Onscreen, the spider hybrid was looking frantically between the blonde and the redhead. The ocelot, and the Blaze. Blonde, redhead. Ocelot, Blaze.

Lukas, Jace, Petra, and Jesse were all pretty much holding their breath at this point as the spider hybrid backed away, putting her sword away as she continued looking between the two frantically.

Finally, she squeezed her eyes shut, dancing on the balls of her feet anxiously.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

And then she charged forward.

She body-slammed straight into Petra, the nearest person to her, knocking the both of them straight into a waterfall that had been right behind the Blaze hybrid, several massive sheets of water soaking the two of them in a tremendous splash of water that got almost everywhere.

Real-Jesse felt her heart break a little.

The Blaze hybrid spasmed violently with a blood-curdling scream of pain as electricity shot everywhere, arcing violently over her, before the chip on her head popped off and flew straight into a waterfall, Petra collapsing to the ground again as steam and smoke poured off of her in copious, smoggy clouds. The fiery sword in her hand immediately died down, and her eyes opened, no longer that dull red but back to a clear, if a bit dim gold.

"Jesse?" Petra asked feebly, spitting out a full mouthful of water. "That... that was awful."

Jace let out a weak little sigh of relief at Petra's being saved.

Onscreen, Jesse jumped back to her feet, looking fully like she was about to charge at Lukas as well, when she heard a loud shout. She whipped around to see Ivor trapped behind a furiously fighting Cassie as she slammed spiders away from her as best as she could, pointing furiously over the redhead's shoulder. Jesse whirled around again in time to see Lukas marching towards Harper, who was holding a full water bucket as she backed away from the blonde.

"Oh no," Petra whispered.

Jesse was determinedly not looking anywhere in Lukas' direction, which was easy since she was practically sitting in his lap.

Slowly, a determined look came over Harper's face, and the woman drew her arm back and chucked the bucket over Lukas's head, where it landed with a clank and a small splash on the ground, most of the water remaining intact inside the bucket.

"I'm coming!" Jesse shouted, running towards the two of them, and it was near impossible to tell if she was directly addressing Lukas or yelling it to both of them.

Lukas's eyes glanced at Jesse. Immediately, his head snapped so he was looking away, and he moved fast. Slinging Harper over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes, he jumped onto a chipped spider and locked into place as he held onto a struggling Harper, the spider creeping rapidly towards a wall on the left.

"No!" Ivor shouted.

"Oh no," Olivia whispered, burying her head back in her hands, "oh no no no no no."

"NO!" Jesse yelled, skidding a bit and running towards the wall.

"Use the headset, Jesse!" Harper suddenly barked in a commanding tone, making Jesse automatically skid to a stop and look up at her, nearly white in the face, "and don't forget to fill the last cauldron!"

"What? What do you mean? What headset?" Magnus asked, frowning at Harper.

Ivor and Harper both hushed him in perfect sync.

"And one last thing," Harper added, chucking down something small and red. Jesse automatically lunged forward and caught ahold of it. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a rose. "Get the rose to Harry!"

Jesse blinked at Harper in utter confusion. "Harry-?!"

Otto narrowed his eyes at the screen, thoughtfully.

"Jesse?!" Cassie nearly shrieked as she dove out of the way of a spider, batting at it frantically with her axe, "do something!" A little ways away, Ivor was helping a very weak-looking Petra to her feet.

Jesse glanced to Cassie, before nodding frantically. "O- okay!" And with that, she bolted for the bucket, scooping it up and racing towards the final cauldron. In a single, somewhat sloppy movement, she dumped the whole bucket of water into the final cauldron, slopping a ton of water over the edge of it and onto her feet, but she didn't seem to care, not right then, she was looking frantically at the still-mind-controlled spiders that were creeping towards her.

She backed away a step or two, before dropping to all eights, dashing like a madman back for the wall of water that now blocked off the doors, and shooting through them like a bullet, making a terrific splash as she dashed through.

Skidding to a halt just a foot away from the curtain of water behind her, she turned and looked over her shoulder. All of the spiders had come to a stop in their tracks, staring at Jesse blankly through the wall of water. Turning back forward, Jesse darted through the double doors, whirled on her heel as she unfurled to her feet in a smooth motion, and slammed the doors shut behind her.

