At Darren’s place, Mayhem pulled up in the driveway beside his house. As Mayhem shut the engine off, he sighed deeply, wishing he could stop thinking. He repeatedly played the argument between him and Xzbat in his mind, feeling like a stuck remote as it kept rewinding. Attempting to push those thoughts aside, he exited the car and grabbed his bag from the backseat. When he got to the back of the house, he quickly ran his hands above the door frame, holding the spare key and opening the door. As he opened the door, he noticed Darren leaning against a counter in the kitchen.

As Darren took in Mayhem’s disheveled appearance, he couldn’t help but slightly frown in concern. “Who broke your heart this time?” Darren asked playfully, trying to cheer up Mayhem with sarcasm. 

However, his playfulness quickly turned serious as Mayhem dropped his bag by the door and walked over to the couch, tossing himself on it. He let out a slow, annoyed groan as he closed his eyes.

“I’m tired,” Mayhem said as he flipped onto his back, “I wanna quit my job. I can’t stand those bitches anymore.” He declared, bringing his hands to his face and resting them there. He sighed deeply as he lay there, feeling aggravated but slightly guilty about what he had said to Diego. 

Darren walked over and leaned against the couch's armrest, taking a deep breath before asking. “What happened,” he asked, his tone admitting that things like this happen all too often. 

“I cussed out the new guy at work,” Mayhem said as he slightly moved his hands, revealing his eyes as he stared at the ceiling. “He wasn’t doing anything when it was super important. He stood up there and froze up while everyone else did the handy work,” he groaned in annoyance before he sat up and contemplated telling Darren the whole story. He slightly squinted as he looked off to the side, thinking too much into it.

“Mayhem, tell the whole story; you’re giving me that look again,” Darren stated somewhat sternly but then smirked as he crossed his arms, trying to keep the mood somewhat positive. 

“Fine,” he lightly retorted, “My other co-worker slapped me for cussin’ out the newbie, and when we got back to the office, he tried to tell me I was in the wrong for it. We got into this screamin’ match, and I got overwhelmed.” 

“You’re not telling me what you said to your coworker,” Darren said as he sat on the carpet before the couch. He then opened a container of prerolled blunts, took one, and put it in his mouth as he lit it up. 

Mayhem watched his every move as if he couldn’t take his eyes off Darren, but he finally spoke. “Can I-”

“Not until you spit out everything. Stop trying to make yourself look good, dumbass,” Darren replied, looking up at Mayhem for a slight second. 

Back at Valentino’s office, he sat in his chair excitedly, seemingly not tired, contrary to the late hour. “Baxter, Xzbat,” Valentino said excitedly. About the emergency meeting I wanted, it’s about Diego. " He laced his fingers together, sitting in a pretty awkward position in his office chair. I wanted to discuss planning a welcoming party for him!”

“Knew it,” Xzbat leaned back in his chair, balancing himself on its two hind legs. “Look, Val, I understand you’re excited that you found your lover boy or whatever, but it’s too damn late for this.”

Baxter nodded in agreement before pinching his nose bridge and rubbing his eyes. “I agree, plus everyone has already gone to bed for the night.”

Valentino tilted his head slightly in confusion, almost puppy-like, and put his finger on his chin, trying to recall a memory. “I assumed you two were nocturnal; are you both not? I remember hearing about how you both prefer to work at night.” 

“Yes, we’re supposed to be nocturnal, but you forgot I have several other jobs besides Sunrise,” Baxter replied, his eyebags displaying his exhaustion. He then leaned back in the chair and adjusted his legs to be more comfortable. He then looked over at Xzbat, immediately noticing he was already asleep. “Plus, you know Xochitl loves sleeping,” Baxter added before he found himself yawning.

“Oh… well, that certainly complicates things,” Valentino said as he leaned down, reaching for something. He then brought up two cases, one of soju and the other of beer. “I had purchased these to encourage you both to help me.”

Upon hearing the glass clink, Xzbat immediately woke up and stopped leaning in his chair. “I know the sound of Corona when I hear it,” he said, his exhaustion immediately leaving his body as he looked around for the source of the sound.

On the other hand, Baxter sat up and crossed his legs as he leaned in closer. “Throw in buying more for the party, and we have a deal,” he said as he stared directly into Valentino’s eyes.

