The man known as Cesaro made his way to the neighboring city in an attempt to escape his emotions upon finding out that Shame McMahon had been rummaging through his mind. He stopped in the outskirts of the city to land after using his powers to fly from the mansion. Cesaro took a deep breath as he eyed the road that led to the collection of lights, buildings, and noise. He had become so lost in everything that was happening in his life that he had nearly forgotten what normally did to detach himself. Thus, he decided to do what he knew most of his comrades did. He made his way into the streets of the city to look for the nearest place to find a drink.
Cesaro seemed to blend in with the flood of people on the streets. Much to his relief, he could only hear their voices and the noise of the city streets through his ears; their inner thoughts seemed to be silent. He began to appreciate the noise of the city night life more than before as they gave him a welcome distraction from his own mental dissonance. He saw "Bar & Grill" in neon lights on one of the buildings nearby and decided to make his way there.
Upon arrival, Cesaro was greeted by the smell of grilled meats and the sound of collective chatter from inside. He stepped in and was met by the same smells and sounds intensified the moment he walked in. He then began to survey the space. There were several tables towards the right side of the building, all of them filled with people sitting and having food. He also saw several waitresses running around taking orders and refilling drinks and water glasses. Cesaro then saw the bar on the right side of the space with several free seats. He was greeted by one of the waitresses.
"Good evening, Love." The young woman said to him. "Welcome to Charly's! Are you eating with us tonight?" Cesaro shook his head.
"Ah, no." He answered. "Just having a few drinks."
"Gotcha. You can have a seat at the bar if you like and if you change your mind about food, we do the full menu there, too. You by yourself tonight?"
"I am."
"Great. Well, go ahead and have a seat anywhere at the bar you want. Our bartender will hook you right on up!" Cesaro have the woman a charming smile.
"Thank you, Tara." He said to the woman, giving her slight pause as she did not give him her name, only to remember that she was wearing her name on her work shirt.
"You're welcome." Tara said before walking off to tend to other patrons. Cesaro made his way to the bar and took up a seat between two empty stools. He was immediately greeted by the bartender: a beautiful blonde woman who, upon first glance, appeared to have come right out of the centerfold of a modeling magazine.
"Hey there, handsome." The woman said to Cesaro. "My name is Mandy and I'll be your bartender tonight. What's your name?"
"Claudio." Cesaro said. Mandy smiled.
"What can I get started for you, Claudio?" Cesaro for a brief moment before answering.
"An old-fashioned, please." He said to Mandy.
"Sure thing, Love. I'll get to work on that for you." The woman then gave Cesaro a menu. "Here's a menu in case you wanna order some food while you're here. You wanna get a tab started for your drink?" Cesaro pulled out his wallet and handed Mandy one of his credit cards and his identification.
"Sure." He said to her. "Put it on that." Mandy took the cards, looked at the ID, and handed it back to Cesaro.
"You got it, Love." Mandy said as she placed the card into the card machine with several others and went off to tend to other patrons at the bar table. As he waited, Cesaro felt his mind begin to survey his surroundings as if it acting outside of his wishes. He began hearing all of their thoughts in his head and the amount of chatter made him grow uncomfortably anxious. In spite of that, he was able to silence the voices in his head and calm his mind. Cesaro needed a distraction, so he looked around the bar table. Mandy was busy dealing with patrons and making drinks, so I chose to speak to one of the people near him: a bald man who appeared to have emotionally fallen into the drink sitting in front of him. Before Cesaro spoke to him, as if knowing he was being targeted, he spoke.
"I'm an asshole." The man said, looking over at Cesaro in a drunken stupor. "Do I look like an asshole to you?" The question caught Cesaro off-guard.
"A bit." He replied to the man without a thought. It was not until he frowned and looked down at his drink that Cesaro realized what he said.
"Gee." The man said. "Thanks for being honest, I guess." Before Cesaro could apologize for his response, Mandy supplied him with his drink.
"Here you are, Love." She said as she placed the drink in front of him. "One Old-fashioned. Enjoy."
"Thank you, Mandy." Cesaro said with a smile. Mandy returned the smile and then turned to the other man as she noticed his glass was empty.
