Behind Closed Doors

Seto flinched and dropped the blade, which clattered against the tiled shower floor. He picked it up and held his breath, his heart pounding furiously in his chest. Who was that?

...Ryan? he thought briefly, before the voice from the locker room spoke again.

"I'm not the only one who heard someone shout in here, right?"

Seto's eyes widened and his face paled. Husky was here...

"No... I heard it too..."

Just his luck, Bodil was here too...

"Hello?! We know you're in here!!! Ryan? Is that you?" Husky shouted.

"Ryan!!!" Bodil's voice called out. "Are you there?"

Seto reacted immediately by using his magic to keep the shower room door shut. The doorknob turned this way and that as someone tried to open it.

"Huh, why is the door locked?" Husky questioned aloud. "Ryan? Are you hiding in there? Come out!"

Seto wondered if they could somehow hear his heart racing at a violent pace. If they could, he wouldn't be surprised...

"I thought the shower doors didn't have any locks," Bodil noted. "Is he holding the door shut?"

There was a pause before the sound of someone shuffling on the ground filled the air. Seto quickly hid behind the shower curtain, trying his best not to make any noises.

"I don't... see anything..." Husky murmured as he peered through the slit underneath the door for a few moments before standing up again. "Still, it's strange how the door won't open. You said there weren't any locks?"

"Yeah... Maybe it's just a Night Time thing?" Bodil asked.

"That makes sense..." Husky replied hesitantly.

Silence.

"Husky? What's wrong?" Bodil asked, confused.

"...Hey... Can I... ask you something?"

"Uh... sure?"

"Do you think... I was being too harsh on Seto?"

Seto felt all the breath get punched out from his lungs.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... I just got on his back like that... and accused him of being one of the spies... and set everyone against him..." Husky mumbled. "I was trying to let everyone live peacefully, but... I feel like I just made things worse... Like I let my fear get the best of me and overreacted..."

More silence.

"I feel like I should apologize," Husky admitted. "I put too much pressure on him, of course he was too afraid to confess his secret like that right on the spot... Why did I try to...? G-God... What kind of friend am I?"

"Don't blame yourself that much, Husky..." Bodil murmured. "You weren't the only one... I was just thinking of how the one who put us here used magic... But I don't think it was fair to just accuse Seto for that reason... I feel guilty too..."

"But you're not the one who actively targeted him," Husky pointed out.

Bodil didn't reply.

Husky sighed. "I hope it's not too late for me to make amends," he said, his voice filled with sorrow.

"I doubt it. Seto isn't the type to hold a grudge," Bodil said reassuringly. "I'm sure he'll forgive you!"

"...Thanks Bodil..." Husky said, sniffling slightly.

"No problem!" Bodil said. "We'll apologize together in the morning!"

"Yeah... In the meantime, let's keep looking for Ryan. I guess that sound we heard wasn't someone yelling. We still need to check the wrestling room and then the third floor..."

The two of them walked away, their footsteps eventually fading until Seto couldn't hear them anymore.

Seto stared down at the razor blade still in his hand. Minutes passed as Seto's mind slowly processed what he had just heard...

He put the razor blade in his pocket and left the shower room, making sure to clean up the remains of his broken shaving razor in the process. He carefully looked outside the locker room and made sure no one was watching him. He heard Husky and Bodil's faint voices in the wrestling room as he snuck past.

Seto headed down the stairs, unsure how he was feeling. He was too exhausted to sort out his emotions at the moment. His mind was blank, completely devoid of coherent thoughts. All he knew was that he wanted to get back to his room without being seen by Husky or Bodil or anyone else. He could go through with his original plan another day.

At least that was his intention. He had already reached the first floor when all of a sudden...

...he heard it.

Let's kill merrily, we don't need the adults~!
Can we make one hundred corpses~? Let's have a competition~!

Seto felt shivers run up and down his spine as he heard the dreadful song play faintly in the distance. What in the world? Where is that coming from? he thought frantically.

If there's MonoWither, we are invincible~!
Let's play with MonoWither, alw-

The music was drowned out by the sound of the PA system turning on.

A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the Show Trial will begin!

...What? A body... discovered?

Still the chanting, gleeful voices of the singing children echoed in the distance, making Seto's heart pound rapidly in his chest.

Hunt! Hunt! MonoWither!

Torment! Torment! MonoWither!

If we all sing together, the blood will overflo-

Before Seto could fully comprehend the situation, the dim lights shut off and everything went dark. Even the dreadful music stopped playing, which ironically only managed to intensify his fear.

