A/N: This chapter will be a bit shorter than the others. See? That wasn't such a bad trade off. This chapter's a bit longer, last one a bit shorter. Now quit yer whining and READ!

The squirrel stopped in his tracks when he felt a pair of eyes burning into his flesh. His muscles began to tremble as he swallowed nervously and slowly turned his head. The instant his eyes met with the offending ones, his jaw dropped and his feet froze to the ground. Axel's crazed look burned past his eyes and straight to the back of his brain. He struggled to free his feet but his muscles paid him no mind. Axel's gaze had cut off every nerve in his body, leaving him at the enraged squirrel's mercy.

Though Axel no longer gritted his teeth, his mouth forming into a mild frown, his eyes still held the same ferocity as before. With his paw gripping the hilt with a force enough to break it, it was obvious the burning rage had disabled his ability to tell between friend or foe. For the moment, anything that moved, anything that breathed, had to be destroyed. Kill or be killed. That was the only message circulating through Axel's brain at the moment. His instincts were screaming at him to survive, and survive he would, at any and all costs.

"Wait!" the squirrel stammered when he finally found his voice. Axel blinked in surprise at the sudden outburst, but did not move from his spot. "I'm on your side!" Axel's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open ever so slightly. His grip on the katana had loosened a bit, but his gaze still held firm. "My side?" he parroted, his voice shades darker than it normally was. The other squirrel flinched slightly at the accusing tone, but was somewhat relieved, confidant that he could get through to him. "Yes, I'm not your enemy."

"Not my enemy," Axel repeated again, this time his voice slightly softer. His eyes continued to analyze the life form before him, searching for any reason to doubt his words. He was armed, but unlike the Tediz he looked unwilling to fight. But he's armed! A part of his mind screamed in warning. His eyes narrowed at that, glaring at the uzis by the squirrel's sides. However his hands were in the air and far from the weapons. And he looked….scared. Is he afraid of me? He's just begging for his life, but he…

Axel continued his stare for several minutes, his expression changing from slight recognition to untrusting anger. The other squirrel stood frozen, his heart fluttering in his chest as he hoped that his words were enough to get Axel to recognize him. And for a moment, he did. For a moment, his eyes widen and softened. For a moment, the katana almost slipped from his grasp. For a moment, it seemed as though he would break free from his trance. But only for a moment.

"Not my enemy," Axel said again, this time it seemed as more of a statement than a question. At this, the squirrel let out a long sigh, relaxing his body and dropping his arms to his sides. To his sides, right were his uzis were.

-----

Axel blinked a few times as consciousness finally returned to him. He found himself staring at the floor sitting on his feet, his palms pressed against the ground to support him. He drew in several deep breaths as he felt his heart racing in his rib cage. It felt as if he had been running for miles. He groaned when the pain in his head finally set in. His brain felt fried as if he had been running a fever. He lifted his left paw to his forehead in an attempt to massage the pain from his head. However when his paw made contact, he felt something warm and sticky run down his face. He quickly withdrew his hand to find it completely covered in blood. That's when he noticed the damp feeling of his uniform upon his chest and stomach. Glancing down at his midsection, he gasped when he found his uniform was soaked with a sickly orange color, a mixture of yellow and red blood.

Have I been shot?! He gulped as he frantically patted his chest, looking for any wound he had been given. When no pain erupted from his body, he slowly withdrew his hand. Tediz had yellow blood, but if the red blood wasn't his, whose was it? "What the hell happened?" He recalled being surrounded by Tediz and watching as a group of them pummeled that other squirrel, then what? He glanced to his left and noticed several dismembered Tediz lying on the floor, their stuffing soaking up their yellow fluids. "Did I do that?" he asked, shock echoing in his voice. He noted that their injuries had been caused by a sword. He did recall cutting up one Tedi, but after that…

He glanced down when he realized there was something under his right paw. His eyes widened and a small gasp escaped him when he saw the hilt of a katana underneath his bloody hand. So I did do that. He swallowed when he noticed a majority of the blood covering his hand and blade was….red. But then,

Axel bit his bottom lip as he allowed his eyes to slowly travel from his katana to a few feet in front of him. He felt all the blood drain from his face when his horrified eyes locked onto the object in front of him. The squirrel lay mangled, his intestines hanging out of his body, surrounded by a puddle of blood. His eyes were wide but completely void of life. Axel shook when the smell of blood invaded his nose. The red blood on his uniform and hand, on his blade. I'm wearing his blood! His mind screamed as his lips trembled. "I….I.."

Killed him. You've killed one of your own.

"No, I couldn't…I…couldn't..I"

You killed him. Face the facts, kiddo.

"But how…I…would.."

You're just like them. The Tediz.

"Wha…what? I…."

You were right when you said they possessed anger and frustration. Those are the only emotions they were programmed to feel. You're just like them.

"No..I…don't feel..and.."

You're just like them because they're missing a very important emotion. Sorrow. Without sorrow they enjoy killing, just like you.

"Shut the fuck up Harry!"

Yes, another innocent soul is dead, killed by your stained hands. Just like when you were eleven and you killed that….

"Shut the fuck up you son of a bitch!! I didn't do it!"

Oh, you most certainly did. We both remember the incident clearly. How clever of you to plan things out like you did. Killer at age eleven, I'm impressed.

Axel squeezed his eyes shut and began hitting the sides of his head with his fists in an attempt to harm the voice within. "Shut up, fucker! I didn't kill him! I didn't!"

You did, just as you killed that squirrel before you. You're a cold-blooded murderer, just like the Tediz.

