(A/N: So as I've said before, I have college applications to work on, so updates will be slow. Please be patient.)

Previously...

"We should get back," Seto said after a moment. "I don't trust leaving Bodil alone for too long."

Steven nodded. "Yeah, you're right..." He walked over to Bart and Dave and stood between them, beaming with joy as he affectionately linked arms with them. Bart, who was to Steven's left, rolled his eyes in exasperation but didn't remove his arm. Dave, who was to Steven's right, pulled out his Gameboy with his free hand and started tapping at the buttons.

"Come on guys, let's go..."

Seto watched them leave the music room, never letting go of each other.

...It's a long story, huh?

~~~

They were about to walk down the stairs when Seto suddenly stopped in his tracks, an idea entering his mind. "Wait a minute..."

Steven stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"

"...The fourth floor should be open now, right?" Seto asked.

Steven frowned as he let go of Bart and Dave and examined the next flight of stairs, which were still closed off with a metal gate. "Hmm... Maybe MonoWither just didn't open it yet..."

"Upupupu! Is that what you think?"

Everyone flinched as they whirled to face the machine that had spontaneously appeared.

"Good morning, young gentlemen! Looks like some people are super excited to start the day after a thrilling trial!"

Seto gritted his teeth and glared at them, not saying anything.

MonoWither cackled and hovered close to Steven, prompting Bart and Dave to step forward protectively. "Well, Steven, we must thank your Enderman pal for providing a little wild fiasco! Our hearts were racing when we saw that primal, instinctive, monstrous side of your companion reveal itself in its full glory!"

Bart's eyes started to dilate again as he snarled, shaking to the core. Steven's eyes widened as he grabbed Bart's arm. "Bart! Don't listen to them! It's not true!"

"Still in denial, Steven? You were almost on the receiving end of your so-called 'friend's' rage, weren't you? And we're positive that it hasn't been the first time!"

"Be quiet!" Steven shouted, hugging Bart tightly. "Bart- Bart was just stressed! Everyone has breakdowns, he's no different! He didn't even hurt anyone!"

"Oy vey... That denial of yours runs strong, doesn't it? Just because he didn't hurt anyone this time doesn't mean it didn't happen before!"

"Shut up!"

Bart hissed as he hunched over, clenching and unclenching his clawed hands.

Steven stared deeply into Bart's eyes as he gripped his wrists. "Bart, listen to me! They're lying! You never meant to hurt anyone!"

Bart shut his eyes tightly and howled in anguish.

"Please! I'm telling you, you're not a monster-"

Steven suddenly found himself grasping empty space as Bart teleported away. The Enderman quivered for a moment before continuing to teleport down the stairs. Dave promptly chased after him as fast as his zombie legs could take him.

"No, wait! Wait! Don't leave me!" Steven cried out, running towards them, but that was when MonoWither teleported in front of him and blocked his path.

"Remember what we told you, Steven?" MonoWither asked in a low, deadly voice. "Or have you somehow forgotten?"

Steven's face was devoid of all color as his eyes widened. He opened his mouth in an attempt to speak, but he couldn't seem to get the words out.

"Oh? Cat got your tongue? Can't act so confidently anymore, now that your little friends aren't here with you? Afraid that once they leave your side, you'll be all alone again?"

Steven started to shake as his eyes darted to the bottom of the stairs where his friends had gone.

MonoWither scoffed. "Heh! Pathetic. We expected no less from someone as weak as you!"

"MonoWither..." Seto growled, stepping forward.

"We just want to remind you, Steven, since it seems that you let it slip from your mind... If you don't keep your monster friends in line, we'll be forced to take drastic measures..." MonoWither laughed. "Believe us, Steven... If you value them so much, you'd better do as we say... You wouldn't want your friends to suffer because of your lack of responsibility, right? What would you ever do if you ended up all alone? As alone as you are now? As alone as you were way back then!"

Steven drew in deep, shuddering gasps for air, his eyes still fixated on the staircase as though he had seen a ghost.

"MonoWither! You'd better leave him alone!" Seto warned, to no success.

"Do you understand, Steven?" The puppetmaster's toxic words hung in the air. "If you're smart, you won't let them get into trouble with us... You know exactly what we're capable of..."

Steven whimpered as he wrung his hands mindlessly. He was completely overwhelmed with panic, he couldn't speak, couldn't move, almost couldn't breathe...

That was when Dave returned.

"D-Dave-!" Steven choked out, gasping in pure relief at the sight of the zombie. He staggered forward and wrapped his arms tightly around him, clinging onto him as though he would disappear at any moment. "Dave- You- You came back- You came back..." Steven burst into anguished sobs as he buried his head in Dave's shoulder.

Dave nodded in acknowledgment, flashed MonoWither a deadly glare, before grabbing Steven's arm and pulling him down the stairs.

MonoWither watched them go, giggling quietly.

Seto stared at MonoWither silently before finally speaking. "What was that all about?" he asked suspiciously.

MonoWither turned around. "What, aren't you grateful?" they asked, confused.

"Why would I be grateful?"

"Well Bart almost killed you! Don't you think Steven was being so careless when he let Bart go off on his own like that?"

"...I think Bart can take care of himself. Besides, I would have been fine."

"Really now? Honestly, the only reason you survived for that long was because you had magic. What if Bart snaps again and someone else becomes the unlucky victim of his rage? Like Tyler, for instance? Tyler doesn't exactly have the means of defending himself from an enraged Enderman, does he? No, he's totally vulnerable! The perfect target for a future murder!"

Seto shivered for a moment before hardening his gaze. "That's irrelevant."

"We hardly think so! After all, only eight of you guys are left, so the end of this show is imminent! Therefore, all deaths for this show should be reserved for murders and executions, and nothing else!"

"How is this game going to end if no one murders anyone without getting caught? What if in the end we're left with too few people to have a proper show trial, huh?"

"As the hosts of this show, we have our own plan if that happens, and it's none of your business since it's forbidden, spoiler-filled territory! Now stop asking these questions and scram!"

Seto stayed put.

"Ugh, what else do you want? Listen, the fourth floor isn't open because it's off-limits! There's nothing show-worthy about it! Aren't the first three floors enough for you?" MonoWither scoffed. "Geez, there's no satisfying some people... Now go away!"

"...You're a member of the Order, aren't you?" Seto asked suddenly.

MonoWither's grins disappeared for a moment before reappearing. "What makes you say that?" they asked, tilting their heads curiously.

"...Three of us were connected to the Order in some way and you somehow knew all about it..." Seto stared into the distance pensively. "I thought... I thought it was just a coincidence when Mitch revealed his secret... But when Ashley revealed hers as well, my suspicions grew bigger... The fact that you knew what all three of our worst secrets were has to mean something, doesn't it? You must be part of the Order, that's the only logical conclusion. You're doing some fucked-up experiment like you people always do, and after what I, no, what Slotty did, you're probably trying to get your revenge at the same time by killing off my friends, one by one..."

MonoWither's fangs glinted in the light. "Interesting theory... Very clever, we must say... That protagonist side of you is shining brightly! But we're afraid that there's just one problem with your hypothesis..."

The machine hovered a few inches in front of Seto, their red eyes gleaming.

"We can't be part of something that doesn't exist anymore, can we?"

Seto's eyes widened in confusion. "Wh- What do you mean-? What-? Doesn't exist anymore-?"

But MonoWither was already gone, leaving only more questions unanswered.

Seto stared at the empty space in front of him, cast one last skeptical glance at the gate, before heading back to the second floor.

