A/N: new chapter, hooray

This was a struggle to write at first(this is attempt #4 lol) but after a weekend of binge re-watching both Revenge of the Island and All Stars(ROTI was off Netflix for so long, it was nice to watch again) for inspo, I finally got something I liked.

Unless I think of something else that needs to happen on this day, the next chapter will be a transition/timeskip.

Thanks once again to Kitkatkatester for the review last chapter :)

Enjoy!

Scott's day had been pretty darn awful up until now. Town had been boring, Vito wasn't being reasonable, and that cute girl he'd spotted in town had run away from him, and got away too, stupid foreign guy...did he have some sort of thing against him? Sure, their previous encounter had ended similarly but this time it angered him more...and Scott was gonna make him pay.

He didn't want to plan his vengeance alone, though, since he wasn't gonna talk to himself. That was the servant's shtick, not his. He could ignore Vito's insolence from earlier for a bit if it meant he could help him get revenge for the humiliation Manitoba had caused him.

Of course, it was harder to look past Vito's suspiciously nice behavior when Scott came home to him and Mike talking. Different future, huh?

As if.

"Sure is great to be back home. People in town were so rude to me today! Nothing was even going on, it was a total snooze fest!" He spoke loudly and obtrusively, halting their conversation suddenly.

Mike had gone a bit stiff upon his arrival, that was nothing new, but Vito looked almost as equally tense. Probably because of their earlier argument...yeah, definitely that.

Later, later...Scott had to remind himself. "You and me, our room, now," he invited/ordered Vito, taking his hand and forcibly guiding him to the stairs. Vito, surprised but also used to this sort of thing, went with it for the time being.

Mike watched them go, blinked, then sighed in relief that Scott wasn't in a physical mood. He went back to his dusting, letting his mind wander once again.

Eventually, he had to go up into the hallway with the bedrooms when he'd realized he'd left one of his cleaning rags there. He could hear snippets of Scott and Vito discussing something.

"Whattya say? It'll be fun!" Scott asked.

"I donno, bro, he sounds way tougher than you. Don't think it's worth riskin' something going wrong," Vito replied honestly. He found Scott's lack of anger from earlier strange, but hey, maybe he was over it after being out all day?

"Nothing will go wrong! As long as we stick to my plan. We'll need to check some stuff out first anyway, plenty of time to get you on board," Scott insisted. "Come on, I thought you'd be all over this!" There was a hint of frustration there.

"I am, just don't wanna get arrested, yo," Vito assured him. "I don't got beef with him, and I don't want ya gettin' hurt."

"Pfft, since when do you care if I get hurt?" Scott wondered.

"Ey, when haven't I?" Vito countered.

"Huh...fair point," Scott conceded. A bit soft of you but I'll let it slide, for now… he thought to himself.

Outside the door, Mike had realized that he had in fact left the cleaning rag inside their room; he'd swept in there earlier, and placed the rag down on one of the dressers that cluttered the back wall. Sighing, he gently knocked on the door.

"What?!" Scott yelled suddenly at hearing the knock.

"I apologize for the interruption, sir, I just left something in there…" Mike explained through the door. "May I come in to get it?"

"Whatever, sure, Multiple Mike," Scott replied like he didn't care. "Make it quick."

Mike opened the door. Vito sat on his bed and Scott was opposite on his own bed. It was a tight squeeze since it was never meant for two people to sleep in the way they'd arranged it; it had originally been Mike's after all. They had surprisingly respected his wishes regarding the still-unexplained forbidden bedroom next door since moving in last year.

The rag was on the opposite end of the room, so Mike walked over carefully, making sure to not touch anything.

"Like I was saying Vito, it'll be easy. He won't know what's coming…" Scott chuckled a little to himself, not bothering to halt the conversation any further because the servant was in the room.

"Whateva you say, bro…" Vito said with a slight eye roll.

"Um, pardon the intrusion, but, who are you talking about, exactly…?" Mike hadn't heard a name and was curious, which was probably a mistake but he couldn't help himself as he grabbed the rag.

"Tch, as if I'd tell you-" Scott scoffed.

"'E's getting revenge on some foreign dude he met in town that roped him, yo," Vito cut him off.

Scott gave his brother a look. "Twice, he snagged me twice," he clarified. "But it really doesn't concern you, servant- you can't leave the property so you couldn't possibly be useful. Not that you ever are…"

Mike knew someone who fit that description. He couldn't let Mani be harmed in some way by Scott, no way...but he was right, he couldn't leave the house. Not right now, anyway. "I might know who that is," he decided to reveal.

"Really? You know the guy? Guess that'd make sense, you're both huge nuisances," Scott figured. "Hm…" If Mike did know Manitoba, maybe he could use him as bait. He wouldn't dare argue against it.

"What does he look like? Sir," Mike added the honorific after nearly forgetting.

"Tall, dirty, and talks funny. Wears stupid hats," Scott rattled off.

"...yeah, I know him," Mike confirmed, not agreeing with the second half of the description but keeping that to himself. His suspicion was unfortunately confirmed.

Score! That could actually be really useful to Scott. "Alright, maybe you're useful after all...but just this one time. You help us get him and I'll convince Dad to let you out of the house when we do it." He wouldn't think to give him any more than that.

One day out of the house at some point in the near future. A whole day. What a thought.

...I need to protect Mani from Scott, Mike decided. "That is very generous of you, sir," he said in the usual fashion. "It's a deal."

"Great." Now, Scott was of course aware that he could have easily forced Mike to give him information on Manitoba without any incentive, but he had the feeling it would benefit him more to be a bit more lenient right now, especially with Vito watching in surprised silence. He wanted to put his brother back on the right path. If that involved being a bit nicer to Mike for a little bit...eh, so be it.

It wasn't as if Mike would be in their lives for much longer.

It was barely a minute after Mike had left the upstairs that Noah appeared at the front door, folder of papers in hand and looking far more satisfied with the use of his time than he ever did. "Welcome home, sir," Mike said, the rescued cleaning rag in hand.

"Mm, yes, thank you, servant," Noah said with a strange smile as he strode towards his office, like he knew something Mike didn't. "I assume that you've completed all your work if you're taking time for pleasantries?"

"...no, I haven't finished quite yet, but I'll get back to it right away," Mike quickly reassured him.

"Fantastic," Noah replied as he turned the knob on the door. "The place must be spotless by dinner time. Got it?"

"...yes, sir." The door shut and Mike could have sworn he heard Noah laugh for a brief moment on the other side...but it could have just been his imagination.

Why would Noah be laughing, anyway?

Scott gets some time to shine...kind of?

I actually have thoughts about what I want to happen for future chapters so that's good. Please lemme know any thoughts on this one.

Thanks for reading this far. Stay safe out there y'all, and I'll see ya next time :)