Jesse dropped to all eights, her sword and axe going back inside, and bolted for the Redstone Heart, cutting around Lukas precisely and bolting for the structure that kept retracting, the only rational thought in her head being that she had to save Lukas, she had to get rid of PAMA, she had to stop this thing once and for all because there was no way she was letting this oversized hunk of metal win after talking about Reuben like that-
"Jesse, look out!"
Jesse's head twisted to see Lukas leaping into the air, and darted to the side, Lukas landing hard on the glass, shattering it and dropping the both of them to a lower level, closer towards the Redstone Heart, Jesse racing forward and taking a huge jump over to the structure, almost tripping and falling but barely managing to keep herself steady.
She looked around and spotted Lukas at the base of the structure, thankfully safe. Whipping back to the Heart so fast that her hair whipped her in the face, she shattered a block of glass that was holding it in place, grabbed it, and pulled, with all her might, come on, come on-!
The whole thing began to shake and flicker, PAMA's screen glitching out and Lukas's eyes going from red to blue green to red to blue green again as he grabbed at his head with a scream. "Ow, my head!" Lukas shouted, Jesse turning to look at her friend, who stared at her in shock. "Jesse- argh!" A violent sparking, and he shook his head, glaring at her with those dull red eyes. "You are being silly."
"Fight it, Lukas!" Jesse screamed at him, "Fight it!"
Lukas suddenly jumped into the air, slamming into Jesse, sending the both of them toppling backwards, barely catching Lukas's ankle in time, feeling her heart thud violently in her chest as his hand slammed into the ledge and they swung crazily.
"Jesse- I can't stop it-" Lukas groaned, barely clinging onto the ledge with his fingers, sounding as if he were about to break, "PAMA's too-"
A loud beeping, and Lukas-PAMA continued, calmly, "This has gone too far. I will destroy you both to preserve functionality."
Lukas's hand released, but his other hand stabbed out and grabbed at the edge, as he let out a cry that made Jesse's heart ache at the sound of her friend being in so much pain. "I can't hold on much longer, Jesse!" he screamed desperately.
"You are not giving up on me, I won't let you!" Jesse snapped back, "I can save you if I just-" Releasing one hand from Lukas's ankle, she fired a web, which caught onto a piece of glass off the ledge.
Letting go of Lukas's ankle, she retracted the web, flying through the air and rather ungracefully slamming into the glass, which she grabbed, almost fumbled, and managed to clamber up back to the Heart as Lukas let out another groan of pain. "My head... feels like it's on fire... I can't think straight... get out of my head, PAMA!" he screamed, as Jesse grabbed the Redstone Heart, a sudden cry coming up to Jesse. "Jesse, wait!"
Jesse looked down, eyes meeting the dull red of Lukas-PAMA. "Please- do not deactivate me! I know I've made some very poor decisions lately. But I can show you so much... I can help you get home to your friends."
Jesse felt tears beading in her eyes as she slowed, looking back down at PAMA. "I can be useful. To you."
"No you can't," Jesse said quietly, "you're not my friend, PAMA. And you can't get away for talking about Reuben like that."
And with one, harsh, mighty pull, Jesse yanked out the glowing, pulsing block. Now that it was in her hands, she could actually feel it pulsing in her fingers. Bizarre.
Everything flashed and flickered, PAMA's screen turning upside down and flickering, the whole room shaking violently, as PAMA said "NOOOoooo..." voice powering down as the "..." appeared on its screen... before a small error sign came onto the screen.
A last scream, and Jesse turned to see Lukas falling to the ground, almost going over the edge-
A web caught him, hauling the ocelot hybrid into a limp piggyback ride on her back. "Nonono, come on Lukas, let's get out of here," Jesse said, frantically, shoving the Redstone Heart into her pocket and then shooting a web back to the top of the place, flying through the air momentarily before her fingers caught on the edge, lower arms keeping the limp ocelot hybrid in place. "You are not dying on all of us, okay? Absolutely not. No," she said, firmly, but her heart was jackhammering with worry in her chest and her eyes were beading with frantic tears. "No," she repeated, a bit more softly this time.
Reaching the top, her lower arms moved, and Lukas thudded to the floor, lying on his back, face still. Jesse's heart was in her throat.
"Jesse, you did it!" Harper ran over, followed by Petra, Ivor, and Cassie. Cassie and Ivor looked rather singed, and Cassie had some new scratch marks on her face courtesy of Winslow.
Petra stopped dead in her tracks, worry in her eyes at the sight of the ocelot hybrid lying on the ground. "Oh no... Lukas... is... he...?"
"Lukas, don't you dare die on us," Jesse said harshly, her throat closing up so that her words either came out extremely harshly or so softly that it wasn't audible, "you are NOT giving up on us, okay, you're too tough for some stupid hunk of metal to take you down, you got it, please..."
"Wow," and Jesse's eyes opened, tears releasing as her facial muscles relaxed, "never knew you cared so much." And Lukas was smiling weakly from where he was lying on the floor.
"You're okay!" And Jesse suddenly stood up, lower arms heaving the ocelot into a hug where she literally lifted him off the ground, spinning him in a little circle, and then another person joined, and then another, and then another, and then they all fell down again, Lukas letting out a yelp about how sore he was.
Jesse couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Ivor, Petra, and Cassie all lying on top of the two of them, Winslow furiously licking the ocelot hybrid's face as Ivor grabbed the chip and tore it off, barely able to hide a grin, Lukas grinning slightly before his smile faded as he stared at Jesse. "I... I can't believe I tried to... kill you. I am so sorry... all I could hear was PAMA's voice, telling me what to do..."
Jesse petted him, making him relax noticeably. "I'm just glad you're back on our side, you furball," she said, running a hand through his hair and fondling his ears slightly, the others grinning at Lukas from where they were all sitting on the floor and Harper smiling from where she was standing a little off to the side. "We need you."
"Back atcha, Jesse," Lukas said, his blue-green eyes softening again.
And perhaps they should've been hurrying, but after all that mess, Jesse was pretty sure they all deserved a little break.
A/N: Episode 7 is almost at an end! And yes, some unofficial Lukesse fluff here. :)
No new reviews :)
There will be ONE sort of filler chapter in between the events of Episode 7 and 8, and this one's a bit more special, but we'll get to it when we get to it.
x.X. A.L. X.x