~~~

Seto opened the door to the infirmary and saw Annie and Bonks sitting beside Bodil. Annie's arms were crossed over her chest as she stared emptily at the unconscious man. She didn't look up when Seto entered, but Bonks did.

"Seto?" she said, rising to her feet and clasping her hands. "Um- I don't know anything about healing, but-"

"Is Bodil all right?" Seto asked.

"Well we're no experts..." Annie muttered. "I think he looks fine, to be honest, but we're not sure."

Bonks stared down at Bodil, biting her lip. "MonoWither wasn't answering us, and we have no idea if we have to do anything..."

Seto glanced at Bodil before his eyes widened. "Wh-Who removed his IV drip?"

"What do you mean?!" Bonks stammered.

Seto looked around wildly. "I- I gave him anesthesia last night, the IV pole and everything was still here this morning, where did it all go?"

Bonks started to panic. "I- I swear we didn't do anything-"

"It must have been MonoWither," Annie replied, her green eyes flashing coldly.

"...MonoWither...?" Seto asked.

"We were only allowed in here a few minutes ago since MonoWither was outside preventing us from entering the infirmary."

"They said that they needed to give Bodil some last minute treatment..." Bonks mumbled.

Seto thought back. MonoWither could have given Bodil their "last minute treatment" when he and Steven had gone to look for Bart...

"At least... At least they said that he's expected to wake up very soon..." Bonks mumbled. "That's good, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I'm just not sure if they did something messed up to Bodil," Annie remarked.

