(A/N: And here it is, the most pivotal chapter of the entire series. This season has been going on for a year now, so it's about time to finish things up. There are still two other episodes left, of course, but this one will tie up all the questions asked over the course of the season. Well, I hope you enjoy.)

Chris stared at the smashed computer screen with an expression of complete and utter horror.

It spoke. VIA still spoke. But... That couldn't have been. He had destroyed her. There was no way...

Chris ran a hand through his hair.

Maybe he hadn't destroyed VIA.

Maybe she had never existed.

Shaking, Chris fell to his knees, and surveyed the room. He should have never come back to the island. But he could still correct that mistake.

Regaining a hold of himself, Chris stood up, and walked over to his refrigerator, where he grabbed a bottle of rum. After taking a long swig, he collapsed on his couch, mind racing. If VIA hadn't been real... what else was a mere hallucination? Was everything he knew a lie? What if he had imagined most of the summer's events... what if he had imagined most of the summer? What if the contestants hadn't been real, and he was wandering around an empty island by himself for the past few months?

No. No, keep it together, Chris told himself, you just have to keep it together.

The host took another long swig from his bottle, and leaned back into his seat. It would all be over soon, he assured himself.

It would all be over soon.

~o.0.o~

It was two days before any of the final five competitors would see Chris again- and it had been four days since their trip to Boney Island. Granted, everyone was in a very different state of mind at that point. Gwen was being friendlier than usual, perhaps because Cody's elimination made her feel lonely. Sunny was her usually chatty self, although she seemed rather nervous at times. Duncan was a little cocky, entering the final five had done well to boost his confidence. Johnny was rarely speaking to anyone, opting to spend most of his time in the woods. And Quinn- well, although she acted incredibly smug around the others to keep up the impression she had a few tricks still up her sleeve, she was panicking internally, fully aware that a loss would mean elimination.

But they all had the same reaction upon seeing Chris- complete shock.

The host looked absolutely insane. His hair was a complete mess, his clothes were dirty and sloppy, his stubble had grown into a patchy beard, and he wore an unnaturally happy grin across his face. But his eyes were the worst. One look, and the contestant could tell he was completely gone. There was nothing behind them- not the usual look of sadistic glee, not his look of scorn or annoyance, not even a look of amusement. He was just... out there.

The five contestants watched from outside their cabins as their host staggered towards them.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Duncan asked.

"No idea," Johnny frowned, "but that ain't the look of a man in his right mind."

"Something is really wrong here, you guys," Gwen whimpered, "I... I think something really bad is about to happen."

"So what? He's cracked," Quinn shrugged, "happens to celebrities all the time. Who gives a shit?"

At last, Chris came to a halt in front of the contestants. He didn't address them, at least, not for a while. He just stood there, watching them, the same freakish grin on his face.

"Uh... Chris?" Duncan asked, "What's up?"

In response, Chris began to snicker, the smile not fading.

"C...Chris?" Gwen stammered.

"This isn't getting anywhere," Quinn scoffed, "HEY, ASSHOLE!"

Chris slowly turned his head to look at Quinn. As soon as the two made eye contact, the girl immediately fell silent, a look of fear spreading across her face.

"Chris, seriously," Gwen gulped, "what's... Is there a challenge?"

"Ch... Challenge?" Chris laughed, "CHALLENGE?"

Chris went into a round of hysterics, which served to alarm everyone further.

"You want a CHALLENGE?" Chris laughed, "Okay! How about SURVIVAL, huh? Try to SURVIVE!"

"Survive from what?" Sunny asked.

"Wait a second," Johnny cut in, "do you hear that?"

The cast listened in, and, barely audible over Chris' laughing, they could hear the sound of alarms in the distance.

"Chris. What did you do?" Gwen asked in horror.

"BOOOOSHHHH! It's about to go off!" Chris laughed, "And then the island will be up in smoke! Absolutely nothing left!"

"What did you do?!" Duncan shouted, grabbing Chris by the collar.

"The generator," Chris smiled, "overloaded it. Once it blows, the entire island will go with it."

Duncan let go of Chris.

"He's bluffing. Has to be," Duncan reasoned.

"Duncan, he's lost his mind!" Gwen exclaimed, "I don't think he's bluffing!"

As if to confirm Gwen's statement, the alarms began to grow louder- and the contestants could also just barely make out the cries of wild animals in the distance.

"What in the world...?" Johnny asked.

"That?" Chris grinned, "Oh, nothing. I just let out all of the experiments stored on this island. They're coming... for all of you!"

