The screen came back on to show that all three Witherstorms pretty much falling apart at the seams, piece by piece. Endermen were teleporting away at the sight of light as the sun emerged from behind where the Witherstorms had been blocking out the light, the massive black clouds vanishing from sight. It was almost as though that entire fiasco hadn't even happened.

Jesse appeared, falling through the sky, before splashing down safely into a body of water, everything getting muffled by her landing.

"SHE'S ALIVE!" Lukas actually screamed from how excited he was, enveloping the smaller girl in death hug, Petra contributing and Olivia joining before the whole group nearly got flattened to the floor by Axel. Reuben had wormed out from Jesse's grip and was galloping around in circles, squealing with joy. Petra's arms were tight around Jace as well as he got squashed into the hug.

The audience was all cheering, sighing with relief, or laughing in relief. Gill had instinctively jumped to his feet and spun Maya around in the air, making the brunette squeak in surprise. Ivor leaned back in his chair, letting out a long, relieved breath, a faint smile starting to play over his face. Even Aiden leaned back into his couch, letting out a soft breath as he stared at the screen, a strange look of mixed relief and thoughtfulness came over his face.

Jesse and Jace disentangled themselves from the hug, the only two people in the room who hadn't joined into the relief or happiness, their eyes searching the screen intently. Seeing their anxious expressions, the rest of the audience's smiles or relief was starting to fade as well.

"Jace?" Petra put one hand on Jace's shoulder, the boy still staring at the screen. "What's wrong?"

Jesse opened her mouth to say something, to respond to Petra's question, before pausing and gulping. She mumbled something that absolutely nobody caught.

"Sorry?" Lukas asked, leaning in to hear her better.

Onscreen, Olivia and Axel came running up to Jesse as she climbed out of the water, an anxious expression on her snow-white face, big grins fixed over their faces. "There you are!" Olivia called, skidding to a stop right in front of Jesse and throwing her arms around her friend. She backed away a moment later when Jesse did nothing more than stand there.

Axel skidded to a halt right in front of Jesse. "Jesse, are you okay?" he asked, "we thought you were..." He faltered, before picking up, more softly, "well, we didn't think you'd make it."

Jesse's mouth opened and shut for a moment, her eyes still wide with anxiety as she stared at her two friends.

Real-Jesse spoke up again, coincidentally at the moment her onscreen-self asked the same thing.

"Where's Reuben?"

The audience's heads all snapped around to stare at the screen, anxiety beginning to enter most of their expressions.

Olivia looked bewildered- before her eyes widened in fear. "I- I thought he was with you!" Olivia gasped, worry starting to shine in her eyes.

Lukas happened to choose that moment to run up to the rest of the group. "Jesse, you did it!" he exclaimed, grinning at her. "You actually did it!"

Jesse turned to Lukas, her mouth starting to open and shut again, abject fear in her expression, face still snow white. He seemed to sense something was wrong the moment he saw her, his smile falling and his ears beginning to droop worriedly. "Jesse? Are you okay?" he asked her.

Before she could answer, a small cry rang out.

"Did you guys hear that?" Axel asked slowly, concern in his expression.

Isa's eyes widened in horror as she seemed to realize something.

"Oh no."

Onscreen, Jesse whipped around, before she froze in place, eyes welling up with tears.

The screen switched to show Reuben lying on his side several feet away, pink skin practically the same shade as Jesse's face.

Jace let out a gasp, doubling over and clutching at his chest, making Petra exclaim in worry as she steadied him, the boy's clear green eyes overflowing with tears as he shoved his hands up to his mouth, beginning to shake. "N-no..." The single word came out as a single sob. "N-n-no..." His voice rose into a higher pitch before cracking, the usually cheerful, mild mocha-haired boy shaking so hard he was knocking against Petra's comforting hand.

No one was smiling anymore. Reuben had crawled to the two Jesse's feet, staring at them. Jace was beginning to break down, but Jesse was just sitting there, staring at the screen, not even crying. Just sitting there.

"Reuben!" Jesse shouted, racing over to the pig and tripping. She just picked herself up and crawled over, not even going on all eights, just scrambling to get there on all fours, clawing her way desperately over to her pig, as if she'd forgotten her extra limbs. Perhaps she had, in that moment. "Reuben," she repeated, but it was more of a pained whimper this time, hot tears beginning to pour down her cheeks, frantically wiping them away in the same moment.

The little pink pig let out a soft whine, his sides rising and falling as he struggled to breathe properly. Maybe to breathe at all. His bones had to have been broken by that fall, and Jesse seemed to know it, because she was doing everything she could to get to Reuben on her own, hands and shoulders shaking.

The others ran up behind Jesse, coming to a stop. "Oh no," Olivia whispered, but Jesse seemed to be totally unaware of them, tears pouring down her cheeks as she looked at Reuben, frantically trying to mop them away.

