Aside from the sounds of cars passing by, birds chirping, and a dog barking in the distance, the sextet in the strip mall's parking lot was dead silent. The screen on Nix's laptop once again displayed lines upon lines of code as he nudged Mitch out of the way with wide, panicked eyes. He grabbed the laptop and renewed his efforts to break through the Neurosurgeon's firewall as Bergy attempted to contact Miko and Five through his gauntlet. However, he soon came to realize the glitch had foreseen that option as three black rectangles appeared on his screen, indicating that Mitch, Miko and Five had each been dark for almost a half hour, but for the fact that Mitch was standing a few feet away from him. "Oh man," he mumbled as he shook his head in horror. "What the heck are we gonna do?"

"There's nothing we can do until we break through that barrier," Zahra replied as she approached the store with her right arm outstretched. When her hand made contact with the barrier, she pounded her fist into it as tears of frustration pooled in her eyes. "We're so close," she exclaimed. "We're twenty feet away, and we can't help them!"

"And he knows that," Phil added as he joined Zahra at the barrier. A grim expression was on his face as he looked at the store and said, "This is exactly what the Neurosurgeon wants: all of us on the outside looking in. So close, and yet so far. The bastard's mocking us."

"Mind games," Haneesh observed. His crossed arms and steel-eyed glare echoed the mood of everyone surrounding the store, none more so than Mitch. He was a barely contained ball of rage as he remained stock still by the car with his fists and teeth clenched as hard as he possibly could. When he shut his eyes, the triptych was the first and only thing he saw, with the contrast between the glitch's demented smile and the blood-freezing fear in Miko and Five's eyes turning his stomach. The grimness of that image led to a hard gasp and a round of quiet cursing that was cut off by the familiar sound of a text message being received. When he pulled out his phone and checked, the message galvanized him into action - the ID bubble indicated that Miko had sent it, but one look at the message let him know that that wasn't the case.

Door's open. Come on in.

Mitch put his phone back in his pocket and approached the barrier with his arm outstretched, fully expecting to walk into the invisible wall just like he'd done before. This time, however, his hand passed through the barrier as well as his arm, and the rest of him entered with no resistance. Before he entered the store, he headed over to his coworkers with grim determination in his eyes; he pointed at the group and said, "Mark my words. He's not gonna beat me. And I'm not gonna let Miko and Five die. This ends now." No one replied, instead letting the looks on their faces do all the talking as Mitch took everything in. Their expressions served to calm him and clear his mind as he began to formulate a plan, and when he did, the familiar cocky Mitch Williams grin appeared on his face before he saluted everyone, turned around, and ran into the store. When the door closed, Zahra turned to Haneesh and cracked, "I never thought I'd be happy to see that look on his face."

"No kidding," Haneesh replied with a knowing nod.

As expected, the interior of the Hinobi store was an empty wasteland as Mitch made a beeline for the locker room, activating the portal and touching down in HQ within seconds. The first thing he saw when he landed was the bound, bomb-clad figures of Miko and Five seated outside the glitch extractor. Mitch could feel his heart racing as he skipped the stairs entirely and hurdled the guardrail, landing on the first floor with a loud thud that echoed off the walls of HQ. Miko and Five let out muffled expressions of relief behind the tape covering their mouths as Mitch ran towards them, but a bright flash stopped him in his tracks. The Brit recoiled and shielded his eyes as a bolt of electricity shot down from the giant monitor above them and formed into the familiar sight of the Neurosurgeon. His tattoos gave off a multi-colored glow as he brought his fists together, with both of them bursting into flames upon impact. When he opened his eyes and revealed the green hue within, Mitch could feel his skin crawling as the glitch let his arms go slack, dropping his backpack on the ground. As soon as he heard it hit the floor, the glitch spread out his arms in a triumphant flourish and asked, "What do you think? I'm not one to brag, but if you ask me, I'd say this is a step up... in more ways than one! I'm gonna have to send your siblings a thank you note... oh, wait!" He held up his right fist as electricity danced around the flames, giving Mitch a sadistic smile as he declared, "I already have."

Don't show any weakness, Mitch thought. Just keep him talking and wait for your chance. "Please," he retorted with a dismissive snort and roll of his eyes. "If you're gonna intimidate me, you'll need to try harder than that." The glitch's smile faded as he headed over to Miko and Five and crouched down in front of them, making sure to hide what he was doing as Mitch strained to look. After a few seconds, an overlapping pair of beeps were heard as the glitch stepped away from the hostages, and the pair let out muffled yelps of shock when they saw what he had done: the timers on the bombs had been activated, with each of them counting down from twenty minutes. Mitch's bravado evaporated as the glitch crossed his arms and offered a snide, "There. Does that work for ya?"