Jesse was staring at the doors, carefully removing her hands from the door as if they might start burning at any second. A moment later, they dropped to her sides as she just kept blankly staring at the door, tears beginning to well up in her eyes and overflow down her cheeks, her red eye dulling noticeably as she just continued staring.

Real-Jesse finally chanced the tiniest glance back at Lukas. The blonde's face was chalk-white as he continued watching the screen, his blue eyes not wide or upset or anything.

Just completely blank.

Carefully, Ivor carefully put a hand on her shoulder, leaning around slightly to get a better look at her. "Lukas and Harper?" he asked in an almost uncharacteristically soft voice.

Onscreen-Jesse didn't even jump. She didn't start or look at him. She just simply shook her head a little, tears continuing to pour down her face as she stared blankly at the door.

Real-Aiden's temple throbbed a little bit as he clenched his teeth in an effort to keep himself from tearing up. Stampy was just shaking his head sadly at the screen, whispering a soft "oh no" over and over again. Anyone who'd been looking at Dan right then would've had to wonder when his hair had turned dark blue. Petra was avoiding both Jesse and Lukas's gaze, while Mevia was leaning her chin on her hand, staring at the screen with an expression that was almost akin to sadness.

"Darn it," Petra gasped, from where she was curled up into a little ball on the floor. Her red hair was slick and shiny from being so wet, and she looked pale and shaken. It didn't help that curls of steam were wisping off of her steadily, either.

There was a short silence in the room, Jesse continuing to stare blankly at the door with tears pouring down her face.

Lukas's arms slowly tightened around Jesse in a hug.

It must've been hell for her to make that choice, between two of her oldest friends, between two people that she platonically loved and two people she didn't want to ever see get hurt, not ever. He honestly couldn't blame her for making the choice she did.

He told himself this, over and over again, mentally repeating it until it was a mantra in his head- it's not her fault, it's not her fault, it's not her fault.

And yet for some strange reason, he still couldn't shake off the feeling that Jesse had had a choice, could've picked either of them to save, and she just hadn't saved him.

"Jesse, I'm- I'm remembering something from when I was chipped," Petra suddenly blurted, voice still a bit weaker than it usually was, "that seemed very important to PAMA."

Everyone's heads snapped to give their full attention to the screen.

The spider hybrid turned slightly to look at Petra, her red eye glinting slightly.

"Tall... glowing red lights, but I can't quite make out what they are..." Petra pressed her hand to her forehead, eyes crinkling up and lips pinching together as she tried to think, desperately. She looked as though she were about to cry. "It's like a fuzzy dream, kind of- kind of giving me a headache, but, but I can try to remember it more clearly if you need me to-"

"Hey, take it easy," Jesse said immediately, walking over and crouching down. "You... you've been through a lot. You're gonna need to take a break. When you're ready to think about it, go ahead, but..." She squeezed her eyes shut a bit, forcing more tears out of her eyes and taking a weak little breath. "Don't if it's going to hurt you."

"I'm sorry, Lukas," Real-Jesse said meekly, from where she was currently sitting and staring at her hands. Her eyes were suspiciously wet and she felt a bit as though she were about to cry.

Lukas shook his head a little bit, breathing in shakily and shaking off the thought. It wasn't Jesse's fault. If anyone's, it was PAMA's. Jesse always meant the best when she did anything. "No... no, it's fine, Jesse. Logically, it might've been a better choice."

When he felt her shift a bit in confusion from where he was hugging her, he added, "Petra was clearly closer to you in position than I was, and was also positioned better in relation to a waterfall. You might not have had the best chance of getting me through a waterfall, but Petra was almost certain. So I don't blame you."

The last few words sounded hollow to him, and judging by the way Jesse didn't relax any, she must've felt the same way.

"Thanks, Jesse," Petra said gratefully, as Ivor and Cassie helped Jesse contrive to get Petra back onto her feet.

The spider hybrid took a deep, shuddering sort of breath. "O-okay, we might be down, but we're not out. Harper told us to find her- headset, whatever it is. We just have to find whatever the heck it is before PAMA chips Harper and starts downloading her mind."