"Reuben," she repeated again, reaching out a shaking hand. Reuben turned his head to look at her, brown eyes fixed with sadness as he stared at Jesse. She was still desperately trying to stem the flow of her tears. "I'm sorry, I k-know y-y-you h-h-hate it when I cry," she apologized through a breaking voice.

"I can't watch this," Maya whispered, burying her face in Gill's arm. He put a grounding hand on her shoulder, turning his head away from the screen as his own breath caught in his throat.

Ellegaard did the same, Magnus wrapping his arms around her and hugging the redstone engineer, his own eyes seeming oddly shiny.

Real-Jesse seemed oddly affected, just sitting there and staring at the screen still. She hadn't even started crying yet.

Reuben gently pressed his nose into Jesse's hand, which made Jesse hiccup a bit as she tried to keep her tears back. "Reuben?" Her voice was barely a whisper now, as if her vocal cords were being strangled to death and were keeping her from saying anything above that volume. "Your'e a hero, you know that? You just helped me save everyone, you know that, right?" She was starting to shake harder than a leaf. "C'mon, please-" Her voice caught in her throat as she tried to keep speaking, before finishing in a shattered voice, "please just say something."

Reuben tried to get to his feet, but he hadn't even managed to put one hoof on the ground before he fell back down, whining softly at the fact that he wasn't able to comfort Jesse. He just looked so tired, more than anything- as if he'd just spent the whole day playing and running with Jesse, and just wanted to take a nap while Jesse or Jace and Axel and Olivia just chatted and joked and planned for next year's Endercon.

"It's okay, boy," Jesse managed, sounding almost as if she were choking.

But of course, it wasn't okay.

It just wasn't.

"I'm here, okay?" Jesse carefully reached out and set her hands on his head, fondling his ears slowly. "I'm here, I promise, alright? I'm here." Tears were definitely pouring down Jesse's face now, and most of the audience was staring at the two Jesses sadly or uncomfortably as Jace was sobbing, head buried in his hands as he tried to stop crying but couldn't. Jesse's face was still completely blank as she stared at the screen.

Because Reuben couldn't die, Reuben just couldn't die, because he was their Reuben. He always had been their Reuben and always would be, their little pig.

He just couldn't die.

"I'm sorry," Jesse whispered, all of her other hands clenched into fists with her nails digging into her palms, "I'm so, so, so sorry, Reuben, I'm sorry..."

Reuben let out another whine, nudging her hand with his nose gently, so slowly it was as though he were using all of his energy, and the gentle contact sent waterfalls of tears coming down Jesse's face, her breath coming in shorter and shorter bursts until she was near-hyperventilating, hands shaking so badly that they sent violent tremors up the rest of her body.

Jesse carefully reached out and touched his ears gently, before fondling them, the only part she could touch without causing Reuben even more pain. "I love you, okay?" Her voice broke. "You're my Reuben." The volume of her voice dropped again so that it was barely audible. "Okay?"

Reuben let out another soft whine at that, nudging her hand again, before his head drooped back to the floor, drained by that last effort, and the little pig went completely still.

Isa's hand was to her mouth in perfect horror, eyes welling with tears. Milo's head was bowed as he fought his own tears, Reginald's hands clenched into fists on his lap. Petra's arms were tightly wrapped around Jace, fighting tears so hard that her face was nearly screwed up with concentration. Lukas's arm was a vice around Jesse, the black-haired girl still sitting there perfectly still. Olivia's head was buried in Axel's shoulders as tears poured out of her eyes, and Axel had his head buried in Olivia's shoulder in return.

Maya was beginning to cry in earnest, head buried in Gill's arm, the bearded man's eyes shut as he tried to keep his own tears back. Even Aiden looked distinctly unhappy about this, glancing at Cassie, whose arms were wrapped in a tight hug around Winslow, her head buried in her arms as she tried to stop crying. Stampy was crying, head in his hands, Lizzie had her eyes shut, Dan was looking away unhappily, Sparklez was hugging his knees, Stacy was trying to comfort Stampy and Lizzie at the same time.

Harper and Ivor exchanged a both sad and worried look, Gabriel was staring at the floor, Soren was shaking his head over and over. Otto was shaking his head slightly with a sad frown, Slab had his hands over his face, and Facemeat and Clutch were sniffling. Nell had grabbed Em in a tight hug, starting to cry a bit herself, and Em was just frowning at the floor, not even trying to push Nell away. Hadrian and Mevia merely appeared rather uncomfortable about the whole thing.

Then there was a single, soft, breathed word.

"No."

Everyone turned around to see who'd spoken.

Jesse was staring at the screen, starting to shake her head in the first hint of reaction that she'd had about the whole thing. "No. No!" She was starting to visibly tremble, hands shaking from where they were clenched into fists on her lap. "No."

"Jesse?" Petra reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's- it's okay-"

"No!" Jesse's head was shaking more furiously now, her entire body practically vibrating as she flailed up with one handsmacked Petra's hand away, a look of surprise and hurt coming over the redhead's face that Jesse simply didn't notice. The girl's clear green eyes squeezed shut, forcing tears to come out of her eyes. "No."

