"You ever wonder why they even bother with schools and the like?" asked the old man I had befriended in a run-down bar in my exploration of New York.
"It's to keep a façade of order," the stranger said shortly after, not allowing me to respond properly.
"It's all so they can say, 'hey, the world may have gone to hell with a handbasket, people may get killed in the streets cause you sneezed wrong on someone, but at least your kids still go to school and you still have a job'."
Mukta Chalaka, Diary of a Traveller.
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
Chapter 4: Bandages and Books, Nurses and Witches
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
"Hi."
"Hello."
An hour had passed ever since the stranger turned up on their door. Much to Maka's and Kid's confusion the adults knew her. Mira Naigus, the woman's full name, was now huddled up in a makeshift bed at the lowest level of the house, a windowless room filled with trinkets and little extra furniture, with only a naked bulb casting a warm light against the wood-lined walls. Despite the room being a glorified basement, there wasn't a musky smell in the air, or a lot of dust for that matter; strangely enough it was the upper levels of the house that were the most neglected.
The bandaged woman gave Kid a long look. "You're Marie and Azusa's boy."
The teen, holding a plastic case and a glass of water, gave her an apprehensive look. "They're the ones who looked after me ever since I was young, yes."
"What's your name?"
"Kid."
The woman snorted. "Sure."
"I'm not joking."
Mira gave him a flat look. "Let me guess, Azusa?"
"From what I've been told, she and Marie couldn't come up with a name so they went with Kid which inadvertently stuck."
The woman gave him a teasing smile, or at least that's what Kid assumed was her expression, as the majority of her face was covered with bandages.
"Anyways, I brought some painkillers, along with some salve and clean bandages," Kid said as he handed Mira the glass while opening the plastic box to reveal a variety of medical supplies.
"Thank you," the woman said as the boy carefully placed the water next to her.
"Do you want help?"
"I've worked as a nurse. I can handle this."
Kid handed her the first-aid kit, his movements stiffer than normal because of his apprehension. Mira seemed to notice his behaviour, but her attention then focused behind the teen.
"Also, you can tell Azusa I don't bite. In this state I can't hurt any of you, even you Kid."
"I believe it's best if I take that as a compliment, Miss Naigus. Goodnight."
As Kid went up the staircase to the main floor of the house, he passed his two guardians who were going down. Marie gave the boy a warm smile while Azusa acknowledged him with a nod. Kid reciprocated the gestures, seemingly going up the stairs at his bedroom.
The moment the two women turned around the corner to go to the bandaged woman's makeshift bed, Kid stopped his ascend, back pressed against the wooden wall.
"So..." Marie's voice came from the corner. "Why are you here?"
"I… I had no other place to go."
"Funny how that works-" That was Azusa.
"Azusa…" It was Marie again. "Don't worry Mira you'll be safe here, at least for a while."
"The sooner you leave the better."
"… I can't… I can't go back."
Curious about Mira's mysterious statement, Kid peered from beyond the corner.
Marie gave Azusa a worried look before focusing back on the bandaged woman. "What happened last night?"
"There was a raid planned."
"The one the note…?"
"Yes."
Kid froze in the background and gulped.
"The kids… good grief, Maka and Kid, they could have been…" Marie's voice trailed off.
"Sid is gone."
Marie gasped and Azusa's shoulders stiffened. "Oh no…"
"How?"
"One of the Gorgons was there. She attacked us and I told Sid we had to retreat but he… He was a proud man. He didn't want to back down from a fight."
"So he…?"
"The Witch got him on the shoulder and he dropped me."
"You didn't transform back into human form," Kid heard Azusa, her tone was softer than before.
"I was afraid. Had I done so I would be dead as well, or at least as dead as can anyone be these days… But the result is the same." Naigus let out a hollow laugh. "My Meister is dead so I might as well dig my own grave now-"
"Mira you can't say that!"
The foreign woman scoffed. "Then what-?"
"Until you get better, you stay here," Azusa spoke up. "After that, however, feel free to never contact us again. Spirit may be willing to help but I would be highly doubtful. No matter how he acted then or now, Kami was the one he loved most besides his own daughter."
"She can stay with us for longer!"
Kid saw Azusa gave her roommate a cold frown. "She can't. We're being watched."
The blonde let out a small huff. "Worst case scenario, we can easily take the caretakers out."
"And get the council on our case."
