"These violent delights have violent ends

And in their triumph die, like fire and powder"

-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

~~~

Seto panicked for a second before slamming the laptop shut, shoving CODIE into his pocket, and backing into a corner. A purple glow emanated from his hands and spread all over his body before it faded away, leaving him completely invisible. Part of him wanted to just run out the door, but he couldn't risk the chance that the Puppetmaster would see him leaving the "forbidden room" through the security cameras.

A second later, someone pushed open the secret entrance from the passageway and stepped inside carefully, closing the wall behind them. Seto felt his heart skip a beat when he saw who it was.

There was no mistaking it. The black-and-white cloak, the jester-style hood, the white smiling harlequin mask... This was the same disguise the Puppetmaster had been wearing in the video about Seth!

The masked person looked around, scanning the room. Seto did his best to stand as still as he could. He could barely let himself breathe; he felt like if he didn't hold his breath he would start to hyperventilate like crazy.

The masked person slowly approached the computer and reached for it with gloved hands, but then stopped and looked at the rotten, half-eaten banana that was lying there. They tilted their head, seemingly in confusion, before quickly pushing it off the table into the trash can with the back of their hand.

Could this masked person hear his heartbeat? Seto prayed to whatever gods there were that they couldn't. If they found him, he was done for...

Please leave please leave please leave please-

The masked person glanced one more time around the room before finally turning back to the passageway entrance. They rested a hand against the wall before they turned their head to the side, revealing part of their mask's eternal smile.

Seto didn't have time to react before the masked person pulled a potion bottle from their pocket and threw it on the ground, shattering the flask and sending a toxic gas into the air.

Seto held his breath as he clamped his hands over his nose and mouth, but the gas quickly surrounded him. His whole chest ached, but he refused to breathe in the gas. He couldn't, no matter what! He had to stay conscious! He... He had to...

Against his will, Seto gasped for breath and immediately broke into a violent coughing fit as the gas entered his lungs. He glanced helplessly at the masked person, who was staring straight at him through the thick gas. Seto barely registered the fact that his magic was gone and the invisibility spell was useless now. He had to get out of here!

Seto fought the overwhelming urge to faint as he struggled to stagger his way to the door, but his muscles barely responded. His knees gave way as he collapsed to the floor on all fours, still coughing and gasping weakly. No! He couldn't give in! He couldn't succumb to the gas again! Everyone's lives were depending on him!!!

Suddenly Seto screamed in agony as the masked person stomped down hard with their boot, making pain explode from his back. Still pinning him down, the masked person knelt down and began searching through his pockets. Seto tried to resist, to shove the person off of him, but his body had stopped listening.

No...! Stop...!

The masked person finally found the gaming device and stood up, holding it triumphantly in their hand. Seto tried to move, but his muscles barely twitched in response. All he could do was watch as the masked person stared at the device, the mask's smile probably matching the actual person's expression...

The masked person turned to look down at Seto, who was crying uncontrollably. Mustering up the last reserves of his strength, he reached a shaking hand out futilely towards them.

Please... Don't... CODIE...

The last thing Seto saw was the masked person throwing the device to the ground and stomping on it repeatedly, crushing everything without mercy.

...N... No...

Then all his vision and thought faded into pitch-black darkness as his body went limp.

~~~

When Seto came to, the first thing he felt was the cold tears, sticky and dry on his cheeks. He blinked slowly as he raised his head a little, his mind sluggishly trying to catch up to the present, before he flinched in horror.

Shattered bits and pieces of machinery... Was that really all that was left of CODIE now?

Almost mockingly, a jagged piece of the screen was positioned right in front of Seto's face. The screen that CODIE used to appear in, smiling happily as he tried to help Seto as best as he could...

I'm... I'm so sorry CODIE... I failed to protect you... I failed...

Seto started to push himself up before noticing something move in the reflection of the screen. He immediately went still, his eyes widening in horror. The masked person was still there! Seto focused on the reflection, too scared to look behind him.

The masked person was standing at the entrance to the passageway, clutching a shiny object Seto couldn't clearly make out in their gloved hand. The person glanced over their shoulder at Seto before stepping into the hallway and closing the entrance.

Seto hesitated for a few seconds before struggling to get to his feet.

They... killed CODIE... They did this to him... I can't let them get away!

Despite his weak, shaking body, Seto staggered to the passageway and pushed the wall open slightly, peeking through. He saw the masked person standing in front of the ladder at the end of the hallway before they shoved the object into their pocket and climbed down. Seto hesitantly approached the ladder. He shut his eyes tightly as he tried to summon his magic to turn himself invisible, but he only succeeded in making himself feel more exhausted.

The gas seems to have magic-negating qualities...

Seto waited for awhile, occasionally peeking down the ladder, until the masked person finally reached the first floor and dropped down on their feet, the impact sound audible in the utter silence of the passageway.

