"Huh." Onscreen-Jesse put her lowest set of hands on her hips, "The water must've busted the connection or something. Like washing away the redstone."
"Yeah, that might be it..." Olivia narrowed her eyes, leaning towards the screen with a thoughtful look fixed on her face. You could practically see her mental gears turning.
Ivor's eyes lit up, a relieved look coming over his face. "Which means PAMA's control CAN be broken after all!"
A small round of cheering from the audience seated around the television. Real-Ivor looked extremely relieved. Lukas looked as though he were near passing out from how relieved he was, and Petra leaned back a bit with a sigh.
"I've never been so happy to see a normal zombie in my life," Cassie sighed in relief, the zombie crawling out of the water-
Before puffing into smoke as Cassie casually walked forward, lifted her foot and stamped straight down on the zombie's head, the abrupt pressure crunching straight through its already-brittle skull and killing it instantly. "So if we just chuck water all over Petra and Lukas's chips," she reasoned, pulling out her axe casually as more monsters started landing on the cobweb, "we can get them back to normal too."
Jesse flicked her middle arms, shooting a pair of webs and catching a zombie and a skeleton before slingshotting them straight into the water, Cassie waiting for the crackling electricity to die down with her axe at the ready. Another flick of Jesse's wrists, and the cobweb that the monsters had been landing on vanished as she retracted the thing into her hand, balling it up and chucking the ball of string off to the side.
"Not that it'll stop the spiders, or Lukas since he knows how to ride 'em, or Petra, but hey- at least there aren't more of those super-mobs invading, right?" Jesse sighed in relief, as the electricity finally died down and Cassie went ahead and wreaked havoc on them.
"Well, that's fantastic... but now what?" Ivor asked, slightly flatly, as he reached up and absentmindedly wrung out his hair.
"We should probably block up the entrance, in case some chipped spiders or Petra or Lukas-" Cassie's face tightened at that, but then it relaxed, "get down here."
The three of them paused, looking at each other blankly. "I dunno about you, but I don't think I have enough blocks to tower back up to the top AND cover the entrance," Jesse said at last.
"Oh, you don't have to do that," Harper intervened. "There's a lever nearby that'll cover up part of the entrance- enough for you guys not to get bothered for a bit."
Everyone in the room let out a relieved sigh at that.
Cassie looked around the area. "Hmm... well, if Harper's stayed even RELATIVELY the same, hopefully it won't come to that." She spotted something, and began to walk over to a lever.
Jesse hastened to follow her over to where she was standing, while Ivor quickly scurried after them both. Cassie reached the lever first and quickly toggled it, a loud rumbling sounding the literal second she flipped it. They all looked up in time to see some pistons shifting aside, before a huge wall of sand began to fall from the ceiling, hundreds of sand blocks toppling from the ceiling and forming a huge wall that blocked entry.
For now, anyway.
"Alright, that's most of the mobs," Jesse said, dusting her hands off before turning smartly on her heel and beginning to walk down the hallway the three of them had dashed into, "now, let's go see about that 'secret lab'."
"I just hope whatever's there can help us," Ivor said quietly, turning around and following the black-haired girl, "it would make helping Petra and Lukas a lot easier if there's something u... helpful at this secret lab."
Real-Petra and Lukas exchanged startled looks, before leaning over to stare at Ivor. The black-haired man had his dark blue eyes fixed on the screen, however, and 'missed' the look he'd been given. (And the many others who were just openly staring at him now.)
Onscreen, Jesse's head turned, and she blinked at the potionologist in surprise. Onscreen, Ivor glanced at her before doing a bit of a double take, staring at the spider hybrid a bit blankly. "What is it?" he asked, sounding more tired than anything else.
"Sorry, it's just... I didn't know you cared that much," Jesse said, sounding honestly surprised. "I mean- I know you care about me quite a bit, from all my memories and stuff, but- I didn't really get the impression that you interacted with the other two that much." A small smile came over her face, soft and sad and bittersweet. "I... didn't really know."