"Then we leave this place! We still have connections, we can use them to cross the Pacific-"
"From where? From Mexico? From them?"
Marie stumbled in her words. "We… we can always try. We're Deathscythes, we have every right to!"
"Not after what happened fifteen years ago we can't. You know the rumours. They blame us for the operation's failure."
"Not everyone! We could go underground, Tezca will help-"
"What if we get discovered? What about Kid, Marie?"
The blonde stayed silent.
"Our best option so far is to stay in the capital and lay low. Too many people on watch and too few caretakers."
An awkward silence ensued between the three females. Kid was thinking about going back up, but Mira's following words caught his attention.
"…I wish the mission was a success."
Marie tilted her head. "Didn't your raid fail?"
"On our front. We were a distraction."
"But you were at the frontlines! You basically fought with the Council!"
"…You weren't the only team." Azusa stated, her voice assuming this semi-frantic though whenever she'd caught on a lead. "Your group was to distract the most powerful members, that means you had a second, maybe third team sneaking into the library-"
"Yes. Finding the book was of utmost importance."
"There we go with that book again." Marie crossed her arms. "What's so important about it anyways? The academy has enough books as it is."
Naigus looked at the Scandinavian woman in disbelief. "You don't know?"
"We weren't told," Azusa answered in a matter-of-factly tone. "Apparently, we are not trusted enough."
"That's stupid. Trusted or not, you three were our strongest…" the woman clutched her sheets. "It's called the Book of Eibon."
"Eibon?"
"I remember reading about him back at the Academy," Azusa noted. "He was a powerful magic user, seemingly ageless."
The Scandinavian woman blinked in surprise. "A male Witch?"
"From what I've read no, even though he could perform magic."
"What's so special about his book?"
Azusa placed her hand on her chin in thought. "I don't know much... The book was written in an unknown language and both sides don't know how to decipher it-"
Kid frowned from his hiding place. It made no sense. From what little he'd peeked into the Book before the sisters got him, the text was perfectly understandable. Perhaps a bit too eloquent and archaic for Kid's taste, but not indecipherable.
"-but recently we uncovered a few notes from Eibon himself. Using those, the High Priest was able to translate bits and pieces of the manuscripts."
"Wait you have a manuscript?" Marie looked positively lost. "Then why do you need the book in the first place?"
"I don't know. I think the manuscript is incomplete."
"That means you're looking for a specific passage of the book right?"
Naigus looked away. "I don't know how much of this I should be saying…"
"Come on Mira," Marie pleaded. "We're on your side, you know that."
"Can't help you if you can't help us," Azusa offered.
If anything, Naigus looked even more conflicted. She kept her gaze away from Marie's pleading look and Azusa's curious frown, instead choosing to play with the ends of her bandages.
Seconds passed.
"We think the book contains information…"
"Of what kind?"
"Of the being that can kill the Kishin once and for all."
Marie looked away ruefully. "There's no such thing now."
"But the High Priest believes the book has it. How to end the Kishin's reign once and for all."
Azusa's eyes widened in realization "No… You can't mean…"
Kid held his breath.
"How to revive the Grim Reaper."
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
"Hey Kid," muttered Maka from beneath her covers. "Where have you been?"
"Helping Azusa and Marie."
Maka let out a tired sigh. "Everything ok?"
Kid hesitated. "Yes," he forced himself to say. "Miss Naigus will be staying here until she gets better." The boy lay on the pulled and pulled the covers over his small frame. "I hope we don't get another visitor. I'll barely get enough sleep as it is."
"Yeah, don't you have school and what not…?"
"If you want to call that education then sure," Kid grumbled. "Goodnight. Hopefully we won't have any life-endangering activities tomorrow."
"When you get up, wake me up as well."
"So you can prepare to meet again with the oh-so-mysterious Soul~?"
Maka muttered a muffled response resembling a "shut up Kid."
The boy however didn't reply, his mind wandering back to the conversation he'd eavesdropped. Mira knew Marie, Azusa and Spirit for many years… before Maka was born and before the women adopted Kid. All of them were part of a group, a school of sorts… one specialising in Meisters and Weapons? Most likely. He had no idea what 'Deathscythe' stood for though; maybe a term to refer to powerful Weapons?
Then there was the operation at the library. The book Kid and Maka got from the humans… they must have been part of Naigus' group.
And then there was the proverbial elephant in the room. The mysterious organisation's goal. Reviving the Grim Reaper.
