"Don't you come out your bloody face to me!"

"How exactly am I doing that, DG?! I'm trying to do what you told me to do! But no, apparently me trying to say so is disrespectful and coming out my face!"

"I gueth that ain't enough for her, but what do I know?"

"How about shut it, Jazzkie?!"

"That's no way to talk to your sister!"

"Isn't this a bit much? I mean-"

"Stay out of this!"

Marino got between Diamond, Astral, Magma, and Jasper. Emerald hid behind Peridot and Soma. Dactyle and Aero simply watched, nothing they could say or do without everything getting worse.

"Take a breather, both of you." Marino looked at Diamond and Magma. "Continuing like this will not resolve anything."

"Oh, and you could, Mister Mediator?" Diamond snapped. "I have to walk on eggshells with them," she pointed at Aero and Emerald, "Magma gives a fucking attitude and is absolutely disrespectful, you think you're bloody Father Antauri and think you can solve everything peacefully- No, fuck you all."

Marino frowned and his eyebrows furrowed. "I apologize that apparently keeping everyone in one piece is a horrible thing to do! Yeah I might not be perfect at it, but at least I'm trying my hardest!"

Everything kept going with seemingly no end in sight. Kaminari was at the doorway, watching everything unfold. Nobody even noticed she was there. She looked away from the scene; she couldn't bear to watch anymore. If it kept going the way it did, she was scared it would get physical. Even if it didn't, she felt powerless to do anything and she couldn't stand it. Kami hated seeing her siblings like this.

They'd been fighting for what felt like a year at this point, even if realistically it was only a few months. All she could do was watch it happen. Even what Diamond said about Aero and Emerald just then felt like it was aimed towards her as well, considering she handled this poorly. She quietly walked away with clenched fists. Her lips quivered despite her attempts to keep it steady.

It was a never-ending fight. She felt useless in all of this.

Their parents tried to calm the situation, but it only ended with some of them getting into the fight. Their attempts were futile and nothing they did eased anything. It made her think that maybe they were better off with her being somewhere else than here trying to help when all it did was make the situation worse than when it started. After all, there wasn't a point having her take up space and be a burden to them.

No, she was gonna run off. It wasn't like they would care enough to notice.

Kaminari went to her room and grabbed whatever she deemed important, which included her favorite stuffed animal, some snacks and candy, and her blanket and pillow. All of it was packed in a medium sized stretchable bag. It ended up being heavier than she expected, but she could walk around carrying it. She made sure nobody saw her as she snuck out.

Even the Super Robot itself didn't stop her, which was surprising to her. Normally it would do something, but it not doing anything might've proved what she originally thought.

Nobody would care if she left, that it wouldn't make much of a difference.

She wiped away the tears that formed in her eyes. Every step Kaminari took left sparks of electricity in her trail, even if it only lasted a few seconds per step. She tightly held onto everything she had. She tried to swallow everything she felt down her body. It stayed in her throat despite her attempts. Her feet just carried her to wherever they decided to lead her. Kami didn't pay much attention to where she went, her mind was elsewhere.

Eventually she ended up at Mama Jinmay and Daddy Slingshot's door. Most of her felt hesitant to do anything, they would call her other parents and tell them that she's even gone. The rest didn't care enough about it and her body went with it. Her shaky hand went up to the door and knocked. Tears streamed down her face. She didn't even lift her head up. It started raining behind her.

Jinmay opened the door. When she saw Kaminari, her eyes widened, not an ounce of expectancy was there.

"...Kami?"

She didn't look up at her. Jinmay picked her up.

"Is something wrong, sweetie? Do you want me to call the-"

"No!"

Jinmay jumped, taken aback from how she suddenly reacted. Kaminari realized how her tone was.

"...No, no. I don't want them to know." Kaminari said.

"We'll have to let them know where you are at some point." She responded.

Kaminari couldn't get herself to say something to that.

Jinmay moved more inside before she closed the door. She walked over to the living room. Kami saw Slingshot sitting on the couch. He opened his mouth to speak but he didn't say a word once he saw Kaminari in Jinmay's arms. Jinmay laid her next to him as she sat down. Kami held onto them tight and buried her face into her body. Slingshot looked at Jinmay for a moment before he stroked her head.

