Chapter 4: Fighting the Impulse

A/N: I'm back! :) Sorry for another late update! I'll be faster next time! So, Kid's epic battle with the Kishin's Shadow begins in this chapter! Hope you enjoy! :3 Oh, and reviews put a smile on my face and encourage me to update faster! :) Alright, let's go!

When the gang arrived at the small town, the air was thick with chaos. The sky was an eerie dark purple and people were running about, frantic. Kid could feel the madness echoing throughout the town. The Kishin's Shadow was definitely somewhere close.

"Kid…" Liz said nervously, transforming back into human form and clutching Kid's arm tightly. "I don't like it here…" She looked around, visibly frightened.

Kid sighed. "It'll be alright, don't worry about it. We just have to defeat this thing and then we can get out of here. And, Liz?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you please return to weapon form now?" Kid said, already starting to feel off with a gun only in his left hand.

"Oh, right. Sorry…" Liz said quickly, a redness growing on her cheeks noticing she was still holding Kid's arm. She quickly obliged and transformed back into a gun.

Although throughout the years Death the Kid's OCD had been slowly improving, he still disliked asymmetrical things and freaked out if he stared at one for too long. Though he usually was able to remain calm, sometime his OCD would come back at full-force when he least expected it and render him incapable of completing a task.

"Hey look over there!" Patty called out.

Kid quickly turned his head and saw a young girl with her hair in pigtails with her arm around a white-haired boy who appeared to be badly injured. He was leaning on her and holding on to her hand, she held him up and supported him so he was able to walk.

"Maka! Soul!" Kid shouted, spotting the two kids they were sent to rescue, and running to their side. "What happened? Are you guys okay?"

Maka slowly nodded her head. "I-I'm fine, but Soul got hit rather badly." Kid looked over at Soul. He was barely conscious, leaning on Maka, and his entire right side was soaked in the deep red color of blood. Maka locked her green eyes onto Kid's golden ones and Kid could see the concern that was written all over her face. "I'm worried about him, Kid. I need to get him to a doctor, right away. But, I can't just let that- that thing run loose. It could destroy the town."

"I know." Kid nodded grimly. "That's where I come in. Your priority right now should be just to get Soul to a hospital so the bleeding will stop. Liz, Patty, and I were sent here to take over your mission and stop that monster known as the Kishin's Shadow. It should be slightly easier for me, as I am a Shinigami. I'm glad you're alright, Maka, but you need to go and get help for Soul immediately."

"Right." Maka knew there was no time to lose.

"But Maka," Kid began, full of curiosity, "how come you are barley injured at all?"

The girl briefly glanced at her own body and noticed there were hardly any injuries present. Her eyes widened. She shook her head. "I really don't know. Though it felt like I got beat up just as much as Soul did, for some reason, Soul ended up with the most prominent injuries." She looked at her partner with sad eyes and tightened her grip on his shoulder.

"I have to go. Good luck, guys." Maka said. Soul transformed into a scythe so he would be easy to carry and Maka ran off, sprinting back towards the Shibusen.

"That didn't reassure me at all…" Liz complained.

"Don't worry, I won't allow that monster to hurt you."

Liz would've smiled if she was in her human form. She felt a bit better.

Kid walked toward the black monster he spotted and stood in front of it. His long, black Shinigami cloak flowed around him.

"Prepare to meet your fate." He said to the monster. Kid began firing multiple blasts of energy at the Kishin's Shadow using his guns, but it appeared to have no effect.

"Damn." Kid muttered. "Not strong enough." He fired at the blackness some more, but it suddenly began to change its shape. The Shadow stretched upwards and began to slowly take the form of what looked something like a man. It was pitch-black and featureless though. And symmetrical. Perfectly symmetrical.

Kid was petrified. His OCD began to have its affect. "Liz. Patty. I can't fight him! Just look at how perfectly symme-" Kid was cut off by a blast of a black blood looking substance being shot straight into his stomach. Kid keeled over onto his knees and began to cough up some blood.

"Kid!" Both of the girls cried out in horror. They began to change back to their human forms.

"Both of you stop it! I'm fine!" Kid choked out. He was hard to believe when he was still coughing up blood. "Return to your weapon forms! Now! You are going to get hurt!"

Reluctantly, the two girls listened to their meister and once again took the form of weapons. The creature sent out more shots of black blood towards the young Shinigami, but after clambering to his feet he dove out of the way just in time. He got up again muttering, "Why is it so symmetrical…" and half-heartedly fired more shots towards the Shadow.

"Kid! Now you listen to me!" Liz cried in desperation. "No matter what that thing looks like you must fight it with everything you've got! No holding back! I don't care how freaking symmetrical it is! Whatever it is you're feeling right now just forget about it! Fight the impulse to resist and kill that thing now!"

Death the Kid grit his teeth. "You're right. Liz, Patty, Soul Resonance!"

"Okay!" Patty said. The girls and the Shinigami changed the level of their wavelengths until they were all perfectly matched. Kid's huge soul was visible and it surrounded him like a dark aura. His previous injury had already almost completely healed. The pistols Liz and Patty had previously been became much larger and longer.

"Death cannon." Kid stated. He fired with full force this time, the blasts much bigger and more powerful. They came towards the Kishin's Shadow at a rapid succession. The creature made a horrid noise as if it was crying out in pain and began to shrink little by little.

"Yay! It's working!" Patty said cheerfully. She spoke too soon. As if it heard her, the creature lashed out at Kid, and although Kid himself managed to skillfully avoid its attack, one of his weapons didn't.

"Ahh!" Liz cried from the impact. The weapon in Kid's right hand began to spurt a large amount of blood.

"Liz!" Both Patty and Kid cried.

"I- I'm …alright." However, her voice was filled with pain. It hurt even to speak. Kid glanced down at the weapon and looked at Liz's reflection.

"Are you sure?" Kid asked carefully.

"I'm fine!" It was painfully obvious that she was lying, she sounded like with every word she spoke, a dagger went into her. "Just… keep fighting…don't worry about me. Just keep fighting, Kid!" She said, wincing.

Kid was torn. He wanted to stop and help Liz, but he also needed to stop the Kishin's Shadow. He looked at the Shadow, which was symmetrical, and thought that he must ignore its perfection and destroy it. He glanced down at his weapons, one with a large gash and the other without, making them asymmetrical, and thought how he must ignore how off balance he felt and keep going. Symmetrical. Asymmetrical. Balanced. Unbalanced. Just for a second he couldn't differentiate between the two. His world was spinning and he wanted to vomit. His OCD was affecting him with full force.

Keep fighting, she had said. He had to keep fighting not only the Kishin's Shadow, but his own OCD as well. Fight the impulses that threatened to strangle him. Only he didn't know if he had enough strength left to do it.

A/N: And so the drama ensues! And I begin to be mean to the characters! Sorry, it had to be done! So anyway, guys, please, please check out my other story I just started, Random Soul Eater Oneshots! Oh, and don' t forget to also check out author-144's story Soul Eater Couples too! Her oneshots are awesome! So please read and review all 3 of these stories! Thank you guys! :3