Bonks winced. "Do you really think they'd go that far?"

"I wouldn't put it past them..."

"I'll take a look," Seto mumbled.

He bent over and carefully examined Bodil by checking his casts, arm sling, and bandages, the last of which had been recently changed (by MonoWither most likely). Seto had a feeling that MonoWither had given him some opiates, judging by Bodil's peaceful expression, which would explain why the IV drip was gone. Bodil's breathing was evenly paced. After a few minutes, Seto concluded that MonoWither hadn't done anything particularly suspicious. Everything appeared to be in order, the healing potions were working, and it seemed like Bodil would indeed wake up shortly.

"I don't think we need to worry about MonoWither doing anything to Bodil..." he said finally, standing up. "But someone should still watch over him just in case."

"I think I can do that..." Bonks murmured, staring at Bodil mournfully. "It's the least I could do to help..."

Seto nodded. "Tell us immediately if anything happens to him."

"I will..."

"I'll trust you with it, then. I'm going to the cafeteria," Seto said before leaving the two. However, as he left the infirmary, he noticed that he wasn't alone.

Annie had left Bonks and was now following him.

Seto gave her a quizzical look, to which she snapped, "What, am I not allowed to go to the cafeteria either?"

Seto immediately turned around and walked up the steps back to the third floor. Sure enough, Annie followed, but wisely kept her distance. "I thought you said you were going to the cafeteria," she remarked suspiciously.

"I could have sworn you said the same thing," Seto replied tactfully.

"I know what I said."

"Then why are you following me?"

Annie's voice lowered threateningly. "You know full well why."

Seto reached the third floor and stood in front of the entrance to the fourth floor. He peered through the bars with an unreadable expression. He could see the bottom of another staircase leading up into mysterious shadows.

"What are you doing?" Annie snapped.

"MonoWither usually opens a new floor at this time, right?"

"Well I guess, but why does it matter?"

"MonoWither said that they won't open this floor to us. They said, and I quote, that 'there's nothing show-worthy about it.'"

Annie's face changed to one of curiosity. "...Interesting..."

Seto turned to look at her. "What do you think they meant by that?"

"...Seems like they're hiding something if you ask me. But since when was that new?"

Seto pressed his lips together, thinking carefully. "Remember when we were in the elevator shaft and I threw that ball of light?"

"Yeah... I remember that..." Annie said, gazing down at the floor sadly. Neither of them mentioned it, but they both knew that the one other person who had been with them then was now gone forever...

"We said that there were five floors, right?" Seto continued.

Annie nodded. "That's what we saw."

"So I guess that means that the puppetmaster behind this is hiding stuff in both the fourth floor and the fifth floor."

"Then the upper floors must contain important information... Information that could help us get out of here... How would we get up there without being spotted though?" Realization flashed across her face. "There's the passageway, right-?"

"No." Seto cast a warning glance at the security camera nearby. "That's completely out of the question. MonoWither explicitly banned us from using it. If we got caught, it wouldn't be good for us."

Annie noticed his glance growled. "Dammit, you're right...

"If only they weren't keeping such a close eye on us."

Annie looked at him skeptically. "So why'd you lead me here anyway?"

"I just wanted to chat," Seto said casually, stepping closer to Annie. Making sure that the camera couldn't see what he was doing from the angle, Seto used Annie as a shield as he subtly reached into his pocket. Annie flinched at his action and almost bolted away until she saw him pull out a harmless WitherCoin.

"I just think that if we could put aside our suspicions and cooperate, we could still have a chance of escaping." With his final words, Seto used his magic to send the coin whizzing through the bars. The coin hadn't even reached the stairs when it suddenly collided with something in midair. A sizzling sound filled the air as the staircase that they saw right in front of them appeared to "glitch out" like a broken computer screen. It only lasted for a moment before everything returned to normal as the coin fell to the floor.

Annie's green eyes widened as her jaw dropped.

Seto retrieved the coin with his magic, unsure of what he had just witnessed, but already thinking of a few explanations. "I think we should keep this discussion between us."

Annie snapped back to the present, shaken from her thoughts. She turned to him, still looking doubtful, but nodded. "All right. But I'm still watching you to make sure you don't do anything fishy."

