Review Replies:

Kittenkat: Heh, thank you! No, I didn't take notes of what they say or anything, I just copy off of YouTube. How was... how was throwing Aiden over the edge funny? The armour you chose is called Dragonsbane, by the way. Thanks again!

Moss: I don't ship them either. I'm glad you like her reactions so much!

purplemint64: Thank you! Here's an incredibly long chapter that I've spent many, many hours on for your enjoyment and my own satisfaction!

Guest: Ugh, yeah, I should probably go finish up my homework as well. But I decided to do this instead. Glad you're enjoying all the Dancat moments so much! There's some more in this here chappy.

maggie555787: *winces* Sorry, but the black hands don't appear in this chapter. You won't be finding out what they are for a very, very long time, I'm afraid. I've only planned this in detail up to episode eight, 'cause I'm waiting to see what happens in season two before I determine anything, but the black hands revelation will probably be around that bit.

Isabella camovic: ... No. Listen, I appreciate that you love Empty Echoes so much, but can you please not request updates? Especially on this story and not the actual Empty Echoes story. I didn't mind at first, but it's starting to get really annoying. If you want to ask for requests on a story that isn't even in the same fandom as this one, could you please do so on the actual story your request is for? Otherwise, I'm just going to start ignoring you from now on.

Yougotthetouch: Thanks! Here's your long awaited chapter! And yeah, I know what happens in the first season two episode, I bought it as soon as possible ::D

Good morning: Oh, wow, you're right! Thanks. It's amazing how far this story has come.

Idkwhattoputhere: Yes, yes, I know, I've played the new episode. I plan on having Jesse help Petra.

Guest: ... Well. Next chapter, I guess.

Mystery Dragon: Before episode seven? How would that work? People seem to really forget that there's a seven year time gap between episode eight and season two. I don't even know if Petra know's of Jack's existence at this point in time. Nah, they'll be coming in after episode eight. But thank you! I hope to be able to mark this story complete one day as well ::D

ScarletTheCat14: How are so many people re-reading this?! It's literally just a bunch of characters sitting in front of a TV and commenting about it!

kookie1234: *snort*She is indeed.

Ash: Thanks a ton! Jesse will obtain a stronger bond with the Blaze Rods as time goes by, especially when... certain things come up. I hope ya enjoy!

: Haha, me too.

SpiritFighter208: Well, Petra and Olivia would be his big sister's, although I think Olivia would be the closest to Jesse's 'age,' if you get what I mean. Jesse is just the angry cinnamon roll they all try to protect. Sometimes from himself and stupid decisions. As for the black hands... maybe.

The Bronipegusisters Studio: Haha, glad you're enjoying it! Yeah, I think I'm basically the same XXD Loving 'em but wanting to see them all bloody, broken and bruised. Reginald is going to be a lot more careful with Cassie from now on, I can assure you.

TheSilentFury: Hmm... interesting idea. *jots down in notebook*

TheAmberShadow: Haha, no, no, no, spasming. It's where your hand basically flips out. It's a bit like flinching. Glad you think so! Here's ya super long ultra update!

ChoyofBonk: GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASP I GAVE YOU MOTIVATION TO WRITE MORE OF ONE OF MY FAVOURITE STORIES ON THIS SITE?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH THAT MEANS TO ME?!... IT MEANS A LOT TO ME! Haha, well, anyway, thank you so much! Yeah, the whole coughing-up-blood-thing would be terrifying in real life.

LunarTheMooncake: Haha, yeah, that's where I got the idea from XXD

Jesseromaeve: Ugh, really? What made you cough up blood? You don't have to answer if you don't want to. Glad you liked the chapter, here's your super duper long ultra update!

Ariza Luca: Yes, yes he did XXD Glad you're so excited!

THIS CHAPTER, WITHOUT AN'S, IS EXACTLY 15,319 WORDS.

I WROTE THIS IN FOUR DAYS.

SUPER DUPER LONG ULTRA UPDATE!


Movie Mode

Episode Six: A Portal to Mystery

Part Fifty-Two: Down the Murder Hole


They spent a while on the treehouse. There's wasn't much need to chop down anymore trees, what the race Axel and Petra had done (Petra had won, although no one was really surprised by that), so all they had to do was finish up the ceiling.

Whenever Jesse tried to do something that involved a bit of manual labour, however, Axel, Lukas, Petra or Olivia would always jump in and do it for him. When he'd gone down to the chest and the base of the tree to carry all the stacks of wood they'd collected up into the actual treehouse, Axel had appeared almost out of nowhere, said "Lemme help you with that, buddy," and pretty much left Jesse awkwardly standing at the bottom of the ladder while his friend climbed up the tree trying now to drop thirteen stacks of wood.

Of course, it wasn't like Jesse was upset with their badly hidden concern. He just... didn't want it. Was confused by it, even. They had no reason to worry about him. There were so many other things to worry about, like whether Lukas, Petra and Ivor will encounter the White Pumpkin, or if Axel and Olivia were okay, or who the person watching them from the walls was. They had no reason to waste their time on him, especially when there was nothing actually wrong with him.

"Aaaaand there!" Olivia said, placing down the final block. They stepped back, regarding the empty room that made of their treehouse with wide grins. It was only a little smaller than the one Jesse and Olivia lived in back home, and Aiden had been able to come up with a brilliant way to make a one-block fireplace in the centre.

"Good job, guys," Jesse grinned, planting his hands on his hips, "Place looks spectacular!"

"Thanks, Jesse," Lukas said, holding his hands behind his back and regarding their handiwork, "It turned out alright, didn't it?"

"We sleeping here tonight, then?" asked Petra, her axe resting on her shoulder, "We can bring up some blankets and pillows."

"Like a sleepover?" questioned Maya. Petra gave a small nod.

"Yeah, like a sleepover."

"I"m all for that," said Olivia, rocking on her heels, "It sounds fun."

"Hey, kiddo's!"

They turned, blinking upon spotting Magnus and Gabriel making their way towards them. They came to a stop in front of them, glancing at their newly built treehouse. Magnus gestured with his head towards the mansion.

"Dinner's ready," he said, "You can have your little slumber party later."

"Magnus," Gabriel scolded, although there was no bite in his voice, "Em and Nell have made quite the... extravagant feast."

Magnus snorted, "In other words, we're out of food."

"We're not out of food."

"I kinda feel like they're trying to poison us," Magnus continued, as though Gabriel hadn't spoken, "I mean, they've made a lot."

"Is there pumpkin pie?" asked Gill.

Gabriel shook his head, lips twitching, "Yes, there's pumpkin pie."

"Well," said Axel, grinning, "Let's go eat it then."

They put their spare tools and materials back in the chest at the base of the tree, before walking back to the mansion with Magnus and Gabriel. Almost all of the portraits had been taken down now, and Jesse was startled by how many passageways had been blocked off. He knew the place had a lot of secret passageways, but he hadn't expected there to be thirty or so down every other hall.

The kitchen table was covered in so much food, some looked in danger of falling off, and others were stacked on top of each other. Everyone else was already there, digging in and talking to each other, filling the air with the buzz of chatter. He spotted Lizzie and Sparklez between their friends, both looking rather pale and not eating as much as they probably should have been, but they looked a bit better than they had earlier.

Magnus and Gabriel went to join the rest of the Order, while Jesse and his friends (could he count the 'ex-bullies' as his friends? He was starting to like them a lot more than he had before) sat down as well, Reuben squeezing between his and Petra's legs to get under the table. His friends immediately began piling their plates high with food, chatting about what they should do in the treehouse tonight.

"Scary stories," said Axel, "There's gotta be, like, a scary stories contest."

"Scary stories? Really?" Olivia said, making a face, "I was thinking more along the lines of truth or dare."

"Okay," said Petra, cutting her potatoes, "I dare you to have a scary stories contest with us."

"Oh, very funny."

Jesse grabbed one of the steamed carrots off its plate, holding it out under the table. He felt Reuben shift against his legs, then the graze of his snout before he ate the veggie from his palm. Smiling, he pet his head.

"You gonna eat anything, Jess?"

He looked up, Lukas frowning at him from across the table. The blonde gestured to his empty plate. "You haven't had anything since lunch."

"Oh," Jesse blinked. He didn't really feel like eating anything at the moment. The thought of his future-selves decision was fresh in his mind, like an open wound. The thought that Lizzie didn't have to die.

His friend's eyes were on him. He bit his lip, before reaching out and taking a spoonful of carrots, dropping them onto his plate. This seemed to satisfy them, for now at least, and they turned back to their own dinners.

Jesse had always been good at the slight of hand. It had come in handy on multiple occasions in his life, especially when he was younger, way back before he'd met even Axel and Olivia. They didn't see him eat the carrots, but they vanished from his plate one by one, and he supposed that was good enough for them.

Reuben liked carrots, anyway.


After dinner, they all made their way back to the treehouse, loaded down with blankets and pillows and, at Axel and Gill's insistence, sweets. They blocked the windows with banners and lit the fireplace with Jesse's flint and steel (the same one they were going to use to light the Nether Portal to escape the Witherstorm... that was an odd thought).

They told scary stories first. Axel's was about a mutant creeper monster that ate the scientists that created it. Olivia's had been about an Enderman befriending a talking cake, and didn't really have any scary feature to it at all. Maya came up with a pretty good one about the ghost of a girl that had died at birth stalking her twin sister and eventually killing her so they could be together.

This one had terrified Gill so much that he couldn't tell his own story. Petra told one about a murderer that tortured young girls and bathed in their blood because she was under the belief that it made her prettier. Aiden came up with one about a couple going camping in the woods and hearing strange noises in the night, which eventually led to a man standing motionless at the edge of the woods, watching them.

It took a while for Jesse to come up with one, but he eventually decided on a man running into a cave in the middle of the night in search of his kidnapped son, only to discover it strangely vacant of monsters, and that he was constantly being watched by a pair of pupil-less white eyes.

He didn't think it was all that good, but it had made Olivia cling to Axel and Gill pass out, so he supposed it was alright.

Lukas's was by far the best. He came up with one about a man living in a cabin in the middle of the woods, a day and night trip from the closest village, with his three dogs. He told how the man had run out of food one night, only for an odd creature with a long tail to come through a hole in the wall. The creature escapes, but the man was able to cut off its tail and eat it. However, the creature kept coming back, singing about him having its 'taily-po,' no matter what he put in front of the hole. Every time he sent his dogs after it, one wouldn't come back, until, eventually, there were none left.

It ended with a woman from the village riding on a horse to his cabin to see if he was alright a few days later, only to the man's stomach torn open and hear a creature singing about having it's taily-po back as she raced back to town. They may or may not have started clutching each other by the end of it.

