When Jack was once again woken up by the lights turning on, he felt a tinge of sadness when he saw PJ sleeping on what used to be Nate's bed. The covers were a dark forest green with light blue instead of the plain black that Nate had. His guitar was left neglected in the corner like a broken toy.

Jack jumped in surprise when he felt a hand touch the back of his shoulder lightly, relaxing when he realized that it was only Mark. His gaze followed Jack's to the guitar, seeming to think the same thing Jack was.

What everyone was thinking.

"So, the man that was speaking yesterday...who was he?" PJ spoke up.

"Hans Showmaster, they guy that runs this show." Felix growled.

"He talks to us and watches us through that thing." Mark pointed to a black box up in the corner.

"Why don't we tear it down?" Jack wondered, standing up out of bed and reaching towards the device.

"Jack-"

Everyone's warnings came too late.

Jack yelled in pain as the device sent an electrical charge through him, making his insides burn and hair stand on end.

Mark had to pry his partially melted fingers off and somewhat drag him back to his bed as his muscles spasmed, his fist uncontrollably swinging out and hitting Dan in the face.

Dan stumbled back in surprise, Arin catching him to keep from falling onto the floor.

"S-Sorry." Jack choked out as he managed to regain control of his limbs. Everything still burned, but at least he was still alive. If Mark hadn't moved him, his heart would've stopped.

"It's okay, just don't scare me like that." Dan attempted a reassuring smile, which ended up looking more like a pained grimace as he pressed a hand to his cheek where a dark blue and purple bruise was beginning to form.

"Alright, we're going to have some change of plans due to the demands of fans."

Everyone jumped slightly in surprise when Hans' voice came through the device.

"Arin, you'll probably be happy about this. Danny will be a new contestant." Hans announced.

The elevator came down, revealing a confused Danny. His chocolate brown eyes lit up his pale, slightly scarred face when his gaze landed on Arin. The two ran towards each other, engulfing each other with warm embraces, tears, and comforting words.

"And since the number's uneven and I don't have the time to find someone new before the finale, I brought Nate back."

Nate was next to come down the elevator, all evidence of being burned by lasers gone. The group welcomed him back enthusiastically, bombarding him with questions of what happened. Matt apologized a billion times, Nate promising that he was fine every time.

"So what happened?" Jack prompted.

"One minute I was behind Matt, then the position of the laser wall shifted lower as I tried to slide underneath it. One of the lasers left a lovely reminder of what happened on my chest." Nate lifted his shirt up to reveal the long red scar left by the laser on his chest.

"I was going to leave him dead and bring him back for the finale, but the fans were impatient. You're very well liked for a small band." Hans admitted.

"They're my family and I wouldn't have it any other way." Nate stated proudly.

"Whatever. Jack, Mark, you two are up again. You two are very popular, as well as Felix." Hans mused as Mark and Jack stepped onto the elevator that took them up to their next race.

This time, there was no course, only a countless amount of targets in front of them.

"For this challenge, you will throw your head and try to hit as many targets as possible. The winner gets to see their girlfriend for one minute." Hans declared.

"Begin." He commanded, starting the challenge.

Fueled with determination to see their girlfriends, both stayed neck in neck as they each hit a target before having their head roll back to them. Jack's head was pounding as if he had been smacking a brick wall repeatedly, but he pushed the pain to the side. He wanted, no, needed to hold Signe, even if it would be for just a minute.

There were only three targets left now and Mark was falling behind by two. Jack had already knocked one down and was about to knock down the last two, but he hesitated. Mark had been here for god knows how long, meaning that it could have been years since he's held Amy in his arms.

For him, it had only been a week at the most.

Jack threw his head, purposefully missing the target he was aiming for. Mark seemed to notice, his eyes shining with gratitude as he took down the last two targets.

"Congratulations Mark! Bring Amy out!" Hans commanded someone. A black suited guard escorted Amy out, watching expressionlessly as Amy ran towards Mark, practically collapsing into his arms. Neither of them spoke for a moment as they held each other in their arms, content for the first time in a long time.

"I love you, so so much." Amy whispered to Mark, their heads bowed so their foreheads were touching. Tears were streaking down their faces, leaving clear droplets on the black floor that glittered like stars in the lights.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to say I love you too." Mark hiccuped with a small smile.

"Times up!" The guard stated as he marched towards Amy.

"Smile always." Amy whispered as she wiped away one of Mark's tears with her thumb before the guard yanked her away.

"Stay strong!" Mark called out after her before she disappeared from view. Jack and Mark both walked back to the elevator that took them down to their room.

"What happened? You look a lot more cheerful than usual." Matt spoke up.

"I got to hold Amy in my arms. The minute felt like a year." Mark wiped away the rest of his tears with a large smile.

"Thank you, thank you so much." Mark hugged Jack.

"No chic flic moments." Jack teased as he hugged Mark back before letting him go.

"How long has it been since you've held her anyway?" Jack asked.

"I was brought into this competition after they lost their first, and at the time only, competitor Ed. That was four years ago." Mark explained.

"Danny, Arin, you two are up." Hans interjected.

"Just like old times." Arin smirked as they walked to the elevator.

"Just don't rage quit on me, okay?" Danny teased.

"No promises." Arin countered as they rose up out of view.

Once they were done, Arin being the victor and getting to spend time with Suzy, the lights turned off much to everyone's surprise. Usually there were at least several competitions per day instead of just two.

"Tomorrow's the season finale, so I need you all well rested." Hans explained.

"I'm certainly not complaining." Nate snorted, not glancing up from his guitar that he was strumming, the notes sounding like the ones in StopRewind. He was playing songs for the other's entertainment and his own when he wasn't competing.

A new bed for PJ was squeezed in by Jack's, Nate's old bed returned to him.

After everyone told each other goodnight, Jack fell asleep to the sound of Nate's guitar, not realizing how much he had missed it until the comforting sound was back.