Hey! I actually got this one done pretty dang fast, I must say. Ahh poor Stein.. You'll see what I mean later. Hope I didn't go overboard.. I leave that judgment up to you.

Not Strange, Just Different

Chapter 5 Franken's Great Idea

Stein's dad was up and about at an unusually early time, and if it was early for him, then it's definitely early. But there was an actual reason for this, and no, it was not because of a nightmare; he actually intended on getting up at this time.

It was 4:45 when we was leaving the house, trying to make the least amount of noise as possible. He didn't want to wake up anyone, and since he knew that Stein was up at very early times, either due to a nightmare or just wanting to do something, he wanted to go unnoticed. If Stein did happen to be awake, he would most likely get found out since he can use his soul perception now, but he figured he was still sleeping because his soul was very calm.

He did happen to be asleep, and his dad did happen to be able to slip out of the house without waking anyone; he was thankful for this. It's not that he was going to do anything bad, he just really didn't want to answer any questions. It didn't really matter if Stein's mother knew, Stein is the one that couldn't find out.

He started going down the road, the sky still being pitch black and the wind blowing, actually making it kind of chilly out. The only light in the dark city came from street lights and lamps inside of other people's house, all of it working with the light coming from the moon to illuminate the streets enough for him to see where he was going.

He worked his way through the city, getting closer and closer to his destination. The entire way there, he thought about how his son was experiencing the madness wavelengths, just like he does on a daily basis. One of his biggest concerns with this is that he doesn't want it to keep him from training, especially when he is just starting out. But the thing with madness is, you can't do a single thing about it.

It just keeps coming, spreading more and more, more on some days than others. It spreads like a disease, until finally it completely engulfs you, and is no longer within your control. No matter how much you don't want it to take over, it does. It makes you completely lose all control you once had.

He walked down the last road he had to go on to get where he needed to be, realizing that he had taken 20 minutes to get there. That is exactly why he went that early; he would take some time there, then also take at least another 20 minutes to get back home. The reason why he had to get back as early as possible is that he needed to be home before Stein woke up. Since his father almost never leaves the house, he would question him.

He honestly wasn't used to the outside air, it actually felt rather nice. It was different than being stuck inside all day like he usually was.

He walked up onto the person's porch, knocking once he reached the door. He knew the person would be up since they would have to get ready for work soon. He stood for a couple of minutes, and they came to the door, opening it as they did so.

The man stood there for a couple seconds with a confused look on his face, then seemed to be pleased about seeing the man standing on his porch.

"Goodmorning, Mr. Collins."

"Goodmorning, Franken. What brings you here, and especially this early?" The man seemed to be fairly confused, but it's understandable. And Stein was actually a Jr., but no one ever mentioned that, it wasn't something that was really important.

"I need to inform you of something, is now a good time?"

"Yeah, in that case, come inside. That might be a little better." After that, Mr. Collins led Stein's father into his living room. He noticed that is was actually fairly clean, only a few things were laying around. His house didn't seem to be too expensive, but it was still pretty decent.

Mr. Collins directed his dad towards the couch, and he sat down in a chair that was to the right of it. He had a TV on, along with a few lamps, giving enough light for them to see everything well enough.

"So, how's Keira been? I heard she got a job as a nurse at the hospital."

"Yes, she did. And she has been doing very well, thank you for asking."

"I am glad to hear everything is going well. I started teaching your son recently, and he has been doing very well. I see some major potential in him, he is going to be able to do a lot by the time he graduates. I can tell you're his father, he really takes after you."

"Yeah, that's what I came to talk to you about. I am afraid he has been taking after me too much. I need to know, have you noticed anything weird about him lately?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I have. His soul is off sometimes, but I can't really tell what it is. And when he was practicing soul force yesterday, something seemed wrong. He seemed to be getting abnormally angry, and there wasn't even any reason, it was really weird. He actually ended up hitting me with his wavelength.. it hurt pretty bad. I didn't expect it to be that powerful yet; if he works on it, he will really be able to use it to his advantage."

"Yes, he came to me about that originally. Is there anything else that you have noticed?"

"Actually, there is. After he hit me I decided we had practiced enough for the day, so we started to go to the academy. When we got to the academy, I noticed that he had actually left me and was already on his way down the road. He was going at a fairly fast pace, it seemed like something was bothering. He has also just seemed generally more tired lately, he seems exhausted, like something is waring him down."

"That's basically what I expected you to say. And I have been noticing this for a while now, but haven't found it to be much of an issue until yesterday. He came home and completely tore apart his room.. he actually destroyed all of his furniture. He has never had a complete breakdown before, so this may be a problem." He sighed and looked at the ground for a moment, looking up again before continuing.

"I think he is experiencing the madness wavelengths. I honestly don't know what else it could be." Directly after his father said this, Mr. Collins' facial expression looked shocked.