"Last one, Trevor." She said to him. "I'm calling you a cab after this, okay?" The man known as Trevor did not respond as Mandy took his glass to serve him another glass of what he was drinking, simply hanging his head in defeat.
"You're right." He said to Cesaro. "I do look like an asshole… cause I am an asshole. I treated the best girl I've ever had like trash. I didn't appreciate her and now she won't talk to me." Unable to control himself in his drunken state, Trevor began to cry. "She left me and she's not coming back. I'm a fucking idiot."
A small part of Cesaro was telling him to leave Trevor to himself, but his better nature demanded he stay and keep him company. Trevor laid his head down on the bar table, almost instantly garnering the attention of Mandy as she was headed his way with his final drink.
"Hey!" She shouted, making Cesaro look her way. "You know the rules. No sleeping at the bar table. If you're tired, Trevor, I'll go ahead and get a cab for you." Trevor sat up with a pathetic look on his face.
"Give me a break, Mandy." He pleaded. Without another word, Mandy sat the drink down and went to tend to other patrons. Trevor turned his attention back to Cesaro. "She's great, but she can be a bitch sometimes. Mandy is, like, my best friend here, so don't fuck her or you'll have to answer to me."
Cesaro could not help but to feel Trevor had no idea who he was (not yet, at least). Although he found Trevor's ignorance refreshing, some part of Cesaro wanted to laugh at the man's feeble attempt at asserting some semblance of dominance. He fought the urge to embarrass the other man.
"Got it." He said instead. "I'll keep that in mind." Trevor turned his attention to Cesaro.
"You're new here right?" Trevor asked. "First time coming to Charly's?" Cesaro nodded as he took another sip of his drink.
"It is." He replied.
"What cha doing here? Running from your problems, too?" The question, while innocent enough, threw Cesaro back into his mind as he remembered why he had stepped into the bar. His silence made Trevor uncomfortable. "Look man, I'm sorry I struck a nerve. I was just –"
"No no." Cesaro said. "I just… I came here to forget about it." Trevor sighed.
"And I just reminded ya, didn't I?" He asked. " I told ya I'm an asshole." Cesaro shook his head.
"It's not your fault. You didn't know and I hadn't planned on telling you." Trevor then slammed his hand on the bar table, causing everyone sitting there to eye him.
"Chill with that shit!" One of the patrons shouted, only to be ignored.
"Ya know you what helps ya forget?" Trevor asked Cesaro rhetorically. "More drinks! I got ya!" Trevor then waved his hand. "Mandy! Get my new bud a shot of Fireball!" Mandy rolled her eyes and smiled.
"One Fireball shot coming up!" She said as she went to make the drink. Cesaro looked at Trevor with slight confusion.
"What's Fireball?" He asked.
"Dude." Trevor responded with wide eyes. "You drink an Old-fashioned but you've never heard of Fireball? Well, we're gonna have a good time together! Just stick with me!" Mandy slid Cesaro a shlt glass of the drink.
"Enjoy, hun." She said before whisking off to the other customers. Cesaro examined the contents: a fiery orange liquor that had a slight scent of cinnamon. It appeared to be the same drink Trevor had in his glass. He grabbed the shot glass and Trevor grabbed his glass and raised it.
"To healing." He said, offering Cesaro a toast. Cesaro smiled and obliged.
"To healing." He replied. The two tapped their glasses and then Trevor sipped his drink. Cesaro, however, drank his entire drink in one swallow, causing Trevor to look at him in amazement.
"Damn!" He said. "You're no joke." Admittedly, the drunk did burn as it traveled, but its flavor put a small smile on Cesaro's face.
"This is whiskey!" He said. "I love whiskey!" He then raised his hand to get Mandy's attention.
"Miss Mandy!" Cesaro shouted, causing Mandy to look back at him. "Can I have another shot of the Fireball whiskey?" Mandy smiled.
"Sure thing, hun." She replied. "I'll be right with you." With the burn from the whiskey on his tongue and the pain in his head, Cesaro turned to Trevor.
"You're right." He said to him as he put his hang on his shoulder. "We're gonna have a good time together."
Stephanie McMahon and Triple H had begun calling the other Safe Haven facilities to inform them to be on the lookout for Cesaro while the other Superstars in the Safe Haven mansion began their search for him. Stephanie just finished her call with the Florida facility when Xavier Woods had come in with a tray of drinks for them.
