Sef shivered, cold from the piercing touch of the shackles woven around his wrists and ankles, and the dank dungeon he was being held within. From what he could decipher, huddled in the darkness utterly alone now, he was in some sort of warehouse, though it had been renovated and fixed up recently from the modern furnishings he noted. Valmont must have using this place as a stronghold for quite some time to have put so much effort into transforming it into a makeshift home.

He struggled profusely against his bindings, writhing and thrashing like a caged animal and letting out savage cries as he only served to wound himself, wringing his wrists to the point where they throbbed and bled slightly from the jagged rust of the shackles. He finally sighed and expelled his inner rage, succumbing to his physical weakness and slumping to the ground in an uncaring heap. He was so very tired from his efforts, and his body was still coursing with the strange pains from earlier. He was surprised they hadn't subsided, considering that time felt so long ago now.

His prison contained but a single window, providing him only natural light of dying sunrays and glimmering starlight from overhead. He heard stirring and voices nearby and knew his captors were near, no doubt developing some sort of horrendous plan involving him and his amulet, and he lowered his futile gaze, unable to think of anything he could do to stop this all from happening.

Valmont, or rather the demon that possessed him, had mentioned the revival of other demons, and this thought only served to cause insuppressible fears. With the lack of allies and strength to provide any opposition against his foes, there was little hope of him being able to resist their efforts to make this occur. He seemed unable to fully grasp the control over Wepwawet's abilities yet, and this made him vulnerable to being at their mercy. If he wasn't careful, people could suffer or die at his hands he knew, and that responsibility only served to make his dark prison all the more darker.

He was feeling rather starved right now, having eaten nothing since his lunch earlier at school, and his throat was unbelievably dry as he found his voice monstrous to speak with, so course it pained him further. He trembled with hunger and fear and cold, wishing more than anything that the double doors standing oppressively before him would burst open and Jade and Jackie and all the others would come through it to rescue him.

Just a moment later they did thrust open, but it merely revealed his five captors approaching. Chained to the wall, all he could do was back against it and stare up with a horrified expression. He wasn't relying on mercy; it had become obvious enough earlier that these men had none it seemed. He was just hoping to delay whatever fate or demise they had concocted, in hopes his rescuers did indeed arrive to save him.

"There's no need to be afraid Sef. You are our honored guest here after all," Valmont laughed softly, materializing another restricting chain around his throat, summoned by a strange dark magic he was able to control. Sef cringed and cried softly, though allowing no tears to fall for their sadistic pleasure.

"Why, why are you doing this to me? What have I ever done to you? If it's the amulet you want you can have it! Just leave me and my father and the Chan's alone..." he said swiftly yet weakly, falling to his knees under the crushing weight of the metal. He felt so foolish, begging for pity this way, and was forced once more to swallow his pride when the Enforcers burst out in laughter of his weakness, almost seeming to bow to their might because of the chains.

"I'm afraid it isn't that simple child. Your amulet possesses great power yes, and if I could utilize it myself I would have simply slain you earlier and taken it, but unfortunately it also requires your unique bloodline in order to control it, so thus I need you as well," Valmont hissed, reaching down and holding the amulet in his hand as he analyzed the simple carving in the alabaster.

Suddenly a strange, amber energy filtered from the simply stone as it had before, and Sef looked down in equal surprise as did everyone else when the energy surged from the amulet and forced Valmont away, the demon sorcerer staggering backwards across the floor as the bright force diminished into darkness once more and Sef stood spellbound.

"Wow..." was all he could whisper as the amulet fell back into place on his chest, though this time something was very different. The amulet was burning hot, and searing against his flesh as he hid the sensation and pretended that the energy had died down once more.

Valmont seemed thoroughly angered by now, noticing the rebellious nature of the amulet a bit too late as he nursed a wounded hand. Sef was surprised to see it was burnt rather severely, scorched by whatever had emitted from the stone, and he could only grin nervously as the leading enemy approached once more.

"Uh...it wasn't me..." he barely got out, but Valmont seemed to find his comment unfunny as he reached forward and gripped his throat, his grasp once more inhuman and crushing his windpipe easily. He dared not scream, knowing that he would only lose more oxygen while making himself look more helpless as well, and could only stare fearfully into Valmont's glimmering red eyes. His confident smirk returned as he watched the boy lash out a bit, attempting to tear his young claws into the flesh of his arm to free himself.