"When he got home from his first day at the academy, he came to me with an issue. I told him that it was nothing and to just forget it, but I know it wasn't nothing, I think he was hallucinating. He has also been having nightmares very frequently, almost every night. Half of the time he can't even get back to sleep anymore, so most nights he only gets a couple hours of sleep, if any. Also, I can feel it in his soul, the madness. Nothing major had happened until yesterday, and I am afraid that eventually something worse might happen. I need you to do something for me."

Mr. Collins seemed to be completely shocked, he really didn't expect to hear this, and now he understood why he was there so early. He tried to come up with an answer, and did so after a few seconds.

"What is it?"

"I need you to watch over him when he is at the academy. You need to make sure he doesn't do anything, he could end up hurting someone if he freaks out like that again and he happens to be around anyone. He already hit you, and luckily when he got home he locked himself in his room. I am sure he could have unlocked the door, but this was probably a way to help himself stay in his room."

"Yes, of course, I will watch over for him. It is no problem. I don't want any of the students to get hurt."

"I know how powerful madness can be, it can make you do terrible things that you have no control over and end up regretting later. I don't want him to have the same guilt I have when he gets older, and I don't want anyone to get hurt. I know we can't control this, but it will just help to keep an eye on him."

"Yeah, it will be best."

"Yes, that is for sure. If you see him start to act weird or like something is wrong, or if his soul starts to feel off, do whatever you need to to keep him away from the other kids. Just try not to make it very noticable that that's what you're trying to do. I just don't want him to know, at least not quite yet." He didn't really know why this was, and neither did Mr. Collins, but for some reason he also agreed.

"Yeah, I will do what's necessary. I will try my best to not make it obvious, I will think of something."

"Thank you for helping, I appreciate it. I could have asked one of the other teachers, but I know you the best and all of the other teachers have actual classes; you will be able to stay near him easier than everyone else."

"Don't worry, it's no problem. I am glad to help you out."

"I better get going, I really need to be back before he wakes up." As he said this, him and Mr. Collins stood up and started to walk over to the door.

"Yeah, he should be up soon." He opened the door, and his dad started to walk out, but turned around to say goodbye.

"Goodbye, Mr. Collins. It was nice seeing you again." Mr. Collins had to be one of the people he tolerated the most, they were actually fairly close. He knew the most about him, and actually helped him a lot. He taught him a lot of the techniques he knows, and helped him out during some of the times when the madness would start to get to him more. They were basically best friends; not so much anymore now that they graduated from the academy, but they were when they were still attending classes.

"It was nice seeing you too. And Franken, try to stay out of trouble, okay?"

"I'll try." His father gave him a smirk as he put his hands in the pockets of his lab coat, then turned around and started down the stairs. Mr. Collins shut the door and started getting ready to head to the academy.

Stein woke up at 5:30, realizing that he didn't have to go to the academy for at least another hour. Even though it was only 5:30, he still got a lot of sleep since he fell asleep so early. He definitely didn't want to sleep anymore than he already had, so he decided to read.

He got up and walked over to the little pile of things sitting on his floor that had his book in it. He picked it up, and read the title "The Human Digestive System". Most kids would bore themselves to death if they tried to read this, and probably wouldn't understand a single thing it said. Stein, on the other hand, loves it; this is the most interesting thing to him in the world, and he understands every word of it.

He headed back over to his bed and sat down on it, leaning against the walls with his knees almost to his chest, leaving enough room for him to have his book in front of him, resting on his knees. Opening it to page 120, he started to read about the different muscles in the stomach. Soon he started to grin a bit, and not because he loved it so much, it was more of a mad grin. He didn't even notice for 20 minutes, but when he did, he quickly made his face go back to his regular bored expression. He didn't know why he was grinning, but he still didn't like it.

His dad walked through the door, walking back into his lab as quietly as he could manage. Once he got in, he walked over to his desk and sat down. He figured that Stein didn't notice he was gone since he didn't come in and ask where he was, and he was right, luckily. So he started going back to his regular activities.

Stein read a little bit longer, ending at the part that talks about the villi in the small intestines. It was actually 6:30 now, so he decided that he could start to get ready.

He walked into his bathroom and took his shirt off, then walked over and turned on the water to take a shower. Next while he let the water warm up a bit he took off everything else, and stepped inside. When he got in, he felt the warm water on his skin and stood there for a few minutes before realizing that he still didn't actually wash anything. So he started to wash everything, then got out and dried off when he finished.

His hair was always wet for a while after since it was so long, but he always tried to get it as best as he possibly could with a towel to keep it from dripping water everywhere. Once he got dressed he brushed his teeth and turned out the lights lastly, closing the door behind him as he left.

He walked down the wallway and across his living room, seeing his mother leave as he did so. He used his soul perception to see where his dad was, even though he already knew where, and he was, of course, in his lab. He could tell that he was just sitting at his desk like he always was when he wasn't dissecting something, which seemed to be less often lately, so it was actually a little surprising that he was at his desk.

He walked into his room, seeing that it was now 7:00. He figured that it was late enough, and that he could be at the academy a little early. He didn't really feel like reading anymore, so he might as well go get some exercise or something.

