Ever since their disastrous attempt to convince Harley to accompany them back to the Tower, Kaedro and Bazzle had been staking out the Jetsam of Saturn. At first, they'd tried to follow the Hunter, but Kaedro had lost his trail soon after leaving the Jetsam. There was no easy way to track Sparrows, so they'd resolved to figure out where Harley would go next. Since the Spider wouldn't work with them without getting something in return, all they had to go off of were the names of the Barons that Harley had mentioned: the Mindbender, the Machinist, and the Fanatic.

While they couldn't be sure where the last two were located, it was a reasonable assumption that the Mindbender - given the records on him - could be found somewhere in the Jetsam of Saturn, hence their stakeout. But so far, neither the Mindbender or Harley had made an appearance. Kaedro sighed.

"I dunno, Baz, maybe we should call it. For all we know, Ace's killed the rest of the Barons by now."

"I'm sure we would know if he had," replied Bazzle, "It's more than possible that Hayden hasn't yet returned to the field. He was injured by the Rifleman, after all."

"You could be right. But if he was hurt bad enough that Prism couldn't heal him, there's a chance he might not be comin' back at all."

"If that had happened, Prism would have alerted us," said Bazzle.

Kaedro sighed again but didn't say anything. He felt the Titan put a hand on his shoulder.

"Kaedro, I know it must be on your mind, especially given what happened to Cayde… But Hayden is fine. He has made it through much worse than this."

"I guess you've got a point there... Thanks, Baz."

"Eyes up, I'm detecting activity," said Jyn.

Kaedro turned back to the road just in time to see Harley Sparrow into the area across from where they were stationed. His optics narrowed as he checked over the other Hunter. His armor seemed complete and intact, showing no sign of damage. The sight of Cayde's cloak still clasped around his neck sent a pang through Kaedro's chest.

He froze as Harley's head turned in their direction, the bleak light from the gravitational lens making his face appear pale and washed out. Kaedro wondered what had caused Harley to stop wearing a helmet. He had always worn one before, up until he'd gone to Mercury.

As he watched, Harley's gaze turned toward the crashed tombship and after a few seconds, he got off of his Sparrow and moved toward the asteroid's edge.

"What is he doing?" asked Bazzle, a frown in his voice.

"Not sure. Seems like he's looking for something. Should we confront him?"

The Titan shook his head. "No. If he's on the Mindbender's trail, it might be more...prudent to let him complete his task."

"I thought you were all about bringing him back to the Tower?"

Bazzle tipped his head slightly. "I am, but I also see the benefit in removing the Mindbender from the Tangled Shore."

"Alright, it's your call..."

Kaedro settled in to watch and wait. But when Harley disappeared into the tombship, he brought up the point that they would no longer be able to keep tabs on him. Bazzle suggested they follow at a distance to make sure they didn't lose track of him altogether. They tracked Harley into the crashed ship, finally coming to a room with an active portal.

"Ace and the Mindbender must've gone through that," said Kaedro. He glanced at Bazzle. "What do you wanna do?"

"We should wait here. If my suspicions are correct, then Hayden will return by way of that portal once the Mindbender is dead."

All of a sudden, Kaedro's interface flashed with a distress alert from Prism.

"Bazzle! Prism just pinged me! She and Ace-"

"Are in danger. I know. I received the same signal."

"We'd better get in there!"

Kaedro retrieved a scout rifle before running through the portal. He arrived on what seemed like a dark island in the middle of a churning sea. Lightning flashed in the sky and the wind howled around them, sending his cloak flapping. Across from them stood the giant form of the Mindbender in front of another portal frame. He seemed to be speaking, though Kaedro didn't know what he was saying. He scanned the area for Harley, locating him in the middle of the space. The Hunter appeared to be fine, but he wasn't moving. He just stood there, staring at the Mindbender.

Kaedro opened a channel. "Prism, what's wrong?!"

"Oh thank the Traveler! Something's wrong with Harley! He's not listening to me!"

A clattering sound drew Kaedro's attention back to Harley, whose weapons were now on the ground. He made no move to pick them up. Prism tried to reach her Guardian once again.

"Harley pick up your bow! The Mindbender is controlling you, don't listen to him!"

Kaedro watched as the other Hunter unfastened Cayde's cloak, dropping it to the ground as well.

"Ace, snap out of it!" he yelled, "Block your ears!"

The air in front of Harley appeared to distort and a knife materialized. Kaedro cursed, breaking into a run.

"Baz, go for the Mindbender! I'll get Ace!" He saw Harley make contact with the blade. "No!"

He launched himself at his friend, tackling him to the ground. Harley's eyes seemed distant, like they were focused on something that wasn't there. He reached toward the knife again but Kaedro didn't release his hold, not even when the other Hunter jerked and twisted in an effort to free himself. Kaedro positioned himself so that he was between Harley and the knife.

"Ace!"

Harley threw a punch at him but Kaedro caught his wrist before the blow could land, pinning it to the ground along with the other one.

"Ace, look at me! Prism filled us in. You need to block out his voice!"

