A punch in the gut sent him flying into the wall, and a breathless gasp left his mouth upon impact.

The two guns in each of his hands remained motionless and quiet, despite the wavelength that shot through the trio's connection, unwillingly screaming out in pain from the repeated damage to the boy's body.

His shirt collar was plucked before he could even land from the rebound of the impact. He was hoisted high and both of his hands reached up in an attempt to release the hold. The restriction didn't last but a few seconds before the buff, outrageously tall man reeled his arm back slightly and chucked him once more at an alleyway wall. A noise escaped from his lips, and it vaguely sounded like he was choking.

This time, his body dropped to the cement, and he instantly released the gun in his right hand and brought it to his mouth. On hands and knees, a small stream of blood made it's way out of the corner of his mouth, and the prior repeated abuse to his stomach, coupled with the wall-tosses and bloody smell that was steadily invading his nose, was making him nauseated.

The sound of approaching footsteps jarred his brain; and he all too quickly grabbed back the gun just as a foot made impact with his abdomen. He was kicked into the side of a monstrously large trash bin; and the metallic din upon contact alerted all that a permanent indention had been made into the receptacle.

With that, however, the man had opened an escape to the boy and his guns; and as his bulky stature tumbled over, the victim fled on unstable feet through the closest alleyway, deeper into the dark recesses of the crime-infested area.

He stopped after barely running a minute between two more trash containers, the main streets completely hidden from view. The two weapons he held were locked in a death grip, but they began to glow pink, nonetheless.

In moments they had transformed into two girls, who stared on with concerned and frightened faces.

The elder opened her mouth to speak, but she was already being spoken over.

"Look, I'm sorry." A cough; and when he pulled his hand away from his mouth, his skin was speckled with spots of blood. "But he was human. I couldn't fight back physically or with you two. He would have known something was up, and it would have been..." A pause of hesitation. "I can't even come up with the word. But it would have been a mess if I had injured him in some form."

"So you just let yourself get beat to a pulp?" It was meant to sound rhetorical- she already knew the answer she wanted to hear- but she knew he would answer anyway.

His eyes shut, his head leaned back against the wall, and his hand reached for his stomach in an attempt to alleviate the intense and agitating pain radiating from his bruised abdomen. His other hand reached for the bridge of his nose, an unintentional broadcasting of his slight annoyance.

"I said I was sorry. I just needed one opening to escape, but it took longer than I intended it to."

His eyes weakly re-opened, and the two girls could see the battle he was fighting to remain awake. They had to admit, a bubbling fear still coursed through both of them, causing them to literally shake where they stood with the notion the man could still be near. He would not want to be asleep if that happened.

The elder sighed and crossed her arms across her chest. "Kid, I don't even understand why you chose to start a fight with him to begin with."

A pause. "They had a girl."

Both sets of eyes locked onto him immediately.

"If you'll recall, I shot a few bullets towards a different guy, but they all missed, as intended. They were meant as a distraction; and the minute he became scared, she escaped. By then, his friend had already delivered the first punch." A break, and he coughed into his hand. He pulled it away, and- before bringing it up to his forehead to nurture an intensifying headache- he lazily wiped the red liquid onto the ground. "As soon as he started the fight, I had to restrain from using you two or making it into a two-sided physical fight. It would have gone against all DWMA rules to fight a normal human being."

While eyes had been glued onto him, his own had wandered to the side, staring un-importantly at another alleyway. His attention returned to his immediate area when a warmth enveloped him.

A sniffle from the younger girl, who held him in a gentle hug.

"One of these times you're going to get yourself knocked unconscious." He looked back towards the other, who looked off at an angle, as if embarrassed by her concern. "You need to leave this stuff to the real cops."

Nothing but silence greeted her.

"Kid?" She spoke as if expecting something.

"Liz."

Her eyes focused on him instantly, a not-so-smug, yet innocently-humorous smile on his lips.

She huffed in false aggravation. "This would be the time to say, 'Yes, Liz, I understand.'"

"Why would I agree to such a lie?"

The younger, who had by then released her hold, laughed at the two.

"Patty, don't encourage him."

"But, Sis, we've been able to save so many people like this." She gave a dreamy sigh, and Kid silently followed with a content one.

"You know, Liz, if it helps, it's never my intention to find these guys. It just... happens."

"Yeah, it just happens. Just like you just happen to get beaten up every single time because of DWMA rules or some crap like that."

She realized her voice had been laced with a certain harshness, but she couldn't bring herself to regret it. Instead, she took a step forward and extended a hand, as if that would suffice.

"I can't give you my hand, Liz."

"And why not?" Genuine, though slight and barely perceptible, annoyance carried her snappy remark.

