It was Sky's 16th birthday, and everyone had gone to the beach. Seto, who hadn't realized that going to the beach meant "wear as little clothes as possible", was feeling a bit... conspicuous in his gray cloak.

As everyone played in the water, he sat awkwardly on the sand, drawing lines with a stick he'd found.

"Hey Seto, we're going boogie boarding, okay?" Sky called out.

"Okay!" he called out.

Everyone dashed into the water, boogie boards in hand, leaving Seto all by himself.

"Hey, what's up?"

Seto flinched and looked up at Tyler, who was wearing sunglasses and red swim trunks. Well, apparently not everyone...

"...Nothing."

Tyler grinned. "Cool. Wanna catch sand crabs with me?"

"Sand crabs?"

"Yeah, like this!" Tyler walked over as a wave came crashing in. As the water receded, he dug his hand into the sand and scooped something out. "Hell yeah!" he cried out as he ran back to Seto, proudly showing what he had.

There was a small, mole-like crab wriggling frantically among the wet sand in his hands.

Seto must have made a face because Tyler looked confused. "What's wrong?"

"Wh-What are you going to do with it?"

"Huh? Nothing, really. It's just fun to catch." Tyler tossed the crab back near the water, where it burrowed into the sand.

"Oh. That's good." Seto awkwardly glanced down at the ground. Why was he so sensitive? It was just a crab. There were probably thousands of the damn things here.

"You don't like hurting creatures, huh?" Tyler smiled. "Yeah, some of my old friends liked crushing the sand crabs, which made me a little upset. Personally, I just like catching them and letting them go. No harm done."

Seto watched Sky and the others, who were now waiting for a wave to come. Then he looked at Tyler. "...How do you catch them?"

"Oh, let me show you!"

Seto got up and followed Tyler over to the darker, damper part of the beach. "So you just wait for the wave to come in..."

The wave crashed down and rushed over their bare feet, the coolness soothing Seto's skin. Then Seto felt the tug as the wave receded back. Tyler pointed at the sand. "You see those moving triangles? Those are sand crabs. That's when you reach down and grab them. Or rather, scoop them out I should say. But you gotta be fast, since they're really quick diggers."

The wave came back. Seto watched for the triangles and quickly reached into the sand. To his satisfaction, he felt something wriggling in his hand and carefully scooped it up.

A few maggots greeted him instead.

Seto screamed and dropped the maggots, backing up.

"What's wrong?" Tyler asked.

The wave came back. But this time, the water was warm and red. Now it was Tyler's turn to scream as they both scrambled away from the sticky blood. Seto felt his stomach churn as he looked out over the crimson ocean, but he couldn't see Sky or the others anymore.

Before he could process what this meant, something came washing ashore. Or rather, what was left of someone.

Seto brought his hands to his mouth, choking in horror at all the stab wounds covering a now-adult Sky. His dead eyes stared into Seto's soul. Tyler cried out.

More and more bodies started washing ashore. Seto recognized every single corpse as one of his friends.

"We have to help them!" Tyler shrieked, running towards the bodies, but Seto grabbed him and held him back. He had no idea what was in the water, but he couldn't lose Tyler too...

"Help!" someone cried out in the distance. Seto looked up and saw some people splashing desperately in the water, waving their hands. Annie seemed to be the clearest, but he recognized everyone there.

I have to help them!

But you can't even swim!

I have magic, don't I? What good is it for if I can't even use it to help my friends!

You can't save them. You can't save anyone...

Suddenly, Tyler shrieked as he fell back. Two tentacles had emerged from the ocean and wrapped themselves around his ankles, pulling him in.

"TYLER!!!" Seto cried out, rushing towards him, but then a huge wave of blood came crashing down and knocked him over, he couldn't breathe and everything was red and too warm, too hot, too metallic-

Seto gasped as he woke up, his heart pounding in his chest like a drum. As his mind adjusted back to reality, he realized that he was hugging Tyler's arm again.

Without thinking, Seto shut his eyes and pressed his face against Tyler's shoulder.

"Seto?" Tyler asked.

Seto froze, wondering if it would be better or worse if he pretended he was still asleep. But then he remembered-!

Seto let go of him with a start and reached for the remote, only to realize that the TV was already on. They had about an hour left.

"Woah, is everything all right? Actually, that's a dumb question. Sorry."

Seto swallowed and laid back on the headrest. "Yeah. It's okay. Did I wake you up?"

"Nah, I was just chilling. Sorry if you were having a nightmare, I wasn't sure if it was okay to wake you up. You seemed kinda upset, though."

"It's... fine." Seto glanced down at his lap. "Hey... You remember that birthday party Sky had? When we all went to the beach?"

"The beach? Oh yeah, that was fun. I remember getting sunburnt despite all the sunblock I put on, though."

"...Do you remember when you taught me how to catch sand crabs?"

"Geez, it's been so long..." Tyler thought for a moment. "Oh wait, yeah I do. Why?"

"Nothing. I just... remembered that," Seto murmured, smiling a little.

Tyler smiled as well. "Yeah. We should do that again sometime."

Seto almost said something along the lines of "But we can't," but he stopped himself.

"Those poor crabs," he joked. "They just wanted to stay buried in the sand and eat."

"But then everything changed when Seto and Tyler attacked."

"Attacked?"

"...Er, that was a reference to something. But yeah, they're fun to catch."

"Can you imagine if a giant person came smashing through the roof and scooped you out? That would be terrifying."

"But that means they thought I looked cool and wanted to get a closer look, so it's actually a win-win situation!"

Seto laughed and leaned against him. "I guess so..."

Tyler offered his hand, the one that was between them. Seto hesitated before holding it. Tyler squeezed his hand gently as they sat in silence, waiting.

Seto's heart started to pound again. He wanted so badly to stay in this moment forever. Why couldn't they? Why... Why couldn't they have been like this in a totally different situation?