The sound of the animals began to draw closer.

"Still think he's lying?" Quinn asked.

"It's the ultimate challenge," Chris snickered, "can you fix the generator in time?"

Duncan grabbed Chris, and shoved him up against the wall of the cabin.

"Where is it?" Duncan demanded.

"No fun if I just tell you," Chris laughed, "besides, you won't get to it in time. Say goodbye you guys!"

"Oh my god," Sunny gasped, "he's- this is for real!

"We're going to die here," Gwen said, "we... we're actually going to-"

"Everyone calm down!" Duncan shouted, "We just need to find the generator and turn it off, alright? Now, chances are it's in one of those vault type things- but which one?"

"We should spread out, each of us checks one of the vaults we visited over our stay here," Johnt suggested, "I can remember four- the virtual reality vault, the fear vault, the maze, and the one we were in the other day."

"Right, good thinking," Duncan nodded, "who gets what?"

"I'll check the fear vault," Johnny volunteered.

"I'll look in the maze," Sunny offered.

"I guess I'll grab the virtual reality room," Quinn shrugged.

"I... I..." Gwen stammered.

"Gwen, you're with me," Duncan told her, "we're going to the vault the last challenge was in."

"I... Okay," Gwen nodded, "let's go."

"You'll never make it," Chris laughed, "and why would you? It all has to burn, this place is ev-"

Johnny walked over, and punched Chris straight in the jaw, knocking him out.

"That takes care of that," Duncan nodded, "let's go!"

~o.0.o~

Back in a cushy television studio somewhere in Canada, Milton sat behind his desk, smoking a cigar when there came a knock on his door.

"Enter," Milton commanded.

The door creaked open, and in walked Julie, his assistant.

"Sir," she said, "there's been a rather troubling development on Specter Island."

"Great," Milton grumbled, "if there's been a ratings dip, I swear-"

"No sir," Julie sighed, "you're aware that, for security purposes, footage from the island is live streamed to our studio every few days when a challenge is being filmed."

"Yes, what of it?"

"Well," Julie frowned, "we've just received visual evidence that Chris McLean is planning to detonate the island."

"Again? He's just bluffing, give him a check and- WAIT A SECOND WHAT? Bring in specialists, god damn it! We need to bring a think tank TO the island and sort this out! If that island explodes and those people die, the publicity-"

"And the contestants, sir."

"Who- oh yes, them. Anyway, the PUBLICITY will put us under for good! I CANNOT let that happen- assemble the greatest minds we have. Then, myself and the team will fly to Specter Islands to sort this out," Milton ordered.

"Understood, sir. I'll see what I can do. Is there anyone you can think of who has previous experience on the island?"

"Other than Chris?" Milton said grimly, "No. Everyone who's ever worked in the labs there has ended up dead. A huge fire killed most of them thirty years ago, but they say- nevermind. Just do as I've asked."

~o.0.o~

Back on the island, the five contestants were running down the beach when they saw a horde of reptilian creatures rushing towards them.

"Are... ARE THOSE FUCKING DINOSAURS?" Duncan shouted.

"I'd say so," Quinn nodded, "so, what? How are we going to do this?"

"Running for our lives is how!" Duncan exclaimed, "let's go! Everyone split up and head for your vault! Gwen, follow me!"

The competitors split up and headed their separate ways. This didn't serve to do much good, however. The reptilian beasts, which seemed to resemble velociraptors on steroids, cocaine, and mushrooms straight from Peach's kingdom, also split up. The five contestants were much easier pray individually than in a group, and it wasn't long before the five were attacked.

"AGHH! GET IT OFF ME!" Sunny shrieked as one of the raptors carried her away.

"Guys!" Duncan shouted, "There's a vault nearby, head inside!"

Johnny, Quinn and Gwen nodded, and tried to make a run for it alongside Duncan. Although the four all had to fight a few of the raptors off, it wasn't long before someone made a mistake.

Duncan accidentally tripped over a rock, and one of the creatures instantly lunged on him, and dragged him away.

"Duncan!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Leave him, let's go!" Quinn shouted, pulling her away.

It was close, but the three managed to make it inside the vault and shut the door behind them.

"Okay, we're safe," Quinn sighed, "what now?"

"They... they got Sunny and Duncan," Gwen stammered.

"Yeah, sucks to be them," Quinn shrugged, "but if we don't keep going, we'll all die. Now, can someone tell me where we are?"

"Looks like we're in the maze vault," Johnny guessed, "shit. I don't think the generator would be here, but if it was..."