"What did Joe say?" Triple H asked his wife.
"They haven't seen him yet." She replied. "They're
gonna look for him there."
"Kevin said they'd watch out for him, too." Xavier sat down after sitting the tray on the table.
"I went ahead and updated the outside lighting system so that they come on at a higher radius." He said. "I'm sorry I can't be of anymore help."
"Thanks, Austin." Stephanie replied. "You've done more than enough. Are you sure you want to stay here? There's room, of course, but there really isn't much to take care of other than software updates and things like that."
"I'm fine with that. I can stay and give Bryan a hand downstairs, too." Xavier then got up out of the chair. "I'm gonna go help look for Claudio. Call if you need anything."
"Will do." Triple H replied.
"Thank you, Austin." Stephanie added.
"No problem." Xavier said before leaving the couple in the kitchen. Triple H looked over at Stephanie.
"Have you tried locating him with your mind again?" He asked her. She shook her head.
"Yes." Stephanie replied. "I still can't feel him. Either he's out of my range or he's blocking me out of his mind."
"Should we contact the overseas facilities?"
"Claudio could have gone anywhere. I think it'd be a good idea."
"You're right. I'll contact Fergal and Stephen at the Ireland building."
"Alright. I'll start checking on how the others are doing out there." Before they could start their missions, the two were interrupted by Daniel Bryan, Xavier, and Macey Estrella, the blue – eyed pilot from the space mission a few days prior.
"We've got a guest." Daniel said. Stephanie smiled instinctively and stood from her seat Triple H following suit.
"Miss Estrella, is it?" Stephanie asked as she reached out her hand. Macey shook Stephanie's hand.
"Just Macey is fine, Mrs. McMahon." Macey then looked around and noticed that no one else was in the mansion. "I came to talk to Mercedes about training. She told me that she'd train me to start wrestling. Did I come at a bad time?"
"Well," Triple H started. "Yes and no. Mercedes is out right now, but she should be back soon if you really need to talk with her."
"I can come back later if you want." Macey said. Stephanie placed her hands on the table.
"We're sorry." She told Macey. "Tonight is a busy night for all of us. Things should return to normal tomorrow, so you're welcome to come back then." Macey nodded.
"I can do that." She said with a smile. "Thank y'all for your time."
"We'll let Mercedes know you'll be here tomorrow." Daniel said to Macey. The woman smiled and waved, then made her way out of the room and out of the mansion. Macey then stopped at the main door as the thought of telling them about her Alpha Human abilities crossed her mind. It truly was, after all, one of the reasons why she wanted to see Sasha and the others. She took a deep breath and made her way out of the mansion to her vehicle, deciding that it was not the right time.
In the forest outside the mansion, the Superstars conducted their search around the perimeters for Cesaro. Lana, Rusev, and Sami took the south side. John, Nikki, and Brie took the north side. Sasha, Bayley, Seth, and Simon took the west side. Big E, Charlotte, and Becky took the east side. Naomi and Noam, being the only two in the group currently able to fly, took to the skies above the trees for an overhead view. The leaders of each team (John, Sami, Big E, Seth, and Naomi) were given headsets so that they could communicate with each other quickly should either of them find anything. To the south, Rusev walked through the wooded area with his phone's light shining through the foliage while Sami and his wife attempted to locate Cesaro telepathically.
"Why are we going through all this trouble?" He asked aloud as he brushed a branch out of his path. "If Claudio doesn't want to be found, I'm sure he's able to disappear."
"We still have to try, Miro." Lana responded. "He's our friend."
"Yes, I know, but he's going through some stuff that might wanna work out on his own."
"We need to find him." Sami said. "He's in a state that makes him incredibly dangerous. We're the only ones who can keep him and everyone else safe. Leaving him alone, sadly, isn't an option anymore." Rusev shook his head.
"You should have never gone on that stupid mission. That damned McMahon!" Rusev continued to rant about Shane and his feeling about him. Lana tried to calm him down so that she could focus on finding Cesaro, but Sami could not help but to think about Shane. Sami trusted Shane more than anyone else in the Safe Haven mansion and he believed that all Shane did was for the greater purpose of helping Alpha Humans and humans coexist. Shane's recent actions regarding Cesaro, however, went against everything they all had worked towards achieving. Then there was Shane using that very trust Sami had in him to get into Cesaro's mind, knowing what it meant to Sami to push against that motion. It all ate at the pit of his stomach from the moment Shane insisted upon it. Sami suppressed his own pain to focus on finding his friend. He pressed in on the headset that he was wearing.
