Aiden's breath was frozen in his lungs. He couldn't move, couldn't blink, couldn't breathe. All that he could feel was his heart thudding away in his chest, and that... thing wrapped around his ankle, and he didn't dare look down from the currently-black screen to see what the heck this was supposed to be. They weren't 'inky', like Jesse had described... but then again they definitely felt like hands. He had to wonder for a second if this was some sort of prank.

Screaming came on onscreen, but for a moment they wondered if it was some sort of flashback or something- the screen was completely blank.

Then, a slightly glowing Petra, a glowing red eye, a slightly glowing pair of BLUE eyes, and another set of eyes appeared onscreen, all of them plummeting down before giving a loud collective "OOF!" as they crashed into the ground... wherever the ground was. A moment later, the four of them stood up, Petra looking around in bewilderment.

"What... happened?" Ivor asked, sounding disoriented.

"I can't see a thing..." Petra muttered, squinting around and peering around, "it's pitch black in here..."

Suddenly, lights flickered on to show that they were in... somewhere, with obsidian walls and glowing redstone torches barely illuminating them. The screen looked up, as more and more lights thudded on to reveal that they'd fallen into a huge cavern, with criss-crossing bridges above them and a ceiling that was so far up that the torchlight didn't reach it.

"Well that's..." Lukas looked back down, ears twitching in a slightly disturbed way, "ominous..."

Ivor was looking around, frowning. "Do you hear that...?" he asked, in a hushed voice- and now that the audience was listening closer, they could hear these odd squeaking noises.

Aiden finally was able to get the courage to slowly- slowly- tilt his head down...

And abruptly screamed.

Everyone's head snapped to face the dark-haired boy as he scrambled back, frantically trying to get away-

From a pair of shadowy, grabbing hands in the floor.

"What the f*ck?!" Cassie screamed, eyes widening as she scrambled onto the couch, avoiding the shadow hands, that were grabbing at them.

They were not deterred by Aiden getting out of reach though, and reared out of the floor, lunging and reaching for him-

Aiden flinched back with a yell, lost his balance, and let out a shout as he tumbled backwards over the back of the couch-

And landed on something small and chilly and oddly bouncy.

"Excuse me, good sir," said the highest, most squeakiest voice any of the audience members had heard in their life, "but would you kindly get your ass off of my face?"

Aiden shrieked again and launched himself backwards again, several sets of eyes following him...

To see the stereotypical sort of 'bedsheet' ghost floating in place where Aiden had just fallen, albeit on a much smaller scale and looking very, very cute.

Onscreen, Jesse frowned and approached the the edge of the bridge... and another set of lights abruptly flickered on, showing that there were hundreds of spider-like bodies, except without the legs, scrambling around in the pit below, squeaking away.

"Endermites!" Ivor shouted in alarm.

"And there it is, Jesse!" Cassie's voice rang out, several people whirling around to look back at the screen, to see that on a ledge some distance above the little bridge that they'd landed on, Cassie Rose was standing there and looking down at them. "You're trapped! Stuck!" She let out a chilling laugh, before looking back down at Jesse with wide eyes. "Just like I've been in this rotten world!"

Jesse simply blinked up at Cassie, looking a bit bewildered. "Nothing to say for yourself, huh? I can respect that." The redhead let out a soft, chilling chuckle.

Cassie would've reacted, but she was now staring at the little ghost with wide eyes. "... what the huh?"

"Apologies for the sudden intrusion. You're currently in quite a lot of danger. Duck."

Cassie wrinkled her nose at the ghost in confusion, tilting her head. "... did... you just call me 'duck'?"

"No- I meant actually. Duck."

Cassie suddenly became aware- somehow- of something hurtling at her head. She threw herself sideways; just in time to avoid the vase that came spinning just over her head and smashed into the wall, shattering into about twenty pieces.

"What the hell?!" Cassie shouted, shakily. "Is this thing trying to kill me?!"

"That's an accurate statement, yes."

Harper suddenly stiffened, her hands tightening on Ivor's sleeve- enough that it made Ivor grunt a bit in pain and look over at the white-haired woman. Harper had turned oddly pale at the sight of the black-haired woman... man... um... being standing behind the couch, resting one hand on the back of the couch and watching the scene with a rather dispassionate look.

With a rather large scythe strapped to their back.

"I don't know how much time you've spent with Endermites," Cassie chuckled onscreen, most of the audience frantically trying to figure out where to put their attention, "but the poor things are eternally hungry. I would throw the flint and steel up here..." Jesse started patting her pockets, before her eyes widened in shock. "Before I drop you down to find out how sharp their teeth are."

"Uh, guys? I just realized- I dropped the flint and steel when we fell," Jesse whispered, Lukas starting a bit at that realization. "I have no idea where it went."

"Uhh, tick tock tick tock, Jesse? What's it gonna be?" Cassie called, making them all look back up at the red-haired girl, "the flint and steel? Or your LIVES?"

"I'm sure I'd give the flint and steel if I actually had it-" Jesse was cut off as Lukas abruptly threw himself backwards, back slamming into the floor with a grunt. Over their heads, a rather large glass ornament from the hallway came soaring over her nose and smashed into the coffee table, making Reuben squeal in alarm and Jace jerk back a bit.

"Just give me the flint and steel," Cassie said in a steely voice, "And I'll let you go free."

"Facemeat doesn't trust the red girl!" Facemeat grumbled, before abruptly throwing his arm to block his face as a book came shooting off of the shelf and slammed into his arm.