Jinmay leaned onto her hand. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Kaminari moved her head. "Everyone's always fighting lately, even Mari is getting in the fights no matter what he does. I just wish they would stop…"

She placed her hand on Slingshot's arm. She wanted to keep his gentle touch there. They looked at each other. After a few seconds, they nodded in silent agreement.

"If you want, Kaminari, you can stay here until it's over." Slingshot offered. "We'll let the others know you're staying with us for now."

"Thank you, Papa Sling."

Her tail wrapped around him to keep him close.

Jinmay tapped her communicator.

Everything simmered down.

While they weren't fighting anymore, tension still filled the air. Some of them sat in the corner so they wouldn't get caught up in anything. Others were in their spots, nowhere next to each other thanks to Marino separating them. He had to make sure another fight didn't break out. He looked all over the room. Everyone was accounted for and no one was missing.

Marino just had to see how Kaminari was doing. He knew she had been upset about all of this and he wanted to make sure she was okay. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel stressed about it or feel like it was her fault somehow. He went to her room and knocked on the door.

"Kaminari, are you there?" He asked.

There was no response, even after a couple minutes of waiting. He knocked again to be met with the same result. Marino opened the door and looked inside. She wasn't inside her room. Something was out of place though. He walked over to her bed to have a closer look. Her favorite plush wasn't there like it usually was. He looked around the bed to see if it fell down somehow but it didn't.

A seed of worry was planted in his mind, but he shook his head. He couldn't allow himself to jump to conclusions. She could just have it with her while somewhere on the Super Robot. It wasn't like that didn't happen before. Despite that, something still felt off and it bothered him. Marino went to his parents to see if she was with them.

Thankfully, they were all in one place. He looked around the room, but Kaminari was nowhere to be seen. He walked up to them; they noticed him almost immediately.

"Hello, Marino." Antauri was the first to speak. "Is something on your mind?"

"Hello, Father Antauri. Have any of you seen Kaminari?" He asked.

Everyone looked at each other. Chiro and Sprx had very worried looks on their faces while the others were a mixture of confusion and concern. Already Marino could tell they hadn't seen her, they didn't need to say a single word. They all looked back at him.

"She's not with any of you?" Nova asked.

"And she's not in her room?" Gibson added.

Marino shook his head at both questions. "I'm afraid she is not."

"'Fraid we haven't seen her, Marino." Sprx responded. "She might be somewhere else on the Super Robot."

"Yeah, she could be walking around." Chiro added. It was clear he was trying to not think the worst.

Antauri shook their head. "I hate to say that's not the case. I only sense sixteen of us in here, not seventeen."

Marino's heart dropped to his stomach. It must've been from all the fighting. He felt terrible that he couldn't stop it and in fact got caught up in it like he did. He partially blamed himself for everything. Chiro's face became pale hearing Antauri say that. He immediately got up.

"Wha- What?! But she couldn't have gone off on her own!" Chiro panicked. "Where could she be?"

"Kid, it'll be okay, I'm sure she's fine-"

"Chiro, come in."

Everybody looked at Chiro's communicator. Chiro immediately tapped it.

"Jinmay, have you seen Kami? She's-"

"She's right here with us." She answered.

Chiro sighed in relief. Everyone seemed to relax at the sound of that. Marino was just happy to hear she was safe and sound.

"Can she hear us?" Chiro asked.

They heard an affirming hum that sounded like whining.

"We can hear you fine, Chiro." Slingshot replied.

"Kami, sweetie, please don't do that again. You scared us. If you wanted to go to their house, let us know next time."

Marino came closer. "Mind if I talk to her?" Chiro shook his head and turned towards him. "Kami, I'm sorry about the fights. I'm sorry I did not do better to stop any of it. We did not mean to frighten you off like that. I did not mean to do that. If you feel we do not care about you, we do. I promise that."

"...So I'm not making things worse or being in the way?"

"What? No, never." Marino replied. "I'm sorry we made you feel like that. I will try to see what I can do so it's not as bad."

"...And you can be with Jinmay and Slingshot for a few days, but I'm coming over." Chiro said.

"Count me in on that too." Sprx added.

