(A/N: Trigger warning- graphic descriptions of blood in the beginning)

The 10-year-old boy examined the knife in his hand, his red eyes gleaming from the reflection of the blade. "This is reeeaaally sharp..." he said, giggling. "You should be glad that this isn't for you!"

"No!" a woman tied to a chair screamed as she fought against her restraints. "Please! Don't hurt him! I'll do anything! I swear!"

Her boyfriend, chained to the stone wall, struggled as well. "Please, what's happening?! Rebecca? What's going on?!"

"Oh, Ms. Rebecca over here hasn't told you much, hasn't she..." the boy said, coyly placing his finger on his chin. "But I guess it's... classified information?"

"...Classified?"

"You see, Master told me that she was a spy working for a city government and infiltrated our ranks... She already got several of my other masters in one of our other facilities arrested! And that's a biiig no-no! Master didn't like that at all, no sir!"

"I- I don't know what you're talking about!" Rebecca argued. "You have the wrong person! I didn't do anything! I'm just a banker, I don't-"

"Ms. Rebecca, lying isn't a good thing to do! I think your boyfriend here needs to teach you a lesson on good manners!"

The boy raised the knife and grinned as he approached the chained man, who writhed desperately. "R-Rebecca! D-Do something!"

"You're just a kid..." Rebecca whispered, horrified. "You're just a kid, and you're ready to torture people..."

"Hmm? So? I get to do grown-up stuff because Master ordered me to!"

"Wh... Where are your parents? Did these people kill them?"

"My parents? Oh, you've got the wrong idea! I don't have parents! I wasn't made like you were. I don't have a mother. But if you want to get technical about it, Master is my father, since he created me!" the boy said cheerfully.

"Created you?"

"You're looking at the Order of the Ender Dragon's greatest, most top-secret project! The 'Slotty Project'!"

"...Slotty Project..." Rebecca mumbled, her eyes flashing in recognition. "So that's what they meant..."

"Oh, why am I giving you more information? You got me distracted, made me forget my orders! I'll have to punish your boyfriend reeeaaal hard for that!"

The boy raised his knife and giggled as he traced it along the man's bare torso. The man stiffened with fear and apprehension. "Eenie... Meenie... Miny... Mo!" Without warning, the boy sliced the man's right thigh open.

The man howled in pain as he thrashed in agony. "REBECCA!" The boy seemed to find his suffering hilarious, as he started giggling even louder.

Rebecca's face had gone numb.

"Now, Ms. Rebecca... All you have to do is tell us everything you know about the Order and what you've told your bosses so far... and then your boyfriend here will be patched up, his memories removed, and sent straight back home! Of course, we can't let you go, but... They say love is a satisfying thing worth sacrificing for!"

"N-No! Rebecca!" the man shouted, gasping for breath. "I- I can't let you die like this!"

"...What would you know about love?" Rebecca asked softly, ignoring the man. "You, a child who derives pleasure from killing and torturing?"

"Clearly a lot more than you! I do this for love!"

"A love for inflicting pain?"

"No no no, Ms. Rebecca! My love for my master of course! I guess indirectly that does mean I love inflicting pain, because if my master orders me to do it then it's all worthwhile! I love my master and I know that he'll never ever replace me as long as he appreciates my work! Ahhh... Looove... Love is such a beautiful thing!"

The child smiled from ear to ear as he eagerly plunged the knife into the man's other thigh. The man screamed again, jerking in tortured anguish. "PLEASE! PLEASE STOP!"

"I'll only stop if Ms. Rebecca tells Master what he wants! Now Ms. Rebecca..." The boy twisted the knife a bit before pulling it out, splattering blood all over his black robe and his face, and started slicing a long, thin line down the man's torso. The man choked out a sob and shut his eyes tightly. "What would you do for love?"

Tears slid down Rebecca's cheeks as the boy cackled gleefully.

"Oh boy, I made a big mess!" he exclaimed, ecstatically holding up his bloodstained fingers like they were trophies.

The blood on his fingers oozed down his pale skin before dripping down onto the cobblestone floor.


Seto shot awake, actually screaming in horror as he shoved the blankets off of him. For a few seconds his eyes darted back and forth in the darkness, his throat hoarse and raw as he breathed heavily. He covered his mouth with his hands and suppressed the sudden urge to vomit. He could still smell the coppery scent of blood, feel the warm stickiness on his fingers...

Gradually his panic and nausea faded slightly and he turned on the light, reminding himself of his surroundings.

It's over. You're safe now. Slotty is gone.

No he isn't. He's always there. He'll always be a part of me.

He's GONE. You're SAFE.

Seto panted as he stared at his pale fingers, which he was relieved to find not stained with crimson blood.

It was just a memory of the past.