They played truth or dare next, which ended with Gill vomiting out the window from eating too much candy in one go and everyone clutching sore arms and grimacing, while Petra grinned victoriously.

Eventually, they began to fall asleep. Reuben was one of the first to do so, curled about against his stomach and snoring softly, and Jesse couldn't help but follow shortly after.

He dreamt about playing with Reuben, awarding him carrots every time he did a trick. His friends were there as well, doing their own thing, stopping to watch them play every now and then.

But then things changed. He threw a carrot in the air for Reuben to catch, but it bounced off the piggy's head and sunk into the floor. Then hands, wispy black and ice cold, rose from the ground and grabbed at his pig, then his friends, and he screamed for them to let them go, but they were being dragged into the floor.

He tried to run to them, but his feet were glued to the ground. He looked down, a chill running up his spine when he realised the same black hands were holding him in place, stopping him from moving, but they weren't pulling him down like they were his friends. He reached for them, yelling, but he was too far away-

Jesse shot up, heart pounding like a drum in his chest. He sat there for a long moment, panting quietly, and looked around.

He was still in the treehouse. His friends were fast asleep all around him, curled into balls or sprawled out on the floor. Axel's mouth was wide open as he snored, and Petra's pickaxe was on the floor beside her head, in easy reach.

Reuben raised his head, blinking blearily and making a questioning noise. Jesse shook his head, forcing himself to calm down. He sat there for another moment, before pushing off his blanket (he couldn't remember falling asleep with one) and climbing to his feet.

With his pig following, he stepped over Aiden and Olivia and opened the trapdoor. He picked up Reuben, expertly climbing down the ladder with him under his arm, and, as quietly as possible, closed the trapdoor behind him.

It was bright outside, which was a bit disorienting since it felt like the sun should just be coming up or something. He wasn't sure he'd ever be used to the sun constantly being up. He wondered if there were any caves with monsters in them here...

With no other place to go, he walked back to the mansion. The place seemed deserted, so he assumed he was the only one up. After all, it could be the middle of the night, for all he knew.

He paused in front of the archway leading into the empty watching room, considering just sitting on the couches for a little while. After a moment, he decided against it and continued on, in the direction of the kitchen. He wasn't all that hungry, but he supposed he could have a cup of tea or something.

He turned the corner- and ran right into Ivor.

"Oh, s-sorry," Jesse stuttered, having almost tripped over Reuben, "You okay?"

"I'm fine, thank you," said Ivor, brushing off his robes. He straightened, raising an eyebrow at him. "What are you doing up at this time?"

Silently, Jesse shrugged. For a brief moment, it looked as though Ivor's eyes had softened, but it was gone so fast Jesse was almost certain he'd imagined it.

"You haven't, ah..." the potionologist glanced at the walls, "You haven't encountered anything... odd?"

Jesse shook his head, "No, I... just had a nightmare, is all."

Ivor gave an understanding nod. They fell silent, and just when Jesse was about to awkwardly say goodbye and continue his way to the kitchen, Ivor cleared his throat and hesitantly gestured towards the hall he'd been heading towards, to where the basement door was.

"You can... come sit with me, if you like," at the surprised look that came across Jesse's face, he shrugged, "I wouldn't mind some company."

"I..." Jesse blinked, "Okay. Sure."

Ivor nodded, hesitated, and then began to walk back towards the basement door. Jesse glanced at him, then towards the kitchen, before shrugging and following him.

In his makeshift lab, one of the potion stands bubbled away. Ivor went over to it, taking a few ingredients he probably got from the kitchen and placing them on the table. Jesse sat down in a seat next to an empty cauldron, Reuben lying down at his feet as he watched curiously.

"What are you making?" Jesse asked. Ivor glanced at him, before returning to his work.

"A healing potion," he explained, starting to cut up one of the ingredients, "Just in case."

Jesse nodded. What with the black hands and whoever was watching them running about... healing potions were far from a bad idea, at this rate. And that's disregarding the fact that there might be a murderer obsessed with white pumpkins among them.

"What do you think they are?" he asked, after some silence, "The... the hands."

Ivor hummed, brow furrowing, and threw something into one of the cauldrons, "I don't know. I've theorised that they could be the mansion itself... but I'm not all that certain."

"A living mansion?" said Jesse, eyes widening at the prospect, "How is that even possible?"

"Everything seems possible in this place, Jesse," Ivor pointed out, pausing in his work to look at him, "And... well... that's not always a good thing."

The silence returned. Jesse sat back in his seat, watching as Ivor filled an empty bottle with the thick, bubbling substance that was in the cauldron and place it on the potion stand. It was an odd colour, a light blue mixed with lilac purple. The other one on the potion stand was the complete opposite; a deep red that almost seemed to glow, steam slipping passed the cork.

Ivor glanced at him as he began to cut up another ingredient. His interest must have shown on his face, for he looked from the ingredient he was cutting, then back to him, a thoughtful look entering his eyes.

"You ever make a potion before?" he asked.

Jesse shook his head, "No, I haven't."

"It's handy knowledge," Ivor continued, starting to chop up the ingredient again, "You've seen what potions can do. Getting into that palace back in Sky City would have been exceptionally harder had you not had a potion of invisibility."

Ivor paused, glancing over at him again. He hesitated, choosing his next words carefully, "It would be... handy to have an extra pair of hands..."

Jesse straightened, raising an eyebrow at him, "You want to teach me how to make potions?"

"To an extent, yes," Ivor confirmed, throwing the chopped ingredient into the cauldron, "We don't know what these things are. We don't know why they've decided to bring us here. Why they've decided to show us, of all historic events and people, the chaos that will happen in the future," he sat down his knife, turning to the boy with a frown, "We've had decently good endings, so far. The Witherstorm was defeated, even with all the... you know."

Jesse looked down at Reuben, heart clenching at the reminder. His little pig was curled up on the floor, eyes drooping, unaware of the attention that had been drawn to him. Unaware of what could be his fate.

"You think we're here for a different reason," Jesse stated. Ivor nodded.

"To an extent," he said, "Although I have my doubts, however, I do think the episodes are our actual future. But... there must be another reason we've been brought here."

Jesse bit his lip, chewing on it, "Do you think we're in danger the longer we stay here?"

"Yes," Ivor sighed, "Those... black hands... that person watching us... they didn't show up until later on. Everything seemed fine when we first got here."

He picked up his cutting knife again, pulling another ingredient closer, but he didn't cut it, "I'm starting to fear that the longer we stay here... the worse it's going to get."

Jesse's frowned deepened. They stayed silent for a long moment. Then Jesse got to his feet, walking over to the bench where Ivor was cutting the ingredients. The potion bubbling away in the cauldron smelt of cooking fish and spoiled milk.

"What do I do?" he asked. Ivor's lips twitched.

"Roll up your sleeves and go wash your hands. You can help me cut the potion ingredients," he pulled out a second knife.

"Try not to cut off your fingers."


Once he'd done what Ivor said, the potions expert told him what each of the ingredients was. For each healing potion, they needed one Nether Wart, a Glistening Melon and water. Ivor handed him a knife and told him to cut the Nether Warts and Glistening Melon the exact way he'd showed him, and then to add them into the cauldron one at a time.

"What game do you think we're going to do next?" asked Jesse, as he cut up a Nether Wart. From where he was rummaging through a chest, Ivor shrugged.

"Hard to say," he said, "Magnus and Ellegaard were pestering Otto about it through all of dinner last night. He said something about telling us at breakfast."

"Okay," muttered Jesse, throwing the chopped ingredients into the cauldron, "Maybe we should... stop with the games? You know, just get these episodes over with."

Closing the chest, Ivor shook his head, making his way over to the brewing stand, "And how would we do that? For whatever the reason, we can't tell them anything. We just can't. So what would we tell them if they asked why we want to cancel these games?"

"That we want to focus on the episodes?" Jesse suggested. Ivor paused, considering this, then sighed.

"Won't work. Magnus and Ellegaard won't rest until we have a winner."

"But I thought they liked each other?" asked Jesse. Ivor snorted.

"Of course they like each other. Won't stop them hating each other, though."

"That... doesn't make any sense."

"I'm aware. However, they don't seem to realise that."

Jesse snorted, Ivor coming over and scooping the bubbling substance up in empty bottles. He corked them one by one and placed them on the brewing stand, taking off the red one while he was at it.

"What's that one?" Jesse asked, pointing to the red potion. Ivor glanced at it.

"Blood replenishing potion," he answered, pocketing it, "I'll teach you the basics of that one

next."

Before Jesse could say anything in response, the stairs creaked. Their heads snapped towards it, freezing where they stood. Jesse almost expected it to be the person that had been watching them yesterday, but this thought was banished the moment a large figure came into view.

Facemeat poked his head around the corner, made eye contact with them, then squeaked and vanished around the corner again, "You can't see Facemeat!" he declared, "Facemeat not here!"

"Uh... okay," Jesse said, sharing a confused look with Ivor. The potionologist shrugged at him.

"So, um," Ivor said, turning back tot he cauldron, "For blood replenishing, you need-"

The stairs creaked again. They turned to find Facemeat frozen halfway down the last flight. He stood there for a moment, then ran down them, each step groaning in protest at his weight, and dashed behind a narrow bookshelf, shoulders jutting out and clearly visible.

"Facemeat not here!" declared the bookshelf, "Continue with your puny lives!"

"... Right," said Ivor, slowly. He placed a hand on Jesse's shoulder, steering him towards the staircase, "You know what? Why don't we go get some wheat while the potions brew."

"Good idea," said Jesse. He looked over at his sleeping pig. "Reuben! C'mon, boy!"

Yawning, Reuben got to his feet, squealing as he trotted after them. The bookshelf hummed to itself.

"Wheat. Facemeat knows where the wheat is."

Ivor rolled his eyes. Jesse hid a grin.


"There you are, Jesse," yawned Petra, plopping into the seat next to him and grabbing a piece of toast off the plate, "We were wondering where you'd gone off to."

Jesse shrugged, swallowing his food, "I, uh, woke up earlier and decided to come down here."

Petra paused in buttering her toast to frown at him, cocking her head to the side, "Uh huh."

He stopped mid bite, looking over at her. They stared at each other for a long moment. Thankfully, Jesse was saved by Lukas and Olivia coming in, yawning and stretching.

"Morning, guys," said Lukas, rubbing the crust out of his eyes, "There you are, Jesse. Where'd you go off to?"

"I got up a few minutes ago," Jesse lied, "I was hungry, so I came up for breakfast."

