The poor man was keeled over the floor, retching nonstop. 9-year-old Seto watched with utter horror as the man collapsed on the ground, convulsing violently, his screams of agony echoing throughout the room. Seto wanted desperately to look away, to shield his eyes from the awful sight, but someone was holding the boy's head in place.

"Look what you've done," Master Hennessy said, his iron grip leaving marks on the side of his head. "Look at the consequences of your failure to obey."

Seto sobbed in anguish, for some reason unable to close his eyes as he watched the innocent victim finally fall deathly still...

"Take a good look," Master Hennessy ordered, his voice hanging in the air like toxic smoke. "This is all your fault. Why are you such an inconvenience? Why can't you be more like him?"

The man let go of his head and Seto collapsed to his knees, gasping in absolute horror. "I ordered you to make a sleeping potion," the man continued in a low voice, glaring at Seto with piercing green eyes. "You stupidly made an error in the process. You disobeyed my order."

"I- I'm sorry-!" the boy wailed. "I didn't mean to kill him, I-"

A blinding pain exploded from the side of his head as the man smacked him forcefully. "You idiot!" the man yelled. "You're lucky I decided to test the potion out on this worthless prisoner first. Maybe I should have made you test it out yourself! If only you and him weren't connected, then everything would be so much easier for us!"

"I-I'm sorry!!!" the boy shrieked between his sobs that were increasing in volume. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!!"

"This is all your fault!"

"I'm sorry!" He didn't know whether he was apologizing to Master Hennessy or the man he'd killed...

Seto!

"Forgive me!"

Seto wake up!!!

"FORGIVE ME! FORGIVE ME!!! FORGIVE ME!!!"

