This is the final part of episode five, finally!

Midnight: This is it, I can't wait!

Let's go!

"Jesse! Holy crap, you're down here too?!" I heard Lukas yell. We both made it to the water, but we were still recovering from Aiden's hits.

"Lukas! Midnight! You made it!"

"Making it is relative…" I groaned, not in quite enough pain to avoid making a sarcastic comment.

"I'm really sorry I didn't try to help you two up there. I only had a few seconds, everything was happening so fast…"

"Nah, don't worry about it. Aiden was… stronger than I was expecting."

"And he apparently has boots made of iron or something." I was finally able to sit up again, ignoring the pain. Then I realized that Isa was just staring off into space, taking in the surrounding land.

"Uh, is she okay? She's just kind of… staring." I asked.

"Er, lemme ask." Jesse said. "Founder? Miss Founder? Are you doing okay over there?"

"I just… I can't believe it. This has been down here the whole time…?"

"Well, land is gonna be a pretty big game-changer for you guys." Jesse remarked. "I mean, it's going to change everything!"

"Yes…"

"I can't believe all of these biomes have just been completely untouched this whole time." I said, looking at the desert that surrounded the forest we were in.

Suddenly, a zombie (That was on fire because of the daylight) fell from the sky, poofing into dust almost immediately.

In fact, more monsters, zombies and skeletons, all on fire, were raining down from where Sky City was. Some landed in the water and were safe, while others died when they hit the ground.

"What's going on up there?" Isa asked, terrified for her city.

"Aiden's made some big mistakes." Understatement, much? "He's probably completely in over his head by now."

"Jesse… Will you please help me get back to Sky City? Stop Aiden?" Isa pleaded. I stood up, ready to help if needed.

"Of course I'll help you!"

"I'll help too." I was okay, for the most part. Doing better than Lukas, at the very least.

Jesse spotted a pile of dirt in the distance that would help us get back up. "Hm, that'll work."

But Isa didn't see it. "What is it?"

"Get ready to build the tallest thing you've ever built." Jesse started off toward the pile, Lukas, Isa and I followed shortly behind.

"We're going to build a tower of dirt all the way back up to Sky City."

With the exception of Lukas, we all gathered as much dirt as we could, conveniently finding the portal after we dug up a crap ton of dirt.

"That's the other half of the portal that brought us here."

"Once we get that flint and steel back, it should be a straight shot home." Oh Lukas, how naïve. Of course it won't be that simple.

He stayed behind while the rest of us towered back up to the City.

"And when I get up there, I am going to tear those Blaze Rods limb from limb."

The once beautiful City was now in complete chaos.

Monsters roamed free, now not hindered by the sun due to the rain, and ghasts were floating around, particularly close to the palace, which was pretty much the only building still recognizable. Maya and Gill were standing at the entrance, throwing spawn eggs near random citizens.

While Isa showed off her fighting skills and Jesse was asked by pretty much everyone who was present before how he was alive (I got similar questions), I was focused on getting inside the palace.

Maybe I was a little too focused.

One second I was near Jesse, and in the ink of an eye, I had somehow gotten past Maya and Gill without them even knowing I was there.

I did kick both of them in the backs right before I ran off to face Aiden though.

"Back down and get out of my face, Reggie!" Aiden screamed.

"You're delusional, Aiden! The people of Sky City will never bow to you! You killed the Founder!" Reginald yelled in response, just as I opened the door.

"Aiden, I suggest you stop right now." I called, drawing my axe. If you need a reminder, it's enchanted iron. Aiden has an enchanted diamond sword. I don't know who I thought was going to be threatened by that, but oh well.

"I saw you fall! You went down!" He actually did seem afraid for a moment, but it was likely more because I supposedly just came back from the dead more than anything else. Reginald was surprised as well.

"You're alive! Is the Founder with you? I heard-" Aiden interrupted him by getting up and throwing a creeper egg at him.

"What the-" The creeper exploded before another word could be said. I was about to help Reginald when Aiden stopped me. I tried my hardest to get him to back down, but to no avail yet.

"Just die already!"

This time, he threw a blaze egg right in front of me.

"Should've just left while you had the chance!"

With the extra fire shot from the blaze, the castle would soon be almost completely engulfed, anything that wasn't made of iron or gold, the wooden floor and the carpet with it.

I was still able to cut it down, just with some difficulty.

You really need to upgrade that thing.

Not the time, and I know that.

Aiden nearly surprised me, having attempted to cut me in half nearly the same way I just did to the blaze.

"This was supposed to be my world! And you ruined it!" He yelled, clearly not hearing what he was saying.

"Are you listening to yourself?! That's insane!"

He didn't listen, our weapons clashed, the grating sound of metal on metal echoed throughout the throne room. I could practically feel my axe giving out, nearly breaking by the time I pushed him back onto the throne.

When I approached, he threw another blaze at me, grabbed his sword, and ran outside. This blaze I actually lured outside, so it took damage from the rain until it dropped dead.