From where he was eating porridge from across the table, Ivor raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing.

"Oh, okay," said Olivia, sitting down on Jesse's other side, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing fine, 'Liv," he assured, "Want some toast?"

Everyone else began to come into the kitchen, some by themselves and some in small groups. Soon, the kitchen was full of the clink of spoons on bowls and the crunch of buttered toast between teeth. A few looked like they'd had a rough night, particularly Sparklez and Lizzie.

From the other end of the table, there was the clink of a spoon on glass, "Attention! Attention, everyone!"

The chatter died down, heads turning to look at Otto, who had got to his feet, "Could I please have everyone's attention? Thank you."

There was a brief moment of silence as Otto made sure he had everyone's attention, "It is my pleasure to announce," he said, "That the first round of the next game will be played today immediately after lunch."

Chatter began to pick up again. Otto clinked the glass again, a polite demand for silence.

"I will not, however, be revealing the game itself," he gave a rather pointed look in Ellegaard and Magnus's direction, who looked as though they were about to protest, "Only that it will be a mental challenge, rather than a physical like Release."

They finished up breakfast and made their way to the watching room again, sitting in their usual seats. That navy blue blanket from yesterday was still there, and Petra wrapped it around his shoulders seemingly automatically.

Soren pressed play this time. The screen came back on to the deep chuckle of the White Pumpkin, Jesse running down a dimly light passageway. He skidded to a stop at the corner, in front of a long staircase, eyes narrowing upon spotting the White Pumpkin at the top.

"Oh, boy," muttered Lukas, "Once again, Jesse is separated from everyone else."

"That," said Petra, "Is becoming very annoying."

"Try and keep up," the White Pumpkin said. He jumped forward, landing on top of a pressure plate on the edge of the stairs. There was the shift of pistons, a mechanical groan, and Jesse looked up to see the ceiling directly above him shifting out of the way, revealing multiple rows of dispensers.

"Run!" yelled Olivia.

Eyes widening, Jesse dashed forwards and up the stairs, just as the dispensers spat a stream of arrows, tips glowing a poisonous green as they embedded themselves into the floor, where he'd been standing not a moment before.

Axel let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. He also hadn't realised he'd practically pulled Jesse into his lap again and was partly suffocating him, but that wasn't important.

Onscreen, Jesse came to a stop at the top of the stairs. Ahead, at the end of the hall, passed a part of the floor that was made out of oak planks instead of stone, stood the White Pumpkin.

"Why aren't they running?" asked Maya.

Behind their cracked mask, the White Pumpkin's eyes narrowed. Jesse's jaw set, and he ran towards them.

"Look out!" they laughed, hitting a lever near the floor

The wooden part of the floor began to open up just as Jesse reached it, causing him to fall into a two block hole. Straightening, the black sand trailing off his gloves, Jesse frowned, "Soul sand?"

"What kind of trap is that?" asked Dan.

Behind him, there was an abrupt glow, and a familiar, deadly hiss. Jesse's eyes widened, and he looked over his shoulder to see lava creeping towards him.

"Oh," Dan said, rather weakly, "Oh, I see now."

"Axel," Jesse gasped, "Axel, I can't breathe."

With the soul sand clinging to his boots and weighing him down, Jesse wadded to the other side, grunting as he struggled to lift his legs, the lava creeping ever closer. He reached the edge of the pit, where obsidian met wood, and, mustering all of his strength, punched through the wood with a single hit.

This gained many relieved sighs. Nell was on the edge of her seat again, grin so wide her face looked in danger of splitting. The only thing that was stopping her from squealing was the look Em was sending her.

Jesse jumped up, out of reach of the lava. Directly in front of him, the White Pumpkin remained where they were, tossing an Ender Pearl up and down in their hand, "Your luck's about to run out."

"Grab them!" shouted Gill.

Almost as though he had heard him, Jesse ran towards them, but too late. The White Pumpkin threw the Ender Pearl, which clanged somewhere out of sight, and vanished in a spray of purple sparks.

Jesse skidded to a halt, just in time to see the White Pumpkin suspended above a flight of stairs, waving at him before they fell out of sight. Without a moment's hesitation, he darted towards the stairs, running down them just as the White Pumpkin ran further down the passageway.

"Come on, Jesse!" shouted Nell, unable to contain it any longer, "You can do this, brah!"

The White Pumpkin skidded around the corner, pulling out their enchanted diamond axe, Jesse hot on their tail. They ran at what appeared to be a wooden wall, a dead end, but with a single hit of their axe it was gone and they were leaping through the newly made hole, into the living room.

"Was that Ivor's portrait?" asked Ellegaard, spine straightening.

"I think it was," said Gabriel, frowning. Magnus looked from Gabriel to Ellegaard, then from Ellegaard to Gabriel.

"You don't think that means he's... ?"

Soren shook his head, "No, no, certainly not," he faltered, "I... I think."

Jesse ran after him, jumping from the portrait and landing on one knee. Chest heaving, he pushed himself to his feet, just as the doors burst open and a wide eyed Lukas came through.

"It's Lukas!" Petra grinned. Olivia, who had, at some point (probably during the part where Jesse was close to being burned alive), buried her face into the redhead's arm, poked her head out at the exclamation.

Upon spotting his friend, Lukas immediately ran up to him, Jesse's panting becoming more known, "This guy's..." he panted, "This guy's fit."

There was another deep laugh, and their heads snapped over to see the White Pumpkin running up some stairs and vanishing through a dark archway. Jesse pointed after him, "There!"

"Jesse! I'll cut them off!" Lukas said, already running after them with a yell.

"Get 'em, Lukas!" cheered Petra.

Jesse ran up the stairs after them, turning just in time to see Lukas vanish up another staircase. Chest heaving, Jesse stumbled after them, coming to the top of the stairs to find the room beyond practically pitch black.

Axel's grip on Jesse tightened, actually pulling him into his lap now. Reuben gave a small squeal from where he was buried in Jesse's arms.

"Axel," whispered Lukas, "I think you're suffocating him."

"What?" Axel asked, face terribly pale. Lukas inched closer, tapping one of the arms currently strangling their friend.

"You're suffocating him," he repeated. Axel blinked, looked down at the slowly reddening Jesse in his lap, and immediatly relinquished his grip. Jesse took in a lungful of air, slumping against his larger friends chest.

"Thanks," he panted.

Onscreen, Jesse hesitated at the doorway, before slowly beginning to creep inside, "Lukas?" he called, automatically whispering.

In front of him, only able to be seen because of the large window, where the rain poured outside, a figure swayed.

"Oh no," groaned Olivia, burying her face back into Petra's shoulder, "Oh no, oh no, oh no."

The lights flickered back on, causing Jesse to squint as they assaulted his eyes. He opened them immediately, the figure turning to face him with a groan, the screen going up to reveal the White Pumpkin's cracked mask, "Jesseee..."

"Get them!" shouted Clutch, "Pound his face into the mud!"

Jesse's eyes widened, and with a yell, he ran at them- "Wait!"- and tackled them to the ground.

The White Pumpkin mask flew off. Jesse sat up on their chest, blinking in shock, "Lukas?!"

On the floor, Lukas grimaced, "Hey."

The audience blinked.

"Hold on," said Sparklez, "Where's the White Pumpkin?"

"Lukas was swaying quite a bit there," Petra frowned, "Think the White Pumpkin hurt him?"

"Well, it looks like they've dazed me, at least," Lukas muttered, "But where'd they go? I thought I was right behind them."

They got up from the floor, Lukas picking up the White Pumpkin's mask and frowning at it, "Give me a moment," he said, "I'm trying to figure this one out myself."

"Well," said Soren, "He doesn't look hurt, at least."

Lukas shook his head, looking up at Jesse, "Okay, yeah. This looks pretty bad."

"What happened, Lukas?" Jesse asked, "I thought you were chasing the White Pumpkin!"

"Uh, yeah, I was," said Lukas, "And I almost had them, until, y'know, he took my by surprised and stuffed this pumpkin on my head," he held up said white pumpkin.

"Oh," Gabriel blinked, "But where did they go? Is there another door in there?"

"I don't see one," muttered Ellegaard, frowning.

Petra and Ivor came running in, skidding to a stop, the others right behind 's eyes widened, "W-What's going on here?!"

"No!" gasped Ivor, face paler even more than usual upon spotting the pumpkin in Lukas's arms.

"Gasp!" Stampy exclaimed, pointing at the blonde and jumping up and down, "You caught the White Pumpkin! Grab him! Quick!"

"Wait," Lukas's eyes widened, "What?"

"Ohhhh, crap," said Axel, mouth popping open, "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap."

"On it!" Stacy said, she and Cassie grinning as they approached.

"This," Magnus said, "Is very bad."

Stampy winced, "I'm so sorry, Lukas!"

Eyes widening for the third time since entering the room, Jesse moved to stand protectively in front of Lukas, holding in arm out to block him.

"Get out of our way, Jesse," said Cassie.

"Yeah," said Stacy, "It's all out in the open now. You can't defend your friend any longer."

Stacy covered her mouth with her hands, a mortified look crossing her face, "I am so sorry."

Jesse turned around, grabbing the pumpkin from Lukas's hands, before turning to face them again, "Come on, guys, think about it. Lukas would've never had the time!"

"Yes," said Olivia, having emerged from Petra's shoulder, "Yes, listen to Jesse! He can talk them out of this, right? Right?"

"I hope so," Jesse muttered.

"That's not exactly much assurance," said Stacy, "You two have been constantly running around the mansion with no one watching you."

"Yeah!" Stampy agreed, "For all we know, you're his little accomplice or something!"

"Have you seen Jesse?" asked Petra, "I mean, just look at him!"

They looked at the boy in Axel's lap, wrapped in a blue blanket, hugging a pig and smiling nervously and decided, right there and then, that this boy would be reluctant to harm a fly.

"Yeah," said Stampy. rubbing his hair beneath his hood, "Yeah, I see what you mean."

Onscreen, Jesse and Lukas looked at each other. The blonde winced, shuffling so he was hiding behind him a little more. Stampy moved closer.

"It's the facts, Jesse!" he said, "Lukas was at one of the buttons. These... horrible things only started happening when your group arrived," he pointed at Petra and Ivor, who started at the sudden attention.

Jesse pocketed the pumpkin head, Stampy's glare falling a little, "And now... Lizzie's gone too."

Lizzie grimaced at the reminder, sinking in her seat. Stacy put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

A silence came upon the group, Petra and Ivor turning their eyes to the floor. Cassie walked over to the window, planting her hands on her hips, Winslow jumping up on a bush next to her, "I say we throw him outside and let nature take its course."

