Welcome to Chapter 13. :) *I disclaim* Me no own the band I reference, either. Or Dorito's.
Define "Normal", Chapter 13
Pride and Predictability
There are things that drive us; pushing us towards our goal. Whether our destination is mental, spiritual, or physical, we must have some sort of motivation, or we won't reach it. For some, the goal is the prospect of money or riches. For others, perhaps solitude or peace is what they're after. But on rare occasions, one drive and goal arrives that may strike us as entirely insane. Most likely it is, indeed, insane.
Stein couldn't name his drive; all he could label was his prize, his destination. He was going to tear something apart and see how it worked. He remembered how, as a child, he used to do the same with toys, such as wind-up trains or remote-control cars, picking them to pieces and examining and experimenting with every gear and wire. Then he came to the realization that he could do the same to living things. Since then he had dissected nearly everything, but it had been made known to him that some things were off-limits. At least they were in reality. But in his so-called dream world, the scientist was eager to push his boundaries and see how much he could get away with. Starting with dismantling the son of the Lord of Death.
Kid heard the footsteps behind him, but he didn't dare turn around to name his pursuer. He needed to get home and grab his guns before he was ready to face anyone in combat. As his home came into view, the young Reaper put on a sudden burst of speed and sprinted inside the door.
"Patty! Liz!" Kid called. "Stop what you're doing! I need your weapon forms!"
"But I'm cleaning the house for you." Patty poked her head from around a corner. "There's still bazillions more pounds of Silly String hanging off the walls."
"We can bother with that later!" Kid shouted. He was slightly disappointed in himself for seemingly not caring about the well-being of the perfect symmetry of his home, but there were bigger fish to fry at the moment. "Right now I'm being chased by a madman and Medusa's going to take over the Academy! I need both of you here right n-OW!" His demand soon turned into a cry of pain as Stein slammed his wavelength-sparking fist into the teen's back.
"Ready to be in pieces?" The scientist grinned madly as Kid turned around swiftly, grabbing Patty's weapon form as she shifted and flew through the air into her meister's hand.
"Where's Liz?!" Kid exclaimed, merely dodging Stein's attacks for the time being as to not attack asymmetrically.
"I dunno," replied Patty calmly. "I think she went back to her room."
Kid dared to glance behind himself for one minute at the staircase. "Here goes." He sighed, watching Stein for a few more seconds before he whipped around and ran for his life. Laughing manically, Stein followed at his heels.
"You can't run faster than me, Kid!" He grinned.
"I'm aware of that!" Kid cried, darting into Liz's room and slamming the door behind him. "Liz!" He shouted.
Liz looked up from her laptop before giving her meister a quizzical stare. "What is it, Kid?" She asked. "Everything all right?"
Kid's eyes widened in shock. "You seriously haven't heard the loud battle noises coming from downstairs?" He exclaimed, his back pressed against the door that Stein continued to throw himself into like a battering ram. "Or the mad scientist trying to break down your door?!"
Liz looked confused for another moment, but then reached up to her ear and removed a small headphone that had been hidden by her long hair. Owl City music blasted from the small device. "Sorry, what was that?" She said.
After rolling his eyes, Kid merely snapped; "Weapon form, Liz!"
"All right." It was Liz's turn to roll her eyes as her form changed. "Chill." Muttering, her metal pistol form flew into Kid's hand. It was near perfect timing, for at that moment Stein burst through the door.
"Oh, I see you've got your guns!" He chuckled, throwing his palm at Kid again before the latter dodged. "Shoot me! Betcha can't," He giggled crazily.
"Why's Stein acting all funny?" Patty questioned.
"Medusa drove him mad again," Kid replied, dodging another attack. "Don't ask how she's back. It's a long story."
"Well hurry up and shoot him down!" Liz cried. "He's destroying my room!"
In all honesty, Kid was hesitant to shoot his professor. He didn't want to harm him, just possibly bring him back to his senses, but he had no idea how to do that. He also knew that when he was sane, he was one of his father's strongest allies.
It was the thought of his father that caused Kid to rethink the situation. His gullible father that took nothing seriously. The young Reaper's expression became a glare as he watched Stein. "After I bring you back to your senses," He raised both of his guns, pointing them at the professor, "Dad's next."
The wavelength blast from the dual gunshots sent Stein staggering back a few feet. "Impressive." Despite his setback, the mad scientist continued to grin. "You're an interesting specimen."
Kid's expression hardened. "Stop talking about me as if I'm a common lab rat!" He shouted, holding his hands out and firing rapidly. However, Stein had caught on to his rhythm and was easily dodging every attack.
