Seto felt completely safe and secure where he was. A young child again, he was wearing his old white cloak with a red heart in the center and sleeping comfortably on a couch. His head rested on his father's lap as his father gently stroked his hair. In front of them, Seto could hear the low crackle of the fireplace that was keeping them warm.

"Seto!" someone shouted suddenly, forcing Seto to open his eyes.

"...Daddy...?" Seto mumbled in confusion, looking up at him.

His father smiled. "Go back to sleep, Seto."

Seto gladly snuggled further into his lap, yawning lazily.

"Seto, wake up!"

"It's all in your head!"

Seto frowned and blinked as his sleep was interrupted once again. He tried to sit up, but his father gently pushed him back down. "Go back to sleep, Seto," he repeated kindly, still stroking his hair.

"Don't listen to it!"

"It's not real!"

"You have to listen to us!"

Seto finally sat up, pushing away his father's arm as he tried to stop him again. He rubbed his eyes and yawned drowsily, wondering what those voices were talking about. There seemed to be two people speaking to him, but most importantly, why did they sound so familiar? 

"Seto, are you hearing us?"

The two voices were coming from behind him. Seto weakly turned around, unprepared for what he would see.

Mitch and Ashley were standing there, still sporting the same wounds they'd had when they died.

Seto felt chills as he quickly faced forward again. No, why were they here?! He didn't want to think about them, all he wanted to do was stay in this perfect little world, where he didn't have to suffer anymore.

"Seto, you have to help us!" Ashley shouted.

"We need your help! Everyone does!" Mitch begged. Their voices echoed distantly.

"...Help...?" Seto mumbled vaguely. "Why...? You're dead..."

"Our souls are trapped!"

"We can't get out!"

"We're stuck here like everyone else!"

"You have to defeat the Puppetmaster to free all of us!"

"Me...? I can't... You have to find someone else..."

"What do you mean you can't?" Mitch asked, confused.

"All I do is hurt others... I can't save anyone... I got everyone killed... Even you... It's all my fault..."

"That's not true!" Mitch cried out. "How is it your fault?!"

"We're the ones who chose to murder our own friends," Ashley said.

"You don't understand..." Seto said, trailing off. He felt like a coward; he couldn't even confess his secret to dead people who were probably just figments of his imagination.

"We know your secret," Ashley said quietly. "It's not your fault."

"How do you know?"

"We don't have time for this!" Mitch insisted. "Seto, do you want to help everyone or not?!"

"Of course I do, but..."

"Then you have to stop the Puppetmaster!

"I told you... I can't..." Seto felt his eyes drifting shut again.

"So you're not even going to try?" Ashley asked, scoffing. "That's not the Seto I know."

"Yeah, the Seto we know would never give up like this, even when the odds were against him!" Mitch declared.

"You didn't even know me, but you risked your life to save me back then," Ashley noted.

"But I failed," Seto said painfully. "I was too late, that man had already injected you with the cancer serum and I didn't realize it-"

"So? It's not your fault, you still tried, didn't you?" Mitch asked.

"Plus, you saved Bodil," Ashley reminded him.

"How can I beat the Puppetmaster? I don't even know who they are..."

"We'd tell you, but..."

"...we can't change anyone's fate..."

"Then how am I supposed to beat them?!"

"Listen, Seto, you've helped everyone get this far already," Mitch said.

"And half of us are already dead... What's the point? We're never getting out of here..."

"All right, I'm sick of this," Ashley said, glaring at Seto. "So you want to just die peacefully, huh? You think that'll solve anything? Don't you realize that people need you? I can't believe you're being this weak!"

Seto didn't respond.

"Um, Ashley, I don't think you should call him-"

"I don't care! The longer that Puppetmaster stays alive, the weaker we all get and the worse off everyone who's still alive becomes!"

Mitch sighed. "That is true..."

"Seto, do you really think letting yourself die is going to solve anything?" Ashley asked.

"I don't know. I don't care."

"Well, that's a load of bullshit. You do care. You're just so caught up in the past, you're not thinking about the present or the future!"

Seto's eyes widened.

