surprise ;)

***

Brice lazily opened his eyes to feel a sharp stinging pain in his abdomen. He shouted, feeling the sparks of electricity traversing through his veins. A hazy figure stood lurking over his shoulder, a wide smile perched on his lips, "I see you're awake."

Brice coughed, weakly. The monitor beside him beeped loudly, sending another wave of pain through his body. The blond hissed, thinking quickly as he reached over and pulled the tube away from his abdomen. The hazy figure stepped back, alerted.

Blood gushed from the hole in his abdomen. It continued to sting, but not as much. He sat up, disoriented, and toppled out of what appeared to be a hospital bed. He growled, his arms turning into electric sparks. The man, who appeared to be adorned in a cloak, sneered, "Don't get so feisty."

Brice shouted, "Where am I?"

"One of the best hospitals in Sorcerer Society," the man replied. "On behalf of the Headmaster himself, you were placed here to recover."

The blond scowled, "Recover? Why would he—"

"He figured it would be a good trade," the man shrugged, seeming to drawl over the topic, "Prince Harvey could assess your base and destroy it once he gathers all the information he needs. Afterwards, he could singlehandedly take over the Hybrids with said information and lead us to victory. You, on the other hand, will remain here for experimentation. Or whatever the Headmaster feels is suitable for a Hybrid like you."

Brice frowned, "And what if I choose to fight back?"

"We'll simply torture each of your friends in front of your eyes. You wouldn't want that, correct? I'd suggest cooperation if you all want to live a full life intact. Now, please lay back down."

Brice stood stiff, a scowl still planted on his face. The sparks increased and eventually launched foreword. The man toppled backwards into the wall causing a complete collapse. An alarm set off—he needed to leave this place fast.

It was an irrational decision on his part, but he decided to abandon all his secondary thoughts and focus on the Rebellion. He dashed towards the window, breaking the glass and jumping down. The electricity surged from his hands to create a hover board. He could barely stand, but decided to hasten the speed to a mighty surge.

Faster and faster the board went until he lost sight of the buildings below him. It would be s long ride, yes, but at least he was farther away. The wound in his abdomen still bled and was irking him with pain.

He hoped that Zek and Seto made it out alive and safely back towards the base.

***

The heart monitors beeped loudly. Zek rested his head on the bed, listening to Seto's shallow breathing. Tyler and Kyle stood on the other side of the bed, whispering to each other. Occasionally, Kyle would have swapped out the cold, damp towel on his forehead for a new one.

"I can't believe they're all—" Tyler croaked, shaking his head, "—dead."

"For all we know Brice can't be dead," Kyle monotonously said, "he's hard headed and strong. As well as that, the Headmaster wouldn't allow someone as special as Brice to simply die off like that. It's just improbable!"

The silence picked up once more. Zek lifted his head to get a good look at the brunet. His appearance had drastically changed from the last time he had saw him.

He didn't look like the "pretty boy" he once knew. There was a scar over his right eye; surgical one. In addition to that, he looked malnourished and unfed—quite weak. No wonder he didn't put up a great fight. His skin was more pallid then usual, and his hair was, oddly, combed and pristine. I guess he worries about his hair, too.  Zek chuckled at the thought.

His laughter was limited, however. The unsettling truth of the team's death was hanging over his shoulders. It was truly Zek's fault for not protecting them properly, and who knows if they were being tortured at the moment. Not only that, Isaac's life was in danger as well.

"Does Sub know that Seto's here?" Zek murmured.

Tyler cursed, "Ah shit! I forgot to tell him. I'll go now!"

He was quick to rush out of the bedroom. Maybe it was the deathly silence between the bunch. Kyle shook his head, "So, what now?"

"Our priority at the moment is Seto," Zek replied, "again, he's a valuable asset to us. He has information that can lead us to winning. Plus, if Seto wakes up, Ethan can wake up and we have more power on our side. It's a win win."

"What about the recovery of Brice?" Kyle followed up.

"He'll come back in no time. I know his personality; he's not the type to give up or quit that easily. Especially since it's regarding to Seto, of course he's going to come back and hug the boy!" Zek grinned, managing to place the thought in his own head. "Everything falls into place eventually."

It had seemed to cheer up Kyle as well. He was grinning. If everything did go according to plan, within a month they should be at the final battle and winning. After they won, everyone would be at peace again, and there would be no one conflict.

But until that day decides to come, conflict was inevitable.

Tyler opened the door to reveal a sleepless Sub. Dark bags were under his eyes, and his complexion wasn't the best. When those emerald orbs caught sight of the brunet, however, his smile grew. He rushed to the bedside, softly pushing Kyle aside.

"How do we wake him up?" Zek asked, standing up from the floor. His knees were killing him. He was kneeling for the past half hour since Tyler and Kyle decided to steal the chairs.

"I have a spell for that," Sub annunciated through sign language. His fingers snapped together, revealing a large book. Zek assumed it to be a spell book. "You may want to step back."

The three did as they were told, now standing at the doorway. Sub opened the book, flipping through the pages before landing on one towards the back. The room began to spin with darkness at its walls. Kyle summoned a pink bubble for them to be protected in.