"Hey, it's Rami." He said. "Has anyone found anything yet?" He released the button and almost immediately heard Big E chime in from the east.
"Nothing yet." He said through the headset. Sami then heard Seth call in from the west.
"Not a thing." Seth said. "I'm thinking about running around the compound and covering more ground." Sami then heard John chime in from the north.
"We haven't found anything either." He said.
"All we've seen up here is a van leaving the mansion." Naomi said from the sky. "Not sure who it is. Haven't seen it before."
"Probably someone looking for help." Big E said.
"I'll check in with all of you later on." Sami said. "Keep searching. Rami, out."
"John, out."
"Colby, out."
"E, out."
"Trinity, out."
Some time had passed and the bar named Charly's had livened up a great deal. More patrons made their way in and added to the ambience. The bartender, Mandy, had made room for the disc jockey to play dance music so that the people could begin dancing and enjoying themselves as the night passed over all of them. Meanwhile, at the bar, Trevor had challenged Cesaro to a drinking contest, even after Cesaro warned him of how well the Swiss held their liquor and how he was no exception to that statement. The two shared shots of their preferred drinks (Cesaro had chosen vodka and Trevor had chosen the same) and were nearly ten shots through with the tenth sitting in front of them. While Cesaro seemed unfazed, Trevor could barely keep his speech intact.
"Come on, dude." Trevor slurred. "L-let's goooooo. We still gotta 'nother shot!" Cesaro tried his best not to laugh at the man in front of him.
"I think you should go ahead and tap out, Trevor." Cesaro said.
"Hell no! We're taking this shot, dude!" Trevor grabbed his shot glass, downed the vodka in it, and slammed the glass on the table. Cesaro instinctively went to grab the glass to keep it from breaking, but his mind caused him to hesitate and hover his hand in the air as the glass crashed on the table. Mandy heard the noise and looked over at the two men before making her way to the shattered glass.
"What on earth are you two doing?" She harped as she cleaned up the glass.
"I'm so sorry, Mandy." Trevor pleaded. "We won't do that again. Will you forgive us? Pleeease." Mandy shook her head.
"I'm calling you a cab, Trevor." She said to him. "You're blitzed." Trevor then looked over at Cesaro.
"This guy's taking me home." Trevor said. "Claud is taking me to my place because he's clearly some mutant who drinks vodka like fucking water! Look at him. Dude, dude!?" He then put his arm over Cesaro's shoulder, his hand gently grazing his neck and sending a chill over Cesaro's body. He involuntarily shut his eyes for a moment and almost immediately began hearing Trevor's amassed thoughts, but he was unable to decipher them due to the other man's drunken state. Cesaro snapped his eyes back open and looked over hoping that no one noticed his sudden trance.
"You alright?" Mandy asked him. Cesaro looked at her and then looked over at Trevor, grabbed his glass, and drank the shot of vodka.
"I'm good." He replied with a smile, successfully hiding the fact that the vodka burned a bit more going down than the other nine shots did.
"Fuck yeah, you're good!" Trevor slurred. "One more round!" He then pointed into Cesaro's face, making the man wince as his finger drew closer. "Cause I can see you fading, meaning I'm gonna win this!" Cesaro shook his head.
"I think you've had enough, my friend." He said to Trevor with a nod. Though he meant well, Trevor did not take his comment lightly. His body language became increasingly aggressive.
"I'll let you know when I've had enough, okay." Trevor said without slurring or stuttering. "Now come on. Let's go another round." On the serving side of the bar, Mandy's helper, a taller woman with deep black hair tied into a ponytail and dark brown lipstick, stepped up to her after finishing up with cleaning the cleared tables.
"All done with the tables." She said.
"Thanks Sonya." Mandy replied. "Did you do the other thing I asked?"
"Yup." The woman known as Sonya said as she passed Mandy to grab more cleaning cloths. "They should be here soon."
