Chapter Text
Jesse, behind you!" Jesse turned his head toward the loud sound of clashing metal to see the tower in the center of PAMA quickly descending in periodic jolts.
"What's happening?!" The loud sound of crashing metal was too overwhelming to hear his own voice.
Harper grabbed onto Jesse's shoulders and looked directly into his eyes, "PAMA is withdrawing the Redstone Heart to save itself. Get to the tower and take out the Redstone Heart before it's too late!"
"You bet I will." Jesse darted for the tower, everyone was counting on him in this moment. He was almost there when suddenly a force stopped him, hit him in the chest and knocked him back several feet to where he crashed onto his back. There was no time to question what had just happened. He focused, caught his breath. Lifted himself up off the ground, and got back on his feet again. Before he could give a second attempt his eyes are met with a familiar face. His heart drops.
"Lukas." His eyes are red, his mind under control. He's being completely manipulated by PAMA.
Harper turned to him, "Your friend looks tough. Are you sure you can take this Jesse?" PAMA began to speak through Lukas' mind controlled body,
"Why even try Jesse? You will only fail. Just as you have failed to save Reuben." Jesse drew in a sharp breath, "Just as you have failed to lead your friends back home, you will fail to defeat me." Jesse knew that PAMA was only using Lukas so it could manipulate him, that's exactly what it had wanted all along. "Axel, Olivia, and everyone in your home world will soon be made useful. Drawing it out like this won't hurt me but it might hurt your friend." The thought of having to fight someone he cared about so much hurt him deeply. Jesse stared into Lukas' eyes. It felt so different, like all of Lukas' life and soul was gone, like he was looking into a zombie.
"No, you can't force me to hurt Lukas!" Jesse turned his head and noticed the water flowing behind his back.
"Good, that will make this a lot easier." Lukas lunged at him and let out a robotic cry. Jesse threw himself out of his path. Lukas came to a dramatic holt in before the water and whipped his head around in an inhuman like manner. This version of him was terrifying. Jesse took this as an opportunity to run closer to the further descending tower, which was now beginning to fall below the glass floor. He was practically on top of what is now a hole in the floor, replacing where the tower once was, when Lukas jumps on top of Jesse's back. The sudden weight of both of them shatters the glass underneath and sends them downward.
Jesse lands on his stomach, taking all of the air from his lungs. He was now on the tower. He winced in pain, and then rolled onto his back to catch his breath before getting back up. He pulled himself together and took a few steps toward the Redstone Heart, just within his reach. Jesse wrapped his fingers over the top of the heart in an attempt to loosen it from its place inside the tower, while also trying to maintain his balance from the jolts of descension. He feels the heart just slightly slip from it's place, causing all the red light in the room to flicker.
There's a panicked scream from below. Lukas drops to his knees and grips his head in both of his hands,
"Ow, my head... Jesse?!" His eyes are blue again, but only for a moment before PAMA takes back control. His heart broke for Lukas, he hated seeing him like this. Jesse felt as though he was already grieving him.
"Fight it Lukas! I need you to help me fight PAMA." Mind controlled Lukas jumped over to Jesse and knocked him in the chest once again, throwing the both of them just over the edge of the platform. Lukas had been able to fight through PAMA just enough to grab onto the ledge, and Jesse grabbed onto Lukas' ankle just before he fell into the unknown below them.
"Jesse- I can't stop it. PAMA's too-" He was cut off by PAMA talking through him,
"This has gone too far. I will destroy you both to preserve functionality." PAMA forced Lukas to tear his hand from the ledge but he regained control for long enough to hold on with his other hand,
"I can't hold on much longer Jesse!"
"You can't give up I won't let you." Jesse begun to carefully climb back up onto the ledge.
"My head... feels like it's on fire. I can't think straight." Lukas starts to yell, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD PAMA!" PAMA regained control of Lukas once again but didn't choose to speak through him this time. Instead PAMA speaks through it's screen,
"Nobody has been able to fight past my usefulness like your friend, Jesse." He gets up onto the tower again and makes a run for the Redstone Heart. "Maybe because he has a 'special motivation.'" He begun to tug at the heart once more. However PAMA was trying to manipulate him, it wasn't going to work. "It's you." He paused.
Wait, what? Questions ran through his mind.
"This feeling has been in my databases before, but you're practically all he thinks about." Jesse stared at Lukas, his eyes are still completely red from PAMA's mind control. He appeared to be looking back at him, but there was no life behind his eyes. Almost as if he was looking through him. All he cared about was getting Lukas back. All the pain he must be feeling. He hated to see him in this condition.
"Where are you going with this?" He snapped.
PAMA continues, "Isn't it obvious? He loves you, Jesse."