"I don't believe her," Ivor whispered into Lukas's ear, making the three hybrids all look at him- Lukas with wide eyes and perked up ears, Petra in a glare, and Jesse in a worried look.

Cassie continued, mildly, "Just because I hate this place doesn't mean it's so bad. I'm sure you're way dumber than I am- you'll probably acclimate and learn to love it."

"Wow. Thanks," Real-Jesse deadpanned from where she was now lying on Lukas's chest, the blonde groaning- he'd just smacked his head into the wood floor rather painfully.

"Accli-what?!" Gill exclaimed.

"This is nuts!" Petra shouted over the pure bloody chaos that was starting up right about now.

"W-who are you? I- I saw you upstairs earlier, in the upstairs hallway!" Harper shouted to the figure, who, now that the audience was paying a tiny bit more attention to, was wearing mostly gray clothing, simply turned to look at Harper.

"My apologies. I'm Gray. This is Smokey." Gray indicated themself, then the tiny stereotypical bedsheet ghost still hovering near Aiden. "I'm here for the night because a friend called in a favor."

"Look, Mister... Mrs... Mister... Mrs..." Aiden trailed off, his face going blank, before frowning a bit at the reaper. "Uh, sorry- are- are you a female, or a male, or...?"

Gray turned to look at Aiden, who was just blinking up at them in bemusement. "I am a supernatural being that reaps the souls of the dead," they replied, simply.

"... wait, so you're a reaper?" Soren asked, the cogs clicking together in his head and backing himself away from the reaper a bit, eyes widening.

"Yes," they replied simply.

There was a sharp intake of breath, and several people backed away from the reaper.

Said reaper gave their eyes a slight roll in irritation at the reactions. "Oh, calm down. I'm not here to reap your souls or anything like that- like I said, a friend called in a favor." Casually, Gray let the scythe slide off of their shoulders, twirled it, and slammed it into the floor near Aiden's head, shattering a rather large glass object that had been hurtling at his head without him noticing.

"Oh- th-thank you," Aiden managed. He would've said more, but his tongue was completely tied, and he wasn't sure if he was feeling more like passing out or running away screaming.

"No problem," Gray replied.

Onscreen, Jesse tilted her head. "Hey, I'm- I'm sure we can work something out!" she called up, "how about we share?" And she gave a slightly nervous smile.

"For Notch's sake, Jesse- not everyone is as nice as you are!" the narrator snapped at the spider hybrid. Gray glanced at the screen for some reason before returning their gaze to the rest of the group.

"Well, if you haven't gotten it by now, you're in a bit of danger unfortunately."

"No, you think?!" Ivor snapped, before suddenly grabbing Harper and yanking her forward so that she slammed into his chest, the sound of cloth being ripped open with a knife sounding behind her. The woman let out a pained gasp as she felt something sharp and cold and metal scrape into her leg, as well as hot blood beginning to trickle down her leg.

"Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t," Cassie chanted, whipping out her axe and holding it out defensively.

"Wait, you have an axe on you?!" Lizzie goggled at the redhead.

"Why is that weird?! Doesn't Petra have a pickaxe on her?!" Cassie snapped back, swinging the thing like a baseball bat (Aiden ducked back down) and smashed a large object to pieces. It might've been a vase, but it was definitely glass.

"Share? Share?!" Cassie spit at Jesse onscreen, making the audience swivel back to that, though it was a little hard with the muffled swears Harper was now muttering and the shattering glass in the background. "What, you wanna walk through some portal happily holding hands and stab me in the back later?!"

Real-Jesse frowned a bit at that, glancing at a fighting Cassie.

That sounded a bit like a rather... paranoid way to live, honestly.

Onscreen, Jesse simply blinked a bit, looking a bit bewildered at that unnecessarily confrontational comment. "Wha- no, I was... being serious..." she said, very quietly, before being (inadvertently) interrupted again by the redhead.

"Nope, this is taking too long," and this made all four of their eyes widen. The screen switched to show Cassie reaching into her pocket, green eyes cold and deadly serious. "I'll just let the Endermites eat you and fish it out of your inventory." The White Pumpkin head came out, and she swiveled it slightly, raised it into the air... and let it thud down on her head, a pair of glowing yellow orbs appearing in the eyeholes. "It'll be the best fishing trip ever!"

The screen switched to rapidly zoom in on the group on the makeshift 'bridge', all of them letting out a shocked yell at the sudden voice change.

"How did you even pull that off?!" Ellegaard shouted to Cassie, proceeding to be tackled off of the couch by Magnus a second later as a book the size and weight of a solid block of iron went shooting through the spot where Ellegaard's head had just been.

"Voice changer!" Cassie shouted back, swinging the axe up at the last minute and barely getting her head cut off altogether by one of the sharp shadow-knives, although she still had to dive back and retained a nasty scratch to the cheek. The backwards lunge managed to knock her to an unsteady position, and she wobbled uncertainly-

"Gotcha!" Aiden popped up like some sort of giant Jack-in the-box right behind her and caught her, keeping her from falling flat on her back. Cassie let out a relieved sigh and uttered a weak little 'thanks', before spinning around and shoving him back to the floor, bringing the axe up and slicing through a huge shadowy hand that had just lunged at them.

