At the End of the World

**At the End of the World** is the twelfth and final episode of Season 4 and the forty-eighth episode of Escape the Night.

## Episode Description

The Curator, with the mind of the murderous Theodosia, has lied to us, decieved us and betrayed us all. It's up to the survivors to make it through the Curator's latest exhibit and put an end to her evil, once and for all. However, how will our survivors escape the night to honor the fallen? It's up to them to decide. One last chapter, four All Stars, and a path that will lead us to one final season.

## Episode Summary

### Episode 12

Time is on the clock, and it is slowly running out...

The four All-Stars are chased out of the museum, and Valeria and Payton are separated from Alexander and Monica, the latter escaping to the prehistoric exhibit, where they then got followed by a vampire. After the duo hid, Monica threw the remaining blood she had from Henri at the vampire, before a massive gingerbread man appeared, surprising the duo. Monica then grabbed a branch and killed the vampire, the creature dissolving into ashes, as Alexander then discharged a firework that destroyed the cookie man. The duo then discovered a scroll that mentioned destroying and trapping the Curator's latest exhibit, before weakening her powers, only if they can collect eleven artifacts to cast the spell around Pandora's Box. They then studied a written riddle that led them to deduce that they needed an egg. The duo then combined their efforts and get an egg from the nest as well a riddle note that told them to find a French flag in the French Revolution Exhibit.

Meanwhile, Valeria and Payton manage to flee to the Ancient Chinese exhibit's gardens, where a clown awaited them. However, Payton is able to distract the clown while Valeria slew the clown, before the two girls then looked around, discovering a scroll that mentioned destroying and trapping the Curator's latest exhibit, before weakening her powers, only if they can collect eleven artifacts to cast the spell around Pandora's Box. The two women then read their first riddle and deduce that they were looking for a Chinese gong, before they then headed to the Greek statue gardens on their next riddle's information. After the duo finds a laurel wreath perched on a statue's head, they get attacked by an army of small gingerbread people. After Valeria sliced the gingerbread king in half per Payton's suggestion, the rest of the army fled, before Payton and Valeria read their next riddle, which led them to the Arabian exhibit. Payton and Val then split to look for the teapot that they seek, before Valeria faced off against a vampire, killing her, before she grabbed the required teapot and fled. After Payton is able to take down a witch with a clever reflection of her spell, the girls headed to the Indian exhibit on their next riddle's suggestion.

Simultaneously, Alexander and Monica headed to the French exhibition, where they then saw the French flag on the Eiffel Tower, before they heard the howl of a werewolf. Alexander then fought against the werewolf in his attempts to tame him, while Monica used her cheerleading skills and finesse to climb the Tower. Monica then grabbed the flag and a note, before Alexander wounds the canine, and he then humanely killed the wounded werewolf out of mercy. Their next riddle then hinted at them to head to the Cold War exhibit, prompting them to go there, as they then encounter a lone undead zombie. Monica then shoots the zombie down as Alexander then found the shell of a grenade, as well a riddle that led the duo to the Indian exhibit. There, Alexander and Monica reunited with Valeria and Payton, before a witch appeared, dropping bottles and brews on the guests. As zombies arrived on the scene, Monica shot down the zombies while Valeria disarmed the witch, while Alexander and Payton found Garuda's corpse and removed his mask. They then found a riddle that led them to the swinging sixties festival. As they got there, they encountered a wave of vampires, clowns, werewolves and the abandoned gingerbread army, before the four guests then started fighting back.

Alexander is then thrown into a festival stall in midst of his fighting, where he and Payton managed to find a toy rocket, which led them to the Spanish Inquisition part of the Renaissance exhibit. Monica then finds a silver cross in the Bible in the church exhibit, before they were required to split off once again to get the final two artifacts from Caesar and Cleopatra's corpses. Payton and Valeria then manage to get Cleopatra's crown, and they fight off the werewolves with Winchester's help, who had arrived on the scene after losing the All Stars. In the meantime, Alexander and Monica were followed by a car full of clowns, before Monica then shot the tires, causing the car to explode. The two then searched the dead Emperor, before finding his ring, which prompted Monica to proclaim Alexander as the new Emperor of Rome. After all the exhibit adventures, the four then regrouped in the museum's foyer and found Pandora's Box before placing their collected eleven items before the box, and speaking the incantation needed to stop the evil of the Museum. The Museum was then restored, a million voices and volts of electricity and power rolling over the museum, before the All Stars then saw the newest exhibit, the monster exhibit, displaying all the monsters they had faced that night.