Seto began climbing down the ladder as silently as possible. However, he stopped when he reached the second floor. What if the masked person was still there? If they spotted him, it would be game over.

He wished he had CODIE to help him, but he was all alone now. Alone, and powerless too, no less.

Seto crouched down and peeked once more, sticking his head through the gap until he could see the floor below. There was no sign of the masked person and their distinctive cloak. Seto grunted with exertion as he got up and climbed down to the bottom.

When he turned around, he saw that one of the secret entrances to the rooms was left open. He slowly approached, noticing that it was the entrance to Seth's room. Had the masked person gone inside? Why?

Seto snuck inside and found himself in the bathroom. The bathroom door was left open, allowing Seto to catch a glimpse of the masked person standing in the main room. Seto immediately hid beside the bathroom doorway, but still observed them carefully.

The masked person was holding a knife in their hand. Was this the shiny object he had seen? Seto felt his stomach turn icy with dread. What were they planning to do with a knife of all things? This couldn't be good...

Still holding the knife, the masked person opened the door and left Seth's room, shutting it behind them. Seto ran to the door and opened it slightly, wondering what the hell the masked person was going to do now.

The masked person approached the room opposite Seth's and slowly opened the door. Seto's face paled when he realized at the last moment that it was Tyler's room.

No! No, don't go in there!!! Seto screamed mentally, but it was too late. The masked person had already gone inside and shut the door behind them. Seto rushed to the door, turning the doorknob, but it was no use. It was already locked.

Seto stepped away, his chest starting to heave as panic made its way into his system. This couldn't be happening! Tyler- The masked person- The knife-! Without a second thought, Seto whirled around and ran back into Seth's room. He practically threw the doors open as he charged into the hidden passageway and sprinted around to the other end where Tyler's room was.

Hang in there, Tyler! Please! Please don't let me be too late!!!

Seto shoved open the entrance to Tyler's bathroom and finally entered Tyler's room. But... nothing could have ever prepared him to see what he was seeing now...

The masked person was crouching over Tyler's bed, still holding the knife in their hand. The knife was dripping with freshly-spilled blood.

...Tyler...?

Seto lowered his gaze to the bloodied person lying on his side below the masked person, completely still. There were deep gouges all over his face and bloodstains all over the front of his shirt. His wrists and ankles were bound with ropes. Hauntingly, his glazed eyes were wide open, staring back at Seto without moving in the slightest. It was like he was petrified. Like he was paralyzed. Like he was...

...

Like... Tyler was...

...

...What...? What's... going on...?

The masked figure crawled off of Tyler and faced Seto, their disguise hiding whatever expression they had at the moment. But all Seto could do was stare down at the body, shell-shocked. His arms dropped down to hang limply by his sides as his spinning, whirling mind went completely numb.

...N-No... Tyler... This... isn't real... right...?

Suddenly something shiny caught Seto's eye and he flinched, finally looking away from the body to see the bloodied knife.

Is that... Tyler's blood...?

He looked up at the masked person, who casually wiped the blood from both sides of the knife against a clean spot on Tyler's neck. Then they met Seto's gaze and cupped their other hand under their chin, as though they were watching him with great pleasure.

Seto felt like something snapped within him as his body began to twitch.

You... You did this...

Seto's whole body started to tremble with rage as he balled his hands into fists.

The masked person tilted their head in amusement, the movement making the jester cones on their hood shake a little.

You did this to him... You KILLED TYLER!!!

Abandoning all rationale, Seto let out a raw, agonized scream as he lunged at the masked person with his bare hands. The masked person quickly threw up their arms in self-defense, forming a magical barrier that blocked Seto's attack. Overcome with uncontrollable emotions that he couldn't describe, Seto still screamed as he mindlessly beat his fists against the sickly green barrier over and over again. Tears streamed down his face as purple sparks actually started to flare from his hands.

The barrier suddenly disappeared and Seto tumbled forward, knocking the masked person backward onto the floor. The knife fell from their hand, clattering somewhere off to the side. Seto's eyes were burning with rage as he pulled at the sides of the mask to tear it off and reveal their identity, but for some reason the mask barely budged. Was it tied to their head-?

In that moment, the masked person shoved Seto aside and reached for the knife, but Seto crushed down their outstretched arm with his elbow and snatched it away from them. He staggered to his feet, pointing the knife at the masked person as they stood up, wobbling unsteadily on their tall boots.

"Who... Who are you...?" Seto growled in a low, hoarse voice.

Instead of replying, the masked person suddenly charged at Seto, making him instinctively raise the knife. Seto gasped in shock as the masked person slammed their hand down on the blade, impaling it straight through their own palm. To his confusion, Seto didn't hear any cry of pain or see any physical reaction to the brutal stab wound. Seto let go of the knife and the masked person fled into the bathroom, disappearing into the hidden passageway.

