Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater in any shape, form, or fashion. I do not claim any proffit for this story. It is strictly just a fanfic.
This is an alternate universe ONESHOT, based on the ongoing series of oneshots we have been doing.
Here we introduce one of my Original Characters, whom is a Witch.
Be warned that there is NO SEX in this story! So if you are looking for fap material, turn back now.
"This madness...It's almost to much. How will I carry on? Will I Succumb to the darkness within my mind? How long can I control this blood filled lust?"
Doctor Stein sat within his lab, his right hand up near his temple, his fingers resting idle on the very top of his screw, ready to turn the dial the moment his thoughts began to slip back into madness.
This had been going on for days now, ever since the Kishin had been released from his prison. The madness had been haunting him, always following him, taunting him. Making him see Grotesque things upon his walls, in the mirrors around his home, and even within the face of his lover.
On top of it all, the voices he had withheld in his head since childhood, began to grow louder by each passing day, screaming for him to do things to his loved one, and to himself. 'Kill him. Drag your scalpel across his neck. He won't scream.' 'You can strangle him. He's young, and trusts you. The blood on your hands will feel good, Stein-kun. Like the good old days.'
The doctor turned his screw back three times, the screw making a loud 'click' sound within the hollow walls of the Lab.
The good old days. Nothing was 'good' about those days. Even as a child-hood, Stein was a blood-thirsty monster. Hurting. He always hurt anything that tried to get close to him. It didn't take him long to get a nick-name at the orphanage he lived for most of his childhood.
His golden eyes shut for a moment, his mind falling into that horrible memory.
"You're evil!" a small, blond haired girl screamed at a much younger stein. The boy stood with a Barbie within his hands, the head in one hand, the rest of the body in the other. Steins face was in shock, and he looked very upset.
"I-I didn't mean to!" he cried out, his voice breaking. All he wanted to do was play with the little girl.
"You killed her!" the young girl screamed, her green eyes leaking tears down her rosey red cheeks.
"I-I just wanted to play with you! I didn't mean to hurt her! Please, don't cry!"
His plea when un-heard. The girl busted into whales of inaudible words, and screams.
The young stein had gone into a panic soon after that. He knew, if she where to be herd, the Nuns would come running, and Stein would be beaten severely again, and placed into 'the room.'
In his panic, a small voice made it's way into the boys head, whispering small words to him. "Listen....Listen.." The boy looked around for a moment, his panic stopping. At first, he thought it had been a nun, but it was only him and the young girl in the back-yard.
'If you don't shut her up, you're going to be hurt. Listen to me, I can get her to be quiet. Follow my instructions, and no one will ever know.'
Stein's eyes snapped open from the memories he had fallen into. His face in pure shock for a split moment. Was… the memories resurfacing? Hadn't he locked it away within his mind long ago?
His hand began to turn the screw, but the memories was to fresh to be removed.
Her shocked face, Stein's hand around her neck, the sound of snapping bones, and her limp, silent body.
His first kill.
What a thrill that was.
His mind snapped back to his situation. Alone, in his computer room, the lights off. On the screen in front of him was endless kanji, making little to no sense. He had been there since late that night, and now it was in the evening. He slightly wondered if the others knew he was down here? They most likely did. They must of known he wanted to be left alone, or they where to scared to go down and check on him. He never blamed them for it. His hand's began to fly across the keyboard once more, his mind going back into a state of delusions and whispers.
Along the windy streets, a cold wind blew. Clear. Crisp. It was a beautiful winter day, Jack Frost nipping at the face and every tree was barren of any signs of life. Even the once grassy grounds were now covered in a thick layer of snow and ice as the sky steadily powdered the land with a light sprinkle of snow. A dead wonderland, beautiful in it's own natural way. Most of the neighbors in the area had already left for their vacations, leaving that one house all alone…perfectly isolated.
Steadily, a low rumbling noise came from the distance as a small, beat up looking van pulled up to the side of the drive way. The door slid open and a loud blast of cheap rap music blared into the otherwise quiet air. Sid was carpooling that night for the kids, and this was one of his last stops for the night before everyone's winter break started. The blue skinned man turned, glancing at the last two kids as the spiky haired assassin let out a joyous scream, despite his constant shivering. "VACATION!! WAAHOOO!!!"