SETO!!!

~~~

Seto screamed as he woke up to feel someone shaking his shoulder. His instincts kicked in, a sudden burst of adrenaline coursing through his veins as he immediately lunged at his assailant and pushed them to the floor, pressing his right arm against the person's neck to choke them. It was only a few seconds later when he registered the words that the assailant was attempting to speak.

"S-SETO-! LET GO-! CAN'T- BREATH-! GH-!" Tyler gargled, writhing desperately underneath him.

Seto's eyes widened in horror as he realized who his "assailant" was and promptly climbed off of him. "T-Tyler?!" he asked. Unable to reply, Tyler rubbed his neck and wheezed, his entire body shaking to the core. Seto helped Tyler sit up, murmuring frantic apologies. "Oh- Oh god I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that, I-"

"It's... fine..." Tyler said, coughing.

Seto's face was twisted with remorse. "I'm so, so sorry, forgive me please, I didn't mean to hurt you, please forgive-"

"I said it's fine." Tyler grimaced and lowered his hand to show the still-present mark on his neck.

Seto looked away, filled with shame. "I'm sorry..." he whispered quietly. "I really didn't mean it..."

"It's all right Seto, you were having a really bad nightmare after all," Tyler said sympathetically.

Seto blinked. "How did you know?"

"Well I woke up to vomit in the bathroom, and then you started screaming like you were dying or something. You were saying 'I'm sorry' and 'forgive me' over and over again."

He was vomiting? Well... that explains why I dreamed that...

Seto's face paled. "...oh."

"What did you dream about anyway?"

"N-Nothing... I forgot..."

Tyler stared at him skeptically. Then he laughed a little, probably in an attempt to lighten the mood, although his breath still sounded raspy. "G-Geez Seto... you acted like I was trying to kill you or something... When did you get instincts like that?"

"...I don't know..." Seto lied weakly.

Tyler pressed his forehead, wincing. "Well anyway... I've got a killer headache now..."

Seto's face paled even further. "I'm really sorry-"

"It's not because of you, relax!" Tyler said reassuringly. "What I meant was that I've got a killer hangover now..."

"Oh," Seto repeated.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Tyler's face fell slightly as he thought about something. "...Uh, about last night..."

Seto watched as Tyler fidgeted with his fingers uncomfortably. "Yes?"

Tyler stared down at the floor. "Did I... say anything weird?"

Seto debated internally for a few moments before sighing. "You told me you saw Sky after he got the bag of coins."

Tyler flinched. "What- What are you talking about?" he asked, the corners of his lips rising as he tried to fake a smile once more. "Haha, alcohol makes you say the weirdest things-"

"Tyler, you have to stop pretending everything's fine when it's clearly not."

"Everything's perfectly fine-"

"Look me in the eyes and tell me that again, Tyler," Seto said, his brown eyes piercing its way through Tyler's black ones. "Tell me you were lying about what you said last night. Tell me."

Tyler frowned and he instinctively crossed his arms, hiking up his legs so that his knees were pressed against his chest. "...Sorry, I just..." He took a deep breath. "Yesterday I was in my room, doing my own thing, and all of a sudden MonoWither just appeared, and they kept saying... certain things to me. The first time they did it, I cried for a long, long time, but then I told myself that they were just doing it to get under my skin... But they kept coming back... They'd leave for awhile, and then come back right when I was getting over what they said... I left the room in the hopes of getting them to leave me alone, but then I saw the beer in the fridge, and... I couldn't help myself..." Tyler's face grew ashamed. "...Cowardly, I know... Avoiding the truth of what they said..."

"What did they say to you?" Seto asked in a hollow voice.

"...Y-You know, 'it's all your fault', 'you should have confronted Sky', 'you caused their deaths'..." Tyler swallowed. "...'you don't deserve to live'..."

Seto felt his hands ball into fists. That stupid, sadistic robot...

"Anyway, why did you let me share your room?" Tyler asked.

"...Well I couldn't just leave you out there," Seto replied.

"I know, but, after what I confessed..."

"It's not your fault, you know?" Seto asked.

Tyler scoffed bitterly. "Yeah right."

"I'm serious. It's not your fault. You had no idea what Sky was planning, none of us did."

"But I saw him!" Tyler declared, his face filled with guilt. "I saw him hiding something in his pocket! I should have at least asked! But instead, I just ignored it and pretended like it wasn't something important! I could have stopped him, I could have convinced him not to do it, I... I should have done something instead of just doing nothing!" Tyler stopped as he gasped for breath, his black eyes wild with panic as he realized everything he had just admitted. He wiped his eyes and breathed shakily. "I... I'm sorry Seto... I don't know why I said all that... I just... I kept defending him during the trial... because I didn't want to believe I'd let him do it... I didn't want to believe I could have stopped him..."