Kid had always felt this world was wrong. People's souls weren't supposed to be eaten. And though there were people that agreed with the boy, they always argued about good and evil. No, the reason why Kid felt so strongly about the souls was something more instinctual something he hadn't managed to pin down yet. To him it wasn't about ethics. It was about an inherent, primordial notion of order. The souls weren't supposed to be eaten in the first place. Instead…
The 'new world order' came fifteen years ago. Azusa mentioned the previous 'order' once but then got quiet.
When Kid first heard it, it seemed so right. People came into this world. Hopefully they grow up. They learn more things about the world, maybe have children, love, have friends etc. But that wouldn't last forever. At some point their body would get damaged. It could be anything; an accident, disease, or even time. The damage would be beyond repair. The body wouldn't be able to function to sustain life.
So they die. The body breaks down, but the soul is protected and… moves on.
Death. The end of life. The concept felt so right...
These people were trying to revive Death, no matter how ironic it sounded. And this information was contained on the Book and the notes he and Maka had basically stolen.
Should he tell them? Kid didn't trust the Naigus woman much, but he trusted Azusa and Marie more than anyone else. These two raised him through the good, the bad and the ridiculous.
His eyelids felt heavy.
Maybe he should think more about it later and get some sleep now. After all, he had school tomorrow…
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
Morning came to the city, the cackling sun towering over the Earth. Its raspy laugh resounded through the collapsing rooftops, bloodied walls, echoing through cheap plaster until it reached a cracked window in a dull brown slum, causing a particular dark haired boy to shift in his covers.
"Already?"
The boy let out a small yawn, threw the covers away and sat hunched on the bed. He let out a low mumble as he rubbed his back and stretched, bones popping into place.
"Oi, Maka," he mumbled rubbing the sleep off his eyes. "You awake?"
He was greeted with a low rumbling sound.
"Probably not. What time…" Groggily he walked towards the window, leaning down so he could get a clear view of the sky, to see the tip of one of the sun's spikes popping out of the opposite low building.
Letting out another small yawn the boy took the backpack next to his bed. It took a bit more effort to lift it up than usual but Kid chalked it to his lack of energy. The boy passed through a snoring Spirit on the sofa and headed to the kitchen where he saw a familiar blonde-haired woman.
"Morning," Kid greeted.
"Good morning Kid!" the woman said happily. "And how are you today?"
"M'fine," Kid muttered, rubbing the sleep off his eyes.
"Good," Marie said and turned her attention to the stove and frowned. "Our stove's having a bad day though, so breakfast will take longer, I'm sure you being a bit late-"
Kid gave her a wide-eyed look and the woman let out a small sigh.
"Come on Kid, it'll be five minutes!" the woman said with worry. A metaphorical light bulb went off in her head and she placed a hand on the boy's shoulders, looking in the distance like a proud warrior. "You must have breakfast if you want to grow up big and strong-!"
"I'm not five," Kid sighed as he tried to move away from Marie's steely grip but to no avail. "Besides I have been having breakfast and I still look like a matchstick."
The woman gave him a comforting rub on the back and another cheerful smile. "Well a lot of boys your age are still developing-"
"A sick matchstick."
"Come on now Kid, you're too hard on yourself," Marie said as she patted the boy on the head. The moment she let go, Kid's hands immediately went to his hair to fix any stray strands on their place.
"I'll just have some milk," the teen conceded and headed for the small fridge nestled under a counter.
The woman's frame slumped in defeat before going towards the cupboard to get a mug. "You're determined to be on time, aren't you?"
Kid placed his hands on his hips and gave his guardian a scandalised look. "First of all, that'd cause me to arrive at a time later than eight which is unacceptable! Plus they might ask questions and considering the fact we're sheltering fugitive, I might as well try to be as inconspicuous as possible." True to his word, Kid did whatever he could to look as uninteresting and seemingly obedient as possible. The teen arrived on the clock at 8 outside the school gates -though a major part of it was due to his symmetry obsession- studied for the subjects, and dressed in formal hand-me-downs to uphold the dress code, which very few did.
"Me and Azusa are tough nuts," Marie chuckled, looking out the window. "I mean, whew, we've done some crazy things, you wouldn't believe…" her voice died midway through the sentence, but she soon turned to Kid with renewed vigour. "What I'm trying to say is that you don't have to worry about us. We worry about you, ok?"