The girl who sat next to him, Kiji, was a tiny child, adorned in long tremulous curls of blood red hair. She had two enormous earmuffs on, a hefty sized coat that was awkward to move in, and a scarf that covered almost her entire face, except for her eyes. Under her coat, she wore her normal, feathery dress and stockings, which was a part of why her legs were freezing. Atop her head sat Piyo, her animal familiar, who was currently puffed up from the cold, glaring at everything she could. Yes, Kiji was a witch, but not even Shinigami himself ever considered that about her because, quite frankly, she was as intelligent as a pile of sand and about as innocent as a newborn lamb.
"Okay Black Star. This is your stop. Let's get a move on so I can get home." The na'vi skinned man said as he turned his eyes back to the road. He was planning on making it home to his crib and getting' some sweet TLC from his weapon tonight.
The boy nodded eagerly, glancing to Kiji as he tilted his head. He knew that Spirit, his 'mom', wasn't going to be home for about a week, and would probably miss out on Christmas as well, but the thought of the small girl spending her vacation at home with her abusive brother just made him cringe slightly. All those Mexicans running around? As the boy jumped out of the van and proceeded to stretch his legs, he pointed a thumb over to the girl, snapping her out of her daze for the moment. "HEY weirdo-I MEAN KIJI! How about you spend a week at my place instead of the dump of yours?" The boy let out a smug, cocky grin. "After all, you'll get to have a blast and not be near that Karasu bastard!"
The girl and her chicken frowned. Sure their home was a bit dirty but certainly not a dump? Pushing up her glasses with a mittened hand, she glared slightly. "My niisan a Bastard eh? Well he's just about the same as your 'mom'. A drunken ninnypoo."
The star child gave a disgruntled look before waving a hand at her. "Yeah yeah whatever. Are you stayin or not? I don't have time to sit and wait around for small fry like you."
The chicken girl puffed out her cheeks angrily, about to yell before suddenly beaming. "Do you has corn?"
Giving her an odd look, Black Star nodded. "Uh, yeah but I don't see ho-"
"YAAYYYY!~" The girl screamed, jumping out of the van, immediately sinking 3 feet into the snow from her heavy metal boots. With a wave, sid drove off as the two children conversed in the yard, Black Star trying to heave her out of the snow.
The Doctor's fingers began to slow down slightly, a hand shooting up to his screw. A few clicks, and his mind began to return to its normal state...or what you could call normal for him. Within the silence of his prison, he began to feel a small pulling at his chest. Not from an outside source, no, more from an inside. This feeling, like a small pain, that he use to feel offend within his doors. His mind shot to his lover, a smile crossing the doctors face for a moment. Those wonderful blue eyes, that fire red hair, and that body. But alas, His lover had to leave him for a while. The pain in his chest began to grow more, his yellow eyes locking onto the screen. The feel of loneness and longing was taking over. He would never admit it, but he missed Spirit when he was away. He missed him when he went out to get some milk, and when he went away for a few days. He even missed him when he locked himself within his lab, in fear of hurting the one he loved. With a shake of his sliver locks, he took a breath, and went back to his work, trying to drive the thought of sadness out of his mind.
After some time, Black Star had managed to heft the small bird-like child out of the snow after much strain that had he himself baffled for a while. After enjoying a small snow ball fight in which the girl kept sinking into the snow once more, the boy had come up with an ingenious plan. Since Kiji's boots were so large and heavy, he decided to use her to help him shovel the snow out of the walk ways. Not only would he get a chore done, but he'd be training his strength as well in the process. Soon he was dragging the child by her armpits up and down the driveway, much to the girl's enjoyment as she kept giggling loudly from being tickled, socking the star child in the jaw occasionally. After a while, he had finished, collapsing for a moment or two onto the cleaned pavement, huffing loudly as Kiji bent over to stare at him in wonder.
"Hey Blacky? Why are you tired?" She inquired, tilting her head a few times.
The boy gave no answer, just glaring at the girl as he panted on the ground, covered in sweat, wondering to himself just how in the world SHE could handle wearing those 24/7 and act like it was no problem! Secretly, his mind wondered if she was a Kishin…or a ninja…Or a NINJA KISHIN!?
Eventually the cold snapped Black Star out of his reverie and into reality, sending him standing upright and shaking like a leaf.
