MCSM: Nothing is the same #3

Part 16 (Axel and Jess)

(In the alternate universe)

Ivor sighed as he stepped out of a room with Olivia following proudly behind, "How does he look?" She asked.

Axel and a few of the others burst out laughing. He then clapped, "This should be your new look Ivor! That blush really brings out your jawline!" Rueben oinked repeatedly as if he were laughing.

Ivor blushed over the blush that was covering his cheeks. He was wearing makeup, hair in a bun, and a red dress that went down to his feet. Olivia even stuffed tissues in the dress to make him look like he had.. well, I'll let you puzzle it together. Ivor grumbled, "Shut up."

Jesse raised a brow, "Won't his beard give away that he's a guy?"

Olivia glared in Ivor's direction, "That's what I said, but he insisted on keeping it!"

Ivor cleared his throat, "Well excuse me for wanting to keep some of my manly hood! I just so happen to like my beard very much."

"Then how will you cover it?" Petra asked. Olivia and Ivor gulped while making brief eye contact before Olivia spoke, "That's where we ask you for a favor."

"Her bandanna?" Aiden gaped, "Nobody messes with that!"

Ivor sheepishly smiled, "Please Petra?"

Petra gave him a cold stare, "No."

"Pleeease?" He asked again. Her face didn't change, "I literally never take this off. It is very sentimental to me and I'm not going to let you take it. Don't ask again."

Jess stepped to her side, "Can he please wear it? I may be asking a lot, but it'll do us a huge favor. I promise nothing bad will happen to it. Ivor's not the guy you think he is."

Lukas came to her side as well, "Jess is right. We could risk him getting caught without it. Will you please do it for me?" He gave her puppy eyes.

She bit her lip and sighed, "Fine. Only for you two though." She took off her bandanna and handed it to Ivor. She folded her arms stubbornly. Ivor beamed, "Thank you so much Petra!" He began to tie it around his head to cover the beard.

Even in the other world with Petra as his girlfriend-ish figure, Jess had never seen her without her bandanna. He'd always just assumed that she had really bad hair under it, or maybe dyed it or something. But she had no reason to cover her hair, she just liked her bandanna for some reason... And her hair was actually really beautiful without it.

"Be careful." Axel elbowed him while laughing, "You're about to drool all over the floor."

Jess straightened his posture and shook his head, "Wha-no. I'm just shocked to see her without the bandanna."

Axel raised his brow, "I think you still have feelings for her."

Axel thought back to the day of the Wither Storm's defeat. He still remembered Jess confessing his feelings about Petra and kissing her passionately moments before charging towards the storm. Petra never seemed to fully get over it, even now. And Jess, he seemed more attached to her than Axel had ever seen him before.

Jess didn't want to lie, nor tell the truth, so he pretended not to hear the statement at all. He turned to the others, "I think we're ready now. This will probably be tricky, but I know we can do this." He put his hand in the middle, "Time for the Warrior Whip."

The others just gaped at him.

"Come on, you couldn't have forgotten it!" Jess laughed. The others continued to stare, But Axel smiled, "Let's try this!" They awkwardly shifted their hands around trying to do the same move, but it wasn't working so well...

Aiden face-palmed, "Do us all a favor and never do that again."

The other two nodded and Axel said, "Yeah. That was definitely...off."

"Okay, whatever." Jesse waved her hands in the air to dismiss the subject, "Let's just go."

----------------------------------------------------

They were officially in town. Some people looked suspiciously at Ivor. Hopefully it wasn't that they recognized him, hopefully they just thought 'she' was new or looked a little strange.

They heard a laugh and turned to see.. Stella? She was wearing a large tee-shirt and leggings. She looked way less professional than back in Jess' world, but she still apparently had the attitude. She gave Ivor an up-down, "Looks like someone needs some sun, or less lines under the eyes, or a shower."

Olivia had tried to fix Ivor up, but that still didn't cover the lines of his obvious aging.

Aiden scowled, "How about you just leave her alone. It's not like you have room to insult."

Stella doubled back, "Excuse me? Who said I was talking to you?"

He opened his mouth to argue further, but Jesse quickly turned to face him, "Aiden, breathe a little bit." She grabbed his hand with both of hers. She then turned to Stella, "He kinda has a point. Nobody goes around making fun of you, so why should you do that to her?"

Stella rolled her eyes, "Whatever." She turned to Ivor, "You're lucky they were here you old piece of garbage."

Jess' brows raised. Apparently Stella was also an even bigger snob here. Nonetheless, her insults still had no effect on Ivor. He said in a very painfully disappointing girl voice, "And you're lucky they're here so I don't pour my potion of ugliness on you too." No, that didn't exist, but it sure scared the crap out of Stella. She narrowed her eyes at him, "This isn't over." She quickly glanced at the others before running in the opposite direction. Rueben stuck his tongue out at her.

"She is very strange. That's for sure." Petra stared after the fleeing woman. The others nodded in agreement.

They continued on their way to Aiden's house as it was beginning to get dark. On the walk, Jess thought back to his dream and he wondered how he was going to get back to his world. He thought it would happen by now, but unfortunately, it hasn't.

"Everyone watch out! There's a mob ahead!" Lukas shouted. Everyone quickly drew their preferred weapons and braced themselves for battle.

Jesse let out a battle screech and charged towards a zombie ahead. She slashed her iron sword through it's rotting flesh. Iron. How cheap compared to what they used in Jess' dimension.

Petra still had her sword from Ivor's lab. She followed behind Jesse. One by one, they all charged monsters.

Ivor had no weapon, but at least he had potions. Jess decided it would be best if he stayed near Ivor in case he ran out of potions.

The fighting all around was very intense and loud. This was an impressively large mob.

"Jess! Beside you!" Aiden called out from a dozen yards in front of him. Jess turned to see a cave spider leap into the air right in Jess' direction. Jess slashed it to the side just in time and finished it off while sighing, "Thanks, Aiden!" A sudden wave of appreciation came over Jess. This Aiden may still be a pain, but he was also nice. Jess suddenly felt guilty for being so rude to him when they first met in this dimension.

Ivor gaped, "I'm glad he caught that, I was too busy throwing potions of poison at these ones."

Axel punched a creeper as hard as he could to get it far away from everyone before it could explode, and he succeeded. "Good job Love!" Olivia called out to him.

They may have been fighting a huge mob of monsters right then. But in that moment, everything just felt so complete. Everyone was there. As friends. Fighting for each other and not against each other. But all good things come to an end.

A scream filled the air.