Stage 7

**Stage 7** is the eighth (or seventh if you do not count the Tutorial level) and penultimate Stage of the Main Story. This Stage is a follow-up of Stage 6 and takes place in a dangerous, cursed town that’s been taken over by a mysterious sorcerer who plans to destroy the world in a different way. This gives way to a volcanic place halfway through the Stage. It lies east of Stage 6 and very far ahead from Stage 8. It is also the last Stage if the player does not collect all Power Gems or has skipped any levels. In addition, completing Stage 7 unlocks the Golden Challenges. The boss of this Stage is MURDOCH MECH MAYHEM.

## Overview

Stage 7 is more than a medley of a cursed town and a volcanic realm combined. It also holds a few factories in some parts of Stage 7, and some parts take place in the sky as a way to evade from the dangers of the cursed town. By the time the player reaches the halfway mark in this Stage, the levels transition into lava-themed areas that have been taken by an evil wizard named Murdoch. In the first half of this Stage, it takes place in a cursed town that is being invaded and destroyed by a wizard named Murdoch. In the second half however, the Stage later shifts to a volcanic realm under the name "MURDOCH MAGMA MOUNTAINS", to which the boss is fought in the end. Defeating the boss will cause the destroyed city to be restored back to its former beauty.

## Plot

After the incidents from the previous Stage, specifically where the Stormy FloodMan was destroyed, the player continues into a cursed town that has been destroyed and taken over by an evil wizard commanded by the same mysterious executive who caused all of this (found in the first half of Stage 7). The mysterious businessman eventually powers up an evil wizard named Murdoch, where he causes havoc over the once-beautiful town into his own image.

After reaching level 7-3, Murdoch suddenly appears in the player's view. The player receives a strange amount of immediate epilepsy as the evil wizard appears, causing flashing lights to occur. Murdoch laughs evilly as he vanishes into his base, which will be later seen in level 7-4 and 7-5. The latter part transitions into a volcano, which houses Murdoch.

After reaching level 7-6, Murdoch appears once again, this time, inside the volcano (found in the second half of Stage 7). He starts to summon a ogre-like mechanical and then fuses himself, making the mech extremely strong with the power of Murdoch. That mech serves as the seventh boss of the game, and is named the "MURDOCH MECH MAYHEM". It appears to be a large mechanical monstrosity that has the appearance of a humanoid, specifically Murdoch. The player must destroy its core (as it is made up molten lava; this is what makes up for the "heart" of the insatiable interior of the mech) and defeat Murdoch in order to power him down.

If the player possesses all Power Gems and clears every level through level 7-6, they will be able to defeat Murdoch and his fused MURDOCH MECH MAYHEM. The former powers down and falls with no signs of life remaining, while the latter suffers a huge explosion, destroying it. The mysterious businessman, seeing the destroyed Murdoch and his mech, seeks revenge again and proceeds to his latest base, the Darkness Corporation. This causes the events of the final main Stage of the game to start, and to a later extent, the true confrontation with the same mysterious businessman who appeared in the previous Stages.

## Levels

**NOTE: Bold** indicates that the level contains a boss battle.

## Trivia

* This is the only stage to have a song composed by D\_AAN, DM Ashura, and WONDERTRAVELER PROJECT. The latter remix was named "Achluophobia VII".
	+ The "VII" in "Achluophobia VII" refers to the seventh stage of the game, as the former means seven in Roman numerals.
	+ "Achluophobia" could refer to the fear of the dark, as it is an excessive and irrational fear of darkness or the night, hence the scenery of Stage 7.
* Before the new version of The One Billion Survivor, the song was formerly a remix by Jonny Atma, under the name GaMetal.
* Before version 2.17.0, it was composed by Cesar The Sanchez before the change occured.
* This was also the last Stage before version 1.07 arrived.
* The evil cackles heard in Pump It Up Mobile, specifically MURDOCH by WONDERTRAVLER PROJECT are nowhere to be heard in the main levels of Stage 7 of The One Billion Survivor, although the boss theme (level 7-6) would retain the evil cackles, as well as the next stage.
* As with Stage 6, it was added in version 1.02.
* If all Power Gems aren't collected or if any Stages were skipped, Stage 7 would be the last Stage with such conditions. Beating that Stage will cause eerie music to play as the same boss appears again, saying that the player can't fully defeat him until they have enough Power Gems collected while evilly laughing. The eerie music then shifts to a dark cover of "Murdoch" by Wondertraveler Project with aspects of "Chaos Again" by NAOKI UNDERGROUND -Ω- from Pump It Up Phoenix.
* Beating this stage will cause the Golden Challenges to be unlocked.
* There were recent changes in Stage 7, most of the features were removed from the old version of The One Billion Survivor.
	+ Before version 1.07, the Stage used "FFFFF" by Doin as the dance battle song for Stage 7. This was moved to Stage 8 while a new song is being prepared.
	+ The lyrics could only be unlocked after all the Fright Zone Challenges have been completed before the new version was being developed.