"Why don't you go on home, Flaky?" Axel nodded to the sleeping form in the corner of the room, "I'm sure Fliqpy will be just fine for a few hours until the medicine wears off."

"I-I'm staying right here. Maybe Flippy will be in control when he w-wakes up," Flaky shook her head, "Even if it's still Fliqpy, I wanna be the first p-person he sees when he wakes up."

She didn't care how long it took. She was going to wait and Axel noticed this determination, a worried look on his face as he shook his head.

"Fine. You can stay, but if he wakes up-"

"When he wakes up, I'm the first person he'll s-see and that's that."

Axel let out a defeated sigh, before nodding. The silver-haired commander told her to call him as soon as Fliqpy woke up before he left. Now alone Flaky sat down in front of the soldier, who was now wrapped in a straightjacket and mouth covered with a muzzle. Feeling somewhat safe with the crazed war vet now restrained she kept her eye on him, watching as Fliqpy murmured and stirred in his sleep. She listened closely to his mumbling, but he was so quiet she only heard a few words.

"Kill you. . . .Fucking dead. . . . My friends. . ."

She frowned at hearing the war vet's voice crack as he mentioned his friends in his dream. Flippy never really talked about what happened to him during his time in the army. She remembered that he briefly mentioned having a few friends during boot camp and that they all were assigned together as a team during their tours. But he never told her what actually happened to them. Remembering Axel's words about Fliqpy "repaying" his fellow soldiers after his final disaster of a mission, Flaky's frown grew as she wondered just what happened to her friend while he was gone.

Suddenly the sleeping soldier let out a loud groan, shaking the girl from her thoughts as she realized he was waking up. He moved his head from side to side slowly as his eyes fluttered open, and revealed the yellow orbs of Fliqpy. Slightly disheartened by seeing her friend was still trapped, Flaky sighed in disappointment. Fliqpy stirred a bit more, the drugs affecting him slowly but surely wearing off. He looked around, his eyes adjusting to the brightly lit room once more. His gaze landed on the redhead sat across from him. He smiled with malicious glee, noticing the girl's bandaged hand, which she held close to her, fear in her red eyes as they locked eyes.

"Awe, what's the matter, Flakes?" Fliqpy's grin grew behind his mask, "Did I hurt your hand? Why don't you take this pesky mask and jacket off of me so I can show you how sorry I am?"

Flaky shook her head, surprising the war vet as she glared softly at him, "You're stuck in that until y-you learn to behave."

"Oooh! Little red's laying down the law, eh?" Fliqpy chuckled as he eyed the redhead up and down, "Although truth be told, I think you'd look damn fine in a little police outfit. You lock the door, I'll find some handcuffs."

Flaky turned almost as red as her hair at Fliqpy's crude jokes, losing her cool as she stammered and stuttered, "You. . .I-I mean-"

"C'mon, quit your blubbering! I'm just joking!" Fliqpy smiled at seeing the girl so embarrassed by a few words, "I can be nice sometimes, jokes and all. Not everything I do ends with murders and blood."

Flaky sighed as she regained her composure, "You're a j-jerk, Fliqpy."

"Compliments won't get you anywhere, honey."

Flaky was about to speak when the door to the room opened. Both Fliqpy and Flaky froze, staring as the newcomer entered the room. Or newcomers, should I say. It was Commander Axel, who brought a new guest: Sniffles, who was carrying a large case. Fliqpy's demeanor changed in an instant, from the relaxed and calm to sitting upright and not taking his narrowed eyes off of the commander.

"Axel, what the hell are you doing here?

"I'm here because I don't trust you alone with the girl. Not after what happened earlier."

"I'm playing nice, no need to drug me up again," Fliqpy's eyes shifted to stare at Sniffles, "And what's the nerd doing here?"

Sniffles butted in, gesturing to the soldier as he spoke, "I'm here to figure out why you're still here and where Flippy is."

Fliqpy chuckled, "Your stupid serum caused this. So I guess I should thank you for getting rid of Flippy for me."

"I'm still going to run a few tests, see if we can trigger Flippy back in control."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

Sniffles' eyes gleamed with a menacing twinkle that even unnerved Fliqpy a bit. He sat the briefcase he had been holding on the table across from the curious and slightly worried Fliqpy. He opened it, placing a small box covered in different sized dials and two thick cords with clamps running from the back of the box. Fliqpy's face turned a bit pale as he realized what it was.