"Once I've caught on to you," He smirked, "You're very easy to predict."
Kid's golden eyes stared coldly at the professor. "Right," He muttered. "Bet you didn't predict this." The Shinigami abruptly charged forward, slamming into Stein and threatening to knock him over the balcony that dropped off over the downstairs hall. Stein teetered backwards, trying to find his balance, before Kid ducked beneath him and slid his arm under the scientist's feet. Giving a great heave, Kid reared his arm up, causing Stein to lose all balance and catapult over the railing.
"Didja get 'im?" Patty asked as Kid watched Stein fall onto the black-and-white tilted floor below, hitting the ground with a sickening thud. The latter laid there for a few brief seconds, his chest rising and falling in rapid attempts to restore air to the lungs the impact had knocked the wind out of. Slowly he stood, his gaze turning upward to face Kid.
"No." Kid replied in response to Patty's question. "He's still alive. But hopefully he'll listen to sense now." He leaned over the balcony, watching Stein. "Are you ready to call off this foolish attempt to dissect your master's son?" He called. His answer came quickly, and Kid had to duck to avoid it embedding itself in his skull. He glanced behind himself at the scalpel that had flown into the wall instead. "That was rather curt." The teen muttered to himself. Temporarily holding both Liz and Patty in one hand, Kid skillfully swung around and off the banister, landing nimbly and unharmed upon the floor below.
"I had hoped you would listen to reason." The young Reaper sighed, returning Patty to his right palm. "But it seems I'll have to eliminate you instead." He declared, firing once more at Stein. The professor managed to dodge again, however, causing the shot to whizz past him and shatter a vase upon the wall behind him. Kid abruptly ceased fire and stiffened.
"Look at what you made me do!" He shouted in horror. "There is now a whole vase upon the right side of this room and a shattered vase on the left! The symmetry is RUINED!" He cried agonizingly, too focused on the destruction of perfection before him to notice the nearby threat to his life.
"Kid, behind you!" Liz shouted, but her warning arrived too late.
Kid stiffened as he felt the scalpel on his neck.
"You wouldn't believe how many of these I have in my pockets." Stein grinned, his arm around Kid's neck. The scalpel he held in his hand was barely pressed into the skin directly below the Reaper's chin. "I must dissect your brain as well. I need to know why you put so much of your energy towards symmetry." He said.
Kid was unmoving. "Symmetry…" He murmured after a while, and then slowly chuckled. "It's hardly something you would understand, is it? Have you even seen your head?" He then moved like lightning, pulling his arm around and pressing Patty into Stein's abdomen before the professor even had time to think. "I do believe the lab's closed for the day." He said before he fired.
It had taken Giriko a while to find Medusa. He had absolutely no means of anything that resembled soul perception in the slightest, so he had to merely follow his assumptions. He tried out anywhere he thought she might hide; the abandoned warehouse on 5th street, around the Academy, even the pet shop, of all things. Stein's lab was the last thing that occurred to him, and by that time Medusa was strolling out to claim the DWMA. Upon seeing her, the chainsaw rushed forward to the witch.
"Medusa!" He shouted, coming to a stop in front of her. "I did it. The scythe's dead." He proclaimed, but then held out his hand. "Now where's my dough?"
Medusa looked Giriko up and down. There was blood on his boots and fists, and he certainly looked sincere. However, she knew she could wriggle out of giving him his reward, and immediately deployed her first tactic to do so.
"Where's the body?" Asked Medusa. "Or at least his head. I specifically remember saying; 'bring me the head of Soul Evans on a platter'. I see no head and I see no platter. And until I see them, you're not getting your money." She said curtly, pushing past the man who now looked enraged.
"How was I to know you were being literal?" Giriko snapped. "Besides, dead's dead, right?"
"Dead does not necessarily mean beheaded. And I wanted beheaded." The Snake Witch replied. Giriko gritted his sharpened teeth.
"No way, witch. I came for my money. I only did this stinkin' job for my money!" He growled.
Medusa's gold eyes scanned Giriko's for a moment, before she turned back around. "I told you no," She said.
"Whuddaya mean, 'no'?!" Giriko shouted, his lips curled back in an animal-like snarl. "I should've expected this from a cheating, cheap witch like you!"
Medusa stopped walking. Without turning around, she addressed the man; "Now, don't start throwing accusations. I'm not cheating you or cheap. I could give you the money, but you obviously don't deserve it." She shrugged calmly. "It's as simple as that."