Seto paused to choose his words carefully. "'Could have's, 'should have's, they don't really matter. It won't change a thing. Maybe you could have stopped him, but it's in the past now. As much..." Seto swallowed down the painful lump in his throat. "...As much as we'd like to turn back time, we can't..."

Tyler looked away. "Doesn't mean I'm not to blame."

"No one expected Sky would do something like that. I... I could have stopped him too..." Seto admitted.

Tyler turned back to face him, confused. "What?"

Seto stared at his lap. "Two nights before... Jade died... I asked him what he saw in his video. He said that he didn't want to talk about it. I didn't press further..."

"But Seto, no one really wanted to talk about the videos, that's not unusual-"

"-the next night, I saw him in the kitchen. He was searching for something. I asked him what he was looking for, and he looked at me... like a deer in the headlights. He told me that he was looking for a knife..."

Tyler's eyes widened. "He told you that?"

Seto laughed bitterly. "He passed it off, told me he was trying to protect himself. I believed him. I didn't question the fact that once I'd caught him, he almost immediately said he had to 'go to the bathroom' and left..." He closed his eyes morosely. "I wanted to tell him that he could talk to anyone. I knew he was upset about the video, but he wouldn't talk about it even though it was killing him inside. I knew he was thinking about something. But I didn't do anything..." He swallowed down the painful lump in his throat. "I- I caught him during the trial, you know... I didn't want to, and I know I had to do it or else we'd all get killed, but... Sometimes I just... I just can't stop feeling like I killed him... like it's all my fault... that I shouldn't have kept accusing him..."

"Seto..." Tyler whispered, at a loss for words.

Seto grit his teeth. "But it doesn't matter now. No matter how much I regret it, I can't keep blaming myself. I have to keep looking forward. If I don't, then I'll never get out of here alive."

Something lit up in Tyler's eyes. "...get out alive, huh..."

"We've got to find a way out somehow. We've got to survive without killing someone. That's what Sky and Jade told us to do, right? That's what Seth died for, right?"

Tyler uncrossed his arms. "You're right..." he murmured. Then he paused. "You... You don't judge me for crying, right?"

Seto looked confused. "What? Why would I?"

"...Nothing..."

"Tyler, why do you always try to hide how you feel? You always try to smile, even when you're sad inside. Why?"

Tyler looked extremely hesitant, but then gave in. "...When... When I was little... the other kids used to make fun of me because I cried a lot... They'd say 'boys aren't supposed to cry'... And adults would say that men were supposed to be strong..."

Seto kept silent, waiting for Tyler to continue.

"Then I found that I loved to act, and I realized how I could fix my 'problem'. If an actor needs to express an emotion, they need to pretend to feel that way. If they need to be sad, they need to make themselves feel sad." Tyler crossed his arms over his chest. "If they need to be happy, they need to make themselves feel happy."

Tyler released a long sigh. "So that's what I did. When I was sad, I'd smile and everything seemed to be better. But then over the years, it kind of became a habit, and stopped working as well. And now I still try to smile even when my friends are dying. I- I know no one would judge me for crying over something like this, but some part of my brain just doesn't want that... Some part of my brain keeps telling me I shouldn't cry, even though all this shit is happening... Isn't that just fucking messed up?" He laughed bitterly. "I mean... what the hell is wrong with me...?"

"...Nothing's wrong with you," Seto replied.

Tyler snorted. "Yeah, right. There's nothing wrong with someone who feels bad for crying for the deaths of his friends. Sure."

Seto took a moment to consider his words carefully. "No, what I mean is that... you just need practice."

"Practice?" Tyler echoed, confused.

"You just need to practice displaying your true emotions instead of hiding them. It's not good to just keep them bottled up inside... No one here would laugh at you. I wouldn't laugh at you. Only MonoWither would, and MonoWither is an asshole."

Tyler pursed his lips together. "Yeah I know that, but it's easier said than done, just... letting everything out."

"That's why I said you need to practice, right? It's better than getting drunk and, uh, passing out."

"You've got a point there," Tyler admitted, rubbing the sides of his temples. "God, this hangover is horrible... I haven't gotten this drunk in so long..."

DING DONG, DING DONG

Good morning, bastards! It's 7 in the morning! Time to wake up!

Let's all strive to have fun and entertain the audience today!

"We should probably get going," Seto said, standing up. "We should get that key you left in the cafeteria..."

"Hey... Seto?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah?"

"...Thanks."

"For what?"

"It's not just for dealing with me when I was drunk... but for listening to me. I can't thank you enough."

"...it was nothing."

"You're a really good friend, you know that? I... I wish I could have told that to Sky before... before he..." Tyler trailed off, unable to continue.

"Yeah," Seto said quietly, staring blankly into space.

"I wish I could have done that too."