"Hey Seto, Sky wanted to ask you this," Mitch said. "When you left the Order, why'd you continue to live? You spent, what, a whole year all by yourself. Why'd you keep going even after everything you suffered?"

Seto paused to think. "I... I don't... know..." He let his eyes drift shut. "Leave me alone..."

"Like hell we are! Stop lying to yourself! You know the answer!" Ashley shouted.

Seto stared down at his lap. "...Because I thought... I thought I could make a new life for myself somehow... I thought I could change... I hoped... for a better future..."

"So why are you stopping now?!" they both demanded.

Seto glanced at his father, who was still smiling gently at him. He let his gaze drop as he stared at an exposed part of his father's arm, which was littered with red marks. He remembered a time, many many years ago, when he'd asked his father about them...

"Those are just old scars from when I was fighting a monster," Henry had said, forcing a smile. "I hope you'll never have to fight it yourself. I hope you never grow up like me..."

Seto glanced at his own arm, which was covered in scars as well, but they were faded. "...You thought you were saving me. You really thought you were that bad of a person... You thought sending me away to the orphanage and killing yourself would be best for me, but all you did was let me get captured by the Order. You didn't protect me like you promised you would. You thought you were, but you were wrong, and now I have to deal with that same monster you lost to." Seto clenched his fists. "But I'm not going to make the same mistake you did, not again. I know better now..."

Seto rose to his feet, vaguely registering that he wasn't a child anymore, but once again an adult. He was still wearing his white cloak, however. "I'm going to look past what's already happened... I'm going to look past what I've done... and I'm going to hope for a better future again!"

He turned around, expecting to see Mitch and Ashley there, but all he saw was...

"S-Slotty?!"

Slotty giggled. "I can't believe we share the same soul, cuz you're really stupid. What's hoping for a better future going to do?! You can't win!"

Seto glared at him. "I'm still going to try, no matter what! I'm going to try for myself and everyone who needs me!"

Slotty only laughed even harder at this. Everything around Seto started fading away rapidly until all he saw was black...

~~~

When Seto opened his eyes, the first things he noticed were that he was lying on a bed, there was an IV pole to his left, and his right hand felt warm. He weakly turned his head to see that Tyler was sitting beside the bed and gently cupping his hands over Seto's, rubbing his thumb against the back of it. Tyler's eyes were closed, but they opened when Seto cleared his throat.

"Oh, Seto-! You're awake-!" Tyler exclaimed in shock, letting go of Seto's hand. Seto felt slightly disappointed. "How are you feeling, does it hurt anywhere? I didn't realize you'd wake up so soon, it's only been a few hours..."

"...I'm fine... Just tired..." Seto yawned a little. "...Where's Bodil...?"

"He's okay, he's not hurt. Well, he's back in his wheelchair, but he doesn't need a sling for his arm anymore."

"Oh... That's good..." Seto raised his left arm, which had an IV drip that was giving him some sort of potion. The bangle was still there, unfortunately. "Did MonoWither do this?"

"Yeah, they... changed their minds. After Annie and Jason got you out and Jason did CPR, MonoWither decided that it was entertaining enough, so they saved you."

"Really? They didn't just let me die?"

"Yeah, that was a... nice surprise."

"...Huh..."

Seto tried to sit up, but Tyler stopped him. "Hey, um, why don't you go back to sleep?"

Seto stared at him, for some reason having the inexplicable feeling that Tyler's face looked strange. "What? But I just woke up..."

"You need rest! You shouldn't be wasting your energy like this!"

That was when Seto realized why Tyler's face was so unusual. "...Tyler, when did you get your glasses back?"

Tyler's face paled as he flinched. "Wh-What-?!" He reached up and felt them. "Ah- I forgot to tell you-!" he said, laughing. "MonoWither also gave us back our stuff! You know, because Bodil pressed the button!"

"...I thought Bodil pressing the button would only revoke the food motive..."

"Well, MonoWither changed their minds about that too! We still have the bangles, though, but the possessions motive is gone, thankfully."

Something felt off to Seto. Very, very off. "I... see..." he said hesitantly. "So I have my cloak again?"

"Y-Yeah, it's, um, right here..." Tyler grabbed Seto's cloak, which had been folded neatly on the nightstand, and gave it to him. Seto stared at its creeper emblem, rubbing the soft fabric. He remembered the day he'd decided to burn his Ender Dragon cloak and buy a new one. He'd fallen in love with it the moment he'd seen it at the market.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

"Oh shit," Tyler cursed under his breath before the door opened it.

"Tyler, you were supposed to tell us when Seto woke up," Annie said, stepping inside. "MonoWither sounded way too passive-aggressive about it when they told us he was awake."

"I was going to!" Tyler said nervously. "He just woke up, I swear!"

Annie sighed and walked towards Seto. "Sorry you had to wake up to all this... horribleness."

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Tyler wasn't that bad."

"Wh- You're going to make jokes now?!" Annie shouted, abruptly filled with anger.

"Annie? What are you talking about?" Seto asked, startled.

Annie's eyes widened. "Oh god, don't tell me..." She turned back to Tyler. "You didn't tell him yet?!"

Tyler's face was white. "Um- I don't- um- know what you're talking about-"

Seto felt cold dread sink in. "...Tyler...? What didn't you tell me?"

Tyler laughed, wringing his hands erratically. "Oh- Nothing important-! It's nothing you need to worry about, I promise-"

"Tyler!" Annie shrieked. "You can't hide the truth from him forever! He's going to find out whether you like it or not!"

"Find out what?" Seto asked shakily, trying hard not to think about his current hypothesis.

"Nothing-! Nothing at all-!" Tyler stammered desperately. "Don't worry about it, just go back to sleep, everything will be fine-"

"He deserves to know the truth!" Annie shouted. "Tyler, are you going to tell him, or do I have to do it?"

Tyler laughed hysterically again, tears welling up in his eyes. "He- He doesn't need to know- He's been through enough- Please- Please don't..."

Annie sighed, staring down at the floor. She hesitated for a moment, choosing her words carefully.

"Seto, I'm sorry I have to tell you this, but... when you were unconscious, MonoWither was attacked, and then..."