He walked out the door after grabbing his stuff, and started going down the road. He noticed that it was still dark out, but the sun was starting to come up. Since the sun hadn't came out yet, it was still a little cold out; it didn't help any that the wind was blowing kind of hard and his hair was still wet, all of things added up to him feeling pretty cold.

He was halfway up his road when he looked into his neighbor's window, seeing them looking out at him. People always watched him if they knew he was going by, but he never knew why that was. The reason actually is that since he is Franken's son, they don't exactly trust him. It isn't fair, but they figure he is going to be like his dad. It's not that he is a bad person or anything, but they know how he can get.

He just ignored them and kept going. When he started to turn onto the next road, he looked both ways before crossing over to the right side. There was one thing though, he looked back to see if any cars were behind him; he didn't see any cars, but he saw a large man dressed in all black.

He was very tall, and certainly looked strong. Stein didn't usually get scared, but for some reason this time he did. To be honest, he was terrified. The reason why he was so scared was that ontop of being so large, the man was also a scythe. He had his arms transformed into very sharp and long blades.

At first, Stein wasn't really sure what the man was doing out there, but then he soon realized. The man started running toward him with an evil look across his face. When he started getting a little closer, Stein realized this man was coming to get him. He didn't know what he would do to him if he caught him, so he began sprinting as fast as he could down the road.

He knew that he was close to the academy at this point, so if he could just get there he should be safe. He started to go faster and faster, almost tripping a few times. Every now and then he would look back at the man, seeing that he was getting closer and closer, and that his face looked even more evil each time. He could tell the man was trying harder to get him, and that he was almost to him.

He also saw that the academy was very close, so he started going faster than he had before. He was just about there, and looked back one final time; he saw the man was at his back with his arm pulled back, ready to carve into him. His face had a large grin on it, and he didn't have two eyes. Not two, but three. His eyes weren't the same as they were before.. they were different. He had seen them before somewhere else, how could he have them?

When Stein looked back, right after he saw the man he felt himself hit something. As he hit the object in front of him, the man disappeared, and he realized that he was right outside the academy. He let out a very quiet and short scream, and looked ahead of himself, seeing that he didn't hit something, but someone; the person he ran into was Mr. Collins.

"Hey, Stein, what's up?" Due to his talk with Stein's dad this morning, he basically knew what was going on.

"Oh.. nothing.. sorry.." Stein said this while trying to catch his breath, avoiding to make eye contact with his teacher.

"Are you sure? You seem pretty freaked out."

"Yeah, it's really nothing," Stein said this, walking away from his teacher as he did so. Mr. Collins then knew that his father really was right. He had seen that he was getting more tired lately and the way he acted when they were training yesterday, but now he knew for sure. He knew he had been seeing stuff, there is no other reason for him to have done that.

Stein walked into the academy, getting looks from the students that had seen this. Mr. Collins walked in after him, making sure he could still see him. Spirit saw his partner and ran over to him, seeing that he was out of breath.

"Hey, what happened?"

"Oh.. nothing, trust me. I was just running, that's all," Stein said this in between breaths as he leaned against a locker. Spirit knew that there was something off, but let it go anyway.

"Oh.. okay, whatever you say. Hey, did you hear that Miss. Parson is coming back today? Maybe she will tell us why she was gone so long. I seriously hated having Mr. Reighnhardt for two periods every day."

"I know.. his class.. sure is annoying. I am glad that she... is coming back." He was starting to be able to breath a little better now, and he was glad about that. Miss. Parson had been gone for just over a week now, and they were beyond ready to see her again; especially Spirit, he really missed getting to see how "hot" she was every day. They didn't know why she was gone, she just left without warning. At least they hadn't actually started learning anything yet at that point.

They started walking down the hall to go to class, and Mr. Collins followed. At least right now he had an excuse to be behind them; he could say that he was on his way to Mr. Tredway's room, which he really was.

They walked in and got up to there usual spot, and looked over to see Kami and Marie coming over. Lately they had been sitting with them instead of with their other friends. They didn't mind at all; Spirit just always talks to Kami, and Marie is content with just being with Stein.

"Goodmorning, Franken." She said this, smiling at him like she always did. He had to admit, she was a sweet girl, but that still didn't mean he had any feelings for her.

"Goodmorning, Marie," He said this, pulling out his book, opening to the section that was about the villi, just where he left off. Lately he had been a little less grumpy towards her, but not by much. He was just getting used to her; he wasn't used to having such a cheerful person around him all the time, but now it was becoming more natural.

"I heard Miss. Parson is coming back, I can't wait to see her! She is so nice, I hope I am like her when I grow up."

"Yeah, she is a really nice person. You already seem a lot like her." After he said this Marie's smile got even bigger than before, and she started to blush slightly. She loved knowing that he thought she was nice; if only he would like her the way she liked him.

"Only in my dreams," She thought to herself, looking down at her feet.