"...If it makes you feel better," Seto replied sadly before heading back down the steps.

~~~

As the two of them approached the cafeteria, they suddenly heard loud yelling.

"Jason, stop it!!!" Tyler's voice shouted.

"Why the fuck aren't you guys listening to me?!" Jason's voice shrieked.

"Jason, calm down and just listen to us!" Jordan said, his voice raised.

"No, you listen to me!"

"Please, stop fighting!" Steven's voice piped up waveringly. "There's no need to fight!"

"No Steven, you don't understand! Just stay out of it!" Jason snapped back.

Seto and Annie rushed in to see the four men crowded in front of the memorial table. Bart and Dave were also there, surprisingly.

Jason turned to face the two newcomers, his blue eyes darkened with rage. "I'm sure that Seto would agree with me..."

"Agree with you on what?" Seto asked hesitantly.

"Jason, stop it," Annie said dangerously. "We just went over this. This is a memorial for all of the friends we lost. Therefore, Ashley deserves to have a place here."

"No she doesn't!" Jason retorted. "She's a cold-blooded murderer who was only looking out for herself!"

"Jason, I know you're grieving. We all are. But having all this anger directed towards Ashley is not good for you!" Tyler shouted.

"I'm not talking to you!" Jason snapped. "Besides, I fail to see how I'm being harmed by 'having all this anger!' Weren't you the person who kept saying that it was bad to bottle up emotions?!"

Seto glanced at the memorial and noticed three new additions. There was one for Ryan, which depicted him happily acting as the warden in his Cops N' Robbers show. There was another one for Husky, who was gazing up at fireworks shooting across the sky. And then...

"Bonks made this one for Ashley!" Jason shouted, grabbing one of the picture frames and shoving it in Seto's face. "Look at it!"

It was a beautiful drawing of Ashley standing on a stage, a blissful expression on her face as she appeared to be singing.

"Jason, you know she was desperate!" Tyler tried to argue. "If it wasn't for MonoWither, she wouldn't have-"

"She's still the one who's responsible!" Jason countered. "MonoWither wasn't threatening her. It wasn't an accident either. She just saw her chance and took it herself willingly! She killed Husky and almost killed Bodil too!"

"In case you've forgotten, she was dying from cancer of all things," Annie reminded in a low voice.

"That doesn't give her the right to take someone else's life, does it?! Of course it doesn't! It's just an excuse, and this thing Bonks drew for her shouldn't be here! Don't you think, Seto?"

"...Um..." Seto looked around helplessly, unsure how to answer without further igniting Jason's anger.

"W-Well, Bonks was the one who made this memorial, right?" Steven reminded them. "I think that she's the only one who can decide who belongs here..."

Jason scoffed. "We all know Bonks would feel too guilty to leave anyone out. But I don't! I know exactly what she did! You all know too, you just don't want to admit it!"

"Jason, there's no use in arguing like this," Jordan murmured. "We're only causing more unnecessary conflicts amongst ourselves."

"Unnecessary?" Jason balled his hands into fists. "How can you call this unnecessary?!"

"Would Husky find it necessary?" Seto cut in.

Jason recoiled as though he had been struck by lightning. "Wh-What?"

"Husky wanted us to live together in peace and harmony. Didn't he? He risked his life in an attempt to save Ryan, right?"

A heartbroken expression crossed Jason's face before he glared again, his voice trembling with emotion. "Oh yeah? And where the hell did that get him, huh? That didn't exactly work out, in case you've forgotten!"

"Husky still tried-"

"And he died trying! Don't you fucking get it?! HE DIED!!! ASHLEY MURDERED HIM!!! SHE TRICKED HIM, MURDERED HIM, AND BETRAYED ALL OF US!!! SO SHE DESERVES TO BURN IN HELL!!!" Without warning, Jason suddenly slammed the picture frame on the ground, shattering the glass. Seto, Steven, Bart, and Dave immediately clamped their hands over their ears and Tyler gasped audibly.

Annie let out a shriek of horror. "What the hell are you doing?!" she cried out, diving to the floor and quickly gathering up the plastic frame.

Jason stared down at the glass shards scattered about, breathing through clenched teeth as his eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"...Do you feel better now?"

Jason whipped his head to face Jordan. "What?!"

Jordan gazed at him solemnly. "I asked if you feel better, now that you've released your anger."

"Shut- Shut the fuck up!!!" Jason howled.

"How can you disrespect the dead like that?!" Annie demanded as she placed the now-coverless frame back on the table. "How can you?!"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Oh, like Ashley was respecting the dead when she dumped Husky's body down the elevator shaft after stabbing him and slitting his throat."

"No one is saying that what Ashley did was right," Seto tried to say.

"But it seems like all of you have just gone and forgiven her just like that!"

