Miko and Five deactivated their reset rays, exited the break room and headed for the glitch extractor with BITT in tow, wanting nothing more than to purge themselves of the Neurosurgeon once and for all. As they stood in front of the pair of gauntlet slots, Five raised his head towards the ceiling and let out a heavy sigh. It wasn't long before he felt a pair of arms around his chest as Miko gave him a relieved, grateful hug that he returned in kind. They rocked back and forth with their eyes closed as Miko nuzzled Five's chest and whispered, "It's over. It's over. It's over." He said nothing in response, but when Miko felt the dual sensation of his grip getting a little tighter and his cheek resting against the top of her head, she smiled and gave him a gentle rub on the back.

This was the sight that greeted Mitch after he'd recovered enough to save face and stepped into the heart of HQ. Without a word, he approached the extractor that wasn't blocked by two hugging teammates and inserted his gauntlet. When the extraction process completed, he was almost 140,000 XP richer, but for the first time since he became a Glitch Tech, he didn't care. After everything that happened, he considered himself lucky to still be alive. And not only that, lucky that his siblings were still alive, and that Phil, Zahra, Haneesh, Miko, her sister, and Five were all okay... not that he'd ever admit it out loud.

He removed his gauntlet from the extractor and tapped Miko on the shoulder, saying, "Go ahead" as he gestured towards the machine. The duo broke their embrace and inserted their gauntlets, ridding themselves of the Neurosurgeon and collecting a mountain of XP in the process. As they removed their arms from the slots, the familiar sound of a portal opening drew the trio's attention to the second floor as Phil, Nix, Bergy, Zahra and Haneesh touched down. Phil was the first one to speak as he exclaimed, "Oh, thank God! Are you all okay?"

Not knowing what else to do, Mitch looked over at Miko and Five, who each gave him an understanding nod. A full-toothed grin appeared on his face as he turned around and chuckled, "You guys missed one hell of a party."

His comment led Haneesh to turn to Zahra and say, "Well, Mitch is fine." Those words, which on any other day would have been soaked in sarcasm, were said out of relief as the quintet headed downstairs, making sure to give Mitch, Miko and Five enough space as they approached and attempted to make small talk. Across the room, the Green Death stirred at the din of voices and rose to his feet, putting his paw to his head to regain his bearings before bounding over to his owner. To say the giant rabbit caught Zahra off guard was an understatement - when she got a good look at him, she let out a shocked yelp and almost opened fire on him with her gauntlet. With a yell of "WHOA!", Nix grabbed her arm and lowered it himself while Haneesh held her back and her teammates calmed her jangled nerves. Once her heartbeat had lowered to its normal resting rate, she stammered, "M... Minty?!"

"In my game, I'm known as the Green Death," he replied. "However, if you wish to call me Minty, I have no problem with that. That name can serve as a distraction and hide what I'm capable of. In that sense, our enemies won't know what hit them."

"Both literally and figuratively," Zahra said with a smile. She gave the man-sized rabbit a hug, saying, "Thank you... for helping save my friends. You're the best pet ever."

"You're welcome." Minty returned the hug as her teammates watched the unusual scene play out, with Nix nodding his head and quipping, "Told ya." Miko and Five let out a simultaneous "Awww" at the scene while Mitch, ever the stoic when it came to mushy stuff, grinned and shook his head. Meanwhile, a small red laser emerged from BITT's body as he cast a red net over the trio and performed a diagnostic scan. Miko and Five were unhurt, but Mitch had two broken ribs, countless cuts and bruises, and three teeth that had been jarred loose by his fight. BITT tapped Mitch on his shoulder with one of his claws and said, "You have sustained several injuries. Do you wish to be healed now or later?"