Seto looked around wildly, struggling to keep his breaths quiet. He finally got over his initial panic and quickly formed a magical ball of light in his hands. The eerie purple glow did nothing to ease his anxiety, however.

What in the... What was that? That horrifying song, the body announcement, and then a sudden blackout? Did Bodil and Husky have anything to do with it?

Seto rushed to the hallway, wanting to get back to his room as fast as possible, when Annie suddenly burst through her door. "Wh- What the hell is going on?!" she yelled when she saw him. "Was that a body announcement just now?! Why is it so dark?!"

"It's a blackout," Seto said nervously, quickly coming up with a half-lie on the spot. "I... I heard the announcement, and then the lights in my room shut off right afterwards..."

"I was sleeping when I heard it," Annie said, rubbing her eyes and blinking rapidly. "G-God... So it wasn't just a messed-up dream?"

Seto swallowed before shaking his head.

Bonks hesitantly opened her door, peeked at them, before stepping into the hallway. "P-Please tell me I was the only one who heard that..." she whispered.

"I'm sorry Bonks," Annie muttered. "I was hoping for the same thing."

Two more people, Jason and Tyler, emerged from their rooms soon afterwards. "So I'm guessing you all heard it too?" Tyler said.

"Yeah... Unfortunately..." Seto murmured.

"I- I hope it's a malfunction- or something-" Jason stammered.

"Upupupu!" MonoWither suddenly exclaimed, appearing before them.

"Eek!" Bonks cried out in fright, grabbing onto Annie instinctively.

MonoWither sneered at all of them. "Ooh, what's this? A secret slumber party that we weren't invited too? We're insulted!"

"Shut up and turn the lights back on!" Annie yelled.

"Why should we? You guys shouldn't be walking around at Night Time anyway! Even Withers need our beauty sleep too, you know?"

I don't think any amount of "beauty sleep" would fix your problem.

"You know full well why we're up. What was that body announcement just now?" Seto demanded.

MonoWither laughed. "Oh, well, it appears a few of your friends just had the surprise of a lifetime!"

"Who's dead?" Tyler asked nervously.

"Geez Tyler, find out yourself! We're not going to spoil our own show!"

Annie growled. "Then can you at least fix the blackout so we can find out who's dead?!"

"Ugh, have a little patience would you? You're so pushy, we're just three Wither heads you know! Besides, we already have a backup generator in case this happens, it just takes awhile to kick in..."

The lights suddenly flashed back on, making everyone cringe as their eyes adjusted.

"Hah! The looks on your faces!" MonoWither exclaimed raucously.

"Haha, hilarious..." Tyler grumbled.

"Great, now we can find out what the hell is going on..." Annie muttered. "Even if I don't want to at all..."

Annie started to step towards the hallway exit when MonoWither hovered in her path, stopping her. "But before you go, don't you want to know about the sleeping potions we sell at the shop?"

"You sell sleeping potions too?!" Bonks asked, horrified.

"Yep! All brewed to perfection! Now there's so many things you can do with sleeping potions; not only can you use them for yourself, you can also use them on other people for various reasons! To transport them to other places, to make them stop snoring, to make them stop tossing and turning in the bed, to slowly kill or torture them with little resistance, all kinds of things! The best part is that if they wake up, they won't remember much of what happened! Just perfect for crimes and dastardly deeds-"

"What are you doing?" Seto asked, gritting his teeth.

"Huh? What do you mean?" MonoWither asked in confusion.

"Why are you distracting us? It almost seems like you're stalling for time..."

"Wh-What? Stalling for time? Why would we ever do such a thing? Honestly Seto, we're hurt! We just wanted to have a friendly chat!"

"That didn't sound friendly at all!" Bonks exclaimed.

"Fine, fine, we get the message! We'll leave! But don't worry about offending us; everything's going so well anyway, our mood won't go down anytime soon! Ciao!" MonoWither disappeared.

"...Was that MonoWither just now?"

Everyone turned around to see Ashley emerge from her room.

"Ashley! Why weren't you here earlier?" Annie asked.

"Well I woke up because of the body announcement, but then the blackout happened and I decided to wait it out in my room. For all I knew it could have been a trap or something..." Ashley replied. "Did anything happen during the blackout? Why was there a body announcement?"

"We have no idea..." Tyler answered hesitantly.

"G-Guys?" Steven asked as he slowly left his room in the back of the hallway, accompanied by Bart and Dave. "What's going on? Wh-What happened? Why was there a blackout?"

"You heard the body announcement, right?" Ashley asked.

"Y-Yeah we did... Oh god, who's dead?!" Steven shrieked, his eyes widening in horror.