"I'm so damn sick of this!" Annie cursed. "You don't have to forgive her if you don't want to. I'm not sure if I could ever forgive her either. She did one of the worst possible things in the world while only thinking of herself, I know. But for God's sake just- just stop- stop-!" Annie struggled to figure out how to finish her sentence before giving up. "You know what I mean!"

Jason wouldn't have it. "You don't have any right to tell me how I should feel about this! None of you do! Besides, it's just a drawing, why does it matter if it's not in the memorial?"

"By that logic, it shouldn't matter to you if it is in the memorial!" Annie argued.

"It's just a drawing!"

"J-Jason's right..." Steven mumbled. Everyone turned to stare at him, stunned. Steven's eyes widened. "I- I mean- He's right in that it is just a drawing... Which is why we shouldn't be fighting over something like this..."

"Yeah, we should resolve this argument right now and move on," Tyler suggested shakily. "It'll be better for everyone."

"If we go by a majority vote, Ashley's drawing gets to stay in the memorial," Jordan said. "You are the only one who disagrees out of all of us, Jason."

Jason glared at them but found himself forced to relent. "...Fine. Keep it there. It's not like any of you were as close to Husky as I was."

Before anyone could argue, Bonks suddenly ran in the cafeteria. Tears streamed down her face as she struggled to speak through her shuddering gasps for air.

"Bonks?!" Steven exclaimed, rushing over to her. "What- What's wrong?! What happened?!"

Bonks unexpectedly hugged Steven tightly as she burst into anguished sobs. Stunned into silence, Steven returned the embrace, unsure of what else to do to comfort her. Everyone else surrounded them, equally shocked by Bonks' emotional state.

"Oh my god," Tyler whispered. "Bonks? What happened to you?"

"N-Nothing, nothing, I-"

"Something must have happened to Bodil," Seto said quietly.

"She was watching over him since this morning," Annie affirmed. "Bonks? What happened to him?"

Bonks didn't reply. She couldn't, she was crying too hard.

"Is... Is Bodil...?" Jordan asked, trailing off.

"...He's dead, isn't he?" Jason said flatly. "Ashley managed to kill him in the end too."

Bonks shook her head. "No... No, he- He-" She hiccuped. "He's awake..."

A strange mixture of confused relief swept over the group.

"Then why are you crying like that?!" Tyler asked, grinning in bewilderment. "Isn't that a good thing?"

Bonks cringed and shook her head, trembling. "I- I messed up so badly... You have no idea... how badly... I messed up..."

"What did you do?" Annie asked.

Bonks stuttered as she forced the words out. "He- He woke up, and- and the first thing he did- the very first thing- was ask about Ashley!"

For a long moment, there was only a horrified silence in the air, save for Bonks's choked sobs. Now that she had finally mustered up the courage to start it, her whole confession spilled from her lips in a panicked frenzy.

"I- I didn't know what to do! He- He just looked so happy- as he asked where she was- he mentioned how much he wanted to see her- and I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth! I lied to him! I told him she was okay and that he would see her soon!" Bonks wailed. "I- I just made things worse- I raised his hopes for no good reason- and now he thinks Ashley's alive when she's not!!!" The distraught girl lifted her head and gazed tearfully at the group. "How- How can we tell him the truth now? He's going to find out eventually and then he- he'll-!"

"-Just have to bear the grief," Jason muttered.

Tyler glanced sharply at him. "You... You mean we just-"

"Tell him the truth at once," Seto said in agreement. "It's better if he finds out as soon as possible."

"We definitely can't keep lying to him," Annie said reluctantly. "But... he won't react well... God, I can't imagine what he'll do-"

"It's better than him finding out by himself," Jordan reasoned. "We can tell him together and help him in any way we can."

"I messed up," Bonks insisted, burying her head in Steven's chest. "I messed up, I messed up, I messed up, I-"

"Bonks, don't blame yourself so much..." Steven said softly, patting her back comfortingly.

Bonks shook her head. "I messed up..." she repeated.

"I'm pretty sure that almost everyone here would have done the same thing in your shoes..."  

Bonks let go of him and stared at him hesitantly. "R-Really?"

"Of course," Steven replied, giving her a tentative smile. "You made a mistake, but it was understandable, and we can help you fix it. So there's no need to be that upset."

Bonks smiled back shakily before sniffling and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Th... Thank you... Steven..."

"Is Bodil still awake?" Seto asked.

Bonks's face turned grave. "He should be..."

"Then let's get going."

Filled with dread and reluctance, the nine of them made their way to their injured friend, whose ignorant hopes could only turn into despair.