Everlost

The Sulphur Queen arrives in Atlantic City in dense fog. The McGill docks the ship between the Steeplechase Pier and the Steel Pier, both of which are invisible to the living world. The McGill orders Pinhead to lower the gangway and takes the rest of his crew to the chiming chamber. Lief and many of the Afterlights have found peace and are content there. Lief feels sorry for Allie and Nick because they have yet to find this peace. Allie tells Lief that they should have stayed in his forest, but Lief says he’s ready for whatever comes next. They hear approaching footsteps, and the McGill bursts into the chamber, cuts Allie down, and orders his crew to cut down the remaining Afterlights. He takes Allie to the ship’s deck, and she’s happy to see that her plan is working so far. The McGill orders Allie to step onto the boardwalk. She doesn’t see anyone except for a famous diving horse, which moves in a continuous routine of diving, climbing the ramp, and diving again. Allie walks forward and eventually sees one of the Marauders, a boy with a bat, who orders her to leave. The McGill calls out for the other Marauders to show themselves, but the boy drops his weapon and runs away.

The McGill unloads the Afterlights, who have no desire to fight their captors. The McGill looks to the sky and yells that he has brought the 1,000 souls. He demands his freedom, but nothing happens. They finally hear a faint hum growing louder. The McGill, his crew, and the Afterlights watch as the Hindenburg appears through the fog. Three figures walk down the airship’s gangway, and the McGill recognizes Mary and calls out to her, using the name Megan. Mary calls the McGill Mikey and tells him her name is now Mary Hightower. The McGill feels many emotions as he confronts his sister, who shows her brother the locket around her neck. One side holds a picture of her, and the other has a picture of Mikey. When the McGill looks at it, he changes from his monster form to Mikey, a clean-cut, 14-year-old boy. Suddenly, one of the kidnapped Afterlights orders the others to attack Mikey. Mary tries to stop them but fails. Mikey asks his crew to help him, but everyone except Pinhead abandons him.

Mary, Nick, Allie, and Pinhead continue to watch Mikey’s humiliation. Allie realizes that she is now free to return home. She hugs Lief and Nick and thanks them for their help. Allie then tells Mary she’s glad they’re not enemies and leaves the pier. Mikey pushes his way through the mob and goes to the diving horse. Allie begins walking the 60 miles to her house, but she realizes that she doesn’t know the way. She turns and sees Mikey racing toward her on the horse and skinjacks a 19-year-old girl who is jogging on the boardwalk, willing the girl to turn and run in the other direction.

Mary is relieved to see Mikey escape, and Mary and Nick get all the children aboard the Hindenburg. Lief approaches with a bucket of coins taken from the McGill’s treasure stash, and Mary takes hands it to Nick, telling him to keep it away from the children until they reach the fountain in the plaza. Mary moves to assist some new Afterlights, and her kindness convinces them to board with the others. When everyone is on the zeppelin, Speedo flies away, and Mary suddenly realizes that she has left Vari behind.

Vari searches the Sulphur Queen for more treasure, but when he returns to the ship’s deck, he sees that the airship is gone. He meets Pinhead, who stayed behind in hopes that his crewmates might return. Vari sees the McGill’s throne and sits on it, feeling powerful. When Pinhead asks for his name, Vari hesitates and then declares himself to be the McGill. Pinhead smiles and goes to the bridge to start the engines.

The girl that Allie skinjacked fights back, making it difficult for Allie’s will to control her. She finds the girl’s car keys in her pocket and locates the car. Allie starts the vehicle but struggles with driving it, so she allows the girl to have control of her arms and legs to avoid another car accident. The girl drives out of Atlantic City, but while driving on a bridge, she mentally attacks Allie and tries to force her out. In the process, the car hits the guard rail, and Allie flies through the windshield and lands on the car’s hood. She begins sinking and falls through both the car and the bridge and into the water below. Allie then sinks quickly to the bottom of the bay and into the ground. When Allie is certain that she is doomed, Mikey grabs her and pulls her toward the surface.