"Shock therapy?! You're not gonna fucking do that to me,"

Fliqpy's panicked expression surprised the others as this was the first time they saw something like fear in the veteran. Axel shook his head, almost feeling pity for his old friend. He walked over to Fliqpy and started to take the straightjacket off. As he was about to pull it completely off, he stopped and leaned in close to Fliqpy's face as he removed the mask so Fliqpy could speak clearly to him.

"Now I'm gonna take this off of you, and when I do you'd better play nice. The minute you try anything, we're doing something more painful than a few shocks. Understand?"

Fliqpy's face was an emotionless mask as he only spits in the commander's face as a response. Axel didn't even flinch as he wiped away the saliva before grabbing Fliqpy by the neck and slamming him onto the cot beside them. Using one hand to hold the thrashing and angry man down, Axel's other hand motioned for Flaky to come over. Flaky walked over hesitantly, knowing full well if Fliqpy got free from Axel's grasp that she would be the first one he'd go after.

Axel nodded to the side of the cot, "Flaky, there's a belt hooked to the side of the bed. Grab it and wrapped it over his body, please. Then when that belt's secure, there are two more above and below it, to strap in his head and legs."

"You even try and I'll fuckin' skin you alive, you redhaired fucking bitc-"

Fliqpy's angry swears were cut off by Axel's rough hand clamping over his mouth. Flaky quickly wrapped the first belt around the war vet's chest. Axel let go of Fliqpy, now that he was tied down. Fliqpy thrashed and struggled, trying his hardest to break through the leather binds. Axel quickly held his legs down and Flaky tied those down as well, repeating the process for Fliqpy's head until he was completely secure.

"You guys had enough wrestling?" Sniffles grinned, as he walked over with the shock therapy device in his hand.

The scientist put the clamps on both side of Fliqpy's head and grabbed a piece of wood from the case, holding it over the war vet's mouth. Without even being asked or told to, Fliqpy allowed Sniffles to put the wood piece between his teeth. Biting down hard on it, Fliqpy awaited his "treatment" with no struggling or swearing.

Sniffles turned to look at Axel and Flaky, who were both watching Fliqpy with a look of worry on their faces, "No need to worry guys, this is gonna help him. But. . .it's not gonna be pretty."

Flaky sat down beside Fliqpy, whose fearful yellow eyes darted to look at her. She kept his gaze and for a second she could see her friend in there. She trailed her hand down slowly, her eyes never leaving his as she intertwined her fingers with his, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze before letting go.

"It'll be okay."

Fliqpy could only grunt in response, but it sounded content. He was ready.

Sniffles pressed a button on the box, emitting a low hum from the machine as it turned on. He turned a dial slowly and the humming increased in volume. The first wave of shocks hit Fliqpy, he didn't move save for a flinch. The next wave was stronger, making the war vet's body jerk up as the currents ran through him. Fliqpy groaned, biting down on the wood. The currents were getting stronger and more painful as time went on. Finally, Fliqpy's whole body was shaking as he screamed, barely being muffled by the wooden bar between his teeth. He was clenching his teeth so hard Flaky was surprised it didn't break in half. She shut her eyes and put her hands over her ears, trying her hardest to ignore the agony laced screams and shouts.

After what seemed like hours of the treatment, Sniffles turned the machine off. Fliqpy's body continued to convulse and Flaky reached over try and hold him down, to help him only for Axel to snap at her.

"No! Don't touch him! He's gonna get through the seizure, it's normal after this kind of stuff. But if you try and stop it, you'll only hurt him worse."

"B-But. . ." Flaky frowned, glancing at Fliqpy's face contorted in pain as he seized before looking back at Axel's stern face, "He's in pain and I-I. . ."

"I know, Flaky," Axel sighed, "You wanna help him, he's your friend. But trust me, that isn't your friend in there. It's a murderous psychopath who's hell-bent on hurting as many people as he can."

Sniffles and Axel soon left after Fliqpy's seizure stopped, leaving Flaky alone with the war vet. Flaky could feel herself getting tired, after the day's insane events. She slumped in the chair beside the cot, and despite her mind screaming at her to stay awake and to not fall asleep with the crazed war veteran just a few feet from her, she did exactly that. Letting sleep take her away to a quiet dream.