Joey's POV
Joey: "We can go home now!"
The crown of oblivion was lying on the steps next to the sorceress's dead body. I cautiously brought my hand over to pick it up, but the moment my fingertips brushed it, the sorceress jumped up, wielding a knife. My scream of fear transforms into pain as she stabs me in the chest.
We collapse to the floor in a heap, as Andrea and Tyler watch helplessly i the back.
The sorceress stabs me one more time, this time through the heart, and I feel my life slowly draining away as my eyes close...
I wake up with a start and see a bridge with an arch replicating a devil.
Am I in hell?
Through the mist and fog, I spot a strange building which looks like a church, and I can make out the faint outline of two figures. I hurry towards them, hoping they can give me the answers I so desperately need.
A blonde woman and an Asian man stand there as if expecting my arrival.
"I have a way for you to get back," speaks the blonde woman. "But, your friends will need to die."
ShaneAndreaJustineGlozellSierraMattTimothyLeleLaurenJesseDestormLizaTanaGabbieAlex
So many people had already died because of me.
"Yeah, but they never got a second chance to survive, did they?" says a cruel voice in the back of Joey's mind. "If they were given this opportunity, they would all do it in a heartbeat and make sure you were the one they sacrifice first."
She passes me a knife, and the realisation hits on how serious signing this contract will be.
"This contract binds you to Everlock. Save the town and you will return to the living. Fail, and be lost among the dead forever."
Taking the knife, I slice my left palm in one quick motion, letting out a gasp of pain. I bring my hand into a fist, letting the blood drip onto the document and sign my name.
As I write the last letter, the church evaporates in smoke around me and the last thing I see is the blonde woman grinning at me, looking similar to the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland.
I blink as my eyes adjust to the sunlight, as I now sit in a car, contract in the backseat. "Where's the key- oh." I hold up my left hand, which the keys had magically made their way to.
I examine my palm to see no cuts or scars showing the legally binding act I had committed.
I turn the key in the ignition as the engine comes to life with a roar and turn the stereo on. 'Sympathy for the Devil' by The Rolling Stones plays as I drive down the road towards the Town of Everlock. Down the road, I spot a mailbox and stamp my foot on the brake.
I sit there for a minute, pondering which nine friends I want to bring on this mission. I grab a pen and start to write down names, crossing some out and replacing them, before finally making up my mind.
I write out a long, detailed letter, making sure I explicitly state how dangerous the mission was, and address it to my friends.
I slot the letters through the mailbox and continue driving down the path to Everlock.
Y/N's POV
I do my signature sign-off and remove my camera from the tripod. I sigh in relief as I review the last bit of footage. I had already filmed it six times and I was exhausted. I lay down and shut my eyes. I'd just sleep for 20 minutes...
I jumped out of bed with a start as my ringtone blared out of my phone. I'd been asleep for five hours. I hastily grab my phone and slide to answer as my best friend, Rosanna Pansino's, cheerful voice filled my ear.
"Hey, Ro!!" I say, attempting to stifle a yawn. "Y/N, it's 4 PM, did you pull an all-nighter again?" she scolds. "...No."
I hear a second voice, undeniably the voice of Matthew Pattrick, as Ro connects us to a three-way call. "She pulled an all-nighter and fell asleep in the middle of the day again," she says.
"Hello, my favourite theorist, Rosanna is spreading this fake news faster than she spreads icing on cake! She's lying." I yawn again, proving Rosanna's story.
"I swear, one of these days Ro and I are going to have to pin you down and scream at you to fall asleep at 11 PM for once. You'll see how drastic your life changes," laughs Matpat.
We three had been friends for years. They were the ones that had introduced me to YouTube as a way to pay rent and I am forever grateful for them. We often thought of ourselves as siblings who had been separated at birth.
"Wait, but what if she tricks us into pulling an all-nighter too!" I picture Rosanna's eyes widening as she says this and I burst into laughter.