Seto looked at the clock and was shocked to see that it was almost 9:30. How had he managed to sleep that long? Worst, he still felt utterly exhausted due to the nightmare...

Suddenly he heard someone knock on his door. Seto paused for a moment, bewildered, but then the knocks got more frantic and louder. He quickly got off the bed before sprinting to the door and opening it to see a familiar man wearing a red-and-gray checkered hoodie.

"...Tyler?"

Tyler grinned awkwardly. "W-Woah, uh, hey Seto... I was getting kinda worried there..."

"I just woke up," Seto muttered, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Did I wake you?" Tyler asked, suddenly concerned.

Seto shook his head. "No, you didn't. I woke up a few minutes ago."

Tyler scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, it's just that you usually wake up super early... And everyone else is awake except for you..."

So Tyler had actually taken the time to check on him...

"Well, I'm fine," was all Seto could manage to say. He paused and noticed that Tyler was just staring at him without replying. "Uh... Is there something on my face?"

Tyler snapped back to the real world. "Wh- What? No, it's just that... I've never seen you without your cloak on..."

Seto flinched and looked down to see that he was indeed only wearing a white T-shirt and purple boxers. He let out an embarrassed squeak as he slammed the door shut in Tyler's face. His face burned with mortification as he quickly found his pants and gray cloak, slipped them on, before opening the door again. "So... that didn't happen..."

Tyler was hunched over, struggling not to laugh.

Seto scowled. "Stop it!" he said indignantly, pushing him away as he left the room.

"Okay, okay, calm down! It's not that big of a deal!" Tyler said, chuckling as he followed Seto out of the hallway towards the cafeteria.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

"I mean it's not like you were naked or anything!"

"It doesn't matter if I was naked or not!"

"You were naked?" Annie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Seto looked up and realized that everyone was sitting in the cafeteria, stopping their breakfast meal to stare at them. His face heated up. "Uh- no- I said that I wasn't naked-"

"Sure, sure..." Annie said, waving her hand dismissively. "Whatever you say."

Seto narrowed his eyebrows and scowled again as he made his way to an empty seat next to Bodil.

Tyler sat down next to him. "You aren't going to eat anything?"

"...I'm not that hungry right now..."

Suddenly a thumping sound rang out as Jerry knocked over Jordan's glass of orange juice. "Jerry! Bad slime!" Jordan scolded, quickly setting the now-half-filled glass upright. Jerry jumped onto the puddle of juice with a loud squelch and began gleefully absorbing the liquid. "...I can't stay angry at him..." Jordan muttered, resting his head in his hands. "I am such a horrible parent, spoiling my child..."

Husky abruptly started tapping on the table with his hand. "So is everyone here?" he called out.

"Yeah, Seto was the last one, besides Ryan," Bonks replied. "Why?"

"...Speaking of Ryan, Husky and I are worried about him," Jason said. "Right when Night Time ended this morning, we tried to find him so we could talk to him, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen."

"Maybe he finally went to sleep?" Bodil suggested hopefully.

Husky shook his head. "No, MonoWither said that he hasn't gone back to his room ever since the trial. He hasn't been sleeping at all, otherwise MonoWither would have punished him by now."

"Well, there are three floors open... There's plenty of ways Ryan could have hid somewhere..." Steven pointed out.

"That's true..." Ashley murmured. "Yesterday he avoided me when I tried to talk to him."

"Same with Seto and I..." Tyler recalled. "But for him to be actually missing worries me..."

"Exactly why I propose we search for him right now," Husky said. "I'm worried that Ryan's gotten himself hurt, or MonoWither's done something to him."

Murmurs of assent filled the room.

"Would MonoWither actually go far enough to do something to Ryan?" Bonks asked, uneasy.

"I have a feeling they wouldn't, but then again, they can never be trusted," Jordan replied.

"At this point they're absolutely unpredictable..." Seto said quietly.

"Besides, we need to show Ryan that we're there for him and possibly convince him to open up," Tyler noted.

"Yeah... He's really starting to concern me..." Annie said.

"He- He hasn't slept in three days!" Steven exclaimed. "And he still hasn't spoken a word!"

"So how are we going to do this?" Ashley asked.

"We have 12 people right now, including Bart and Dave," Jason said. "Therefore we should divide ourselves into three groups of four for each floor."

In the end Bonks, Steven, Bart, and Dave were assigned the first floor; Ashley, Bodil, Annie, and Jordan were assigned the second floor; and Seto, Tyler, Jason, and Husky were assigned the third floor.


"How in the world could he have just disappeared like that?" Tyler asked, perplexed. He opened one of the cabinets in the dance room only to find a pile of extension cords neatly wrapped in a Velcro strap. "Ugh!" he huffed before slamming the door shut.