"Especially after the stunt you pulled with Maka yesterday," came a familiar voice through the entrance to the kitchen causing Marie to jump in her seat and swiftly turned around, hands clenched, only to see a familiar face.
"Good grief Azusa, how do you keep sneaking up on people?!" the woman exclaimed as she let out a breath she didn't realize was holding.
"You're still grounded for that young man," Azusa gave Kid a stern look before rummaging one of the cupboards for some coffee.
"Good morning to you as well," Kid greeted his second guardian with the same lack of enthusiasm. Azusa had already been dressed in one of her proper formal suits, though her dishevelled hair showed she had just gotten out of bed. Nevertheless, the woman projected her aura of authority, which Kid had gotten used to and Marie was cheerfully oblivious to.
The woman pulled a packet out of the cupboard and gave the teen one of her usual stares. "Eat your breakfast Kid."
Kid drunk a bit from his glass. "I'm having milk."
"That's barely breakfast."
"I'm not hungry."
"You never are hungry!" Marie exclaimed. "I swear it was worse when you were little- We practically had to force-feed you-"
"I know, you've told me that a hundred and eighty-seven times," Kid said before taking a few big gulps and emptying the glass.
Marie sighed in resignation. "At least get something to eat before lunch."
"An apple," Azusa took the red fruit from the bowl and put it in Kid's front pocket on his backpack.
"I'll be fine," the teen muttered before pulling on his backpack and headed towards the door. "Goodbye."
"Have a great day at school Kid!"
"Be careful."
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
"Now class, the 31 of October is a few months away! I know you are all excited about the life festival! The Kishin council has allowed us to partake in the festivities! I urge, especially you who were born in a life free of Death, to show your enthusiasm for this momentous 16th annual celebration! Don't forget to study though!"
History class was the worst. Or at least Kid's worst. A C- test neatly folded away under his lap only added insult to injury.
Kid opened his locker -the combination was 8888- and took off his backpack. So far he needn't open his bag yet; he had left the history book at school and the last time he took notes in that class the teen almost had a meltdown because he couldn't get the t's precise and perfect enough. Or any other letter for that matter.
…Kid wasn't fond of his handwriting.
"Hey you!"
Whatever positive mood he had vanished like a wisp of smoke.
"If it isn't Kim Diehl," Kid uttered as he turned around to face the pink-haired Witch. With some surprise, he noted the presence of another girl following close behind the Witch.
"You know each other?" the unknown girl asked.
"The Grand Witch occasionally feels the need to force her machinations on me. Are you her new lackey?" He said at the dark-haired girl, which earned him a minor scowl.
Kim's eyes widened. "What'd you call me you little brat?!"
"Can I help you?" Kid asked with frustration while digging through his backpack's front pockets for his modest snack.
Kim snorted and leaned onto the wall for support, hands crossed. "Did 'ya hear?"
"Hear what?"
"Someone attacked the library yesterday."
Kid raised an eyebrow. "Did they now? And who's they?"
"No idea. The lower level Witches and Kishin Eggs have bent over backwards trying to find a culprit but they only thing they got was a body of some random dude…"
Kid let out a passive hum as he brought out the apple Azusa had given him.
"People say something else was stolen as well."
"Fascinating," the boy replied in a flat tone, now preoccupied with munching his fruit.
"A book…" Kim said eerily, before switching back to her usual tone, "got no idea why everyone's so worried about some paper though. Whoever caused that mess didn't seem like the reading type."
Kid didn't bother with a response, instead taking another bite out of the apple. Silence fell between the teens, one that the boy didn't react to but Kim seemed progressively more annoyed.
"You wouldn't happen to be involved now, would ya?"
Kid choked on his bite, hitting his sternum to get the food out of his airway, and then making it enter the right path this time. "What the hell makes you say that?"
"Gee Kid, your folk don't have the best of reputations-"
"And as you are aware my family and I are under probation because of that, so doing something this reckless would be idiotic at best and suicidal at worst."
Kim let out a small laugh. "Like getting past the caretakers is a difficult thing."
Kid responded with a glare.
Jacqueline looked away and Kim gave him a pout. "Jeez loosen up, it was a joke."
"I can feel my mood lifted already."
"Don't care. Now gimme your lunch, I forgot to get some."
Kid pointed at the half-eaten apple. "That is my lunch and I don't believe you're a fan of half-eaten fruit."