"We still don't know, Steven. Calm down for now," Seto murmured. "We were just about to investigate for ourselves since the blackout ended."

"So who's unaccounted for at the moment?" Annie asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"There's... Husky and Bodil..." Bonks said, swallowing nervously. "Oh, and Jordan, of course... and... Ryan..."

"So that's four possibilities for the body discovered..." Annie murmured, her face paling.

Tyler cleared his throat. "Well, maybe we should see if anyone else is still in their room somehow-"

"No, we shouldn't waste time!" Jason countered. For some reason he seemed strangely panicked, more panicked then the rest of them. "We- We don't know whose body was discovered or how. Three people are needed to discover a body, right? Four people are already missing. It all adds up perfectly! Their lives could be in danger!"

"Danger?" Bonks echoed in confusion.

"MonoWither was stalling for time, right? For all we know... there could be a murderer out there and MonoWither just wanted to give them enough time to finish the job! We need to get to where the missing people are before more bodies show up!"

"You're right," Seto said. "We should hurry right now." Without waiting for a response, both he and Jason left the hallway. Everyone else followed them out into the central hall.

"Did- Did the spies have anything to do with this?" Annie asked.

"It's not important," Steven said with a trembling voice. "What's important right now is looking for the people who are missing. We can't get distracted with things like this! We can worry about it later, after we've discovered what's happened to them. We have to work together!"

"I think we should split up and save more time that way," Seto said. "There's seven of us remaining, right?"

"Nine..." Steven murmured quietly.

"Sorry, nine. Then let's divide ourselves into three groups of three and we'll check each floor."

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

"What should we do if anyone finds something?" Ashley asked. "What if the murderer attacks someone?"

"Scream as loud as you can to alert the others," Seto said. "If there's a murderer on the loose, run. Try to defend yourself if it comes to that, but make sure you don't accidentally kill them. Now let's get going before anything else happens."

The groups dispersed. Seto sped up the stairs to the second floor while Tyler and Jason followed him. Seto couldn't stop thinking about how Bodil and Husky had to be on the third floor (of course he could never reveal how he knew). He had just heard them speaking not that long ago, how could things have gone so wrong so quickly?