~~~

Seto clutched the sleeves of his gray cloak as he stood in the greenhouse with the others, staring down at the sight before him with shock and disbelief. There were glass shards and shattered electronic devices littered everywhere below a giant hole in the sparking ceiling, which no longer gave such a convincing sky effect.

He didn't know how else to feel. He almost prayed that this was just another prank; but no, this time it was reality. A reality he once again had to wrap his mind around and accept...

If it wasn't for the iron spear impaling him through the abdomen, it would have looked like Jordan was sleeping peacefully among the flowers.

~~~

Why is Jordan smiling like that? He looks so happy... Seto thought to himself, stunned.

Jordan had talked so much about wanting to prevent another death, but in the end, he became the next victim. What kind of brutal irony was this?

It broke Seto's heart to see Jerry sitting beneath Jordan's hand, too upset to hop around like usual. Jordan's other hand, his left one, was covered in blood.

Bodil gazed at Jordan's body, sobbing quietly on his wheelchair. Ashley's ribbons were each tied around his wrists. "I thought if I did the parkour course, no one else would have to die!"  

"...You said... it was a punishment by MonoWither?" Seto asked numbly. "He tried to fight them and lost?"

Annie nodded sadly. Tyler stared down at his shoes, deeply filled with regret.

"So Jordan sacrificed himself for us?"

"He must have done it because of you," Bonks whispered. "MonoWither said that he wouldn't save you unless someone else died first."

Seto felt his heart skip a beat. "You can't be serious..." He looked around. "Where's Steven?"

"Steven apparently found the body first, poor guy," Jason murmured. "He fled to his room and wouldn't come out. I don't blame him, but I do worry about his sanity at this point..."

"Boo hoo, who cares?" MonoWither asked, appearing suddenly. "We've got to get ready for the big event!"

"Big event?" Annie asked suspiciously. "What big event?"

"Why, isn't it the same old routine? After a death comes a trial!"

"What's the point? You're the one who killed him!" Jason shouted.

"Yeah, we didn't need one for Seth!" Bonks pointed out angrily.

"Well you didn't see us kill Jordan, so there's still enough 'mystery' for a trial. We wouldn't want to break tradition, now, would we? Anyway, as always, here's the MonoWither File #4!"

Seto caught the tablet that was thrown at him. Was it already the fourth File? Seto couldn't wrap his mind around it...

"Well, Seto? Aren't you going to say something?" MonoWither asked sweetly.

"Like what?" Seto asked in a low voice, barely concealing his rage.

"Oh, we don't know, a thank you for saving your life, perhaps?"

"You killed my friend," Seto continued through clenched teeth. "You murdered him in cold blood... Why would I thank you?"

"Hey hey, save those accusations for the trial! And besides, breaking the rules results in a punishment, and all of you knew it! This isn't the first time we've had to react to someone attacking us! Anyway, investigation time starts now, so we'll leave you to it!" With that, MonoWither disappeared.

"What's the point of this?" Bodil asked, whimpering.

"Nothing, it's just that MonoWither's fucked-up, what else is new?" Jason replied with exasperation.

"Why did this have to happen again?" Bonks whispered.

"I don't know, but we just have to push through this trial," Seto murmured. "We have no choice."