I stalked towards Aiden again, this time, he had nowhere left to run. Thunder and lightning, plus the rain, made this moment both incredibly dramatic and very cliché.

"Aiden, just give up already. This fight won't solve anything." I tried again.

"It will. Because I'll win!"

He charged at me, attacking, while I stayed on the defensive side, more focusing on blocking his attacks than trying anything else. Eventually, I won out, pushing him back again right before I charged forward this time. This, unfortunately, caused a bit of a stalemate, where neither side was truly winning, in part because I was awful at fighting compared to the other members in the New Order.

Before I had the chance to knock Aiden's sword off the edge, my axe broke in two.

That stupid thing couldn't have lasted one more fight?!

Seeing that I was now vulnerable, not thinking to have another weapon just in case, Aiden attacked again. Now I had to rely on dodging instead of blocking, which was really difficult, considering we were on a narrow platform, and one wrong move would send me over the edge again.

At this point, I knew I didn't have many options besides pushing him off. I really didn't want to, but if he wasn't disarmed soon I would have to.

Then I remembered something.

Focusing on just his sword, I gathered just enough energy to use my knockback power and threw it out of his hands. It also sent him to the floor, but because I didn't use my full strength with it, he wasn't sent off the edge with it.

That's when Jesse showed up, seeing us both disarmed, and Aiden on the ground. Seeing he was out of options, Aiden surrendered.

"We can still talk about this, right?" That was his desperate attempt at pleading for his life. He took out the flint and steel and handed it over to me. "Just, please. Don't hurt me."

I gave the flint and steel to Jesse, who put away his sword and took it.

"You did it." Reginald came up from behind us.

"Jesse, Midnight, we need to get out of here." The screams of the people could still be heard in the distance. "What do you want to do with him?"

"Please. This place is getting worse by the minute." Because of you. But Aiden continued to plead. "You can't just leave me here. Take me with you."

Jesse grabbed Aiden by the shirt, and was about to send him over the edge when I suddenly shouted.

"Wait!"

Reginald, Jesse, and Aiden looked at me. Scrambling to find a way to convince them, I took Aiden's hand and pulled him away.

"We can just take him with us for now. A- And we can decide what to do with him later." I still saw a heated glare in Jesse's eyes, but he didn't object, and neither did Reginald.

"Let's go, then." They walked away. Aiden and I both sighed, relieved.

Just because I showed him mercy did not mean I was necessarily gentle, I still dragged him along as we ran back outside.

The garden that once held the tree in the center was gone, replaced by a giant waterfall flowing over the edge.

Petra and Ivor had Maya and Gill in a similar situation to Aiden's just a few moments ago.

"Jesse, this situation is getting out of hand. We simply can't stop all the monsters and protect my people." Isa said. Sky City was doomed, but the people left were about to be saved anyway.

"We could jump for it…" I said, looking at the waterfall.

"The waterfalls! The waterfalls can take us to safety!" Jesse called out. Of course, not everyone in the City was convinced.

"What?! Are you crazy? The waterfalls will just take us to the Void!"

"There is no Void down there! There's land!" I yelled.

Jesse jumped into the water, hoping that someone would follow him. I did.

"Jesse has done nothing but help us so far! I will show you just how much I believe in his word!" And Milo followed. Isa jumped in soon after, Reginald following her lead. Petra and Ivor shoved Maya and Gill in before jumping themselves. Aiden jumped, and the rest of Sky City followed suit.

Everyone was surprised to see land below them. They were also incredibly confused on what to do next.

"I knew you would stop him. Nice work." Lukas said this only to Jesse.

"Actually, Midnight was the one to stop Aiden, I just helped everyone get down here." Jesse responded.

"Well, then good job to both of you." Lukas grinned.

"Now, this is just speculation here, but I'm guessing those guys are having some regrets." Petra said, gesturing to the Blaze Rods, in the middle of getting arrested.

"What goes around comes around, right guys?" Though I nodded along with the others, I couldn't help but feel somewhat bad for them. When they came towards us, I stopped them.

"Aiden?"

"Oh, uh, hi, Midnight. I'm… I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry to cause all that trouble."

"I just hope you learned your lesson, Aiden. None of this had to happen like it did."

"I'd say you have a lot to think about." Lukas agreed.

"Yeah. Yeah… that's for sure."

"You should try and make a new start here. I can't promise that anyone will really forgive you, but the least you can do is help them rebuild." Aiden nodded somberly. They were about to walk off when I whispered.

"I'll try and come back for you guys."

I walked away before I could see his reaction.

"Attention! Attention!" Reginald called.

Everyone was gathering around Isa for her speech.

"Hello? Everyone, please? This is your Founder speaking. Now that we're all safe, we need to organize. Start planning our new community."

"Are you listening to yourself?" Milo asked. "That's insane!" It was an odd echo of what I said to Aiden earlier. "We were prisoners long enough on that island in the sky! It is time for us to run free! Build whatever we please!" Now the townspeople were conflicted.