Seto mentally braced himself for what he might find...

~~~

"Where could Husky be?" Jason asked, tearing open a closet door only to find a defective music stand discarded inside (the top of the metal stand where the music papers were placed had a slight dent, as though it had been squished). He growled in frustration and hurled the music stand out, letting it clatter deafeningly on the floor, before slamming the door shut. "Where are they?! Where could they be?!"

"Jason, calm down," Tyler said quietly as he scanned the music room. "I know it's hard, but freaking out won't help matters."

"It's easy for you to say!" Jason yelled before pausing. "S-Sorry, I just..."

"Everything's okay," Seto said reassuringly. He opened one of the doors at the back of the stage to see a giant room with different instrument cases strewn about.

"H-He promised... he'd stay safe..." Jason whispered forlornly. "He said that he'd make it out alive..."

"We haven't found a body yet, have we?" Seto asked, kneeling down to open one of the cases to find a black oboe lying inside. He carefully closed it again.

"...That doesn't exactly make me feel better..." Jason responded bluntly.

"What I meant is, until we find out the truth, there's no point trying to think about the worst possibilities," Seto murmured.

Tyler entered the room Seto was in, blinked in confusion at all the cases scattered across the floor, before seeing something in the back. "Woah, look at this giant cello!" Tyler exclaimed, making his way through the piles of instrument cases towards it. He struggled to lift it up so it was leaning against the wall. "Geez, this cello's a little bit taller than me!"

"...That's a double bass," Jason replied.

"Oh... Not sure what the difference is, but okay. Double bass. Looks more like a giant cello to me."

"I'm pretty sure if Bart were here, he'd be screaming at you."

"I was a drama kid in high school, okay? Not an orchestra kid. Cut me some slack!"

"Well I wasn't an orchestra kid either and even I knew that!"

"That's a double bass?" Seto asked curiously.

"Uh, yeah, according to Jason... Why?" Tyler questioned.

Seto stared at all the cases on the floor and frowned suspiciously. "...That double bass shouldn't be there. Logically it should be in one of these cases," he murmured.

"That's true..." Jason said quietly. "What are you getting at?"

Seto stepped carefully around the piles and found a rather large pear-shaped one that appeared as though it could reasonably fit a double bass. He cautiously pressed down on it, only to feel a hard, smooth surface. He undid the clasps anyway and opened it to reveal another double bass inside. Seto closed the case, unable to stop his arms from trembling in apprehension. "Can someone help me find that instrument's case?" he asked shakily.

"Uh, I think this is one..." Tyler said, pointing at a case that was actually zippered shut.

Seto made his way over to it and pressed down on the fabric. Chills ran up and down his spine as he felt something that was most definitely not a wooden instrument, but rather...

"Oh dear god," Seto whispered, all the blood draining from his face.

"Wh-What? What is it?!" Jason asked anxiously, racing over to them.

Seto grabbed the zipper and quickly pulled at it, tearing open the case as fast as he could. He hurriedly lifted the cover to reveal what was inside, his heart skipping a beat once he saw what it contained.

His body limp and motionless... Blood coating the back of his head and staining the front of his clothes... His eyes undoubtedly closed behind his red sunglasses...

Jordan was the one lying inside the case.

Tyler screamed in unadulterated horror and shot backwards, distancing himself from the body as much as possible. "NO! OH MY GOD NO!!!"

Jason clamped his hands over his mouth. "This- This can't be happening- oh god-"

"Calm down," Seto murmured as he grasped Jordan's wrist with his fingers.

"C-Calm down!?" Tyler shrieked. "CALM DOWN!? JORDAN'S DEAD, HE'S FUCKING DEAD-!"

"No he isn't," Seto replied, letting go of Jordan. "I can feel his pulse and he's breathing perfectly fine."

"Then- Then why is he unconscious?!" Jason asked, horrified. "And what's with all the blood?"

Seto paused and sniffed the crimson stain carefully. "...That's strange..." he murmured, rubbing his fingers in the stain curiously.

"Th-That's just gross..." Jason whispered, staring at Seto with a disturbed expression and shuddering. "Why would you touch the blood?"

"It's not blood, it's ketchup..." Seto said after a moment, smearing the sauce from his fingers onto the floor.

"What the, ketchup?!" Tyler asked, kneeling down to get a closer look. "Oh my god, you're right!"

"So he isn't injured at all, is he?" Jason questioned.

"Well, the blood on the back of his head is real," Seto pointed out. "As for why he's unconscious... I have a feeling this is why MonoWither started talking about sleeping potions for seemingly no reason."

"Sleeping potion? He was drugged?" Tyler inquired with wide eyes.

Seto grabbed Jordan's shoulder and turned him over onto his side. "That seems to be the case. Look, there's glass on the back of his head. That's why he's slightly bleeding there. Doesn't seem to be serious, though."

"We- We should get the others..." Jason whispered.

Seto nodded as he inspected Jordan's head. Fortunately, it didn't seem like there were any glass bits stuck inside the impact wound. "That would be a good idea. Tell them to get antiseptic and bandages too..."

~~~

"S-So Jordan was attacked by someone?!" Steven asked, his face as pale as a ghost's as he stared down at the still-unconscious man.

Seto nodded grimly as he finished applying the bandages around Jordan's head. "That's the only way this could have happened."

"But why didn't they just kill him? Why just put him to sleep and go through the trouble of stashing his body in the instrument case?" Ashley whispered. "It doesn't make sense... And we still haven't found any sign of Bodil, Husky, or even Ryan..."

"Well hopefully he'll wake up soon and he can tell us what happened to them," Bonks murmured.

"...He probably won't remember," Seto muttered.

"Wh- You mean MonoWither was telling the truth about that?" Annie asked, appalled.

"He was. Sleeping potions tend to leave the user with short-term memory loss, so he most likely won't remember what happened right before he got knocked out. That, or it'll be incredibly unclear."

"Goddamn it... At least he isn't dead, though..." Jason murmured, turning away.

At this point Jordan shifted slightly and mumbled something incoherently.

"Wait, I think he's waking up!" Seto called out.

Jordan clenched and unclenched his fingers, groaning. "Ugh..."

"Jordan?" Steven asked softly, placing a hand on his shoulder and shaking it. "Come on Jordan, wake up!"

"...Wh... What..." Jordan's eyes cracked open and he blinked slowly, taking a few moments to process what he was seeing. "What... happened..."

"How are you feeling?" Seto asked gently.

Jordan slowly reached behind his head, delicately fingering the bandages. He frowned. "Uh... I feel kinda... dizzy... everything's really loopy... Feels like the time when I got my appendix removed and the drugs didn't wear off... Did I hit my head or something?"

Ashley pursed her lips together. "Well... Sort of..."

Jordan confusedly brushed his hand over the ketchup on his suit and suddenly shot up, tugging at it in bewilderment. "Who- What the- Oh my god, what the f-"

"Jordan," Seto murmured.