“It’s a deal, as long as you both pull your weight,” Valentino said as he slightly pushed the cases toward them.

Across headquarters, Ilithyiah immediately pulled out her pocket knife to cut their uniforms, snatch the GPSs, and stomp on them. Redknees looked incredibly guilty as she shattered them, ensuring they could no longer be tracked. 

“Miss bird lady,” Redknees said as he stood there, trying to choose his words carefully as he looked towards the ground. Masider stomped on his foot right before speaking, causing him to yelp. 

Masider threw Redknees a sharp glare that could cut skin, spooking Redknees to his core. The three stood there in awkward silence before Redknees suddenly burst into tears. Ilithiyah’s expression shifted from aggravated to confused within a matter of seconds. 

“M-Miss bird lady, please, i-it’s not our choice; we don’t wanna do this!” he wailed out, then Masider quickly slapped him to hush him up.

“Are you out of your damn mind?!” Masider yelled, “We have a duty to follow! If you were gonna be a bitch about it and snitch, you should’ve thought about that before you let your debt get paid!”

“I-I’m sorry!” Redknees cried as he covered his eyes, trying to stop himself from crying, “I-I just didn’t sign up for this! I never wanted to hurt anyone!” He choked out as he snotted, “I just didn’t want to die; I was scared!”

Ilithiyah stood awkwardly as the two argued. She just listened when she realized they had no choice in their actions. After they finished arguing, Ilithiyah didn’t know what to say. She never would have thought she’d ever meet someone in the same predicament she once was in. She watched as Redknees tried to stifle his sobs but to no avail. She hugged Redknees, feeling a deep sense of empathy and understanding. Redknees tensed up for a moment, but then he sobbed even harder.

“What the hell are you-” Masider tried to interject, not used to seeing Redknees vulnerable. It was an odd sight to him, considering he was raised to believe vulnerability was a sign of weakness. Ilithiyah then suddenly grabbed him and hugged him as well. Usually, he would’ve attacked, considering he hated any displays of affection. Yet, something in him didn’t want to. He didn’t hug her back, but that didn’t mean he hated it. 

Ilithiyah eventually pulled away, looking at both of them. “I understand,” she said, softly smiling. “Just wait.”

The night turned into day, and Diego was wide awake. He didn’t sleep much the night before, his mind still stalling on Mayhem’s words. He sighed tiredly and grabbed his phone, seeing a text from Stephanie an hour ago. 

Stephanie: “Are you awake? We need you downstairs for something.”

Diego’s eyes widened, noticing the time, “Shit,” he hastily whispered to himself as he got out of bed. He then realized he’d been wearing the same clothes from two days ago. He quickly texted Stephanie, praying that she could fetch him new clothes.

Diego: “Do you have any spare clothes by chance?”

Stephanie immediately saw his text, and her thumbs flew across the keyboard. 

Stephanie: “Val left you some earlier by your door, I think? Along with other stuff? Don’t ask how we got your sizes right.”

Diego opened the door, and sure enough, his things were there. He rushed to shower, and afterward, he felt like an entirely new man. He got dressed in a dark blue button-up shirt and light-washed jeans. Looking in the mirror, Diego decided he wanted to try something different. He looked through the drawers in the bathroom and found spare hair ties, so he tied his hair up in a bun. 

He then grabbed his phone and walked out of the room, and he quickly noticed that Mayhem’s door was ajar. 

“Does he usually do that?” Diego thought, but he couldn’t feel that at least something was up. “I mean, Valentino dropped my things off, so... did he notice? Right?” Diego shook his head, dismissing the thought as he walked down the corridors, already confused by the twists and turns. He eventually found the staircase and walked down it, and as soon as he was in view, Stephanie set off a party popper.

“SUPRISE!” everyone shouted in almost perfect unison. Diego jumped in surprise, but then he very slightly grinned. Valentino approached Diego as he reached the last step, an excited look written on his face. 

“Welcome to the team, and happy belated birthday!” Valentino said ecstatically, guiding Diego over to a small, handmade cake. “Stephanie baked it earlier for you! I’m unsure if you’re enthused about cake, but she only baked it because she felt bad for the whole ‘didn’t know you’re a mute’ thing and because of your birthday.” Valentino then cut him a small slice of cake and handed it to him before he walked off to see where Ilithiyah was.