"Awesome!" Sonya passed Mandy once more on her way back out onto the floor. Cesaro felt a strange feeling as Sonya passed him. Although she was good at hiding it from the sight of others, he knew the feeling well. It was fear. He then realized that he was a wanted man by the authorities and that he was in plain sight, whether the patrons in the bar recognized him or not. Cesaro began to feel light-headed, so he shifted his body in his seat as an attempt to hide his discomfort. Meanwhile, Trevor had begun to debate with Mandy on why Cesaro and he needed two more drinks.
"Sorry, Love." Mandy said with finality in her voice. "You're blitzed and I'm cutting you off for tonight. No more drinks unless you're getting water." The noise of the bar brought Cesaro's headache back to him. He looked over at Mandy and Trevor and saw them arguing as his chance to make an exit before anyone found out who he was and potentially cause a scene. Cesaro left the money for the drinks on the table, covered himself with the hood of the jacket he wore, and made his way to the exit. The moment he reached the exit, he was greeted by one of the waitresses.
"Bye!" She said. "Thank you for coming. See you again soon!" Cesaro nodded and walked out into the neon lights of the city, not noticing the waitress look back at Mandy who threw up a hand signal at her. His head began to swim and his vision shifted slightly. He then remembered that he still had alcohol in his system, lowering his hood and rubbing his temples while kicking himself for letting himself go. He was so consumed in collecting himself that he failed to notice Trevor had made his way out of the bar to meet him. Trevor slapped his back, jarring Cesaro out of his trance.
"Hey!" Trevor said. "Where ya goin'?" Cesaro carefully shook his head.
"Thank you for spending time with me in the bar." He responded. "… but I've gotta go. I-"
"Why? The night's still young and we got lives to drink away!" Trevor then let out a hearty, drunken laugh. "Who are ya, Bro? Cinderella? Gotta be home before midnight? Come on. Let's go to another bar." Trevor then went to put his arm around Cesaro's neck, but Cesaro quickly moved away to keep from meeting Trevor's skin. Trevor threw his arms up in confusion. "Whoa, I'm sorry. Maybe we won't go drinkin' then." Trevor backed off and, in that moment, Cesaro became overcome with sadness as if his heart had been broken.
"Look." Cesaro said with a sigh. "You're drunk. We had fun drinking, but it's time to go home." Cesaro then pulled out his phone and began dialing for a taxi. "I'll call you a cab." Trevor ran his tongue across his teeth.
"I can't go home, man." He confessed, making Cesaro cancel the call and look up at Trevor with concern.
"Why not?" Cesaro asked cautiously. Trevor hung and shook his head.
"I just can't, alright!?" Trevor's change in tone startled Cesaro as he did not expect it. "I… I lost my girl being a selfish asshole, the friends I did have quit talking to me once they found out what I did to her, I've got no family here… I just…" Trevor then began to cry, not caring about causing a scene on the sidewalk. "Dude, I don't wanna go back to an empty fuckin' apartment! I can't handle that! Just hang out with me, man. You're the only person I got right now." Cesaro knew that staying in the city would not bode well for him, but he could not bring himself to leave the man in front of him in such a fragile (and familiar) state of mind. Cesaro tried his best to suppress his throbbing headache and gather himself.
"I'll take you home." Cesaro said to Trevor. "You're drunk and you should get some rest, but I don't want you to travel by yourself. I'll go with you." Cesaro then reached out his hand, risking his own safety as he knew nothing of what touching Trevor would do to him or his trembling mind. Trevor balled up his mouth and went to reach out. Before he could, however, the streets began to fill with the sounds of sirens and people shouting to move out of the streets and make way. Mere seconds later, the streets in front of the bar was filled by police cars and armored vehicles. Cops and defense officials swarmed the area and began to surround Cesaro and Trevor with guns and tasers pointed at them, making all the other people on the streets run screaming.
"Claudio Castagnoli!" One of the defense officials in the rear of group shouted through a megaphone. "You are under arrest." Trevor slowly turned his head over towards Cesaro. "Come willingly or we will use force. I repeat. Come willingly or we will use force." The man then directed his attention to Trevor who stood confused. "Sir, for your own safety, step away from the Alpha Human." Trevor's eyes widened upon the reveal.