"There's no way Ryan could fit in there," Seto pointed out. He was lying on his stomach and peering underneath the stage, although all he could find were dust and cobwebs.

"Well it was worth a shot, you never know..." Tyler grumbled.

"Maybe..." Jason said, looking up at the star-studded ceiling. "Ah! Maybe he crawled through the vents!"

"...How could he have gotten up there?" Husky asked.

"Well probably not this vent in particular, but maybe he escaped somehow and that's why MonoWither won't tell us where he is!" Jason exclaimed, although his face showed that he didn't really believe it himself.

"...Crawling through the vents is only a movie thing," Tyler replied. "In reality it's full of dust and bugs and they're really cramped. A big guy like him couldn't fit. He'd probably break the tube, if he could even get in. So that idea isn't really likely."

"...Says the guy who looked for Ryan in the cabinets..." Jason muttered.

"I haven't heard anyone from the lower floors say anything..." Husky said dejectedly. "I guess they're having just as much luck as we are..."

"Come on, he's probably hiding somewhere and no one's found it yet," Jason replied optimistically. "Someone will find him. Maybe we will!"

"Well, there's only one place left to check," Seto murmured. He was about to get up when all of a sudden something darted from beneath the stage and crawled straight towards him. "OH SHIT!" he shrieked, scrambling away on all fours before instinctively blasting the creature to bits with his magic, making the ground shake. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"

"...I think that was a centipede... Well, before you blew it up," Husky replied awkwardly.

"G-Geez, what kind of mad reflexes do you have?!" Jason wondered aloud.

Seto placed his face in his hands and moaned. "Oh my god, my heart is racing..."

"Remind me never to startle you," Tyler said, laughing. "I don't want to end up killed."

Seto tried to ignore his innocuous statement and stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes. "S-So... anyway, what I was going to say was that we still haven't checked the monster rooms."

Horror flashed across Jason's face as his eyes widened. "You- You think he could be in there?! But- But what if he's-"

Husky's face hardened. "...We need to check, no matter what..."

"Yeah, b-besides! He might be hiding in the empty skeleton room or something, thinking that no one would bother to check in there!" Tyler stammered.

"We don't have any weapons though..." Jason said hesitantly.

"No need for weapons, I'll just go first," Seto muttered, forming a purple ball of light in his hands before leaving the dance room.

Seto opened the first door in the hallway and shone his purple light in the dark room, revealing nothing. "I guess MonoWither didn't replace the skeletons..." he muttered.

Husky's eyes widened. "Do you think... MonoWither did the same thing to Ryan that they did to Steven, but with different monsters?"

Chills ran up and down their spines and the air seemed to get colder at the very thought.

"I- I hope not- Oh god..." Jason stammered.

"I doubt Ryan would fall for that..." Tyler said quietly. "Unless he was ordered to like Steven was... But why would MonoWither do that?"

"We still have no idea why MonoWither did it to Steven," Husky said. "They're just desperate for 'entertainment' at this point... They're just fucked up..."

"Let's stay focused on the current task," Seto reminded. "There's no use worrying about what could have happened right now."

The next room they opened had six green-skinned zombies. They growled and started shambling over to the four with outstretched arms, their feet dragging against the cobblestone floor. Seto calmly formed a magical barrier, blocking their path. The zombies stupidly kept smacking their hands against the barrier, moaning and trying to bite their way through. "Gross. That smells gross. Rotten flesh, agh..." Tyler complained with disgust before stepping out of the room to breathe.

"...I've always wondered why Dave is so different from other zombies..." Jason said thoughtfully. "I mean, he doesn't attack anyone, he's obsessed with video games, and he actually saved Steven's life while putting his at risk..."

"I always thought he got bitten or something and the transformation didn't turn out right," Tyler replied.

"That sounds likely," Seto murmured. "Some people have developed immunities to the zombie virus."

"I actually asked Steven about that once," Husky said. "Well, I actually asked how he met and befriended Bart and Dave."

"What did he say?" Jason asked curiously.

"...Only that it was a long story. He wouldn't say anything else."

"Huh... Strange..." Tyler mumbled.

"Well, seems clear to me that Ryan isn't here..." Seto said, removing the barrier and ushering everyone out before closing the door.

The next room had six creepers. Seto actually heard them hiss before they entered his line of vision and quickly formed a barrier, pushing the bright-green monsters back against the wall where they writhed and growled.

Tyler's face paled. "Wh- What if Ryan was in here and the creepers blew him up-"

"Then there would be nothing in this room other than a giant blood splatter against the wall," Seto deadpanned.

"G-Geez Seto!" Jason exclaimed, horrified. "That's so morbid!"

"Well he isn't wrong..." Husky admitted.

"Speaking of creepers... Hey Seto, why do you have a creeper symbol on your cloak?" Tyler asked. "I've always wondered."