"Duck!" Em barked at Cassie, and Cassie did so, throwing herself backwards and landing on something slightly soft. Em drew her fist back and slammed it straight into another shadow hand, knocking it away and making the shadows shrink back a little-

Another one grabbed Em's back, and the huge girl yelped as she frantically started swatting at it.

"Got it!" And Nell's foot slammed into the shadowy hand, blasting it clear off Em's back and sending a little wave of wind up- enough to ruffle Em's hair a bit.

"... that was pretty cool," Axel said, after a few seconds.

Olivia shot him a slightly joking and mostly irritated glare. "That's all you can think of to say?"

"Well, Nell is a little-" Otto ducked under a hand that came shooting over the back of the couch and nearly grabbing him, "eccentric... but she has certainly proved herself in the games."

"Would all of you please pay attention?!" The tiny ghost snapped, still in that high-pitched, definitely squeaky voice.

"Winslow, my pet!" Cassie R- ... no, the White Pumpkin said, sounding almost delighted, "activate the trap!"

The screen cut to Winslow... who was merely purring and grooming himself.

"I love this cat!" Sparklez exclaimed. He then scowled at the shadowy hands starting to grab at the couch, standing up on the seat in an effort to avoid them. "Though, I must say, I don't love the shadow hands."

Onscreen, the White Pumpkin facepalmed. "Want something done right ya hafta-" he- she- grumbled, walking forward, and turning to face the group down in the pit. "Prepare for your DEATH!"

And Cassie/The White Pumpkin let out a vicious laugh, all of the people down in the pit letting out alarmed yells as the ground abruptly began to retract, a chasm growing and growing between the two sides of the bridge- with Jesse on one side and the other three on the other.

"Areyoufreakingserious-?!" Dan dove off the couch, accidentally squashing Stampy in the process and making the other boy squeak. "You can't be serious; Jesse's getting separated again-?!"

"Guys!" Jesse shouted to them, all of them letting out an alarmed shout as the bridge kept retracting into the wall and made them all stumble.

"Come on, Winslow!" the White Pumpkin told the cat, and they strolled off towards the left side of the screen.

Ivor fled to the doors and started banging on it, Petra joining in, while Lukas's eyes were darting everywhere as he backed away from the edge, tail and ears flicking about in a fury.

The spider hybrid raced towards the doors on her end and slammed her fist into them, letting out a frustrated grunt when they didn't even rattle a bit. "Stupid door!" she snapped. (Of course, THAT didn't open the doors either...)

"Augh, it's no use!" Ivor growled in frustration, Lukas and Petra attempting to slam their swords through the door with limited success, "without a lever or a button we'll never get these iron doors open!"

"Sorry about all this, actually- I was fairly certain that this issue was over and done with, what with all the excitement recently at the Phantasmagoria... but apparently there's still some residue lying all over the place," 'Gray' said, frowning a bit at the shadowy hands flying about everywhere on the floor.

"What are you talking about?!" Ivor snapped, as he frantically dug through the potions sitting on his lap for a healing potion- Harper's cut was starting to turn a little black around the edges, and it hadn't stopped bleeding yet. He wasn't too concerned about the bleeding- it had been a pretty deep cut, after all- but he was definitely worried about something turning black around the edges.

"Long story. Basically, there were ghosts, an assassin, and a lot of weird history involved at a hotel, and a whole 200- or, no, was it three hundred? No, two hundred year old mystery was solved."

"That doesn't explain anything!" Mevia snapped, fending off a set of hands that were attempting to grab ahold of her.

Gray thought about that for a second. "... oh yeah. It doesn't, does it? Never mind then."

Lukas let out a sudden yell, and Jesse whirled around just in time to see the hands ensnaring Lukas and yanking him out of the cocoon of blankets.

"Hey-!" she yelled, indignantly, just in time to hear an alarmed squeal, and turn back around in time to see a set of shadowy hands ripping Reuben from the blankets in a violent tug.

Jace glanced at Jesse, and a sudden mental conversation was exchanged between the two in a matter of seconds.

Jace: I'll get Reuben, you get Lukas?

Jesse: Okay. I'll back you up as soon as I can.

Jace: Definitely. Thanks.

Jesse: No problem.

And then they were off, Jesse rolling out of her blankets and then lunging right at the shadow hands-

Her hands phased straight through.

Jesse staggered forward and fell straight through them, landing on the floor again with a little yelp of pain. Lukas was still thrashing around in the hands, clawing at them desperately as he tried to get free, but somehow failing.

Jesse leaped back to her feet, but she was feeling a downright terrified feeling worming around in her stomach.

How was she supposed to save Lukas if she couldn't even get to the thing that was holding him hostage?

"Do you need help?"

Jesse whipped around to see-

Ariza, standing there with her arms crossed and her head tilted slightly to one side.

"Hang on, guys!" Onscreen-Jesse shouted, looking up from where she was standing. "I'm gonna get to Cassie- err, the White Pumpkin- err- oh, you know what I mean! Petra!" The Blaze hybrid looked over instantly the moment she heard her name being called. "Can you blast the doors open?"

Petra stared blankly at her for a moment, before her eyes lit up- almost literally. "Yeah- but I need some more time, or else Ivor and Lukas are gonna drop down!" and she leaped into the air, hovering into the air.

"On it!" And the spider hybrid pulled out an Ender Pearl and drew her arm back. She focused on the ledge, high above the ground, and chucked it with a loud shout.