"W-Wait- No-! Get back here you coward!!!" Seto shrieked, turning around to chase after them, but he suddenly heard a low, muffled whine behind him.

Seto felt chills run up and down his spine as he turned back and hesitantly approached the bed. Had... Had he just imagined that...?

Seto shut his eyes tightly before finally summoning the courage to look down.

Tyler was still in the same position on his side, motionless and limp on the bed. There was... a lot of blood. Too much blood. His eyes were still wide open in that same, vacant-

Suddenly Seto realized that they were looking up at him. Hadn't they been looking at the side of the bed earlier?

"...Tyler...?" Seto whispered, gently reaching forward with a trembling hand to touch his shoulder. He almost drew back when Tyler let out a soft, guttural sound.

"Oh- Oh my god-!" Seto cried out as he moved Tyler so he was lying on his back. "Tyler? Tyler!"

He's- He's alive! He's alive!

Tyler didn't even muster a reply this time, nor did he move on his own. What was wrong with him? It seemed like he barely had control over his movements. Why?

Suddenly Seto had a horrible, horrible realization as he recognized the symptoms. Tyler must have been drugged with a powerful Potion of Weakness, which was similar to a sleeping potion except the former kept the victim conscious. The masked person had drugged Tyler and tied him up for good measure so that he wouldn't be able to resist...

Tyler let out a small whimper of pain, jolting Seto out of his thoughts. His wounds! They were still bleeding! Seto's mind was running a mile a minute as he tried to collect himself. If he didn't do something fast, Tyler might lose too much blood!

And if that happened, then...

"Don't- Don't worry, Tyler-! I'll be back, I just need to get a potion to help you!" Seto choked out before running outside and hurrying to his own room. He fumbled for the key before finally unlocking the door and rushing inside. He tugged open the nightstand and found the Potion of Healing that MonoWither had dyed dark-red a long time ago to trick Steven into killing Dave. Thank god he had kept it...

Seto also pocketed the yin-and-yang dagger before running back to Tyler's room. To his relief, the masked person hadn't returned to finish the job.

"I'm back, Tyler, you're going to be okay..." Seto whispered frantically, trying to get his hands to stop shaking as he opened the lid. He began pouring the potion onto the deep cuts on his face and watched as they started to close up and heal.

Tyler whimpered again in response, but he still didn't move. Whatever the masked person had drugged him with was still taking a strong effect.

Tyler's wrists and ankles were still bound, so Seto pulled out the dagger and began cutting the ropes. As he did so, he noticed that the masked person had also cut the palms of his hands, although the Potion of Healing was taking care of those wounds too.

Why... Why would they hurt him like this? Were they actually planning to... torture him to death? Why?!

...Also... who was that person in disguise anyway?

Seto looked down at Tyler again, his heart still racing a mile a minute from the adrenaline. It seemed that Tyler was only able to move his tear-filled eyes, but they were fixated on Seto. Seto cringed as he noticed the blood still staining Tyler's face and hands. He should clean that up for him...

Seto hesitantly left Tyler's side and went into the bathroom. However, he almost let out a shout when he saw Jerry sitting on the floor. Startled, Jerry bounced away from Seto and attempted to hide in the shower.

How the hell did they get in here? I'm sure they weren't here earlier...

Seto shook his head as he grabbed a towel and turned on the faucet, but no water came out. Only then did he remember that the water was turned off during Night Time. What the hell was he going to do now?

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head as he turned to face the shower, where Jerry was cowering in fear. Seto slowly knelt down and crawled towards Jerry. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," Seto murmured, reaching a hand out to the terrified slime. "I'm not Slotty, I'm Seto. Slotty was the one who tried to hurt you, but I would never do something like that. I'm Jordan's friend. You can trust me."

Jerry hesitated for a moment before finally hopping over to Seto, who picked him up gently and got to his feet. Seto walked back to Tyler, whose arms were actually starting to twitch a little. It seemed the potion was starting to wear off, so that was a good sign.

"This might feel weird, but it's probably better than dried blood..." Seto muttered before placing Jerry on a patch of blood on the bedsheets. Tyler slowly closed his eyes as the slime quickly... got to work on him.

Seto sat on the edge of the bed and absentmindedly brushed the hair from Tyler's eyes as he murmured comforting words, although he wasn't exactly sure if they were more for Tyler rather than himself.

Seto flinched when he felt something lightly brush along his kneecap. He looked to see Tyler weakly moving his arm so that his fingers were barely touching his leg. Tyler looked up at Seto, a very faint but grateful smile barely tugging the corners of his mouth. Seto paused before grasping Tyler's hand delicately, as though it would shatter if he wasn't careful enough.

