Eh, another short one, but it's late, and I wanted to get a chapter done 'cause I'm never sure I'll be in the mood to write the next day. It also seemed like a decent spot to break at. (And, hey, no one ever said that every chapter had to be long).

LanHikari2000x: Well, as the story progresses, I'll be pulling more and more MegaMan characters. It's a loose AU story, so I think fanfiction is fine.

Shadows in the Light: Nah, it's not the end. Just a really good cliff-hanger for my month or so absence. Heheh.

Anyways, thanks for the compliments. (You too, MHP).

The silence was deafening; not a word was spoken, not a move was made. All four seemed to be in shock; the doctor and the phsyciatrist were--understandly enough--more than a little surprised at the sudden actions of the security guard, while Nathaniel and said guard seemed to be disconcerted by something different. Finally, it dawned on the former two what had occured (or rather, what hadn't occured): the trigger had been pulled, but no shots had erupted. Still, the silence reigned supreme, broken only by Nathaniel's wrenching sobs.

Why, why can't it end?

The security guard quickly checked his gun over, but couldn't see anything apparently wrong with it; it would take a more detailed examination, but that would take time...time he didn't have. Any moment now, the other guards would burst into the room, and any chance he had have would be over. Closing the gap between himself and the bed, he went to swing his pistol at the boy's head; given his strength and the correct target, it would be lethal. After seeing how the nurse's attempt had been terminated, it is uncertain whether or not such an action would've been effective. History is not given the oppurtunity to see, however, for, as it turns out, the doctor had sufficienty recovered himself to thwart the guard's attempt. The two were roughly of the same size, but the guard's superior strength and experience would've won out in a scuffle after a few moments. Unfortunately, the other guards entered at that moment, and--at a nod from the doctor--quickly overwhelmed the first guard.

Nathaniel never saw him again.

An hour later, and Nathan was staring blankly at the nearest wall; he had completely cleared his mind of all thoughts and activity...it just hurt too much to think, to remember what had happened. At least now he wasn't drifting in and out of consciousness; everytime he fell back into sleep, the nightmares returned. He was an avid student of lucid dreaming, and had pretty well mastered every trick to manipulating one's dreams. No matter what he was dreaming--even if he was having a nightmare--he could change it to his liking. Not so with these; no matter what he did, he was trapped...trapped in hell.

But for now, he was lost in a comforting blank whiteness.

That was not destined to last for long, judging by the approaching physciatrist. Nathan sighed inwardly and quickly closed his eyes, hoping that she hadn't noticed that he was awake. The absolute last thing he wanted to do right now was talk about what had happen; he just wanted to lose himself in nothingness until the memories and images faded.

She took a seat on the edge of the bed, and addressed him. She was gentle as she spoke, yet insistent. "Nathaniel, I know you're awake. You really need to talk about what happened; we can't help you if you don't.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, and his voice seethed with anger. "As if you understand enough to really help me. Why don't you go play your stupid games with someone else?"

"So maybe I can't understand everything, but I do know that if you don't open up, you're going to destory yourself."

"I've already destroyed myself; all I want now is to die."

He never expected what she did next...she slapped him. Tears of surprise sprang to his eyes as she grabbed his head and forced him to look her in the eye. "Nathaniel Urshan, I'm ashamed that anyone could act so pathetic. I don't care what happened; this "pity party" you're throwing is going to stop...now."

It worked. Slowly, he softened, and more tears appeared until he was freely crying. He turned his head, and then began recounting his experience in a broken tone. "I can remember it clearly, almost as if...as if I'm still living it. I felt such a rage and hatred towards everyone I saw; they had betrayed me and I was exacting my revenge. And yet...along with the anger, I felt a deep hurt, a hurt that was alleviated with each person I...I...killed." His deep sorrow was more than evident as he looked back to the physciatrist, and finished. "But the worst part was...I enjoyed every moment of it."