But Harley continued to struggle, giving no sign that he'd heard. Making a quick decision, Kaedro let go of Harley's wrists to cover his ears and hopefully block out the Mindbender. As soon as his hands were freed, Harley began raining blow after blow on Kaedro, who didn't move. He knew that if he let Harley up while he was still under the Mindbender's influence, then he could lose his friend entirely. Eventually, Harley stopped swinging and peered up at him.

"Kaedro?" he practically yelled.

"Yeah, it's me, kid," Kaedro replied. Harley still looked confused. "Oh, right. You probably can't hear me."

He nodded at Harley and the other Hunter relaxed before tilting his head back to look behind him. Kaedro glanced up and saw Bazzle fighting the Mindbender and his minions. Suddenly, the Mindbender delivered a backhand that sent the Titan hurtling through the air. Harley started struggling to get free again.

"I need to help him!" Kaedro shook his head. "He's in trouble!"

"I'm sorry, Ace, but if I let you up, the Mindbender could control you again. Bazzle will have to manage on his own."

Harley yelled in frustration and closed his eyes. Instantly, he began to glow with orange-golden light. Kaedro's grip slackened in shock, giving Harley the opening he needed to get free. He pushed Kaedro off, shot to his feet, and sprinted toward the Mindbender.

Kaedro could only watch as Harley summoned a flaming staff and impaled the Mindbender. As the Mindbender fell to the ground and the dimension began to destabilize, Kaedro came back to himself. They had to get out of there before the Throneworld collapsed completely. He got to his feet, grabbing Harley's weapons and Cayde's cloak before running after his friends.

They emerged into the same room as before.

"How the hell did the Mindbender get a Throneworld?" asked Kaedro.

"I assume through the Sword Logic, as with the Hive," said Bazzle.

Harley nodded absently. He was still staring at his hands as though they could catch fire at any second.

"What happened back there?" Kaedro demanded.

Harley looked confused. "With the Mindbender?"

"With everything."

Bazzle nodded. "I would like to know as well."

Harley huffed. "Look, all I know is that I was able to understand him... He got in my head."

Kaedro sighed. "You were lucky Baz and I were there."

"...I know," said Harley grudgingly.

"What was the ability you used to kill the Mindbender?" asked Bazzle, "I haven't seen a Guardian do something like that since-"

"The Dark Age," said Kaedro.

Bazzle nodded and clarified. "During the Dark Age, before any of the orders were formed, Guardians were called Risen. The abilities they used were not...categorized in the way they are now. Risen used the Light in whichever way suited their needs. Some were what you'd call 'multiclass.'"

Kaedro nodded. "I guess it's not too far of a stretch…"

"I believe Hayden's case might be slightly different, however," said Bazzle, "The ability he used resembled the Arc Staff, but it was Solar."

"But Ace was never Solar... Switching specialties takes study and practice. Or an outside force, like when I picked up Tevis' bow. I don't think I've ever seen someone just switch like that."

"I don't know what happened!" said Harley, "One day, I'm using Arc. Now I'm Solar all of a sudden? What does that mean? Can I summon a Golden Gun?"

He and Bazzle both looked at Kaedro.

"Well, my theory is yeah, you probably could... Let's accept the fact that you randomly just became Solar. You can shape your Light into pretty much anything. Guardians typically settle into certain abilities or fighting styles because it's easier, but you could theoretically make anything. Like your Sun Staff."

"Sun Staff?"

"Whatever you wanna call it. If that was your main Arc ability before, it might be your main Solar ability now." He looked at Bazzle. "What would we even call that? Sunstrider? Firedancer?" The Titan shrugged. Kaedro turned back to Harley. "Look, kid, I'm not a Warlock, so I don't study this stuff. I'm just tellin' you my theory."

Harley nodded slowly. "It makes sense…"

Kaedro patted him on the shoulder. "Well, in any case, you'll have plenty of time to figure it out once you're back in the Tower. Jade could probably help you seeing as it's her job to teach Guardians."

Harley frowned. "What do you mean 'back in the Tower'?"

Kaedro sighed. "Ace, the Vanguard doesn't want you doing your 'renegade revenge' thing. We held off while you were after the Mindbender but Baz wasn't joking. What you're doing is considered a rogue operation... It's gotta end, Ace."

"It will end," snapped Harley, "It'll end with Uldren's death."

He snatched his gear back from Kaedro, putting on the cloak and storing his weapons.

"I'm leaving," he said, "I'm walking out right now and I'm going to hunt down the rest of them. The Machinist, the Fanatic, and Uldren. You can try to stop me, but I'm not giving up."

Kaedro sighed. He could feel Bazzle mentally rubbing his forehead next to him. He glanced at the Titan as Harley turned and walked away but Bazzle showed no sign of pursuing. Once Harley was out of sight, Kaedro turned to face the other Guardian.

"What was that about? I thought Zavala wanted him back in the Tower?"

Bazzle sighed. "He does. But it isn't as easy to use force on one of our own, as you no doubt are aware. Things have come a long way since the Dark Age..."

"So what do we do?"

