Aaaaand, ta-da! My little hiatus is over! Sorry this took so long, the beginning of my summer is busier that I thought it would be. I went to New York with my Theatre class which was fun, but there was FAR too many people. Did I mention I'm claustrophobic AND I have a thing about personal space? Well yeah, I will never live in New York. Also, the weekend before that I went to A-kon! Whoop whoop! Now THAT was amazing. If any of you were there, I cosplay end Terezi! (I had a really boss dragon cane that I give all credits to my father because I suck with polymer clays and he sculpted the head.) Anywho, now for a major plot point! Drum-roll, please...


Sollux was worried. Karkat hadn't showed up for dinner, they still wouldn't let him see Mituna, something was up with John, and Nepeta seemed way off recently. The stress was driving him mad. Pretty much, the only thing keeping him from having a total mental breakdown was Aradia, who was acting as his emotional anchor.

"I'm sure he's fine. Both of them." She told him as they ate.

"I just... Feel like something horrible happened, y'know?" He said.

"If anything, I'm worried about you. You haven't been eating... And by the look of it, sleeping either."

Aradia was right. Just in the past week, he had gotten thinner. The stress was wearing him down, and he just didn't find food appealing at all. He hadn't been able to sleep well for some time now.

She continued, "Really, Sollux, I know you're worried and anxious, but you still need to take care of yourself."

Sollux opened his mouth to reply, but then caught sight of familiar double horns and shaggy hair outside the door and immediately stood up. He walked briskly toward the door, not even telling Aradia where he was going.

Mituna was standing just outside the door, smiling, and Sollux grinned. He looked fine. Nothing looked horribly wrong, and he was smiling just like he did before his incident.

But then Mituna saw Sollux and burst into tears, throwing himself onto his brother and wrapping him in a hug.

"S-S-Sollux." He sobbed, "Th-they wouldn't... Wouldn't let me... And they... They... And I..."

"Slow down, slow down. What's wrong?"

"I... I need... Need you to... I can't... And... And you... Can you... Can you help?" Mituna sounded pitiful. He was a mess of jumbled syllables and mispronounced words.

"Help... What do I help you with?"

"I... I can't... Can't remenember... And... And... And... It's... I... I... Can't... Can't..." Mituna groaned in frustration. "My... My head... And... My... My..." He struggled for the correct words.

Sollux was utterly confused. This wasn't Mituna. Mituna wouldn't cry like this... He wouldn't blubber hopelessly, trying for words... He would smile, and say, "hey sol." He would joke about being so dramatic before and then hug Sollux and appologize for scaring him.

And then it hit him.

Brain damage.

"Oh my gog... Tuna..." Sollux muttered.

Mituna hiccuped into Sollux's shoulder and quieted a bit. "Hm?"

"Mituna, I... I don't know what to..."

"I'm sorry." Mituna lisped.

"C'mon, Tuna. Let's go sit down."

They entered the mess hall and sat down at Sollux's table. Almost immediately, Latula came over and plopped herself down next to Mituna.

"Oh, thank God, MT, I was worried!" She smiled at him.

"Latula..." Sollux said quietly, "I... I need to tell you something."

"Hm? What is it Mini Bee?" She asked, looking over the top of her rectangular glasses.

Sollux motioned for her to come closer, and she did.

"Uh... Mituna... He... I think he experienced some brain damage. Something's wrong."

Latula sat up strait and gave Sollux a look of uncertainty. "I don't know, Sol, he looks fine to-"

"GAH!" Mituna had tried to stand up, then slipped and tripped backwards over the bench, landing on his back.

Latula gave him one look then said to Sollux, "Well..."

Mituna scrambled to his feet and straitened his shirt, turning to Latula and Sollux. "You... You're Latula? I... I renenember you. And we... You and me... We... We were..." Mituna blushed yellow.

"MT? Are you... Okay?" She asked.

"I... Er... I think... Maybe? I... I don't... Everevrything is... Is... Fuzzy. An I... I can't... Can't... Can't think... Uh..."

Latula frowned slightly. "Well... Er... What do you remember, Tuna?"

This time, Mituna frowned. "Um... I renember you, mostly. And Sollux... An... And Car... Kurloz. Uh... I don't... I um..." Mituna gave her a hopeless look. "So... Not much..."

Sollux turned away from the two as they continued. He didn't know what to feel right now. So much was going on and so much was changing that Sollux just needed to stop and think for a moment.

The scientists were obviously tired of doing the regular old stuff with them, and it was taking its toll. Sollux got psionic power. Mituna got brain damage. He thought this was very, very unfair. John seemed edgy and nervous all the time lately, like he might explode or something. Nepeta was quieter than usual, and when she thought no one was looking, she would drop her happy facade and show a very tired and worn down reality. And Sollux didn't know what was up with Karkat. Maybe Mituna was right. Maybe they needed to get out of this place. It was a dangerous thing to do. Someone could die. But, all the same, Sollux couldn't take being stuck in this place for all eternity, at least not now that the idea of freedom sprouted in the back of his mind.

Yes, there were 28 of them total, and with a little planning, they could really possibly escape. Perhaps he was being stupid and over dramatic, but this idea swimming in his head is exactly what Mituna had asked him to tell the others...

"Guys..." He leaned over the table and kept his voice low. "I've had enough of this place. Mituna told me before he... Yeah, well he told me that we've waited long enough and that it's time we get out."

"What?" John choked.

"Escape, you idiot." That might have been a little harsh, but Sollux didn't care.

"Well, Solcap, if MT said we should, I think we should." She had this look of fierce determination on her face that encouraged Sollux a little.

"I say we wait until KK comes back, then make a plan, then spread the word."

Mituna looked at Sollux in a way that was hard to discern, but to Latula, who was very close to him, thought it looked a lot like Mituna was proud of his brother.


Okay, so I just realized I do these kind of chapter endings a lot. Like, they're supposed to be a cute little surprise but I think that after so many, people come to expect them... Whatever! Please review and tell me your opinions! (Side note: don't curse in the reviews please! I mean, It's not that big a deal, I would just prefer you didn't.)