He lifted his right hand, the one not captured underneath Patty's grip on his arm. A patch of blood covered the palm, presumably from his coughing. When she remained quiet for a moment longer, Kid spluttered once more, a half-cough escaping before he covered his mouth with the same bloody hand to release a few more wet noises.

Liz unconsciously grimaced, her eyes not leaving the meister. Her face relaxed as he slowly removed his hand, peering at it to reveal an overabundance of the liquid, a few small beads dripping over the rim of his hand. He found his face contorted in a similar expression when he noticed Liz's own.

"That was not my intention."

He began wiping his hand on the ground once more, watching it smear instantly.

"Didn't think so," she replied. She- after having noticed she had pulled her hands to her chest and away from the saturated coughing- re-extended her arm towards Kid.

"Liz, I-"

"Well, I don't care."

He understood the tone she used quite decently. She hid her concern for the most part through forcing an agitated tone, but both Patty and he could detect her true response through their wavelength. It was this underlying concern that brought forth a resolve and a muted sigh.

He proffered his hand, and she met him the rest of the distance, bending her back the slightest. The second their skins touched, the pair could feel the wetness slosh between them, and the warm temperature of it left them both feeling icky and slimy.

"Sorry."

Between her and Patty, Liz was almost certain Kid aided minimally in pulling him to his feet. With Patty guiding his far right shoulder and left arm, she could physically feel the tense set his bones had been forced into.

"Liz, Patty-"

He cut himself off, and the two girls were left in shock as he ripped his hand from Liz's grasp to reach for the right trash bin. His movements were less jagged and rough as he pulled his other arm to the bin, as well.

A few ragged breaths left his mouth before he spoke.

"I-I'm sorry; I can't."

"What?" It was only halfway spoken, and Patty brought one hand up to scratch her cheek and show her confusion.

"I would have fallen on you before I actually walked."

Realization dawned upon the two. They had acutely noticed, the adrenaline from the fight had been zapped from them into nothing. Now, the only thing they all felt was exhaustion. Kid's one-minute run was nothing short of a miracle.

"Too bad you can't turn into a gun like me and Sis!" Patty spoke, laughter accompanying.

"It is a shame; he's gonna be pretty heavy like this."

"You cannot be serious, Liz." He ducked his face, coughing onto the bin.

Patty nearly exploded into a fit of laughter.

"Do you have any other ideas, considering you can't even walk?" Liz vaguely realized she had been continuously wiping Kid's blood onto her pants.

Nothing but silence answered her, and the trio seemed frozen in place until-

"Patty!"

The girl was peeling his fingers from the bin- the only thing truly holding him up. Once removed, he felt an instant weakness grow in his legs, and they buckled under his weight. While he was grateful Patty- as well as Liz, who had jumped at the very sudden and unpredicted drop- had gently brought him to the ground, it was her fault to begin with.

Through great resistance and an onslaught of laughter from one individual in particular, Kid was hoisted onto Liz's back. Once the elder girl was on her feet, however, all three seemed to immediately drown in silence.

She made sure to take the back alleys, which meant the road was only scarcely visible. The coldness on her back she attributed to Kid, who seemed to be sapping her heat for himself. The loud footsteps from Patty were drowned out at one point, which was when she realized Kid's head had come to rest on her left shoulder, his breathing coming steady and softly into her ear.

"Punch buggy red!"

The outburst shocked Liz, and she immediately tensed up. She heard the sound of a slap behind her.

"I thought it was punch-buggy, not slap-buggy, Patty."

The remark came out as nothing more than a mumble in her ear, but she couldn't control the first fit of laughter she had experienced that day. Soon enough more words filled her ears.

"What is so funny?" His words appeared farther, not so densely concentrated; his head had lifted from her shoulder.

"You."

She couldn't elaborate. With Patty now joining in, the infectious bugger seemed unwilling to mute itself. With a rough cough, Liz forced the words out.

"I used to say the same thing to Patty. You know, before we met you."

"Yeah, Kid, so don't go stealing our sisterly stuff."

Another round began between the two sisters. With a fake huff, Kid brought his reddened hand up to his mouth and coughed singularly.

"I guess I'll have to respect your wishes, considering I am not your sister and all."

He hadn't expected every ounce of Liz's laughter to explode at such a comment.

The three trudged along with chuckling and giggling never quite dying down. It wasn't until Kid pointed to a hotel across the street- which he suggested they stay at for the night- that they all noticed the silence that had been steadily enveloping them.

Liz continued through the back alleyway for another minute, checking for a crosswalk through the few open views the tight alleyways granted her. Kid was pulled from his watch over Liz's actions by a tap on the arm. His head turned, eyes a little weary and a few bruises now becoming prominent on the left side of his chin and in the middle of his right cheek.

With a little hesitance- just enough to show the grandeur of her statement- Patty spoke with the addition of a humorous yet sincere smile.

"You might not be our sister, but I would love to call you our brother."

End