"Today we will be learning to deal with fear, as this can affect the way you fight significantly." Stein remembered how scared he was earlier, and started to think that he would need to write down what had happened, just like he always did. Stein has still ever since his first day at the academy, wrote down everything that he has seen that wasn't real.

Lately he has been hallucinating more and more, and his notebook was actually starting to get pretty full. He even had a tally in the back of how many nightmares he has had, and he also had a place where he has what day he had them on as well. He has had so many nightmares that if he didn't write it down, he would have lost track a long time ago. He had been having them long before he started attending the academy, so you can imagine just how many times he has woken up in the middle of the night, panting and sweating, due to the same dang reason it always was.

"Stein, stay focused," Mr. Tredway called up to him, noticing that he wasn't hearing anything he had been saying. Stein heard him, and said, "Sorry," then payed attention after that. Mr. Tredway had also been noticing that he had been acting a little bit funny lately, but he just figured it was a normal kid thing. Mr. Collins looked up at him, thinking about what his dad had said to him that morning.

Stein had planned on bringing the notebook and showing it to his dad when it was completely filled up; he figured that if he ran out of space, then there was no way something wasn't wrong. There had been things as simple as hearing faint noises or seeing shadows, to full out hallucinations like what had just happened that morning and on his way home from the academy; those were always the most troubling to him.

He went through the rest of the class being able to pay attention, then him, Spirit, and Mr. Collins went outside to train. Today they were going to work on the witch hunter again, so he wasn't exactly excited. He was, however, eager to master the skill, so he still wanted to train. They quickly got to their regular training area, and began.

"I know you guys can do this. You almost had it yesterday, you just need to make your resonance a little stronger. Focus."

"Yeah, let's do this!" Spirit seemed to be in a pretty good mood, and also seemed to have a lot of energy; this should help them resonate better. Stein started to think about what had happened, but shook it off and cleared his mind. And so they began.

They started to resonate, their souls started to connect. There was a glowing light around them, and it began to get brighter and brighter; the wind around them started to blow harder and harder. It all felt different to the both of them, and it seemed right. Soon they got their resonance to be very strong, connecting more and more each second. Before they knew it, they had it.

Spirits blade changed into the form it is when preforming witch hunter, and Spirit and Stein both got really excited.

"Good! I knew you guys would get it. You guys get closer to being ready to go on a mission every day." They continued to resonate strongly, but a little bit later they broke out of the witch hunter. Stein had a sort of confused look on his face, but Mr. Collins soon explained.

"Don't worry about that. If you keep a super skill going too long, it will eventually stop. This is just because it can't hold forever, especially when you are just starting out. You guys did very well, actually. You are picking up on this stuff quicker than anyone I have ever taught, so don't worry about it.

"Spirit, you can transform back; I think we are going to take a little break. You guys did very well." Spirit transformed back, landing right next to Stein.

"I think you guys are learning very well, there is no doubt about it. With the amount of techniques and things for in battle that you know now, I think you guys are ready to go on a mission. I will ask Mr. Tredway what he thinks about it, and hopefully get something picked out for you guys. I am eager to see how well you do against someone else."

"It's about time, I'm ready to do some fighting," Stein said this, actually seeming pretty eager as well. He really did want to fight, he honestly wanted to beat the crap out of something.

"Yeah, I agree with Stein. I'm ready to see some action!" They seemed like they were pretty pumped, it was actually kind of pleasing Mr. Collins.

"You'll get your chance, I just have to get Mr. Tredway's approval to sign you up for something." He figured he would ask him after they finished class today.

Mr. Collins just told them stories of some of the people he has faught over the years, and it actually kept them pretty entertained. He was a three star meister: he has had a LOT of experience over the years, he has defeated a very large number of people, and has some pretty interesting stories to tell. Stein loved listening, and so did Spirit. They were boys, of course they were going to like hearing this stuff.

Kami and Marie were already in the cafeteria when Stein and Spirit sat down, and of course Marie was smiling, listening to Kami talk about Spirit. Kami pirked up when she saw Spirit walk over to her.

They actually had a seating arrangement that they followed everyday; they didn't sit and plan it out or anything, it just kind of ended up working like this. Spirit sat next to Kami, and on the other side of the table Stein sat next to Marie. Ever since Marie and Kami started sitting with them, everyone completely stopped staring at them, which Stein honestly liked. It didn't creep him out, but he hated everyone paying attention to him.

"Hey, Franken! How were your lessons?"

"They actually went pretty well. We can do witch hunter now, and Mr. Collins says that he is going to try to sign us up for a mission."

"A mission? We have barely learned anything! It will be a whole year before we can do that!"

"Oh come on, it can't be that long." Stein said this, Kami responding.

"It won't be, she is just exaggerating like she always does."

"I am no,!"

"Yes, just like how you weren't exaggerating when you said that you liked Stein as a friend." Marie instantly blushed, her face quickly turning as red as a lobster. Stein just pulled out a book, trying to ignore what he had just heard. Like you already know, he doesn't feel the same way. Marie was so embarrassed, she couldn't believe she said that. Kami just gave her a smirk before turning to Spirit to talk to him again.

