The two of them toppled out of the portal, Jesse's lungs forcing an 'uhf!' out of her as she landed on her back. She stared up at the fiery, dark cavern, before straightening up. All around her, was lava, and some weird... stone-like... thing, which she was lying on. Oh, and fire. Yep, can't forget the fire. Lukas started getting up as well.

"Where's Petra?" Axel asked.

Lukas's face was still white with fear, and his ears were flattened against his head. "I'm sorry," he whispered, staring at nothing, "oh god, I'm sorry."

Jesse shook her head, still quivering. Her vocal cords didn't seem to want to work, because when she tried to speak, all that came out was gasping.

"What are you saying?" Axel asked again. Jesse shook her head again, vocal cords still not functioning.

"Jesse?" Olivia's fear was evident in her voice. "What's he talking about?"

Jesse cleared her throat a bit, shakily. "It- it was chaos. There- there wasn't much I could do," she eked out.

Lukas nodded, still staring into nothing. "Jesse's right," he added.

"Petra's still up there," Jesse finished, biting her lip and crossing her arms. It didn't improve her mood when all six of them crossed, making her sides twinge a bit as all three pairs of 'shoulder's rolled a bit.

"I got scared," Lukas whispered, finally looking them all in the eye, although he was still the shade of paper, "just for a second."

Axel's eyes hardened. "You got scared?" He stepped towards Lukas.

"I'm sorry," and Lukas was starting to shake again, "oh Notch, I'm sorry."

"You got scared and all you can say is 'you're sorry?'? Axel growled.

Jesse probably should've been angry. If Lukas had moved, if he hadn't frozen up, they might've been able to save Gabriel as well. They might've been able to save them both.

But she couldn't get angry.

"Back off, Axel," Olivia put in, as Jesse put a hand on the quivering Lukas's shoulder, making him blink up at her. She tugged on his arm and helped him up as Axel stomped towards the portal. "We gotta go back."

"No!" Olivia protested, stepping in front of him, "we just have to wait. Think about what you're walking into."

"Olivia's right," Jesse agreed, as Lukas's face slowly started to regain a bit of color, "there's nothing we can do. We'd all just end up getting ourself killed. Besides, Petra's tough. She's half-Blaze. She'll be fine."

"Maybe... but..." Axel was cut off by a loud exclamation from Lukas. "Hey! There she is!"

The purple in the center swayed and bowed, indicating someone was coming through.

Jesse stared at the portal hopefully. "come on, come on..." she whispered.

But who fell through the portal was the guy who'd started the whole thing in the first place. Jesse felt her hopeful look fall.

"You again?" Ivor sneered.

Whatever would've been said next, it was interrupted as a huge tentacle thrashed through the portal and grabbed, curling and thrashing. Jesse dove out of the way, Axel fell on his back in surprise and scrambled away, Olivia bleeped several feet away, and Lukas let out a sound that could really only be described as a yowl as he found himself standing a good distance away, his hair standing up on end.

The tentacles found the side of the portal, wrapped around it, and squeezed. The portal cracked before falling apart completely, the tentacle vanishing along with it.

Everyone gaped at the remains of the portal, Axel looking especially dismayed.

Jesse caught her breath and looked at Ivor.

He caught her eye and glared at her. "You ruined everything."

Jesse bit her lip. If she'd convinced Axel not to take the potion, if she'd convinced Petra that the trade was a bad idea, if she'd been able to save Gabriel in time, and not missed...

"Don't pretend you didn't know, thief," Ivor continued. "You took my most valuable potion and what should've been my moment of triumph!"

"I didn't take it!" Jesse whispered, weakly, feeling her eyes grow hot and scratchy. She rubbed to try to make the feeling go away. "I didn't take the p-potion... you were the one who set off a Wither i-in a theater full of people!"

"A Wither I could control," Ivor corrected, "until you showed up! There's nothing left up there! Nothing but that Wither Storm."

Jesse shook her head again, making her right barrette slip down again. Really, she needed to get better at fixing it. "I didn't... do anything," she said, but then at the same moment she said it, she realized that was what she'd done wrong. She'd done nothing. In every moment she could've done something, ANYTHING, to help out, or to stop this catastrophe, she'd been completely useless.