"Dude…" He started. "You're an Alpha Human?" Although it had not dawned on him exactly who Cesaro was, his lack of response to Trevor's question was an answer in Trevor's eyes. The inebriated man then turned his attention to the officers and officials. "Leave him the fuck alone, will ya!? He's my friend!"
"Sir! Step aside or we will charge you with obstruction of justice and disturbing the peace!" Trevor stood his ground on slightly wobbly legs.
"If anybody's disturbing the peace around here," He shouted. "It's you guys! All these guns and shit ain't necessary! Get outta here!" The commotion caused Cesaro's headache (as well as his powers) to begin to elevate past his control. Cesaro grabbed at his head.
"Drop your hands now!" One of the cops shouted at him as he raised his gun.
"Hey!" Trevor shouted back. He began to advance on the massive group of policemen and all their attention turned to him. They all began to shout for him to stand down and step back.
"Step back now!" The group leader shouted. "We will fire!"
"Fuck you!" Trevor shouted back. "Leave him alone!" That moment, one of the cops in front pulled the trigger on his gun and fired at Trevor.
"No!" Cesaro shouted. He then reached his power out to stop the bullet. It was not until he saw a small trail of blood begin to trickle from Trevor's chest that he realized that, somehow, he was not quick enough. Cesaro released his hold on the bullet and grabbed Trevor to keep him from falling, the cop who fired lowering his gun. Cesaro looked at the man's wound; it had begun to bleed heavily. He began to panic as Trevor eyed him with pain and fear.
"Why did you do that, Trevor!?" Cesaro asked him as his breathing began to quicken. Trevor coughed.
"I-I'm sorry." Trevor said in a stutter. "I-I just… wanted to help… you. " Cesaro felt Trevor struggle to breathe and he began to panic. He could think of no other option than to try and heal the man in his arms. Not caring about who noticed him anymore, Cesaro turned his energies onto Trevor and tried to reconstruct his body and heal his wound. Cesaro strained to focus on Trevor, however, due to the fear he felt when he thought of losing him. It was then that he noticed Trevor was no longer breathing. His eyes widened as his fear was realized. He looked down at the bloodied Trevor and saw the emptiness in his eyes; the man's life force faded far quicker than Cesaro could heal. Cesaro felt an overwhelming feeling of helplessness, loss, and pain. He had not known Trevor long, but the man was apparently going through his own feelings of doubt and self-destruction. Cesaro knew he did not deserve the fate he was given simply by being around him, and he loathed himself for involuntarily dragging Trevor into his mess of a life. Overwhelmed by his emotions, the only thing Cesaro could do was cry over the body of the innocent man who died in his arms. The cop who shot Trevor immediately felt the sting that came with having to fire at another person.
"Shit." He said to himself. His comrades around him pointed their weapons at Cesaro, making him follow suit.
"Come quietly and no one else will be harmed." The leader of the group said. By this time, several bystanders had begun recording the events on their mobile devices and were posting it all over social media. The official leader spoke again. "I repeat, Castagnoli. Come quietly and no one will be harmed."
Sami stopped his March through the wooded area with Lana and Rusev, making the couple stop and look back at him.
"Rami?" Rusev called out. "You okay?" Sami did not answer.
"Rami." Lana said. "What is it?" Sami blinked a couple more times before his thoughts were interrupted by Naomi chiming in through his headset.
"Hey y'all." She said. "Something's going on in the city. Looks like it's getting real crowded in Central." Sami's eyes widened as he knew who was at the center of it.
"It's Claudio." Sami said. "I can feel now, but I'm not how long I'll be able to!"
"We gotta get back to the mansion and tell Stephanie!" Seth said.
"Send Mercedes to Sami's group to get Miro then back to the mansion to drop him off and get them." John said. "Everyone else head to our Location. I'm sending it to you now. We'll get Stephanie and Paul here and we can all leave together."
"We'll head back to the start so Mercedes can meet us." Sami said. "Then we'll head your way. See you all soon."
"Be there soon!" Big E said.
"We'll be there." Naomi said.
"On it!" Seth said. He then turned to Sasha. "You remember where Rami is?" Sasha nodded.
"Yeah." She replied. Bayley looked to Seth.
"What's going on?" She asked him. "Did someone find Claudio?"