"What?" Lukas gaped, face paling, "No, no, no, don't do that!"

"They can't hurt Lukas!" squeaked Olivia, "He's- He didn't do anything wrong!"

An arm wrapped around Lukas, pulling him to the side so that he was squished against Jesse and pressed against Axel's side, half on and half off his lap. The larger boy didn't even seem to realise he'd done it. Lukas blinked, mouth opening in shock.

"W-What?" Stacy stuttered, the group staring at her with wide eyes. Petra's had narrowed. "O-Outside outside?"

"Where all the googlies are?!" exclaimed Stampy.

"No!" Jesse yelled, eyes hardening. Beside him, Lukas had gone a few shades paler. "You can't do that!"

"Yeah, uh," said Dan, speaking up for the first time, scratching at his blonde hair, "I don't know. I still have my suspicions about Lukas, but Jesse did save me."

"Yeah," said real Dan, "Thanks for that, by the way."

Onscreen, he sent Jesse a grateful look, giving a small shrug, "I don't feel right about chucking your friend to the zombies."

"Hmph," hummed Ivor, hands going to his hips, "Brace stance."

Magnus frowned, "You know, I actually can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not."

Jesse let out a relieved breath, "Thank you! See? You all heard Dan, right?" Dan bit his lip, looking at Stampy, who raised an eyebrow at him.

Over by the window, Cassie shook her head, still looking far from happy, "Fine."

Lukas sighed, "Thank you."

"Don't go celebrating yet," she continued, moving to stand in front of them, "We've still got to do something with you so you're not roaming around freely."

The real Cassie winced, "Sorry about this, Lukas," she said, "I, uh, you can't blame me though, right?"

Lukas shook his head from where he was squished against Axel's side, "Uh, no, I-I'm just glad you're not feeding me to the zombies."

"What?" Lukas said, rolling his eyes and unaware of how Jesse was currently trying to turn Cassie to ash with his eyes, "Like lock me up in a closet or something?"

"There was a closet in the main hall!" Stampy cut in, the small grin that had been on Lukas's face immediately falling, "With a lovely metal door. Seems like the perfect place to lock someone up."

"Uh... what?" Lukas squeaked, unconsciously leaning closer into Axel. Petra and Olivia shared a wide eyed look, and Axel had turned to glare at Stampy, who was trying very discreetly to hide behind Dan.

Lukas gave a nervous laugh, "Uh, wait, I was mostly joking."

"I guess that's fair," said Cassie, ignoring him completely, "But I'm keeping guard because I still don't trust him."

Lukas and Jesse looked at each other, the blonde's eyes begging for help. Biting his lip, Jesse looked from Lukas to Cassie, the redhead crossing her arms.

"That cool with everyone?" she asked.

"No!" said Gill.

"That's not happening unless one of us goes along too," Jesse declared.

"It's fine, Jesse," Ivor spoke up, earning startled looks both on and offscreen, "I'll watch over Lukas." He moved to stand behind the blonde, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Awesome," said Lukas, although by the look on his face there was nothing at all awesome about this.

"Wait," Soren said, "Ivor's volunteering? I thought he didn't even know Lukas's name."

Ivor sent him a deadpan look, "My memory is not that bad, Soren."

Onscreen, everyone regarded Ivor with looks of surprise, but the potionologist said nothing of it, simply sent a hard look in Cassie's direction, "Come on, Cassie."

He began to walk away, an enraged look coming over Cassie's face. Lukas hurridly followed after Ivor.

"Don't go getting any funny ideas, blonde guy," Ivor snapped, "This isn't because I like you or anything."

"No," Lukas said, lips twitching, "'Course not."

"Be quiet," Cassie cut in, trailing behind him, "Prisoners aren't supposed to talk." Meowing, Winslow ran after his owner.

"Thanks, Ivor," Lukas spoke up, still huddled against Axel and Jesse, "I, uh... I appreciate it."

Ivor grunted in response. Gabriel rolled his eyes in amusement.

"Okay..." said Petra, turning to Jesse, "What are we supposed to do now?"

Jesse crossed his arm over his chest, setting his other elbow on it and tapping at his bottom lip, a gesture the audience had come to establish as him thinking deeply. Petra continued, "We need to figure out how we're going to clear Lukas's name. And I'd like to do it sooner rather than later. It seems like some of these people-" she sent a scowl at the remaining guests, who were spreading out across the room, "-Are getting a little stir crazy."

"Wow," Isa blinked, "You're quite upset about this."

"Well, my friend was just accused of murdering two people, so..." Petra shrugged, a scowl on her face as she leant against Axel's other side, accidentally on purpose dragging Olivia with her, "Yeah, I'm a little upset."

"At least Ivor's looking after him," Jesse pointed out.

"Ah, yes," Petra rolled her eyes, "The creepy bearded guy that created a giant three headed monster that tried to eat the entire world."

"I'm right here."

"Somehow," said Jesse, hands dropping back to his side, "The White Pumpkin was able was able to escape this room when Lukas chased them into it. We need to figure out how they did that."

Petra nodded, "Sounds like a plan to me."

"I'm sorry about accusing your friend," Cassie whispered into Aiden's ear, making him jump in surprise, "I, uh, I know now that he's not actually the White Pumpkin, but onscreen-me doesn't know that."

"It's fine, Cass," Aiden whispered back, "You were just being cautious. Jesse will find out who the real White Pumpkin is and all this will blow over."

Onscreen, Petra moved over to lean against the archway near the door Ivor, Lukas and Cassie had just left ouf of. Jesse looked around, before walking over to a full body portrait of the White Pumpkin, this time in some kind of suit, sitting in a chair with a potion bottle in their hand.

"This guy really likes putting of portraits of themself," Lizzie hummed.

"Yes," Otto muttered, glancing at Cassie, "Perhaps it has meaning."

Spotting Stacy standing in from of the neighbouring portrait, Jesse walked over to her. Sensing his presence, Stacy turned around, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at him, "What do you want?"

"You've been aggro on accusing Lukas," Jesse pointed out, brow furrowing, "Seems a little suspicious."

Stacy rolled her eyes, "Not nearly as suspicious as Lukas."

The real Stacy winced.

Jesse's eyes narrowed, "Where were you when I was chasing the White Pumpkin?"

"Baking cookies," Stacy answered, "I get a sweet tooth when I'm nervous."

The Order glanced at each other. She seemed truthful.

Onscreen, Jesse stared at her with narrowed eyes for a long moment, before crossing his arms, slowly shaking his head, "Don't go anywhere, Stacy."

Stacy scoffed, turning back around, "Sure."

Hesitantly, Stacy awkwardly cleared her throat, "I am so sorry about that."

"It's fine," Jesse waved her off, "I think we're all frustrated at this point. And probably terrified."

"No kidding," muttered Olivia.

Jesse left Stacy by the portraits, making his way over to where Dan and Stampy were sitting next to each other on the couch. Taking a seat on the couch across from them, he said, "Dan, I know you're innocent. But you're still a suspect, StampyCat. I've got some questions."

The real Stampy groaned, slumping against Dan, who sympathetically patted him on the back.

"Seriously?" Stampy groaned.

"Where were you when the chase with the White Pumpkin was going on?" Jesse asked. Stampy's eyes darted to the side.

"I... I don't wanna say."

"What? Why not?" asked Maya. Stampy, realising what his onscreen-self was thinking, groaned again and buried in his face in Dan's neck, flushing red. The blue haired boy blinked at him.

"Aw, come on, Stampy," said Dan, smiling assuringly and lightly nudging him in the ribs, "You're just making yourself look more guilty. Where were you?"

Stampy sighed, "Fine, I was sitting in a corner, humming to myself. It calms me down."

Magnus snorted, but was quick to cover his laughter when Ellegaard sent him a look.

Jesse raised a small eyebrow at him, "Uh huh," he paused, as though considering something, then shook his head and got to his feet, "Okay, I'll leave you guys to it."

Stampy and Dan nodded.

"Uh huh."

"Sounds good."

Jesse took a walk around the room, but nothing out of place seemed to catch his eye. He came all the way back to Petra, stopping in front of her, "How are things with you?"

"Oh, you know," said Petra, eyes hard, "Just peachy. Stuck in a house with a mass killer, one of my best friends is the current top suspect."

This earned a few winces from the audience.

"Yeah," muttered Lukas, "Peachy."

Jesse winced. Petra glared at the floor for a moment, before her gaze softened, if only slightly, "It was really nice of Ivor to step up like that, though. Didn't think he had it in him."

"Yep, Ivor's awesome," Jesse smiled, hands going to his hips, "Glad he's on our side."

Ivor blinked in surprise at the compliment, unsure how to respond. Soren grinned, nudging him in the side, earning a half-hearted glare.

Petra was silent for a moment, the smallest of nods, "Me too."

"Awwwww," cooed Maya. Petra, in all of her great maturity, chucked a pillow at her.

"Okey, well, I vote we get back to it," Petra continued, "Don't want to leave poor Lukas in that closet for too long."

"Yeah," Lukas winced, "Yeah, I-I'd appreciate that."

Jesse nodded, before continuing his treck along the wall. He came to a stop back by the three portraits, humming as he regarded the one to the far left. He walked passed the White Pumpkin portrait to the one on the right, coming to a stop next to Stacy and frowning at it thoughtfully.

Sensing her raised-eyebrow-gaze on him, he turned to look at her and shrugged. Stacy rolled her eyes.

Walking over to the White Pumpkin portrait, Jesse frowned at it, before stepping up onto the table in front of it. Despite this, the top of his head only reached the White Pumpkin's painted chin.

"And people wonder why I call him Tiny," Magnus whispered loudly. Ellegaard, Gabriel, Soren and Ivor hushed him at the same time.

He looked it up and down, drew his first back and punched through it. It collapsed, popping off the wall, revealing another, bigger secret passageway.

Gasps erupted around the room, both onscreen and a few offscreen. Petra launched herself off the wall, Dan and Stampy shot to their feet and Stacy gasped.

"Woah," said Jesse, "Another secret passage."

The screen turned around to reveal double iron doors in front of him, with three picture frames on the right wall with what appeared to be random items inside them.

"What are those?" asked Axel, frowning, "Another trap?"

"I'm not sure," muttered Olivia, "A puzzle, maybe?"

The others crowding around the new opening, Jesse walked further into the passage. He turned to the picture frames with a small hum. The first one had a cobweb in it, the second a tipped arrow and the third a block of sand.

"Well, this looks promising," he muttered, "I wonder what order these need to be in?"

Ellegaard frowned, then her eyes widened, "Oh! I get it!"