"You may have little control over these abilities, but whether or not you or the spirit of Wepwawet dwelling within you likes it, you are going to help me free my imprisoned brethren, so I suggest you forget any plans of escaping or being rescued. You aren't going anywhere until you have fulfilled my command, that is, if you live through the process necessary to release them," Valmont added with a horrendous laugh, and Sef was freed from his grasp as the leader turned to his awaiting minions, who were all smirking rather immaturely at Sef until he turned to them.

"The four of you guard him and do not allow Chan or any of his allies to take him in case they do arrive in my brief absence. If you fail me again I shall banish you all to your own personal underworld!" he promised, vanishing into a thick and bleak cloud of smoke and disappearing completely from the room.

Sef gulped and pressed against the wall more so than before. He could only imagine how angry they were with him, especially Finn, considering the countless injuries he had given him throughout their pursuits to capture him.

"C'mere you little brat," Finn suddenly said, grasping his collar and wrenching him into the air as best he could even with the restricting bindings. Nope, he hadn't forgotten. "So, you thought it was funny earlier throwing me into a wall with those freaky powers of yours, and then attempting to obliterate all of us using the Pig talisman eh? Maybe I should show you how fun it was for us..." he clenched a low fist, threatening to drive it into Sef's abdomen with one snide comment it seemed. But the boy merely breathed out a defeated sigh, looking to the floor beyond the enraged figure.

"Do whatever you wish to me. It's becoming increasingly obvious that by myself I cannot escape, and that Jackie and the others will not be able to free me with the four of you guarding me," Sef murmured, hanging his head and staring depressingly at the floor. Finn merely laughed softly at this, releasing his fist and instead smoothing his crimson hair with the free hand as he also let go of Sef's collar as well.

"Now that's more like it. Submission is the best policy when there is no hope after all," he said, as though triumphant in Sef's admission of defeat. He seemed unable to look up, instead continuing to stare away from them down at the floor with a monotone expression. The other Enforcers stepped forward as Finn turned back to him, losing interest in his appearance for a moment.

"What, are you gonna cry now or something? I can't blame you if you do, considering you're gonna be freeing seven of Shendu's favorite relatives fairly soon," Chow suddenly laughed, seizing a handful of Sef's long, messy hair and pulling his gaze back up. Sef was indeed crying, two long streams of tears falling down his rosy, stained cheeks as he sobbed slightly and whimpered childishly. His eyes were shut completely however, so tightly they seemed ready to burst with the water retaining behind them.

"Oh, is the poor baby afraid of the big mean old Enforcers already?" Ratso mocked as Sef continued to cry weakly. Hak Foo crossed his massive arms and simply laughed softly and grinned, enjoying his subtle suffering.

"C'mon kid, beg us to let you go. I want to see you try, like you did with Valmont just now. You think any of us are going to let you go, after the attitude and gull you've shown so far? You'll be lucky if we don't finish you off in case the demons don't!" Finn laughed sinisterly, Chow tugging upwards on his hair as he forced his head to stay up even with Sef's weak resistance.

Suddenly Sef opened his eyes, and an energy suddenly formed within them and shot out, surging at and then against the crowded Enforcers, and he watched in amazement as they scattered upon the ground, not injured but severely disoriented since the attack had been weakened by mental repression on his part.

Sef suddenly felt a small weight in the pocket of his vest he hadn't noticed before...a talisman! He must have dropped the Pig talisman into his pocket when Valmont had seized him, and had summoned the heat vision abilities when he had become afraid and hateful just now towards them.

The Enforcers all eventually got back onto their feet, and the first one to reach him against was none other than the towering Hak Foo, who looked ready to bash his brains against the wall.

"Tiger Sharpens Claws for Hunting..." Hak Foo named his action once more, twisting a stiff fist within his other hand as Sef cowered and watched the other Enforcers stand as well and looking ready to kill him.

"All of you stay away! If you aggravate me too much either the talisman or my amulet will lash out against you! I don't have any control over either of them, so if you really want to risk your lives to keep torturing me with your childish mocking and threats, then be my guests!" Sef suddenly lashed out, spitting out the words as though uttering a curse, and the Enforcers actually looked startled for a moment before they considered the relevance of his claim.