Our conversation is interrupted by a sharp knock at my door. "One second, guys, I'll be right back." I place my phone down.
I pull open my front door and a Mailman stands holding a letter. "To Ms L/N." He passes it into my outstretched hand before walking away.
I examine the letter to see the familiar signature of another old friend of mine, Joey Graceffa. He had mysteriously disappeared, not just from YouTube, but seemingly off the face of the earth, so this was quite a shock.
I cautiously looked around before pulling my front door shut and locking it tight.
I run back to my phone and place it on speaker. "I just got a letter addressed to me from Joey Graceffa."
Rosanna gasps on the other line. "Yeah, that's why I wanted to call you! Matpat and I received one too and we assumed you'd get one too."
"Shall we read it together?" suggests Matpat.
Third Person POV
🎵 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste" 🎵
🎵"I've been around for a long, long year. Stole many a man's soul and faith" 🎵
"I have a letter for you," says the Mailman, handing Nikita Dragun a letter. "Bitch, where's my burger, I did not order this," she replies, as the Mailman looks on in confusion.
🎵"I was 'round when Jesus Christ, had his moment of doubt and pain" 🎵
"My friends, I'm going on an extraordinary adventure, and I'm in need of your help, and so are hundreds of others," says Y/N L/N. "Oh, my Gosh, this sounds fun!" exclaims Matpat.
🎵"Made damn sure that Pilate, washed his hands and sealed his fate" 🎵
"This is not an invitation to a ball or a dinner party. It's an invitation to embark on a dangerous mission. Okay! That's me!" reads Roi Fabito as he cleans his teeth.
🎵 "Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name" 🎵
"It may sound impossible, but there's a town trapped in the 1970s, and very soon everyone in it will be dead unless we do something about it," reads Teala Dunn.
🎵 "But what's puzzlin' you is the nature of my game" 🎵
"There's a dark séance that will take us back in time, but for it to work you must choose a personality reminiscent of that era, and dress like them," says JC Caylen.
🎵 "Stuck around St. Petersburg, when I saw it was a time for change" 🎵
"Remember, nothing from the modern world can come with you. Can I bring my gloss though?" asks Manny.
🎵 "Killed the Tsar and his ministers, Anastasia screamed in vain" 🎵
"The people of Everlock will know their role and their place but you will be operating without knowledge or understanding of what's to come," states Safiya Nygaard.
🎵 "I rode a tank, held a general's rank" 🎵
"This Friday the 13th, the doorway to Everlock will be open and we will only have that one night..." reads Roi as he stops paying attention to cleaning his teeth and starts cleaning his forehead instead.
🎵 "When the blitzkrieg raged, and the bodies stank" 🎵
"To complete our mission. Joey. Don't worry, Joey. We're on the way," confirms Rosanna Pansino, as both Matpat and Y/N say their goodbyes to get dressed up in the persona Joey Graceffa had left for them on the back of the cards.
🎵 "Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name" 🎵
Y/N's POV
I examine my outfit in the mirror as my phone rings out again, this time from Colleen Ballinger. When I pick up, she sounds out of breath. "Did you receive a letter from Joey?" she pants.
"Yeah, I did, I've just gotten changed into my Rock Star outfit!"
"Okay, thank god! I was worried I'd be by myself. I'm dressed up as the Disco Dancer. I'll see you tonight, Manny's picking up Teala and me."
I hang up and text Rosanna, Matpat and I's group chat, asking if they could give me a ride.
Your outfit is above. You can change the outfit if you'd like, but this is how I envisioned it.
As I finish the final touches to my makeup, I hear a car horn. I look outside my window and both Matpat and Ro wave at me through the window. I step outside and lock up, but I have a weird feeling I won't be seeing my house for a very long time.
"You look fabulous!" they call out as I walk up to the car. I give them a little spin before bursting into laughter and sitting up in the front next to Matpat. "Wow, you're such a passenger princess," jokes Matpat. He scans the address that Joey had given us on the card and we take off to save the Town of Everlock.
