Mike exhales. He had sat through Survivor Series, hoping that Daniel would succeed, that things would click and someone would find a weakness in The Fiend's near indestructible fighting style. It hadn't worked out that way, however. Daniel had fallen just like everyone before him. Picking at his lips, Mike scrolls through messages on his phone and buries his face in his hands, squinting back up at the screen as the camera pans one last time on Daniel's face. In any other circumstance, he thinks he wouldn't even care, but something about this all feels different. He sighs and flexes his fingers, shaking his head. The whispers were anyone who competed against The Fiend had changed- Seth had turned controlling and self-worshipping, Balor had gone down to NXT and began attacking anyone who looked at him wrong, on and on and on. As much as Daniel and he had never really seen eye to eye, he's not sure he wants to see the kind of degradation like that occur to his former NXT rookie.
So after a few days at home, taking care of George and playing with Sara, trying to sort out his feelings in quiet whispers to AJ in the dead of night when the kids were both fast asleep, Mike squares his shoulders and flies out to Smackdown. Tries to center himself, closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing like John had tried teaching him off and on for years. But no matter how zen Mike might try to be, Daniel would rather bash his own head in than listen to anything Mike has to say so their tense discussion during the show doesn't go well.
Daniel ignores every piece of advice Mike had ever given him and goes to the ring. Confronts The Fiend and says so many things that Mike knows won't go over well, leaving himself vulnerable, and then-
the lights, one by one, go out. Mike bites his lips and wavers on his feet, considering going out, but Daniel had been so dismissive, so insulting, he almost thinks Daniel may deserve what's coming up next. But then The Fiend appears, seems to dig his way up out of the ring, and he quickly takes Daniel down with the Mandible Claw, awful, pained noises coming from Daniel as he tries to fight just to eventually succumb to the breath-stealing pain. Mike thinks he can hear The Fiend's horrible laughter in his head as Daniel is slowly, tortuously dragged over to the gaping hole in the ring and dragged in.
The show ends with Fiend reappearing, cackling maniacally as he drops large chunks of Daniel's hair around the ring.
Backstage explodes with whispers and gasps, everyone watching on wide eyed and more than a little horrified as the screen goes dark, Fiend's laughter still haunting everyone. "Holy shit," Mike mutters to himself. Part of him wants to wait, see how Daniel is when he's brought back, but another part of him thinks it would do nothing- Daniel would not care to listen to anything he has to say, and it would probably just backfire into another argument. So he grabs his things, and he leaves, fingers gripping the straps of his bags as tight as he possibly can.
He pauses at his car and looks back at the building, conflict in his deep blue eyes. "Just... be ok, Daniel," he mumbles, shaking his head despondently before sinking into the soft leather seats and clicking his seatbelt into place before driving off, eager to put this all behind him.
At least for now.