The rest of the break Marie just sat there, trying to contain her feelings of embarrassment, and Stein continued reading; he had bascially forgot that she even said that. He was too busy reading about the descending colon to think about that.

It was time for them to go to their next class, so they all got up and started down the hall. They got to Miss. Parson's class, glad that she was finally back.

"Hey, I am so glad I can see you all again! I have missed you all so much! And sorry I was gone so long, the academy sent me on a mission; we didn't expect it to take that long, but we ended up getting stuck on the way back. I can't believe I haven't even been able to teach you guys anything yet! We will need to get started right away."

After she said this, Marie turned to Kami and yelled at her.

"I can't believe you! Why did you say that?" She was trying her best to keep her voice down, she really didn't want Stein to hear her.

"It's not like it was that big a deal, I mean I am pretty sure he can already tell you like him by the way to treat him. You're the only person that actually shows interest in him, it would be pretty hard not to notice." Which he actually didn't notice, he was completely oblivious. He didn't have a clue how to tell if someone liked you or not, he just knew she was really nice to him. He never figured she would like him in that way.

"Yeah, but I am not entirely sure he has noticed. It just doesn't seem like he has, and I would appreciate it if you let him realize it on his own time."

"Sure, whatever you say." She was always so nosy, and that was the one thing Marie didn't like about her. They got quiet because Miss. Parson started to talk again.

"Now that we can start learning, I think I should start off by explaining exactly what this class is about. In this class, you will learn all of the different types of wavelengths. There are actually quite a few, and we will be learning a lot about them; we'll go into detail quite a bit. I figured that we could start off with one of the most important and powerful wavelengths that exist: the madness wavelength." At this point in time, Stein only knew it existed because it was on the worksheet they did at the beginning of the year; he honestly had no clue what it was. But it would definitely become familiar to him over time.

"It is caused by the source of all madness, the kishin. It is unbelievably powerful, it is amazing what it can do. These things affect many things, like weather, people, and it strengthens anything evil in this world. It has a tremendous affect on people, and I have made a worksheet with a list of some of the things a person being affected by the madness wavelengths might experience." As she finished saying this, she passed out the papers to the class.

"Madness wavelengths magnify the insanity in people's souls; everyone has at least a little insanity in their soul, some more than others. Some people will barely be affected by it at all, others will have a difficult time keeping it under control. It spreads almost like a disease, it starts off as something very minor, but it eventually takes ahold of you, no matter how much you fight against it." Next, she started to explain some of the things people experience when being affected.

"One of the most common signs of madness would probably have to be hallucinations. A hallucination is when you perceive something that isn't actually there; it isn't real, and no one else can sense it besides you. It can effect any of your five senses, and you might not even realize it's not real. You may think it's actually happening, and not even know that it's a hallucination. Something else that is a major sign of madness wavelengths is frequent nightmares. You can have them bascially every night, and they seem very real. They can be very frightening and disturbing, and you cannot do anything to stop them. They will often wake you up at night, and you have more nightmares the more you are being affected. Another sign of madness is that the person will become very delusional, it is terrible just how bad this can get. They will start to believe things that aren't real, no matter how much evidence is shown to them that it isn't. Now, I know this may sound odd, but they will usually have uncontrollable laughter. They could be laughing their head off, even if there is nothing funny, and they might not be able to stop themselves. This usually scares a lot of people that see this happen. They will also want to do very bad things, they will want to harm people, and they will want to be very destructive. That is why it is important to keep these people away from others when they are being affected, as they might end up even killing someone. The bad thing about madness is that at first, you are only affected by it sometimes, but once it completely takes over, it never stops. You can be completely lost in your own world of delusions and hallucinations and not have a single clue what is going on, and could possibly never come back to the real world. And if you are around other people, you can end up causing a lot of harm to them. You do things you would not regularly do, and you basically have no conscience. We ran out of time, so I will go over this more tomorrow. See you guys later!"

As she finished, Stein realized something. This is what has been going on lately, this is it! The weird things he has been seeing, all of the nightmares, the random anger, the outburst he had yesterday; it all makes sense. The thing is, how did his father not know? He had been going to the academy for many years, he was to the best meister to ever graduate, he was very intelligent, wouldn't he know what they were?

Then he thought of something. "Didn't she say it spreads until it completely takes over? How long will it be for me? What's going to happen? I have been having a lot of nightmares lately.. I have been seeing a lot more things too.. is it going to take control of me soon? I need to see my dad about this.. I don't understand why he didn't see this."

At the end of class, Miss. Parson called Stein and Spirit over to her desk.

"Hey! I heard you guys are doing really well. You're even taking special lessons, that's awesome!"

"Yeah, I think that special lesson will really help us learn at our own pace." Stein said this, Spirit nodded in agreement.

"Well, good luck with everything!" Both Stein and Spirit said thank you, then left to go to their next class.