~
First to arrive is Teala Dunn, wearing a bronze-metallic jumpsuit, her dark hair flowing down her shoulders, and beautiful long-hooped earrings. Her bright pink lipstick creates a beautiful contrast. She is the Super Spy.
🎵 "Oh, what's puzzlin' you is the nature of my game" 🎵
Next is Colleen Ballinger, wearing a glittery two-piece, with a colourful dark fur coat. She has a long necklace which floats down to her chest and two matching gold earrings. She is the Disco Dancer.
🎵 "I watched with glee while your kings and queens fought for decades, for the gods they made" 🎵
Manny Mua is the Record Producer with his framed glasses, green jumpsuit, light green polo shirt, and his stunning gold jewellery.
🎵 "I shouted out who killed the Kennedy's" 🎵
JC Caylen hops off his skateboard. The Hippie's hair is wild and free, as he wears blue jeans and sports a cream-coloured jacket with red flower patterns, accompanied by a white shirt underneath.
🎵 "When after all, it was you and me" 🎵
Roi Fabian, the Daredevil, arrives on a motorcycle. He wears white-coloured pants, a stringy red jacket, accompanied by stars, and a blue-and-white patterned collar.
🎵 "Let me please introduce myself" 🎵
Nikita Dragun looks like Barbie as she skates in on her white rollerblades, with hot-pink wheels. Well, everything about the Troublemaker screams pink, from her headband which sits perfectly on top of her pristine blonde wig, to her pink dress which highlights her cleavage.
🎵 "I'm a man of wealth and taste" 🎵
The Detective, Matthew Patrick, which role fits him perfectly, gets out of the driver's seat sporting an orange leather jacket, accompanied by a cream-coloured shirt with a yellow tie, green checkered pants, and orange-tinted sunglasses. Attached to his hip is a Detective badge you know he will never stop flaunting.
🎵 "And I laid traps for troubadours" 🎵
Y/N L/N gets out of the passenger seat wearing a black metallic catsuit with silver sleeves, which match her belt and high heels. Her earrings float down to her silver collar as her hair cascades down her back in waves. She is the Rockstar.
🎵 "Who get killed before the reach Bombay" 🎵
Rosanna Pansino, getting out of the backseat, wears a yellow buret, green coat, yellow stockings, and blue plaid dress, and looks like a cinnamon roll. She portrays the Jetsetter.
🎵 "Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name" 🎵
Lastly, we have Safiya Nygaard who has ridden in on her bicycle. She wears a rust-coloured jacket, a red turtleneck with a singular white stripe across her chest, blue jeans and tinted sunglasses. She is the Investigative Reporter.
🎵 "But what's puzzlin' you is the nature of my game" 🎵
~
We're the last ones to make it to the place and I hug Colleen and Safiya, two of my best friends. I go up and introduce myself to everyone as they tell me their names and their personas. We mingle and play a few icebreaker games before we realise the sun was now setting and Joey was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Joey?" asks MatPat. "I haven't seen him in a while, like, a couple of months," says Rosanna.
Manny: "We're literally in the middle of nowhere and it's dark and we are literally by a fire and, we're waiting for like 5 hours here and I'm like, honey, that's just bad hosting."
"I thought this was just a collab," says Colleen and everyone starts laughing.
Colleen: "I thought a mission in the '70s was just like a really cool youtube video idea I didn't realise it was a full-on mission, in the '70s. At least I'm with Y/N."
"Why did he have us meet him here, is this the town?" asks Colleen, pointing down at the fire.
"This is clearly not the town," chuckles Matpat. "Is this a prank, or something? Are we on a tv show?" I question.
Safiya: "The letter from Joey said that there was a town stuck in the 1970s that we had to save. Now I love the 1970s."
"I'm here to see if we can actually time travel," explains Safiya. I nod in agreement. "Valid."
Y/N: " I mean it would be cool if we could actually time travel. As a little kid, I have always wanted to so, this is like a dream come true."
