WE HAVE REACHED CHAPTER 50! Man, we haven't had this type of updating magic since the original Hybrid. Onto the story!
There was a very long, very uncomfortable silence in the room, except for the Iron Golems wandering the room in search of more monsters, thankfully ignoring the hybrids.
Real-Petra winced and leaned over to look at Jesse. "I really am sorry about hitting you."
Jesse shrugged a bit, although her gaze was fixed on the screen blankly. "It's fine. I might've done the same thing in your position."
Lukas looked down at the shorter girl, before squeezing her shoulders gently and returning to the screen himself.
"You guys hear that?"
Jesse turned to look at Axel with a bemused look on her face. Besides the stomping of the golems, there wasn't any sound to hear in the big room. "Hear what?"
"All that stuff," and Axel took on a jokey, ghost-y voice, "'Take me, take me now'."
A faint smile came over Jesse's face as her lips unwillingly twitched, and she finally gave up and giggled a bit, rolling her eyes as she looked back up at the many minecarts still zooming around above them.
"I think it's saying 'Olivia should get to take more than Axel,'" Olivia joked along as well, doing her own ghost-y voice, "but why? 'Because she's cooler.'"
Real-Olivia playfully shoved Axel. He playfully pulled her head into a gentle headlock and gave her a noogie, making the girl laugh and try to bat him off.
Onscreen, Petra smirked a bit in amusement.
"Aw, c'mon, loot," Axel joked, frowning playfully at the stuff around him and crossing his arms, "I thought you and me were tight."
Jesse rubbed her head awkwardly. "Well, if Soren says it's okay, I suppose it couldn't hurt to take a couple of things," Jesse said, shrugging slightly.
"I'll just fetch the super TNT," and everyone turned to look at Soren, "it's right up there." He pointed to a spot above the archway, where a platform with three chests was sitting. There wasn't a staircase or ladder to get up to it, though.
Jesse looked from Soren to the chests, a bewildered look coming over her face. "Erm, do you need me to shoot a web up there, or...?" she asked, trailing off in confusion.
"No need." The iron golems jumped onto each other's shoulders, creating a 'golem ladder' of sorts. Soren climbed up them, reaching the platform extremely quickly.
Magnus shook his head at the architect sitting next to him. "A normal ladder is just too good for you, huh?" he asked. Soren grinned sheepishly at the Rogue.
"Actually, I just ran out of wood."
Mevia let out a bark of laughter upon hearing that.
The architect looked back down at the hybrids, who were gaping at him in amazement once again. "Oh, and feel free to help yourselves."
Axel pumped his fists in the air, making Isa stifle an unwilling snort at that.
"Just make sure you keep an eye out for the gunpowder we'll need to make the Formidi-Bomb," Soren finished, before going back to rooting through the chests on the platform.
Jesse followed Lukas and Petra into a corner. The moment they reached the corner, Petra leaned against the wall and slumped down to the floor, Lukas easing her into a sitting position with wide eyes. Instead of the angry energy she'd had only minutes ago, she now looked as if she'd just gotten shot or something.
Jesse knelt down a bit so that she was on more of an eye-level with Petra, putting her hands on her knees. "Are you...?" she trailed off, as if she weren't sure of what to say.
Lukas looked at her sadly. "It's gotten really bad."
The faintly cheerful atmosphere that had settled over the audience evaporated. Petra's amused smile from Axel and Olivia's little 'who should take more' joke fell.
Jesse looked back at Petra, who had started staring at the floor blankly. Lukas continued, sounding extremely anxious, "Part of me is hoping, that when we bomb the Witherstorm, the sickness will just... dissipate."
"I'm sorry, but..." Harper's mouth set into a grim line, and Ivor glanced at her. "I'm... not sure it works that way."
Petra lifted her head slightly and gave Jesse a weak smile. "That'd be nice, huh?"