"I remember when we first met you still had a black cloak with an Ender Dragon face on it," Jason recalled. "Why'd you make the change?"

Seto shrugged. "Well I made the change because creepers are cool. I always liked creepers as a kid... Blazes were my second favorite. I had this creeper plushie when I was little..."

"You were a creeper kid, huh?" Husky asked. "I was a Guardian kid. They blow stuff up underwater, what's not to like!"

"I was a witch kid," Tyler said. "Ironic, since I'm horrible at brewing myself..."

"Witch kid, huh? That explains your current interest..." Jason said, casting a pointed glance at Seto. Seto didn't notice, but Tyler did and slapped Jason's shoulder indignantly. Jason cackled. "You know I'm right! Anyway, I used to be a Wither kid, before MonoWither had to ruin it for me forever..."

"Aw man, that sucks," Husky said, laughing.

They entered the next room and found five slimes of different sizes jumping around in a room. They made squelching, slapping sounds as they slowly hopped towards the group. But still no Ryan...

"Jordan really likes Jerry now, huh?" Jason asked.

"He's become a doting father!" Husky said, laughing.

"He spoils Jerry so much..." Tyler said, giggling. "Yesterday I saw him trying to eat ice cream but in the end he just spoon-fed Jerry the whole thing because Jerry wanted it..."

"Slimes will eat practically anything," Seto said, rolling his eyes but smiling at the memory.

The next room had four spiders, which hissed and started lunging towards them with bared fangs, ultimately slamming against Seto's quickly-formed barrier.

"AHHH!" Tyler screamed, falling over and landing on his rear before scooting backwards. "Oh my god, oh my god... I hate spiders..." he whispered.

"Same here," Husky said with a shiver. "God... The way they move, the sounds they make..."

Their red eyes gleamed with bloodlust as they tried climbing over the barrier, which was connected to the ceiling. Cobwebs littered the back of the room, but there was still no sign of Ryan.

"So Annie, Jordan, and Ashley killed two spiders, right?" Seto asked for clarification.

"Uh, yeah, why?" Jason replied.

"There seem to be six monsters per room. Jerry was missing from the slime room and there are only four spiders here," Seto pointed out.

"Ah, I see..." Jason murmured.

The next room had six cave spiders, which also rushed towards them and hissed viciously against Seto's barrier.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Tyler screamed, once again falling over.

"Somehow... I was expecting that to happen," Husky murmured.

"SP-SPIDER! POISONOUS SPIDERS! MORE OF THEM! AAAAHHHHHHH!"

"...They're venomous spiders, not poisonous. They would be poisonous if you ate them and died," Seto corrected.

"WELL THEY'RE STILL DEADLY AND TERRIFYING!"

"Don't worry about the cave spiders, Seto can protect you from them!" Jason declared, smirking.

"...Not sure why you had to say it that way..." Seto replied, perplexed.

One look in the next room made everyone shield their eyes immediately. However, the six Endermen inside still started screeching and howling at them.

"Wh-Why are they so mad?!" Tyler asked, burying his face in his hands. "Who looked at them?!"

"Not me!" Husky shouted, quivering in fear.

"Me neither!" Jason yelled, his voice higher-pitched than usual. "Let- Let's get out of here!"

"No, we need to see if Ryan is in there!" Seto stated. He hadn't looked at the Endermen's eyes himself, but he still needed to check... Slowly, he lowered his arm and looked straight at their faces. They started shaking intensely, baring their fanged jaws at him, but he still refused to lower his gaze.

"S-Seto?! What are you doing?!" Tyler questioned, horrified.

"Stop looking at them!" Husky demanded.

"Are you insane!?" Jason shrieked.

Seto stepped forward, raising his chin and glaring back at the Endermen. They practically went mad, teleporting erratically around the room, but strangely not attacking him. Seto's hands glowed purple as he calmly walked through the haunting of Endermen despite their incessant cries and howls.

Ryan wasn't in here either.

Seto walked back, never losing his dominant stance as he left the room and closed the door.

"Wh- What the?! What the hell did you do?!" Husky asked, stunned.

"You were looking straight at them!" Jason cried out. "Why didn't they didn't attack you?!"

"...Intimidation technique," was all Seto said in reply. "Doesn't work for everyone, so don't try it yourselves."

"I'll admit... That was totally cool... Crazy, but cool at the same time..." Tyler remarked. "Just don't give me a heart attack again, okay?"

"...No promises."

The last room was surprisingly empty. The four of them cautiously stepped inside.

"Is there supposed to be something in here?" Jason asked, confused. "There's no mobs or anything..."

"...Did Ryan have something to do with this?" Husky questioned aloud.

"I don't know about that..." Tyler replied.

"Shh!" Seto ordered.