"What?" asked Gabriel, leaning forwards to raise an eyebrow at her. Ellegaard gestured to the screen.

For a moment, Jesse tapped his bottom lip thoughtfully. Then he took the tipped arrow in hand, frowned at it, and switched it to his other hand so he could pick up the cobwebs, replacing it with the arrow.

The doors groaned and clicked. Jesse hummed, "Okay, that seems like a step in the right direction."

"Unless this is all a trap," Milo pointed out. Olivia groaned, returning her face to Petra's shoulder. The innkeeper winced at the glares he received, leaning away from the group on the floor.

"I, uh... my apologies."

Onscreen, Jesse switched the cobwebs to his other hand and picked up the sand, placing the webs in the picture frame they'd just been in. Like before, the doors gave a mechanical click.

"Hm, yeah, that seems right," Jesse muttered. Finally, he put the sand in the middle picture frame, and, with one last mechanical click, the doors flew open. The boy grinned. "There we go. Awesome."

Seeing as how it hadn't been a trap after all, Jesse's friends sighed in relief, Axel loosening his hold on the boy in his lap. Jesse sucked in a lungful of air, grimacing as he rubbed sore ribs.

Grinning widely, Jesse and Petra walked through the doors, revealing a massive pit. A crafting table sat on either side of the archway.

"Oh, wow!" Stampy exclaimed, he and the other two coming up behind them, "You got it open!"

"Yeah, you guys should stay here," said Petra, "It could be dangerous."

"No, I totally want to follow you into your friend's creepy secret passageway," said Stacy, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Lukas winced, both from the statement and from Axel's hold tightening around him. He wasn't going to complain, though. It was... nice. How the larger boy had gone from glaring at him to hugging him when his onscreen-self was in danger.

Jesse's eyes widened. Beside him, Petra growled.

"Argh, seriously?" she said, "You really think Lukas did it?"

"You haven't proven that he didn't yet," Stacy countered.

"Technically true," Stampy pointed out.

Stacy and Stampy both winced, hiding their faces in embarrassment.

"Hey, come on, cool it," Jesse cut in, "We're all in this together, aren't we?" Petra sent him a small grin.

"Depends," said Stampy, crossing his arms, "Figured you'd be on your little buddy's side."

The real Petra face palmed, sighing. Stampy sunk further into Dan's side, who wrapped in arm around him.

"Ugh, you know what? They're not worth it," Petra declared. She turned around, marching into the new room. "Come on."

Jesse watched her go with crossed arms, sent the three a small look that wasn't exactly a glare but wasn't all that friendly either, before turning around and following her. Stacy, Stampy and Dan looked at each other- the currently blonde haired boy the only one that didn't look in any way angry- and made their way back into the sitting room.

"Well," said Ivor, "That went well."

"Oh, the drama," Hadrian said, grinning as he leant back in his seat, "Can almost taste it on your tongue."

Jesse and Petra came to a stop at the edge of the hole, Jesse's eyes widening as they were shown just how far down it went. You couldn't even see the bottom.

"Wow," he whistled, "That is deep. Guess it leads down to... whatever the White Pumpkin calls home," he looked to Petra, "I wonder how they get down there."

"Maybe in addition to walking through walls," Petra snapped, "They can fly for all we know! Ugh!" She turned around, Jesse looking startled at the sudden aggression.

"Wow, okay," said Lukas, blinking, "You're... really upset about this."

"No kidding," muttered Petra, scowling alongside her onscreen self. Axel and Jesse sent her a worried look.

She came to a stop, crossing her arms, "It's just..." she sighed, "I'm really worried about Lukas. Those people think they're all safe," she turned around again, moving to stand in front of Jesse, "But the White Pumpkin is still running around and they could strike again at any minute!"

Axel released Jesse to wrap his arm around Petra- and Olivia, since they were practically cuddled against each other at this point- and dragged them both into his side, much like what he'd done with Lukas.

Petra raised her head to blink at him, surprised, but then that surprised melted into a grateful smile. He smiled back.

"Not to mention," Petra continued, "All those people back there have been so ungrateful, so petty..." she shook her head, teeth clenching, "Argh! It's so frustrating!"

Stampy, Dan, Stacy and Lizzie shared a guilty look. Sparklez looked a little awkward, obviously not wanting to take sides.

"Hey, Petra, I understand, okay?" said Jesse, holding up his hands a little, "I'm with you."

Petra sighed, "You're right. I know you're right..." she let out a breath, "Sorry, Jesse. I just really needed to get that off my chest."

"It's fine," said the real Jesse, almost automatically. The real Petra rolled her eyes at him, lips twitching.

Onscreen, Jesse nodded in understanding, "We're gonna get through this," he turned back to the pit, "Let's start by figuring out how we're gonna get down there, huh?"

"You are very good at talking your way through things, Jesse," said Harper. Jesse shrugged.

"At times, I guess."

"Yeah," said Petra, sending him a teasing grin, "Remember when Ivor startled you back in episode one and you almost blew the deal?"

Jesse sighed, "Yes, I remember. Thanks."

"What've you got in your inventory?" Jesse asked, turning to face her again, "Didn't you have all those wood blocks?"

Petra looked to the side, an almost sheepish look crossing her face. She reached into her pockets and pulled out- not blocks- but sticks, setting them down on the floor between them. Jesse blinked at them slowly, then raised an eyebrow at his red haired friend.

"Sorry," Petra said, giving a small, sheepish shrug, "I was witting earlier. Nervous habit."

"Huh," Olivia blinked, "I wasn't sure you ever got nervous to actually have a habit like that."

Petra gave a small shrug, the best she could when she was squished between Axel and Olivia, "I haven't actually done it for a while, but it's something I've done before."

"Well, luckily," said Jesse, bending down and picking up the sticks, "Those should do just the trick."

His head turned, and he gave one of the crafting tables a grin. He began to walk over to it, Petra planting a hand on her hip, "You thinking ladder?"

Jesse nodded, "Yeah."

Petra leant over to look down into the pit, shaking her head, "We're gonna need a lot of 'em."

Jesse's smile fell. He looked down at the crafting table in front of him, before his eyes were drawn to the second crafting table next to the other door. He looked back at Petra, a smile tugging his lips, "I'll race ya."

Petra blinked, looking over at the other crafting table, and grinned, running up to it, "You're on."

The screen showed Jesse placing the sticks in their respective slots. They shook, merging together to form a ladder.

Jesse held it up, "Done!"

"Do- aw, man," Petra groaned, although she was smiling, holding up her own ladder. She gave a small laugh, scratching at her ear and sending Jesse a grateful smile, "Thanks. I needed that."

"Anytime," said Jesse, as though she could actually hear him. Olivia twisted, reaching up so she could ruffle his hair.

"Alright, we've got a lot more of these to make," Jesse said, pocketing the ladder. Petra nodded.

"Let's get to work."

The screen sped up, showing Jesse crafting ladder after ladder. Finally, he turned around, grinning, and knelt in front of the pit. He pulled out one of the ladders, placing it on the wall of the pit, "Okay, that's one down."

"Lots more to go," Petra declared, hands going to her hips and grinning. Jesse let out a sigh.

He turned around and began climbing down the ladder, Petra directly above him. He stopped every moment to pull out a ladder and place it down, the two friends descending into blackness.

"You don't think they're gonna find the White Pumpkin down there, do you?" asked Stampy.

"If they do," Nell grinned, "They'll just kick his butt!"

Em rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say, Nell."

The screen came back on to Jesse and Petra reaching the bottom of the pit, in what appeared to be some sort of regular cave, made up of stone and dirt and random ore.

"See?" said Jesse, turning around as he took in the place, "Told you we'd make it."

"Yeah," Petra said, following from behind, "Just hope this works."

"It's a good thing you guys had enough ladders," said Lukas, "I'm not sure what you'd do if you ran out."

"Probably go look around the mansion for more," Jesse shrugged, "But, yeah, it's a good thing we didn't have to do that. It would waste time."

"Think we're gonna find the White Pumpkin down here?" asked Petra, as they began to walk down the hall, "With all these secret passageways..." Petra turned around, so that she was walking backwards, back to back with Jesse, "It's so hard to tell where they might be."

"Urgh," Axel grimaced, "Yeah, please don't remind me."

"I'll be honest," said Jesse, carefully making his way down the hall, "I hope we do. And this time they're not walking away with just a scar on their mask."

Axel sent Jesse a look. He gave a sheepish grin in response.

"Brutal," Petra grinned, turning back around as they turned a corner, "I like it."

"Of course you do," muttered Isa, although she was smiling.

They turned another corner, Jesse frowning, "Hey, do you hear... ?"

There was a series of faint, hungry groans. Petra tensed, "Lots and lots of zombies? Yeah. I do."

"Oh, joy," muttered Aiden. Cassie was watching the screen with a frown, biting her thumb nail.

Petra sniffed, grimacing, "Ugh. Starting to smell 'em too."

"Ugh, ditto," said Jesse, making a face, "Gross."

They crept onwards, water dripping from the ceiling. Iron bars came into view, earning a few curious looks from the audience. Jesse raised an eyebrow as he came level with it, but upon spotting nothing inside, began to continue walking.

Then rotting, slimy green hands banged against the bars, causing him- and quite a lot of the audience- to jump away with yelps of surprise. The zombie groaned, trying to reach for him with its mangled hands, but it could hardly get its wrists passed the bars.

"Cells?" Sparklez frowned, "Why are they in cells?"

"Well," said Petra, casting a weary eye towards the monsters, "That explains all the monster noises."

They crept on, passed more and more cells filled with groaning zombies, crowding around the bars and trying to reach for them. Jesse came to a stop to send a weary look into one of the cells, Petra moving on. He followed after her, around a bend, and blinked as he spotted something in the final cell.

"What in the world is that?" he asked, pointing to some kind of black cage-block, burning with dull embers and a miniature zombies spinning in its middle.

Soren, Isa, Harper, Hadrian, Otto and Mevia's eyes widened and, almost without thinking, they shared a shocked look. Then, in a perfect unison, their heads snapped to Cassie.

This confirmed it, then.

She'd always loved her monster spawners.

In the cell, a zombie puffed into existence. Jesse jumped, "Woah. It's some sort of, like, zombie spawner."

"Smack on," muttered Hadrian.

"Does that mean the White Pumpkin actually made the sea of zombies outside?" asked Petra

"Wow," breathed Lizzie, "That's... wow."

"That's what it looks like," muttered Jesse. Petra turned away, a worried look crossing Jesse's face as he regarded the caged zombies. He shook his head and made his way after Petra.