"I'll go," Quinn said, heading for the door.

"Quinn, hold up a sec," Johnny called, "we might not see each other again."

Quinn paused, and looked at the floor.

"So?"

"So... I don't know," Johnny admitted, "I just..."

"Save it," Quinn told him, "I know what you're getting at. You probably want me to reconcile, or something stupid. Well, I won't. If this is my last day alive, I don't want it to be too much of a cliche."

With that, Quinn headed through the door- but not before flashing the two a quick smile.

There was a moment of silence before Gwen asked, "okay, what do we do?"

Johnny thought a moment.

"That vault we were in the other day," he suggested, "look, I don't know why, but I get the feeling it's special."

"Oh my god," Gwen gasped, "we found a weird room in that vault, and right after that Chris told us to- that's where the generator is!"

"It's worth a shot," Johnny nodded, "hey, QUINN?"

No response.

"Damn it," Johnny muttered, "come on, let's hurry."

~o.0.o~

"Is everyone here?" Milton asked as he approached his private jet.

"All of them," Julie nodded, "the best we could find."

"Great," Milton smiled, "thanks."

When Milton got on board his plane, however, he was surprised to see the team that had been assembled.

"So," Veronica asked, "is this one of those planes that gets it's own wifi, or what?"

"Gosh, these seats are really uncomfortable!" Harold complained.

"Hey guys," Justin asked Noah and Josh, "have I told you I get to be on Jimmy Fallon next week?"

"Only about a million times," Noah sighed.

"BOOM BOOM!" Izzy exclaimed.

"Ricardo is beginning to wonder exactly why it was Ricardo was brought here."

"Well, judging by the other competitors assembled, it something related to Camp TV. Obviously," Miri reasoned, "I don't know, maybe he wants us for a commercial?"

"You BETTER have a good reason for dragging me here!" Heather threatened, "LIKE FINALLY GIVING ME MY MONEY!"

"Is... Is this a joke?" Milton asked, "I... Sigh. Just brief them on the situation."

"Very well, sir."

~o.0.o~

Johnny and Gwen crept through the forest, careful not to alert any nearby predators.

"I think we lost most of them," Gwen whispered, "what do you think they did to Sunny and Duncan?"

Johnny shrugged.

"No idea. But we gotta stop the generator before we go after 'em."

"Right," Gwen agreed, "I just hope we CAN stop it."

There was a loud snap, and the two came to a halt.

"What was that?" Gwen asked.

"No idea," Johnny admitted, "stay still."

The two stood in place for a while, but were surprised to find themselves in complete silence.

"Alright, I think we can keep going," Johnny said.

The two continued on their way towards the vault, moving as silently as possible. Although the woods seemed still, the two couldn't shake the feeling that something was stalking them. But despite casting repeated glances over their shoulders, they never managed to see anything. Eventually they came to a clearing that seemed familiar.

"You have any idea where we are?" Johnny asked.

"Actually yeah," Gwen murmured, "I think this may have been where my team set up during the hunting challenge near the beginning of the season. We're getting closer to the vault, but... it's still a bit of a walk."

"Then we shouldn't waste time here. Come on."

After walking for a while, Gwen said, "You know, I just realized I might never see Cody again."

"I'm sure that's not the case," Johnny told her.

"I know. I'm just worried I guess. You know, I never thought I'd have to stop an entire island from exploding on this show."

"Well, life's full of surprises," Johnny said, "now come on, we need to hurry. I have no idea how much time we have left."

The two began to sprint through the woods, careful to dodge branches and roots.

"I still don't get why Chris would do this," Gwen said.

"Won't matter why he did it if we're dead," Johnny responded, "let's just keep- Gwen, behind you!"

Gwen spun her head around, and saw a figure sprinting after them from a distance. Gwen let out a gasp, and tried to run faster- but her heart was starting to give her trouble.

"Johnny," she panted, "My heart- I can't-"

Johnny looked around frantically, and was relieved to see the entrance to a vault his a few yards ahead.

"Just a little further," Johnny called out, "come on!"

With some effort, Gwen managed to make it inside the vault, with Johnny right behind. While Gwen rested against the wall, Johnny closed the vault door just as the figure was about to lunge inside.

"You okay?" Johnny asked.

Gwen didn't respond for a while, but eventually nodded her head once the pain began to subside.

"Good. Listen, if you can't keep going-"

"I'm... Fine," Gwen choked out, "let's just... keep going."