The timers' march towards zero continued in earnest as the Neurosurgeon picked up his backpack and rifled through it, pulling out Mitch's gauntlet after a few seconds of searching. He tossed it over to the teen with a command of, "Here. Put this on." Mitch shot a confused glance in the glitch's direction before he did the same with Miko and Five, with the latter giving him a muffled "I don't know" in response. Not knowing what else to do, Mitch did as he was told with a combination of a smug grin and a smug declaration of, "You know you just wrote your own epitaph, right? I mean, how stupid can you get?"

"I wouldn't say that," the glitch retorted with a grin. "Take a look for yourself." Once the gauntlet activated, Mitch tapped the weapons option and selected his plixel gun. However, when he did so, a red X appeared on his screen followed by a message reading ACCESS DENIED. He thought nothing of it and tried to activate his energy weapon - once again, ACCESS DENIED. At that point, Mitch grew more and more alarmed as he cycled through his entire arsenal, only to find that every single offensive option he had returned the same message, with those two words burning into his eyeballs.

ACCESS DENIED.

"You're probably wondering what the hell's going on, aren't you?" The Neurosurgeon walked over with a confident stride and grabbed Mitch's upper arm, making sure to avoid the gauntlet as he said, "Well, I took a dive into the inner workings of this baby before I gave you three shock therapy earlier. And while I was there, I took the liberty of shutting down your arsenal. No power boosts, no upgrades, nothing. This is gonna be you and me - mano a mano."

"Well, you turned my gauntlet into a brick. Congratulations. If that's the case, then why the hell did you give it to..." The glitch tilted his head as he waited for the realization to hit, and once it did, Mitch broke into a cold sweat. "The camera. You... gave me this just so you could activate the camera..."

"You are correct, sir. And now that your buddies outside can see and hear everything we're doing... I think it's time to flex my muscles a little bit!"

"Guys! I've got something!" Haneesh's exclamation drew everyone's attention to him as Mitch's gauntlet came back online. He tapped the freshly green rectangle and pulled up the video feed, projecting the image onto the side of a nearby van for a better view. His teammates gathered around as the feed played on, with the Neurosurgeon explaining how he'd deactivated all of Mitch's offensive weapons. Bergy's jaw hung slack as he shook his head, mumbling, "Jeez... this glitch thought of everything."

"Always one step ahead," Phil replied as he pulled up Mitch's data file on his gauntlet. "But with a little luck, I can jailbreak Mitch's gauntlet and put him back in the driver's seat."

"How?"

"I'm gonna perform a remote reboot. The Neurosurgeon's not the only one who knows his way around an OS." A determined grin appeared on Phil's face as he pulled up the settings for Mitch's gauntlet - he attempted to select that option, but a red X and the words ACCESS DENIED greeted him when he did so. He pounded his fist into the barrier with an angry grunt and said, "Damn. Looks like I'm gonna have to sneak in the back." Much like Nix was attempting with his laptop, so did Phil as he jumped into the gauntlet's code and began his efforts to bypass the lockout. However, a declaration from the Neurosurgeon turned his attention to the side of the van:

"I think it's time to flex my muscles a little bit!"

A ball of green fire enveloped his fist as he drove it into Mitch's chest, resulting in a round of gasps and shocked expressions as the Brit fell to his knees. Phil and Nix glanced at each other, nodded, then resumed their efforts with an added urgency.

The force of the blow knocked all the wind out of Mitch's lungs and sent a rocket of pain through his guts as he fell to his knees with a hard, choked gasp. His eyes were bulging as he struggled for breath, clutching his right arm to his chest while keeping his body propped up with his left. When he raised his head, he was staring straight into the eyes of Miko and Five - for as much guff as he gave them and they gave back in return, the terror in their eyes turned Mitch's stomach, and he lowered his gaze towards the timers on the bombs.

16:02.

He gritted his teeth and rose to his feet, only to be met with a blow to his back. Mitch was back on the floor within seconds as a pair of muffled screams filled the room. The Neurosurgeon crouched down in front of him and lifted his head with a satisfied smile on his face. "You know, ever since our first meeting, I've been asking myself the same question over and over again," he said with smug confidence dripping from his words. "But before I ask it, I have to give you credit for disproving my initial hypothesis about Miko and Hector. You said it, and you really did mean it. Credit where credit is due." The glitch cupped his hand beneath Mitch's chin, grinning as he took in the sheer burning hatred on the teen's face. "You know, on second thought, I don't think I need to ask that question. I already have the answer!"

The glitch clenched his free hand into a fist and drove it into the side of Mitch's face, sending him down to the floor for a third time. Seeing him get worked over in such a manner caused Miko to shut her eyes and bury her face in Five's shoulder, a gesture that he returned with a sympathetic nuzzle. Mitch spat a small trail of blood across the vast white expanse as he once again rose to his feet, but the glitch tripped him up with a sweep of his legs and left him flat on his back. The Brit let out a loud, deep roar of frustration as the Neurosurgeon grabbed his arms and pinned him down, forcing the teen to look into his eyes as he rubbed in his triumph.