He went through the rest of the day, and everything was actually going pretty well. Spirit and Kami weren't too annoying, and Marie's cheerful attitude didn't seem all that bad for once. He was glad about this, it didn't seem to happen to often lately. This made the day go by really fast, and he was actually in a good mood; that's also somehing that doesn't happen often. Before he knew it, it was time to leave, and they were on there way out of the academy.

They were walking down the road, and Mr. Collins was standing by the academy, keeping an eye on him like his father asked him to. He assumed everything was going well by the way things looked, and figured he could handle going home on his own, so he just went back inside.

Stein and Marie reached the point where they go separate ways, so they said goodbye to each other.

"See you tomorrow, Franken!"

"Goodbye, Marie." He was actually smiling a little bit, so this made Marie beyond thrilled. She started skipping down the road, even more cheerfully than she usually did. Stein just shook his head, almost laughing to himself as he kept going down his road. She may be clingy, but she was pleasant to be around. She always had a way of cheering people up, it was nice.

Stein was at the end of the road when he realized just how warm it was compared to this morning. The sun was starting to make his head feel hot, but luckily he had very light hair, so the sun wasn't as attracted to it.

He walked into his house and set his stuff in his room, then used his soul perception to see where his dad was. He was in his lab, doing yet again another dissection. Stein hadn't watched is father do one in a really long time, and he decided that he wanted to today. He figured maybe he could ask him about the madness wavelength when he was done.

He walked back the hallway leading to his father's lab, and heard a faint noise coming from inside, but he still knocked anyway. Very shortly after, the noise stopped and his dad told him to come in.

He walked in, seeing his dad wearing the usual latex gloves, holding a shiny and very sharp scalpel in his hand, and he turned to his son to ask him something.

"What it is you are wanting, Franken?"

"I was wondering, since I haven't in a while, could I watch you do another dissection?" Both him and his father knew that he was becoming more and more interested in the anatomy of different living organisms, and his father figured he would ask this sooner or later.

"Sure, I don't see why not. But I am going to be doing another one later after dinner, and I suggest you observe that one. It will be far more interesting, and that way you will be able to watch the entire thing." He had walked in when his dad was already halfway done, so he was right about that.

"Okay, can you come get me when you are ready?"

"Yep, I sure can."

"Thank you." After he said that, he walked out and went into his room to read. He was actually kind of excited about getting to watch, he hadn't done it in so long. He could barely concentrate on what he was reading, and was relieved when his mom said it was time for dinner.

They all went out and ate, and the entire time he thought about what it could be that his dad was going to dissect. He said it was going to be interesting, so this must be pretty good. His dad started to try to think of the best thing possible, and then he got the idea. He had a slight smirk on his face, and continued to eat.

When they finished, Stein went back into his room to wait for his dad to come get him. His dad went into his lab, keeping his grin hidden until he shut the door. Man did he love dissecting stuff. He started to get everything ready next.

He started to prepare for the dissection, one that Stein would surely never forget. He made sure that the table was in it's proper place, then fully sterilized it. He moved the tray that contained his tools to it's original spot next to the table after cleaning them.

He had to clean them all off since he hadn't bothered to when he finished with his last subject. Once he thoroughly cleaned off and polished all of his tools, making sure the scalpel was extra shiney, he picked it up and held it up the light, soaking in the joy of the way the light glistened off it. He went and sharpened it; it was actually the sharpest it had been for years, and he was pleased with that. He had to make sure the incisions were as clean and smooth as possible, as this was going to be a very important dissection. Little Franken would learn a lot from this one, more than he would think.

He set it back down in it's proper place, walking over to the box in his office that contained latex gloves. He always made sure that he had a very large supply of them, as he is constantly in need of them. He put the gloves on, loving the way it feels when he pulls on the bottom of the glove and releases it, causing it to smack his hand, creating that snapping noise that has become very familiar to him over the years.

Throughout the entire process of preparation, he had a very large grin spread across his face. He really wanted to laugh, but he tried his best to contain it. A few giggles slipped out here and there, but he did his best. He grabbed onto the table, attempting to keep the hysterical laughter in one last time before going to get Stein; yet again, a couple giggles managed to come out.

He straightened his back so he was standing up all the way as he let go of the table. Next he forced the grin off his face, his facial expressions returning back to their usual bored appearance. He walked over to a cabinet and grabbed the key component to him being able to do this dissection, a final smirk appearing on his face. He could feel the madness flaming up inside him, but he calmed himself down some before exiting his lab.

He went into the kitchen and got his son a drink, then walked into the dining room and sat it down on the table. He took out the vial he had grabbed from his lab, and added it's contents into the drink, mixing it in completely.

He went out of the dining room, across the living room, then through the hallway that lead to Stein's room. He got up to the door, and knocked on it the same firm way he always did. Stein instantly knew what he was there for, so he closed his book and went to the door. He unlocked it, and opened it to see his dad standing there.

"Hey, Franken. Come with me." He said this with a slight smile, and he seemed actually happy. That never happened; it appeared to be regular happiness to everyone else, but it wasn't. It was a sadistic kind of joy. He couldn't stop picturing everything he was going to do, it was crowding his thoughts.

