The group were tense, frozen with fear. He fully turned around and slowly walked closer and closer. His movements inhuman. He was slightly limping, his head tilted to the side, like an undead being brought back to life.

“Hello…friends…”

“We are NOT your friends!” Yelled Otto. He knew that wasn’t Glitch. It couldn’t be. He stopped and stared at Otto. In an instant, he bolted at him. Stopping directly in front of Otto and staring him down. Otto falls backward and looks up, his body shaking in fear.

“Why would you say such a thing…? We were only trying to help.”

“W-What are you…?” Asks Dr. Lite, visibly shaking.

“Everyone always asks that. What am I? As if I’m not a person. I very much am, Doctor. Just the same as you. Just…different…” He chuckles, it carrying a robotic and distorted edge.

“Th-Then who are you…?” Otto asks.

He leans down.

“Bug.” His voice sounded distorted and robotic, like a robotic demon in a sense.

In an instant Flara blasted a beam of fire at Bug and it knocked him back into a shelf. The shelf falling forward on him.

“Everyone! Run!” Dr. Lite said, ordering the others to follow. “B-But what about-“ Dr. Lite cuts Otto off. “Don’t worry. I have a plan. Just run!” The three dash out of the office. Bug lets out a distorted growl and lifts the shelf off. He lets out a distorted giggle. He loves a chase.

The trio ran down the hall, and Bug wasn’t far behind. The hallway had the bodies of both robots and monsters. Likely was 8-Ball’s security. Bug was crawling on the floor, crawling upwards onto the walls and roof, giggling while chasing them. His fingers dug into the walls and floor to he could crawl in such a way.

“THE HELL IS WRONG WITH GLITCH?!” Otto asked, running for his life. “I-I have no idea! But we need to split up!” Replied Dr. Lite. “ARE YOU CRAZY?!” Yelled Otto. “Trust him, Otto! He has a plan!” Flara reassured.

There was a fork in the road, in front was an elevator, to their left and right were more halls. Otto dashed into the elevator, Flara went left, and Dr. Lite went right. Bug stopped crawling and started running instead, dashing towards the elevator. Otto repeatedly pressed the ground floor button. Muttering curses under his breath as he got closer.

The doors slowly began to close. Bug got closer and closer. The doors shut before he could get in. The giggling dying down. Otto pants. “If I die today…I’m gonna be so pissed…”

Bug looked to the left and right. Now it’s time to play. He quietly, sneakily creeped down the right hallway. The hallway had multiple doors. Question was which one. He slowly opened them all one by one.

“Doctor…Where are you…? I just wanna be friends…”

Bug opens one of the doors and Dr. Lite pushed Bug back and dashed out. Making a break for it maybe.

“Stop. Running. Doctor.”

Bug chased him down, his movements inhuman. His body would occasionally twist or turn in a way that simply wasn’t right. But he was gaining on him. He was giggling manically.

“Glitch! This isn’t you!” Dr. Lite yelled back at him, hoping words would somehow help.

“You’re right! This isn’t Glitch.”

Dr. Lite made a sharp right down the hall. Bug followed and was hit by a blast of fire. Flara. The two dash down to the door that lead to the stairway.

Bug quickly pursued them and kicked the door open. The two were quickly rushing down the stairway. Bug crawled over the railing, using the open well of the staircase to crawl down to them. They managed to get to the ground floor, and Bug jumped down from the open well to grab them. The two managed to burst through the door and Bug bursts out as well. He bolts at the two.

Otto, dashed down the hall and jumps up and punches him in the side of his Tv head, creating a small dent. Otto winces in pain. “Ow! The hell is this thing made of…?” He asks himself. Bug stood up straight and slowly turned to Otto.

“Does the thief wanna play too…?”

He slowly made his way at Otto. Dr. Lite pulled out something from a holster on his belt and tackled Bug. It looked like a syringe with some pink liquid. He stabbed it into his neck. Bug’s screen began to glitch out before being turning to black completely, falling limp.

“Th-The hell was that?!” Otto asks. Dr. Lite pants. “Tranquilizer. It was in case 8-Ball wouldn’t go quietly. Came in handy.” Flara picked up the unconscious body. “We need to take him back to the base. Figure out what’s going on.”

“Indeed, Flara.” Dr. Lite agreed. The trio walk out of the building. Outside awaited the van. They put the body in the back and Otto got in the back with him. Flara got in the passenger seat while Dr. Lite drove.

It wasn’t a long drive, but it felt longer with the silence. They dragged him down to the base using a secondary entrance in the back of the M.O.T.H. building.

Eventually they had him bound in a stretcher. The panel in the back of his head unscrewed was open and had cables that were connected to devices and equipment. Dr. Lite was in a swivel chair on a computer trying to figure out the source of this.

“It appears to be some kind of code inside the head.” Said Dr. Lite. “Perhaps if we extract the code, he should be back to normal.”

“And what do we do with that…thing…?” Otto asked, still visibly shaken up, his voice quieter.

“Delete it entirely.” Answered Dr. Lite. “Beginning extraction sequence…now.”

With a press of the key, Glitch’s screen came on with a green loading screen. “It might take a minute or two for it to be fully extracted.” Dr. Lite says.

“Hey Doc…how do you know so much…?” Otto asks, genuinely curious. “Oh. Degrees in engineering and science. Had many awards for my intellect.” Answered Dr. Lite. “Well that intellect of yours saved our asses back there. So…thanks, Doc.” Otto said. Dr. Lite and Flara were relatively surprised he said that. Otto never thanked anyone for anything.

“Is he going to be alright after this…?” Otto asked, genuinely worried. “He might need a day or two of rest, but after that he’ll be just fine. No need to worry.” Dr. Lite reassured him.