But there was no point in dwelling on alternate realities. The countdown was almost over.

~~~

When the screen finally changed, Seto was surprised to see "MONOWITHER THEATER" display on the screen. Curtains closed over the text and reopened to show MonoWither hovering in front of a beach display. All three heads wore sunglasses and there was a red martini on the sand below.

Seto felt Tyler tense up next to him.

"Welcome back, everyone! Did you miss our show? We're so sorry for the delay! Due to unforeseen circumstances, everyone had to take a short vacation. Hey, even Withers need a break, you know! But anyway, you may notice that certain characters are... missing. It'll be hard to get used to, but we ask that you ignore this for now. They'll be back, we assure you!"

Seto shivered. They would be back? He should've known that the Puppetmaster would try to recapture them, but they sounded so confident about it...

He subconsciously clutched Tyler's hand tighter. No matter what, he would never let them take Tyler back.

"But in the end, no matter what certain people may think of our show, no matter what characters are gone..."

MonoWither grinned.

"...The show must go on!"

The curtains closed and reopened to show someone lying in bed. Seto felt nauseous when he realized it was Annie who was fast asleep. They were just filming her while she was sleeping. He'd known there were cameras in the bedrooms for a reason, but being on the opposite end for once made it all the more disturbing.

Annie woke up with a start, sitting up with a gasp. She breathed heavily and looked around, trying to catch her bearings. It was then that Seto realized her room was covered in mirrors. Not to mention, the layout seemed different than normal.

Annie shut her eyes tightly and clenched her hands into fists before dropping them. No doubt she had realized that she was once again trapped in the killing game. But she quickly adapted to the situation; at least on the outside. She sighed before getting up. She rummaged through the night stand as though she were looking for something, but in the end she slammed the drawer shut in frustration. Whatever it was, she didn't have it anymore.

"Stupid Wither," she cursed under her breath as she put on her brown leather jacket and tried her best to brush her hair with her fingers before leaving the room.

The camera changed to show the hallway. Except, Seto had never seen this place before.

"Where are they?" Tyler asked, echoing his thoughts.

"I don't know. They must be somewhere new."

"It looks like a hotel..."

Annie seemed taken aback by the new setting, but she made her way to the lobby. MonoWither was at the counter.

"Hey, where the hell are we?!" Annie demanded.

"You are a guest of honor at MonoWither's All-Inclusive Resort! We hope you enjoy your stay!"

"Oh great. This is hell."

"Not yet it isn't!" MonoWither chirped back.

Annie stared at them before kicking the counter. She muttered something under her breath before storming out. Eventually, she found the breakfast room and paced around, obviously too rattled to eat.

"Where's everyone else?" Tyler asked nervously.

"They're probably still asleep..." Seto murmured.

Sure enough, almost everyone else made their way out of their rooms. Jordan rushed out of his room and found Annie, anxiously asking where Jerry was. (Seto couldn't help but feel a little worried about that small slime too.) Bonks was next, quickly followed by Jason and Bodil (the former pushing the latter's wheelchair.)

"Where's everyone else?" Jordan asked, unknowingly echoing Tyler.

"Beats me. No one else would open their doors." Bonks replied.

Annie sighed loudly, making everyone stare at her.

"What's wrong?" Bodil asked.

"N-Nothing, no..." Annie shook her head. "Geez, what's wrong with me? I should be happy about this. I mean, I am, I just..." She smiled sadly. "Seto and Tyler escaped."

Everyone perked up.

"Oh shit! For real?!" Jason exclaimed.

"Yeah, I saw them get rescued. I was almost there, but..." Her gaze turned distant. "I wasn't fast enough."

"Oh, Annie..." Tyler mumbled.

Seto stared down at his lap. No... He was the one who wasn't fast enough...

"I'm sorry," Jordan murmured.

"No, it's fine. I'm glad at least some of us made it out of this hellhole."

"Yeah, definitely," Bodil said. "I mean, I barely went anywhere before getting recaptured..."

"Wait, so that means Steven made it out too, right?" Bonks asked hopefully.

"M-Maybe? I thought I saw him get captured too, though..." Annie replied.

"Oh, who cares about that brat anyway?!"

Everyone including Seto and Tyler flinched when MonoWither appeared.

"Good morning, and welcome to All-Inclusive MonoWither Resort! We thought that you guys were getting really tired of the old place, so we took it upon ourselves to send you on a surprise getaway vacation! Of course, the show never stops..."

"I don't want to stay any longer!" Bodil cried out.

"Why do you want us to stay with you so badly?!" Jason shouted. "Why couldn't you just let us go!"

"Where would the fun in cutting our beloved show short be?!" MonoWither asked. "No one likes it when the shows they watch get canceled halfway through the season!"

"When does the season end then?!" Bonks demanded.

"That's all up to you guys!"

"So you're going to keep going until we're all dead? Is that it?" Jordan said, glaring daggers.

"Now why would we spoil the ending?"

There was a dread-filled silence.

"Well well, whatever. Let's just get on with the meeting, head over to-"

"Wait, but what about Steven?" Bonks asked. "Is he here with us? Or did he escape?"

MonoWither stopped and turned around to face her. "Huh? Escape? Who's escaped?"

Annie scoffed. "Don't pretend at least Seto and Tyler didn't escape the show."

MonoWither was silent for a few moments before they burst into cackles. "ESCAPED?! YOU THINK- OH, THIS IS JUST TOO GOOD-!"

"I saw them myself," Annie continued. "Hope Organization took them in. You can't deny it."

"Oh, you poor ignorant fools... We concede that yes, they are not in the show right now. But there is no escaping us! Wherever they may be, they are still trapped under our control, rest assured! And you will see them again... We promise."

Bodil shivered. "You'd go that far just to get them back?"

"And why would we not? They abandoned their roles! Who can replace them? No one, that's who! Not only did our protagonist bail, but he took his lover boy with him! Now there's no more dramatic tragic romance until they come back!"

(Seto's face burned at this statement.)

"Why do you call Seto the protagonist anyway?" Jason asked.

"Oh, can't you see he's a character brimming with drama?! A mysterious yet relatable character with a dark past and so many secrets hidden from the rest of the cast... Smart enough to solve all the murder cases and advance the plot... Looking after all his friends at the expense of himself... Yes, Seto was a fine protagonist!"

"So that's what we're all to you? Fictional characters you can play around with?" Bonks asked in a shaky voice.

"Aw, don't feel jealous! You may just be side characters, but you're just as important!"

"Whatever. I want to know if Steven's with us or not," Jordan muttered.

"What are you, blind? Do you see Steven in this room?"

"I meant in this building."

"Hm... Nah, that's not important."

This got everyone bristled up, including Seto and Tyler.

"You did something to him, didn't you!" Bonks yelled. Before MonoWither could respond, she ran out of the room.

"Hey, where are you going? What about the meeting?!" MonoWither demanded.

The rest of the participants looked at each other before quickly following Bonks.

"Come back here!!! We wanted to get to the exciting part!!!" MonoWither shrieked from the dining room that was now behind the group. "We- We have free cookies?"

"What did they do to Steven?" Tyler asked nervously.

"...I have no clue." Seto thought back to how MonoWither had threatened Steven with the deaths of Bart and Dave. Something had seemed... personal with those threats.

Eventually, they forced their way into Steven's room. To everyone's horror, he was tied up, gagged, and blindfolded on the floor.

"Why would they do something like that to him?" Tyler asked, his face pale as he watched Steven thrash about in a blind panic as everyone else tried to calm him down.

"...MonoWither's always been sadistic," Seto murmured.

"Y-Yeah, but... Why Steven? What did he do to deserve that?"

Once again, Seto couldn't respond.

They finally calmed him down and got him out. Steven immediately asked where Bart and Dave were, which got a resounding cackle from MonoWither.

Seto squirmed. "It was my fault," he admitted.

"What was?"

"I saw Bart and Dave when we were trying to escape. Bart had been knocked unconscious, but Dave still had a chance. I was going to get him out but then..." He sighed. "I should've been faster."

Tyler looked at him, his eyebrows knitted in concern. "Seto, that's not your fault. It's the Puppetmaster's. You tried your best."

"I don't even know if they're still alive," Seto continued, a bitter grimace on his face. "MonoWither could've killed them. They've threatened to do it before, I saw it once."

"Still, that's not your fault..."

