*  *  *

          It was the 4^th of July, a day that was important in the history of American civilization, but unlike how it is normally commemorated, there was no celebration, no joyful congregations of families, no fireworks, nothing but gloom.

          On this joyless occasion, Drake went to his father’s home, an apartment that was annoyingly nearly on the opposite side of the city. Drake and his father sat on the balcony and gazed at the empty sky. Apart from there being no fireworks, birds had nearly gone extinct after most of them got mutated that day. Those that survived had to perch on the ground at some point, and when they do, Mayhems try to touch them, turning those birds into Mayhems also. Evidently, Mayhems could mutate normal animals by touching them. It was an interesting and important effect that people discovered recently. The last humans of the City of Rencia were putting a lot of effort into researching these things, and it was yielding results.

          “How has your training been going?” Bill asked as he looked out at the city around. It was a pleasant view.

          “Good. We’re almost done, and then, all the students will have to take a final examination. We have to kill one Mayhem each. All those lazy guys who haven’t killed any yet will finally have to work themselves hard and finally act.” He thought a moment. “Actually, I think most of the class hasn’t even fought yet.”

          “Good,” Bill said, not paying attention.

          Drake sensed that his father was acting strange. He was usually light-hearted and went off on tangents, talking about useless stuff.

          Meanwhile, Bill was in thought. There was a question that he had been meaning to ask for a while. One that would give him information about Drake’s psychology.

          “Drake,” he turned and looked at him, “Did you join the Militia because you don’t want Mayhems to kill more humans, or because they already killed them?”.

          The question was whether Drake simply wanted revenge and risked his life for it, or he wanted to stop potential human deaths and help out Rencia. Bill already knew that words wouldn’t be able to convince Drake to leave the Defense Militia, but if he could understand Drake’s desires and goals, he could be able to think of a way of solving Drake’s desire in another way somehow.

          “I thought I made it clear. It’s to get revenge. You make it sound like a bad thing. How many people did they kill? How much did they destroy? Don’t you hate them? Everyone acts the same way as you. As if hating Mayhems is weird. It’s normal. Everyone in the city being all cowardly and not fighting is the weird thing.” Drake replied with conviction.

          Bill looked down and sighed. “I see…” It was like his son was possessed with meaningless revenge. What would it accomplish? It pained Bill’s heart to see it, as a parent. “Then let me ask you another question: Do you think your mother would be proud of what you’re doing? Your choice to join the military and kill Mayhems, that is.”

          “What do you mean? Of course, she’d be proud of me! She was constantly nagging me to do some work and stop being lazy and daydreaming. Well, here I am. I have a job. I’m working hard every day, with physical training. I’m actually attending and paying attention to lectures, for once. I’m healthy and no longer jobless. I’m sure she’d be proud and happy to see what her son has become.” Drake only wished she was alive to see her react to it all. “In fact, you should be proud of me too. You always told me to find a goal and work hard towards it.”

          “…” Bill remained looking down, in thought. He had a sad frown on his face.

          He was about to say something, when a large sound disrupted the conversation. It was a deep thud, coming from far away in the distance, probably behind the Walls. The thud repeated.

          “What the heck is that?” Drake questioned. He got up and looked around from over the balcony wall. His smartwatch sounded. He was being paged from the Defense Militia. “I got to go. Later.”

          Drake hurriedly left his father’s apartment and went to the Defense Militia building, the Quarters. In the meanwhile, periodic thudding noises continued, slowly getting louder and louder. He must have been too deep into the conversation to notice it earlier, when it was faint. At the Quarters were his classmates, who had apparently also been paged. They were told to put on their gear: the suit, jetpack, and weapons, and go to the top of the Rencia Wall. Drake and his friends did so.

          Waiting there was General Arthur. He was looking out into the distance beyond the Walls with a serious face. Drake followed his gaze to the source of the sounds. Everyone stood still when they saw it. Some of their jaws dropped in utter shock. Far away was a gigantic Mayhem, almost as tall as the Walls, slowly walking towards the city. It was a giant Gorilla, and it had its sight set on the inhabitants of Rencia…

MAYHEM ON EARTH: Volume 2. / End.