"You don't think that means the White Pumpkin's gonna set a bunch of zombies on them?" asked Olivia, worriedly wringing her hands together, "Or- Or throw them into the cells with them?"

"Olivia," Lukas said, having gone quite a few shades paler, "Stop."

The two came to an open area. Petra pointed up at a tube made of yellow stained glass, what appeared to be items going up it, "What's that?"

Jesse didn't seem to have an answer. They walked further into the room, to where a small lake sat. From the ceiling fell more items, landing in the water.

Maya blinked, "A loot pool? Like Soren's grinder?"

Frowning, Jesse knelt in front of the pool, "I think this is where people's stuff after those hoppers upstairs suck it up."

"You're right," Petra said, eyes widening in realisation. She pointed to the stuff. "I think that's Lizzie's."

The real Lizzie swallowed, nervously biting her nails. Her friends sent her concerned looks.

Much like all the way back at Soren's Fortress, Lizzie's stuff was sucked into hoppers in the floor, reappearing one by one in the yellow tube.

"Okay," Petra frowned, "But where's the loot going from here?"

"Hopefully right to the White Pumpkin," said Jesse. His eyes were drawn to a tunnel that was level with the end of the tube, emitting a faint light.

"What the heck's that?" asked Magnus, as though any of them actually had an answer.

"Hey," said Jesse, getting to his feet, "You see the light coming out of that tunnel too, right?"

"Huh?" Petra blinked, looking up, "Oh, yeah. And it doesn't look like it's blocked off like all the, uh," the screen panned out a bit, revealing similar tunnels all along the walls, but blocked off by iron bars, zombies groaning from inside, "Zombie-filled ones."

"That is a lot of googlies," muttered Stampy. Dan noded in agreement.

"If we can get up there," said Jesse, he and Petra beginning to walk closer to the tunnel, "I think we might be able to follow the loot to wherever it's going."

"Well, that's awesome," muttered Petra, grinning, "Nice find. How do you want to get up there?"

Jesse came to a stop in front of a large mound of dirt. He grinned. "Grab some dirt, Petra. We're going climbing."

The screen sped up as Petra and Jesse dug up the dirt, before they abruptly shot over to in front of the tunnel, towering up side by side and coming to a stop once they were level with it.

"Okay," said Petra, arms aloft in an attempt to help stop herself from falling, "I think we can jump from here."

"Wh-Why did you build it so far away?!" asked Axel.

"I think the bit in front of the tunnel is raised," Petra pointed out, "Although I can't really see it properly."

From the tunnel came an angry hiss, a spider appearing. Jesse and Petra yelled, just as it leapt at them. However, they were too far away, but it angled itself and instead latched on to the side of their dirt tower.

"Jump, jump, jump!" chanted Olivia, squeezing Petra's arm so hard the redhead was starting to wonder if she was cutting off her blood circulation.

With a yell, Jesse leapt from the dirt tower, landing safely in the tunnel. The spider came up at Petra's heels, who gasped and leapt after him before it could attack her. However, her haste to get away had made her jump sloppy, and she yelled as her foot slipped on the edge of the tunnel.

"Petra!" exclaimed her friends. Many of the other watchers gasped, sitting on the edge of their seats. Axel's arm around Petra tightened.

Jesse darted forward, grabbing Petra's hand just before she could fall off, leaving half of her body dangling above a drop that would at least leave her greatly injured.

"Oh god," Olivia groaned, burying her face into Petra's shoulder, "I can't watch."

The spider, hissing in annoyance, climbed back down the dirt tower, out of sight. Jesse grunted, feet digging into the ground, struggling as slowly pulled Petra back up.

With one final big tug, he pulled her to safety, a relieved breath leaving his lips, "Got'cha."

Most of the audience sighed in relief. Gabriel slumped against his seat, hand going over his heart, slightly surprised by how frightened he'd been by the scene.

Petra grunted, putting her hands on her knees as she panted, "That was... almost embarrassing," letting out a breath, she straightened, and the two began to make their way down the tunnel, Petra sending him a grateful look, "Thanks, Jesse."

"No problem."

"That," said Lukas, "Was way too close."

"You can say that again," Maya muttered.

The screen switched to Petra and Jesse turning the corner, silently walking down another tunnel, dimly lit by torches. At a strange noise, Jesse and Petra came to a stop at another turn, frowning.

"Weird," Jesse said, "Almost sounds like..."

The noise sounded again. Petra's frown deepened, "... Cats?"

Magnus blinked, "... Cats."

"That's... weird..." Sparklez frowned, adjusting his sunglasses, "Why would the White Pumpkin have cats?"

Slowly, Jesse peeked around the corner- and came face to face with the White Pumpkin.

Startled screams ignited around the room. Gill leapt back and bonked heads with Maya, Stampy scrambled into Dan's lap, Nell latched herself onto Em's arm, the Gladiators clung to each other in a group hug, the group on the floor leapt into Axel's lap properly, Isa and Milo held on to each other, Reginald jumped to his feet and drew his sword, the momentum of Harper's startled jump almost sent her chair toppling over, the Order were clinging to each other, Sparklez fainted, Lizzie's heart was in her throat, Stacy had covered her eyes, Hadrian and Mevia had ended up bonking heads, Otto looked as though he were about to have a heart attack, and Aiden was hugging Cassie so hard she was turning purple.

With a terrified scream, Jesse swung his fist, knocking the White Pumpkin's head straight off their neck and sending them toppling backwards. Jesse and Petra stood frozen, wide-eyed, probably thinking for a brief moment that he'd accidentally decapitated them.

Their eyes trailed away from the fallen armour stand, over to where there was some kind of growing station, white pumpkins forming on blocks of dirt.

"It's some sort of... growing station," muttered Petra, as a white pumpkin popped into existence, "Weird."

"They're getting really deep in now," muttered Stampy, fidgeting nervously, "What are they gonna do if they find the White Pumpkin? What if they can't beat them and have to escape?"

"Yeah," Dan winced, "That... that would be bad."

Jesse came to a stop at the end of the growing station, where a carved White Pumpkin sat perched on an armour stand.

Then footsteps sounded behind them, and the two friends spun around to face the fallen armour stand, the shadow of an approaching figure looming on the wall.

"The White Pumpkin!" shouted Gill, clinging to Maya like a lifeline, "It's the freakin' White Pumpkin!"

"A-Axel?" Petra gasped. Axel didn't seem to notice, unaware that he was practically strangling Jesse and Petra from how tight he was holding them- and, since they were also in his arms, Lukas and Olivia.

"The White Pumpkin must have heard us!" Jesse whispered, he and Petra drawing their swords.

The shadow drew closer, the audience holding their breath in anticipation. Jesse and Petra raised their swords, ready to spring into action, as the White Pumpkin turned the corner- and Stampy yelled in shock, jumping backwards as he came to two enchanted blades pointed at his chest.

"Stampy?" Stacy blinked. Then, louder, "Stampy?!"

"He's the White Pumpkin!" yelled Slab, eyes wide behind his bandages, pointing a finger at a potted plant. Facemeat screamed, scrambling away from said plant, and fell off the couch.

"StampyCat?!" gasped Petra, voice in a loud whisper.

"Boy, you gave me a fright!" Stampy breathed, placing a hand over his heart, "What are you doing down here?"

"What are we doing down here?!" Petra exclaimed, an angry look entering her eyes.

"Yes," said Stampy, oblivious, "It looks terribly suspicious, you know."

"You... I thought you knew they went down the pit?" Soren frowned.

"They must have left," hummed Ellegaard, "And thought they'd done so as well. They didn't know about the ladders, after all."

"Yeah," Magnus frowned, sending a narrowed-eyed glanced over at the YouTubers, "But what's he doing down there?"

"Yeah," Petra deadpanned, "It does."

"We're trying to find the White Pumpkin," Jesse explained, after a moment of hesitation. Stampy's eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm glad you haven't run into him yet."

They stared at him for a moment, before glancing at each other. Stampy blinked, and an understanding crossed his face, "Come on, you guys," he said, slipping between them and walking further into the room, "I can't be the White Pumpkin. I'm StampyCat! I'm no... murderer!"

Despite being underground, lightning flashed dramatically, causing Stampy to blink at the ceiling in surprise. Jesse and Petra looked at each other. Stampy continued.

"I needed to find you because I have something important to tell you!"

"Really?" Gabriel frowned, "What?"

Jesse sheathed his sword, he and Petra coming closer, the redhead keeping hers out. Stampy glanced at his feet, nervously wringing the sleeves of his hoodie.

"I have something to confess," he said, "Something I haven't told anyone."

"Oh... kay..." Petra frowned, "Where's this going?"

Petra frowned, "Where is this going?"

Petra blinked, "I just said that."

Stampy looked from Petra to Jesse, then from Jesse to the floor. He took a deep breath, reached into his pocket and was abruptly illuminated by a green glow of an enchanted flint and steel.

"The flint and steel!" exclaimed half the audience. From where Aiden's arm was wrapped around her shoulders, Cassie sat up straight, eyes widening behind her glasses and almost seeming to glint in the light of the room.

Dan's head snapped to the boy currently buried in his side, mouth popping open, "You- You stole the flint and steel?!"

"I-I did?" Stampy gaped, "O-Oh my gosh, I-I did!"

"Nnnnh, I stole it from Dan!" Stampy confessed, Jesse and Petra gaping at him, ""It was just supposed to be a joke, a harmless prank," he turned around, hands trembling as they clutched at the flint and steel in a white-knuckled grip, "But then- well," he turned to face them again, eyes starting to shine oddly, "You've seen what happened!"

"Wow," Petra blinked, putting a hand on her hip, "Who'd thought?"

"Okay," said Ellegaard, slowly, "So... Dan found the flint and steel."

"And Stampy Guy decided it would be funny to steal it from him as a joke," Magnus finished. Stampy made a face at the 'Stampy Guy' comment.

"He was probably planning on sneaking it back into Dan's house," Sparklez concluded, "You know, to bewilder him or something."

Stampy wined like a kicked cat, burying his face in his hands, "I'm so sorry."

Dan sighed, pulling him into a hug, "It's fine, Stamps. I'm not mad."

"Really?" Stampy sniffed, looking up at Dan with teary eyes. Dan rested his chin on the other boys head.

"Really."

"I knew people wanted it," Stampy continued, "But I had no idea that-that this would happen! I-It's terrible!"

"But why didn't you tell anyone?" asked Jesse. Stampy flayed his arms about, the flint and steel leaving behind faint trails of green light.

"I was scared, okay!" he exclaimed, "People started dying and then..." his voice trembled, and he swallowed thickly, "I didn't want them to think that I did it."

