A hushed conversation could be heard as an inconspicuous couple walked slowly down the street, glancing every-so-often at the numbers adorning the houses. Finally they caught sight of the one they were looking for, and as one they climbed the steps and opened the door. Instead of the front hall one would expect there was only a thick, slightly glowing fogbank obstructing the sight of any who would try to sneak a peek, but the undeterred couple simply walked right into it and closed the door behind them.

Up on Cloud, Winnie and Billy tiptoed silently past the beds of the other cast members as they, for lack of a better term, snuck back in. However, as soon as they sat down on Winnie's bed, the sun flashed on and the pretend-sleeping cast members sat straight up. In the middle of the circle of beds stood Phoenix, the host, smiling softly as he gazed at the two adults.

"I'm not going to ask you where you've been." he stated quietly, "I sent you out on a date at around nine o'clock last night, and it's now five in the morning. I think it's pretty obvious what happened."

The couple blushed as the cast members fake gagged (probably), but the host wasn't finished yet. "What isn't obvious is whether or not we're going to have a new cast member." he continued, stepping closer to Winnie and waving what looked like a TV antennae in the direction of her stomach.

He flipped it over to look at the flat side, then looked at Winnie and said simply, "Congratulations."

As Winnie began hyperventilating the antennae exploded into motes of light that flitted away into nothingness, and the cast waited expectantly for something else to happen. When nothing else came, Dani's brows furrowed as she asked, "Uh...Phoenix?"

"Mmmm?" he hummed, studying his nails, and Dani continued, "Is there...anything else?"

"Nope.", he answered, "Nobody reviewed."

A few moments later, however, his eyes suddenly snapped up to look at Dani, and that small smile of his grew just a bit more...pronounced.

"Actually..." he began, "Now that you mention it, there is something I have to do."

Thackery suddenly found himself strapped down to an operating table, an odd metal device forcing his mouth open. Phoenix stood over him, eyes glinting as he studied the surgical scalpel in his hand. "Tut tut, readers. You must not like Thackery very much." he admonished absently, running his thumb down the sharp edge. A thin line of blood welled up, and he nodded approvingly. Thackery, though, had remembered the promise made at the end of last chapter, and he was desperately trying to save his tongue.

"What about the dares you didn't get to?!" he pleaded around the spring in his mouth, but Phoenix only said absently, "They don't count." as he rinsed the scalpel in alcohol. Thackery whined in fear, his eyes darting around as he searched for another point he could make.

"How am I gonna answer truths?!" he asked, a little more panicked than before, and Phoenix paused for a moment before answering, "Type it out, or write it down."

The other cast members were pounding frantically on the barrier Phoenix had erected around them, and even the Sisters were looking mildly worried. Phoenix waggled his fingers at them cheerfully, plucking the now-clean scalpel out of the alcohol and turning to Thackery. He was still smiling. "Now don't worry..." he began, sitting down on a stool beside Thackery, "This won't hurt a bit."

A terrified yell, a second of silence, and then...

A pain-filled shriek.