"You told me everything I needed to know the second you woke up that day," the glitch declared with a wild-eyed stare. "You saw your gauntlet and your visor sitting on that chair, and what did you do? You cried for help like a little bitch! What the hell sense does that make? You're Mitch Williams, King of the Glitch Techs! Wouldn't you have had the sense to come up with a plan, try to break free, something? Hell, it sounded to me like you'd just about given up right then and there!"

"ENOUGH WITH THE PSYCHOANALYSIS!" Mitch struggled against the glitch's grip as he tried to fight his way out, but all that did was earn him a hard slam back to the floor, with the Brit barely keeping his head upright enough to avoid bouncing it off the concrete. The glitch continued: "What good is that planet-sized ego gonna do ya when you don't have the power to back it up? What good are your teammates gonna do ya when they can't even get in the building..." He gestured towards Miko and Five before adding, "...or they're waiting for their time? And what the hell good are you gonna do with nothing but your fists and your mouth? Gloat me to death?! Face it, Williams: without all those upgrades, without your weapons, without all those magical abilities Hinobi sees fit to throw your way... all you are is a scared shitless punk kid! And that's all you'll ever be!"

"FUCK YOU!"

Mitch screamed his profane rebuttal as loud and as hard as he could before twisting his body and shifting his weight to the left, throwing the glitch's balance off as they both tumbled onto their sides. The maneuver broke his grip, and with his hands free, Mitch rose to his feet and tackled the glitch to the floor just before he stood erect, driving him into the concrete with a loud thud. With his eyes wild and spit flying from his mouth, Mitch straddled the prone glitch and delivered quick, repeated strikes to his face, alternating between his right and left fists as he screamed in rage. Once he had worked him over enough, he rose to his feet and kicked him in the chest before making a beeline for Miko and Five. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, but before he was able to reach them, a projectile slammed into his back and knocked him off his feet. The Neurosurgeon lowered his arm and stalked towards Mitch, looking none the worse for wear even after everything the Brit had done to him. Miko and Five's eyes radiated disbelief and shock as the glitch grabbed Mitch by the throat and brought him face to unblemished face. "Come on," he laughed. "Is that really the best you can do?"

He tossed Mitch away from the bound duo with one hand and little effort, teleporting to the spot where he landed in the blink of an eye. That was all Miko could take as she nudged Five with her shoulder - when he turned to look at her, she moved her head towards his back and let out a muffled grunt. He flexed his hands in response, and when Miko nodded, Five moved his wrists towards her, where she began to pick at the tape binding them.

Come on, she thought. Where's the loose end? Come on!

"Come on baby, come on, come on... YES! I GOT AN OPENING!" Nix pumped his fists in the air at his breakthrough while Bergy, Zahra and Haneesh activated their gauntlets and visors. "How are you doing over there, Phil?"

"Almost got it," he replied. "I'm about 70 percent of the way in; just need a few more minutes!"

"I... don't think Mitch has a few more minutes," Bergy exclaimed. "He's getting the crap beat out of him!" When Phil turned back towards the van, the sight of Mitch being thrown through the air resulted in a pained cringe as he returned to his jailbreaking efforts, working through the code at a fever pitch. The free trio of techs stood at the ready as Haneesh pounded his fist into his palm and exclaimed, "Alright, Nix! Just give us the word and we're gone!"

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but there's one small caveat. And I do mean small." Nix grabbed his laptop and showed it to his teammates - the opening he had managed to find was way too tiny for any of them to fit through. Their hearts sank as they took in the news while Nix added, "We might still have a chance, though. Do any of you have a companion pet?"

"Unfortunately, no," Haneesh said. Bergy responded with a frown and a shake of his head, but Zahra put her hand in the air and replied, "I do. He's a little green rabbit I found on patrol before the road flare incident." She tapped the necessary buttons on her gauntlet and released Minty, picking him up and cradling him in her arms. Nix's eyes widened in surprise as he studied the rabbit's features, and when he scanned him with his gauntlet, the following information appeared:

Green Death
Close range combat fighter
Battle Beasts 3: War in the Woods

A mischievous grin spread across Nix's face as he asked, "Zahra... do you have any idea what you're holding in your hands right now?" When she scrunched her face in confusion and shook her head, Nix let out an excited chuckle as he declared, "Oh... you just wait. This is gonna be good."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't wanna tell you. It'll spoil the surprise." He guided her towards the location of the hole in the barrier and said, "Send him in, and he should find his way no problem." Zahra nodded and placed Minty on the ground, giving him a parting head scratch as she said, "Get in there and find our friends, okay? And whatever your power is... don't be afraid to use it."

"Don't worry, Zahra. I won't." With those parting words, Minty hopped through the barrier and entered the store, leaving his slack-jawed, wide-eyed owner pointing at the spot where he once stood in complete shock. Haneesh and Bergy turned towards Nix in equal states of bewilderment, with the latter exclaiming, "Did... did that rabbit just talk?!"

"Oh, that's nothing," Nix replied with a knowing grin. "The best part's coming up."