Eventually, they all angrily moved to the opposite side of the room, engaging in a card game within moments of silent boredom and staring hatefully at the small figure, who was now perched contently on the ground staring back at them innocently.

"What are you guys playing?" Sef finally got up the courage to ask, noticing that Chow seemed to be winning the majority of the games. He was even now sporting the comb that Finn constantly had used to smooth his own hair in the past, smiling victoriously.

"It's called strip poker kid, you start by betting small things in your pockets and keep going until...well there's nothing left," Finn said, laying down another hand and finding himself defeated again and short one shoe.

"You mean until you're butt naked?" Sef offered, and Chow actually let out a slight laugh as Finn growled and twiddled his toes underneath the stained and ripped sock.

"Yes, that would be a worst case scenario, which I am not getting myself into!" Finn exclaimed at the end in Chow's direction, who was still snickering as he looked at his next hand devilishly. Ratso and Hak Foo had little idea of what they were doing though they participated in the game, though doing better than Finn, who seemed to be the constant victim of Chow's seeming endless good hands.

Sef watched for a few more minutes, seeing the way they argued and laughed and actually seemed to get along rather well. He had almost envisioned them as being heartless beasts like the demon Shendu was, but they seemed little more than petty, somewhat childish thieves now that he observed them closely. He believed that their actions just a few moments before had been motivated by revenge, and he honestly couldn't blame them considering the forces of his amulet and the numerous talismans they had threatened them with. He'd probably bruised their precious egos with his immense and strange abilities, not to mention having gotten then in trouble with their boss a handful of times no doubt, and the weak area of any person is their pride.

"Ummm...I..." Sef finally managed to say, watching as they all slowly turned or looked up towards him. Finn had already lost his jacket and both shoes, now just wearing a simple undershirt, pants, and socks and looking rather angry about it, especially with the constant drafts that filtered into the warehouse.

"I just wanted to say...that I'm sorry about what happened earlier, with my powers that is. I never wanted to hurt anyone to be honest, even with your intentions, and considering now what they could have done...I'm just sorry," he said weakly, hanging his head once more and expecting them to laugh at this utterly pitiful excuse for an apology. But none of them spoke for another moment, and he could feel their stares bearing down on them as they continued to watch, seeing he was sincere in his claim.

"Ah, think nothing of it. Keep in mind we serve the almighty Shendu and have to face his wrath everyday, so yours looks kinda scrawny compared to getting his dose of rage we get every waking day," Finn muttered as he played another hand and, unsurprising, lost his undershirt with a loud growl into the darkness above.

"Listen, this is gonna sound like a weird request considering I'm your prisoner and I'm currently chained to the wall, but would it be all right if I played cards too? As a sort of last request since Shendu will probably finish me off anyways like you said?" Sef asked with an innocent smile, and the four Enforcers considered it for a moment, and all four members responded with a unified shrug, shifting over so he could play within the limited area he was allowed.

"The name of the game is strip poker," Finn announced as they continued where the last one had left off, redistributing the cards so Sef could get in on the game now.

"Go easy on me guys, I've never played this game before," Sef said with a happy grin, holding the cards securely near himself, and they all grinned cunningly, thinking he would be a pushover as a complete rookie to the game.

And yet within ten minutes they all sat in their underwear and socks, Sef surrounded by a large pile of their various items and clothing as he sifted through his cards in an amateurish fashion and then placed them down before them.

"Look, all Kings and Queens and other royalty members," he grinned cheerfully, presenting a royal flush, and they all blushed and threw down their cards, grimacing as they realized the extent of what they had lost.

"Just take back your clothes and we'll pretend this embarrassing moment never happened," Sef laughed as he tossed their clothes in different directions, continuing to giggle as they snatched up all their garments and changed back into them swiftly, though still looking disgruntled they had been beaten that many times by a small child who had never played the game even once before.

Sef smiled, surprising genuinely, having actually had a bit of fun somehow wiping the floor with them and watching their casual and frustrated reactions to his incredible luck.

'You know, I may be imprisoned with idiots, but at least they're not blood-thirsty demons like the ones I have a bad feeling I'm gonna be meeting shortly...'