Sub began to chant. The gusts of darkness grew stronger and louder. The pink orb was now shaking from side to side. Kyle looked as if he was struggling to keep it steady. Zek had never seen him, first hand, use his Sorcery before. Of course it would be pink. He went back to looking at the scene in front of them.

The darkness eventually swirled downwards onto the sleeping brunet. Zek assumed the dosage was a bit too much; Seto should have been awake by now if he had just put a little bit of the potion on the weapons. Now he knew too much of it would have caused a comatose.

The darkness eventually stopped; with reminiscence in Seto's fingernails. The raven haired male frowned. He always assumed Seto had painted his fingernails black.

"Our contract is bound again," Sub signed, "you can put down your bubble."

Kyle sighed with relief, the bubble quickly dissipating, "I really need to work on my stamina."

"I did notice something strange, however," Sub commented while tossing off the cold, damp towel Kyle had put on Seto's forehead.

Zek was the first to quickly approach Seto's bed side, "And what did you notice?"

"There's an unusual shift of power within him. I sense something of Isaac's put within his body. Kyle should be able to sense it too."

Kyle came running, "Doesn't that mean Isaac is dead?"

"Possibly," Sub nodded. "I'm assuming it has something to do with the eyes. Before, there was no surgical scar on his right eye."

"I knew it!" Zek shouted. "But wait, doesn't that mean Seto had inherited Isaac's powers?"

Sub shrugged, "Only time will tell. He should be waking up in a couple minutes. I predict he'll be aggressive, however. Spending almost four weeks with his father can have a lot of brainwashing involved."

"What if he's—" Tyler started, but abruptly got cut off.

"Aggressive? He's too weak at the moment, as you can see. He can do some serve damage, but will proceed to pass out afterwards. He's malnourished and has a plethora of health problems. I'm going to go to Ethan now. I'm sure you can handle this brunet."

"Well, thanks Sub," Zek applauded. Sub shook his head and exited the room. Tyler took his spot.

"Sucks that Brice isn't here," Kyle murmured, "he really wanted this."

The other two nodded in unison. The deathly silence filled the room again. Zek listened to Seto's breathing; it had went back to its normal pace—no longer shallow. Part of him was eager to talk to the brunet, while the other part was nervous and conflicted.

What if Seto decided to attack?

Of course, the moment he had that thought, his eyes snapped open. The three stepped back in shock. It wasn't slow—it was almost as if he was angry. They were wide open now. Zek noticed that his right eye had a familiar shade of purple, while his left was that chocolate brown.

"S-Seto," Kyle gulped, "hey buddy—"

The Sorcerer grimaced with disapproval while sitting up. Purple spikes popped out of his body, almost as if he was a porcupine.

"Touch me and you're dead," he growled, throwing in a threatening glare.

Tyler's Adam's apple bobbed, "Noted."

"I demand you tell me where I am," he barked, but then grimaced again. He gasped, throwing his head down and placing his hand on his left eye. Zek could see the ice forming in his hand, along with a thin purple barrier.

Of course, it's a fucking ice pack.

"You're safe," Zek spoke up.

Seto shot him a deadly glare that sent shivers down his spine, "Safe?" He chuckled, "This is the opposite of safe! You're lucky I'm too damn weak to move, or this place would have been blown to ashes and merely discarded by the wind."

"Seto, don't you remember us?" Kyle pleaded. "It's us, your friends!"

He twitched, bellowing out a twisted laugh, "Friends? I don't have time for friends. And aren't you suppose to be dead after that fight you had with me, Komics?"

Kyle was taken off guard, "Fight? When did we have a fight—"

Seto leaped off the bed, tackling him. Kyle screamed as he was pinned on the floor; Seto's purple spikes were close to his throat. He held his breath.

"Don't play imbecile with me," Seto threatened, "father said we were fighting at the cliffside in Shei Province. You nearly killed me. If it wasn't for my father, I would have been dead!"

He words were like poison, hissing angrily. Kyle shouted, "You're all wrong! I'm your ally, Seto! Your father is lying to you!"

"My father would never lie to me! Stop deceiving me!" Seto shouted back. He threw a punch to Kyle's head. The fuchsia haired male was barely able to dodge. Seto hissed again as his fist hit the floor. Normally he would have caused a dent, but there was nothing but blood staining the tiles. Seto's knuckles were bleeding.

Kyle kicked Seto off. His foot got pieced of course, but oddly it didn't hurt as much. It was like a paper cut through his whole foot; so itchy and annoying. Seto sat on the floor, the spikes dissipating. He held his fist to his lips, sucking off the blood while murmuring to himself. His body was violently shaking.

He sniffled, voice coarse, "I want my father. I want my Dawn."

The way he had said "my Dawn" made Zek also grimace. It would be a lengthy period of time before Seto could actually remember anyone, and Zek knew that.

If only Brice was here.

"So," Tyler spoke aloud, "Sub said he was stronger, but for now he's still in the recovery stage. Anyone up for sandwiches?"