"Do it now and get it over with," he replied. As soon as he gave the word, a small platform rose up from the floor and grabbed Mitch's boots, holding him in place as an aqueous blue shield encased his body. He was fully covered from head to toe within seconds, and when the healing commenced, it was one of the most comfortable sensations he had ever felt. Outside the barrier, Miko nudged Five in the shoulder and pointed at Mitch's face, watching in awe as the swelling around his left eye returned to normal. His hitched breathing grew steadier and healthier as his ribs healed, and he could feel the loose teeth becoming rigid once again as the healing process continued. Five minutes later, the blue shield melted into the platform and the platform returned to the floor, releasing Mitch's boots as it did so. The first thing he did was take a deep breath, and he was relieved to feel no pain as his chest expanded. His ensuing exhale led to a triumphant yell as he pointed dual finger guns at the extractor, which led to an equally triumphant yell of "BOOSH!" Zahra couldn't help but grin as she leaned towards Haneesh and said, "Oh yeah. He's definitely fine."

"And on that note..." Phil stepped forward and continued with, "What do you three say to a week's worth of downtime?" Miko, Five and Mitch exchanged puzzled glances before Five asked, "What do you mean?"

"After something like that, I figured you could use a little break. Spend some time with your families and each other; clear your heads a bit. God knows I'd do the same thing if I was in your shoes." Phil ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, "Monsters and giant animals are one thing, but... a glitch that could think..." He shook his head in sorrow and added, "I'm sorry you had to go through all that... that we had to go through all that."

"There's nothing to apologize for, Phil," Miko said with a sympathetic smile. "We all worked together, and we beat him together."

"We're Glitch Techs," Five observed. "It's what we do." A round of knowing smiles appeared on everyone's faces as the duo turned towards Mitch, opening their arms and enveloping him in a grateful hug. He was taken aback at first, but after everything they had gone through not more than twenty minutes ago, he was more than willing to let this infraction slide. His arms remained at his sides, but he whispered two words that he made sure only Miko and Five could hear:

"You're welcome."

TWO DAYS LATER

Miko and Five parked their bikes in the racks outside Joystick Junior and headed inside, checking their game card balance at a nearby kiosk. They each had about ten dollars apiece to spend, and their first stop was at the game that started their Glitch Tech careers: Chomp Kitty. Five swiped his card through the reader and crouched over the joystick, maneuvering the green cat through the game's corridors and gobbling up the various foods that appeared. Miko watched and silently cheered him on so as not to break his concentration, but that was easier said than done as a familiar voice rang out, "Well well well, if it isn't my favorite noobs!"

"Hello, Mr. Williams," Miko replied in a snide tone as Mitch stood on the opposite side of the machine. "And what brings you to Joystick Junior today?"

"Oh, no reason. I was in the neighborhood, and I saw a familiar pair of bikes outside. So I figured-"

"Aw, nerds!" Chomp Kitty spun through the air before landing on his back with a dizzy meow, indicating a lost life. Two lives remained as Five continued with the game, trying his best to block out Miko and Mitch's verbal jousting. "The glitch that started it all," Mitch observed as he glanced at the arcade cabinet. "Brings back memories, doesn't it?"

"It sure does," Miko replied with a mischievous grin. "Mainly of you getting eaten." Mitch bristled at her statement as another dizzy meow was heard, leaving Five with one life before game over. "Well, that's all in a day's work," the Brit countered as he puffed out his chest. "I mean, danger is part of the job."

"True... but there is such a thing as too much danger." Five grit his teeth as he hit the jump button just in time to avoid an enemy, with the green kitty landing safely on the other side. He breathed a sigh of relief as the cat kept moving, but a chance encounter with a giant edible cartoon bomb stopped him in his tracks. Five's eyes grew wide and his hands began to tremble as he took them off the console, and it wasn't long before the trembling moved from his hands to his entire body. Miko was the first to notice, asking a concerned question of, "Dude... are you okay? What's wrong?"