"What is there to even investigate?" Annie asked, sighing. "Can't we just grieve in peace?"

"I get the feeling that MonoWither will make us provide proof that they killed him..." Seto replied.

"God, I hope not," Jason muttered. "But that does sound like something they'd do. Fuck."

"Don't worry, just... leave everything to me this time," Seto murmured. None of them looked like they were in any condition to investigate, and he couldn't blame them.

Seto turned on the tablet and swiped through to see Jordan's silhouette, which showed a bloody spot on his abdomen where the spear was.

"The victim is Jordan, the Super Duper Minecrafter Level Songwriter. He died at approximately 9:47 am and was impaled through the abdomen by a spear. His body was seen at this time as well. All other visible injuries were sustained after death."

Seto lowered the tablet, lost in thought. He didn't see anything useful with what the File had written, so he put it on the ground.

He didn't really know why he was investigating. The answer seemed rather straightforward, but... for some reason, Seto needed to uncover the explanation himself, or else his mind would never accept what had just happened. Was he sure that he wasn't just having a bad dream?

Next, Seto knelt down by the body. The spear was clearly one he had seen from the weapons room and, judging by the blood on the end protruding from Jordan's abdomen, it had almost impaled him completely. It was far, far more gruesome than anyone (much less Jordan) deserved.

He looked around, observing the shattered remains of some sort of computer-like device and glass. Then he raised his head and peered through the massive hole in the ceiling.

If his hypothesis was correct, then...

Seto stood up and brushed the dirt off of him before leaving the greenhouse. As he walked back to the rooms, however, he heard someone following him and turned around to see Tyler.

Tyler shied away, fiddling with his hands. "...I'm... I'm sorry, Seto, I..." he began before trailing off.

"It's okay," Seto murmured in reply.

Tyler hung his head in shame. "It was stupid, I know. I should have just told you the truth from the start..."

"You didn't cause any lasting harm," Seto said. "It's in the past now."

"Thanks..." Tyler cleared his throat. "So... where are you going?"

"I'm going to the VIP Floor," Seto replied.

"Wh-What? Again?!" Tyler stammered. "Why?! Are you trying to get killed?!"

"No, MonoWither took out all the obstacles once Steven and I made it to the end. I just need to investigate there."  Seto began walking to the elevator again.

"If that's the case... If you aren't mad at me, can I... come with you...?" Tyler asked hesitantly.

"If you want," Seto replied, pressing the button to open it. "Considering your Forbidden Action, you probably should."

The two entered the elevator together, glad that in this dark time, they at least had each other...

~~~

"So what was so dangerous about the VIP Floor?" Tyler asked, looking around the first room.

"I'm not sure you'd want to know," Seto said quietly, the memories all too fresh in his mind.

"No one died though, so it couldn't have been that bad... right...?"

Seto grimaced. "I didn't do a very good job of keeping that promise, that's for certain."

Tyler sighed. "Well... Bonks told me you tried..."

Seto scoffed a little.

"At least you don't have to worry about starving anymore, so... I'll forgive you..." Tyler murmured. "I really am curious about this place."