Seto didn't feel any better about it, especially when MonoWither dodged Steven's questions about them. Steven quickly became horribly silent and stayed that way.

"Well then! Now that we've gotten that settled, let's have our meeting, shall we? It's time for exciting new developments in our show! What kind of developments, you may ask? Perhaps there's a new motive, perhaps there's a brutal punishment, perhaps perhaps perhaps!" MonoWither flew out of Steven's room. The others had no choice but to follow them.

"Do you think there'll be a new motive already?" Tyler asked, horrified.

Seto couldn't look away from the screen. "...I think so."

Tyler shuddered. "Oh god..."

Seto couldn't help but squeeze Tyler's hand a little tighter. It was kind of gross and sweaty, but he didn't want to let go.

The participants all gathered in the lobby, too apprehensive to speak.

"Come on, take a seat! These sofas and chairs are very comfy!" MonoWither exclaimed.

No one moved.

"Aw, fine. Whatever you want, as long as you're fully relaxed! But just a word of advice: you might want to take a seat for this!"

"What I want to know is what you did with Jerry!" Jordan snapped.

"Oh, well, we actually wanted to start off with something else!" MonoWither said. "There's still something we need to discuss..."

"Like what?" Jason asked shakily.

"Hmmm, we don't know, maybe like your attempt to escape?!"

Everyone flinched guiltily.

"They- They TOLD us to escape!" Bodil stammered. "They carried me out of there! I had no choice- We had no choice-"

"To be honest, we didn't want things to come this way," MonoWither confessed, hovering around the group. "But after what you've all done, there's no way we can ignore it. You know what this means?"

They were all too afraid to speak.

MonoWither's red eyes gleamed as their grins widened. "It means... that someone must be punished..."

Seto and Tyler sat up in shock.

"No, no, no..." Seto repeated without thinking, trembling in fear.

"You can't do this!!!" Jason shouted in horror.

"Exactly!" Annie yelled. "We never broke any of your stupid rules!"

"You didn't? But explain Show Rule Number 1!"

Text flashed on the screen as MonoWither recited it out loud.

1. The show participants will live a communal lifestyle with no time limit inside the filming area.

"You all left the filming area and thus you all broke the first rule! Gosh, do any of you follow directions?"

Bodil screamed. "No! I'll do anything, please don't kill us!"

"Tsk, tsk, Bodil, didn't you understand us? We only said 'someone' must be punished, not all of you!"

"But- But who?" Bonks asked, her voice shaking as she moved her arm defensively in front of Steven.

"Well, we're going to leave that to the cruel mistresses of luck and fate!" Everyone backed up instinctively as MonoWither levitated a metal spear and pointed it at them.

Tyler let out a helpless shriek. "They can't!!! No!!!"

Maybe they're bluffing. They have to be bluffing. MonoWither wouldn't get rid of another participant like that, especially without me and Tyler...

"There's only six of us left," Jordan muttered, echoing Seto's thoughts. "Are you really sure you want to get rid of one more person?"

"Well, well, we also don't want you guys trying to escape! Two of you guys already got away! So it pains us to say that there's no convincing us otherwise. We've been far too soft on you all! We need to stamp out all that unacceptable behavior once and for all!"

"We- We promise! We won't do it ever again!!!" Bodil shrieked.

"Silence!" MonoWither commanded, shaking the spear.

Everyone obeyed, too afraid to defy them.

MonoWither waved the spear back and forth, pointing at each of them one by one. "Now, now, don't you dare move an inch! If we miss, we might make the punishment even more agonizingly slower! We have precise aim, so we're sure it'll only hurt for a split second!"

Steven suddenly pushed Bonks' arm away as he slowly stepped forward, his head bowed.

"What are you doing?!" Bonks hissed frantically.

Steven stopped when his chest was just a few inches away from the spear's sharp tip. He raised his head slightly, staring at it with deadened eyes.

"No! Steven!" Tyler cried out.

Seto's heart was pounding. This wasn't real, right? This was just a nightmare...

MonoWither suddenly burst into peals of laughter. "Ohhh this is precious! Are you trying to make a noble sacrifice by offering your own life? You don't have the guts..."

Steven's entire body shook like a leaf, betraying his fear as he clutched the spear in his hands and raised it so that it was pointing at his forehead.

Everyone shrieked in horror and started pleading with Steven to stop.

"No no no no- please no-!" Tyler stammered, looking away from the screen.

MonoWither wrenched the spear away. "As if we would let you be the sacrifice! We want this to be OUR random choice, and there's nothing you can do to change that! Get back with the group!"

Bonks rushed forward to grab Steven and pull him back.

"Now then, on to business! Bet you regret trying to make Steven stop, huh? Honestly, none of you are practical..."

Everyone tensed as MonoWither aimed the spear again. Bodil let out a whimper.

"Eenie, meeny, miny, mo, catch a creeper by the toe..."

As MonoWither shifted the spear to point at a different person with each word, quite a few people shut their eyes tightly and shielded themselves with their arms, as though that would protect them.

Seto couldn't breathe. Tyler was clutching his hand so tightly, he had lost all feeling in it. Then again, he was probably gripping Tyler just as hard.

They won't... They won't actually do it...

"...If it hisses let it blow, eenie meeny miny..."

MonoWither's fangs glinted in the light as their grins widened, locking in on their chosen target.

"...mo."

The sound of the spear firing rang through the air like a gunshot.

For a moment, Seto couldn't process what had just happened. His eyes... They were deceiving him, weren't they?

That couldn't be Jordan pinned to the now-bloodstained couch, clutching the spear that had impaled him, coughing up crimson blood...

"No..." Tyler whispered, his eyes bugged out in pure shock and horror.

Practically everyone screamed and staggered away from the corpse. Jason covered his mouth, hunched over, and started retching. Bonks and Bodil burst into hysterical shrieks. Annie kept saying, "Oh my god, oh my god," over and over again, tears streaming down her face. And Steven... Steven was standing there, staring blankly at Jordan, his face just as shell-shocked as before. He had been right next to Jordan, so his shirt and arm was splattered with his blood.

Jordan continued to cough as his irises went glassy. A bloodied smile formed slowly on his lips as he laughed a little, gazing up with half-lidded eyes at something that no one else could see. His satisfied expression sent chills racing up and down Seto's spine; Seto had never seen Jordan look more blissful than here in his final moments.

"S... Seth..." he whispered happily, raising his arm as though to touch something in the air, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp.

Seto felt Tyler stiffen as reality finally came crashing down. "No no no- This can't be happening-!" he cried out hysterically. "No! Jordan can't be dead- It's not real! NO!!!" Tyler let out a howl of anguish before bursting into sobs.

Seto felt too numbed with shock to respond. Jordan... Jordan was dead. Jordan, who he'd just seen alive two days ago. Jordan was dead, and he'd watched him die on live television. Just like that, Jordan was gone, his bloody corpse on display for the whole damn world to see.

MonoWither cackled despite everyone else sobbing hysterically. "That's the kind of content we like to see on this show!!!"

"NO!!!" Annie shouted. "HOW DARE YOU?! HOW COULD YOU?!"

"Why are you mad? Aren't you glad Fate was on your side? Aren't you glad you guys survived? What's the big deal?! Congratulations, you should all relish in your good luck!"

Everyone else was crying too hard (or too catatonic) to reply.

"We guess it's a little bit sad, but it's not our fault! Why don't you blame Seto and Tyler for abandoning you guys!"

Seto's heart dropped.

"H-Huh?" Bonks asked weakly in between her sniffles and whimpers.

"We bet they're having a swell time where they are. Hope Organization must be treating them like royalty! They've forgotten all about you guys. They're just glad they got out while you guys stay trapped in this killing show..."

Seto felt rage start to boil in his gut. How dare they say that...

"But can you blame them? You guys, deep down inside, are just as glad that Jordan died instead of you! See? All humans are the same! But just in case those two are watching..." MonoWither faced the screen. "Look what happens to your friends when you ditch them like trash and leave them behind to rot! Are you happy now? Are you still glad you 'escaped'? You guys are cowards... Some friends you are... But don't worry, we'll get you back! And that's a promise-"

"Turn it off," Tyler begged through his tears. "Turn it off, please-"

Seto grabbed the remote and turned the TV off, but the final image of Jordan could never disappear from his mind. 