~~~

The moment Tyler and Seto left the latter's room, they saw Mitch, Jerome, and Ryan leaving Mitch's room. The trio halted immediately and stared at Tyler and Seto in confusion.

"Uh..." Ryan said, trailing off. "Did you two... uh..."

Mitch and Jerome slowly turned to face each other before looking back at the pair. Jerome suddenly burst into an uncontrollable giggling fit. "I- I can't- oh my god I can't!!!" he cackled, slapping his knees as he continued to laugh.

Mitch grinned cheekily. "Ooh... I see what's going on here... Looks like some people had fun last night..." he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Tyler and Seto's eyes widened in realization. Seto's cheeks instantly flushed a dark shade of red as he subconsciously lowered his hood over his face in mortification. Tyler started to stammer frantically. "It- It's not what it looks like-"

"Wait, don't tell me you two actually... Oh my FUCKING GOD!!!" Ryan yelled indignantly, placing his hands on his hips like a scolding mother. "I can't believe you Tyler! Seriously!"

Like Seto, Tyler was also blushing with embarrassment. "Ryan! It's not- We didn't-"

"I am so ashamed of you! Fooling around like a horny high-schooler-"

"Ryan-"

"I SMELL ALCOHOL IN YOUR BREATH, DON'T TELL ME YOU GOT PISSED DRUNK AND STARTED MESSING AROUND WITH INNOCENT SETO-"

Tyler was becoming more and more flustered by the second. "I didn't do anything like that! Well, I mean, I did get drunk but-"

"DID YOU EVEN USE PROTECTION???!!!"

"N-No, because-"

"OH MY GOD TYLER, I THOUGHT YOU WERE MORE RESPONSIBLE THAN THAT!"

"We didn't do any- Wait, why are you only yelling at me?!" Tyler asked in bewilderment.

Ryan jabbed a finger in Seto's direction. "BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW SETO HERE IS THE INEXPERIENCED ONE, AND THIS WAS PROBABLY HIS FIRST TIME YOU DIPSHIT! DID YOU EVEN TAKE HIM OUT ON A DATE BEFOREHAND???!!!"

Seto had practically dissolved into his gray cloak at this point.

Tyler felt like he was fighting a losing battle. "It's not like that, we're not together-"

"So you're just friends with benefits?" Jerome asked teasingly.

"NO JEROME, NOT YOU TOO! Seriously, we didn't do anything like that!" Tyler shrieked hysterically.

"Sure Tyler, keep on saying that..." Mitch said between peals of laughter. "If only I had a camera! This is just too much!"

A terrible yet brilliant idea entered Tyler's mind as he smiled mischievously. "Yeah? Well, I could ask the same about you guys!"

"What?!" Ryan asked, his face turning red.

"Why do you three keep sharing the same room?!" Tyler asked devilishly. "Don't you guys have your own?"

Jerome scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, Tyler, we just feel safer that way-"

"Sure, that doesn't sound suspicious at all..." Tyler smirked. "What exactly were you guys doing last night, huh? Were you guys making a sandwich with lots of mayo-"

"Gross, Tyler! That image was so unnecessary!" Mitch said, his face crinkling with disgust. "Fine, we'll stop teasing you two, all right?"

"Wait, we were teasing them?!" Ryan asked, stunned. "I was being perfectly serious!"

"Mai gawd Ryan, your motherly instincts are too strongk." Jerome joked. "We all know Seto wouldn't do something like that. Anyway, so why were you two in the same room last night?"

"I... uh... I kind of got drunk last night... And Seto let me share his room because I accidentally left my key in the cafeteria..." Tyler admitted.

Seto had somewhat calmed down by now. At the very least, he didn't look quite as much like a ripe tomato anymore. "Y-Yeah, that's all that happened... Seriously..."

"Woah, there's alcohol here?" Jerome asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Jerome, no!" Mitch and Ryan yelled at the same time, horrified.

"Aw, fine..." Jerome said, his eyes drooping in disappointment.

"The hangover isn't worth it," Tyler muttered, rubbing his temples. "I totally regret it... The alcohol concentration in that thing is absurd, I don't want to talk about it..."

"Is there a reason why you decided to get drunk in the first place?" Mitch asked, concerned.

Tyler pressed his lips together. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Yeah well, is there a reason why you guys are just standing here chatting while blocking up the hallway?" Annie suddenly asked, crossing her arms over her chest with annoyance as she stood beside them. "Unlike some people, I for one am starving!"

Everyone flinched at her sudden appearance. "Sorry!" Ryan said sheepishly. "We'll move!"

"...Wait Seto, did you sleep with Tyler last night?"