"Yes, what is this headset that you were talking about?" Hadrian asked, looking back at Harper.

"Putting it simply, the transmigrational headset-"

"Transmigra-what?"

"Allows the wearer to take control of one of the chipped creatures that PAMA is controlling," Harper continued, ignoring Facemeat's question in favor of explaining. "It only works on zombies and skeletons due to those creatures having weaker 'minds', so to speak, but those are only from the trial runs I've done of it so far, so it's hard to say if that'll change when Jesse gets there."

"Oh..." Ellegaard's eyes lit up a bit, although it was still a bit dim from what had just happened. You could see her mental cogs churning as she puzzled over this. "How does that work...?"

"What's so important about this Harper person?" Petra asked, blinking a bit at the rest of the group.

"She's an Old Builder," the spider hybrid replied simply. "She helped build the portal network, which hopefully means that she can help us get home. She also built PAMA, so she might be able to help us help her defeat it." Jesse blinked a bit at her own statement. "I don't think that made a lick of sense, but okay."

This got a few weak chuckles from the audience.

Onscreen, Petra nodded a bit, rubbing her head slightly as if she had a bit of a headache. "Yeah, that's... a pretty good reason to rescue somebody."

"Also Ivor has a crush on her," Cassie contributed.

Immediately, the mood perked up a bit as everyone chuckled a bit. Even Jesse managed a faint smile at the comment, and it got a small chuckle out of Lukas.

Ivor's face turned a rather nice shade of hot pink. "What? No. Shut up."

All of the girls in the room giggled a bit, making Ivor's face turn an even brighter pink.

Now the audience was all definitely chuckling a bit, even Jesse, because in a time like this... well, everyone needed a bit of laughter right now.

"A-anyway," Onscreen-Jesse began, trying not to chuckle while she was saying this, and immediately her expression went dead serious, "we're going to try to get her free, work with her to shut PAMA down, save the people in Crown Mesa, and save-" She immediately winced. "Lukas."

Jesse's tiny smile died on her lips.

Real-Petra let out a sad sigh. "I'm sorry, Jesse. First yelling at you in the portal network, then making you choose between you and Lukas..."

"Oh, no, Petra, it's... not your fault at all. It's mine," Jesse said softly.

Ivor and Cassie immediately winced in sync at that.

The entire audience looked at Lukas, expecting him to immediately deny that.

It'd be an understatement to say that they were surprised that he didn't.

"How is this your fault?!" Petra suddenly snapped, eyes abruptly blazing with anger. If her expression was anything to go by, she was sick and tired of Jesse blaming herself for things that were out of her control, things that Jesse could have had no way of fixing. Things that Jesse just blamed herself for every single time. "If anything, it's mine. I'm the one who insisted we go through that stupid portal, remember?!"

"I didn't try to stop you..."

"You couldn't have known what was going to happen!"

"Neither could you," Jesse simply replied, with a devastating bout of logic.

Petra paused, and Harper took the opportunity to quietly state, "Well, I am the one who built PAMA."

"Well, it's as you said. You built it with good intentions. Even the best intentions go awry sometimes," Mevia said, not unkindly, if a bit bluntly.

Ivor nodded. "Considering I accidentally created a world devouring monster that nearly killed everyone in the whole world..." He smiled, a bit bitterly. "Well, I think you got off a bit easy there."

"Well, the sport did have a choice."

Everyone's head snapped to see Hadrian, shrugging slightly. "She had a choice to save someone, and she picked someone."

"Are you saying she picked the wrong person?" Petra shot to her feet, accidentally dumping Jace on the ground clumsily with Reuben spilling out of his lap, a loud oink emitting from the small pink pig. Her eyes were now blazing with anger as she outright glowered at Hadrian.

"You're on thin ice right now," Ivor warned the older man, eyes hardening slightly. "I'd suggest you tread carefully."

"No, not at all." Hadrian shrugged nonchalantly again, which probably didn't do anything but make Petra even more furious with him. It probably didn't calm Ivor down any, either. "But I don't think I'm the only one when I say that I fully expected her to pick Blonde Guy and not you."

There was silence in the room as everyone looked at each other.

No one could deny it.

"Well, Jesse didn't pick Lukas, she picked me, so deal with it!" Petra shouted at him, almost snarling at the older man.