~~~

Once again, they found themselves in the conference room. Everyone looked... grave. Exhausted. It felt strange to Seto, seeing all these people so shaken up by Jordan's death despite not knowing him personally. 

Seto glanced at Tyler, who still looked shell-shocked. His face was pale and his eyes were bloodshot from all the crying. But then again, Seto probably wasn't much better.

"You guys missed it, but the Puppetmaster's fourth motive is directed specifically at us," Tristan murmured wearily. Though he was only in his late 20s, he looked about a decade older. "If we give one of you back, the others won't starve. If we give both of you back, they won't starve and they'll get their belongings back."

"Their belongings?" Seto asked.

"Yes, MonoWither took something from each of them. Bodil lost Ashley's ribbons, Bonks lost her sketchbook, Jason lost the star Husky gave him, Annie lost her makeup kit, and Steven... lost Bart and Dave."

Seto looked away. So that was what happened to them. "...As cruel as it is to say, it's best if only one of us goes back, right?" he asked quietly. "I don't want Bart or Dave to get hurt, but..."

Tristan sighed. "If it comes down to it, then yes. Only one of you should go back. But for now, we're hoping that we can get them out somehow without sacrificing either one of you."

"So you're saying we wait?!" Seto thundered.

"We sacrificed so much to save you," Joey pointed out. "Giving you up immediately wouldn't be right. We have to try and see if there's a better option."

"But- But they'll be suffering until then-"

"And we could end up losing one of you again," Tristan interrupted.

Tyler blinked, rising out of his stunned stupor as he shook his head. "It's fine, I can go."

Seto whirled to face him, horrified. "No! You're staying here. I'm the one who should go!"

"You're the one who's better off here! You can actually do something and help!" Tyler countered. "The best thing I can do is go back so they don't starve anymore!"

"I won't let you do that!"

Tristan slammed his hand on the table like a judge hammering their gavel. "It's not your choice to make!" 

Seto and Tyler went silent, his tone so authoritative, neither of them could protest.

"Both of you are staying here until we figure out our options. Rest assured, we will not let your friends starve. But we can't rush to a decision. Is that understood?"

Seto sighed and nodded, but Tyler was quiet. "...What if someone tries to murder someone else?"

Seto felt chills run up and down his spine. As much as he didn't want to believe it, starvation could drive even the sanest of people to do horrible things, and three of his friends had killed for much less.

Tristan hesitated. "That is a risk, but we'll be monitoring their behavior as best we can from what we see onscreen. If it seems like someone is planning something, then we'll see."

Tyler seemed satisfied with this. Seto, however...

~~~

"...MonoWither was right," Seto mumbled, half-hoping Tyler wouldn't hear since he was facing away from him on the bed.

It took a few seconds for Tyler to turn over behind him. "...What?"

Seto stayed silent. Maybe it would be better to pass it off as just him talking in his sleep.

"No, they weren't," Tyler muttered. "Don't say that."

"I... I left Jordan behind." Seto's voice broke as a painful lump formed in his throat. "I saw him get captured right in front of me. I let that robot take him away and- and I didn't go after him, I just- I kept running-" Seto choked up and tried to collect himself. "Now Jordan's dead- That was the last time I ever saw him in person and it's all my fault-"

"That's not true, stop it..."

Seto curled up guiltily. "I'm sorry. I just... Jordan..." He trailed off helplessly. Hours later, he still hadn't fully processed it. He could barely breathe.

Tyler was silent for a few moments. "It's not your fault, I promise. You didn't know MonoWither would do that." 

Seto didn't know how to respond without bursting into tears again.

"...I do miss them, though," Tyler whispered.

Seto stared at the wall in front of him. "So do I..."

"I know you don't agree, but I wish I was back there with them. I know it's bad... It's absolutely horrible in there... But at least I wouldn't feel so... so..."

"...Distant?"

"...Yeah."

Seto felt the tears trickle across the bridge of his nose, staining the pillow underneath his head. "I just wish I could talk to them. I wish I could tell them how much I care. I wish I could help them. But- But all I can do is just sit here and watch them suffer on a television screen. And now... Now I can't ever see Jordan again. Who knows if the same thing will happen to someone else soon..."

Tyler didn't reply for so long, Seto thought he'd fallen asleep. But then he felt someone move the blankets up over his shoulders.

"I'm a hypocrite for saying this, but we shouldn't worry about that right now," Tyler mumbled. "Get some sleep, okay?"

It felt wrong to sleep when everything was so awful for the friends he'd left behind, but the blankets were soft and warm, along with Tyler's presence...

~~~

Only the day after did the others decide to begin exploring their new surroundings. Steven, however, refused to leave his room. Seto saw from a brief glimpse in Steven's room that he was just lying on his bed, clutching what looked to be Dave's gaming device to his chest. 

The second floor of the resort was only accessible through elevator, but MonoWither had dubbed it the "VIP Floor" and hinted that something was up there that could help them escape. Unfortunately, it also seemed dangerous.

The resort also had a large parkour course, but all safety mechanisms had been removed. MonoWither gleefully declared that if anyone were to beat the parkour course, both motives would be promptly revoked. It was such a cruel method, showing one glimmer of hope in the distance that was absolutely unattainable. Seto found himself worrying that someone would actually attempt it in desperation.

The last room was a greenhouse filled with fake flowers. MonoWither had had the foresight to remove the real flowers in case anyone tried to eat the edible kinds.

Seto couldn't stand it. Already, everyone seemed weak and pained from their hunger. And it would only get worse from here.

"Like we said, it's all up to Hope Organization!" MonoWither declared. "All they have to do is give at least Seto or Tyler back! Why they're letting you starve over them, we have no clue!"

"Sh-Shut up," Annie muttered. "They're better there than here..."

"Really? Everyone's lives are at stake, you know? We're not feeding you until Hope Organization cooperates, someone finishes the parkour course, or someone drops dead! Are any of you willing to die just so Seto and Tyler can stay where they are, safe and sound, completely not caring about you guys?"