The Ender Pearl soared upwards, hit the side of the ledge-

And Jesse suddenly appeared, letting out a loud yell as all of her hands scrabbled to find purchase on the ledge. "Gah!" she yelped, looking back down at the disappearing bridge below her, a slightly concerned look coming over her face.

Soren winced and made to cover his eyes.

"That is... disorienting."

"You have no idea!" Cassie shouted. With that said, she quickly crawled onto the ledge and bolted to the lever, unfurling to her feet as she reached it and switching it back to the other side to turn it off.

"Uhh, it just started goin' faster!" Lukas called up to her, voice rising a bit in pitch.

"Wait- did you seriously-?!" Harper flinched mid-question as Ivor dumped a potion of healing on her leg wound, soaking the sofa, Harper's pant leg, and honestly his own knee, but that wasn't really important right about now.

"Yes, your point being?!" Cassie snapped back.

Jesse might've responded, but she was a little busy staring at Ariza in shock. The first time she could actually interact with the girl had been entering an old memory. But she hadn't done that this time, hadn't she? "... you can-"

"Do you need help?" Ariza repeated, a bit more insistently this time.

Jesse glanced over at Lukas, who was starting to move more sluggishly.

She decided right then and there that any question she had could wait until later.

"Yes."

Ariza flicked her finger up, and Jesse flinched, expecting some dramatic explosion or something.

What happened instead was a small, glinting item shooting up into the air, Jesse automatically reaching out and catching it. It was small, save for the slim chain that it was connected to- a small circular iron disk with a slightly glinting green stone pressed into the center. It looked very simple, but when Jesse touched the iron surrounding the gem (she could only assume it was a gem), she could feel something embossed into the metal.

"What is it?"

"Just put it on and go at the shadows again," Ariza replied in a... well, not exactly cryptic... unhelpful way, putting a small notebook away. It was then that Jess noticed that the pen that usually was clipped into her breast pocket was out, and glowing slightly.

"But what is it-?"

"I can't stay long right now, I've got to deal with- a thing. In the past." Ariza was about to step back when she glanced back up again. "Oh yeah. I'm going to need that back later."

"But what- ah, and you're gone," Jesse sighed, not entirely sure whether to feel irritated or not at the fact that Ariza had just vanished.

Well, she had the thing, might as well put it on.

She moved quickly- Lukas was in danger, after all- and threw the chain over her head. The moment the chain was over her head altogether, she suddenly felt something snaking along her neck.

"...?!"

Wait- Lukas was still in danger. Fight now, worry about this later.

She charged straight back at Lukas again.

"She booby-trapped her BOOBY TRAPS?!" Onscreen-Jesse exclaimed, panting a little bit- she was starting to hyperventilate. "That is so- paranoid!" With that, her sword came scraping out of the sheathe, and a loud crunching sound came through the room as she smashed the lever out of the way, the noise lost among the complete bloody chaos going on in the room right now. A barely detectable mechanical groaning sounded, and Jesse went running back towards the edge- only to skid to a stop at the gravelly voice that rang out over sheer bloody chaos.

"What? You thought you could do it? Just like that?" The spider hybrid was looking around frantically for the source of the voice- only to gasp and abruptly look up, the camera doing an abrupt swish pan to show the White Pumpkin leaping down from a higher area, axe raised high above their head. "Trying to trap me in your web?"

Jesse leaped out of the way just in time, the White Pumpkin landing right where she'd been a few seconds previously. "Gimme the key, Jesse!"

Jesse did a crab walk just in time, the axe sweeping over her face and missing by near inches, before slamming the flat of the sword into the White Pumpkin's chest and sending them flying off the area. The axe toppled out of sight, and the White Pumpkin also blinked out of sight. Jesse didn't stand around waiting, though- she ran over to the edge. "Guys? GUYS?!" she yelled down.

"Hey, Jesse!"

The spider hybrid peered more carefully to see Petra hovering a few feet away from the doors, Lukas and Ivor pretty much doing a balancing act to keep themselves on a tiny edge of land. "Guys!" she stage-whispered down to them, "I'm so glad you're alive, thank goodness!"

"Yep- and-" Petra slung her arm back and around in a violent throw, a fireball spitting out of her palm. Lukas flattened himself to the floor, while Ivor simply ducked down. The fireball slammed into an already-collapsing iron door, and the whole thing crashed down with a metallic thud. "- door's open, too."

"Okay, you guys get to safety- I need to find that flint and steel, and talk to Cassie for a second- even if just a minute." And Jesse bolted in the other direction again, going up a few stairs- and then skidding to a stop as a set of feet came into the foreground.

"What would you even-?!" Hadrian began.

Isa let out a frustrated growl. "Hadrian, talk later- stay safe right now!" And she yanked Milo forward, knocking the both of them to the floor in a heap.

Jesse was fully expecting to phase through the shadow hands again, even as she desperately ran full-speed at a steadily-going-limp Lukas. Just in case, she turned her body at the last second.

A strange, almost electrical noise rang out, the shadowy hands making an odd hissing sound and contorting in on themselves. Jesse managed to catch herself as the hands abruptly curled in on themselves and vanished altogether, and drop an unresisting Lukas to the ground, just as Jace shouted, "Got him!" He held up an unharmed Reuben, just as Jesse stepped in front of Lukas, having no idea what she was doing but not letting that little fact stop her.

"Don't you try to hurt anyone!" the petite girl shouted, fists curling. "Don't you dare even try!"