There was a little sobbing sound, and everyone looked around to see Jesse leaping to her feet and running for the door of the living room. Reuben let out an alarmed squeal and galloped after her.

"Jesse, no-!" Petra protested, clapping her hands to her mouth and wincing at what she'd probably accidentally just caused Jesse to do. "Aw, crap... I don't think I should've shouted..."

Lukas watched Jesse run out of the room.

A part of him wanted so very, very badly to jump to his feet and chase after her, chase after her and catch her and give her a big hug and tell her everything was going to be alright, to keep her from fleeing the room that quite a few of them were probably coming to dislike. To tell her that it wasn't her fault, not in the slightest.

But he didn't.

He just let her leave.

Because a different part of him didn't believe that last part.

That part of him didn't believe it one bit.

So he just sat and watched her go.

And felt his heart break, just a little bit more.


A/N: Sometimes I think I just want to make people hate me, so I write stuff like this.

RQTC: Have you ever loved someone but hated them at the same time?

Oh, yes. I love myself for writing this but at the same time I hate myself for writing this. I don't even know where this idea came from.

LunarTheMooncake: (laughs) I'd probs do the same for Movie Mode, tbh. / Yea x3 / Yeah, very true xD / Ahahahahaha, very true. Those are just a bit cringey. I also don't like the (very few) M-rated ones.

S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Oh, I beta read one of those :3 And I write two of them xD / Lololol I was gonna say

LittleAngelbun: (can't help but laugh) / x3 / Ooh, I'm glad you like 'em!

Emily The Avenger: (cracks up) Very true.

Guest: Aw, thanks! I'm glad you like it!

CamronXTheXGamer: x3 / Aw, I'm glad you like 'em!

Le Realest Red: I love that too but I feel it'd be narcissistic for me to say I love it so much because I'm in it xD

RapidSammi: Nah, don't worry about it. I feel this chapter makes it worse, lol.

andie: Nah, I just laugh a lot at anything. I've laughed at a stupid meme for no reason. I just laugh a lot. xD / ... (starts whistling) / Ooh, that's tough. I actually probably wouldn't change anything.

Darkbeast Dend: Aw, glad you like it. / Spider! 'Cause Hybrid, lol xD

Toni42: Ehhh xD / Yeah, Decibels is fantastic! And lol I can't believe so many people liked Hybrid, I look at the writing now and it's just crINGE xD / Yeah, I wasn't too happy.

Infernius Flashfire: (laughs) Cool.

EnderKitty68: I'm glad you like it! / (laughs)

Savannah-the-Caracal: Hm, I see. / No.

NoItsBecky: Ooh, nice :3 / (laughs) What are you talking about, your stories are great.

Rabbits rule: Wow, that is... a lot xD / Oops. Nope. Lukas not the guy who got picked. / HEY JESS ABOUN TOLD ME SOMETHING- lol jk. He just told me you have nice hair. ;3

AquaK13: Nahh, it's fine xD / Lololol xD / Hm, glad you like 'em! Those are all pretty good. Which Different Outcomes, by the way? Mine or Scorching Streaks of Paint?

Kaos Ruin: Nice :3

PoptartCrumbs: Yeah, they're all pretty good!

homeworkoverload: Ooh, thanks for the second character! And ah, that sucks (winces about the braces) I've been there, fam.

DarkPrincess2001: Lol ice x3

giriri: Okay, thank you. :3

CrystalTearsofFaith: (laughs) Ah, it's fine. / Same here, right?! / Yeah, it's pretty great :3 / Oh, I'm glad you like it! / (laughs) I actually thought about doing an art school AU for MCSM. I'm still thinking about it, but I really love the idea! / Oh! Thank you so much! This looks very lovely and detailed! x3 Thanks for the detail!

BeliTheGhoti0304: (chokes at the lyrics) / (points at chapter) / That's a big tie, but I get why! (Not on Hybrid though lol that makes me cringe) / Alright, cool :3

Reach: Ah, I see. I've heard of it, but I don't think I ever quite read it.

Guest: I'm glad you like it so far! :3

Well, that's all for this time! See ya, sayonara, and g'bye!

x.X. A.L. X.x.