"Look, I know you want to see this through, but it might be smart to-"

"I said I'm fine!" Gwen snapped.

"Fair enough," Johnny muttered, shaking his head, "at least take a minute before we head out."

"Fine," Gwen agreed, "what was chasing us, anyway?"

"I have no idea," Johnny admitted, "it looked like a person, but..."

"But what?"

"It had... scales. All over its skin."

Gwen closed her eyes.

"You know," she started, "there was a lot of weird projects going on here back in the day. You think that, maybe...?"

"Is that guy out there some sort of experiment?" Johnny finished, "I dunno. I'm no scientest. I'm sure if Miri were here she'd love to chat with you about it. But right now we just have to figure out how to deal with it."

"That's true. Do you think we could fight it off?"

The creature started to bang on the door, startling the two.

"Oh crap, what if it gets in?" Gwen gulped.

"I'm not in any rush to find out. Can you tell me which vault this is?"

Gwen looked around.

"Umm... This is where we took the fear gas! I've got an idea!"

"Really?" Johnny asked, "Well, we better make it fast, time's wasting."

"I know- just follow my lead."

~o.0.o~

After Gwen had explained her plan to Johnny, the goth girl had run off, leaving the cowboy by himself at the vault door.

"I hope this works," Johnny muttered, "okay, here we go."

Johnny pulled the door open, getting a clear view of the thing on the other side. While it was certainly humanoid in shape, that was where the similarities to a regular person ended. The monster had scales that were covered in slime, and webbed fingers. One of its two eyes was a small, black bead, while the other was large and compound. It's rows jagged teeth topped it all off, and inspired Johnny to run faster than he ever had before.

The creature let out a disturbing screech and gave chase, following behind closely. Eventually, the two entered the main chamber, and Johnnt yelled, "NOW!" before leaping into another room. Before the monster could follow, all the exits slammed shut, trapping the monster inside. Gas began to pour into the room, initially serving only to confuse and anger the beast, which ran around the room screaming. In a few minutes it began to calm down, before collapsing to the ground. Soon after, the doors opened again, and Gwen and Johnny held their breath as they ran back to the entrance. Once there, they stopped to catch their breath.

"Nice thinking, Gwen," Johnny told her, "now we just gotta get to the other vault and put a stop to this thing."

Gwen nodded, and walked over to the door- which was now surrounded by raptors.

"Oh no," Gwen groaned, "RU-"

"DIE RAPTOR SCUM! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!"

Gwen watched in amazement as a certain familiar redhead suddenly appeared in the crowd of raptors, and began mowing them down with kicks and cane strikes. When all of the raptors were taken care of, Izzy walked over to Gwen, whistling as she did so.

"I... Izzy?" Gwen gasped.

"Oh, hey Gwen. I just fought off a bunch of velociraptors, what have you done today?"

"Izzy, we need to move now!" Gwen exclaimed, "There's a generator that's-"

"About twenty minutes from exploding, we know," Miri said, appearing along with Quinn, Veronica, Ricardo and Heather, "the studio filled us in. I was able to see the designs for the generator here, and it should be easy to disarm once we get there."

"Awesome," Gwen nodded, "but listen, Sunny and Duncan-"

"Dragged off by monsters, yeah," Izzy smiled, "we found Quinn on the way here, and she told us everything. Josh, Justin and Noah went to go save them."

"All that's left is to get to that generator," Miri told the two, "come on, we have to hurry!"

Chris watched from a distance as the group exited the vault, and began to run through the wilds. They were getting close now- but Chris couldn't let them succeed. The island needed to burn- and no one was going to get in the way of that.

~o.0.o~

After several minutes of running, the gang finally came to a stop in front of the vault.

"Okay, here we are," Gwen said, "let's get inside and-"

There was a loud shriek, and the contestants spun around to see more of the lizard men fast approaching.

"Great! NOW what?" Heather demanded.

"Pfft, I've been in this situation dozens of times!" Veronica smiled, "Time for our final stand, guys! Gwen and Miri, you guys go and power down the generator while we hold the uglies off!"

Gwen and Miri nodded, and ran inside the vault.

"Well, this is it," Izzy grinned, "any final words in case we get flayed alive?"

"Ricardo is going to go cower behind a bush."

"Fair enough!" Izzy exclaimed, "Come on guys, lets finish this! HIYAAAA!"

Izzy, Veronica, Johnny and Quinn charged forward, while Ricardo leapt into cover and Heather ran off. Of course, the four were too busy fighting to notice this- or to notice a lone figure slip into the vault.

