Maka let out another blood-curdling scream. Soul put his hand on her shoulder frantically, trying to calm her.
Flander's Alter-Ego; Will the Diclonius Face Herself?
"Maka, what is it?" he asked. "What's the matter with you?"
"It hurts," she gasped, sinking to the ground and wrapping her arms around herself. "Soul, it's a Keshen! You have to get out of here!"
Soul went rigid. Whatever she felt, she couldn't fight it like this. Soul had to get her out of there quickly, and if he was lucky, he'd be able to get her to Stein. However, the thought of leaving a Keshen to run wild wasn't particularly safe or appealing.
To Soul's luck, Kid and his two weapons just turned the corner. They had apparently heard Maka's screams and ran to help. Kid hesitated at the sight of Maka curled up helplessly on the ground.
"What's happened?" he asked.
"I don't know," Soul replied. "It's her Soul Perception. She feels something coming, but the energy is too powerful for her. She can't fight it."
"We'll cover for you," Kid suggested firmly, gesturing to his partners to transform. "Get Maka away from here; we'll handle this."
Soul nodded gratefully to his friend before picking his Meister up off the ground and running in the direction of the Academy. Maka screamed again, clutching at her chest and neck as if to stop the unbearable pain. The intense hate that she felt emanating from the Keshen's soul was drawing closer. Soul held onto her tighter; he hated seeing her in such a helpless state.
"Soul!" Maka cried, clawing at her neck.
"Stop it, Maka!" Soul yelled, prying her hands away. "You can't do this! Just hang on, I'm getting you to safety."
Once he reached the DWMA, Maka still wasn't any calmer. She was still frantic and confused. Soul bolted towards Stein's office and ran in with haste without knocking. Stein looked up from the legal files he was straightening in his desk.
"Oh, my," he mumbled. "What's happened?"
"It's her Soul Perception," Soul spoke quickly and laid Maka down on the bed. /the girl clung to his jacket in fear of him leaving her. "Can you help her?"
"I feel it too," Stein said, rummaging in a drawer for something. "I simply focus my attention on something else, but I understand that Maka isn't able to do this yet. I can sedate her until the problem is taken care of."
He brought a syringe filled with clear liquid out of the drawer and stabbed it gently into Maka's arm. Maka twitched and whimpered; everything she felt hurt right then. Soul put on hand over hers.
"It's okay, Maka," he said. "I'll keep you safe."
Maka stared at him through her tears. Several memories of all the times Soul had saved her life flashed in her mind. Her face relaxed into a soft smile.
"I know you will," she understood before falling asleep.
Liz and Patti transformed into their weapon forms and waited for the Keshen. Kid tensed; he apparently felt the creature coming before they did.
"Kid, are you sure you can handle this?" Liz asked seriously. Kid had been a little out of it since that afternoon.
"I'm fine, Liz," Kid whispered. He was staring intently into one of the dark alleyways that created many possible escapes and entrances for the supposedly advancing Keshen. Liz and Patti were silent as well, and they heard the sound of soft footsteps. Barefoot, and light; fitting for the scrawny, mangled figure that stepped out of the darkness.
"Flander," Kid thought, almost dropping his weapons. He stopped himself; her hair was draping across the ground again, and her horns… her horns!
"Her horns are dripping with blood!" Liz cried. "What has she been doing?!"
"That's not Flander," Kid snarled, raising his weaponries to take aim. Before he could shoot, two vectors reached forward and slashed the silver pistols out of his hands. The next thing he saw, Liz and Patti were in their human forms again, unconscious.
"Liz! Patti!" Kid called, about to run towards them, but a vector held him back.
"This is our secret," the Diclonius growled. "You tell anyone about this and I'll rip your tongue out."
Kid flinched as he took in the expression of his opponent. Hate marked her features prominently, and it was probably that hate that had driven Maka away.
"Who are you?" he asked. The Diclonius snarled and lashed out at him with her vectors. Her vectors went through his skin without leaving a scathe, but tore at his internal organs. Kid arched backwards, screaming in pain.
"Oh, how pathetic," she murmured. Her vectors shifted, suspending Kid against a wall. She got closer to him, and he gritted his teeth. "I'm looking forward to our time together, Death the Kid. I will torture you until you scream your heart out, and then I will tear your soul to pieces. Do you know why?"
"Where's Flander?" he demanded.
"I hate you," she cut him off. "I'm the embodiment of Flander's hate that she can no longer handle. She recreated herself so that she may pass on the duty to kill you to someone else. I wanted to make her watch, but the coward ran off."
"No," Kid whispered, his eyes widening. He was helpless; he had no weapons, so he had absolutely no advantage over this all-powerful weapon. Flander had abandoned him because she couldn't face herself? Kid realized that he was going to die.
He wasn't sure what she was doing to him, but he felt an intense pain flare throughout his body. He tried to contain his screams, to no avail; he let out a wild cry of agony. The Diclonius laughed sadistically, but another weapon interfered with her plans. Flander ran into the clearing, sending her vectors darting around her hate-filled counterpart. The opposite Diclonius collapsed against another wall, but staggered to her feet.