No one could muster a proper response over MonoWither's cackles.

~~~

The rest of the day was uneventful as everyone stayed in their rooms, trying to conserve their energy since they were too tired to do much else.

Watching them suffer like this made Seto feel like knives were twisting in his chest. It wasn't fair. None of them deserved this. All of them deserved to be where Seto was right now...

"Seto, you haven't eaten anything today," Tyler murmured next to him.

Seto stared up at the ceiling, his hands folded over his chest. "...It's fine," he replied.

"Not really, no."

Seto turned his head away as Tyler poked his mouth with a granola bar.

"You need to eat."

"...I won't until Hope Organization takes me back."

Tyler's eyes widened. "Wh-What-?!"

"If they can't eat, then neither should I. It's only fair."

Tyler stiffened. "Oh okay, so then I guess you won't mind if I join your hunger strike! After all, I'm also at fault!"

Seto shook his head. "Only one of us needs to do it. Besides, you wouldn't even be here if it weren't for me. I'm the one who should take responsibility."

"No you aren't!!!" Tyler shouted. "You didn't do anything wrong, okay?! Just stop it, stop it please-!"

To Seto's shock, Tyler choked up and had to take a few moments to collect himself.

"...I- I know how it feels. Eating makes me so nauseous now. I don't feel like I deserve to eat when they're starving. But what good is starving yourself going to do?"

"I need to persuade Hope Organization to take me back. It's the best option for everyone."

Tyler grabbed his shoulders, startling Seto into silence. "No it's not! Just listen to me!"

Seto watched as Tyler fumbled for words.

"Seto, if you stay here, I know for a fact you can help Hope Organization save the rest of us. You're the smarter one here, the stronger one."

"...You can't be so sure," Seto murmured weakly. "I won't risk your life like that."

"You got us through those trials, didn't you? You've always been saving us. And I know you can keep doing that as long as you stay here where it's safe."

Seto rolled over onto his side, facing away from Tyler to hide his teary eyes. "You wouldn't be saying these things if you knew the truth about me," he choked out.

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked, confused. "Is this about your secret?"

"...Hope Organization knows. You can ask them."

"I'm not going to do that."

"Why not?"

"If you have a secret, I'd rather hear it straight from you."

Seto was tempted to say it just to get things over with, but he couldn't bear to see Tyler's reaction. "All I'll say is that if Hope Organization decides to send one of us back, they'll probably send me for their own protection."

"Wh-What?! I don't understand, what do you mean for their own protection?"

But no matter how much Tyler demanded an explanation, Seto refused to say another word after that. And when his stomach growled with hunger... he refused to give in.

~~~

"I am disappointed in your recent performance, Seto," Master Hennessy muttered as he paced back and forth in front of the boy.

Seto lowered his gaze, trying and failing to suppress his terrified shaking. "I'm- I'm sorry, Master."

"That's what you always say. But 'sorry' means nothing unless you actually show better results."

Seto cried out as the man suddenly cuffed him on the side of the head.

"You're supposed to be stronger than this! It doesn't matter how disobedient you are, I'll make you stronger. You don't have a choice, do you hear me?! If you don't do what I say, I'll bring out Slotty again. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Seto nodded frantically, trying to blink away the tears of pain.

"...I have someone for you to kill. Don't disappoint me again." Master Hennessy left the room for a few moments before returning.

Seto raised his head in shock as he heard a familiar voice.

"H-Hey- Let go of me-!" Tyler yelled, struggling as Master Hennessy dragged him inside. Unfortunately, his hands were tied behind his back and his ankles were also bound tightly.

Chills raced up and down Seto's spine as he gasped in horror. "Tyler-?!" he cried out.

No, how did they get him? Why is he here? No, this is all wrong, Tyler should be safe, why is he here-

"Here." Master Hennessy tossed Tyler to the ground, heedless to how the poor man cried out. "I want you to transform and kill him."

Seto stared down at the writhing man, his heart pounding in his chest. "Wh-Why-? How did you-"

"Are you listening to me?! I gave you an order!!!"

"S-Seto? What's going on? Who are these people?!" Tyler asked, desperately trying to break free. Seto's heart ached at how scared he sounded.

"You've got to be kidding me," Master Hennessy said in disbelief. "Seto, do you actually care for this one?"

By now, Seto was too panicked to realize what little sense this was all making, let alone respond to him.

"Oh Seto... You're even more foolish than I thought. Someone like you isn't meant to care for someone or be cared for. You're a killing machine, you know. That's all you are."

"Seto, help me!!!" Tyler wailed. "Please!!!"

But Seto was frozen to the spot. He couldn't do anything...

"Go on, kill the man already! That's an order!!!" Master Hennessy yelled.

"N-No-!" Seto choked out.

"NO?!"

Pain exploded across Seto's face as his uncle smacked him. Before he knew it, his back slammed against the wall as he was pinned there. But when Seto's vision returned, his uncle was wearing a white harlequin mask and a black-and-white hooded cloak while raising a taser.