After a second or two, she let out a low groan and let her head hang again, squeezing her eyes shut as if she was in a good deal of pain. Lukas looked down at Petra, eyes shining with worry. "It- it makes sense, right?"
Jesse was silent for a moment, before moving so that she was next to Petra and wrapping her arms around Petra in a tight hug, chin resting on the taller red-haired girl's shoulders. "We can hope. And we will hope," she said quietly, blinking hard. Petra didn't answer, but she slowly wrapped her own arms around Jesse, and the two of them sat there, entwined in a hug.
Petra glanced over at Jesse, who had also started looking at Petra. Their eyes met, and Jesse stared at Petra for a moment, before giving a small smile. Petra returned it, and they returned to watching the episode.
Jesse finally released Petra onscreen and started smacking at the ice beginning to form on her clothing, arms, and even a bit of her hair, trying to get it off. Upon getting most of it off, she looked back up at the two of them.
"Fingers crossed, right?" Lukas made a frail smile.
Jesse returned it. "Toes, too."
The black-haired girl got back up and wandered away. She went over to the nearest chest and flipped it open, reaching in and rummaging around before pulling out two pieces of gunpowder. She gave it a look, before shutting the chest and moving around the rest of the room, finding a bit here, a couple there, and soon, she had eight pieces of gunpowder in her hands, doubling up on her uppermost set of arms.
"Alright, there you go," Soren said encouragingly. "We're getting somewhere!"
Onscreen, Jesse put all eight pieces in her pocket, before blinking. She reached in again and pulled out the red leatherbound book.
"Oh, man!" Dan exclaimed, sitting up rapidly, "I kinda forgot about that."
Jesse looked around the room, seeing that Lukas and Petra were still in the corner, Axel was just kind of standing around, and Olivia had pulled out a... fishing rod, for some reason. She slid down the wall and flipped it open, Reuben squealing and trotting over to her. She quietly started reading aloud, one finger tapping the spine of the book absentmindedly.
"'Ivor hasn't actually come in a while. At this point in time, Jesse has started 'cycling through' with each of us, but it's rather obvious that she'd prefer to be with Ivor. Why, I have no idea. Ellegaard said she was going to convince him to start coming regularly again. I'm not sure how she's going to do it, but better her than me. I'm not actually very good at being... social.'"
The Order was starting to giggle. Soren huffed and blushed a bit.
"'Lukas is actually getting quite good at crafting, too. He's not terrific with a sword, but he's extremely good with the bow and arrow, surprisingly. I suppose since his eyesight is god, he has pretty good hand... paw-eye coordination. ~ Soren.'"
Jesse flipped the page. "'Since we're visiting on a nearly daily basis now- we do need time to ourselves, after all, and the children are good for relaxing. Even if Magnus and Axel occasionally blow the room up everyone two weeks-'"
This prompted a round of giggling from the audience. Jesse had her hands up to her mouth and even Aiden looked as though he were fighting back a smile.
"'I finally convinced Ivor to come with us once a week. And... by convince'," Jesse came to a stop, a very funny face creeping over her lips as she read the next part of the passage, before slowly continuing, "'I mean I slapped him full across the face and yelled at him for twenty minutes.'"
Magnus completely lost it, falling off the couch with a bellow of laughter. Ellegaard was shaking so hard that she was actually clutching at her chest to try to breathe, and Gabriel had his face buried in the arm of the couch as he tried to keep from laughing. Soren was making a very odd face that seemed like he was half-grinning and half-choking. Ivor blushed and scowled a bit as the rest of the audience's laughter grew more acute. This just prompted even MORE laughter.
"'Jesse's been extremely quiet lately, usually sitting in her own little corner and reading one of the potion books Ivor keeps leaving, but I don't think she finds it quite as fun without Ivor there. Notch knows why she likes him so much. ~ Ellegaard.'"
Another turn of the page.
"'Ivor FINALLY came with us today, and holy Notch you should've seen Jesse jump on him, she was so happy.'" Moment's pause, where Jesse's grin grew even bigger.