Giriko looked like he was ready to tell the Snake Witch off at the top of his lungs when she spoke again.
"I'd suggest keeping quiet. I am perfectly able to report you to the authorities, telling them that a man who has repeatedly attempted to murder their forces is residing in this very city." She turned to face him, a smirk clear and cocky upon her lips. "Besides, you pickpocketed him, right? Get some money off of that." She told him before she continued her walk, fully confident in herself.
Giriko stood there for a minute, dumbfounded. "How'd she know about the pickpocketing…?" He muttered quietly to himself.
Upon hearing this, Medusa said behind her shoulder without turning around; "You're a very easy man to predict, Giriko." She chuckled. The chainsaw glared at her before he stormed off, trying to find a route through town that wouldn't cross the witch's path. It wasn't a difficult feat, because while Medusa simply made a beeline for the DWMA, Giriko knew all the back roads and alleys that enabled him to travel inconspicuously.
He quickly located the black market he so frequently visited. The chainsaw proceeded to saunter up to a clothing booth and deposit Soul's designer clothes upon the table. "How much you want for these, Ryker?" He smirked, his mood restored at the prospect of hitting more cash.
The day's spoils resulted in a total of five hundred greenbacks; Three hundred fifty for the clothes, and one hundred fifty for the iPod. He tried to get more for the small orange device, but the man behind the desk proclaimed that it was too scratched up and worn to be of much worth, and then proceeded to name the price of one hundred dollars for it. After much arguing, cussing, and pointing out of the expensive case for the thing that Soul had managed to acquire, the price was finally raised to one hundred and fifty. There was still much high-volume bargaining that followed, but the chainsaw lost that round and grudgingly took the cash he got.
Giriko's mood rose again, however, as he strolled back to his apartment. The gears in his head started to turn as he came up with a way to earn even more money from his spoils. "I am so beating Robert at poker this time." He grinned. Having obviously not learned his lesson, the chainsaw was already planning his gambling spree.
"Slowly… Carefully… Don't drop him…"
"Yeah, 'cause if I drop him, I'll get a dictionary through my head. Right, Maka?"
"Right." Maka said coldly, but was smiling. Oddly enough, the smile wouldn't drain from her face. She was beginning to want to slap off the expression off of herself, and it didn't help that the first thing Soul was able to say was;
"You look like an idiot, smiling like that."
Resisting the urge to cause more damage to the scythe's head, Maka merely continued to smile. For while she was irritated that her partner wasn't even thanking her for saving his life, she was glad he was alive. Gladness aside, she was still going to reprimand him on how grateful he should be to her as soon as they were alone.
"Ow…" Soul groaned.
"What was that for, Black*Star?" The remaining clone of Kid exclaimed. "The door's over here! Stop shoving his head into the wall!" Kid had a grip on Soul's right arm, while Black*Star held up his left and Crona supported his legs. Tsubaki was trundling the suitcase behind them, and Maka hadn't left Soul's side since she had seen him on the ground. Currently they were trying to get Soul in the door of the apartment building, and everyone was discovering that Black*Star, for all his "awesomeness", was a total failure at walking backwards. This was the fourth time Soul's head had been slammed into a doorway, dumpster, or lamppost since they left the square, due to the young ninja's horrible guidance.
"Hey, my buddy Soul can handle it, right?" Black*Star grinned, looking down into the face of his friend that displayed obvious annoyance.
"No. It hurts." He muttered. "I don't see why I couldn't have walked by myself."
"Because you're weak and still losing blood." Maka replied matter-of-factly. "That was a pretty bad wound."
"Wound? I have a ton of 'em. Use the plural." Soul chuckled slightly, showing off his pointed teeth, but his smile was slightly deformed due to the multiple bruises and swellings upon his face from where his attacker had punched him. "He beat me around like a punching bag."
Maka sighed. The scythe was so good-natured about this. If it had been her, she would've gone after her attacker the minute she was conscious, swearing revenge. Meanwhile, Soul was totally relaxed, and hadn't said anything about whoever nearly killed him other than what he just noted. Summing up her courage, she went straight out and asked him; "Who was it that did this to you, Soul?"
The smirk drained from Soul's face as he grew silent. "It doesn't matter, Maka." He said. "He's not worth our time. Just drop the subject." Ruby eyes met emerald as he gazed at his partner. It was then that Black*Star dropped not only the subject, but the scythe himself.
"OW!" Soul cried out. "What the heck, Black*Star?!"