"YOU NEVER HAD A CHOICE, SETO!!!" the masked person shrieked before jabbing it against Seto's neck.

~~~

Seto woke up thrashing about, fighting some unknown enemy, screaming. He had to protect himself, he had to protect Tyler, he had to-

"Seto, it's me!" someone was shouting desperately.

Tyler-!

Seto blindly reached out to the voice and hugged the person he found there, sobbing hysterically.

"Woah, woah, hey..." Tyler said, hugging him back.

Seto couldn't stop crying as he buried his face in Tyler's shoulder, clinging onto him like a lifesaver. He was just so relieved that he and Tyler were safe...

"You're okay, you're okay..." Tyler repeated over and over again, rubbing his back to soothe him.

It took a few minutes before Seto cried himself out. He was too exhausted to even feel embarrassed like he normally would. He just kept holding Tyler, pressing close to him for comfort.

"I've never seen you this shaken up before," Tyler murmured. "You don't have to, but... do you want to talk about your dream...?"

Seto didn't know what to say to that. Why... Why did he actually want to talk about it? Normally he was so averse to anyone finding out even a little bit about his past. He even panicked whenever someone asked him his last name and refused to say it. But now... holding Tyler and being held by him like this...

Tyler took his lack of a response the wrong way and quickly backtracked. "It's- It's fine if you don't want to, really. I just... I just want to help you feel better, that's all."

"...It has to do with my secret," Seto replied hoarsely.

"Oh..."

There was an awkward silence.

Seto released a heavy sigh. "Explaining everything would take forever. It's late. I don't want to keep you up."

Tyler snorted. "I mean, I wasn't getting any sleep anyway. Really, if you want to talk about it, it's fine."

Seto tensed up. "...I've never told anyone this before."

Tyler blinked. "Really? I thought you said Hope Organization knew."

"They found out somehow. Probably when they were trying to figure out who the Puppetmaster's spies were."

"I see... And this is the same secret that MonoWither somehow knew and threatened you with."

"Right."

Tyler whistled softly. "I'm going to be honest here, I've been super curious about your secret ever since that trial. But it's all up to you. It's obviously a secret that you've wanted to keep hidden for a reason, and trusting me with it might not be what you're comfortable with."

"It's just... I said this before, but you won't see me the same way after you know."

"Maybe so, but after everything we've been through together, I doubt it would be for the worse. Really."

Seto took a few deep breaths as he held Tyler tighter. 

"...You remember how Ashley mentioned a group called the Order of the Ender Dragon? The same group that Mitch was involved with?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"I... I used to be part of them. A long time ago."

Tyler didn't respond for a few moments. Seto's heart sank as Tyler let go of him, but all he did was sit up a bit before holding Seto again.

"When you say part of them, you mean... you weren't a client like Mitch or Ashley, right?"

Seto winced. "Yeah, I actually worked with them. I did... so many horrible things. Things that I should've been held accountable for a long time ago, but for some reason I keep getting away with it all."

Tyler went silent again. "You said this was a long time ago, right? How long ago?"

"Maybe... more than ten years ago."

Tyler tensed up. "So you were just a kid...?"

Seto kept his eyes focused on Tyler's shirt as he tried not to cry again. He was starting to regret talking about it, but he had said too much to back out now. "It- It doesn't make what I did any better. Kid or not. Y-You wouldn't understand."

"Maybe you should start from the beginning, then."

Seto hesitated before finally revealing everything. He didn't know how long they sat there, holding each other as Seto rambled on about his father, his uncle, Slotty, what he did, what happened to the Order, everything.

He didn't know how Tyler could stand it. Instead of being uncomfortable or trying to get away, he stayed right where he was, even trying to comfort Seto whenever he choked up and had to take a few moments to recompose himself. To Seto's surprise, Tyler even shed tears at some parts, though he tried to stay collected as much as possible.

When it was finally over, Seto felt... drained. Finally, the truth was out to someone he knew and cared about. What would happen now?

Tyler was unusually quiet. "...Thank you for telling me," he murmured. "I know it was hard."

Seto laughed bitterly. "Wait 'til you finally process what I did. Then you won't be thanking me."

"I mean... You were just a kid, though. A kid forced to do terrible things by terrible people. Actually, 'people' doesn't feel like the right description. I'm so, so sorry that happened to you..."

Seto shook his head. "You're missing the point."

"How?"

"...Slotty... he never left. He's still here, inside me, waiting." Seto shuddered. "When he attacked Chaz, that might have been a one-time fluke, but it could always happen again. And- And if he does come back-"

"It's been almost ten years, Seto. He's not coming back."

"I told you what he's capable of. It's too big of a risk."

"Hope Organization doesn't think so."

Seto bit his lip. He couldn't argue against that. "Well, I'm still using it as an argument if they ever decide to send one of us back. There's no way in hell I'm letting you be the one."

When Tyler didn't respond, Seto snuck a glance and saw that he looked upset. 

"It's what's best for everyone," Seto murmured. "Really."

"...Can I be honest about something?"

Seto hesitated. "Yeah?"

"It's true that I want you to be safe, and I don't want you to go back for that reason. But there's a more... irrational reason I want to go back."

"What is it?"

Tyler closed his eyes. "...I can't stand being alone anymore," he said softly. "If- If one of us has to stay behind, I'd rather it not be me. I'd rather go back and be with the others if I can't stay with you..."

Seto stared at him. "Tyler, it's safer here-"

"I know it is. But that's how I feel. After seeing so many of my friends die, I... I need to be with someone. I'll lose it if I'm by myself."

"You'll have the rest of Hope Organization."

"You know that's not what I mean."

Seto looked away guiltily. "Well, maybe I feel the same way."

To Seto's surprise, Tyler gently held his face and angled it so they were facing each other. "Seto, you're so much stronger than me. And like I said before, I know our best shot at defeating the Puppetmaster is if you stay here with Hope Organization. I'd... I'd feel a lot better if I was back with the others and knew you were safe here, working with them to get us out. Please don't keep starving yourself."

"...Why do you trust me so much?" Seto whispered, trying not to sound so choked up. "Even after I told you the truth about me, even after you found out about Slotty... Why do you still...?"

Tyler smiled. "You've never let me down."

"That doesn't mean I won't."

"That doesn't mean you will."

Seto didn't know what to say to that. Instead, he buried his face in Tyler's shoulder again. Despite everything that had just happened and the chaos that was bound to occur later, Seto felt strangely at peace as he cried himself out again. For once, his crying felt cathartic. This was probably the eye of a bitter storm. Hell would most likely return the moment the participants woke up and the broadcast focused on them again. 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...

~~~

The next day began uneventfully. All of the participants were too exhausted and dejected to do much. Steven was still confining himself in his room; although the rooms in the resort had no locks, Steven made it clear that he wanted to be left alone.

Annie, Bodil, Bonks, and Jason sat in the front lounge all morning, trying to muster up the energy for talking. Though MonoWither had provided some water for them to drink, buying them more time to live, they had given up trying to sound optimistic. It hurt Seto and Tyler to watch them being so miserable...

That afternoon took a turn, however, when Steven suddenly left his room.

Bonks was the first one to notice as she sat up. "Steven-!" she called out in surprise.

Steven stopped for a moment, staring at the group in fear.

"Glad to see you up and about," Annie murmured.

"Y-Yeah, it's been a while-!" Bodil piped up from his wheelchair.

"Wanna chat with us?" Jason asked.

Steven didn't respond as he walked over to where Bonks was sitting. He put Dave's gaming device in her hands and smiled softly before letting go of it.

"Huh?" Bonks asked, staring at it in confusion. "Why are you giving this to me- Hey wait, where are you going?!"

Steven didn't even stop or look back as he quickly walked away from the group.

The remaining four looked at each other.

"...Should we go after him?" Jason asked.

"Probably..." Annie mumbled faintly.

The four of them sluggishly followed Steven down the hall to where the parkour course was.

However, neither the participants nor the audience expected what they all saw next.

"NO!!!" Tyler yelled, sitting up with a start when the camera shifted to the parkour course.

Seto couldn't breathe. Steven... Steven was actually trying to complete it.

"STEVEN!!!" Bonks shrieked, standing by the edge of the course. "STOP!!! COME BACK!!!"

Steven didn't listen as he kept leaping from platform to platform.

Bodil shouted as loud as he could. "It's impossible!!! You're not going to make it! You'll die if you keep going!!!"

"Please, listen to Bodil!!!" Jason yelled. "He knows what he's talking about!!!'

Everyone screamed as Steven misjudged a jump and slipped. At the last moment, he managed to cling onto the platform, his body dangling several stories above certain death. Steven shut his eyes tightly, trying not to look down, before pulling himself up the platform.

"G-Get back here you idiot!!!" Annie cried out. "What the hell are you doing?! You almost died just then!!!"

Steven glanced back at them, tears in his eyes, before facing forward again.

Annie screeched. "DON'T GO ANY FURTHER!!!" 

Jason clenched his hands into fists. "He's gonna get himself killed..."

"No... no no no..." Bonks choked out, clutching Dave's gaming device to her chest as she started to sob.

Bodil had gone completely silent, tears of defeat streaming down his face. 

If anyone were to go after Steven, they ran the risk of falling themselves or accidentally knocking Steven off. They were completely helpless...