"That... doesn't make any sense," Reginald frowned, "The White Pumpkin's doing this to find the flint and steel. If anything, you'd just be targeted next."

Both Stampy and Dan paled at the prospect. The abruptly redheaded boy tightened his arm around the other.

Onscreen, Jesse twisted a little to look at Petra, who was staring at Stampy with a raised eyebrow, as though she'd come to the same conclusion as Reginald.

"I may be a thief," said Stampy, "But I'm no killer! But that White Pumpkin is and they're killing people for it! And now,"he turned around, despair entering his voice, "We're down in their lair!"

Aiden winced, "Yeah, that's... pretty bad."

"I was thinking..." Stampy came to a stop in front of the carved pumpkin perched on the armour stand, the glow of the flint and steel casting his face in shadows as he looked down at it, "Maybe I should just... give it to the White Pumpkin."

"Woah, what?" said Dan.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Lizzie, "I mean... what if they just kill you anyway? To... get rid of witnesses."

"What?" said Petra, Stampy turning to face them again.

"Just... maybe that would make it all stop, right?" asked Stampy, looking at them hopefully, "Maybe?"

"I think you should give it back to Dan," said Jesse, shrugging a little, "It's only fair."

"I, uh," Dan winced, "I'm actually not all that sure if I want it when there's an insane killer murdering anyone they think might have it."

"That- That is true," Stampy frowned. Dan glanced at him, eyes widening.

"Wait, but won't this mean that you'll be..." he trailed off, going suddenly pale, and shook his head, "Nevermind, just go give it to me."

"What?" Stampy blinked, "But you just said-"

"Forget what I said!" Dan cut him off, his grip on the other boy becoming almost painfully tight, "Just go give me the stupid thing before they find out you have it!"

"Yeah," Stampy sighed, "Yeah, you're right, that's better."

There was another, muffled meow. Stampy blinked at the noise, trailing after Petra and Jesse as they moved on to investigate. They came to a halt before a pair of iron doors, a torch on the left wall and a lever on the right.

"Oh, great," sighed Axel, "I wa hoping they'd turn back now."

"Why would we do that?" and the white sked Jesse, tilting his head up so he could look at his friend in the face, "We haven't found the White Pumpkin yet."

"Exactly," Axel muttered. He didn't elaborate.

"That looks like a 'lair door,'" declared Petra, pointing at it with her sword, "If ever I saw one."

Jesse's eyes narrowed on the lever, and he flipped it, the doors bursting open immediatly. Drawing his own sword, Jesse followed Petra inside, the two friends coming to a stop underneath an archway of wooden fences.

The room beyond could hardly be called a room, but rather a cavern. Light shone from the far above ceiling, the floor a mismatch of stone and dirt and random ore. Torches and lit redstone lamps were placed about almost at random.

"Wow," Gill cocked his head to the side, "That kinda looks like Soren's fortress. You know, where those statues were?"

Soren and Cassie glanced at each other, but were quick to return their gazes to the screen.

"Oh, wow," breathed Jesse.

"Yeah," muttered Petra, "Creepy."

"I would not put this in my top ten places I've ever been," declared Stampy.

"You can say that again," muttered Olivia.

The screen switched around to show three calico cats, one sprawled out atop a double chest and the other two sitting atop a stone wall. "Well," said Petra, coming to a stop a little ways from the cats, looking over her shoulder at them, "There's where the meowing's coming from."

"Don't worry," said Jesse, sheathing his sword, "We'll get out of here as soon as we find something that proves the White Pumpkin's identity."

"Yeah, um, okay," Lukas winced, unconsciously shifting closer to Jesse, "Just hurry. Please."

Onscreen, Stampy made a weak little noise that could have been a cross between a sigh and a groan.

Jesse's eyes trailed over to the other side of the room, where there was what appeared to be a very tall bookshelf, a portrait and some chests. He walked over to the bookshelf, absentmindedly tapping his finger against the books spines, "Let's see here... 'Legend of the World Portals,' 'Basic Portal Theory,' 'Portals an You'... wow," he took a step back, raising an eyebrow at the shelves, "They're all about portals. That's pretty obsessive."

"I think that might have something to do with why the White Pumpkin wants the flint and steel in the first place," Olivia hummed thoughtfully, "I mean, they've certainly have a thing for portals."

"More like an obsession," muttered Petra.

Jesse made to walk away, but something else caught his eye. Frowning, he stepped closer, finger automatically going to the chosen book, "'Walking Among the Endermen.' By-" in his shock, he shot away from the shelf, mouth dropping open, "Soren?!"

"Soren?" echoed Ellegaard, turning to her friend with wide eyes, "How did one of your books in the basement of a mass murderer?"

"I, uh," Soren's eyes darted over to Cassie, who quickly returned her own eyes to the screen, "I'm not sure."

Ivor, however, had spotted this exchange. He frowned, looking from Soren to Cassie. A dreadful feeling was spreading through his chest, as though a giant block of packed ice had just been thrown at him.

How odd, that the White Pumpkin seemed to almost take after the architect, despite it being impossible for them to have ever have met him.

"How did that get here?" Jesse shook his head, deciding to file it away for later. He made his way over to the chests, hoping to find something useful inside, but his steps soon slowed as he realised what the signs beside them said.

"Oh no," he sighed, as he walked passed the signs, the words TorqueDawg, CaptainSparklez and LDShadowLady blaring at them like neon signs, "Here's where everyone's stuff gets collected."

Swallowing, both Sparklez and Lizzie paled terribly, looking as though they were about to vomit. Lizzie sunk in her seat, not even seeming to notice Stacy wrapping her arm around her shoulders. Sparklez looked away from the screen, his breathing laboured and eyes clenched shut.

In the final chest, twin hoppers sat atop them. From a hole in the wall, Lizzie's inventory came pouring out in a rush off water, sinking into the hopper and right into the chest. Behind him, Stampy sighed.

"Those poor people."

Unable to look at the chests much longer, Jesse hurriedly turned away and began marching in the direction of the bookshelves. However, his eyes found the portrait and he came to a stop in front of it, eyes widening a moment later.

"Petra," he said, his friend turning to look at him, "Did you see this?"

She joined him a moment later, blinking in surprise, before her brow creased in a frown, "That's the portal hallway."

"Yeah," said Jesse, "Looks like the White Pumpkin's been there too."

"More portal stuff," Maya frowned, "This all a bit of a... coincidence, isn't it? What are the odds that you went through the portal that took you here when you could have chosen literally any other?"

The audience shared startled looks. No one was really sure how to answer her.

Jesse and Petra split off again, the boy making his way to the other side of the room, where the three cats were. He looked about, before his eyes trailed over to where Petra and Stampy were standing, and he made his way over to them.

"You guys doing okay?" he asked.

"I'll be honest with you," Petra said, voice hushed, "I'm pretty worried about Lukas. If the White Pumpkin isn't down here... they must still be upstairs."

Lukas blinked, surprised that she was so worried about him. Sure, he was friends with them now, and he cared about them a lot, but... he still wasn't sure if they cared about him as much as he cared about them.

They would always choose one of the others over him, you know?

"And I thought I was okay," said Stampy, "Because I was numb and feeling no emotions at all, but," he shook his head, swallowing as he fiddled with the sleeves of his hoodie, "I'm beginning to suspect it was actually shock."

"Don't worry, we're gonna crack this wide open," Jesse assured.

"Yeah," said Magnus, "Hopefully before the White Pumpkin cracks you guys wide-"

Both Ellegaard and Gabriel elbowed him in the ribs at the same time, leaving him hunched over on himself and clutching at his sides, grimacing.

Spotting the wide cavern near the Dead Chests, Jesse made his way over to it, coming to an underground lake dotted with slippery mud. The screen switched to show the fishes swimming about in the water, Jesse looking down at them from above.

Seeing nothing of use, he turned around and walked back into the lair. He passed Stampy and Petra, coming to the sleeping cats, humming thoughtfully as he looked at some cobwebs strung between a bookshelf, "Cobwebs. Should be able to score some string from those."

Turning his attention to the chest with the cat sleeping on it, he moved to stand in front it, smiling, "That chest definitely seems important."

"Does it?" asked Hadrian. Mevia, who had become invested in the screen, shushed him.

"Okay, kitty, kitty," said Jesse, shooing the cat off, "Can you scoot out of the way, please?" the cat hopped off with an irritated meow, "I need to get in the chest."

He clicked it open, lifting it up- only for the cat to reappear, its weight forcing it closed again, and lie back down.

"No, bad kitty!" Jesse said.

Petra snorted into her hands. Axel shared a grin with Lukas, Olivia hiding her own smile in Petra's shoulder. Jesse looked about at them, confused, and looked down at Reuben for answers. The pig simply gave him a piggy grin.

"Ugh, stupid cats," sighed Jesse, turning around, "Need something to distract it so I can get that chest open."

"Or," said Hadrian, causing both Isa and Harper to sigh at the same time, "You could just kill the stupid thing."

"What?!" squeaked Cassie, looking horrified at the suggestion, "Don't do that!"

"Yeah, that's," Magnus frowned, "That's pretty dark, man."

"That kitty is righteous," Nell declared.

"Even if... troublesome," said Milo.

Looking at the cobwebs strung between the bookshelves, Jesse drew his sword and used it to tear them down, pocketing the string he got from it. Tapping his bottom lip, he looked around, then began to walk to where there was a small are of equipment.

"Looks like a typical brewing stand," he muttered, upon spotting said brewing stand, "Must be where the White Pumpkin made the tipped arrows that killed TorqueDawg," he looked over at Stampy and Petra, "Didn't Lizzie say she taught Cassie and Stacy how to make those too?"

"Oh," Petra blinked, eyes widening, "Yeah. Yeah, she did."

"Wait a moment," said Aiden, straightening, "Dan's not the White Pumpkin because we say them in the same room. Stampy's not the White Pumpkin because he's the one with the flint and steel."

Maya's eyes widened, "That means the White Pumpkin..."

"Can only be Stacy or Cassie," Gill finished.

The audience heads snapped from Cassie, sitting with Aiden's arm around her shoulders, to Stacy, who had a comforting hand on both Lizzie and Sparklez's knees. The white and blue striped shirt wearing girl was staring at Cassie with a newfound fear that hadn't been there before.

"We don't know that," Soren cut in, a bit unexpectedly, a bit hurriedly, "For all we know, the White Pumpkin's blackmailing one of them. After all, Dan's the one that pressed the button, so they didn't have to be sitting at the table."

"That's... considerable," Ellegaard admitted.

"So that's the potion part," muttered Jesse, "But what about the arrows?"