Soon after, Winchester is then taken hostage by the Curator, before Alexander, Monica and Valeria attacked the Curator, freeing Winchester with a neck injury under Payton's care. Despite the Curator's threats and warning as she choked and started to cough blood, Valeria then dealt the finishing blow by stabbing the Curator in the heart, for her brother from another family, Christopher, while Monica shot the Curator. As the Curator passed away, the guests then said their goodbyes to their friends, while Winchester headed down to the Curator's basement, soon searching for what he needed to find. He then looked around, the handkerchief wrapped around his neck injury, before he then saw a sleek black chest. He then opened a chest and gasped when he saw what was inside, green illuminating his face. He then lifted the cosmic sphere, the green orb suspended in a golden cage, and saw the power within. He then put the sphere in his bag, before he then leaned over and picked up the other thing inside the chest, the Soul Jar. He then saw the faces of his friends, and others he did not know by look. Jordan then smiled looking at them, as he then took the Soul Jar, and carried it out of the Curator's basement, so they wouldn't be trapped anymore. In the foyer, Winchester then revealed the Soul Jar to the four survivors, before the four then as one lifted the lid of their Jar, releasing the trapped souls and sending them to a peaceful afterlife.

Jordan then revealed the cosmic sphere, before the guests agreed it was finally time to go home. The five fighters then headed to the museum entrance's courtyard, where Winchester then made a portal with the sphere, and the survivors then sighed, being able to go home at least. The guests then left, before Winchester and Alexander perched on Lightning looked one last time at the paned windows of the Museum, before they then made their departure from the Museum. They then arrived back in a forest, before the portal then closed behind them. After they realized they had arrived back in Central Park, New York City, Winchester then led the four survivors through the forest, before he then finally exited the forest, and saw what he did not expect. Once the guests are able to walk out of the dark forest, they then saw something that was unexpected, unthinkable, and devastating. The world was on fire, as a fiery orange hue filled the world's sky, and charred buildings and torched streets was all they could see, even beyond the horizon. Smoke emitted from the world, as buildings burnt, and streets were shattered. They then realized something might've gone wrong...

Whatever had happened here, there was no world for them to go back to.

### Epilogue

The All-Stars had believed that they could make it out, but they didn’t. It was only the beginning.

As Valeria looked around the burning world, she reflected on what could have been, if she made it out. *She could’ve walked into the sunlight, feeling the light on her skin for what felt like the first. She could’ve reunited with her friends like Celine, Luke, Sav, and begun her adjustment to the modern world with the other survivors. She could’ve placed marigolds at her brother and sister's memorials, experienced rollercoasters, gotten an upgraded motorcycle, visited the Stonewall Inn, attended a pride parade, and more, always wanting to try something new every day she could’ve. She could’ve toured Route 66 on her motorcycle, worked odd-jobs across the country until she was able to afford to buy Salem's land, at a reduced price since that attack in 1925. The first thing she could’ve done was to tear the Pierre mansion down, closing her past behind her. She could’ve rebuilt the land and created a flourishing city, where at risk youths were welcomed. She could’ve made a large field for Alex's horse, Lightning, to roam around in, and planted more trees by the memorial lake for everyone who had died across all the nights. She could’ve attended Luke and Savannah Nocells’ vow renewal as a bridesmaid, being able to see the wedding she could not originally see. She could’ve built "Carpenter's Sanctuary" in the town, a training academy for the AEA and headquarters for the secret group. She had hoped to adopt two boys: Christopher and Alexander. She could’ve supported her sons, determined to be a better parent than Henri, supporting her sons’ beliefs in themselves, unlike Henri had done to her.* Even if her life was a series of ups and downs, she would’ve always kept pushing. She could’ve lived to the full she said to herself, but there was no world to go back to.

Payton looked to be on the verge of collapse as she stared at what remained of the world, the sky a fiery orange color. *She could've found her sister in the city of Chicago, eventually discovering that she had died in a battle that had taken causalities, including her sister. She could've met her sister's boyfriend and the son they had birthed, heard what had happened, with her sister dying a hero. Despite all the support from Christopher Fernandez and his son and the Museum crew, Payton would have not been able to cope with her losses for a very, very long time. Against the others' wishes, she eventually would've turned to alcohol. The others would've eventually helped her stop the long hard battle with her addictions, and Payton would've then started to heal more when she then moved to live with Fernandez in Chicago, where he would look after her. She then would've slowly got over her loss, step by step, and watching young Phoenix thrive with Christopher Fernandez, her brother in law, if her sister ever lived to marry him.* But she instead collapsed to her knees, her face filled with an insufferable pain in her. Christopher’s crow was perched on her shoulder, trying to console her. Now that she has survived, and with the world burning, was there even a family she could even go back to anyway?