Stein followed him down the hall, and then into the dining room once crossing the living room. He was kind of confused when he got there, but he just sat in the chair his dad pointed to without questioning him.

"Drink this, I got it for you." Stein did so, not even thinking of a reason as to why he would have done that.

"Listen, this dissection will be, by far, the most interesting one you have witnessed. And I must say, it will be the most up close one as well. You are going to learn a lot from this; it will be pertaining to the topic you have been reading about lately." Stein nodded his head, basically as a way of showing that he was hearing and comprehending everything his dad was saying, while he continued to drink what his dad had prepared for him.

"I am actually kind of glad that you want to see another dissection. You're getting closer to the age that I will allow you to start preforming them yourself, so perhaps it's good for you to become familiar with the process." As his father said this last part, it started to become harder for him to keep his eyes open.

Everything started to become foggy, everything his dad was saying started to seem quieter. He started yawning, and sat back in his chair. His muscles started to relax, and his mind started to slow down. Before he knew it he was out like a light. He his head tipped down as he dropped the glass on the floor. Lucky for his dad, it didn't break. Turns out, the thing his dad had put in his drink was a tranquilizer.

His father got up from the chair he was sitting in and picked up the glass, sitting it on the table as he stood back up. Next he picked up his son, holding him so that he was still in a laying position. He was actually kind of light, he rested easily on his father's two hands.

He went back the hallway that led to his lab, and bumped the door open with his hip, making sure he avoided hitting Stein's feet off the wall. Next he walked over to the table, and sat his son down on it gently. He strapped his wrists and ankles down, as he is sure to freak out when he wakes up, and there is no way he would stay down after he began.

His dad then walked out of the room, he went to wash the glass that contained the drink earlier. He needed something to do until his son woke up, so why not do something somewhat productive? He also didn't want his wife to end up drinking it when she got home later at night. It might be funny, but he still didn't want her to. She would probably get mad at him for leaving that kind of stuff around the house.

Stein woke up about 20 minutes later, and it was pitch black in his father's lab. He heard footsteps going down the hallway, but since he was still a little foggy, he wasn't sure where he was or who was coming, and the footsteps sounded slightly muffled. As his father got closer and closer, the sound became clearer and clearer. He tried to move, but realized something was keeping down; he didn't know what. When he felt the cold metal of the table, he realized where he was, and whose footsteps those were.

He started moving frantically, but stopped as soon as he realized the man was standing right next to him.

The bright overhead lights turned on, blinding him for a moment. When his eyes started to adjust, he saw his father standing over him, wearing latex gloves and a surgical mask; that was the only thing that hid the grin that was painted across his face. He watched his son, who has now beginning to sweat.

Stein realized exactly what was going on, and fear began welling up inside him. He started to shake, sweat, and he wanted to scream. But he was scared to the point that he couldn't, nothing would come out.

His dad reached down, and took his son's shirt off, exposing his pale skin. He then grabbed the scalpel, and held it up to the light once again. The light reflected off the sharp blade, bouncing off his dad's glasses. His father absolutely loved how shiny and mirror-like the knife was, and let out a slight giggle; one that he was trying so hard to keep in.

Whenever his son would watch him do dissections, he always made sure to keep himself under control. He did struggle, but he managed. If he knew he wasn't going to be able to keep it in any longer, he always sent his son to his room. He did it for his safety. His little, young son didn't need to see that. And now, one of his main motivations to stay calm was that he didn't want his madness to start affecting Stein. He knew he would be able to feel it in his soul, and he didn't want that.

He did care about his son, he just didn't show it very often. He lacked emotion to a very great extent, so that was part of the reason. Stein's dad's father didn't show it either, so he really didn't know he had to. He didn't find it to be important, and he was always so involved in his experiments that it never crossed his mind. But the one area he did show, was that he wanted to keep him safe.

He started to put the scalpel down towards Stein, and this made him sweat even more, shake beyond belief, and he let out a slight scream. He tried to move away from his dad, but it was to no avail; he was stuck right where has on the table. In his dad's case, thank Death for restraints.

"Oh! I forgot one thing." His dad realized he forgot to make marks on Stein for where he would make the incisions. Like I said before, he wanted to do this as well as possible. He would use anesthesia, but then he wouldn't learn a single thing from it.

He pulled out his marker, and made a large line going from his upper torso, all the way down to his lower abdomen.

"There, now the fun can start!" Stein swallowed, fearing the pain that was about to come.

His dad brought down the blade, putting slight pressure on his skin. Then he started to pull the knife down the line.

Stein started to scream, it was actually very loud. He had never felt pain like this before; it was unbelievable, excrutiating. It was stinging, the feeling of his skin separating at the blade made him scream louder.

His dad used the screaming to his advantage, as it helped keep his laughter hidden from his son. The louder Stein screamed, the louder he laughed.