"Why the fuck is there blood on my clothes-"

"Jordan."

Jordan breathed shakily and carded a trembling hand through his hair. "Sorry, sorry I just..." he murmured. "Can someone please explain what's going on?"

"Um... We don't really know ourselves..." Bonks said tentatively.

"First of all, you'll be glad to know that that's ketchup, not actual blood," Seto clarified.

"Oh. Ketchup." Jordan paused. "Ketchup?"

"Yeah, that's pretty... strange..." Annie said sheepishly.

"Is this some sort of prank or something? I'm so confused..."

"Well you're not the only one," Steven noted. 

"I'm pretty sure at this point that this isn't a prank..." Ashley said quietly.

"More importantly, what do you remember?" Jason demanded. "How were you attacked? Who attacked you, and where?"

Jordan paused and furrowed his eyebrows, pursing his lips tightly as he concentrated. "I... I was... Uh..." He trailed off and pressed his hands on his temples, shutting his eyes tightly. "Crap, I can't think properly right now... It's all just a blur, for some reason..."

"Well, you were hit with a sleeping potion," Tyler explained. "And then your attacker just hid you inside this instrument case for some reason."

"Sleeping potion, huh?" Jordan muttered, rubbing his bandages again. That was when his eyes widened. "Jerry!" he gasped, quickly scrambling to his feet before his legs gave way and he collapsed to his knees. "Jerry- Where's Jerry!?"

"Isn't Jerry in your room?" Annie asked anxiously.

"No! I tried leaving them there but they just kept slipping underneath the doorway, so I took them with me to..." Jordan trailed off, confusion crossing his face again. "To... To do something..." He shook his head and looked around wildly. "Jerry! Jerry, where are you?!"

"Okay, where did you see them last?" Seto asked, struggling to calm him down.

"I... I don't know, all I know is that they were with me when... when I was attacked, I think..."

"Do you think they ran away?" Steven suggested.

"M-Maybe... Hopefully that's just what happened... and they didn't get hurt..."

Bart looked across the room and suddenly ran over to a back corner. Seto could barely see the thin coat of green film on the floor right before it violently coalesced back into a cube, startled. Jerry started hopping away frantically but Bart snatched them up and walked back to where Jordan was.

Jordan gasped and reached his hands out. "Jerry!" Jerry promptly leapt into his open arms, knocking him over. Jordan still cradled the slime tightly, laughing in relief. "I can't believe you were here with me the whole time! I'm so glad you're safe!"

Jerry began happily absorbing the ketchup from Jordan's suit.

"Well, at least that's settled..." Jason muttered, turning away.

"Jason?" Bonks asked, concerned with his tone of voice.

"...Jordan... Did you see Husky or Bodil anywhere?" Jason asked desperately. "Please, please try to remember..."

Jordan stared at the floor. "I... I think I was going out to meet someone..." His eyes widened in recollection. "H-Hold on, I- I think I was going out to meet Husky! Yeah, that's it! I was going out to meet Husky! I can't remember why, though... I can't remember when or where I was attacked, even, it's all fuzzy..."

"Did you see him at all?" Jason demanded.

Jordan shook his head. "I'm pretty sure I didn't... Well, unless he's the one who, um, you know-"

"You are not implying what I think you're implying," Jason hissed, anger flashing across his face.

Jordan's stared back at him, stunned. "I- I mean-"

"Husky wouldn't do that."

"I was just-"

"He wouldn't."

"Sorry..." Jordan murmured, backing off.

Jason kicked one of the instrument cases and grunted in frustration. "We're just wasting time! Has anyone seen any sign of Husky or Bodil!?"

"No..." Ashley said quietly, worry etched onto her face.

"Still no sign of Ryan either..." Tyler murmured sadly.

"Are you sure you guys have checked everywhere?" Seto asked.

"Yes we did!" Steven said, fear making his voice higher-pitched than usual. "We've checked everywhere, but it seems like they just vanished like Ryan did!"

"Upupupu!!!" MonoWither giggled, appearing before them. "What's this? More people missing?"

"Where the hell are they?!" Jason cried out, balling his hands into fists. "Tell us, goddamn it!'

"And spoil the mystery? No, this is so entertaining for us to watch! All of you guys hysterically running about, knowing so little about the whole situation... This is hilarious!"

"Did you do something to them?" Annie growled. "Did you hurt them?"

"Us? Not really, nope! We just watched, like respectable hosts! But don't worry, we're sure you can figure it out soon enough! You don't need our help at all, so we guess we'll just leave you guys to it! Remember: we have faith in you!" They winked before disappearing, just like their absent friends.