Tyler looked like he was about to have a stroke. "For the love of GOD THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!!!"

~~~

It was around 10 in the morning. Everyone had woken up by now, including Bonks. As they chatted happily amongst themselves, it seemed like their troubles were only a distant memory. Even Seto himself was pleased with the way this morning was going. Perhaps... Perhaps this communal lifestyle was possible...

It was right at that moment when they were all brought back to reality with a sudden jolt.

"So... how are the lovebirds doing?" MonoWither asked mischievously, appearing right behind Seto and Tyler, who both flinched.

"Wh-What?" Tyler asked, his face turning red once again.

Oh god not again please.

"We saw you two! You were sleeping together last night! How scandalous!" MonoWither remarked, grinning cheekily.

"Woah, you two did what last night?!" Bonks asked, shocked.

Seto tried to retain his composure, but failed tremendously. "No, it's not like that, we didn't-"

"Well that's something I was totally not expecting to happen," Ashley muttered.

"Uh, how long has this been going on?" Bodil asked, slightly concerned.

Seto began to stammer. "No, you don't understand, it's not what you think-"

"Are you two dating or was it just in the heat of the moment?" Husky asked, smirking.

"I think it's the latter!" Jason declared, cackling. "Just look at them! Haha!"

"No, we didn't do stuff like that!" Tyler shrieked hysterically, embarrassed beyond belief.

"I don't know, looks suspicious to me..." Jordan said as he gave a teasing smile. "After all, yesterday Seto here was quite eager to go back to his room instead of eating dinner with the rest of us..."

Mitch, Jerome, Ryan, I swear to god you three had better say something!

But Mitch and Jerome were giggling uncontrollably like it was the funniest thing in the world and Ryan was giving them a look that pretty much said, You two got yourselves into this mess, so get yourselves out of it, punks.

...Annie?

The SDML Archer was merely sipping her cup of coffee without a care in the world.

Seto cursed them all mentally, using rather colorful language in the process.

Steven smiled kindly at Tyler and Seto. "Well I'm really happy for you two! I'm glad you finally realized your feelings for each other!" he declared happily, not realizing the rather inappropriate implications of what MonoWither had just said. Bart gave him a disbelieving stare and Dave face-palmed.

"...we're not dating, Steven," Seto muttered.

Steven looked shocked. "Wait, you're not? Then why did MonoWither say you shared the same bed last night? Hold on, I don't get it! Bart? Dave? Do you get what's going on?"

Neither one wanted to answer Steven's questions, for fear of damaging his innocence.

MonoWither whooped, spinning around in dizzy circles. "Mmm, two guys sleeping together during a night of passion? Sizzling hot stuff right there, we're fanning ourselves at the thought! Wow, the fangirls are gonna go crazy over this! What should we call this ship? Setyler? Tyleto? No, we've got a better one, MunchingSorcerer! Hahaha! Get it? Munching-"

"Everyone shut up!" Tyler cried out. "Look, I got super drunk last night, I left my key here, and Seto let me sleep in his room! That's all that happened!"

"Ugh, fine!" MonoWither said, frustrated. "Fine, that's all that happened! Seto didn't kill you! Happy now? Huh? Huh?"

There was a stunned silence.

"...What's with the sudden change of mood?" Seto asked suspiciously, echoing everyone's thoughts.

MonoWither shook with anger, and Seto briefly wondered if they were about to explode. "We're just... so sick and tired of this! Everyone, go to the conference room! We've got something to say to all of you! Hurry up or you'll regret it!" The machine disappeared, leaving everyone confused and afraid.

"What- What's going on?" Bonks asked, terrified.

"What more do they want from us?" Jason whispered.

"...It can't be another motive..." Husky said faintly.

"Not again! Please not again!" Bodil shrieked, clutching his head in his hands. "No more videos! No more dead loved ones! Please no more!"

"It's going to be all right, Bodil," Ashley said, although the expression on her face indicated that she felt otherwise.

"There's no one left..." Steven whispered. "There's nothing more MonoWither can do to me... What else does that machine have planned for us?"

"Everyone needs to calm down," Jordan said, lowering his palms.

"Y-Yeah!" Tyler declared. "Let's not freak out, all right?"

Seto nodded. "You're right. We should do what MonoWither says, or they'll get even more mad at us. We have to remain calm and collected."

"They wanted us to go to the conference room, right?" Mitch asked.

"Let's go right now, it's not like we can avoid this," Jerome stated, clenching his fists.

"Dammit..." Ryan muttered.

One by one, they all left the cafeteria and headed to the conference room, apprehension palpable in the air.