Ivor stared at Jesse for a moment, before glancing back to face the front again. "There's some things that even you don't know about me," he said softly.
There was a really long, awkward silence, until Cassie cleared her throat a bit. "Well- even if the lab's a bust, what we just learned about water disabling PAMA's chips is really useful," Cassie said, in an attempt to perk the mood back up. Not even a full second after she finished her sentence she made a face. "Ugh, PAMA's completely f**ked up the word 'useful' for me."
Several people made a face at the word as well. She had a point.
"Hey, that kind of reminds me, what's your deal with her? The woman back in town who..." Jesse frowned a bit, thoughtfully. "Who PAMA called... their 'Creator'?"
Cassie was silent for a moment, before sighing a bit. "Well- you remember me leaving, right?"
The spider hybrid glanced over at Cassie. "You and your aunt? Well, yeah, barely. Why?"
"Well..." Cassie frowned. "She died. Six years later. She wasn't the healthiest person, she got sick, if she- if that- if she'd just- convinced my aunt to stay, maybe she would've been able to get to a doctor or a healer or something in time and maybe she'd still be alive. Maybe the Old Builders," she nearly spit the words out as if they were pure poison on her tongue, "would still have seven members instead of just six." And she kicked at the ground moodily.
Harper opened her mouth, paused, and then shut her eyes a bit, turning back to the screen silently as she blinked tears out of her eyes.
It wasn't as if she hadn't tried.
Hadrian glanced over as Otto surreptitiously wiped at his eyes, before glancing at his other side to see Mevia- not exactly crying or anything, but definitely looking quite uncomfortable.
Soren crossed his arms and silently exchanged a sad glance with Isa, who's arms had tightened around Benedict.
The two of them wished they had stayed now.
Onscreen, Jesse simply stared at Cassie, before reaching up and squeezing the girl's shoulder. "I'm so sorry," she said, softly.
Cassie huffed a bit, crossing her arms. "Yeah, well... it doesn't really matter anymore. I'm just not great at forgiving people," she spoke curtly, indicating the end of the conversation.
There was a few moments of awkward silence once again, before Ivor spoke up quietly. "I must say, that woman has been a most intriguing person so far. I'm still not entirely sure what to make of her."
The mood suddenly lightened around the Order's couch, the four old friends exchanging mischievous looks.
Onscreen, Jesse was mirroring their grin, crossing her arms almost delicately as she smiled smugly at Ivor. "'Intriguing', Ivor?" she asked, lightly and very teasingly, "why, whatever do you mean by that?"
"I- what?" Ivor's cheeks started to turn faintly pink, and now the rest of the audience was starting to get the hint, giggling at both Onscreen-Ivor and Real-Ivor, whose own cheeks were steadily reddening. Harper's dark mood had disappeared, and she was raising an eyebrow at Ivor with a grin. "It's nothing. I just mean that I can empathize when it comes to your creations getting out of hand. N-nothing more."
"Your stutter says otherwise," Lukas grinned.
Ivor's cheeks just darkened even further.
"A-hem," and all of them looked into the air, Ivor nearly jumping six feet into the air as the camera swish-panned to show Harper leaning against a wall that was in slight shadow, arms crossed as she grinned at them. "Careful with all that spluttering. You'll swallow your beard."
Onscreen-Jesse immediately started howling with laughter, while Cassie doubled over cackling and even Winslow seemed to snigger. The audience wasn't doing all that much better, what with Jesse having buried her head into Lukas's chest in an attempt to stifle her giggles and Lukas hiding his huge grin with his jacket sleeve. Petra bit her lip, a sound that sounded suspiciously like giggling having started up in her throat. Jace had his head buried in Reuben, who was practically sniggering himself, while Axel was flat on his back laughing and Olivia was shaking her head, a huge grin spreading over her face.