"Rami said he felt him in the city." Seth replied. "He doesn't know how long he'll be able to track him, though, so we're moving to meet John and the others at the northside closest to the city." Seth turned his attention back to Sasha. "Go get Miro and take him back to the mansion. Bring Stephanie and Paul back with you to the northside and we'll all head out from there, okay?" Sasha nodded.
"I'm on it." She said before conjuring her energy and teleporting away. Simon blinked at the fleeting remnants of magenta energy left behind.
"Bloody hell." He said under his breath.
"Let's go, guys." Seth said. "we don't have much time."
On the southern part of the forest, Sami, Lana, and Rusev and just arrived at the starting point of their search when they saw Sasha safely teleport and appear several feet in front of them. Sami turned to Rusev.
"She's going to take you back to the mansion, Miro." He said to him. Lana looked over to her husband.
"We'll all be back, okay?" She said to him. Rusev kissed her softly.
"Please be safe." He said to Lana before letting her go and walking to where Sasha was standing.
"You ready?" Sasha asked Rusev.
"No." He replied before shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath. Sasha took Rusev's hand and teleported him and herself back into the lobby of the mansion. Upon arrival, Rusev fell to his knees as he had not gotten used to teleporting from one place to another just yet.
"You okay?" Sasha asked.
"I'm still not used to that." Rusev replied. "I'll be fine, though." Sasha nodded then the two headed towards the illuminated kitchen area where they assumed Stephanie and Triple H were.
"Stephanie!" Sasha shouted as they made her way down the hallway. "Paul!" Sure enough, Stephanie and Triple H, along with Xavier Woods and Daniel Bryan, exited the kitchen to see who was calling to them.
"He's in the city." Daniel said. "Isn't he?" Sasha went to reply, but Stephanie stopped her.
"We already know, Mercedes." She said. "I felt him there briefly."
"Rami sent me to come get you and Paul." Sasha told them. "He said he can feel him, but he doesn't know how long he'll be able to. We're all gonna meet at the edge of the forest and leave together." Triple H nodded.
"We don't have much time then." He said. "Let's get going." Stephanie looked to Daniel and Xavier.
"Let us know if anything happens while we're gone." She said to them.
"What's happening?" The group looked to where the voice came from and saw Shane at the foot of the stairs with a bag in his arms. He made his way to meet them. "Did you find Claudio?" Stephanie sighed.
"Yes." She said to her brother. "He's in the city." Shane went to speak, but Stephanie held her hand up to stop him. "I know what you're thinking. You're the last face he wants to see right now, I'm sure." Shane shook his head.
"Stephanie, listen." He said in protest. "You need me. We need each other."
"No, Shane." Stephanie said with a stern tone. "I don't need you." Shane hung his head in defeat. Stephanie turned attention back to Sasha. "Do you have enough energy to transport everyone?"
"Yeah." Sasha replied. "I'm all good." Stephanie and Triple H then joined hands with Sasha.
"Let's go." Triple H said. Sasha then conjured her energy and teleported them out of the mansion, leaving the four men behind. Shane had not moved since Stephanie dismissed his offer to join and lend his aid to retrieving Cesaro. Xavier looked at Shane with slight worry.
"You know." He started. "You kind of did this to yourself." Xavier, Rusev, and Daniel then walked past Shane to make sure that the doors of the mansion were all secured. Before they made their way out of the hallway, Shane spoke.
"He needs to be stopped." He said aloud, making them turn back to him.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Shane?" Rusev snapped back.
"His powers aren't like ours. We don't know what all he's capable of. If he loses control, there's no telling what he will do. He could kill hundreds, if not thousands." Daniel, Xavier, and Rusev all looked at each other as Shane explained his worry. "I know I took the wrong path, but I was trying to prevent this from happening."
"They're gonna help him, Shane." Daniel said. "It's what we all do best." Shane thought a moment before picking up his bag and heading towards the front entryway.
"I hope you're right." He said. "…For all our sakes." Shane then walked out of the mansion, leaving the three men behind to dwell on his seemingly foreboding words.
Travis Browne had arrived at his wife Ronda Rousey's hotel some time ago. As she promised, she took her time and told him about everything she had gone through without him, from the spontaneous promotion to the reveal of Project Aegis and the President's plans for her to lead the project with the technology idealized by General Zodrick. Travis had not spoken since Ronda began to tell him her stories.