After we wait a bit longer, I open my mouth to tell Matpat and Ro we should start up the car to leave when we hear footsteps and Joey Graceffa walks up to us, a wide grin on his face.
"You guys came!" he calls out. "Joey, there you are!" everyone says.
I go up to Joey and I pull him into a huge bear hug and smile as I feel him reciprocate it. "Oh, my gosh, Joey where were you? I missed you so much!"
"It's a long story," replies Joey. "I didn't know if you guys were going to come or not!"
"We've been waiting here for 5 hours!" laughs Nikita.
"We've been really worried about you," adds Safiya. "So tell us about this town," says MatPat, always wanting to get right down to business. "So, I need your help. I don't know much about how to get there but I was given this and we need to save this town." Joey holds up a box which has weird symbols covering it.
Joey: "So I have a mission. I need to save this town if I want to come back to life. And, if that requires my friends possibly putting themselves into danger, it's what I have to do."
"Let's open it," says JC. We open the box and inside is a scroll and some salt. Joey takes out a scroll and passes it to Safiya. Then he takes out some salt which according to Nikita "smells expensive."
"Alright, I've got the instructions. It says "Those who desire to go back in time and enter the Town of Everlock must be inhabited by a spirit that once lived there"."
I freeze. "Wait, what?"
MatPat: "All this hoodoo voodoo witchcraft nonsense, not up my alley."
Manny: "I was like, I've had a tapeworm, I've had things living in me before, it's not that bad."
"You guys, I think this is going to be fun!" says Nikita. Everyone starts laughing at her optimism.
"Think of the consequences," warns Teala. "Ok, guys, come on, we don't have much time," urges Joey.
"Oh ok, sorry," Ro answers, sweetly.
Safiya: "It says we have to make a circle of salt and put these five crystals at the head of the circle, hold hands and chant something."
I am holding hands with Colleen and Manny and I feel a variety of emotions, but the main one is excitement. I feel Colleen squeeze my hand and I see my expression reflected on her face. "From across the veil of death, I request your presence, so I might make wrong things right. Enter into that I might see the doorway to Everlock," chants Joey.
As the words leave Joey's mouth, a trail of green mist comes up from the fireplace. It heads towards Colleen, going through her eyes and mouth and she lets out a scream of horror.
Once it goes through me, it just feels hot and tingly, but the shock makes me scream too. The sound of all our screams together is deafening, and I cover my ears with my hands and wait for the mist to finish entering everyone.
Eventually, the green mist fades away and we all stop screaming, our throats raw. Colleen, Rosanna and I start coughing.
MatPat: "It wasn't bad. It was warm... and tingly."
In the distance, I spot something. "Guys, look, over there!" I point at a bridge where lights start appearing, one by one. "No way," says Roi.
Safiya: "So in the distance, we see this bridge and an arch which says 'Town of Everlock'. So, that seems like where we should go."
Y/N: "We all walk towards the arch and there is a big red curtain covering the entrance. We are about to enter when a clown burst through."
A clown pops up from the curtains and everyone starts screaming, backing away. Colleen covers her mouth and I cling to Matpat's arm. He doesn't seem at all fazed, more fascinated.
Y/N: "I'm terrified of clowns."
"It's your lucky day because the carnival's in town!" the clown announces, laughing gleefully.
Joey: "I can deal with vampires, I can deal with werewolves and all sorts of things. But clowns? Why has it got to be clowns?"
Colleen: "Are clowns like anyone's thing, like, no one likes clowns."
MatPat: "I find clowns delightful."
"We have a strongman, a snake woman, dolls with knives! It's like Bloody Christmas every day!" chuckles the clown.
Everyone laughs along, nervously.
"We will be friends soon. I've got a good feeling about that. Enjoy the ride!" The clown pulls back the curtain.
"Thank you," I say, as I link arms with Matpat and Rosanna and we make our way into the Town of Everlock.