Soren had a grin that was bigger than a Chesire Cat's, while Magnus was howling with laughter and Ellegaard was very close to falling off the couch with how hard she was giggling. Gabriel was attempting to hide his grin and failing miserably, while Ivor's face had essentially turned fifty shades of red and he was now hiding it with his sleeve to the best of his ability. (Which wasn't that good.) Harper was just regarding Ivor with an amused grin due to the calming potion still being in her system, although if you looked closely there was a tiny hint of a blush on her face.
Maya was pretty much cackling, while Gill was just gasping for breath and Aiden had actually toppled off the couch with Cassie, neither of them actually caring (or noticing the awkward position they were in) due to how hard they were laughing, Winslow sniggering away from the back of the couch. Milo had dived behind the couch again, while Isa had her face buried in a clucking Benedict's back and Reginald was just nearly crying with amusement.
Dan's hair was a vibrant shade of pale(ish) purple as he cracked up, Stampy's hood tugged over his face as the boy chortled and Lizzie just started singing (with Stacy, through a state of violent giggles), "Ivor and Harper, sittin' in a tree" because, y'know, the two of them were SO mature. Sparklez had actually bit down on his bottom lip from how hard he was trembling with laughter, doing his best to hide it.
Em was biting her knuckles in an attempt to just keep from cracking up, while Nell had gotten a fit of the hiccups. The gladiators were laughing so hard that for a few moments people thought there was a herd of elephants coming through the room. Mevia was watching Ivor and Harper with an interested look as she cackled away, while Hadrian was slapping his knee so hard that he might've been leaving a bruise. Otto was shaking his head so insistently that you could pretty much SEE the laughter in his face.
"I- what-? What did you hear? It was nothing!" Ivor managed onscreen, looking as if he might die on the spot with embarrassment.
Harper just chuckled, coming over to them as she gently pushed herself off of the wall. "Nice to see you, Jesse."
The spider hybrid let out a giggle as she straightened back up, dusting her knees off. "Yeah, um, this is Ivor," and she indicated the hotly-blushing man with an amused grin, "and, um, I think you already know Cassie."
"Yeah." Cassie's amused grin suddenly faded, Aiden's smile fading a bit upon seeing that and straightening back up. "We do."
"Our friends that we left back there," and Jesse's smile abruptly faded, "are Petra and Lukas." She paused for a moment, before cocking her head to one side. "Um- I'm sorry, your name is...?"
Harper inclined her head politely, shooting Cassie a slightly worried glance. "You can call me Harper."
Onscreen-Cassie just developed a fascination with the cave ceiling.
"You could also explain why you lead PAMA's forces straight to my secret lab," Harper added, a frown coming over her face.
"You're the one who told them to go there!" Olivia exclaimed.
"Seems to me I've got a whole lot of angry computer-controlled monsters out there waiting to tear some new holes in my lab," Harper finished up, putting her hands on her hips and raising her eyebrows at them.
The spider hybrid chuckled sheepishly. "Ahaha... sorry about that. I didn't expect that there'd be a bunch of them following us. At least only spiders and our friends can make it through now..." Her smile faded to a slightly more disturbed expression at that thought, before shaking it off. It, uh...
It probably wasn't the most pleasant thought.
Harper maintained her annoyed expression for exactly five more milliseconds, before waving it off. "Ah, it's not your fault. I'm just a bit steamed. Didn't know PAMA would actually be able to follow us." She gave the three of them a more wary look. "What're you doing in this world, anyway? You here to try to steal my secrets?"
"Of course not!"
"No!"
"Hell no!"
Ivor, Jesse, and Cassie all chorused at the same time, sharply and almost desperately.
"That was, uh," Facemeat blinked. "That sounded a little desperate."
"It probably was," Jesse said softly. "Right now, she's the only one who might be able to help us. If she doesn't trust us... well, we're in trouble."
"... I did not think about that," Ellegaard mumbled quietly.