"S-Someone has to stop him-!" Tyler pleaded desperately. "Seto, he's not going to keep going, right?"

Seto couldn't respond. Why had Steven lost hope so fast? Sure, it had been a hellish few days in the resort, but this was clearly an act of suicidal sacrifice. Steven had to know there was no possible way to reach the button. Did he truly believe there was no point in waiting for Hope Organization to try another rescue or send someone back?

...Should Seto have pressured Hope Organization more?

"Oooh, what's going on over here?" MonoWither asked, flying over to where Steven was standing. "Wow, you're actually trying this thing, huh! A bit sooner than we expected, but it seems like you're always full of surprises! Do you really think you can make it though? You've still got a long way ahead!"

Steven weakly raised his head to face MonoWither. "...Do you actually want me to answer that...?" he asked.

"Oho, the man of silence speaks! Well, sure! The audience must be dying to know what you're thinking!"

Steven looked back at the other participants again.

"...What I'm thinking..." he murmured softly before staring at MonoWither. "If I die here, you won't starve the others anymore, right?"

"Well yeah, that would technically count as you murdering yourself." 

"But does starving to death count as murdering oneself?"

MonoWither tilted their heads curiously. "Hmm, we suppose not?"

"So if someone were to starve to death, would the motives end?"

"Sure they would! We guess with this one we just want someone to die, no matter how."

Steven seemed to relax a little. "I see. And you won't back out of this."

"Er, no? Why all these odd questions, anyway?! Are you really willing to die for the others? Think about your poor monster friends! Sure, everyone will get their possessions back, but if you're dead, we won't have any reason to keep yours alive!"

Steven bit his lip, faltering for a moment, before shaking his head. "I have no other choice," he muttered.

"Really? Why do you say that?"

Steven glared at them in defiance before facing the camera directly. "THEY'RE ATTACKING YOU TONIGHT!!!" he shrieked. "THEY KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, THEY'LL SEND WITHERS-"

Seto and Tyler screamed as a gunshot cut Steven off. Steven's eyes rolled back and everyone could see the bleeding bullet hole in his forehead before his limp body fell off the platform down to the watery depths below...

MonoWither cursed under their breath before facing the camera themselves.

"Hey, be a dear and let us in when we get there, will you?"

The broadcast immediately ended.

"Wh-What's going on?!" Tyler choked out. "What did Steven mean, who was he talking to-?!"

Alarms blared loudly as the lights dimmed.

"ATTENTION: THIS IS NOT A DRILL. PLEASE REMAIN CALM AND BEGIN EVACUATION PROTOCOL."

The bedroom door slammed open.

"Come on, we have to go!" Joey shouted.

"Go where?!" Tyler asked, panicking too hard to move.

Seto didn't hesitate as he grabbed Tyler's hand and pulled him off the bed, dragging him out the door. "Joey, we need an explanation," he said, his voice numb and shaky.

"Evacuate first, then I'll explain," Joey murmured. 

Seto tugged Tyler along as they quickly made their way through the building, following Joey. All the other members were heading in the same direction.

"PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY DOWN THE STAIRS TO THE BUNKER IN A CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION," the announcement continued.

Fortunately, it seemed that everyone else had prepared for this as they walked down the steps without shoving their way through. But Seto still tightened his grasp on Tyler's hand, not wanting to lose him in the cramped stairwell among the crowd.

After a few minutes, they made their way to the bottom. There, Seto and Tyler saw a massive room filled with bunk beds. They followed Joey through the room to a corner in the back.

"Here, this is where you two will be staying."

Seto and Tyler looked at each other before sitting down on a bottom bed. Joey sat down on the one in front of them.

"So, an explanation..." Joey sighed. "It seems that the Puppetmaster was planning to attack us tonight. They must have finally figured out where we are hiding. But don't worry; this place is fortified. Even the Puppetmaster's Withers won't be able to break through."

"But how did Steven know?" Seto asked.

"Steven was technically our spy."

"S-Spy?" Tyler asked faintly.

"Yes. There exists an AI program in Dave's gaming device that was able to contact us somehow. We still don't know how it ended up there, but through Steven, Bart, and Dave's help, we were able to locate you guys and break through the Puppetmaster's defense systems. Unfortunately, not even the program knew about the robots the Puppetmaster had stored away, so our plan failed. We haven't been able to contact Steven since then."

"So... Steven somehow found out that the Puppetmaster was planning to attack," Seto mumbled.

"Correct. And since Steven was unable to contact us with the AI, he had to use the broadcast itself. He must have thought that by attempting the parkour course, he could ensure the broadcast would be focusing on him and we would all be paying attention." Joey lowered his gaze. "He sacrificed himself for all of us. He knew that Bart and Dave would probably meet his fate too..."

There was a heavy silence.

Seto was still reeling from everything that had just happened. Steven... was dead. He had given up his life to save the people of Hope Organization and the other participants. He had done this even though he'd known MonoWither would execute him, Bart, and Dave...

"...What's gonna happen now?" Tyler whispered, hugging his knees to his chest. "Will everyone be okay?"

"The rest of your friends should be fine," Joey replied. "Steven got the Puppetmaster to say that any death would end the motives. So even though Steven was technically executed by the Puppetmaster rather than being murdered, it still counts. As for us, well... all we can do is stay down here and prepare for an attack. But like I said, this bunker is extremely fortified."

"...Okay."

Joey stood up. "I should go and make sure everyone's evacuated. We'll be passing out food rations soon."

"Joey, thank you. Really," Seto said.

He laughed half-heartedly. "Just doing my job," he said before walking away.

Seto glanced at Tyler, who was rocking back and forth and staring blankly at the floor. He wished he knew what to say, but even he wasn't sure how to cope with everything. Steven's sudden death so soon after Jordan's was too much to handle. And sure, his remaining friends weren't going to starve anymore, but would Hope Organization be able to rescue them now?

The sound of crying diverted Seto's attention. He looked and saw a bunch of sobbing children huddled up near some adults who were trying to comfort them. His eyes softened when he saw a few of them clutching staffs to their chests.

"Those kids are sorcerers, right?" Tyler asked quietly, also staring at them.

"...Yeah. You can see their training staffs."

"Training staffs?"

"Children tend to need a staff because it's harder for them to direct their magic."

"Oh..." Tyler fell silent. "Poor kids. They're so scared..."

Seto looked away. For some reason, they reminded him of how he used to be. Young, terrified, and powerless...

...Though he supposed at least they weren't alone. That was a huge difference.

Seto looked at Tyler. He wasn't alone right now, either. Unlike before, now he had someone with him. Someone who actually knew the truth about him and accepted it...

A booming sound rang out and the ground shook, startling everyone. The lights flickered above them as people shrieked in terror.

"Th-That sounded like an explosion-!" Tyler cried out right before another rumble shook the earth. He whimpered and covered his head in his hands.

"Stay calm," Seto blurted out. "We're safe down here, I'm sure."

"Y-Yeah, I know..."

It seemed that the Puppetmaster had moved their planned attack earlier due to Steven's warning. Hopefully everyone had gotten out of the building by then...

