Warden Ryan quickly inputted the four-letter word into the keypad. All cells on lockdown. Only authorized access may undo this command. A robotic voice said. Ryan crouched on the floor against the corner, his heart beating against his chest as he watched the sorcerer slowly walk towards the stairs. He seemed to be moving as though in a trance. The bat-hybrid could hear the rest of the prisoners begging him to free them, but fortunately, the sorcerer simply walked past them. Although, Ryan had to admit that he did feel a little sorry for them...

No. A little voice said in the back of his mind. They're just scientific experiments and are a danger to the rest of society. You have get that in your head. Remember what happened the last time you-

Ryan quickly dismissed the voice and concentrated at the task at hand. He pulled out his taser and carefully aimed it at the sorcerer. His finger hovered over the trigger, ready to fire, when the escapee suddenly turned his head to glare at him. Ryan's blue eyes widened in horror as the sorcerer smiled and raised his glowing hands. The bat-hybrid quickly spread his wings and took the air as the ball of energy sailed underneath him and exploded, forming a giant crater in the ground. The prisoners on the first floor started to panic; he could hear them screaming and trying to break their doors down.

Ryan cursed under his breath and barely managed to dodge several of Seto's next attacks as he flew onto the balcony in front of the broken cell. He quickly fired his taser, but Seto deflected the projectile by launching a spell in return. Ryan ducked and the wall behind him was blasted to bits. The force of the explosion made Ryan fall on his stomach, and there was an audible crunching sound as a stone block landed on his left wing, pinning it down.

Pain shot through Ryan's body as he cried out, rapidly blinking away the tears welling in his eyes. He tried in vain to push the heavy block off of his wing, but only succeeded in making it hurt even more. Ryan looked around wildly for his taser and found it lying on the floor just a few feet in front of him. His fingers were mere inches away from touching the taser, but the base of his wing began to tear, forcing him to stop. The sight of his own blood on the floor sickened him.

Seto approached him with a slowness that reminded Ryan of a cat stalking a mouse. Only now the cat was closing in for the kill, and it meant to torment its helpless prey before putting it out of its misery. Seto was clearly taking dark pleasure in Ryan's growing desperation, for the bat-hybrid could hear him laughing mirthlessly under his breath. The sorcerer formed several water whips with his magic and held them in the air, poised to strike. Ryan pulled out his enchanted diamond sword and held it in front of him. "You don't have to do this, Seto." he said shakily, his voice an octave higher than usual. "Please don't..."

At that moment, the bacca his father had been torturing let out a terrified shriek. The sorcerer paused and Ryan held his breath. Something flashed across Seto's face as he shifted his stone-cold gaze from the warden to the hallway below. With slow, teetering steps, Seto let the water whips fall to the floor as he turned around and walked away from Ryan.

The injured bat-hybrid slumped to the floor, in too much agony to feel relieved. His vision swirled around him and he took several ragged breaths as he shut his blue eyes tightly. Ryan tried to block out the pain in his crushed wing, which had increased tenfold. His head pounded intensely and against his will, he passed out.

---

Seto's unsteady gait was similar to that of a drunken man's as he walked through the hallway. He seemed ready to topple over at any given moment, which Dr. McNulty supposed was true. If a sorcerer loses control of his powers, he essentially becomes a ticking time bomb. The doctor had no idea when Seto's aura would burn out, but he hoped that it would happen before he reached the interrogation room.

"You're fucked." a low, raspy voice behind him said.

Dr. McNulty looked away from the security camera screen to face the bacca who had spoken. "And why do you say that, Jerome?" he asked, mildly amused.

"Seto's coming for you." Jerome replied. "And- And-" He broke into a feeble coughing fit. "And when he finds you, you're going to wish you never existed."

Dr. McNulty pressed some buttons and the screen switched cameras to show the first floor of the prison cells, where someone was laying facedown on the floor. He watched as his daughter slowly picked herself off the ground and pulled out an enchanted diamond sword, smiling sadistically before heading in the same direction Seto had gone. Dr. McNulty turned back to Jerome. "Do you really think so?"

---

Seto staggered through the hallway, his dark thoughts filled purely with revenge. The torches on the walls seemed dim in comparison to the brightness of his purple aura, and they flickered as though they were caught in a nonexistent wind when Seto walked past. He came to a stop when he reached the end of the hallway, unsure of how to continue. Directly in front of him were the showers and to his right and left were two paths leading in opposite directions.

He heard quick footsteps behind him and automatically formed a fiery ball of energy with his hands. Seto turned around and threw it with all his might at the assailant. However, the spider-hybrid had anticipated his attack and dodged it by jumping on the wall and continuing to run towards him. Before Seto could react, Arana landed on the ground and plunged her diamond sword into his abdomen, the blade piercing through his back and impaling him.

Time seemed to slow down for both of them as Seto felt a burning feeling rush through his body. And then both were sent flying backwards as a magical force blasted them apart. Arana hit the stone ground forcefully, the impact sending her sword skidding across the floor. She felt slightly winded, but for the most part she was relatively unscathed, for her enchanted armor had protected her.