"We should leave this place before any Hive or Scorn return. Then we should call Wrythal. She may be able to shed some more light on Hayden's current status as well as what occurred with the Mindbender. After that...I'm afraid we must commit fully to our task. It is clear to me now that Hayden will not come willingly. We may have to use force." Kaedro sighed again. "I don't like it any more than you do," said Bazzle, "But it may be the only option left to us." He looked at Kaedro. "If you wish to depart, now is the time. I know asking you to do this is unfair."

"I'm not backing out, Bazzle," Kaedro replied, "I know it's unfair, but the Vanguard has a good reason. And one way or another, Uldren will still get what's coming to him."

Bazzle nodded. "Let's go. We can confer with Wrythal once we're back in Thieves Landing."

They hadn't gone back to visit the Spider since their initial meeting with him. Instead, they'd repurposed one of the smaller abandoned buildings as a temporary base of operations. It was there they returned after parting ways with Harley. Jyn assisted Kaedro in rewiring one of the monitors to provide a video interface, then they initiated the call. After a few seconds, they were greeted by Jade's face blinking into existence on the screen.

"Bazzle? Kaedro?"

"Hey, Jade," said Kaedro.

The Warlock looked amused. "You guys are lucky. It's lunchtime over here so my students are all out... How's your mission going?"

"Well, as you can probably see, Ace isn't here," Kaedro joked, "How's Bazzle's replacement doing with training?"

A look of exasperation crossed Jade's face. "Don't get me started… In fact, I've been meaning to talk to Bazzle...but that can wait." She smiled briefly. "I'm guessing you called me for a reason and not just to catch up."

Bazzle nodded. "Yes, unfortunately. There are two matters we wished to consult with you about before returning to our mission."

"I'll do my best to help you out. What's up?"

Bazzle and Kaedro exchanged a glance. "Well, first off, we just fought the Mindbender," said Kaedro, "And apparently he was able to get into Ace's head, so we were wondering how he does what he does, if that makes sense."

"I see… Do you have any info on him that you could send me?"

Kaedro nodded. "Yeah, Jyn can send it."

They fell silent as the files were transferred and Jade looked them over, a thoughtful frown on her face. The screen lagged and flickered occasionally, whether it was because of Kaedro's jury-rig or radio interference between the Reef and Earth, they didn't know. Eventually, Jade looked back up.

"Well, from what these say, he essentially followed the same path as the Hive. Sword Logic, runes, all of that."

Bazzle nodded. "Yes. He even had a Throneworld."

Jade's eyebrows shot up. "That's pretty advanced. Was it very large?"

"Nothing on the scale of Crota or Oryx, but yeah, it was big enough," said Kaedro.

"Hmm. I suppose he would at least be considered as being on the same level as Ascendant Hive… You said he got into Harley's head?"

"Yeah. We had no idea what he was saying, but apparently Ace could understand him."

Jade frowned. "That shouldn't be possible… He had to have been speaking the Hive language and not only do Guardians not understand it but attempting to understand it is...frowned upon, to say the least."

"I've heard that a few times, but I always wonder... why? Surely learning their language could help us defeat them..."

"Words in the language of the Hive are more than just words. To say death is to die. They use words as a means to invoke their will... My theory is that the Mindbender operates on the same basic principle as the Deathsingers."

"So you're saying that not only was the Mindbender speaking to Ace, he was controlling him with the words."

Jade nodded. "I still have no idea how Harley understood what was being said. I'll have to do more research on that."

"But what about how his words only affected Ace and not us?"

"That's much simpler. It's partially because he was focused on Harley more so than you or Bazzle. But Harley also wasn't wearing a helmet. Guardian helmets are constructed to filter out psychic attacks to some degree. It wouldn't save you from a Deathsinger, but it would make it easy to block out the Mindbender."

Kaedro nodded. "I gotcha."

"What was the other thing you wanted to ask about?" asked Jade.

"Hayden," said Bazzle, "We saw him use Solar Light to summon a staff resembling his Arc Staff."

"Solar Light?"

"Yes. Have you ever looked into whether it's possible for a Guardian to switch specialties without training?"

"Yes it's possible, but they'd be unlikely to have success."

Bazzle nodded with a sigh. "As I suspected…"

"Was there anything that prompted the change, like how Kaedro adopted Void Light?"

Kaedro shook his head. "There wasn't."

"Interesting… I'll see what I can dig up." She glanced away for a second. "My next class is due to begin soon. I'll look into what you told me and send any relevant data your way."

"Thanks, kid."

"Yes, thank you, Wrythal," said Bazzle, "It's much appreciated."

"Of course. Good luck on your mission. Bring Harley home."

"We will," said Kaedro.

With that, he ended the call.

"Well," he said, turning to Bazzle, "We know more than we did earlier. I guess that's something."

"Indeed… We'll leave Wrythal to look into things. In the meantime, we need to figure out where Hayden is going next. Let's start looking into any information we can find on the Machinist."

A/N:

EmbersAtDusk2306: Same. As soon as the idea came to me, I was like "I need this in game."

Urufunoyami: Only time will tell :3