Seto frowned as he thought back to Steven's last words. His mind was shying away from the memory, but he could have sworn that Steven had mentioned the Puppetmaster would use Withers to attack them. Such dangerous power seemed unfathomable, but if it really was the case...

Seto shuddered. He prayed he'd just misheard.

"You alright?" Tyler asked.

"Huh?"

"You've been bouncing your leg for a while..."

Seto forced himself to sit still. "Yeah, sorry."

Another violent tremor led to the nearby children sobbing even harder. The adults supervising them were quick to hug and comfort them.

Tyler uncurled himself and placed his feet down on the ground. "Heh, we evacuated so fast, we didn't even put on our shoes."

Seto's face turned red. "S-Sorry, it's just- You weren't moving and I wanted us to get out of there as fast as possible-"

"It's fine, I just froze up. Thanks for getting me out of there, though. I should probably start being tougher about this." 

"It's not like this is a usual circumstance..."

"I know, but even still. It feels like you're always saving my ass somehow. And it's not just you, everyone in Hope Organization feels so prepared for everything. There's also Steven..." Tyler faltered. "Even Steven was able to sacrifice himself for everyone else. I never thought he had that in him. I... I can't even thank him for what he did for us..."

Seto scooted closer to him. "All that matters is that you're here."

"You think so?"

"We've been over this already."

"Yeah, I guess we have..." Tyler yawned. "Looks like we're going to be down here for a while, huh?"

"...Yeah." Seto blinked wearily. Now that he had time to process what was going on, he felt exhausted all of a sudden. But no, he needed to stay alert just in case something happened, he needed to be able to protect Tyler-

Tyler nudged his shoulder. "Hey, you're falling asleep on me."

Seto flinched. "S-Sorry..."

"No, it's fine. You should get some sleep, though. You stayed up late last night."

"So did you. Plus, someone has to stay up to keep watch, and I'd rather it be me."

"What, you think I can't do that?"

"You're tired too."

"Well, you can't keep watch properly if you're tired. Which you clearly are." Tyler sighed. "Really, it should be fine. I'm pretty sure if something happened, you'd wake up pretty fast."

Seto hesitated, but his exhaustion gave in. "...Okay. But you should get some sleep, too."

Tyler smiled in relief. "Will do later."

Seto smiled back before getting up and climbing up the ladder to the higher bed. He laid down, realizing just how heavy his body felt. Even now, he felt like he was making a mistake, sleeping at a time like this. But he was just so, so tired...

...Everything would be okay, though.

Everything would be okay...

~~~

...

...

...

~~~

...Seto blinked into consciousness. 

What... What was happening...?

For some reason, he was standing up and clutching a staff.

A choked sob made Seto raise his head. To his horror, Tyler was cowering against the corner, holding out a knife in his direction. The poor man was shaking violently, his tear-stained face ghastly pale as he stared at Seto with pure terror.

...Why was Tyler covered in blood...?

The coppery smell was overwhelming. Seto looked down at his clothes, only to gasp in horror. Whereas Tyler just had some stains, Seto's cloak was drenched in it.

"Wh-What the hell-?!" Seto shrieked, looking around only to be greeted by the nightmarish sight of dozens of corpses strewn about all over the bunker. He was horrified to see that Tristan and Joey were nearby, motionless on the ground. Seto dropped the staff, covering his mouth with his hands.

No no no this is a nightmare this has to be a nightmare-

Seto looked back at Tyler, who was still staring at him like he was some sort of demon. His glasses were missing somehow. "Tyler, are you hurt?" Seto asked, stepping towards him.

To his shock, Tyler screamed and pressed further away from Seto into the corner, swinging the knife wildly. 

Seto stopped moving, stunned.

"Hello, Seto! Hello, Tyler! Long time no see!"

Seto whirled around, expecting to see MonoWither, but instead saw someone wearing a white, smiling harlequin mask and a cloak that was half-black and half-white. Their hood was distinct, for it had three bent cones at the top with white cloth balls at the end, mimicking a jester hat.

He felt like he was having déjà vu, but he couldn't place where he had seen this masked figure before.

"I know it's only been a few days, but I missed you guys so much. The show just wasn't the same without you guys! But, uh, I think it's been derailed way too many times to carry on per usual. So I guess I'll just be taking Tyler back with me..."

Seto felt chills race up and down his spine. Was this... the Puppetmaster...?

"Oh, don't worry! Tyler will be safe and sound. This season's over! Season 2 will feature a new cast, of course. Hopefully they can live up to the previous cast without any pesky interruptions."

How could they talk so casually...?

No, that wasn't important. The Puppetmaster was here, they had attacked Hope Organization, and now they were going to imprison Tyler again-!

Seto yelled and launched a magical attack at the Puppetmaster, only for them to raise a green, magical barrier.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. There's no point in fighting me when I have my army close by. Really, save your energy."

Seto bristled in fury. "You monster!!! How could you kill all these people?!"

"Uh... How could I kill all these people?" The Puppetmaster laughed. "Oh Seto, you still haven't realized? I didn't do this! Slotty did!"

...What...?

"D-Don't lie-!" Seto yelled. "There's no way he did this! No one shocked me! I don't remember him doing anything!"

The Puppetmaster sighed. "Seto, Seto, it's about time you learned the truth about Slotty. You see, he doesn't need you to be shocked to appear anymore. That's why I made him my spy." 

"Your spy?!" Seto asked in pure disbelief.

"Yeah, he's been helping me this whole time without your knowledge! Didn't you hear me when I asked Slotty to let us in when we got here? He did his job perfectly! Sure, everyone else tried to stop him, but it looks like he even managed to get his hands on someone's staff and fought them off..." The Puppetmaster clapped their gloved hands in glee. "I'm so proud of him! It's all thanks to him that we finally defeated Hope Organization once and for all!!!"

Seto shook his head desperately. "Why should I believe you?! That's such a ridiculous lie!!!"

"Hmm... Well, why don't you ask Tyler? He saw the whole thing, after all..."

Seto turned to face the terrified man. "Tyler, they're lying, right?!" he cried out. "I didn't- Slotty didn't do this, right?!"

Tyler didn't respond. Instead, he whimpered and kept pointing the knife at him.

The look of pure horror on Tyler's face didn't go away...

Seto felt the world start to spin around him. "...Tyler...?"

The Puppetmaster cackled. "It's all your fault, Seto! You thought you had Slotty under your control this whole time, only to realize the truth after it was all too late! That's the perfect, despairing conclusion to this season!!! Don't you think so, audience?"

Seto tried to breathe, but it felt like there wasn't any oxygen in the room anymore. "N-No- No no no- This isn't happening, this isn't real, this can't be real..."

He looked at Tyler, tears streaming down his face. "I'm so sorry-! I didn't know- I didn't know he could do any of this, I'm so, so sorry-!"

"Don't feel too bad, Seto. You two survived the show along with the rest of your remaining friends, and I had so much fun! Still, it's time to say goodbye for now... I need my spy back by my side..."

Seto had no time to react before the Puppetmaster raised their taser and fired it at him. 

The last thing he heard was Tyler screaming his name at the top of his lungs before Seto lost consciousness.

THE END.