Seto was not so fortunate, Arana realized, as she picked up the dripping sword and approached his body. He had landed in the showers, and the water was stained crimson with his own blood. The sorcerer was curled up in a fetal position and his pale right hand was pressed over his stomach to keep his insides from spilling out. His face was contorted with pain and low whimpers escaped his throat. Then Seto's purple aura fizzled out as he closed his brown eyes, releasing a final breath.

---

"No." Jerome whispered, a look of shock etched on his face. His eyes were wide open in absolute horror as he stared at the unmoving body of his friend on the screen. "No, it can't be..." he watched as Seto's aura faded. "No! Seto! Seto, no!" Jerome sobbed as he struggled violently against the cuffs holding him down. "NO! NO!" he yelled desperately, hoping that this was just some terrible dream, hoping that it wasn't real, hoping that what he was seeing on the screen was just his imagination. "SETO! SETO, WAKE UP! PLEASE! PLEASE WAKE UP!" The bacca finally slumped against the table, tears rushing down his face, and for once in his life he looked completely defeated. "No, Seto... No..." he said weakly as he closed his eyes in anguish.

The doctor watched his reaction with sadistic pleasure.

---

Arana let out a laugh of triumph as she stared at the lifeless body. The white stripes of his jailsuit were now stained red as well as his feathery hair. "That's what you get for trying to break out." she said tauntingly. "It's the Hybrid Factory, where not a single soul gets through!" She paused for a moment to catch her breath. "It's a shame you had to go, though. I wanted to see you get turned into a hybrid or die in the process. Oh well. When we torture the information out of your bacca friend, it won't really matter." For good measure, she kicked his back and began to walk away.

She stopped when she heard a low moan behind her. "What? Are you still alive?" she asked with exasperation as she turned back to the sorcerer. She peered over him and noticed that his right hand that was holding his stomach was now glowing. Arana's red eyes widened with shock when the hand moved to reveal that the wound was gone. Her mouth opened and closed, for she did not know what to say as Seto's aura flickered back to life. Her mind screamed at her to stab him again, but she was too stunned to react as Seto slowly stood up to face her.

Seto's narrowed eyes were ablaze with fury as he glared at the spider-hybrid. Arana took several steps backwards and tripped, falling on her rear end. Seto let out a mirthless laugh as he watched her growing desperation. "All. Must. Pay." the sorcerer hissed as he raised his palms and faced them backwards. There was loud rumbling sound and Arana let out a squeak of fear as she picked herself off the floor and ran through the hallway. She didn't know where she was going, but all she knew was that she had to get as far away from the sorcerer as possible. Seto's lips drew back in a snarl as he felt the power surge through him again. He was going to teach her a vital lesson: to never mess with him or his friends.

The sorcerer screamed with anger as he forcefully threw his arms forward, making the showers collapse behind him. The flames of his aura seemed to burn even brighter as a powerful stream of water rushed past him. Arana looked behind her just in time to see the water slam into her, knocking her off her feet as she was pushed through the hallway. She screamed as she was dragged across the cell room, eventually washing up onto the opposite wall. Seto quickly drew his hands up and clenched them into fists, making the water freeze. Arana screamed curses as she struggled against her icy prison, but Seto merely laughed harshly as he staggered away from the scene, several water whips trailing behind him in the air as he took the left path. He didn't know why he took that route in particular, but it just felt right to him, like an invisible force was guiding him.

Seto glanced up and noticed a tiny camera attached to the wall. It made whirring sounds as it focused on the sorcerer, who smiled viciously and smacked it off the wall with one of his whips. The camera hit the floor, its lens slightly shattered from the impact. Seto peered into the device and whispered, "You're next" before crushing it with his bare foot.

---

Startled, Dr. McNulty jerked backwards as static filled the screen. He was actually worried for once, worried for his life. Both of his children had been defeated, and now the sorcerer was headed in his direction.

The bacca suddenly broke down into peals of high-pitched, insane laughter. "Oh Notch, you're so screwed! YOU'RE SCREWED-"

The doctor slapped him in the face with a lot more force than he needed to. "Be quiet!" he ordered harshly. Having returned to his senses, Jerome nodded meekly. Dr. McNulty pulled out Mitch's dog tag and put it on, hiding it under his coat.

---

Ryan groaned as he came to, his vision slowly coming to focus. He looked around wildly before remembering where he was. Ryan realized that someone had been kind enough to remove the stone that had been pinning him down. He looked at it and almost passed out again at the sight of his own mangled wing. The bat-hybrid took several deep breaths as he closed his eyes. You have to stay calm. You have some healing potions. You're going to be fine. Ryan's hands shook as he uncapped the bottle and brought the pink liquid to his lips. His wing tingled as the bones realigned themselves. When the bleeding stopped, Ryan tentatively waved it in the air. It was as good as new.

The bat-hybrid stood up and saw his sister frozen to the wall below. In any other situation he would have laughed, but he had a strange forboding feeling that something bad was going to happen soon. As he slowly walked past the broken cell, he realized that it was strangely quiet. Ryan looked inside and his blue eyes widened with surprise when he saw that it was empty. All that was left was a severed metal chain on the floor. He blankly stared at it for several seconds before a loud voice suddenly echoed throughout the prison.

WARDENS' OFFICE HAS BEEN OPENED.