The battle began as frenzied vectors grappled mercilessly with each other. All that could be comprehended was the spontaneous spurts of blood and one of Flander's black goat horns being chipped off of her head. Flander screamed in pain and rage and charged at the other, tearing the other's vectors out.
"You're really going to kill me?" the hate-filled Diclonius asked. "Bury me in the ground? How's that for karma? I will always come back to you. I will always be within you, waiting to kill all that you now love, Experiment D."
Flander was through with the chatter; she didn't hesitate to kill the Keshen of herself. The Diclonius gave a final shriek as she evaporated in a twister of black haze. A single red soul was left; Flander reached forward and took it in her hand.
"I won't bury you," she seethed. "You are a part of me, and I shall accept you."
With that being said, she bit into the soul and ate it.
On the contrasting side of the street, Kid was on the ground, staring at Flander in horror. Flashbacks began to consume him. He remembered his mother's screams just before she died. The blood splattering across everything….
Flander turned to him. She knew how to make him feel better; whilst she was sulking in the dark room, she'd remembered the words to the lullaby. It was in Latin, so it made sense why she forgot so easily. She began singing quietly, making Kid relax once again.
"Os iusti, meditabitur sapientiam, Et lingua eius loquetur indicium, Beatus vir qui suffer tentationem, Quoniam cum probates feurit accipient coronam vitae, Kyrie, ignis divine, eleison, quam benigma, quam amoena esse Virgo creditor, O quam sancta, quam serena, quam benigma, quam amoena, O castitalius Lilium."
Kid would have praised her for remembering, but he curled up on the pavement in obvious pain, cupping both hands over his mouth. Before he could stop himself, he coughed up blood. Flander stiffened and lunged toward him. She wrapped several of her vectors around him, lifting him up off the ground. Flander glanced at Liz and Patti, who nodded to her.
"Get him to Stein," Liz commanded. "We're fine, just go!"
Flander scoffed, for they observably weren't fine. Patti was still cataleptic. It was apparent that the Diclonius's vectors had caused more damaged that anticipated. Flander put Kid in her arms and wrapped her vectors around Liz and Patti, bringing them along behind her as she sprinted across the city. In her arms, Kid began shuddering. Flander bit back some tears of remorse. He had been hurt because of her.
Maka awoke some hours after she had been sedated. She saw Soul standing beside her protectively and smiled. Soul looked down at her and sighed.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"Did Kid take care of it?" Maka asked.
"Flander ran out when she heard what was happening," Stein said, giving them a reassuring motion in the form of a peace sign. "The Keshen is, without a doubt, taken care of."
"Oh, good," Maka sighed. "I'm sorry for being such trouble before. I never meant for it to happen like that."
"It's not your fault, Maka," Stein continued. "I'm just glad you were able to feel it before it got too close to you. Anyway, it's getting late; you two should be getting home soon."
Soul nodded and helped Maka to her feet. She swayed slightly, but was able to stand straight with Soul's help. They made their way out the door, but just before they left, Flander rushed into the room in a frenzy. She was covered in blood, and Kid was unconscious in her arms. Maka gasped in shaken surprise.
"Kid!" she cried, impulsively reaching one hand out. Soul pulled her away from the room instinctively; his partner had had such a traumatizing day already.
"Maka, come on," he insisted, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting way. Maka leaned into him; she didn't have the energy to fight, even if her friend was in danger.
"Can you save him?!" Flander squeaked. Stein straightened his glasses.
"I can try," he replied. "It's a tricky thing to correct; you'll have to be patient. Now, I need my bag…."
Flander reached out with her vectors and shoved the black and grey-patched bag into his hands before he could waste any precious time. Stein nodded and got to work. He'd always wanted to operate on Kid, out of curiosity, of course, but the watchful protection of Flander kept him from doing anything out of his way.
Liz and Patti were sitting outside the door and against the wall. Patti was curled up in her sister's arms, shaking violently. Liz tried to comfort her, but she was trembling too. Maka and Soul paused in front of them.
"It was another Diclonius," Liz whispered unsteadily. "She nearly killed Kid. He has internal bleeding!"
Maka gasped and knelt next to them, Soul following. Maka put her arm around Patti comfortingly.
"Sis, what do we do if Kid dies?!" Patti wailed.
"Shh, Patti, that won't…" Liz's voice faded away. It could happen. Kid was the only person they had ever known to accept them. They didn't want him to die. What would Flander do?
"That will not happen," Maka said confidently.
"How do you know?" Patti sniffled, looking up at her friend. Her expression was that of an abused puppy, and it made Maka's heart break to shards.
"Because I know Flander would have gotten there in time to prevent it," Maka said. "She would never let Kid die, and she would never let you two live alone."
How do you like it? Maka is the first one that realized it, but Flander's new unselfishness doesn't only pertain to Kid, but also the others. Please REVIEW, my minions.
TO MINIONS WHO HAVE REVIEWED: Thank you so much. Here is an Internet Cadbury Egg; Happy Easter! :DDDD