Harper straightened up, regarding them for a moment, before shrugging and turning around again, presumably to lead them down the tunnel. "Just figured I'd ask. Better safe than sorry and all that."
Mevia blinked, before glancing over at Harper. The other woman glanced over at the blue-haired woman when she felt her gaze on the back of her neck, blinking a bit. The two of them proceeded to share a very awkward mental conversation; especially because they hadn't had one in so long.
Mevia: You just... trust them? Just like that?
Harper: Yes, of course.
Mevia: Is that exactly smart?
Harper: They're one of the only chances to save everyone from PAMA. I don't think there's much other choice right now.
Mevia: And that's the only reason?
Harper: What do you mean?
Mevia: Being stuck with computer-controlled beings for so long. You must be lonely.
Harper: So are you.
Mevia didn't respond to that. Mentally or verbally.
A/N: So... some person on YouTube sent me to a porn site for ME to do porn...
... so that was an interesting way to start off my day, to say the least.
Sorry for no updates for, like, a week- my schedule got abruptly more hectic than I would've liked. Oh well, I only have two weeks or so of... hectic-ness until it comes to a stop -3- I am both happy and sad about that.
RQTC: Does anyone think Mevia is somewhat nice in this story, and if so why do you think that?
Responses to reviewers!
PoptartCrumbs: Right?! xD
LunarStarsMoons: (grins) / Hehehehehe xD / This song is lovely x3 / INDEED WE DID / Hahaha same here to be honest.
ChibiMCSM Crew: Aw, I'm sorry to hear that.
Infernius Flashfire: (grins slightly) I ain't sayin' nothing. / (laughs) I don't think they mind at all, since in several chapters- but wait, that'd be spoilers.
CrystalTearsofFaith: I'm glad you think so! :3 / (laughs) That was a very interesting image that came to mind. / Yeah, that would've been kinda nice.
S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (chuckles)
Toni42: Huehuehue xD / I'm glad you liked it, Toni-kun. :3
You-Know-Who: You will meet Cassie when you meet Cassie.
BeliTheGhoti0304: speaking of which (proceeds to drink half a bottle of water) / Yeah but that's fun for me for some reason xD / Hehehehe xD / Ah.
Savannah-the-Caracal: (grins) / That should be around... next chapter.
Emily The Avenger: (hugs back)
RapidSammi: x3
AquaK13: What's this? Aqua has nothing to comment? :o / Huehuehuehuehue, I know how ya feel. x3 / Bai!
homeworkoverload: (grins) indeed they are~ / Yeah, that's gonna be a slight problem. / That might happen. Who knows? (shrugs) / 0-0
RWBYSTRQ: Well, I'm glad you like it! I'm sorry it took me this long to update, but I'm very happy that you liked it! :3
Rabbits rule: I just like the regular Sans. He's super PUNNY for a skeleton. And it takes a lot to RATTLE HIS BONES. xD
J.M.M.: (nods)
Darkbeast Dend: Umm, I do a lot of stuff in my free time.
EnderKitty68: (laughs) Yep.
D: Okay, I'm sorry, but I can't even read your review. In the future, if anyone reviews this way, I'll simply have to ignore them. I love responding to you guys and seeing how you guys LIKE THE STORY. This is not a place to try to have a conversation with me, if you would like to do that please PM me. I like seeing how I've affected people with the story, and I do like talking to you- but not in the comments sections of my stories. Furthermore, I can only respond to reviews that I can READ. Reviews like this are nearly impossible for me to decipher, and I'm here to RESPOND to you, not decipher what you are saying. You guys are all amazing for reviewing, but you need to keep in mind the actual intention behind the review section. Those of you who are reacting to the story or actually saying how you like the chapter, keep it up, and thank you for the wonderful feedback! :)
azzh: Updated. :)
Welp, that's all for this time! G'bye!
x.X. A.L. X.x.