Jason started stammering. "Wh-What- why-"

"SHH!"

Silence filled the room.

Seto listened carefully, tilting his head, before whispering, "Do you hear that?"

"...Is that... rustling?" Tyler asked, bewildered.

Seto's eyes widened. "We- We need to get out of here-"

-CRACK!-

A stone block suddenly plummeted from the ceiling and crashed onto the floor, missing Husky's head by an inch. "AH!" he screamed in horror, leaping away.

A silverfish popped out from the fallen block before slithering rapidly towards the group and latching onto Husky's pant leg. "GET OFF! GET OFF!" Husky screeched frantically, kicking the creature away. A second later, more silverfish emerged from the stone blocks and swarmed at them.

Jason grabbed Husky's arm. "LET'S GO!" he shouted. Although they were only a few feet away from the door, it felt like they were running for their lives as they sped out of the room.

"SOMEONE CLOSE THE DAMN DOOR!" Tyler shrieked hysterically.

Seto grabbed the lever and yanked it upwards, shutting the iron door with a clang.

The four panted heavily, taking a moment to catch their breaths.

"That was a close one..." Husky wheezed. "I saw my life flash before me, I swear..."

"Is everyone okay?" Seto asked.

"Yeah... Relatively..." Jason muttered.

Tyler had his hands on his knees as he hunched over, gasping for breath. He still gave Seto a shaky thumbs-up, however.

It was only a few seconds later, when they had regained their bearings, that they realized that Ryan was still nowhere to be found.


"It's no use!" Annie lamented as she paced around the cafeteria, waving her arms wildly. "We switched floors, went with different people, and searched everywhere!"

"Wh-What if he's just in someone else's personal room?" Bodil suggested. "Maybe MonoWither's just playing a prank on us..."

"Well I asked them if he was in another room other than his own, and they said no," Jordan murmured. "Either they're lying or Ryan's really not in this building anymore."

"Isn't it more likely that he's hiding from us?" Ashley asked. "Maybe he's just switching hiding spots whenever we move."

"Not sure how no one would notice, but at this point anything's possible," Husky said quietly. "I personally think MonoWither did something to him."

"Maybe he escaped?" Jason offered.

"It would explain why MonoWither won't tell us anything, but... I don't know..." Steven trailed off.

"Well he just disappeared without a single trace!" Tyler exclaimed.

"...Not... exactly..." Bonks said hesitantly. She stood up and walked over to the memorial table, pointing at it. "The drawing I made for Mitch and Jerome is missing... And it was still there last night..."

"Then that means Ryan must have taken it..." Husky muttered. "But he could have either been planning to go somewhere or just wanted to keep it with him."

"I think the latter is less likely," Seto remarked. "If he just wanted to keep it, I feel that he would have taken it earlier."

"Interesting, interesting..."

MonoWither appeared before them, grinning widely.

"Well this discussion has been fun, but we have a big announcement, so everyone come to-!" MonoWither paused. "Well, we guess it's useless trying to find Ryan. He's run off to who knows where..."

"You must have done something to him!" Husky shouted. "We searched everywhere and there's nobody else in the building except 10 of us, and there's no dead bodies either!"

"Upupu! Is that so! Well, isn't that something! Maybe you guys just aren't looking hard enough!" MonoWither teased. "Anyway, it's been three days, so it's time for the next, brilliantly-crafted motive!"

Fear and apprehension filled the room at that last word. "No!" Bodil cried out, clutching his head in his hands. "Please no more!"

"We have a feeling you'll like this one, so we'll just announce it right here in the cafeteria, give you something more interesting to chew on! Ahem! Listen up everyone! The third motive of this show..."

The tension amongst the group was palpable. Seto braced himself for a terrible, horrendous motive that would once again send everyone flying into a wild panic...

"...is all the money you could ever want in the world!"

There was a long silence as everyone processed these words.

"...Money?" Ashley asked, dumbfounded. "The motive this time... is just money?"

"Yep! All the emeralds you could ever want! If you win, you'll be seeing green for the rest of your life, you'll be that rich! You'll be drowning in cold, hard cash! You can by all the amazing mansions, win all the hottest models, retire in luxury!"

"Exactly how much are we talking about?" Husky asked, skeptical.

"Ooh? Are you seriously considering it?!" MonoWither asked.

Husky flinched and his eyes widened in horror. "N-No-! Of course not! I'd never kill anyone over something that stupid and superficial!"

"But that means that if we changed the motive, perhaps you'd be compelled-"

"No! Don't change it!" Husky shrieked.

MonoWither grinned and said nothing.

"Ha! And- And here I thought the motive would be something far worse than the previous two..." Bodil laughed. "I'm so relieved..."

Seto felt all his apprehension fade away. Everyone here was already well-off. What MonoWither had been thinking with this motive, he had no clue...