"Bring it on!" Izzy shouted as she roundhouse kicked one of the mutants in the face, and put another one in a chokehold.

"Don't touch me, you freak!" Quinn exclaimed, shoving one of the things into a tree.

While Johnny wrestled one of the creatures, Veronica was beating one senseless with a large tree branch.

At last, the four managed to fend all of them off, and had a chance to regroup.

"This is AWE-SOME~!" Veronica cheered, "Seriously, how many other people can say they spent their day beating mutant lizard people with a stick, huh?"

"Yeah yeah, it was a freaking thrill," Quinn muttered.

"Come on, let's go see if they have the generator going yet," Izzy smiled, running into the vault.

~o.0.o~

"Finally, we're here!" Gwen exclaimed as she and Miri arrived at the door to the control room, "Let's go in and-"

Miri let out a sudden cry before falling to the ground.

"Miri?!" Gwen exclaimed, spinning around.

Gwen was shocked to see Chris standing over Miri's body, holding a bat.

"I can't let you ruin my work," Chris told Gwen, "the island has to be destroyed."

"Okay, I'll agree with you there," Gwen admitted, "but what about the people on it? You'll kill us all!"

"The needs of the many outweigh those of the few," Chris chuckled, "goodbye, Gwen."

"Chris, wai-"

Chris swung the bat, hitting Gwen straight in the stomach. Gwen let out a cry of pain, and fell to her knees while Chris rushed into the control room, sealing the door behind him. Gwen crawled over and tried to open it, but it was no use.

"Chris? Chris!" Gwen pleaded, "Please don't do this! CHRIS!"

"What the hell happened here?" Johnny demanded.

Gwen turned, and saw the others arriving behind her.

"Chris showed up and attacked us," Gwen explained, tears forming in her eyes, "he sealed himself in. There's... There's no way... I'm so sorry."

"You... You did your best," Johnny told her, although he did so in a shaky voice.

"Wait... What?" Veronica gasped, "We... He actually... we're going to die here, aren't we?"

"Let me IN, asshole!" Quinn shouted, pounding on the door, "I will TEAR YOU APART!"

"Guys, it's over," Gwen muttered, "we're done for."

Gwen closed her eyes, and curled up in the fetal position.

Johnny looked at the ground and said, "Ruby, Cass, I love you guys."

"No... NO! Not here!" Heather shouted, "I just... Please not here! I know I haven't been the best person, but please, I'm begging you!"

Gwen tilted her head up, and looked around at everyone. Johnny was slumped against the wall, Heather was on her knees pleading, Veronica and Miri were huddled together, and even Izzy was shocked beyond words.

"Hey, guys," Gwen said, "I know this is a bad time, but... I just wanted to thank you. If it wasn't for this show, for all of you... I don't know how I would have ended up."

Heather bit her lip before responding.

"I... I should thank you all too," she said, "I know I've been horrible to everyone I've met on this show, but you guys are like a family to me."

"We've got a minute left," Miri said miserably.

"This is it," Gwen choked out, "goodbye you guys. I'll miss you."

The contestants all closed their eyes, and waited for the inevitable.

~o.0.o~

Chris sat in the control room, a huge Cheshire-grin on his face. Finally. There would be no more nightmares anymore. No living with the sick experiments that had happened here. No being forced to remember the death of his little sister, Avianna. No island. Just peace.

And then someone else was in the room. A man in a bunny costume.

Chris stared at the man in silence, his jaw hanging wide open. The bunny man didn't look at Chris, and instead turned to the control board. He began to adjust the various knobs and levers, too occupied by his work to even acknowledge Chris. But the host already knew what he was doing.

"NO!" Chris shouted, lunging across the room.

To his surprise, however, he went straight through the bunny man, and sailed into the wall.

"No! Please! You can't!" Chris pleaded, "It's better this way!"

The bunny man turned, and pulled one last lever- and then everything quieted down. No more flashing lights, no more alarms. The generator was deactivated.

"No..." Chris moaned, "No! Who te hell are you?"

At last, the bunny man turned, and stared directly at Chris, silencing him.

"You were such a good boy," the bunny man lamented, "I thought you were meant for better things."

"Wha, what-"

"Goodbye, Chris."

With that, the figure vanished, and the door slid open.

Gwen, Johnny am the rest of the group immediately ran inside, frantically trying to figure out what happened.

"Chris, did you turn off the generator?" Miri asked.

Chris shook his head.

"It was... The rabbit."

At this, both Gwen and Johnny's blood ran cold.