"If you really want to know, Steven and I were gassed in the first room. The gas was hallucinogenic, so we both saw some fucked-up stuff relating to our worst fears and memories."

Tyler's face paled and he shuddered. "That's horrible!"

"I was lucky; Steven woke me up before the worst of it. He had to go through his nightmare for hours." Seto briefly wondered how Steven had not totally snapped by now.

They entered the second room, which only had the table now.

"Here, we had to play Russian Roulette..." Seto said grimly.

"You what?!" Tyler shrieked. "Russian Roulette?!"

"We survived, didn't we? Well, I was the one who played the game. Really, there was only a one-eighth chance of dying-"

"Only?!"

Seto swallowed, his mouth going dry as he remembered the feeling of the cold metal barrel pressed against his head. "I lived, so it doesn't matter."

Judging by the pallid look on Tyler's face, he wasn't very reassured.

They both approached the hallway, which was a lot shorter than Seto remembered. Perhaps not being chased by falling walls had something to do with it.

"Steven helped get me through this one," Seto said, taking the lead in the narrow hallway. Experimentally, he tried to summon his magic and succeeded in producing a ball of light (albeit a tiny one). "There were silverfish above us being controlled by MonoWither. They made the walls come down behind us, so we had to run for our lives to avoid getting crushed."

Tyler unintentionally made a soft, whimpering noise in the back of his throat.

"Fortunately, that was the last one," Seto concluded. "So up next is the weapons room- Oh god-!"

Seto stopped in his tracks, causing Tyler to bump into him. "Ow, what the- EEK!" Tyler screamed.

The window overlooking the greenhouse was completely shattered; all that was left were bits of glass remaining near the edge of the platform. Crimson stains were near the edge, from which there was a trail of bloody footprints. This trail led to two lines that ran from the middle of the room to the weapons room door. There was more blood covering the door and the floor around it.

Seto hesitantly stepped forward, making sure to avoid the blood. 

"Wh-What the hell happened here?!" Tyler cried out, covering his nose and cringing. Seto slightly envied Tyler for not being used to the pungent scent.

"This must be where Jordan was struck by the spear," Seto replied, pointing at the door. He moved his finger along the trail to the left. "The force of the spear must have dragged his body across the floor before he regained his footing... Then the spear hit the window and he fell..."

Tyler inched cautiously towards the edge, peering down. "There's the greenhouse..." he said to himself, backing away. "Oh... That's why there was the hole in the ceiling..."

Seto nodded. "The glass is from the window that used to be here and the electrical stuff is from the digital screens that make up the greenhouse ceiling. But... there's just one thing that doesn't make sense to me..."

"What's that?"

Seto frowned, staring at the blood, before shaking his head. "No, it's probably nothing..."

"So, that's the weapons room?" Tyler asked, pointing at the door.

"Yeah, it is. I don't know if MonoWither would let us in or not, though-"

"Ask and ye shall receive!" MonoWither whooped, appearing before them. "Hello you two, you're the only ones actually taking this investigation seriously!"

"Well when we already know the answer, what's the point?" Tyler muttered.

"Hmm, but we wonder what this says about Seto. Don't tell us... do you really enjoy examining murder scenes? Do you get a certain high off of the scent of blood-"

"Are you going to open the door or not?" Seto asked through clenched teeth.

"Okay, okay, geez..." The doors slid open. "There's really nothing special, though!"

Seto stepped over the bloodstains and entered the weapons room, which was total chaos. Most of the weapons were strewn about on the floor, which also had several burn marks. Lying in several places were five MonoWither machines, all of which had broken heads. Many of the broken, exposed wires were sparking.

"We can't believe we lost five spares to that meddling, stupid, insubordinate-!" MonoWither trembled with rage before going still. "Whatever, we still won in the end, so that's good! We have way more spares left anyway!"

"Just go away," Seto muttered, closing his eyes tightly.

"Oh, right, you're focused on the investigation! Our apologies!" MonoWither said in a hushed voice before they disappeared, giggling like mischievous children.

"Seto?" Tyler asked hesitantly. "When will MonoWither end the show? They can't let this go on forever... If there's too little people-"

"...I don't know," Seto replied. "Now's not the time to be worrying about that."