~~~

"It took you idiots long enough to get here!" MonoWither scolded when the group arrived.

"Well at least we're here, asshole," Annie said quietly. "Mind explaining your little bitch fit just earlier?"

"Ugh, we're so pissed off! Especially at you, Seto! You had the perfect opportunity to kill Tyler at his most vulnerable state! He was drunk and you didn't even take advantage of that fact! Do you realize how infuriating that was?! No one would have been able to prove it was you either!"

"If you think I'd kill my friends, then think again," Seto hissed.

"Do we really have to keep pressuring you guys to murder someone?" MonoWither complained. "We're tired of doing this!"

"Maybe you should stop then," Ashley muttered under her breath.

"No! That's a ridiculous idea! You all are like useless fat hens just sitting around doing nothing! Who wants to watch a show like this? No one, that's who! But don't worry, we have a great idea that will certainly get you guys going! Yes, this is going to be your next motive!"

Seto had a very, very bad feeling about this. Everyone else glanced around nervously, wondering what the motive this time around would be.

"You see, we decided to dig deep into your pasts to find out your worst, darkest, most embarrassing secrets!"

Seto's face paled considerably. No... There's no way they'd know...

"Our... secrets?" Jordan asked, confused.

"Yep! And what we found, oh boy! They were so interesting! If these were somehow released to the public... oh the uproar! The pure scandal!"

MonoWither flew over to a lever on the wall. "Dun dun dun!!!" the robot hummed dramatically as they pulled the lever. The ceiling opened and a bunch of envelopes came raining down, fluttering in the air like butterflies as they landed on the floor. "Okay, find the one with your name on it and don't go peeking at the ones that don't belong to you!"

Immediately, everyone rushed to find their envelope. Seto quickly found his and gripped it with shaking hands. He was too scared to open it. If MonoWither had somehow found out...

"AHHH!!! I THOUGHT NO ONE KNEW ABOUT THIS!!!" Bonks shrieked, horrified. She was holding a slip of paper and staring at it with bewilderment.

"How did you find this out?!" Steven exclaimed, his face filled with dread.

"Oh god..." Ashley murmured, trembling slightly.

Bodil looked extremely ill all of a sudden. "Wh-Where's the bathroom?"

"You have 24 hours! If you don't want your secret to be revealed to the public, then all you have to do is murder someone and not get caught!" MonoWither declared.

Mitch grit his teeth, staring down at the slip of paper in his hands as though it was a bomb about to explode. "Stupid machine..."

"N-No... Please no..." Husky whispered, his legs quaking on the spot.

"What kind of cruel person are you?" Jordan asked in horror.

"Ahahaha!!! Who will be the first to succumb to this despair? We can't wait to find out!"

"Okay, I think we should just get this over with and tell everyone what was written on the slip of paper, right now," Jason said, his voice shaking slightly. "Mine's kind of bad, but I wouldn't kill someone over it. I'm pretty sure none of you have something worse..."

Silence.

Jason sighed. "Guess I'll go first then. A few years ago, I didn't have any money to spare, so I... I stole a really expensive pair of headphones at a music store because I really wanted it..."

"Well that's not that bad, I mean, the store probably wouldn't care at this point..." Steven said quietly.

"It cost around 300 emeralds."

"Holy crap, 300?!" Husky exclaimed.