Monica gasped at what she could see for miles and miles, holding herself close as tears started to fall from her eyes. *She could've gathered with all of the survivors of Charlie Glitter's party for a dinner, remembering the fallen from the party. She could've reunited with her wife, and traveled with her to Argentina where the wedded couple could've met with her family and explored the wonders of the country. She could've worked at and supported her wife's foundation that was so adaptly named after her and making it thrive further to help more troubled youth, while she enjoyed living with Celine in her ranch. She would've gone around the world with her old and new friends, going to the various destinations and places to see more of the world, and lived the life she wanted it to be.* But that life was gone as she couldn't say anymore from her lips. She stared mournfully as she saw what was nothing but what laid before her, ashes, flames and ruins.

Alexander pulled off his cowboy hat, his brown eyes growing desolate and filling with tears at what he was seeing. This was a future he did not want to come to. *He could’ve gone to Salem with his sister from another family, Valeria, and they could’ve made the place thrive. He could’ve gotten a ranch on the lands of Salem, where he would enjoy his adventures with his horse buddy Lightning, and he could’ve gone on adventures with his friends around the world. He could’ve erected a memorial for the fallen people from Jordan Carpenter and Charlie Glitter’s parties, the Salem festival and the murderous Museum of the Dead. He could've rode the horses of Salem with Valeria, taught how to fight and survive at the AEA training academy, and continued his daredevil ambitions, rolling out stunts like there could've been no tomorrow. Would've he seen Gaston? Fate can only tell.* There at the edge of the burning world, Alexander then breaks down on the spot, holding the reins of Lightning’s gear tightly, as bitter tears poured from his eyes.

Jordan Winchester looked on at the burning world, then recalling how Savannah had mentioned stories of her marrying Luke in the year of 2020, and he soon realized the Against Evil Allegiance's mistake. The Alliance had made the choice that broke the timeline, and caused what would be the world's endgame. Without Savannah and Luke in 1925, Charlie would never have been born, and Celine would've not made it to his party in that fateful night that he died in. Celine would've not had the chance to protect Valeria from getting killed by the Krampus, and Valeria would've not been there to make that fateful shot that cost her life. The Wraith had arisen, and destroyed Salem and the world. The Allegiance had played with fate too much, and the price was insufferable. With a fiery sky and an ashened landscape for miles and miles to be seen, the survivors of the Museum of the Dead had came to the endgame for the world.

...There was no world to go back to.

### Meanwhile, in the River Styx

Far away, in the River Styx, Arthur Rove, Silvano Lupo and Savannah Nocells woke up here, sent away to the river by the malicious Curator.

They then looked around the demonic-like riverside world, seeing what they were seeing. Then the ever-thinking Investigative Reporter realized that they were in the River Styx, the entranceway to the Netherworld, Hell, the Land of the Dead, Inferno, The Abyss, Tartarus, The Abode of the Damned, the Underworld. Here, the three Museum of the Dead guardian angels then looked for a way out, before the Secret Agent then found a portal that could be the way to their escape. The trio then decided that it was worth the risk, as they then left Hell behind, only to see the burning world. Orange fire danced on the ocean's horizon, the water a pale orange under the flaming orange sky. The trio looked on in disbelief, before Savannah inspected the riversides and the growth of plants in the muddy dirt, the Voodoo Priestess then identifying their location to be in the Mississippi Delta, the presumed entranceway to Hell itself per beliefs. Savannah then told them that they had another challenge ahead of them, and that they needed to get back to the Allegiance's headquarters in New York, as fast as they could.

They were in the endgame now.

## Characters

* Monica Castillo
* Payton Hawthorne
* Valeria Pierre
* Alexander Boucher
* Jordan Winchester
* The Curator
* Hasuro Johnson
* Samantha Goodwin
* Angelica Macerno
* Jayce Foster
* Mason DuBray
* Jennifer Morgan
* Katelyn Steele
* Marinette Bourgeois
* Agnieszka Alicja
* Gaston Silk
* Arthur Rove
* Savannah Nocells
* Silvano Lupo

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