HANGMAN, PAYBACK and Fanboy were at full speed in the air. They were on time. They could maintain their speed, but with Hangman in the lead, of course they wouldn't stop. They were pushing those F-18's to the edge.

For Seresin, either his wing would fly with him and accompany him, or stay behind. It was his motto, and he wouldn't change it for a mission.

"Hangman, slow down," Payback said. "The canyon is narrowing."

"Negative, Payback," he replied. "Increase speed."

Without waiting for an answer, Hangman took off in front of the other aircraft. They were ahead of their time, but they were moving away. Damn it! Maverick would piss them off for that.

"You're too fast," he said over the radio.

"It doesn't hurt to be early," hissed Hangman, a smug smile reaching his rosy lips.

He turned into the tight curve of the canyon, maintaining speed, but Payback and Fanboy were no longer behind him. Their F-18 was falling far behind, not even showing up on the radar. Well, Hangman was ahead, at least.

"Damn it, slow down!" asked Payback. "I can't keep the course."

Swerving through the canyons in search of Hangman, Payback didn't realize what was close—just like Coyote's mistake before them.

"Caution!" exclaimed Fanboy. "You're going to crash!"

Hangman was right in front of them. He had slowed down, but without warning them over Payback radio, he had no idea. They almost hit the corner of the tight turn and narrowly missed the other F-18. It was game over for that pair.

◈

PAYBACK would strangle Hangman's smug grin with his bare hands if he didn't stop it in the next few seconds. Having to watch the stupid mistake they'd made was excruciating, making them wonder if they'd really graduated from Top Gun or if their diplomas were electronic system errors.

"What happened?" Maverick asked, pointing to the screen.

"Look, I went as fast as I could," Hangman replied, as if he were innocent in this situation. "As if my life depended on it."

"And you endangered your team and your wingman died," Rooster commented, sitting a row behind Hangman's opposite side.

Bradshaw had his hands clasped in front of him, a sort of victorious smile as Seresin's arrogance again got him into trouble.

"They didn't accompany me."

━━━━━━

10.16.22

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