Jason smiled wryly. "Yep. Store never found out who did it either, somehow. I always felt kind of bad, though, it probably cost them a lot of money. I still feel really guilty, tricking those shop owners like that... Anyway, that's my worst secret. Anyone else?"

Jerome scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, this is kind of embarrassing, but I... I wet the bed until I was in fifth grade..." he admitted, his cheeks flushing pink underneath his fur.

More silence.

Annie cleared her throat awkwardly. "All I can say is... Wow."

"...That's your worst secret? Seriously?" Ryan asked. "Out of all the things in the world?! You pissed your pants when you were asleep as a kid?!"

"Yeah, see?" Jerome said, showing him his paper. Ryan raised his eyebrows as a slight smile formed on his lips. "I swear, you'd better not use this for blackmail material..." the bacca muttered.

"Oh I won't..." Ryan said, chuckling darkly. "Definitely..."

"Ryan!" Jerome said indignantly. "Not fair! Tell us your secret and we'll be even!" Jerome reached over to grab Ryan's paper.

Ryan's face suddenly grew panicked as he clutched the paper slip to his chest. "N-No! You can't!"

Jerome gave him a concerned look. "Why not?"

"I... Maybe later, but... not now..." Ryan mumbled, his voice strangely quiet.

Silence filled the room once more.

"I shit my pants in a department store when I was little," Tyler said, laughing a bit as he showed everyone his paper. "No one noticed, but I still never went back to that store ever again..."

The mood lightened once more as most people laughed with him. Seto decided that he might as well get it over with. The likelihood that MonoWither had found his real worst secret was close to none, right? He opened the envelope and pulled out the slip of paper. He looked at what was written on it...

...and felt the world grind to a sudden halt.

"Half of Seto's soul is a magical experiment created to kill and torture people on command."

His mind went blank as he read the contents over and over again, hoping that somehow he'd read the words all wrong...

"Seto?" Bonks asked with concern. "What happened?"

Seto began to shake uncontrollably from head to toe. He was hyperventilating to the point where he was about to pass out, and his vision started blurring at the edges. He struggled to retain control of himself, but it was impossible...

No... They can't find out who I really am...

Tyler's smile faded. "What's wrong, Seto?"

Seto clutched the paper in his fist as he stared at all his friends, the friends he didn't want to lose, the friends who meant so much to him, with wide eyes. Somewhere on the other side of the room, MonoWither started giggling madly. "I- I-" Seto stuttered wildly, backing up against the wall like a cornered animal. There was no way he could let them know what was written on his paper. He couldn't let anyone know no matter what...

"Seto, calm down..." Tyler said, reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, but Seto swatted it aside.

"Get away from me!" he yelled, his voice unusually aggressive.

Tyler flinched and drew his arm back. "Seto, look at me, calm down, it's all right-"

"I said GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Seto shrieked, purple magic pulsating from his hands as he instinctively launched a blast of energy at Tyler's gut.

Everyone shrieked as Tyler was sent flying backwards, his back slamming forcefully against the conference table. The SDML Drama Actor cried out as all the wind was knocked out from him. He collapsed to the floor on his knees, trembling from the pain as he clutched his abdomen. "S-Seto?" Tyler asked, staring up at the sorcerer with terrified eyes.

Seto stared back at him, equally horrified at what he'd done. "I... I'm sorry... Forgive me... I didn't mean to..." You hurt Tyler. You hurt your friend. You're a monster, you're a monster, you're a monster-

He shut his eyes tightly, tears streaming down his face. "Just- Just leave me alone!"

Tyler tried to stand up. "Seto, wait-!"