"...Perhaps we should check their rooms," Seto said quietly, unable to think of anything else. This whole situation was just making him nauseous. "Who knows, they might still be in there... Only a few people should come with me though, the rest of you guys should keep looking around in case one of them shows up."

"I'll go with you," Tyler said, walking over to him.

"If anyone could find them, it would probably be you," Jason murmured.

Ashley wordlessly made her way to Seto, seeming to agree with him.

The four of them left the music room and made their way from the third floor.

~~~

"Look, there's no way they could be in this building," Ashley murmured as they walked down the steps. "I highly doubt they're still in their rooms; otherwise, the body discovery announcement wouldn't have rung. We've checked every floor, every inch. Unless they're on the floors higher than the third one, there's no way they're still here."

"M-MonoWither must have done something to them..." Tyler whispered. "They said they didn't, but I don't believe them at all..."

"What if they managed to escape?" Jason asked hopefully, although the terrified look in his eyes indicated that he didn't think that was possible.

Seto bit his lip, trying to recall Husky and Bodil's conversation that he had unintentionally eavesdropped on. Neither Husky nor Bodil said much about where they were going to look for Ryan, so that meant they could be anywhere. He'd assumed that they were on the third floor, since Seto had last heard them on the second floor, but could he have been mistaken about something?

Jordan might have known something, but he couldn't remember due to the sleeping potion...

At this point they left the second floor, descended the stairs, and entered the central hall. Seto was walking by the two elevators when he stopped. All of a sudden, chills raced up and down his spine and his heartbeat raced as a terrible idea crossed his mind.

What if...

"Seto?" Ashley asked, noticing the strange look that had crossed his face.

Seto swallowed down his fear. "N-Nothing..." he said quietly. "I... I just have this feeling..."

"What feeling?" Tyler asked.

Without responding, Seto walked up to the left elevator, which still had the wooden "DO NOT ENTER" sign hanging over the entrance. He pressed the button for the left elevator and the doors only moved barely as they tried to separate. MonoWither's Special Paste was still keeping them stuck together.

"They can't be in there..." Ashley said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, the glue's still there keeping the doors shut," Jason said. "MonoWither put that there already, even before Ryan disappeared."

"Wait! Let Seto make sure!" Tyler said.

Seto would have smiled with gratitude were he not filled with a strange sense of impending doom. He pressed his hands together and his palms began to glow purple. Seto struggled to spread his hands apart and the elevator doors shook at the glue gradually began to unstick. The sorcerer grunted with exertion until finally the doors separated and quickly slid open...

Time seemed to stop completely.

Jason let out an earsplitting scream of horror and took several steps back.

"Oh- Oh my god-" Tyler stammered, his face turning as pale as snow.

Ashley stood there, her pupils dilating as her black eyes widened with shock.

Seto was rooted to the spot. The sight before him, the utterly terrible sight, this couldn't be real...

Why? was all he could think. Why? Why? Why?

Lying there on the floor of the elevator shaft was the broken body of none other than Bodil, who was lying on his back with his right arm splayed out at an awkward angle. All of his bones seemed to be shattered, especially the ones in his legs, and his eyes were closed.

"No..." Jason murmured, shaking his head repeatedly as his face twisted with anguish. "No, no, no... No... This can't be happening..."

"Bodil?" Tyler whispered, trembling where he stood. "He's dead?"

"What the hell is going on?!" Annie shouted, running down the steps towards them. "Why did someone scream-"

She halted in her tracks as she too saw the body.

Jordan, following right behind her while holding onto Jerry, stopped as well. Both of them were too shocked to speak.

Bonks reached the first floor next and let out a shriek of terror and shock. "BODIL!!!"

"What happened?!" Steven cried out. "J-Jordan?! Annie?! Bonks?! What's going on?!" He stepped forward, but Bart and Dave suddenly grabbed him and started to pull him back. Bart covered Steven's eyes with his hands and Dave held his arms immobile in an attempt to prevent Steven from moving. Steven struggled desperately to free himself, but was unsuccessful. "Let me go! Bart! Dave! Wait!" he shouted as the two dragged him away. Bart looked behind him before teleporting all three of them to some other place.

Bonks shielded her eyes with her hands. "I can't look..." she whimpered. "It's just too horrible..."

Annie finally found her voice. "He's dead?! Bodil's... dead?!"

"Not yet..." Ashley said in a faint voice.

"What?" Jordan asked, shocked. "How can he not be dead?"