"I'm not!" Axel gripped his head tightly as he began shaking violently. Once again he began pummeling his temples while screaming hysterically. His body shuddered as Harry laughed at his futile attempts to silence him. "I'm not a killer, I'm not a killer," Axel's voice began to grow quiet as he continued on like a broken record. He closed his eyes and whispered, his throat becoming sore from all the screaming.

"I'm not a killer, I'm not a killer,"

Axel, hey Axel! Hey! Look at me dammit!

"AXEL!"

His eyes snapped open at the sound of his name. The hands on his shoulders had stopped shaking him for the moment, but didn't budge from their place. He had stopped whispering to himself and grimaced at the dizziness that had developed in his head. "Hey, look at me. Are you okay?" Axel lifted his head at the sound of the familiar voice and soon found his eyes locked with Riley's. He slowly lowered his hands from his head and allowed them to rest at his sides. Riley was obviously concerned about his friend's well being. Who wouldn't be after finding him covered in blood while holding his head and mumbling to himself.

Axel continued to stare into Riley's eyes for several minutes as if trying to register whether he was really there or not. However, after a few minutes of silence, Riley got a bit frustrated. "Come on, pull yourself together." He said while shaking him ever so slightly. "What happened here?" Axel's eyes went wide with that question.

"I…."

"What? What happened?"

"I…it….unhh…"

Riley's heart raced when Axel fell forward. Fortunately, he was close enough to catch him but was not at all relieved with the fact that he had slipped almost unconscious into his arms. "Axel, hey." Riley whispered while shaking him gently. Axel responded with an agonized groan. Although he was still awake, his body was completely limp and the only thing keeping him from crashing to the floor was his friend. "Don't pass out on me here." Riley said as he slipped Axel's arm over his shoulder. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

-----

That night, Axel stared up at the ceiling from his place on the cot with his hands behind his head. Although he wasn't injured, he was still recovering from the nausea and dizziness that nearly caused him to faint. Axel wished he had fainted though, that he had been able to escape to that void of darkness and unawareness. That would've been at least a few hours free of guilt. Sighing heavily, he rolled over on his side and tried to sleep. Horrific dreams were certain to invade his slumber but the exhaustion gnawed at his brain without mercy. He closed his eyes and prepared to succumb to sleep.

You shouldn't feel guilty, you know.

His eyes snapped open. "Harry, why are you…?"

I'm not Harry. It's me, Axel.

A faint smile appeared on his lips. "Larry, it's been a while."

I know. It has, hasn't it? Anyway, I can understand your feelings right now, but you must forget about them.

"How can I do that? I killed him and I didn't even know his name."

It's true. That soldier will never return home and it's all your fault. But you've got to go beyond that.

"Beyond?"

That soldier was doomed from the time you both found yourselves surrounded. However, it could have been both of you. Because you allowed your anger to take over, you're still alive. And, because you allowed your anger to take over, that soldier died.

"And how is this supposed to make me feel better? For the love of God, Larry, I killed the guy!"

But could you have defeated the Tediz in your present state? Don't you see? Your anger is both your greatest strength and deadliest weakness. With your anger in full swing, you are at your strongest, almost unstoppable. However, this puts your allies and those you are trying to protect in jeopardy. You must learn to tell between friend or foe while your anger is in control.

Axel rolled onto his stomach and buried his face into his pillow. "How am I supposed to do that? I can't even remember what happened."

Then you must use your anger. If you don't, it will use you. When you do this, you will become strong.

"That doesn't change the fact that I killed that guy."

He forgives you.

"What?!"

Axel pushed his face out of the pillow and began looking around the empty bunk. "Larry? Hey, are you there?" Growling in frustration, Axel punched the pillow and sat up on his bed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean, huh?" He continued scanning the room as if to spot the more comforting of the voices hiding in the corner. He sighed and allowed his body to sink back into the bed. "How can he forgive me? I fucking killed him."

Even as he heard the door open, he refused to lift his head to greet his guest, content to hide himself from with world within his pillow. He tensed in frustration as he felt the visitor move from the door towards his bed. All he wanted to do was be left alone at the moment, although the concern that was directed his way was not totally unappreciated. "You feelin' okay now?" Riley said, knowing very well his friend wasn't in the best of moods, but also knowing he wouldn't lash out at him as well.

"Go to hell,"

Well, not physically anyway.

"I'll take that as a yes," Riley mumbled sarcastically. He was beginning to get a bit frustrated with Axel's curt attitude, but Riley possessed a great amount of patience when it came to his friend's anger and attitude. He wasn't afraid of Axel loosing it and beating him to a bloody pulp, the most pain he'd ever inflicted to him was a punch on the arm, but he was always sympathetic to the guy. Maybe I'm just too easy on the guy.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you." Came Axel's pillow muffled apology. "I'm still not feeling too well, that's all." Riley rubbed the back of his head and sighed. He had expected such a reply and decided it best not to try his friend to become more social than he already was, but it couldn't hurt to try. "Sure you don't want to join the guys? It'll do you good to get out." A quiet moan was his only reply, which was also expected. He turned slowly and walked towards the door. "Hope you feel better then. See you later."

The opening and closing of the door was the last thing Axel heard that night. After several seconds of silence he found himself willingly pulled into sleep. His sleep promised to be a troubled one. Voices would cry out once again. Blood soaked fingers would point at him accusingly and "murderer" would echo in the back of his mind. But that was okay. Because he wasn't, he couldn't allow himself to be. I'm not a killer.

It must be so nice to deceive yourself so well. Sleep well, Axel.