"Oh- Oh we see how it is!" MonoWither shouted abruptly, startling everyone. "So- So that's what you think! 'Oh, we've already got all the money we want, we're just gonna ignore MonoWither's motive even though they thought you'd be excited about it!' Fine! That's totally fine with us! We even gave you all 40 WitherCoins as a present but we guess you don't care! Just- Just- UUUGGGHHH!" MonoWither disappeared, cutting off their drawn-out groan of frustration.

The sound of the sound speakers turning on filled the room.

DING DONG, DING DONG

This is an announcement from your hosts! It is now 10 pm. Night Time begins now. The cafeteria's doors will be locked shortly; you are forbidden to enter it. Well then, good night! I wish you all have pleasant dreams...

"Well good riddance," Annie muttered.

"Steven?" Bonks asked suddenly. "Are you all right?"

Seto looked to see Steven trembling slightly, swallowing in an attempt to stop his hyperventilating. "I- I'm good-" he stammered.

"No, tell us what's wrong," Jordan said.

Steven stared down at his shoes. "Well... I know it's stupid but... What if... What if one of us still considers it...?"

"Oh come on Steven, none of us are that greedy!" Tyler said reassuringly.

"Yeah- Yeah but... There's many people in this world... who'd do awful things just for money..." Steven's black eyes suddenly looked vacant as his mind traveled to some other place. "People... who would hurt others... for money..." Bart shook his shoulder and Dave grasped at his arm, jolting Steven out of his daydream. Steven gulped. "S-Sorry- I know I shouldn't be afraid of any of you, but... I still can't help but just..."

"Relax, we're all... financially stable, to put it humbly. Well, most of us anyway." Something flashed across Tyler's face as he registered his last sentence.

Everyone suddenly turned to stare at Seto, all realizing the same thing. Seto's face paled. "You- You guys- I don't want money! I never have..."

The group looked amongst each other, considering Seto's defense, before calming down.

"That's true..." Ashley said finally. "You've always lived a rather... self-sustaining life..."

"Yeah, in fact you'd probably be the least tempted by this motive," Jordan murmured.

"That doesn't mean anything..." Husky said quietly.

"Wh- What do you mean?" Bodil asked, his voice tinged with fear.

"Just because the motive doesn't apply to him... doesn't mean we can lessen our guard," Husky said. "After all, he almost killed Bonks, right?"

Seto looked away, filled with shame. "I- I really didn't mean to-"

"We can't trust you anymore!" Husky shouted.

Seto felt tears prickling in the backs of his eyes.

"H-Husky-!" Bonks said, appalled. "He- He really regretted it, he didn't mean to do it, I said this already-"

"He tried to choke you, didn't he?" Husky countered.

Bonks' eyes widened. "Wh- How did you-"

"Yeah? Don't think I didn't notice the marks on your neck during the trial. It was only after you said what he tried to do that I realized why they were there."

Bonks fell silent, lost in memory.

"Maybe- Maybe he regrets it. But what kind of secret would he have that would compel him to murder? He still refuses to tell us!"

"If I recall correctly, you haven't told us your secret," Tyler said in Seto's defense.

Husky paused. "...Jason already revealed it during the trial..."

"What-?!" Jason asked, shocked. "The- The fact that you failed the forensics course- You told me that ages ago! I didn't realize that was your worst-"

"You were the only person I told..." Husky turned to Seto. "Well? I said my secret. I know that you probably think it's a stupid secret to hide, and that there are so many worst secrets to keep out there. But if you really can be trusted, then you'd tell us right now!"

Seto bit his quivering lip, unable to meet Husky's piercing gaze.

"Well?! What's holding you back?!" Husky demanded. "What could be that horrible?! Why does it even matter anymore?! There's no one around to hear it but us!"

"I... I..." Seto said faintly. "I can't... tell you..."

"Why the hell not?!" Husky shouted. "What, is it that you're one of the people spying for MonoWither?!"

Seto's heart skipped a beat. "Wh- What the-!"

"That's a pretty big accusation to make," Jordan murmured.

"You're going too far!" Tyler yelled. "Seto wouldn't do that!"

"But... there are magic spells all over this place..." Bodil whispered.

"Exactly!" Husky shouted.

"B-Bodil?" Seto stammered.

"MonoWither did say that the spies... were involved in trapping us all in here..." Bodil said, refusing to meet Seto's gaze.

"I'll admit... I too was... thinking the same thing..." Annie said.

Seto looked around, realizing with horror that everyone was nodding in assent. Even Bonks was twiddling her thumbs as she stared at the floor. Everyone, except for Tyler, had already suspected Seto was one of the spies...

"C-Come on, everyone!" Tyler said. "You guys can't be serious!"