Mary insists that the Hindenburg return to Atlantic City to look for Vari, but he is gone. She then orders Speedo to return to New York. Mary goes to her room and cries herself to sleep because she knows it’s her fault Vari is gone. Nick is emotionally exhausted but persists in figuring out his sense of unease. He goes to Lief and looks at the bucket of coins; he holds one in his hand, and it feels cool and as though there is an electric current running through it. Nick has an idea and places a coin in Lief’s palm, and the younger boy suddenly looks up and gasps, exclaiming that the coin is warm. Nick sees a spot of light in the other boy’s pupils, and Lief says he remembers that his real name is Travis and disappears. Nick realizes several things in this moment: one, that Mary has hidden knowledge of the coins from the other Afterlights in order to trap them in Everlost, and two, that the coins will only work when an Afterlight is ready to pass on to the next stage of existence. He knows that he himself is not yet ready, for he has more work to do in Everlost. Acting with a new sense of purpose, Nick then goes to another Afterlight and offers him a coin, asking if it feels warm or cold. The boy says it feels hot, so Nick asks if he wants to see a magic trick.

Mary wakes to see they’re about to land at Speedo’s airstrip. As she walks along the inner structure, she notices how empty it is, but she assumes that Nick has simply helped everyone to disembark. She leaves the zeppelin and sees only Nick sitting on the tarmac. When she asks where everyone is, Nick says they’re gone. When Mary sees the bucket empty of coins, she realizes what Nick has done and screams at him. Nick says he’s letting the Afterlights go where they should have gone a long time ago. He asks her how long she’s known about the coins, and she says that she lets the Afterlights choose and allows them to retrieve their coins from the fountain if they want to. Although Mary insists that the Afterlights are happy, Nick claims that she is no better than her brother. Mary slaps him across the face for his betrayal, and when Nick shows her the two remaining coins in the bucket, Mary picks one up, intending to throw it. Nick asks if it’s cold or hot, and she says it’s cold as death. Nick says that his coin is, too, so they must not be ready to move on yet. Mary declares that she’ll never be ready because it’s her job to find lost souls and care for them, while Nick believes that his job is to help those souls to get where they’re going. Speedo drives up in his silver Jaguar and says the train is waiting to take them to the Twin Towers. Nick declares his intentions to tell everyone about the coins and asks Mary to go with him, but she runs back into the zeppelin, intending to get to the Twin Towers before Nick can spread the knowledge he has gained.

Mikey follows Allie despite her attempts to escape by skinjacking the jogger. During his pursuit, his desire for vengeance fades into admiration for her wit. The diving horse allows Mikey to sink into the Earth until he finds Allie. Mikey then wills them both to become lighter than air, allowing the horse to move upward. They eventually surface in a New Jersey forest. Although Allie doesn’t trust Mikey, she admits that she does not have a solid plan for finding her way home, and Mikey tosses Allie a coin, saying it’ll help her to get where she’s going. Mikey also believes he will be stuck in Everlost for a while until he can make up for his many evil deeds. Allie puts the coin in her pocket, knowing she has the choice to either stay or enter the light. She decides that returning home can wait, so she gets on the horse with Mikey, and they ride away together.

Nick races back to Manhattan and reaches the plaza before Mary does. He tells the Afterlights to gather everyone together at the fountain, where he jumps in and gives every child a coin. A girl takes hers and enters the light, and the others follow her lead and do the same. Meadow arrives, happy to see the Afterlights leaving. She takes a coin herself and vanishes like the others in a rainbow of light. Nick realizes that he is now Mary’s enemy. As the zeppelin approaches, Nick walks uptown and away from the plaza to find other Afterlights to help.

A little girl falls from a jungle gym and finds herself in a dark tunnel. Then, she’s suddenly sitting in the sand underneath the jungle gym and is slowly sinking. The park is now empty, and she is alone. The girl sees a zeppelin approaching and watches as a girl in a green velvet dress steps off and walks toward her. Mary tells the girl she can ride in her airship for a nickel, so the girl searches her pockets and hands Mary the coin she finds. Mary tells her it’s not good for her to be alone, as the Chocolate Ogre might find her. She then takes the girl’s hand and leads her into the zeppelin, welcoming her to Everlost.