Soon the door opened…then closed. Children's voices filled the house as foot steps thudded about above stein's lab, along with a heavy clanking thud of metal boots, and the scratching of tiny chicken feet.
"If I where to take this... and put it there... Would it...? No. The compounds wouldn't be right." Stein's hands began to move over the keyboard quickly, his hands working as quickly as his brain. Small voices from behind his ears where whispering odd things, but he chose to ignore it. Slowly, he began to grow more consternated on the screen, all attention pulled into it. "So, if I move this... and combined it wi-" he stopped, his ears picking up the sound of a opining door, then the sound of little feet moving from up stairs. He gave a cringe, knowing that his 'son' had come home.
Now, he was very fond of Black*Star, and cared for him deeply, but with his current state-of-mind, he didn't trust himself to be near the other all that much, nor the small kids he seemed to bring home at pure random. Pushing away from his computer a bit, his chair began to make a squeaking sound as the wheels moved.
Black Star was busy taking off his shoes, the thawed snow sloshing out and onto the floor as he flashed the chicken girl a devious grin. Soon the boy's stench hit the girl like a brick to the face, her nose scrunching as she backed away from the smelly boy. Piyo's feathers puffed up on end as she began to cluck loudly at the star clan boy, as if chastising him.
"HAHAHA! What's wrong bird brain? Can't take the smell of a MAN?" The boy laughed loudly, stripping his socks off and wiggling his feet at her.
"Man no! You smell like a BUTT!" The girl said, gasping for air.
The boy responded by standing up and waving a sock at her. "A MANLY BUTT!"
"GET AWAY FROM MEEE NOOO"
Soon stein could hear the screams of Kiji as several things were moved through the house, the two children running around it as Black Star chased the girl around, flinging his sweaty socks like weapons and making cool ninja sounds.
Stein growled slightly, as their sounds began to grow louder. After a few moments, the sounds where to loud to ignore. The Doctor began to grow a bit agitated with their sounds. "noisy children." he could tell by the screams it was black*Star, and his little girl friend, Kiji. "So..noisy." with a kick of his shoe, he pushed himself upwards, his chair moving at very high speeds. He made his way though the house, attempting to find the others.
Soon there was a heavy thud, followed by murderous screams of agony, or what sounded like agony anyways, followed by triumphant cackling and angry clucking. The boy had tackled the witch, pinning her down as he forced the sweaty socks over the girl's nose and mouth. The poor girl gagged and screamed, flailing miserably around on the floor as her senses were invaded by this...horrible...putrid...FILTHY...STENCH!!
The chicken had a large anger vein on her head, clucking madly and pecking at Black Star's head as he simply laughed it off, sitting ontop of the poor girl with a knee on either side of her tiny yet poofy framed waist.
Piyo knew better then to beat the sense into Black Star, especially in the infamous witch-hater's house. Oh no. She'd wait until later to get her vengeance for what the boy was doing to her poor sister.
Like a phantom, Stein had found the children, a frown falling onto his face. He had found the source of the noise. With a turn of his chair, he moved his elbow up, and proceeded to lug it into the side of Black*Stars jaw. Not enough to do real damage, just enough to send him to the ground. "You're being noisy." his voice was low, almost dangerous. "Keep it down." He did a few spins in his chair, and then came to a stop, his glasses falling down his face slightly, yellow eyes peeping over the brim.
The boy let out a grunt as he fell off of the girl and onto the floor. Immediately, the red head was on her feet, waddling behind the doctor as she gasped for air, chicken now proudly atop her head. Looking up with watery eyes from the previous stench, she blinked her odd red and yellow hues up at the scientist before wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "Thank you Stein doctor man teacher sensei!"
Black Star frowned before smiling slightly, rubbing his jaw as he sat back up on the floor. In truth he smelled horrid, and he knew it. But he also enjoyed teasing his friends, and personally torturing Kiji. "Aww Daaad. I was having funnn."
The Doctor looked a bit surprised by the hug, his eyes lighting up slightly. The girl was warm, and smelled of corn. He moved his eyes to her, a small smile crossing it. "Kiji, my dear..." his smile felt his face. "It may be in your best interest, and heath, to let go of me." he looked to Black Star a moment later. "Then have fun quietly."