Seconds began to feel like centuries. Heat rushed to his face and millions of thoughts flew through his head. It was all a mixture of his emotions and his deep hatred for PAMA.
"He thinks you're strong, humble, brave... I could go on."
Why did PAMA have to do this to Lukas. It shouldn't have had to be this way for him.
His heart pumped like pistons in a race car. There was no time to ponder. He regained his grip on the Redstone Heart, "PAMA, you're useless." He gave one last tug at the heart before completely tearing it out of it's place.
The red glow flickered away as a loud robotic sound screeches, and the tower stops it's descent. Lukas screamed a broken cry and held his head in his hands. He stumbled over backward and half of him hung over the ledge. "Lukas!" Jesse rushed over to him and pulled him back up to the platform. He took a moment to look at him, his face. He would give anything for Lukas to be his normal self again. He brought Lukas' unresponsive body over his shoulder and began to carry him back up to the floor.
Each step was like a mountain before Jesse finally reached the top. He lie him down on the glass floor and the rest of the group came rushing over. Petra was the first one to say anything,
"Oh no. Lukas. Is he..." Jesse knelt beside him and held Lukas' hand in between both of his own. His heart skipped a beat. He couldn't help it. He felt Lukas' hand and held onto it tighter.
"Lukas, please don't give up on me. You are way too tough for some stupid computer to take you down." There was a moment of silence. He admired his blond hair. It had been completely messed up out of it's typical slicked back style. His entire body looked completely worn out. Out of everything they had been through, nothing had ever seemed to affect him this badly. He couldn't lose him, especially like this. He wouldn't let that fight, what PAMA said, be their last interaction together. Jesse's voice became weak, "Please... please don't be dead."
A small groan came from Lukas, followed by his voice, "I'm not dead. Just dead tired."
"Lukas you're okay!" Jesse almost threw himself on top of Lukas and wrapped his arms around him.
He yelled out in pain, "Ow- Just really sore." Jesse let go of Lukas and looked at him with gentle eyes and a soft smile as if to apologize. He exchanged this look back for a moment before his pale face suddenly filled with color and his expression shifted. Jesse watched Lukas' eyes briefly scan over the rest of the group: Petra, Ivor, Harper. He sat up carefully and looked away, "I really hate PAMA." His voice was defeated.
Feelings tugged at Jesse's heart. He spoke softly, "Hey, don't worry about it, it's okay. It wasn't fair that PAMA did that to you." This seemed to have made Lukas slightly relieved.
He moved his head to look at Jesse again but his body still faced away. He wrapped his arms around himself, "I can't believe I tried to kill you." He looked completely guilty, "I'm so sorry. I tried to fight it but... I couldn't."
"You have nothing to be sorry about. That was PAMA, not you." Lukas couldn't keep eye contact to save his own life. "I'm sorry about knocking you around though."
"I kinda remember it the other way around actually." He finally meets his eyes again and Jesse gives a reassuring smile.
Harper chimed in, "Jesse, do you have the Redstone Heart?" Jesse stands up and pulls out the heart. Despite not being connected it's still very intimidating.
"Is it dangerous?" Petra questions.
Harper continues, "It's not dangerous at all actually. Now that the Redstone Heart isn't powering PAMA, it can't hurt anyone. It can actually help you find your way home."
"No way!"
Jesse closer examines the heart, "Wait, how is this supposed to help us get home?"
"I'll show you! The whole town will be waking up soon, we should be there to say hello!"
He turns to Lukas, who is still sitting on the floor, and offers him his hand to help him stand up. "I'm ready to leave this core behind."
He reluctantly accepts, "Yeah. Plus, this place gives me the creeps."
***
It takes a moment for Jesse's eyes to adjust to the light outside. There is the collective sound of celebration from the townspeople. He looks at Lukas walking beside him, "I finally get to be in control of my own brain again. I chose where to go, I chose what to say." He couldn't even imagine what being chipped must have felt like, his heart hurt for Lukas, but he also knew that Lukas is tough. Jesse unconsciously smiled at him. He couldn't believe his best friend had feelings for him this whole time. He suddenly became aware of the pace of his heart. He then glanced over to Harper, who was walking with her head down.
"Just remember, you were only chipped for a little while. The rest of the townspeople though-" She's cut off by a voice from the crowd of people,
"It's you! You're the one who saved us! Who are you?"
Jesse scanned the crowd, "We're nobody really. We did what anyone would have done."
Another person joined in, "Your humility isn't fooling anyone. You saved us!"
Harper placed herself in front of the group, "Yes, they are true heroes. We couldn't have done any of this without them."
"Harper? Is that you? You didn't do this to us did you?"
Harper froze. She took a step back, "Well, I mean... It's complicated! You have to understand-"
Jesse quickly defended her, "Harper helped defeat PAMA too. We couldn't have done it without her."