"'No, I mean she literally jumped on him. Anyway, he stammered out some sort of explanation that he'd only be able to come once a week unlike the rest of us, but she really didn't seem to care. She just looked like it was Christmas or something. Axel was grinning too. When I asked why, he said it was because one of his best friends in the world was happy, so he was happy too.'"
Jesse made a teasing cooing sound and poked Axel in the cheek. "Awww," she cooed.
He smacked her hand away, but he was grinning anyways.
"'I teased him and asked if she was his girlfriend. He smacked me. ~ Magnus.'"
Jesse exploded, falling over onto the floor in a fit of laughter. Olivia had buried her face back in Axel's shoulder with a cackle of laughter, Petra and Jace were hugging each other as they tried to keep from following Jesse's lead and toppling to the floor in their own little fit of laughter, Axel was blushing but cracking up, and Lukas was crying with amusement. The rest of the audience wasn't doing much better, either...
Onscreen, Jesse giggled a bit at that, before she heard a clicking sound and looked up from the journal. Axel had pushed a lever, and a bunch of minecarts rolled out, going around a small bend and coming to a stop in front of a long tunnel of redstone tracks.
"Huh," Jesse hummed at the carts, getting back to her feet and slipping the journal back into her pocket.
Soren climbed down from the platform, down his Golem-ladder. Jesse walked over to him. "I think I've got all the gunpowder," she told him.
"Glad to hear it," Soren grinned at the spider hybrid, "oh, and, Jesse, I am so sorry for not keeping this place as organized as I should. It's very embarrassing." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Super TNT. "And this is my Super TNT."
Jesse looked at it admiringly. It glowed faintly, a shimmering aura over it that was the only hint that it was different from any other old TNT block.
"That is actually... really beautiful, actually," Jesse hummed thoughtfully.
Mevia nodded. "Yes, it... really is," she said, arching one eyebrow at the screen.
There was a short pause.
"Albeit in a very dangerous way."
"True."
"Ooh," Axel said admiringly, coming over and standing a little behind Jesse, who was a good three feet away from the block. "Can I touch it?"
"No, Axel," Olivia said, sounding and looking faintly amused, "all of us would die if you or Magnus came within three feet of it."
This set the audience off again.
"Isn't Super TNT the Formidi-Bomb?" Petra questioned, her brow wrinkling slightly in confusion.
"Of course not!" Soren exclaimed. "They're two completely different words, aren't they?"
The whole group blinked at him.
A/N: Listening to Badlands while writing this (it's the Crown Mesa soundtrack).
RQTC: You all know the portal network, so... Best portal they've been through so far?
My favorite one so far is the one with all the sheep in the hallway. That was funny xD
LunarStarsMoon: (shrugs) / Yeah... / True :3 / Thank you! I didn't either lol xD
Emily The Avenger: I think you might be 'behind' at my school, actually; this year a lot of freshmen are going straight into Algebra 2 xD (don't worry, though, I'm 'behind' as well) / (laughs)
Kaos Ruin: Yes, I can- I can see that 0-o
MissyMattingly: :3
Darkbeast Dend: (laughs)
AquaK13: Uhh, I dunno xD / Yep... / Lol! / Yep, iron's the best.
Rabbits rule: (hums) Don't worry, I do some of those things too. / Hahaha! xD / Uhh.. no. No it is not.
S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Yep. xD It is, though, that's totally accurate.
SofiaTheWriter88: Same to you, friend! :3 And yep... slap.
RapidSammi: (sits there for a moment) (shrugs)
sailor. mikuchan: (hums)
DarkPrincess2001: (reads review three times) (realizes what you mean) Oh! ... no spoilers. xD
rebekahtpe: Diamond sword. I like axes but I'd be more careful with a sword, so I'd be less likely to injure myself by accident xD
LittleAngelbun: (gives you a chapter)
x.X. A.L. X.x