"But there aint no fun in bein' QUIET!" Black Star growled slightly, playfully egging his adoptive father on. He enjoyed sparring with the madman and often flapped his gums far too much in order to get the man to take a swing at him. The star child hoped to eventually surpass the scientist one day, then he would be one step closer to his ultimate goal of stardom.
The freckled girl blinked curiously, her fingers twitching on the doctor's coat as her brain fought with itself on whether or not to actually do as she was instructed. Part of her wanted to be a good girl and obey, but another part of her thought that he was putting off some odd vibes, which her mind deemed as 'echoey sadeningness'. So with a small pout, she let go, but still managed to ask out loud. "Is Mister Stein okee?" She glanced to the ground and then back up. "You look all...sad faced inside."
Black Star laughed at Kiji's grammar and speaking. Even if she didn't mean to, the girl always made the boy bust a gut when hanging out.
The Scientist moved his head down, giving off a glare to his glasses. "I'm fine, Kiji." He had known the girl was very good at reading people, but he would rather not share his inner-most-thoughts with a 14 year old girl. "Black Star, just keep it down up here."
He moved up slightly, a horrible grin crossing his face. "Or I'll have to remove that pesky tongue of yours, so you can't make anymore annoying sounds."
The boy gave a slightly surprised look before flicking his tongue out, as if testing the man. "NyAaaAAh~ I'd like to see you try OLD MAN!" The boy yelled, mouth cocking into his own grin, muscles tensing, ready to run at the drop of a hat.
The chicken girl had wide eyes at the man's comment, giving an adorably confused look as her chicken eyed Black Star. 'That boy is going to get himself into trouble tonight...I just feel it.' The bird thought, poofing up her chest feathers before settling down. The girl gave a small tug to Stein's coat, lips pursed. "How do you git rid o someone's tongue?"
Both Black Star and Piyo gawked at the girl's question.
His brain began to grow dark, his mind refusing to process words. Reaching up, he began to turn his screw, until a loud 'click' came from it, as if it was clicking in place. His eyes lit up slightly after, a twisted grin crossing the others face. With a kick, he jumped off his chair, the chair itself rolling down the hall, and hitting the wall. He kept his eyes on Black*Star, his hands began to make a cracking sound.
Black Star's eyes widened slightly as he took a step back, his composure faltering for a split second. Although small in comparison, it would have shown up as a huge gap to the others...well maybe not Kiji. The star clan child glimpsed slightly to the poultry girl, whose eyes were transfixed onto stein's electric hands as she made a quiet "ooooo~". Black Star grunted, forcing a smirk onto his face as he took another step back.
Stein began to advance on the boy. His intention to kill very very clear. He said nothing, but the air began to grow heavy around him and the others. That twisted grin grew larger, and so did his eyes. He came to a stop, after backing Black*Star up into a wall, or sort-of-a-wall, his hands now fully engulfed in electricity. With a quick movement, he attempted to strike for his chest.
The boy let out a shriek, pressing himself to the hallway, his knees bending up in fear. Suddenly there was a very loud cracking noise as a large pan hurled through the air, cracking the scientist upside the head.
Stein connected with the boy's chest, sending a large shock throughout his body. He would of kept it up, to kill him, but he was hit with a large pan. His body shifted lightly, his hand falling, blood trickling down his head, and a bit out of his mouth (as he had bit down on his tongue from it). He turned around, his eyes set on them both. ". . ."
The two stood there with a surprised expression, the small girl and fowl immediately pointing at each other in silent blame. Black Star had gurgled in pain as his chest heaved painfully.
From one overly powerful jolt, stein had caused some serious internal bleeding, a ruptured lung, and severe hemorrhaging. The boy's eyes were barely open as he slowly slumped over, falling onto the floor as he tried his best to yell for Kiji to run...leap...sprint...break-dance on the roof or at least SOMETHING!
He lifted up a hand, and began to turn that screw. One kick, two, three.... he came to a stop at six. He laughed lightly "Soshite ima , anata wa shinu . " (and now, you die.) He made a quick movement, his hand grabbing both her and Pyio's face. He pushed a bit, sending electric waves though their bodies.
Kiji's eyes widened when her face was grabbed, lips pursing slightly in confusion as Piyo let out a squawk of anger. In seconds, Kiji was being charred from the inside out, mouth open slightly. Slowly she started to let out a low groaning noise, which soon escalated into a glass shattering, inhuman mix of a squawk and scream, yet the girl made no move to retaliate...no, she was far too confused, scared, and in pain to do so.
