An Enderman came up to both of them, and Jesse held her breath as she stood there.
The Enderman leaned forward, getting right in Jesse's face, Jesse forcing herself to stand stiller than a stone, before back in Olivia's. Olivia stared back evenly, blankly.
The Enderman finally wandered away.
"You look for Soren- I'll see if I can finish the shape, maybe that'll get Soren's attention."
Olivia nodded slowly. "Good luck," she warbled- her more 'Enderman-like' voice sent shivers down Jesse's spine.
"You too," and the two of them split up.
Jesse wandered into the crowd of Endermen, most of them not looking at her. She spotted a clay block. Problem- an Enderman was holding it.
Jesse grimaced. "Well... I need six blocks. And this guy's got the only block around." She let out a sigh and kneaded her temples, feeling a headache coming on. "The things I do to save the world."
Jesse went up to the other Enderman, which didn't even look at him. She carefully reached out and took ahold of it, looking up at the Enderman, which was now looking at her.
Slowly, so slowly that Jesse felt as though she were moving at a snail's pace, she began to pull the block out of the Enderman's unresisting hands.
As she slowly pocketed the block, the Enderman started shaking and making angry hissing sounds. Jesse hissed back, trying to fool it, but apparently spider hisses and Enderman hisses are different, because it just kept on hissing.
"Damn it," Jesse whispered, feeling all the color in her face drain away, "dammit, dammit, dammit."
She quickly began to walk away, walking to a square in the ground made up of dyed wool and glass panes. Jesse quickly placed down the blocks, trying to ignore the hissing and spitting. "Ooohhh, I hope Soren's watching," she groaned, before doing her best to quickly finish the design, her hands shaking in fear.
Jesse stood back a step, looking at the design. "Okay, false evidence of Enderman intelligence, accomplished."
Jesse looked around and spotted Olivia, trying to get to her, but the other Endermen were starting to crowd far too closely to her, not leaving any room for Olivia to teleport- not unless Olivia wanted to teleport right onto Jesse's head.
"I am sorry about this," a voice said.
Jesse's head whipped in the direction of the voice, coming face-to-face with another Enderman. "But it has to look real."
She barely had time for her eyes to widen before Soren raised his long arm and whacked her right across the head.
Olivia let out a screech of horror as Jesse fell to the floor like a puppet with all the strings cut, the Enderman having hit her.
There was something funny about it, but she was really too far to see anything. Besides, her best friend, her oldest friend, was in danger, and the Enderman hybrid was developing tunnel vision.
"Jesse!" she screamed, warped voice lost among the other Enderman voices that were screaming with rage and not fear, like she was. Her mind scrambled to think of a place, and she thought of the inside, one of the rooms before the one she and Jesse had entered to find Soren.
And then she bleeped out of sight.
Her feet slammed full-force into the floor, and she practically fell to the floor, shrinking back to her still-rather tall height and slamming into the floor painfully. All of the others jumped, staring at her. "Olivia? Where'd you-"
Olivia scrambled to her feet, eyes wide with fear. "Jesse got attacked by an Enderman!" she screeched over all of the confused voices, voice no longer warped and strange.
The door banged open behind her, and Olivia turned to see the door wide open and Lukas gone.
There was a ringing sound when Jesse started feeling again. Her cheek was on the floor. It hurt. Everything hurt. Her head, especially. What just happened? She was outside with all the Endermen... now she was back inside...
A pair of legs walked past her, and Jesse closed her eyes again, feeling the throbbing headache pound through her head as her brain reeled with confusion.
"I-I don't think it'll bruise."
Jesse opened her eyes to see Reuben's face only inches from her own. "Your face, I mean."
Jesse sat up, Reuben letting out a happy oink upon realizing she was okay, the ringing fading. The tall Endersuit was back on the stand.
"These suits were built with durability in mind."
Jesse turned to see Soren, who was kneeling near her, looking at the girl with a raised eyebrow.
"Soren- ow-" And Jesse clutched at her head as she sat up far too fast, the room swimming before her.
A steadying hand rested on her shoulder, and she felt the room stop spinning again, slowly removing her hands from her head. "Help me. Please," she said, still trying to get to her feet slowly.
"I just did."
Jesse arched her eyebrow a bit as she managed to push herself upright. "You... hit me. Hard. In the face."
"You upset the Endermen, and I got you to safety. By the way, as far as introductions are concerned... this is not going very well."
"We're in danger," Jesse said, shakily getting back to her feet.
"What else is new? Whatever your issue is, whatever your problem, it has occurred before and has been solved before," Soren responded, sounding far from happy.
Jesse put her hand against the wall as the room swayed. "I doubt the world has been eaten up by a Witherstorm before," she grumbled, very quietly.
"Even so, what do you need me for? I've out of my way to avoid these types of problems. I don't even remember what it looks like up there."
"Please help me save the world," Jesse pleaded, trying to resist the urge to sit back down.
"How?" Soren still didn't look at Jesse.
"The Formidi-Bomb."
Silence.
"There's a Witherstorm on the loose, and it's eating the world."
"Ahh, I see, you misspoke," and Soren turned to face her, "you don't need me. You need my stuff."
Jesse blinked. "Technically, I need you to build said stuff," she pointed out, but Soren was already talking again.
"I found that when you give people what they want, they turn on you. They become resentful. They show their true colors."
Jesse blinked. "Who turned on you?"
"All of them!" Soren was glaring at the wall as if it had offended him. "It's why I prefer Endermen. They always do what you expect. Almost to a fault. You're a stranger. And what you're asking for is too dangerous."
Jesse knew that Soren's mind was in a delicate balance. If she couldn't convince him to help them now now, she never would.
With that in mind, she began to speak.
A/N: Stopping point!
Toni42: Enderman scene is up! And I'm so excited to write the next part!
40 chapters. 40 FRIGGIN' CHAPTERS. I only published this story a month ago! Yeee
x.X. A.L. X.x