Another shadowy hand shot at Jesse, and the girl whirled around and grabbed it defensively. Her hands phased through it, but the moment she 'touched' it the hand suddenly let out a strange, hissy scream and vanished in a whipcrack of black smoke, which whizzed past Jesse. Gray held up the scythe that was still in their hand, the smoke seeming to get absorbed by the blade as they made contact.

None of their eyes were focused on that, though- they were all staring at the petite girl who was standing over a still not moving Lukas, and the shadowy hands that almost seemed to be... frozen in place.

"Hey, Dian."

Eyes now went straight to Gray, who was simply holding the scythe out at arms length. "Get in yourself, or get thrown in. Your choice," they said, in a rather bland tone of voice.

If you were listening, though, there was a definite undertone of steel to the reaper's voice- one that made chills shoot up of people's spines.

There was another heartbeat of pure silence.

Slowly, the shadows in the room slowly leaked towards Gray, over whose face a tiny smile appeared- the first one since this whole affair had started. "Ah, there we go."

"You're not a fast learner, are you?" the White Pumpkin leered onscreen, all eyes now swiveling back around to stare at the screen. Cassie/the White Pumpkin let out a loud yell and charged at Jesse, the spider hybrid simply dropping to all eights and leaping over onto a different section of ground, away from the White Pumpkin, Jesse whirling around.

The screen switched to show a loud, strange, clanging noise as the White Pumpkin landed on another stretch of land, slowly getting up. "I grow tired of this game, Jesse," Cassie snarled.

Jesse frowned at Cassie, before her eyes darted sideways and widened. The screen zoomed out to show that on a bridge, a bit of a distance away... was the flint and steel.

"Oh- it's there!" Stampy shouted, pointing at the screen from where he was still squashed to the floor.

"The key! You didn't have it either?!" the White Pumpkin turned to glare at Jesse, before reaching into her pocket. "Well now- it's MINE."

"NOPE!" Jesse snapped back, pulling out an Ender Pearl and reaching backwards, before throwing it-

And getting shoved to the side by the White Pumpkin teleporting into place there, the Ender Pearl flying far off the mark and slamming into a wall that was relatively out of the way. "No!" she groaned as the White Pumpkin let out a wicked laugh.

Jesse skidded onto the ledge that the wall had slammed into, whipping around to see the White Pumpkin charging towards the bridge with the flint and steel on it.

"No." Jesse reached into her pocket, pulling out another Ender Pearl. "We are going home."

"And you don't think I don't want to?" Cassie asked, bitterly, stepping out of the way of a creeping shadow.

"No, I'm not saying that all. But if you'd just asked for help when you needed it, this whole thing could've been avoided," Jesse replied simply. Now that she was assured that the shadows weren't about to kill people, she returned her attention to what was really important.

She dropped to her knees next to Lukas, quickly shaking the blonde's shoulders gently. "Lukas. Lukas. Wake up right now," she ordered him gently.

The blonde didn't move. "Lukas, c'mon, wake up." When this didn't get any response either, Jesse swallowed, feeling a lump coming into her throat. "Lukas, come on."

"Touch his throat."

Jesse nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of that high-pitched voice right in her ear, and turned to see that Smokey was pretty much up in her face.

"E-excuse me?"

"Touch his throat, there's something in there." When Jesse didn't immediately do that, Smokey simply let out a little sigh. "Look, do you want your friend to die or not? I am presuming it's the latter, and if so, you need to touch your friend's throat."

Jesse turned back to Lukas, frowning a bit, before reaching out and brushing her finger against Lukas's Adam's apple.

The blonde suddenly choked, Jesse starting and falling back a bit as the blonde quaked violently, his hands clenching into tight fists, before he let out an almost gurgling cough and turned over onto his side.

A drop of black dropped from his throat.

Slightly encouraged by this, Jesse patted him on the back comfortingly. "Well, better out than i-"

Lukas suddenly rolled over and vomited out a huge river of black stuff, making Jesse squeal in surprise and start back, several of the other audience members letting out alarmed yells as the shadows fled back to the scythe.

"Ugh... Jesse?" Lukas sat back up, looking a little disoriented. "What... what just happened...? I was... fighting the hands... and then... cold... black... oh I might be sick" and he put his head back down, Jesse bending down and patting him on the back gently. Thankfully, this time he didn't do anything quite as violent.

"Apologies for a rather disconcerting experience... uh, Luke, right?"

"Lukas."

The reaper simply blinked at them a moment now, looking slightly bewildered for a few seconds. "... I see. Anyhow, the shadows wouldn't have gone if the 'main one' hadn't been able to get itself into a 'host'."

"Wait- are you saying you were waiting for Lukas to get possessed?!" Jesse exclaimed, leaping to her feet in an almost defensive way.

"Not quite Lukas- I was expecting Aiden, since that's who they went for initially. But until the shadow managed to get a host, we wouldn't have been able to get rid of them so completely," Gray replied, still in a rather blank, almost matter-of-fact manner. "Believe me, if there was an easier way I'd probably have gone that way; I don't like causing living people discomfort."

"Wait- if you don't like causing living people discomfort, then why didn't you try to protect us this whole time?!" Reginald demanded to know, eyes narrowing. "We were basically being attacked by glassware and books and shadows- doesn't that count as discomfort?!"

Gray rolled their eyes slightly about something. "There's a stupid rule for reapers that we're not allowed to get too directly involved in something that doesn't involve the reaping of a soul. I don't know why it's a rule, but since I'm already breaking about half of the rules in the figurative rulebook, I thought I should try to stick to one at least."