Despite everything that had just happened and the chaos that was bound to occur later, Seto felt strangely at peace for once. This was probably the eye of a bitter storm. Hell would most likely return the moment Night Time ended, or possibly even earlier than that. But in this moment... this quiet, still moment with Tyler... Seto felt too worn out to panic. It was like time didn't exist in this world. Right now it was just him and Tyler... and nothing else...

He's... alive... Tyler's alive... At least... I could save one person today... Seto thought weakly.

Seto wasn't sure how long he sat there with Tyler, but everything that had happened in the past few hours finally started to catch up with him as his eyes went half-lidded and he slumped over slightly. He gave one last glance at Tyler, whose eyes were closed. Tyler would be fine...

Soon, Seto found himself joining Tyler and drifting off into a deep, deep sleep.

~~~

The room was completely dark, save for the dozens of eerily bright screens that showed various security camera footage.

The masked person stared at Seto and Tyler through the screen in front of them. Even though the knife was still impaled through their right hand, their hands were clenched tightly. Without warning, they smacked their fists angrily on the table and sent more blood gushing from their hand and spilling onto the table. That was when they turned to look at the knife, as though they had just remembered it was there.

The masked person yanked the knife out of their hand and put it aside before finding a nearby Potion of Healing. They lifted up the bottom of the mask slightly so that they could drink it. As they readjusted the smiling mask and placed the empty bottle away, they looked back at the screens. Shifting their gaze from the peacefully sleeping pair, they observed something happening on another screen.

The white mask betrayed no part of their real expression, but its permanently wide smile glowed with a sinister aura from the bright light of the screens.

~~~

Seto wasn't sure how long he slept. In fact, when he woke up, he was so groggy that he couldn't remember where he was or why. Seto groaned as he turned over to the side, closing his eyes again. He... could sleep a little longer. He could afford to sleep in for once, right? It wasn't like anything important had happened-

"How much longer are you going to sleep?!"

Seto shrieked in terror as he heard that horrid voice behind him. Suddenly, in that moment, he remembered everything that had happened the night before.

"Geez, took you long enough!" MonoWither complained. "Come on, get up! Your friends are all waiting for you!"

Seto sat up with a jolt as he looked around. "What- Why-?! Why am I in my room?!"

MonoWither tilted their heads curiously. "Why wouldn't you be? Did you have a dream you were in Tyler's room or something?"

Seto shoved the blankets off of him as he slipped on his cloak and hurriedly put on his shoes.

Tyler! Where are you?! Please be safe, please don't be-!

"What's the panic for? Seriously, what's gotten into you?" MonoWither asked as they followed Seto out the door.

Seto ran to Tyler's room and knocked frantically. "Tyler?! TYLER!!!"

"The door isn't locked, you know..."

Seto turned the knob and rushed inside, only to see an empty room. "Wh-What-? Where is he?!"

"Don't you know what time it is?" MonoWither asked.

Seto glanced at the clock and his face paled. "N-Nine?!"

"Yes! It's 9 o'clock! You totally missed a bunch of announcements, that's so unlike you! We got tired of waiting, so we decided to wake you up ourselves!"

"Wh-Where is everyone?" Seto asked.

"Well you weren't answering their calls at all, so we just told them to leave it to us," MonoWither replied.

"But then- Tyler-?"

"Don't worry, Tyler's fine! Most importantly, there's something you have to see right now!"

"...What?" Seto felt chills race up and down his spine.

"Yep! Just follow us! Oh, and please be as quiet as possible before you reach the second floor!"

Seto wanted so badly to ask why, but he couldn't shake off a feeling of dread. Like something had gone terribly wrong...

"You're listening to us? Good! Follow us, please!" MonoWither said before leaving the room. Seto had no choice but to obey. Somehow, he felt like he was missing something...

What the hell do they want to show me? Where is everyone? I don't see them anywhere...

...

Why do I feel like... like something horrible's happened while I was asleep? No, it can't be...

They made their way up the stairs, continuing until they got to the third floor. Then MonoWither flew over to the dance room and activated the sensor to unlock it. "After you!" they beamed as they hovered aside.

Seto glanced at them warily before slowly pushing open the door.

MonoWither's just joking around, right-?

Seto suddenly choked out a gasp as the first thing he saw was a massive pool of crimson blood on the floor. For a few moments, he couldn't bring himself to look up. All he could do was just stare at the blood on the floor with wide, dilated pupils. He didn't want to see... the source of all that blood...

Against his will, Seto slowly looked up. What he saw... he couldn't describe.

Out of all the people Seto expected to see hanging from the ceiling among the silver stars, multiple hooks impaling his hands and holding his body up in a crucified position, countless wounds littering his thighs, neck twisted 180 degrees so his face was turned away from him...

...Seto never once thought Jason would ever meet such a horrible, gruesome fate.