"Alright, see you guys soon." Jinmay said before she hung up.

Chiro and Sprx stood up. Otto hugged them both.

"Let us know if ya need us!"

"We will," Chiro looked at everyone, "but you guys stay here. They'll need you."

Everyone but Marino nodded. Chiro and Sprx headed out. Marino stood in front of the tubes and watched them leave. He gripped the sleeve tightly as his lips pressed together. He bit his tongue to keep himself from tearing up. Marino was nowhere near Antauri's level of stoic, but he didn't wasn't to cry in front of them, not after that whole mess. Looking behind him wasn't necessary for Marino to know Gibson was the one who just put his hand on his shoulder. He heard Otto, Nova, and Antauri walk up to him as well.

"You shouldn't blame yourself, Marino. You're trying your best." Gibson reassured.

"We get it, really." Nova added. "There's been times where we haven't been able to do our jobs as well like we usually do."

"We all have our off days. Most we can do is try."

Marino didn't look at any of them. "I know, but… I still feel horrible. I have not been the best mediator lately. I know I'm not perfect nor as good as Father Antauri when it comes to dissipating fights, but I should not have let it get as bad as it did. If Kaminari suffered that badly, I cannot imagine how some of the others must be feeling…"

Antauri put his hand on Marino's other shoulder. He looked at them.

"Marino, not even I would be able to calm fights when they get bad like this. I've sometimes felt like I added to it too, it happens." Antauri said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? There is no way."

Antauri nodded.

"Yeah, it's true. He was helping Sprx years ago and they thought they were making it worse. He's not immune to it." Otto replied.

"Besides, you're still young. No one is perfect at this sort of thing, especially at your age." Gibson added.

"Besides, we're always here to help." Nova said. "You're never doing this alone."

Marino turned around and hugged all four of them. They always knew what to say to cheer him up. He closed his eyes as he embraced them.

He'd have to get everyone down for a talk.

In the meantime, Chiro and Sprx got to Jinmay and Slingshot's house within minutes. They held an umbrella together the whole time with their fingers intertwining. Sprx knocked on the door before Chiro could have the chance to. Slingshot opened the door after a few seconds and let them in.

They went to where Jinmay was to find Kaminari was asleep. She held onto Jinmay and Jinmay had an arm around her. Kami had tear stains on her furry face. It made Chiro frown seeing her like that. Slingshot gave Kaminari her favorite plush and wrapped her blanket around her. Jinmay put a finger up to her lips to tell them to be quiet. Sprx and Chiro nodded in acknowledgment.

Chiro sat down and laid his arm over her. He gently kissed her forehead. Sprx got on him and rested there. He grabbed one of Kami's hands and caressed it with his thumb. Kami then smiled in her sleep. It made everyone feel better after seeing that. Slingshot had sat down next to Jinmay.

Chiro had hoped he would make her feel better while she was awake, but this was something. Plus she would wake up to four of her parents being there with her. If that didn't cheer her up, he didn't know what would.

They eventually fell asleep there.

When Kaminari came back home, Marino went to her room.

It took a few days, but the fights became less frequent and less intense. He had a huge talk with all the other siblings about everything that happened as of late. They ended up feeling bad about how much it affected some of the others. They couldn't promise they wouldn't fight, mainly Diamond and Magma, but they said they would try their best.

Marino figured that getting her a gift would help make up for what happened before. Marino couldn't settle for one type, so he went with all three. He looked to the side when he knocked on her door. She immediately came and opened the door for him. The moment she saw him, a huge smile crawled on her face.

Marino cleared his throat. "I hope you accept this as part of my apology about before. I couldn't decide on which chocolates to get, so I got them all for you-"

Kaminari suddenly hugged him tight. Any tighter and she would be knocking the wind out of him. It certainly almost made him fall backwards. He levitated the box in the air before he properly hugged her back. He rubbed her back as he did so.

"You didn't have to, Mari. Everything's okay now, right?"

"It is."

"Then it's okay!" Kaminari exclaimed. "But… I wouldn't mind having you around."

He grinned. "I can hang around as long as you want."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him in. "I'd love that please! And thank you for the chocolate by the way!"

His smile was soft and heartwarming.

"Anything for you, Kaminari."