"That," Five replied as he pointed at the screen. Miko and Mitch leaned in to get a better look, and when they saw the cartoon bomb, they immediately understood Five's reaction. Miko helped him up and led him to a nearby table as the timer on the game ran out, while an equally concerned Mitch sat down on the opposite side. He shook his head in sadness and asked, "You too, huh?"

"Yeah," Miko sighed. "It's gonna be a long time before I can look at any kind of bomb or stick of dynamite the same way again... cartoon or otherwise."

"And vests," Five added. "Don't forget vests." He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and asked, "Your siblings okay, Mitch?"

"Oh yeah, they're fine. Still streaming and playing to their hearts' content. But as for me..." His voice trailed off as he glanced down at the floor, taking a deep breath as he did so. "I've barely slept. Every noise has me on alert. I'm gonna be checking underneath every vehicle I own for the rest of my life. And don't even get me started on power lines." Miko and Five both let out bitter chuckles as the former said, "I guess we all have that in common now. I think we've only gotten four total hours of sleep between the two of us these last couple of days."

"And I guarantee we'll be feeling the side effects sooner rather than later," Five added. No sooner did those words leave his mouth than it stayed open as he let out a huge yawn. "See what I mean?" It didn't take long for Miko and Mitch to reply with yawns of their own, and when they were done, the conversation continued as Miko began to speak.

"Lexi's holding up a lot better than me, I'll tell you that. She had a nightmare the first day, but other than that, it's business as usual. I did notice that she put a little more oomph into her karate practice yesterday, but I say better to take her anger out on a dummy than on me." She cracked a small grin as she put her arm around Five and pulled him close, asking, "Speaking of dummies, any updates on Near Scream?"

"Well, now that you mention it..." Five pulled out his cell phone and checked the news, and the first headline at the top of the page said everything the trio needed to know: Hinobi announces mass recall of popular game. "Looks like news of our little escapade reached the higher-ups," Mitch observed. "What's the article say?"

"Let's see..." Five read through the report and summed it up with, "Looks like they're putting the blame on the AIQ chip and a few gamers not bothering to download the patch. Because of that, Hinobi's performing a mandatory recall and offering either a full refund or a trio of free downloads. Either way, it looks like there's a new resident of the glitchy game library at HQ."

"Couldn't have happened to anyone more deserving," Miko spat with a contemptuous glare. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down before directing her attention towards Mitch. Her eyes were softer and her voice was kinder as she said his name, but the Brit raised his hand and cut her off with a shake of his head. "I know what you're gonna say, Miko," he said. "You've both said it to me nonstop these last few days."

"We know, but... you saved our lives," Five said. "We'll never be able to repay you for that. I just never thought our day coming would be something so... so terrible."

"Neither did I," Mitch replied. "Look, what I said at the construction site was true, but it always involved either a stronger enemy or a swarm of enemies, and sometimes both. I never in my wildest nightmares could have ever thought something like what we went through was in store for us."

"Yeah... but you know what?" Miko put her hand in the middle of the table and said, "We still won. We're still here." Five placed his hand on top of hers and added, "And you know damn well we're not going anywhere." Mitch crossed his arms with a smirk and cracked, "Are you talking about Glitch Techs or yourselves?"

Miko smiled and replied, "Can't it be both?" The Brit couldn't help but chuckle at her reply as he said, "I don't see why not." He placed his hand on top of theirs, shooting the duo a pair of knowing glances that they returned in kind. Silence hung in the air before Five said, "You know, we never did finish our game of Battle Brawl. You guys up for a retry?"

"Always, partner," Miko replied as she gave him a gentle punch in the arm. "What about you, Mitch? You down?" With a roll of his eyes and a shrug of his shoulders, he replied with a sarcastic, "If you insist."

The classic Mitch Williams grin followed his remark as he rose from the table and joined Miko and Five as the trio approached the game cabinet. In a flash, they swiped their cards, selected their fighters, and began to kick, punch and throw their way towards victory. And since they knew what they were capable of now more than ever, they all knew that victory wouldn't be very far off.

-END-