"Forget taking the stairs, please." Tsubaki sighed. Having lost balance while walking backwards up the building's staircase, Black*Star had flailed his arms around and let go of his friend.
"Black*Star, pick him up!" Kid shouted, struggling to pick Soul's front half up on his own. Crona had been struggling the whole time; the stick-thin child had absolutely no muscle to speak of.
"C-can we please j-just get him b-back to the a-apartment?" The pink-haired meister was shaking with the effort required to hold up Soul's feet.
"We're taking the elevator," Maka declared, kicking Black*Star to the side and holding up Soul's arm. "Crona, you're going to have to walk backwards down the stairs."
The boy stiffened. Even though there were only five steps separating him and level ground, Crona was terrified. Aside from his initial fear of staircases, Crona also possessed a phobia of walking backwards. Combine these factors and throw in the need to carry an injured friend, and the evening had suddenly become one of the pink-haired meister's worst nightmares.
After ten minutes of gingerly stepping down the stairs, Crona finally allowed himself to relax slightly when both of his shoes were on the ground. Having been totally focused on his terrifying goal, he hadn't noticed the exchange of verbal blows between Black*Star and Maka for having kicked him. He also failed to hear Kid's horrified rant about the asymmetrical pattern of blood in Soul's hair that the boy Grim Reaper had just then taken the time to notice.
"Do we get on the elevator now?" Crona smiled, feeling much more self-confident now.
"Yes," Kid sighed. "Please."
Because of the swift speed of the elevator and its proximity to their residence, Soul was quickly seated upon his couch again.
"That's twice in a day I've laid here helpless," He noted. "Uncool."
"Well, quit trying to get yourself killed," Maka told him, wrapping his new wounds.
"Wasn't like I was trying," Soul muttered. "The guy jumped me."
Maka paused. "You still haven't told me who he was," She said, causing Soul to roll his eyes.
"Because it's not important. He was hired, Maka. Medusa paid a guy to assassinate me," He told her. Maka's eyes grew wide as she stared at her partner, inwardly declaring revenge on Medusa. She didn't have much time to dwell on these thoughts, however.
"If that creepy witch wanted an assassin, she should've chosen the greatest star in the world!" Black*Star had one foot upon a kitchen chair, while the other was positioned on the table. With the addition of his fits on his hips, he almost looked majestic. However, the moment was fleeting. Running madly from Blair, Kid brushed against the chair the blue-haired narcissist was standing upon, setting him off-balanced and causing the boy to fall forward onto the table, flipping it over and sending his bag of chips straight at Tsubaki's head.
Soul was silent for a minute as he stared at the scene. Black*Star now had his face flattened against the sideways table, Kid was clinging to the carpet for dear life as Blair tried to drag him to who-knows-where, Crona had ducked under the coffee table in fear and shock, and Tsubaki was trying to dust the cheese from a family-size bag of Dorito's out of her hair.
Despite the pain, Soul found himself laughing. It felt good to laugh like this; he didn't need to think about his worries. He fought down his concern involving Medusa and her shaded plans, and instead chose to enjoy the moment. He knew this peace wouldn't last long.
"Is that a witch?"
"What's she doing here?"
"Why is she just waltzing up to the Academy?"
Medusa heard their whispers, but ignored them. Everyone who saw her stared at her, surprised and confused as to why a witch would march up to the Academy without fear. She had her reasons.
"Hello Medusa," Lord Death's voice said to her as soon as she came up the final step and onto the terrace. All the staff of the Academy was lined up there as well, glaring at the witch, along with a few cardboard boxes of things they had moved out and didn't want her to touch.
"Hello, Death," The witch smirked. She still refused to acknowledge the Grim Reaper as her superior, and therefore never called him 'Lord'. "Is everyone out?"
"Yes," replied the Reaper. "Now, where's Kid?" He demanded.
Medusa shrugged. "I sent him home. He looked like he wanted to get there in a hurry," She replied. She strode up to Death and held her hand out. "The key to the DWMA," She demanded.
"Sid." Said Death slowly, "Give her the key."
"Right, sir." The zombie stepped forward. He wanted very badly to protest against the Reaper's decision, but he knew that his master had something planned. For while he seemed to never take anything seriously, Lord Death was cunning. He would be able to turn this around in their favor very easily; that was what everyone was hoping.
Grinning from ear to ear, Medusa strode cockily forward and swung open the Academy doors. "Have a nice evening, everyone." She laughed before closing and locking the doors behind her.
More still to come! :D Thanks for reading, reviewing, favorting, following, and whatever else you guys do. It's really encouraging. :) See ya next chapter!