"Yes, and I would've had to report Gray if they'd broken another rule."

"Technically the moment I break a rule you have to report me."

"Don't rub our deal in my face, you nincompoop."

"Wait, but-"

The second the last shadow entered the scythe, Gray twirled it and stuck it on their back. "Well, I think that's my job done for tonight. I'll leave you to watching the episodes."

Maya opened her mouth to ask Gray something, but the next moment they blinked, Gray was gone.

The sound of something being thrown attracted their attention, and they turned just in time to see the White Pumpkin running down the bridge towards the flint and steel, an Ender Pearl soaring in a perfect trajectory at them.

Everyone exchanged glances.

They all silently agreed to add this to their 'List of Things We Need to Discuss After Episode 6' list.

The screen switched to show Jesse shifting into a defensive position, before the Ender Pearl clinged off of the White Pumpkin mask-

And the spider hybrid body-slammed straight into Cassie, slamming them both to the ground with a crash.

Most of the audience winced a little at that.

"No! You can't do this!" the White Pumpkin snarled, "I've waited too long!"

"Sorry, Cassie, but I'm not letting you have it either!" Jesse responded tersely- not necessarily snapping, but not exactly sounding highly pleased either. And then she glanced up in surprise from where she was trapping Cassie in place.

The White Pumpkin blinked up as well, the two of them freezing in place, as near the flint and steel, a little figure appeared.

The screen switched to show Winslow perched near the flint and steel, looking at it in interest... before batting it towards the side.

"Oh no. Oh no no no," Petra said, wrapping her arms tightly around Reuben and Jace at the same time. "No no no you stupid cat don't just hit it over the edge!"

"Winslow's not stupid!" Cassie argued.

"You don't get to talk," Petra snapped back, making Cassie flinch away a bit.

"No! No no, Winslow. Don't touch that!" the White Pumpkin shouted desperately.

Instead of intimidating the cat into obedience or whatever the shouting was supposed to accomplish, Winslow simply kept batting the flint and steel closer and closer to the edge.

Lukas moved into place again, but this time he seemed a little tired- almost weak, really.

Jesse shifted him over so that he was sitting at her side, one arm wrapped around his midriff to keep him steady.

"No no no! No Winslow! Bad kitty! Stop it!" the White Pumpkin nearly screamed at Winslow, and it honestly would've been a little funny if the situation hadn't been so dire and if they hadn't known who the White Pumpkin was, to see a serial killer screaming at a cat.

When it still didn't work, the White Pumpkin attempted changing their tone. "Uh- Winslow! Good boy! Sweet kitty! Bring that to Mama!"

Stacy suddenly let out a snort.

When everyone looked at her, she put up her hands defensively. "Hey, it's kinda funny hearing such a deep, male voice say 'bring that to Mama' and be dead serious about it."

Jesse got a fit of the giggles.

Lukas weakly rolled his eyes. "Oh, look, now you've got her giggling... haha..." he dissolved into a slightly loopy fit of the giggles himself.

Onscreen, Jesse bit her lip. "Um, Winslow, do you think you could maybe... not...?" she trailed off a bit, weakly.

Several members of the audience just outright laughed at that, lightening the black mood that had been settling over the viewers for the past several minutes.

Winslow looked up from the flint and steel. Smiled beatifically. (If cats could indeed smile beatifically.) And, with a smooth flick of the paw, knocked the flint and steel over the edge.

Jesse's giggles intensified.

Most of the audience was now torn between being dismayed at the fact that the flint and steel had just gone flying off into space, or just simply laughing their heads off at this little evil cat.

Most had chosen to go with the second option, including Cassie.

Real-Winslow looked incredibly pleased with himself.

"NOOOO!" the White Pumpkin yelled, Jesse leaping to her feet and racing to where Winslow was, just in time to see the flint and steel hitting a ledge below, bouncing towards another bridge and about to fall.

"Crud-!" Jesse turned to see Cassie reach up to throw an Ender Pearl towards the spot. The spider hybrid lunged and tackled Cassie- a second too late as the Ender Pearl went soaring right to the bridge.

"Oh crap!" Olivia gasped, hands clapping to her mouth.

"No!" Jesse shouted, as Cassie let out a maniacal cackle and vanished a second later.

The screen switched to show Cassie reaching up as the flint and steel finally bounced off of the ledge it had been on, plummeting straight into the White Pumpkin's hands. "Ahh, there you are! After all this time, I'm FREE!" And the White Pumpkin threw their arms into the air almost excitedly.

Jesse suddenly dissolved into giggles, burying her face into Lukas's shoulder. The blonde was so out of it right now that he just kind of let out a low, loopy laugh. "I'm sorry, it's just- hahahaha the voice and the motions don't match up" and she went right on giggling.

"Winslow? Where are you?" the White Pumpkin called as they walked towards a lever at the end of the bridge, "we have to go!"

There was a meow, and the cat leaped down from a few blocks and padded over to the White Pumpkin, who was just holding the flint and steel loosely at their sides. "What have I told you about wandering off?" she scolded, although it was honestly hard to tell if the White Pumpkin/Cassie was actually UPSET because- well- the voice was so messed up.

There was a loud thud, and Jesse landed on the bridge. "I think you should give that back, Cassie," she said in a warning voice, eyes glowing bloodred as she straightened back up.