The computer’s screen lit green. Dr. Lite turned to it. “Extraction done. Carefully remove the cables, Flara.” Flara moved behind the stretch and carefully removed the cables. Then closed the panel and screwed it back on tight.

“Crap. Crap. Crap!” Dr. Lite mumbled aloud. The computer was sparking a lime-green. “Doc, the hell is going on?!” Asked Otto. “I-I don’t know! I-I think he’s trying to-“ Then the computer shut off. Said sparks from the computer trailed through the cables connected to said computer. Which reached an outlet.

“Doc…was that-“ Otto is cut off when every screen in the room lights up with a lime-green. A robotic, distorted giggle fills the room from every speaker. The screens glitch out before turning into black screens with a lime-green circle in the middle. Bug.

“Shit.” Muttered Dr. Lite.

The screens all cut off. He was free. Unbound by a body. Free to roam the city however he pleased. He was free.

The two turn to Dr. Lite.

“Doc, the hell did you do?!” Asked Otto. “I-I-…D-Don’t say that like this was my fault!” Yelled Dr. Lite. “Well it was your job to delete that son of a bitch!” Otto yelled back. “I tried! How was I supposed to know he was smart enough to hack out of a goddamn computer program?”

Flara intervenes, getting in between the two. “Gentlemen, we can argue about this later. This isn’t getting us anywhere.” Otto sighs. “He’s right. But I’m still pissed.” Otto went to the stretcher and unbinds Glitch. He lightly knocks on Glitch’s screen. “Get up, Green-Screen.” Glitch’s screen came to life. He sat up, groaning. “Wha-…W-What happened…?”

“Bug happened.” Dr. Lite answered, trying to get his computer back on. “Y-You know about…h-him…?” Glitch asks. Dr. Lite froze and slowly got up. “You already had prior knowledge of…that thing…?” Dr. Lite asked, recognizing that response. Infuriated. “W-Well I-I-“

Dr. Lite cuts him off, walking over to him, putting his hands into fists. “No. No. No. NO, Glitch. You knew about the existence of a potential threat and you didn’t think to tell us. Because of that not only did you nearly get us all killed, you ended up killing 8-ball as well.”

There was a moment of silence. Flara and Otto never seen him this mad before. Glitch was stunned.

“8-Ball’s-“

He cuts him off again. “Yes. He’s dead. Because of Bug. Because of you. You’re lucky we managed to make sure Benedict is safe and sound. You didn’t think you needed to tell us, and because of that he somehow gained control of your body and almost jeopardized the mission.”

“I let him…”

“Excuse me…?” Dr. Lite asks, stunned. The two stared at Glitch. “The hell do you mean you let him…?” Asks Otto.

“I-I let him take control of my body…I-I didn’t think he’d-“

“WHAT ON EARTH MADE YOU THINK THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA?!” Yelled Dr. Lite, making Glitch flinch back violently. “I-I…j-just wanted to prove I was good enough…” Said Glitch weakly, hugging his knees close to my chest and beginning to cry. Dr. Lite started feeling guilty for making him feel this way. “G-Glitch…I-I didn’t mean t-…I-I-…” Dr. Lite trails off. He sighs and sits next to him. He discreetly motions for the other two to come over as well. The three sit on the stretcher with him.

“I-Is…there a reason you feel this way…?” Dr. Lite asks softly. Glitch sniffles. “Y-You all have these amazing things about you…th-that make you useful…Dr. Lite, you have your genius mind…Flara, your fire abilities and kindness…Otto, your…well your Otto-ness…”

“Couldn’t have a better quality.” Said Otto softly chuckling, trying to cheer him up or make him laugh.

“I-I don’t have those kinds of qualities. S-Since day one I’ve been nothing but getting in the way. Th-Then you all made me stay back here because you thought I was weak and couldn’t handle it…”

“Th-That’s…that’s not what we did at all…it wasn’t because we thought you were weak. It was because we were concerned…” Said Flara.

“Yeah, man…with all of these nightmares, we thought you just needed a small break from everything. We don’t think you’re weak man. We’ve seen you can hold your own. Can even use your powers to your advantage. Now how’s that weak…? “Said Otto.

“W-Well I guess if you put it like that…b-but Bug said-”

Dr. Lite cuts him off. “Glitch…I’m sorry I yelled at you, and I’m sorry if we made you feel like you weren’t wanted. You’re a valuable member of the team. And don’t let any evil sentient artificial intelligence tell you otherwise.” Dr. Lite reassured.

“S-So is he…gone…?” Glitch asks. “W-Well about that…” Dr. Lite trails off. “He might have escaped the program I made to delete him…”

“W-What?!” Glitch exclaims, worried. “D-Don’t worry! We’ll find him. E-Eventually. I-I can’t guarantee it’ll be soon, but we will find him. We have to. He could be a massive threat to all of Mendax City.”

“S-So what about 8-Ball’s uhm…body…?” Glitch asks. “Oh! Don’t worry! Our one-man cleanup crew always cleans up our mess, so no one knows a thing.” Dr. Lite reassures. “However…”

“However what…?” Glitch asks. “Well he’s supplied the Mendax City gangs supplies, weapons, ammo, and who knows what else. If we don’t do something, this could mean an all out gang war. Hundreds of innocent people could be caught in the crossfire.“ Answers Dr. Lite.

“And who are these gangs…?” Glitch asks. Dr. Lite answers. “Just two. But they’re huge rivals who’d do anything to destroy the other.”

“The gangs are The Graveflock and The Red Arsenal. Their leaders are Azrak and Static.”