"...get him outside," Johnny ordered, "come on."

As Johnny and the other contestants dragged Chris out, Gwen stepped inside the room for a quick look. She was just about to leave when she noticed a scrap of paper on the control board.

Gwen walked over and picked it up, only half surprised at what she saw.

It was a photo of the man in the bunny costume sitting next to a young Chris McLean, at what seemed to be some sort of birthday party. Gwen flipped the picture over, and saw some scribbles on the back, which read, "Chris' celebrating his birthday with Adrian."

"Adrian..." Gwen mumbled to herself.

"Hey Gwen," Izzy called from outside, "you coming?"

"Yeah, just a sec!" Gwen called back.

Gwen stared at the photo a moment longer.

Chris had said the rabbit fixed the generator. During the summer, Gwen had seen him several times, but... she had always assumed his presence was hostile. Was it possible... Was it possible he had only wanted to help?

Gwen thought a moment before smiling.

"Thank you, Adrian," Gwen said before leaving the vault.

~o.0.o~

When everyone arrived back at the beach, they were pleasantly surprised to see Milton waiting with Justin, Noah, Josh, Duncan, and Sunny.

"Finally, you're back," Milton smiled, "I'm pleased to see you were unharmed."

"I wouldn't say that, exactly," Gwen shrugged.

"We were worried about you guys," Josh told them, "I'm glad to see we all made it out in the end."

"Yeah, let's never do this again," Noah muttered.

"Well, I have two choppers just north of here," Milton explained, "I've decided we're going to conclude the season elsewhere after you've been given a week or two to recover. Assuming you're up for it, that is."

"Actually," Sunny gulped, "I'm sorry, I just can't. I thought this would be fun, but I can't do it anymore. I... This has been way too much. I'm... I'm quitting."

"Sunny, no!" Veronica pleaded.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Milton asked.

Sunny nodded.

"Very well," Milton agreed, "I'll arrange for to to be brought home. What about the four of you? Would anyone else like to quit?"

"Sir, I have family at home that needs takin' care of," Johnny said, "I ain't gonna let a little scare stop me."

"Pfft, come this far only to quit?" Quinn scoffed, "Yeah, no thanks."

"Hey, I've come this far," Duncan smiled, "I'm not turning back now."

"Yeah," Gwen nodded, "I... I think the worst is over. I'm in."

"Good," Milton grinned, "Then the show will go on!"

The contestants all cheered.

"You ruined everything," Chris mumbled.

"Oh yeah. What are you going to do with this asshole?" Duncan demanded.

"Oh, yes. Remember those two choppers I mentioned? One is for us, one is a police chopper. Guess which one he gets to ride in."

"Good," Gwen smiled, "but first-"

Gwen pulle her arm back, and slugged Chris in the face.

"That was for trying to get us all killed!"

Duncan shrugged, and followed suit, hiring Chris in the jaw.

Milton, amused, watched as everyone took a turn hitting Chris, ending with Izzy kicking him in the groin.

"Well, that settles that, then," Milton shrugged, "come on, let's get going."

~o.0.o~

Half an hour later, and everyone was in Milton's chopper, flying to who-knows-where. Gwen, a bout of curiosity overtaking her, got up, and sat across from Milton.

"Oh, it's you," Milton huffed, "what do you want?"

"Hi," Gwen frowned, "I was just wondering... do you know anything about the history of Specter Island?"

Milton let out a snort, then nodded.

"More than I'd like. I used to be good friends with Chris' father," Milton explained.

"Then... Would you happen to know this man?"

Gwen pulled out the photo from earlier, an handed it to Milton. The man examined it for a moment before smiling.

"This takes me back," he said, "that must be Adrian! He was one of the most popular workers on the island- he used to put on that it to celebrate Chris' birthday. I only met him a few times, but he was a good man. He had lost a lot of family from what I heard- he was always sympathetic to people who had suffered losses in their life too."

"What happened to him?" Milton's expression suddenly turned grim, and he hesitated before answering.

"There was a fire," he explained, "on one of Chris' birthdays. He and a few other scientests were trapped and killed. That island has a history of fires, you know. That's how Chris' dad and little sister, Via, died."

"Really? Was there an accident?" Gwen asked.

"Hard to say," Milton admitted, "some say Leonard set the fire himself, that he wanted to cover something up. But that's just speculation-"

"Sir," one of the pilots said from the fromt, "we're nearing the landing pad."

"Ah, good," Milton grinned, "attention, everyone! Welcome to Paradise Islands!"