, a loud thunderous growl thundering through the air, a growl that meant certain doom.

A growl that meant that the Witherstorm was still alive.

"No!" Gabriel shouted.

Onscreen, Jesse shook her head in disbelief. "That was... Ellegaard got hurt for nothing," she gasped. "That was all for nothing..." She backed away slowly, horror kindling in her expression, as the monstrosity rose.

And then, to the right of it, another head with another body appeared, smaller than the one Jesse was facing.

On the left, the third head rose into the air, with its own body to boot. Blocks began to swirl around the Witherstorms, swirling around them in a hurricane, repairing mangled flesh, sealing damaged innards back together, fixing them all as if nothing had ever happened to them.

People were running away, screaming, as Jesse shook her head in pure horror as three separate Witherstorms rose into the sky, an indigo tractor beam switching on from each eye. It was Endercon all over again... only worse.

"We failed," Petra was gaping at the screen. "Oh Notch, we failed. There's... there's three of them now."

"We... we only made it worse," Jesse was quaking so hard that she was pretty much vibrating, one hand trembling over her mouth. "Oh, Notch, there's three of them... oh Notch..." The black-haired girl looked as though she might throw up any second now.

She looked at Gabriel. "Come on, we have to get out of here!" she cried out.

She began to sprint away, before realizing Gabriel wasn't following her, but rather staring at the chaos with his back to her. Jesse skidded to a halt and ran back a few steps, panic dancing in her eyes. "Gabriel, let's go!" she screamed in fear at him.

Gabriel slowly turned to face Jesse, brow furrowing.

What he said next made both every member of the audience's and onscreen-Jesse's heart skip a beat. Or two. Or maybe even three.

"Who's Gabriel?"

The screen went black.

Slowly, the title screen came back on, marking the end of the episode. There was a long, silent shock where everyone was just staring at the screen, unsure what to do next.

"I... I can't believe it," Reginald gasped.

Hadrian shook his head a bit, looking shell-shocked. "I'm not sure any of us can."

No one knew what to say.

No one had anything to say.

Slowly, one by one, each member of the audience got up and left the room. Until finally, the only occupant of the room was Ivor, his hands tight on the couch arms, staring blankly at the screen.


A/N: (Edit) Stupid... (grumbles) FFN is a jerk. Sorry. Let me write up the responses and stuff.

Ready for some fun stuff to happen next chapter? (grins evilly)

RQTC: ... um... (offers you a virtual cookie) Want one?

Kaos Ruin: You should be (Lenny face)

MissyMattingly: (shrugs) / Maybe I will (wiggles eyebrows) / Oh! Thanks! I'm glad to hear that!

RapidSammi: (squeals with you)

LittleAngelbun: Um, I don't need it, but thanks!

LunarStarsMoon: (shrugs) / (laughs) Fair enough.

S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs)

AquaK13: Yep xD / It's fine, no worries :3

x.X. A.L. X.x