He moved to stand in front of the small chest directly next to the brewing stand, kneeling in front of it as he pushed it open, "I'm guessing this chest should have... yep," he pulled out a bundle of sticks, "We've got sticks."

"Anything else?" asked Stampy, as Jesse pocketed the sticks and continued rummaging through the chest.

"Oh, wow," breathed Jesse, pulling out a stack of dark green orbs, "And Ender Pearls! Sweet! Must be how the White Pumpkin got down that elevator shaft!"

"Wow," Olivia breathed, "You actually get to hold an Ender Pearl!"

Gabriel hummed, raising a small, amused eyebrow at her, "It's strange. It almost feels as though you should have already experienced what is happening onscreen."

"Yeah," Magnus leant back in his seat, accidentally on purpose putting his arm around Ellegaard's shoulder, "It's weird after seeing you do all this, you're still just a bunch of dorks living in a treehouse."

They sent him a deadpan look. Well, Axel grinned at him, but you get the idea.

Pocketing the Ender Pearls, Jesse turned to the crafting table, humming thoughtfully. He looked from the cat lounged across the chest to the cavern he'd been in earlier, before pulling out the sticks and string and place them down one by one.

Like always, the ingredients shook and merged together. They formed into a fishing rod.

"Oh, to get a fish!" Stampy said in realisation, as Jesse pocketed the fishing rod, "Cat's love fish!"

"Yeah," said Jesse, "And I saw one in the pond that'll be perfect."

Hadrian rolled his eyes, "Going through all this was unnecessary."

"Hadrian," said Otto, frowning at him, "They don't have respawn there. Killing a cat is unnecessary."

The man snorted, rolling his eyes, but said nothing in retort.

Passing Stampy and Petra again, Jesse returned to the cavern, grinning as he pulled out the fishing rod. He threw it into the water, the end bobbing up and down. Not a moment later, a fish latched onto it, and Jesse reeled it back in as quick as he could.

"Ha!" he grinned, his prize dangling from the end of the rod.

"Wow," said Petra, as the boy returned, "Nice catch, Jesse."

"Thanks," Jesse smiled, hands going to his hips as he looked over to where the cat was, "Bet that cat'll love this."

Cassie frowned, biting her lip. Wasn't that the chest she kept the portraits in? Surely they'll find no use of them?

Jesse made his way back over to the cat, stopping a few feet away, "Okay, here kitty," he called, dangling the fish, "Get the fishy."

Nose twitching, the cat raised its head, getting up upon spotting the snack. Jesse sat the fish down with a victorious gin, the cat hoping down and stretching, before making its way over.

"There you go," Jesse muttered, "Jeez-" Meows abruptly filled the room, and his head snapped to the side to reveal hundreds of calico cats on the wall, noses twitching and ears perked at the smell of fish.

"Oh my god!" gasped Petra, "That is a lot of cats!"

"Jeez!" exclaimed Axel, eyes wide, "And they all look the same!"

"This... okay," said Magnus, blinking, "I'm not sure if this makes the White Pumpkin creepier or less so."

"I... neither can I, actually," Maya muttered.

"Ah!" gasped Jesse, as the cats leapt from their perch and he abruptly found himself in a mess of hair and meows, "Many cats! So many cats!"

He tumbled backwards, trying hard not to step on any of them, and was able to make it to safety.

"Ugh," Petra groaned, she and Stampy approaching, "Cats give me the creeps. No offence, Stampy."

"None taken," said Stampy, cheerfully. Then, leaning towards her a little and covering his mouth as though he were about to tell her a secret, he whispered, "I'm not really a cat."

Several members of the audience snorted at that. Dan shook his head, lips twitching, remembering that comment from earlier. He pulled Stampy closer, who wondered when his hair had turned pink.

"At least," said Jesse, skirting around the cats to reach the chest, "I can finally get in here now."

"Let's hope it's what you need," muttered Isa,

Pushing the chest open, Jesse began rummaging through it, Stampy and Petra coming up behind him. He blinked in surprise. "It's full of...portraits." he pulled one out, "Loads of them."

Magnus groaned, "Portraits? Really? This has just been a massive waste of time!"

"Wait," Ellegaard said, "There might be more."

Climbing to his feet, Jesse turned to the bare wall beside the chest and placed the portrait on it. Eyes widening, he stepped back- it was of Petra, exactly the same as the one in the living room, apart from the large, blaring red X over it.

Petra's mouth popped open, eyes widening- and then she gave a little squeak, her air supply slowly being cut off by the arm wrapped around her.

"Axel?" she gasped, "Wanna, uh, loosen up a bit, buddy?"

"Wha- oh," Axel loosened his grip, smiling apologetically, "Sorry."

"Oh, I don't like that," muttered Petra, "I guess they already had all the X-ed out ones ready to go."

"Yep," confirmed Jesse, returning to the chest, "Besides Petra, we've got Dan, Stacy, Stampy, Lukas, Ivor and- oh, hey, there's me."

"You sound far too casual about this," Lukas muttered, shifting closer to Jesse. They were practically squished together in Axel's lap now.

Olivia made an agreeing noise, although she had returned her face to Petra's arm.

"Are you alright, Ivor?" asked Gabriel, bending forward a little to look at his friend.

"Yes," said Soren, "How are you feeling?"

"Hm?" Ivor blinked, surprised, "I'm fine."

"Really?" Magnus asked, clearly not believing him, "No coughing fits?"

"You will tell us if it happens again, right?" asked Ellegaard. Ivor hesitated, but nodded.

"But what does it all mean?" asked Petra, as Jesse rejoined them, "The cats... the crossed out portraits..."

"Yeah, the portraits," Jesse frowned, thoughtfully tapping his bottom lip and walking away a little, "There was one person that didn't have a crossed out portrait."

"There was?" Dan blinked, "Was there?"

"Someone," he turned around to face them again, eyes going to the hoard of cats munching on the single fish, "Who's a known cat person."

"Who? Stacy?" asked Gill.

"No, Stacy prefers dogs," Sparklez said.

Petra and Stampy turned to look at the cats as well, before returning their gazes to Jesse.

"Okay..." said Petra, "So who did it?"

"Yes," Stampy said, excitedly, "You figured it out?"

Jesse walked away a little again, tapping his lip like has so much during this episode, "The White Pumpkin," he turned to face them, "Is Cassie Rose!"

"What?" gasped Aiden, "But- How can she be the White Pumpkin?"

"This is crazy," said Cassie, hugging Winslow closer, fingers trembling ever so slightly, "The only cat I've ever owned is Winslow!"

They looked from her to Aiden, to the boys arm wrapped around her shoulders. Lukas and Jesse looked at each other with sad eyes.

"She's the murderer," Jesse declared. Then there was the flash of lightning, the clash of thunder, the three guests leaping out of their skins as the cats shot up with startled meows, racing to and fro in their fright.

"Oh, man," muttered Petra, eyes wide, "You're totally right!"

"I don't believe it," Stampy whispered.

"Uh, not only is she the White Pumpkin," said Petra, looking over at the many cats scattered about, some of which had returned to munching on the fish, "But she owns way, way too many cats."

"Well, come on, you guys," Jesse said, "It's time to prove Lukas's innocence," the screen zoomed in on his face, and he gave a grin, "And catch us a White Pumpkin."

The screen went dark.

The audience came to a stunned silence. Aiden slowly withdrew his arm from around Cassie's shoulders, who was staring at the floor and biting her lip. He shifted to face her properly, face asking- no begging her to tell her that this wasn't true.

"Cassie?" he whispered, "Is... is this true?"

Every eye was on her now. Hands trailed towards swords, but none were drawn. They were waiting for her to make a move, to say something, to perhaps leap to her feet and draw that diamond axe and give a murderous laugh before trying to kill them all on the spot.

But Cassie didn't do that. She closed her eyes, aware of the pricking tears that latched onto her eyelashes, and confirmed in a voice so quiet they had to strain to hear her, a single word that sent Aiden's heart plummeting to his stomach and shattering into shards.

"Yes."

Soren closed his eyes, unable to look any longer. Stampy gasped, breath hitching, and buried his face into Dan's chest, who's hair was now a blazing, angry red, his glare on the girl he had begun to consider a friend a harsh ray of hatred and betrayal.

Stacy shook her head, disgust on her face, wrapping protective arms around Lizzie and Sparklez, both of who were refusing to look at the redhead across from them.

Hadrian, Mevia, Otto, Isa, Soren and Harper were some of the few who weren't sending the girl looks of hatred, betrayal of disbelief. They looked vaguely disappointed, as though they had been latching onto a small hope that she hadn't been the one to do it, that Soren's blackmail theory had been true.

Shaking his head, Hadrian leant back in his seat and crossed his arms, "Should've known."

Axel shifted, gently sliding Jesse, Lukas and Reuben onto the floor beside Petra and Olivia, so that he was sitting between them and the confirmed murderer. He was giving her a vicious glare, arm raised protectively as though to shield his friends from her in case she actually did decide to try and murder them all.

Maya and Gill hastily got to their feet, backing away from the girl they'd been sitting next to for almost the entier episode. But Aiden remained where he was, staring at her with oddly shiny eyes, shoulders slumped. Cassie didn't look at him, didn't look at anyone, just kept her eyes shut as though it would make all this go away, holding Winslow closer with trembling hands.

Reginald glanced at Isa and Milo, unsurprised to discover Isa with a protective arm in front of Milo. He gave a small sigh, steeled himself and got to his feet, almost everyone's heads snapping towards him.

He drew his sword as he approached the couch, the tiny girl's shoulders tensing at the sound, but she made no move to defend herself. Aiden looked torn between leaping away and leaping in front of her.

"Cassandra Rose," Reginald said in his best 'Captain of the Guard' voice, pointing his golden sword at the murderer in front of him.

"You are under arrest for the murder of three people."


Did you accuse Dan, Stacy or Cassie after discovering the portraits? Let me know in the reviews!

SUPER DUPER LONG ULTRA UPDATE!

ALSO I WENT TO COMIC CON YESTERDAY AND IT WAS AMAZING! I GOT A DEADPOOL HAT AND A POCKET WATCH THAT LOOKS LIKE A HARRY POTTER SNITCH!

Yeah, I'm DEFINITELY going again next year!

Anyway, here's your promised super long chapter! Reaching 15,319 words (16,712 with AN's)! I hope ya liked it ::D

Okay, so, now that I've posted such a long chapter, I'm going to take a short break (very short, probably) and try and update Empty Echoes again, since it's been a while since I updated it and I'd ended it on a pretty big cliffhanger as well.

Until next time!