"…So that's everything." Ronda finally said. "They were scouting me long before I knew. Zodrick specifically wanted me to be the leader of Project Aegis after he saw my accomplishments." Travis blinked a few times as he worked to process everything she had told him.
"… Did you say yes?" He asked almost instinctively. Ronda balled up her mouth and hesitated to answer him, unsure what he would think of her response.
"I did." She said shamefully. "I didn't know what else to say to him. It didn't feel right to decline, even though he told me to take more time to think about it, but I know I should have told you all this before giving him my answer." Travis shook his head.
"You were always gonna say yes…" He said to her. "…regardless of how I felt."
"I'm so sorry for not calling, Travis. I really am." Travis then grabbed Ronda's hands in his.
"Don't be sorry." He replied. "You saying yes to all of this is why I fell in love with you." Ronda furrowed her brow.
"Blindly taking missions I know nothing about without consulting with the man I should be dedicating more of my life to?" Travis almost laughed at her comment.
"No, Dumbass. I fell for you because you always chose to stand for what you believe to be right, no matter what anyone else felt and no matter how impossible it seemed on the outside. That's what got you to where you are now. I'm proud of you, Babe. I'm always gonna support you, either beside you or behind you." Ronda squeezed Travis's hands after hearing his words of encouragement.
"I love you, Trav." She said to him with a smile. "I promise I won't keep anything else from you."
"It's alright, Babe." Travis replied. "I know it was a lot to deal with. I shouldn't have reacted so selfishly and left you like I did."
"Let's call it even and leave it behind." Ronda went to kiss Travis on his lips. The two then heard an aggressive sounding knock on the hotel room door.
"Major General." It was General Zodrick. Ronda and Travis looked at each other in confusion. Ronda then hurried to open the door and let the man in. She immediately looked at his left hand and saw that it was bandaged. She also noticed that he was carrying a briefcase in his right hand.
"General." Ronda said as she let Zodrick into the room. "What are you doing here? How did you get out of the hospital and here to the city so fast?"
"I've called you several times, Rousey." Zodrick stated as he sat the briefcase on Ronda's bed, taking care to keep his tone as low as possible in the event there were people in the rooms around them. "Castagnoli's in this city." Ronda's eyes widened at the news.
"What?" She yelped. "Where?"
"It's all over the news. Where on Earth have you been?" Travis raised his hand.
"It's my fault." He said to the General. "I've basically been holding captive in here."
"No, Travis." Ronda said to him. "Don't take the blame for this. I heard my phone go off several times. I just neglected to look at it."
"Never mind that." Zodrick said as he opened the briefcase. "We don't have much time to apprehend Castagnoli as I'm sure the McMahons are hot on his trail by now. We need to act now." Zodrick then sighed. "Only issue is that Alpha, Bravo, and Delta have been adamant on not going anywhere near him, even when threatened with their careers. You and I are in this one alone, which is why I brought this." He then pulled a pistol out of the briefcase and gave it to Ronda.
"Wait a sec." Travis said, eying the pistol in Ronda's hand. "You aren't gonna shoot him are you?" Ronda readied the weapon in her hands.
"If we don't have any other choices." Ronda said to him.
"Hopefully, it won't come to that." Zodrick added. "If our first encounter was any indication, however, we'll have to be ready to act quickly so that we have a low number of casualties." Ronda strapped the holster to her leg, withdrew the pistol, and cupped her husband's face.
"Don't worry." She said to him. "Everything's gonna be alright. I'm gonna come back to you." Travis could not shake the feeling of concern he had not only for Ronda, but also for Cesaro as he truly did not want the mission to come to violence on either end.
"Just be careful, okay?" Travis said, not knowing what else to say. Ronda kissed him softly.
"I will, Trav." She replied. Ronda then looked to Zodrick and nodded.
"Let's move." He said to her. "Convoy is waiting."
"Yes sir." The two then carefully made their way out of the hotel room, leaving Travis by himself. The man sat on the bed and tried not to worry about the mission his wife had just left to complete. No matter how much he wished it would not be, he knew that the pistol Zodrick gave to her would be put to use one way or another…