Tyler stared down dejectedly. "Every time I think there's a chance of peace, there's always something that sends us back down..." His voice started to hitch as tears welled up in his eyes. "All my life, I've told myself that bad things never last forever... But now, I can't help but wonder if I was wrong... What if... what if despair is all that's left for us? Everything feels so pointless..." Tyler looked away, struggling and failing to compose himself.

Seto didn't exactly know what he was doing when he stepped towards him so that they were inches apart. "Tyler, you weren't wrong before," he murmured softly, reaching for his hand and cupping it gently.

Tyler stared at their hands with wide eyes. "How can you say that? You almost died..."

"But I didn't."

"So many of our friends, over half of us now, they all died... What if we're next?"

"You can't think like that. Think about what Jordan did for us."

"But he died too. He took down five spares, but he still died..." 

Seto shook his head. "He knew the consequences. He basically sacrificed himself for us, and we can't forget that. This time, it wasn't a murder that killed him."

"I don't want to be here any longer..." Tyler was on the verge of sobs. "I'm so scared... scared for everyone and myself... Why are we going through this? Did we do something to deserve this? Why can't we be free of this place? Why can't things just go back to normal?"

"It's not fair," Seto admitted, closing his eyes thoughtfully. "This world, it's a cruel, cruel place, and I"ve known that since I was a child. My father died when I was seven and I was adopted soon afterward by my uncle, who didn't even deserve to be called a human. He practically made me his slave. Those six years I spent with him... those were the worst years of my life. Every single day felt like hell. There was barely anything good, I don't know why I kept going. Even after I was free, I spent a whole year by myself, without anyone to talk to."

Tyler stared at him, too stunned to say a word.

"But then, when I was 14, I finally made my very first friend. And from him, I met you and all the others. And for the first time in a long time, things finally seemed to look up..." Seto smiled slightly at the memory before it faded. "And then we ended up here." Seto laughed bitterly, sniffling a little. "Isn't it messed up? I finally had friends after those six years of hell and in two weeks I lost almost all of them in this horrible place..."

"Seto..." Tyler whispered softly, tears streaming down his face.

"I forgot for awhile, but now I remember why I kept going," Seto continued. "Back then, even though those six years never left me, I kept looking forward to the future. Because for every horrible thing that happens, there will always be something that makes everything worthwhile, even for a little bit... We'll never know what the future has in store for us, but we have to look forward and hope for something good..."

"Investigation time is over!" MonoWither announced over the speakers. "Now then, please head over to the resort lobby!"

Seto slowly let go of Tyler's hand. "We should get going," he murmured, heading towards the exit.

"...Seto?" Tyler asked faintly, wiping his eyes.

"Yeah?"

"...Thank you for telling me about this... I know it must have been hard to talk about... your uncle..."

Seto nodded a little. "If... If I get the courage... I'll tell you all about it someday..."

"You'd trust me with that?" Tyler asked in disbelief.