Ashley walked over and knelt down by Bodil's body. "He's still breathing..." she said with a hushed tone, unable to believe her eyes.

"Wh-What?!" Tyler asked, crouching by her side. "Oh god, you're right..."

Only now could Seto see how Bodil's chest was rising and falling ever so slightly, although his breathing sounded shallow and labored. Both of his legs were broken somehow, and Seto felt like throwing up when he mentally pictured his shin bones sticking out. His right shoulder was swollen, appearing to be dislocated. Nevertheless, he was still alive, somehow still able to cling onto life...

"Oh dear, looks like the murderer didn't really do their job properly, did they?" MonoWither asked suddenly. "His bones may be broken, but Bodil's still alive! Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like that'll be the case for much longer!"

"...Save him," Ashley murmured.

"What?"

"I said, save him," Ashley repeated, this time with more conviction. She looked up to glare at the hovering machine, unshed tears clinging onto her eyelashes. "You have to save him."

"And why would we do that?" MonoWither asked tauntingly. "Because you said so? You don't get to boss us around! You really think we'd save Bodil? Come on, Ashley! This reality show is about killing, not about saving lives! Let nature take its course!"

Ashley grit her teeth, bitter anger consuming her expression. Even Seto, who wasn't on the receiving end of her fury, was afraid for his own safety. "There's no way in hell I'm letting Bodil die slowly like this. You've already gotten your share of fun, watching us run around aimlessly. Isn't that enough for you?"

"Of course not! We want an entertaining death, and we're getting it no matter what!"

"Is this really entertaining for you?" Seto cut in. "Is this really what you think you want?"

"What do you mean, Seto?" MonoWither asked, bewildered.

"Look at Bodil. Look at how he's lying there. His legs are broken, and from the sound of his breathing, his broken ribs might have punctured a lung, if not both of them. If he doesn't get treatment soon, he'll die an extremely slow death. Is that really 'entertainment' in your eyes? A slow, uneventful death from gradual blood loss?"

Everyone turned to stare at Seto, as though appalled that he would describe Bodil's death in such a casual manner. Seto refused to let that affect him. After all, this might be the only way to convince MonoWither...

"Hmm... You know, you do make an excellent point..." MonoWither murmured.

"Only you would think that, you sick, twisted little..." Annie said in a deadly voice before trailing off.

"You've already got five deaths so far," Jordan said, catching onto Seto's motive. "So many of us are already dead. Isn't that satisfying enough to the viewers? Besides, like Seto said, Bodil is going to die slowly at this rate, and you don't have many participants left for your show... Don't you want your show to last as long as possible?"

MonoWither paused for a few moments. "...Well then! We've made our decision! Everyone out of the way!"

A few seconds passed before a gurney came rolling from the second floor and came to a halt in front of the elevators.

Seto rushed over to Bodil, who was somewhat rising to consciousness as he started mumbling incoherently, twitching and moaning in pain. "His shoulder's badly dislocated..." Seto noted numbly.

Ashley nodded and carefully positioned Bodil's arm so that it was at a 90 degree angle perpendicular to the floor. "...Sorry Bodil..." she whispered quietly before rotating the arm, snapping the shoulder back into the joint. There was an audible popping sound and Bodil's body jerked as he let out a piercing howl that made everyone wince in sympathy. He didn't open his eyes, however, and promptly went limp once more. His breathing evened out, but only slightly.

Seto lowered the gurney so that the mattress was practically touching the floor. Fearing that Bodil had spinal injuries from whatever had shattered his bones, he chose to drag Bodil's body onto the gurney rather than lift him. Jordan helped strap the body into place and raise the gurney back up.

"Now don't you worry your pretty little heads over Bodil!" MonoWither declared. All three heads were now wearing doctor masks over their mouths. "Dr. MonoWither promises that they'll treat him with the best of care in the infirmary! He'll be good as new!"

The gurney seemed to move on its own accord as it transported Bodil up the stairs, disappearing from sight.

"Th-Thank god we found him in time..." Bonks whispered. "He almost died..."

Ashley silently nodded in agreement, closing her eyes and losing herself to her own thoughts.

Tyler, who was still kneeling by the spot where Bodil had lain, noticed that Bodil had been lying on top of something. "...What are these?" he asked, picking up a broken wooden piece and staring at it.

Seto stared at the shattered wooden pieces scattered all over the bottom of the elevator shaft. Had Bodil's attacker beaten him up with something? It was quite strange...

"Wh-Where's Husky?" Jason stuttered, his voice consumed with fear and terror. "He- He's still missing- What if he's like Bodil, except instead of alive he's-"