Kim let out an annoyed huff, instead heading towards the school's cafeteria. Jacqueline took a step to follow Kim but then abruptly stopped, focusing her gaze on Kid.
"What?"
"Would you do it?"
"Excuse me?"
"If you had the chance. If there were no caretakers, no Kishin Council looming over you and your family; would you fight against them?"
"That'd be something to look forward to."
"So you won't answer the question?"
"I don't have much of a choice."
The girl gave him a disappointed look and walked away. Kid eyed her until she met up with Kim who was now ganging up on some other poor soul.
The boy leaned back on the hallway's wall, adjusting his backpack so it was hanging from one shoulder. Strangely enough, it did feel heavier than usual.
Maybe the weight was an illusion. Kid rotated his shoulders.
Nope. The bag was definitely heavier than normal.
Eventually curiosity got the best of him. Kid crouched placed the apple core carefully on the floor with the intention of disposing it after uncovering the mystery of the extra weight. He ran the zip along the bag's surface, splitting it open and allowing a view of its contents.
Kid's blood ran cold.
Instead of the usual textbooks and barely used notepads, Kid's bag contained an array of hastily stuffed papers. Upon their aged surface were finely handwritten curved symbols translating to a style Kid first read last night…
The bag was hastily zipped back. The teen felt a bead of cold sweat ran down his temple.
How on Earth could he have forgotten the Book's notes were on his backpack?!
"Oi, you!"
Kid turned around immediately to come face to face with another man. He was tall and muscled, brown cropped hair on top of an angular face. "Kid, right?" The most prominent feature was the man's white garbs. A caretaker's uniform.
"Cat got your tongue boy?" The man sneered. "You're Kid right?"
"Yes."
"Lady Medusa wants to see you. Now."
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
"This is the way to the nurse's office," Kid noted with apprehension. His grip was tight on his backpack, carefully staying a few paces away from the white-clothed man.
"No shit."
"Why are we going there? I'm not sick."
"Good. Healthy souls taste better," he grunted. "Also shut up."
The man straightened as they reached a plain white door, the words Infirmary engraved on it. He knocked once then twice, before opening the door and heading in, shoving Kid in front of him.
"Lady Medusa, I brought the boy."
First thing Kid noticed was the dim nature of the room. The curtains were drawn, preventing any sunlight coming in the small enclosed room. In the corner, Kid could make out a medications cupboard, and a lone bed in the corner. It seemed like the room was almost empty.
"Good. Now go and stand guard. A colleague of yours should be arriving any moment now." A woman's voice came from the shadows, her calm tone sending a small shiver down Kid's spine.
"Yes, ma'am."
And as the man turned his back and stood outside the entrance, a woman walked out of the shadows.
Medusa Gorgon. The second oldest of the infamous Gorgon Sisters, Witches with great power and even greater influence upon the Kishin-owned territories. Second only to the Kishin, these three Witches were individually infamous for their powerful magic and immoral intellect. Arachne, the oldest, was the head of the Kishin council and often acted in behalf of the Kishin itself. The youngest of the Witch sisters, Shaula, while not as famous as her sisters was renowned for her immense strength in battle. And Medusa… little was known about her, save for horror stories about the bizarre and twisted experiments she inflicted on anyone, even her own child.
The Witch, a blonde woman clad in a black hooded body-length suit, turned on Kid, who at this point was frozen in place.
"Ah hello, how nice of you to join me so soon. I didn't expect such punctuality."
"Doing otherwise would be idiotic." The boy's words left him before he could fully process them. His steadily increasing panic caused his tongue to go on autopilot mode.
"I'm glad we're on the same page. Your name is Kid?"
"Yes." The response was automatic.
"No surname?"
"None I'm aware of."
The Witch gave him an amused smile. "Your guardians are Marie Mjolnir and Azusa Yumi…" she trailed off, "they're under watch aren't they?"
"Yes, but I don't know anything about it-"
"Birthday is listed as the 1st of November…"
"The date is when my guardians found me, not when I was born."
"Hm… they found you when you were little didn't they?"
"I don't remember. I was too young."
"Is that so…?" The Witch removed a paper from a pocket. "I see you have good grades in general. Not in history though… there are comments of you 'mixing' things up..."
"Not my fault if the teachers can't teach in a precise and organized manner-"
"Ah, yes that's your little… obsession, isn't it?"
Kid flinched as he saw one of the snakes in her hands missing. Was it always asymmetrical?