Stein squeezed his eyes shut and clentched his fists against the pain, allowing more screams to come out of him. At this point, the entire middle part of his body was covered in blood. It was sticky, a deep red, now oozing onto the table. His dad loved it all; it was sick, but he loved it.

Stein opened his eyes for a second, now he could feel that his dad was at the lower part of his abdomen, trying to cut in the proper place. He was having a little trouble, both because Stein wouldn't stop jerking around, and also because his hands wouldn't stay still from the laughter. Stein could actually hear it a little bit.

When he looked down at what his father was doing, still clenthing his fists, he saw his organs. Tears started to roll down his face, for two reasons. The predominant one was the pain, he wanted nothing else but for it to be over. There is no way he could describe this. The other reason was that he realized something, something he had learned at school that day. He knew why his dad was laughing, he started to see the grin through his mask. He felt the madness wavelengths.

This scared him because he knew how people being affected by the madness were dangerous. He knew that those people could get completely lost in the madness; had he lost control? He knew that once a person went completely insane, they could even end up killing a person. He knew how they needed to be kept away from everyone else. What was he going to do to him?

The tears started to come more and more; his screaming continued, just as the laughter did.

His father finished the long incision down his body, so the screaming died down slighty, but the tears were still coming out. He then picked up a probe, and started to point to all of the organs.

"Look... Franken," He said this, giggles pouring out between each word, "these are your organs. This is what makes up the human body." He had a little more control now, as he was able to stop the laughter.

"See, this is the stomach, the liver, the gall blader, the spleen, pancreas, small intestines. There's the ascending, transverse, and descending colon; all of which make up the large intestines. That's the vermiform appendix. See, this is the human body; more specifically, your's." Stein looked, and started making mental notes of where it all was, absorbing everything he was capable of while in this amount of pain. Remember, this kid was still laying on a table of blood, with the amount of blood adding up, his body still opened up.

"I told you this would be your most up close dissection yet." He said this, trying desparately hard to keep the laughter in, and he actually succeeded thit time. Tears started to run down Stein's face again, and he closed his eyes, turning his head away from his father.

The older of the two the reached down, and started to move his hand around inside his son. He started to touch the organs, making sure he didn't punture any of them. Stein could feel every bit of this, and it was the weirdest, most painful thing he has ever felt. A giggle let out of Stein this time.

His dad realized that the madness was starting to get to him, so he figured he would have to finish up soon. He wanted to make sure that he got to see enough, but he couldn't wait too long.

The main reason why he was keeping himself under control was, like Stein had learned, he could get completely engulfed in the madness and end up killing him. It was a very good motivation for him to not rip out each one of his organs with his bare hands, one at a time.

He dissected his son because he did want him be able to learn this on a very personal level, that was true. And the way the madness had been increasing lately has made him been craving getting to cut open a person. He had to make sure he didn't lose it; the last time he dissected a person he didn't have the same motivation, so it didn't end well. Unfortunately for the last person, they didn't walk out of that lab.. they were carried; they never did walk again.

Stein became fascinated, he wanted to feel around for himself. But, obviously, he couldn't. More and more giggles started to pour out of him, just as one came out of his dad. His dad quickly silenced himself and knew that he had to finish up. Stein was actually starting to get kind of loud, and more and more blood still came out onto the table. Everything turned red around him, everything seemed to be spinning, then went black as he became silent. He had fainted from the pain.

His father went over to one of his cabinets and opened it, not minding that he was getting blood on everything he touched. He pulled out some anesthetics; he didn't want his son to wake up when he was stitching his skin together. He walked back over, and injected the chemicals into him.

He got to work. He cleaned out everything, then started to pull the thread through his skin. Some people would vomit from the way this felt, but it was natural to him. Soon, he had finished closing the incisions, and his organs were no longer exposed. He then washed off his son, after having cleaned all of the blood off the table.

He set him back down, not restraining him this time. All of his tools were thoroughly cleaned; when I say thorough, I mean it. His dad was quite good at cleaning stuff up at this point. He then changed into different clothes, and brought the bloody ones downstairs. He stayed in the basement for a little bit, and just thought.

Stein started to wake up, then realized that the overhead light was still on. He shot up from the table, fear rushing through him. He ran out of his fathers lab and into his room, sprinting as fast as he could. He slammed the door shut, double checking that he locked it.

He sat down on his bed, grabbing his pillow and pulling it up to cover his stitched chest. He started to sob; he couldn't believe this had happened. His crying started to become louder, his breathing staggered. He clutched the pillow, holding onto it forcefully.

His surrounding changed, he looked up gasping. The memories of his dad cutting him open started to play in front of his eyes, causing him to cry more. A scream tore from his throat as he fell over in his bed, the memories still playing, like a film. He could even start to feel the blade slicing through him again, as if it was actually happening.

His screams turned into hysterical laughter, as he was lost in the previous memories of the dissection.

Do you see what I was saying now? If not, what the heck? And anyway, I am THINKING this next chapter will be the last one before they are teenagers, but I am not sure. Hehe, got lots of ideas! This should go fairly fast.