"We still need to check the other one," Seto said quietly. As much as he didn't want to, as much as his mind screamed at him not to do it, he stood up and made his way over to the elevator on the right. Apprehension built up inside of him as he hesitated for a moment before shaking the feeling away. He needed to do this, no matter what horrible sight awaited them...

Using his magic, Seto successfully pried the doors apart with a strained cry.

Jason took one look inside before his pupils dilated and he started stammering frantically. "N-No- Oh god no- this can't be happening- No- No- Fuck no-"

His back was facing the group outside the shaft, but it was unmistakably Husky's body lying there on his side, utterly still and lifeless. His blood, horribly crimson in hue, stained the floor beneath him.

Jason quickly darted over to Husky's side and practically collapsed to his knees, his cerulean eyes filling up with tears. He slowly grasped Husky's shoulder before turning the body over so that he was lying on his back. Strangely enough, there was a large cut on the side of his abdomen, but the skin surrounding it was a sickly green. The most apparent wound, however, was the crimson-red smile that had been sliced on his pale neck.

Poor Jason looked ready to pass out at the sight. He gulped as he gently clutched his fallen friend's hand, holding the limp arm up and staring at it. "You... promised..." Jason whispered shakily as he clenched the hand tighter, gripping it like a lifeline. "You... You promised you'd stay safe... You promised you wouldn't die... You promised you'd make it out of here... Why... Why didn't you keep your damn promise???!!!" The brunette burst into heartbroken sobs, almost drowning in his own tears as he noisily gasped for air. "YOU PROMISED!!!" Jason shrieked in anguish. "YOU PROMISED THIS WOULDN'T HAPPEN!!! YOU FUCKING PROMISED YOU ASSHOLE!!!" He bent his head over, several tears dripping down onto Husky's forehead as he wept inconsolably.

Everyone else was too shocked to speak. If this was one of those fairy tales that Seto used to love listening to as a boy, this would be the part where the fallen prince woke up, revived by the heartbroken tears shed by his beloved. But this wasn't a fairy tale. There were no "happy-ever-afters", no pleasant miracles, nothing. This was cold, harsh reality, where everyone's hopes inexorably succumbed to despair...

And then Husky opened his eyes.

Seto thought he was hallucinating at first. How was he still clinging to life? His throat was clearly slit open, the cut too deep to not be a mortal wound.

Jason let out a surprised gasp. "Husky! You're alive!"

Husky blinked sluggishly, his eyes struggling to fixate on Jason's face. When he tried to speak, the gash on his throat spurted blood. "I... Gh... broke my mega-best-friend promise... huh..."

Jason removed his blue jacket and pressed it down on the injury, the injury that by all means should have been fatal. "Shut up! You're making it worse!"

"I... I see... stars..." Husky slurred faintly, his speech broken by several shuddering coughs. "So... bright... so... many..." He smiled slightly, his eyes becoming more and more vacant as his thoughts drifted. He raised his trembling arm and deliriously tried to point at Jason's sky-blue irises. "They're... reaching out to me... I feel... like I'm flying... at the speed of light... towards them..."

"Shut up- SHUT UP!!!" Jason screamed, failing to stop the incessant bleeding from Husky's throat. His jacket was now stained with warm blood, reaching the palms of his hands. "P-Please- Stay here- Don't leave me here- You have to hang on-"

Husky's breathing grew increasingly labored by the second. He drew in a shaky gasp. "They're... calling for me... saying... it'll be okay... the pain... will go... away... I'll be okay... Everyone... will be okay..."

Jordan knelt down beside Husky, anguish twisting his face, before forcing himself to speak. "Who did this to you, Husky? Can you remember? Tell us who did this to you..."

Husky frowned, temporarily brought back down to reality. "Who... did this...? Ah... I don't... know... I couldn't... see... them... Everything... happened... so fast... Sorry... Jason... I tried... to keep... the promise... Did my best..."

Jason started to sob again. "Husky- I'm sorry- Please forgive me- I shouldn't- I shouldn't have- I'm so, so sorry I didn't-"

"-Ryan."

"Huh?"

Husky's eyes were wide now, wide with a sudden realization. "Ryan..." he repeated. "R... Ryan... he... he was... the... the..." Husky let out choking coughs that sent more blood spilling from his gaping throat and his mouth. His dark eyes looked up at Jason's, focusing on them for one last moment, before they faded and turned glassy.

Jason's shrieking wail of anguish pierced the air, echoing throughout the silent room, as everyone hung their heads in grief.  

Husky's body went still as he lost himself in the beautiful, glimmering stars of space.

A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the Show Trial will begin!