She didn't even realize she'd started crying until Olivia sounded alarmed. "Jesse? Are you okay?"

Jesse reached a hand to touch her face, before realizing her vision was blurry and that her fingertips were wet. She rubbed her arm over her face to get rid of the wetness. "Y-yeah." She couldn't start crying now- not when her friends needed her.

"Why are we wasting time talking to this jerk?" Axel asked, putting an arm around Jesse and gently squeezing. At least, Jesse assumed that he meant to be gentle- her breath caught and she squeaked as he accidentally squeezed some of the breath out of her. "We have to go and get Petra-"

Ivor's eyes widened. "The girl! I saw her."

"What?" Lukas whispered, head snapping up to look at him. "While I was running towards the portal, I passed her," Ivor added, "she was running in the opposite direction. Such bravery. Of course, there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity."

Jesse's gaze fell on him. She probably should've hated him right then, acting as if he'd done nothing wrong and would DO nothing wrong.

But she just couldn't muster up the motivation to do so.

"And your friend has crossed it," Ivor sneered.

Jesse shook her head, frowning at him. "Don't talk about her like that." She spoke, raising her head and moving her left wave of hair out of the way. Her voice was low and scary, from trying to keep her temper.

Ivor jumped back again. Jesse's blood-red eye glowed, and in the hellish landscape of the Nether, making her face glow orange in the firelight, that one blood-red eye was glowing like a red-hot ember in the fire.

He regained his composure after a moment, as Jesse let go of the wave of hair and adjusted her barrette again. "Through that tunnel is a network of minecarts built by the Order of the Stone. It's your only way out."

"... I guess we should head that way," Axel agreed, grudgingly.

"Time's a-wasting, let's go," Lukas agreed with Axel.

Jesse looked at Ivor oddly. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

Jesse spread her arms out, making her sides tingle a bit as she spread out all six of them, "How are you going to get out of here?"

"I'll use my imagination," Ivor sneered.

Jesse glared at him again, but before she could snap at him a sound like a child making sad noises cut through the air. Everyone looked around. "What was that?" Axel wondered.

"I would wish you good luck," Ivor said, turning back to them, "but luck won't carry you through the Nether. You have my sympathies."

Jesse rolled her eyes. "Gee, that's so much more valuable. Thank you so much," she grumbled sarcastically.

He took out a potion and drank it, pink swirls wisping off of him as he began to glow. And then, all of a sudden, he was gone, the empty potion bottle falling to the ground.

The cry sounded again, and a big, white monster that Jesse recognized from her book of monsters (it was a gift from Olivia) as a ghast floated up behind them. Jesse let out a little gasp as it made another noise, but much, much angrier, and the eyes 'opened', revealing glowing red orbs that rivalled Jesse's.

Jesse and the others started backing away. "Run?" she asked, lightly, as if they faced up against ghasts every day.

"Run," Olivia agreed, and they all turned tail and ran for the tunnel Ivor had pointed out, the ghast chasing after them.

They reached a little hill where six minecarts sat on tracks, and ran for the minecarts, just as a fireball hit the area above it and made several stone-like blocks topple to the ground.

Jesse vaulted in after Reuben, Lukas jumping in a moment later and crouching on the floor of his, Olivia bleeping into the one behind him, and Axel clambered in as fast as he could, as the carts started moving, the ghast giving angry little cries behind them but giving no indication of following.

A/N: Good stopping point? Good stopping point. And yes, I know that's not the correct order. Too bad, I'm too lazy to edit it xD

Jesse and Petra play the blame game if you saved her first in Episode 4, so Jesse starting to cry is kind of a build up. You'll see what happens when it comes ;)

Kaos Ruin: well that's good!

rebekahtpe: Chocolate, thanks, yep, you'll see when it comes to it, thanks again, and that's okay!

NoItsBecky: Yes, yes it was. x) And the description I have is currently okay in my opinion, but you'll see it when that chapter comes 'round.

DemonCatLady: I know right? They just keep faceplanting. And fanart? Wow, I've only had 'fanart' done for one other story before. 0-0 Thanks!

Guest: Nice :)

NinjaCat: You keep reading my mind! Le gasp! And thanks :)

Toni42: The magic potion was too concentrated. And yay! We have something in common!

x.X. A.L. X.x