Without a second thought, Seto pushed open the door and fled from the conference room.

~~~

"It's not that hard, Seto. All you have to do is stab her," Master Hennessy said, jabbing a finger at a woman who was gagged and tied to a chair.

The 8-year-old boy, who was wearing a black cloak with a purple Ender Dragon face on it, trembled as he stared at the woman. Her eyes filled with fear, the woman began to struggle desperately, terrified whimpers muffled by the gag. "Why?" the boy asked, scared.

"Are you questioning my order?" the brown-haired man asked in a deadly voice.

"N-No..."

"Her husband isn't paying us anymore, so we're teaching him a lesson. Now stop hesitating and just stab her!" The boy lifted up the knife, whimpering. "STOP CRYING!!!" the man yelled, his green eyes filled with anger. "KILL HER!!! THAT'S AN ORDER!!!"

"I- I can't-" Seto stuttered through his tears.

Suddenly the boy felt pain explode from the side of his head and he crashed to the ground, dropping the knife in the process. The man had cuffed him forcefully. Master Hennessy walked over to him, pulled out an electrical prod, and proceeded to shock him. Seto's scream was cut off when he blacked out temporarily.

A few seconds later, the boy stood up, removing the black hood from his head. He opened his eyes, which were now crimson red. "Master?" he asked.

"Stab this woman," Master Hennessy ordered.

Without a second thought, the boy picked up the knife and promptly plunged it into the woman's chest. The woman cried out through the gag and made a loud gurgling sound before she went deadly silent and fell utterly still.

"I did it! I did it!!!" The boy exclaimed in jubilation, grinning as he let go of the knife before turning to the man and bowing his head submissively. "Have I done well, Master? Have I pleased you?"

"You did excellent work, Slotty."

Slotty's red eyes beamed in pleasure. "T-Thank you, Master!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "I... I'm so happy I could... serve you well..." The boy was starting to look exhausted.

A look of annoyance crossed the man's face. "We will have to work on increasing your control of the body."

"My... apologies..." Slotty slurred, frowning as he blinked sluggishly.

Master Hennessy pursed his lips in a thin line of disapproval. "You are dismissed for now."

"Thank... you..." Slotty mumbled almost incoherently before closing his eyes and collapsing on the floor in a heap.

Seto's brown eyes shot open and he sat up with a jolt, struggling to suppress his shudders of horror and disgust. "You disobeyed my order..." Master Hennessy muttered angrily.

Before Seto could react, Master Hennessy walked forward and relentlessly kicked him in the ribs, each kick making pain explode all over his frail body. The boy let out strangled cries of anguish as he threw his arms over his chest to block some of the blows. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he shrieked desperately, fighting the instinctive urge to make a force field to protect himself. The last time he'd done that, he'd only succeeded in angering Master Hennessy further.

The man finally stopped and bent down to grab Seto by the hair. Seto's breaths were now sharp, winded gasps that made his bruised ribs throb. "Why are you so weak?" Master Hennessy asked coldly, pulling Seto up and peering straight into his face. The terrified boy shut his eyes tightly, too afraid to look at the man. "Why can't you act like your other half and just do as you're told? It would make everything so much easier! Then we wouldn't have to go through all that trouble of having to summon him again and again!"

Seto choked out a sob, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry..." he repeated weakly. "I'm really, really sorry..."

"'Sorry' doesn't mean anything! Goddamn it, if only the experiment went perfectly, then we wouldn't have to deal with you! Your entire soul was supposed to be altered, not just a fraction of it!" Still grasping Seto's hair, Master Hennessy slammed the boy's head down on the ground, the impact echoing throughout the room. Seto's vision filled with white as he screamed in pure agony. "You're worthless!" he yelled as he lifted the boy's head up only to smash it down again.

Smack!

"You shouldn't even exist!"

Smack!

"Your whole existence is just a failure!"

Smack!

"You stupid-!"

Smack!

"-waste of-!"

Smack!

"-space!!!"

Master Hennessy finally let go of Seto, who immediately curled into a quivering ball on the floor.

"...Why can't you be more like him?" the man asked as he towered over the boy.

The 8-year-old sobbed raggedly, clutching his aching head with trembling fingers. Everything hurt so badly. His chest hurt, his head hurt, his whole body wracked with excruciating pain and suffering...

He knew that he deserved it, though. He deserved all of it. This was the price he had to pay for existing when he wasn't supposed to.

This was the price he had to pay for being a murderer...