Piyo on the other hand, was spazzing out, feathers puffed on end as her talons clawed at the hand that was wrapped around her, looking all for the world like a rabid cotton ball.
He kept his hand there for a little bit longer, just enough to shut them both up. Moments later, he let go of them both, moving away, His eyes moved to Black*Star, then back to the girl and her chicken. "Your sounds annoy me." his smile turned into a frown. "..Black*Star.." he purred, his eyes never leaving the girl. "Stay down."
The girl fell to her knees, face burnt up yet still with a confused look on her face. Her eyes, which had glossed over with a thick film, lolled about in her head for a moment before one of them gave a cross eyed glance at Stien. To her, he appeared as mere blobs of color, her hearing was in shitty condition as well, partly because of the high pitched ringing in her ear drums as they bled slightly. She let out almost a sob, slowly reaching a gloved hand out to the ground, feeling for her sister.
Black Star watched, mortified, as that poor girl tried to find Piyo. Sure she was a freak and a nerd, but she didn't deserve that. What the hell crawled up his dad's ass and died? With a wheezing, gurgling breath, the boy pushed himself up off of the ground, his voice hoarse and deadly low. "...stein...no..."
He smiled at the girl a bit. How lovely she looked, all bloody and sobbing. What a treat it would be to slice into her. He turned his head lightly, giving Black*Star a sideways glance. "If you attempt to move, I will kill you." he moved his body around soon after, a grin crossing his face. "And then, I'll have to dissect you."
"Fine!" The boy spat out, glaring weakly at the madman, his lips curled into a snarl. "Go ahead, kill me, cut me open 'daddy'." He said in a mockingly sarcastic yet sweet tone, trying to breathe properly as he stood up. He leaned a hand on the wall, his other coming up to his own face in his usual beckoning 'bring it on' gesture. "In the end. Sure I'll be dead...but it'll hurt you more, idiot." Black*Star coughed violently a few times, crimson liquids splattering out of his mouth in copious amounts.
The star child took a step closer, smirking slightly. "In the end, you're only proving that you're weak...weaker then me even." The boy jeered, "Mom leaves for a couple weeks, and you can't even handle it. Well guess what, mom aint gunna be happy when he finds out you murdered your own son and one of his friends."
He stopped for a moment, his eyes locking onto the boy. He had been right about that. He had lost control, and he had been taking it out on the others. Without Spirit around to keep him under-control, he was no better then the Kishin he had killed. He sighed shaking his head lighty, his hair falling into his face, giving off a dark, and gloomy look. He reached up slowly, and began to crack his screw. "I need to get you some help." he smiled a bit. "I may of messed you both us pretty bad." he moved away from them both, moving to one of the windows, he began to breath on it. Soon he wrote Shimi's number on it, awaiting his face to appear. He knew he would be angry with Stein, but it was better to not let the kids die.
The boy gave a slightly shocked look, staring at Stein as he frowned slightly. Slowly, he limped over to his adoptive father, staring seriously up at him with a frown. As soon as the window began to ripple, the boy hightailed it out of Stein's range, not because he was fearful of Stein...nono. He was afraid of getting in the way as Shinigami flips out. Black*Star sat down, or more like collapsed, next to Kiji. Handing Piyo to the distressed child, the witch hugged the bird like she was a stuffed animal, crying into her fluffy down.
Shinigami appeared in the mirror, curious as to why Stein had called when it was so close to Christmas. Death the kid could be seen in the background, nibbling on gingerbread and drinking eggnog with Liz and Patty. "Stein kun? Wh-" The death god was cut short as he gazed at the spatters of blood on the floor, and the dried blood crusted on the doctor's mouth. His voice became a bit more serious. "...Stein?"
Stein looked up to the Death God. He had nothing to say to him. No, he only moved out of the way, and pointed at the kids now lying on the floor. At least they where all breathing. His own body language began to show a sign of 'I'm sorry' and 'Fix it.' He knew if he where to speak, whatever he said, would only piss off Shimi more. Sliding against the wall, he made way, if Shimi wanted to come into the house. He gave off a small bit of fear, knowing he was going to get his ass kicked.