"That's a large soul for someone your age but I guess you can't judge a book by its cover. After all, children can be full of surprises."
Kid gulped. "Is this all?" At this point he might as well push his luck and hope for the best.
"One last thing," the woman pleasantly said. "There aren't many humans that can survive a bullet to the head, especially if it comes from a Demon Weapon."
The teen froze in place.
"In fact, I don't think your 'guardians' can survive it either," Medusa commented in a light-hearted tone. "I wouldn't move if I were you. Why don't you get yourself comfortable Kid? We have a lot to talk about."
Kid heard two familiar voices from the hallway.
"Let us go, you asshole!"
"Oi, hurt sissy and I'll kick your ass!"
The door burst open and a large buff man dressed in white outfits entered the room, with two familiar females in his grasp.
"I got the sisters, Lady Medusa." Upon entering the two sisters froze in shock, Patty's mouth open in amazement as Liz gave the Witch a horrified stare.
Kid could only stare at the man, his trimmed short hair and beard the same when Kid saw when he'd tackled yesterday in the library. Yet the man himself gave Kid a passive look, seemingly never having seen the boy before. Was he acting-?
"From your expression it seems we got the ones who shot you." The Witch's words broke Kid's focus causing him to turn back to see Medusa's satisfied smirk.
And then he noticed the girls. They looked the same as he had seen them in the dark alley, draped in loose clothes, the elder one carrying a tightly closed cloth bag, which belonged to Maka… The book.
Kid panicked. The boy stood up throwing his chair to the floor, ignoring and dodging the caretakers' attempts to grab him. The door was a few meters away, he only had to grab the bag and...
"Nake snake, cobra, cobra."
Kid hit the floor hard as black-hued vectors wrapped around his feet. The teen was grabbed by the back of his collar and forced up by one of the caretakers, seeing Medusa's amused smile and Liz's wide-eyed expression.
"That was a pathetic attempt Kid. Is this what your 'guardians' have been teaching you?"
"What do you want?" Kid hissed dropping all formalities.
"Straight to the point. I can appreciate that." She turned towards the sisters.
"L-Lady Medusa," Liz croaked the girl trying her best to swallow her own discomfort. "…How can I help you?"
"I'd like you to do me a favour."
"Yes, yes of course," Liz hastily replied, though her conviction didn't reach her eyes.
"Shoot him."
"W-What?"
"Shoot him," Medusa repeated in a light-hearted tone. "I know what transpired between you and the kid last night. My snakes are all over the city." The woman gave the sisters a small smile. "Though case-studies are fascinating, it is best to draw conclusions from data gathered in a controlled environment."
Liz's eyes darted between the teen and the Witch. "Is… Is that all, Lady Medusa?"
"Why yes. If you do so you will have been a great help to me. As such I will see that you are compensated," Medusa's face became terrifyingly serene, "as long as this information doesn't leave this room."
"We'll keep our mouths shut!" Patty spoke up, her cheerful tone seeming a bit forced.
"Good. Now then…" the Witch turned towards the bound boy who was glaring at her. "Shall we get down to business?"
Liz focused on the boy but stood still, as if not believing her eyes.
"I'll do it, sis!" Patty broke the silence. "You did it last time, so it's fair ol' Patty lends ya a hand!"
"Ok," the elder agreed, before she was enveloped in a pink light and re-materialising as a gun at the younger sister's hand.
Kid shot them a befuddled stare. Both sisters were Weapons. Symmetrical Weapons.
If he wasn't panicking so hard, Kid would've have squealed as the sight.
The gun was brought to the boy's forehead. It felt like last time; the metal was cold to the touch, and the younger sister was too forceful as she pressed the gun's barrel right onto his forehead. The barrel obscured a significant part of the teen's vision, though he briefly got a look of the younger sister's face. Though she was grinning like a maniac, her eyes were empty. Cold.
"What are you waiting for?" Kid found himself saying, voice enlaced with sarcasm. "Go right ahead."
Patty pressed the trigger.
White hot pain surged through Kid's head. The boy fell backwards from the force of the bullet, boy hitting the floor hard as Kid clutched his forehead in pain.
And was gone instantly. To Kid's surprise the blast was much weaker than the one on the previous night.
"Hm, interesting," Medusa muttered to herself. "We may have to repeat that with the other sister as well-"
It was at this moment the whole building violently shook.
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
Feedback is appreciated.