"No, I'm afraid not," the White Pumpkin said, and reached down-

And flicked a lever.

"Another trap!?" Lizzie exclaimed.

There was a loud rumble, and the spider hybrid only glanced down for a moment before dropping to all eights and shooting forward like a bullet, as the blocks beneath her dropped into oblivion, leaping into the air and seeming to hover- just for a moment... and then slamming into the ground, straightening up and flicking out her sword with a metallic scream.

The White Pumpkin glanced back at her, before turning around to face the spider hybrid. "I'll give you one thing- you are incredibly tenacious!" she snarled.

Real-Jesse blinked a bit. "Oh. Thank you, I think."

"Tena-what-now?" Clutch asked. No one bothered giving her an answer.

The spider hybrid ran straight at Cassie- who flicked out the flint and steel and clicked them together, making a column of fire shoot up right in Jesse's face. The spider hybrid stumbled back several steps in an attempt to avoid it, ending up right back where she'd started- and then a wall of blue flames exploded into being, Cassie standing on the other side. "That's Netherrack, Jesse! It stays on fire FOREVER!"

Jesse regarded the wall of flames uneasily, as the White Pumpkin strolled over to a wall with another lever on it. "Well, Winslow, that's the last of the obstacles. We're finally going home!" and she flicked the lever with a laugh to reveal-

The real portal.

"What's with these portals and all of them being underground so far?" Magnus grumbled. "Seems kind of inconvenient if you ask me."

Ellegaard considered this point, before nodding a bit. "Actually... yes, I see your point there."

"Come on, Winslow," the White Pumpkin said to Winslow.

Jesse kept staring through the flames, an uncertain expression coming over her face, eyes going up... and then her eyes widened.

The screen panned up to show Petra holding her sword, standing on a ledge rather far up.

Jesse sheathed the sword, and turned slightly to see Lukas kneeling nearby, holding a water bucket in his hands as he narrowed his cyan eyes at Jesse.

The spider hybrid now looked at the White Pumpkin, who was talking to Winslow now. "Winslow. Winslow, come on. Oh for the love of-" Cassie let out a sigh. "You know I love you but you make me VERY tired sometimes."

Real-Jesse started giggling again.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid looked up and held up a hand in a 'stop' motion.

Petra spread out her hands. What's the problem?

Jesse tapped her chest, before pointing in Cassie's direction slightly, glancing back up at Petra and Lukas.

Lukas's eyes narrowed a bit, before nodding. However, he still hefted the water bucket up in a preparatory way.

"Hey- Cassie!" Jesse called to the White Pumpkin.

"Yes, Jesse?"

"I- I was actually wondering something," the spider hybrid said, frowning through the wall of blue flames, "you- you said you were trapped in this world, and- so... why didn't your aunt come get you?"

The White Pumpkin's eyes widened. "... what?"

"I- I was wondering-" Jesse began again, when Cassie suddenly reached up, making Jesse shift back a bit, before the redhead slowly pulled off the mask, staring at Jesse with confused green eyes.

"Wait... you... you're..." the mask slipped from Cassie's hands, her eyes widening, voice back to normal. "Hang on- hang on hang on hang on, you're-" Cassie stepped forward a little bit, hands tapping at her lip as her eyes continued widening. "... you're the spider hybrid, aren't you? Same name, just- just different hair, and- and you're- you're older?"

"What, would being a spider hybrid freeze my age or something?" Real-Jesse asked, innocently.

Petra snorted.

"Yeah, I'm... honestly, I'm a little surprised you remembered," Jesse said honestly, blinking at Cassie. "We were really little kids when we met last time, I thought you would've forgotten."

Cassie was quiet for a second, before letting out a hollow chuckle. "How could I forget one of the reasons I wanted to get out of this damn place so much...?"

Everyone blinked at that.

Cassie was silent for another moment, before stepping forward, slowly walking forwards, Jesse watching the White Pumpkin passively, yet a little anxiously.

Cassie reached into her pocket, slowly withdrawing a water bucket. She upended it on the fire, letting it die down.

Jesse continued watching, the whole room holding their breath in silence, as Cassie took out the flint and steel... and dropped it on the floor.

The spider hybrid slumped a bit in relief.

And then Cassie started walking by her.

Onscreen-Jesse wasn't the only one to blink in confusion at that.

Nor was she the only one to have her eyes widen in horror as Cassie's foot went over the edge.

Her hand snagged Cassie by the wrist, tugging the redhead back a bit. "Whoa, what are you doing?" she asked, sounding confused.

"... I tried to kill you."

Jesse blinked at that. Cassie was staring straight ahead, looking so tired and so sick of everything.

"I tried to kill you- I tried to kill people- I succeeded in killing people- I didn't even recognize you." Cassie let out a bark of laughter that was harsh and sarcastic and not at all amused. "One of the reasons I wanted to get out of this damn place so much for, and I didn't even recognize you."

"I didn't remember, either, it's been such a long time-"

"You... you don't need me, anyways. No one needs me now."

"I need you, you were one of my best friends, I don't just want to let you walk in and then walk back out again-!"

"Haha... no one would want me anyways. Who'd want a murderer?" Cassie let out a weak little laugh that Real-Jesse immediately recognized.

It was the one Aiden had given her back in Sky City.

Real-Cassie was feeling her stomach curl in on itself.

She was right. Her onscreen-self was right.

After this whole incident, who the hell would want her around?