"It's not me..." Seto said with a hollow voice. "I... I know I have no proof, but... it's the truth..."

"You say that, but how can we trust you?!" Husky demanded. "You won't even tell us your secret!"

"If I do, you'll trust me even less!" Seto tried to argue. "You- None of you understand- my secret can't be known-"

"Why does it even matter?!" Husky yelled. "Don't you get it?! We're stuck here forever! Whatever secret you have is never leaving this place! So you might as well just spit it out, it's not like we can do anything about it! Keeping silent like this is just making everything worse!"

"You don't understand!" Seto repeated desperately.

"Then make us understand!" Husky shouted.

"I can't do that!"

"Why not?!"

"I just can't!"

"That just sounds like you're making excuses!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are! It makes you sound more guilty!"

"I'm sorry, I just can't-"

"Everyone just STOP!"

Everyone turned to see Steven trembling where he stood, breathing heavily. "I- I'm sorry- I shouldn't have brought up the subject... of the motive..." Steven said quietly. "Because- Because of me, everybody's accusing each other... Distrusting each other..."

Jason tried to speak. "It's not your fault, Steven-"

"We shouldn't be arguing like this, it's exactly what MonoWither wants... This whole spy thing... The motive... It's all part of their plan... to make us commit murder... or at least fall into despair..." Steven murmured. "As- As I said before... we should just forget the spy thing..."

"How can we just forget something like that though?" Annie questioned.

"Yeah... It's just not possible... we have to figure out who they are..." Bonks said quietly. "S-Sorry Steven... I don't want to accuse anyone, but..."

"Even- Even still, I think we should leave Seto alone..." Steven suggested. "I'd... be a hypocrite if I blamed him for not wanting to reveal his secret..."

"I don't blame him for that..." Husky admitted. "It's just that he's already too suspicious! If he really cared about us living in harmony, then he'd tell us so that we'd stop suspecting him!"

"Some secrets... just can't be explained..." Steven muttered.

"What did you say?" Ashley asked, confused.

"An-Anyway! We should just... sleep this off!" Steven stammered. "We're all tense now because of what MonoWither said! So- So we should stop arguing right now and try to relax! A good night's sleep is what we need!"

"We're not letting Seto off the hook!" Husky stated. "What if he goes and tries to kill someone else!"

"That's enough, Husky!" Tyler shouted.

"I won't kill anyone!" Seto said, tears streaming down his face. "Just- I'm sorry- I just can't tell anyone-" He bowed his head, ashamed of his cowardliness. "I'm... I'm so sorry everyone..." he whispered before running away.

"Come back!" Husky demanded, chasing after him.

Seto sped out of the cafeteria, heading for his room as fast as he could.

Stop running away!

They can't find out!

You have to face them eventually!

No! They'll abandon me!

They deserve to know!

I don't want them to leave me!

Seto reached his room and fumbled for his key. Husky was close behind him, and Seto realized the mudkip was seconds away from catching him...

Seto raised his arm and quickly formed a force field. Husky grunted with pain as he crashed into the purple barrier and staggered backwards. "Hey!" Husky shouted angrily. Seto unlocked his door, ran inside and shut it behind him, using his magic to keep the doorknob from turning as he locked the door. Seto heard someone, probably Husky, slam their fists on the door and jiggle the doorknob persistently for a minute before giving up. Seto buried his face in his hands and leaned against the door, sinking to his knees.

You dirty coward...

"Well, that was quite interesting... The plot thickens..."

Seto didn't visibly react. He immediately recognized that horrible voice and refused to look up at them. He just waited, waited for them to say more...

"You know, Seto, we're not sure if you've realized this," MonoWither said as they sneered at the sorcerer with three fanged mouths, "but maybe you should have just stayed quiet and accepted your punishment way back when you 'unintentionally' fell asleep in the elevator shaft..."

Their sneers widened into large, taunting grins that shone in the light. "...After all, if you had died right then and there, it would have been so much better off for everybody, now wouldn't it? You know what we're talking about! Everyone's being wary and cautious around you! If you weren't around, none of your friends would be living in fear of the monster you really are! They'd be living in peace! But what a sad dilemma... If you keep refusing to tell them your secret, they'll hate you more and more... But if you do tell them your secret... well, they'd just avoid you completely! There's no way out, isn't that right? No matter what you do, they'll hate and distrust you. There's no escaping despair... There's no hope for you..."

MonoWither giggled. "Well, there is one way out... You know what we're talking about, don't you? The coward's way out... We may have told you not to do it last time, but since killing someone else to escape won't solve your problem... Perhaps you should take that into consideration! And we're not saying that because we want you gone or anything, it's just... Doesn't that fix all your problems? They'll stop hating you and living in fear, you'll stop feeling despair, the motive will be nullified because technically the killer killed themselves... It's a win-win situation!"