"Everything is destroyed! How are we supposed to rebuild?!"
"Whatever you decide to do, Harper will make things right and help you clean it all up." Jesse elbowed Harper so that she would understand, "Right Harper?"
"Uh, yes. Yes I will. After I help these travelers find their way home, I'll come back and help you. We will make this world great again!"
"Okay, I guess." The man who had spoken earlier crossed his arms.
"I guess we should probably be on our way home now. Again." The group began to walk over to their exit portal.
"Thank you for being understanding Jesse." Harper began, "I just hope these people can do the same when I come back again."
"I'm sure they'll come around."
"I hope so."
Jesse crossed the flint and steel, igniting the portal illuminating red. Harper was the first to step in, then Lukas, then Ivor. Jesse looked at Petra. They both had a mutual expression, as if they were communicating without words. They both knew exactly what the other was thinking. He was last to go back to the portal hall.
He took in his surroundings. It was too uncomfortably familiar, "Right back where we started."
"Is it weird that I'm happy to see this place again?" He turned to see Lukas walking shortly behind him. His hair was messy and he had dark circles under his eyes. Jesse's heart hurt just looking at him.
He responded in a slightly joking manner, "This hallway might be creepy, but at least there aren't any killer computers trying to chip us."
Lukas seemed slightly taken aback. His eyes moved down to the floor and he hesitated, "Yeah..."
"Oh- Sorry."
"No. It's fine." Lukas combed his fingers through his hair, "I'm just glad we're going home."
Harper changed the subject, "When we built this place, we also invented the Atlas. It acts as a compass, slash map, slash navigator. It helps chart routes between worlds."
Petra marched to the front of the group, "And you have this Atlas, right?"
"Uh... no. No I don't. But I know who does."
"I guess I should have seen that coming." Lukas snapped at her.
Jesse raised his voice, "So you lied to us?"
"Now now now hang on, no I didn't... technically. I told you I could help you find your way home. We just need to find the Atlas first. Don't you worry! We'll just go right in, ask for the Atlas, then you'll be home. Easy!"
"Funny." Petra begins, "Whenever someone says that my instincts start screaming 'danger.'"
Harper ignored her, "To find the Atlas, we need to find the rest of the Old Builders. I still don't like that name."
Jesse glanced down the seemingly endless hallway filled with portals, "How do we find them? Which portal do we go through?"
"Oh, you don't have to go through another portal. What you're looking for has been right here the whole time. All it's waiting for is the key." Jesse looked over at Lukas, who only shrugged. "That's the heart." She said unimpressed.
Jesse took the Redstone Heart and held it in front of him. There was an obvious hole in the wall that the heart would fit into. He stepped forward and slowly put the heart into place, which began a loud shifting coming from the wall. The seemingly plain stone began to split open and everyone walked over to stand across from it. Behind was an incredibly, dauntingly tall staircase. It reminded him of the stairs to Soren's lab in the End.
"That's a lot of stairs." Lukas stared for a moment and then let out a frustrated and defeated groan. He put his face in his hands, "I need to sit down." Jesse watched as he stomped several feet away and sat down against the wall. Jesse watched him for a moment, then turned to face everyone else. He couldn't hide the expression on his face,
"You guys go up, I'm gonna stay and talk to Lukas. We'll be up in just a minute." Petra gave Jesse a reassuring nod as the three began to walk up the stairs. He took a deep breath, turned around and walked over to where Lukas was sitting, "Hey, Lukas."
"Jesse, I'm sorry." He refused to look back at him, "I don't want to make you feel bad for me. You have much better things to worry about." Jesse carefully sat next to Lukas' place on the floor, leaning his back against the wall. Lukas' words sounded angry and weak, "This is so stupid, this shouldn't have happened."
Lukas was sitting with his knees huddled close to his chest. His arms were hugged loosely around his legs, and he fidgeted with his fingers. He stared at the floor in front of him, occasionally looking around in the opposite direction of Jesse, "I wasn't ever going to tell anyone but I guess everybody knows now, and there's nothing I can ever do to take it back."
Jesse felt his heart beat faster. His gaze was only focused on Lukas. He continued, "I'm really hating myself right now. I just wish-"
"Lukas." Jesse cut him off in the middle of his sentence as he lightly placed his nervous hand on the side of Lukas' face, and gently turned his head to face him. His heart was racing. Lukas' blue eyes widened as Jesse's mind became lost within them. He took in every last feature of Lukas' face, the way his hair fell, the softness of his skin. Despite feeling awful about the terrible things they both went through, he couldn't feel sad looking at Lukas. He couldn't stop himself from smiling.
He leaned in and kissed him.