Slowly the death god kept his gaze locked onto Stein, the eyes of his mask furrowing into a deep, serious stare. "Kid...go to your room with Liz and Patty." His voice was as hard as stone. The young shinigami gave a startled look, a cookie hanging from his mouth as he gave a nod. "Yes father.", he mumbled with a full mouth as he scampered off to his bedroom in his black skulled footy pajamas, weapons following close behind.
The doctor kept his back to the wall, knowing that tone all to well. He had used it on Stein once before, and that was from his first Kill. He had gotten out of the beating from crying, and begging. But he was only 12 at the time. Now, he was 25, and that wasn't going to work. Even so, his face was in deep sadness and regret. The voices where whispering to him, but as of now, he didn't care. He looked like a child who just broke his toy.
Slowly, the reaper stepped out of the window and into the room. Shimi gave a glance to the children, whom were unconscious now, and shook his head. He walked over to Stein, making sure he was quick enough to back the man into a corner as a huge gloved hand crashed into the wall, right beside the scientists head, making a crater in it. His figure was looming over the man, blocking out most of the light in the dim room, his eyes glowing in a deep angry red. "Stein..." His voice gruff and low, almost growled out as death sama eyed the childish man down.
He let out a small squeak, as he was backed into the wall, his eyes widening as Shinigami became enraged. He darted his eyes to the crater beside his head, and then back to the Death God. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He was very frightened, and it was showing all over his face. He felt like he was 12 again, in Shimigami's room, covered in blood. But back then, Shinigami thought the young boy was a blessing. "S...sorry." was all he could get out. It was a cracked, low whisper of a sorry.
The death god leaned in, his hand retreating out of the hole in the wall as it moved forward, literally grabbing Stein's upper body in it, hoisting the fearful man into the air so that that he was face to fa-err mask. "Sorry...Is that all you can say?" Shinigami growled, pressing the man higher and crushing him into the wall a bit, not enough to kill him, but just to cause tremendous pain. "That seems to be all you ever say. Sorry doesn't fix people. Sorry doesn't bring lives back from the past." His voice was slowly rising.
Stein was scared. He was very, very frightened. From the combination of the now excruciating pain in his body, to the fear of Shinigami's rath, he had known he was going to regret this night, for the rest of his life. Upon the corners of his eyes, a few tears sprang up, glistening in what light was left. He began to shake a bit, showing he was in total fear. He couldn't bring himself to udder any words. What could he say? He had done wrong.
Shinigami pressed a bit harder before letting the man drop down to the ground. He knew he couldn't give in like he always did...no. He had to actually punish the man this time, but even if he did, it wouldn't stop the insanity within Stein. Glaring slightly down at the pitiful lump of quivering fear, the man that struck that very same fear into others, he sighed. "Stein...I may have been lenient on you for many years, but I can't always be there to bail you out. You must learn...You have been doing worse then even the orphanage put you through. Life isn't something you can just rip away whenever you feel like it, just because you are angry at the world for your own miserable life, angry at yourself as well." His words bit through the air like a hot knife through butter.
The doctor got to his feet after being dropped, but kept his golden eyes to the floor. What could he say? Shinigami was right. He had been taking his own anger out on everything, and everyone else. But within his own mind set, he could. Why? The world had fucked him over, and fucked him up. He was a bustard child of a God who didn't care, and a mother who never wanted him. He was thrown into hell when he was born, just to watch him squirm. And in a sense, a lot of it was Shinigami's fault, but he'd never openly speak it. He gulped loudly, attempting to keep his fear mind set. But the voices where growing louder.
Shinigami gave a heavy sigh to the man who kept silent. "Stein...this will be for your own good." With that said, a heavy hand rose up and smacked down onto the scientist like a blur, hitting the right spot in the doctor's neck to temporarily send the man unconscious.
The man let out a squeak of pain, and fell to the floor, his body crumbling. He saw only a slight blur, then the floor. He laid on his side, his arms curled slightly, his legs following suit. Merry Christmas, Stein.
That night, Spirit came home, arms full of presents and soul full of cheer, to a bloody and empty house.
The next morning, Christmas day...and Black Star was in the hospital with Kiji...
Spirit was weeping his eyes out...and Stein? Well... He was put in 'the room' all night, and ordered to take classes for self control in a 6 week course...Merry Christmas indeed.