Seto couldn't even find the will to defend himself.

"So with that in mind, we'll take our leave! Toodles!" MonoWither promptly disappeared.

Seto slowly raised his head and breathed heavily.

(A/N: Trigger warning for suicidal thoughts)

Well? Are you just going to let them win?

...

You can't do that!

There's no way out...

Yes there is! Just tell them the secret, there's a chance they'll understand-

How could they understand? They already hate me! And then they find out I'm a murderer? For fuck's sake, there's no way they'd forgive me!

You're not the murderer, Slotty is! And it wasn't your fault he was created-

This whole problem started because I existed!

...

EVERYTHING IS MY FAULT! BECAUSE I EXIST! EVERYONE IN MY LIFE HAS SUFFERED BECAUSE OF ME! MOTHER, FATHER, MY FRIENDS, EVERYONE! BECAUSE OF ME!

...

I should have done this a long time ago...

No, stop thinking like this, you're just letting MonoWither win-

I'm not doing this for MonoWither, I'm doing this for everybody!

That's what MonoWither wants you to think! It's not too late to change things!

Someone like me can't change!

Go to sleep, in the morning you'll feel better-

No, I'll just get cold feet. I need to do this now... Before I change my mind like a coward...

Don't you get it?! THIS IS THE COWARD'S WAY OUT! INSTEAD OF FACING WHAT YOU'VE DONE, YOU'RE JUST GOING TO-

At least I'm finally doing something good for once...

Seto waited for a very, very long time, musing over his thoughts with a strange... emptiness. He didn't feel anything anymore, he didn't feel sad or angry like before, he just felt numb. It was like a shadow had permanently enveloped him, sucking away all his feelings...

There's no going back after this, you know... the last remnants of his hope tried to say.

That's the whole point of doing this, his despair replied.

Seto stood up and saw that it was around 10:40. He carefully opened the door, his movements mechanical as he checked to see if anyone was still outside. Seeing nobody, he closed the door behind him and walked away. He was all alone. All alone...

Suddenly Seto felt fear mixed with sadness sink into his gut. He was going to die all alone... with nobody to talk to... no one to be with him in his final moments...

It's what you deserve and you know it.

Seto swallowed down his apprehension and carefully made his way to the central hall. He walked up the steps to the second floor, once again checking to make sure no one was watching, before heading to the men's locker room. He pulled out his e-Handbook and scanned it, the beep of confirmation echoing ominously in the silent, empty floor.

Seto took a deep breath before opening the door and entering the locker room. He used his room key to open his locker and took out the pearly-white shaving razor. He stared at it, once again overwhelmed with nauseating apprehension.

Oh hey, you forgot to write a suicide note, maybe you should go back! Write a note or people will think you've been murdered and go through a whole trial just to figure out what happened! What if they get it wrong?

Stop delaying things! No one's going to think this is a murder, it'll be obvious from the wounds!

Still, you should take the time to say some final words... Maybe you should tell them the secret that way!

There's nothing worth saying anymore... Let's get on with it... You can't turn back now, there's no hope for you... All you do is bring despair to others... This is what you deserve, because you're a horrible, disgusting monster...

Seto clutched the razor so tightly, his knuckles matched the plastic in color.

MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER!

YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!

Voices and faces of the past blurred together as his mind swirled aimlessly.

"No, stop! I want to live! I'm sorry I didn't have the money to pay- No! NO!"

"It hurts! I don't know anything, I swear- Stop torturing me! It hurts! STOP! STOP!"

"I'll do anything! I'll do anything I swear! Just don't hurt me anymore!"

"What kind of monster are you?! I didn't do anything wrong! You're not actually a human kid, you can't be! You must be a demon spawn- AGH! STOP! STOP HURTING ME!"

"Why are you doing this? I have a husband and children back home! Children your age! Didn't you have parents who loved you?! How would they feel if they saw you doing this to an innocent person?!"

"I wanna go home... I wanna see Momma and Papa... Please stop hurting me... I don't know what I did wrong..."

"Please! Have mercy! Have mercy! PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS! HAVE MERCY!"

"I hope you go back to HELL one day! I hope you die, feeling the same pain I and everyone else you murdered felt! It's what you deserve! I'm an innocent man, and you're a monstrous KILLER!"

Seto shouted angrily and hurled the razor at the wall. The plastic shattered from the force and three razor blades fell from the broken frame. Seto seethed through clenched teeth, his harsh breaths short and heavy as he trembled violently. He bent over and picked up one of the thin, sharp blades before stepping into the shower room.

He deserved this... He deserved to die...

Seto tugged down his sleeve, ready to end it all, but then he heard someone shout so loud their voice echoed throughout the locker room.

"WHO'S THERE?!"