"They really can't get along, can they?" I whispered to Lukas, who shook his head.

"Hey! Both of you! Fighting isn't going to solve anything!" Jesse stepped forward.

"It will if I win!" Milo responded.

"Oh, of course you'd think that way." And people shipped these two?

Don't lie, you were one of them.

I was, but that's not the point.

"You don't understand. It will be night soon, and that is when the monsters come out. If we don't prepare, we'll be in danger!"

"You're just making excuses to control our behavior, just like before! We must trust in ourselves! Be able to learn from our mistakes!"

"Aren't both of you right?" I asked, stepping up. "I mean, you can't just run around with no plan, but you also can't schedule and organize everything, either. You can be free to try new things, but you have to be safe about it." The people seemed to agree with this idea.

"I suppose I still have much to learn… Thank you."

"I don't understand yet… But I trust you."

Jesse and Isa talked a little more.

"I guess we should prepare for nightfall, too. Without another portal, we're stuck here." Petra remarked. In the background, someone was starting to figure out how to punch a tree correctly.

"Oops! In the middle of all this fighting and arguing, I almost forgot!" I said with a smile. "When we were on the ground with the Founder before, we found the portal!"

"And you didn't say anything?!"

"Yeah, I'm actually going to have to agree with Ivor on this one."

"Did I not mention it, either?" Lukas asked. "Cause I could've sworn I said something."

"No! You didn't!"

"Moment never presented itself, I guess. Let's go!" The five of us ran for the portal, only for Benedict to trip right in front of us.

"Ah! There you are. So sorry about her." Isa arrived.

"Looks like she's having fun."

"Yes, I think she took it pretty well when I told her she didn't need to be the Eversource anymore. What are we going to do with you now, huh?"

"Are you going to set her free?" Jesse asked.

"I tried to, actually, but she kept coming back. We've spent so long together I suppose we sort of need each other now. After so long of being 'The Founder' and 'The Eversource', now we can just be 'Isa' and her best friend…" Isa took the crown off. "Benedict."

"That's a boy's name." Ivor rolled his eyes.

"What a closed-minded attitude. Jesse? I would be honored if you would take this…" Isa gave Jesse the crown. "As a small token of our gratitude."

"Thank you." And he pocketed it.

"Come along, Benedict. We have a lot of adventures ahead of us." They walked away. We were about to do the same when we noticed Jesse looking at something else.

"Jesse? You okay?" We followed Jesse's gaze to a small herd of pigs wandering around.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Come on, let's head home."

Finally, we reached the exit portal.

"And just like I told you, one portal back home." I knew it wouldn't directly take us home, but I was still happy to see it again.

Jesse pulled out the flint and steel again and lit up the portal. This time, though, we weren't knocked back.

"Wait'll Axel and Olivia hear where we've been. They'll never believe-"

We were dropped into the long, long, hallway of portals, definitely not where we were before.

"-it…"

"Well, that's… not what I was expecting…"

Episode 5 Complete.

And that's it, folks!

Midnight: Crossover time!

Let's hope that after this last bit, there's nothing else I'm forgetting.

Midnight: Isn't that, like, the third time you've said that?

Shh. I'm confident this time. So, first answer. I think the easiest way that will still work would be the same thing happens in both, but we still fit things to match our respective stories.

Midnight: Cause I can't, in character anyway, see into Zenna's mind?

Sure, if you want to think of it like that. Secondly, I actually wouldn't mind too much if your interpretation of Midnight is different from how I see her. I mean, sometimes I can't even decide how she'd react to a certain situation (I spent about five minutes at the part in this chapter where Jesse is about to send Aiden off the edge because I wasn't sure if this version of Midnight would be as willing to save him as she was in the original).

Midnight: The bigger issue is trying not to get Zenna wrong. Very bold to put your confidence in her.

Shut up, Midnight. I'm positive it'll be fine. Which leads me into the last question.

Midnight: An educated guess would be easy, there. I mean, based on what's been posted in each story so far, I think it'd be easy to guess what Zenna and I would do.

Maybe for Zenna, not so much for you.

Midnight: What do you mean?

Remember how I said I could hardly decide what you'd do sometimes? Yeah, this is where that becomes a problem.

Midnight: I've been somewhat consistent, haven't I? Sarcastic, still somewhat pacifistic as this chapter showed, willing to get things done if I have to step in because Jesse refuses or doesn't know how to. Plus, meta-knowledge is my best friend at this point.

Unless something happens that completely changes the story.

Midnight: That's the fun part! Trying to adapt to those changes gives me a struggle instead of breezing through the entire story like it's no trouble. So I'm also pretty adaptable to unexpected changes. Four personality traits! That's more than you gave me last time!

And I guess a lot of things are still open for interpretation.

Midnight: Exactly. With that out of the way, are you 100% sure there is nothing else that needs to be said?

Even if there is, I can always edit the chapter later to clarify or add something.

Midnight: True, okay, now end it.

With that out of the way, see you next time!

-LegendEmpress