Mayhem scanned the room in search of his stop sign but to no avail. “Shit..” he whispered. Redknees glanced over and immediately noticed Mayhem escaped. He darted at him, but Mayhem ducked and rolled, dodging Redknees. Diego started to tremble, not knowing what to do. 

The black rope charged at Diego, but Mayhem tackled Diego right before Redknees attacked him. “DIEGO, FOCUS!!” He yelled, pulling Diego out of his head. 

As soon as Redknees was close to striking again, he felt a jerk on his legs. “I got him,” Baxter declared calmly, tensing his grip on Redknee’s legs. “LET ME GO,” Redknees squawked, but Baxter could care less. Xzbat dragged over the same glass case Mayhem was in, and Baxter shoved Redknees in it. Diego sighed in relief; meanwhile, Mayhem wasn’t having it. 

“YOU THINK YOU GET TO BE GLAD WHEN YOUR ASS STOOD AROUND AND ALMOST GOT YOURSELF KILLED??” He shouted as he stood up and tossed his hands up. “I WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU; I KNEW YOU WERE WEAK AND FUCKING POINTLESS,” Mayhem screamed as he pointed accusingly at Diego, simultaneously grinding his teeth. “WHAT ARE YOU EVEN GOOD FOR?? STANDING AROUND AND WONDERING WHAT’S FOR DINNER?!”

Diego stared in shock at Mayhem, his hands slowly balling into a fist as he lay on the ground, not knowing what to think. The room fell silent as Mayhem’s words set in. Diego looked to the side, feeling as if Mayhem was right until Xzbat suddenly slapped Mayhem. 

“¿CREES QUE PUEDES HABLARLE ASÍ?” Xzbat screeched at Mayhem, “TELL HIM YOU’RE SORRY. NOW.”

Mayhem looked Diego in the eyes, quickly glimpsing the hurt in his eyes. Mayhem rubbed the side of his face then sighed begrudgingly. “I.. guess I’m sorry,” he half-heartedly apologized, sighing afterward and turning away in annoyance. 

Just as Xzbat was about to yell at Mayhem even more, he heard a thud, then metal clattering against the floor. 

Everyone whipped their heads around and saw Masider collapsed on the floor. His knife had slid right underneath Baxter’s foot in perfect motion. Baxter crouched down and gently pressed his fingers to Masider’s neck, trying to sense his pulse.

“DON’T TOUCH HIM,” Redknees shrieked from the box, “LEAVE HIM ALONE, WHAT ARE YOU-” 

“He’s alive,” Baxter said in his calm tone, turning his head slightly to Redknees, “Stop worrying.” He then turned to Xzbat, his expression neutral. “When you’re done getting onto Mayhem, can you watch him?” he said as he pointed at Masider.

 Xzbat nodded but quickly turned back to Mayhem, “When we get back to HQ,” he whispered sternly, “we’re going to have a long talk.” Xzbat then walked over to Masider, sitting next to his fainted form. 

Baxter walked over to the cockpit, trying to figure out how to land the plane. As he studied the plane, Mayhem stood there quietly, his guilt genuinely setting in. He glanced at Diego and noticed he had moved next to the crate Redknees was in. Mayhem raised his eyebrow as he noticed Diego just studying Redknees.

“Can you… not stare at me like that?? It’s weird,” Redknees said as he tried to look elsewhere. Diego didn’t budge; he just kept staring, and Redknees sighed loudly.

Shortly after, Baxter called up Stephanie as he stared at the controls. He impatiently tapped his foot as the phone rang, occasionally glancing back at everyone.

“Stephanie,” Baxter said bluntly, his hand hovering over the controls as he slightly squinted in fustration

“BAXTER!” she roared through the phone, grateful to hear that he’s still alive, “WHAT’S UP WHAT’S GOING ON IS EV–”

“How do you land a plane,” Baxter interrupted, not in the mood to deal with her quizzing. 

The other end went silent for a moment until Ilithiyah spoke up. “Okay okay,” she repeated, “Are you in an area where you can safely land??”

“Yes,” Baxter said after looking around, putting his hands on the yoke. 

“Okay, now.. find the lever for the landing gear and pull it down and guide the plane down GENTLY…” Ilithyiah said, placing emphasis on her words.

After Baxter guided the plane to a safe, yet extremely rough and rocky landing in a nearby field, he sent his coordinates to the rest of the members. 

As soon as help arrived, Baxter rolled the box that Redknees was in off of the plane. Meanwhile Xzbat gently slung Masider over his shoulder and carried him off the plane with everyone else following behind.

“Who are these people?” Valentino asked as he looked at Redknees, then Masider, “Is he alright?”

“He’s alive, just asleep,” Baxter stated, looking over at Xzbat and Masider, ”he may have a concussion of some sort.”

Valentino nodded and quickly turned to Ilithiyah. “Ilithyiah,” he called, “I require help, if possible.” 

Ilithyiah came over, Valentino explained the situation to her, and Ilithyiah began looking at Masider. Watching what he could from the crate, Redknees’ eyes never left Masider as he stressed, praying that Ilithyiah would say he’d be fine.

“I don’t know,” Ilithyiah said, confused, “He seems like he has a concussion considering the bruise on the side of his head, but I can’t be sure until we get back to HQ.” 

Valentino hummed in acknowledgment, thinking of possible ways they could head back to headquarters with the enemies, as it would potentially give their location away. With that thought in mind, Valentino faced back to Ilithyiah. 

“Hey Ilithyiah, didn’t you serve in the Air Force while you were in nursing school?” 

“I… yes I did,” Ilithyiah said, confused, then it clicked. “Let me guess, you want me to fly the plane back to HQ?”

“Yes!” Valentino said “But make sure Stephanie disables the GPS on it before you fly it!”

Ilithyiah sighed and gestured for Stephanie to follow, annoyed but compliant. “C’mon, Stephie.”

Xzbat turned to Mayhem and scoffed “Don’t think I forgot about earlier,” he said bluntly, still extremely pissed.

MAYHEM’S HUSH-BUSH

Mayhem sighed as he sat down and pulled out a card, “TODAY’S HUSH-HUSH! DID YOU KNOW SADATOR DOESN’T JUST GIVE US RANDOM BIRTHDAYS? IT’S ACTUALLY BASED ON WHAT DAY SADATOR FIRST DREW THAT CHARACTER! THAT’S WHY MY BIRTHDAY IS FEB 22ND! I WAS DRAWN ON TWOSDAY!”

(Happy Birthday, Mayhem!! -S.K.)