Diego silently ate the slice of cake as he watched Baxter and Xzbat talk about whatever else. Eventually, Xzbat felt eyes on him, looked over his shoulder, and noticed Diego. He then got up and walked over to Diego, with Baxter following him.

“I didn’t know you had braces,” Xzbat started, “Is that why you keep your mouth shut all the time?” he jokingly asked before Baxter rolled his eyes. 

“I’m sorry about him; he tends to joke a lot,” Baxter said as he looked up at Diego, crossing his arms as if talking to a brick wall. “I didn’t know you’re mute; Valentino told us this morning about it.” 

“Awe, Bax, get to the exciting shit already,” he said as he leaned in closer to Baxter, showing all of his pointed teeth. Diego raised an eyebrow in curiosity and looked at Baxter for a split second before looking elsewhere. 

“I’m not trying to be rude, but how are we supposed to design his suit and weapon if he can’t talk?” Baxter said as he pinched his nose bridge. Diego frowned a bit, and Baxter almost immediately noticed and spoke. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I don’t like talking too much either, so I understand,” he said as he looked to the side for a moment, then back at Diego as he sighed in frustration. 

Diego then pulled out his phone and found the post about the sword he had seen days before. He showed it to Baxter, but Xzbat took the phone from him and examined the post. 

“Ehhh,” Xzbat squeaked. It’s somewhat basic. Plus, I don’t think Valentino will let you have a sword, considering his rule.” Baxter nodded in agreement and then spoke as he noticed Diego’s evident confusion. “Valentino has a strange rule: nobody can have the same weapon or suit design. He says it's for variety, but I highly doubt it... Plus, whenever someone asked to have a sword, he denied the request for unspecified reasons.” 

“He did that shit to me because I wanted to have a sword like Guts… y’know, from Beserk?” Xzbat said as he crossed his arms, “I mean, you can try getting a sword, but I highly doubt he’ll let you.”

“It’s good he denied it because it’s not like you could wield a 7-foot sword at 5’7,” Baxter joked, letting out an occasional snicker momentarily before returning to his usual static expression. 

Diego returned his phone from Xzbat and quickly typed, “Then what weapons do you both have if you aren’t allowed to have the same ones?”

“Xzbat has two karambits, but he extended the blade on them. On the other hand, I mainly use a paint roller with irritants on it. Or sometimes it's worse depending on the situation.” 

Xzbat reached behind Baxter and pulled something from his suit jacket. “You’re forgetting this, too,” he said as he held the sickle, running his hands over the ruby-encrusted base that extended to the blade.

Diego’s eyes immediately widened upon seeing the sickle, thousands of questions rushing through his head as he saw the rubies. 

Baxter immediately snatched it back from Xzbat and placed it in his holster underneath his jacket. “That’s for emergencies only,” he said as he adjusted his glasses. 

Valentino returned with Ilithiyah after a while, and he had a concerned expression written on his face. “Has anyone seen Mayhem? His door was wide open. I went into his room, and he was nowhere to be found. We looked all over, and he wasn’t here.”

Diego perked up at this; meanwhile, Xzbat made a slight face as he looked away.

“What’s that face for, Xzbat?” Valentino calmly asked as he slightly turned towards Xzbat.

“I didn’t know he left, that’s all,” Xzbat said, slightly nervous but hiding it. “I’ll.. text him and see if he’s okay,” he said with a slight chuckle as he pulled out his phone.

Back at Darren’s, Mayhem groaned as he looked up at Darren. “I’m so hungry…” he said as he snickered at Darren. He then walked over to the fridge, digging through it to find something to munch on. 

Darren watched him dig through the fridge before finally replying,  “You already ate everything earlier, dumbass,” he playfully retorted as he walked over to Mayhem.

“I did??” Mayhem said as he turned towards Darren. “Bruh…” he groaned, slouched toward the ground, rested against the wall, and leaned his head back.

Darren looked at him, then laughed as he sat before Mayhem. “You look so dumb right now; it’s funny,” he chuckled as he sat beside Mayhem; the two were clearly high. 

Mayhem then closed his eyes before he spoke. “I feel like I’m forgetting something, but I dunno what…” he said as he trailed off, eventually falling asleep as he succumbed to exhaustion. Mayhem’s phone started ringing, but Darren fell asleep alongside Mayhem.