“SO.. TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF,” Mayhem asked while driving, trying to start a convo with Diego, but it quickly fell flat. “OR DO YOU JUST NOT LIKE TO SPEAK?” Mayhem asked, stealing a glance at Diego while they were stopped. 

Diego anxiously twiddled with his fingers before hesitantly nodding. “THAT… ACTUALLY MAKES A LOT OF SENSE,” Mayhem said, slightly shocked but more amused than anything.

 “WELL, THAT GIVES ME MORE ROOM TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT MYSELF,” Mayhem added as he drove again. “AS I’VE TOLD YOU EARLIER TODAY, I’M A SHAPESHIFTER,” Mayhem said casually as he navigated the streets, taking in the city’s night view.

 “I DON'T REALLY HAVE A DEGREE, BUT, WHAT I DO KNOW IS MY ABILITIES CAN MAKE ME TAKE THE FORM OF ANYTHING AS LONG AS I HAVE THE MASS FOR IT,” he proudly stated, quickly glancing at Diego once again to gauge his reaction. 

Diego nodded attentively as he listened, becoming increasingly interested in his abilities. Mayhem slightly grinned at Diego’s affirmation as he continued to ramble about himself as Diego listened mindlessly. “WAIT, SO DO YOU KNOW HOW TO SIGN?” Mayhem queried, curiously raising an eyebrow.

 Diego became slightly embarrassed as he shook his head slowly. “..HOW THE HELL ARE YOU MUTE BUT YOU CAN’T SI– AGH!” Mayhem screamed as he drove underneath a massive, shadowy figure, inadvertently frightening Diego.

 Mayhem sighed, “I’M GONNA HANDLE THIS, YOU STAY BEHIND AND WATCH OVER GEESE. K? OKAY,” He said as he drove a safe enough distance away, then drifted to a halt. He hastily parked, jumping out of the car to snatch his stop sign from the trunk. 

Diego turned back to watch Mayhem, confused about the situation happening. “Geese? Who’s that...” He quietly thought as he watched Mayhem run off towards the massive shadow. Diego tried to be patient, but his curiosity got the best of him, so he rolled the window down and looked back.

 “HOLY SHIT,” Mayhem yelled as he got launched, being disarmed in the process. The hairy arachnid rapidly charged at Mayhem, threatening to finish him off. Mayhem winced and attempted to find his footing hastily, but failed miserably as he tripped again. 

Mayhem closed his eyes, but a sudden warm splatter hit him, followed by heavy wheezing. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Diego standing before him, panting heavily and covered in blood.

 “..Diego?” Mayhem said unintentionally softly, trying to register what just happened, spotting out the now dead spider’s halves. Diego turned back to look at Mayhem with his eyebrow raised, his quiet way of asking if he was okay. 

“DID YOU JUST SPLIT THAT SPIDER IN HALF?? WITH NOTHING BUT YOUR ARMS?!” Mayhem screamed as he propped himself up on his hands. 

Diego nodded, then tore off the spider’s mandibles and quickly tossed them, disarming the arachnid if it was still alive. Diego turned towards Mayhem, offering him a hand and softly grunting. 

Mayhem grabbed his hand, quickly standing up and dusting himself off. “HAS ANYONE TOLD YOU THAT YOU HAVE AN AMAZING ASS?” Mayhem randomly asked Diego nonchalantly, causing him to freeze up from shock. 

“I MEAN, THANKS FOR SAVING ME BUT THAT VIEW... WOW.. NEVER SEEN ANYTHI–” Diego put a finger to Mayhem’s lips, silently shushing him to save himself from dying of embarrassment. 

Mayhem playfully rolled his eyes and walked off to get his stop sign. “Sometimes… I think he has no filter and just yells the first thing that comes to mind,” Diego thought as he pinched the bridge of his nose as soon as Mayhem walked off, sighing softly. 

“SHIT, THAT DUMBASS SPIDER PUT A DENT IN THE BAR,” Mayhem angrily shouted, quickly turning around but just like that, Diego was gone.

 “DIEGO?! OH C’MON, THE COMMENTS ABOUT YOUR NICE ASS WAS JUST ME BEING PLAYFUL,” Mayhem whined before suddenly being ambushed and struck from behind.

A few hours passed, and Valentino checked his phone, immediately noticing the time. “11:43?” Valentino said to himself, instantly becoming worried. “Records say that Diego and Mayhem left around 8:52.. They should be back by now..” he whispered, trying to think of all the possible reasons they could be out this late. Valentino called Ilithyiah, knowing she should still be up at this hour. 

“Busy, make it short,” Ilithyiah said on the other end, assuming it was another mundane task Valentino wanted to assign. “Excuse me for calling.. but Mayhem and Diego have been out since 8:52 this evening, and it’s 11:45..” Valentino said, shakily speaking and fidgeting with his pen, “I’m starting to become a bit worried for their safety.”

 “Hm, I mean.. Mayhem staying out this late is normal…” Ilithiyah said as she furrowed her brows slightly in mutual concern. “But.. I do see why you’re worried because Diego doesn’t strike me as the kind of person to be out this late unless it’s for a real good reason,” Ilithiyah said as she paused, trying to think. 

“I’ll tell you what,” she added, “I’ll wake up Steph and ask her if she could pinpoint their last known location, and I’ll tell you what she says, K?” 

“Okay, thank you, Stephanie... I mean Ilithiyah,” Valentino said right before hanging up and sighing, tossing his phone back on the desk. He then spoke as he leaned back and brought his hands to his face.

 “I didn’t spend years finding you again just for you to go missing once again..” Valentino said as he sat up, brushing off his moment of weakness and hastily diving back into his work, attempting to distract himself from the excruciating feeling something was up. 

Footsteps briskly paced around the room, the soft yet oddly quiet hum of the airplane’s propellers breaking the otherwise silent room.

 “These idiots killed off two of our best spiders,” the ominous voice said, sounding more pissed than ever. “I mean, I don’t blame them,” another voice said, pausing briefly to lean back in his chair, “But, still, they inconvenienced us.. nothing new about that.”

 “WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS FUCKING BOX, I’M GONNA RIP BOTH OF YOUR FUCKING HEADS OFF AND PUT YOU ON THE MENU AS THE SOUP OF THE DAY,” Mayhem screeched as he kept trying to kick down the transparent walls, trying to escape the glass enclosure.

 Diego slowly groaned as he gradually regained consciousness, adjusting his blurred vision. 

“Diego? Right?” the black-haired man asked, towering over Diego’s seated form. “Don’t be scared,” he said, seemingly sincere, “We won’t hurt you; we just need to borrow you for something if you truly want to keep Earth safe.” 

MAYHEM’S HUSH-BUSH

Stephanie groggily sat on the couch. “Ugh, I dunno where May could even be at this hour, but somebody has to do this,” she said as she stretched. Today’s the hush-hush of the day? Night? Whatever. Did you know that Para/Tomik was originally going to be named Sunrise International? Sadator decided to change it two years into working on it because it ‘Didn’t sound original enough and isn’t memorable’ in their words. Such a picky-ass writer.”