Seto met his eyes, surprised by how certain he felt. "After all we've been through together... I think I do."

~~~

When they reached the lobby, everyone was sitting on the couch except for Bodil (for obvious reasons) and Steven.

"Where were you guys?" Annie asked. Seto half-expected to hear suspicion in her voice, but surprisingly there was none.

"The VIP Floor," Tyler replied.

"The hell were you doing up there?" Jason asked. "Isn't it dangerous?"

Seto shook his head. "No, MonoWither removed the obstacles after Steven and I made it through."

"Speaking of Steven, where is he?" Bodil asked. Seto realized that Jerry was sitting on his lap, drooping sadly.

"He heard the announcement, right?" Bonks asked. "Maybe I should go to his room and make sure."

"He did find Jordan's body first without warning," Annie reminded her.

"Yeah..." Bonks murmured. "He doesn't deserve all this pain... No one does... And Jordan shouldn't have died..."

"I still can't believe Jordan's gone, it's unbelievable," Jason said, crossing his arms over his chest. "But all the signs that he was going to do something were there, and I didn't notice..."

"None of us did," Bodil said gloomily, patting Jerry in an attempt to comfort the grieving slime. "Poor Jordan, I hope he's in a better place now..."

For some reason, Seto thought of Mitch and Ashley in his dream. "I'm sure he is," he said quietly, ignoring the thought. "I'm sure he's happy, now that he's with Seth again..."

Maybe that's why he was smiling when he died...

Just then, they heard three sets of footsteps approach the lobby. They all looked to see...

"Steven!" Bonks cried out in horror, rushing over to him.

Steven walked rather unsteadily into the lobby, accompanied by Bart and Dave. Although the two mobs looked relatively unscathed, Steven was covered in bruises, as though he had been beaten up.

"What happened to you?!" Tyler demanded.

"I'm fine," Steven said softly, clutching his hands to his chest. "I'll explain during the trial."

Seto noticed the way Bart and Dave looked at each other at that statement.

"Well, well, looks like everybody's finally here!" MonoWither exclaimed cheerfully. "Part 04's taken longer to finish than we expected! Let's get this over with, shall we?"

"You can say that again," Annie muttered spitefully.

"Follow us!" MonoWither flew over to the lobby's "entrance" where, in a normal hotel, there would be doors leading outside. A scanner on the wall flashed green as MonoWither hovered in front of it. The wall shimmered before two doors appeared before them, which slid open to reveal an elevator much like the one in the old place. "Get inside, quick!"

Everyone filed inside and the doors closed before the elevator made its descent. Seto cringed at how much larger the elevator felt now that their numbers had dwindled so low. But soon, he reminded himself, they would at least be returning with the same number of people.

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. This time, the trial room was covered in triangular Nether Quartz blocks, strangely reminding Seto of skeleton bones. "All right everyone, we've done this before!" MonoWither announced. "Find your designated trial stand and don't waste any more time!"

Seto found his spot and saw that Jordan's portrait wasn't exactly crossed out, but it had a large red quarter rest symbol in front of his grayed face. Ashley's portrait was crossed out with two red needles.

"Ahem! We are here to discuss the murder of Jordan, the Super Duper Minecrafter Level Songwriter. It's time for our Super Duper Minecrafter participants to solve this mystery and find the culprit/culprits of this heinous crime! If they choose correctly, the blackened alone will be punished. But if they choose incorrectly, then they will all be punished, the blackened will be free to leave, and the show will end!"

"What if the blackened is you?" Jason asked, glaring at them.

MonoWither giggled. "Well, nothing will happen. You can't execute the show's hosts!"

"Then our vote is already decided," Annie declared.

"We all agree that MonoWither killed Jordan?" Tyler asked.

Everyone nodded and murmured in assent, all except for one person.

"...What if it wasn't just a punishment from MonoWither?"

They all turned to face Steven, who was clutching the podium stand and hunched over with trembling legs.

"What did you just say?" Jason asked, his face paling.

Steven gulped but pressed forward. "...What if someone else was the one fighting MonoWither?"

Bart and Dave, both strangely disturbed, moved as though to silence him, but Steven shook them off. "No, stop it guys!" Steven shouted. "I have to tell them!"

"Tell us what?" Annie asked, although the faintness of her voice indicated that she already understood. "What, Steven?!"

"What if- What if someone tried to attack MonoWither with a spear?" Steven continued, wringing his sweaty hands. "What if- What if they threw the spear at them?"

"Stop- Stop it!" Bodil shrieked. "Don't say any more!"

"What if Jordan just happened to be standing in the way of the spear?"

"What are you talking about?!" Tyler cried out, shutting his eyes tightly.

"What if MonoWither managed to move away, and then..." Steven took a deep, shuddering breath. "...What if the spear hit the wrong target?"

Steven stole a glance upwards, briefly meeting Seto's gaze, before looking away.

"...What if that person wanted to sacrifice themselves, but ended up becoming a killer by accident?"

"S-Steven?" Bonks whispered, horrified anguish twisting her expression.

Steven looked at Bonks sadly before turning to Seto once more. "Who... Who do you think is the killer now...?"

Seto felt like someone had punched him in the gut, knocked all the wind out of him, and twisted all his insides until they were tangled knots. His mind raced, desperately searching for some alternative answer to Steven's questions...

The true murderer in this case is... Steven?