"I might as well just stop being a waste of space. Just... forget about me, okay?" Cassie attempted to walk forward again.

Her eyes widened as Jesse suddenly jerked her back again, wrapping all of her arms around the redhead tightly in a hug. "Jesse, what are you doing?" she asked, a bit tersely as she glanced back at Jesse.

"I'm not just going to- to- to just let someone die in front of me," Jesse replied sharply.

"Yeah, well I want to-"

"I'm not just going to let you commit suicide!"

"Why do you even care so much...? Just forget me," Cassie responded, in a slightly cold, emotionally detached voice.

"Last time I forgot, I forgot everything!" Jesse shouted, Cassie's eyes widening in shock. "I forgot you, I forgot- I forgot my closest friends- hell, I forgot family! You're- you're one of my oldest memories-!" The spider hybrid's breath caught. "I don't want to forget anymore!"

Cassie was turning slightly to stare at Jesse, who still had her arms wrapped around the other girl's midriff.

"... I don't want to forget anyone ever again," the spider hybrid said, in a voice so quiet that it was almost inaudible, blinking a bit. Tears were welling up in her eyes now, and a few escaped her eyes. "... I'm not forgetting you again."

Cassie had squeezed her eyes shut, and she slowly sank to her knees, Jesse's arms still wrapped around her in a tight hug as the two girls sat there.

Petra, Lukas, and Ivor managed to make their way to the area, walking over to the duo. The screen switched back to show that somehow the two of them had managed to shift enough that they were hugging each other tightly.

After what felt like an eternity but was probably only ten seconds, Jesse sat back, wiping her face a little bit as Cassie let out a sniffle. Winslow strolled over to Cassie with a meow, butting his head into her lap, the red-haired girl letting a watery smile come over her face as the cat crawled into her lap, blinking several tears out of her eyes.

And that was why she didn't notice the way Winslow looked straight at Lukas... and winked.

Axel put his hands in the air. "I freaking love this cat."

Several agreeing calls from other members of the audience, Mevia surprisingly being one of said members.

Onscreen, Petra, Ivor, and Jesse looked over at Lukas, who looked innocently back at them before smirking slightly and giving his shoulders a nonchalant shrug.

"Holy crap I love you."

Jesse slapped a hand over her mouth a second later, eyes flickering to Lukas in alarm.

Rather than looking embarrassed though, Lukas was just smiling in a sleepy way. "Mmm... love ya too," he mumbled sleepily, running a hand through her hair.

Nell and Gill may or may not have squealed like a pair of fangirls.

Jesse turned back to the screen, a pleased smile twitching at her lips.

After another several seconds had passed, Jesse smiled a bit in a watery way at Cassie. It faded slightly a moment later, and the spider hybrid sat back on her heels. "I think we need to talk."

The screen blacked back out.


A/N: I feel like Lukas right now, I am so freaking tired... you're welcome for staying up this late to post a chapter x3

Wow! I didn't actually expect this to get so long xD Out of every chapter in this story... this is probably going to be the longest by FAR, with 8000-something words without A/N.

Btw, if you didn't get the part where Lukas winked... well, in Hybrid, Winslow may or may not have been being lazy and annoying on PURPOSE. (That might be explained in two chapters or so.)

The confusing 'crossover' with Phantasmagoria was intentional, yes. Guys, you have ONE MONTH to submit any characters you might have for Phantasmagoria background characters to me. Even if YOU don't want to, tell your friends to have a look at it. :3

RQTC: On a scale of one to ten with ten being the most, how arrogant would you say I am?

Sorry, I just suddenly wondered.

giriri: No spoilers. / Nope. / You're going to have to tell me what the 'last idea' was, I'm not going to go back in and read it to see what you mean. / ? / ... ah.

LunarStarsMoons: Yes, Cassie does indeed need a hug xD / (laughs) / Nope xD Just shadow hands.

S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Nope xD / (laughs)

Kaos Ruin: (laughs) That was the intention, so I'm glad I got that across, at least.

LittleAngelbun: (laughs) True I guess.

sailor . mikuchan: Nope. / Ah, I see. / No spoilers.

Raven: Nope xD / Thank you!

RapidSammi: Happy 4th of July to you as well! / Well, 'black hands', yes. xD / (cracks up)

Infernius Flashfire: (laughs) / (nods)

Toni42: Only just now getting good? xD

TheRealRedGaming: ? That wouldn't make any sense.

BendyStrawBerry: Yes, I can see. Hi! / ... more Professor Layton personally, but sure. / Yeah, and thank you! :3 I'm excited for Episode 7 as well.

the indecisive bird: (laughs)

Guest: Yep.. / Hehehe xD / Yep~ / (laughs) / Heehee / Nope. xD / I'm glad you're hyped!

LegoGirl794: Ehhh, sort of?

Emily The Avenger: You probably cried again a little this chapter haha xD / (squeals with you)

BeliTheGhoti0304: Hahaha xD / (grins evilly) / Nope xD but not a bad guess. / Thank you! I'm surprised, to be honest xD

InsaneAcrobat: Oh haha sorry xD / Aahhhh, I see. / I started reading but once I saw the ideas I stopped; I don't mean to be mean but every idea I have is already down for the story; so unless it's like a tiny detail I'm not considering it. Sorry!

Savannah-the-Caracal: Why do people think that? They're not evil lol xD

Welp, that's this chapter done! Next chapter will be much shorter, don't get used to this haha xD

x.X. A.L. X.x