Mevia paused the episode, turning to look at Jesse with a look that seemed almost like concern. Otto blinked when he saw it.

"No." That seemed to be the only word Jesse could say right now, and it was picking up in intensity and speed and pitch and volume as she spoke. "No. No. No, no, no, no no no no no no nonononononononononononono-!" The repeated mantra of 'no' was now practically a wail as she tried to move away.

Lukas clamped his arms around her, keeping her in place. "Hey, Jesse, it's-!"

The repetition had turned into a Notch-awful wail now, a sort of keening sound that was broken up by sobbing that sent chills crawling up everyone's spines at the sound of almost pure pain as Jesse started to try to shove her way out of Lukas's arms, which remained firmly entwined around her. "Hey! Jesse!" Lukas shouted, trying to have himself heard over her crying, "c-calm down, it's-"

"NO!" Jesse near-screamed, making many members of the audience flinch in surprise as she was now definitely fighting Lukas, she was shoving and pushing and thrashing to get out. Even Jace was distracted from the near heartbreak he'd just experienced from watching one of his best friends- his Reuben- die right in front of his eyes by this, and he lifted red-rimmed eyes to watch Jesse, a confused look coming over his face at how upset she seemed to be.

Lukas visibly flinched as Jesse's hand came up and weakly shoved him in the chest. It wasn't that it hurt, because it really didn't, but the fact that she was seemingly willing to hurt him to get out of his grip and get the hell out of that room.

He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the pain of watching Reuben die, even though she'd only met him a day or so ago but had somehow gotten so attached to him already in the short time that she had known the pig.

One thing was clear to him right now, though- in this state of hysteria that Jesse was in, if he let her go, she was going to run off, and she was going to hurt herself, and he was definitely not willing to allow that to happen.

Ivor leaped to his feet quickly, moving over to the group sitting on the floor and yanking out a bottle of something that looked faintly purple as he went. Pulling out a clear bottle with something that looked like a wisp of blue, he dumped that into the purple potion, corking the bottle and shaking it vigorously, before going down on one knee, uncorking the bottle, and dumping the contents of said bottle into Jesse's mouth.

The girl reflexively swallowed the thing, eyes snapping open, confusion coming over Jesse's face as she stared at Ivor for a moment.

Then the light left her eyes, her eyes drifted shut, and she slumped forward like a deadweight, somehow not falling straight into Lukas's shoulder and simply dropping past that.

Petra, Ivor, and Lukas all reached out to catch her before she did a faceplant on the ground, Petra looking up at the man. "What'd you just give her?" she asked, curiously. Had he attempted a stunt like this in the first or second episode, she would've been more likely to knock out his teeth.

"Calming potion mixed with a Brew of Sleeping. It should knock her out for-" Ivor paused, eyes moving from Petra's back to stare at something, eyes widening slightly. "... for..."

Confused by the reaction, Lukas looked down at Jesse. A slight chill ran up his back.

Hidden by the curtain of hair that usually covered her back and neck, but had now drooped to one side when Jesse had up and collapsed from the potion Ivor had just given her, was the unmistakable mark of what looked like a bruise. It was still mostly hidden under her shirt... but it was unmistakably there.

But it wasn't the fact that there was a bruise that was bothering Ivor and Lukas. It wasn't the fact that it was in a rather awkward position to get a bruise.

What both Ivor and Lukas were now looking rather bothered by was that the weak healing potion that Jesse had consumed earlier should've fixed any minor injury.

So why did she still have bruising on her back?


A/N: (deep breath) Oh boy. I actually had to stop while writing this chapter, I started crying a bit.

So this part was sort of my surprise...? Kind of the end part and the next few chapters, mainly. So, maybe not a surprise, but a... ... I don't know what to call it...

Next chapter they take a bit of a break from the episode, and we're going to see exactly why Jesse reacts the way she does when she's hit, and why she winces when people clap her on the back too hard.

And exactly why she's so damn protective of her friends.

I hope you're not in a public place tomorrow when you read the chapter.

LunarStarsMoons: (looks at the ceiling and refuses to look any of the readers in the face)

Emily The Avenger: ... errrrrr... (looks at ceiling awkwardly)

SofiaTheWriter88: Sadly not; that'd be a bit too big of a deviation from Original Hybrid. :/

J.M.M: Ohhhhh. / Ah, I see. No, I don't know any YouTube channels with those people. (shrugs) Sorry!

AquaK13: (casually gets up and leaves)

LittleAngelbun: (awkward smile)

Kaos Ruin: Sorry for making you hold your breath for seven hours xD

homeworkoverload: (awkward look)

S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Ahhhh... sorry... (sheepish look)

NinaNaranja: Uhh, that good or bad? xD

RapidSammi: Uhhmmm sowwy Sammi : I remember you 'stabbed' me the first time I wrote that ending, glad to see you didn't do it this time xD

x.X. A.L. X.x